I was standing there blankly, unable to understand what was happening, when I heard footsteps and turned my head.

“Ah, Horikita! Are you okay?”

“We were worried when we heard you caught a cold, you look kind of worn out.”

“What? Don’t tell me something worse happened?”

“Uh, for now, we bought some porridge at Keyaki Mall...”

Sudō, Ike, Yamauchi, Sakura...

And several other Class D students who had studied with me came to see me.

“But what about that bag? Looks like Ayanokoji came first and left it.”

“That girl acts like she hates you on the outside but she quietly takes care of you, you know?”

“I mean, even yesterday she acted like she was really going to kill those Class C guys.”

As expected, Ayanokoji is a woman I hate.

I understood everything she was thinking.

It’s not something to brag about but I don’t really know what a friend is.

In other words, if I can’t even understand it, there’s no way I could make something like a friend.

That’s what bothered me about Ayanokoji.

By creating a lot of people around me, who always acted in lonely isolation and by letting me get at least a little closer to being acknowledged by my brother, she was trying to raise her own standing and have her ability acknowledged...

At the same time, she did something not even worth laughing at, trying to force a sense of defeat onto me.

I still don’t really know what a friend is.

Yes, that’s what I thought.

“...H-Horikita, are you crying?”

“What?! So that rumour really was wrong! See, I told you it wasn’t true!”

“I mean, she must’ve been so wronged...”

“If only that Class C guy Ryūen hadn’t...”

Ayanokoji, you win...

So watch closely.

Watch how I overcome this trial with these guys from now on and how I break through your schemes.

And watch how Class D, called the school’s defective products, rises to Class A!

* * *

The next day, 8 a.m.

I finished all the usual preparations and came out to school at this same fixed time as always.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come yesterday, here is the medical certificate.”

“Alright.”

“It’s an absence for a valid reason, so it won’t affect Class Points. But the part where you were absent starting from 5th period the day before yesterday will be a deduction.”

At that, voices of complaint burst out.

Since it was clearly my fault, it’s something I have to accept.

“Understood.”

“Right and come to think of it, Ayanokoji said she has to stop by the hospital too, so she might be a little late this morning. Since there are two students in one class with cold symptoms, everyone be careful.”

From what I heard, Ayanokoji left early from a cold starting yesterday lunchtime and still hasn’t come.

Now that I think about it, she got rained on like me too...

Whatever.

I didn’t expect help from that woman in the first place.

This is a problem I have to push through.

No, it’s something I must do.

As soon as homeroom ended, as if they had made up their minds, Karuizawa’s group came toward me.

“Horikita, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“I’m talking about the rumour! If you really received benefits like that from your brother, I think that’s a problem.”

Starting with Karuizawa’s words, most of the girls raised their voices in criticism toward me.

“You guys, seriously! You don’t even know whether Horikita really got any benefits!”

“How ridiculous! She has family in the same school, you think she wouldn’t get benefits?”

“If that were true, why would she even open a study group! Horikita took everything seriously.”

“Hmph! Then what’s your explanation for skipping and losing Class Points this time? Was that serious too?”

The class that had felt like it became one during final exam prep was splitting apart, divided into whether they were on my side or not.

“Wait, everyone calm down! This isn’t something that gets solved by doing this!”

The person who moved quickly to contain this situation was Hirata Yosuke, who was essentially in the position of Class D’s leader.

He probably thought that with Ayanokoji absent, he was the only one who could protect me.

“I don’t know how much of that rumour is true. But even so, we can’t fight among ourselves! If anything, now is exactly the time we need to unite!”

Even if the volume lowered somewhat at Hirata’s words, the dissatisfaction itself didn’t disappear.

“Hirata’s right! What changes if we fight among ourselves here? It only benefits other classes!”

Then, Kushida stepped forward.

But I can see it.

Unlike Hirata, this woman has no intention of sincerely calming everyone down.

“But I understand the girls’ feelings too. Because of Horikita’s cold attitude most of the time, a lot of people probably got angry and couldn’t calmly judge what the rumour really means.”

Right, this is the real opportunity.

“So let’s make up! Apologise to each other and end it! Just like Hirata said, unite and overcome this crisis together! Then nobody has to be angry, right?”

The perfect chance where you think you can grind my pride into the dirt.

I don’t know why Kushida hates me.

Since the start of the semester, she kept trying to form a friendship with me but I kept rejecting her because I sensed something malicious from her.

Why does she hate me so much, why is she desperate to trample me...

There’s no reason I need to know.

More than that, I won’t let my pride, which already crumbled once because of Ayanokoji, get stepped on again by some nobody like you!

Compared to Ayanokoji, there’s absolutely no reason I should be afraid of an 'incompetent' person like you.

“Yeah, let’s do that, Horikita. If you make up with everyone and get along well then...”

“Hirata, I’ll say something too, using this moment.”

Before I knew it, the atmosphere shifted so that people on my side, people not on my side and even Hirata were swayed by Kushida’s suggestion, demanding I apologise.

But I wasn’t swept along at all and stepped up onto the podium.

And I gathered everyone’s attention.

I took a breath and said it.

“The cause behind the rumour you’re hearing is true. I am the biological younger sister of Student Council President Horikita Manabu.”

I will admit what should be admitted.

But...

“But the story that I received other benefits from my brother is all a lie. There is no reason for me to apologise for something that isn’t even true!”

There is no way I will accept an apology this ridiculous.

Anyway, the people on my side will believe everything I say.

The mood turned cold at my words, refusing to apologise outright, but I continued.

“The Horikita Manabu I know is a strict and rational person. He’s not someone who would casually hand out points to raise even his own younger sister to Class A.”

The first person to refute me was Shinohara, one of Karuizawa’s group.

“What… Isn’t that all just your assumption? You’re just defending him because he’s your brother!”

“Right. Because he’s my brother, I’m the one who can know him best. Is there any proof more certain than that?”

“Ugh, either way we can’t believe you. How do we know you won’t suddenly receive twenty million points and go to A?”

“I’m saying it again, not only can I not go to Class A that way, I won’t go that way in reality either. If anything, this is a good time to say it. I’ll tell you my real intention.”

With everyone focused on me, I decided to reveal it.

The goal I had been desperately striving for alone.

Whether they listen or not doesn’t matter.

Because I know there are people who will help me.

“I will make this Class D into Class A. I know how difficult it is, this act of heading upward from Class D, the bottom. But the classes from A to D aren’t divided only by surface-level grades or athletic ability. If that’s the case, even Class D, which is nothing but defective products, nothing but the last resort, can aim for Class A, no, can rise to Class A! I... no.”

I will rise to Class A together with them.

“We will aim for Class A! So lend me your strength. I’ll show you clearly from now on the proof that I’m not a traitor!”

A silent stillness flowed.

No one would have imagined that someone like me, a loner with not a single friend in class, would say something like this.

Especially since the student council president’s younger sister, who might have a way to rise to A separately, was saying it, they might have found it absurd.

But it doesn’t matter.

No, it’s fine.

Because...

“Of course, Horikita! We’ll help with anything, so let’s rise to Class A!”

“Right, right!”

“Bluntly speaking, there’s no rule saying even we can’t rise to A!”

“I’ll become your strength!”

“Me too!”

“Let’s all rise to Class A together!”

“We have Horikita and Ayanokoji!”

“We’re not scared of other classes at all!”

Because there are already this many people who believe in me.

The place that had been criticising me instantly became a place that encouraged me and gathered strength for me.

I conveyed my will clearly.

Now I just have to keep moving forward, working hard to rise to A.

This will truly be one step for myself and...

One step to protect everyone from Ayanokoji Aoi.

“H-how do we know whether what you’re saying is true! Isn’t this just inciting people because you want to harm Class D!”

It was the moment Shinohara’s rebuttal, unable to believe my words, came out.

“Look at you cornering someone without a shred of proof. This is why incompetent people are useless.”

The woman I hate the most and at the same time the woman I need the most, opened the door and walked in, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Ayano... koji?”

And what she brought was a device to save me.

“There’s no need to prove anything later. Starting now, I’ll reveal the proof and supporting materials that Horikita isn’t a traitor.”

So you predicted all of this from the start...

As expected, I hate this woman.