As the saying goes, communication is the bridge to progress

Once people are busy with things, time slips away without them even noticing.

Today was a day off, and Ichinose Honami had organized another gathering. The venue was once again a karaoke box, and Class B had booked a large room big enough to hold the entire class. Counting carefully, it seemed all forty students of Class B had shown up.

"Shiraishi-kun, why aren't you singing?" Kobashi Yume raised her voice to be heard over the boisterous singing.

"I'm tone-deaf, so I don't really dare to," Shiraishi Makoto brushed it off with a smile. In truth, he was completely unfamiliar with the pop songs of this world and had no idea what to pick or sing.

Even though he didn't sing, some classmates pulled him into games. After all, there were only a few microphones; the rest either played cards, board games like flying chess, or chatted while snacking. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.

But Shiraishi Makoto also noticed that at every gathering, there were always a few classmates who stayed on the sidelines, never truly joining in.

"See everyone tomorrow."

As the gathering ended and classmates left in pairs and groups, Shiraishi Makoto called out to Ichinose Honami, who was about to leave.

"Hold on a moment, come with me." He didn't explain why.

"Chihiro, you two go on ahead." Ichinose Honami sensed he had something serious to discuss, so she said goodbye to her friends and followed Shiraishi Makoto back into the room.

Inside the room, one person was still there.

"Oh? Yuki-chan is here too?" Ichinose Honami recognized her at once and greeted her softly.

"Ah... so you kept me here on purpose—is there something going on?" Himeno Yuki looked a bit flustered.

"It's like this. I noticed that Himeno-san barely participated tonight," Shiraishi Makoto spoke first.

Seeing Himeno Yuki's expression shift slightly, he quickly added, "I'm not accusing you of being unsociable. I just wanted to remind Ichinose-san that our class's gathering frequency might be a bit too high."

The idea of organizing class gatherings had originally been Ichinose Honami's. On the second day of school, she proposed that the whole class get together, intending to help everyone get to know each other quickly. Later, it gradually became a routine activity—whenever a classmate suggested it, she would ask for everyone's opinion.

Kōdo Ikusei Senior High School was isolated from the outside world, and by now, everyone should have gotten familiar with the campus environment. Class gatherings were one of the few recreational activities, so most of Class B was happy to join. But if you counted it up, two weeks into the semester, they were holding gatherings an average of three times a week—definitely not a low frequency.

With forty people in a class, each with different personalities, there were bound to be a few who weren't keen on group activities. In other classes, they could just refuse to attend, but Class B's overall atmosphere was too united and cohesive. Students like Himeno Yuki worried about being labeled "unsociable" and found it hard to turn down enthusiastic invitations from friends.

"This..." Ichinose Honami immediately caught the implication. She turned to look at Himeno Yuki, her eyes filled with apology.

"Himeno-san, feel free to say whatever's on your mind," Shiraishi Makoto encouraged her gently when he saw her hesitating.

"Then I'll be blunt..." Himeno Yuki glanced at Shiraishi Makoto before speaking in a low voice. "I don't hate the gatherings themselves, but I'm not that enthusiastic about them. Sometimes I really don't want to come, but since everyone else joins, I'm afraid of ruining the mood if I don't, so I end up forcing myself to go."

"I've been paying attention to everyone's situation during these past few gatherings. Actually, there are a few other classmates who rarely interact with others at these events, and I suspect they feel pretty much the same as Himeno-san," Shiraishi Makoto interjected at the right moment. "Ichinose-san, your intentions are good, but sometimes you need to listen to different voices."

"I understand." Ichinose Honami nodded lightly, then turned to Himeno Yuki and bowed earnestly. "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan, for making you feel so uncomfortable. If Shiraishi-kun hadn't pointed it out, I never would have realized my mistake. I'm truly sorry!"

"Hey, hey, you don't have to go that far..." Himeno Yuki looked flustered and quickly reached out to stop her.

"Don't blame yourself too much, Ichinose-san," Shiraishi Makoto also chimed in. "If you really feel bad, just explain the situation properly to the class later."

"Mm, I'll make sure to explain it clearly to everyone in class," Ichinose nodded gently.

The next day before class, Ichinose Honami went up to the podium to lead a brief class meeting.

"First, I want to apologize to everyone." She bowed slightly to the class. "Because of my oversight, I didn't notice that some of you weren't really comfortable with such frequent class gatherings, but were forcing yourselves to attend for fear of spoiling the fun. Thanks to Shiraishi-kun's reminder, I realized I should give everyone more room to decide for themselves."

"I apologize again to all of you." After speaking, Ichinose walked to the side of the podium and bowed deeply.

"Ichinose-san has done a great job—don't put too much pressure on yourself," Kobashi Yume, one of Ichinose's close friends, spoke up first to support her.

"That's right, it's just that Ichinose-san has too many class matters to handle, so it's inevitable to overlook things," other classmates chimed in.

"Thank you, everyone." Ichinose Honami saw the reactions from the class, especially noticing Himeno Yuki quietly responding as well. A warm smile spread across her face as she continued, "So I plan to slow down the frequency of class gatherings to once a month, roughly scheduled after each exam, so we can all relax together. At other times, there won't be any unified arrangements—those who want small gatherings can organize them privately on their own."

"Also, if anyone has opinions about the class but finds it hard to speak up publicly, feel free to come to me privately, or tell Shiraishi-kun. We'll listen carefully to everyone's thoughts and try to make sure everyone feels more at ease at school."

Once the responses died down, Ichinose Honami moved on to the next item:

"Second thing. I just got word from our homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei, that there will be a monthly exam at the end of this month. After discussing with a few classmates, I'm planning to organize after-school tutoring sessions. Anyone who's unsure about their academic ability can sign up with me privately."

"So there really is a monthly exam..." Shibata Sō nervously ran his hand through his hair, and many classmates wore tense expressions.

These students were already not very confident in their studies, and with everyone guessing that exam results would directly affect class points, quite a few were feeling the pressure.

"Of course, if anyone is confident in their studies, you're welcome to join in and help tutor. Relying only on Ichinose-san probably won't be enough," Shiraishi Makoto added at the right moment.

He knew well that if he didn't say this, Ichinose would likely try to shoulder everything alone. In the end, probably only Kanzaki Ryuji would voluntarily join in, and given the current situation, the two of them would have to tutor nearly half the class.

Ichinose Honami looked over at him and nodded lightly.

"That's about it. Everyone, remember to contact me privately."