Chapter 5: Good and Evil

As I walked into class the next morning, most of the students in the room turned and looked in my direction.

However, they averted their gazes almost immediately.

Then, out of nowhere, they looked at me again. This proceeded to happen over and over.

The reality was that they had already begun taking action to expel me.

This was the true form of the out-of-place feeling I had experienced the day before.

The members of the Ayanokōji Group, such as Akito and Keisei, didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

In all likelihood, none of them had the skills necessary to act like they hadn't found out who the large group was targeting.

Furthermore, our opponents had done a lot of work to carefully construct such a large group, so there was effectively no chance the information leaked out to any of them.

I also wasn't willing to make them worry about me excessively by telling them the reality of the situation myself.

If I revealed my current situation to them carelessly, Kei's involvement in leaking the information to me may end up being made public.

I had no choice but to deal with this on my own.

"Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun."

"Ah. Good morning."

Having just arrived in the classroom herself, Horikita didn't appear to be aware of the situation either.

"Yo!"

Sudō seemed to arrive together with her, as their greetings came nearly one right after the other.

"Just so you know, the timing of our arrivals was just a coincidence."

"I wasn't asking."

For some reason or another, Sudō sent me an ostentatious look before heading over to his own seat.

He probably wasn't involved with what was taking place within Class C.

While it is possible that he'd like to see me expelled, if he went along with Yamauchi's plan, it'd have a large impact on Horikita's evaluation of him afterward. Besides, he wasn't a skilled enough actor to maintain a poker face either.

"…By the way."

Horikita whispered to me after Sudō was out of earshot.

"What?"

"What did you do?"

"Aren't you leaving out some details? Be more specific."

"Regarding me. What did you do?"

Her question was still fairly abstract.

"I don't know what you're trying to say, but I didn't do anything. I don't have the time to spend looking after you."

"You don't have the time? What are you getting at?"

"It's my own problem. Don't worry about it."

Class was going to start soon.

Based on Horikita's attitude, she still hadn't gotten in contact with her older brother yet.

It was probably going to take place later this afternoon.