Chapter 02: Notice of Parting and Reunion

"Damn it, who the hell do they think they are?"

Sudou, entering the classroom while grumbling, passed by his own seat and appoached Horikita. I could tell he's furious from that expression of his.

"Listen, Suzune."

"What's the matter?"

Horikita played along, no longer able to ignore him now that he's come up to her.

"It's those Class C guys or more like, it's Ryuuen. They've been tailing me since morning. They even blocked my way when I was walking down the corridor. I'm really getting pissed off."

"You haven't gotten physical with them or used any sort of violent language against them, have you?"

As Horikita lightly glared at him, Sudou immediately denied it.

"Of course not. I ignored the cancer and came here."

"I see. Looks like you followed my instructions to the letter."

The most important thing is that he hasn't caused any problems so far.

"By the way, what do you mean instructions?"

I asked Sudou.

"Suzune told me to just ignore something if I know I won't be able to handle it properly."

That's good advice. Rebuking Sudou poorly will just add fuel to the fire. That's why having Sudou put up with it even if it ends up stressing him out is the best course of action.

"Well, I guess maybe I bumped into their shoulders on my way through. The guys from the other classes should also know I just got caught up in it so it should be fine, right?"

"That's right, surely even they won't use that against you."

After all, they already got the school and the student council involved once and caused an uproar. It would be a different story if he threw a punch but just forcing his way through should be fine.

"So? What did they say to you?"

"They called me an idiot and a monkey, childish names like that. They were picking a fight."

Bang. He punched his own palm to let off some steam. I wonder if this is a continuation of their actions at the archery club yesterday.

"Akito also...Miyake also had the Class C guys stuck to him during his club activities."

"Miyake-kun too? They're being very active these days."

"What do you think their goal is? Are they trying to cause another incident like the one they used against me?"

"I don't know. I can't say anything at this point. But I'll think of a countermeasure. Even if they approach you again like this, be sure to not get physical."

"I get it. I won't break our promise. I won't do anything even if they start throwing punches."

Sudou's words now carry considerable weight compared to the last time he quarrelled with Class C. It's precisely because she understood this that Horikita honestly accepted them.

After satisfactorily concluding his report, Sudou returned to his seat and casually struck up a conversation with Ike and the others. Watching that, Horikita said.

"I wonder if Sudou-kun's finally become a well-adjusted person."

"Yeah, his manner of speech is still somewhat rough around the edges but it should be within the range of acceptability."

"Looks like it's necessary for him to take the next step too."

After saying that, Horikita took a notebook in hand and started writing on it with a pen.

"What do you mean by the next step?"

I tried to peek but Horikita immediately closed the notebook.

"That's still a far off topic. Right now, what we should be focusing on isn't Sudou-kun and his troubles."

She quietly added that we cannot afford to be focusing on him alone. I don't know what's going on in her head but I couldn't care less. Recently, Horikita's been acting after thinking things through more and more.

It's probably because she's gradually become capable of communicating with Sudou, Hirata and the others.

"Still, Ryuuen-kun's being rather active. It's still right after the Paper Shuffle and I figured he'd keep a low profile for a bit longer. I wonder if this means he's plotting something again right off the bat?"

"But isn't that strange? It's not like there's a special exam going on right now or anything."

"Looking back, exams aren't the only occasions he's used to attack us. Like attacking Sudou-kun for instance. And it seems he's also done something to Ichinose-san and Class B unrelated to the exams too. He seems to like doing things outside the box that doesn't involve fighting over points."

Don't you already know that without having to ask each and every time? As though asking me that, she looks over at me. Of course, I shrugged it off by playing dumb.

"But I wonder what he's after this time."

"Do you really not know? Or are you faking it?"

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"He's looking for the mastermind controlling Class D from the shadows. And in order to do that, he's begun making moves without care for the consequences."

"In other words, he's looking for you?"

When I said that, she gave me an intense glare.

"Using me as your cloak of invisibility will no longer work on Ryuuen-kun."

Horikita continued seriously without humoring me.

"What's your basis for saying that?"

"If, like all the others, he still thinks I'm the one moving the pieces then it would be strange if he didn't approach me directly. But this time, he's done nothing to me."

All this time, Ryuuen's been obsessed with Horikita but it looks like this is no longer the case.

"Isn't that a matter of perspective? Doesn't that just mean the strategy you used during Paper Shuffle is effective beyond imagination? You could interpret this as him being indecisive about messing up his attack, right? He may be trying to remove the obstacles in the way of his objective first."

"I wonder about that. I don't think of it that way though. I should say he lost his interest in me."

"Does this mean you weren't all that unhappy about Ryuuen's interest in you?"

"That's not what I mean. Do you want me to kick you?"

"I don't want to be kicked."

I immediately denied it because she's the type to actually kick you.

"Isn't it just that this class's shadow leader stupidly attracted his attention?...feel free to brush it off but do you really want me to say any more than this here?"

Even if it's just before the start of homeroom when all the students have already taken their seats, including Kushida, and there's no one to eavesdrop on our conversation, it's still not something we should be discussing here.

"Still, you've come to understand Ryuuen pretty well. Ahh no, I'm not teasing you this time."

Since she started glaring at me again, I panicked and added that.

"His modus operandi is basically the same thing. Regardless of success or failure, he repeatedly uses similar methods to fight. If he attacks me over and over, it's natural I'd end up learning from it even if I don't want to. That's why she---that's why I predicted he'd use Kushida-san during Paper Shuffle. Of course, I don't even need to say that it would be ideal if that didn't happen though....."

No one wants a fellow classmate to turn traitor. If Kushida hadn't betrayed the class, then we might not have had to struggle this hard in our exams. That's what Horikita thinks.

But let's think it through. It's precisely because there's an internal threat like Kushida present among us that Ryuuen let his guard down.

If he didn't have a pawn he could act through, he probably would've thought of a different strategy. As a result, for better or for worse, Kushida helped narrow down the enemy's attack pattern.

"It's not the only miscalculation but during the Paper Shuffle, I had every intention of outsmarting Ryuuen-kun."

"Isn't that what actually happened?"

"Yes. That's why someone from Class C may be expelled through neglecting their studies. That's why I thought but I suppose that was naive of me to think that."

If you can get your hands on the complete questions and answers then there's no need for you to study. That's why it wouldn't have been strange for expulsions to occur within Class C due to them having let their guard down.

That's probably what she meant. Keisei and the others also thought the same. As I thought, everyone's on the same page here.

"It's probably because Class C also has smart people in it. It would be accurate to assume they played a support role unlike Ryuuen."

"I suppose so. If they're putting in effort behind the scenes then that's something worth praising."

After all, Ryuuen seems very eager to get to the person lurking behind Horikita. If it's for the sake of doing that, he won't shrink back even if it means attracting the attention of the school. I felt that sort of determination from his actions.

"I suppose his persistent attacks will only intensify from now on."

"This has nothing to do with me. Because it's your role to bear the full brunt of it."

"I know that. Being forcibly dragged out by you seems to be my fate."

"I'm surprised you're so accepting of it."

"Because there's no other choice but to accept it. You're not going to draw back now, are you?"

Optimism is a good thing. In the first place, Horikita's got potential. If she can only achieve communication skills on par with Hirata, she will become an existence worthy of her current image.

"So---do you have a strategy in mind?"

"For what?"

"I'm asking you whether or not you have a countermeasure against Ryuuen-kun's search. If we don't execute our strategy now then things will go past the point of no return."

So Horikita's worried about my true identity being revealed. But that's unnecessary concern.

"I have nothing in mind."

"There you go again..."

She sighed deeply and openly showed irritation at me not telling her anything.

"Then I'll change the topic a bit. Are you still participating in those meetings?"

"Those? Are you talking about Keisei and the others? Is there a problem with that?"

"I don't think it's a very useful group. In the first place, it was a group formed because the subjects Hasebe-san and Miyake-kun are bad at necessitated it, right? Now that the exam is over, hasn't that group become unnecessary?"

"I'm not thinking in terms of how useful it is. It's very comfortable and I like being with them."

Horikita's always been about aiming for Class A and that's all there is to it with her.

Since I never held much interest in it from the beginning, there's really no point in me keeping in touch with Horikita all that much.

If, by any chance, Horikita gives up on the class conflict and then talks to me then I would be able to interact with her the same way I interact with Keisei and the others.

"...you will cooperate with me, won't you?"

"I am. To the best of my ability."

She doesn't seem very convinced though.