"...Brother, I'm not the person I used to be anymore. Now, I've come to catch up with you."
Horikita Suzune's gaze burned as she fixed her eyes on Horikita Manabu.
Kitagawa Kai calmly took a camcorder from his pocket and deftly started recording.
The moment he heard the word "Brother," Kitagawa Kai clearly saw a fleeting softness in Horikita Manabu's eyes, but in an instant, it was covered by even deeper disappointment.
"It seems you haven't made any progress compared to three years ago, with no improvement at all, still just as naive." "It seems you haven't made any progress since three years ago. You're still just as naive."
"Catch up with me? You don't understand anything. This is a school where strength comes first."
"You won't grow at all here."
"Drop out, Suzune."
Horikita Manabu's voice wasn't loud, but it was like an ice-forged blade, cutting away the last trace of color from Horikita Suzune's face, word by word.
She stared at her cold older brother in disbelief, as if trying to confirm that those words had really come from his mouth.
"Brother... you want me to drop out?"
"Why?"
"I heard you were assigned to Class D." Horikita Manabu gave a cold laugh and pushed up his glasses, his gaze scrutinizing her like a defective product.
"Do you know what that means? If people find out the student council president's younger sister is in Class D, it'll only make me lose face."
The air seemed to freeze all at once.
The last trace of color drained from Suzune's face, and even her lips turned pale.
"Lose... face?" she repeated, her voice trembling slightly.
Hurt.
Anger.
Resentment.
She had a vague sense that something was strange about this school.
Although Class D had shown her the diversity of the species, most of its students, apart from a few, were dazed and clueless, with no interest in studying.
But she simply couldn't understand why being in Class D meant she was bringing shame on her brother.
As Horikita Manabu looked at his younger sister's pale face, something deep in his heart tightened for an instant.
He pushed up his glasses, letting the lenses conceal any emotion that might otherwise have slipped through.
He shouldn't have been here today, let alone speaking to her this way.
He had no doubt about who was behind the deliberately staged "narration" in the Gymnasium. In this school, only Miyabi Nagumo would use such a trick.
Miyabi Nagumo: I was looking forward to a fair and square showdown.
Suzune was too naive, and too stubborn.
He wanted her to drop out so she could go somewhere normal and truly grow.
"Why won't you give me time? I can prove that I can do it..."
Horikita Suzune's words were full of intense resistance.
Before she could finish, Horikita Manabu's eyes sharpened. He took a sudden half-step forward, then raised his right arm high, bringing it straight toward her face with a fierce force.
The strike was incredibly fast!
He showed no intention of holding back.
Horikita Suzune's words stopped abruptly.
"Slap!!!"
How could this be?
How could her beloved older brother really hit her?
Horikita Suzune pressed the back of her hand against her stinging, numb left cheek and slowly brought her vision back into focus.
Her brother's face was extremely stern.
"This is reality, Suzune." Horikita Manabu's voice was even flatter than before. "Words are the most useless thing here. What you call proof is nothing but a fantasy in the face of an absolute gap in strength."
He leaned toward her pale face, twisted with pain. His lowered voice carried utter disappointment and coldness:
"If you can't even take a punch like that, how do you expect to survive at this school?"
Horikita Suzune curled up beneath the tree, her body trembling faintly. The pain had yet to fade, but even more piercing was the naked denial in her brother's words.
That's not how it is...
Brother wasn't like this before...
"Click!"
The crisp sound of a shutter rang out.
Almost at the same moment, a dazzling flash lit up in the shadows, instantly illuminating Horikita Manabu's face.
[Detected a character who can be pursued near the host: Horikita Suzune] [Character Strategy Support Pack: Wilderness Survival Expert] [Affection Level: 20 (Passerby)]
"Sorry, I forgot to turn off the flash~"
"But it's not great for the student council president to privately bully a girl, is it?"
"Hmm?"
The moment Horikita Manabu realized he'd been discovered, he moved.
No warning, no words.
He darted past Horikita Suzune and charged at Kitagawa Kai, ready to attack him.
Facing the lightning-fast strike, Kitagawa Kai raised an eyebrow and dodged the student council president's attack by shaking his legs.
Horikita Manabu's first strike missed, and he immediately threw another punch, aiming for Kitagawa Kai's chest and abdomen.
Kitagawa Kai caught his right hand precisely.
Receive.
Neutralize.
Release.
Secret technique-Shoulder Throw!
"Bang!"
With a dull, heavy thud, Horikita Manabu's back slammed against the ground.
He didn't get up for three seconds.
KO!
[Ding!] [Horikita Suzune's Affection Level -10, current Affection Level: 10 (Dislike)]
Damn brother-obsessed girl!!!
As the system's icy notification sounded in Kitagawa Kai's mind, Horikita Suzune moved.
"Brother."
Seeing her beloved older brother fall to the ground, she nearly stumbled as she rushed over to help him up, then glared fiercely at Kitagawa Kai.
Horikita Manabu was helped to his feet and stood steady, his movements so fluid it was as if he hadn't been the one who'd fallen just now.
He brushed his sister's hand away, straightened his glasses, and fixed his gaze on Kitagawa Kai again.
"Suzune, stand back."
Kitagawa Kai swayed from side to side like a leopard, poised to pounce.
"President, strength comes first, but that also includes staying calm and weighing your options when someone has leverage over you, rather than trying to 'destroy' the evidence, right?"
Kitagawa Kai put particular emphasis on the word "destroy."
Horikita Manabu remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard the sarcasm.
"Two million points. Delete the footage, and we'll pretend none of this happened."
It was refreshing to talk to a smart person.
"Bingo, President. Taking photos is free, deleting them costs extra. You catch on fast."
Horikita Suzune stood frozen beside them, her mind unable to process the sudden turn in the conversation.
What had happened?
Hadn't they just been at each other's throats? How had it suddenly turned into such a blatant transaction?
She looked at her brother's stern profile, then at Kitagawa Kai's somewhat mercenary smile, and felt as if her worldview had been shaken like never before.
What on earth was this school?
Was this what it meant for strength to come first?
Points +2,000,000.
Once the points arrived, Kitagawa Kai deleted the footage in front of the siblings.
Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses as sharp as ever.
"Very good. May I have your name?"
"Kitagawa Kai, Class 1-B."
"Class B," Horikita Manabu repeated quietly, his gaze behind the lenses flickering slightly.
Suzune, you're attending the same school as someone like him.
Perhaps you really have no chance of moving up to Class A.
Never mind. I just hope you won't spend all your time chasing my shadow, and that you'll grow in your own way.
"Suzune, go back first."
Horikita Suzune's body trembled as she snapped out of her confusion.
She looked at her brother's hard profile, then at the calm Kitagawa Kai. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.