Horikita Takes a Hit

"I just saw someone I knew and was hesitating whether to go over and say hello."

Amasawa Yuto's reply had nothing out of place. "Oh, right, I'm Amasawa Yuto from Class A."

"Who knows you? And who asked for your name? How conceited." Horikita Suzune frowned. "Please don't bother me. I don't want to have anything to do with a pretty boy like you."

Horikita looked away as she spoke, continuing to carefully select items. She muttered to herself in a low voice, "To think there are free items even with 100,000 points; it seems the points aren't fixed after all."

Even for Amasawa Yuto, being called a pretty boy by someone he was meeting for the first time today was mentally exhausting.

It seemed his relationship with Tsubaki Yuki had been completely misunderstood by Horikita.

However, based on Kushida Kikyo's behavior, Tsubaki Yuki hadn't hidden their relationship. Did Horikita simply not hear Tsubaki Yuki's admission, or was she just naturally sharp-tongued?

Yuto noticed that Horikita's shopping basket was filled entirely with free items and remarked casually, "We were all given 100,000 points, so why be so frugal?"

"Could you please stop peeking at other people's shopping, you stalker?" Horikita said without turning her head. "Mind your own business."

Amasawa Yuto was now certain: he really did not like this girl, Horikita Suzune.

Setting aside Tsubaki Yuki or Arisu Sakayanagi, even Kushida Kikyo left a much better impression on him than Horikita Suzune.

Unwilling to waste any more breath, Amasawa Yuto turned to leave, as he saw Arisu Sakayanagi returning from outside. It seemed she had finished dealing with Kamuro.

Horikita Suzune didn't notice at all that Amasawa Yuto had already turned and walked away; she was still busy picking out free items.

Suddenly, as if resigned, she sighed and spoke impatiently, "My name is Horikita Suzune. Are you satisfied now? If you're satisfied, then hurry—"

She turned around, only to realize that Amasawa Yuto had long since left. She had been talking to thin air.

A boy who happened to be passing by behind her looked surprised, eyes wide as he pointed at himself, his expression clearly asking: Me?

A nameless fire surged in Horikita Suzune's heart, directed both at Amasawa and at herself.

An ordinary person might have been mortified by now, but as expected of Horikita Suzune, she suppressed her inner shame and anger, acting as if nothing had happened, and said nonchalantly, "Excuse me, I mistook you for someone else."

Without waiting for the boy to react, she walked away quickly.

"What did you go do?" Amasawa Yuto asked Arisu.

"I acquired a cute little toy~" Arisu Sakayanagi winked playfully.

"I imagine she must hate your guts."

"Are you worried about me, Amasawa-kun? It's fine; I have leverage over her."

"...As long as you're happy."

After the rules for class competition were revealed, there shouldn't be any students willing to betray their own class. After all, when it comes to points, collective interests and individual interests are deeply intertwined.

Kamuro must understand this as well; being caught by a classmate is far better than being caught by a student from another class.

She should be thankful that the one who discovered her shoplifting today was Arisu Sakayanagi, not Ryuen Kakeru.

The two of them arrived at the checkout counter and prepared to queue up.

As it turned out, there seemed to be a commotion in the line ahead.

A tall, red-haired boy was scratching his head in frustration, rummaging through his pockets. The students behind him were becoming impatient, urging him to hurry up.

"Shut up! I'm looking!" he roared at the students behind him, giving them quite a scare.

Amasawa Yuto observed silently.

Sudo Ken. The problem student from the original story: poor grades, impulsive and hot-tempered. Not only did he fail the midterm exams, but he also got involved in a physical altercation.

If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka hadn't intervened, he would have been expelled long ago.

"It seems he's a student from our grade. Did he forget his card?" Arisu Sakayanagi poked her head out from behind him, standing on her tiptoes slightly to see the situation ahead.

Her slightly off-balance body moved very close to Amasawa Yuto, and a faint, pleasant scent drifted from her.

Amasawa Yuto had never smelled it before and couldn't identify it. Judging by the lavender-scented toiletries Sakayanagi had just bought, it was likely lavender.

"To forget your student card when it's integrated into your phone—that's quite an achievement in its own right," Horikita Suzune said, appearing beside them at some point with her arms crossed.

Great. Amasawa Yuto hadn't gone looking for her, but she had approached them on her own.

Noticing Amasawa Yuto's gaze, Horikita Suzune pursed her lips. "I'm just here to queue for checkout."

You're holding a pile of free items; what exactly are you checking out?

"I am Arisu Sakayanagi from Class A. And you are?" Arisu Sakayanagi asked politely.

Only then did Horikita Suzune notice Sakayanagi holding her cane, and her brow furrowed once more. Amasawa Yuto couldn't help but pity the muscles between her eyebrows; they had to get so much exercise every day.

"Are disabled people even allowed to enroll in this school?"

At this point, Amasawa Yuto had to spare a portion of his pity for her emotional intelligence.

From a normal person's perspective, Sakayanagi, with her cane, was indeed different from others. But at the very least, in Class A, there wasn't a single idiot with emotional intelligence low enough to call Sakayanagi "disabled."

No, any normal person should know better than to say something like that.

The smile on Sakayanagi's face didn't change in the slightest. "This student, while my body is inconvenienced, it is not so severe that I would be called disabled."

"I see. I am Horikita Suzune from Class D." Horikita didn't seem entirely convinced, but she didn't press the issue. Instead, she turned her firepower back toward Amasawa Yuto. "You're really something else, aren't you? Already hooking up with a classmate?"

Honestly, Amasawa Yuto really wished she would just shut up. Wouldn't it be better if she were a silent, icy beauty?

"Horikita-san, please watch your tone. Did your family never teach you basic manners?"

Sakayanagi, who hadn't shown a flicker of emotion even when called disabled just moments ago, now looked somewhat angry. She tapped her cane against the floor twice, her tone carrying an imposing air that commanded respect without needing to raise her voice.

Whether Horikita Suzune had been intimidated by Sakayanagi's aura of superiority or if the mention of her family had made her shrink back, her momentum suddenly dissipated. She became timid, looking like a grade-schooler being lectured by a teacher in front of Sakayanagi.

"Let's go, Sakayanagi. The dispute up ahead seems to have been resolved." Amasawa Yuto patted her arm, and the icy pressure radiating from Sakayanagi melted away as if it were thawing ice.

But Horikita Suzune remained frozen in place, unable to snap out of it.

"Let's go, Amasawa-kun," Sakayanagi said with a smile, her mood completely unaffected.

Sudo Ken's dispute seemed to have been resolved by a girl with long pink hair. It was Ichinose Honami from Class B; she had lent Sudo her student ID card.

"Don't take what Horikita said earlier to heart," Amasawa Yuto said.

"I didn't mind it at all," Sakayanagi replied with a smile. "If anything, I should thank Horikita-san for allowing me to receive Amasawa-kun's concern."

The two finished checking out and walked out of the convenience store.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Speak clearly, damn it!" It was Sudo's voice again. It seemed that as soon as he stepped outside, he had gotten into another dispute with some upperclassmen not far from the store.

"Heh, it doesn't mean anything. A moron like you is obviously from Class D, right? I really look forward to seeing the look of despair on your face in a month." The other side seemed to be provoking him on purpose, but picking a fight with Sudo was certainly lighting the wrong fuse.

"What did you say!" Sudo was furious, looking like he was about to lunge at them.

"Sudo-kun, stop!"