At lunch the next day, when he ran into Ayanokoji in the hallway, Horikita Suzune happened to be walking toward them. Natsukawa instinctively grew wary.
However, Horikita's reaction was beyond his expectations.
She stopped in front of him and looked straight at him with her reddish-purple eyes. Her gaze was unusually complicated: there was lingering anger and resentment, but more than anything, there was scrutiny and... hesitation. She didn't immediately lash out, or even make a single cutting remark.
The air froze for several seconds.
At last, Horikita seemed to steel herself. She took a deep breath and spoke in an extremely stiff voice, the words practically forced through gritted teeth. "Natsukawa... I need your... help... with how to bring the class together."
When she finished speaking, her cheeks flushed slightly—not from embarrassment, but from the heat of deep humiliation. Her eyes, usually so full of pride, now avoided Natsukawa's gaze and turned toward the floor beside him.
Natsukawa understood. Yesterday's "medicine" had worked, though he hadn't expected it to work quite so well. It shouldn't have, but even so, the effect clearly wasn't enough. He couldn't let her think asking for help was that easy.
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked her over with an almost pitying gaze, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faint smile. His tone was laced with condescension. "Oh? Didn't you say yesterday, so confidently, that you didn't need any 'deadweight' and would let them fend for themselves? What happened? After just one day, our proud Miss Horikita has changed her mind? Or have you finally realized that you can't handle even a few 'flawed products' on your own?"
His words were like icy needles, piercing Horikita's fragile pride with pinpoint accuracy. Her fists clenched at once, her knuckles turning white as her body trembled. She jerked her head up, fire practically blazing in her eyes. "You...!"
"What about me?" Natsukawa cut her off, stepping closer. His voice was quiet, but carried an unquestionable pressure. "If you're going to ask for help, then act like you're asking for help. Recognizing your own incompetence and limitations is the first step toward growing. If you can't even do that, you might as well give up on your unrealistic dream of reaching Class A and settle down in Class D, where you can be the biggest fish in a small pond."
He deliberately used the phrase "biggest fish in a small pond" to provoke her. Sure enough, Horikita's face turned from red to pale. To her, failing to reach Class A, where her brother was, was no different from failure itself.
"...You're right." After a long pause, she seemed to use up all her strength just to force the words from her throat. Her voice was low and hoarse. Her back, usually ramrod straight, seemed to bend a little. Natsukawa's repeated attacks and his merciless belittling now had put a crack in the sturdy shell she had built around herself.
"Admitting you were wrong isn't enough." Natsukawa waited until the moment seemed right, then spoke unhurriedly. "I can't solve this alone. You need someone else's help too—Kushida Kikyo."
"What? Surely you don't mean..." Horikita instinctively tried to object, her face full of resistance.
"Get rid of that useless prejudice." Natsukawa cut her off again, his tone commanding. "Don't you want to make it to Class A? Then take action. Kushida has a knack for winning people over and communicating with them that you can't hope to match. Those are the 'tools' you need most right now. Come with me to find her. Then you will ask her for help yourself."
He deliberately emphasized "tools" and "yourself"—both to further undermine her pride and to reinforce the reality that she had to rely on other people.
Horikita struggled fiercely inside. The prospect of Class A that Natsukawa had described was tangled up with her humiliation. In the end, she seemed to remember something. His words echoed in her mind, and her desire to reach Class A, together with the pressure he was putting on her, finally overcame her proud resistance.
She followed silently behind Natsukawa, like a prisoner being led away.
When they found Kushida, she was chatting and laughing with several girls, wearing her flawless, cheerful smile. Seeing Natsukawa arrive with Horikita—and especially seeing Horikita's extremely stiff, unnatural expression—a flicker of surprise and amusement flashed through Kushida's eyes. It was soon hidden behind her perfect smile.
"Natsukawa, Horikita? Did you need something?" Her voice was as sweet as ever.
Natsukawa signaled to Horikita with his eyes.
Horikita took a deep breath, avoiding Kushida's gaze and staring at the ground. In a stiff voice, barely audible, she said, "Kushida... I need your... help... with the study group... for Sudo and the others."
When she finished, even the tips of her ears had turned bright red.
Kushida's smile grew even brighter, as if she had just heard the sweetest request in the world. "Of course, Horikita!" she replied enthusiastically. "I'm so happy I can help! Don't worry, leave it to me!"
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