Ever since Natsukawa had left the archaeology questions for Kushida to handle on her own, she had been in high spirits all afternoon. When school let out, she left with a group of girls from her class, her steps lighter than usual.
"Little Kikyo, did something good happen today? You look so happy!" one of the girls walking with her asked curiously.
Kushida pressed her index finger to her lips in a playful gesture, keeping it secret. Her big brown eyes glittered with a mysterious, delighted light. "It's a secret~ But you'll find out tomorrow!" Her voice was full of confidence, as though she could already see her classmates gathering around her tomorrow, thanking her over and over.
The anticipation welling up inside her had her up early the next morning. The sky had only just begun to brighten, but she was already carrying a large stack of freshly printed exam papers, still carrying a faint scent, into the empty Class D classroom. She had no idea what was about to happen.
Only a few people were in the classroom. Horikita Suzune sat in the back row, aloof as ever, quietly reading a book. Beside her, Sakura Airi sat at her desk, her head lowered as she reviewed her lessons. One or two others were slumped over their desks, catching up on sleep. The quiet atmosphere only made Kushida feel more certain that she was about to break the silence and bring everyone hope.
She carefully set the thick stack of exam papers on her desk. As if showing off a prize, she neatly straightened the edges, her face glowing with satisfaction and anticipation.
Just then, the classroom door opened, and Natsukawa Sosuke walked in. He seemed to have arrived earlier than usual, too. His gaze swept casually across the room, then quickly settled on the conspicuous stack of printouts on Kushida's desk and the undisguised excitement on her face.
Natsukawa didn't slow down. He walked straight over to Kushida's desk. His shadow fell across the exam papers, bringing with it an intangible pressure.
"You're not thinking of... handing these out to everyone right now, are you?" Natsukawa's voice was calm, betraying no emotion, but his dark eyes were like a deep pool, reflecting Kushida's excessively bright smile.
Kushida looked up, her smile still radiant, with a hint of innocent sincerity that was hard to read. "That's right! If everyone has these, they won't have to feel so nervous or work so hard studying! Isn't that great?" She could almost hear the cheers and thanks she had imagined.
Natsukawa showed no sign of agreement. Instead, he fixed her with a gaze that was almost pitying, yet carried a chilling pressure. "They won't have to feel nervous?... Is that all you've thought about?" His tone remained even, but every word was like a little hammer tapping against Kushida's heart.
Kushida's smile instantly froze. Confusion and disbelief surfaced on her face. "What do you mean? Is there... something wrong with everyone not having to study so hard or feel so nervous?" She couldn't understand why Natsukawa was questioning her.
Natsukawa didn't answer at once. Instead, he took a small step forward, silently invading the comfortable social distance Kushida was used to. He was taller and larger than her, and the slight angle at which he looked down at her now created an intense pressure that almost made it hard to breathe. Kushida could even smell the faint scent of laundry detergent on him. She instinctively wanted to step back, but her heels seemed nailed to the floor.
"Something wrong?" Natsukawa repeated, his voice low, yet edged with a scorn that seemed to see through everything. "Kushida, do you see it? This atmosphere in the class, the one forced into being by a shared crisis and pressure—it's so... precious." His gaze swept over the few figures in the room who had arrived early, whether out of anxiety or a desire to work hard.
"For the first time, people aren't here to have fun. They're trying to survive, and they're genuinely trying to unite and cooperate. They're clumsy, they're in disarray, but this is the first step they've taken on their own." His gaze returned to Kushida's face, which was gradually losing its color. He pointed at her, his eyes sharp as a blade. "And you want to destroy it effortlessly with a few sheets of paper. That's the difference between you and me."
He paused, each word landing clearly in Kushida's ears. "All you care about is the moment they get the exam papers and thank you, Kushida Kikyo, with a smile. What I see is how to guide them so that they can rely on their own strength and take genuine, steady steps toward the future."
At last, he spoke almost as if passing sentence. "Kushida, thoughtless kindness is the gentlest poison of all."
Boom—!
It was as if thunder had exploded in her mind. Kushida felt all the blood in her body freeze in an instant. The energetic smile she had so carefully maintained shattered completely, replaced by the pallor and panic of someone whose entire worldview had been rejected. Her excitement was doused from head to toe as if by a bucket of ice water, and even her fingertips turned cold.
"I... I didn't think that far ahead..." Her voice trembled against her will. She looked away, no longer daring to meet Natsukawa's gaze, which seemed to burn her. "I just didn't want everyone to have to work so hard... Was what I did... really that bad?" The pattern she had relied on to get by—"show kindness, earn affection"—seemed so shallow and... pathetic under Natsukawa's cold analysis.
Seeing Kushida looking utterly dejected, her spirit broken, Natsukawa softened his tone a little, though his gaze remained sharp. "It's not bad. It's shallow. You're used to taking the simplest, most direct route to get smiles and thanks, but you never stop to think about the cost or whether it has any lasting value. You're like this in everyday life, and you're like this now. That's why you've built up too much pressure. It was only a matter of time before you broke."
He delivered one final blow, striking at the thing she cared about most. "The people everyone truly accepts and relies on are the ones who teach others to fish, not the ones who give them fish. Kikyo, you're still a long way from that."
"Teach others to fish..." Kushida murmured, repeating the phrase. Her thoughts were in chaos. Self-doubt surged over her like a tide, swallowing her whole. She had always wanted to earn other people's approval through her actions, yet in Natsukawa's eyes, what she did was so short-sighted and cheap. The "kindness" she had been proud of had been dismissed as "poison." The immense disparity left her barely able to stand, and she instinctively grabbed the edge of her desk.
"I understand... So what should I do with these exam papers..." Kushida had given up thinking and began looking to Natsukawa for advice.
Seeing that Kushida's confidence had been completely crushed, her eyes bewildered and even faintly pleading for guidance, Natsukawa knew he had made his point. He said no more and casually pulled three papers from the stack.
"Take the rest back and put them away for now," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Like a puppet on strings, Kushida obediently gathered the remaining papers into her arms. Her movements were stiff.
Holding the three papers, Natsukawa turned and walked over to Horikita Suzune's desk. He placed one of them on it.
"This is the exam paper for the upcoming midterms," he said succinctly.
Horikita looked up from her book. A flicker of surprise and deep suspicion showed in her reddish-purple eyes. "Where did you get this?"
"Kushida bought it from a second-year student," Natsukawa answered without batting an eye.
Her gaze instinctively drifted toward the dejected Kushida. She hadn't been able to hear exactly what they'd said, but she'd seen Natsukawa's aggressive stance and Kushida's face shift from sunny to overcast. It was obvious who had the upper hand.
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