Chapter 4: Noisy Minds and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka
‘Horikita, is it Horikita Suzune? I seem to recall the name; she’s in Class D, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to interact too much with these people. As for what Kushida really is, it seems now another person knows, but it’s none of my business.’
Thinking this, Saiki Kusuo had finished his desserts and was ready to leave.
‘I have to admit, these desserts are really superb. Although they’re all coffee pudding, the flavors and textures are completely different. Should I speed up my digestion to eat a few more…’
Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to leave, Kushida Kikyou turned her attention to him:
“Saiki-san, could you do me a favor?”
‘She wants to use me to interact with Horikita Suzune, huh? I can tell what you’re thinking through telepathy, but you’ve picked the wrong person. I’m not good at dealing with interpersonal matters, and I’m not even acquainted with Horikita Suzune, not even a single word exchanged. You know it would definitely fail if it’s me, so your real intention is just to get closer to me, sorry, but I’m not interested.’
Saiki Kusuo was about to refuse when Kushida continued:
“If it really works, I’ll treat you to dessert!”
“Deal.”
…
After leaving the cafeteria, Saiki Kusuo quickly headed to the supermarket inside the campus.
Here’s the English translation:
Although he hadn’t interacted with her before, Saiki Kusuo remembered her voice. The school’s population was smaller than that of other ordinary high schools, so using telepathy, he quickly found out the location of Horikita Suzune.
‘Ah, for the sake of coffee pudding, I’ll just go through the motions.’
‘Today is the first day of school, and the freshmen should be buying daily necessities.’
‘I can go home anytime I want, but if I don’t buy anything, others might get suspicious. It’s a good excuse to interact with Horikita while shopping.’
Thinking this, Saiki Kusuo entered the supermarket in the school, and almost simultaneously, the thoughts of other students around him flooded his mind.
【I have no points left this month… I can only get free supplies…】
【Every day, we only get free vegetables… It’s not enough to fill the stomach…】
【I envy those in Class A, but with our level in Class D, we can’t compare to those monsters…】
‘Most of them are senior students from Class D, huh? There really is no such thing as a free lunch. They must have run out of points and are barely surviving on free supplies. This is indeed a special school.’
Saiki Kusuo quickly scanned these people.
‘Just to be safe, I shouldn’t waste points carelessly. Things like game consoles, clothes, laptops are completely unnecessary. I can go home anytime, so I don’t need these things. Although it’s a school, there are too many items unrelated to studying. Isn’t it a bit absurd to sell game consoles here? If I were to buy these items, 100,000 points wouldn’t be enough.’
‘The school seems to equate points with students’ abilities, using material goods to encourage growth. But I’m not interested in these things. I can play games at home in the evening, and the same goes for laptops. Aside from buying desserts, these 100,000 points don’t seem to have much use for me…’
‘Wait, a jelly-making machine?!’
Saiki Kusuo’s attention was instantly drawn to an item in the supermarket.
…
In less than a minute, Saiki Kusuo completed the purchase, holding the jelly machine like a treasure.
‘Ah, true to this school, I found such a gem. It can make various flavors, comes with different molds, and has a long battery life after charging…’
‘Compared to other devices, this jelly machine is such great value for money, only costing 40,000 points!’
‘I’ll try making jelly with it when I get home tonight!’
Saiki Kusuo’s lips curved slightly upward, and his steps became lighter.
“Hm? It’s Saiki.”
Just then, a somewhat lazy-sounding voice came from next to Saiki Kusuo.
Turning his head, Saiki Kusuo saw a boy of average build with a clean-cut face but somewhat vacant eyes, giving off a laid-back vibe.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Saiki Kusuo remembered his name. After all, his thoughts were quite loud.
【Saiki Kusuo, judging by his clothes, he seems to come from an ordinary family. His behavior is quite normal, and he doesn’t have a strong presence in the class. This is somewhat similar to me. Could he be hiding something too? Currently, I can’t gather more information about him.】
‘Hey, are you a detective? It’s not normal to have such thoughts when seeing a classmate.’
【Could a student from the White Room have entered this school? No, if that man had the power to do so now, he would have tried to stop me at enrollment. Clearly, his influence hasn’t reached this school yet.】
‘I’ve been hearing him mention the White Room since today, a term I’m somewhat curious about.’
【Given the current situation, the most likely scenario is that he’s just an ordinary high school student. How should I interact with such a person? I’m still quite poor at social interactions.】
‘What a strange guy, and don’t you have a bit too much going on in your mind? If this were a novel, you would take up a lot of content in a chapter.’
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
Using telepathy, Saiki Kusuo knew Ayanokoji Kiyotaka’s background was somewhat special. He wanted to hide his abilities and past, and seemed unable to understand ordinary people’s emotions, which coincidentally matched with Saiki Kusuo’s situation.
However, Saiki Kusuo was not interested in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. No matter how unique he was, he was still just an ordinary person.