Oh, My Foolish Little Sister

"Let me reveal a portion of the reality to you..." Inhaling the scent wafting from her and seeing the look of disbelief in Suzune Horikita's eyes, Toru Hasegawa felt genuine pleasure from the bottom of his heart. "Haven't you realized it yet? The true nature of this school?"

"Speak more clearly!" Suzune Horikita said coldly, though her tone was no longer as aggressive as it had been at the start.

Toru Hasegawa was not at all annoyed by her attitude; instead, he smiled. "I see. Are you the type who cannot understand things unless they are explained explicitly? Then, I will kindly explain it in words that anyone can understand."

"This school measures students based on their ability. Did your Class D homeroom teacher not tell you this when school started?"

Ignoring her reaction, Toru Hasegawa poured out everything he had to say.

"The teacher's words, the free meals in the cafeteria, the free daily necessities at the convenience store, the free mineral water in the vending machines... We see and hear the exact same things, yet you haven't felt even a shred of suspicion about all of this? No wonder you were assigned to Class D."

"Ah, you must be very confused as to why I'm emphasizing Class D, right? Then let me tell you a truth: this school does, for the time being, use superficial ability to divide classes. The best is Class A, and the worst is Class D. You can understand that, right? Student Horikita, who was assigned to Class D? By the way, your brother was assigned to Class A from the very beginning."

This was information that could be obtained with a little digging, and as his younger sister, it was impossible for Suzune Horikita not to know this fact.

Toru Hasegawa spoke casually about facts that should have been top secret for this first month. Since he was not restricted like the upperclassmen, it didn't matter; even if she wanted to use this to threaten him, it would be a futile effort.

"What is your purpose in telling me all this?" Suzune Horikita took a deep breath, her brain rapidly processing the information she had just received. Her hands clenched into fists involuntarily, her fingertips turning slightly white.

Because Toru Hasegawa had explained it in "words that anyone could understand," just as he had claimed, Suzune Horikita quickly grasped the reality.

The fact that she had been judged by the school as one of the worst students, on the same level as people like Kanji Ike or Ken Sudo in her class.

"Well, for now, I'd like to hear the deductions you make based on this." Toru Hasegawa did not answer her question, but asked this instead.

"I am extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the school arbitrarily threw me into Class D. Are you satisfied now?"

"...Pfft, hahahahaha--!"

After a moment of silence, Toru Hasegawa burst into loud laughter. If it weren't for the lack of people around, he surely would have been heard by others.

He genuinely felt that it should have been Manabu Horikita appearing here instead of him, but he had no choice but to continue now—after all, he had already taken the money.

"You really are... you really are... did you actually understand what I said?" Toru Hasegawa asked back after he finished laughing. "I just said it, didn't I? 'Divided by superficial ability.' Could it be that you are the type who hides their true ability?"

Suzune Horikita fell silent. She had given her all in both the entrance exam and the subsequent interview, so there was naturally no talk of hiding her ability.

Yet, the more this was the case, the more unwilling she was to accept it.

Why? Why was she assigned to Class D? She expressed clear dissatisfaction with such a result.

"So, is that all the ability you have? After hearing what I said, you're still obsessing over the Class D issue. You're a bit too slow on the uptake." Toru Hasegawa said with a smile.

Suzune Horikita bit her lip, thinking over the information she had just received again and again, and finally sighed helplessly: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Then let me provide you with another piece of the puzzle." Toru Hasegawa said. "At the beginning, everyone's starting line was fair. This is true even for Class D."

The school probably never thought such a thing would happen, right? Valuable information derived from class analysis—Toru Hasegawa shared it with a student from another class without hesitation, even though the payment Manabu Horikita had given already exceeded the value of the information.

"...So we are currently being evaluated by the school?" Suzune Horikita was startled by her own conclusion.

If everyone's starting line was fair at the beginning, then if a difference in results appeared, the school's reputation would be damaged.

But if that were truly the case, Class D's current situation was precarious.

Lateness, absenteeism, unbridled chatting and phone usage in class...

Similar things had happened countless times over the past week. Suzune Horikita felt a sense of despair just thinking about it, yet she had never once had the thought of stopping them.

Because she believed that the situation of the class had nothing to do with her, and that everything would be fine as long as she entered this school.

"It seems you've finally reacted. It wasn't in vain that I went to such lengths."

"Is it really okay to tell me such valuable information just like that?" Suzune Horikita felt a sense of doubt, but her intuition told her that this matter was inseparable from her brother.

"Because the person I'm telling is you, it's fine." Toru Hasegawa's smile never faded. "You think you don't need friends, right?"

"..."

Suzune Horikita was silent, because he was right. She immediately recalled the conversation at the convenience store on the first day of school; it must have been heard then.

Although her behavior over the past week had indeed been very eccentric, the other party should have been able to find out this fact with a little digging.

But it was truly frustrating to be mocked to her face like this.

"So, Student Horikita, who has no friends, how will you act after learning this news? I am very much looking forward to the aftermath."

"As long as I state the fact that we are being evaluated, everyone in the class will take action immediately." Suzune Horikita eventually regained her composure.

Toru Hasegawa was noncommittal: "Then I will be watching your actions closely."

Saying this, he prepared to leave, as there was nothing left to say.

"Wait!" Suzune Horikita called out to him from behind. "Everything you just told me—was it all my brother's intention?"

"No, it was my own intention, but there is no denying that your brother played a role in it. You should know by next month, Student Horikita, who has no friends."

Toru Hasegawa emphasized the fact of her "having no friends" once more before walking away, leaving Suzune Horikita alone to ponder behind the school building.

But soon, as if she had made up her mind, she took firm steps and returned to the dormitory.

Toru Hasegawa thought a lot after the morning.

He had already received the 2 million points, so he had to do something about it.

As both the Student Council president and her older brother, Manabu Horikita could not step forward personally, which was why he had entrusted this arduous task to him and paid a high reward in advance.

So, what were the things that could be utilized at this current stage?

That's right, it was the class distribution information, which was extremely important in the early stages, as well as matters related to school evaluations.

The former would instill a sense of crisis in the other party, while the latter would force them to think of countermeasures.

However, the single flaw of having no friends was enough to directly hinder Suzune Horikita, and she had to make changes for the sake of this.

This was the strategy of Toru Hasegawa at the current stage.