The school library.
Nurturing High School is a three-year boarding institution. Beyond its vibrant shopping district, it provides all essential facilities for student life.
The campus network is restricted for management purposes — students can only communicate internally and access specific forums.
The library, however, is exceptional.
Occupying one-tenth of the school's artificial island, this massive facility features abundant seating and study spaces. It can comfortably accommodate twice the entire student body at once.
The library boasts an impressive collection of 6.8 million books... ahem, normal books.
According to his phone's GPS, Suzune is somewhere in the library, though her exact location isn't shown.
With five floors to search, finding her could be challenging.
『 Beep! Student card! 』
As he approached the entrance, someone swiped their student ID ahead of him.
Houtarou's search suddenly became easier when he spotted who it was — an incredibly cute girl with short golden hair entering the library.
It was Kikyō Kushida.
She's a social butterfly with numerous friends across different classes.
Following his suggestion about using Points to network with third-years, she'd taken initiative to connect with upperclassmen independently.
The proof? Houtarou had been getting approached by upper-year female students more frequently lately.
He knew he hadn't met that many seniors before. Clearly, Kikyō had been selling his information rather than spending her own Points to contact them.
Lately, he'd even been receiving spam images from throwaway accounts in his forum messages.
She wasn't the pure angel she appeared to be — he'd always known this.
Despite her angelic facade, she constantly harassed Suzune. Some angel she was — more like a troublemaker.
These days, third-year students from Classes C and D could often be found in the library, having essentially given up.
For the upcoming exams?
No. For their futures.
School rules dictate that only Class A students can choose their preferred schools and careers. Classes B, C, and D are assigned their paths upon graduation.
Class B students, being generally high achievers, can still opt to take university entrance exams even if they don't make it to the top.
But Classes C and D show greater variation in ability, with many struggling students. They have no choice but to work harder for their futures.
This reflects their despair about school rankings — there's no hope of advancing to a higher class.
So is little Kikyō, as a Class D student, visiting the library to study three years ahead?
Not at all.
"Why do you keep bothering me? We have nothing to do with each other."
Following the girl for a moment, Houtarou heard Suzune's familiar voice.
"How frustrating. I have my own reasons. While my grades aren't bad, there are things I don't understand. As classmates, couldn't you help teach me, Horikita-san?"
That was Kikyō speaking.
Suzune replied:
"Why not ask Yukimura? His academic performance is better than mine — he ranked first in the entrance exam." Horikita said, "I was only second."
Hmm. This response was typical of the lone girl.
Is that really what matters? Her comment reveals how much she values test scores.
Focus only on studying and you'll miss out on life.
Houtarou thought to himself.
But Suzune wasn't finished.
"Or you could ask Houtarou Oreki. He's approachable, isn't he? Keep using your cute charm offensive — he's completely defenseless against it."
Oh. So that's what Suzune thinks of him.
Despite her proper demeanor, she's well aware that Kikyō uses her looks to approach him. And she simply observes quietly from the sidelines.
He saw a new side to this beautiful girl.
"I don't think Oreki's grades are as good as yours. Even though he's in Class A, I've never seen him study, and people say he doesn't even do homework. His ability must be average." Kikyō said, "There's no point asking him for help — like you said, I'd have to make an effort, but he couldn't teach me anyway."
"Besides, he hates reading. I checked his library records — he hasn't borrowed a single book in the past month and a half. And don't talk about using looks — it's not like I enjoy it. He's the one who falls for it."
Oh. I see. Alright then.
Houtarou noted what Kikyō said.
What an odd person she is, checking his borrowing records.
Perhaps she wanted to find common ground through his reading habits. Using such tactics to make people think "we're kindred spirits" or "we share interests" seems rather calculating.
Houtarou's impression of Kikyō had definitely dropped today.
Though he was puzzled by her seemingly uncontrollable need to vent.
After harassing Suzune, Kikyō walked away.
Having confirmed the lone girl's location, he headed over.
Hmm. Suzune was being characteristically herself.
While waiting for him, she hadn't been idle — she was deep in study, not with random library books, but with textbooks.
Having left her own books behind, she'd borrowed copies from the library.
What made this interesting was her choice of materials: four physics textbooks stacked at her corner desk.
These were 'Physics Edition 4', 'Physics Edition 5', 'Physics Edition 6', and 'Physics Edition 7' — the last being their current textbook.
She had gathered physics textbooks spanning the past decade.
While other students were busy memorizing past exam papers, Suzune was studying ten years' worth of textbooks.
Houtarou recalled his comment to Miyabi about how using past exams was unfair to genuine students.
Well, here was the perfect example of an honest student.
"For this exam, I suggest you aim for 51 points in all subjects." He said as he approached.
The desk showed signs of previous use — scattered books left behind by someone hours ago.
Among them lay an erotic novel, 'Her as Queen and Me, Wanting to Become Her Master'.
Suzune remained completely unfazed by this, showing no interest whatsoever.
She calmly focused on her physics textbooks, currently reading page 69 of 'Physics Edition 3'.
Her fox-like eyes glanced up.
"Why?" She asked.
"This exam will cover old questions, and thanks to our actions, nobody dares leak questions anymore — they'd become everyone's enemy. The other students are safe, but Horikita-san, can you say the same for everyone in your class?"
"..."
Even with access to past exam papers and a month's head start to memorize them, he suspected some would still fail.
Suzune had expressed disbelief at the idea of failing an open-book exam.
To her, it was simple: just study more.
But, earlier at the start of the month, Class D learned the school rules, yet still managed to reduce their 1,000 Class Points to zero. Given this track record, it wouldn't be surprising if some students failed even with an open-book exam.
"You're referring to the algorithm where the passing score is half the class average." Suzune said, "If I score 51 points, I'm guaranteed to pass. Then by lowering my score, I'd also lower the passing threshold, helping students with lower scores barely pass?"
Despite everyone having access to the exam papers, failing meant automatic expulsion under school rules.
"It's pointless if I'm the only one doing this." She said.
Her statement revealed just how poor Class D's academic performance truly was.
Yet she agreed anyway — perhaps she wasn't as cold-hearted as she appeared.
Houtarou thought to himself, his impression of her improving.
"By the way, what's going on with Kushida?" He asked, "Her attitude toward you seems to have gotten worse."
Actually, her attitude toward him had soured too. He'd had no idea how angel Kikyō really viewed him.
She used her beauty to charm him at every meeting, while Suzune silently observed. Meanwhile, Kikyō belittled him and deliberately acted in ways she claimed he liked, even suggesting he enjoyed her seduction.
That last comment really stung.
Even though his Precognitive Dream showed he would date Kei from Class D in the future, he never deliberately approached her or acted couple-like.
Kikyō's assessment of him was unfairly harsh.
His mood dampened.
Understanding girls' hearts was becoming increasingly difficult.
"She's been like this for days now." Suzune said, "Her attitude toward me has become more obvious, though she only acts this way when we're alone."
So she still maintained her angelic facade around others.
"Did something happen to her recently?" Houtarou asked.
Suzune pressed her lips together, "How would I know? But it feels like she's using me as an outlet for her frustrations."
Venting — was it about Suzune's constant rejection of her friendship?
According to Suzune, Kikyō still waited outside her dormitory door just yesterday morning. Her month-and-a-half persistence was remarkable.
But was this venting purely about Suzune's rejection, or was there something else behind it?
"Though I have to admit, Kushida is impressive — she's befriended almost everyone in class and always helps others." Suzune added.
Ah. Now it made sense.
That was precisely how she made so many friends — by being kind to absolutely everyone.
Now Houtarou understood Kikyō's strange behavior toward Suzune.
She tried to befriend and please everyone, but even the friendliest person has limits.
Recently, she has been interacting with many upperclassmen. The pressure seems to have become too much for her to handle, leading her to use Suzune as an emotional outlet.
She's chosen Suzune knowing the lone girl will never accept her friendship. And Suzune's patience is remarkably strong.
This is concerning.
But what puzzles him is why someone would use an alternate account to send him inappropriate images on the forum.
If it's not Miyabi, then it could only be...
While pondering this, Houtarou noticed Suzune standing up.
"Since you're here, I'll be leaving." She said.
"Okay." He had no objections.
『Transfer 50,000 Points to Suzune Horikita?』
Yes.
As usual, he gave the lone girl her 10% commission.
The price seemed fair, considering the valuable information he'd gained about Kikyō.
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