When the bright sunlight shone on my face, I opened the eyes I’d had closed and got up from bed.

It was the first morning after the final exams ended and the first morning of Horikita’s trial.

I couldn’t stand it because I was too curious about the board (plan) Kushida had set up, so after eating a light breakfast, I started getting ready for school earlier than usual.

Would the trial start now? Or after lunch? Or after school? I don’t care when. As long as my match with the student council president begins, I can wait as long as I want.

I dashed to class with anticipation and what greeted me was Sudō’s loud shout.

“Hey, you guys! You’re really going to believe some weird rumor like that?”

“C-calm down, Sudō.”

“Shut up! There’s no way Horikita would do something like that!”

Judging by how loud Sudō, who likes Horikita, was yelling, the trial’s intensity seemed pretty high. Maybe startled by his shout, the other classmates around started whispering too.

“So Horikita really is... the student council president’s little sister, right?”

“Then that rumor really is true too?”

“No way... that’s totally discrimination.”

“Ugh, then what about the other kids trying to work their way up to Class A?”

“Must be nice. Having a great big brother means her life’s basically set, huh.”

From the bits I could hear, I could guess what kind of rumor was going around.

Horikita is the student council president’s younger sister. Because of that, she’s being given advantages in school life, especially things related to exams. And among those, there might even be some kind of special privilege that lets her move up to Class A.

I immediately thought of the strategy Koenji tried to use, buying points from upperclassmen.

Kushida, you actually used your head, didn’t you?

Horikita is the little sister of a student council president who’s about to graduate. The student council president is a leader-type figure in Class A, so he’d have a lot of points and there would be plenty of people willing to pass points to him. Then he could easily gather twenty million and then... if he handed it over to Horikita?

That’s more than enough to provoke the rage of underachiever livestock!

I barely hid my pleased expression and went into the classroom. Sudō was a split second away from grabbing someone by the collar and at my arrival, everyone fell silent.

For now, Horikita hadn’t come yet. She’s the type who usually arrives right on time, so it made sense she wasn’t here yet. As if I already knew everything, I put on the coldest expression I could and stood in front of Hirata.

“The rumor going around, tell me everything you know.”

“Ayanokoji...”

“Talk.”

Everyone flinched at my harsh voice. Hirata hesitated as if wondering whether I was going to interrogate Horikita, but when I kept pressing him, he finally opened his mouth.

“Right now, there’s bad talk about Horikita spreading mainly through Class C and Class D. I know three things. One, that Horikita is the younger sister of the student council president, Horikita Manabu-senpai, two, that she heard past exam questions or the exam-setting tendencies from the student council president and three, that the student council president... transferred private points to Horikita.”

Hearing the rumor again made Sudō even angrier and he slammed the desk.

“So there’s no way Horikita would do that! I already knew she was the student council president’s sister! But... if she could go to Class A on her own, why would she even open the study sessions? There’s no reason to!”

“Yeah. I think the same and I think other people won’t believe it either.”

So Sudō and Hirata were firmly on the side that believed in Horikita. The others didn’t seem to be.

“But a point transfer is totally possible! The student council president is in Class A so he’d have a lot of points!”

“This is straight-up discrimination. It’s unfair!”

“Wait, there’s no way Horikita would think like that! Look at how hard Horikita’s worked for our class!”

“Yeah yeah. She showed up for Sudō’s hearing too and helped with studying!”

“Who knows? Maybe she helped like she was tossing charity to pitiful people.”

“What? Are you done talking?!”

“Honestly, Horikita’s acted obnoxious from the start until now. She did that because she had something to rely on!”

“You think you can say anything as long as it’s ‘just words’?!”

Just as expected, the class was clearly split into two factions, the side that believed Horikita and the side that didn’t. The side that believed her was led by the Idiot Trio, plus those who’d come to like Horikita through this study period and Hirata, while the side that didn’t was made up of those who’d always had complaints about Horikita or those who felt betrayed. Everyone else stayed neutral.

Seriously, you have to give it to livestock, they really do love picking sides.

Bang!

With a sigh like this is ridiculous, I slammed the desk hard enough it looked like it might crack, calming the fight down.

“So that’s what this stupid rumor is. First, it’s true that Horikita is the student council president’s younger sister. That alone isn’t really a problem. And exam-setting tendencies are confidential even the student council wouldn’t know, plus past questions and key-point summaries are available in the library. In the first place, there’s nothing to leak.”

“Right? I knew Ayanokoji would say that...”

“But if we’re talking about a private point transfer, then it’s a very different story.”

When I brought up the most sensitive point right after sounding like I was defending Horikita, everyone instantly went quiet.

“So, Hirata. I’ll look into this rumor. Since I’m the one most deeply involved with Horikita in this class, it’s better if I check.”

If the one who helped Horikita the most steps forward here, it becomes harder for everyone to keep blaming Horikita.

“Ayanokoji... okay. Please prove Horikita’s innocence.”

“That depends on what I find. And has anyone told Horikita about this rumor?”

At my question, everyone shook their heads. I spoke again in a cold expression and tone.

“Until the truth is confirmed, nobody says anything unnecessary to Horikita.”

Saying that, I sat down and the others, believing I’d step in, scattered. But even if I warned them, there’s no way Horikita wouldn’t hear the rumor.

It had already spread to other classes. Even if Horikita barely has any interaction with other classes aside from Ichinose, she’s bound to find out eventually. And in this class, there are plenty of people who dislike Horikita and me at the same time. Even out of dislike for me, someone could still go tell Horikita about the rumor.

The stage is set. Now I just have to wait. The moment Horikita hears the rumor and collapses, depending on how she responds, we’ll see whether she has the qualities of a capable person or not.

A little later, the door opened and Horikita walked in with a face like she knew nothing. Everyone watched her carefully, but because of me, nobody could say anything. I briefly watched Horikita from the corner of my eye, then looked away again.

All the evidence needed to save Horikita is already prepared. Whether I use it or not depends on Horikita. Now, should I slowly watch Horikita’s reaction?

* * *

There was nothing more to see in Class D. I needed to check what was happening in other classes.

To find out exactly where the rumor started, more precisely, to find out how Kushida spread it, I called Ichinose the moment lunch break began.

“It’s surprising you’d call me Ayanokoji. What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s about Horikita.”

“Ah, I figured.”

“Good that you already know. How much do you know about the rumor? What kind of story is spreading in Class B?”

At my slightly angry tone, Ichinose flustered and waved her hands.

“Ahaha... Ayanokoji, you’re kind of scary. But you know, I didn’t spread it.”

“I know you’re not that kind of person.”

“R-really? That’s a relief.”

“Tell me in detail what’s being said in your Class B.”

“Yeah! In our class...”

Class B’s rumor wasn’t different from what Class D knew. Everything from Horikita being the student council president’s sister to her receiving a private point transfer. Nothing bigger had spread beyond that.

“When I tried to trace who they heard it from, they said they overheard a Class C kid talking among themselves. Could this... be Ryūen’s doing?”

If Class C was the source, then the mastermind would definitely be Ryūen. In other words, Kushida contacted Ryūen or one of his close associates, talked about Horikita and had the rumor spread.

It’s definitely smarter to get help from another class than for Kushida herself, a classmate, to act directly and leave traces. Ichinose’s Class B would never cooperate in burying Horikita and Class A of Sakayanagi and Katsuragi wouldn’t care either way, so if there was a collaborator, Ryūen was the only one.

Besides, since Horikita has a deep connection with me, she’s a good target for hitting me, so getting Ryūen interested wouldn’t have been hard.

“Anyway, Horikita got dragged into a horrible rumor with no evidence. Somewhere else, it’s even being said the student council president will gather twenty million points before graduating and transfer the right to move up to Class A to Horikita...”

“I know. It’s just a rumor. And the student council president doesn’t even seem like the type to do that.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, tell me!”

Ichinose genuinely worried about Horikita. It was kind of funny. We’re supposed to be rivals from different classes, yet she cared that much. With the Sudō incident before, she helped because of injustice and the study sessions had the justification of advising underachievers’ study methods, but this time, it was purely concern for Horikita.

If Ichinose found out this was planned because of me, what kind of face would she make when she looked at me?

“It’s fine. What you told me is enough.”

“Yeah... But if you need help, please tell me.”

I don’t care. For me, the match with the student council president matters more. Whether Horikita gets hurt in the process or Ichinose distances herself from me, those aren’t even worth thinking about.

“Then I’m going back now. You go back to your class too.”

“Ah, I have to go back too, so let’s go together.”

The conversation with Ichinose that I thought was over kept going all the way back to class.

“Still, I didn’t think Ayanokoji would step up this far for Horikita. So Ayanokoji really is a good person.”

“Your class doesn’t seem to think so, though.”

“Haha, no. There are lots of people in our class who like you. It even seems like a few of the boys are interested in you.”

“Yeah? Then tell them not to get hurt pointlessly and to clean things up on their own.”

“Hehe, are you not interested in dating?”

It’s not dating, I’m not interested in the underachievers in your class. If they really want to confess, they should become perfect achievers across all classes, academically and physically, before they try. Though I don’t know if anyone exists that meets my standards.

There was no benefit to saying that out loud, so I stayed quiet.

“So if it’s Ayanokoji’s ideal type, it would be a perfect high-achiever in a lot of areas, right? Then... could it be the student council president?”

Ah, the student council president... If it’s the student council president as a lover, I could honestly think positively of that. If it’s a capable student council president with neat looks, intellect, stamina and leadership, he has extremely suitable conditions to be my lover. If he had romantic interest in me, I’ve even thought about confessing.

Even so, the fact that he’s Horikita’s real older brother makes it a complete no.

“As an ideal type, he passes, but I don’t want an awkward relationship with Horikita.”

“Yeah, dating your friend’s brother might be uncomfortable. I wouldn’t know though, I’ve never dated anyone.”

Honestly, with someone like Ichinose, she could say yes to whoever asked her out. Is that the confidence of the strong?

Just then, Horikita came running toward us.

“Ah! Horikita...”