Retreating from School Within the Mountain

"Sorry... I refuse."

Suzuki Tsubame flatly rejected Sakayanagi's proposal.

The girl's reaction wasn't particularly strong—in fact, Suzuki Tsubame's answer was exactly what she had expected.

The strongest in history versus the weakest in history; any ordinary person would unhesitatingly choose the former.

But that was just the thinking of ordinary people.

For true powerhouses, they prefer to swim against the current.

"Heh... as expected of Suzuki-kun."

"Then... let me witness it, Suzuki-kun's heroic bearing."

How did we suddenly drag out all this random nonsense?

Suzuki Tsubame scratched his head. He didn't want to change classes purely because Class D had more beautiful girls, and their quality was higher too.

Besides, what Suzuki Tsubame had actually wanted to say was: the first two times they met, both ended with hugs.

This time, since they were about to part ways, shouldn't there be a hug?

Sakayanagi didn't seem to notice Suzuki Tsubame's odd behavior and walked on her own toward the Class A classroom.

"Wait."

Suzuki Tsubame wasn't the type to overthink things; he did whatever he wanted.

Quickly stepping in front of Sakayanagi, under her surprised gaze, Suzuki Tsubame used his arms to pull her entire body into his embrace.

Sakayanagi's body was definitely the softest in Youkoso Jitsuryoku.

After all, compared to others, she lacked exercise year-round, with hardly any excess muscle on her frame.

The two held each other, neither speaking.

Before the class bell rang, Suzuki Tsubame had already returned to his seat.

I wonder if anyone else feels this way—coming into the office or school a few minutes early feels like a loss.

What exactly was lost, Suzuki Tsubame couldn't say, but it was a loss nonetheless.

"How does the Chairman's daughter feel?"

Strange, who was talking?

Following the source of the voice, Horikita sat upright, no different from usual.

"Suzune, did you hear something?"

"Heh..."

Horikita let out a cold laugh, put down the textbook in her hand, and looked at Suzuki Tsubame.

"Bilateral hearing loss is pretty serious. Need me to call an ambulance for you?"

Scratching his head awkwardly, Suzuki Tsubame put on an innocent face.

"The Chairman's daughter, Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A?"

"We do have some acquaintance between us. If Suzune wants to get to know her, I can introduce you."

Horikita and Sakayanagi—at this point in time, those two had nothing to do with each other. Why did Suzune suddenly ask about her?

Could there be a mole?

Wait, where was Kamuro...

Suzuki Tsubame's expression stiffened. He had assumed earlier that this was a thank-you banquet from the Sakayanagi Family, so having Kamuro step aside was normal.

But thinking it over carefully... no, nine parts out of ten were wrong.

Sure enough... Horikita's next sentence crushed Suzuki Tsubame's hopes completely.

"A hand-holding kind of acquaintance?"

Horikita expressionlessly pulled out her phone and handed it to Suzuki Tsubame.

Taking a closer look, wasn't this the School Forum?

The title read loud and clear: <The Untold Story Between the Chairman's Daughter and the Top of the Handsome Guy Ranking>

The accompanying image was a photo of Sakayanagi holding Suzuki Tsubame's hand as they walked toward the mall.

The photographer must have been on the second floor of the mall; the angle was well chosen. They were also well-prepared, even the photo was high-definition.

Seeing that title, Suzuki Tsubame's face darkened. Was this repaying kindness with enmity?

That Sakayanagi girl seemed to enjoy pulling little tricks.

No real harm done, just pure annoyance.

Fortunately... Suzuki Tsubame wasn't completely unprepared either.

"Suzune, it's not what you think. The chairman actually had business with me, and Classmate Sakayanagi was just showing me the way."

With that, Suzuki Tsubame pulled his phone from his school uniform pocket and fiddled with it for a moment.

He opened his photo album and held it out to her.

On the screen appeared Chairman Sakayanagi in casual clothes.

It was true that Chairman Sakayanagi had sought out Suzuki Tsubame, and it was true that Sakayanagi had guided him.

Verification complete—everything Suzuki Tsubame said was the truth.

Staring at the photo before her, Horikita wore a skeptical expression.

You're all freshmen—how did you end up at the same dinner table as the chairman?

"Actually, my family sent me a message, and Chairman Sakayanagi just passed it along."

He explained to her, and this too was the truth.

Deceiving Horikita was something Suzuki Tsubame couldn't bring himself to do.

"Then it seems... Suzuki-kun's family background isn't bad at all. Even the chairman, busy as he is, took time out to relay a message for you."

Horikita teased casually, then stopped paying attention to Suzuki Tsubame, picked up her book again, and returned to her original state.

"Just average, I guess... normal level?"

Suzuki Tsubame figured he should keep a low profile—merely top three in the country, nothing special.

It seemed Sakayanagi's little scheme this time had fallen flat.

"By the way, Suzune, aren't you the type to care about these things? How did you find that post?"

Aside from studying and exercise, Horikita had zero interest in gossip like this.

Even the so-called rankings of handsome guys and pretty girls only caught her attention because too many people around her were talking about them.

Suzuki Tsubame didn't think Horikita would browse forums for gossip in her spare time.

Horikita didn't turn around. Holding her book, she said offhandedly:

"Before you came in, Yamauchi and the others were talking about it."

As expected... Grandpa Yamauchi had struck again. Who knows if he'd been bought off.

Either way, he really wanted out.

Late April.

Only three days left until the midterms.

In Class D's classroom, the atmosphere was unusually low.

Anxiety, unease, irritability—negative emotions hung over the students' hearts.

Just yesterday, two major events occurred in the class.

First, of course, was the usual performer Chabashira. The exam focus she'd marked was all wrong.

The key point... was that this news came from Class B. Who knows what Hoshinomiya would think when she found out.

The second event was Yamauchi's expulsion.

Mm... compared to the first matter, Yamauchi's expulsion seemed rather trivial to the students.

After all, Yamauchi was despised by everyone, but there was still some sense of pity for a fellow fox mourning a dead hare.

His crime was molesting a female student. With solid evidence, he was forcibly convicted in less than half a day.

Since he hadn't committed a major offense and the victim didn't intend to pursue it further, Yamauchi ultimately... only faced expulsion from the school.

A silver lining in the misfortune, at least.

The continuous blows made the class even more unstable.

Even the cheerful and optimistic Hirata now wore a gloomy, oppressed expression.

Suzuki Tsubame turned his gaze to Kushida.

She clearly hadn't been having an easy time these past few days, after all... the class environment was too oppressive.

Though Yamauchi's expulsion had cheered her up for a while.

What followed, however, was more complaints and bitterness.

Additionally, because of Cupid's Arrow, her guard against him had lowered considerably.

It seemed he might be able to try reconnecting with her.