Night Stroll

"Finally got rid of her. Women were such a hassle."

After seeing Himeno off, Miyama Saku flopped onto his back on the bed, fished his terminal from beside the pillow, and switched it on for a look. There was nothing interesting on the screen, so he quickly turned it off again and lay there staring blankly at the ceiling.

Maybe I should go for a walk.

Miyama Saku stopped in front of a vending machine.

Voices drifted out from the alleyway. He leaned sideways to peer inside.

There were two people in the alley. One was that arrogant girl from the library, while the bespectacled boy standing before her was someone Miyama Saku remembered as the president of the school's Student Council.

The atmosphere in the alley was clearly a little off.

Manabu Horikita looked down at Suzune Horikita, his gaze utterly devoid of warmth.

"I never expected you to follow me all the way to this school, Suzune."

Suzune? What was their relationship?

"I believe I told you not to come looking for me again with such pointless excuses."

Miyama Saku leaned against the wall around the corner, thinking that watching drama unfold in person was far more interesting than the edited clips from clickbait accounts on his terminal.

He had only come out because he could no longer stand lying around, yet he had somehow stumbled onto gossip about the Student Council president.

Suzune Horikita's fingertips curled slightly. "I only wanted to catch up to you, Brother, to prove that I'm no longer the useless person I was back then."

Siblings? So they were brother and sister.

"Prove it?" Manabu Horikita cut her off.

"The moment you were assigned to Class D, you had already given me your answer. You followed in my footsteps to enter this school, only to make yourself into this pathetic state. What do you think I'm supposed to think?"

"Having a younger sister assigned to Class D is what embarrasses me."

"I'll prove it to you, Brother. I'll rise to A Class soon."

"You still haven't noticed your own flaws. As you are now, you can't do it."

"I'll definitely do it." Suzune Horikita's voice had clearly grown much quieter.

Manabu Horikita pressed half a step forward. Suzune Horikita instinctively backed away, her back striking the wall with a dull thud.

He braced one hand against the wall beside her ear and leaned his whole body down, far closer than was appropriate.

"Stop humiliating yourself." Manabu Horikita lowered his voice. "Dropping out is your best choice. If you insist on clinging to this delusion, then I'll be the one to knock some sense into you."

Suzune's lips pressed into a thin line, and the way she gritted her teeth looked even worse than crying.

Miyama Saku sighed inwardly. This kind of mess between siblings was exactly what he least wanted to get involved in.

But after standing here and watching for so long, suddenly walking over would be awkward too. The atmosphere was tense, and the surroundings were so quiet that even the slightest sound might alert the people in the alley. Just as he considered whether to go back the way he came or pretend he had only just arrived, footsteps sounded from the other end.

Manabu Horikita immediately became alert.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji emerged from the shadows with both hands in his pockets, expressionless, as if he had merely come to buy a drink from the vending machine. He glanced at Miyama Saku, who was leaning against the wall to watch the drama, then at Suzune Horikita, who was pinned against the wall in the alley, before finally settling his gaze on Manabu Horikita.

"Sorry for the interruption." His tone was calm, without the slightest fluctuation.

"I was just passing by."

Before Miyama Saku could decide whether to leave or stay, the air in the alley had already changed.

The instant Kiyotaka Ayanokoji spoke, Manabu Horikita turned around, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his glasses.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji slowly walked into the alley. Manabu Horikita sized him up from head to toe, his gaze lingering on the hands tucked into his pockets.

"A Class D student?"

"Yes. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Class D."

"What are you doing in a place like this at this hour?"

"Walking."

Manabu Horikita fell silent for two seconds. "How much of that conversation did you hear?"

"Not much." Kiyotaka Ayanokoji put on a thoughtful expression, seemingly recalling it seriously. "Roughly from, 'Dropping out is your best choice. If you insist on clinging to this delusion, then I'll be the one to knock some sense into you.'"

Suzune's expression changed.

"It doesn't matter if you heard it." Manabu Horikita stepped closer to Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

"But as a member of Class D, what do you think you can change?"

"I wasn't planning to change anything."

"Then why did you come here?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji finally pulled his hands from his pockets and let them hang by his sides. "I told you. I was passing by."

Manabu Horikita said nothing more. He made his move.

The motion was almost too fast to see. His right fist shot straight for Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's face without warning or any unnecessary flourish.

Miyama Saku saw it clearly from behind the wall. If that punch landed, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's nose bridge was definitely finished.

Watching such an exciting fight, Miyama Saku decided to pull out his terminal and record it. If he edited it and posted it on the forum, it would definitely blow up. What kind of title should he use?

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji tilted his head, and the wind from the punch brushed past his ear.

Manabu Horikita did not pause. An elbow strike followed, then a knee strike. Every blow targeted vital points with precision, his movements clean and efficient. He had clearly received systematic training.

Miyama Saku secretly raised an eyebrow. The Student Council president was indeed more than just good at academics. This Ayanokoji was no simple person either; despite so many attacks from Manabu Horikita, not one had landed effectively.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji did not strike back. He only dodged, retreated, and blocked.

Manabu Horikita's attacks grew denser and denser, yet he could never inflict any real damage. The air in the alley whistled as it was churned by the wind from their fists and kicks.

"Your movements are very clean. Have you trained in something?"

"I studied piano and calligraphy."

"Come to think of it, someone scored exactly fifty points in every subject on this year's entrance exam. There was even someone who handed in blank papers. The quiz a few days ago was the same. How unusual."

"And besides, do you only know how to dodge?" A trace of emotion finally entered Manabu Horikita's voice.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji did not answer. When Manabu Horikita threw another straight punch, he did not dodge.

He raised a hand and caught Manabu Horikita's fist with his palm. A dull thud sounded. Manabu Horikita's pupils suddenly contracted, his fist stopping in midair, unable to advance or retreat, as if it had struck a wall.

Manabu Horikita sharply pulled his hand back and retreated a step. He lowered his eyes to look at his fist, then raised them toward Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

"Who exactly are you?"

"Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Class D." He put his hands back into his pockets. "Nothing more."

Suzune Horikita leaned against the wall, watching the scene with her lips slightly parted, yet unable to say a single word.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji turned his head toward Miyama Saku's direction.

"Are you still not coming out?"

There was another expert here?

Manabu Horikita immediately became alert. Following Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's gaze, he turned toward the corner, his eyes stabbing toward it like blades.

He instinctively adjusted his stance, lowering his center of gravity slightly. One hand loosely curled into a fist. Miyama Saku saw that movement clearly; it was exactly the same as before Manabu Horikita had attacked Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

The air in the alley tightened once more.

Miyama Saku cursed inwardly. He had only wanted to quietly watch the drama, yet Kiyotaka Ayanokoji still dragged him into it. He had not said anything when he first noticed him, either.

Since he could not hide anymore, he simply stepped out from behind the corner, raised the bottle of drink in his hand, and gave it a little shake. His other hand was still holding his terminal, recording.

"I just came to buy a drink. Do you believe me?"

(I'm not in great shape. I feel kind of dazed.)