Chapter 35

Something had to be wrong somewhere. I was definitely going to make it into Class A. Once that happened..." "It won't work." Manabu Horikita mercilessly cut off his younger sister's bold declaration again, showing no mercy as he struck at her confidence. "You're not only incapable of making it into Class A on your own, you might even cause your class to fall apart. This school isn't as simple as you think." "I will make it into Class A, no matter what." Manabu Horikita pushed up his glasses in resignation. For one thing, his sister was still as stubborn as ever. For another, Yuan Yuyuan had promised to help, but now he was standing off to the side watching the show. But with no way out, Manabu had no choice but to resort to force. "Didn't I already tell you it was impossible? Your temper really hasn't changed at all." Just then, Yuan Yuyuan moved. He stopped Manabu Horikita from stepping forward and addressed the corner behind Horikita Suzune. "Come out. If I'm not mistaken, it's Ayanokoji, right?" A person emerged from around the corner: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Perhaps because he didn't experience that kind of emotion, he wasn't surprised to have been discovered. "Sorry, I was just passing by." Yuan Yuyuan wasn't fooled. The guy had been passing by from beginning to end. At the very least, he'd been snooping. It wasn't like Sakanayanagi had possessed him and made him unable to move, was it? "What a coincidence. I thought Suzune had specifically brought her only friend along as backup. I guess I was overthinking it." But he immediately turned around and started laying into Manabu Horikita. He'd been so engrossed in watching that he hadn't done anything, so to keep Manabu from accusing him of slacking off, he had to pitch in now. "And you, too. How could you do something like this without first making sure she didn't have an accomplice? I don't want tomorrow's headlines to read, 'Student Council President Does This to a First-Year Student, While Vice President Looks On Coldly and Does Nothing.'" Manabu Horikita caught on. He, too, realized this was a good chance to break his sister's fixed impression of him, so he went along with Yuan Yuyuan's criticism. "You're right." Seeing that Horikita Suzune seemed to have gone blank, he raised his voice slightly. "If anyone saw us like this, the consequences would be unthinkable." "Um..." Ayanokoji wasn't sure whether he should interrupt them, but he had a feeling it wasn't quite right for him to be here. "I really was just passing by. If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Seeing that Manabu Horikita was still staring at his dazed sister, Yuan Yuyuan, the only one on the scene capable of speaking, replied, "All right. But next time, Ayanokoji-kun, you'll have to set your feelings aside as usual. Your curiosity nearly made us misunderstand Suzune." "I'm sorry about that. I'll take my leave, then." After Ayanokoji left, the Horikita Siblings continued staring at each other and the floor. At last, Yuan Yuyuan couldn't take it anymore. "Are you two all right? He's gone, so you can come back to your senses now." Only then did Horikita Suzune snap out of it. She gave Yuan Yuyuan and Manabu Horikita an innocent look, pressed her lips together, and, not knowing what to say, went back to staring at the ground. Manabu Horikita, at least, found his voice. "I noticed it back then, but I really didn't expect you to have a friend, Suzune. Even now, I'm still surprised." "Ayanokoji? We're just classmates..." "You still misunderstand the meaning of being solitary and being lonely." Manabu Horikita shook his head and walked straight toward the exit, muttering, "If you want to move up to a higher class, then struggle with all your might." Leaving behind a Horikita Suzune with a heavy heart and an envious Yuan Yuyuan, Manabu Horikita walked away without looking back. Damn, so he'd had his big exit, but then he'd left them with such a pretentious line. And Horikita Suzune had played along so perfectly, too. If it were me... That girl would definitely have given me a hard time right then. Though Yuan Yuyuan was jealous, he didn't forget his task. He turned to the downcast Horikita Suzune and asked, "Want to talk?" Horikita Suzune didn't answer. She silently headed toward the dorm entrance, and the two of them sat down on a bench there. "Why was my brother with you...?" "Someone asked me to help smooth things over between you two." Horikita Suzune wondered if she'd heard right. Frowning, she looked at Yuan Yuyuan. "Who?" "Can't you guess, Suzune? Or does it just seem too unbelievable?" When Horikita Suzune fell silent again, Yuan Yuyuan said exasperatedly, "Dummy, your brother, of course. Manabu Horikita, a third-year in Class A." "Stop messing with me..." "Suzune." Yuan Yuyuan, too, copied Manabu Horikita and cut her off. Seeing Horikita Suzune, usually like a flower on a high peak, looking so pitiful now, he was frustrated by how spineless she was. Couldn't she wait until he'd had his big exit, too, before feeling sorry for herself? "I've heard all about what happened between you two. But after seeing how you acted, there's one thing I still don't understand. Do you imitate him because you feel inferior, or because you think he can never be wrong?" "I don't know... My brother has always been so outstanding, while I feel like I can't do anything at all. So I thought that if I just learned to solve problems the way he did, I'd be all right..." Yuan Yuyuan understood a little better now, but there was still something he didn't get. "But you're two years younger than him. Did you do his homework for him? Or was it because you couldn't go to the bathroom by yourself...?" Seeing Horikita Suzune's gaze turn dangerous, Yuan Yuyuan hurried to say something she'd like better. "Do you know how he describes you in private? He said Suzune is a rough diamond that shines with brilliance, with even greater potential than him." "Really? Did my brother really say that?" "Why would I lie? Otherwise, why do you think I'm here? You don't know what he was like when he came to me. Tsk, like a fifty-year-old bachelor whose parents in their seventies or eighties were pressuring him to go on a blind date." "Is that any way to talk?" Horikita Suzune pictured the scene he'd described and couldn't help laughing. "So it really was my brother who asked you to come talk to me?" "It really was. You've misunderstood him all this time. He's just a socially awkward brocon who can't bring himself to say what he means. He did all this hoping you'd realize how difficult it would be and give up." "Why? I want to be as strong as he is. No matter what problems he faces, he can solve them with ease, while I..." Her words reminded Yuan Yuyuan of his younger sister. Yuye had said something similar once. "Because you're his little sister." Yuan Yuyuan patted Horikita Suzune on the head. "I have a younger sister, too. She's only a year younger than me, and we've always been close. But just like you, she's always treated her big brother as a life goal, hoping that one day she could surpass me." "But I don't want her to do that. It's not because I can't accept her becoming stronger than me. It's because it's too hard. I'm the only one who knows how much she's had to put in along the way. I've watched her struggle, but the results... haven't been great. I saw this coming from the start, but could I say that to her? To a little sister going through her rebellious phase, those words would sound like I was looking down on her." Manabu Horikita's words struck a chord with Horikita Suzune. Back then, his attempt to talk her out of it hadn't made her turn back; it had only driven her further down the same path, plunging her into deep self-doubt.