Third meeting.
At last night's meeting, Houtarou had simply read his book.
As for today...
"Please gather in private room #3 at the restaurant at 3 PM." He said, giving this notice to Honami.
"What is this—" She asked, confused.
"It's about the final exam questions and solutions for this special student test." Houtarou said, "Also, our class has obtained information about Class B's VIPs."
Honami: "..."
Huh?
Having information about her class's VIPs — did this mean their own class's information had leaked, or was it something else entirely?
She looked over in shock, but Houtarou had already returned to his seat.
He brought three books with him: Quantum Mechanics, A Brief History of Time, and Resurrection.
{T/N: Authors: Possibly Bernard Diu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Franck Laloë for the first one, followed by books by Stephen Hawking and Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy}
Now that Kakeru had taken the bait, they could proceed with the afternoon meeting of representatives from all four classes.
He had also asked Suzune to relay the same notice. According to the teachers, the Dragon Group was supposed to be where class representatives gathered.
However, Tomonari's actions had caused a chain reaction, landing Class B's representative Honami in his Rabbit Group instead. That's why he needed to notify her separately.
All that remained was for the class representatives to sign the agreement at 3 PM.
Though there was one small exception.
Just as Houtarou sat down to read, a slender white hand reached out, "May I borrow A Brief History of Time?"
The voice was pleasant. It was Kei.
"During the exam period we can't contact our classmates, so I'd like to read for a while."
Hmm, Indeed.
While the Monkey Group's exam was finished, students in other groups still needed to hold discussions according to exam rules.
They could read books like Houtarou and the others were doing, regardless of discussion content. But no one could be certain if other groups were having intense discussions or searching for special student information.
Even with phones available, they might disturb their friends. Reading was the more convenient option.
"Sure." Houtarou handed A Brief History of Time to her.
He then glanced over at the Class C girls.
Mio continued reading. Shiho and her friends had arrived too, but they were huddled in a corner.
The three had phones but weren't looking his way — or rather, didn't dare to look. After all, they couldn't be sure whether Suzune had shared those compromising photos with him. Those were quite embarrassing images.
Then, soon after, Houtarou received a message.
| Kei Karuizawa — Cute Girl |
| The Class C girls seem afraid of me. |
| When I entered the Rabbit Group room, Manabe actually moved aside to let me pass. |
Oh. So Class C students become obedient after a beating? The effect was quite good.
Birds of a feather flock together — most Class C students were cut from the same cloth. Wonder if Kakeru would also become docile after a beating.
Houtarou thought to himself.
| Houtarou Oreki — Me |
| Yesterday I asked Horikita to rough them up and take compromising photos. Unless they don't care about their reputation, they won't dare cause you trouble anymore. |
He picked up his phone to reply.
Not having slept well last night, holding the book made him sleepy. He focused his attention on his phone instead.
| Kei Karuizawa — Cute Girl |
| Oh. Eh? |
Kei almost dropped her phone. She turned her clear eyes toward him in shock.
But quickly focused back on her phone as Houtarou sent another message.
| Houtarou Oreki — Me |
| You can't deny this method is very efficient. |
| Also, Horikita took the photos and then deleted them, so it was just to intimidate them. |
He explained in his message.
| Kei Karuizawa — Cute Girl |
| Oh. |
She seemed to accept this explanation, but her mind appeared to be elsewhere.
| Kei Karuizawa — Cute Girl |
| ...Then, about Horikita… |
She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.
| Kei Karuizawa — Cute Girl |
| Actually at school, everyone notices you're often together with her. My friends wonder if you two are dating. |
Friends wondering, huh?
| Houtarou Oreki — Me |
| She's my partner right now — her brother asked me to look after her. |
| She won't be interested in romance during her studies. |
| I also think dating during school is quite a waste of time. |
Oh. So you won't date during high school.
Kei sent back a | … |.
It was hard to tell what she was feeling — perhaps like being rejected before even confessing.
But also somewhat relieved, because if he wouldn't date, did that mean no one else had a chance either? Including Suzune.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Lunch break.
Houtarou asked Suzune to meet so they could have lunch together while exchanging information.
Though they could use phones, neither of them liked using them. They preferred meeting in person.
The two came to the restaurant.
However…
"Let's shake hands first." Houtarou said.
"..." Suzune said, "Whatever."
She expressionlessly placed her left hand on the table. Houtarou moved his chair and interlocked his fingers with hers.
Holding hands with her gave him a sense of peace.
While holding hands with Kikyō made him think more romantic thoughts — probably because he'd had rather inappropriate dreams about her last night.
He only held on for ten seconds before letting go.
"By the way, you didn't bring that girl from your class today?" Suzune asked, seeming concerned about other matters.
"You mean Kamuro? I gave her the day off. I'm not so heartless as to keep ordering her around." Houtarou said.
Actually, he suspected Masumi was Arisu's little spy. If she saw this scene, she might report it to her owner.
Masumi was always weighing which master to follow, wavering back and forth.
Whether Houtarou could control her, or if she had picked up Mio on her own initiative — one could imagine how many points would be deducted if Class A's leader information leaked. She'd likely be blamed by all her classmates.
So Houtarou had helped cover for her. Everyone still saw her as one of Arisu's favorites.
But with the island exam over, her near-spy incident was no longer useful as leverage. There was one less handle to grab onto Masumi with. Now all that remained was subtly influencing her.
She received ¥200,000 monthly from Arisu for pet care. But using money to corrupt her wasn't realistic. She didn't particularly like spending money, and she'd already been conditioned to be like that little girl.
At this stage, Houtarou chose to give her time off — let her experience freedom from being controlled.
So Masumi now had freedom.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
"It feels strange…" Masumi said as she lay in her room after lunch.
She found herself not knowing how to spend this time. Usually at this hour, she'd be getting food for Arisu or handling other tasks.
Having free time suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"No, no, no... What's wrong with having free time now!" She quickly caught herself.
What's wrong with having time to herself?
It's not like she's an M who needs to be on call all day.
⍟⍟⍟
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