After parting ways with Sakayanagi Arisu, Akiyama Shin headed toward Class D's building. As he walked, he keenly noticed a cool, damp touch against his cheek.
He looked up. The sky, which had been fairly clear, was now covered in gray clouds.
Fine droplets, soft as down, drifted silently from above, bringing a chill to the campus that morning.
"The first rain of early spring..."
Akiyama Shin wasn't a sentimental person, nor did he care much about changes in the weather. He had simply made a quick judgment based on what he could observe at the moment.
Judging by the clouds' thickness and humidity, the rain would probably grow heavier by the afternoon. The only thing that annoyed Akiyama Shin a little was that he hadn't brought an umbrella.
But he had no time to stop and admire the rain. He simply quickened his pace and continued toward the school building.
He entered Class D's classroom.
The familiar roar of chatter immediately washed over him.
Unlike the tense orderliness of Class A or the gentle, organized discussions of Class B, Class D's atmosphere was always filled with all kinds of noisy distractions from studying.
Whether they were debating the latest popular games, swapping pointless gossip, or sharing carefully planned shopping lists—or, like Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, loudly commenting on the girls' looks without a shred of restraint—Class D's conversations never rose above a shallow, frivolous level.
Akiyama Shin was long used to it. Without changing expression, he walked through the laughing, joking crowd and straight to his seat, paying no attention to the others' stares.
But after he sat down, a calm, lingering gaze settled on his back.
It came from the seat diagonally behind him—Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji still wore his usual expressionless face, but his dull eyes were now fixed on Akiyama Shin with a rare hint of curiosity.
Akiyama Shin...
What exactly was his relationship with Horikita Suzune?
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji wasn't completely unmoved.
He was curious.
On the first day of school, Horikita Suzune had treated Akiyama Shin with clear contempt. Her sharp click of the tongue and the question that followed still rang in his ears.
Yet in just three days—two, really—the situation seemed to have changed in a subtle way.
Horikita Suzune had begun paying attention to Akiyama Shin, intentionally or otherwise. They had even spent time together yesterday and the day before.
Horikita Suzune herself might not have noticed, or perhaps she considered it observation and learning and didn't think much of it. But in Ayanokoji's eyes, the shift was extraordinary in itself.
What had Akiyama Shin done?
Or rather... what had he shown her?
What could make someone as proud as Horikita Suzune change her attitude by a hundred and eighty degrees in such a short time?
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji hadn't observed any particularly deep conversations between them, at least not in public.
Had something happened in private?
Ayanokoji had no special feelings for Horikita Suzune herself, but he had developed a strong interest in Akiyama Shin.
Akiyama Shin had a certain air of detachment, similar to his own, that made him seem out of place in his surroundings.
But the way it showed was completely different.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was deliberately trying to imitate an ordinary high school student, hoping to blend into the present and experience a normal life.
Akiyama Shin, on the other hand, seemed to regard everything with calm, condescending scrutiny, as though anything in the world could be a chess piece.
Ayanokoji had come to this school to escape the White Room and experience an ordinary high school life beyond anyone's control...
But after these past few days with Yamauchi, Ike, and the others, all he had experienced were the crude, vulgar interests and pointless noise of adolescent boys.
He didn't seem to have experienced the so-called... beauty of an ordinary life... Instead, he felt a little... disappointed and lost...
Is this really the kind of life I want?
Akiyama Shin... seemed to know exactly what he wanted...
And he was always moving toward his goal.
As Kiyotaka Ayanokoji remained lost in thought, Horikita Suzune, seated to his right, seemed to notice his unusually long stare.
She turned her head slightly, her cool gaze sweeping over Ayanokoji with a hint of curiosity.
"Ayanokoji, why do you keep looking at Akiyama?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but in this relatively quiet part of the classroom, Akiyama Shin could hear her.
At that, Akiyama Shin turned around too. His dark red eyes calmly met Ayanokoji's, as if waiting for his answer.
Being watched by the two of them at once—and especially by Akiyama Shin's dark red eyes, which seemed able to see through people—left Kiyotaka Ayanokoji feeling an emotion he rarely experienced: awkwardness.
He wasn't good at responding naturally to situations like this, so he could only rely on logic and choose an answer that seemed reasonable, one befitting the role he was currently playing: an ordinary, curious classmate.
"Ah... it's nothing."
He looked away, doing his best to keep his voice even.
"I was just thinking that you and Akiyama seem to get along pretty well, Horikita..."
"Even though it wasn't like that at the start of school."
It sounded like an ordinary observation, but paired with Ayanokoji's perfectly blank expression, it came across as a little stiff.
At his words, Horikita Suzune's delicate brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. A hint of impatience flashed through her eyes.
She didn't like being talked about, especially when it concerned her complicated, hard-to-describe relationship with Akiyama Shin.
"That has nothing to do with you, does it?"
Her tone was distant, with a hint of displeasure.
"Whatever goes on between Akiyama and me..."
"That's our business, isn't it?"
Akiyama Shin merely gave Ayanokoji a brief, indifferent glance before responding in his unruffled tone with a perfectly proper, official-sounding answer.
"We're all classmates. Getting along and living in harmony would naturally be best."
Coming from him, paired with his cold expression, the words were hardly convincing.
Horikita Suzune seemed about to say something else. Turning to Ayanokoji, she spoke with a hint of puzzlement in her voice.
"Come to think of it, I never expected someone like you, Ayanokoji—someone who hates trouble and seems a little like an escapist—to hang around with Yamauchi and the others."
Horikita Suzune clearly had a very poor impression of Yamauchi Haruki's crowd. At her words, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji fell silent for a moment, his mind racing as he considered what response would best fit the logic of an ordinary high school student.
"Actually... Yamauchi and the others might not be as bad as they seem."
He chose a middle-ground answer.
"At least... you don't have to think too much when you're with them."
As if to prove Horikita Suzune's point—or perhaps because they'd heard their names—Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike came over from the other side, arms around each other's shoulders.
"Hey, hey! What're you guys talking about? Is it something fun? Are you talking about how handsome I am?"
Yamauchi Haruki laughed carelessly, completely ignoring the awkward atmosphere.
He even reached out without asking and slung an arm around Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's shoulders, acting like they were best friends.
Yamauchi Haruki especially disliked Akiyama Shin, and he often privately grumbled about Horikita Suzune for being so close to him. But when he was face-to-face with a beautiful girl of Horikita Suzune's caliber, his subconscious still urged him to show off his charm.
Kanji Ike grinned and chimed in from the side.
"Exactly!"
"Are you jealous of how close we are?"
"Ayanokoji... you should learn from us! Learn how to get popular!"
Yamauchi Haruki had forced an arm around Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, and Ayanokoji's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
He wasn't used to such close physical contact, especially from Yamauchi Haruki.
He tried to pull away, but the other boy held him tightly.
"Yamauchi... Ike... we were just chatting..."
His voice remained flat, but a hint of embarrassment and helplessness could be heard in it.
Watching what was happening, Horikita Suzune couldn't hide her disgust, especially at Yamauchi Haruki's foolish self-satisfaction and Kanji Ike's leering grin.
Then she turned away, as if even looking at them for another second would be a waste of time.
But Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike either didn't notice Horikita Suzune's contempt or simply didn't care. They kept bragging to each other, trying to draw attention.
"Listen, yesterday I beat another super-hard dungeon in my game!"
"Please, that's nothing. Yesterday, I—"
Amid the mix of noise and awkwardness, the warning bell finally rang, like a reprieve, temporarily cutting off the unpleasant conversation.
Yamauchi and Ike reluctantly let go of Ayanokoji and grumbled their way back to their seats.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji breathed a small sigh of relief and straightened his rumpled collar.
Horikita Suzune sat upright again and took out her textbook, as though nothing had happened.
Akiyama Shin had already turned back around and was looking toward the podium, indifferent to the brief commotion behind him.
Classes went on as usual throughout the day, accompanied by the steadily growing sound of rain.
Afternoon.
The last class was a homeroom lesson with Chabashira Sae.
She still had her usual stern look. Her fingers paused as she flipped through her lesson notes, and she raised her eyes to give the classroom a cool, brief sweep.
She offered only a few simple reminders—be careful on the slippery roads in the rain, and don't be late or leave early. There wasn't a hint of unnecessary emotion in her voice.
She said nothing about Class Points or the competition, and then dismissed them.
Just as Akiyama Shin had predicted, the rain outside had turned into a steady shower, beating relentlessly against the classroom windows and filling the room with an unbroken patter.
The rain had grown heavier.
Before you continue