Horikita Route

Chapter 8 - V1

I would be lying if I said that I didn't consider this as an outcome.

The points being based on our own actions was actually high on my list of possible theories.

What was surprising was that it was based on our group effort as a class and not as an individual.

This means that people like me and Horikita would be dragged down by dead weight. Ugh... how bothersome.

After sensei's explanation, the newly-named (in my perception) Koenji stood up and left the classroom.

While most were too busy thinking about how they were going to live off of such little money, I saw Koenji's usual expression change in the slightest of ways.

He wasn't moving to get his mirror as he used to in this time of day. He was also a bit more shaky in his combing, less refined than yesterday.

It seems like, unlike on the surface, he seems a bit shocked by the news.

Glancing to my right, I see Horikita's dominant hand trembling while holding a pen. She was writing down things to work on for the improvement of the class.

Shaken too, I suppose.

Now, how does one fix this 'problem'?

"Horikita, do you want to get to Class A?"

This next conversation we'd have, although simple on the surface level, would determine how I'd act for the next three years to come.

"Ayanokouji-kun... yes... getting to Class A would be... ideal."

"Why do you want to get to Class A?"

"For my brother of cou-!"

Ahh... she realized it now, didn't she? Like I expected, if she and her brother weren't talking right now, her determination to get to Class A would be for that reason.

But now that they have fixed their relationship, Class A is no longer important for her primary goal when first getting into this school.

If you're smart enough to pass college exams, Class A would be nothing more than a badge or a crutch, a precautionary tool. Knowing Horikita's excellence in academics, I know for a fact that she knows that this is the case.

"I'll ask again then, Horikita. Why do you want to get to Class A?"

Give me a reason, a purpose, anything. I'd help you if you truly want it.

"I-I..."

She's conflicted and I know why. She hates being looked down upon, she hates being on the bottom. This would be her reason for climbing to the top.

"I don't want to stay on the bottom, Ayanokouji-kun. I want them to know that I belong to Class A, that I am better than what the school assessed me as."

Now, the clincher.

"If you could get to Class A right now, but in exchange, leave this section, would you?"

If she had the chance to leave me, would she?

"Of course not! You idiot! I'd want you to be there too! Do you think your vague questions are going to work on me? I knew what you were trying to ask, so stop it. Stop doubting me."

No hesitation? Not even a millisecond?

"..."

"Ayanokouji-kun, stop thinking useless thoughts. We're going to drag these idiots to the top, just so that we could gloat to the other classes about how we got these numbskulls to the peak together. Got it?"