The moon rose over the sea and climbed into the sky, washing the campus in pale light.
On the tree-lined path, Suzune ran with her breath tight in her chest.
Her brother—Manabu Horikita—had finally contacted her first.
The moment his message came in, she didn't even stop to change shoes. She slipped out of the dorm in her slippers and ran.
She had wanted this for so long. She had so much she wanted to say.
But she had never dared to reach out on her own.
She was afraid he would despise her for stubbornly following him to this school. Afraid he would look down on her for being placed in Class D—a Defect class.
At this school, "Student Council President Manabu Horikita" was a name anyone could learn by asking around.
He was always in the spotlight.
Suzune was in Class D.
The gap between them was real, and she felt it every day.
The path at night wasn't dark. Streetlights were spaced along the walkway, their soft glow steady enough that Suzune could keep running without tripping. For once, the night didn't feel like it was pressing down on her.
-
After sending the location, Manabu turned off his phone and waited in an alley that had no surveillance cameras.
He cared about Suzune. He always had.
Originally, he planned to let her struggle through her first year on her own. Maybe watch from a distance. Maybe intervene only if it became truly necessary.
But Ren's appearance shattered that plan.
Manabu couldn't prove it, but the violent incident between Class C and Class D earlier that day felt connected. The timing. The structure. The way it escalated.
If that suspicion was correct, then for first-years, it wasn't about "growth" anymore.
It was about survival.
That was why he called Suzune out tonight.
He needed to warn her to be careful of Ren.
-
Suzune reached the meeting spot, pressed a hand against the wall, and tried to catch her breath.
"Brother…"
Manabu looked at her.
And the first thing out of his mouth wasn't concern.
"Suzune, you've disappointed me."
The words hit clean.
Suzune's eyes dimmed. The hand against the wall curled into a fist.
So in my brother's eyes… I really am that bad?
"Withdraw as soon as possible," Manabu said. "Stop embarrassing me by being my sister in Class D."
He had come to warn her about Ren.
Instead, he cut her down first.
Suzune swallowed hard and forced her voice steady.
"I'll rise to Class A. I'll catch up to you."
She refused to bend. She refused to back off.
She came to this school chasing his back. She wasn't going to quit because of one sentence—no matter who it came from.
Manabu's heart lifted at her stubbornness.
His mouth didn't show it.
"Suzune," he said, "from what I've seen… you don't have a single friend in Class D. Is that wrong?"
Manabu didn't say how he knew. He didn't need to.
He understood Suzune's personality better than anyone.
And because he understood it, he had spent years trying to correct it.
You don't accomplish anything big alone. Not here. Not like this.
Suzune bristled immediately.
"I don't need those Defect friends. I can do it alone—"
Manabu moved before she finished.
He closed the distance, slammed her back into the wall, and leaned in until his eyes were inches from hers.
"Suzune," he said, voice low and sharp, "you still don't understand the difference between being aloof and being alone."
His right arm drew back, aimed at her abdomen.
Suzune tightened her core and braced.
The hit never landed.
Kiyotaka Ayanokōji stepped in and caught Manabu's fist.
"You meant that punch," Ayanokōji said, expression flat.
He released Manabu's hand and spoke again.
"Let her go."
Suzune, head lowered, registered the arrival of a third presence. She looked up and saw her seatmate standing between her and her brother.
"Stop it, Ayanokōji-kun."
Manabu didn't answer.
His leg snapped up in a whip kick aimed to drive the freshman back.
Ayanokōji shifted one step and let the kick cut past empty air. Manabu followed with a punch toward Ayanokōji's waist.
Ayanokōji caught it again.
He didn't counter. He didn't chase. He simply stepped back twice and kept space, eyes calm, distance measured.
Manabu's gaze sharpened.
"Interesting," he said. "You've trained?"
While watching Suzune from the shadows, Manabu had also kept an eye on Ayanokōji. He already suspected Ayanokōji was hiding academic ability.
He hadn't expected this.
He can handle himself. And he didn't panic.
In Manabu's mind, one conclusion formed quickly.
If Suzune won't withdraw, then she needs people around her.
Real people.
At the very least, when Suzune runs into Ren later, she cannot be alone.
Ayanokōji was… useful.
"Calligraphy and piano," Ayanokōji answered calmly.
At the same time, Ayanokōji's thoughts moved in a different direction.
Manabu Horikita. Student Council President. Suzune's brother.
That connection mattered.
If Suzune had Manabu behind her, the Student Council might become possible. No first-year had been admitted so far—they'd all been turned away.
But Suzune wasn't just any first-year.
If she could get inside, her value would jump.
While Manabu weighed Ayanokōji as support for Suzune, Ayanokōji weighed Suzune as leverage
-
Manabu decided he still had to say it before leaving.
"Suzune. Be careful of—"
Crack.
A dry branch snapped.
The sound was too clear for a place this empty.
All three of them turned toward it at the same time.
Outside the alley, near the edge of the path, Ren was half-crouched with his phone raised, recording what had just happened.
At his feet lay the broken piece of branch—freshly snapped.
Not an accident.
A deliberate signal.
There was a fourth person here.
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