『』『』『』『』『』
After making a somewhat losing deal with Kumagawa, Ayanokouji mentioned that he still had something to manage with his study group, which, surprisingly enough, was not a lie as he headed toward Pallet Café where the group had decided to gather.
"You're late, Ayanokouji."
"Sorry. I had something to take care of first."
By the time he arrived, the café was already crowded with students. That itself wasn't surprising, especially considering how popular the place was among the students.
Thankfully, they had managed to secure a table where three people were already waiting.
"Something to take care of? You actually have friends, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"That's pretty rude. You should be more careful with what you say, Hasebe,"
"Was it really that rude? I'll think about it, I guess," She replied casually. Evidently, she hadn't meant any harm by it.
While it certainly hurt a little, Ayanokouji couldn't exactly argue back considering his actual situation.
Looking at the table, the one who had asked that painful question was the highly attractive girl with a large bust, Haruka Hasebe. The one who reprimanded her was Akito Miyake. Coincidentally, the one who first reprimanded Ayanokouji himself was Yukimura Teruhiko.
The three of them were considered loners within the class. Unlike him, they at least had people they could casually interact with. Ayanokouji's own list of acquaintances was questionable enough at times that even he wasn't sure if they could truly be called friends.
The three of them, however, were simply loners because they didn't socialize much and rarely spoke unless necessary.
In other words, it was a study group made up entirely of loners.
Since Horikita and Hirata would be busy tutoring a large number of students while also preparing the exam questions, Yukimura, being one of the smarter students in Class D, decided to organize his own study group to ease some of Horikita's burden.
And because the group consisted of people who were not particularly close to each other, Ayanokouji had somehow been assigned the role of "middleman" to 'manage' them at Horikita's request.
Naturally, he refused at first since he already had enough problems to deal with himself. Unfortunately, Horikita's request gradually turned into something closer to a threat. In the end, all he could do was agree. Still, compared to spending time seriously studying and helping prepare the test questions, managing a few loners was obviously the easier option.
Ayanokouji still had no idea what Horikita expected from a loner like him, but somehow, here he was.
As he sat down, Hasebe stared at him with obvious curiosity, making him feel slightly awkward, "Uh... if you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Hasebe, the only girl in the group, raised her hand right away.
"So, you can actually talk, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Is that seriously your first question?"
"I mean, I barely have any impression of you at all. Do people even notice when you're missing?"
Hasebe looked genuinely interested. Apparently, the fact that he was casually speaking with them felt strangely mysterious to her. Well, it wasn't like he regularly talked with Hasebe. In fact, this was probably one of the few proper conversations they had ever had. Considering that, her impression was understandable.
"But Ayanokouji was amazing during the relay. Ever since then, people have been paying attention to him." Miyake suddenly brought up the sports festival.
"Seems that way. But I went to the bathroom during that race, so I missed seeing it. It all feels kinda bizarre to me. Didn't you compete against the former student council president? That's what everyone was buzzing about right after the festival ended," Hasebe looks slightly enthusiastic as she spoke.
"Did you do track back in middle school, Ayanokouji? After that race, did the track club try recruiting you?" Asked Miyake
"Ah, yeah. I got a few offers, but I turned them down. To be honest, I've never joined a club before, so I don't really know much about that stuff."
The track club's enthusiasm had only been temporary anyway. They couldn't keep trying to recruit him forever. Even if someone happened to be fast, there was no point chasing after them if they had no interest in joining.
"Oh, really? That's kind of a waste."
Yukimura simply listened quietly without joining the conversation. Meanwhile, Hasebe quickly lost interest in Ayanokouji and shifted her attention elsewhere.
"Miyacchi is in the archery club, right? Is it fun shooting bows every day?"
"I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun. By the way, you don't shoot the bow, just arrows," he replied.
Ayanokouji's impression of the two was somewhat different from what he had expected. Despite being labeled loners, both Hasebe and Miyake were surprisingly easygoing and talkative.
"Excuse me. Before we begin, I'd like to say something," Yukimura suddenly interrupted. Finally, he spoke up. However, his gaze wasn't directed at Miyake or Hasebe. It was fixed entirely on Ayanokouji, "No hiding things, Ayanokouji."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Your academic ability. Horikita told me you're actually quite capable."
"Ugh... Horikita," he muttered quietly. What a blabbermouth.
Ayanokouji realized he needed to give Yukimura something believable if he wanted to gain his trust. "Well, I'm relatively good at memorizing things. If I actually focus, I can probably get pretty high scores."
Hearing that explanation, Yukimura gave a small nod as if accepting it as reasonable before turning toward Miyake and Hasebe.
"Did both of you bring your midterm and first semester answer sheets like I asked?"
"Yeah," nodded Hasebe.
Miyake nodded as well. Both of them took the papers out of their bags and handed them over. Ayanokouji also glanced at their scores.
"...Both of you are strong in science subjects, but your humanities scores are terrible." Yukimura sighed.
Miyake and Hasebe had scored relatively high in mathematics, both getting around seventy points. However, their language and world history scores were only around the forties.
It was easy to see why they were worried.
"I didn't realize you two were this similar. You even share the exact same strengths and weaknesses." Yukimura added.
Normally, that wouldn't necessarily be a problem since partners could cover for each other's weak areas. But in this case, Hasebe and Miyake were paired together, and both of them shared the same weak subjects.
In an exam structured like this one, that could become a fatal issue.
Suddenly, Ayanokouji felt someone watching him.
He turned his head slightly and noticed several male students nearby, each holding a phone as if they were in the middle of a call. In reality, however, their attention was clearly directed toward this table.
Ayanokouji recognized three of them. They were all from Class C, though he only remembered the name of the one standing in the middle, Ishizaki.
Hopefully, they weren't planning to drag him into another troublesome situation.
Still, it didn't seem like Ishizaki and the others were looking for a fight. They merely observed the group for a few seconds before casually looking away again, as if nothing had happened.
『』『』『』『』『』
"Miyacchi, do you want me to get you a cake? I'm going to grab another coffee," said Hasebe as she slowly stood from her seat.
"Ah, then I'll come with you," Miyake replied before turning toward Ayanokouji. "What about you, Ayanokouji? Want another coffee? Maybe some cake?"
"You don't have to. I still have some cake left."
More than half of the vanilla cake on his plate remained untouched. It certainly tasted good, but it was unnecessarily sweet. Perhaps because this café was mainly popular with girls, the desserts were made much sweeter than other shops. It wasn't that Ayanokouji disliked it. In fact, he liked it quite a bit. Still, the amount of sugar used had to be absurd to produce this level of sweetness.
The mention of cake suddenly reminded him that tomorrow was his birthday.
Honestly, Ayanokouji didn't really know how a normal person was supposed to spend their birthday. To him, birthdays had always been nothing more than proof that another year had passed.
He understood that birthdays were usually celebrated with family, lovers, or friends. He just didn't understand what people were supposed to feel from that.
Tomorrow was October 20. Somewhere in the school, there were probably students and teachers who shared the same birthday as him. There was nothing special about that. The only difference was that he had nobody to celebrate with. Ayanokouji quietly wondered whether anyone would even acknowledge his birthday next year.
Suddenly he heard a long sigh from beside him.
While Hasebe and Miyake headed toward the counter, Yukimura remained focused on the table, with nearly half of his first coffee still untouched. Textbooks, notes, and answer sheets were spread around him as he calmly continued writing things down.
"Looks exhausting," Ayanokouji commented.
"I've never really taught anyone how to study before." He briefly set down his pen and looked up at the ceiling. "Years ago, I tried teaching a junior-high kid to pull an all-nighter, but I couldn't stand it. He lacked the fundamentals, and it just wasted my time. Honestly, when you, Horikita, and Hirata held those study sessions for students who were about to fail, I laughed at you. It seemed so useless. People who hate studying just can't do it in the first place, and cramming for a few days won't change who they are."
Rather than coming off like he was spewing vitriol, it seemed more like Yukimura was simply expressing his honest thoughts.
"So why did you decide to tutor people now?" Ayanokouji asked.
This test was unlike anything in junior high; his anecdote and their current situation couldn't really be compared. If students failed to prepare properly for this monster of an exam, expulsion awaited them.
Yukimura was taking on a surprisingly large responsibility here. If Hasebe and Miyake were expelled, he would probably blame himself for it. That was simply the kind of person Yukimura was.
"I was useless during the sports festival because I dismissed it as meaningless," Yukimura said quietly. "But this school values academics and athletics equally. Just being smart or athletic isn't enough. Even people like Horikita and Hirata, who excel at both, won't survive future exams with those alone. We also need intuition, judgment, and the ability to work with others. In the end, teamwork is necessary if we want to win."
Quite an optimistic conclusion.
Still, Yukimura had probably realized this was the area where he could contribute the most.
Even Ayanokouji could tell that Hasebe and Miyake approached studying seriously enough. They listened properly, stayed focused, and understood things relatively quickly. Seeing that effort probably made Yukimura want to respond seriously as well.
While Yukimura continued reviewing their test papers, Ayanokouji quietly opened his textbook and studied in silence.
About twenty minutes later, Hasebe and Miyake finally returned carrying fresh coffee and another plate of cake.
"What took you so long?" Ayanokouji asked.
"It was crowded, so we had to line up," Miyake answered. "By the way, did you finish checking everything, Yukimura?"
"Just a little more," Yukimura replied as he sped up his writing slightly.
"Ah, that reminds me," Hasebe suddenly said as her expression turned playful. "There's something I want to ask you, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Cut it out, Hasebe," Miyake muttered while lightly nudging her with his elbow.
Well, that sounded ominous.
Come on, Miyacchi. It's not like the world's going to end if someone hears it."
"That's not the issue. There's a time and place for this."
"Well, classes are already over. Isn't now the perfect time?" Hasebe shot back.
Miyake shook his head as if he had already given up trying to stop her.
Ayanokouji honestly had no idea where this was going.
"Ayanokouji-kun, are you dating Horikita-san?"
"No."
The answer came out immediately.
"Whoa, not even a second of hesitation? That sounded way too practiced. Pretty suspicious, don't you think?"
"People ask me that a lot," Ayanokouji answered. "It's not like Horikita and I are always together."
That much was true.
Several people had already asked him the exact same thing before. Even Sudou occasionally became suspicious because of how often he and Horikita interacted. While Horikita undoubtedly had an attractive appearance, behind that beauty was a personality cold enough to rival the Arctic itself.
Even Ayanokouji felt like he would freeze solid if he got too close to that kind of person.
"You're not lying, are you?" Hasebe asked.
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
"But you know what they say. Rumors about love are always half true and half fake."
For someone considered a loner, Hasebe seemed unusually interested in romance. A normal guy would probably take this chance to ask whether Hasebe herself had a boyfriend. Of course, Ayanokouji had neither the intention nor the ability to do something like that.
"Alright." Yukimura suddenly raised his head, effectively ending the conversation.
It seemed he had finished reviewing everything.
"I think I understand where both of you struggle now," he said while organizing the papers. "I'd like to put together a proper study plan."
He handed Miyake a notebook filled with comments written along the margins.
"I made some sample humanities questions for practice. Later, I'll have Hasebe answer the same set, so don't write directly in the notebook. Ten questions. Ten minutes."
Miyake accepted the notebook without complaint. He clearly understood that Yukimura was genuinely trying to help him. After struggling through the questions for ten minutes, Miyake passed the notebook to Hasebe so she could try them as well.
Yukimura had probably designed the problems specifically to expose their weaknesses.
Once the twenty-minute testing period ended, Yukimura immediately began writing down their scores.
"Seriously, you two..."
Letting out an exhausted sigh, he returned the answer sheets.
Miyake and Hasebe had each answered only three questions correctly while getting six wrong, with one partially correct answer earning half points. More surprisingly, they had gotten almost the exact same questions right and wrong.
"Wow. Doesn't this kind of feel like fate, Miyacchi?" Hasebe asked jokingly.
"No. Not even a little."
"Oh, come on. You never play along." Hasebe puffed her cheeks slightly before looking back at Yukimura. "But... isn't this actually kind of bad?"
She was beginning to panic a little, though the situation itself wasn't necessarily hopeless.
"Actually, this makes things easier. It means I only need half the effort."
If Hasebe and Miyake's academic ability and habits were this synchronized, then Yukimura could practically treat them as one student while teaching. Naturally, there would still be small differences between them, but overall things would progress more smoothly than expected.
While Miyake looked somewhat relieved after hearing that, Hasebe's anxiety still hadn't completely disappeared.
Yukimura seemed to notice that immediately.
"I doubt your anxiety is only because of the studying itself," he said. "This isn't an ordinary exam. Normally, the school prepares the questions. This time, another class is making them. That means the questions won't necessarily be standardized or predictable. There are too many unknown factors. That's exactly why studying properly is important."
Miyake seemed convinced by that explanation. Hasebe, however, still looked only half convinced, but that did make her feel a little relieved.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Ayanokouji said. "Class B will definitely try to make things difficult for us."
"Well, even if we can't predict every question, we can still guess who'll make them," Yukimura replied. "Personally, I think Kaneda will be responsible for it."
Ayanokouji remembered hearing that name before.
"He's that creepy glasses guy, right?" Hasebe asked.
"I wouldn't describe him like that," Yukimura replied immediately, "but yes. He's probably the best student in Class B."
Though it was still mostly speculation and more of a blind guess, assuming the class's top student would handle the question-making process was reasonable enough.
"But if Class C wants to mess with us, wouldn't Ryūen or Ishizaki make questions too?" Miyake asked.
"No way," Yukimura answered while shaking his head. "Without a solid understanding of the subject, they wouldn't be capable of making difficult questions. Take you two for example. If you tried creating advanced humanities questions right now, could you actually make something tricky?"
Miyake immediately fell silent.
"Exactly. At most, you'd come up with obvious questions straight from the textbook. Creating genuinely difficult or misleading problems requires understanding the material deeply. Even if someone copied the hardest section from the textbook, if the question itself wasn't structured properly, the school would probably reject it."
Yukimura's reasoning made sense.
Still, it wasn't enough to fully reassure anyone.
"In the end, the school decides which questions get approved, right?" Ayanokouji asked. "Then wouldn't it help if we understood where the acceptable line actually is?"
"True," Yukimura replied. "If we knew that, things would become much easier."
"So what if Class D intentionally submits several extreme questions that almost cross the line? Then we could see what gets accepted and what gets rejected. That should give us a clearer idea of the school's standards."
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Miyake admitted.
"You really are smart, Ayanokouji-kun," Hasebe added.
"We should probably prepare provisional questions as soon as possible," Yukimura muttered while thinking it over. "I can create some myself, but do you think Horikita and Hirata would cooperate too?"
Since Ayanokouji was the one who interacted with Horikita the most, it was natural for Yukimura to look toward him. Unfortunately, that didn't make it feel any less troublesome.
"I don't know. I was just throwing ideas around," Ayanokouji replied with a shrug.
"That won't work," Yukimura said immediately. "You're the only one here who can properly contact them."
Miyake and Hasebe nodded together in agreement.
"...Fine. I'll do what I can. Just don't expect too much."
In the end, he somehow ended up accepting another person request, again.
"Good," Hasebe said with a small smile, her earlier doubts about the study group seemingly gone now. "Well, I'm not in any clubs anyway, so I'm free. Let's decide future meetings based on Miyacchi's schedule."
Miyake looked at her with visible surprise.
"I honestly thought you were going to quit halfway through this, Hasebe. You usually avoid getting involved with groups like this."
"If it was only me getting expelled, I honestly wouldn't care that much," Hasebe replied casually. "But dragging you down with me would feel awful, Miyacchi. So I guess I actually need to study seriously this time."
"Well, that's enough for today. The next study session will be the day after tomorrow." Yukimura concluded while closing the notebook
With that, their first study session finally came to an end.
All things considered, it had been surprisingly productive.
『』『』『』『』『』
After the study sessions with Yukimura and the others finally ended for the day, Ayanokouji returned to the dorm and immediately contacted Horikita for instructions. He also told her about what Yukimura had just said.
"This is good. We'll definitely want to test the school," Horikita's voice came from the other side of the phone. "Hirata-kun and I are already making progress on creating questions to use against Class B, but I'd like to know just how far we can go. I'll make sure to fill you in. I'm glad things seem to be going well, but are we really sure that Kaneda-kun will be the one creating the questions for Class B?"
"There's no way to be sure," Ayanokouji replied. "But since it's you and Hirata who are trying to make the exam questions for our class, I think there's a decent chance he's doing the same thing over there."
The same logic could probably be applied to Class B as well. Still, considering their opponent was Ryuen, they couldn't afford to lower their guard.
"By the way, how did the study group go, if you don't mind me asking?" Horikita asked.
There wasn't really any reason for Ayanokouji to hide it, so he explained things to her, though he exaggerated a little here and there. He tried to make it sound as though he had managed to get along with everyone fairly well. Horikita, however, showed no interest in that part at all. What she cared about were Hasebe and Miyake's academic abilities.
"What about your side?"
Ayanokouji had only intended to make some small talk, but instead, a heavy sigh came through the phone.
"Honestly, I'm struggling with the sheer number of people I have to teach. Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun are especially problematic. They've improved significantly compared to the first semester, but their attention spans are still shorter than a kindergartener's."
It seemed that hiding the details about how the pairings were decided during the first week had worked better than expected. According to Horikita, Ike and Yamauchi's academic abilities had improved considerably because of it. Even so, by her standards, they were still far below average.
"Is it that bad?" Ayanokouji asked.
"I wouldn't say it's unbearable, but it's definitely exhausting."
Even through the phone, Ayanokouji could hear the fatigue in her voice.
Fortunately, Kushida had ended up taking Kumagawa off Horikita's hands, which was probably the best possible outcome for her study sessions.
"Oh, right. Speaking of study groups, what about Kushida?" Ayanokouji asked, changing the topic.
"What do you mean?"
"Has nothing changed with her?"
"Of course not. Aside from the fact that her role has become a little more limited, she still promised to help with the study sessions," Horikita answered.
That wasn't really what Ayanokouji had meant. Still, from Horikita's perspective, there probably wasn't much reason to worry yet. After all, this was only the first day of the study sessions. There hadn't been enough time for her to investigate anything further.
From Ayanokouji's point of view, though, this wasn't something they could simply sit back and ignore.
"Have you started creating the test questions?"
"Of course. Mine, Hirata-kun's, and Yukimura-kun's questions will serve as the foundation. I wanted more people to help, but the more classmates we involve, the greater the risk of the questions leaking to Class B."
Horikita was right.
The questions and answers were the core of Class D's defense. Even if they worked hard to study and prepare an attack, it would all become meaningless if Class B managed to break through that defense. Under no circumstances could they allow the questions to leak. They also had to consider the possibility of someone trying to gather information behind the scenes.
"It'd be difficult to completely rule out leaks if Kushida's involved... Wait, aren't both of you participating in the evening study sessions? I mean, it'd be hard for you to discuss things with Hirata otherwise."
"Not exactly," Horikita replied. "Because she's handling Kumagawa-kun, her role has become more limited, so she doesn't need to participate in the evening sessions as often. But because of that, her schedule is also more flexible since it depends on Kumagawa-kun's availability."
In other words, Kushida's role had become limited in a different sense. Since she was mainly tied to Kumagawa, there would naturally be times when she didn't have to tutor him, which gave her a bit more freedom compared to before.
"But as long as we don't involve her with the test questions, there shouldn't be a problem," Horikita added. "I'll keep things under control on my side with her. But that alone won't solve the issue, will it?"
"To be honest, I'm not that worried about the part where we create the questions. What worries me is what happens after we hand them over to the school. If you submit the final questions and answers to Chabashira-sensei the day before the exam, then they'll already be out there, ready to be stolen," Ayanokouji said, voicing his concern.
Kushida had used a similar method during the sports festival with the participation table. There was a good chance Ryuen would ask her to do something similar again.
"So the only option left is to talk things out with Kushida," Horikita said, as though she had already reached a conclusion.
"But what if she leaks the questions to Class B?" Ayanokouji asked.
"I... don't want to think about that."
"You have to. This concerns all of Class D. No matter how much we study or improve, if the other side gets perfect scores across the board, we have no chance of winning."Ayanokouji told her, plain and simple.
If Class B memorized all the answers beforehand, defeat would be inevitable.
"And there's something else too."
"There's more?" Horikita's voice already sounded exhausted from the other side of the phone.
Honestly, this exam really was full of disadvantages for Class D. Part of him thought it would be better if Horikita didn't know, but if he stayed silent now, it would probably only complicate things further later on.
"It's about Kumagawa. Apparently, he and Kushida are in a sort of mutual understanding. More importantly, Kumagawa are in the loop about what happened between you, Kushida, and Ryuen back at the sports festival."
The moment he said that, silence filled the call.
It seemed Horikita had been caught off guard by the information.
Now it wasn't just Kushida involved. Kumagawa was connected to the situation as well.
"...Is he a traitor too?" she asked quietly.
"I wouldn't go that far. As far as I know, he hasn't done anything directly related to interfering with what happened between you and Kushida back then. He just knows about it because of his relationship with Kushida."
Of course, even if that was true, Ayanokouji couldn't completely dismiss the possibility that Kumagawa might side with Kushida if things escalated. Especially after seeing how casually the two of them interacted on the rooftop previously.
"I see..." Horikita let out a sigh. "It's already past ten. Honestly, I need some time to organize my thoughts. Is it okay if we stop here for today?"
"Sure."
The moment he answered, the call ended.
Ayanokouji looked at his phone and noticed the battery was low, so he plugged it into the outlet beside his bed.
They were now facing another situation similar to the sports festival. Just like the participation table back then, the exam questions they created this time would become Class D's lifeline. Ryuen and Kushida would almost certainly move separately again.
Judging from Horikita's attitude, she was leaning more toward persuading Kushida rather than removing her as a problem altogether. It wasn't as though Ayanokouji disagreed with her reasoning. Horikita understood how useful Kushida was to the class.
But if Ayanokouji had to bring Kushida to his side, he would probably use threats the same way he had with Karuizawa. No—with Kushida, he might need to go even further. The problem was that he still didn't fully understand Kushida's past, and with her current personality, there was no guarantee she would break under pressure.
And then there was Kumagawa.
Compared to Kushida, Ayanokouji was honestly more wary of Kumagawa's actions. The problem was that he had absolutely no idea what Kumagawa might do, which made preparing countermeasures difficult.
"What should I do...?" Ayanokouji muttered.
Unfortunately, no answer came to mind.
Ding!
His phone suddenly lit up with a notification.
It was an email from Ryuen.
After the sports festival, Ayanokouji had gotten Ryuen's address through Manabe and the others before sending him a message first. Of course, there hadn't been any reply, until now.
What are you?
That was the entirety of the message.
"Another pointless email..."
Ayanokouji had no intention of replying. Besides, the account he used was a dummy one, so Ryuen wouldn't be able to trace him anyway. Ryuen should've already known that, which meant he was probably just toying with him.
Without replying, Ayanokouji decided to go to sleep.
『』『』『』『』『』
While Ayanokouji's study sessions went smoothly, another study session was taking place inside one of the student dorms.
It was a private study session.
And one could hardly call it productive.
『What's wrong, Kushida-chan? Isn't it a little too early to give up already? Where did your teaching spirit go?』
"....."
Sprawled across the floor, Kushida blankly stared at the dorm ceiling.
Slowly, another wave of dizziness began creeping into her head.
It wasn't the kind of vertigo people normally experienced. It was something different. Rather than physical dizziness, it felt more like her brain was beginning to reject reality itself. The growing disconnect gave her a pounding headache.
"How do I even say this... are you actually trying, or are you messing with me?"
『Huhu. Unfortunately, I don't have enough free time to mess with you. This is simply everything my academic ability has to offer. 』
"....."
Why are you saying that so proudly...? That was what Kushida wanted to say, but she no longer had the mental energy to even form a proper retort.
Honestly, it would have been easier if he had admitted he was joking. Because if this truly represented all of Kumagawa Misogi's academic ability, then he was already beyond saving.
On the table were several notebooks filled with answers so absurd that Kushida genuinely wondered whether they had been written by a proper human being.
No, perhaps "absurd" wasn't even the correct word anymore.
They somehow went beyond simply being wrong.
And she hadn't even reached the most difficult subject yet.
Math.
Yet despite that, she was already sprawled across the floor from sheer exhaustion and dizziness.
『All right. Then it's decided!』 Kumagawa suddenly rose from his chair, startling Kushida slightly.
"W-What is it?"
『In order to prevent your suffering from continuing any longer, let's move on to the final and hardest subject! 』
"If you really wanted to end my suffering, we should stop right now."
Before she realized it, a tsukkomi slipped out naturally.
At this point, rather than ending her suffering, he was only extending it further. Honestly, this entire study session felt like a massive risk to her own brain.
『No, no. We at least have to finish the session properly, right? People like us can't run away from challenges. Besides, you don't need to worry. This time, I'll use 200 percent of my brain capacity. So, Kushida-chan, please hand me the math textbook.』
"Haah..."
Even though she still didn't understand why he insisted on dragging this out, Kushida reluctantly nodded and grabbed the math book anyway. Considering he had somehow managed to reduce a perfectly healthy high school girl into this state, she at least wanted to see how terrible things could truly become.
『Thanks. Hmm... why don't we start with this one?』
While flipping through the pages, Kumagawa eventually stopped at page twenty-six.
"Percentage?"
Surprisingly, he had opened to an extremely basic section.
The concept itself wasn't particularly difficult. As long as someone understood multiplication, division, and decimal conversion properly, they should have been able to solve most of the questions without much trouble. Even though Kumagawa usually approached problems through bizarre leaps in logic, as long as he could handle basic arithmetic, teaching him shouldn't actually be that hard.
At least, that was what Kushida desperately hoped.
If he couldn't even solve this level of problem, then she genuinely planned to give up.
Taking the textbook from him, Kushida searched for a question simple enough that even Kumagawa could probably solve it without any complicated tricks involved.
And eventually, she found one.
To summarize the problem:
Due to a temporary revision in consumption tax policy, the tax applied to a certain product in Japan was first increased by 15%. However, shortly afterward, a special tax adjustment reduced the newly taxed amount by 16%. A government official then claimed that the final taxed price would naturally remain at exactly 100% of the original value because the increase and reduction would "basically cancel each other out." The multiple-choice question asked whether the final value after both changes would become 96.6%, 97%, 99%, or exactly 100% of the original price.
Basically, it was just a multiple-choice problem involving percentages.
The calculations themselves weren't especially difficult, but because it mixed percentage increases and decreases together, it was easy to get tricked into jumping toward the obvious-looking answer too quickly.
Still...
This should be manageable
Probably.
"Okay," Kushida said while pointing at the textbook. "First, let's look at the tax increase."
『Why? 』
"Huh...?"
Kushida tilted her head in utter confusion.
They had barely even started, yet he was already asking why.
『Let's ignore the actual calculation for now and look at the structure of the problem first. 』
As he spoke, Kumagawa Misogi tapped the worksheet lightly with the tip of his pencil.
It seemed he was referring to the order in which the students solved the equations, so Kushida gave a small nod.
『Like this. 』
Kumagawa-kun pointed at the problem statement again.
『The tax gets increased by 15% first, right? Then afterward, the newly taxed amount gets reduced by 16%. 』
"Um... yes. That's true. But is there something wrong with that?"
『You still don't get it? The answer is obviously exactly 100%.』
At that moment, Kushida felt a bad premonition creeping up her spine.
Well, she'd had a bad feeling from the very beginning, but now it was becoming stronger.
『Because the second percentage is larger than the first one. 』
"...What?"
『The tax only increased by 15%, but afterward it decreased by 16%, right? Since the reduction percentage is bigger, it should naturally erase the increase and return the value back to normal. Which means the answer should obviously be exactly 100%—Huh? What's wrong, Kushida-chan? 』
Kushida's expression had clearly darkened with disappointment, causing him to pause midway through his explanation.
『Or wait, maybe it becomes 99% instead? Since the reduction percentage is technically larger. Ahh, I see. So the problem is basically asking whether the decrease defeats the increase in the end. That was the strategy I was using to narrow down the answer choices. Was that no good? 』
Aah, what a pain.
Even after finally taking a step in the right direction, he somehow still managed to trip over something like this. At this point, rather than tutoring him, it felt more like she needed to dismantle every misunderstanding individually before rebuilding the explanation from scratch.
"Listen, Kumagawa-kun," she began. "If the problem could really be solved just by comparing which percentage was numerically larger, then there wouldn't even be any point calculating anything in the first place."
『...? 』
If it were Horikita, she probably would have explained this much more logically and cleanly. Though at the same time, Horikita likely would have given up long before reaching the final subject unlike Kushida, who had somehow managed to survive all the way to math.
Which meant, for better or worse, trying to appeal emotionally instead of logically was probably more effective here.
"Um, anyway. Let's go through the structure step by step, are you ready?"
『Not really. 』
"In this problem, the larger percentage doesn't automatically decide the final answer."
Kushida deliberately repeated the point.
Since it clearly wasn't reaching him at all, the only option left was to state it firmly first.
『Huh? But isn't the larger percentage obviously more influential? It should be obvious mathematically too, right? 』
"Please stop saying the word mathematically as if it's that simple... Anyway."
Scratch that.
At this point, it looked like she would have to explain everything properly after all. Appealing to emotions clearly wasn't going to work anymore.
"Let's say the original value starts at exactly 100. That part makes sense so far, right?"
If he somehow misunderstood even that, then she seriously intended to give up.
But Kumagawa simply replied:
『Well, let's go with that. 』
"..."
『What's wrong? Please continue, Kushida-sensei. 』
"....Now then. If the value increases by 15%, then the calculation becomes 100 multiplied by 1.15. That also makes sense, right?"
『Hmm... 』
Kumagawa placed his pencil down and started tracing numbers through the air with his fingers.
At first, Kushida had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Honestly, it was slightly unsettling to watch. But after staring for a few moments longer, she realized he was trying to calculate what happened after adding 15% onto 100.
…Huh?
Can he seriously not handle basic multiplication?
『Okay, that's fine. So it becomes 115. 』
"...Right."
Kushida was already beginning to doubt whether someone who struggled with such basic arithmetic could actually follow the logic she was trying to explain. Still, she had boarded this train fully aware it was heading toward disaster from the very beginning.
There was no point trying to get off now.
"After that, the 16% reduction gets applied to the new value of 115."
『Yes... that's right. 』
"But that means the second percentage isn't being applied to the original 100 anymore."
『Hey, hey, don't underestimate people, Kushida-chan. Subtracting percentages is still just basic arithmetic, right? If the decrease percentage is larger, then the final answer should naturally return to normal or drop below it. 』
"That's not the point..."
"That's not what I'm talking about..."
God...
So he really didn't understand.
Hadn't he already taken a step in the right direction earlier? Then why did it feel like he suddenly teleported all the way back to the beginning again?
How did this guy even pass the entrance exam for a school like this?
『Eh? Is there something wrong with that? 』
"Kumagawa-kun, Kumagawa-kun. Listen carefully. Forget the percentages themselves for a moment and focus on the value they're being applied to instead. The 15% increase gets applied to the original 100 first, right? But after the value changes to 115, the 16% reduction gets applied to that new number instead. You understand that much, right?"
『Hmm, I dunno. But the reduction percentage is still bigger, isn't it?』
"That's not the only thing that matters..."
『I see. So the increase changes the base value first, and then the reduction gets calculated using the new value afterward.』
Kumagawa started moving his fingers through the air again as if trying to physically organize the logic in front of him.
Kushida honestly wanted to believe he was only pretending to think this hard.
Because if this genuinely represented the full extent of his mathematical ability, then the situation was far beyond saving.
『So... if the original value is 100, then increasing it by 15% makes it 115 first... and after that, the 16% reduction gets calculated from 115 instead of the original 100...? Then... which one is larger again...? 』
"..."
She could have simply answered him directly.
But a good teacher was supposed to properly guide a student through the learning process. Not that becoming a teacher had ever been her dream in the first place. Especially not for a student like this.
『Oho. So you're saying the answer only looks obvious at first glance. No wonder your reaction earlier was so weak. 』
"No, no... It's true that if you only compare the percentages themselves, then the reduction does look stronger. But you can't judge the entire calculation while ignoring the value those percentages are being applied to, right? Think a little more. Just a little."
『Huh? 』
It genuinely didn't seem like he had any intention of thinking.
"Look here, Kumagawa-kun. The first percentage changes the original value itself. After that happens, the second percentage isn't interacting with the original 100 anymore. It's interacting with the already modified number. That's the structure, right?"
Maybe this should have already been obvious. Maybe she shouldn't have needed to explain it this carefully. But then again, if she skipped even the obvious parts, there was a very real possibility that absolutely nothing would get through to him.
『Ah, yes. But what's your point? 』
"The reduction only looks overwhelmingly advantageous if you pretend the base value never changed. But once the increase happens first, the entire calculation changes with it. So it's not as simple as saying the larger percentage automatically decides the answer."
『So you're saying...? 』
"..."
Could he stop saying "so you're saying" and actually think for himself for once?
"The condition for the reduction overwhelming the increase is that both percentages affect the exact same value. But that never actually happens here, because the first calculation already changes the number before the second one even starts."
『I guess? So that means...? 』
"So... earlier, you said the answer should obviously become exactly 100%, right?"
『Wasn't that true? 』
"It only looks true if you completely ignore the changing base values! Were you even listening to my explanation?"
Hadn't she already established from the very beginning that the entire trick of the problem was hidden inside the structure of the calculation itself? Why was he so stubborn about reducing everything down to whichever percentage happened to be numerically larger?
Seriously, what part of the problem was he even looking at anymore?
At this point, Kushida was half convinced he had to be doing this intentionally just to mess with her.
『I see! In that case, the one holding the real advantage isn't the increase or the reduction percentage after all. 』
Hearing that, Kushida's eyes immediately brightened.
『It's the government! 』
"WRONG!!" Kushida slammed both hands onto the table.
Where the hell had the government suddenly come from?
Well, technically the problem did mention tax policy, but that obviously wasn't the point!
『Huh? Was I wrong? 』
"Why are you turning this into a political discussion halfway through a math problem?! The focus here is supposed to be the numbers!"
『But the government was the one changing the percentages, wasn't it? 』
"That's not what the question is asking! The point is that the increase and reduction are tied together as part of the same calculation structure! That's literally how the problem was designed!"
Seriously, how did his brain even work?
"In other words, the 15% increase gets applied first, which changes the original 100 into 115. After that, the 16% reduction gets calculated using 115 instead of the original value—and that's how the final percentage gets determined."
This was the critical point.
If Kumagawa failed to understand this, then teaching him was probably impossible. Though honestly, Kushida had already started losing interest in whether he understood or not.
Kumagawa closed his eyes for a moment before speaking.
『I understand, 』 he said. 『So basically, instead of simply comparing the percentages themselves, the real issue is that the second calculation gets bundled together with the new value created by the first calculation, right? 』
"…Yes…?"
Fortunately, it seemed like he'd finally grasped what she been trying to explain. Although the word "bundled" still bothered her a little.
Kumagawa began moving his fingers through the air again.
『So we add the 15% increase and the 16% reduction together—let's see... 15 plus 16 becomes 31, and if we attach that to the original 100%, then the final value should be 131% of the original! 』
131 percent.
Why would the value increase more after a reduction was applied? Was this supposed to be some kind of emergency consumption tax hike? Had inflation finally destroyed mathematics itself?
"That's not even remotely how percentages work..." Kushida muttered while pressing a hand against her forehead.
『Hm? 』
"You don't combine the percentages together and stick them onto the original value! The 16% reduction happens after the number already became 115, remember? These calculations are supposed to happen step by step, not get fused into one giant percentage."
『Oh, is that so. 』
He didn't seem particularly surprised, nor did he seem interested in reflecting upon this new information. He really wasn't a student worth teaching.
『Then if we actually calculate it properly... 』
Kumagawa tilted his head slightly while staring at the notebook.
『Huh. 』
"Did you finally get it?"
『No, why did it suddenly transform into decimals halfway through? 』
"...Of course it did."
Even if the percentages themselves were clean whole numbers, percentages still represented fractions underneath. Once the problem reached the point of calculating 16% of 115, the answer naturally stopped dividing evenly. Sixteen percent was simply another way of writing 16 out of 100, or 0.16 as a decimal. And multiplying 115 by 0.16 inevitably produced 18.4 instead of a clean whole number.
『Then in the end... the value becomes approximately 96.6% of the original instead of returning exactly to 100%. 』
"It took you long enough to reach that conclusion, but yes."
Technically, this was supposed to be a simple percentage problem.Anyone who had properly attended middle school math classes should have been able to solve it in under a minute. And yet, despite supposedly being a basic tax calculation question, absolutely nothing about this discussion felt like solving percentages anymore.
The real difficulty wasn't the arithmetic itself. It was the structure hidden behind the problem that made it tricky. Honestly, it felt less like a math question and more like a psychological trap disguised as one.
But wasn't it supposed to be obvious?
Then why was explaining things to him this difficult?
Kushida stared blankly at the notebook for a moment before quietly letting out a tired sigh as she sprawled across the floor again.
『Ahh... I see now. 』
Kumagawa lightly tapped the notebook with his pencil.
『The problem wasn't really asking whether the value returns to 100%. It was asking whether people would get tricked into assuming percentages naturally cancel each other out. 』
"It's not exactly correct, but... that's closer."
『So the equation itself was basically decoration? 』
"They aren't decorations. You still have to actually calculate them if you want the points, you know? But yes—recognizing the trick is the real hurdle."
『How mean. 』
"What's mean about it?"
『Putting a psychology question inside a math problem. That's practically fraud, isn't it? 』
"No, that's just how exam questions work sometimes. It's called a trick question."
And honestly, it wasn't even a particularly difficult one.
The answer became fairly obvious if someone simply stopped and carefully looked at how the percentages were actually being applied.
『Then humanity truly is evil. 』
"You're saying that over a first-year math problem?"
『Great civilizations have collapsed over less, Kushida-chan. 』
"...."
Kushida definitely wanted to retort.
The problem was that she didn't know enough about history to confidently deny what he had just said. If she argued carelessly and turned out to be wrong, then she'd only end up embarrassing herself instead.
Though humanity repeatedly failing to learn from the past did sound somewhat believable. So maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt.
Still...
At the very least, he had finally reached the correct conclusion.
Even if the process nearly destroyed her mentally along the way.
『』『』『』『』『』
Following the disastrous study session with Kumagawa yesterday, Kushida decided to spend today in the library. Despite the late hour, the library remained packed with students rather than emptying out as people headed back to their dorms.
『By the way, Kushida-chan, what kind of objective do you have in mind by bringing me to this dreadful place? 』
"What do you mean, dreadful place? This is a library. A place of knowledge. There's nothing dreary about it." Kushida glanced at Kumagawa for a moment before returning her attention to the book in front of her.
The two of them were currently sitting in one of the library's more secluded corners.
Even though the place was crowded with students, the library itself was massive. Large enough that it was still possible to find a quiet corner hidden away from everyone else.
『For an academic failure like me, this place is nothing short of dreadful. 』
"Then maybe I thought you could absorb some kind of knowledge just by being here in some bizarre way."
『Hahaha. If it were that convenient, I would've built my home inside a library a long time ago. 』
Honestly, Kushida wished things really were that convenient.
『But didn't you say you'd given up on me? Is this a sudden change of heart?』
"I'm conflicted, you see. Trying and failing would hurt my pride more than not trying and failing, but not trying and failing is something I hate even more than trying and failing."
It was similar to the kind of thing Kumagawa had talked about before, but this time the context was different. She was conflicted over whether she should even bother teaching him at all. By her standards, Kumagawa Misogi was someone completely beyond saving when it came to academics.
『So... which is it? 』
"That's why I said I'm conflicted. Were you even listening to what I said?"
What a selfish boy—no, more accurately, a self-serving one.
『Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you really the type to enjoy studying alone in the library? That doesn't sound very like you, Kushida-chan. 』
At first, Kushida wanted to rebuke him over the way he described her being in the library, especially considering what kind of place a library was supposed to be, but she eventually realized what he actually meant.
This was probably why it was better to let people finish their sentences first.
"Horikita-san's study session is being held in the library today, so I decided to join for a while with my study group. You could call it a joint study session."
Horikita's evening study sessions were going to be held here.
Originally, Kushida's role was to move flexibly between study groups and help tutor students wherever she was needed, but ever since she started tutoring Kumagawa, she had been partially relieved of that duty and was instead supposed to focus mainly on him. Even so, right now she wanted to stay away from Kumagawa. Or rather, stay away from that horrifying excuse for a study session she had experienced before.
There were also other reasons, ones far more important. Still, escaping from tutoring Kumagawa for a while was honestly her top priority at the moment. Besides, maybe she could learn something by watching how Horikita handled tutoring sessions.
『So you brought me here just to kill time? 』
"It's more accurate to say I brought you here to waste your time, but you can think of it that way if you wan—"
"Huh, Kumagawa-kun?"
Hearing a voice that belonged to neither Kushida nor Kumagawa, the two turned toward the source.
Standing there was a cute girl quietly hugging a book against her chest with both hands.
『Hiyori-chan? 』
Kushida glanced at Kumagawa for a moment before looking back at the girl.
She knew who Hiyori was, though they had never directly interacted before.
Shiina Hiyori
As far as Kushida knew, she was a quiet and shy girl from Class C, someone smart and obsessed with books. In a class filled with Ryuen's rough group, Hiyori stood out like a delicate flower among wild beasts. It was hard not to notice her existence.
And apparently, Kumagawa already knew her.
Well, he had mentioned before that he met a cute girl who liked reading and spent most of her time in the library, so Kushida assumed it must've been her.
The moment Hiyori noticed Kumagawa, her expression stiffened slightly as if she were about to turn around and leave.
But—
『Come here, Hiyori-chan! 』
Standing up from his seat, Kumagawa immediately approached her.
『I've been waiting for you. 』
"Waiting... for me?"
『Yes. Though I'm lying, of course. 』
With this swindler-like pronouncement, Kumagawa grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her back toward the table.
Well, "dragging" might've been inaccurate. Hiyori herself had frozen in place as though silently resisting the invitation.
『What's wrong? Come on. 』
"Ryuen-kun told me that if I ever saw you, I should run away without saying a word."
『Ah, so that's why you tried to escape. What a kind classmate you have. Though I'd say it was pretty unkind of him not to tell you what to do if you failed to get away. The lesson here is that some things can't be solved just by running away. 』
"....."
Unable to find any flaw in that strange logic, Hiyori reluctantly allowed herself to be led back to the table. Though his actions were forceful, Kumagawa himself was surprisingly gentle as he made her sit down.
"Umm, Hiyori-san, was it? I'm sorry about his behavior." Kushida clapped her hands together lightly and showed an apologetic smile.
"A-ah, you don't need to apologize. Rather, I should be the one apologizing. I interrupted your studies, didn't I?"
『Ahaha, nonsense. You're not disturbing our studies. We weren't even studying in the first place. A library isn't necessarily a place for that. 』Kumagawa answered her
"Eh? But isn't a library supposed to be a place to study?" Hiyori tilted her head slightly.
『No, no. A library is a place to read books and acquire knowledge. That doesn't necessarily mean studying.』
"Isn't that basically the same thing?"
Hiyori honestly couldn't tell what difference he was trying to point out, so she simply voiced her thoughts directly. Which, strangely enough, worked quite well whenever Kumagawa started talking in vague and incomprehensible ways.
『Studying means acquiring knowledge, but acquiring knowledge doesn't necessarily mean studying. There's a distinction between the two. Like me reading manga in the library right now. I'm technically acquiring knowledge, but that doesn't mean I'm studying, right? 』
Kumagawa lifted up the Shounen Jump magazine in his hand.
"....."
Honestly, it just sounded like he was trying to justify reading manga instead of studying.
And yet, strangely enough, Kushida could vaguely understand the logic behind it. Of course, understanding it didn't mean she agreed with it.
"You don't need to accept everything he says at face value, Hiyori-san. Honestly, you could just ignore him completely," Kushida said as she joined the conversation. "Ah, right. This is our first time meeting properly, isn't it? My name is Kushida Kikyou."
With a friendly smile, Kushida reached out her hand.
"Ah, I know about you, Kushida-san."
Hiyori hurriedly accepted the handshake.
"My name is Shiina Hiyori. Nice to meet you."
For Hiyori, this was probably the first time she had ever spoken to Kushida directly, and maybe even the first time she had seen her face up close. Still, she knew of her. Many people around her often talked about Kushida, so naturally Hiyori had heard her name before.
"Umm... once again, I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I just wanted to grab a book from that shelf over there, so..." Hiyori pointed toward the bookshelf located behind their table.
"Ah, it's really fine, Hiyori-san. You didn't disturb us at all."
Even after hearing that, however, Hiyori still looked oddly apologetic. Kushida couldn't tell whether she genuinely felt guilty for interrupting them or if there was another reason behind that expression.
In a way, she was a rather strange girl.
"By the way, I heard from Kumagawa-kun that you really like books. Is that true?"
The moment Kushida asked that, Hiyori's previously gloomy expression instantly brightened.
"Kushida-san, do you also like reading books? What kind of books do you usually read? Is there a genre you prefer? Personally, I like all kinds of books, but I especially enjoy mystery novels. Things like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie or The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne. I also really liked The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett—"
One after another, Hiyori enthusiastically started listing books she had read and enjoyed.
Rather than strange, maybe "eccentric" suited her personality better.
Then, as though she had finally realized she had been rambling nonstop by herself, Hiyori's bright expression immediately darkened again. Honestly, the speed of her mood swings felt oddly similar to Kumagawa's in a way.
Though unlike Hiyori, Kumagawa's behavior was usually just unpleasant.
"I-I'm sorry. I started rambling again, didn't I? I don't really have many friends who enjoy reading books, so it gets lonely sometimes. Usually only Kumagawa-kun spends time reading with me in the library, so when you mentioned books, I got a little carried away. I apologize."
She lowered her head slightly.
"Hmm? Kumagawa-kun reading books?" Kushida looked genuinely confused.
Since when did that happen?
Out of his own free will, he actually read something besides manga?
"Ah, even though I said books, he mostly reads Shounen Jump. Other than that, sometimes light novels too. There's a light novel section in the library, after all," Hiyori clarified.
Hearing that, Kushida quietly let out a sigh of relief.
For a moment there, she had honestly felt slightly betrayed.
"By the way, what are you reading, Kushida-san? From the cover, it doesn't look like an academic book, so I assumed you weren't studying."
How observant.
Kushida turned the book around slightly so Hiyori could see the cover, "It's just some philosophy book I found by chance. I got curious about it."
The book she was currently reading was 'Han Feizi' by Han Fei.
It was filled with all kinds of philosophies, from conventional ideas to more immoral and amoral ones. The content itself was surprisingly diverse, which naturally piqued Kushida's curiosity.
"So you like reading philosophy books?"
Hearing that question, Kushida hesitated for a brief moment before finally answering.
"...Yes."
In reality, she didn't particularly enjoy philosophy books at all. If anything, she preferred reading Shoujo manga far more.
But there was no way she could admit that to Hiyori.
There was absolutely no way she could admit that she had lied about finding the book by chance, and that she had specifically searched for it in the library. The real reason she even bothered picking up this kind of book in the first place was because she wanted to fill her head with unconventional knowledge in hopes of someday winning an argument against Kumagawa.
Conventional logic simply didn't work against him.
That was why she decided to approach things from a different angle this time, specifically Chinese philosophy. Those books were full of obscure sayings and strange logic, so maybe they could somehow become useful against him.
Still, it was true that she had gradually become curious about it herself.
『By the way, Hiyori-chan, does Ryuen-chan happen to have some kind of study group for Class B? 』
Kumagawa, who had mostly been listening to their conversation until now, suddenly changed the topic as he joined back in.
"We do have study sessions. I mean, doesn't every class have something like that right now?"
With the exam approaching, it was only natural that every first-year class had organized study groups to prepare, especially since this exam directly involved competition between classes.
『In that case, where do you usually hold your study sessions? 』
"Uhh..."
Hiyori hesitated.
Even though she didn't care much about class competition and mostly stayed focused on her own little world, that didn't mean she was dumb enough not to realize Kumagawa was trying to get information about Class B from her.
At the end of the day, she was still a Class B student, and the person sitting in front of her was Kumagawa. Naturally, she became cautious.
『Ah, did that make you wary? Don't worry, Hiyori-chan. It's not like I'm trying to probe Class B or anything. But if that's the case, then maybe I should change the question a little? 』
Hiyori nodded slightly.
『Instead of asking where your study sessions are held, can I ask where Ryuen-chan usually spends time with his friends? 』
"What's the difference between those two?"
Even if the wording was different, it still sounded suspiciously close to probing for information.
『I just want to talk with Ryuen-chan, that's all. For some reason, he's been avoiding me ever since what happened in class. Well, whatever. I just want to ask him something. 』As he said that, Kumagawa briefly glanced toward Kushida instead of Hiyori.
Of course, Kushida noticed it.
It was hard not to when his gaze carried that rotten sort of meaning behind it. Their eyes met for only a brief moment before Kushida calmly lowered her gaze back to her book in the most natural way possible.
She could more or less guess what he intended to do, but nothing had been decided yet, so she didn't think too deeply about it.
"Can I ask Ryuen-san first? He did tell me I should be careful around you, but at the same time, I don't think it's a big deal to say where he usually spends his time. Still, I'd rather confirm with him first, just in case."
『Sure! 』
Hiyori then took out her phone and sent Ryuen a message and the reply came surprisingly fast.
Do whatever you want.
Seeing that there wasn't a problem, Hiyori finally answered Kumagawa's question.
"Do you know the karaoke place in Keyaki Mall? Ryuen-san and his group usually go there after school whenever they want to discuss something, so you can probably find him there."
Hiyori herself had occasionally been invited to some of those meetings before, but most of the time she declined. Places like that made her uncomfortable, and she didn't have much interest in class competition to begin with. Ryuen eventually noticed that and mostly stopped inviting her afterward.
Though from time to time, he still asked for her opinions or observations regarding certain things, knowing how perceptive she could be. Unless it clashed with her personal principles, she usually answered honestly.
『Eh? Since when did this school have a karaoke place? How impressive... Did you know about this, Kushida-chan? 』 Kumagawa turned toward Kushida with a genuinely questioning look.
"I'm more surprised that you didn't know about it..."
It was supposed to be common knowledge.
But apparently, what was common for most people often became uncommon for Kumagawa. Kushida had already learned that firsthand after tutoring him yesterday.
"By the way, Kumagawa-kun, Kushida-san, while I certainly want to continue talking with both of you about books, I need to leave now. I still have things I need to take care of. Goodbye."
With that, Hiyori grabbed two or three books from the shelf and quietly left.
In the first place, Hiyori had only come here to pick up books from the shelf behind their table for Class B's study sessions, but there was no reason to mention that to students from another class. After all, she held a fairly important role this time around.
After confirming that Hiyori was no longer nearby, Kushida slowly closed the book in her hands and turned her gaze toward Kumagawa.
"What exactly are you planning to do with Ryuen-kun?" Kushida asked directly without bothering to dance around the topic.
『I just wanted to know where he was, that's all. We're still in the early stages of the exam, so even if we plan on cooperating with Ryuen-chan, there's not much we can actually do yet. 』
"Hmm, that's unusual. You cooperating with Ryuen-kun."
『Ahaha, weren't you the one who wanted to cooperate with Ryuen-chan in the first place? I'm your partner in this situation, so I can more or less guess what you're trying to do.』
"....."
More or less, he said.
Even though what existed between them was only a verbal promise rather than any kind of binding agreement, Kushida still thought she should at least take it as proof that Kumagawa genuinely had some interest in her situation.
"Is that so... Anyway, I should get going too. Horikita-san and the others are probably already somewhere in the library by now. You don't need to come with me."
『I'm not planning to. Frankly, just being here is already dreary enough for someone like me, so I should probably leave too. Bye-bye, Kushida-chan. 』
And with that, their conversation came to an end.
『』『』『』『』『』
After leaving Kumagawa behind, Kushida headed toward the promised gathering place. As expected, everyone was already there and in the middle of preparing for the study session.
Since this was a joint study session led by Horikita, people like Ike and Yamauchi were naturally present as well. Honestly, compared to before, they didn't bother Kushida nearly as much anymore. After dealing with Kumagawa, the two of them felt surprisingly tame in comparison.
That didn't make them any less uncomfortable to be around, though.
Of course, she didn't show any of that on her face.
There was also Satou Maya, who for some reason had joined their study session despite supposedly belonging to Hirata's group along with several other girls. Still, Kushida could more or less guess the reason why she was here, especially considering how closely she was sitting next to Ayanokouji.
Even though Ayanokouji gave off a somewhat monotonous and unapproachable atmosphere, Satou still stayed beside him without hesitation.
Honestly, it felt like a wasted opportunity that Ayanokouji and Satou hadn't ended up paired together for the exam. Kushida genuinely wanted to see what kind of reaction he would make, even if it would probably just be another deadpan expression.
"Woah, it's Kushida-chan!"
The moment Kushida appeared, Ike and Yamauchi, who had been relatively quiet until now, immediately lit up with excitement.
"Ike-kun, I warned you already, didn't I? Don't cause a commotion unless you want to get kicked out of the library." Horikita grabbed Ike by the arm. He instantly stiffened in fear, like a frog caught in a snake's stare.
Kushida only gave a casual wave before slowly approaching the group.
As she got closer, however, she noticed an unexpected yet familiar face sitting among the Class D students.
"Ichinose-san? What are you doing here?" Kushida asked in surprise.
Ichinose waved cheerfully, inviting her over.
Around her sat eight other students from Class A, four boys and four girls. Including Ichinose herself, there were nine people total.
"Horikita-san came to talk with me yesterday and suggested setting up a joint study group," Ichinose explained. "Since our classes aren't facing each other in this exam, there's no reason for us to act like rivals. I thought it'd be a win-win situation if we pooled our knowledge together and helped everyone pass safely."
"I see... so that's how it is."
Honestly, it was a very Ichinose-like decision.
Rather than trying to use the exam to crush another class, she naturally chose cooperation first. Kushida could already imagine Horikita having mixed feelings while speaking with her yesterday.
Compared to the tense atmosphere during the sports festival, the current mood felt strangely peaceful.
"Okay, enough chatting," Horikita said while clapping her hands once. "We'll start dividing into smaller groups now based on academic ability. Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, you're with me."
"Huhhh?! Again?!"
"Don't complain. You two are the biggest source of anxiety here."
Ignoring their noisy reactions, Horikita immediately started organizing everyone.
It was time for another study session.
『END』
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Here you go peasants, another chapter.
Anyway, that's it for today's chapter.
Hope you enjoyed it.
[Thanks for reading!]