The Collapsing Study Session

At night, Natsukawa was lying in bed reading manga when his personal terminal suddenly vibrated. He opened the messaging app, saw a message from Kushida Kikyo, and tapped on it.

"Natsukawa-kun~! Good news! (≧▽≦) Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and Sudo-kun have all agreed to attend Horikita-san's study session after school tomorrow!"

Following the text was a cute dancing rabbit sticker.

Natsukawa raised an eyebrow and replied:

"As expected of Kushida-san, you easily accomplished what others couldn't."

"Oh, it's nothing~ I'm just happy I could help! ٩(๑＞₃＜)۶"

Putting down the terminal, a knowing smile played on the corners of Natsukawa's mouth. Sure enough, for those three, the lethality of Kushida's energetic request was far more effective than any rational analysis of pros and cons. He just wondered how long this fragile promise, forcibly glued together by the little angel, would last under Horikita's cold and rigid attitude—half an hour, or just a few minutes?

Natsukawa didn't dwell on it; he simply told Ayanokoji the news, and after confirming he was aware, he went back to reading his manga.

Time arrived at the day after school.

As promised, Natsukawa was at their usual spot in the library tutoring Sakura on sociology concepts. Compared to her awkwardness yesterday, Sakura seemed much more relaxed today. Occasionally, when Natsukawa explained something, she would give a soft "mm" to show she understood. Although her voice remained faint, her effort to keep up with the rhythm was clearly visible.

"...So, we should do this first, then this, and more importantly, this..." Natsukawa was pointing at a chart in the textbook with his pen, trying to explain a complex concept in a simpler way.

Just then, a faint but highly piercing sound of arguing drifted over from another direction in the library, past the bookshelves. One voice was rough and irritable—undoubtedly Sudo Ken; the other was cold and sharp, carrying undisguised sarcasm—it was Horikita Suzune.

Sakura clearly heard it too. Her body shrank almost imperceptibly, and her slightly relaxed shoulders tensed up again. She looked toward the source of the sound with some unease.

Natsukawa stopped his explanation and closed the book. "I'll go take a look," he said gently to Sakura. "You keep looking here and try to understand the part I just circled. I'll be back soon."

Sakura nodded obediently, though a trace of worry remained in her eyes.

Natsukawa stood up and walked toward the direction of the sound. The closer he got to the study room, the clearer the content of the argument became.

"...Are you kidding me?! Don't think you can talk to me like that just because you're smart?! I'm going to club practice, I'm not playing along anymore! I even took the afternoon off specifically for this..." This was Sudo's irritable roar.

"If you can't even understand such basic problems, I think your priority should be how to avoid expulsion, not meaningless club activities. Or is your brain capacity only enough to support you charging around on the basketball court?" Horikita's voice was as cold as ice.

"What did you say?! You jerk!"

"Sudo-kun, calm down!"

"Horikita-san, say a little less..."

Interspersed in the middle were the anxious, conciliatory pleas of Kushida Kikyo trying to soothe both sides.

When Natsukawa walked around the corner of the bookshelf, he happened to see Sudo Ken kick a chair away violently, grab his bag, and roar with a livid face: "I'm not playing along! Whoever wants to come to this damn study session can come!" With that, he stormed out of the study room without looking back.

Ike and Yamauchi looked at each other, then at the furious Sudo, then at the frost-faced Horikita, and finally at the pale-faced Kushida nearby. Eventually, they also picked up their things, muttering things like "What the hell," and "With Horikita's attitude, forget it," before slipping away.

The once-noisy study table was suddenly left with only three people.

Kushida Kikyo patted her chest gently, a lingering look of fear on her face. She turned to Horikita, her tone still trying hard to remain gentle: "Horikita-san, I know you're doing this for Sudo and the others, but... could your tone be a little... more tactful? Arguing like this won't achieve your goal..."

Horikita Suzune glanced at her coldly. "Tactful?" She scoffed, her eyes full of arrogance and disdain. "For someone who lacks basic comprehension and has a bad attitude, being tactful is just a waste of time for both of us. My goal is for them to understand the material and pass the exams, not to play the role of a supportive big sister and keep them happy. I shouldn't have wasted my time on them in the first place; it would have been better to just let them get expelled. Also, stop pestering me; I'm not going to play the 'let's be friends' game with you."

The smile on Kushida's face froze completely. For the first time, a clear sense of grievance and a hint of offended anger surfaced in those brown eyes that were always filled with warmth. She bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly: "I... I just wanted to help... Since Horikita-san says so, I won't bother you anymore!"

After saying this, she grabbed her bag and gave Horikita a deep look—a gaze complex and hard to decipher—before turning and walking away quickly. However, as she passed Natsukawa, she paused for a moment and gave him a look that mixed helplessness with a "see, I couldn't do anything about it" expression.

At this moment, in the empty study room, only Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained, sitting in his seat as if he were part of the background, and Natsukawa Sosuke, who was leaning against the bookshelf, having taken in everything.

Ayanokoji saw Natsukawa and nodded expressionlessly, a silent greeting.

Natsukawa walked in, pulled up a chair, and sat down opposite Horikita. The air in the study room was still thick with the gunpowder left behind by the argument.

Horikita didn't even look at Natsukawa; she just lowered her head to organize the textbooks on the table, which hadn't even been flipped through much. The lines of her profile were pulled tight, like a cold plaster statue. But Natsukawa keenly noticed that her fingers, while organizing the papers, were pressing down so hard her knuckles were turning white, revealing that her heart was not entirely calm.

"What a brilliant teaching demonstration, Horikita-san," Natsukawa said, his tone flat, making it impossible to tell if it was praise or sarcasm.

Horikita finally looked up, her violet eyes staring sharply at Natsukawa with the displeasure of being interrupted: "If you're here to watch a joke, you can leave now."

"Watch a joke?" Natsukawa smiled lightly, leaning forward slightly, his gaze dissecting Horikita with the precision of a scalpel. "I'm just curious: why does someone who keeps talking about rising to Class A act in a way that seems to be actively pushing potential 'pieces' away?"

"Pieces?" Horikita frowned, clearly disliking the term. "I don't need pieces that can't understand. People who can't even grasp the most basic knowledge have no right to be my help in reaching Class A; they are nothing but dead weight."

"Dead weight?" Natsukawa repeated the word, his eyes carrying a hint of pity. "Horikita, did you get something wrong? You are currently in Class D. Not Class A, not even Class B. Here, the 'dead weight' in your eyes is the very foundation of the class. Do you think Class A is maintained by one person or a few 'elites'?"

He paused, observing Horikita's slightly changing expression, and continued in that calm tone as if stating a fact: "You think you're excellent and disdain being with 'defective products.' But have you thought about why someone as 'excellent' as you was assigned to Class D? Are you thinking right now that as long as you eliminate Sudo and the others who can't study, you can lead the rest to climb to Class A? Little Horikita, you are far too naive. If you think like that, the group of do-gooders in Class B who are always thinking about helping others should be at the bottom, but what is their class point total right now? It's 890 points, biting closely at the heels of Class A."

"Class B... 890 points?" Horikita's eyes narrowed sharply. She knew this number, and she remembered that Class B had previously called on everyone to maintain classroom discipline. But ever since she learned the true nature of this school, she had only cared about how to rise to Class A, forgetting the value of maintaining that point total in the first month of school.

"That's right," Natsukawa affirmed. "Do you know how they did it? It's not because everyone in Class B is smarter or more capable than you. On the contrary, it's precisely because they understand 'cooperation' and how to integrate people of different levels to work together toward a single goal. Ichinose Honami—she is the core of Class B. She might not have your arrogance as a top student, but she has the ability to keep the entire class united."

He looked at Horikita's pride, which was gradually wavering but still holding on, and delivered the final blow: "Arrogance can be used to motivate yourself, but it cannot lead a collective. If you really want to rise to Class A instead of staying forever in the fantasy of 'self-righteous excellence,' then learning how to deal with the 'dead weight' you look down upon—how to utilize them, or even guide them—is a part of 'ability' that you truly need to learn. Besides, who told you that 'dead weight' is useless? Go ask your brother, you stubborn tsundere; 'ability' in this school isn't just about academic performance."

Natsukawa's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a hammer, striking at Horikita's solid mental defenses. Her hands on her lap tightened involuntarily, clutching the skirt of her uniform. Those violet eyes, always filled with pride, flickered violently. There was anger, there was unwillingness, but more than that, it was the... wavering of someone whose shortcomings had been laid bare, forced to face her own incompetence. Even the parts of Natsukawa's words that were inappropriate were temporarily forgotten by her.

She opened her mouth, trying to refute, but found that the arguments she had prepared seemed pale and powerless under Natsukawa's precise strike. She had only ever known how to follow in her brother's footsteps, only knowing that her brother had always been a solitary figure. Cooperation—something she might have known subconsciously but was never willing to face—was laid out before her by Natsukawa without mercy.

A long silence fell over the library. Natsukawa didn't say anything more; he knew the seed had been planted, and it was up to how things developed from here.

He stood up and straightened his clothes. "Think about it, little Horikita. If you're still unwilling to change yourself, then continue to drown in your useless arrogance."

With that, he didn't linger, turned, and left the library, leaving the space to the proud girl who was currently fighting a battle within herself.