"So, you need me to help contact Kushida-san?" Ayanokoji asked Horikita for confirmation.
No matter how he looked at it, it would be easier to go through Amane.
From Ayanokoji's perspective, his relationship with Kushida was merely an acquaintance.
It should be about the same as Horikita's.
And Amane herself was part of the group that hung out with Kushida.
So, Ayanokoji was puzzled by Horikita asking for his help.
Horikita naturally saw Ayanokoji's confusion.
But she couldn't explain it.
How could she explain it?
Should she explain that because she and Kushida used to be students at the same school, she accidentally heard some rumors about her and was then disliked by her?
If she said something like that, Ayanokoji might even think she was lying.
Moreover... Horikita instinctively didn't want Amane and Kushida to have too much contact.
Kushida's words about taking Amane away from her were still fresh in her mind.
Horikita would rather Amane stay far away from Kushida.
How could she allow Amane and Kushida to interact more?
If Ayanokoji contacted her, Kushida might unconditionally agree to help Ayanokoji out of consideration for their classmates' feelings.
Even if Kushida disliked Horikita, she wouldn't easily act on it if there were outsiders present.
If Amane asked Kushida for help, Kushida might make some excessive demands.
Since Kushida was needed, then from any perspective, it was clearly safer for Ayanokoji to invite Kushida.
"Yes, this matter still requires your assistance, Ayanokoji."
After receiving Horikita's affirmative reply, Ayanokoji nodded.
"Then I'll give it a try, but... Horikita-san, do you really think Class D can rise to Class A?"
Ayanokoji looked at the confident Horikita and asked a question that seemed abrupt but was also reasonable.
The reason it seemed abrupt was that since even someone like Horikita had started taking action, she must have intended to elevate Class D to Class A.
Ayanokoji asking this was clearly redundant.
If there were no possibility of rising from D to A, Horikita Suzune would not have taken action.
Saying it was reasonable was also fine.
After all, there was a chasm-like gap between D and A.
The gap was so large that it might not be bridged in one or two years.
Anyone would question the feasibility of such an endeavor.
"I'd like to say that's a foolish question, but upon second thought... could it be that you're getting cold feet, Ayanokoji?" Horikita looked at Ayanokoji with a hint of suspicion.
"That's not what I mean. You need to know that the gap between Class D and Class A isn't just the difference from 939 to 940, but from 0 to 940. Can such a pursuit truly succeed?" Ayanokoji seemed to be recalling something.
"Giving up and escaping, while sounding cowardly, can be very effective at times. As long as you choose to give up, you won't experience failure. So—Horikita-san, are you prepared for failure? It's very possible that everything you do will be in vain."
Ayanokoji seemed to be trying to persuade Horikita to give up.
Horikita narrowed her eyes, as if trying to read something from Ayanokoji's facial expression.
But facing the expressionless Ayanokoji, Horikita was completely unable to decipher any information she needed from his face.
This surprised Horikita, who had some knowledge of cold reading.
"If you are testing me, Ayanokoji, then I can tell you responsibly that I need to lead Class D to Class A to prove something to others. From the very beginning, I had no option to run away."
Horikita Suzune recalled how terrible Horikita Manabu's evaluation of her was.
She needed the status of Class A to prove to her that she had grown.
She was no longer the Horikita Suzune of yesteryear.
She also possessed the ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with Horikita Manabu.
"And if you're serious... then I can only say you underestimate me too much, Ayanokoji. It's getting late, and I'm going back to sleep. What are you going to do?" Horikita asked with a double meaning.
Ayanokoji pondered for a moment.
"I'm going to contact Kushida-san."
Seeing that Ayanokoji still chose to cooperate, Horikita smiled.
However, she began to wonder what method Chabashira-sensei used to convince an isolationist like Ayanokoji to assist her.
"Pleasure working with you."
"Pleasure working with you... Aren't you going to shake hands?" Ayanokoji instinctively extended his hand when Horikita said, "Pleasure working with you."
But Horikita had no intention of shaking his hand; instead, her eyes were full of disdain.
"Sorry, I don't have a habit of shaking hands."
"I see..." Ayanokoji withdrew his hand, a little disappointed.
After discussing the details of the study group with Ayanokoji, Horikita returned to the dorm first.
As soon as she opened the door, a figure rushed into her arms.
"Waaah, waah, waah, Suzune, you're finally back!" Looking at Amane, who didn't even bother to feign crying and was openly rubbing against her, Horikita ruffled her hair.
"I just had something to do. Weren't you sleeping soundly just now? So I didn't tell you. Why did you suddenly wake up?"
According to Amane's sleeping habits, once she fell asleep, she shouldn't be able to be woken up no matter how much you called her.
Of course, not waking up also had another explanation: you can't wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.
"I hit my head on the floor when I turned over just now, and then I woke up." Amane showed a silly smile.
Paired with that somewhat dazed expression, it made it impossible for anyone to get angry.
"Honestly, how can anyone be as clumsy as you?" Even though she had already wrapped Amane in a blanket, she never expected her to wake up in such a way.
"I'm not clumsy!" Amane puffed out her cheeks, looking as cute as a little hamster secretly storing winter provisions.
Horikita pinched Amane's face.
"Alright, don't be angry, go back to bed and sleep."
"What about Suzune?" Amane looked at Horikita expectantly.
"I'll sleep too. You're so old and still need someone to coax you to sleep, Amane, you're just like a child." Horikita gave Amane a helpless roll of her eyes.
However, Amane's thick skin had long since grown accustomed to this.
After changing into her pajamas, Amane quickly burrowed into the covers, then peeked out her little head to look at Horikita.
Horikita also changed into her pajamas and lay down beside Amane.
It's worth mentioning that Horikita had originally prepared two blankets.
However, Amane would always crawl into Horikita's blanket in the middle of the night.
After it happened many times, Horikita simply tacitly allowed them to sleep under one blanket.
"Good night."
"Good night, Suzune."
After exchanging good nights, the two of them drifted off to sleep... just kidding!
Amane and Horikita both opened their eyes in the dark, silently observing each other..
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