Change

On the other side of the classroom, Horikita Suzune took it all in.

Her slender fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the mechanical pencil she held, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Failing an exam meant expulsion.

For Class D, whose class points were already walking on thin ice, this consequence was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

She couldn't predict how much the expulsion of someone from the class would affect their ascent to Class A, nor did she dare to take such a risk.

"I can't just let this go..." The thought circled in her mind.

She wanted to do something, like tutoring Sudo and the others privately in the library.

But as soon as the thought arose, the cold reality poured down on her. How could she speak to them? What reason could she give?

She couldn't even strike up a conversation with them naturally.

Horikita annoyedly realized that her social network within the class was almost blank; she was as isolated as an invisible person.

The only avenue she could think of was to ask Hirata for assistance.

But Hirata's recent invitation had already hit a wall.

Ike and Yamauchi hesitated because Sudo didn't respond, and Sudo himself showed naked resistance towards Hirata.

Hirata's influence clearly wouldn't work on these three.

Another name surfaced in Horikita's mind—Kushida Kikyo.

The girl who always had a sweet smile and was extremely popular. If Kushida were to extend an invitation, the Idiot Trio might actually buy it.

But this idea made Horikita's brow furrow even tighter.

An indescribable intuition, or rather, a subtle sense of discrepancy accumulated from multiple observations, made her deeply distrust what was hidden beneath Kushida's perfect facade.

Asking Kushida? This option made her instinctively repel.

"Is this all you've got?" Horikita silently questioned herself, a trace of unwillingness entwining her heart like a tiny vine.

She understood that she saw the problem but couldn't find a way to solve it.

Change required an opportunity, a driving force, and she was currently like someone trapped in an invisible glass dome, able to see the predicament outside but unable to find the hammer to break it, nor possessing the courage to reach out and touch it.

This sense of powerlessness weighed heavily on her heart.

She clearly realized that, at this moment, she truly couldn't do it.

That evening, near the student dormitory.

The alley was narrow, and the moonlight was largely blocked by the high walls.

Horikita Suzune's footsteps stopped.

The figure in the shadows turned around, his lenses reflecting the moonlight.

"Suzune, you really followed me here."

"I am no longer the waste you remember," she said, clutching the hem of her school uniform. "I came to chase after you."

"Chase after me?" Horikita Manabu took a step forward. "Being assigned to Class D and saying such things. You're only focused on me and can't even see your own problems."

His tone turned cold. "Choosing this school was your biggest mistake."

"I will ascend to Class A! Soon—"

"Impossible." Horikita Manabu interrupted her, grabbed her wrist, twisted it, and pushed her against the concrete wall.

The dull thud of her spine hitting the wall mingled with her pained gasp.

"Class D is shamed because of you, and I am shamed because of you," he said, gripping her jaw and forcing her to look up, his eyes stern. "Withdraw immediately. Don't make me say it a second time."

A sense of suffocation washed over her, and Suzune's vision darkened, but she still managed to force out, "I... I won't withdraw!"

"Stubborn!" Anger flashed in Horikita Manabu's eyes, and he swung his other hand fiercely.

His fist whistled through the air but veered sharply at the last inch, striking the wall heavily beside her ear.

The dull impact echoed in the confined space, making her eardrums buzz.

A few tiny particles of wall plaster rained down, settling on her pale cheek.

"See how weak you are, Suzune," Horikita Manabu said in a low voice. "Your so-called 'chasing' is merely using my goal to mask your weakness. You don't even dare to admit the reality of Class D, so how can you talk about Class A?"

Horikita Suzune slid down the wall to the ground.

Her neck hurt, but what hurt more was her chest.

It felt as if what supported her had been torn apart by her older brother's words.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, her brother's words echoed in her mind—

He wasn't denying her abilities but completely exposing her deepest evasion.

For years, her entire life had been tied to "chasing Horikita Manabu," and she had never considered what "Horikita Suzune" should do.

This obsession had become her excuse to escape herself.

Perhaps, Older Brother's reason for shame regarding Class D had another cause.

Older Brother forcing her expulsion was his belief that she couldn't survive and succeed here, wanting her to end it all before experiencing greater failure.

The dull ache in her shoulder persisted, but the pressure in her throat made her exceptionally clear-headed.

The physical pain finally made her understand something.

Her aloofness was merely shutting herself off;

Relying on her own strength alone would ultimately make her struggle in this school.

She touched the sore spot on the side of her neck and suddenly let out a low laugh.

"You were right, Older Brother..." she tilted her head up, "I've always used chasing you... to avoid seeing myself clearly."

She took a breath, pushed hard against the wall behind her, and shakily stood up.

Her skirt hem was dusty and stirred by the wind.

"From today on," she said, unusually clearly, though she had no audience, "what I want to surpass is the 'Horikita Suzune' of this moment."

Back in the dorm, Horikita Suzune sat on the floor, leaning against the door.

She took out her phone, the screen light a bit harsh.

Her contacts list showed the name "Kushida Kikyo."

She had gotten it from a Class D student she met in the hallway.

Her own tone had been stiff, yet the other person had generously given it to her.

The feeling of repulsion towards Kushida from earlier that day still lingered.

But Older Brother's words and the glaring zero points of Class D Reality had become immense obstacles, completely blocking her retreat.

That intense sense of humiliation finally crushed her last bit of stubbornness.