Study Group

One ordinary afternoon.

Horikita silently left the classroom as usual,

but the ever-scheming Ayanokoji stopped her and suggested going to Patere Cafe. For Ayanokoji's sake, Horikita reluctantly agreed,

only for Kushida to "run into" them as soon as they got a seat at the cafe.

Kushida waved at Horikita and Ayanokoji with a beaming smile.

Horikita narrowed her eyes at Kushida and Ayanokoji. She had already begun to suspect the purpose of coming here.

Sure enough, the Down syndrome girl Horikita started asking why Kushida had come and saw through the truth,

then immediately said she wanted to leave.

When Kushida tried to keep her, she began using her conversation-killing skill.

"I don't want to be friends with you."

The place finally fell quiet. Horikita said, "I'm leaving," and walked out of the cafe.

The focus shifted to Kushida Kikyo.

She merely wore her usual smile, explained things to the three people Ayanokoji had dragged over, then quickly left.

Don't let Kushida's angelic act fool you.

Who knew how twisted her heart was right now?

The next day, ding-ding~

The dismissal bell rang.

Quite a few Class A students left the classroom, but a considerable number stayed behind.

"A study group?"

"Is there really any need for that? We all scored above the passing line on the last weekly test."

Totsuka, who was still in the classroom, raised a question.

Kobashi Yume, the one who had proposed the study group, lightly supported her forehead with one hand.

"Oh my, Totsuka, you're right. Judging from last week's weekly test, the overall level of Class A's students is excellent. But that doesn't mean we excel in every subject. For example, I still can't score above eighty in math, so I wanted to form a study group where we could help each other."

"Don't you agree, Totsuka?"

After saying that, Kobashi Yume leaned forward playfully as she asked Totsuka. Knowing his level was lower than hers, he naturally offered no objection.

Then Kobashi Yume looked at Sakamoto, who was sitting in the corner.

"Sakamoto, you should join the study group too. Though I don't think I know how you did on the weekly test. You must have done wonderfully, right?"

Kobashi Yume happily stood by Sakamoto's desk and sincerely invited him to join her study group. Sakamoto was dressed differently as always today, and he had even prepared a hat. He sat in the back row with his long legs stretched out.

"Kobashi Yume, Sakamoto probably won't join your group."

The one who spoke was Katsuragi, his arms folded.

"After the weekly test ended, I specifically checked the school bulletin board. I found that Sakamoto ranked last in Class A, and only one subject had a score."

Katsuragi remained seated, but his words had drawn the attention of everyone who had stayed behind.

"That subject was one hundred points. In other words, Sakamoto received absolutely no points in any of his other subjects—zero."

The entire class was surprised by this. Kobashi Yume asked in confusion,

"Sakamoto, why did you do that? If you could get a perfect score in one subject, then there's no way you'd only be capable of getting zero in the others. Did you deliberately leave them blank?"

Faced with the entire class's questions,

Sakamoto merely adjusted the brown glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Relax. Didn't Mashima say this test wouldn't count toward the system? Since it was meaningless, I simply couldn't be bothered to take it."

"But if you don't test yourself, how will you know your own level? How will you know what areas you have problems with? Forming a study group will help us solve those problems better. Isn't it strange not to do that?"

Only people uncertain of their own strength need tests.

"Don't worry, I'm very confident in myself. Still, Kobashi Yume, mentioning a study group did remind me of something." Sakamoto smiled and expressed his thanks.

She only looked confused.

"How strange~"

It was already early May. Since their class points had been reset to zero, leaving them at the bottom of the rankings, the Class D students who did not want to remain dead last silently listened to the teacher's lecture.

Only the delinquent Sudo Ken was still sleeping in class. Though no one said anything openly, most of the students had quietly grown more distant from that good-for-nothing thug.

Class D would originally have continued sinking like this. The other classes had all begun working even harder, while Class D was still a puddle of mud.

Everyone was scattered and disorganized.

Class D's big boy, Hirata Yosuke, stood up and proposed forming a study group. He immediately gathered a group of Class D students, but not a single member of the Three Idiots attended. Sudo simply could not be bothered, while Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji hesitated, perhaps afraid that Sudo Ken would beat them up, and ultimately did not go.

This meant that even if the other failing students managed to pass through tutoring, as long as one of the Three Idiots failed, Class D would still lose points. Of course, they were currently at zero, so there was nothing left to deduct anyway.

Horikita Suzune, who had been deeply shaken by learning that being assigned to Class D meant she was defective, planned to help those three idiots in order to rise to Class A. She even used a meal to lure Ayanokoji in.

The key was that Ayanokoji had only taken one bite of his croquette before Horikita impatiently asked him to persuade the three idiots to attend the study session she, Horikita Suzune, was hosting. Having been set up, Ayanokoji could not help grumbling inwardly, What a despicable person.

But what was hilarious was that, during the following group gathering, no matter how Ayanokoji invited the Three Idiots, they refused to come. It was only when Kushida invited them that the three immediately came running after catching her scent.

Although Ayanokoji had not expected those idiots to come in the first place, his unusual way of thinking led him to propose an unexpected plan.

"If you get a perfect score, you'll get to date a cute girl like Horikita."

The immediate consequence was Horikita's ballpoint pen striking him.

Kushida witnessed all of this.

That evening after school, she went to find Ayanokoji alone and offered to help him invite the three idiots.

Her condition was that she also wanted to join the study session.

When Horikita learned of this condition, she was naturally very unwilling and clearly refused to let Kushida participate.

But she had not considered that if Kushida did not come, the three idiots would also withdraw. Or perhaps she had thought of it and simply did not want to face it.

The reason was that Horikita was someone with extremely low emotional intelligence who did not understand how to deal with other people—Ayanokoji that freak being the exception.

Calling her defective and placing her in Class D was entirely reasonable.

Koenji did not plan to deal with others because he was strong enough and had already planned his escape route.

That Down syndrome girl Horikita wanted to rise to Class A, yet she also did not want to deal with Kushida. She kept saying she would solve the problem herself, but all she could do was talk big.

(The above was purely for plot purposes and the author's subjective opinion.)

Study Group