One Fish, Many Meals

Ever since that incident, Konoe had been afraid to glance at Horikita too casually in class. He couldn't help sighing.

Just then, his phone—the Student Terminal—vibrated. It was a message from Ayanokoji.

"Horikita will treat you to lunch."

What kind of magic had that guy worked? And wasn't he getting more and more adept at using Horikita? Still, Konoe didn't mind. This level of persuasion probably didn't count as an offense to her.

His gloomy expression from all that sighing turned bright, and Konoe found himself eagerly awaiting lunchtime.

Sure enough, after morning classes, Horikita came over to Konoe's desk. "Are you free at lunch? If so, would you like to eat together?"

"That's certainly unusual," Konoe said happily.

"...I'll treat you. You can have whatever you want. So, are you coming or not?" Horikita's tone turned icy.

"I'm coming. I didn't mean anything by it..."

Horikita didn't respond to his answer. She simply walked ahead, and Konoe hurried after her. Ayanokoji was already waiting for the two of them at the door.

The three of them soon arrived at the Student Cafeteria.

Konoe chose the Kaiseki Ryori. Horikita had told him to pick whatever he wanted, and since this was a rare opportunity, he went for something expensive.

The three of them found a table and sat down together. Seeing that Horikita had ordered an inexpensive set meal made Konoe feel a little guilty. Ayanokoji had chosen the moderately priced Croquette Set. Only Konoe had unabashedly ordered the luxurious Kaiseki Ryori.

Strangely, though, none of them started eating. They waited in silence.

"What's wrong? Ayanokoji, Konoe, go ahead and eat."

This is getting a little scary, Konoe thought, glancing at Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji reluctantly took a bite of his croquette, then looked at Konoe.

"Konoe, why aren't you eating?"

"Ugh..." With no other choice, Konoe began eating too. He placed a delicate piece of fish in his mouth.

His eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the chef to be so skilled. That single piece of fish didn't just bring out the rich, savory flavor of the meat; with the scenic mountain backdrop on the plate, it had a charm all its own.

It was as if he were beside a lake at the foot of a snow-covered mountain, admiring the winter scenery. A cool breeze drifted by, yet he felt no chill.

"Now, let me get to the point. Can I have a few words?" Horikita spoke up as soon as the two boys had begun eating.

Ayanokoji tried to get up and leave, but Horikita caught him by the sleeve.

"Ayanokoji, I'll ask you again. Can you listen to me for a few minutes?"

Ayanokoji didn't dare try to escape again.

Horikita explained what she had in mind. In short, she wanted to start a small Study Group to help the Idiot Trio prepare for the upcoming Midterm Exam.

This surprised Ayanokoji. It was much the same as what Hirata was planning: he was going to hold a Study Group to help students with poor grades. But Sudo and the other two obviously wouldn't go to Hirata's group.

Horikita's reason was that she wanted to Ascend to Class A. The foremost priority was to earn points without losing any, and this exam might be tied to gaining points.

"Konoe, are you okay?" Horikita looked over at him, but Konoe's thoughts had long since drifted away from the cafeteria.

He took a sip of soup, seeming to find himself in a hot spring beneath a snowy mountain. A look of bliss spread across his face.

"Hey? Have you gone senile?" Horikita raised her voice, but Konoe still didn't seem to hear. Only after Ayanokoji gave him a firm shake did Konoe jolt all over.

"Huh? Oh. What is it?"

"You'd better have heard what I just said. So, what's your answer?" Horikita's cool voice rang out as she stared straight at Konoe.

"Of... of course I heard. Yeah, okay, no problem, right." Konoe gave four affirmative replies in a row, though he had no idea what she'd asked.

Ayanokoji reminded him, "You'll be responsible for tutoring the other students who are failing, apart from the three at the bottom. By the way, is Kaiseki Ryori really that good?"

"Huh? What tutoring... I can only say, that's what you get for a 5,000-point meal."

Ayanokoji was dumbfounded when he heard the price. They'd only received 11,000 points for the entire month.

Horikita looked over angrily. Konoe quickly lowered his head and tried to make up for it. "I get it. It's the Midterm Exam, right? Don't worry, I'll make sure they pass."

"I hope you'll follow through... And Ayanokoji." Horikita needed Ayanokoji to gather the Idiot Trio so she could hold the Study Group.

With that, she left, and Ayanokoji followed right after her. Once they were gone, Konoe could finally savor the rest of his meal in peace. He set off for the snowy mountain once more.

"Ah, what an unexpected delicacy..." After finishing his meal and setting off back to the classroom, Konoe once again praised the chef's skill.

"Excuse me, could I have a word with you?" a girl's voice called out.

"Ah... Maruko Head Senpai." Konoe turned around and spoke plainly. He still seemed to be lost in the memory of that delicious meal.

"Wha... What!" The girl stared at him in disbelief.

"Ah! Did I actually say that out loud? I'm sorry, Tachibana Senpai." Konoe immediately bowed to apologize. He hadn't realized that the delicious food had made him so careless.

"...Come to the Student Council after school. That's an order!" The girl angrily finished speaking and left without waiting for Konoe to respond.

"...Is this what they mean by the higher you climb, the harder you fall?"

Konoe shook his head and returned to the classroom.

"Konoe, could you talk with me for a bit?" Hirata seemed to have been waiting in the classroom for a while. As soon as Konoe came in, he went up to him and asked.

"Of course." Konoe perked up and answered. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake as before.

"Actually, yesterday we held a Class Meeting and decided that we needed to prepare for the Midterm Exam so that nobody would fail and get expelled. So we want to gather everyone for a Study Group."

As expected of Hirata. He was trying to help their classmates again.

"I don't want to see anyone in our class get expelled. And if we do well on the Midterm Exam, we might even earn some extra points. I've already contacted a few students with good grades to help prepare everyone. Most of the class will come, including some students who failed the last Mini-test. So I'd like to ask Konoe, the top student, to help us out."

Heh heh, this isn't just killing two birds with one stone anymore. It's killing three birds with one stone! Konoe was so busy grinning to himself that he forgot to answer Hirata.

Hirata thought Konoe was trying to turn him down, so he continued, "All I need you to do is explain the problems. Everyone will gather at five after school. You only have to stay for an hour... No, even half an hour would be fine. I know you don't like being bothered, Konoe, but we really need your help this time..."

"Of course! One hour wouldn't be enough. I'll stay for two! I won't let any of our classmates get expelled. Leave it to me!"

Hirata hadn't expected such an enthusiastic response from Konoe. He replied in surprise, "Y-yeah! That's great. With you helping, everyone will feel much more at ease! Let's do our best together!"

"No problem! But the Student Council summoned me today, so I'll try to get back as early as I can. I might not make it, though."

Konoe agreed to help Hirata, completely oblivious to Horikita watching him from beside her seat.