It's the first weekend of May. Ike and the others started listening to the teachers silently. Only Sudou kept sleeping through class, but no one tried to stop him. Because no one find a reliable way of increasing our points, Sudou's habits were not fixed.
However, Sudou still received the ire of a lot of the classmates every day.
… I'm sleepy too. Because it's the period right before lunch, it's hard to stay awake. I also stayed up late watching a movie. It'd be great if I could fall asleep now…
"W-whoah!?"
As I was nodding off, my right arm experienced some severe pain.
"What is it, Ayanokouji? You suddenly shouted. Is this your rebellious age?"
"N-no. Sorry, Chiyabashira-sensei. Some dust entered my eye…"
Normally, the students would've started whispering, but they stayed quiet and sent me glances instead, still being wary of the points. Rubbing the sore part of my arm, I glared at my neighbor. In my line of sight, I saw Horikita holding a compass needle in her hand.
This isn't a normal situation. Why does she even have compasses on hand? I don't even think there's a reason to use them during class. As soon as class ended, I went up to Horikita.
"There are things that are OK to do and things that are not ok!" Compasses are dangerous!"
"Are you mad at me?"
"You made a hole in my arm! A hole!"
"What are you talking about? When did I poke Ayanokouji-kun with a compass needle?"
"You're holding a dangerous weapon in your hand."
"Are you saying I stabbed you just because I'm holding something in my hand?"
I woke up not because of the class, but from the pain.
"Be careful. If they saw you dozing off, our points would be subtracted."
Horikita started being wary of such things in order to get us out of class D. Protesting to the school resulted in nothing for her. Ah, it hurts. Dammit, if Horikita dozes off during class, I'll do the same thing to her.
As everyone stood up to go to lunch, Hirata started to talk.
"The test that Chiyabashira-sensei mentioned is coming up soon. Everyone understands that they'll have to drop out of school if they receive failing marks. So, I think that it would be best if we form study groups."
It looks like the hero of class D decided to start a charity project.
"If you neglect your studies, you'll immediately receive failing grades and drop out. I want to avoid that situation. Studying isn't solely for avoiding that situation, because there is also a high possibility that our test scores are reflected on our points. If we get high grades, the assessment of our class would probably go up. I asked some of the people who got good grades to help out. So, I would like people who are worried about their grades to come participate in the study group. Of course, everyone is welcome to join."
Hirata stared at Sudou while he made his speech.
"… Tch."
Sudou averted his eyes, crossed his arms, then closed his eyes.
Every since Sudou rejected Hirata's invitation to do a self-introduction, their relationship has been bad.
"From 5 o'clock today until the day of the test, I plan to study every day for 2 hours in this classroom. If you have any thoughts of participating, please come. Of course, it's fine if you have to leave halfway. That's all."
As soon as he said that, several of the students with failing marks stood up and went to Hirata.
Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi were the only ones that didn't go up to Hirata. Ike and Yamauchi hesitated for a moment, but in the end, they didn't approach him.
I wasn't sure whether they were afraid of Sudou's bad mood, or if they were simply jealous of his popularity.
"Are you free during lunch? Do you want to eat together?"
During break-time, Horikita came up to me asked.
"An invitation from you is unusual. I feel scared for some reason."
"It's nothing to be scared about. I can buy you the vegetable set, if you're fine with it."
Isn't that the free meal…?
"Just kidding. I'll seriously buy you whatever you want to eat."
"Definitely scary. Is there some kind of catch?"
Seeing as how Horikita invited me to eat with her, I can't help but feel suspicious.
I would be suspicious if I was invited out of the blue. I remember Horikita saying that before.
"If we always doubted everyone else's true intentions, human society wouldn't function, right?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
I didn't have anything planned, so I followed Horikita to the cafeteria.
I chose one of the more expensive meals, found a seat, and sat down with Horikita.
"Well then, itadakimasu?"
Horikita was staring at me as if she was waiting for me to eat.
"What's wrong, Ayanokouji-kun? Why aren't you eating?"
"O-oh."
Scary. There's definitely a catch somewhere. There's no way that this is for free. Nevertheless, I can't stall forever. It'd be wasteful if I let it go cold. I hesitantly took one bite of my croquette.
"It's sudden, but listen to me."
"I have a bad feeling about this…"
As I thought of getting up and running away, my hand was grabbed.
"Ayanokouji-kun, I'll say it again. Won't you listen to me?"
"Fua…"
"Ever since Chiyabashira-sensei's advice, the number of infractions during class has certainly decreased. It wouldn't be wrong to say that more than half the reason for our deducted points has been erased."
"Yea, that's true. It wasn't a really hard problem to solve, though."
It may not last very long, but at least the last few days are much better than before.
"Now, the next thing we have to do is to improve the test scores for the midterm in two weeks. Earlier, Hirata-kun also started to take some action."
"Study groups, huh. Well… I guess it would help. However—"
"However, what? Sounds like you're implying something. Do you have any problems with study groups?"
"No, don't worry about it. It's strange to see you worried about other people, though."
"Originally, I couldn't even imagine getting a failing score. However, it is true that there are students in the world that inevitably fail their tests."
"Are you talking about Sudou and his friends? Ruthless words as always, I see."
"I'm only saying the truth."
Since none of the students could leave school grounds, contact anyone on the outside, or attend cram school, there was no other option but to be taught by other students."
"I'm somewhat relieved because Hirata-kun proactively started up a study group. However, Sudou-kun, Ike-kun, and Yamauchi-kun didn't join, right? I still feel uneasy."
"Oh, those guys. They're not on very good terms with Hirata. They wouldn't participate."
"In other words, those guys will probably fail. And in order to get up to class A, we have to avoid getting negative points and focus on staying positive, right? I also think there's a high possibility that good test scores are related to getting positive points."
It's natural to think that the students would get a reward proportional to the effort they put in.
"What if—you also hold a study group like Hirata? So that we can help out Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi."
"Yea. I have no objections to that. You probably think that's surprising, huh?"
"Your whole attitude is surprising for me."
I'm not really surprised, though. She's still doing this for herself, and I never thought she was particularly cold either.
"Well, I got that you want to move up to class A. However, I honestly never thought that you would use such an ordinary method as teaching them. After all, those kind of people hate studying. You also stayed away from the other students on the first day, right? It's commendable that someone like you who doesn't want friends would offer to teach them."
"That's why I'm talking to you, isn't it? Fortunately, they're people close to you, right?"
"Ha? … Hey, are you really—"
"It'll be faster if you talk to them. There's no problem since they're your friends, right? Here, just bring them to the library. I can help them study."
"You say some unreasonable things. Do you even think that someone like me, who is leading a harmless and inoffensive life, could do that?"
"It's not a matter of 'can do' or 'can't do'. Just do it."
Am I your dog or something?
"It's your freedom to aim for class A, but don't involve me in your plans."
"You ate, right? My treat. Lunch. That wonderful, tasty special meal."
"All I got was the honest good will of another human."
"Too bad, but that wasn't out of kindness."
"I can't hear you… Here, I'll give you some points. We're even now."
"I won't stoop as low as to receive gifts from other people. I will turn down your offer."
"I'm starting to feel angry at you for the first time…"
"How is it? Will you cooperate with me? Or are you going to make an enemy of me?"
"It's like you're pointing a gun at my head and threatening me…"
"It's not 'like', I really am threatening you."
Is this the power of violence? It's very effective.
Well… If it's only gathering them, I guess there's no problem cooperating, right?
Horikita's weakest point is that she won't make any friends.
Also, Sudou, Ike, and the other are all people that I became friends with after much trouble. I can't have them drop out of school this quickly.
When I was hesitating, Horikita pressed me even further.
"You also don't think that I would forgive you for colluding with Kushida-san to call me out, right?"
"You said you wouldn't blame for that. Bringing that up now is unfair."
"I said that to Kushida-san, but I don't remember saying that to you."
"Wow, you dirty…"
"If you want me to forgive you, work together with me."
Looks like there was no escape route for me since the very beginning.
I thought that she would just drop the subject, but I guess it's only possible by listening to her request now.
"There's no guarantee that they'll come. Are you fine with that?"
"I believe that you can gather everyone. Here, this is my phone number. If something happens, contact me."
Although it was in a unusual way, for the first time in my high school life, I got the contact info of a girl.
It's Horikita's, though… Well, I'm not particularly happy about it.
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT