"I don't think so!" A girl with cute twin tails spoke up.
This was Mei-Yu, Kikyō's best friend.
"I don't think it's Horikita. I can't imagine her dating at all."
"That's true." Haruka nodded in agreement, "She seems like the type who'd be happy about marriage but completely hopeless when it comes to dating."
Thud—
Everyone noticed a sound.
It was Kikyō. She had dropped her pencil case.
"Um…" Aware of becoming the center of attention, she quickly said, "Well, I'm curious what Horikita would be like in love."
The thought actually frightened her. Houtarou had told her that while he had no romantic feelings for Suzune, he had considered marriage with her.
Marriage only, no dating. Was Suzune the same type?
Since she had leverage over that girl and had promised Houtarou to help manage Suzune's relationships, she tried to defuse the situation.
"I don't think those two are dating. Horikita puts studying first, and dating would take up too much time…" Kikyō said.
"I see." Chiaki nodded.
She noticed Maya calming down slightly upon learning her rival wasn't the top beauty.
But...
"Then, who does Oreki like?" Airi asked.
She had been caught up in this by chance, having passed by the confession scene and ending up stuck in the classroom when she'd meant to go to the cafeteria.
As she spoke, she glanced carefully at Kei, who seemed lost in thought.
"Who does he like... Actually, Sakayanagi from Class A is quite cute." Haruka said.
Airi was shy and timid, and as her friend, Haruka wanted to include her in the group conversation to prevent her from becoming isolated. So she elaborated on her comment.
She also noticed that as she said this, Maya seemed to stop crying.
Hmm. Maya's heartbreak seemed to be transforming into something else. Though this wasn't necessarily good — she might start viewing whoever Houtarou liked as a rival. Still, being rejected during a confession was harsh.
And judging by her reaction, this was clearly her first love.
"Of course, it could also be Masumi Kamuro, who brought him to our class on the first day of school."
Haruka was also one of the students who had spent 10,000 points to stay that day.
"I don't think so."
The girls in class shook their heads.
"Rather than dating, when Kamuro and Oreki are together, it looks more like... I'm not sure how to describe it, but something doesn't quite fit."
Because it's like a master and his dog, Kikyō thought sarcastically.
"Yeah, that's definitely true." Mei-Yu joined in, seeming excited, "Actually, I know! I think Oreki is actually with Kushi... Yesterday I saw them together... mmph—"
She was immediately silenced by Kikyō's hand over her mouth.
Kikyō had sensed that right now, anyone mentioned would become both a target for Maya's comfort and a rival to criticize. She didn't want to be dragged into this.
So Little Mei, better stay quiet for now. Kikyō quickly steered herself away from the topic's center.
"Actually, I think Oreki saying he likes someone was probably just an excuse to reject her." Kikyō said.
"W-why?" Maya finally turned around.
"Just a feeling..." Kikyō explained, "He doesn't seem very good at dealing with girls, and didn't he blush when you confessed earlier?"
"You're right." Maya recalled the scene.
So, Houtarou doesn't actually have someone he likes. He just gave a polite rejection.
But isn't that still being rejected? Maya looked ready to cry again.
At this moment...
"What are you all discussing?" A voice came from the doorway, "I heard something about Oreki."
It was Suzune, the top beauty with beautiful black hair. She had already returned.
"We were talking about how Houtarou might have a girl he likes." Haruka answered.
"Oh." Suzune seemed to lose interest, probably thinking it foolish to discuss romance instead of studying.
When she heard Houtarou's name, her thoughts turned to this month's special exam and their point-gathering plan. She still had a long way to go before reaching 20 million points, after all.
She noticed everyone looking at her.
So Suzune said, "That's probably not true. He told me he wants to focus on studying at school and thinks dating is a waste of time. Even if someone like Kushida confessed, I think he would reject them."
Ah. I see.
After that, no one in class discussed Maya's confession anymore. They all understood — Houtarou was simply that kind of person who would reject anyone. If it wasn't Maya, anyone else who confessed would meet the same fate.
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Meanwhile, the newly-labeled playboy Houtarou returned to the cafeteria. He was surprised to find a spot saved for him at Arisu's reserved seat, where Masumi had already gotten food.
"Thank you."
Arisu sat across from him.
"Have you already rejected the girl from Class C?" She asked.
Her sitting posture was cute — knees together, with her cane placed to the side. Looking her way, one could only see white stockings.
Having recently been harassed by some strange photos, Houtarou reflexively noticed her stockings first when looking at her.
He quickly averted his gaze.
"I'm feeling somewhat complicated." Houtarou said, "I seem to have made a girl cry."
Oh. So he had properly rejected the confession. Just as he'd said, he didn't feel secure about high school romance.
Arisu stopped talking to him.
While Houtarou ate the food Masumi had gotten, his mood seemed to settle somewhat.
Yes, he needed to calm down. Being confessed to by a girl for the first time in his life had left quite an impact.
Still, he should visit the library after school. With confessions, if it's just a joke, it's nothing — but once you realize someone likes you, future meetings and conversations become awkward.
You become acutely aware that they like you, or used to like you, and it affects your emotional judgment.
And at Advanced Nurturing High School, with its closed management system and shared year group, they were likely to meet often. He needed to find a book about the proper way to handle this situation.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
At that moment, at the back table.
A girl with silver-white hair was eating alone. She hadn't intended to sit there, but had noticed the area was relatively empty.
After sitting down, however, she realized her mistake — she had accidentally chosen a spot near Class A's boss Arisu Sakayanagi and Houtarou Oreki's reserved seats.
When she tried to leave, Arisu arrived. Left with no choice, she attempted to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
Neither Houtarou nor Arisu noticed her presence, allowing her to overhear their conversation about a confession and rejection.
So Houtarou had just rejected someone's confession?
He really was popular. Hiyori had noticed the girls in class frequently discussing him and sharing his photos. Kikyō was the main source of these pictures, since he was photogenic and she always managed to capture good shots.
Though Hiyori kept to herself, she didn't want to feel left out — so she too had saved a couple of Houtarou's photos on her phone.
Despite Kakeru's strong dislike of him, there was no denying Houtarou's popularity among the girls. Some even wondered how he'd look with his bangs swept up.
And Hiyori couldn't help but agree — he was indeed handsome.
But something strange had been happening lately with some of the girls in class. Particularly with Shiho Manabe.
At the start of school, Shiho had invited her to join Houtarou's store-opening plan. Though Hiyori thought it better to be cautious and advised them to be careful, they all joined anyway, just like Daichi and the others — and consequently lost points.
Since Kakeru had forcefully interrupted the plan, he had to take the blame.
Despite this, Shiho and the others maintained a good impression of Houtarou.
Yet after the Special Exam ended, something changed — they weren't as enthusiastic as before. They seemed almost afraid.
Being usually alone and observant, Hiyori had keenly noticed these changes in Shiho and the others, pondering their meaning.
And now, Houtarou had directly rejected someone's confession and immediately reported it to Arisu?
Hmph. What a player!
After all, wasn't he already dating someone?
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
In the afternoon, in Class 1-A.
"That's all for today's lesson. Class dismissed!"
After just two afternoon classes, the math teacher left.
Remaining in the classroom, Houtarou found himself distracted, less efficient than usual — a clear sign his heart was wavering.
This was his first confession, and he had no experience handling such situations. He decided to visit the library to find relevant books that might help him regain his composure.
After all, he knew he had no romantic feelings for Maya.
Yet he wondered — could things ever return to normal with someone who had gathered the courage to confess to him?
He had seen Honami handle confessions before, but when it actually happened to him, he couldn't maintain the same composure.
Looking at it that way, that angel was truly remarkable. Perhaps he should seek her advice?
Asking Kikyō wouldn't help — even though she had received a confession just yesterday during their outing, she hadn't flinched at all. She probably didn't take such confessions seriously, remaining completely unmoved.
And Houtarou refused to learn to wear a mask like her.
"Oreki-kun, Sakayanagi-san..."
Kōhei had been waiting patiently.
"About the exam questions, I hope you can help."
Though his academic ability was A-level, he could only score around 89 out of 100, while both Houtarou and Arisu could achieve perfect scores.
Houtarou and his seat neighbor Arisu exchanged glances.
"Katsuragi-kun wants Sakayanagi to make the questions, right?" Houtarou had already stood up.
"That's not right." Arisu said, "Katsuragi-kun wants Oreki-kun to do this work, right?"
They exchanged another glance.
The task involved creating questions for eight subjects, fifty questions per subject. Their class had declared war on Class C, and this test paper, due on the 24th, would become Class C's exam paper for the 27th.
It seemed important but troublesome. They would need to review all the junior high content and create or select questions from the school's syllabus.
It wasn't easy and would take considerable time.
Moreover, this test paper was meant to be leaked to Class C in exchange for the agreement on the island's exchange goods — essentially a paper designed to be leaked.
Why invest so much effort into a paper that would be leaked? It wouldn't fail anyone anyway.
"I think creating exam questions requires considerable prudence." Houtarou said.
"I think so too." Arisu nodded.
"So, Katsuragi-kun, could we ask you?" Houtarou said.
"I also think we can only rely on Katsuragi-kun." Arisu said.
"Eh..." Kōhei suddenly realized he'd come asking for their help but ended up being assigned the task himself.
But now both of them were looking at him expectantly. He had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
"… Sigh."
Watching Kōhei leave while scratching his head.
"Why don't you want to make the questions?" Houtarou asked.
"Well, why don't you want to? I need to go back to the dorm to pet my cat." Arisu said, "It gets lonely if left alone too often."
Petting the cat, huh.
His cat, currently being kept at her place. For cats, companionship was indeed necessary.
And what about his own excuse? Since it was something anyone could do, there was no need for him to put in the effort. Better to have Kōhei handle it.
With the question-making successfully delegated, Houtarou made his way to the library.
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In the library, Houtarou found a pile of love-related books in the section starting with L and stacked them on the desk.
However, after reading through them, he found they only covered dating and breakups — nothing about how to remain friends after receiving a confession.
Could it be... that it's impossible to return to a normal relationship after a confession?
"This is when it would be good to have Ichinose here." Houtarou muttered.
"Eh? Were you calling me?" a voice came from the back table of the library.
When Houtarou looked over, he saw a cute girl with pink hair. It was Honami.
And appearing so coincidentally, she was truly a guardian angel.
⍟⍟⍟
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