Whispers by Chance

Class D's study session was as usual.

It was held in a corner of the library.

The atmosphere was as oppressive as the night before college entrance exams.

Horikita Suzune was like an emotionless overseer, her face icy as she drew one glaring red X after another across Sudo Ken's workbook.

"Your formula is wrong here."

"And here, the logic makes no sense."

"Sudo, is your head filled with nothing but basketballs? How can you even confuse the most basic definitions?"

Her voice was not loud, but it carried an innate chill that made the already irritated Sudo Ken even more restless.

"Ah... this is so annoying! Can't we take a break, Horikita?!"

Sudo clawed at his fiery red hair, nearly collapsing onto the table.

Ike Kanji chimed in as well. "Yeah, yeah. My brain's about to overheat. If we keep studying, smoke's going to start coming out!"

Horikita Suzune's frown deepened.

But before she could scold them, an even voice came from beside them.

It belonged to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had remained silent from start to finish, like a meditating old monk.

"Come to think of it, I recently heard a rumor about the Student Council President."

He said it casually.

As casually as if he were saying, "The weather's nice today."

But the words "Student Council President" instantly became a magnet, drawing everyone's attention.

"Oh?!"

Sudo Ken immediately perked up and straightened his back.

"A rumor about the Student Council President? What rumor? Hurry up and tell us!"

Ike Kanji leaned closer too, gossip written all over his face.

Even Horikita Suzune, who usually had no interest in such things, stopped her pen, her ears unconsciously pricking up.

She did not look at Ayanokoji. Her gaze remained on the workbook, but the slight pause in her pencil betrayed her concern.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka swept his gaze across their faces before letting it settle, imperceptibly, on Horikita Suzune's profile.

In his eternally unchanged, utterly flat tone, he began recounting the "script" Natsume Yu had handed him.

"I heard that last year..."

"There was once a student in Class A who made a fairly serious mistake for personal reasons."

"This mistake could have caused Class A to lose a large number of class points, perhaps even risked demotion."

Ayanokoji deliberately paused there.

Sudo and Ike were completely hooked, holding their breath as they waited for what came next.

"Then? What happened after that?"

Ayanokoji ignored their questions and simply continued in that matter-of-fact tone.

"Then, the Student Council President personally handled the matter."

"The classmate who made the mistake voluntarily applied to withdraw from school."

"In the end, Class A's 'perfect' record was preserved, and they did not lose a single point."

His words fell.

Something seemed to shatter in the air.

Click.

A soft sound rang out.

The lead in Horikita Suzune's mechanical pencil snapped under the immense pressure of her grip.

The moment Ayanokoji mentioned "personally handled" and "withdrawal," she had frozen completely.

All the blood in her body rushed to her head.

It buzzed.

Her mind went blank.

That rumor was like a poisoned dagger, piercing precisely into the softest place in her heart—and the place she had always been proudest of.

Her brother, who was always fair, always strong, always the embodiment of rules...

How could that be possible?

Sacrificing one of his own classmates for the class's benefit?

This...

"Impossible!"

The two words nearly burst from her mouth.

Horikita Suzune suddenly looked up and stared fixedly at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. For the first time, cracks appeared in those beautiful eyes.

"This is absolutely fake! It's slander!"

Her voice trembled violently, though she did not realize it herself.

"My brother... he stands for the absolute fairness of the rules! He would never do something that violated his principles for personal feelings or the class's interests!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, every hair on her body stood on end as she defended him with all her strength.

Rather than refuting Ayanokoji, she was desperately trying to convince herself.

Sudo and Ike were startled by her intense reaction. They exchanged glances and did not dare say another word.

The atmosphere of the study session instantly dropped to freezing point.

Faced with Horikita Suzune's nearly unhinged questioning, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression did not change at all.

He merely looked at her quietly.

That gaze was terrifyingly calm.

Then, he delivered the final blow—the most lethal one.

"Is that so?"

He asked lightly.

"But I heard that the mistake that student made was not actually serious enough to warrant expulsion."

"It was simply..."

His voice paused, every word striking against Horikita Suzune's taut nerves.

"A sacrifice made for Class A's 'perfection.'"

Sacrifice.

That word utterly crushed every one of Horikita Suzune's defenses.

If she had only been doubtful before, now that word was like a red-hot brand searing itself into her heart.

A sacrifice for perfection...

That cold, cruel logic overlapped disturbingly with her brother's ruthless way of doing things.

No one spoke in the study session again.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Only then did Sudo and Ike realize that this topic was a minefield.

They shrank back, not daring to make a sound.

After a long while.

Horikita Suzune took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the storm raging in her heart.

She lowered her head again, picked up the pencil with its broken lead, and spoke in an icy voice.

"Pointless gossip."

"Continue studying."

Her voice sounded as composed as usual.

But anyone could see that her mind was in complete turmoil.

For the rest of the session, she did not say a single word. She only turned the pages mechanically, her eyes long since unfocused.

The study session ended hastily.

After they dispersed, Horikita Suzune did not return directly to her dormitory for the first time.

Alone, her steps somewhat unsteady, she walked toward the building that housed the Student Council office—the building she both revered and longed for.

She did not go inside.

She merely stood at a distance, silently gazing at the tightly shut door to the Student Council President's office.

The night wind lifted her long hair. Her eyes were filled with confusion and struggle unlike anything she had ever known.

Tonight, the seed called "doubt" had already broken through the soil.