The Stubborn and Easy-to-Understand Suzune Horikita

The next day, Suzune Horikita woke up early as usual. Calculating the time, she used her phone at 7:00 AM to contact Sae Chabashira, the homeroom teacher for Class D.

She was also one of only two people in her contact list.

"Haa~ Is something the matter, calling me this early? Horikita." Sae Chabashira yawned on the other end of the line, sounding extremely sleepy.

Suzune Horikita didn't mind in the slightest and asked straight to the point: "I have something I want to ask you, Teacher."

"If that's all, I'm hanging up."

"It's about the class assignments."

"...The teachers' office. Wait for me there."

Sae Chabashira's sleepiness vanished instantly. She climbed out of bed and started getting dressed while speaking.

She couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind the voice coming from the other end of the phone.

Suzune Horikita, why?

Could it be that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka told her something?

Despite only spending a short week with them, Sae Chabashira considered herself to have a decent understanding of the students in her class.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't seem like the type to take the initiative, but if that were the case, this phone call would be impossible to explain.

With complex and uneasy feelings, Sae Chabashira simply washed up and rushed to the teachers' office without even bothering to eat breakfast.

On the other side, after finishing the call, Suzune Horikita took a deep breath and prepared to head to the teachers' office as well.

"Hello there. It's a rare Sunday; where are you planning to go so early in the morning?"

As it turned out, the boy who had a connection with her brother was smiling at her from the entrance of the dormitory building, as if he had been waiting for her there all along.

"How did you know I was planning to act now?" Suzune Horikita asked coldly.

Toru Hasegawa replied with a smile: "As the provider of information, isn't it only natural that I would keep an eye on your progress?"

To be honest, he was a bit shocked himself. The school building opened at 7:15, yet Suzune Horikita was ready to leave at 7:00, even though it was a rare day off...

The logic behind her actions so far was too simple, making it very easy to deduce her potential moves, but that didn't mean Toru Hasegawa could just leave her be.

Action is the most important thing.

He hadn't given up on tracking Suzune Horikita's schedule until 9:00 PM last night.

"..." Suzune Horikita ignored him and walked outside on her own.

Toru Hasegawa was happy to be leisurely, trotting along behind her.

Soon, the two arrived at the school building that had just opened. Suzune Horikita headed straight for the teachers' office, but the door was closed.

In other words, has Sae Chabashira not arrived yet?

Suzune Horikita thought silently to herself.

"Hey, you aren't planning to confirm the class assignments with the homeroom teacher, are you?" Toru Hasegawa realized what was happening. It was self-evident what she wanted to do, given she hadn't tried to make friends but went straight to the teacher.

Suzune Horikita replied coldly: "None of your business."

She didn't speak again after that.

Toru Hasegawa understood that Suzune Horikita's stubbornness exceeded his imagination, so he said no more.

Sae Chabashira arrived shortly after. She was surprised for a moment upon seeing Toru Hasegawa, as there was no such person in Class D.

"Hello, I am Toru Hasegawa from Class A. I suppose you could say I'm a friend of Suzune Horikita." Toru Hasegawa was the first to politely introduce himself to Sae Chabashira.

All of this was far beyond Sae Chabashira's expectations. She glanced at Toru Hasegawa, who was wearing a confident smile, then at Suzune Horikita, who showed no sign of wanting to refute him, before opening the door to the teachers' office and saying:

"Come in, Horikita."

Suzune Horikita stepped inside.

"Can I come in too, Suzune?" Toru Hasegawa asked Suzune Horikita before Sae Chabashira closed the door.

"Of course. Since you've followed me this far, it's actually better this way."

It seems she intends for me to act as a witness. How should I put this—is this progress or not...

But this is a good thing for me.

Toru Hasegawa entered the teachers' office under Sae Chabashira's puzzled gaze.

Afterward, everything in the hallway fell into silence.

"I'll ask straight to the point. I am very dissatisfied with the school's decision to assign me to Class D. There must be some mistake in this."

Listen to that; it really is developing exactly as expected, Toru Hasegawa shrugged.

"I don't understand what you mean. Is there any difference in which class you are assigned to?"

"Are you still going to play dumb? What I want to ask is the fact of why I am not in Class A." Suzune Horikita expressed her point of view with an unquestionable tone. "I am confident that I solved almost every problem on the entrance exam, and there were no major mistakes during the interview. At the very least, based on the results, the fact that I was assigned to Class D is incorrect."

Upon hearing this, Sae Chabashira first glanced at Toru Hasegawa, who showed no major reaction to this, then looked at Suzune Horikita and said: "I see. You really have done something unnecessary."

She fully understood the situation.

"Please answer me, teacher." Suzune Horikita's tone remained completely steady.

"Unfortunately, the school's class assignments are accurate and without error; that is a fact you can be certain of."

Sae Chabashira offered an ambiguous statement, but the expression on Suzune Horikita's face clearly showed she did not accept it.

Toru Hasegawa knew that the teacher, much like the upperclassmen, harbored unspoken troubles, so he spoke up directly:

"You don't actually think that having excellent academic ability is enough to get into a top-tier class, do you? That doesn't align with the school's objectives."

Sae Chabashira had not expected a student from Class A to take the initiative to explain things.

"Gathering everyone with high academic ability into Class A? I'm afraid that's not how it works; we have plenty of people in Class A with poor grades or questionable athletic ability."

Before Suzune Horikita could even open her mouth to refute him, she was left speechless—had they even taken physical ability into account?

"Ah, or why don't you skip the homeroom teacher and protest directly to the school administration?"

Hearing this, Suzune Horikita, who had just been thoroughly embarrassed, glared at Toru Hasegawa with resentment.

Toru Hasegawa followed behind her as she left the faculty office.

"How much longer are you going to follow me?" Suzune Horikita stopped in her tracks.

Toru Hasegawa looked helpless: "I was just planning to see what kind of actions a student like you, who has no friends, intended to take next... ah, sorry, it looks like I got a message."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, but Suzune Horikita had no interest in it and immediately turned to leave.

"Oh, what a coincidence. I was originally going to wait for the official announcement next month, but I suppose it doesn't matter if I tell you now~ I've joined the Student Council."

It would probably be difficult for someone like Suzune Horikita, who had no friends, to find out about him joining the Student Council naturally, so since the timing was so convenient, he decided to just say it.

Sure enough, upon hearing the words Student Council, Suzune Horikita immediately stopped walking.

This was because her older brother, Manabu Horikita, was serving as the student council president there.

"How about it? Do you want to join too? There's still a chance; you could get up close and personal with your brother. That should be a pretty good thing for you, right?"

Toru Hasegawa said teasingly. Whenever any information related to Manabu Horikita was mentioned, Suzune Horikita would have an overt reaction; she was just too easy to read.