Faced with Sudō's questioning, Horikita had no answer. But anyone who thought about it for a moment would know this was not Horikita's fault.
Ultimately, Sudō and the others had failed because they had not worked hard enough.
Hirata stepped in to defuse the conflict. "Sudō, I know you're upset about failing, but this isn't entirely Horikita's responsibility. She was trying to help you. No one expected this year's exam format to be changed."
Hirata really did try to keep everyone happy and avoid offending anyone. But Sudō was in no state to listen to reason.
"You're not the one getting expelled! What the hell are you talking about? Stop acting like some saint!" Sudō kicked Horikita's desk, scattering her books across the floor.
A pen rolled to Kikyo Kushida's feet. She casually kicked it even farther away. Though she was delighted inside, Kushida still put on a sorrowful expression. This was the moment when she ought to have gone over and comforted Sudō, but she did not.
There was no value in flattering someone who was about to be expelled. Kushida had always hated Sudō's little clique. They constantly made crude remarks about the girls in class, and who knew how many filthy things they had said about Kikyo Kushida behind her back? She had no desire whatsoever to comfort them now.
Ignoring Sudō's accusations, Horikita straightened her desk, only to notice that one of her pens was missing. "If you had put in even a little more effort, you wouldn't have failed. This year's test was clearly easier than the previous ones. If you can still fail under those conditions, perhaps you should go to a hospital and have your brain checked. When I gave you those papers, I made it clear that they were only for reference. You were still supposed to study properly. Did you, Sudō?"
Sudō fell silent. He only slammed his fist down on Horikita's desk once more, grabbed his basketball, and walked out of the classroom. No one knew where he was going.
The other two students who had failed remained frozen in panic.
"Chabashira, let's talk somewhere private."
Ignoring the looks from the rest of the class, Horikita led Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and Chabashira out of the classroom, leaving the others behind to chatter among themselves.
They went to the rooftop where Ryuen fought. It was one of the few places on campus without surveillance cameras, a gray area the school tacitly permitted.
"Chabashira, at the start of the school year, you said points could buy anything at this school. That includes grades, doesn't it?"
Though she phrased it as a statement, Horikita was not certain it was actually possible. It was simply a way of expressing her hope.
Chabashira nodded and pulled out a cigarette and lighter from her pocket.
Secondhand smoke was not pleasant.
White smoke slowly slipped from Chabashira's red lips.
"One hundred thousand points per mark."
Chabashira tapped the cigarette, and gray ash drifted to the ground.
"That's too expensive, Chabashira."
"Horikita, those are the school rules. There is no room for bargaining."
"Can we pay in installments?"
"No."
The cigarette was quickly finished. Enduring the smell of smoke, Ayanokoji listened to their conversation before speaking. "Sometimes, giving up is also an option. We don't have enough points to save Sudō and the others."
"It's already clear that having students expelled will severely affect the class evaluation. As long as there is even the slightest chance, I won't give up."
Horikita was still Horikita. Her stubborn nature had not changed in the slightest.
"Have you considered that the class might be better off without those underperformers?"
With his keen grasp of human weakness, Ayanokoji's words sounded like a devil's whisper. In truth, plenty of students in the class thought the same way. That was why Hirata had been the only one to step forward and mediate the conflict earlier.
"Isn't Sudō your friend? How can you think that way?"
"We're not that close. We just talk more often than most."
Horikita could not detect any emotional fluctuation from Ayanokoji. She continued, "If the class loses members, we may end up at a disadvantage in future exams because of it. Sudō's grades are terrible, but his athletic ability is outstanding. I think it's necessary to keep them here."
"Them? You think Ike and Sakura are worth keeping too?"
Ayanokoji was guiding Horikita toward giving up on using points to save the three failing students, but the stubborn Horikita would not be persuaded.
When faced with Ayanokoji's question, Horikita could not identify any particular strengths in Ike or Sakura. Still, she felt that expulsions within the class at this point would have serious consequences later on. That was Horikita's judgment—and a girl's intuition.
"We don't have that many points. Even if we pooled every point in the class, it still wouldn't be enough," Ayanokoji reminded her.
By Ayanokoji's estimate, each student could contribute at most ten or twenty thousand points on average, making roughly eight hundred thousand in total. But they were short by 1.4 million points. They had squandered their points at the beginning of the school year, and now they were paying for it.
"We'll crowdfund within the class first. I'll find a way to cover whatever is missing." Horikita had already formed a plan.
"Your time is limited. If you don't have enough points by tomorrow morning, Sudō and the others will have no choice but to leave school."
Chabashira was about to light a second cigarette, but Horikita reached out and stopped her.
"Then we'll split up. Ayanokoji, you're in charge of collecting contributions from the class."
Horikita directly gave Ayanokoji an order without caring whether he accepted it.
Ayanokoji did not particularly care what Horikita chose to do. Still, he wanted to see just how far she would struggle.
Points could either be earned or borrowed. Clearly, borrowing was the only option in front of Horikita.
For Suzune Horikita, the best person to borrow from was Manabu Horikita. Yet he was also the person she least wanted to face, so she eliminated him from consideration immediately. She did not know any other upperclassmen, aside from the third-year girl who had sold her the exam papers.
Class A would never care whether Class D lived or died. Ryuen from Class C looked like nothing but trouble. Class B was Horikita's only real hope of borrowing points, since Honami Ichinose's reputation as an excessively kind person was well known throughout the school.
Unfortunately for her, Ryuen had considered that possibility as well. He had already made a deal with Ichinose, demanding that she refuse to provide Class D with help in any form. More accurately, it had been a threat. Ryuen knew about Ichinose's past—the stain on her life.
Horikita could not even get a meeting with Ichinose. Just as she reached a dead end, the third-year girl sent her a message.
"I'm at the café in the shopping center. Perhaps I can help you."
It was a trap.
How could that senior know Horikita was in trouble? And why would she want to help? Though she knew there was a risk, Horikita went anyway.
When she arrived at the café, she did not find the senior. Instead, she found Ryuen, sitting there with a leisurely smile as he drank coffee.
The instant she saw Ryuen, Horikita understood. Every last part of this had been a trap set by him.
He had used the Sudō incident to drain her funds, then arranged for the senior to sell her those exam papers. Even the school's revised exam questions were probably connected to Ryuen. The contract she had signed must be in his hands as well. No wonder she had felt something was wrong with that contract.
"What exactly do you want from me after going to all this trouble?"
Having pieced everything together, Suzune Horikita became calmer instead. It was easy to see that Ryuen's target was her, not Class D.
"I want you to have a cup of coffee with me. Waiter, bring this lady a cappuccino. Milk, no sugar."
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