Class Assignment

"Hmph, forget it. Whatever you do has nothing to do with me anyway. I just hope we don't end up in the same class." After saying this, Horikita Suzune turned to leave.

She had already decided that Amasawa Yuto was some creep who spied on pretty girls.

Just as she was about to go, Horikita Suzune suddenly met the gaze of Tsubaki Yuki, who was approaching.

"Looks like there's going to be a bloodbath soon. You might become famous throughout the school on your very first day."

Horikita Suzune's words sounded like she was relishing the chance to stir things up. She was simply unhappy at the thought of attending the same school as a boy like him, so she deliberately provoked him.

She wasn't the sort of person who liked mocking others, but perhaps she hadn't realized that what she was doing was, in fact, sarcasm and mockery. She was so caught up in it that she couldn't see it herself.

From the very beginning, Amasawa Yuto had never once responded to her. That had left Horikita Suzune, whose pride was higher than the sky, extremely irritated, so she ended up saying things she normally wouldn't.

After leaving him with those mocking words, Horikita Suzune prepared to leave. She had no interest in watching the spectacle.

To her slight surprise, however, the girl called out to her, wearing a kind smile. "Excuse me, could I bother you for a moment?"

Horikita Suzune met her gaze and was certain she was speaking to her. Frowning, she said, "You've got the wrong person. I think the boy behind me is the one you're looking for."

"Mm, you're right. I do have something to discuss with him later, but for now—" The girl looked a little troubled. She had only gotten halfway through her sentence when the boy's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Yuki."

"What are you talking about? It's April. How could there possibly be snow—" Horikita Suzune shot back impatiently.

But to her surprise, the girl seemed to brighten up. She bounced over to him, her voice full of delight. "Yuto!"

Amasawa Yuto had thought Tsubaki Yuki would be angry with him, but for some reason, she didn't seem upset. If anything, she looked a little relieved.

"By the way, Yuki, did you need something from her? It looked like you were about to call her over." Yuto pointed at Horikita Suzune.

Horikita Suzune stood frozen, trying to process the sudden flood of information.

Yuki shook her head. "It's obvious now. There's no need to ask. By the way, was she bothering you just now?"

She had thought Yuto had stood her up so he could walk to school with that girl, but now it was clear that wasn't the case. She no longer cared about Horikita Suzune.

"Not really. She seems to think I'm some kind of stalker..."

"Huh? Were you looking at some girl just now? Why else would she think that?"

"Of course I was looking at you."

"Me...?!" Yuki's mouth formed an O. She seemed a little embarrassed—

"Wait, wait, wait!" Horikita Suzune finally snapped out of it. "What is going on here?"

Yuki was a little annoyed that their conversation had been interrupted.

Yuto tugged at her arm. "As you can see, we know each other."

"You know each other?" Horikita Suzune's brows knitted together as her gaze swept back and forth between Yuto and Yuki. "Then why were you looking at her like that just now?"

Before Yuto could answer, she turned to Yuki, her tone displeased. "And you. One of you was blocking the school gate, and the other was blocking the bus stop. Do you think you own the school?"

She sounded as though she'd suffered some terrible betrayal and had come to demand an explanation.

"You..." Yuto was at a loss for words, while Yuki was already getting angry and only holding back thanks to her good upbringing.

"What? What were you going to say?" Horikita Suzune's tone was still stern. "Spit it out!"

"Forget it, Yuki. Let's go." As he spoke, Yuto tugged at Yuki's sleeve and led her forward.

Yuki immediately followed. The two of them simply ignored Horikita Suzune in the most blatant way possible.

"You—" Horikita Suzune stamped her foot in anger.

The students nearby whispered among themselves. "What's going on? Scandal on the first day of school?"

"Is it a love triangle? Or did someone cheat?"

Horikita took a deep breath. There was no need to pay attention to the rumors, or to the insignificant people who were less capable than her.

Don't forget why you came to this school, Horikita Suzune.

After all, you came here to follow in your brother's footsteps, didn't you?

Calming herself, Horikita entered the campus.

"What was with that girl just now? Even I could hardly stand her." Yuki followed about two or three steps behind Yuto and began to complain.

"I don't know either. She just popped out of nowhere. I didn't do anything to her." Yuto kept walking without looking back.

"Yuto really has had it rough." Yuki couldn't help feeling sorry for him. She had no idea how long he'd been stuck listening to that black-haired girl ramble on by himself.

It felt as if she'd forgotten something.

Yuki felt as though her consciousness were about to drive out of a pitch-black tunnel. The forgotten memory had become a blinding white light at the end, growing larger and larger...

"Yuki."

"Huh? What is it?" Yuto suddenly called out to her, and Yuki snapped back to her senses.

"We're at the class assignment boards. Let's see which classes we're in."

Four bulletin boards stood in a row, each displaying the student lists for one of the four classes. Students eager to find out their class crowded around every board.

"Oh, okay! I'll start from the right, and you start from the left, Yuto."

That way, they could split up and find their names faster.

Oh, she was lucky. She found her name right away. She was in Class 1-D.

She scanned all the names in the class, hoping to see his, but was disappointed: Amasawa Yuto's name wasn't there.

Looks like she wasn't that lucky after all.

But she quickly cheered herself up. They just weren't in the same class. They'd still be classmates for three years, anyway.

"Yuki, did you find your name?" Yuto had somehow come up beside her and was looking at the Class D list.

"I'm in Class D. What about you?"

"I'm in Class A." Yuto quickly scanned the names on the Class D list, then reassured her, "It's okay. We're still in the same year."

"I'm not that disappointed, really. It's just... it would've been even better if Yuto and I could've been in the same class for all three years."

Yuto wasn't too surprised that Yuki had been assigned to Class D. He had a pretty good idea why.

After leaving the White Room, Yuki had suffered severe post-traumatic stress, which led to depression so serious that she needed to be hospitalized.

Yuto hadn't learned about it until he graduated from the White Room. By then, Yuki had been out of the White Room for eight years.

She had spent six of those eight years in the hospital.

As recently as a year ago, Yuki had still been hospitalized.

It wasn't until Yuto and Yuki met again that her symptoms gradually improved, and she became the cheerful, easygoing person she was now.

After attending the opening ceremony in the auditorium—which was really just listening to Student Council President Horikita Manabu's speech—

Yuto parted ways with Yuki at the stairwell and stepped into his classroom: Class 1-A.