Gifts of Fate

The Next Day after school, Horikita once again called the people of D Class together. Carrying a stack of exam papers, she stepped onto the podium. "I believe everyone has done a lot to prepare for the Midterm Exam at the end of the month, but I don't think Sudo and the others can raise their grades to a passing level in such a short time, given their foundations."

"You bitch, you had us join a Study Session just two days ago. What the hell do you mean by saying that now?" Sudo, who had been packing his bag to leave, suddenly slammed his hand on the Tabletop, rose to his feet, and shouted at her.

Horikita Suzune was currently completely incapable of serving as a leader. It was not because she lacked ability, but because she did not understand how to consider other people's feelings.

"Facts are facts." Without giving Sudo any chance to continue, Horikita Suzune picked up an Exam Paper. "These are Pop Quiz and Midterm Exam papers from the past two years. Everyone can take a look first."

She handed the papers to those seated in the front row, and the students who received them habitually passed them back. Yeyue received one from Matsushita Chiaki as well.

"Seriously? These are almost exactly the same as our Pop Quiz papers." Karuizawa cheered loudly. "Does this mean we finally don't have to attend the Study Session?"

Her words instantly drew agreement from several Girls. There was a high chance that the Midterm Exam papers would also be the same as previous years' papers. As Long As they memorized the answers, passing the exam would be ridiculously easy.

"No, it would be better to keep attending the Study Session." Horikita Suzune's expression instantly turned cold. "You won't be able to get the answers for every exam in the future. Considering future exams, and For The Class to Promote to A Class, everyone should improve their grades as much as possible and avoid dragging the class down."

"Even if that's true, relaxing is important too, right?" Avoiding Horikita's gaze, Karuizawa looked to the side. "Right, Hirata~?"

At some point, rumors had begun spreading In the class that the two were dating. Although Karuizawa had used this to secure a leadership position among the Girls, her reputation among the Boys was not good. From time to time, people could even be heard speaking ill of Karuizawa.

Although seeking Hirata's help had been the right move, Karuizawa was clearly about to be disappointed.

"No, Horikita is right. We should continue helping with the Study Session. Of course, no one will be forced to participate. Anyone who wants to study can contact me at any time."

Hirata then turned and smiled at Karuizawa. "But relaxing is important too. Everyone's been a little too tense lately, so taking a couple of days off should be fine."

Though she still looked somewhat dissatisfied, Karuizawa happily jumped up.

"That's great!"

In her view, Hirata should have stood on her side Without Hesitation and helped her consolidate her status in the class. Yet Hirata's neutral, class-first attitude left Karuizawa somewhat disappointed.

Horikita Suzune did not refute him. They truly had no right to force others to attend.

Only Kushida Kikyo turned back with her Exam Paper in hand and looked at Ayanokoji. He shook his head imperceptibly.

They had done the same thing as Horikita, buying last year's exam papers from upperclassmen for Fifteen Thousand Private Points. Their original plan had been to give them to the D Class students the day before the exam, but there was no longer any need.

It was only a loss of Fifteen Thousand Private Points. Hardly worth mentioning.

Ayanokoji believed that gentle Kushida would not undermine Horikita just for a little status in the class. At the same time, he could continue hiding himself.

However.

"Just as I thought, Horikita has been thinking For The Class all along." Kushida said with a delighted expression, then looked somewhat self-reproachful. "But it would have been better if I'd discussed it with you beforehand."

"First, let me correct you. I'm only doing this to Promote to A Class." Horikita frowned. "And what exactly do you mean?"

"Well..." Kushida took an Exam Paper from her desk drawer and said awkwardly, "Actually, Ayanokoji and I also bought last year's papers from upperclassmen. Horikita, you bought yours from upperclassmen too, right?"

"What? You had to pay for these papers?"

"No, that's not the important part. It sounds like both Kushida and Horikita spent points to buy the papers. Isn't that just wasting Private Points for nothing?"

"Kushida, how many points did these papers cost?"

Upon hearing Kushida's words, several nearby classmates immediately crowded around, wanting to learn what had happened or sympathize with Kushida for losing Private Points for nothing.

"Fifteen thousand points. Actually, Ayanokoji paid for them," Kushida replied awkwardly. Then she suddenly apologized to Ayanokoji. "I'm sorry, Ayanokoji. It's because I didn't discuss things with Horikita beforehand that you wasted so many Private Points for nothing."

Even now, Kushida had not forgotten Ayanokoji's request.

"Don't worry about it, Little Kikyo." Kushida's friend, Wang Meiyu, hurriedly comforted her. "This only happened because everyone failed to communicate properly. Little Kikyo was thinking For The Class too. She did Not Any wrong."

What Wang Meiyu said was absolutely correct. There was Not Any mistake in it.

However.

Ayanokoji remained expressionless, but a Strange Feeling had already arisen inside him.

He had already made it clear to Kushida that she was not to expose him.

Besides, he himself had paid the money, and he did not mind losing the points. There was Completely No need for Kushida to care about it.

Given Kushida's gentle personality, she should never have done something like this.

Remaining silent would have been the best outcome.

The way things had developed.

Made Ayanokoji feel that something was off.

And indeed, although Kushida's face was full of apology and self-reproach, this was not good for D Class.

Kushida was naturally extremely skilled at communication. The one who was not skilled at communication could only be Horikita Suzune.

Some people In the class were already looking helplessly at Horikita, thinking, If only Horikita were better at communicating. Yet such an obvious thought was, in truth, also a form of blame.

Horikita Suzune's contribution was instantly diminished to nothing. Worse still, it exposed Horikita's flaw of not socializing with others: she had acted on her own and dragged in Kushida, D Class's Little Angel.

Kushida's actions brought Not Any benefit beyond causing Horikita to lose her original prestige.

But that was not important either. What mattered more was getting through the immediate crisis.

Ayanokoji shook his head expressionlessly. "I only wanted to play a few tricks because I wasn't confident I could pass the exam. Rather, knowing that I had the same idea as Horikita puts me more at ease. Now everyone can Also Can get through the exam, so there's nothing wrong with that."

Simply put, Ayanokoji believed his money had been well spent, and there was No Need for everyone to worry about him.

Even...

Neither Kushida nor Hirata suggested that the whole class should pay for these points.

They were among the few smart people in D Class.

They knew perfectly well that even if they proposed it, getting everyone to agree on the surface and pay amicably would not be difficult. But beneath the surface, it would only breed greater dissatisfaction and split the class apart.

After all, only students with poor grades like Sudo needed the exam paper. Who would be willing to pay for someone they disliked? Those who studied seriously, such as Yukimura, probably just wished guys like Sudo would hurry up and disappear.

Such complaints might even be redirected at whoever made the suggestion. Hirata, for the sake of class stability, and Kushida, for the sake of her own image, were both unwilling to bring it up.

D Class was not B Class, after all.

Hirata and Kushida only had the ability to reconcile the class's opinions; they did not possess the ability to lead the class.

Fortunately.

Ayanokoji had enough self-awareness not to expect everyone to pay and recover the loss. Maybe it was foolish, but the fact that he was willing to bear the loss himself was enough.

Just then, Horikita Suzune looked at Ayanokoji and said coldly, "Whether it was just a little trick or not, since you thought of buying an exam paper from upperclassmen, why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?"

Ayanokoji was someone she had recruited to help her. Since he had found a solution but failed to communicate it, that was a serious mistake—one that caused her to lose Ten Thousand Points as well.

"Sorry." Ayanokoji explained apologetically, "After all, playing little tricks isn't something honorable. I originally asked Kushida to keep it secret for me too. I just didn't expect Horikita to spend points on an exam paper as well, and I suddenly felt a little guilty."

After a brief pause, Ayanokoji added, "I rarely have anything to spend money on, so I still have some points left. How many points did Horikita spend? How about I cover that too? After all, when you think about it, this was all because of my pointless pride."

"No need."

Horikita Suzune responded coolly, seemingly accepting Ayanokoji's explanation.

Yeyue also turned back to glance at Ayanokoji. As expected of someone who came from the White Room—he was exceptionally capable.

Not only had he explained why he had not communicated with her, but he had also indirectly told Kushida that he did not care about her exposing his secret. At the same time, he gave the others the impression that Kushida had acted with Ayanokoji's permission.

It would only cause Horikita's dissatisfaction.

Still, Yeyue felt that if it had been him, he would have done the same.

After all.

Although Horikita Suzune seemed cold on the surface, she was genuinely a good person, and offending a good person carried no risk at all.

"Everyone, at least we can get through the Midterm Exam safely now. Let's treat this incident as a lesson."

Hirata chose to put the matter to rest and seized the opportunity to suggest, "To prevent something like this from happening again, Ayanokoji and Horikita could try communicating with everyone more. If you have any difficulties, you can always come to me! What do you think?"

Hirata intended to use this momentum to bring the two isolated people of D Class into the group, making the class more stable. No one could resist that kind of momentum right after suffering a defeat.

Ayanokoji nodded expressionlessly. "I'll do my best to get along with everyone."

However, Horikita was an exception. She still said coldly, "No need. Next time, I'll be more careful in choosing whom to ask for help."

She would bear her own mistakes. Asking Ayanokoji for help had undoubtedly been an error in her choice of person.

Hirata choked for a moment, but still forced out a bright smile. "All right. But if possible, I hope Horikita will come to me if she ever needs help. No matter what it is."

Watching the scene before him, Yeyue frowned.

Horikita Suzune had not mentioned his existence, and the development of events had not given her the chance to do so.

Gradually, messy discussions arose throughout the class. Everyone felt it was a pity that over 10,000 Private Points had been wasted.

Left with no choice, Yeyue stood up and reassured everyone. "Don't worry about it. Actually, Suzune and I bought that exam paper together. We can try seeing if we can return it."

"Really?"

Kushida's face lit up as she stepped in front of Yeyue. Looking up at him from below, she asked somewhat suspiciously, "You and Horikita bought this exam paper together, Yeyue?"

Though Kushida was smiling sweetly, Yeyue still felt a chill. He smiled in response. "That's right. I introduced Suzune to a Third Year senpai. I have a very good relationship with him, so returning it probably won't be a problem."

"Is that so? That's great, then."

Kushida sighed in relief and patted her chest. This was not the place for a conversation.

"As expected of Tenyo~"

A very strange phenomenon appeared in the class.

Ayanokoji and Kushida, Tenyo and Horikita.

Both pairs had purchased the exam paper together.

In an environment like Sakurajima, where people judged others rather than their actions, bullying was extremely likely to occur. Ayanokoji and Horikita did not have enough standing within the class.

Although they had done exactly the same thing and both failed to communicate properly, only Ayanokoji and Horikita were criticized for being poor at communicating.