Sudo's roar sounded especially jarring in the quiet Library. Seeing this, Kikyo Kushida hurried to her feet and gently tried to soothe him.
"Sudo, don't be angry. Horikita is doing this for your sake, too. Her explanations might just be a little hard to understand, but if you settle down and take your time, you'll definitely learn it."
Sitting nearby, Kanji Ike heard the dark angel's words, rolled his eyes, and came up with a good idea.
His expression looked just like that meme: big glasses, big white teeth showing, and a finger on his right hand pointing upward. It looked rather comical.
"Exactly! Horikita's explanations might as well be gibberish. Who could understand that? If you ask me, we should let Kushida teach us instead.
If Kushida tutors us, we'll definitely work harder. Right, Yamauchi?"
As Ike spoke, he winked and made faces at Yamauchi, signaling for him to agree quickly so they could replace Horikita and stop suffering like this.
"Yeah, exactly! If Kushida teaches us, I promise I won't doze off. I'll study hard." Yamauchi readily backed Ike up and immediately made his promise.
Faced with the three boys' unreasonable pestering, Horikita was genuinely left stunned for quite some time. After a moment of silence, she broke the tension herself.
"Incompetence is incompetence. Stop making excuses." Horikita's voice was cold, as piercing as the depths of winter.
"The reason you can't understand isn't that there's anything wrong with my explanations. It's because those barren brains of yours keep shying away from hard work.
You think of backing down at the slightest difficulty and only want to coast through life in comfort. For parasites like you, who can't even grasp the basics, the result will be the same no matter who teaches you."
Those words left the idiot trio looking grim and dealt them a tremendous blow.
Sudo shot up from his chair, pointing right at Horikita's nose as he glared at her.
"Stop lecturing us like you're so much better! What good is studying? My goal is to become a professional basketball player.
Besides, next week I'll become a full member of the school team and play in a game. As long as I deliver results on the court, I'll definitely get through this."
Hearing Sudo mention the game, Ken Kaneki smiled faintly a short distance away. He knew the fish had taken the bait.
Horikita Suzune clearly had no intention of letting Sudo off yet. She cleared her throat and unleashed her sharp tongue.
"Hah! A professional basketball player? You? Do you misunderstand what 'professional' means?
How could someone who can't even control his emotions or complete the most basic schoolwork survive in the brutal world of professional competition?
I can say with certainty that you'll never become a professional player. Rather than wasting time on unrealistic daydreams, you'd be better off dropping out now and working at a convenience store."
"Shut your mouth, you bitch!"
Ken Sudō was utterly enraged. He rushed forward, seized Horikita Suzune by the front of her clothes, and hauled her out of her chair.
Veins bulged on his muscular arm as he raised his fist, looking ready to hit her.
"Sudo, stop! Don't hit her! Stop fighting! You'll get expelled!" Kikyo Kushida cried out and hurried forward to grab Sudo's arm.
But although she appeared to be trying hard to stop him, she deftly kept her body out of the direction of his force. Not only did she fail to pull Sudo away, she made the whole scene look even more chaotic.
Held by the front of her clothes, Horikita Suzune looked pale, but her eyes remained fixed stubbornly on Sudo, without the slightest intention of backing down.
Just as his fist was about to fall, the various consequences of expulsion flashed through Ken Sudō's mind.
He knew that if he hit a girl in the Library, the school would absolutely expel him on the spot.
Then he would have to return home, unable to further his basketball training, and all his basketball dreams would truly be shattered.
Gritting his teeth, he forced his hand to stop, his chest still heaving violently with extreme anger.
Sudo abruptly let go and shoved Horikita back into her seat, giving her a long look.
Horikita saw anger, humiliation, and unwillingness to accept this in his eyes. For a moment, she felt that what she had just said had gone a little too far.
"Horikita, you'll regret this."
"I'm the one who..."
"Door, bang!" Ahem, that was saying too much.
Ken Sudō coldly left those words behind and walked out of the Library without looking back.
Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi exchanged looks. Neither had wanted to attend the study session in the first place; they had only come along with Sudo.
Now that this had happened and the main person had left, there was no reason for them to stay.
"Horikita, your attitude sucks. We can't take it."
"Exactly! We're done studying!"
After those parting shots, they grabbed Okitani, who was trembling beside them, and left the Library one after the other.
A study session originally meant to save the struggling students thus ended in complete acrimony.
Horikita Suzune straightened her somewhat disheveled clothes and snorted.
"Good riddance. Eliminating those worthless underachievers will raise the class's average score. That counts as a good thing."
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, who had been sitting nearby watching impassively the whole time, sighed and spoke with some resignation.
"Horikita, aren't you forgetting something? If those three are expelled for failing, the class will most likely face a severe collective penalty.
Forget advancing to Class A. Class D might stay at the bottom forever."
At his words, Horikita Suzune suddenly froze, then knitted her brows tightly, clearly only now realizing this fatal problem.
The thought of being dragged down by those three idiots made her feel another pang in her breasts.
At that moment, Kikyo Kushida stood with both hands over her chest, her eyes slightly red, looking utterly heartbroken.
"How did it turn out like this... No, we're all classmates. I'll find a way to save those three.
Horikita, Ayanokoji, can we think of something together?"
Horikita Suzune gave her a cold glance and mercilessly exposed her act.
"Drop that fake expression, Kushida. You weren't using any strength when you tried to stop Sudo just now. Deep down, you were dying to see me humiliated.
You don't sincerely want to save anyone. You only want to satisfy your vain desire to play the good person."
Exposed to her face, a shadow flickered deep in Kikyo Kushida's eyes, but on the surface, she maintained that innocent, wronged expression.
She looked pitifully at Horikita, then turned to Ayanokoji, seemingly seeking comfort.
However, Horikita Suzune had already lowered her head to gather her materials and ignored her completely.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji went even further, yawning and letting his gaze drift out the window as though she were thin air.
Looking at Horikita Suzune's aloof, stubborn attitude, Ayanokoji suddenly recalled something Sae Chabashira had once said.
"Class D is a gathering place for those the school considers defective."
He had once been somewhat puzzled about why a student like Horikita Suzune, who excelled academically and was good at every sport, had been placed in Class D.
Today, he finally understood completely.
Horikita Suzune's "defect" lay in her supremely arrogant personality.
She was utterly unable to understand other people's weaknesses and always held others to her own standards. Not only did she lack communication skills, she always chose the most hurtful way to wound people.
Horikita Suzune packed her things and left the Library with a cold expression. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Kikyo Kushida had no choice but to drop her pitiful act and walk out quickly as well.
Only Kiyotaka Ayanokoji remained in the spacious study area.
After the two girls left, he slowly stood, picked up his schoolbag, and walked unhurriedly over to Ken Kaneki.
"I didn't expect to run into you here," Ayanokoji remarked.
Ken Kaneki closed his laptop and looked at him curiously.
"True enough. So tell me, what was that little performance over there all about?"
Before you continue