The tension as the previous video settles down in the room, everyone making the most of the five minute break. Some of them were discussing, playing cellphones, and there were also those who were silent doing nothing.

Shinohara took a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair.

"Are you all right, Shinohara-san?" Satou asked looking at her confusedly, Matsushita also looked at her with the same gaze as Satou.

Apparently her sigh had made her two friends worried.

"I'm fine," Shinohara replied with a smile before she sighed again, "It's just..."

"You are still curious about whether Ayanokouji-kun is holding back or not?" said Matsushita trying to guess.

Shinohara was slightly flinched by Matsushita's words, then she nodded, "Yes."

"Does it bother you that he really is holding back?" asked Matsushita. She needed to ask this for future self-reference.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bothered, he has great abilities but he doesn't use those abilities to help the class. But what I want to know is his reason for holding back."

"His reason?"

"Yes, I want to know the reason he's holding back. Why isn't he serious in class? Is he the type of person who enjoys seeing others suffer when he himself can? In that case, then I will be very angry at him."

Someone who has an extraordinary ability but does not use that ability to its fullest, and even worse, that person enjoys watching other people try hard to get something that he himself is very easy to get. Anyone would definitely be angry at that person.

"I can assure you, Shinohara-san. Kiyotaka-kun would never think of something like that," said Satou, looking at Shinohara with reassuring eyes.

Shinohara was slightly surprised by Satou's gaze, it was rare for her to see her friend like that.

"Then do you know why Ayanokouji-kun is holding back, Satou-san?" asked Matsushita.

"To be honest I don't know because Kiyotaka-kun never said the reason. But I might be able to give you some guesses," said Satou.

"What is it?"

"It's quite long, but since we still have time so I'll summarize."

Satou paused and closed her eyes for a moment, looking like she was composing her words.

"Okay, you guys still remember when I was called by Kiyotaka-kun to the meeting room earlier?" said Satou after a while.

"Yes," said Shinohara nodding.

"I think you discussed something important there?" asked Matsushita.

"You could say that, in there Kiyotaka-kun told us all about his past. Starting from when he was still a child until before he entered this school."

"I see... but why did he tell you that?"

"Kiyotaka-kun wanted us to understand him, he did that because he didn't want us to misunderstand him, he wanted us to understand all the actions he did. Why did he do that, what purpose did he do that, and many others. He wanted us to understand all of that."

"I still do not understand. What action did he take? Did he do something at this school?" Shinohara asked frowning.

"I honestly don't know either, but we might be able to see that if we keep watching this video. Back to the topic, since Kiyotaka-kun has told me all about himself, I guess I can give a few guesses as to why he's holding back."

Shinohara and Matsushita focused their attention on Satou.

"As you all know, Kiyotaka-kun has never experienced a normal student life before. That's why he is determined to experience a normal and peaceful student life in this school. But he doesn't like to stand out because it might ruin his normal life, that's why he restrains himself and doesn't draw attention to himself."

"But if he doesn't hold back, he can still experience a normal student life, right?" Shinohara asked who was still unsure.

"Maybe it's a matter of perspective," said Matsushita, getting the attention of her friends.

"Perspective?"

"Yes, from Ayanokouji-kun's perspective, according to him a normal student is one who is neither smart nor stupid, meaning somewhere in between. If he didn't hold back then it was certain that his academic abilities would attract the attention of others, something he desperately avoided. Also he doesn't want to be seen as stupid because he might be shunned by people."

Satou nodded, "Kiyotaka-kun doesn't like to stand out. He just wanted to be thought of as a normal student that could be found anywhere. He thought that his wish wouldn't come true if he didn't hold back."

After hearing the lengthy explanation from Satou and Matsushita, Shinohara couldn't help but finally understand the meaning of what they were saying.

"It's a shame, he could have helped our classmates who were struggling with their studies," said Shinohara with a sigh.

"Would you like to be taught by him, Shinohara-san?" Satou asked.

Shinohara waved her hand, "No way, even though his academic ability is high but I hardly ever talk to him, it's impossible for me to ask him to teach me, that would be very awkward. If I had to choose, I would prefer to be taught by Hirata-kun or Kushida-san."

Satou nodded understanding Shinohara's reasoning, she thought that Ayanokouji would also be very nervous if he taught Shinohara, since the two of them were in different groups and hardly ever spoke.

"Speaking of academic ability, do you know the extent of Ayanokouji-kun's abilities, Satou-san?" Asked Matsushita who was very curious about Ayanokouji's abilities.

Shinohara looked at Satou with an interested look, it seemed she was just as curious as Matsushita.

"Ah of course, Kiyotaka-kun told me about that too," said Satou, she pondered for a moment before continuing, "But how about we continue watching, I want you guys to see for yourself Kiyotaka-kun's abilities rather than just words."

If Satou said that Ayanokouji had mastered all subjects up to university level and beyond, they would not believe it or at least find it hard to believe. That's why Satou wants them to see firsthand what Ayanokouji is capable of.

Shinohara and Matsushita looked at each other, it seemed they were having a discussion through their eyes. After a while they both sighed.

"Okay," said Shinohara leaning back on the chair.

"I don't think we should rush," added Matsushita.

Satou nodded happily that her friends agreed with her, then she leaned back on the chair to relax her body.

Shortly after, the five minute break ended and the next video finally aired.

The Association of Failures

"Oh, what an interesting title," said Ryueen grinning.

"What else are they going to do now," said Ibuki resting her chin on her hands, she was skeptical about the title this time.

"Maybe their behavior is in class," said Ishizaki, who just guessed.

"Association, huh. That means they've come together for something, I think it's for the midterms. But can they really be together?" Shiina thought inside her head, she thought that the students in that class wouldn't be easy to work with.

Meanwhile, several Class C students cringed at the title of the video.

"Sometimes Eve can be cruel too, huh," said Mori, pouting.

"Yeah," said Onodera who had the same expression.

Horikita had been sullen all morning. It would've been nice if she got adorable when she was angry. If she puffed out her reddened cheeks, she'd be cute enough to make any man would swoon. However, she remained expressionless and silent, refusing to acknowledge my existence. If I were to ignore her, though, she'd probably take out her compass. After an especially long day, we finally finished class.

"When is this?" Shibata asked curiously.

"Dunno, no idea," Hamaguchi said with a shrug.

"What is certain is that this happened before the midterms," said Kanzaki crossing his arms.

"Have you gathered everyone in the study group?"

"Study group?"

Everyone subconsciously said those words, they didn't expect those words to come out of Horikita's mouth.

"So she created a study group," said Sakayanagi giggling, as if she saw something ridiculous.

"I'm sure she did it because she forced to," Kamuro said.

"Well, considering her personality, there's no way she would do it voluntarily," said Hashimoto.

Her first words to me included "study group." She was most definitely implying something.

"Kushida's bringing them. I wonder if she'll participate," I replied.

"Kushida-san, hmm? I thought I specified that she wasn't allowed to participate..."

"Their relationship is still bad," said Nishimura with a sigh.

"What a pity," said Maezono with a bitter expression.

Sonoda nodded "It's really a shame, if only the two of them worked together, I'm sure our class would get even more points."

Nishimura and Maezono nodded in agreement with Sonoda's words. After that they looked back at the screen.

Whether the girls are aware of it or not, Horikita and Kushida have reconciled and are now sitting next to each other in the back row of class C.

Satisfied, Horikita left for the library, and I followed. Kushida gave me a too-cute wink as I left. Together, Horikita and I secured a long table at the far end of the library and waited for the others.

"I've brought everyone!"

"Oh no..."

Kushida turned pale and worried when she saw the scene on the screen. Memories about the place, time and activities on the screen are still fresh in her brain. What she was worried about was not the scene on the screen, but the events that happened after that scene.

Because that day was the day Ayanokouji found out her true personality.

Kushida knew that this scene would come sooner or later, but even so her heart still wasn't ready when the time came. That was all evidenced by the feeling of anxiety that suddenly built up inside of her and the sweat running down her forehead.

She actually doesn't care anymore about getting attention from other people, she has buried her desire when she joined Ayanokouji's group, people who have accepted her as she is.

But the fact that everyone will know her true personality still makes her anxious.

"Is there something wrong, Kikyou-san?" Ask someone who was beside her.

Kushida turned her head and saw Horikita looking at her with a confused look, then she noticed that not only was Horikita looking at her, the rest of Ayanokouji's group were also looking at her with confused and worried looks. Apparently, her muttering just now was loud enough for them to hear.

"W-Well, that..."

Kushida stuttered, she didn't know what to say because of the anxiety building up inside her. She then turned to Ayanokouji slowly, hoping to get some help.

Ayanokouji returned Kushida's gaze, he could feel Kushida's emotions very clearly, there was anxiety and fear inside Kushida for what would happen in a moment.

Just like Kushida, Ayanokouji also remembers very clearly the events that will happen after this, because those events were the events that quite shocked him while attending school here. He didn't expect that Kushida who was nicknamed Class Angel had such a personality.

Ayanokouji looked back at Kushida, he could tell the girl was now trying to ask for help from the look in her eyes. He couldn't act rashly now, if he tried to help but didn't get rid of the root of Kushida's anxiety, then Kushida would be the one who would suffer in the end.

He had to allay Kushida's anxiety about everyone's reaction when they found out her true personality.

Ayanokouji had heard of cases where someone had trained hard for a job interview, but when it came time for the actual interview, they got so nervous and worried that it failed them.

The same thing was happening to Kushida, she had already prepared herself for this kind of situation. But when the real incident came, she became nervous and anxious that made her unprepared for the situation.

Ayanokouji thought for a moment to find a method that could solve this problem, a method that could completely eliminate Kushida's anxiety.

But actually he didn't need to think about that method for long, because he had already thought of a plan for this kind of situation ever since he decided to help Kushida, it's just that he wasn't sure whether he should use that plan or not, because the success of that plan depended on how the reactions of the other members of Ayanokouji's group.

"I guess there's no problem if I do that," thought Ayanokouji firming up his choice.

"Kikyou-san?"

Horikita asked once more having received no response from Kushida. Kushida herself was currently hit by anxiety that was even higher than before, she had tried to ask Ayanokouji for help from the look in her eyes but Ayanokouji remaining silent and not saying anything made her anxiety increase, and it raised terrible questions in her mind.

Will Ayanokouji not help her?

Was she betrayed?

Had Ayanokouji purposely given those touching words in the meeting room just now to destroy herself here? In front of everyone?

An unpleasant thought couldn't help but appear in Kushida's mind.

"I-I..." Kushida tried to answer Horikita's question but she was at a loss for words, anxiety clouding her mind. And when she was in despair...

"Dark Kikyou will appear."

She heard Ayanokouji's voice from her left.

"Hah!?"

Everyone involuntarily let out shocked voices while looking at Ayanokouji, Kushida also turned to Ayanokouji with her mouth agape.

"What did you say?" Karuizawa asked, feeling unsure of what she was hearing.

"Dark Kikyou will appear," Ayanokouji said casually, not noticing the others' confusion by his words.

Karuizawa held her head, apparently she heard right, Ayanokouji actually said that.

"What the hell is that?" Sudou asked with raised eyebrows.

"I mean Kikyou's true personality, you guys already know how the other side of her is, right? Well, I named it Dark Kikyou," said Ayanokouji nodding in satisfaction, proud of himself.

"..."

Nobody spoke, they were all too surprised and looked at Ayanokouji in disbelief, even Horikita without hesitation sent an 'I don't know if this person is called a genius or an idiot' look.

"Pfft!"

Stifled giggles could be heard around them, they turned to the source of the sound and saw Kushida covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Pfft ha ha ha ha ha..."

Unable to contain it any longer, Kushida let out a laugh but she had enough self-control not to be heard by others.

"What are you doing, Kyo-chan?" Hasebe asked confused, just a moment ago Kushida had turned pale, but now she was already laughing as if her appearance just now was an illusion.

It took Kushida a few moments to suppress her laughter, after she wiped away the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes from her laughter earlier.

"I'm fine, it's just that I find Kiyotaka-kun's words funny," answered Kushida with a smile, then she turned to Ayanokouji, "Jeez, you surprised me just now. I didn't expect you to say that."

"How do you feel now?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Better," Kushida replied. For some reason after hearing Ayanokouji's joke, Kushida's anxiety disappeared. It was as if clear weather appeared after a heavy rain, very refreshing.

"Looks like going well," Ayanokouji thought while looking at Kushida who was getting excited again.

Jokes can relieve anxiety. He had read a book about it during his visit to the library, so Ayanokouji purposely came up with a joke to relieve Kushida's anxiety, and it seemed to be very effective.

"So what's wrong?" Horikita asked a bit demandingly, looking like she was annoyed at being ignored a few times.

"Ah, I'm sorry," said Kushida flinching slightly, then she looked at everyone shyly, "Well, there's actually a possibility that my secret might be exposed in this video."

Everyone widened their eyes, now they understood why Kushida was so pale before. They also understood what Ayanokouji's joke meant earlier, it was to relieve Kushida's anxiety.

"Seriously?" Karuizawa asked one more time to confirm.

Kushida nodded "Yes, very seriously."

Miyake sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Man, chaos is sure to ensue after this."

No one disputed Miyake's words. They also understood the repercussions this would have, chaos would occur not only in class C but also the other classes, it was all because Kushida's influence was too great.

"What should we do?" asked Hirata worriedly, he definitely doesn't want any chaos especially in his own class.

Everyone simultaneously turned to the person who was the brains of their group, Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji could feel everyone's stares, but instead of speaking he took out his smartphone and started typing something.

Everyone was confused by Ayanokouji's actions, they could see him typing something on his smartphone but they couldn't tell what he was typing.

Soon their smartphones vibrated and showed a message that had just arrived, they then realized that Ayanokouji had just sent a message to Ayanokouji's group chat.

Ayanokouji: [Let's discuss it here so everyone can hear.]

That was the content of the message from Ayanokouji, soon several other messages entered the group chat.

Satou: [Eh, what? What happened?]

Ichinose: [Did something happen?]

Shiina: [Is everyone okay?]

Because their seats were far away from Ayanokouji and the others, the three of them had absolutely no idea what was going on. That's why Ayanokouji uses a group chat so they can join in.

Ayanokouji: [I'll explain everything, please pay close attention.]

After that Ayanokouji told everyone about the plan for dealing with the situation Kushida was in now, everyone was watching their smartphone screens intently while Ayanokouji explained the plan.

Ayanokouji: [That's it. Can you do it?]

Ayanokouji asked that after he had explained his plan to everyone.

Karuizawa: [Sure. I think I can do it.]

Sudou: [Heh. That's easy.]

Hirata: [Let's do it.]

Ayanokouji: [To Honami and Hiyori, just focus on your class in case your class gets affected.]

Ichinose: [I understand.]

Shiina: [Okay.]

The others also agreed with Ayanokouji's plan.

Kushida: [Thank you very much, everyone.]

Kushida thanked them gratefully, really she was lucky to have friends like them.

Horikita: [Alright, then let's do that when the time comes, let's continue watching for now.]

Everyone agreed with Horikita's order, they all then turned their heads back to the screen.

Kushida came over to where we were seated. Behind her was...

"Kushida-chan told us about this study group. I don't want to be expelled after only just starting. Thanks!"

Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudou had all shown up. However, they'd brought an unexpected visitor, a boy named Okitani.

Huh? Okitani, you failed, too?" I asked.

"Oh, n-no. Not exactly. I was just really close to failing, so I was worried... Is it not, er, okay for me to join you? It's a little difficult to join Hirata's group..."

"Is it okay if Okitani-kun joins us, too?" Kushida asked Horikita. Okitani had scored thirty-nine on the test, after all. He likely wanted to participate just to be safe.

"As long as you're worried about failing, I don't mind. But you need to be serious," Horikita said.

"Oh, okay."

Okitani sat down, seemingly happy. Kushida tried to sit next to him, which