"I've gone through the whole thing," Horikita Manabu said. "I take back what I said earlier. If you had already prepared something like this, Suzune, then talking big wasn't all that strange after all."
It looked like there was a bit of light in Horikita's little sister's eyes.
But Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses and gave her a sharp look. "So, how did you get this info?"
"Or maybe, my foolish little sister, you have no idea you've been used."
"..."
Just as expected.
Nobody knows his own sister better than her brother.
Shirogane watched quietly from a distance.
But Horikita Suzune was getting emotional.
"Brother, I know I'm still not that strong, but I'm not the same person I used to be."
"And this information—"
She said, "I got it by making a deal with Shirogane."
"From the info we've gathered so far, it's clear that the other side guided me into making this file, and I filled in the rest myself." Horikita Suzune was actually pretty honest about it.
"No." But Horikita Manabu suddenly changed direction. "I'm talking about the D-Class file. How did you get that? If you wanted to make a deal, you needed something to offer. So I'm guessing your offer was the D-Class file. But—"
"Don't tell me you made that file yourself. You couldn't have done it, Suzune. To make something like that, you need to really interact with people, talk to them, become good friends so they'll open up to you. But Suzune—you just can't do that."
It's not just that she can't. She's always been a loner. And even now, she's still often seen by herself.
So yeah—
His sister simply doesn't have the skills to build relationships with others.
Horikita Manabu was very clear on that point.
Also—
There was something else he didn't say out loud. Based on the quality of the D-Class file compared to the ones from A-Class and Ichinose's class, it looked like they were all made by the same person.
But—
If someone really made all three files, they would've needed to talk to 40 students per class, so about 120 students total.
And they'd have to do all of that within a month.
While some students here might know each other from the same middle school, most of them don't. So you'd have to rebuild your whole network from scratch.
Can the average person really pull that off?
"Well…" Horikita Suzune lowered her head under her brother's questioning. "Actually, I asked Kushida from our class to help."
"Kushida Kikyo," she added. "I don't know why, but she came to talk to me first. She's really good at making friends, and it seems like she's already connected with a lot of students."
"I was a bit annoyed, so I told her I wouldn't get in her way if she stopped bothering me."
"But even after that, she still came to talk to me every morning."
Her explanation was a little strange.
But Shirogane, listening nearby, picked up on something new.
To Horikita, it felt like Kushida was the one pushing to get close to her—almost like she was forcing herself in. Even though Horikita kept turning her away, Kushida never gave up.
And clearly, Horikita didn't think Kushida was just trying to "melt the ice queen."
Since Kushida was trying to be friends with everyone, it would actually be weird if she *didn't* try to get along with someone from her own class.
So, trying to get close to the hard-to-approach Horikita seemed like a normal move.
But—
It also didn't feel that normal.
Because Kushida had already made some contact with Horikita. Every morning, Kushida would walk to class with her. And judging from how she talked about Kouenji, it was clear Kushida wasn't too fond of him.
So when she had the chance to complain, she didn't hold back.
But with Horikita, she kept trying again and again.
That kind of persistence felt a bit strange.
"Kushida, huh…" Horikita Manabu thought aloud. "So you're saying she helped you write these evaluations?"
"Yes, I asked her. At first, she wanted to say no, but when I agreed to be her friend, she said okay and filled them out," Horikita's younger sister said honestly. "I don't know what her goal is, but she was willing to help me."
"…"
Horikita Manabu went quiet again.
It was clear that his sister only agreed to be Kushida's "friend" on the surface. Deep down, she didn't trust her, and thought Kushida must have some hidden reason.
At the same time—
Kushida's actions were also strange. As a third-year student, Horikita Manabu had never seen a classmate act like this. Her determination to approach his sister felt off.
After all, as her older brother, he knew how difficult his sister was to deal with.
She'd been a loner ever since kindergarten.
She completely misunderstood the difference between being "independent" and being "arrogant."
"So then—"
But surprisingly, instead of looking at his sister again, Horikita Manabu turned to face another direction.
"You've heard enough, haven't you?"
"Shirogane."
At that moment, Horikita Suzune also turned to look.
"I was just passing by. Do you believe that?"
Seeing both siblings looking at him, Shirogane raised his hands.
"The way you two talk reminds me of me and my own sister."
Even though Horikita Manabu seemed more dominant and Suzune more passive, their dynamic did remind Shirogane of how things were between him and his sister.
When she was little, his sister used to stick to him all the time. But once she got older, she started pushing him away.
He even started wondering if she hated him. She wouldn't even wash his or their dad's clothes with hers.
Having a sister going through puberty was really a mixed bag.
And after listening in on Horikita Manabu and Suzune's conversation for a bit, Shirogane felt like neither of them were really being honest about their feelings.
Which made their relationship feel tense.
But earlier, the narration system hinted that Horikita Manabu and Suzune had a love-hate kind of sibling relationship, one where they might start fighting any minute. Looking at it now, things didn't seem that extreme.
Even if something violent did happen, Shirogane still believed that Horikita Manabu—being the best student council president in school history—would know how to act like a proper big brother.
And Suzune didn't seem like the type who could fight her brother anyway.
So… could it be Manabu was the one about to hit his sister?
That thought was honestly kind of shocking.
Still—
For Horikita Manabu to resort to violence, Ayanokouji thinks it must have been for the sake of his sister.
Because—
From what he's seen so far, Horikita Manabu, being a senior student, clearly knows that his sister doesn't yet have what it takes to survive in this school.
So instead of letting her suffer and get used by others, it might be better to just have her expelled.
But when it comes to whether Horikita's sister is being used, Ayanokouji can say—it's happened at least twice. And one of those times involved him too.