One Must Drop Out

The day's classes ended, and the appointed time arrived.

By the time Makoto Nishikado arrived with Yuki Himeno, Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo were already there.

It was the same café where they had bumped into each other last time, and the two girls had already ordered a coffee for him.

"Teacher Ximen, I'm sorry to trouble you again."

Seeing Makoto Nishikado and Yuki Himeno walk in, Horikita Suzune immediately stood up and gave a slight bow.

"Don't be so formal. Did I keep you waiting? My apologies... Yuki, take a seat."

Makoto Nishikado pulled out a chair and sat down, only to notice that Yuki Himeno was still standing.

"I'd rather stand."

Yuki Himeno shook her head; a subordinate should act like a subordinate.

Makoto Nishikado looked at her with a question mark over his head, wondering if she had developed some condition that prevented her from sitting.

"Ximen-kun, you were really impressive today. Everyone is talking about you, and some people have even asked me for your contact information."

Kushida Kikyo smiled brightly.

Unlike before, this time she was genuinely praising Makoto Nishikado from the bottom of her heart.

A disgusting guy like Yamauchi Haruki deserved to be afraid of a villain like Makoto Nishikado.

It was a case of setting a thief to catch a thief.

"I went in and gave them a piece of my mind; I would have thought the girls would be too afraid of me to ask."

Makoto Nishikado hadn't expected this.

In Sakurajima, it was quite rare for peers to point fingers and berate one another.

"Since everyone is here, I'll get straight to the point. Kushida, I want you to join my team so we can work together to lead Class D."

Horikita Suzune had no interest in small talk and dove right into the main topic.

"Lead Class D? I didn't realize you had such ambitions, Horikita-san."

"So, what exactly are we going to do?"

Kushida Kikyo's mouth twitched as she asked out of curiosity.

She really hadn't realized that Horikita Suzune was someone who cared so much about the class.

"Is it alright to talk about this?"

Horikita Suzune turned to look at Makoto Nishikado.

After receiving his nod, Horikita Suzune explained the situation to Kushida Kikyo.

"I see. So there is competition between classes, and perhaps only the students in Class A can achieve a one-hundred-percent graduation and employment rate."

Kushida Kikyo realized, not doubting Horikita Suzune's explanation.

She wasn't stupid, and she had naturally noticed the unusual nature of the school.

Hearing Horikita Suzune explain it like this, everything became clear.

"Yes, if we want to make Class D a unified whole, I need your strength."

Horikita Suzune spoke bluntly, without the slightest attempt at concealment.

Generally speaking, revealing her intentions so directly would have given Kushida Kikyo an opportunity to manipulate her.

Someone new to society might call it sincerity, while a veteran would call it a mistake.

But Makoto Nishikado didn't necessarily oppose this approach, so he didn't offer any warning to Horikita Suzune.

Sincere people walk slowly, but perhaps they can go further.

"Is this the reason Ximen-kun said he would make Horikita-san and me friends?"

Kushida Kikyo didn't answer directly, turning instead to look at Makoto Nishikado.

Moving forward toward the same goal was indeed a good way to become friends.

But based on Kushida Kikyo's understanding of Makoto Nishikado, she feared things weren't that simple.

"That reason alone shouldn't be enough, right? After all, Kikyo-chan, you actually want Horikita to drop out."

[Triggered Yuki Himeno's emotions, gained 2113 emotion points.]
[Triggered Horikita Suzune's emotions, gained 4763 emotion points.]

Makoto Nishikado took a sip of his coffee; he still preferred the sweeter taste.

He didn't care that his single sentence had caused the expressions of all three girls present to change.

The smile on Kushida Kikyo's face froze instantly, a flash of panic crossing her eyes, so much so that she didn't even notice Horikita Suzune studying her.

"Ximen-kun, you really know how to joke, don't you?"

After a long while, Kushida Kikyo forced a smile, though her voice remained somewhat strained.

Even though she knew this smile couldn't fool anyone anymore, she still chose to put on a mask.

"Kushida Kikyo, do we have some kind of history between us?"

Horikita Suzune had a hundred thousand whys running through her head.

She had long realized that Kushida Kikyo might dislike her, but she truly hadn't known the other girl hated her to this extent.

Logically speaking, as new classmates, Kushida Kikyo shouldn't harbor such intense hostility toward her.

But Horikita Suzune was also certain that she didn't know Kushida Kikyo before; she was a complete stranger to her.

Having such a sense of unfamiliarity meant that, at most, they had only met once in passing.

She hadn't expected that not only did Kushida Kikyo remember her, but she also hated her to this degree.

Where on earth did this hostility come from?

"Don't say that, Makoto Nishikado is just joking."

After a moment, Kushida Kikyo had already regained her usual composure.

However, as Kushida Kikyo turned to look at Makoto Nishikado, her eyes still held intense emotion.

"Makoto Nishikado, why would you say such bullying things? I don't have any such thoughts at all."

Kushida Kikyo's performance could be called calm and appropriate.

Unfortunately, Makoto Nishikado knew the plot and could see the system prompts, so there was no possibility of him being deceived.

"Horikita, you two were classmates before; she caused quite a stir."

"Even if you don't know the specific details, you should at least know the general situation, right?"

"She is afraid of those things being exposed, which is why she wants you to drop out."

Makoto Nishikado smiled calmly as he explained to Horikita Suzune.

These words also made Horikita Suzune recall some things from the past.

"...Are you the one who caused that class to completely collapse?"

Horikita Suzune suddenly realized, and the look in her eyes as she turned to Kushida Kikyo held a hint of clarity.

If it was that incident, she could understand it a little bit.

Seeing that she had really remembered, Kushida Kikyo clenched her fists.

"Kikyo-chan, that look in your eyes is like you want to eat me."

Makoto Nishikado was both surprised and delighted.

He had thought that the maximum emotional points he could harvest at once was a little over a hundred thousand.

This was the first time he had seen over two hundred thousand.

"Makoto Nishikado, this is different from what we agreed upon."

Although she hated him to the core, in front of everyone, Kushida Kikyo still maintained her smile.

If she had the chance right now, she would definitely gnaw the bones off Makoto Nishikado!

"What I said was that I would make you two friends; this matter hasn't failed yet."

Makoto Nishikado shook his head, denying Kushida Kikyo's claim.

He, Makoto Nishikado, had always been an honest young gentleman who kept his word.

Of course, how this "friend" was defined was naturally up to him.

"Are you kidding? This matter has already been exposed, even if Horikita... hm?"

Kushida Kikyo frowned as she looked at Horikita Suzune.

To her surprise, even after recalling her true colors, the look in Horikita Suzune's eyes hadn't changed in the slightest.

She clearly should have been disgusted, should have avoided her, and should have feared her.

"Kushida Kikyo, what happened in the past isn't important; I still hope you can come and help me."

Horikita Suzune said earnestly, her expression not changing in the slightest.

To her, Kushida Kikyo's role was irreplaceable.

As long as her goal was to lead Class D forward, then Kushida Kikyo was an indispensable existence.

Kushida Kikyo was very moved after hearing this, and then she rejected her.

"That won't work, Horikita. Now, one of us must drop out."