Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

Kusuo Saiki casually found a spot by the river and sat down on a rock. Airi Sakura, who was sitting next to him, had no choice but to sit down next to him as well.

'With Sakura around, it's not convenient to use my abilities openly... I'll just have to pretend a little!'

As Kusuo Saiki thought this, he used his clairvoyance to locate Kanji Ike and imitated Ike's fishing motions. There were already several fish in the bucket next to him.

'I didn't expect Ike to know how to fish? It seems that among the three, only Yamauchi doesn't have any special skills... Ike's fishing skills must be pretty good, so I'll just make sure I catch slightly fewer fish than him.'

Kusuo Saiki stopped using his telescope and then imitated Kanji Ike's actions, starting to fish.

[Saiki-kun... he can fish?]

Sakura Airi was slightly surprised when she saw Saiki Kusuo's actions.

At the same time, Kusuo Saiki activated his telekinesis, causing the nearest fish to gradually approach him—

"Took the bait!"

Sakura Airi, who was standing nearby, saw the fishing rod in Saiki Kusuo's hand suddenly sink, so she quickly picked up a fishing net to help Saiki Kusuo scoop up the fish.

She had only taken a few steps when her panicked state made Sakura Airi's steps become unsteady. She lost her balance and fell headlong into the river.

‘! ’

Just then, Sakura Airi's body, which had been leaning forward, suddenly stopped in mid-air, and Saiki Kusuo quickly reached out to support her.

'Oh dear, that was close! Luckily, I managed to grab her in time using telekinesis.'

In that split second, it was Kusuo Saiki who used his telekinesis to pull Sakura Airi's body back. To prevent his superpower from being exposed, he had to hold the fishing rod in one hand and grab Sakura Airi's hand with the other.

'Falling flat on the ground? So Sakura has this clumsy side to her character?'

Kusuo Saiki began to realize that bringing Airi Sakura along was indeed a mistake. He only slowly released his grip once she had fully regained her balance.

"I'm so, so sorry!"

Sakura Airi's face flushed, and her whole body seemed to tremble slightly with embarrassment.

【I...I...I've only made things worse...No...I can't cause any more trouble for Saiki-kun...】

"I'll go catch the fish right away!"

Sakura Airi pursed her lips, then remembered what she had originally intended to do. She quickly dipped the net into the water, trying to scoop up the fish.

The fish wasn't very big, and the net was quite large, but because Sakura Airi was extremely nervous, her hands were trembling, and she was completely at a loss. She couldn't scoop the fish up for a long time.

Ugh, I feel so dizzy, I'm going to throw up, ugh...

Kusuo Saiki could hear the whispers of his own mind with perfect clarity.

That belongs to the fish.

Kusuo Saiki was completely helpless at this point, but there was nothing he could do. He could only activate his ability again, and the fish leaped out of the water and fell into the net.

"It's done! It's a success!"

This surprised Sakura Airi, who quickly and carefully placed the fish from the net into the bucket.

"Qi Mu, wow, that's amazing! You caught a fish right away!"

Sakura Airi turned her head and immediately praised Saiki Kusuo's fishing skills.

"Just luck."

Kusuo Saiki is now starting to regret coming here to fish.

"Qi Mu, Qi Mu-kun?"

But at that moment, another voice came from behind. Before the voice even sounded, Kusuo Saiki had already used his telepathy to know the other party's identity.

Shiina Hiyori.

At this moment, Shiina Hiyori was standing behind Saiki Kusuo, looking at Saiki Kusuo and Sakura Airi with a somewhat surprised gaze. After pausing for several seconds, she finally spoke:

"Qi Mu... you can fish?"

"Ah."

Kusuo Saiki could only nod; he hadn't expected Hiyori Shiina to appear in this place.

In the morning, he used his clairvoyance to observe the movements of the other classes. However, Class D, led by Long Yuanxiang, did not make any special moves. They simply spent their points on snacks and drinks on the shore, as if they were enjoying a holiday.

If possible, Kusuo Saiki would like to temporarily join Class D.

"Shiina, what are you doing here?"

"I asked," Saiki Kusuo inquired, but because of his telepathic abilities, he already knew the answer.

Class D didn't make any major moves. Their original plan was to enjoy themselves today and then collectively give up and return to the cruise ship.

Hiyori Shiina simply wanted to check on Kusuo Saiki, so she came to the vicinity of Class C's camp, but she didn't expect that Kusuo Saiki was fishing by the river at that time.

"I just wanted to check on how you guys are doing, but don't worry, I have no intention of stealing any information."

Her gaze shifted and quickly landed on Sakura Airi, whose gaze involuntarily fell on Shiina Hiyori.

Their eyes met—and then, as if by perfect unspoken agreement, they looked away almost simultaneously.

This person seems to be very close to Saiki... They must be his classmate... Should I say hello...?

I've never seen this person before... Which class are they in...? They seem to know Saiki-san quite well... Are they Saiki-san's friend...? What should I do...? I don't know how to talk to them...?

The two girls had very similar thoughts in some ways, but because of each other, neither of them spoke to Kusuo Saiki first, and an eerie silence filled the three of them.

'These two people with social anxiety actually met?'

Kusuo Saiki sighed helplessly. If these two met in other situations, they probably wouldn't be able to say a word to each other.

'but.....'

'Why am I here now...? Both of their eyes are fixed on me while I'm fishing.'

"I feel so awkward... so uncomfortable... please say something."

Kusuo Saiki's mind raced, and after several seconds of thought, he finally spoke:

"Shiina, how's the situation with your class?"

"Everyone seems to be enjoying the trip. Ryuen and the others seem to be planning to stay on the island for a while before returning to the cruise ship. I don't know much else about the situation—but it seems that Ryuen and Ibuki had an argument yesterday."

Hiyori Shiina said with a smile.

She wasn't lying, because Ryuen Sho hadn't told Shiina Hiyori the specific plan. Although Ryuen Sho acknowledged Shiina Hiyori's abilities, her unassuming personality meant she wouldn't make much of a contribution to the exam, so Ryuen Sho didn't tell Shiina Hiyori her plan either.

However, Hiyori Shiina, with her very clever mind, had a pretty good idea of ​​what Ryuen Sho's plan was.

"Ibuki...is she in your class now?"

"Ah."

Saiki Kusuo nodded.

"The students in your class are all very enthusiastic, but in this exam, the classes are enemies. Although I don't want the relationships between classes to be ruined, I still hope that Qi Mu can be a little more careful in this regard."

Hiyori Shiina said with a smile that on the one hand, she regarded Kusuo Saiki as her best friend, but on the other hand, she was a student in Class D, so she could only give him such a hint.

"I understand."

"By the way, Qi Mu."

At that moment, Hiyori Shiina took a novel out of her bag.

"Ryuen-kun said we can spend points as we like, so I rented a novel to pass the time. But our Class D should be returning to the ship soon. If... you're interested, you can also check out this novel!"

"Thank you so much."

Kusuo Saiki took the book that Hiyori Shiina handed him.

Chapter 70: Qi Mu, Let's Cooperate

'Shiina...you were quite a help, weren't you?'

Kusuo Saiki thought to himself, with the novel given to him by Hiyori Shiina, he finally had a way to pass the time, since he couldn't teleport to other places all the time.

Although Shiina Hiyori's inner thoughts had already given her a pretty good idea of ​​the novel's plot the moment she took the book, it was better to have some information than nothing.

"By the way, Qi Mu, there's one more thing... Do you know about the recording incident last time?"

Shiina Hiyori asked with some curiosity. She had agreed to assist Ryuen Sho in the investigation, but after confirming that there were no traitors within the class, even Shiina Hiyori couldn't find any more clues.

"It's okay if it's inconvenient to say!"

Hiyori Shiina simply wanted to know the answer to the riddle; her thirst for knowledge was extremely strong.

"I'm sorry, I don't know much about this either."

Kusuo Saiki shook his head.

"Okay, it's okay."

Hiyori Shiina smiled at Kusuo Saiki again, her smile as bright as the spring sunshine.

[Even Saiki-kun doesn't know? How did they manage to get that recording? Only someone with superpowers could obtain such a recording so quietly! How did that person do it? That's amazing.]

Upon hearing Shiina Hiyori's thoughts, Saiki Kusuo's heart skipped a beat. Shiina Hiyori's seemingly joking idea was actually the answer to the riddle.

[Furthermore, this exam is also a kind of puzzle, guessing the leaders of each class. Generally speaking, the higher the status in the class, the lower the chance of being a leader in this exam, because they are simply too conspicuous.]

'I suspect you have superpowers too.'

"It's getting late, I should head back now! See you on the ship."

Shiina Hiyori glanced at her watch, then said something to Saiki Kusuo before quickly leaving.

Was Shiina hinting at my purpose regarding Ibuki? But I'd better pretend I don't know.

As Saiki Kusuo pondered this, he refocused his attention on his fishing rod. Just then, Sakura Airi, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up:

"Qi Mu... who was that person just now?"

As she asked the question, her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the direction where Shiina Hiyori had just left.

"She's in Class D, her name is Hiyori Shiina. We met by chance in the library, and that's how we got to know each other."

Kusuo Saiki explained.

Perhaps because the atmosphere had been too awkward, both Shiina Hiyori and Sakura Airi forgot to introduce themselves to each other.