Chapter 153: The Trio Letting Themselves Go!
Fifteen minutes earlier—
As usual, Suzune waited near the noticeboard in the first-year building for Ike, Sudo, and Yamauchi so they could head to the library together.
This time, however, all three firmly rejected her study session.
They already had the midterm examination papers!
Why would three idiots who hated studying continue suffering through study sessions when they supposedly had the actual exam?
"We already have the papers! I'm not studying my ass off anymore!" Yamauchi declared.
Expressionless, Suzune shifted her cold gaze from Yamauchi toward Ike.
"Exactly! Horikita, do you have any idea how precious our free time after school is?"
"I don't want to waste it studying anymore!" Ike shouted.
Finally, the cold-faced Suzune looked toward Sudo.
"Don't look at me. I have Ike's papers, so I'm not planning to keep studying either."
"I need to report to the basketball club. Otherwise, everyone there will start complaining about me!" Sudo said.
Suzune took a slow breath and suppressed her irritation.
"Shimizu already warned everyone that the papers in your hands might not actually be used for our upcoming midterm."
"So you still need to study. Otherwise—"
"Bullshit!" Ike interrupted angrily.
"Shimizu Yuto is talking nonsense! The papers I bought are definitely useful!"
"He's just jealous that I managed to obtain them, so he's spouting garbage!"
Suzune's gaze became even colder.
"Shimizu is jealous of you? Don't be ridiculous."
"Besides, you apparently don't know that Shimizu and I obtained those exact papers before you did."
"Hmph. As if you two had the ability to get your hands on them!"
Ike scoffed without hesitation.
He refused to believe it.
Because Ike only believed whatever he wanted to believe!
Suzune became angry.
Strangely angry.
Even when the three rejected her tutoring and disregarded all the effort she had put into helping them, she had not felt this furious.
Yet for some reason, she could not tolerate Ike insulting Yuto.
Suzune stared coldly and disappointedly at the three boys.
"Then let's end it."
"The study group is dissolved."
"From now on, do whatever you want. I won't force you to study anymore."
"Yes!"
"You should've done that ages ago!"
"Exactly! Horikita, you finally decided to leave us alone!"
Their delighted responses were certainly hurtful.
However, Suzune had already seen through them, so their reactions no longer upset her.
Without expression, she turned around and headed toward the library.
Ike, Sudo, and Yamauchi happily went their separate ways.
The study group Suzune had worked so hard to establish ended just like that.
...
Back in the present—
Yuto looked at Suzune's icy expression, then turned toward Kei, who was pressed closely against him.
"Kei, could you buy three triple-honey lattes?"
"Three? But there are only two of us," Kei replied, slightly pouting.
"Don't be ridiculous. There are three people here."
Yuto laughed helplessly and lightly tickled Kei's waist.
The sensation made her body twitch as a pretty blush appeared on her cheeks.
Suzune glanced at Yuto, then at Kei, whose attention was entirely focused on him.
"If you're counting me as the third person, there's no need to buy one for me."
"Sweet drinks can help improve your mood when you're upset, Horikita," Yuto said with a smile.
"My mood is perfectly fine. I'm not upset," Suzune answered immediately.
Kei touched her waist and glanced at Suzune.
The girl was radiating such an icy atmosphere that she could almost make someone shiver, yet she insisted her mood was fine.
How stubborn.
As if getting revenge, Kei lightly tickled Yuto's abdomen before showing a mischievous, sweet smile and leaving to buy drinks.
Once his clingy little girlfriend was gone, Yuto turned toward Suzune.
"Horikita, tell me what happened when you dissolved the study group."
Suzune narrowed her foxlike eyes.
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because your brother entrusted you to me."
"So I have to look after you on his behalf," Yuto replied with a smile.
Suzune glared sharply at him for bringing up her brother.
Eventually, she lowered her gaze.
"There isn't much to say."
"They placed all their hopes on those examination papers, so they've completely lost the motivation to study."
"I finally saw them for what they are, so I simply dissolved the study group."
In truth, Suzune did not believe that was the primary reason she had ended it.
What truly pushed her over the edge was...
Ike insulting Yuto.
Suzune slowly raised her foxlike eyes and glanced at the boy sitting across from her.
Lately, she felt that something about herself was strange.
She had actually experienced such an enormous emotional reaction merely because Ike insulted Yuto.
Something like that had happened to her.
Unable to understand herself, Suzune had no concentration left for studying.
Her thoughts were a complete mess.
Seeing her sit silently with her head lowered, Yuto assumed the collapse of the study group was still bothering her and offered a few words of comfort.
"Shimizu, I already told you that the study group isn't bothering me!"
Suzune glared at him.
"I don't care at all whether they continue studying!"
"Okay, okay~"
Five or six minutes later, Kei returned carrying a plastic bag containing three honey lattes.
She handed one to Yuto, kept another for herself, and pushed the final cup toward Suzune.
"I don't need it."
"Drink it. Don't waste Kei's kindness."
"What do you mean, my kindness? You're the one who wanted to buy it for her," Kei protested with a slight pout.
"But you're the one who bought it."
"Because you told me to!"
Suzune glanced silently at the bickering couple.
Then she reached out with both hands and accepted the honey latte.
She inserted the straw and took a gentle sip.
The sweetness of the honey and richness of the milk seemed to soothe her.
Even her sharp foxlike eyes softened slightly.
Drinking something sweet really did help improve one's mood...
...
At that very moment, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka stared speechlessly at Ike and Yamauchi inside his dorm room.
A short while earlier, the two had knocked on his door.
The moment he opened it, they barged straight inside.
"Shouldn't you two be studying with Horikita-san at the library around this time?"
"Why did you bring a game console to my room?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Don't mention Horikita Suzune."
"We're finally free! She isn't forcing us to study anymore, so Ayanokouji, let's play games!" Yamauchi said with a foolish grin.
"Hmm. Have you already finished reviewing the examination papers?" Ayanokouji asked.
"We haven't even looked at them yet."
"We only need to stay up the night before the midterm and cram them then," Ike replied casually while fiddling with the console.
Ayanokouji understood.
These two had not finished reviewing the papers.
They had simply stopped taking the exam seriously.
They believed that possessing those papers guaranteed an easy passing score, so they saw no reason to study.
Ayanokouji quietly stared at the two boys who had come over to play games.
"I'll go downstairs and buy some soda."
"Oh, Ayanokouji, you're pretty considerate! Good thing we came over and invited you to play," Yamauchi laughed.
Ike secretly grinned as well.
They had deliberately brought the console to Ayanokouji's dorm because they hoped to freeload drinks from him.
"Yeah. I'll head downstairs."
Ayanokouji casually responded, left his room, and took out his phone.
Then he called Yuto.
"Ayanokouji? Why is he calling me?"
Yuto looked at the caller ID in surprise.
He said something to Kei before walking a short distance away with his phone.
"Ayanokouji, what do you need?"
"Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki are currently inside my room. They came over to play games," Ayanokouji reported.
"Huh?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you telling me about them?"
"Shimizu, weren't you intentionally having them receive Horikita-san's tutoring?"
"So I thought I should tell you what they're doing."
"They apparently have no intention of studying anymore and plan to look at the examination papers only on the night before the midterm."
"Ayanokouji, you've misunderstood me completely."
Yuto sighed helplessly.
"I don't care about those guys at all."
"The only reason I previously asked you to make them attend Horikita's study sessions was because Horikita requested my help."
"I see. Understood."
Ayanokouji ended the call.
He had already suspected that Yuto was not particularly invested in Ike and the others.
After speaking with him directly, he became even more certain.
Even after understanding Yuto's position, Ayanokouji had no intention of persuading Ike and Yamauchi to study.
Having largely suppressed his emotions, Ayanokouji was an extreme realist.
To him, victory was everything.
The number of sacrifices did not matter.
When necessary, even companions could be treated as chess pieces or tools.
And in Ayanokouji's eyes, Ike and Yamauchi had practically no value.
Their continued presence in Class D would only obstruct the class's climb toward Class A.
So he had no reason to urge them to study.
...
Yuto returned with his phone.
Kei curiously asked, "What did that cold guy want?"
"He asked me how to dispose of garbage," Yuto casually answered.
"You need to ask someone that? Everyone knows garbage belongs in the trash," Kei replied strangely.
"Exactly. That's what I thought too, so I asked Ayanokouji why he needed my opinion on disposing of garbage."
"What did he say?"
"He said I had looked at the garbage before, so he thought I might care about it."
"..."
Suzune looked suspiciously at Yuto.
She had the distinct feeling there was another meaning behind his words.
...
At this moment, Ike and Yamauchi were engaging in something that could be described as rebound behavior.
Such behavior occurred when someone had a desire restricted for an extended period.
Once the restriction disappeared, they would often indulge excessively in whatever they had previously been denied.
Ike and the others had been controlled by Suzune for an entire week.
Every day had revolved around studying.
For people who hated studying, it had been torture!
Now Suzune had stopped controlling them and dissolved the study group.
As a result, Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo all began indulging themselves after finally being released from those restrictions.
And that behavior continued all the way until the night before the midterm!
Only then did Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo finally take out the examination papers and begin cramming desperately.
Although the three could barely understand the contents, they believed they did not need to.
They only needed to memorize the questions and corresponding answers, then reproduce them during the exam!
Before long, the day of the midterm arrived.
The morning subjects were mathematics, Japanese, and English.
Chemistry and social studies would be held in the afternoon.
All subjects would be completed in a single day.
The mathematics exam would not begin until nine in the morning.
However, because failing even one subject meant mandatory expulsion, the first-year students were filled with tension and anxiety.
Most arrived in their classrooms at the usual school time, long before the exam began.
Yuto was an exception.
Completely relaxed, he did not enter the classroom until 8:50.
Airi followed behind him.
Airi had actually been extremely nervous about the midterm and originally wanted to arrive much earlier.
However, to help her relax, Yuto had specially pampered her with kisses, hugs, and affectionate touches.
Under Yuto's sweet and doting attention, Airi's cheeks flushed red, and the tension from the upcoming exam largely dissipated.
Yuto looked around after entering the classroom.
Most students were still flipping through the photocopied examination papers.
Apparently, they genuinely believed Ike's claim that those papers would appear on the upcoming midterm.
Kei was also nervously reviewing practice questions.
However, hers were not the papers Ike had obtained.
They were questions Yuto had personally selected for her.
Yuto had not only prepared practice questions for Kei.
He had also made individual sets for Airi, his publicly acknowledged girlfriend, and Kikyo, his secret girlfriend.
…
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