Watching the trio fail to leave the classroom together after school as they usually did, Takahashi thought to himself, I've got this! I've got this!
"Why are you guys here too?" the three asked in unison.
They hadn't even entered the library before they heard the three speaking at the same time.
"I'm the one who called you here," Horikita said as she walked over.
"What? It was you? Seriously, I thought it was something important. You wasted my basketball practice time." Sudo felt like he'd been tricked. He grabbed his bag and started to leave.
"Sudo, if you fail this exam, it won't just mean missing basketball practice for a while."
"So what? Instead of burying my nose in textbooks, I'm going to aim for professional basketball. Even the club coach says I have talent."
"Aiming for professional basketball? Do you think your talent will let you achieve such a childish dream? There are plenty of people more talented than you. Even if you're a one-in-a-million genius, there are at least seven hundred thousand others like you in this world. And someone like you, who gives up on his studies halfway through, will never become a professional athlete. Even if you did, I doubt you'd earn the income you're hoping for. The moment you set your sights on such an unrealistic career, you've already become defective."
"You bastard, what the hell are you talking about?" Sudo said angrily, reaching for Horikita's collar.
"Easy, easy." Takahashi held Sudo's arm down with one hand.
Sudo tried to ignore Takahashi, but realized his strength was being completely suppressed. He turned and shouted at Takahashi, "She's insulting my dream! I train every day to become a professional basketball player. I'm about to make the school team, and I'll be the fastest first-year to become a regular!"
"I..." Takahashi started to comfort Sudo, at least to get him not to hit anyone, but Horikita interrupted him before he could get more than a few words out.
"Hah, make the school team? You're defective and about to be expelled. What will you do after that? Keep practicing basketball and suck your parents dry like a leech? That's hilarious."
Takahashi: Sudo hadn't hit you, so you had no idea how strong he was. -_-||
"Bastard!" Though Takahashi had hold of one of Sudo's arms, the other was free. Sudo swung a punch at Horikita, but Takahashi had been ready for it. The moment Sudo raised his arm, Takahashi pulled Horikita into his arms, and Sudo's fist landed on Takahashi's shoulder instead.
Seeing Takahashi protect Horikita, Sudo snorted.
"I even took time off from the club for this. What a waste of time." He picked up his bag and left, followed shortly by Ike and Yamauchi.
"Are you all right?" Horikita asked, showing an unusually concerned expression.
"Ow... Sudo's pretty strong. I think I need to go back and rest."
As he walked back to the dorm, Takahashi rolled his arm. It hurt a little, but it was worth it. Now he could get out of the Study Group task. There was no way he was going to be Horikita's seventeenth-century non-specialty.
Thinking about getting out of the Study Group put Takahashi in a great mood. He shouldn't dwell on it too much—happy thoughts only got happier the longer you thought about them. He might as well shake the Divination Tube. Thinking this, he took it out and shook it as he walked. "With a sincere heart, may the gods protect me."
Great Blessing!
See? You shouldn't dwell too much on happy thoughts. Now he was even happier. *:??(?′?`)??:*
"Thud!"
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." They were at a corner, and Takahashi had been so happy that he hadn't watched where he was going. He hadn't expected to bump into someone.
He reached out to help the girl who'd fallen, and only then noticed she was Sakura Airi, a girl in his class.
"Ah... It's okay, it's okay. I wasn't paying attention either. I... I..." Looking at the flustered girl with her cheeks flushed red, Takahashi felt like laughing. He decided to tease her a little.
"You're Sakura, right? I sit next to you. My name's Takahashi Shinma."
"Ah... I-I know."
"Then meeting must be fate. How about we become friends?"
"Become friends? M-me?"
"If there were a third person here, I'd think I should get my eyes checked." As he spoke, Takahashi suddenly moved closer, their noses nearly touching. Looking into Sakura's eyes, he continued, "You're just as cute as I expected, Sakura."
Girls tended to read too much into what boys said. If he'd called her unexpectedly cute, then even though it was only one word different, she might have thought he'd previously believed she wasn't cute at all. Saying she was just as cute as he'd expected made it clearer that he'd paid special attention to her before. Of course, that line only worked because Takahashi was her classmate and the boy who sat next to her. If a stranger said that to a girl, it would be a little creepy. She'd only wonder if he'd been following her.
Before you continue