Discern the Dharma

Weekend.

Since everyone passed the exam.

After studying together in the library, the group unanimously decided to hold a celebration party.

Although the points hadn't been distributed yet, they were already confirmed to have passed.

Everyone was in an exceptionally good mood.

They sat in a circle, eating snacks.

The atmosphere was quite pleasant for a time.

"By the way... why did you choose my dormitory as the party venue?"

Ayanokoji's untimely voice rang out.

"Oh, there's no helping it, right? Everyone's points are running low."

Ike replied with a cheeky grin.

The truth was, he thought Ayanokoji was easy to push around, so he specifically recommended his dormitory.

Even the snacks and drinks scattered everywhere were prepared by Ayanokoji himself.

In Ike's words: once he had points in the future, he'd definitely repay the favor.

"But..."

Ayanokoji hesitated.

This didn't seem directly related to why they came to his dormitory, did it?

Why couldn't they go to someone else's dormitory? Why single him out?

Such was the sorrow of a fringe figure—no one cared about their needs at all.

"Oh, don't sweat the small stuff."

"We barely passed, so let's just have fun."

Ike tried to gloss things over.

"By the way... Kushida-san is really amazing."

Matsushita turned her gaze to Kushida, the corners of her mouth lifting into a faint smile.

"How did you figure out that this midterm exam's papers wouldn't be swapped?"

To avoid the two of them bickering further, she proactively steered the topic to Kushida Kikyo.

"Yeah, yeah, Kikyo-chan is an angel—gentle, pretty, and she saved so many people in the class."

Ike quickly chimed in.

As a die-hard fan of Kushida, he wouldn't miss any chance to brown-nose.

But what he didn't know was that the more he liked Kushida, the more Kushida herself hated him.

"Not at all, this time it was just a coincidence."

Kushida waved her hands in a fluster, looking embarrassed.

"Actually, it's because I'm close with a second-year senior. After she found out about our class's problem, she voluntarily told me."

"That's still impressive, at least it proves Kikyo-chan has good connections."

Ike praised her while gnawing on a chicken foot.

Matsushita, however, seemed thoughtful, pondering how much of Kushida's words were credible.

"Suzune, you don't look too happy?"

"Isn't everyone passing a good thing for you?"

Suzuki Tsubame nudged Horikita beside him with his elbow. He could tell she was a bit uncomfortable at the party.

Probably because... she rarely attended group gatherings.

Horikita turned her head and shot him a fierce glare, her tone stiff.

"I just think... relying on such opportunistic methods to break through is ultimately beneath us."

The two of them hadn't deliberately lowered their voices. Kushida's expression didn't seem to change much.

But it stirred up dissatisfaction from Kushida's fanatic supporter—Ike.

"What do you mean by opportunistic? Do you think everyone's as smart as you?"

"If it weren't for Kikyo-chan, do you know how many people in the class would have been expelled?"

Ike vented all his earlier helplessness.

No one knew how desperate he'd felt after Chabashira's scheme was exposed.

Actually, it was understandable.

If someone handed you the answers during a college entrance exam, would you choose to be grateful or report them for disrupting the exam order?

Horikita wasn't shaken by his words, because from start to finish she'd regarded him as an idiot.

"The questions on this midterm were all the basics of basics."

She furrowed her brows slightly, dismissing him with disdain:

"If you'd paid even a little attention in class, even if Chabashira hadn't marked the key points, you still wouldn't have failed."

"Ha, easy for you to say."

Ike rolled his eyes at her, muttering under his breath:

"Talk is cheap when you're not in my shoes!"

Horikita's brows shot up, and she was about to speak again when Suzuki Tsubame cut in.

"Ayanokoji, who do you think is right?"

"Huh? Me?"

He'd been watching the show just fine from the sidelines—why was he getting dragged into this again?

"Uh..."

After a brief second of thought, Ayanokoji said flatly:

"I think Ike's got a point, actually... since my grades are pretty average."

"See? See? That's my bro!"

Ike grinned smugly and reached over to pat Ayanokoji on the shoulder.

Suzuki Tsubame nodded, then turned his gaze to Sudo.

Sudo had been having some trouble with others in the basketball club lately—looked like Class C had their eyes on him.

"Sudo, what do you think?"

Sudo lifted his head, thinking it over as well.

"Hmm... I think Horikita's right. She's smarter than us, after all."

Sudo's answer was pretty objective.

After all... between a smart person and an idiot, only a fool wouldn't know which side to pick, right?

Maybe sometimes you really did have to trust the "idiot's" reasoning, but Ike clearly wasn't in that category.

"Alas, Sudo knows me not!!"

Ike Kanji beat his chest and stomped his feet, looking like he was about to sever all ties with him.

Ignoring Ike's clowning, Suzuki Tsubame turned to the girls.

Horikita glared coldly, offering him no good grace.

Sakura and Hasebe had been huddled together since the gathering started, whispering to each other.

Matsushita Chiaki and Kushida Kikyo—those two were prime acting material.

They both wore faint smiles on their faces.

If you looked closely, you could still tell a slight difference.

Matsushita was more elegant and composed, while Kushida leaned toward warmth and friendliness.

"Hasebe, who do you think is right?"

"Huh? My turn now?"

Hasebe raised a hand to smooth her bangs; she was interested in this topic.

Even though she'd been stuck with Sakura the whole time.

She'd still been keeping an eye on this amusing little debate.

"I think Miss Suzune is right. External support can never match your own strength."

Hasebe continued:

"Also, I don't think Ike is entirely wrong either. After all... the prerequisite for improving yourself is being able to stay."

Hasebe's answer was pretty good—it pointed out the flaws in both viewpoints.

Suzuki Tsubame turned his gaze to Sakura beside her.

He nudged his chin, signaling her to bravely speak her mind.

Sakura noticed Suzuki's gesture.

She lowered her head, face reddening, and stammered:

"W-Well... I think Kaka is right."

It was a bit halting, but she'd still bravely expressed her opinion.

Well... two people sharing the same view—could you call that plagiarism? At most, it was referencing.

Seems like Hasebe's point was really solid, even Matsushita agreed with her take.