For some reason—
This morning's sunlight felt especially harsh.
The light slipping through the gap in the curtains landed directly on her eyes, forcing Sakayanagi Arisu to squint.
In her hands—
The familiar diary lay open.
Yes.
After casually flipping through it last night and falling asleep, she finally got to read the seamlessly continued entry written at midnight.
At first, her brows relaxed slightly.
But soon after—
They furrowed again.
Not because of the sunlight.
But because of what she read.
"The chairman's influence"…?
Father is not that kind of person.
The moment she saw that speculation, she wanted to refute it outright.
But as she suppressed that impulse and kept reading—
She began to waver.
If—just if—everything written in the diary was true, and Ichinose Honami truly had no flaws…
Then there really was no reason for her to be placed in Class B instead of A.
…From that perspective, the diary's guess was logical.
If she didn't know her father's character so well—
With the same information, she might've come to the same conclusion.
She didn't want to admit it.
But—
No. It's still too early to be certain.
She barely knew Ichinose.
They hadn't even met properly.
Believing she was "perfect" based on one-sided information was irrational.
There had to be a flaw—
Something only the school knew.
And then—
Her gaze dropped further.
"Information currently available for disclosure."
Single-parent household.
Not an only child.
Subtle hints hidden in the wording.
This wasn't random.
This was a clue.
A missing father figure often led to psychological issues.
And in non-only-child households—
Imbalance in treatment could occur.
Stack those together—
There was no way Ichinose was completely fine inside.
"Excessive self-suppression… is it?"
She murmured, fingers brushing the page.
Yes. That had to be it.
Even if the diary didn't say it outright—
It was clearly implying that beneath Ichinose's perfect exterior lay suppressed emotions.
Perhaps that was why she wasn't placed in Class A.
—No.
It wasn't Father who assigned the classes.
She almost got misled.
With a soft huff, Sakayanagi closed the diary and picked up her cane.
Either way—
She needed to meet Ichinose in person.
That would reveal the truth.
...
"Mm…"
Headache.
Horikita Suzune hadn't slept well.
Not because of the "everyone to zero points" strategy.
Not because of analyzing the diary and sending it to Kushida.
She simply—
Didn't sleep well.
July was approaching.
Final exams were coming.
And she felt… uneasy.
Academics had always been her strength.
It was through relentless effort that she achieved her scores—
And mistakenly believed she had caught up to her brother.
But recently—
She had reduced her study time.
Trying to find other strengths.
She found nothing.
No new talents.
No new friends—aside from Kushida Kikyo.
And her grades—
Were slipping.
Midterms had been fine.
But now, after more than a month—
She was starting to struggle.
Not enough to fall to Yamauchi's level—
But staying at the top?
That was getting harder.
That was what worried her.
Should she let her grades drop—
Or fight desperately to maintain them?
It wasn't an easy choice.
To truly grow, she had to abandon her old habit of obsessing over academics.
But if she lost even that—
Her last source of pride—
How would she face her brother?
"…."
"Flip—"
The sound of turning pages interrupted her thoughts.
The diary updated?
So early?
Surprised, she sat at her desk and opened it.
She read the entry—
Then the message that triggered it.
"…."
She fell into thought.
She had always cared about why she was placed in Class D.
Yes, she had flaws.
Yes, her social skills were lacking.
But her academic ability should've compensated.
…Anything but Class D.
Yet—
It was D.
But now—
It didn't matter.
Even someone like Ichinose wasn't placed in A.
Then her own placement wasn't strange at all.
If she had a chairman father like Sakayanagi—
She'd be in Class A too.
So—
There was no point dwelling on it.
Class placement wouldn't change.
What mattered was now.
She would go to class.
And until she found her path—
She would protect her grades.
Her last shield.
...
Meanwhile—
After finishing his entry, Asakusa Toru didn't hear the evaluation notification.
After waiting a bit—
He gave up and went to sleep.
The next morning—
The system finally responded.
[Evaluation: C]
[Reward: 'Gender-Swap Filter']
A simple lens appeared in his hand.
He closed his eyes and watched the demo.
Then understood instantly.
A filter that turned all men into cute girls.
…Visually, at least.
Reality unchanged.
A purely cosmetic effect.
"…"
Useful? Extremely.
Useless? Also yes.
But—
The moment he imagined Ryuuen and Ayanokōji as girls—
"Yeah… this is amazing."
He grinned.
...
Time passed.
July arrived.
No special exams.
No regular exams.
Only monthly points.
Upper classes spent freely.
Class D—
Struggled with their tiny allowance.
Unless—
They passed finals.
"Pass, and I'll take you on a vacation."
Chabashira Sae had said.
And then added—
"A dreamlike life on an island surrounded by blue seas."
In that instant—
Horikita realized.
This wasn't a vacation.
It was the next special exam.
An island…
Survival?
Her mind sharpened.
She found direction.
Train her body.
She messaged Kushida.
...
"An island survival exam, probably."
Kushida relayed the message to Asakusa.
"Vacation, huh?" he raised a brow.
"More or less."
After a pause, Kushida smirked.
"Figures. That teacher…"
Other classes knew earlier.
Only D was told now.
If someone like Sakayanagi—
She'd already be preparing.
"So?"
"I'm going to train with Airi. And Horikita."
"Good idea."
He nodded.
Sakura's stamina was terrible.
That wouldn't work on an island.
"Want me to join?"
Kushida shook her head.
"…No."
Tempting, but—
Too troublesome.
Too distracting.
And most importantly—
Training might turn into… something else.
So—
Firm decision.
"No."
Then—
With a faint smile.
She delivered her long-awaited payback.
"These days—"
"You can just handle it yourself."
A perfect return.
After all—
Someone once said:
"Then do it yourself."
Now—
She said it back.
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