Speaking of Class D's gains from this special exam, the lively glint in Hoshinomiya's eyes faded, replaced by a cold sharpness.
"As expected," Yukio muttered faintly. Hoshinomiya's visit made sense now. Her long-standing rivalry with Chabashira and her disdain for Class D had to be the reason. It couldn't possibly be about anything else. "So, what's the deal between the two of you? After ten years, you're still at each other's throats?"
"What's with 'as expected,'" Hoshinomiya replied, her tone losing some of its usual warmth and cheerfulness. However, the fingers massaging Yukio's head remained gentle and deliberate. "Yukio-kun, you're so sly.
"Even though you promised me to suppress Class D, you still let them earn 200 class points. As for my history with Sae-chan, didn't I already explain after the Sports Festival?
"I told you, as long as I can see that look of pain on her face one more time, I'll share everything about the grudges between us. But instead, during this exam, Sae-chan was all smiles, wasn't she?"
"Heh." Yukio narrowed his eyes again. "First of all, I don't recall ever promising to help you with this, Hoshinomiya-sensei."
"Second, with the level of class points my class has, is it really necessary to focus on Class D?"
To Yukio, her request sounded absurd. If each class were likened to a competing company in the same industry, with class points representing their assets, it was as if she were asking the top-performing company to ignore their second- and third-place competitors and instead go after the weakest, bottom-tier one.
Hoshinomiya's fingers stopped, and her hands withdrew from his head. Standing over him, she looked down with a sharp, serious expression. "It's not just about the 200 class points."
"In this special exam, for some reason, Matsushita Chiaki from Class D emerged and unified the entire class. She's already far better than Horikita. There's even a trend of Matsushita gradually bringing the whole class together under her leadership."
"At that point, trying to suppress them will be much harder. A class that's slowly coming together won't leave others so many opportunities anymore."
This was the real issue that Hoshinomiya couldn't let go of. The 200 class points that Class D earned were merely a mild annoyance. After all, during the Sports Festival, hadn't Class D also earned 50 points? If she got upset every time Class D gained class points, she'd never know peace.
What truly irked her was Matsushita's ability to unify Class D. The newfound cohesion and potential future growth of the class were things Hoshinomiya absolutely couldn't tolerate.
Under Hoshinomiya's oppressive gaze, Yukio, reclining in her lap pillow, didn't feel a thing. The problem was simple—Hoshinomiya belonged to that category of striking beauties whose physique could obscure such nuances. In this position, it was genuinely challenging to make direct eye contact.
Without catching Hoshinomiya's intense gaze, Yukio's grin took on a playful, roguish quality, tinged with the lazy insolence of a true scoundrel. "And what," he began, "does that have to do with me?"
"What do you mean by that?" Hoshinomiya's tone didn't erupt in anger but instead dropped a notch, carrying a chilling edge.
How annoying! she thought. Yukio clearly intended to enjoy the sugar coating without accepting the hidden "bomb." Hoshinomiya, exhausted and drenched from her efforts, was met with his casual indifference. For him to say it had nothing to do with him—she was barely restraining herself from flipping him off the pillow.
It was impossible for her to respond kindly. Her clenched teeth and voice were tight with frustration, as if the words were squeezed out from between them. "So, Yukio-kun, in the end, you're choosing to side with Sae-chan, aren't you?
"Or tell me—what kind of benefits has she offered you? Is there something she has that I don't?"
Hearing Hoshinomiya's escalating agitation, Yukio couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache. Benefits? From Chabashira? He barely spoke with her! And somehow, this spiraled into a comparison of who was better—Hoshinomiya or Chabashira?
Ah, women. Their thoughts are truly like needles lost in the depths of the sea. Even the smartest person would struggle to figure out such illogical trains of thought.
"Don't misunderstand, Hoshinomiya-sensei," Yukio said, lifting his right hand slightly and waving it dismissively as if swatting away an invisible mosquito. "It's just that I'm not interested in Class D at the moment."
"It's just that simple—it has nothing to do with any benefits," Yukio explained plainly, attempting to ground Hoshinomiya in reality. Yet, her mind seemed elsewhere, consumed by an inexplicable desire to settle things definitively with Chabashira.
"So, you're saying I'm not as good as Sae-chan?" she pressed, stubbornly clinging to her interpretation.
Initially, Yukio had intended to repay the pleasant massage session with a proper explanation. But seeing Hoshinomiya's unreasonable attitude now, he knew logic wasn't going to work.
If that was the case, why hold back? If she couldn't handle discussions of logic or benefits, he'd just speak in terms she could understand in her current mood.
"You know what? Yeah, I think Chabashira-sensei is better than you," Yukio said with an exaggerated shrug.
"You!" Hoshinomiya's voice shot up a pitch, glaring down at him as if he'd just committed some kind of betrayal.
Her chest heaved with agitated breaths, the rhythmic rise and fall almost mesmerizing. Yukio's eyes involuntarily widened, but he quickly snapped back to the matter at hand. "What's with the 'you'? At least Chabashira-sensei wears black stockings. What do you have, Hoshinomiya-sensei?"
Of course, this was a blatant lie. In Yukio's eyes, stockings or no stockings didn't really matter. If someone was attractive, the rest was secondary. He was just saying it to rile Hoshinomiya up, and judging by her reaction, it was working.
Hoshinomiya had no intention of wasting another word on this sly, insufferable man. If Yukio wasn't going to be of any help, she'd just handle Chabashira on her own. "Get up," she snapped.
With that, she prepared to leave the dorm room. This visit had been an utter loss—she'd gained nothing, wasted a perfectly good massage session, and ended up seething with anger. It was a complete disaster.
Yukio didn't try to stop her. He got up halfway, lifting his head off her lap so she could move freely. Hoshinomiya pushed off with her feet to stand up from the futon.
But life has a way of throwing curveballs. After sitting in a kneeling position for so long, with Yukio's head resting on her legs, her circulation had been cut off. As soon as she stood, a wave of numbness shot up her legs.
It felt like she'd stepped on a live wire, the electric sensation coursing through her feet, knees, and calves. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she stumbled awkwardly.
Hoshinomiya ended up toppling forward onto Yukio's back. Thankfully, her... substantial assets cushioned the impact, so Yukio wasn't hurt. However, Hoshinomiya herself felt a sharp pressure in her chest, making her even more annoyed.
But just because Yukio wasn't injured didn't mean he was comfortable. He froze in place, daring not to move a muscle. "Hey, hey, Hoshinomiya-sensei, let's talk this out calmly. There's no need for this, right?"
Hoshinomiya, for her part, was disoriented by the stumble. Losing her balance was one thing, but as she fell, her instinct was to grab onto something for support. Unfortunately—or rather, fortunately for comedic timing—her hands landed squarely on Yukio's most sensitive "handles."
That was when Yukio immediately abandoned his earlier defiance. His tone softened drastically as he tried to negotiate. "I take it back! I was wrong! Let's talk this out—no need to escalate things!"
"Hmm?" Hoshinomiya seemed to realize what she was holding, and then, as if a switch had flipped, her frustration and anger magically vanished. Her playful, mischievous demeanor returned, her lips curling into a triumphant grin. "Oh my, Yukio-kun, lying is such a bad habit, you know?"
"You had the nerve to say I'm not as good as Sae-chan, even mentioning her black stockings and how I don't wear them. But so what?" She leaned in closer, teasingly. "Hehe, even without stockings, Yukio-kun, didn't you still react?."
"This completely undermines your argument, doesn't it?"
And that was the real reason Hoshinomiya had calmed down. From her perspective, Yukio's flustered reaction was undeniable proof that she had completely outshined Chabashira. Nothing could validate her triumph more thoroughly than this moment.