"Horikita-san, how were your entrance exam scores?" Kiyomizu changed the subject, getting to the main point.
Suzune Horikita lifted her chin slightly, her tone filled with undeniable confidence. "Conservatively, in the top five of the entire grade."
"Oh?" Kiyomizu raised an eyebrow. It was unlikely that Horikita was lying. This answer further confirmed his belief that the class assignments were not based solely on academic performance. If that were the case, then by the same logic, the school's system for distributing points was likely far more complex than it appeared on the surface.
"What do you think of this class division system?" Kiyomizu asked, seemingly at random.
Horikita paused for a moment, her fingertips tapping on the desk. "...It's nothing more than random assignment." Her gaze unconsciously swept across the classroom. In her view, with Kiyomizu's intelligence, his grades were clearly on par with hers, not to mention the class also had outstanding students like Yosuke Hirata. In Horikita's perception, Class D was quite strong.
"Horikita-san," Kiyomizu suddenly asked, "in the past two days, besides me and Ayanokoji-kun over there, have you actually spoken to anyone else? For example, students from Class B, Class C... or even Class A?" His gaze meaningfully swept across the room, finally landing on Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
Surprisingly, the reserved boy gave a slightly awkward nod in their direction. Kiyomizu raised an eyebrow; in his mind, this classmate wasn't the type to get shy easily. Still, out of politeness, he returned the nod.
Ayanokoji's tone carried a subtle sense of distance. "Besides her questioning me yesterday, Horikita-san and I haven't really spoken..."
Horikita's reply was curt and without hesitation. "...I have no interest in making friends."
Kiyomizu almost blurted out the rest of the famous line for her—"If any of you are aliens, time travelers, or espers, come find me." The thought made him chuckle to himself. The cold, aloof girl before him was nothing like the energetic Haruhi Suzumiya.
(But still...) Even someone who rejected socializing as much as she did, a normal high school student would at least have one or two friends to talk to. To be a complete loner like this was a bit too...
"Doesn't that mean you've only spoken to me these past two days?" Kiyomizu suddenly realized, a hint of surprise in his voice.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's gaze shifted between the two of them, his expression neutral. "Horikita-san seems to enjoy herself when she's talking to you, Kiyomizu-kun."
Horikita immediately frowned and retorted coolly, "Enjoy myself? Don't misunderstand. We just happen to be in the same class and sit next to each other. It's merely necessary communication."
At that moment, Kiyomizu clearly recognized a fatal flaw in Suzune Horikita—her almost obsessive social anxiety was severely impairing her judgment.
(I see...)
Suzune Horikita was indeed exceptionally intelligent, but her self-imposed isolation meant she couldn't even establish the most basic campus information network. Right now, her understanding of the class system was stuck at the most superficial level of "random assignment," a conclusion based entirely on her isolated speculation.
(She's only spoken to me in two days... No wonder.)
Kiyomizu couldn't help but recall how he had maneuvered information about the class division rules out of their homeroom teacher. No matter how smart a person was, they couldn't possibly obtain all the key information in complete isolation. Suzune Horikita was like an island—rich in resources, but gradually falling into trouble because it was cut off from the mainland.
Kiyomizu shook his head slightly, his tone calm but firm. "You're wrong. It's not random."
"What proof do you—" Horikita began to retort instinctively but stopped short when she saw his expression. There was no mockery in his eyes, only the certainty of stating a fact. She suddenly realized that the person in front of her had no motive to deceive her.
Silence stretched between them.
Kiyomizu watched Horikita as she fell into thought. He admired the girl's beauty and stubbornness, but information was never a free lunch. "If you really can't figure it out, you can buy the information from me with points," Kiyomizu leaned in slightly, his voice lowered to a volume only the two of them could hear. "I can give you a 20% discount. I guarantee it'll be worth it."
"I don't need it!" Horikita retorted almost reflexively, her voice firm and resolute. "I can figure it out myself."
This proud deskmate of his had absolute confidence in her own intelligence. But this kind of information usually required extensive social networking to uncover clues, and with Horikita's "keep away" personality... Kiyomizu couldn't help but imagine her trying to get information from upperclassmen. Her cold attitude alone would be enough to make anyone back off. If social methods were off the table, even he would have trouble thinking of other ways to uncover the hidden rules.
...
The morning classes began as scheduled. Kiyomizu opened his new textbook, his fingertips brushing against the paper. Although his grades had been decent in his past life, the Japanese education system was a different matter. Math and English were manageable, as formulas and grammar were universal. But when the Japanese language teacher began explaining classical grammar, his brow furrowed unconsciously.
"In this passage from The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagon employs a special rhetorical device..."
The teacher's voice at the podium gradually faded into a dull background noise. Kiyomizu stared at the dense annotations in his textbook, feeling as if every character were dancing before his eyes. He subconsciously rubbed his temples. The small gesture did not escape the notice of his neighbor.
"Heh~"
(Is she laughing at me?)
...
When the lunch bell rang, the classroom immediately erupted into a lively buzz.
"Want to go to the cafeteria together?" A handsome, cheerful boy stood in the middle of the aisle, extending a smiling invitation. Kiyomizu recognized him at a glance as the central figure of Class D, Yosuke Hirata. He'd gotten that piece of information from Kanji Ike just yesterday.
"Sure! Let's go, Hirata-kun!" several boys responded enthusiastically.
-------
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