The main entrance of the academic building.
Axel End successfully met up with Suzune Horikita.
“Let’s go.”
There were only a handful of reasons why Manabu Horikita would want to see him, and combined with the message he’d had Suzune Horikita pass along, Axel End already had a good idea of what this was about.
Everything was moving forward steadily and for the better.
Suzune Horikita showed no intention of speaking the entire way, and naturally Axel End wasn’t about to invite awkwardness upon himself.
The two of them soon arrived at the entrance to the Student Council room.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Axel End pushed the door open.
The Student Council of the Advanced Nurturing High School was large in scale—so large that it resembled the kind of office space you’d only find at a major corporation.
“Good afternoon, President Horikita.”
Axel End offered a greeting.
Setting everything else aside, the fact that he’d managed to join the Student Council in his first year and rise to become its president in his second meant that Manabu Horikita was undeniably a capable man.
But his ability had its limits, too.
Because he couldn’t keep Miyabi Nagumo in check.
“First-year Class D, Axel End… stirring up a huge piece of news within the school just a few days after the term began.
You really are full of surprises.”
Manabu Horikita pushed his glasses up.
Glancing at Suzune Horikita, who stood silently to one side, he continued, “The main reason I’ve called you to the Student Council today is that I need to have a talk with you about what you did earlier.”
“Is there anything you’d like to say?”
Axel End stroked his chin, putting on a thoughtful expression.
Anything he’d like to say…
“The school isn’t planning to cancel the first month’s Code of Conduct exam, is it?”
“…”
Manabu Horikita stared at Axel End for a few seconds before speaking to explain, “Although your actions caused a change in the established procedure, the exam will still proceed as normal.”
Axel End nodded.
“Then is there still room to act on that matter I had your sister tell you about yesterday?”
“Of course there is.”
Manabu Horikita folded his hands in front of him, his gaze toward Axel End carrying a mix of different emotions.
“Because the incident took place on the first day of the term, even though you’ve now publicly exposed the school’s secret on the second day, strictly speaking the report can still be filed.”
“If you want, the case can be opened today.”
Axel End shook his head.
Going through the formal process certainly guaranteed absolute enforcement, but the benefits he could obtain that way probably wouldn’t be as generous as settling the matter privately.
“I’ll try making contact privately first… That’s everything I had to say, so now it’s your turn, President.”
“Suzune, step outside for now.”
“Brother, I…”
“Out.”
Suzune Horikita bit her lip, looking as though she might burst into tears the very next second.
Axel End was kind at heart and couldn’t bear the sight of a girl on the verge of tears.
“President, there’s no need for that.”
“She’s your sister, not an outsider.”
As he said this, Axel End suddenly posed a question that had nothing whatsoever to do with the current situation: “By the way, President, are you and she from Chiba?”
Manabu Horikita fell silent for a moment.
“Yes.
Why do you suddenly ask?”
Axel End smiled.
“Because, President, you actually care deeply about your sister, yet the way you show it comes across as the complete opposite.”
“I have a friend who’s exactly like that, so I got a little curious and thought I’d ask—turns out I was right.”
The conversational technique known as “I have a friend.”
To someone hearing it for the first time, or someone unfamiliar with the trick, they basically never question whether the person in question truly has such a friend.
Manabu Horikita was no exception.
Though he was loath to admit it, Axel End wasn’t wrong, because when it came to expressing his emotions, Manabu Horikita was genuinely rather clumsy.
Otherwise he wouldn’t have led Suzune Horikita astray.
“So, End-kun, what do you think of my sister?”
“Hard to say.”
Axel End had already guessed what Manabu Horikita wanted to say, but leaving aside how abrupt a leap the topic was—
The way you’ve suddenly launched into the tone of an old father entrusting his daughter to someone honestly threw him for a bit of a loop.
Off to the side, Suzune Horikita, for once, shifted her gaze onto him as well.
“As a student, she can be considered quite excellent, but as a person, she’s a failing grade.”
“After learning about this school’s circumstances and my few encounters with her, my judgment is that the school probably deems her lacking in teamwork spirit.
If she could correct this extreme mindset, she’d meet the standard for Class A.”
Purely rational analysis, absolutely no personal bias smuggled in.
After all, Suzune Horikita’s reputation could almost entirely be traced back to her own personality or her way of thinking; in other respects there really wasn’t anything worth criticizing.
Manabu Horikita let out a sigh in his heart.
This was all his fault…
“Suzune, is there anything you’d like to say?”
Manabu Horikita decided to give his sister a chance to speak up, to see how she’d react to the assessment Axel End had given.
“I…”
Too-afraid-to-speak.jpg
Manabu Horikita felt a touch of disappointment.
After everything had been laid out this plainly, she still refused to acknowledge her own shortcomings?
Axel End decided to add a little more fuel to the fire.
“Actually, your sister and I spoke once before, and—I don’t know if it was just my imagination—but I kept feeling like I saw your shadow in her.”
“Now it seems my intuition was correct.”
Lies don’t wound; it’s the truth that cuts like a swift blade.
It wasn’t that Axel End had never considered resolving Suzune Horikita’s personality issues gradually, but how should he put it…
To borrow the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine—”a stubborn illness demands a strong dose”—Suzune Horikita’s personality problem had already manifested severely at this stage, so severely that her assignment to Class D was one symptom of it.
A grave illness calls for potent medicine.
“President, your sister most likely turned out this way because of your influence—after all, similar cases are common back in my hometown as well.”
“Young, innocent children always look up to an older brother or sister as their role model.
Of course, it’s also possible for a similar psychology to arise in a warped, comparison-driven educational environment.
But either way, it drives them to desperately imitate the person they regard as the finest, gradually losing the possibility of ever becoming their own self.”
Watching the two siblings fall silent at the same time, Axel End gently swung down his invisible scalpel.
As if to pierce through that thin membrane of misunderstanding.
“She’s like a shadow trailing behind you, but she’s mistaken you for the light guiding her path forward, which is why she took the wrong road from the very start.”
“She should become Suzune Horikita, not the shadow of Manabu Horikita.”
Ta-dah.
Having finished speaking, Axel End took a step back, as if to leave this pair of siblings a space to talk alone.
“I know roughly what you were about to say just now, President Horikita, but I believe you two need to resolve your internal conflict first.”
“What do you think?”
Axel End turned his body sideways, raised a hand and gave a wave, giving Manabu Horikita no chance to make him stay.
“It’s a rare opportunity—have a good talk.”
“Don’t let misunderstanding turn into regret.”
Bang.
The instant the door closed, Axel End breathed a sigh of relief, lamenting that he really wasn’t cut out to be a proper, upstanding person.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then took out his phone, found Honami Ichinose’s account icon, composed a message, and pressed send.
[The Student Council is handing out slots—come and claim one, quick.]
____
👻🔥Whant more?: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Naruto: Is it reasonable to beat up an Otsutsuki with Hamon, right?
Let’s reach these milestones together: