Three People Talk + 1, Kushida Sōru Reaches 'Climax'

First-year Class D, class time.

Horikita Suzune sat by the window in the back left of the classroom, in the same position as Shiina Hiyori in Class C.

At this moment, Horikita's expression was displeased because the classroom was too noisy and it was affecting her studies.

The atmosphere in Class D's classroom was truly like a marketplace.

Under Ryuen's certain degree of forced intervention after he had already understood the rules, Class C's classroom order and atmosphere now completely crushed Class D's.

Even if Tennoji Kaede hadn't intervened, on the original timeline, Class C would still have had 490 class points remaining from their first month's balance, while Class D would have had an unprecedented zero.

The difference between Class C and Class D in their first month was truly stark.

The class points system was the first challenge that Advanced Nurturing High School had set for the new students.

This year's four first-year classes each had an initial hidden reserve of 1,000 class points.

Based on the comprehensive performance of the students in April, the first month after enrollment, evaluations would be conducted, leading to deductions in class points.

After the refresh at the beginning of each month, the four classes A, B, C, and D would be reordered according to their new class point rankings.

As for whether class points would increase in the first month?

At least in the history of this school, such a phenomenon had never occurred!

Horikita Suzune finally endured a painful class. Some students in Class D even left the classroom two minutes early.

"These people are crazy, and this school is crazy. This is supposed to be Advanced Nurturing High School? Hmph! And this so-called Class D..."

Horikita suddenly remembered what Tennoji Kaede had said to her last time. She always felt that being assigned to Class D seemed to have some bad reason behind it.

Could it be that the last position among the ABCD classes was the worst?

But was she, Horikita, the worst student?

Heh, how could that be possible? What a joke!

The S after the letter D, in the common sense, means the best, right? Could there be anything worse than D?

This was Horikita Suzune's current thought process. She had some ideas, but not many.

Speaking of which, what was that man's name... she suddenly remembered that he hadn't told her his name.

Did he completely forget? It was just holding a few more points, how arrogant!

She turned her head and glanced over. Ayanokoji, the brown-haired boy, showed no change in expression, no matter how noisy the class was.

He was also a strange fellow.

Horikita took a deep breath, no longer dwelling on meaningless questions. She got up and packed her things. School was over now, and she just wanted to get back to the dorm quickly to continue reviewing the knowledge she had missed in class.

"Horikita-san, could I have a moment of your time?"

Her again? Annoying!

Horikita Suzune said impatiently, "Kushida-san, I've already said that I have no intention of befriending you. Please stop bothering me."

Kushida Kikyo: ...

"Horikita is really too much. How many times has Little Kikyo invited her?" Ike Kanji said.

"Speaking of which, don't you guys think Horikita is quite good-looking? Of course, she's definitely no match for Little Kikyo, haha," Kuroya Supreme Godwork said with a laugh.

"Guys are so gross..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also turned his attention to the neighboring seats. He felt that Kushida Kikyo's contradictory behavior today had some unknown backing, and he was a little concerned.

Kushida Kikyo looked up and met Horikita's gaze, slowly saying:

"Classmate 70 needs to see you. Seize the opportunity, or it won't come again."

"What?" Horikita didn't hear clearly at first. What 70?

Wait, could it be 700,000! Was it him?

Kushida's voice wasn't loud when she said this, but Ayanokoji, who was nearby, still heard it.

"Hey! Wait, where? Do you know him? And what's his name?" Horikita couldn't help but shout.

"Hey, hey, did Horikita find a new relative? Why is she so excited?" Ike Kanji said again.

"Did Horikita get dumped by her new boyfriend from when she enrolled? And now he likes Little Kikyo, so she's desperate? Haha, that's hilarious!" Kuroya Supreme Godwork laughed again.

"It's probably these two guys in our class who are disgusting..." a certain Class D girl whispered.

Kushida Kikyo almost broke character, unable to hide her excitement! Horikita, you have a day where you beg me?

She almost blurted out the honest truth, "Kneel down and beg me, and I'll tell you," but she hadn't forgotten that Tennoji Kaede had taught her the strategy. She couldn't mess up now.

But Brother Kaede is so amazing~ What weakness of Horikita's did he grasp? What is the hidden meaning of this 70?

It didn't matter, she would know when she went today.

So Kushida said softly, "I do know classmate 70. If Horikita-san needs it, you can come with me to find him now. There might not be another chance next time~"

Horikita said angrily, "Who cares about your 70 or not 70! I'm asking you his name!"

Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "Um, Horikita-san, if you want to make friends with someone, it's more polite to ask their name in person~ Or perhaps..."

Horikita, you've grown this tall and still don't have a single friend? Kushida Kikyo, maintaining her persona, forced herself not to speak boastfully.

Upon hearing this, Horikita Suzune was struck as if by lightning.

Among Class C, Tennoji Kaede received dual messages from Kushida Kikyo's new 'fruit' and his terminal device.

After comparing them, he thought that the tasks he had previously assigned to Kushida should be fine.

With the verification and comparison from the Haigoku System's 'fruit,' he would no longer have to worry about falling into any traps in the future.

After all, the more someone tried to harm Tennoji Kaede, the greater the 'karma' they would accumulate, and the more straightforward the feedback 'fruit' would be, rendering all their schemes futile.

However, this karma was guided by Tennoji Kaede himself from behind the scenes, so the probability of unexpected problems was too low.

The terminal vibrated again. After checking it, Tennoji Kaede casually replied.

"This is interesting... It doesn't hurt to have another acquaintance, and I might as well gain some extra points."

Kaede stood up and prepared to head to the school building's cafe for the appointment.

At Palace Cafe, in a circular booth in a corner.

At this moment, Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, three elites from Class D, were seated together, waiting for the main guest to arrive.

"Sorry to keep everyone from Class D waiting, though it's only been about 5 minutes~"

Horikita looked towards the sound. A man and two women walked over, led naturally by Tennoji Kaede.

The six of them took their seats accordingly, but unfortunately, the person directly opposite Kaede was not Ayanokoji, but Horikita.

It didn't really matter, though.

Tennoji Kaede began, "Thank you all from Class D for accepting my invitation. However, the original purpose of this meeting was to facilitate a connection for you, Kikyo. I hope you don't mind if I speak with Horikita about something else first?"

Kushida Kikyo, who had thoroughly enjoyed confronting Horikita earlier, quickly shook her head, indicating she didn't mind.

Did anyone really think she genuinely wanted to be friends with Horikita?

Hmph!

In comparison, Kushida was more eager to see the aftermath of today's drama and what other interesting expressions Horikita would show.

The thought made Kushida restless with excitement.

"Thank you for your understanding, Kikyo. After this matter is settled, you can have a private chat with Horikita."

Kaede's tone shifted.

"Now, let's get to the main topic. Let's discuss the hidden rules behind this school. It's very important for both of our classes~"