During preparations for the midterms, Hirata, the resident nice guy and one of the few people in class who took the initiative to worry about everyone's grades, had been so busy he barely had a moment to spare. He had even skipped his usual beloved soccer club activities, spending his days running around, asking classmates one by one to help with or attend tutoring sessions, trying to get the entire class safely through the exams and keep anyone from being expelled.
To round out the tutoring team, Hirata had approached Kazami several times, sincerely asking for his help. Kazami had flatly refused the first few times. He wanted no part of that. Not only was there nothing in it for him, he might even get blamed. It was a completely thankless task. As Kazami saw it, only Kushida and Hirata could sacrifice themselves for others. Oh, right, he had also heard them say Ichinose from Class B was the same. Sure enough, pretty girls were all kindhearted, all good people.
Except Horikita. All she did was squeeze him and Ayanokoji dry. When would justice finally come?
But Hirata's patience and perseverance were top-notch. If once didn't work, he tried twice; if twice didn't work, he tried three times, coming to ask for help day after day without giving up. How was this any different from Kushida pursuing Horikita? Kazami really couldn't take it anymore. Although Hirata had no such intentions, having a guy constantly seek him out felt very strange, especially with so many girls glaring viciously at him, resenting him for monopolizing Hirata's time. It wasn't as though he wanted this.
Sure enough, blindly lovestruck women were frightening too. Left with no other choice, Kazami finally nodded in resignation.
"Fine, fine, you win. I'll help, all right? Stop cornering me every day." Kazami raised his hands in surrender, then settled on his students. "I'll help Hasebe and Sakura."
He would spend someone else's money to build his own connections, though no money was actually involved. Even if he had to tutor someone, he would tutor his own friends. Giving his friends priority was the optimal solution.
Unaware of what Kazami was thinking, Hirata simply assumed he was willing to lend his full support. His face filled with gratitude as he thanked him repeatedly. That was one less item on his backlog.
Kazami didn't know what Hirata was after, but it was precisely this sort of behavior that made him so popular. He truly lived up to the title of number-one guy with a fulfilling social life that Kazami had bestowed on him at the start of school.
Afterward, Hirata also approached Ayanokoji, though his real target was Horikita. Kazami hadn't expected Hirata to be so calculating. Taking the indirect route, huh?
Already intending to help, Horikita, the "new king of the class" personally appointed by Chabashira-sensei to occupy Class D's highest position, took the opportunity to agree. At last, she formally began her rule, arranging class affairs and advancing the midterm preparation plan.
Her two lackeys were assigned their tasks: lackey number one, Ayanokoji; lackey number two, Kazami.
Kazami: ...
The girl immediately selected her targets: the class's most stubborn slackers-Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi. These three were the greatest obstacles to the class tutoring effort. No matter how Hirata tried to persuade them, they refused to listen and would not participate in exam preparations. Exercising her authority, Horikita promptly put her two chief lackeys to work, ordering Ayanokoji and Kazami to approach them together and forcibly gather those troublemakers for after-school tutoring.
Kazami waved her off on the spot, offering a perfectly legitimate reason.
"I'm busy. I just promised Hirata I'd help tutor Hasebe and Sakura. I can't be in two places at once."
Thank goodness he had agreed to Hirata's request. If he had been sent to help Sudo and the others instead, Kazami would have wanted to die.
Horikita nodded. Since Kazami already had a task...
"Then Ayanokoji will go. I need all of them to attend after school today."
Ayanokoji the servant: ...
Sigh, this is such a pain. There was nothing he could do. His lord had spoken, and if a foot soldier like him didn't help, he would get the compass again.
With Kazami as his witness, Ayanokoji set a historic record on this expedition-Ayanokoji set out, and in less than a minute, Ayanokoji failed.
Kazami: ... What a talent. With talent like this, how could his grand conquest possibly fail?
Ayanokoji managed to exchange a few words with Ike, but the most stubborn pair, Sudo and Yamauchi, didn't even give him a chance to start persuading them. They refused outright, turned around, and left, their resolve absolute. The persuasion mission was thus declared a complete failure.
Returning empty-handed to his seat, Ayanokoji admitted his failure to Horikita. "Sorry. I failed."
Displeased by Ayanokoji's uselessness, Horikita said, "If you haven't succeeded, keep trying."
Kazami quietly watched the drama from the sidelines. This woman was an outright tyrant, treating Ayanokoji like a tireless beast of burden. She had no idea how to show consideration for her subordinates and only knew how to squeeze more labor out of them. There was no way Ayanokoji could gather everyone on his own. Thinking of it that way, Kazami suddenly began looking forward to the after-school tutoring session.
After school, most of the class headed to the library for tutoring, splitting into separate study groups.
Hasebe stared at her newly appointed tutor, Kazami, in disbelief and couldn't resist muttering, "I thought you were a hopeless student like me. Who knew my family would suffer such a disgrace..."
Hasebe really had a sharp tongue, always finding new ways to get one over on him. Speechless, Kazami rolled his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you my mom?"
Sakura Airi, beside them, was gentle and well-behaved instead. Holding her notebook, she thanked him softly and sincerely. "Thank you so much for being willing to make time to tutor us, Kazami."
As the tutoring got underway, the atmosphere among the three remained relaxed and peaceful. But just a table or two away, the official study group led by Horikita erupted into a fight.
In fact, Horikita's tutoring group had only come together thanks to Kushida's help throughout the process. With no other options at the time, Ayanokoji had been forced to ask Kushida, but because he hadn't told Horikita beforehand, she had glared at him several times. Kushida had stayed as well.
The hastily assembled group lasted less than ten minutes before a clash broke out between Horikita and Sudo. Neither would give an inch, one lecturing forcefully and the other flying off the handle. Their argument shattered the library's silence.
In the end, the argument concluded with everyone parting on bad terms, and the tutoring plan fell apart.
Watching the farce from a distance, Kazami couldn't help marveling at how absurd tutoring had become these days. All they were supposed to do was study, yet somehow that came with the risk of getting beaten up and caught in arguments.
He turned to the listless Hasebe beside him. "Hey, you're not going to get swept up in the atmosphere and start hitting me too, are you?"
At that, Hasebe gave him a pretty, exasperated roll of her eyes. "What kind of person do you take me for? I'm not that impulsive or violent."
After that retort, she couldn't resist offering a fair assessment. "But honestly, Horikita really does have a serious problem with how she talks. She's too overbearing. It's easy to rub people the wrong way, especially someone with a temper like Sudo's."
Kazami nodded in wholehearted agreement. She was absolutely right. Horikita's overbearing personality meant she was destined to lose people's support. Sure enough, only someone like him, with the whole world in his heart, could be king and save Class D. Alas, what a bunch of people who failed to recognize destiny.
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