Brother's Words

He had just been thrown to the ground by the other party, yet now he could calmly try to recruit him.

There were indeed many things about her brother that she could learn from.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in that."

Suzuki Tsubame spread his hands. He had no reason to join the Student Council.

If it was simply for Tachibana Akane's sake, there seemed to be no need for it either.

After all, the person she liked did not seem interested in it.

"Is that so... If you change your mind, come find me anytime."

"Then what do you think of this school? Whether it's the students or the school rules, tell me your thoughts."

Horikita Manabu did not simply want to hear Suzuki Tsubame's impressions of the school.

He wanted to remind his foolish little sister that this school was far more complicated than she imagined.

"Uh, the school rules are fine, and the overall quality of the students is quite high. Especially the girls—they're all very pretty."

"Of course, Suzune is definitely the prettiest among them."

One of them.

Hehe, Suzuki Tsubame did not dare say those last two words.

"Is that so."

Faced with Suzuki Tsubame's complete indifference, Horikita Manabu had no way to deal with him. He could hardly force him to speak.

Then he glanced once more at his sister, who stood frozen in place.

Horikita Manabu only felt an immense headache coming on.

Yet at the same time, he was immensely proud of this sister.

Whether it was academics, housework, or physical ability, she had grown into an impeccable young woman.

"Suzune, I hope you'll conduct yourself properly."

"I'll prove it to you, Brother. I'll definitely rise to Class A!"

Is that what I was talking about? Did you really understand me?

Looking at Suzune's determined expression, Horikita Manabu's feelings were rather complicated.

"There's no need to worry about Suzune. Before she grows stronger... no, no matter when or where, I won't let Suzune fall into danger."

Suzuki Tsubame assured him.

Hearing that, Horikita Manabu's expression became even more complicated.

What a damn mess...

A moment later, Horikita Manabu's expression softened slightly.

At least for now, Suzuki Tsubame did seem like someone Suzune could be entrusted to.

Of course, it was not because he could not defeat him. It was simply because he trusted his own judgment.

"I hope you can gain something from your time at this school."

Those were Horikita Manabu's final words that night.

After parting ways with Horikita Manabu, neither of them chose to retrace the route they had taken earlier.

They slowly walked along the coastline.

The gentle warm lights lining the road, paired with the pale blue moonlight, were like fireflies beneath a starry sky, dancing gracefully through the low air.

Even though he had already witnessed its vastness, seeing it again still left him awed by its boundlessness.

Oh, ocean, ocean, why do you have so much water?

Advanced Nurturing truly deserved to be an academy packed with the children of conglomerate families in the Classroom of the Elite World.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides, every direction aside from the school gate opened onto an endless expanse of ocean.

Despite being located in Tokyo, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, the school grounds were absurdly vast. Its facilities and staff were all fully provided for.

Everything within it existed solely to serve 480 students.

Suzuki Tsubame could not help marveling again at just how deep the Sakayanagi Family's resources ran.

Wait... had he forgotten to extort President Horikita?

President, you wouldn't want this video uploaded online, would you?

While Suzuki Tsubame let his thoughts run wild, Horikita beside him looked listless and weighed down by worries.

Horikita Manabu had truly put a great deal of pressure on her just now.

Suzuki Tsubame felt that it was time to guide her a little.

"Suzune, what do you think about what happened today?"

What happened today? Did he mean Sudo this afternoon, or her promise to her brother?

Horikita Suzune asked with a puzzled expression.

"Do you mean my promise to my brother that I'll definitely rise to Class A?"

"Honestly... I have no idea where to begin. There are too few known conditions, whether it's Private Points or Class Points."

"Other than taking things one step at a time, it seems there's nothing I can do."

Her expression was slightly dejected. She had just made such a bold declaration to her brother.

But... to surpass Class A in Class Points, she would need to accumulate 20 million Private Points. For her current self, that was simply far too difficult.

Looking at her dejected face, Suzuki Tsubame thought, you've misunderstood your brother's words again. Your brother never once told you to rise to Class A.

Sigh, no helping it. I'll have to interpret them for you.

"Suzune, President Horikita never seemed to say that you had to rise to Class A, did he?"

Huh?

Horikita's mind went blank.

She recalled what her brother had said.

Her shortcomings... his sister in Class D... disgrace... expulsion.

Didn't those words mean that he wanted her to rise to Class A?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Her brother's words were always full of hidden meaning, and she simply could not figure them out.

With that in mind, Horikita asked in return.

"Then what do you think... my brother meant?"

The moment those words left her mouth, Horikita regretted them.

Even she, his own sister, had found his words incomprehensible. How could Suzuki Tsubame, an outsider, possibly know?

Suzuki Tsubame did not know she was thinking that. Even if he did, he would only smile dismissively.

The person involved was often confused, while an observer saw clearly. Besides, he knew very well what had happened between the Horikita siblings.

"As your brother, he surely knows your abilities better than anyone."

"The reason your brother is angry has never been that you're in Class D. It's why you ended up in Class D."

Suzuki Tsubame's words immediately made Horikita reflect on herself.

That was right. Since childhood, she had excelled academically and mastered all kinds of skills.

She could be said to have developed comprehensively in intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor.

Her brother knew all of that.

Suzuki Tsubame had mentioned the reason she was assigned to Class D. It seemed to be because of her solitary personality.

What kind of ridiculous reason was that? Was her brother angry over something like that?

Horikita Suzune was deeply confused. Hadn't her brother been the same way before?

She had never seen him make friends either, so why would he be angry over it?

Horikita was even more bewildered, her suspicion and confusion written all over her face.

"Suzune, I heard that the Class A led by President Horikita has kept the other three classes completely suppressed for the past two years."

The Class A led by her brother?

She seemed to have caught the key point. Even someone as strong as her brother needed to lead a class in order to suppress the others. It seemed she needed to find more allies.

Wait!

She had already learned about the existence of exams. Although it had not been the Behavior Exam, it should have been enough to warn everyone.

It was also because of her selfishness that the class was now left with no Class Points at all.

Horikita's face filled with regret.

If she had known this would happen, she should have warned them earlier.

[Ding! Long-Term Task: Solitary Maiden. Completion: 50%. Reward: Plant Mastery. With a single glance, you can understand the functions of every plant currently existing on Earth.]

The long-absent system notification sounded. It seemed Horikita was gradually beginning to understand the meaning of companions.

After adjusting her mindset, Horikita turned her gaze toward Suzuki Tsubame.

Her cool voice rang out.

"Suzuki, what do you think I should do?"