Horikita Manabu saw that neither of them seemed inclined to speak, so he addressed Horikita Suzune, who had been forgotten in the corner. "Looks like you've made some progress, too. You've made two good friends." His tone was calm.
Before leaving, he took another long look at Hoshida No and Ayanokoji. He ignored Horikita Suzune, who wanted to explain herself, and soon his figure disappeared into the shadows.
Horikita Suzune gazed at Hoshida No with mixed feelings.
She had watched Hoshida No effortlessly defeat the brother she had thought nearly invincible. She had also heard with her own ears the shocking truth her brother had revealed about himself and Ayanokoji.
"You..." She opened her mouth, but had no idea how to ask.
"I just know a little self-defense." Hoshida No casually brushed aside the question of his fighting ability.
He pulled the pink handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at dust that wasn't even on his hands.
In an even, emotionless voice, he said, "Thanks," to Ayanokoji beside him.
Ayanokoji glanced at Hoshida No. "No need. Your self-defense skills are pretty good, too."
But inwardly, he wondered how a fight between himself and Hoshida No would turn out. We'd probably tie.
"Let's go back," Hoshida No said.
The three of them walked back in silence.
Hoshida No walked at the front, his figure upright, the moonlight stretching his shadow long.
Ayanokoji trailed half a step behind, his gaze lowered, his thoughts unreadable.
Horikita Suzune walked last, watching the backs of the two boys ahead of her as she asked herself, What would my brother do?
Back at the dorms, the three of them went their separate ways.
Hoshida No returned to his room and locked the door. He didn't turn on the light, but walked to the window and looked down at the school grounds, dotted with lights beneath the night sky.
In the morning, while waiting for the elevator, Hoshida No was replying to a message from Karuizawa Kei.
Karuizawa Kei: Brother No, I came fifth in the class on the end-of-month exam!
Hoshida No: That's great. How did Honami do?
Karuizawa Kei: She came first. →_→
Hoshida No: All right, what gifts do you two want?
Karuizawa Kei: We don't need gifts. Could we go out together this weekend...? With Honami.
Hoshida No: Sure.
The elevator chimed and its doors opened. He saw Horikita Suzune standing with her back to the door, adjusting her bag strap.
At the sound, she turned around. Her cool eyes met Hoshida No's gaze.
The air hung still for half a second.
Hoshida No stepped into the elevator. It wasn't very spacious, and the distance between them immediately felt a little awkward.
He pressed the "1st Floor" button. The doors slowly closed, leaving them alone in the confined space.
Silence stretched on for several floors. Hoshida No thought they would ride all the way to the lobby without saying a word, as usual.
"I'm going to attend your study group this afternoon."
Horikita Suzune's voice suddenly broke the silence.
She stared straight ahead at the floor numbers changing above the elevator doors without looking at Hoshida No.
Hoshida No paused almost imperceptibly and turned his head toward her.
He noticed the fingers gripping her bag strap tighten for a moment.
"Is that so?" Hoshida No looked forward again. His voice betrayed neither surprise nor welcome. "Hirata and Kushida will be glad to have you. You already know the time and place."
"I do," she replied curtly. "I won't be late."
After leaving the elevator, Hoshida No sent Kushida and Hirata a message saying Horikita would be coming to the study group. Both replied quickly to say that was fine.
That afternoon, when the school bell rang, fifteen students were attending the study group, not counting Sudo Ken and the others who had club activities.
Horikita Suzune arrived right on time, just as expected.
She sat alone near the front, laid out her books and notes, and wore an impassive expression that clashed with the excitement and nervousness around her.
When Kushida Kikyo saw Horikita, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over to greet her warmly. "Horikita! You really came! That's wonderful! Welcome!"
Her smile was flawless, as if she had completely forgotten being turned down the day before.
Horikita merely nodded and said coolly, "Let's begin. There's no point wasting time."
Kushida's smile froze for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. "Okay! Then let's have Hoshida start by reviewing today's material for everyone!"
The study group didn't go smoothly. Horikita often pointed out flaws in Hoshida No's teaching method, saying it relied too much on templates. Whenever that happened, someone would argue with her.
Unable to watch any longer, Hoshida No agreed to let her teach several of the higher-scoring students. Those students would occasionally complain to him about Horikita's severity and harsh criticism.
By the time the study group ended, it was late. Most of the students left, tired but pleased with what they had learned.
Horikita Suzune packed up her things and walked over to Hoshida No.
"It's obvious everyone prefers your teaching," she said coolly. "But that won't help them get high scores. Class D needs perfect scores now."
Without waiting for Hoshida No to reply, she turned and left the classroom.
Kushida Kikyo came over and let out a soft sigh. "Horikita's still as strict as ever... But it's a good thing she came, right, Hoshida?"
Her smile was still bright, but there seemed to be a trace of weariness—or some other emotion—in her eyes.
"Yeah," Hoshida No replied, beginning to gather his things.
Hirata Yousuke came over as well and said sincerely, "You worked hard today, Hoshida. We couldn't have done it without you. But Horikita's suggestions were valuable, too. They'll help us think things through more thoroughly."
"Help us think things through?"
As Hoshida No walked toward the library, he pondered, "If the Special Exam only tests students' academic ability, that's unfair to Class D, which has the most students who struggle. What could make four unequal classes equal?"
Hoshida No went straight to the librarian and asked, "Hello. Can we borrow old study materials, like past students' review notes or archived midterm and final exam materials?"
The librarian adjusted their glasses. Their gaze lingered on his uniform badge for two seconds before they answered in a serious tone:
"For first-year students, only publicly available review guides from the past three years may be borrowed. Exam materials are non-public archives and require a class application. They may only be used for educational purposes."
"Public review guides?" Hoshida No asked. "Do they include sample question types? I want to help my classmates put together a collection of their mistakes and target their weak areas."
The librarian nodded, turned, and pulled a neatly bound stack of booklets from the filing cabinet behind them.
"These are the first-year midterm review guides from the past three years. They include some representative question types. Just sign your name and class, and you can borrow them for a week."
Hoshida No quickly filled in the loan information. As he took the guides, his fingertips brushed the worn edges of the pages.
After thanking the librarian, he went to a seat by the window and opened a new booklet. He turned the page gently between his fingertips, stopping only when he reached the section on math problems.
He quickly left the library and headed toward the classroom building. He had a hunch he needed to confirm.
When he returned to the classroom, it was empty, with only the rows of neatly arranged seats.
Hoshida No went straight to his seat and spread the three quizzes from the past month across the desk.
He opened the review guide to the corresponding math chapter, his gaze darting between the example problems and the quiz papers.
Hoshida No's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. His expression didn't change. He simply reached for the other two review guides, opened them, and arranged them by year.
His fingers quickly flipped through the pages as he compared the problems one by one.
He looked down at the papers spread across his desk and muttered, "So this is what fairness means."
At that moment, his fingertip rested on two math problems with identical formats but different scenarios.