Cross-Class Group

On Monday morning, the bulletin board on the first floor of the teaching building was packed with people.

By the time Kanzaki Toru arrived, the board was already surrounded by three or four layers of students. Yoshida and Sudo were pushing to the very front, and Sudo's voice was clearly audible even through the crowd: "What kind of crazy grouping is this! Why am I in a group with someone from Class C!" Nearby, several girls were whispering to each other; some stood on tiptoe to scan the list, while others took photos with their terminals to send to classmates who hadn't arrived yet.

He stood on the periphery of the crowd, making no attempt to push inside. Only after the people in front thinned out did he walk up to the board.

The grouping list was posted in the center of the board, arranged by student ID. His finger slid down the list, and he quickly found his name—Kanzaki Toru. His group members: Sakura Airi, Shiina Hiyori, Yukimura Teruhiko, and a boy named Hamaguchi Tetsuya, with "Class B" noted in the remarks column.

Cross-class groups, five people each. Two from Class D, one from Class C, and two from Class B. Being in a group with Sakura Airi was likely a result of the school's random assignment, but for him, it was an ideal combination. Sakura was the person he trusted most in Class D; there was no need to re-establish communication channels within the group. However, what concerned him more was another name—Shiina Hiyori. He had only seen her at the library over the weekend, and by Monday, they were already assigned to the same group.

"Kanzaki-kun."

Sakura Airi had appeared behind him at some point. She wasn't wearing her hat today; her shoulder-length black hair hung loose, and her thick red-framed glasses sat steadily on the bridge of her nose. Her gaze was also fixed on the list.

"We're in the same group," she said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it lacked the stuttering hesitation she'd had at the start of the school year.

"And Shiina Hiyori from Class C."

Sakura nodded. "She helped me return an overdue photography book yesterday and didn't charge me a late fee. She's very easy to talk to, but she isn't very proactive with others." She paused. "What do you think the school is trying to do with these groups?"

"Chabashira said the study tasks will be announced next week. Until then, just observe the others in the group." Kanzaki Toru took a photo of the list and put his terminal away.

When the two of them walked into the classroom, Class D was already in an uproar.

Sudo stood beside the podium, slamming his hand on a desk and shouting toward Horikita Suzune: "Why do I have to be in a group with Ishizaki! That bastard almost got me beaten into the hospital by the second-years last time! Is the school blind?"

His voice was loud enough for the entire floor to hear. Ishizaki Daichi sat in the back row by the window, arms crossed, his expression cold and completely unmoved.

Horikita stood up and responded in her usual icy tone: "The groups were decided by the school, not by me. If you're dissatisfied, go file a complaint with the administration office yourself."

"You think I wouldn't?"

"Then go. Go now. The administration office is at the end of the east corridor on the first floor; there's a sign on the door, you won't miss it." Horikita's tone held no warmth, but every word precisely blocked Sudo's subsequent complaints. Sudo opened his mouth, realized there was nothing he could refute, and could only slam the desk again before returning to his seat.

Kanzaki Toru sat in his usual spot in the back row by the window, his gaze sweeping over the different reaction zones in the classroom. Horikita and Sudo were arguing, while Karuizawa and her clique were whispering at the other end. Kushida Kikyo stood among several girls, gently urging everyone to wait and see what the study tasks were, but her gaze lingered on the list for a moment—in the direction of Karuizawa's name.

Karuizawa was in the same group as Kushida. This combination wasn't a surprise to him; the number of girls in Class D was limited, so the probability of two core figures being assigned to the same group was quite high. But Karuizawa's expression at that moment—she was looking down at the list, her bangs obscuring her eyes, her thumb sliding repeatedly over the same spot on her terminal screen—wasn't dissatisfaction; it was hesitation.

Meanwhile, Kushida was already walking toward Karuizawa with a smile. He withdrew his gaze. Some conflicts didn't need to be ignited from the outside; they would surface on their own at the right time.

After the last class of the afternoon, Sakura Airi was the first to leave the classroom, her face slightly pale. There was a girl named Manabe Shiho in her group who wasn't from Class D. Kanzaki Toru caught the subtle movement of her gripping her bag strap before she left, and he memorized the name Manabe Shiho.

The first meeting for the cross-class groups was scheduled for Tuesday lunch break in the first-floor discussion room of the library.

When Kanzaki Toru and Sakura entered, Shiina Hiyori had already arrived. She sat by the window with a thick novel spread out before her—not a light novel, but a library edition with a gold-stamped cover and yellowed pages. Her light chestnut hair was loosely tied back with a plain ribbon, and that silver bookmark was still pinned to her uniform pocket. Seeing him enter, she merely lifted her eyes and closed the book with a gentle touch, offering no unnecessary pleasantries.

Yukimura Teruhiko arrived second. This tall, bespectacled boy walked in with his back straight, a math reference book tucked under his arm. He nodded at Kanzaki Toru, a gesture that was stiff but polite.

The last to enter was Hamaguchi Tetsuya from Class B. He was of medium height and build, wearing a friendly, easygoing smile. "Sorry I'm late! The Class B classroom is too far from the library—oh, Shiina-san, long time no see!" He waved at Shiina, but she only gave a slight nod, her gaze never leaving the pages of her book.

The five of them sat around the discussion table. Hamaguchi spoke first, suggesting that everyone introduce their strengths and study habits. His tone was relaxed, but his eyes lingered on each person—not a casual scan, but a serious assessment. People from Class B, as expected, were not to be underestimated.

During the discussion, Kanzaki Toru noticed a detail that surprised him: Sakura Airi was speaking up. In a group of five, she had taken the initiative to talk. Although her voice was still quiet and her fingers were clutching her skirt under the table, she was indeed speaking.

"I, I can be responsible for organizing the materials... and taking photos for the records. If charts or annotations are needed, I can do them directly on the photos."

"Photo editing?" Yukimura pushed up his glasses, his tone serious. "That skill will be very practical for the actual report."

Sakura nodded gently, then glanced at Kanzaki Toru extremely quickly, as if confirming something. He said nothing, simply opening his notebook to start recording the day's discussion. Her change hadn't happened when he blocked that guy from hitting on her on the bus, nor when she was being scrutinized by the second-years at the convenience store, but rather through these daily accumulations—making bento, going to the library, getting into the water during swimming class, discussing photos with him on the rooftop—it had built up bit by bit.

When the discussion ended, Shiina Hiyori walked over to him and slipped a note into the spine of his notebook. The movement was light and quick, but her fingertips pressed gently against the pages of his notebook, a touch that lasted slightly longer than he had expected. Then, she hugged her book and left the discussion room.

The note contained only one line: "There is a heartbeat beneath the ice."

The handwriting was delicate, but every stroke ended with a small, deliberate flick—it hadn't been written casually. It had been written with care.

He folded the note and tucked it into his pocket.

There is a heartbeat beneath the ice. Was Shiina talking about him, or about this school? The first piece of intelligence she gave him helped him find the Summary of School System Changes, the second piece indirectly revealed Ryuen's movements through library borrowing records, and this one—it felt like a riddle, or perhaps a hint. This quiet girl who loved black tea gave him something deeper every time. And she wasn't even a fully unfolded page in his "illustrated guide" yet—at the moment, only her name had been written down.

As he walked out of the discussion room, he ran into Horikita Suzune in the hallway. She was leaning against the wall, holding that ever-present cup of black coffee. She watched him approach, her black pupils shifting slightly. "How was the cross-class discussion?"

"Smooth. Sakura has started speaking up in the group."

"It's a good thing she can speak up." Horikita cut the topic short, her voice dropping half a degree. "Sudo submitted an application to the school to change groups, citing 'serious personal conflict with a group member.' I went to the administration office to ask—the school's response was that once the cross-class groups are posted, they cannot be changed. They've blocked that path entirely."

In other words, Sudo had to cooperate with Ishizaki in the same group. And Ishizaki was one of Ryuen's men. Ryuen's web had never intended to leave Sudo an exit from the start.

"Does Sudo know the application was rejected?"

"I just told him. He threw a chair." Horikita's tone was flat, but her knuckles gripping the coffee can were tighter than usual. "I've already warned him that causing another incident might lead to more than just a disciplinary record—the behavioral assessment weighting during the cross-class group period is higher than usual. But he's barely listening to anything right now."

Kanzaki Toru was silent for a moment. Sudo's current state was like a compressed spring. The more it was pressed, the stronger the rebound. And that was exactly what Ryuen wanted—to make Sudo lose control in public, then use the school's rules to legitimately eliminate him. He looked up; the late May sun was spilling over the playground. The scent of freshly cut grass drifted in through the open windows of the hallway, mixed with the shouts of students from a distant gym class; everything seemed vibrant and full of life.

"Ryuen won't stop here. He's laying out several lines at once—Sudo is just one of them. The cross-class groups are also just squares on his chessboard." He turned to look at Horikita. "Before the study tasks for the cross-class groups are officially announced, pull in whoever you can. Don't let Ryuen make the first move."

Horikita set down the coffee can, her purple eyes shining with a sharpness in the afternoon sun. "Pull in whom?"

"Those who are already leaning toward us. You don't need to go find them; you just need to give a clear signal when they lean in." Kanzaki Toru turned toward the end of the hallway, in the direction of the library. "I'm going to return a book."

He walked down the long corridor, his pace steady. In his mind, he laid out Sudo's predicament, the cross-class group list, and the rule about the frozen cooperation mode that Shiina Hiyori had provided. Ryuen was deploying his troops, the school was restarting old systems, and all the hidden threads were advancing simultaneously. All he could do was place his pieces at the critical nodes.

Deep within the illustrated guide, every page was settled in its own position. Sakura Airi's warm light, Horikita Suzune's cold flame, Karuizawa Kei's gold trim, Shiina Hiyori's light brown background. Kushida Kikyo's page remained chaotic and unclear. And next to her page, a silhouette that had previously remained in an extremely blurred state began to slowly reveal its outline. It was marked automatically by the guide based on some unknown logic after Karuizawa Kei's group assignment information was entered—a figure who hadn't yet had the chance to appear.

He paused for a step, focusing his consciousness on it.

The distance between that figure and him was closing. The moment she officially stepped into the daily social circle of this school, the guide would automatically reveal her complete page. And that path—he couldn't see it yet—but it must have already been laid out around him.