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Chapter 53: Chapter 3 Part I

"You seem to get yourself into trouble time and time again, Sudou-kun."

Horikita gave an exasperated sigh. Naturally, we were discussing how to prove Sudou\'s innocence.

"Well, guess we don\'t have much choice. As your friends, we\'ll help you out, Sudou." Although Ike had been against Sudou in the beginning, his attitude had completely changed. That was definitely because Kushida had appealed to him and asked him to help. Ignorant of Ike\'s true feelings on the matter, Sudou still apologized.

"I\'m sorry, Horikita. I\'ve caused trouble for you again. But it really wasn\'t my fault this time. All I did was blow up those Class C jerks\' plans."

Sudou spoke to Horikita with indifference, almost as if he were describing someone else\'s problems.

"Sorry, but I don\'t feel like helping you this time." Horikita flatly refused Sudou\'s pleas for help. "For Class D to rise through the ranks, it\'s important to recover the class points we lost as quickly as possible. However, we probably won\'t get any points now, thanks to you. You hindered those plans."

"Wait. You might be right about that, but I\'m not the one at fault here! Those guys picked a fight with me! What part of that is my fault?"

"You keep focusing on who started the fight, but that\'s a trivial detail. Did you never consider that?"

"What\'s trivial about it? It makes all the difference! I didn\'t do anything wrong!"

"Is that so? Well, best of luck to you."

Horikita picked up her untouched tray and stood.

"So you\'re not gonna help? I thought we were friends!"

"Don\'t make me laugh. I\'ve never once considered you a friend. Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than being around someone who doesn\'t recognize his own stupidity. Goodbye."

Horikita appeared more exasperated than angry. She let out a deep sigh, and left.

"What the hell is her deal?! Goddamn it!"

Unable to direct his rage anywhere else, Sudou slammed his fists on the cafeteria table, spilling a nearby student\'s miso soup. The student glared, but when he saw how scary Sudou looked, he remained silent. Yep. I could understand that feeling pretty well.

"I guess it\'s just up to us."

"I knew for sure you\'d understand, Yamauchi. I\'m really counting on you too, Ayanokouji."

Apparently I was second to Yamauchi, judging by the "too." Well, I guess I didn\'t find that particularly surprising.

"Even if you ask me to help, you do know that there\'s not much I can do, right?"

My self-deprecation was apparently ineffective.

"You\'ve been like that since yesterday, Ayanokouji-kun. Won\'t you say something, Ike-kun?"

"Well, I...I mean, it\'s certainly odd that Ayanokouji thinks he\'s not going be useful. At least him being there is better than not, I guess? Probably?"

Just as expected, Ike couldn\'t come up with how I\'d be useful. I looked over at Kushida smugly. It was like I was showing off a talentless person\'s power.

"This is a little disheartening. I thought that preparing for that test together brought us all a bit closer," said a disappointed Ike.

I watched Horikita sit down further away, looking slightly irritated.

"I don\'t understand Horikita at all. What\'s her deal, Ayanokouji? Why is she acting like that?"

I had no idea how to answer. Did they think I was her user manual? I took a huge mouthful of rice to avoid the question.

"It\'s pretty weird, though. Horikita wants to get to Class A, right? Saving Sudou-kun means we\'d get more points, so why wouldn\'t she help?"

"Is it because she hates Sudou? I mean, she just said she didn\'t consider him a friend."

Disliking Sudou probably wasn\'t the reason. But everyone seemed to have misunderstood the situation. They thought she wouldn\'t help because of personal reasons.

"I don\'t really want to think about it, but I guess it might be true."

"Kushida, Horikita is..."

Unthinking, words started spilling out of my mouth. Kushida looked at me, her interest piqued.

"Horikita-san is...?" she asked.

"Ah. Well, this might not be relevant, but I\'d like to say something. I think that Horikita usually speaks in a rather brusque manner. But I think...that you guys misunderstand her."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I think that she wouldn\'t help without any reason to do so."

"Wait, what are you talking about? You keep saying I think over and over. Are you just guessing?"

Sudou abruptly cut into the conversation. Since Horikita was definitely on his mind, he probably wasn\'t too pleased about her rejection. It wasn\'t difficult to explain, but how to go about it? Horikita probably realized something when the teacher told us about the incident. This incident had happened for a reason. And the ending that Horikita saw...

Well, the possibility of a happy ending was almost nonexistent. After realizing that, she\'d probably been cold towards Sudou on purpose. However, if I told them that now, they\'d probably become discouraged. It would only lead to bad things. Since I couldn\'t figure out how the discussion would go, I was hesitant to explain.

Horikita probably hadn\'t wanted to crush their spirits, so she\'d left.

"Well... Yeah, I\'m just guessing like you said, Sudou."

"So what? You don\'t have a reason?"

"Horikita is smart, right? So I think she probably had some idea."

"What idea? To toss me out like the trash?"

"Whoa, hold on. Let\'s not criticize anyone. It\'s only natural that Ayanokouji-kun would stick up for

Horikita-chan, since they\'re together all the time. She\'s important to him, right?"

Ike wore a mischievous, spiteful grin. It was like he was mocking me. Sudou grew increasingly irritated, and clicked his tongue before reaching for his food.

"Well, it\'d be great if a witness stepped forward. The teachers are going around and talking to each class about the incident. When they do find someone, things should get settled quickly."

I understood the wishful thinking, but would it really be that easy?

To be honest, we faced a mountainous hurdle. It wasn\'t unreasonable for Horikita to throw in the towel. Besides, even if there had been a witness, it\'d be checkmate for us if that witness happened to come from Class C. It would be natural for a Class C student to hide the truth in order to protect his or her fellow classmates. This school was a hierarchy, after all. It was unlikely that an individual\'s guilty feelings would outweigh the disadvantages of their class.

Even if the witness came from a different class, the problem would be how much he or she saw. If the eyewitness had seen the whole event from a completely neutral perspective, then that would be a different story. But...

"Ah, sorry. I have to go for a bit. I\'m going to try asking my upperclassmen friends if they saw anything."

With that, Kushida rose from her seat.

"You\'re trying your absolute hardest for someone like Sudou, Kushida-chan. That\'s so cute." Ike, completely enchanted, remained transfixed on Kushida\'s backside as she walked away.

"I should seriously confess my feelings for Kushida-chan..." he murmured.

"No way. You seriously think she\'ll stoop to your level, Ike?" Yamauchi said.

"I have a better chance than you."

There wasn\'t much difference between them.

"If I dated Kushida-chan... Ahhhhhh...."

Ike began to lose himself in fantasies, drooling. He was most likely thinking about rather indecent things.

"Hey. Why are you fantasizing about my Kushida-chan like that?"

"N-no, I\'m not..." he said, but he looked love-struck.

"H-hey, what are you fantasizing about?! Spill it!" Apparently Yamauchi couldn\'t stand the fact that Ike could do as he pleased in his fantasies.

"What do you mean, what am I fantasizing about? Obviously, I\'m thinking about cuddling her. Naked."

Apparently he was able to envision the scene thanks to the power of male delusions, or something.

<Illustration>

"Damn it! I won\'t be outdone! I\'ve also thought of a few things!"

This wasn\'t exactly ethical.

"Stop it. Don\'t touch my Kushida-chan with your filthy hands!"

In some ways, I felt a little sorry for Kushida. She was most likely the subject of their nightly fantasies.

"I think the best thing about high school is the girls, after all. I seriously want to get a girlfriend sometime soon. If I get myself a girlfriend by this summer, then I can go to the pool with her! That would be the best!"

"It would be best if Kushida-chan were my girlfriend... It would be the best if she were my girlfriend..."

Yamauchi said it twice. It must\'ve been important to him.

"But wait. Since Kushida-chan is so cute, don\'t you think she\'ll get a boyfriend any day now?"

"Don\'t say that, Yamauchi! Besides, it doesn\'t look like she has one yet, so we don\'t have to worry,"

replied Ike with confidence, though it seemed more like he was trying to reassure himself.

"Do you want to know? I bet you both want to know."

"Know what? What do I want to know, Ike? Tell us."

Ike whipped out his phone with an air of unavoidable weariness.

"You can track your registered friends\' locations on your school phones."

Ike searched for Kushida\'s present location. Shortly afterward, details about her position were displayed on the screen. A marker appeared on the cafeteria.

"I check regularly, even on the weekends. I pretend to run into her by chance. I do that to make sure she doesn\'t have a boyfriend yet."

He crossed his arms and wore a confident smile. What he was doing sounded just like stalking. Another step forward and it would be appropriate to involve the police.

"Realistically, Kushida-chan is just out of our reach. She wouldn\'t stoop to our level. But what if I aimed for one rank below her?"

"Yeah. Well, I couldn\'t have an ugly girlfriend."

"Yeah, when I think about us walking together side-by-side... She\'s gotta be at least a 7 outta 10."

I guess Ike and Yamauchi both really wanted girlfriends. Their fantasies might have been delusional, but they couldn\'t give up on their high hopes.

"Ayanokouji, do you want a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I guess. If it were possible."

If I had a girlfriend, I probably wouldn\'t suffer so much.

"Just to be sure, there\'s really nothing between you and Horikita?" Sudou thrust his chopsticks towards me as he asked that question.

"Nope."

"Really?"

He pressed again, almost like he didn\'t believe me. I shook my head emphatically.

"Okay, fine then. I guess I misunderstood. I thought you were clinging to her too much. That\'d be a bother for Horikita."

I didn\'t recall clinging. Especially not to Horikita.

"Are you really okay with Horikita, though? I mean, she\'s cute and all, but...she seems kind of boring, you know? I can\'t stand someone as dull as her. She wouldn\'t want to go to the pool or go out on a date or anything," Ike said.

"You guys don\'t know anything. Horikita is hands down better than Kushida, anyway." Sudou crossed his arms and nodded, boasting about his personal preferences. "I mean, if it was any other guy, she\'d probably turn them down. But if you were her boyfriend, then it\'d be okay, right? Then she\'d show you a secret side that no one else gets to see."

"I see... I feel like I can imagine that. So cute."

Yamauchi glanced at Horikita and got lost in his delusional fantasies.

"But the Horikita of your dreams seems to have tossed you aside, Sudou."

"Well, I guess so. Damn it! Now I feel all depressed."

"Well, I don\'t really have anything to say. The number of rivals for Kushida-chan just decreased by one."

Ike was multitasking, keeping a lookout for those 7 out of 10 girls while keeping Kushida as his primary target.

"So Ayanokouji, if nothing\'s happening with Horikita, is there anyone you like? I mean, Sudou likes Horikita, and Yamauchi likes Kushida-chan. You gotta take stock of your rival\'s targets, after all."

"Anyone..."

Nobody really came to mind. I tried to seriously think about it for just a little bit. If I had to choose someone, I probably would have picked...Kushida? She was the person I talked to the most, so that was only natural. But knowing that she didn\'t like me, I couldn\'t really imagine things progressing.

"Nope, no one," I answered.

However, Ike and Yamauchi looked at me doubtfully.

"Do you really think there\'s a guy out there who doesn\'t have a crush on a girl?"

"No way. That guy doesn\'t exist. Don\'t hide the truth from us, Ayanokouji."

"Unlike you guys, I don\'t really know any girls apart from Horikita and Kushida."

"Well, I guess you\'re probably right. I haven\'t seen you talk to other girls."

I found it rather depressing that they were so convinced.

"Let\'s introduce you to some girls!" Ike put his arm around my shoulder and spoke with confidence.

"Isn\'t it kind of pathetic that you\'re trying to introduce me to girls when you don\'t have a girlfriend yourself?"

"W-well...yeah."

"Hey, Sae-chan-sensei said that we\'d have a vacation this summer, right? I\'ll definitely get myself a girlfriend then. Kushida-chan, if possible. Or some other cute girl I haven\'t seen yet!"

"Me too, me too! Even if she\'s the lowest of the low, I\'ll get myself a girl...and then I\'ll enjoy that lovey-dovey high school life!"

"When should I confess my feelings to Horikita?"

The three of them freely talked about the objects of their affection.

"We should have a contest to see who can get a girlfriend first. The winner will have to treat everyone to a meal! Sound good?"

I wondered if participating in such a shameless competition would actually make me their friend. It sounded difficult.

"What\'s up, Ayanokouji? You\'re not really thinking about skipping out on this contest, are you?" Ike said.

"No, I just wondered why the first person to get a girlfriend has to treat everyone else."

"Well, it\'s like this. Think of it as sort of an Envy Tax on the guy. Get it?"

"A guy is happy when he has a girlfriend. Since he\'s happy, he happily treats people to stuff."

Although it was fine for them to get all excited, Sudou\'s problem still hadn\'t been resolved.