About half a month of school had passed. The students in the class had gotten to know one another, and various little cliques had formed.
Ayanokoji sometimes teamed up with Konoe. He also enjoyed chatting with a group of boys known as the Idiot Trio: Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo.
"Could I borrow a moment of your time, Konoe?" Ayanokoji gestured for Konoe to join him outside the classroom.
"What's up, Ayanokoji?"
Konoe followed Ayanokoji out of the classroom. Kushida was waiting outside.
Ayanokoji explained what he wanted to do.
In short, Horikita Suzune often spent time by herself and didn't have any friends. Hirata had approached Ayanokoji, who often spoke with Horikita, and asked him to help her get along a little better with her classmates. It seemed some of the girls were already bothered by Horikita's cold attitude.
Although it was Horikita's choice, Hirata was concerned that things might lead to bullying if they continued this way. Hearing the reason, Konoe knew he couldn't get out of it. After all, he still owed Hirata a favor.
As it happened, Kushida wanted to be friends with Horikita, too. She'd already been rejected by Horikita several times and told that Horikita found her annoying, but she still hadn't given up. So she'd approached Ayanokoji, who often spoke with Horikita, hoping he could think of a way to help. Ayanokoji had brought Konoe in as backup.
"Could I ask you to help, Konoe?"
Kushida used her usual cute act: she clasped her hands together in a plea, tilted her eyes up, and fixed Konoe with an imploring gaze.
"I'd be happy to help, but Ayanokoji's the one who talks to Horikita, right? What am I supposed to do?" Konoe knew Ayanokoji must have a plan.
When school let out, the students left the classroom to enjoy their after-school activities. Konoe saw Ayanokoji give him a meaningful look, so he could only sigh and leave with Kushida.
Kushida took Konoe to a cafe called Palette Cafe, where he often saw lots of girls.
According to their plan, Ayanokoji would bring Horikita over. Konoe couldn't imagine what the conversation between the two of them would be like.
"Konoe, why don't you order something first? It's on me." Kushida's lively voice reached him, and Konoe shook his head.
"No, let's split the bill. And just call me Konoe."
"Okay! Then you can call me Kikyo, if you like."
"Sure, Kushida."
Konoe ordered a pudding and a cup of Blue Mountain Coffee, while Kushida chose a latte.
"Thanks so much for helping me this time, Konoe— I mean, Konoe. I didn't ask you directly, but I really appreciate your help. I feel bad for putting you through this."
"It's fine. I'm not helping just because of Ayanokoji. I agreed because it was you." Konoe remembered what had happened before. It was always good to earn someone's favor.
"Really? That makes me so happy. Thank you!" Kushida seemed delighted.
As time passed, more and more girls came into the cafe. Then, to Konoe's surprise, Ayanokoji managed to bring Horikita in with him.
"Ah, Horikita! What a coincidence! And Ayanokoji's here, too!"
Since Konoe and Kushida had arrived first and sat at separate tables, there happened to be four seats available even with the cafe crowded. As soon as Ayanokoji entered, Konoe naturally moved to sit with Kushida, leaving two empty seats at the next table.
"Come over here, Ayanokoji. There are seats." Konoe casually invited him over.
That way, it would look as if they'd run into each other by chance. Ayanokoji brought Horikita to the seats Konoe had just vacated.
"Ayanokoji and Horikita, did you come here together?" Kushida asked cheerfully.
"More or less by chance. Didn't you come with Konoe?" Ayanokoji replied, looking over the menu on the table.
"Kushida and I had a little misunderstanding before, and I wanted to explain it to her," Konoe cut in.
"I'm going back." Horikita stood up and said it bluntly.
Horikita's bluntness left Konoe at a loss for words.
"Hey... We just sat down." Ayanokoji spoke up.
"With Kushida here, along with Konoe, who you're close to, you don't need me, do you?"
"...Don't you think that's a little rude? Konoe just spoke, and you're leaving right away. Do you have some kind of problem with him?" Ayanokoji stood up and quietly tried to reason with Horikita.
Horikita was silent for a moment, then sat back down.
Ayanokoji sat down again with a resigned look, but the atmosphere at the two tables had already turned stiff.
"...By the way, Horikita, do you agree with what Hirata said?" Konoe forced himself to find a topic.
"What is there to agree or disagree with? Isn't a student's duty to follow the rules?"
"Right... I suppose so."
Konoe was beaten back, and Unit 2 Kushida followed right after.
"Maybe running into each other here was fate. How about I treat you all? Order whatever you like."
"No need. I'm leaving after a little while. Ayanokoji, hurry up and order whatever you want."
Unit 2 Kushida was beaten back, too. Ayanokoji could only order two mochas, then asked, "Why don't you share what you found out, Horikita? We're all in the same class, and Konoe doesn't know yet."
What information? Konoe was curious.
Horikita shot Ayanokoji a glare, then said, "Recently, I went to check with the second-years about what Hirata said. Everyone refused to answer questions about the assessments, but I've confirmed that there's competition between the classes, and that the points issued are based on Class Points."
"Class Points?" Konoe asked. It looked like his earlier guess had been pretty close.
"Each class has its own Class Points. The school uses them to determine how many points to give students. For every Class Point, the school gives each student one hundred points."
"So all of us First Years started with 1,000 Class Points?" Kushida replied. She had friends in other classes, so she knew they all had 100,000 points as well.
"That's right. We all started on equal footing, but..." Horikita seemed to remember something. Her expression turned angry, and she clenched her fists.
"Some of that information is only speculation. It hasn't been confirmed yet," Ayanokoji said optimistically, trying to calm Horikita down.
"What are you dreaming about?" Horikita glared at Ayanokoji coldly. "Anyway, that's all. I'm leaving."
"Wait. How about we exchange Contact Methods? If we find out anything else, we can share it. At least when it comes to Class Points, we're all on the same side, right?" Konoe said.
"...Fine." Horikita exchanged Contact Methods with Konoe.
"Kushida's pretty popular, so she should be able to find out some information." Konoe poked Kushida's shoulder, urging her to hurry up and get out her phone.
Horikita hesitated, but in the end she exchanged Contact Methods with Kushida as well.
That meant Kushida had Horikita's Contact Method, too.
"Horikita, please be my friend!" Kushida seemed unsatisfied and came right out with the main purpose of the day.
"I think I've told you several times already to leave me alone. I never planned to cause trouble for the class. I have my own way of doing things. Is that so wrong?"
"Being all alone at school is so lonely. I want to get closer to my classmates."
"I have no problem with what you want, but don't force your wishes on other people. Besides, I don't feel lonely."
"B-but..." Kushida looked at Horikita with a wounded expression.
"Even if we forced ourselves to become friends, would I be happy? A relationship forced on someone can't create any friendship. Don't text or call me after this, or I'll have every right to block you."
Horikita's words were merciless, and the atmosphere turned stiff again.
"Anyway, now that I've made myself clear, stop bothering me. I won't be so lenient next time." With that, Horikita picked up the mocha on the table, which she hadn't even taken a sip of, and stood up.
Was that her being lenient? Konoe wondered in surprise.
"I want to be friends with you no matter what, Horikita. I have this feeling that we've met before, even though this shouldn't be our first time. You feel that way too, don't you?"
Now Konoe was even more surprised by Kushida. After receiving such a "lenient" rejection, she was still willing to press on?
"There's no point in talking any more. Everything you say annoys me."
Horikita replied even more harshly, leaving Kushida speechless.
"Horikita, I can understand how you feel. I've thought about what friendship means, too, and whether it's necessary to make friends," Ayanokoji said with a sigh.
"You're one to talk. You've been looking for friends since the first day of school, haven't you? Isn't Konoe your friend?"
"I won't deny it, but at least until I graduated middle school, I was like you. Before coming to this school, I didn't have a single friend or anyone's Contact Method. I never went out with anyone after school, either. I was completely alone."
Ayanokoji's words surprised Konoe. So there was an even bigger loner than him?
Kushida couldn't believe it. She looked at Ayanokoji with curiosity.
"I think that's part of why we ended up talking without meaning to."
"This is the first I've heard of it. But let's say we do have something in common. You wanted friends but couldn't make any, while I don't need friends, so I don't make them. To put it simply, they're similar, but not the same, aren't they?"
"Maybe. But saying Kushida annoys you is going too far. Is that really okay? You're going to have no friends at all and spend three years alone. That'll be painful."
"I've been doing it for nine years, so it's fine. Ah, I'll correct that—if you count kindergarten, it's been even longer."
What a professional loner. Watching the whole scene unfold, Konoe savored the rich fragrance of his pudding.
"Can I go now?" Horikita looked straight into Kushida's eyes. "Kushida, as long as you don't bother me, I won't say anything. I promise. You're not stupid, so you understand what I mean, right?"
Huh? Was there someone even better at being a loner? Konoe turned to look at Kushida.
Kushida didn't reply. She just looked a little dejected.
"Then I'll be going." With that, Horikita left, and the three of them looked at one another.
"Sorry, Kushida. I meant to back you up, but that girl's too used to being alone," Ayanokoji said first.
"At least we got her Contact Method. It's not like we got nothing out of this. More importantly, I'm interested in Horikita's information," Konoe said.
As Kushida sat down dejectedly, her body suddenly stiffened when she heard Konoe's words.
"Hirata's efforts are paying off after all. Even Horikita's pitching in to help," Konoe said, looking at Ayanokoji.
"Y-yeah, that's true. Getting Horikita to take part in some class activities is already a big deal. Hirata's done a better job of it than I have," Kushida said with a sigh of relief, as if she were happy that Horikita was getting involved with her classmates.
"That's why I told you not to rush things, Konoe."
Ayanokoji had a point. It wasn't realistic to expect all the students to reach the same understanding right away. Still, it was hard to call this a success.
"By the way, Ayanokoji, is it true you didn't have any friends before? I never would've guessed. Why were you all alone?" Kushida asked curiously.
"It's true. Konoe, who was the first to talk to me, was my first friend. Maybe Sudo and Ike, too. I'm still not sure whether the problem was me or the circumstances."
"It's my honor. Don't dwell on the past. What matters more is what comes next."
"Making friends really is fun, isn't it?" Kushida asked Ayanokoji happily.
"Definitely. Sometimes it can be a hassle, but most of the time, it's fun."
At Ayanokoji's answer, Kushida's eyes sparkled. She smiled and nodded in agreement.
"As for Horikita, she has her own thoughts and goals. I guess we'll just have to give up."
"...I see. So there's no chance we can become friends anymore?"
Konoe looked at Kushida, puzzled. Would most people go this far for a friend? She kept trying to win over someone who was cold to her. Didn't it hurt?
Ayanokoji asked the question for him. "Why are you so hung up on her? You have the most friends out of anyone, don't you? What difference does one fewer friend make? There's no need to obsess over it."
"Because my goal is to get along with everyone... Not just the students in Class D, but the students in the other classes, too. If I can't become friends with even one person, I won't be able to achieve my goal..."
"Can't be helped. Wait for another chance. Maybe you'll have an opportunity to become friends later on." Konoe tried to comfort her.
Before you continue