Sunday evening. The time was nearing 8:30 PM; The designated day had finally arrived.
The upcoming discussion would most likely determine whether or not we could join hands with Class 1-D.
Or rather, we needed to make certain that we did.
The majority of students outside of Class 1-D and Class 2-D had already found partners.
If this discussion doesn't bring about the desired results, we might be forced to make multiple large concessions in order to avoid facing any penalties.
Horikita and I would be joined by Sudō, who had strongly insisted on accompanying us.
While it was probably somewhat related to his desire to be together with Horikita, I was pretty sure it was mostly because he was wary of Hōsen. Hōsen was the type of person who, depending on how the discussion went, might very well raise his hand against a girl. Sudō wanted to be there to protect her from that. Of course, Horikita turned him down, saying that his presence was unnecessary, but Sudō refused to back down. However, no matter how much he begged, Horikita maintained her stance and refused to let him join us. She believed that the upcoming discussion would be very serious, and had judged that Sudō's presence would only hold us back. Ultimately, I ended up intervening on Sudō's behalf.
This was because, just in case things went south, I could have Sudō take action instead of me.
Sudō's abilities should probably be more than enough to keep Hōsen in check.
In the end, Horikita allowed him to join us on the condition that he wouldn't interrupt the discussion or make any threats.
"Hey man!"
I went down to the dorm's lobby early to meet up with them, only to find that Sudō had already arrived, waiting on one of the couches.
Furthermore, he looked at me with a bright, energetic smile on his face.
It looks like I need to correct what I said earlier.
It wasn't only 'somewhat related' to his desire to be together with Horikita; He really wanted to be with her.
"Have you been studying for the exam?"
"Of course. Sorry, but I'm gonna get at least 250 points this time."
Given his current Academic Ability rating of an E, if he really were to score more than 250 points, that'd be a huge achievement.
It would be enough to bump his Academic Ability rating all the way up to a C during next month's assessment.
This wasn't just him spouting off empty words. He had apparently worked hard enough to muster up the confidence to back them up.
He was rarely ever late for class anymore, and his attitude during lessons was exceedingly serious and diligent.
"You've changed a lot… Seems like you've started to enjoy studying."
"It ain't like I enjoy it man. But I'll tell ya, it sure feels good to solve those problems. And when Suzune praises me, I get so pumped up that it feels like I can study forever!"
That thorny attitude of his from back when we first came here had gradually started to die down. A rash temper didn't seem like the easiest habit to break, but if Suzune's presence was enough to help him stay on his feet, that was good enough for me.
Unable to contain his excitement, Sudō stood up and went to look at the video feed of the inside of the elevator.
After which, he sat back down and began fiddling with his phone and running his hand through his hair. Before long, he was getting up again.
He seemed somewhat like a young boy who was about to go on his very first date.
"Hey, Ayanokōji."
Realizing that I had been looking at him, Sudō quietly muttered to me, his eyes still locked onto the camera feed on the wall.
"If I confess to her right now, d'ya think Suzune would accept it?"
Before I knew it, the expression peeking out from the profile of his face had completely hardened up.
Given how serious he was, I probably couldn't just dodge the question by giving him a half-baked response.
"Probably not."
While it may have been discouraging, that was my honest, objective opinion from a third party perspective.
I was almost certain that he wouldn't be satisfied with my answer, but…
"Right?"
Sudō agreed without batting an eye, as if to say he had already known the answer deep within.
"I know Suzune's not the kinda girl to go for love and romance and all that. But like, it's not just that… There's no way that'd she be attracted to me as I am right now. How many times has my arrogance caused trouble for her by now? For the whole class?"
As a result, he didn't think there was any way that Horikita would want to date him right now.
"I'm workin' hard these days aight? But I'm not gonna pretend that it cancels out the burden I've put on everyone else. These next two years, I'mma do my best to improve my strengths and make up for my weaknesses, little by little. That way, by the time we graduate, I'll definitely be useful to the class."
"That so? It's definitely possible."
Sudō was quickly becoming a valuable asset due to his unparalleled physical abilities.
He probably had the potential to develop into somebody indispensable, just like Yōsuke or Kushida.
He's also come to be able to take a more objective look at himself.
In the face of his extensive growth, I felt like I wanted to ask him something.
"Say you put in all the effort and become the most distinguished student in our class… and yet, Horikita still doesn't look at you. What would you do then? Would you stop studying?"
There is always the chance that one might regress to their former self upon learning that all their efforts have been for naught.
This was particularly true as Sudō was working hard for Horikita.
"'Course I'd wanna stop. Hell, I'd prolly wanna die. There's even a chance I might end up punchin' someone. But the thing is, Suzune would prolly be disappointed in me if I did, right? It'd be super lame if I gave up on my studies or went on a rampage or somethin'. So yeah, I'll pass on that."
A splendid response. And to top that off, I felt certain that his intentions were genuine. That said, there was no way to know for sure until the worst comes to pass. No matter how much one resolves themself ahead of time, once they experience the pain, that resolve all but crumbles.
At any rate, if he's this confident now, then I guess I don't need to worry for the time being.
"Oh, looks like she's coming."
We could see Horikita board the elevator through the camera. Sudō stood up and turned his back to the elevator, seemingly restless as he began taking deep breaths and stretching out his arms in some show of radio calisthenics to calm himself down.
Before long, the elevator arrived on the first floor as Sudō continued with his breathing exercises.
"Sorry I kept you waiting. What is Sudō-kun doing?"
"Taking deep breaths it seems."
Horikita looked slightly curious for a moment, but she quickly returned to her usual stiff expression.
We set off to the designated meeting place. That is, the Karaoke parlor in the Keyaki Mall. It was an extremely popular spot for late-night hangouts as it was open until 10:00 PM seven days a week.
This goes without saying, but Karaoke was one of the many recreational facilities on campus. It was a place primarily used to relieve stress and chat with friends, but at this school, it had yet another vitally important draw to it.
And that was its high degree of privacy. It was an ideal place for holding detailed discussions outside of the realm of the public eye.
Out of any place on campus, it was the most convenient location to meet without being noticed by others.
Of course, in terms of privacy alone, there was no place better than one's own room at the dormitory, but that wasn't suitable for specific people.
With the special exam coming up next week, it didn't seem like there were very many people around at this time of day.
Given that, one might say that this was the best time to hold a secret discussion with Hōsen.
"Hey. You guys really think we can get that shitty first-year brat to work with us?"
"If I didn't think we could cooperate with them, I wouldn't have spent so much time trying in the first place."
That's all there was to it. We had set out today precisely because we believed that it was possible.
"The majority of the academically capable students have already been taken by Sakayanagi-san and Ryūen-kun. On the other hand, Ichinose-san has become a beacon of hope for the weak. At this point, if we want to change tactics, we'd have no choice but to fight with points or with trust."
"Right… We ain't beating Sakayanagi and Ryūen in points, and we ain't no match for Ichinose when it comes to trust…"
"Exactly. That is why Hōsen-kun's existence provides us with both a crisis and an opportunity."
Hōsen didn't care about the allure of the Class A brand or some half-baked sum of private points.
Furthermore, he didn't so much as glance at Ichinose's offer of assistance.
And that was why we, Class D, had a chance.
"So we just gotta see just how much we can get 'em to agree to without giving anything up."
"Indeed. As time runs out, the ones at stake will be us second-year students. Since many students have already found a partner, we won't be able to avoid being put at a disadvantage."
If we decline the terms Hōsen presents us with, he would simply let our partners be decided at random without giving it a second thought. He wouldn't care at all about the fact that his own classmates would be penalized as well.
I was interested in seeing how Horikita would confront him.