I Hope You Can Help Me

The midterm exams arrived as scheduled. Chabashira looked at the relaxed atmosphere in the class, but she was somewhat surprised.

It clearly hadn't been like this two days ago. Had someone done something?

Her gaze settled on Horikita and Ayanokoji. Perhaps only those two could change the class.

"Then, if no one fails the upcoming exams, I'll take you to the beach for a vacation during summer break after this term."

With a faint smile, Chabashira dropped a bombshell.

A group of boys imagined seeing the girls in swimsuits at the beach and immediately erupted in excited cheers.

Hachiman glanced at Horikita beside him as well. The image from their last swimming class still lingered vividly in his mind.

To his embarrassment, Horikita happened to turn her head too, and their eyes met.

"Pervert."

Horikita cursed under her breath, immediately seeing the lecherous look in Hachiman's eyes.

The day-long examinations ended beneath the fading sunlight, and the students in the class all cried out happily.

Once the exams were over, they more or less knew how they had done. Having confirmed that they could pass safely, the weight hanging over their hearts was finally lifted.

If points had not been so tight, every one of them would have wanted to celebrate properly.

As everyone packed up, several people headed toward Horikita.

"Thank you, Horikita. If it weren't for your answers, we might have been expelled."

The people who came over were all students who had failed the previous quiz. Although the exam results had not been released yet, they were all confident they would not be expelled.

Not only them—many students in the class cast grateful looks toward Horikita.

This time, the usually aloof Horikita was undoubtedly the class's great benefactor.

"No, this has nothing to do with me—"

"I need to thank you too. You really helped us out. Let me treat you to a meal later to show my gratitude."

Hachiman interrupted Horikita, putting on an excited, delighted expression just like everyone else.

Horikita frowned, unable to understand why Hachiman was pretending not to know.

She sighed softly and gave them no response.

The others did not feel dissatisfied. After all, they all knew Horikita had always been like this.

"Cheers!!"

At the cafe, all the members of the Horikita Study Group were present. Full of confidence, they had come here early to celebrate.

Sudo looked perfectly normal too. It seemed that, after Hachiman's reminder last night, he had not missed the answers for any subject.

With that, Class D's crisis had been successfully resolved. Horikita no longer needed to pool points with Ayanokoji to buy the one point Sudo would have failed by.

"Horikita, you're really amazing. I can't believe you came up with a method like this."

Kushida smiled as she praised Horikita, appearing very satisfied with her plan.

Horikita did not respond. Taking credit for Hachiman's work made her feel strangely uncomfortable.

Although Kushida wore a smile on her face, she had already cursed Horikita hundreds, if not thousands, of times inside.

Because that eye-catching position should have belonged to her.

The day before Horikita revealed the answers, Ayanokoji had come to find her and told her he had a way to ensure everyone in Class D made it through the exams.

For some reason, Ayanokoji's method was exactly the same as Horikita's.

She also had the answers to this exam.

But she had been one step too late.

So Horikita had stolen the role of hero from her.

That bitch!!

"Sudo."

Suddenly, Horikita called out to Sudo, who was happily celebrating.

He looked at Horikita in confusion, only to see her bow to him.

"I take back what I said before. I should not have looked down on your dream, nor should I have judged your love for basketball with that attitude.

Please allow me to apologize to you here."

The others present were dumbfounded. This was Horikita—the Horikita who had isolated herself from the entire class.

She had actually... apologized?

Had she been possessed by a ghost?

"Of course, if you continue to hold the class back in the future, I will not hesitate to have you expelled."

After saying that, Horikita left her seat and walked out of the cafe.

Those straightforward words struck straight into Sudo's heart.

His heart pounded wildly. Aside from playing basketball, Sudo had never felt his heart beat so fast in his life.

"I'll head back too." Hachiman stood up as well, preparing to leave.

"Oh no!" Sudo clutched his chest, his face flushing red.

"I think I've fallen for Horikita!"

"Whaaaaaat?"

The others cried out in shock.

"No way, Sudo. Horikita belongs to Hachiman."

"Yeah, wouldn't that make you Hachiman's love rival?"

The noisy chatter rose again. An atmosphere brimming with youth surrounded them, as though singing a hymn to their youth.

Back at the dormitory, Horikita was quietly waiting in the deserted hallway.

Their gazes met. Hachiman merely smiled, opened his door, and extended a hand to welcome Horikita inside.

"If you came because of the answers, then there's no need to say anything. I don't want to stand in the spotlight."

Hachiman spoke first, signaling that she did not need to agonize over who deserved the credit.

"Why?"

"Because I want you to be the leader of Class D, Suzune Horikita." Hachiman looked into her eyes. "And I believe you have the ability to lead Class D all the way to Class A."

"That's quite an uncomfortable expectation."

"Heh, but that's what you want to do too, isn't it?"

Horikita fell silent, staring at the cup in her hands.

"Actually, there's something I want to ask of you."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

Seeing Horikita ask someone for help for the first time, Hachiman was a little intrigued.

"I hope you can help me reach Class A."

Horikita looked at Hachiman seriously, giving off an entirely different air.

Hachiman chuckled. "I told you, didn't I? You'd definitely come asking me for help. That means you lost our bet."

Horikita froze. They had indeed made a bet. These past few days, she had been so busy helping Sudo and the others improve their grades that she had forgotten about it.

"Fine. Then state your condition."

After thinking for a moment, Horikita firmly accepted that she had lost the bet. More than that, she accepted that Hachiman possessed talents greater than her own.

It was not merely because of the results of this exam, but also because of what she had concluded through her observations.

This man possessed immense potential.

Although Horikita was reluctant to admit it, the self-centered Horikita had begun to accept the fact that there were always people better than herself.

That did not mean Horikita had lost her confidence. On the contrary, now that she could recognize her own shortcomings, she was growing rapidly.

A true fool was not an ordinary person, but someone who treated others as fools.

Only when one began to understand one's own abilities could one start to make up for weaknesses and improve. Otherwise, such a person was merely a self-important idiot.

"Then... please go out with me, Horikita."