Kiyotaka Was Still Awake

"No, no, I said that wrong. I just thought you weren't a bad person, so I hurried over. I wasn't thinking about anything else."

Hoshino En: "..."

"You can't judge a person by appearances, so be more careful from now on. It'd be best to carry something like pepper spray to protect yourself."

"People hate someone like you, who knows everyone else's embarrassing secrets. Keep your wits about you."

"Yes, yes!"

After that, Hoshino En kept lecturing [Idiot Kushida] until midnight.

Unfortunately, after enduring his lecture, [Idiot Kushida] didn't seem to have evolved much. She was still just as dumb as Kushida Kikyo had been before.

"By the way, Hoshino-kun, why did you help me so much?"

"Help you? What help? I lectured you because you made me angry. It was your punishment, and a chance to teach you a lesson."

"If you fall into a similar trap again, it won't just be a [lecture]."

Kushida Kikyo: ...!!

"What kind of answer is that? You're way too sadistic... And that's not what I meant. I meant, why did you help me relieve my stress?"

"Didn't I already tell you? I did it because..."

"But I don't think you're the sort of person who's simply kindhearted. You must have some other motive."

She stared straight at Hoshino En, her gaze unusually certain.

"...So you could tell!"

Hoshino En was finally surprised for once.

It wasn't easy. After learning that Kushida Kikyo was far less perceptive than he'd imagined, he'd stopped bothering to hide the kindhearted act he put on around her.

If she'd just left without a single doubt or attempt to test him, he would probably have started planning how to discard her after squeezing everything he could out of her.

"You were being so obvious. How could I believe your earlier excuse?"

Kushida Kikyo shivered.

There was no way his surprise was genuine. If she hadn't asked, he would probably have immediately thought about using that [threat] to break her.

Besides, she knew her own limits. For someone like her, a [social butterfly], dealing with people like him—people who weren't good at socializing—no, he probably just didn't like socializing—in short, people like him would be the biggest headache.

(Hoshino En: No, actually, I'm bad at dealing with airheads. Someone like you, a [social butterfly], is still way out of your depth.)

Thank goodness she'd asked casually just now... Wait, what?

Kushida Kikyo: ...!!

Why was I thinking like him?

She looked at Hoshino En, who was weighing his [excuse], and her gaze grew unfocused.

He'd already started influencing me in less than two hours??

He really is a pervert!!!

"Honestly, the reason is..."

While Kushida Kikyo's mind raced, Hoshino En had also come up with an [excuse]... though Kushida Kikyo didn't believe it was true.

"Because I like you a lot."

He tilted his head slightly. His drooping bangs shifted with the movement, revealing the purple eyes he'd always kept hidden beneath them. The starry eyes in his pupils looked especially captivating under the bright lights.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

She had to admit that, for an instant, she'd almost believed what Hoshino En had said.

Worse, she'd even felt the tiniest bit of a flutter in her heart!!

Why? My heart...

She clutched her chest, feeling like it was no longer under her control.

Aaaah! Thump, thump, thump! It was so noisy!!!!

"What you said... was a joke, right?"

Damn it, why couldn't she control her mouth, either??

"Of course not. I really do think you're charming, Kushida."

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Th-this...

"You really do treat everyone as a [close friend]. You're not like an ordinary [social butterfly] who only considers people [useful to them] close friends. That's why you have far more psychological pressure than most people. I really like that about you, so I was willing to help."

"I never hold back when it comes to the things I like. You make me happy, so of course I'm willing to support you."

"It's just that you seem a little too dumb. Even ordinary [social butterflies] aren't this dumb. You should be more perceptive than the average [social butterfly], since you have to juggle more people. So why are you so stupid?"

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Ah, her mood had calmed down all at once.

And could they please drop this subject already?

"Let me ask you something. When you say you like me, you just mean that you like the way I act, right?"

"Of course. I admire your [sincerity], and I definitely couldn't do what you do. Most people couldn't, either. From that perspective, you're a genius, Kushida."

"Are you making fun of me?"

At some point, Kushida Kikyo had put on her true face and was staring coldly at Hoshino En.

Seeing that she'd suddenly gotten angry, Hoshino En hurried to make amends.

"No, no, I really do think you're a genius. At the very least, Horikita Suzune definitely couldn't do what you do."

Hoshino En knew that she and Horikita Suzune didn't get along, so he'd deliberately put Horikita down and praised her.

However, he hadn't expected Kushida Kikyo to seem even angrier after hearing that.

First Semester of First Year:

Kiyotaka Was Still Awake

"Hey, Hoshino, can I ask you something—"

Kushida Kikyo didn't seem to care about what Hoshino En had asked. She started a new topic instead.

"If one day you had to choose between me and Horikita, who would you pick?"

All right, so they still hadn't gotten past that topic.

"Why are you asking? You should know there's no point asking me that right now."

"If you asked me, I'd choose you. And whether or not I genuinely meant it, you wouldn't believe my [promise]."

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

"But I haven't spoken to Horikita Suzune yet, so if I had to choose, I'd still choose you. Don't worry too much."

"And you should have more faith in your own charm! I'm not exactly easy to please, and someone as radically individualistic and self-centered as Horikita Suzune wouldn't get very far with me."

"...I hope you remember what you said today."

The conversation had already been drawing to a close, but Hoshino En bringing up Horikita Suzune became the last straw that ended it.

Kushida Kikyo had arrived in high spirits, only to leave disappointed. She'd come in smiling, but in the end she returned to her room with a cold expression.

"Oh, right. There's one more thing."

Just before she left, Hoshino En suddenly brought something else up.

"The student council at this school has a lot of power. It might even have more authority than the average teacher. If you want to make friends across different year groups, becoming a student council officer would be a good option."

Hoshino En offered some good advice, and Kushida Kikyo's expression improved a little.

"By the way, the current student council president—the man who stands at the top of all the students—is named Horikita Manabu. He's Horikita Suzune's older brother."

Kushida Kikyo's expression turned even worse.

After she left, Hoshino En's smile faded.

Kushida seemed seriously unwell. Was Horikita's shadow over her really that strong?

Given her personality, she would probably keep pestering Horikita Suzune until she managed to become her [close friend].

That way, she could not only claim a victory for her ideal, but also shut down the possibility of Horikita destroying her by [spreading her past]. After all, if two good friends suddenly started saying bad things about each other, people would likely assume they'd [had a falling-out]. No one else would put much stock in the [rumors] that came out.

For Hoshino En, though, this was actually a good thing. The more fixated Kushida was on Horikita, the easier it was to analyze her behavior.

As for the information he'd shared at the end, his main reason was to stop Kushida from doing something rash and taking the extreme step of going after Horikita. Although, according to his [deductions], the odds of Kushida making such a low-benefit choice were next to none, after what had happened today... no, yesterday, he no longer had much faith in his ability to judge women.

If he'd warned her and Kushida still chose to take on Horikita, risking the student council president's attention, he really would give up on her.

Tch, forget it. Preparing for the worst was important, but right now he should be thinking about Horikita Suzune.

"But if that's the case, I'll have to find a way to learn what's going on with Horikita."

At the very least, he needed to find out whether she knew about Kushida's past.

Aaaah... he regretted it again. Why had he gotten involved with Kushida Kikyo? This was just turning into more and more trouble.

If he'd known, he might as well have made do with Karuizawa...

Never mind. So, the person in class who was currently the [closest] to Horikita was—

Hoshino En: [Kiyotaka, are you still awake?]

He sent a message to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who lived next door and was probably doing something.

At first, Hoshino En had wanted to call him or drag him out for a late-night stroll—while also checking for any camera blind spots.

But then he thought that disturbing people in the middle of the night might get him beaten up by an enraged human machine, so he settled for sending a message instead.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [?]

Hoshino En: [Have things progressed at all between you and Horikita Suzune?]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who lived right next door, was speechless.

You were messaging me in the middle of the night just to hear the rest of today's gossip?

And we live right next door. Couldn't you wait until we walked to school tomorrow morning to ask?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [You know, after that I got cornered by Yamauchi and the others. I haven't had any more contact with Horikita.]

In other words—You useless bastard left me to fend for myself, and now you want to hear gossip? Go eat shit!

Hoshino En: [They were obviously looking for you, and you know how antisocial I am. Besides, Sudo's so big. What if I accidentally annoyed him? Wouldn't he beat me to a pulp on the spot?]

[So, Kiyotaka, you have to understand. I'd never betray our revolutionary friendship!!]

[Also, you've been trying for two days now. Has Horikita told you anything besides her name? Like her hobbies, talents, or anything she likes?]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [...She did say that she reads for ten hours a day.]

Ten hours? Was that girl a bookworm???

Hoshino En suddenly felt that Shiina might have found herself a useful reading buddy.

Hoshino En: [What kind of books does she read? Mystery novels or literary classics?]

If he could get someone else to take his place, Shiina would surely stop fixating on him.

Besides, Horikita was a girl, too. Shiina should find it easier to get close to her than to him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [Neither. She reads textbooks.]

Hoshino En: "..."

Retract that. Shiina would never accept a [reading buddy] like that.

Hoshino En: [Does she have any other hobbies?]

Although his plan to find himself a shield had fallen through, Hoshino En's real goal was to find out more about Horikita Suzune, so this wasn't enough to stop him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [I'm not sure, but she's always carrying books around, so I don't think she has any.]

Hoshino En: [So you spent two whole days pestering her, and that's all you learned?]

His message seemed to deal a blow to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. After it showed as [read], a long time passed without another message.