Gotou Hitori flinched slightly, lifting her head from the notebook she hadn't written a single new word in for the past ten minutes. She recognized the sound immediately the kind of footsteps that carried an invisible force field of seriousness so dense it made the air heavier.
Horikita Suzune had arrived.
She stood at the threshold of the classroom, sunlight slanting across her shoulder, forming a radiant beam behind her back that made her appear as if sculpted from light and discipline. Her black hair was immaculately neat, her uniform without a single wrinkle, and her gaze... sharp as a freshly honed razor blade.
In that moment, Suzune looked like a part-time school inspector who had just stepped out of a detective novel. No one had called for her, no one had invited her, but she was there like her instincts had been hardwired to track down any anomaly within a fifty-meter radius.
Izayoi looked up from his desk, still idly spinning the silver watch in his hand, which glinted in the sunlight filtering through the window. He didn't look surprised. On the contrary, a half-smile curved on his lips as if he'd just unlocked a side cutscene in a game one where a key NPC appeared to trigger a new questline.
"You haven't gone to lunch yet, Suzune?"
His voice was gentle, tinged with a playful lilt, a dash of challenge.
"Don't tell me you came looking for me because you missed me?"
Suzune didn't react to his words. No blushing. No eye-rolling. She simply walked toward him with even steps, her gaze scanning the watch like an airport security scanner reading luggage.
"Don't change the subject."
She stopped in front of his desk, her eyes as straight as a drafted line.
"I want to ask you about that letter... and the watch."
Izayoi raised an eyebrow, then leaned back in his chair like an actor invited to perform a solo comedy act on stage.
"Oh?"
"You noticed too? I knew it true accessories always draw attention."
Suzune frowned. The only visible crack in her patience.
"Who sent you that watch?"
Her tone now was lower, the way someone questions a suspect.
Izayoi rested his chin in his palm, tilting his head thoughtfully, as though he'd just received a philosophical query from a university professor.
"A fan, just sent it as a gift,"
He replied airily, voice light as a feather.
"A rare model. Wearing it helps me... rein in my perfection a little."
A faint scoff came from the middle of the room. Yukimura better known as Keisei had just slung his bag over his shoulder to leave but paused and turned back with a skeptical look.
"A fan?" Keisei raised an eyebrow.
"You've only been at this school for like... not even two months?"
Izayoi placed a hand over his chest, his expression theatrical, like he was giving a TED Talk on universal love:
"True love doesn't need time. They sensed my aura... through cosmic frequency."
"What cosmic frequency? More like a radio signal."
Haruka muttered from the side of the classroom, not entirely clear whether she was joking or serious.
Meanwhile, Kiyotaka had remained seated the entire time, chin propped on hand, eyes calmly observing Izayoi like he was analyzing the behavior of a newly discovered exotic species.
Suzune, refusing to back down in the face of Izayoi's evasive jokes, pressed on.
"What was in the letter?"
She asked without so much as a twitch in her brow or a trace of a smile.
Izayoi glanced down at his pocket, where the letter still rested neatly as if waiting to be presented like courtroom evidence. He sighed, as though regretful.
"Just some good luck wishes for the upcoming exams. And a few... personal notes. Like, 'Make sure you wear the watch so you stay cool and stylish.'"
"Sounds like a fashion brand slogan."
Keisei interjected, his tone full of skepticism.
Haruka clapped her hands cheerfully.
"That's so cute! Did the letter have anything like, 'The world would be meaningless without you'?"
Izayoi nodded, still with the straight face of a man delivering international news:
"There was even a line that said, 'If you don't take the exam, human civilization will regress by three centuries.' Truly touching."
A pause fell over the room. All eyes turned to Izayoi. Keisei blinked, then shook his head in weary disbelief.
And Suzune's gaze seemed to be evaluating whether this boy was an eccentric genius or an actor trying to method his way through real life.
Izayoi smiled his grin gradually shedding its teasing layer.
"Just kidding, just kidding." He shrugged, lowering his voice.
"It's from an old acquaintance. Just a good-luck charm for the exams. Don't stress. At most... it's just a feng shui trinket."
Suzune didn't look fully convinced, but she said nothing more.
And Kiyotaka... remained silent.
But his eyes sharp as a steel blade wrapped in velvet were still recording every word, every movement, every minor inconsistency in Izayoi's story. As if he was drafting an internal investigation report line by line, missing not a single question mark.
The ceiling fan hummed softly above, blending into the quiet tension that lingered after Izayoi's words, like background music to a comedy that no one dared to laugh at.
Sunlight pierced through the windowpanes, casting long streaks across the wooden floor, where tiny dust particles hovered in the air like accidental flecks of glitter.
Suzune let out a faint, prolonged breath, as if trying to cleanse the lingering aftershocks within her from that somewhat sarcastic exchange. She took a step toward Izayoi and stopped right in front of the table where he sat, reclining as if lounging in a café. Her hands rested on the edge of the table, fingers lightly gripping it as though clinging to a sliver of rationality in a land of people living wildly by their own logic.
"Let's set aside the watch and the letter for now."
Her voice dropped, calm like the surface of water just before rain.
"I want to ask you something else, Izayoi."
Izayoi lifted his head, still idly spinning the watch in his hand a gesture that seemed unconscious, like someone too used to being the center of every event, intentional or not.
"Oh?"
He blinked slowly, his tone just teasing enough to avoid being called unserious, yet still provocative enough to make someone want to slap him.
"Are you trying to confess or something? I get it my charm is hard to resist, but Suzune..."
"No..."
She cut him off, not even half a beat willing to play along with his joke. Her voice was cold as metal, yet not devoid of humanity.
"What I mean is are you planning to take the upcoming exam seriously?"
The room seemed to pause for a beat.
Izayoi stopped spinning the watch. A brief moment of silence flickered in his eyes, like someone had touched a layer of emotion buried deep beneath.
He let out a small laugh. Not the kind born of joy, but more like a smirk at a script he already knew by heart.
"Of course."
He said it as though it was obvious, eyes locking on Suzune's, slightly narrowed but focused.
"Do you really think I'd pass up a test with a prize this tempting?"
Suzune crossed her arms, her shoulders tensing slightly as if preparing for defense. She stared at him unblinking, as if interrogating a dangerous suspect still denying guilt.
"What about the school's special exams?"
She continued, each word falling like a pebble on still water.
"Are you just going to sit there... laugh, and tease everyone?"
This time, Izayoi didn't laugh. He tilted his head, resting his chin on the back of his hand. His expression was relaxed, almost careless but deep in his eyes, there was something darker, deeper like a crack hidden beneath polished glass.
"As I've told you before."
He answered clearly, without raising his voice.
"I don't intend to help this class. Other than pursuing my own goal, I won't get involved in anything else. No matter what happens."
Silence fell. No coughing, no loud breathing. Just the distant hum of the ceiling fan and the soft buzz of a lone fly zipping by an oddly timed touch of humor.
Keisei froze. He glanced sideways at Haruka with a meaningful look. Haruka gave a slight shake of her head, her expression unchanged, eyes still fixed on Izayoi as if trying to decode an antihero straight out of a Dazai Osamu novel.
Suzune's brow furrowed slightly. Her lips pressed together, holding back words unsaid.
"If you helped..." she said, her voice a little softer now, something almost like a plea.
"...The class could reach Class A faster."
Izayoi smiled faintly not a full laugh, no shrug just a slight glance to the left, where Kiyotaka sat behind Suzune. In the flickering noon sunlight, his eyes shimmered like dark glass.
Then he lowered his voice, just enough for Suzune to hear no one else.
"Don't you already have someone else helping with that?"
A beat of silence.
Suzune stiffened slightly, instinctively turning her head just a little, as if involuntarily. But all she saw was Kiyotaka flipping through a book, face blank, eyes unmoved from the page as if the entire conversation between her and Izayoi was a passing breeze, not even worth the twitch of an eyelid.
Izayoi gave a small chuckle. Lacing his hands behind his head, he leaned back like someone slipping out of an unwanted assignment.
"Anyway, sorry again..."
He said, voice light as air.
"...The plan to reach Class A just isn't on my list of fun things to do."
"Not interested?" Suzune repeated, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Yeah."
Izayoi replied without hesitation, eyes drifting up to the ceiling like he was counting invisible cracks.
"I'm not the kind of person who plays a game to unlock the good ending."
Another short silence.
Haruka leaned toward Keisei and whispered like a commentator at a philosophy-themed football match:
"Probably the type who plays just to beat the game and delete it."
Keisei nodded slightly in response:
"Or picks the worst ending for fun..."
Kiyotaka remained unchanged. No expression, no wasted movements. He turned another page, quiet as an undisturbed lake but in his eyes... everything had just been recorded in full.
And Suzune... still stood there, looking at Izayoi for a long moment not judging, but as if trying to peer through the humorous mask he wore every day.
Undeterred by his rejection, Suzune clenched her fists. Her gaze was firm, unwavering as it locked on Izayoi.
"If the reason you won't help is because no one's challenged you enough to make it interesting..." she said, voice calm but resolute.
"...Then I challenge you to a math duel."
A few muffled sounds stirred from the back of the class whispers of surprise, the soft clatter of a pen cap falling on a desk. Keisei turned to Haruka, silently asking if she had a fever. Haruka sat up straight, eyes gleaming like she was watching a high-stakes action flick.
Even Kiyotaka, until then a silent shadow in the classroom, finally looked up. His eyes showed a flicker of surprise, though his face remained still. As if silently wondering: Is this a calculated move, or a hopeless appeal?
Izayoi didn't answer immediately. He blinked once, eyebrows slightly raised as if trying to confirm whether he'd heard correctly. Then, without any warning, he burst out laughing.
It wasn't a mocking or sarcastic laugh it was loud and hearty, so resounding that a few nearby students flinched. He braced himself against the desk, leaning back as though no longer able to maintain his earlier composure.
"You... You've got to be kidding..."
Izayoi wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, a tiny drop formed from laughing too much.
"You do know who I am, right, Suzune? The top scorer of the recent Paper Shuffle exam? The one who got a perfect score in every subject... And yet, you still want to challenge me?"
Suzune didn't laugh. She didn't blush. She simply... nodded. A simple nod, but one that carried a quiet, unwavering determination.
"I'll do my best" she said.
Her voice wasn't loud, nor particularly forceful, but it swept through the classroom like a cold breeze on a sweltering summer day, leaving the minds watching in stunned silence.
Izayoi stopped laughing. The smile on his face faded into an unusual stillness. In that moment, something shifted in his pale violet eyes not just confidence or arrogance, but... something that looked like genuine intrigue.
"Alright then."
His voice dipped a tone lower, and he raised one hand in mock surrender, as if giving in to some silly game. But then the corner of his mouth curled into a smirk again, and the usual mischief returned to his eyes.
"If you insist, I guess I'll play with you for a bit."
The remaining students in the room looked like they wanted to exhale, but didn't dare.
Izayoi tilted his head, narrowing his eyes and fixing his gaze on Suzune not like a classmate, but like a player scrutinizing a new opponent across the chessboard.
"But don't expect me to treat this like a real competition. Because..." he shrugged.
"...Honestly, the opponent's just not on my level."
Suzune clenched her fists, but her eyes never left him. No rebuttal, no reaction just a quiet flicker of defiance burning in their depths.
From behind, Haruka whispered through clenched teeth:
"Oof, things are heating up..."
"Could turn into a forest fire," Keisei replied, eyes still locked on the two as if waiting for a massive explosion.
Izayoi stretched, arms raised as if he'd just woken from a satisfying nap. Then, as if forgetting the tense scene from just moments earlier, he turned to Hitori, who was seated just above him.
"Hey, Hitori. Can you grab the snack from my bag? I'm suddenly starving."
Hitori jolted like she'd been electrocuted. She looked down at him, utterly flustered, as though she'd just been summoned to a global press conference.
"S-snack...?"
She stammered, fumbling to open his bag. Her mind was spinning: Is this really happening? Did I just become the personal assistant to an S+ ranked hidden boss?
"Ah, here it is! This one, right?"
"Yup, that's the one!" Izayoi grinned wide.
"Gotta refuel a bit. Let's wrap this match up quick and grab lunch together after."
Hitori handed over the snack with slightly trembling hands, while her heart tumbled headfirst into another dimension where normal logic simply didn't apply.
Outside the window, the midday sun cast slanted rays across the classroom floor, stretching the shadows long... as if foreshadowing a confrontation that would spark more than just numbers and formulas.
And Kiyotaka? As usual. He quietly flipped to the next page in his book, lips curving slightly, as though he'd just read a plot twist not found in the official syllabus.
Just as Izayoi bit into his snack with such calm it made people question whether this was a real challenge at all, Suzune remained standing, straight and unyielding like a tower. Then suddenly, she turned her head. Her cold gaze swept the classroom like an infrared scanner, landing precisely on Hitori sharp, clinical, like a sterilized scalpel in an operating room. No detours. No mercy.
"Who is she?"
Her voice rang out level, neither loud nor soft but it cut through the room, drawing every gaze.
Izayoi, still munching, only shrugged like she'd asked something as mundane as "What's for lunch?"
"Oh, just someone I recently befriended. Gotou Hitori. She's... not the best at socializing, so she's a bit hard to notice."
Hitori, sitting quietly and strategically curled above Izayoi, suddenly felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her. Hard to notice...? Her heart felt like it had been stabbed not with a blade, but with a toothpick... that still managed to go in deep. He wasn't wrong. He wasn't at all wrong. But... why did he have to say it out loud...?
She dropped her head low, trying to hide behind her bag strap, hands clenching her shockingly pink gym jacket an outfit choice she immediately began to deeply regret.
Suzune furrowed her brow, as though searching her mental student database.
"...What did you say her name was again?"
Before Izayoi could answer, a new voice cut in female, and brimming with excitement. Hasebe Haruka, with her long green hair, sparkly anime-like eyes, springy walk, and smile curved like she'd just uncovered a hot scoop in the school newsletter.
"To think you of all people made a new friend and even got that close? Our whole study group hasn't gotten anywhere near that level yet~"
Haruka bent down to peer at Hitori's face with open curiosity.
"What kind of special charm does this Hitori girl have, I wonder?"
"Charisma...?"
A cold sweat broke out at the nape of Hitori's neck.
If I have any at all, it's probably the "ability to go invisible to the point of skipping class without getting marked absent."
She could almost hear her brain screaming: No! There's nothing special about me! I'm just an ordinary person! So ordinary I got left out of the class photo!
And then, like a cherry on top of the embarrassment cake, a deep, calm male voice flat as a windless lake suddenly cut through the air.
"I agree. You do stand out quite a bit."
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka finally joined the conversation after silently observing until now. He was a student who looked average, but always gave off a sense of... unreadability.
Hands in his pockets, he walked up and looked Hitori straight in the eyes with a detached, yet direct gaze.
"The school doesn't require uniforms, but it's rare for someone to show up... in a bright pink tracksuit like that."
Hitori... completely froze.
It was as if a blast of liquid nitrogen had just been sprayed across her nervous system.
She heard nothing. Saw no light, felt no air.
All she could feel were the eyes countless pairs of them suddenly trained on her.
A few soft but clear giggles reached her ears like tiny hammers pounding on her heart.
"U-Um... I just... wore the wrong outfit, that's all..."
She stammered, lips trembling, her voice so faint that without an amplifier, it was questionable whether the sound existed at all.
Izayoi, still munching on snacks like he was watching a good stage play, suddenly turned and patted Hitori's shoulder with exaggerated gentleness.
"It's fine, Hitori. I think it suits you. Very... radiant. Literally."
Radiant?! Radiant?!
Hitori's mind exploded like an international fireworks show.
You call this radiant? Like the kind of beacon lights airplanes use to avoid collisions at night?!
Suzune, who had been silently observing the scene, squinted slightly as if trying to determine whether Izayoi was conducting a new kind of social experiment.
Her gaze passed over Hitori again, from her long pink hair and that blinding tracksuit down to the slightly crooked gray skirt. Then she looked back at Izayoi with an expression that hovered somewhere between disappointment and resignation.
And so, in less than two minutes, Gotou Hitori a student who could have peacefully passed through three years of high school without anyone noticing her existence suddenly became the center of attention in the most unwilling way imaginable.
Like a flickering light in the daytime sky: nobody knew what it was, but everyone was staring.
Yukimura known to his close friends as "Keisei" was just about to stand up, still holding a thick bundle of documents filled with math formulas twisted like a labyrinth.
His foot hadn't even left its place when a familiar voice rang out the kind that usually signaled an incoming storm.
"Hey, Keisei."
He stopped instantly.
His feet felt glued to the floor.
Turning around, his eyes held a flicker of surprise, a touch of caution, and a whole lot of suspicion.
Facing him was Izayoi, now leaning back in his chair with arms crossed, like someone contemplating whether to place a bet in a high-stakes chess match.
"What is it?"
Keisei asked in a not-so-pleasant tone.
Anyone who knew Izayoi understood: when he seriously called someone by name, it usually meant he was about to drag them into some paradoxical nonsense.
Izayoi tilted his head slightly, eyes half-closed, a crooked smile forming like he'd just come up with something fun.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"You're a good student, right? If I'm not mistaken, your score in the recent Paper Shuffle... was only a few points behind Suzune's."
Keisei blushed a bit.
Partly because of the compliment even though it came from Izayoi, which made it questionable and partly because... he didn't like being the center of attention.
"Well... not bad, I guess" he muttered with a shrug.
"But what does that have to do with me?"
Izayoi raised his index finger, that tilted smile now looking like a final verdict.
"Everything. You'll be the one setting the questions for the match between me and Suzune."
The words dropped like a stone into a still lake.
An eerie silence settled over the table.
Scattered students nearby immediately turned their attention to the trio Izayoi, Suzune, and Keisei as if they'd just heard the kickoff to a dramatic school anime.
"Setting the questions...?"
Keisei frowned. He looked at Izayoi, then turned to Suzune who quickly seized the opportunity to turn this absurdity into logic.
"If you're serious..." Suzune said, voice unwavering,
"...then this will be proof. I'm ready."
Izayoi stretched, hands behind his head as if watching clouds drift by.
"I agree too, but..."
His voice paused.
A beat of silence for suspense.
Suzune narrowed her eyes.
"But what?"
He slowly rested his elbows on the table, fingertips brushing his chin, his smile half-hidden, half-revealed.
"If you win that is, if you solve it before I do I'll grant you any request you want."
Suzune's eyes widened.
"Any request...?"
Hitori, who had been trying to blend into the wall behind her, mentally sprang to her feet.
"Any request?! What?! Am I hearing a light novel contract clause right now?! Is Izayoi secretly a villain testing the heroine to unlock the main plot route?!"
Izayoi nodded.
"Even helping Class D improve, move up in rank, or go up against the other classes, etc... as long as it's within the school's regulations."
Suzune was silent for a moment, then slowly asked:
"And if you win?"
"Then you'll stop dragging me into your class reform schemes."
Izayoi extended his hand as if to seal a contract.
"From now on, you're not allowed to force me into anything else."
The atmosphere in the classroom shifted as if someone had just flipped a switch. A few students quietly turned their heads, trying hard to pretend they weren't eavesdropping. Sakura Airi leaned in close to Haruka and whispered:
"...Is this seriously going to be a math duel?"
Haruka smiled, speaking in a tone that sounded just like a TV commentator:
"Well, at least it's not a piano battle between two gifted individuals..."
Suzune lightly clenched her fist. Her face didn't betray even a hint of emotion.
"Very well, then let's begin the match."
"Alright then..." Izayoi turned to Keisei.
"...You'll be the judge and the one giving the question, just like we agreed, Yukimura."
Keisei let out a long sigh a sigh that seemed to carry away any hope of a peaceful day. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at the stack of math problems in his hand as though it were a cruel fate dragging him into a battle that had nothing to do with him.
"If I'm being pulled into this just because I'm good at math... that's not good. But fine."
Under the dim afternoon light of the classroom, with only the gentle whir of the ceiling fan and the soft scratch of pens in the distance, a strange atmosphere began to settle in sparked by a mathematical challenge, dramatic conditions, and a pink-haired girl who had her head down... after accidentally dropping her snack bag under the desk.
From near the middle of the classroom, Sakura Airi poked her head out, her face caught between confusion and excitement.
"Should I record this or something? I mean... stuff like this doesn't happen every day, right?"
Haruka simply smiled quietly, resting her chin in her palm, as if watching a real-life drama unfold just missing a heroic background soundtrack.
"Well... at least it's not skydiving... inside a classroom," she muttered.
And so, right in the middle of Class 1-D, a sudden math battle was scheduled witnessed by classmates who were both audience and commentators, wearing expressions that ranged from tension, skepticism, to... curiosity about whether someone might faint in the middle of the question.
Lunchtime, which was normally filled with murmurs about bentos, idols, or upcoming exams, had suddenly transformed into a courtroom trial in eerie silence. The sounds of pens, the AC blowing, even soft breathing all felt amplified. Everyone's attention was drawn toward the desk near the corner of the room where Izayoi sat with legs crossed and Horikita sat bolt upright, staring at the tabletop as if it were a battlefield.
Then, as if to officially commence the "trial," Yukimura who, in serious moments like this, liked to see himself as the embodiment of "order and logic" stood up.
Slowly, he adjusted his glasses. The faint metallic sound of the frame brushing against his nose bridge echoed clearly. He leaned slightly forward, holding a neatly folded stack of papers, like someone who had prepared carefully since morning, anticipating a call for a battle of wits.
"The problem is as follows..."
Keisei began, his voice not loud, but precise each word sharpened like forged steel, cutting through the classroom silence. Most of the students in Class D had already stopped whispering. Eyes turned, zooming in like camera lenses locking onto the center of attention.
"A man comes to a strange town, where there are three types of residents: those who always tell the truth, those who always lie, and those who alternate—meaning they say truth, then a lie, then truth again... switching like that."
Keisei continued, his eyes sweeping the growing crowd but his voice remaining calm.
His tone had the air of a professor giving a lecture.
"The man meets three residents A, B, and C and asks them: 'What type are you?'
A says: 'I am a liar.'
B says: 'C is a liar.'
C says: 'I am a truth-teller.'"
Then, as if placing the final piece in a chess game, Keisei slowly delivered the question, like dropping a stone into a still pond:
"Determine the type of each resident: A, B and C."
The classroom suddenly became... terrifyingly quiet. Not because no one understood the question, but because it struck right at the intellectual pride of anyone with even a shred of it. Some students gasped, others held their breath. A faint "huh?" rose from the back, followed by an immediate "shhh!"
Suzune was the first to act. Almost as soon as Keisei finished speaking, she whipped out a pen like drawing a sword, placed scratch paper on the desk, and focused completely. The first markings were arrows, logic symbols, and large letters A, B, C followed by a series of assumptions, one by one. She bit her lip, tilting her head slightly, as if solving a murder mystery with no physical evidence.
Izayoi, on the other hand...
He hadn't moved. Still leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, staring straight at Keisei without blinking like someone who had just heard a mildly amusing joke. It wasn't until Keisei added:
"This is one of the advanced problems from the national university entrance exams, under the mathematics specialty track."
"Even top students usually take nearly an hour to solve this one accurately. There are eight possible combinations for the types of A, B, and C. But if you don't check carefully, it's easy to make a mistake."
"...Oh?" Izayoi tilted his head slightly.
"An hour, huh? That means I've got enough time to have lunch, sip some tea, and then start the puzzle, right?"
Without turning his head, he casually extended a crinkly snack bag forward.
"Hitori, want some? First chip's for you."
Startled by hearing her name, Hitori flinched, instinctively tucking in her neck and clutching her backpack, which had just slightly revealed a few hidden snack packets.
"I-I didn't take anything! Honest!"
Izayoi chuckled.
"I never said you did. But hey, do you understand the puzzle?"
"Uh... I... I haven't even figured out who A is yet" Hitori stammered.
"Why would there be someone telling the truth, someone lying, and then... one that alternates?"
Meanwhile, in the middle of the classroom, Sakura Airi quietly unlocked her phone, about to type "logic puzzle A B C liar" into a search bar but before she could hit the second letter, Haruka gently nudged her elbow and shook her head.
"No Googling. This is a battle of wits, not a race to see who can search faster."
The room remained silent but it was no longer an empty silence. It felt like an exam hall: tense, suspenseful, and a little electric. A few students quietly stood up to get a clearer look at Izayoi and Suzune. Kiyotaka suddenly closed his book, his eyes watching them like he was following a soccer match.
Suzune had already written half a page. Each line came with an arrow, or the words "contradiction?", "plausible?", or "eliminate?" the whole thing resembled a crime scene whiteboard from a detective movie. She murmured to herself:
"If A is lying... then they can't say 'I am a liar'... because liars always lie... so... hmm... then A can't be the liar?"
The tip of her pen tapped against the desk. Her expression remained composed but beads of sweat had begun to gather on her forehead.
And Izayoi?
He had just set the snack bag aside and pulled out... a lollipop from his backpack. Still hadn't written a single word. Hadn't even reached for a pen.
Gotou Hitori, seated diagonally in front of Izayoi, stole a glance his way.
Her left eye darted to Suzune's densely scribbled page of calculations. Her right eye flicked to Izayoi, who had just tilted his head back as if savoring the spiciness of the chip more than the high-level logic puzzle at hand.
Hitori's mouth dropped open, as if she were about to scream.
"You're really not gonna start the puzzle?"
"Oh, I will. But I'm observing my opponent first," Izayoi replied with a wink.
"D-Don't you need scratch paper or something?"
Izayoi raised two fingers and tapped his temple.
"The best scratch paper is right in here."
Yukimura, the one who had designed the problem, was still leaning by the desk, eyes narrowed as if he were staring at some exotic creature.
"You're not going to... even try?" he asked, clearly skeptical.
Izayoi shrugged, chewing as he replied:
"Eh... in a bit."
"In a bit?"
"Yeah, I just wanna see how far Suzune can get if I do absolutely nothing."
As if his words had summoned her name like a séance bell, every pair of eyes turned to Suzune. She didn't reply her hand kept moving but her brows had started to furrow. The initial assumptions were beginning to crumble. A red line crossed out one failed hypothesis.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three...
No one spoke. No one laughed. The only sounds were Suzune's pen gliding on paper and Izayoi's lollipop tapping his teeth.
And just like that... lunch break in Class 1-D was no longer a break.
It had officially become a mental battlefield, where two completely different approaches met at a single point: neither was willing to back down.
Classroom 1-D sank into a thick, fog-like quiet, like a forest at dawn. Every student held their breath not out of fear or stress but because they feared even the slightest sound might break the sacred atmosphere taking shape in the room.
No one dared speak. No one moved. Even Hasebe Haruka usually the first to break any tense moment with a badly timed joke now sat with her lips sealed, hands clenched under the desk as if holding back a wave of restlessness.
"Don't stress too much, Suzune~"
Izayoi's teasing voice came with a drawn-out tone, like he was encouraging a toddler learning to ride a bike.
"Shut up."
Her reply was ice-cold, eyes never leaving the page.
"If you lose because you didn't take this seriously, don't blame me."
Izayoi tilted his head, arms crossed, a glint of intrigue in his eyes.
"Oh? So you actually think you can win?"
Suzune gave no answer but her pen moved even faster, as if to say that proof needed no words.
Izayoi gave a soft chuckle, then dropped the empty snack bag into his desk drawer. He pulled out a tissue and began wiping each finger slowly, methodically. No rush. No urgency. Like an artist preparing to walk onstage, still taking time to breathe in the moment.
Then he stretched, drawing a short breath.
"Well, I suppose... it's about time I got a little serious."
Every gaze in the room snapped toward him like iron filings to a magnet.
No one said a word, but even those who hadn't planned to participate instinctively stopped what they were doing. Hitori held her breath. Haruka parted her lips. Airi blinked. Even Kiyotaka the one who cared about nothing closed his book and tilted his head, as if trying to hear more clearly.
And Izayoi... still hadn't picked up his pen.
Izayoi simply looked up at the ceiling as if rereading a map. Then he tilted his head and asked Suzune:
"How far have you gotten?"
Suzune didn't turn toward him, but her voice was slightly rushed:
"I'm still analyzing the problem."
"You're taking too long" he replied.
"I'll just give the answer."
No scratch paper. No formulas. No calculations. Just a faint smile on his lips.
"Person A is the one who alternates between truth and lies. Person B always lies. And Person C always tells the truth."
The words echoed, each syllable dropping into the air like pebbles falling onto the surface of a still lake. A ripple of astonishment spread through the room.
Suzune jerked her head up, eyes wide:
"What...?"
Kiyotaka quietly closed his book without a word. But his eyes had begun following Izayoi like a unique chess piece newly placed on the board.
Hitori's eyes widened, almost gasping:
"H-How did he figure it out so easily?"
Izayoi rested his chin on his hand, eyes half-closed, voice as calm as if explaining a boring job interview question:
"Three-step logic. Once you analyze the loop in the alternating statement and break down the paradox in the sentence 'I always lie,' everything becomes crystal clear."
Keisei bowed his head to double-check each line of the prepared answer sheet.
He blinked. Once. Twice...
"...Correct..." he murmured.
"...Absolutely accurate."
The atmosphere in Class 1-D remained thick, as if all the heat had just been drained from the room. All eyes turned to Izayoi the one who had simplified a tangled logic puzzle into a single answer, as effortlessly as picking a favorite ice cream flavor from a menu.
Suzune Horikita still gripped her deep blue fountain pen tightly, unmoving. On the scratch paper before her were neat lines of text and perfectly drawn boxes resembling a matrix chart. Her thinking was always sharp, methodical, and orderly but all of that seemed to have just been hit with a critical blow. Not because her result was wrong, but because of the difference in processing speed and the... absurd spontaneity of her opponent.
It felt like she had missed a single step and was now overtaken by a sprinter wearing plastic sandals.
A soft scraping sound came from a chair being pulled back. It was Yukimura the one who had created the problem, and seemingly the only one still composed enough to break the long silence with a question he couldn't hide his shock in.
"Hold on... You said 'three-step logic'? Explain how you solved that without any scratch work?"
Izayoi smiled as if he'd been waiting for this moment to step onto his own stage. He laced his hands behind his head, leaned back slightly, his body slipping into a state of ease. His voice wasn't rushed if anything, it was tinged with laziness:
"Alright then. Listen carefully."
Hitori Gotou blinked, then let go of the pen in her hand as if someone had hit the pause button. She leaned back, clasped her hands like hugging an imaginary pillow, and looked toward the strange boy about to start an impromptu lecture.
Haruka Hasebe rested her chin on the back of her hand, while Kiyotaka Ayanokouji maintained the same expression as always no overt emotion, just an observing gaze.
Izayoi tapped the desk lightly three times.
"First, let's look at the three statements,"
he began, each word sounding like it came from a luxury detective novel:
"There are three types of people: the one who always tells the truth, the one who always lies, and the one who alternates between truth and lies. The problem is to determine who is who."
He raised his right index finger as if tapping out a short jazz rhythm in the air.
"Let's start with A. A says: 'I am someone who always lies.' Sound familiar?"
Haruka gave a small laugh:
"The classic 'I'm lying' paradox... A legend in the liar's club."
Izayoi nodded with a quiet chuckle, then emphasized:
"If A always lies, then A's statement 'I always lie' would be true, because he's lying. But if someone who always lies tells the truth, then... paradox. Illogical. Eliminated."
He raised a second finger.
"If A always tells the truth and says he always lies, then that would be a lie. So that's also out."
Hitori murmured: "So the only one left is..."
"Exactly..." Izayoi smiled, his gaze playfully sweeping the class.
"A is the alternating speaker. Lies one day, tells the truth the next no one knows. But in this case, the paradox disappears if he's the inconsistent type."
Suzune silently jotted down notes. The first few strokes were shaky, but gradually grew more firm.
Izayoi continued, this time raising a third finger:
"Now onto B: 'C is someone who always lies.' Suppose B always lies. Then that statement would be false, meaning C does not always lie. The two remaining options for C are: either truthful or alternating."
He pointed at himself:
"But we've already identified A as the alternating speaker."
Keisei muttered: "Then C must be the truth-teller... It fits."
"Correct. That makes B the liar. A perfect logical loop."
Izayoi clapped his hands three times, softly.
"To summarize: A = alternating, B = liar, C = truth-teller."
Izayoi glanced at Keisei, then swept his gaze across the entire class his expression not arrogant, yet carrying a distinct confidence. The kind of confidence born from someone who had already walked through a maze while others were still fumbling with the instruction board.
"Three steps. Eliminate paradoxes, check for consistency, identify roles. No need for scratch work. Just don't let your mind panic."
No one spoke. Suzune sat frozen, her eyes a mix of frustration and reluctant admiration, as if she had just been thrown off a chessboard she thought she was winning.
Haruka let out a low whistle. Airi tilted her head, murmuring something under her breath that no one quite caught.
Only Kiyotaka pursed his lips, arms crossed, silently watching Izayoi with the calm, unreadable look of someone who had just seen a surprise test handed out in class without his prior knowledge.
Izayoi let out a small yawn and leaned back in his chair.
"That was a fun question, Keisei. But next time, remember to include a reward. Kinda kills the mood otherwise."
The class was still reeling, but in each student's mind, the name Sakamaki Izayoi had just been highlighted in indelible red ink.
He was the kind of person that even if he were just eating snacks or seriously competing no one dared to underestimate.
He was the storm that arrived on a seemingly sunny day.
And Class 1-D was only just beginning to realize that.
At the moment Izayoi finished explaining his solution, the air in the classroom seemed to be drained of all sound. A strange, prolonged silence stretched out just long enough for everyone to process what had just happened. All eyes shifted from Suzune, motionless with her pen halted mid-scratch on her notebook, to Izayoi, still leaning back, chin resting on his hand, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Suzune swallowed dryly.
She continued to stare at her paper, where equations, logical diagrams, and step-by-step deductions sat like the culmination of her entire fifteen minutes of focused thought. As rational, resilient, and confident in her own abilities as she was, Suzune couldn't suppress the dizzying sensation overtaking her. It was like being called to the blackboard by a teacher for a problem you hadn't reviewed, left standing there awkward and blank, unsure where to even rest your eyes.
Part of her didn't want to believe it.
I... gave it my all. This wasn't an easy problem. Keisei even said it might take up to an hour. But him... he just said three steps and that was it?
Even now, she couldn't comprehend how Izayoi had pulled it off. How could someone observe and process that fast?
Another part of her sank into quiet dismay. Not at Izayoi but at herself. Despite being smart, diligent, and serious, she couldn't even approach the height where he stood. That overwhelming gap between them felt like a wall separating mortals from someone who lived in the skies above.
While Suzune was still trying to calm her swirling emotions, a familiar voice cut through the silence.
"When did you solve it, Izayoi?"
It was Kiyotaka. His voice was as calm as ever, but his eyes were sharper now. A gaze that seemed to slice through the person in front of him, trying to peel away the truth behind their actions.
Izayoi tilted his head, raising an intrigued eyebrow.
"Right after I finished reading the problem."
The answer came so casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Not arrogant, not condescending yet leaving no room for doubt.
Suzune stiffened. She turned to look at him, eyes slightly widened.
Keisei snorted as if choking, Haruka gaped, and Hitori looked almost petrified.
"W-Wait... seriously?" Hitori stammered.
"You solved it just from reading it once?" Haruka blinked rapidly.
"You're not bluffing, right?"
"He's not joking." Keisei's voice dropped, half-statement, half-self-confirmation.
"The moment I finished reading the problem, I saw it in his eyes... He wasn't reading he was already analyzing."
Kiyotaka said nothing more, but his mind was spinning.
Unlike the others, shocked by Izayoi's answer, Kiyotaka wasn't focused on the solution itself. What he saw was the processing speed, the absolute confidence in ruling out flawed logic and the control over the situation as if Izayoi knew he would win even before Keisei had finished stating the problem.
This wasn't normal.
This person wasn't just a genius in academics.
He was something else entirely a being who had long grown used to challenges far more difficult than this. Someone who not only solved problems but did so with such ease that it made others question the reality around them.
Horikita Suzune, who always maintained a cool and confident demeanor like a sharp breeze, now quietly lowered her head. Not to avoid anyone's gaze, but as a heavy, silent concession. There was nothing left to argue. She had poured her effort into that problem analyzed each assumption, wrote out every step and while she hadn't reached the final answer yet, she believed she was on the right track.
Yet it only took Izayoi a few seconds to solve it completely, and explain the logic as if tutoring a middle-schooler. He hadn't rushed. He hadn't shown off. But it was precisely that calm that made the difference between them feel so undeniable clear, concrete, and impossible to refute.
She wasn't used to losing like this.
Especially not to someone she'd once dismissed as not the serious, studious type.
She was someone who believed in absolute effort.
In Suzune's mind, any limit could be overcome as long as one tried hard enough.
But reality had just slapped her across the face with a cold, undeniable truth:
Izayoi didn't need to try.
He was simply... already there on the other side of a boundary that effort alone might never reach.
Yet Suzune wasn't the only one sitting in silence.
After returning to his seat, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka remained still, his gaze not directly on Izayoi but slightly off to the side, as if watching through the corner of his eye. He didn't display any particular expression neither surprise nor admiration. To a casual observer, he might have just looked... absentminded.
His eyes scanned the classroom, subtly gauging everyone's reactions.
Keisei was mumbling something to himself, clearly still unable to accept that a high-level logic problem had just been dismantled in three sentences.
Haruka rested her chin on her hand, her gaze a complex mix of curiosity and suspicion.
Hitori sat frozen, back slightly arched as if on the verge of falling over, her hand still holding a pen she hadn't had time to put down.
Then Kiyotaka's gaze stopped on Izayoi.
The boy was still resting his chin on one hand, while the other reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick-shaped snack, which he munched on casually like he was just waiting for the lunch bell.
There was no victorious expression, no effort to appear humble.
Izayoi simply didn't seem to consider what had just happened to be worth reacting to.
Or perhaps... for him, winning was such a given that there was no need to show it.
Something stirred faintly inside Kiyotaka a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time:
Interest.
When the math problem appeared, he had seen through the solution within seconds using clear logic three roles, the paradox in A's statement, and proper elimination.
To Kiyotaka, it was nothing more than a basic test of reasoning ability.
But what caught his attention was the way Izayoi handled it not just quickly, but with flair.
He hadn't paused to double-check, hadn't needed to mentally sketch out bullet points he simply spoke, in plain, clean words, without a single misstep.
"So" Kiyotaka thought.
"I'm not the only one who can process things that fast, huh."
It wasn't a feeling of competition that emotion was foreign to him.
But a question quietly emerged in his mind:
If faced with a truly difficult problem something like a three-dimensional twisted spatial geometry question, or a high-level combinatorics puzzle with a time limit...
Which one of them would find the solution first?
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Kiyotaka knew very well that his processing speed came from training...
From years of being subjected to the harshest, most rigorous programs where logical reflexes were drilled into every nerve fiber.
But Izayoi...
He didn't seem like the type who had been trained.
He was too natural.
Too... effortless.
A born genius?
Or perhaps a different kind of creature entirely...
The kind of person who didn't need to try, and still stayed ten steps ahead of everyone?
That question floated in Kiyotaka's mind,
But instead of feeling threatened, he felt something else...
Like a faint light quietly flickering to life in the long, unbroken darkness of boredom.
A small smile passed over his lips, lasting only half a second just enough that no one in the class noticed.
If Izayoi truly was someone who existed outside the graph of ordinary comprehension,
Then perhaps... things in Class 1-D were about to get a lot more interesting.
The tension in the classroom, already stretched taut like a wire ever since the math problem was presented, now fell into a strange silence.
Not the silence of waiting or awkwardness,
But something deeper...
Like someone had dropped a stone into a still lake, and everyone was quietly watching the ripples spread, endlessly.
Izayoi had delivered the correct answer with sharp certainty no hesitation, no wasted words, no need for help.
His voice was as light as if he were commenting on the weather,
Which made it all the more like a slap across the tense atmosphere of the room.
In the middle rows, Suzune still sat motionless.
Her eyes remained locked on the scrap paper in front of her,
Where the half-finished strings of numbers, logical symbols, and arrows looked like a song cut off halfway through its crescendo.
She had gone full-speed through every step: stating assumptions, checking for contradictions, building the logical tree.
And yet...
She had only made it halfway.
A cold, hollow sensation spread through her chest.
Not regret...
But the clear realization: she had lost.
Not because of laziness.
Not due to a mistake.
But because of an overwhelming gap in ability.
There was nothing harder for someone like Horikita Suzune...
Someone who had always believed that anything was possible with enough effort...
Than to admit that there existed people...
who lay outside the reach of effort itself.
"...I admit it."
She drew a deep breath, as if to steady her voice.
It wasn't loud, but firm and resolute...
Ringing through the room like a sword being drawn from its sheath.
"I lost. I'll keep my promise. From now on, I won't bother you about joining the special exams anymore."
Each word was precise, every syllable carried both pride and resolve.
She turned to face Izayoi.
No bowing.
No avoidance.
But in her sharp, clear eyes for the first time there was a glimmer of defiance.
Not toward him,
But toward herself.
Izayoi raised an eyebrow slightly, tilting his head with a half-smile tinged with teasing but not outright mockery.
"Thanks. Honestly, Suzune, I thought you'd be stubborn to the bitter end."
A soft chuckle escaped from Haruka's lips. Keisei, meanwhile, crossed his arms tightly, his brows furrowed. He was biting his lip, as if unable to swallow his frustration.
"I can't believe this... You didn't use a single scrap of scratch paper. No formulas. Not even a moment to think."
Haruka leaned forward, propping her chin on the table, her tone teasing yet tinged with genuine admiration.
"Weren't you the one who came up with the question, Yukimura? Are you regretting it now? Maybe you should've made it three times harder."
Keisei's face flushed bright red.
"I-I already picked one of the hardest ones possible! That was problem number 18 from the International High School Mathematics Olympiad in 20XX!"
The room shifted into a low murmur of chaos. Some students chuckled. Others were still trying to process what had just happened. But amidst that flurry of reactions, Izayoi stood up, dusted off his pants, and took a few slow steps forward, his gaze sweeping across the class like someone surveying chess pieces before the game begins.
And then his eyes stopped.
Stopped on Kiyotaka.
They said nothing. Not a single word.
Just a fleeting glance a second of eye contact that to them felt like an unspoken agreement. Like two swordsmen recognizing one another on a misty morning before a duel, blades yet undrawn, but already understanding: this opponent could finally offer something all previous battles had lacked... joy.
Kiyotaka's gaze remained calm. He didn't nod. He showed no expression. But deep in his eyes, there was a flicker sharper, deeper like a quiet lake disturbed only by the subtle ripple of a giant fish beneath.
No one else in the room noticed that moment. To the others, Izayoi had simply finished a casual display of talent. But in truth, something had begun moving beneath the still surface of Koudo Ikusei High School.
Something... unstoppable.
Izayoi's lips curled slightly, as if savoring a rare and exquisite flavor.
(That opponent was too weak. I haven't even properly warmed up. What a letdown.)
(Well... here's hoping Kiyotaka doesn't disappoint in the upcoming individual-points exam. Life's already boring enough. Let's see if he can survive my real "warm-up.")
Across the room, Kiyotaka sat still, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, as though he'd heard the declaration of war even though it had never been spoken aloud.
The tension from the earlier mental showdown between Suzune and Izayoi still lingered. Like the mist that remains after a brief summer storm no longer loud, but not quite silent either.
And in that pause, a sentence dropped softly like silk yet landed like a pebble on a glassy lake:
"I did promise, didn't I? Once it's solved, we'll go have lunch. Let's go, Hitori."
Hitori's head shot up, eyes wide with panic, as if she'd just been caught committing some secret taboo in a dream.
"Uh... um... L-Lunch?"
She repeated the suggestion with a dazed tone, as if it were spoken in some long-dead language. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk, her legs twitched as though ready to flee, yet no escape route presented itself.
In her mind, imaginary warning panels flashed to life:
[EMERGENCY! A FRIEND IS INVITING YOU TO LUNCH!]
[THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS REAL!]
[HITORI, RESPOND TO THE INVITATION IMMEDIATELY!]
Three simple words but why did they shake her so deeply? Her heart leapt to her throat, then plunged into her stomach all in the same beat. For a moment, the world blurred into the background, leaving only Izayoi's voice calm, ordinary, yet somehow opening a door to an entirely unfamiliar realm.
Izayoi tilted his head, his sharp eyes lazy, like someone watching a stray cat eyeing a dangling sausage.
"You don't want to?"
"If you're embarrassed, I can pretend you asked me instead."
"N-No! That's not it!"
Hitori waved her hands in a panic, terrified that any misunderstanding might sever the thin thread connecting them.
"It's just that..."
Her words caught in her throat. Her face turned red ripe tomato red. She cupped her hands over her cheeks, her voice shrinking into a tremble as tiny as a lost beetle buzzing through tangled grass.
"I usually... eat alone... behind the school... near the mossy wall... close to that utility pole... There's a nice patch of shade there, and no one passes by..."
The confession came out like a small hiccup, so soft only those who truly listened could catch it. But Izayoi heard. And he let out a small, amused laugh not mocking, not cruel. It was a sound of surprise and delight.
"Like a ninja, huh?"
Hitori blinked, then dropped her head as though struck by lightning.
"...I just don't want... to be noticed..." she whispered, voice barely brushing the air like a breeze through leaves.
"I think if someone saw me... they'd think I was some kind of strange creature..."
The moment she said it, the hallway seemed to still. Then, another soft laugh escaped from Izayoi not scornful, not derisive. It was... gentle. So much so that Hitori felt a sting rise behind her eyes.
"It's fine" he said, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"I'll go with you and be the second 'strange creature' for company."
Hitori blinked again. For the first time in her life, someone didn't see her habit of hiding as weird someone wanted to join her in it.
Her heart felt like someone had just flicked it with a finger light, sudden but enough to make it skip.
Both of them stood up and slowly walked toward the classroom door. Hitori staggered with every step, as though each footstep had to convince herself that the ground still existed beneath her. Beside her, Izayoi walked leisurely, as if he had just left a tea room, while Hitori moved like she was trying to hide a heart that was about to leap out of her chest by... gripping her jacket tightly.
(I... I'm going to lunch with you. A real friend. And that friend is Izayoi.)
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She just knew her feet felt like they were floating an inch off the ground, and her face... definitely looked twisted in a very concerning way.
However, she was unaware that behind her, in the classroom, there was a pair of eyes quietly watching them.
Haruka sat silently, her hands clenched in her lap without realizing it. She watched the backs of Izayoi and Hitori as they left the classroom. Her eyes reflected a complex emotion. What kind? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that it made her chest ache.
(Before... Izayoi-kun never ate lunch with anyone.)
(He always sat alone on the rooftop balcony, eyes closed like he was sleeping. No one dared approach him and he didn't want to make friends with anyone either.)
(And now...)
(And now, he's going with that girl. That shy girl...)
Haruka didn't hate Hitori. There was no reason to hate her. But she couldn't deny that a vague feeling of jealousy had risen within her. It was like seeing someone discover a rare item that she had passed by without picking up.
Beside Haruka was Sakura Airi, her quiet friend who tilted her head slightly and observed before asking softly:
"Haruka... are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Haruka shook her head, forcing a smile as if she were trying to untangle the knots in her heart.
"I'm just... a little curious. What is it about Hitori-chan... that got Izayoi-kun's attention?"
Airi didn't answer immediately. She looked out the window, where the sunlight streamed across the hallway, illuminating the two figures disappearing into the distance.
"Maybe... it's because Hitori is the only one who hasn't tried to get close to Izayoi because of his talent."
Her voice was soft as the wind, but each word hung in the air clearly.
"That's probably why Izayoi wants to be close to her."
Haruka didn't say anything. She just watched the two figures fading behind the doorframe. Her gaze was no longer filled with envy, but with a deep curiosity and a hint of... admiration.
Outside the classroom, under the shimmering midday sun, two people walked side by side.
A girl who once thought she only belonged in the darkness.
And a boy whose brilliance was so blinding that no one dared look him straight in the eye.
Among the hurried crowd, their steps were slow but sure, as if it were the first time, the first time... they weren't alone anymore.