After a moment of silence, Kushida finally spoke again.
"It's fine if you like her. No one's stopping you. You've had your eye on her since the start of the school year anyway."
The girl's tone sounded completely indifferent as she spoke.
She paused, then added, "I revealed her thoughts to you tonight. You must be quite satisfied, right? In my opinion, she's just being stubborn right now. Once you've had your way with her, I don't believe she'll dare to keep up that tough act."
No girl could remain indifferent to being forcibly kissed.
Given Horikita Suzune's personality, if she hadn't chosen to call the police immediately or felt particularly humiliated, she would have retaliated on the spot.
The fact that she didn't do so meant she at least didn't dislike Kaoru.
Horikita's current state seemed more like she was unconsciously avoiding Kaoru, unsure how to face him, which left her feeling conflicted and lost.
"Actually, I'm more curious why she would tell you all this?" Kaoru hadn't forgotten that Horikita and Kushida had a strained relationship—they were hardly close enough to discuss such topics.
If Horikita simply wanted someone to confide in, he felt she would rather talk to a wall than turn to Kushida.
"That's exactly why I said her brain must be broken. The reason she came to me was because she thought she could help me escape from you." Kushida let out a cold laugh.
"Horikita plans to 'rescue' me from your grasp—in exchange, I have to agree to her conditions, helping her deal with the class and get Class D promoted to Class A."
Kaoru thought about it.
From Horikita Suzune's perspective, she had realized her own strength wasn't enough to defeat Class A.
Recognizing this, she began making changes—trying to get others to understand her while also attempting to understand them.
During the previous sports festival, Horikita had noticed Sudou athletic abilities.
Influenced by Kaoru, she had genuinely tried to reach a mutual understanding with Sudou, hoping to gain his trust.
And today, the reason she had approached Kushida was also to gain her trust.
Horikita had no experience in dealing with people.
She didn't know how to beat around the bush, so she straightforwardly stated her intentions.
Because of this, Kushida had been able to pry out a lot of information—things Horikita likely considered bargaining chips to earn trust.
In Horikita's eyes, Kushida who had been blackmailed by Kaoru must resent being controlled by him.
So, she planned to "save" Kushida in exchange for her cooperation.
It was a plausible line of thinking.
If Kushida truly resented her situation, this plan might have had a chance.
"Heh, but I didn't reject her outright. The way she was so serious was hilarious. She even planned to exploit the fact that you like her to make you give up on me."
It was the first time Kushida had seen a sheep trying to strategize for a wolf—even willing to put itself in danger.
She couldn't help but find it amusing.
"How does she plan to exploit me?" Kaoru was curious.
If he let Kushida go, would Horikita agree to be with him?
"Who knows? I won't give her that chance. The only place she belongs is on her knees before you, making obscene expressions." Kushida's voice turned icy.
"Does she really think that just because she shows a little kindness, everyone has to grovel in gratitude?"
Kaoru had a bit of a headache.
Her conflict with Horikita wasn't actually irreconcilable, and they weren't mortal enemies.
The key issue was that the two of them simply couldn't stand each other.
The problem was that Horikita was already thinking about how to change, while Kushida still held a strong grudge against her.
If they had to coexist in the future, they'd probably end up arguing constantly.
"You perverted foot fetishist, you're not allowed to go out tomorrow. Stay in your room, take a bath, and be alone. Don't let anyone into your room, and turn off your phone too."
For some reason, Kushida started giving orders to Kaoru.
"Did you forget something?"
"Perverted Master, please wait for me in your room tomorrow. Is that better?"
"Give me a reason."
"Because I want you to see Horikita's shameless side. Will that do, Master?"
"Won't I get to see your shameless side too?"
"Heh."
...
Although some time had passed, Horikita Suzune still felt a lingering sense of tension and unease.
Of course she'd be angry about something like being forcibly kissed, but what she couldn't understand was why she had frozen up at the time—as if she hadn't been able to react, or as if she'd resigned herself to it.
In front of him, she often ended up at a disadvantage.
And after he'd done so many strange, bad things to her, Horikita felt like she had already grown accustomed to his dominance and her own repeated defeats against him.
Horikita didn't care about the former.
No matter how many bad things Kaoru did to her, she herself had never consented, so it wasn't her fault.
The latter, however, was a serious problem—one that filled her with humiliation.
She had actually grown used to her own failures.
But no matter how angry she was, Horikita had no choice but to face the cold, hard truth.
She might really not be able to advance to Class A.
Under Kaoru's influence, Horikita had come to realize that she'd been too fixated on her brother's shadow.
Blindly chasing after someone else would only cause her to lose her own independence.
That was probably also why her brother had been disappointed in her.
Still, Horikita wanted to prove herself.
To break free from her admiration and reverence, she needed to attain strength that surpassed his.
Nothing would prove that better than making both her brother and Kaoru change their views of her.
Horikita clenched her fists, then pressed her lips together and lightly knocked on the door in front of her.
She couldn't run away.
Her own rule for herself was to never avoid problems—no matter what happened, she wouldn't escape reality.
She knew Kaoru liked her.
In fact, she should have realized it during their previous conversations, but at the time, her mind had been entirely focused on how to defeat him.
Either fall for Kaoru Mitoma or kill Kaoru Mitoma.
Somehow, it felt like she'd set an impossible task for herself.
The thought made Horikita sigh inwardly.
The next moment, the door opened.
"Suzune?" Kaoru's eyes flickered with surprise when he saw her standing outside.
"I didn't call for you, yet you came to me on your own?"
Horikita had been about to avoid his gaze but forced herself to hold it instead.
Staring straight into his eyes, she said stiffly, "I'm here to repay my debt. I have 10,700 points this month."
Yes, all these Personal Points had been earned through her diligent extortion efforts.
After all, Sudou Ken had club activities, so he could cover the tutoring fees.
Additionally, she had already given all her personal rewards from the sports festival to Kaoru last month.
The girl hadn't spent over 500 points in nearly half a year, especially in the last two months.
If it weren't for the free goods and ingredients available at supermarkets and convenience stores, she probably wouldn't have survived until today.
Kaoru looked at her with a strange expression.
Though she had been diligently repaying the principal, he still collected interest.
Horikita Suzune seemed well aware of this, her face slightly flushed.
After all, since the forced kiss incident, she hadn't sought out Kaoru this entire month and had missed several weeks of interest payments.