Arguing / Kushida's Fury

More than the anger she felt at being criticized, she was furious that Horikita and Onodera had both displayed athletic abilities that completely outclassed her.

Of the three of them, she was the worst.

Chapter 77: Arguing

"Horikita, how can you say that? How is this Kushida's fault?"

Seeing Kushida bow her head in apology, Onodera immediately took offense.

She had never liked Horikita Suzune's self-important ways, but not enough to say it aloud.

But now that the class's resident do-gooder Kushida was being treated like this, she couldn't hold back anymore.

"Why isn't it her fault?" Horikita said coldly. "The nature of this school's competition was clear as far back as April. If she knew she wasn't athletic, why didn't she train?"

"She spends her free time after class hanging out with friends and chatting with students who have no ambition. She never tries to improve herself, and this is the result."

After becoming Class D's leader and gaining popularity in the class, Kushida had become one of Horikita Suzune's main concerns.

Even someone as capable as Aoyama Shiki had to form alliances in the Student Council.

Horikita knew, then, that one person's abilities were limited. She had started looking for students who could help her a long time ago.

But Kushida, whom she had been keeping an eye on, showed no interest in improving herself. She spent every day trying to please others, letting herself fall into ruin.

"Not everyone can be like you, Horikita. Besides, they're my friends. Isn't it a bit much to call them unambitious?"

Being criticized by the girl she hated most, Horikita Suzune, filled Kushida with rage, but she couldn't let it show. She even had to put on a pitiful, aggrieved expression.

She felt as though she'd accumulated more dark feelings today than she usually did in an entire week.

Why didn't Horikita Suzune just drop dead already?!

"Horikita, don't you think you've gone too far? Who talks to people like that? And who you make friends with is your own business, isn't it?" Onodera's tone turned hostile, and she stopped using honorifics.

Kushida was her friend too. They weren't close enough to be best friends, but there was no way Onodera could keep from getting angry on her behalf.

And even if they weren't friends, Onodera felt she wouldn't be able to turn a blind eye to Horikita's aggressive behavior.

"So you think hanging out with bad influences is a good thing? Do you think someone like Yamauchi Haruki is going to help you?"

"Is making friends only because they'll benefit you really the right thing to do?"

The two of them faced off on the path, Onodera glaring angrily at Horikita, who remained impassive.

Just an hour ago, the three of them had been working together perfectly. Now they were on the verge of falling apart.

"Why are you arguing on the very first day, Suzune?"

Aoyama had caught up with Horikita, Onodera, and Kushida. One look at their expressions told him what had happened.

It was most likely Horikita's sharp tongue that had caused the argument.

"Let's head to the next base first. I don't have time to argue with you." When Horikita saw that it was Aoyama, she immediately set off again toward the next base to check in.

Aoyama was the only student from another class on the island, so she wasn't worried about him revealing who had Class D's Key Card.

If Aoyama had really wanted to know, he wouldn't have let her decide for herself in the first place.

"But isn't Aoyama in Class A?"

"He's our ally for the time being in this Special Exam."

After giving a quick explanation, Horikita turned and continued on, with no intention of wasting time.

Seeing that, Aoyama thought for a moment and decided to stay quiet until Horikita had finished what she was doing.

"Why did you leave without saying goodbye, Horikita? Was our hospitality not good enough?"

Horikita Suzune had just checked in at the fourth base and hadn't left yet when Ryuen, drenched in sweat, appeared in front of them.

After wiping the sweat from his brow, he gave the three of them a piercing look.

After finding two consecutive bases occupied by Class D, Ryuen realized that traveling with the whole group would only leave them with nothing. He'd promptly left the others behind and hurried off alone.

But had he just missed them?

Glancing at the device where they'd checked in, Ryuen felt a little disappointed.

If he'd arrived a little earlier, perhaps he could have seen who checked in.

Still, at least he could be sure there wasn't a hidden fourth person. That was good news.

"Let's look for supplies next." Unwilling to waste time talking to Ryuen, Horikita beckoned for Kushida and Onodera to leave with her.

With Ryuen there, they wouldn't dare check in at any new bases, so Horikita planned to spend the rest of their time searching for supplies.

Given the time constraints, the students yesterday hadn't explored this half of the island very thoroughly. Finding something edible wouldn't be difficult.

"Bring me Class D's Key Card, and I'll give you one and a half million private points."

When Horikita Suzune decided to head back, Ryuen didn't try to stop her.

But as she and the others passed by him, he turned his head and deliberately tried to drive a wedge between them.

"Anyone can do it."

When none of the four said a word, Ryuen added the line casually.

Aoyama was tempted right away, and he abandoned the plan he'd intended to discuss with Horikita that morning.

The person holding the Key Card was going to change eventually anyway. As long as Ryuen didn't impose some other condition, there was no reason he couldn't accept the deal.

It was probably a malicious scam, which meant it'd count as dirty money. Enough for a ten-pull and a half.

A plausible new plan quickly took shape in his mind.

"Starting tomorrow, Kushida, you don't need to go with Horikita and the others to check in anymore."

After they'd put some distance between themselves and Ryuen, Aoyama called out to Horikita, Onodera, and Kushida, saying he had something to discuss.

Once they sat down on a grassy patch beneath the shade of some trees, he looked at Kushida and made a surprising suggestion.

"That won't work. It'll make the other three classes focus on me and Onodera, and Onodera isn't exactly calm. There's a good chance she'll let slip that she isn't the one holding the Key Card."

"If the result is zero points when Class D's exam ends, I'll give Class D five million private points." Aoyama wasn't going to reveal Karuizawa's existence for now, so he tried to persuade Horikita another way.

"I can make the other three classes misjudge who's holding Class D's Key Card."

"How?" Horikita couldn't simply trust Aoyama yet.

Onodera had already proved today that she wasn't particularly calm. Horikita couldn't put her safety in Onodera's hands.

"You'll find out when the time comes."

Aoyama answered calmly, then began arranging their actions for the following morning while Onodera looked at him strangely.

Early in the morning, they would set off to check in with Kushida in tow, then abandon her halfway and have her hide.

If anyone found only the two of them checking in—or found Kushida checking in alone—the explanation would be: "Horikita got fed up with Kushida's poor athletic ability and left her behind without a second thought."

"That sounds exactly like something Horikita would do." As soon as Aoyama finished outlining the plan, Onodera nodded in agreement.

Kushida could only put on an awkward smile after hearing that.

"To keep you from knowing too much and giving the game away, only Kushida and I will know the rest of the plan."

Ignoring Onodera's muttering, Aoyama once again chose to be cryptic.

They couldn't let Horikita and Onodera know that Kushida, resentful at being abandoned, was going to steal Horikita's Key Card and trade it to Ryuen.

Chapter 78: Kushida's Fury

By the river, with the trees casting partial shade.

Knowing that following Horikita Suzune would only mean misery for Kushida, Aoyama took her along on the pretext that she'd be no use to Horikita for now and would only slow her down.

The two of them spent hours exploring the newly mapped area while searching for supplies.

When they found a reasonably good place to rest, Aoyama decided they should take a break for a couple of hours.

His physical condition was fine, but Kushida was another story.

She was drenched in sweat, and her face was very pale.

"Kushida, your stamina seems a little worse than I expected."

After sitting down on a relatively flat patch of grass, Aoyama salted the wound as Kushida sat across from him.

He guessed this was why the three of them had argued that morning. Horikita wouldn't be kind to someone who was weaker than her and holding her back.

Horikita Suzune usually seemed perfectly normal around him, but that was because he'd established himself as the stronger one.

Your beloved older brother, Horikita Manabu, respects me and sees me as his successor.

How could I not be stronger than you, when he hasn't even acknowledged you? Do you think you can lay a hand on me?

"I'm so sick of this! If Horikita's got such great stamina, go find her! Why are you picking on me?!"

"I didn't even get to finish breakfast this morning because Horikita took everything, but even if I'd eaten, I'd still be this bad. What am I supposed to do about it?!"

"I've tried my absolute hardest at everything, whether it's studying or sports, but I still can't measure up to other people. This is simply the limit of my talent!"

Kushida pounded the ground with her right hand, then looked up at Aoyama's calm face and roared.

She didn't hate talented people. She hated having them around her.

Aoyama Shiki, the most talented of the talented, and without a doubt the strongest first-year student right now.

Little Kikyo runs so fast!

Your daughter is such a good student. She's top of the class—how wonderful!

She won first prize in the reading competition. Amazing!

Back in elementary school, the adults had often praised her like that. It had made her incredibly happy, and gradually she'd come to believe she was remarkable—a gifted genius.

But after leaving elementary school and moving on to middle school, she realized her supposed talent didn't exist. There were several students in her class who were better at studying than she was, and the same was true of sports.

Some things came down to talent. Hard work alone couldn't make you surpass everyone else.

Shortly after she stopped being an elementary school student, Kushida understood that. She also realized that all her success in elementary school had come from being disciplined and hardworking, and had nothing to do with talent.

She studied for more than ten hours a day, yet she still couldn't keep up with classmates who wasted time taking part in club activities. The cruel reality had been laid bare before her.

After trying morning and evening training only to come in third at the Sports Festival, Kushida gave up on being number one at either studying or sports.

In the second semester of her first year of middle school, she stopped trying in both areas and instead set out to become the top student in personality.

Understanding, helpful, never losing her temper, smilingly accepting even unreasonable demands.

And so, after all that, Class A's most popular girl, the angelic perfect friend Kushida Kikyo, had come into being.

"Someone like you could never understand!"

Resting his cheek on one hand propped on his knee, Aoyama smiled. "You look much more comfortable like this. Actually, I think I like you better this way."

Kushida's outburst hadn't surprised him. Horikita was desperate to make up for a serious mistake, and that meant she was acting in a way that was even more irritating than usual.

The psychological pressure Horikita alone had piled on Kushida might have been greater than what ten Yamauchis could manage.

"What are you talking about? Do you think I'm some gullible girl like Yamamura?" Kushida's eyes remained vicious, and she radiated such a menacing air that it wouldn't have been surprising if she'd suddenly attacked him.

"Don't be ridiculous. How could anyone fall for you looking like this? You're as vicious as a demon."

"Then why did you say you liked it, you bastard?!"

Kushida's glare grew even more vicious. She felt that Aoyama was just messing with her, and the dark emotions pent up inside her kept rising.

In the end, she gave up on holding them back.

"That bitch Horikita Suzune thinks she's so high and mighty. What's so great about her?!"

"Drop dead already!"

Kushida got up and went over to a fairly leafy tree.

Kicking it again and again, hard enough to make it hurt just to watch, she let the innocent tree experience what it meant to be assaulted by a human.

"Scumbag Aoyama Shiki, always wearing that smug look like he's got everything under control. So what if you're top of the year? You're always smiling, but who knows how twisted you are inside."

"If you're so good at smiling, why don't you go onstage and be a clown?"

Hey, hey, I'm right here.