"It's just that I saw someone I knew and was hesitating over whether to go say hello."
There was nothing wrong with Amasawa Yuto's reply. "Oh, right. I'm Amasawa Yuto from Class 1-A."
"Who said we knew each other? Who asked your name? How conceited." Horikita Suzune frowned. "Please don't bother me. I don't want anything to do with a pretty boy like you."
Horikita looked away and continued carefully picking out products, muttering to herself, "There are free products even when you have a hundred thousand points. Looks like the points aren't fixed."
Even Amasawa Yuto felt worn down after being called a pretty boy by someone he'd met for the first time that day.
It seemed Horikita had completely misunderstood his relationship with Tsubaki Yuki.
But judging by Kushida Kikyo's reaction, Tsubaki hadn't hidden her relationship with him. Had Horikita not heard Tsubaki admit it, or was she simply rude by nature?
Yuto noticed that Horikita's basket was full of free products and casually remarked, "You've been given a hundred thousand points. Aren't you being a little too frugal?"
"Could you stop peeping at other people's shopping, you pervert?" Horikita said without turning around. "Mind your own business."
Amasawa Yuto was certain now: he really didn't like Horikita Suzune.
Setting aside Tsubaki Yuki and Sakayanagi Arisu, even Kushida Kikyo had left a much better impression on him than Horikita Suzune.
Unwilling to waste any more breath, Amasawa Yuto turned to leave. He'd seen Sakayanagi Arisu come back from outside, so it seemed she'd taken care of Kamuro's situation.
Horikita Suzune hadn't noticed that Amasawa Yuto had already turned and left. She was still picking out free products.
Suddenly, she let out a helpless sigh and spoke impatiently. "My name is Horikita Suzune. Happy now? If you are, then hurry—"
She turned around, only to realize that Amasawa Yuto had left long ago. She'd been talking to thin air.
A boy passing behind her happened to look over in surprise, his eyes wide as he pointed at himself, his expression asking, Me?
A nameless anger welled up inside Horikita Suzune, directed both at Amasawa and at herself.
Most people would probably have been mortified by now. But Horikita Suzune lived up to her reputation: she forced down her embarrassment and, as if nothing had happened, said calmly, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."
Without waiting for the boy to react, she hurried away.
"What did you go do?" Amasawa Yuto asked Sakayanagi.
"I got myself a cute little toy~" Sakayanagi Arisu replied with a playful wink.
"I'm sure she hates you now."
"Is Amasawa-kun worried about me? It's fine. I have something I can hold over her."
"...As long as you're happy."
Now that the rules of class competition had been revealed, surely no one would be willing to betray their own class. After all, personal and collective interests were closely tied when it came to points.
Kamuro must understand that, too. It was much better for her classmates to catch her with something to hold over her than for students from another class to do so.
She should be grateful that Sakayanagi, not Ryuen Kakeru, had caught her stealing today.
The two made their way to the checkout counter to get in line.
But the queue ahead of them seemed to have erupted into a commotion.
A tall, red-haired boy was frantically rummaging through his pockets. The students behind him grew impatient and told him to hurry up.
"Shut up! I'm looking!" he shouted at the students behind him, making them jump.
Amasawa Yuto quietly observed him.
Ken Sudō, the troublemaker from the original story. He had poor grades and an impulsive, short temper. Not only did he fail his midterm exams, but he also got into a fight.
If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka hadn't stepped in early, he would have been expelled.
"He looks like he's in our year. Did he forget his card?" Sakayanagi Arisu peered around him, rising slightly onto her toes to see what was happening.
Her balance shifted a little, bringing her very close to Amasawa Yuto. A faint fragrance wafted from Sakayanagi.
Amasawa Yuto had never smelled it before and couldn't identify it. The toiletries Sakayanagi had just bought had all been labeled lavender-scented, so perhaps it was lavender.
"You can have your phone and student card combined and still forget them. In a way, that's impressive," Horikita Suzune said, appearing beside them at some point with her arms folded.
Well, Amasawa Yuto hadn't gone looking for her, but she'd come over on her own.
Noticing Amasawa Yuto's gaze, Horikita Suzune pursed her lips. "I'm just here to line up and pay."
What was she paying for with a pile of free products?
"I'm Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-A. And you are?" Sakayanagi asked politely.
Only then did Horikita Suzune notice Sakayanagi, who was holding a cane. Her brow furrowed again. Amasawa Yuto almost felt sorry for the muscles between her eyebrows; they had to get quite a workout every day.
"Can disabled people enroll in this school?"
Now Amasawa Yuto had to spare some of his sympathy for her social skills, too.
From an ordinary person's perspective, Sakayanagi, leaning on a cane, was indeed different from everyone else. But at least in Class A, nobody was so socially inept as to call Sakayanagi "disabled."
No, any normal person should know not to say that.
The smile on Sakayanagi's face didn't change at all. "My health does limit me, but it's not so serious that I'd be considered disabled."
"I see. I'm Horikita Suzune from Class 1-D." Horikita didn't seem entirely convinced, but she didn't press the matter. Instead, she turned her fire back on Amasawa Yuto. "You really are something, already hitting on a girl from your own class?"
Honestly, Amasawa Yuto wished she would just shut up. Couldn't she be a beautiful, silent ice queen?
"Horikita-san, please mind your manner of speaking. Didn't your family teach you basic manners?"
Sakayanagi had shown no emotional reaction at all when she'd just been called disabled, yet now she looked a little angry. She tapped her cane against the floor twice, her voice carrying a hint of authority that brooked no argument.
The usually cold Horikita Suzune seemed to have been cowed by Sakayanagi's commanding presence—or perhaps the mention of family had made her shrink back.
Whatever the reason, her confidence vanished in an instant. She became timid and awkward, like an elementary school student being scolded by a teacher.
"Let's go, Sakayanagi. It looks like they've sorted out the commotion up ahead." Amasawa Yuto patted her arm, and the icy pressure emanating from Sakayanagi melted away.
But Horikita Suzune was still standing there in a daze, unable to recover.
"Let's go, Amasawa-kun," Sakayanagi said with a smile, her mood seemingly unaffected.
It seemed a girl with pink hair had settled the dispute involving Ken Sudō. She was Ichinose Honami from Class 1-B, and she'd lent Sudō her student card.
"Don't take what Horikita said to heart," Amasawa Yuto said.
"I'm not bothered," Sakayanagi replied with a smile. "If anything, I should thank Horikita-san for giving Amasawa-kun a reason to show concern for me."
The two finished paying and left the supermarket.
"Hey, what do you mean by that? Explain yourselves!" It was Sudō's voice again. As soon as he'd left the supermarket, he seemed to have gotten into an argument with some upperclassmen not far away.
"Heh, it doesn't mean anything. An idiot like you is obviously from Class 1-D. I can't wait to see your hopeless expression a month from now." The other person seemed to be deliberately provoking him, but Sudō was exactly the kind of powder keg who'd take the bait.
"What did you say?!" Sudō exploded, looking ready to charge over and punch him.
"Sudō-kun, stop!"
Before you continue