"Looks like you've found yourself a nice friend, Suzune..." Horikita Manabu rubbed his fingertips along the frame of his black glasses. His gaze swept over Watanabe Hayabara's tense jaw, and a faint, knowing smile played at the corner of his lips. He deliberately put extra emphasis on the word "friend."
Watanabe Hayabara draped his school blazer over one shoulder, his black tie hanging crookedly across his chest. He raised an eyebrow at Horikita Manabu's appraising gaze. "A friend? I'd need Horikita's stamp of approval for that. I only stepped in because I couldn't stand by and watch the student council president bully someone." He drew out the end of his sentence, his peripheral vision catching Horikita Suzune's clenched right hand. She clearly hadn't recovered yet; red marks still circled her wrist.
Horikita Suzune lowered her gaze to avoid her brother's probing eyes. Her hair gleamed with a cold sheen beneath the fluorescent lights. "He's right. He... isn't my friend. He's just a classmate." Her voice sounded as if it had been dipped in ice water, every syllable trembling faintly. Her throat moved awkwardly.
"Although I wouldn't exactly call myself Horikita's friend, the other person here is a good friend of hers." Watanabe Hayabara suddenly turned to look into the darkness behind him. A smile curved his lips. "Ayanokoji, the problem's been taken care of. Aren't you coming out?"
"Oh? There's someone else?" Horikita Manabu paused mid-motion as he adjusted his glasses, a cold glint flashing across their black frames. His deep brown eyes scanned the shadows like a precision instrument, catching every subtle movement.
Amid the rustle of fabric, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka rubbed his neck and slowly stepped out of the shadows, looking as though nothing had happened. Even as he met Horikita Manabu's gaze, his dark eyes remained veiled in a thin haze, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.
Horikita Manabu's gaze lingered for half a second on the wrinkles in Ayanokoji's clothes before shifting to Horikita Suzune's expressionless face. "Suzune, is this your friend?" His voice trailed off with a long, wavering lilt, heavy with menace, like a snake tasting the air.
"This... is also just a classmate. He's not really a friend." Horikita Suzune took half a step back until her shoulders touched the cold wall. Her hair fell forward, hiding her tightly pressed lips. Her hand hung at her side, unconsciously clutching her skirt until the pleats were deeply creased.
She's so easy to feel sorry for.
Watanabe Hayabara leaned against a pillar and chuckled softly, his Adam's apple bobbing with the sound. He took a mint from a tin and popped it into his mouth. The fresh sweetness mingled with a faint smell of gunpowder. "Ayanokoji looks so calm and unbothered, like he just came out of the library for a stroll. You'd never guess he'd just been watching the show with me."
Horikita Manabu ignored Watanabe Hayabara's joke and reached out to lift a strand of Horikita Suzune's hair. His fingertips brushed it with an almost cruel tenderness. "Looks like you're still the same. You've mistaken arrogance for independence, and that's why it'll be so hard for you to rise to the top." Horikita Manabu's voice suddenly rose.
It's easy to recognize the tenderness beneath deliberate cruelty.
Before his words had even settled, he spun around, the cold glare reflected in his glasses landing precisely on Watanabe Hayabara. "Your name is Watanabe Hayabara, right?"
"Is there something you'd like to ask, President?" Watanabe Hayabara straightened up and deliberately slowed his speech, his rising inflection edged with provocation, as if responding to the silent pressure.
"You managed to get question marks for every category in the individual ability assessment at the start of the school year. Watanabe Hayabara, if you got involved, things might get a little more interesting." Horikita Manabu gave a cold laugh, put his hands in his pockets, and turned toward the shadows.
"If you want to move up to another class, fight with everything you have, Suzune. You have no other choice." Horikita Manabu's voice came from deeper and deeper within the shadows, mingling with his fading footsteps until it finally vanished.
After Horikita Manabu left, the scene fell completely silent. Only the chirping of insects could be heard in the night. Horikita Suzune relaxed, her body trembling slightly before she slumped down and sat by the wall with her head lowered, utterly motionless.
None of the three was the first to break the silence.
Watanabe Hayabara found the atmosphere far too dull and didn't want to waste any more time. "I'll be leaving," he said, then walked toward the shadows.
"Watanabe." Just as he was about to leave, Horikita Suzune slowly raised her head and called out to him.
"What is it?" Watanabe Hayabara turned back with a smile.
"Watanabe, you're so good at fighting, especially at close quarters. Did you study some kind of martial art?"
"Jeet Kune Do. Have you heard of it, Horikita?"
"Well... I don't know much about it, but my brother is a fifth-dan in karate and a fourth-dan in aikido. I imagine the Jeet Kune Do you study must be very powerful."
"Jeet Kune Do is based on Wing Chun, boxing, and fencing, and incorporates Taoist philosophy. It's a method of intercepting an opponent's attacks—or a way of striking before they can. It takes formlessness as its form. Its movements and techniques don't follow any fixed patterns; they adapt flexibly. It's a martial art focused on counterattacks that isn't bound by any set style." Watanabe Hayabara patiently explained it to Horikita Suzune.
Jeet Kune Do. Flexible and ever-changing. So that's why I couldn't discern a pattern in his movements or techniques... Ayanokoji thought to himself.
"A martial art that combines different styles? In that case, it makes sense that he could beat my brother..."
She really is a hopeless brother-complex case.
"If you don't have any other questions, Horikita, I'll be going." Watanabe Hayabara spoke without expression, seeming entirely unconcerned by Horikita Suzune's hesitation.
Horikita Suzune seemed unsure. She drew out her response as though trying to figure out what to say. "Um..." The simple sound lingered in the air, revealing her inner conflict.
Ayanokoji quietly watched the two of them from the side. His gaze fell first on Watanabe Hayabara, then shifted to Horikita Suzune. After studying her for a few seconds, he turned and left without a word.
Watanabe Hayabara watched Ayanokoji's back recede until he disappeared from view. Horikita Suzune, however, remained lost in her thoughts, staring down as she pondered something. She hadn't noticed Ayanokoji leave at all.
After a long while, Horikita Suzune seemed to finally make up her mind. She raised her head, looked straight into Watanabe Hayabara's eyes, and asked, "Um... I mean, Watanabe, my goal is to move up to Class A. Do you want to move up to Class A?"
The question clearly caught Watanabe Hayabara off guard. He paused briefly, then answered as if he had no interest in moving up to Class A. "Move up to Class A? I have no such plans for now. After all, moving up to Class A wouldn't bring me any real benefits. If I had to take on a bunch of extra tasks and work just to get there, wouldn't that be exhausting? Don't you think, Horikita?"
His tone was calm, and he seemed to have little desire to reach Class A. His attitude stood in stark contrast to Horikita Suzune's determination. In truth, Watanabe Hayabara didn't have much interest in class rankings.
"But if we don't work hard to move up, then the meager monthly points we get—or maybe none at all—will make it difficult to cover our daily expenses in the future. Don't you need more points, Watanabe?"
Before you continue