"...So sleepy."
Ryuuen Kakeru yawned groggily, rubbing his eyes as he grumbled, "It's only four in the morning."
Even though summer mornings brightened early, at 4 a.m., the sky was still dim and gray. The campus was deserted, eerily quiet.
Except for a few janitors doing their rounds, Ryuuen hadn't seen a single student on his walk here.
And as he said, what kind of student would willingly give up the final days of vacation to wake up at 4 a.m.? Not even the earliest sports clubs did something this crazy.
"It's better this way—with no one around."
Unlike the drowsy Ryuuen, who looked ready to nod off any second, Kitagawa Ryo was wide awake. He suddenly slipped a hand down Ryuuen's collar.
"!"
Ryuuen jolted at the shock of cold, slapping Kitagawa's hand away.
"Two ice cubes straight from the dorm fridge. How's that feel?"
Kitagawa tossed the remaining slush into a trash can, looking like he might try it again.
"Enough, I'm awake now. No need for a second shot."
Now alert, Ryuuen stretched his neck and approached a vending machine.
"Wanna drink? Coffee?"
"Sure."
After paying with points, Ryuuen pulled out two cans of iced coffee, tossing one to Kitagawa.
"Drinking something cold this early probably isn't healthy."
"Not something to worry about at a time like this. It's not like we drink it daily."
Kitagawa popped the can and chugged half of it without hesitation. Whether his stomach would protest later was irrelevant—his brain felt more awake.
Ryuuen downed his in one go, then placed the cold can against his eyelids, clearly exhausted.
"Last day. Let's give it our all."
"Spare me the hollow motivation. Just transfer me 50,000 points instead."
They joked as they arrived at the open area beside the Special Teaching Building—the school's most remote spot. This was where they had chosen to spring their plan on Class B.
Given the time and location, it should've been deserted. But when the two arrived, someone was already waiting.
Noticing them, the girl looked up but said nothing, arms crossed.
"Good morning, Suzune."
Kitagawa greeted cheerfully. Horikita Suzune only nodded and stepped slightly back, clearly not eager to chat.
"Thanks for helping today."
"It's just part of the deal we made."
She looked tired but stood perfectly straight—unlike the slouching Ryuuen beside her.
"If Ryuuen puts in a bit more effort today, maybe we can wrap up early and go back to sleep."
Seeing how drained he was, she didn't hesitate to throw in a jab.
"If we hadn't run out of options, who'd ask you for help?"
"That only shows how poor your social circles are."
"Hey, that's just mean."
Ryuuen picked at his ear, scoffing.
"We came to you because you literally have no friends—so no one would notice."
As Suzune's glare sharpened, Kitagawa quickly stepped in to prevent the usual argument from escalating.
"Alright, alright, let's start the test. This is the last one."
Suzune and Ryuuen clicked their tongues but followed his cue and went to their positions.
They'd rehearsed this sequence over the past two days. Today was the final test before tonight's grand performance.
"Three, two, one, go!"
Each activated their respective mechanisms before jogging to a safe distance. A moment later, faint glowing trails appeared on the ground—like lit fuses streaking forward. The trails pulled the eye toward the vast sky.
Then, a swarm of drones shot into the air, leaving trails of light like dominoes. They flew along a pre-programmed route. Though it was still dark before dawn, the lights shone clearly, forming large characters in the sky.
As the letters solidified, more drones flanked the formation, releasing bursts of firework-like lights that bloomed like flowers.
"No matter how many times I see it, it's still impressive."
Ryuuen muttered in awe. Even Suzune, usually combative, remained silent, eyes fixed on the glowing sky.
"Looks good."
Kitagawa shaded his eyes. Originally, he'd wanted to use fireworks for his confession plan, but Ichinose had told him the school banned all forms of fireworks—especially big ones.
Fortunately, modern alternatives existed. Upon discovering the school had a drone club, Kitagawa paid them two million points to rent their entire fleet. He also hired someone to program the display, and after two days of emergency testing, it was finally ready.
To keep it secret from Shiina Hiyori, he only brought in Ryuuen—he didn't trust even Ishizaki not to spoil the surprise.
Ryuuen alone wasn't enough, though. Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A was off-limits, Ichinose had just helped with the student council matter, and he couldn't bring himself to ask Karuizawa Kei.
Kiryuin-senpai from second year was a wildcard—too unpredictable.
So he turned to Horikita Suzune.
After offering her 30,000 points for three days of work, she agreed to join his secret project.
Having spent a semester at this school, Suzune knew the value of personal points. With Class D holding just 200 class points, 30,000 personal points was a tempting deal.
Then she learned Kitagawa had spent millions renting drones—just to surprise someone in his class.
She was stunned.
Then she found out he spent twenty million points to give a cat a student ID.
Her financial worldview nearly collapsed. Her whole semester of penny-pinching wouldn't even cover one drone show.
"You're... really generous."
She muttered the words before she realized it.
Embarrassed, she quickly glanced at Kitagawa's expression.
Thankfully, he was still focused on the sky.
She shook her head, blaming sleep deprivation for her lapse, and turned her gaze upward again.
"This is what makes this school fun."
As the drones began their descent, Kitagawa spoke almost to himself.
[So you did hear me.]
Too awkward to hide it now, Suzune simply nodded.
"Honestly, I thought you'd use the points you won from Werewolf to push your class up to Class A."
From her perspective, Kitagawa seemed completely focused on elevating Class C—now Class B. He'd plotted against other classes, and they were now only a couple hundred points away from A.
But suddenly, it felt like the momentum had slowed.
"If it were you, you'd probably use the points to jump straight to Class A, right? Since your brother's there."
Kitagawa's words caught Suzune off guard.
"You don't need to worry about Class D. Just show your growth—like you did in Werewolf."
"As long as you've truly grown, even if you graduate in Class D, your brother will acknowledge you."
It was the first time she'd heard Kitagawa speak to her with such calm sincerity. Normally he was sarcastic or teasing. She didn't know how to respond.
Blushing and silent, she crossed her arms tightly.
Kitagawa shook his head in amusement.
He'd once made a deal with Horikita Manabu—he would help Suzune grow, and Manabu would support him in return.
But lately, Kitagawa had begun to care less about that contract. Since his last moment of clarity, his mindset had changed.
He'd burned through more than twenty million points on what some would call ridiculous things.
But to Kitagawa, it no longer felt real.
In this long simulation, he'd passed by all kinds of people—geniuses, fools, artificial prodigies.
Ordinary, pretentious, eccentric.
He knew searching for truth in a fake world was flawed, but he still chose to date Shiina Hiyori.
Just to see if it could be real.
Even a little.
"Let's do one more test, then wrap it up."
Clearing his mind, Kitagawa checked the time on his phone and called the others over for cleanup and the final rehearsal.
-------------------------------------
"Didn't expect you to come find me."
Sakayanagi Arisu lazily stretched her shoulders and neck, her eyes gleaming with interest as she studied the girl sitting across from her—Karuizawa Kei.
"It took you three days. Should I take that to mean it only takes three days for a girl to get over a heartbreak?"
"I'm not here to hear you say stuff like that."
Karuizawa closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, all the hesitation and uncertainty from earlier were gone.
"The last time we talked, you said I should help Ryo. What exactly did you mean by that?"
"Who's the enemy? What tactics will be used? You sounded so sure back then, so I assume you know something."
Her sapphire-blue eyes locked onto Sakayanagi's violet ones, searching for any change in her expression.
"So, you're not interested in that photo anymore?"
"Or... have you remembered already?"
Her voice dropped on the second sentence, low and tempting, laced with provocation.
"That's not what matters right now."
Karuizawa took a deep breath.
"Last time, you said it was a student council issue… Is it Vice President Nagumo?"
"So you weren't just sulking in your room for three days."
Sakayanagi raised an eyebrow, impressed. She had only casually mentioned it before, yet Karuizawa had managed to follow the clues back to Nagumo Miyabi.
"Spare me the comments."
Her tone grew colder. Somewhere along the line, Karuizawa had stopped being afraid of strong, dominant personalities like Sakayanagi.
"You're right—it's him."
"To put it simply, Nagumo and Student Council President Horikita have fundamental ideological differences. Both lead separate factions."
"It's kind of like last semester's Class A conflict, except now it's playing out in the student council."
Sakayanagi dropped the sarcasm and got to the point.
"President Horikita is stepping down next semester, and Nagumo is set to take over."
"But Horikita doesn't want the entire council—or the school—falling into Nagumo's hands. So he's looking for a promising first-year to counter him."
"And that person is Ryo?"
Sakayanagi spread her hands slightly.
"It's complicated. I don't know for sure."
"But the fact is, Ryo hasn't joined the student council. Still, Nagumo has already marked him as an obstacle."
"What about the sports festival?"
"The student council has authority to modify special exam rules. The closest one coming up is the fall sports festival."
"It's very likely Nagumo will make his move then."
"And it's not just aimed at first-years. He might also be trying to prove his worth to Horikita-senpai in third year."
Sakayanagi laid out everything she knew.
"Got it."
Karuizawa didn't ask what she should do. From the moment Sakayanagi started talking, she had already analyzed the entire situation in her head.
"If he's trying to get Ryo expelled, don't we both have 20 million points?"
Sakayanagi smiled and sipped her tea.
"Would we really use them for that?"
They both understood what was left unsaid.
Even if they had the points to save him from a transfer or expulsion, it wasn't so simple. A or D class students had no standing to interfere.
And if either of them spent their fortune to protect the leader of another class? That decision would destroy their position within their own class.
More than that—
Still smiling, the two girls continued discussing the festival casually, but a silent thought echoed in both their hearts:
If I spend the 20 million to save him, he might be forcibly transferred into my class.
"Did you hear? Class 1-C is throwing a party tonight. Students from other classes are going too."
"Really? Where is it? I didn't expect something fun at the end of summer break."
"I think it's over by the Special Teaching Building."
The voices of two girls walking past the café reached their ears.
"..."
"..."
Sakayanagi and Karuizawa both fell silent—one studying the floral pattern on her plate, the other counting the designs on the ceiling.
When you've failed, the past feels meaningless.
But everyone dreams of confessing under the stars—of sharing memories with the one they love. Even if painful, it would still taste sweet.
"It's a confession, isn't it."
"It's a confession."
The two girls voiced their conclusions in unison.
Sakayanagi side-eyed the slightly downcast Karuizawa. Just moments ago, she had been sharp-tongued and assertive.
Sakayanagi pursed her lips, then sighed.
In that moment, even the mocking Sakayanagi Arisu understood all too well—
She was no different from the girl across from her.
Another heartbroken fool clinging to a sliver of hope.
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