CHANGED - Classroom of the Elite

32

It was 8 at night when Suzune was knocked on the door. She cracked her back with a light groan before making her way over to the entrance.

"Coming, coming." When she opened it, she blinked, and then raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "You couldn't text me with the device called a phone?"

"Well, considering we're friends, I thought it'd be friendlier if I talked to you in person." She swears, Ayanokoji's remarks are getting saltier by the minute.

Suzune blinked another few times before she huffed out air and headed back to the kitchen. "Whatever. Make yourself at home, I guess."

Ayanokoji slipped off his shoes and closed the door behind him. He looked around her room on the spot, noticing her shelves that were packed to the brim with library books. "Your room is quite... cozy."

"Thanks." Suzune deadpanned, scrubbing away at her dinner plate over the bubbly sink. "Can't say the same about yours, though."

"I go for quality over quantity."

"And I go for getting straight to the point." She slid the plate back into its place and closed the upper-cabinet door. "What's the drama now?"

"Are members of class A still following you around?" He asks.

Suzune stared at him for a moment. He stared back. "If I'm going to guess, Sakayanagi's planning to corner me."

"How does she plan to do that? You're quite good at bailing yourself out of situations you don't like."

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me." She dried off another dish and placed it in the top-cabinet of her kitchen.

"When it comes to Sakayanagi's style, she likes to get into her opponent's head: we saw a lovely demonstration of that last exam. So, she's probably going to try to corner me with stress, wait for me to reach my breaking point, slowly wait for me to build up Stockholm syndrome with her, then get me to join class A."

"..."

"... what?"

"I didn't expect you to think that morbidly."

"Yeah? Bad play on your end, then."

"I see that now."

"Why are you even asking me this, anyway?" Suzune leaned on the marble countertop, peering over at the other teen, who stared back. "I have no clue what's drawn her to me, either."

"Actually, I might know why- " Suzune perked up. "-but I don't know if it's certain."

"Better than nothing. Hit me with it." Starting somewhere is her key to figuring out whatever loli-grandma is thinking about with that IQ of hers.

"Going by what you stated about Sakayanagi's character," Ayanokoji began. "And based off of my interactions with her, she seems to be drawn to people she finds worthy."

"I mean, sure, in your case. But what about me? Just because I know about 'that place' doesn't mean I'm 'worthy' of being stalked."

"So, her classmates are still following you." Ayanokoji put together. "Why don't you consult your brother about it?"

"Because as soon as he leaves the school, they'll ignore his threats and go right back to doing what they do now." Suzune found herself sounding almost... dreadful, when she said that.

Getting followed everywhere is annoying, okay? Makes you feel judged and criticized beyond belief. "Plus, if he truly wanted to give me advice, he wouldn't wait for me to initiate the conversation first."

"Or maybe he doesn't know how to approach the person he's mistreated in the past."

"Get him to ask me for advice then." She went over to her desk, which was in utter disarray from printing and writing out work problems for the class. "We both know he'd listen to you any day of the week."