Chapter 270 Whose Brother?

A single day of rest passed in the blink of an eye.

The bright silver moon quietly climbed to the mountain peak. Its cool moonlight spilled over the earth like flowing quicksilver, as if draping a layer of silver gauze over the entire pitch-black forest school.

Below the brightly lit forest school, as the sky gradually sank into indigo, the nighttime temperature dropped steadily. The students stopped lingering and filed back to the group dormitories one after another. The campus once again became empty and desolate. Only the windows of the distant dormitory building proved there was still life.

In the long corridor behind the school building, Fuyuji Mikage, having finished a day of outings, sat lazily on a bench, waiting for someone to arrive.

An orange-yellow streetlamp stood alone beside him, its halo spreading a small patch of light in the night, drawing in more tiny insects that flitted and collided tirelessly around the lamp shade, giving off a faint humming.

In the grass nearby, crickets played their night song, on and off.

Two hours earlier, the five of them, having just watched the sunset from the opposite mountain ridge, had made their way back to school in the dark.

After a full day of outings, even Morishita Ai, the most curious of them all, was like a kitten drained of all strength, drooping listlessly and only managing to walk back by holding his hand. The other girls’ steps were even more unsteady. Except for his tsundere bro, he had carried each of them on his back for a stretch.

It was supposed to be a rest day, yet in the end it was more tiring than class.

They’d probably all sleep well tonight. His plan to capture his bro would regrettably have to wait for another day.

At this moment, amid the various insect songs, a steady sound of footsteps suddenly came. Step by step, clear and regular, each step seemingly landing on the same beat, from far to near, growing clearer and clearer, until it stopped.

A pair of pure white sneakers stood quietly at the boundary between moonlight and lamplight. The shoe tips were small and delicate, revealing a bit of equally white sock edge. One could tell how small and dainty the feet inside were.

Following the red tracksuit pants upward were straight thighs, a flat stomach, the beautifully shaped curve of her chest, and… a cold little face.

A night wind blew past, stirring the loose hair at her temples and bringing a bit of chill. Combined with Horikita Suzune’s cool aura, it roused the drowsy Fuyuji a few notches.

“Good evening, Suzune!”

“Good evening, Fuyuji-kun.”

After a brief exchange of greetings, no sooner had Horikita sat down beside Fuyuji than he shifted his thighs a couple of times and slid over like a loach, quickly closing the distance between them, arm against arm, shoulder against shoulder.

Strands of shampoo fragrance drilled into his nose, carrying a bit of minty freshness. But the next second, the distance between them was pulled open, and the minty freshness dispersed in the night wind.

“Mm…” Horikita furrowed her lovely brows and shifted a step to the left. “Fuyuji-kun, in a public place, a man and woman sitting this close will cause trouble for others.”

“Who cares. There’s no one else here right now.” Fuyuji pushed his luck and closed the distance again, his body pressing against hers once more. He argued with perfect righteousness. “Besides, it’s winter now. Of course it’s better to sit closer. What if you catch a cold?”

“Fuyuji-kun, I don’t catch colds that easily.” Horikita said with a straight face, seriously defending herself.

“Yes. Simpletons don’t catch colds.”

“You’re the simpleton!”

A knife-hand chop landed on Fuyuji’s side, neither too light nor too heavy. Horikita was about to argue further when, as if suddenly waking up, she bit her lip in annoyance and refocused her gaze on Fuyuji’s face.

“No! I almost let you lead me off track. I came to find you to talk about something else entirely.”

“…” Fuyuji desperately suppressed the corner of his mouth trying to curl upward.

Still saying you’re not a simpleton, Stubborn Suzune?

“That matter with Tachibana-senpai, right?” Fuyuji replied, holding back his laugh. “How’s your plan to save Private Horikita Manabu going?”

“That…”

At this, Horikita, usually so direct, actually seemed a little awkward. Her gaze dropped slightly, landing on the ground between them. Her lips moved a few times, as if she wanted to say something but found it hard to bring herself to.

“Come on, Suzune. There’s no version of you I haven’t seen. I won’t laugh at you.” Fuyuji nudged her shoulder with his arm, smiling.

‘Liar. You’re clearly laughing. You haven’t stopped…’

The air froze for a few seconds.

Horikita finally let out a long breath. White vapor puffed from her lips and dispersed. Her shoulders slumped.

“Fine…”

The moment the words landed, she deflated like a punctured ball, resting her head dejectedly on Fuyuji’s shoulder. She gave a rough account of this morning’s conversation with Tachibana.

“If we follow my plan, Tachibana-senpai still has a big risk of expulsion. I can’t guarantee the plan will go one hundred percent smoothly.”

In the end, the school’s funeral escort system itself had no clear, specific rules. To what degree something had to reach before the school judged a student to be dragging the group down, and even if it really reached the appeal stage, it was only a possibility of overturning third-year Class B’s testimony. Not a hundred percent.

“Tachibana-senpai’s personality is too soft. Forcing her to stand against the entire third-year Class B group is a very hard thing to do. More importantly, I suspect this exam’s funeral escort system itself was designed by Nagumo-senpai. He might have some kind of backup plan hidden in it.”

Fuyuji rubbed his chin. “True. Blond senpai does have a knack for screwing people over.”

“There are still a few days until the exam ends. If we tear off the mask now, and third-year Class B realizes the plan has changed, I’m not sure what other accidents might happen. So…”

“So?” Fuyuji turned his head, a half-smile on his face.

Horikita’s head slowly lifted from Fuyuji’s shoulder. Her alluring fox-like eyes stared at him without blinking. Her pink lips parted slightly:

“I probably can’t solve this myself. Help me…”

Oho~

Fuyuji widened his eyes and broke into a brilliant grin.

Nice work, Suzune!

Compared to the Horikita Suzune at the start, who charged straight at any enemy she saw, thinking she could solve everything alone, banging her head bloody and still refusing to give up, the current Horikita was actually a bigger threat to Class A.

Acknowledging your own shortcomings is the true beginning of progress.

“Nope!”

Fuyuji crisply refused with a smile.

“Why not?”

“Didn’t I already tell you?” Fuyuji spread both hands. “Blond senpai is a pretty good guy. Not only is he generous when paying, but he also helped me keep a secret. Your brother graduates this semester. Blond senpai still has a whole year left in his student council term. A guy’s gotta eat.”

He was well-versed in the essence of Hashimoto’s double-agent flip-flopping. He was determined to keep eating from both ends to the very end. Running off to openly take Manabu’s side would ruin his business with blond senpai.

Besides, Manabu hadn’t given him as many points as blond senpai had.

“But… he’s my brother.”

“I’m not going after your brother. Relax. In a sense, your brother is the safest one of all.” Fuyuji shrugged. “So just go with your own plan, Suzune. It’s fine if it fails. I figure, given your brother’s personality, he’ll spend twenty million to save her. Well then, that’s it.”

Fuyuji slowly stood up, stretched his limbs, and set off toward the dormitory building. “Let’s call it a night. I’ll head off first—”

Smack!

A crisp sound suddenly exploded in the corridor. Horikita’s fair hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

“You can’t leave. Help me!”

A cold chill spilled out. Horikita spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

“Didn’t I say? I have no reason to get involved in this kind of thing.” Fuyuji turned his head helplessly.

“You do!” Horikita gritted her silver teeth.

In the darkness, the cool moonlight fell on the girl’s fair face. A blush, like morning clouds, spread visibly from her snow-white neck upward, racing across her smooth cheeks, until even her small, round earlobes turned like ripe cherries, translucent red, giving off an alluring luster under the moonlight.

“What?”

Horikita, whose breathing had even grown a little rapid, suddenly lifted her eyes. With a mix of shame and fury, and a hint of throwing caution to the wind, she fixed her gaze on Fuyuji. Then, flustered and face burning, she lowered her head. Her pure white sneakers shifted uneasily a few times. Her voice came out in a barely audible murmur:

“It’s just, that…”

“Hm?” Fuyuji bent down slightly, leaning closer.

“…My brother, isn’t he… your brother too?”

Her voice was very, very soft, soft as this night wind, as if it might scatter at a single breath. Yet it drilled into Fuyuji’s eardrums with utter clarity, plucking at his heartstrings like a feather, and finally echoed in his mind, lingering for a long time.

The insect songs vanished in that instant. The world held only the girl before him, head lowered, ears red through and through.

Silence spread between them like something solid, long as a century.

Then, Fuyuji moved.

He suddenly stepped forward, reached out, and wrapped an arm around Horikita’s slender waist. Under the girl’s startled cry, he scooped her up and began spinning on the spot. The scenery around them—the dim yellow streetlamp, the dappled tree shadows, the deep night sky—began to move slowly, then spun faster and faster, kicking up a small wind that tousled the loose hair on Horikita’s forehead.

“Wait, Fuyuji-kun!”

“Oh oh, Suzune, from today on, you’re mine!”

“You idiot, that’s not what I meant! Put me down!”

…

A few minutes later, the laughter and startled cries gradually subsided. Her face flushed pink, Horikita tidied her messy hair and leaned back against Fuyuji’s shoulder.

“Now can you help me?”

“Of course!” Fuyuji thumped his chest with a resounding thud and raised his head, speaking with unshirkable duty. “A mere blond senpai’s scheme, I can break it with one hand!”

“Tell me!” Horikita puffed her cheeks slightly and pinched the soft flesh at his waist. “What’s the method?”

“Remember the hint I gave you?” Fuyuji curved his lips.

“Murder on the Orient Express? Wasn’t that reminding me of collective crime?” Horikita tilted her face slightly and asked suspiciously.

“You said it yourself, collective crime. The answer is in the riddle itself. How do you break a collective crime?”

On the long corridor behind the school building, a long silence suddenly fell.

Horikita silently lowered her head and pressed a hand to her forehead. “I really am an idiot…”

For a collective framing, there had to be collusion. Even the most meticulous conspiracy would produce tiny flaws due to individual differences. A lie is ultimately a lie. As long as the matter was dragged to the appeal stage for both sides, there were too many ways to prove the other side’s testimony false.

The prisoner’s dilemma, mutual doubt, repeated questioning of details, and so on. It was essentially a variant of a criminal investigation case.

“You can’t say that. Suzune is still very smart.”

“I’ll go tell Tachibana-senpai the news.” Horikita stood up listlessly.

“Hey hey, wait, Suzune.” This time it was Fuyuji’s turn to grab her wrist. “I’ve got an even simpler method here. No appeal needed. It gives a result on the spot.”

“What?”

“Suzune, come sit here…” Fuyuji waved lightly, motioning for her to sit in his lap.

“Mm…” The pink that had just faded from Horikita’s face surfaced again. She awkwardly tucked her hair, glanced around for a moment, then stared down at the pebbles by the tips of her shoes. “In a public place like this, it’s better not to do that kind of—”

“Relax. No one’s coming.”

Fuyuji pulled the girl into his arms with a swoosh. Horikita’s body stiffened for an instant, but quickly softened again. Her cool aura mixed with the un-faded blush on her face. Her long lashes fluttered rapidly.

Finally, she quietly pressed against his chest. This look, both shy and obedient, made Fuyuji’s heartbeat speed up a few notches.

“Suzune, do you know why blond—cough cough, why Nagumo-senpai wants to expel Tachibana?”

“Hm? Isn’t it because she’s the girl who’s stayed by my brother’s side the longest? Expelling her would strike at my brother?” Her slender hand reached out bit by bit, tentatively wrapping around Fuyuji’s waist.

“Uh… you’re not wrong about that…”

“Is there another reason?”

“Come closer and lend me your ear. Let me explain in detail.”

When Horikita’s small ear drew near, Fuyuji spoke with a smile. “Actually, Nagumo…”

As Fuyuji whispered, Horikita’s expression went from puzzled to shocked, from shocked to disbelief, and finally she stared blankly at Fuyuji and dazedly uttered one word:

“Huh?”

“Small-time gossip. Rumor has it it’s true. Mm… the Advanced Nurturing forum said so.” Fuyuji nodded seriously.

“So?”

“So he has a childhood friend named Asahina. First you do this, then you do that, and in the end, this scheme collapses on its own.”

“The approach could work, but I think your plan is even less reliable than mine.” Horikita raised a hand to her forehead.

Fuyuji waved his hand grandly. “Reliable or not doesn’t matter. As long as it works.”

“…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Horikita rubbed her temple and let out a helpless sigh.

“Fine. Let’s try it. But it looks like I’ll have to ask Kushida-san for help.”

“That’s your problem. But never mind that for now. Suzune, Suzune, I’ve been curious since last time. Tell me, when did you start liking me?”

Horikita’s body stiffened. In the blink of an eye, she had returned to that icy demeanor. “Fuyuji-kun, if your brain isn’t working, you can go wash it.”

“So when was it?”

“I don’t want to answer that question.”

“Come on…” He nuzzled the spot behind her ear with his nose tip.

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know!”

…

The moon in the night sky gradually climbed to its zenith. On the long corridor, the shadows the two cast on the ground began to shorten, drew close, and finally merged into one…