The Idiot Trio

"Horikita, what's your problem?"

Sudo, sitting nearby, couldn't hold back anymore when he saw Kushida's pitiful expression. He stood up and jabbed a finger sharply at Horikita.

In his view, Horikita was probably just deliberately making things difficult for Kushida.

"Yeah, if it weren't for Kushida, we wouldn't even be here. Right, Yamauchi?"

Ike chimed in, deliberately raising his voice as he turned to Yamauchi.

"That's right. If Kushida hadn't asked me, I'd still be chilling in my dorm right now," Yamauchi replied.

"You guys..." Horikita naturally overheard their remarks.

Just as Horikita was about to explode, Ayanokouji, standing beside her, tugged at her clothes.

"What are you doing, Ayanokouji?"

"Easy, Horikita. Everyone's here to study. No need to make a big deal out of this."

"But..."

"Think about it—what good does it do you if they fail and get expelled? Isn't that the whole point of you holding this study session?"

"I'm worried about the class getting a negative evaluation, not because I care about my classmates." After saying that, Horikita hesitated for a moment. "Fine, I get it."

Seeing Horikita calm down, Ayanokouji went over to Sudo's trio and said something to them. Before long, they quietly sat back down and started reading.

As for Kushida, she naturally stayed as well. Horikita had no choice but to tacitly accept her presence.

After a while, Horikita spoke up. "Everyone, I've tried to organize the exam scope here for you. If you study from this, your efficiency will improve a lot."

With that, Horikita handed each of them a few handwritten sheets. "Of course, if there's a problem you don't understand, feel free to ask me."

The group took the sheets and flipped through them. Kushida, Okiya, and Ayanokouji were fine—they could tell Horikita had carefully compiled the notes, which would indeed boost study efficiency.

But Sudo's trio frowned at the sheets.

"Hey, Horikita, I can't even understand the first problem."

Sudo glared at Horikita, probably still holding a grudge from earlier.

"Look at it more carefully. If you give up right away, you'll never improve."

"But... I'm just not interested in studying. My thing is basketball. I'd say I'm as good as anyone on the team, and I'm about to become a regular."

"Did I ask you that...? Well, I suppose it's thanks to your basketball skills that you got into this school."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sudo couldn't tell if Horikita was insulting or praising him, and he was left scratching his head.

"Actually... I don't get the first problem either." Ike spoke up, rubbing his head in frustration. It was clear he'd thought about it but still couldn't find a way to solve it.

"It's amazing you all managed to get into this school. This problem is something even middle school students—or even smart elementary school kids—could solve."

Horikita scanned the room and noticed only Sudo's trio couldn't do it. Okiya, who'd come with them, already had a solution in mind, and Kushida was over there coaching him.

"That's right, Okiya. Just calculate this formula, and you'll get the result."

Hadn't she just said she was afraid of failing? Now she was teaching Okiya? Was she trying to provoke her...

"Are you saying we're worse than elementary school kids?" Sudo bristled at Horikita's mockery.

"Listen up. The solution goes like this." Ignoring Sudo's question, Horikita unhesitatingly scribbled on the paper, laying out the steps in detail.

But Sudo and the others still wore grim expressions.

"I still don't get it."

"Are you kidding me?"

Horikita thought she'd explained the method clearly enough. If they still couldn't understand, it meant they hadn't even mastered the basics.

It was like doing an English reading comprehension test without knowing the vocabulary—you couldn't even understand the questions, let alone answer them...

"I'm done. I give up. Study on your own." Sudo tossed his pen down.

Horikita shot him a fierce glare. Giving up at the first sign of trouble—this kind of attitude infuriated her.

"Wait, Sudo. Try a little harder, and you'll get it. I believe in you, okay?"

Seeing Sudo about to leave in defeat, Kushida finally spoke up to stop him.

"Ugh, I was planning to leave, but since Kushida says so, I'll give it another shot... But if Kushida taught me, I'd probably be more motivated."

"Yeah, if Kushida taught us, I'd definitely pay attention."

"Kushida, will you teach us, please?"

Ike and Yamauchi echoed Sudo's words.

"But..." Kushida hesitated. This study session was ultimately Horikita's thing. Teaching Okiya earlier was just a small jab at her.

But if she took over the teaching, it would be overstepping her bounds, and word getting out might damage her image...

Thinking this, Kushida looked at Horikita.

Horikita remained silent. This situation was bad for her—whether she allowed it or not, she'd gain nothing and might even worsen the tension.

Seeing Horikita take too long to respond, Kushida couldn't wait any longer. Dragging it out would only make Sudo's trio more likely to give up.

"As for this problem, just as Horikita explained earlier, first you do this, then that..."

The trio of Sudo and his friends listened intently as Kushida explained the problem. Their attitude was a stark contrast to when Horikita had been teaching earlier, but whether it would actually be effective was anyone's guess...

After all, Kushida's academic ability still couldn't match Horikita's. Even Horikita, who explained in such detail and thought she'd used the simplest method, couldn't get through to them.

Let alone Kushida, whose method was far more complicated than Horikita's.

"Alright, this is the final result."

After laying out a long string of formulas, Kushida finally reached the answer, a smile spreading across her face. She seemed quite satisfied with this calculation process.

"You got the result that fast? As expected of Kushida. But why does this answer come out that way?"

"Yeah, the final answer looks really surprising."

Kushida: "..."

Sure enough, they still didn't understand. At this moment, Kushida deeply realized just how painful it was to teach this bunch of idiots.

"Looks like changing the teacher doesn't make a difference. You really are the three stooges."