"Beep—"
After the long ringing tone, the call was automatically cut off.
"—Beep, beep."
…Still no answer.
How many times had this been now?
Horikita Suzune took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in her chest.
Today's diary had updated again.
But the person who was supposed to read it with her, discuss its hidden meanings, and try to trace clues about the diary's owner—
Kushida Kikyo—
wasn't answering her calls at all.
And this wasn't the first time.
Ever since Kushida started turning down social gatherings.
Ever since she began disappearing at random times.
It had become harder and harder to reach her.
What on earth was that woman doing?
If this were somewhere else, Horikita might have worried about her safety.
But this was Advanced Nurturing High School.
What danger could a student possibly run into here?
Frowning, she grabbed her terminal and opened Kushida's chat window.
Her fingers flew across the screen as she typed out a string of accusations.
[What are you doing? Why aren't you answering? Are you going to leave me on read again? Aren't we friends?]
The message sent.
It circled once.
Still unread.
It looked like Kushida wouldn't be replying anytime soon.
…Actually, "anytime soon" wasn't quite right.
More like, she probably wouldn't reply at all.
Even when the status changed to "Read," she would just ignore it.
A perfect, elegant silence.
But when Horikita sent other kinds of messages, Kushida would respond as if nothing had happened.
The attitude was obvious.
"..."
Horikita felt helpless.
She didn't know what to do.
After all, "friends" were still something distant to her.
She didn't really understand where boundaries lay, or what the proper distance between friends was.
Sometimes she got too close.
Other times, she was too distant.
She couldn't figure it out…
Scratching her head, Horikita gave up on calling.
She had already tried several times.
The messages were unread.
There was no chance of getting through anytime soon.
She might as well read the diary first.
Judging from the pattern over the past fifty-plus days, since today was the midterm, the writer probably wouldn't just pad things out with trivial nonsense.
He should be writing something useful.
Rubbing her temples with a slight headache, Horikita opened the diary.
Then—
The words inside hit her like a punch to the face.
"Good news, I got a girlfriend."
"…Huh?"
Horikita frowned and stopped reading.
She checked the diary again and again, making sure it was the same one she'd been reading all along.
Flipping back.
Looking at the cover.
The pages.
Everything matched.
There was no doubt.
This was the same diary.
But…
Girlfriend…?
Feeling oddly uncomfortable, she suppressed it and kept reading.
She decided to hold her questions until the end.
"Chase who you like." "How to date." "Kissing"…
"…He's scolding me again."
Staring at the line after the kissing section, Horikita muttered quietly.
He didn't name her this time.
But no matter how she looked at it, he was clearly mocking her for having no one who liked her.
So what if no one likes me?!
Am I eating your rice?!
Do you really have to write such a long, roundabout rant just to insult me?
…Besides, if she wanted to, she could get a boyfriend too.
She was confident in her looks.
If she waved her hand casually, those shallow guys would swarm over like flies.
But there was no need.
She didn't need a boyfriend.
And she definitely didn't need romance.
And those stupid "finger-kissing simulation" tricks—
Completely unnecessary!
Marshmallow-like lips?
Honey-sweet taste?
She didn't care.
Not even a little.
If you want cotton candy, go buy some.
If you want honey, go eat it.
Why bother kissing?
Shaking her head hard, Horikita turned the page.
Finally, the kissing section ended.
Now came the "serious business" she'd been waiting for.
The midterms.
The exam itself wasn't a big deal.
She had never doubted her academic ability.
Even after adjusting her plans and spending less time studying, she was still among the top students.
…Though she hadn't really figured out what to do with that extra time yet.
Anyway.
There was no way she'd fail.
The ones who had to worry about passing were her classmates.
But…
Points again.
"Points are everything."
That idea had been repeated countless times.
By the diary.
By Chabashira Sae.
Again and again.
Personal points were extremely important.
But…
You could even cancel expulsion?
And even trade exam scores?
Was there any fairness left at all?
…No.
She was being naïve.
This school had never been fair to begin with.
Recalling the diary's earlier mention of "connected students," Horikita suddenly felt that buying exam scores wasn't that hard to accept anymore.
Still…
What was the point of thinking about this?
She didn't have any income yet!
No money.
It really hurt.
She'd tightened her spending to the extreme.
She didn't even dare think about unnecessary purchases.
Let alone buying someone's score to make them fail.
Besides, what was the meaning of that anyway?
If you bought someone's points, wouldn't they just buy them back?
Would anyone really let themselves be pushed into failing and expelled?
…Maybe not.
Thinking about it, Horikita felt her thoughts shift slightly.
Her mind began turning again.
Although the diary didn't say it clearly, it was obvious that buying scores had to be cheaper than canceling expulsion.
So, if…
If it was a class like D…
A class with barely any money…
A class with many students hovering around the passing line…
Then…
Wouldn't buying just one or two points…
Be enough to easily get someone expelled?
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