Tachibana Akane listened to their conversation for a while, but after hearing about the first-years' exam results, she couldn't stay calm.

"How much? Did you just say how much?"

"What's wrong?"

"You went from 1,004 points before summer break to 1,756 points after?"

Seeing her disbelief, Kaoru handed her his phone with a playful wink.

"If you don't believe me, check my profile yourself."

The school-issued customized phone doubled as a student ID, allowing users to check both their Personal Points and their class's Class Points.

Because of this, Akane suddenly grew hesitant.

"Ahaha, it's really not that impressive. Any normal Class A could pull this off."

Horikita Manabu silently observed the girl, choosing not to expose her bluff right away.

Even during their own year, the best they had managed was an increase of around 400 points—nowhere near enough to surpass the entire grade level.

"In that case, you must be amazing, senpai," Kaoru said understandingly, gazing at Akane.

"Having been in Class A for two years, I bet you've saved up a ton of Personal Points, right?"

"Guh…" Akane swallowed hard.

Not only had she lost to him in Class Points, but her savings couldn't compare either.

Kaoru had previously exchanged Personal Points with a third-year, spending 3 million but still retaining around 4 million.

Combined with his monthly income, he was likely the wealthiest first-year.

Meanwhile, as his senior, Tachibana Akane points barely held a few hundred thousand—making her seem downright pitiful in comparison.

"D-don't get cocky! It's just that your year doesn't have any particularly strong students!" she snapped, her voice rising the less confident she felt.

Sometimes, Kaoru really wanted to pull her over his knee and give her a good spanking.

"You're wrong, Akane" Horikita shook his head.

"This year's first-years might actually be stronger than Nagumo's batch."

Tachibana Akane immediately calm down.

She might dare to act arrogantly in front of Kaoru Mitoma, but she wouldn't dream of talking back to Horikita Manabu.

"From Class A, there's Sakayanagi and Katsuragi. From Class B, Ichinose and Kanzaki. And from Class C, Ryuen. Though I haven't interacted with all of them, these students are certainly worth keeping an eye on."

It was obvious that Horikita Manabu had looked into the first-year students thoroughly, familiarizing himself with the leaders of each class.

However, he made no mention of Class D.

"President, no mention of me?" Kaoru Mitoma asked shamelessly.

"Am I not worth your expectations?"

Horikita Manabu gave him a strange look. "You shouldn't need me to expect anything from you, should you?"

"I might still have room to grow," Kaoru chuckled. "Like Horikita Suzune, for example. From what I know, she's already realized her own problems and is trying to change."

Perhaps it was because Class D's performance was too poor, or perhaps because his sister still showed no signs of improvement, that Horikita Manabu had deliberately avoided mentioning Class D.

Sure enough, after a brief silence, Horikita Manabu spoke again.

"Her problem is her lack of self-awareness. No matter how impressive her academic scores may look on paper, in reality, she's just a fragile cotton doll."

As her older brother, he undoubtedly understood her personality far better than anyone else.

"She should have some self-awareness by now," Kaoru mused, thinking back to Horikita Suzune during summer break.

Honestly, what interested him most was how she would go to any lengths to change her circumstances.

Despite her obvious frustration, she had still acknowledged his contract, accepted his unreasonable demands, and even later proposed terms of her own.

None of this was because she had given up resisting—rather, she had calmly accepted her situation while simultaneously working to overcome it.

Of course, the more she acted this way, the more it highlighted her most fatal flaw.

"With you in Class A, Suzune probably has zero chance of breaking through your defenses," Horikita Manabu said with a bitter smile.

"I just hope she can reevaluate herself and her surroundings, stepping down from her high horse."

"Is that my mission from now on?" Kaoru scratched his head sheepishly.

There was no better teaching method than letting someone who prided themselves on excellence be repeatedly humbled.

"You seem unusually concerned about Suzune?" Horikita Manabu shot him a sidelong glance, finding it odd how the conversation had veered in this direction.

"Well, she is the president's sister. Sometimes I worry I might have gone too far."

"No, you can go even further. She won't change unless she hits a wall."

"..."

Kaoru averted his gaze.

If he went any further, he'd have to start calling Horikita Manabu 'brother-in-law'.

"Alright, let's end the discussion here." Horikita Manabu turned to Tachibana Akane.

"For the upcoming sports festival preparations, you'll be in charge of guiding Mitoma and the others."

As the student council president, he naturally didn't have much time to mentor newcomers.

"Eh? Me, guiding him?" Tachibana Akane was displeased at first, but then it occurred to her—this was a rare opportunity to boss Kaoru around openly.

A smirk crept onto her lips.

Seeing her expression, Kaoru quickly tried to dissuade her.

"Just so we're clear, I'll be participating in the competitions too, so I won't have much free time."

"Enough, every student has to participate in the competition—it's not just you," Tachibana Akane huffed.

"Don't worry, the student council is short-handed, so we're definitely in need of labor."

Kaoru Mitoma's face darkened.

Was that even supposed to be comforting?

*****

September 1st.

After enduring long-awaited classes, Mashima Tomonari held a class meeting in the afternoon.

"Starting today until early October, all classes will have additional physical education sessions to prepare for the Sports Festival. I'll distribute the new schedule—please keep it safe."

At the mention of the Sports Festival, a wave of murmurs spread through the classroom.

Even A-class students weren't immune to the dread of athletic events.

Since Mashima had also included Sports Festival materials with the schedule, Kaoru skimmed through them.

Unsurprisingly, ANHS Sports Festival was unlike those of ordinary schools.

The school adopted a head-to-head format, dividing all grades into two teams: A-class paired with D-class as the Red Team, while B-class and C-class formed the White Team.

Under this system, students from different grades would collaborate and compete across year levels.

Kaoru couldn't help but ponder—no wonder Nagumo Miyabi wanted to challenge Horikita Manabu.

Cross-grade matchups were indeed part of the event.

"Damn it, why do we have to team up with those class D losers?"

Some in the class, particularly elitists like Totsuka Yahiko, had already noticed the competition format on the handout.

"Is the school trying to drag us down with class D?"

"This is ridiculous! We'd be better off competing alone!"

"Whatever, let those D-class freeloaders have their scraps."

Kaoru frowned.

Though their voices weren't particularly loud, these thoughtless complaints exposed A-class's biggest flaw.

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