Chapter 8.1

“Are you free for lunch? Do you want to eat together?”

During our break, Horikita came up and invited me out.

“It’s unusual to get an invitation from you. I feel nervous.”

“There’s no reason to be. I can treat you to the vegetable meal set, if that’s okay with you.”

Wait, wasn’t that the free meal?

“I’m joking. Seriously, whatever you want to eat is on me.”

“Now I’m definitely scared. Is there some kind of catch?”

An invitation from Horikita was suspicious enough. The suddenness of the request also gave me pause.

“If people can’t honestly accept kindness, then mankind will meet its end, won’t it?” she asked.

“Well, I suppose so, but…”

With no other plans, I decided to follow Horikita to the cafeteria, where I chose one of the most expensive special meal sets. Together, we sat down.

“Well then, shall we eat?” she asked. Horikita started at me intently, as if she were waiting for me to begin.

“What’s the matter, Ayanokouji-kun? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh.”

There was definitely a catch, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, I couldn’t just sit here and not eat. Letting the food get cold would be a waste. I hesitantly bit into my croquette.

“I know this is rather sudden, but I want to talk to you about something.”

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

Just as I was preparing to flee, she grabbed my hand. “Ayanokouji-kun, I’ll ask once again. Will you listen to me?”

“Ugh…”

“Ever since Chiyabashira-sensei’s warning, fewer people have arrived late or talked in class. When I say we eliminated more than half of the reasons our class got into trouble, I’m not exaggerating.”

“Yeah, that’s true. It wasn’t really a difficult issue to begin with, though.” There was no guarantee things would continue in this vein, but at least these last few days had been considerably better than before.

“The next step is to improve our chances of scoring well on the midterm. Hirata-kun started taking action toward that end earlier.”

“The study groups, huh? Well, I suppose that a study group certainly could help. Only…”

“Only what? It sounds like you’re implying something. What’s the problem?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. I have to say, it’s unusual to see you so worried for others.”

“I can’t truly imagine failing a test. However, it’s true that some students in this world can do just that.”

“Sudou and the others, you mean? You’re vicious as ever, I see.”

“I’m just telling the truth.”

Because students couldn’t leave campus, contact anyone on the outside, or even attend cram schools, their only option was to help one another.

“I’m relieved that Hirata-kun set up a study group. However, Sudou- kun, Ike-kun, and Yamauchi-kun didn’t join, did they? That worries me,” Horikita said.

“Oh, those guys. I wouldn’t say they’re Hirata’s enemies, but they aren’t on good terms with him. They wouldn’t join.”

“So, in other words, there remains a high probability that those three will fail. In order to reach Class A, we need to avoid demerits and build toward a positive evaluation, correct? I think it highly likely that good test scores will help with that.”

I suppose it’s only natural that a student would expect their grade to reflect how much effort they put into the test.

“What if you also held a study group like Hirata’s, specifically for helping Sudou and Ike?” I asked.

“Sure. I wouldn’t have any objections to that. You probably find that rather surprising, though, don’t you?”

“Well, everything about your behavior up until now has been surprising.”

I wasn’t actually surprised, though. Horikita was doing this all for her own benefit. Personally, I’d never thought that Horikita was that cold of a person.

“Well, I understand that you want to move up to Class A. However, I didn’t think that you’d opt for ordinary methods like tutoring them. Typically, failing students tend not to like studying. Besides, you’ve kept your distance from the other students since the first day, right? I doubt someone who considers friends unnecessary would be able to bring people together easily.”

“That’s why I’m asking you. Fortunately, you’re already friendly with these people, right?”

“Huh? Hey, wait. You couldn’t mean…”

“It’ll be quicker if you try to convince them. It shouldn’t be a problem; they’re happy to say that you’re friends, right? Bring them to the library, and I’ll tutor them.”

“This is insane. Do you honestly think someone who does his best to lead an utterly harmless and inoffensive life would be able to do something that requires actual social skills?”

“It’s not a matter of can or can’t. Just do it,” she said. Was I her pet dog or something?

“You can aim for Class A, but don’t involve me.”

“You ate the food I treated you to, right? Lunch. The special set. A wonderful, delicious meal.” “I simply received the honest goodwill of another human being.”

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t out of goodwill. I had an ulterior motive.”

“Sorry, I didn’t hear a word you said. Here, have some points, my treat. Now we’re even.”

“I refuse to stoop so low as to accept handouts from others,” she said.

“I think this might be the first time I’m actually angry at you…”

“So what will you do? Cooperate? Or make me your enemy?”

“It almost feels like you’re holding a gun to my head.”

“No, not ‘almost.’ I really am threatening you,” replied Horikita.

The power of violence certainly was effective. Well…if all I did was gather them together, there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with cooperating. After all, due to Horikita’s stance against friendship, she wouldn’t be effective at diplomacy.

Furthermore, it’d taken a lot of time and trouble to become friends with Sudou and Ike. I’d hate for them to have to drop out so quickly. Sensing my hesitation, Horikita pressed me.

“You don’t think I’ve forgiven you for conspiring with Kushida-san and inviting me out under false pretenses, do you?” she asked.

“You said you wouldn’t blame me. Bringing that up is unfair.”

“I said that to Kushida-san. I don’t remember saying that to you, Ayanokouji-kun.”

“Wow. You play dirty.”

“If you want my forgiveness, cooperate with me.”

It looked as though I’d never had an escape route in the first place. At this juncture, the only way to avoid a hassle would be to help her.

“I can’t guarantee anything. Are you okay with that?”

“I believe you’ll find a way. Oh, here’s my phone number and email. If something happens, contact me.”

Although the circumstances were unusual, I’d gotten a girl’s contact information for the first time in my high school life. It was Horikita’s, though, so I wasn’t particularly happy.

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