Hiyori Shiina/Intrigue

**ATTENTION! Cet article contient des informations provenant du light novel.**
*Ne lisez pas au-delà de **ce point** si vous voulez éviter d'être spoilé.*

## Plot

#### Volume 6

Hiyori, accompanied by Daichi Ishizaki, made her debut at a cafe in Keyaki Mall upon Kakeru Ryūen's request to help spy on Class 1-D. They greeted members of the Ayanokōji Group studying at a group table. When asked about any leads on "X," Hiyori couldn't offer any significant information yet. She observed Teruhiko Yukimura and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, but their faces didn't leave a strong impression on her.

Hiyori told Kakeru that she'd probably forget both of them soon. Daichi informed her that the other Class 1-D member they were looking for was Yōsuke Hirata. Hiyori struggled with remembering faces and names of people outside her class but confidently suspected Rokusuke Kōenji as a potential "X" candidate based on Kakeru's request.

    Hiyori and her classmates from Class 1-C parted ways with the students from Class 1-D, with Hiyori staying behind to observe them. Haruka Hasebe, from Class 1-D, called out to Hiyori, expressing frustration that she was being a distraction to their studying. Hiyori smiled and understood that Hasebe was upset because Kakeru, her fellow classmate, had accidentally crushed Hasebe's drink.

To make amends, Hiyori went to the cash register, used her private points to buy two cups of coffee for the group, and added sugar to them. She offered the drinks to Hasebe as an apology on behalf of Class 1-C and assured her they were safe to drink. Hasebe found the coffee delicious, and Hiyori explained how she had deduced Hasebe's preference for sweet coffee based on the crushed cup she had observed earlier. Hiyori admired Hasebe's attention to detail, despite her appearance, and appreciated that her assumption was correct. She used the amount of undissolved sugar in the crushed cup to estimate Hasebe's initial preference accurately.

Hiyori turned her attention to the three boys in the group and asked if they were having a study session together. She questioned whether they saw her as a spy working for Class 1-C, to which one of them playfully suggested she was. Hiyori clarified that she wasn't a spy, emphasizing that she had maintained a distance from Kakeru, the leader of Class 1-C. She had asked for Kakeru's permission to accompany them to visit Class 1-D.

Curious about which class Kakeru's group was going to, Hiyori expressed her interest in Class 1-D. She noticed the group's confusion and realized they had no idea about the behind-the-scenes activities in Class 1-D. She informed them that it was a hot topic among her classmates in Class 1-C. She revealed that there was a mysterious tactician known as "X" in Class 1-D, who operated in secrecy and had played a significant role in their recent successes, such as the Deserted Island Special Test, Cruise Ship Special Test, and Sports Festival. Hiyori asked if they truly had no knowledge of the tactician's identity, prompting Teruhiko to suggest it might be Suzune, which Akito agreed with. Hiyori firmly asserted that the tactician was not Suzune and asked Kiyotaka if he spent a lot of time with her.

During the discussion about the identity of "X," Kiyotaka mentioned that he used to spend more time with Suzune but not as much recently. However, Hiyori remained suspicious of him, particularly because he sat next to her.

Hiyori's intuition led her to speculate that Suzune might be a cover-up and a puppet leader for "X" in Class 1-D, with that person using her as a front while orchestrating the class's successes. Her theory didn't convince the group, as Haruka and Akito firmly believed that Suzune was the most likely candidate for "X." Hiyori realized that no matter what she said, the Class 1-D students wouldn't easily change their perception of Suzune as the mastermind.

Teruhiko eventually asked Hiyori to leave, claiming she had disturbed their study routine. Hiyori apologized, but Hasebe defended her and thanked her for replacing the coffee cup she had dropped earlier. Hiyori, looking apologetic, suggested they discuss such matters after their final exams and prepared to leave. She bid farewell to Hasebe and the Class 1-D students, parting ways with them.

Later, Kiyotaka learned from Yōsuke Hirata that Hiyori had visited their study group to search for the mastermind "X," who was supposedly hiding in Suzune's shadow.

#### Volume 7

During lunch break, Hiyori went to the school library for several days in a row in search of Raymond Chandler's " Farewell, My Lovely." Unfortunately, the book was in high demand among second-year students, making it hard to borrow. When she arrived at the mystery novels section, she was disappointed to find it unavailable.

    Hiyori planned to return later after her classes and headed to the Tea Ceremony Club. While lost in thought, she noticed a book on a high shelf that seemed out of place. Thinking it might have been misplaced, she tried to reach it but couldn't due to her height. Determined, she made several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the book. Kiyotaka encountered Hiyori in the library as she struggled to reach a misplaced book, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë, which should have been in the romance novels section. He helped her without recognizing her. After retrieving the book, Hiyori remembered Kiyotaka from their previous meeting when her classmates were searching for "X" in Class 1-D. Hiyori thanked Kiyotaka sincerely for his assistance and checked the book's classification on the library card, confirming it was misplaced among the mystery novels. Kiyotaka then asked if she liked reading Brontë's works, but Hiyori clarified that she neither liked nor disliked them; she just wanted to put the book back in its correct place, as it didn't belong with the mystery novels.

Hiyori noticed that Kiyotaka had the book she had been looking for, "Farewell, My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler, in the library's mystery novels section. She mentioned that the book was quite popular among sophomores and not easy to find. Hiyori felt a connection with Kiyotaka over this shared interest and asked about the book. Kiyotaka explained that he had borrowed the book from his friend, Suzune Horikita. Hiyori expressed her desire to reread the novel but had struggled to find it in the school library. Kiyotaka apologized for monopolizing the book, but Hiyori assured him it was fine since she had already read it.

She mentioned that while searching for Brontë's work, she had discovered other interesting books in the library. Hiyori emphasized the vastness of the school's library and her determination to read as many books as possible before graduating. She expressed her excitement at having someone to talk to about her love for reading. Hiyori found herself passionately discussing books with Kiyotaka in the library, even though she noticed he remained silent while listening. Despite this, she couldn't help but continue sharing her excitement about reading.

As Kiyotaka was about to leave, Hiyori wasn't satisfied with their conversation and asked if he planned to borrow another book. She suspected there might be a reason for his presence in the library beyond returning "Farewell, My Lovely." Hiyori scanned the mystery novels section for books to recommend to Kiyotaka. She asked if he had read Dorothy Sayers' works, and he replied that he hadn't. Hiyori suggested he start with "Whose Body?" as it would likely captivate him enough to read the rest of the series. She handed him several books and asked if she had been bothering him with her talk, to which he said she hadn't.

Hiyori noticed that her conversation with Kiyotaka was about to end, and she felt a sense of loneliness. She apologized for talking so much about books and thought Kiyotaka wasn't particularly interested, but he reassured her that he was genuinely interested in the book she recommended.

Feeling extremely happy, Hiyori invited Kiyotaka to have lunch together, which surprised her as she had never expected to say such words openly. She acknowledged the ongoing dispute between Class 1-C and Class 1-D but expressed her desire to continue talking with him. Hiyori explained that she was the only one in her class who liked reading novels and didn't have anyone to discuss books with. Hiyori reassured Kiyotaka that mingling with him wouldn't be a problem for her and that she was just playing along with Class 1-C's expectations to avoid any trouble with Kakeru.

Hiyori helped Kakeru as a formality and had no interest in joining either class's conflicts. Hiyori hoped everyone in both classes to get along and believed harmony was the best outcome. Kiyotaka needed to check out the books she recommended before leaving with her to the cafeteria. Hiyori felt hopeful about making a friend with similar interests and prayed that the class dispute wouldn't harm their newfound friendship in the future.

After their discussion, they went to the cafeteria together. Hiyori had trouble deciding what to order but eventually chose the daily special. Kiyotaka held her schoolbag, so she could handle her tray. They found empty seats and sat across from each other. Kiyotaka asked if she usually ate in the cafeteria, and Hiyori explained she usually bought food from the convenience store. Kiyotaka preferred cafeteria food over convenience store food. During lunch, Kiyotaka noticed how gracefully Hiyori used her chopsticks, finding it charming. Hiyori agreed that cafeteria food was delicious and appreciated Kiyotaka's comparison between cafeteria and convenience store food. Kiyotaka asked if it was her first time eating in the cafeteria, and Hiyori admitted it was because she had lost motivation until she met him, which encouraged her to try it. She planned to visit the cafeteria more often in the future. After finishing their meals, they discussed books, and Hiyori mentioned she would return to the library after lunch break.

Kiyotaka admired Hiyori's book choices, and she introduced him to authors like William Irish, Ellery Queen, Lawrence Block, and Isaac Asimov. They both shared a love for mystery novels, which excited Hiyori. She revealed that the books were from her personal collection, carried in her bag in the hopes of sharing them with someone who shared her interests. Hiyori encouraged Kiyotaka to borrow a book from her collection, and he chose one by Ellery Queen. He informed her that he would return it as soon as he finish reading it.

On the final day of the second semester, Hiyori's homeroom teacher announced the end of class, leaving her with a free afternoon as there were no Tea Ceremony club activities. She stayed behind briefly to talk to Kakeru Ryūen about the unusual atmosphere in their class. She asked Kakeru about his plans, learning that he intended to confront "X," the mastermind of Class 1-D. He invited Hiyori to join him, but she declined, stating that she didn't find it fun or appealing.

Hiyori questioned Kakeru about whether it was worth the effort to hunt down "X" and if it was truly necessary. She left the decision to him as their class leader but offered to be in the library if he needed help. Kakeru was puzzled by her questions, and she ultimately agreed with his assessment that she wouldn't be of much use. She calmly wished him a nice winter vacation before leaving. After Kakeru's defeat by Kiyotaka, he stepped down as class leader, leaving Hiyori and Satoru Kaneda in charge of Class 1-C.

#### Volume 7.5

Kakeru had already informed Hiyori and their classmates about his plan to pass on the class leader position to her and Satoru. He wanted them to be the future leaders for Class 1-C during the third semester. Hiyori and Satoru were also tasked with leading the new Class 1-D after their demotion in class ranking. Kakeru explained that they would be the ones making decisions and strategies for attacking Class 1-A, but they shouldn't interfere with the former Class 1-D, which had now became Class 1-C.

#### Volume 8

    During the Mixed Training Camp, Hiyori was paired up in a group with Honami Ichinose, Mei-Yu Wang, and Shiho Manabe. They went jogging together, and when Mei-Yu got tired, Hiyori and Honami came alongside her to support her. According to what Kakeru Ryūen, Hiyori was seen as a leader among the Class 1-D girls. On the third day of the special exam, she greeted Honami warmly and tried to befriend her. Hiyori also comforted Mei-Yu, understanding her nervousness about being with unfamiliar people. She and the rest of the group start engaging with Honami about her confessions and love interest as a topic of romance before the discussion came to an end.

#### Volume 9

On Thursday evening, Hiyori set off to go to Keyaki Mall and visit the cafe. Once there, she spotted Kiyotaka Ayanokōji with Mei-Yu Wang of Class 1-C within her vicinity and called out to them. After meeting and greeting the two, she questions if the two were on a date together to which her friend Mei-Yu quickly denies. Since she understood that it was a misunderstanding on her part, Hiyori decides to ask them whether it was fine for her to join in on their conversation. Being given permission from her two friends, Hiyori smiled happily and sat down in the chair next to Mei-Yu. Hiyori intriguingly states how seeing the two in one place was quite a curious combination to her, asking them of what kinds of things they have been talking about before she came to their side. Hearing that Kiyotaka and Mei-Yu were discussing about his interest in visiting China someday, Hiyori took interest of the topic and states that it was a nice country to which she recalls having things like the Great Wall of China and all. Hiyori puts her hands together in front of Mei-Yu and smiled after saying that. Once Kiyotaka brought up the idea about going to Pingyao Ancient City if he was in China, she became more interested on what that location is as it was her first time hearing of the place. Mei-Yu noticing the closeness between Hiyori and Kiyotaka asked the two if they were friends. Hiyori responded by proudly admitting that they were not only friends but reading buddies as well which Kiyotaka acknowledged it to be the case. When Mei-Yu comments how great it is to make friends across different classes, Hiyori agrees with her words arguing that school life could be more than just everyone being hostile towards each other. After their conversation ended, Hiyori soon parted ways with Kiyotaka as she and Mei-Yu both headed back to the elevator. However, Hiyori decides to let Mei-Yu go on ahead of her while she waits for Kiyotaka near the elevator after he checked his mailbox. Once Kiyotaka was done with his task and heads back to the elevator, Hiyori asked if he was willing to spare a moment of his time with her which he accepts.

She and him then proceeded to move to the lobby's sofa just in front of the elevator. Hiyori told Kiyotaka that she had wanted to ask him about something earlier, but felt hesitated to do so when they were in the presence of their friend Mei-Yu who was present there with them. Being a little bit mindfully considerate of her surroundings, Hiyori makes sure to do a quick sweep of the area around her before speaking up with Kiyotaka. She inquires Kiyotaka if he have heard anything about the strange rumors that are going on right now with Honami. After confirming that he was aware of what was happening, she asked him if he knew about the identity of the person who is spreading the malicious rumors of Honami around. Since Kiyotaka doesn't know the answer to that, Hiyori expresses her honest concern for Honami's well-being as she doesn't want to see her friend be tortured like this anymore. She remarks how someone like Honami was able to go out of her way and be on friendly terms with somebody such as herself who barely had any friends besides him. According to Kiyotaka, he see determination within Hiyori's eyes who shows resolve of wanting to be of help to her friend Honami. Hiyori reveals to Kiyotaka that when she first came to Advanced Nurturing High School, the former didn't like or appreciate the sort of bad behavior the school was encouraging, where they have to hurt one another in order to win competitions and rise above the class rankings. However, she came to understand that it was necessary to fight from time to time every once in a while to protect her dear friends she made along the way. She recognizes that despite Honami's class are mutual enemies with her classmates, she still can't help but express the feeling of wanting to do something whatever she can in her power to help her friend out. Hiyori admits that she haven't been able to think of a good plan on how yet, but figures the best step to go for next was seeking Kiyotaka's cooperation. For this reason, Hiyori made a request to Kiyotaka if he was willing to work with her in countering the rumors to which the latter suggests she should consult with Suzune Horikita of Class 1-C instead of him.

Just as Suzune's name was mentioned, she thought over his words but Kiyotaka notes that her expression didn't lighten up. Although Kiyotaka argues that there was a possibility where his Class 1-C may also be considering to assist Honami, Hiyori still didn't show any positive signs that she was truly happy with his suggestion of bringing Horikita into this matter. Hiyori questions that it has to be Kiyotaka himself and not Suzune who might be able to do something about the negative rumors maliciously spreading about Honami and all around her. However, Kiyotaka informs her that he doesn't have any influence over Class 1-C but remains skeptical, tilting her head to the side questioningly. When Kiyotaka recommends she choose between Suzune and Yōsuke Hirata of Class 1-C, Hiyori accepts his words as fact understanding that he can't do anything to help her. Hiyori's shoulders dropped as her expression changed to one of disappointment. Hiyori reasons that she wasn't dissatisfied with his response, telling him that the former had really never gotten to know either Yōsuke or Suzune. She told Kiyotaka that if it was him who is by her side helping the former with forming a plan to stop the rumors, she thought it will be more than possible for that to work out. After saying all that, her shoulders dropped even further as she grew silent. Hiyori tells Kiyotaka that there was no reason for him to apologize, reasoning that she was only thinking as convenient for her, and spoke without considering things for him. With that said, she bowed her head in apology for being inconsiderate. Kiyotaka offers Hiyori a proposal that he would start the conversation with Suzune and Yōsuke about the rumors for her sake if she desires. Hearing that, she asked him if he would really do that for her but the conversation between the two came to an abrupt end when they proposed that this discussion can be done at another time as she realizes their conversation will only end up backfiring on them both if it spread things any further. Not wishing to add more troubles to Honami, Hiyori decides to end her talk with Kiyotaka right then and there for the time being.

During the day of February 14th, Kiyotaka decided to drop by at the library to meet Hiyori who was already on standby there waiting for his arrival and had a discussion with him. There, Hiyori handed Kiyotaka her a box of Valentine's Day chocolates wrapped up with a lovely pick ribbon as a gift to him. The majority of their conversation on that day mainly consisted of idle chatter about various books. According to Kiyotaka, their conversation was just a preface for the countless rumors besides Honami that would spread the following day. Once her chat with Kiyotaka comes to an end, Kiyotaka part ways with Hiyori to go meet up and talk with a member of the Student Council, Ikuto Kiriyama of Class 3-B. As a result of Kiyotaka's plan that was unbeknownst to Hiyori, several rumors posted on the school forums had circulated around not only in Class 1-B but also her Class 1-D as well, putting the two classes of the affected students in disarray and causing conflict to arise. Daichi Ishizaki, her classmate from Class 1-D was one of the students subject to the rumors.

Because of this, Daichi, along with other students of Class 1-D, decided to confront Masayoshi Hashimoto from Class 1-A, who were the ones suspected of spreading the rumors. Hiyori, along with Mio Ibuki and Albert Yamada accompanied Daichi during his meet up with Masayoshi, who also brought Hayato Kitō along with him. Hiyori tries to make sure as the mediator of Class 1-D that they are only present to have a talk with Masayoshi of Class 1-A as he and Hayato were invited by she and her classmates, seeking confirmation from Daichi to not lose control of himself. Hiyori can't help but be worry and unease by the meeting between the two classes. Hiyori was the one to lead the conversation, asking Masayoshi if it was he and his people of Class 1-A who were behind the rumors that had been posted about them and Honami Ichinose. Masayoshi denies this, which causes Daichi to quickly tense up and interject, but was immediately interrupted by Hiyori, requesting him to let her be the one to handle the situation. Hiyori gently stopped Daichi from angrily lashing out at him. Hiyori press Masayoshi for answers, asking that she heard the malicious rumors through the grapevine. Hiyori argues that she was informed about what Masayoshi had told Ryūji Kanzaki when the Class 1-B student confronted him being the source of Honami's rumors. Seeing that he was trying to dodge the question, Hiyori continued persistently asking Masayoshi to give her class an answer without letting him get away with it. Masayoshi argued with Hiyori that he just helped spread rumors about Honami of Class 1-B and states that he had no idea of the source, as he already told Kiyotaka and Akito Miyake, who were also present. Hiyori doesn't buy his argument, calling it a convenient excuse. Hearing this, Masayoshi decided to take a different approach and pin the blame onto Class 1-D, accusing Hiyori and her classmates of being the perpetrator behind the problems. He also quoted one of the rumors posted at the school forums which was about Daichi being a juvie during his elementary school days to instigate her classmate which Hiyori keenly took notice of.

At that point, Daichi could no longer stand still and snapped at Masayoshi, but was stopped by Hiyori, who hurriedly grabbed her classmate by the wrist and held him back. She successfully prevented Daichi from using violence to jump at him. After further provocation and accusation by Masayoshi, Akito decides that Hiyori isn't strong enough on her own to handle Daichi from messing with Class 1-A and stepped in voluntarily to help her. Meanwhile, Hayato, who had been silently watching the scene unfold, took a fighting stance against Class 1-D, ready to accept their challenge. Realizing this, both Hiyori and Akito told them off, emphasizing the rules of the school regarding disputes and how fighting was still not allowed even if the Student Council turn a blind eye. Masayoshi reasons that he and his classmate Hayato are trying to prove that they're more or less capable of defending themselves against her classmates who she can't completely stop them from committing violence. Hiyori looked directly at Masayoshi in the eyes and asked if he can be trusted by her which the latter nodded in response. Daichi tells Hiyori to not believe a word Masayoshi says as he cannot be trusted after his class spread the rumors. However, Hiyori states that there was always the off-chance that Masayoshi and his classmates of 1-A aren't at fault or responsible for the various rumors were going on across the first-years which Masayoshi agreed with her reasoning and explained further. Soon enough, a fight broke down between Daichi and Masayoshi, with Mio and Hayato backing up their classmates while Hiyori can't do nothing but watch powerlessly in momentary silence. Before the situation worsened, Hiyori finally spoke up and declared her stance to Daichi, who was shouting at Masayoshi to stop fighting with the members of Class 1-A, stating that she won't allow violence between their two classes to continue any further. Hiyori reasoned that Class 1-D won't be able to bring out the full truth from Class 1-A no matter how much they force them to confess as true even if Daichi manages to defeat Masayoshi and Hayato. Hiyori claims that the words from a Class 1-A student like Masayoshi alone won't be guaranteed as real evidence, explaining how fairly sure she was of Arisu to not bother with admitting to anything whatsoever.

To support her words, she connects back to how his and Ibuki's recent skirmish with Masayoshi and Hayato of Class 1-A has made that much apparent and was more than enough as a fact to prove none of Arisu's subordinates will reveal the truth either even through a pointless fight. Unable to completely disregard what she said, Daichi looked over to her with a troubled look on his face. Although Daichi felt bitter of backing down against Class 1-A, he was convinced of Hiyori's point and listened obediently. Although she knows her decision was unfair, Hiyori tells Ishizaki and Mio that it is what it is, ordering the two to just bear with the issue for now. According to Masayoshi, Hiyori was said to have been the one who asked him and Hayato to have a meeting with them in the first place and felt she was partly responsible. Hiyori promised to Masayoshi that she will make it up to all of Class 1-A later, getting the former to admit that the meeting between their two classes was a setup all done by her. Right after, Akito was also freed from Albert's hold under Hiyori's orders to let him go. Following Hiyori's command, Albert slowly released his grip on Akito. She then guiltily apologized to the Class 1-C students present for worrying over her classmates of Class 1-D and getting them involved in the matter. As she spoke, Hiyori turned to the Ayanokōji Group and deeply bowed her head to convey her apology. Seeing this, Masayoshi complained, saying that after being accused with baseless suspicions and beaten up, they were just gonna leave, to which Hiyori responded with asking for Class 1-A's forgiveness. She took Masayoshi's complaints head-on. Understanding that there aren't any benefits in dragging the solution any longer, Masayoshi gave his final warning to Hiyori and left the scene. With that, Hiyori successfully defused the conflict during the confrontation with no one left injured. While Hiyori had managed to successfully get the situation under control before things got too out of hand, she understood that her Class 1-D's relationship with Class 1-A was now in terrible shape to the point where they wouldn't be able to easily repair it.

#### Volume 10

Once it was time for lunch break during the afternoon, Hiyori came to the library and continue from where she last left off with reading her books. Due to how few the amount of people are at the library, she soon immediately noticed Kiyotaka who arrived thereafter as he casually chose a book from the shelves before sitting down with her in their respective chair. She greeted him while holding a book that was of a similar genre to what Kiyotaka was carrying in his hand to check out. When Kiyotaka calls her a bookworm, Hiyori states that she can't help herself since the library itself is such a wonderful place for her to go to and be in. After softly giving Kiyotaka permission, Hiyori allows him to sit down in the seat beside her. Together, the two of them quietly read their books. Just like that, for as long as around half an hour, Hiyori and Kiyotaka would go on to silently read their books without uttering a word to one another until right before the end of lunch break that he finally called out to her. Kiyotaka reminds her that it was about time for the two of them to head back to their classroom which she agrees. However, before leaving, Hiyori was asked a question by Kiyotaka if she knew about the current situation in Class 1-D surrounding Kakeru Ryūen. In response, she informs Kiyotaka that Kakeru's predicament was not very good as he was Class 1-D's top choice for expulsion in the upcoming Class Poll special exam. Hiyori argues that pretty much almost everyone in her class has decided to cast a censure vote for him except for she, Daichi Ishizaki, Mio Ibuki and Albert Yamada who were against it. She believes Kakeru has accepted the idea of getting expelled on behalf of their class.

Reasonably so, Hiyori explains that this was the case when she noticed how her fellow classmate Kakeru has been visiting the library after school lately. Hiyori was fairly certain that he had accepted the class's decision to face expulsion after she had a chat with him a little bit to confirm it for herself. When Kiyotaka asked her opinion on his situation, Hiyori remarks how it is a pity that there was no way for them to avoid possible expulsion, choosing to readily accept the fact that they are going to end up losing someone from their class and how she herself was no exception to it. However, while sorting out her thoughts, Hiyori claims that if her fellow classmates were really serious about wanting to reach the top of the class ranking again, she believes keeping Kakeru around in school was needed for Class 1-D. Through her talk with Kiyotaka, she understood that neither herself or him desire to see Kakeru's expulsion happen. Hiyori just wanted to keep as many of her friends around as she could. For this reason, although she knows it was not truly right to care about someone who is from a different class than her as they're enemies, Hiyori boldly tells Kiyotaka that the former doesn't want him to drop out of school. With everything that's been happening as of late where expulsion is on the line for the exam, Hiyori reasons how she can't bear the thought of losing a precious friend like Kiyotaka or see him disappear from her life. After expressing her concern to Kiyotaka, she and him part ways thereafter as they headed back to their respective classrooms.

When both Daichi and Mio of Class 1-D had a meeting together with Kiyotaka of Class 1-C, Hiyori's name was brought up by him to have the two consult with her as she was an important figure in-charge of leading their class who can reach a decision. Particularly, Kiyotaka felt it was a good idea to get Hiyori involved in convincing a lot of their fellow classmates to not try and expel either Kakeru or Mio, thinking she may prove helpful with who to toss up for expulsion. He advised Daichi and Mio that it will be fine of them to contact Hiyori and tell her their desire to concentrate the censure votes on Shiho Manabe in order to save Kakeru. In turn, Hiyori then received a text message from Mio about it though the latter was worry that the former might not be on board with Kiyotaka's idea whereby expelling Shiho. According to Kiyotaka, he states that Hiyori will cooperate with the three of them as long as it was done for the sake of the class. Kiyotaka tells the two not to be worry about their strategy for this exam not coming through as he knows that Hiyori will agreed to it, seeing Kakeru to be an important asset of Class 1-D in future exams. Through Hiyori, Daichi and Mio would be able to control their classmate's votes as much as possible, reducing the praise votes and increasing the censure votes for Shiho. Not only that but have Hiyori bring the class together to increase the praise votes and decrease the censure votes for Ibuki. That way, he felt the difference of votes between Mio and Shiho would be closed in one fell swoop. Kiyotaka noted that if neither her classmates Mio nor Daichi had visited his room that day, he would've probably brought up his strategy with Hiyori instead about having her rather than Mio be the person to go and collect the five million private points from Kakeru. For instance, he would've continue to be the middleman who arranged a meeting between Hiyori and Honami, allowing the two to conduct a fair trade with each other wherein which Class 1-B use all their praise votes for saving Kakeru in exchange for those points she secured.

But since Daichi and Mio are being cooperative with Kiyotaka, Hiyori didn't need to know anything about his strategy at all to save Kakeru except for convincing her classmates to side with Mio than Shiho over who to utilize their praise and censure votes for. After the Class Poll exam ended, it was safe to say that Hiyori was able to successfully persuade a majority from her Class 1-D to work together in preventing Mio's expulsion with their praise votes and give censure votes to Shiho instead.

#### Volume 11

Based on the results of the Class Poll exam, it was said that Hiyori had help to get her class focused their censure votes on Shiho Manabe in order to threaten her a little, but it ended up getting the latter to be expelled instead anyway. While many of her fellow classmates felt suspicious who would give a large number of praise votes to Kakeru of Class 1-D, only a very few people in the classroom knew about the secret trade deal with Class 1-B which were Hiyori, Daichi, and Mio. Due to the high degree of anonymity of the provisional special exam, it had been impossible for a majority of her class to figure out the exact answer as to why Kakeru was still allowed in school even though he was supposed to be the one in the class to get expelled. Without the rest of Class 1-D knowing what's been happening behind the scene, her classmates Daichi and Mio had already long since taken action in order to prevent Kakeru's expulsion, and Hiyori was involved in collaborating with them.

During the next test which was the upcoming Event Selection Exam, Hiyori played the very important role of making use of the advice that Daichi had received from Kakeru. She worked diligently to ensure that her Class 1-D would be matched up against Class 1-B. If not for Hiyori giving her input, a majority of her classmates would have gone with the consensus that Class 1-C was the one they should have Satoru Kaneda pick to battle in the class competition. In a private conversation with her fellow co-leader Satoru, she subtly guided him to come to the conclusion that Class 1-B was their best choice to face off as their opponent compared to Class 1-A and Class 1-C. However, Hiyori was well aware that their class problem has yet to be resolved as without any effective leadership, Class 1-D's chances of winning would be as thin as paper if they were to enter battle with Class 1-B at their state where Kakeru was not around to lead them. She knew that falling behind, even slightly, would lead to defeat. So that very same day, after the class matchups had been decided, Hiyori immediately put a certain plan she had in mind into motion. She had herself, Daichi and Mio gathered together at the Karaoke parlor's rented room while waiting on Kakeru to arrive in their meeting place. Mio frustratingly questions why she and he have chosen to invite her to come to this area which Hiyori gives a silly answer by stating that they are part of Daichi's merry band of friends.

Getting to the main point of the purpose for the meeting, she reasons with Mio that the three of them are the ones who can best understand the current situation their Class 1-D was in than most of their classmates. Hiyori believes they'll be able to somehow come up with some ideas through gathering up and coming together as a group to hold a face-to-face discussion like what they're doing now. She connects her reasoning back to the saying that "Manjushri speaks to three." Seeing how both Daichi and Mio are responding to her words while bickering with one another, Hiyori was glad that what she says helps to brighten the atmosphere between the three of them, describing their banter as nice and lively. From this, Hiyori knew it was a good decision on her part to arrange their meetup in the karaoke room. She would clasped her hands together happily while watching the two of them having an interesting interaction. When Mio was about to leave, Hiyori argues how such action is problematic for the group when she revealed to her and Daichi that Kakeru was going to be showing up and joining alongside them in their meeting. Hiyori told Daichi and Mio that Kakeru was absolute essential to winning the Event Selection Exam, explaining how he's the only person from their Class 1-D who saw potential in fighting and defeating Class 1-B when everyone else wanted to avoid them in a duel. Shocked by what their classmate just said, Mio and Ibuki questions her of what she meant by that to which Hiyori attempts to repeat her own explanation but the latter tells the former that was not it.

Realizing this, Hiyori once again told them that it was none other than Kakeru Ryūen himself who was going to be attending the karaoke room with them and talk things out with him about what to do during the exam. Hiyori admits she had already went out of her way to invite Kakeru beforehand, informing him that their classmates Mio and Daichi will be tagging along with them and going to the meeting place as planned by the former. Hiyori tells the two that Kakeru will be visiting the three of them by 4 PM in the karaoke's rental room but understood he was more than an hour late to the meeting. Mio becomes mad that they're being ignored by him, but Hiyori tells the girl to calm down and show more patience while offering her classmate a melon soda as a way to help herself. However, Mio completely disregarded the can of melon soda Hiyori offered her and proceeds to leave until Daichi stopped the girl in her tracks. Hiyori then extend her slender, white hand to reach out and grabbed Mio by the arm, advising the latter to wait a little longer and asserts that he is an earnest individual who will definitely respond to her invitation. Although Mio was unsure whether to agree with her and questions her relationship with Kakeru, Hiyori avow she doesn't know very much about him except for the fact that she had only talk to him a few times. With a smile, she admits this was her own gut feeling, indicating to her that he will participate in the meeting and won't skip out on it. Hiyori tells the two that she was having tons of fun spending time with them and asked Mio to continue sticking around which the latter reluctantly accepted.

Just past 8 PM while Kakeru was still not present in the meeting, after singing several songs with them, Mio has had enough patience but Hiyori enthusiastically encourages her to keep going as she claims that her fellow classmate has yet to reach her limit. Hiyori tries to give motivation to Mio, inciting that the two of them must do the best they can to surpass their limits altogether though the latter was not having none of that pep talk. Just as Mio walks over to the door of their meeting room and tries to leave, Kakeru arrived at that exact moment in time to stop the girl while greeting she, Hiyori, and Daichi. Hiyori states that he came substantially late but the latter cares less about following the appointed meeting time, telling the former that she was off enjoying her time with Daichi and Mio anyway whether or not he join them. Hiyori accepts Kakeru's words as the truth, admitting that she was having a great time getting to do things like sing a song with them as the former had never been to the karaoke before in her lifetime. While Daichi and Mio are busy arguing over what to say about working under Kakeru as his subordinates, Hiyori was focused on selecting a new song to play in the background. Once Kakeru arrives, Hiyori and the three began discussing what sort of plan they going to carry out in order to successfully beat Class 1-B. Hiyori was asked by Kakeru of her opinion about Class 1-B's strength which she agreed with Daichi and Mio as their opponent's strong cohesion and unity was unrivaled in team competitions. Hiyori notes that while Class 1-B was a harmonious bunch and all their students have above average abilities, this was the best they can mustered so far in a class competition, seeing nobody among them as particular threats but only being a closely-knit class. After giving her analysis, Ibuki remarks how almost heartless Hiyori's words were to Class 1-B in spite of having a gentle face.

After which, Hiyori and her two classmates learned from Kakeru that she and her classmates need to resort to using a bit of trickery to increase their odds of winning against Class 1-B and depending if the situation favors them, chances of victory may even rise above 50%. Once Kakeru said that to the three of them, he took out a sheet of folded paper and handed it over to Hiyori to look through and read with them. The written content made by Kakeru that Hiyori came to know were the names of ten different events, five of which had been marked as favorites for the events they'd actually be choosing. She noticed that those possible events are all based entirely around forcing their opponents to surrender through brute force, using physical means like karate, judo, taekwondo, kendo, and wrestling as part of their competition with Class 1-B. When Kakeru tells Mio and Daichi not to be concern with the participant numbers, Hiyori caught on immediately of what he was meaning to say as her two classmates couldn't understand it whatsoever. Having a firm grasp on Kakeru's intentions, she understood he wants them to look at his strategy in a different way, stating that it doesn't really matter how many participants an event might allow them to have as this all depends on the rules. For instance, Hiyori briefly explains how if they were to make use of tournament-style knock-out rules, their class can win with only one person which Kakeru acknowledged as an example setting the groundwork of his strategy.

Once the Event Selection Exam is over, it was revealed that Hiyori's class led by Kakeru as the commander was able to successfully emerge victorious over Honami's Class 1-B by the end of the competition.

#### Volume 11.5

During late March while on their spring break, Hiyori had arranged a date with Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, inviting him to the cafe so that they can hang out together with just them two. Since she hardly managed to make any close friends except for him and a few, he was the one who she chose to reach out to and meet in order to hang out with Kiyotaka out of interest. She wore her casual clothes and headed for Keyaki Mall to meet up with Kiyotaka in the morning while bringing with her a bag of books. Hiyori arrives at Keyaki Mall ahead of their appointed time, coming there too soon than what she and Kiyotaka had initially planned for. Once Kiyotaka came by after Hiyori and was within her vicinity, she and him greeted each other. Although Kiyotaka told her she came a bit early, Hiyori reasons that as she is the person who happened to invite him, there was no way she would choose to come late and keep him waiting. Hiyori gave her sincere apology of inviting him on a date suddenly on such short notice as she feels responsible about Kiyotaka making room in his schedule for her sake out of the blue. The meeting time between she and Kiyotaka was supposed to be during early April but it ended up changing to an earlier time before that month due to a request asked by Hiyori which he accepted. What she was looking to find out from the meeting with Kiyotaka is her own investigation of the fluffy feelings she was having about him.

    Eager to talk further about books that was immediately mentioned by her, the two of them have already gone ahead and went inside the café before she knew it where they continue off from their conversation. Upon deciding on a spot to sit at, she and Kiyotaka secure two seats for themselves by the window and close to the counter. Although it was unclear when this happens after they sat down, she and Kiyotaka both ordered a coffee to drink. Later, Hiyori informs Kiyotaka that they finally added new books to the school's library. Hiyori states that she wanted to share some worthwhile information with Kiyotaka as fast as possible while letting out a small happy smile, unable to hold herself back in talking to him any longer. Hiyori said all this impatiently, feeling the utmost desire to speak so much in the open that she failed to suppress her excitement and showed him what she was carrying in her bag. Such topic was about the books of the author both Hiyori and him liked along with how hard to get a hold of at the convenience store and the bookstore in the mall. More so, since digital versions weren't available at the time, both she and Kiyotaka could only borrow them from the library. It was her intention and Kiyotaka's to cherish the opportunity they have together to be able to discuss about a book like this with each other. She notes how the two of them had never once met up during a holiday day-off before until now, believing it to be kind of refreshing in and of itself. When they talked to each other, a fresh mood overcame Hiyori and him. Noticing that it was almost like she and Kiyotaka are going out to have a special date together, Hiyori become more embarrassed by this train of thinking and quickly dismisses it out of her mind to avoid getting distracted from her conversation with Kiyotaka. In turn, Hiyori happily took out several books from her bag that she was looking forward to showing Kiyotaka but also as a way to conceal her embarrassment a moment ago. She suggested the two of them will first read and look at it together side by side.

Just as Hiyori was about to explain to Kiyotaka the books she brought along with her, the former suddenly remembers something she wanted to talk to him about and decides to shift the conversation around to that. This was concerning Hiyori's own class as it was also as equably important as him being her close friend. Even if Kiyotaka ends up disliking her, it was something she had to do anyway and confirm for herself. While gazing directly at him, she felt his eyes looked as if he could see through anything in her like last time as always. Convinced and certain by his eyes alone, Hiyori believes that a day would come where she and him would fight against each other in the near future, thinking he was very likely going to be the most dangerous enemy her class will ever face off as their opponent than either Arisu or Honami. However, before going into specific details, students of Class D, Kanji Ike and Satsuki Shinohara, enter the café and take the seats beside Kiyotaka, who they didn't notice while he and Hiyori did. Hiyori faintly mumble their names at a volume which would not be heard by Kiyotaka's classmates as the distance between them made it impossible for the two to hear her whisper. When asked by Kiyotaka how she knows, Hiyori with her eyes sparkling proudly affirms that after a year had already passed, she got to better know more students of the other classes.

Through mutual interest, Hiyori and Kiyotaka kept silent and listened to the conversation between Kanji and Satsuki, which was about the future of their class after losing against Class 1-A in the Event Selection Exam. Once Kanji shifted their conversation towards their relationship, which caught Hiyori and Kiyotaka's attention as they looked at each other. It was precisely because this wasn't their business that both Hiyori and Kiyotaka had a better understanding of what Kanji's words meant than Satsuki did, thinking they might be witnessing the possibility of a new couple being born right in front of them. However, before Kanji said anything, Satsuki interrupted his confession after finally noticing that Hiyori and Kiyotaka were sitting right next to the two. Realizing this, Kanji became shockingly flustered, saying that Kiyotaka should've greeted him instead of sneaking around while Hiyori silently listens to his classmate interact with him. Thereafter, Satsuki asks Kiyotaka if he was on a date with Hiyori, in which he replies that isn't the case and throws the same question back to her about Kanji and the former. The former quickly denies this, which led Kanji to insult her, causing them to argue with one another until they walk off together bickering someplace elsewhere while leaving Hiyori and Kiyotaka alone. Hiyori finally breaking her silence asked Kiyotaka if they do not need to worry about Kanji and Satsuki which he doesn't know what to make of it himself. Hiyori was also slightly affected by how the situation of Kanji and Satsuki had suddenly changed into a heated argument out of nowhere after she said that quietly.

After that, Kiyotaka asks Hiyori regarding what she was saying earlier. She states how it was like an adventure to them similar to what had been talk about between Kanji and Satsuki recently, which brought ideas of confession and alike to Kiyotaka and herself. Hiyori brought up the topic regarding the special end-of-year exam to the table to question him about. Apologizing beforehand in case she was wrong, Hiyori then bluntly asks whether Kiyotaka was the one who changed Kakeru Ryūen, which he noted that Hiyori said this while staring at him using her innocent and curious eyes filled with conviction that holds no malice to it. Because of this, he doesn't deny Hiyori's words, and instead, asks for her reasoning as to why she thinks so. Kiyotaka didn't deny what Hiyori had say to him and honestly admits he was the only person who was responsible for changing Kakeru, thinking there was no need to elaborate in detail since she already knows the answer to that. Hiyori explains that it was her simply putting all of the pieces of the puzzle she had find together with the clues to evidently justify the former's claim. She argues how her class led by Kakeru had always targeted his classmates but notes how he suddenly stepped down from his position as leader during his targeting of Kiyotaka's class. Although she was apparently told that this was due to Daichi overthrowing Kakeru and taking him down from within their class, Hiyori still felt this seems like nothing more than a cover-up to her no matter how many times the former thought about it over and over. Hiyori recalls how after she tried contacting his close associates, both Daichi and Mio, about what happen to Kakeru himself, she became certainly sure of it. In a way, it was revealed that Hiyori seemed to have conducted an investigation without Kiyotaka knowing and during that period of time, she became suspicious of Kakeru's actions.

Concern if he was upset by her, she apologizes for bringing it up and affirms her own nervousness the whole day when planning to meet up with Kiyotaka because of what she knew had to be reveal to him in-person. Hiyori tells Kiyotaka of how she was afraid that getting too involved with this would anger him and possibly ruin their close friendship. Regardless of what the truth is upon revealing them, one glance at Kiyotaka tells her that he doesn't want to chat about this until she took the initiative to openly ask him after gaining an understanding of the situation between their two classes. This talk was entirely different from the everyday gossip she and Kiyotaka hear as it was a decision Hiyori finally made after careful consideration despite knowing the consequences of her action. Hiyori states that she would definitely regret revealing what the former knew and did to Kiyotaka if they end up no longer be able to talk with each other as friends anymore after, in which Kiyotaka notes that she should've kept it to herself. Hiyori says the reason behind her action was that if she don't look into this any deeper, there won't be any future developments between the two in their relationship. When hearing Kiyotaka inquires what kinds of developments was she expecting from the two of them, Hiyori replied back, with a hint of surprise at herself in her own words. In other words, Hiyori figures that she and him could continue to develop further together without running away from the truth. Kiyotaka questions further about the meaning of her words but Hiyori remarks that she didn't really know what she was saying herself. Listening to the words coming out of her mouth, Hiyori can't help but show a puzzled expression once again, unable to comprehend what was going through her mind. She then mentions whether or not he has heard about the recent battle that came to an end between Class 1-B and her Class 1-D from the Event Selection Exam.

Hence, Hiyori switched to a different topic, looking to share her own review and analysis of her class with Kiyotaka. She started talking about how her Class 1-D came out on top with a win over Class 1-B. Hiyori states that if he were to look at the outcomes of Class 1-D's battle with Class 1-B as an outsider, the way she and her classmates won would have been considered a bit problematic. When Kiyotakas notes how Kakeru's style of fighting raises many alarming questions, he believes his ruthless methods were a necessary evil for her class to get promoted which Hiyori can't bring herself to deny it but accept such reasoning as true while acknowledging the crafty approach to winning. She describes Kakeru's approach to be an equivalent to crossing a very dangerous bridge where Class 1-B would have cast their suspicions on her classmates. However, she understood how Class 1-B and the school won't be able to discover any concrete evidence lying around, presuming that they had committed measures dealing with the surveillance footage already but still haven't bother to take any action thereafter due to not finding anything of use for an investigation whatsoever. As the two of them talked about how Kakeru led Class 1-D to confront Class 1-B in the special exam, Hiyori claims that his ways were unfair to Class 1-B who had their participants went missing from the time when the event happened. Hiyori can't consider the five wins in the Event Selection Exam against Class 1-B as beautiful or a perfect strategy that Kiyotaka regarded it to be, thinking neither Honami nor her classmates would tolerate this sort of idea by Kakeru. She asserts that Kakeru's planning was extremely flawed in and of itself, telling Kiyotaka how greedy she and her classmates must have been to win a lot even though gaining five victories during the exam were already really too good for her class.

However, Hiyori felt that Kakeru adopting a very dangerous strategy to get them those wins by the end of their battle against Class 1-B was not something she can readily agreed with doing. Hiyori reasons that while it was fine for her class to place continuous pressure on Class 1-B students like stalking and eavesdropping on them, targeting their bodies to weaken them was not as she calls it a clear violation. She states that although Kakeru's method was used because Class 1-B had so many kindhearted students, she comments on the fact of how they would not have tolerate this sort of scheming. Kiyotaka questions why she didn't try to stop Kakeru before he executed his plans if the latter has the knowledge, to which Hiyori replies that he wouldn't listen to her even if she did asked him to reconsider. Kiyotaka agrees and asks Hiyori if there was any way Kakeru could be stopped, in which she replies that someone who has the power to think similarly to her class commander and is even more powerful than him have the right to criticize his way of thinking. She reach out to Kiyotaka for this meeting was not only because the latter understands her intent but he was also the one and only person out there acknowledge by Kakeru who began developing second thoughts for, considering to accept and approve someone's advise like him rather than her. After that, Kiyotaka asks Hiyori if she could help him pass on a message to Kakeru, to which the latter agrees. Kiyotaka knows that Hiyori wasn't the kind of person to use this situation to make things difficult for him and trusts her. Because she understood that there was a reason why Kakeru, who identified him as a class leader didn't expose him publicly, Hiyori respectfully chose to do the same and refrains from doing so either. She asked Kiyotaka what his message may be while Hiyori maintains her unchanging attitude, and gently looked at him.

As Hiyori is ready to listen to his words, Kiyotaka then says that if it were him, he could've been able to successfully secure more than five wins using a better method than what Kakeru used against Class 1-B. Hearing this and memorizing his every word after understanding what was said to her, Hiyori told him that she will certainly make sure to pass down Kiyotaka's message to Kakeru as promised between the two of them. As if she was expressing gratefulness, Hiyori held her hands together, closed both her eyes and let out a kind smile. And just like this, Hiyori ended her conversation with Kiyotaka about the end-of-year exam while putting her concerns to rest and still continuing to remain as good friends. Hiyori then resumes her topic about the new novels with him, encouraging Kiyotaka to take her book and read it if he likes to. Saying that, she opened her bag again and took the book out to show him. The two chose to not end their date yet as they had originally met up to talk about that book Hiyori has brought with her in the first place. Although Kiyotaka claims the book was borrowed under her name, Hiyori states otherwise as she have already gone out of her way to get permission from a teacher ahead of time. Hiyori tells Kiyotaka that while this proposal was not ideal of her to make by lending a book she borrow to someone else, the former reasons everything will be fine as long as she returned it on time before the deadline after he gives the novel back to her once the latter finished reading. Upon discussing everything there was to discuss about the book, she and Kiyotaka drank their respective tea and said their goodbyes thereafter. Before long, she soon contacted Kakeru and informs him of Kiyotaka's message, reiterating and recalling what he say to her to the latter.

Hiyori and Kiyotaka parted ways shortly after the former gave books to the latter for him to borrow. Kiyotaka noted that he should change his evaluation of Hiyori, regarding her as a friend with mutual interests rather than a student from the same year.

#### 2nd Year Volume 1

On Thursday, Hiyori headed to the school's library after classes were done for the day. While she was there, she greeted Kiyotaka and Suzune Horikita of Class 2-D who arrived after her, noting how interesting it was to see such rare visitors at the library with the former. Hiyori learns from Kiyotaka that they came to the library with the purpose of having a discussion with some first-year students about the special Partner Exam. After hearing his reason, Hiyori suggested that they can freely take their seats at the far end of the room. She believes having the two go to the corner side of the library is a good way to lower their conversation and noise level where quiet people who are off silently concentrating on their reading and studying don't hear them or be distracted by while he and Suzune chat. In other words, doing so that way, Hiyori explains how they won't be seen too much of a nuisance to the other library patrons other than herself, telling the two it will be alright for them to talk a bit. She advises the two that if someone tries to approach he and Suzune, they should be able to take notice of their disturbance in the library right away. As she and her fellow classmates are back to being Class 1-C due to the positive results of the Event Selection Exam for them, Hiyori told Kiyotaka that things are going smoothly well in her class. She notes how there are a lot of things happening with her Class 1-C at the moment since the Partner Exam was announced. Because their two classes were direct competitors against each other, Hiyori felt it was somewhat difficult for her to let them know about the internal affairs of her class and refrains herself from saying a lot. Not long after that brief exchange of simple words, Hiyori later parted ways with Kiyotaka and Suzune as the two decided to go take a seat at the area she offer an advise for them to be in while waiting on Tsubasa Nanase to arrive.

On Friday, Hiyori once again walked to the school's library when classes are over for her. During her time there, Hiyori noticed Kiyotaka's gaze on the former and waved at him with a gentle smile on her face as she approached him and Suzune. Due to her sense of intuition, Hiyori made a special request to the library patrons and had them reserve several seats arranged for both Kiyotaka and Suzune on this hour of the day as consideration on her part before they had arrived. After meeting up with Kiyotaka and Suzune, Hiyori informs them of how certain she was that the two together would surely visit the library again and had it already prepared for them just in case. Although Kiyotaka questions whether it was fine, Hiyori reasons that it would have been a different story altogether if the library was close to maximum capacity. However, since this was not the case, Hiyori tells Kiyotaka and Suzune that there was no need for them to hold back and be worry about her decision of the seat reservations she made. Hiyori encourages them to go ahead and use the same seats and table from yesterday, stating that the two should feel free to take all the time they need to discuss. With that all said and done, Hiyori left Kiyotaka and Suzune alone, not particularly interested in lingering around them any further than necessary.

#### 2nd Year Volume 2

    During after school, Hiyori decided to tag along with both Daichi Ishizaki and Albert Yamada who were planning to have a meeting with Kiyotaka Ayanokōji about having him to switch to their Class 1-B and form a small group with them in preparation for the upcoming Uninhabited Island Exam. She and Albert were waiting quietly on standby right around the corner while Daichi was in front of them from a slight distance away while he was off talking to Kiyotaka. Agreeing with Daichi beforehand, her first choice of student to invite into their group was not either Arisu Sakayanagi, Honami Ichinose or even Suzune Horikita as she and him both shared this sentiment. She thought it was probably the right decision to have Daichi call out to Kiyotaka and invite him to their group talk before anyone could. Before long, Hiyori arrived and appeared before Kiyotaka who showed a surprised look at the sight of Albert and her standing close between him while she happily greets him with a smile. When Kiyotaka regarded she, Daichi, and Albert as a rare strange combination to see together, Hiyori thinks he might be right on the mark since the three of them usually don't ever move together as a group. Hiyori felt it was a rushed plan on their part to not have a meeting place arranged ahead of time, understanding that neither Daichi nor herself had thought of a plan for anything after contacting Kiyotaka. Prior to getting in touch with Kiyotaka, Hiyori admits in her mind that she could easily have said something to Daichi, but she decided to not advise him on anything in the end. Kiyotaka plans to leave them behind and go off somewhere on his own, but Hiyori and Albert quickly steps in from behind to not let him make his escape. With their breaths in sync, she apologizes to him before tightly grabbing a hold of Kiyotaka's right arm and pulling it next to her chest area while Albert took his left arm at the same time. After gripping one of Kiyotaka's arms in place and restricting his movement side by side with the help of Albert, she states that they cannot allow him to do as he pleases.

Due to their aggressive action, she noticed that Kiyotaka didn't expect her and Albert to use force against him, feeling it was no wonder he looked so confused. In the back of her mind, Hiyori understood the truth, that even if they were to try and invite Kiyotaka with forceful means, she already predicted it would be futile no matter what her fellow classmates do with him. She had an assumption that Kiyotaka will probably either end up deciding to go join one of the groups made up of only just class 1-D students, or he would go solo by himself alone without a partner. Her reasoning for this way of thinking is because someone such as Kiyotaka was likely happened to be the key to her class's chances of obtaining victory in the next exam wouldn't been able to join any other classes so readily except for their own. In spite of this however, Hiyori chose to encouragingly support Daichi's plan anyway and accompany him with it. In her mind, Hiyori explains her reason as to why the former freely agreed to his plan without question was only so that she wanted to meet and talk to Kiyotaka again, yearning to hang out with him once more like last time. For this reason, Hiyori decided to cooperate with Daichi since she was looking for a good excuse to be with Kiyotaka. As this was her true motive and to affirm it, she put slightly more strength into her embrace of Kiyotaka's right arm closely within her chest. Her side story came to an end when Hiyori was thinking of looking forward to the time they would get to spend together, even for just a second longer, vowing to stay and stand by his side for as long as possible until they can finally part ways once the meeting is over. Realizing that students like them are still standing out a lot in the open, she then told her fellow classmate Daichi that they're attracting too much attention and asked him to move on to a different location fast.

She casually suggests they can head over to Daichi's room to which the latter frantically tries to turn down, leaving Hiyori to ponder if it was wrong of her to make such a suggestion without considering the inconveniences going there. Hiyori reasons that she doesn't mind the possibility of Daichi's room being a bit messy at all which Albert also feel the same way as the former does after confirming his opinion. When the fluster Daichi said it was extremely messy all around his room, Hiyori told her classmate not to worry about it as she was willing to help him out with cleaning everything up if he allowed her to. Daichi argues how there are tissues and stuff that he cannot permit a girl like herself to clean for him but Hiyori asked what he mean by that, tilting her head in confusion. To change this topic about him, Daichi then suggested that the four of them can go to Albert's room instead, which Hiyori was fine with and accepts the idea. Kiyotaka inquires if it was really a smart move for Albert to carry him while moving to his room in front of everyone publicly, to which Hiyori states that this won't be a problem to the people around them watching as they will believe it's a kind of dissemination. After saying that, Hiyori, gently continued smiling as usual, walked ahead of the three boys, leading the way to Albert's room. Once they're inside Albert's room, she and the three boys sat down while asked by Kiyotaka of what they want from him. As she and her two classmates look at one another for a moment each having a large smile plastered on their faces, Hiyori didn't choose to answer but lets Daichi do it as he was the representative who speak on their trio's behalf. Daichi proposed to Kiyotaka that he create a three-person group with any one of them from Class 1-B, whether it be him, Hiyori, or Albert who took part in the meeting to voluntarily represent themselves as possible partners for the latter.

When Kiyotaka asked her if she has explained the exam rules carefully to Daichi, Hiyori gave a forthright answer stating that she did not bother to do so. Hiyori asserts that if she were to interrupt Daichi and tried to explain for the latter, the former felt like there would've been something she needed to correct within five seconds, believing and reasoning that it would have been much better to let him carry on with his momentum. Seeing that Hiyori has no intention of giving a proper explanation to her classmate, Kiyotaka informs him of how even if he were to form a group with the two of them doesn't mean they are guaranteed to simply join up with other students and form an ideal big group after the exam starts. Baffled by this sudden revelation by him, Daichi with an incredulous expression then tilted his head towards Hiyori, egging her to explain further instead of Kiyotaka so he could understand. Hiyori had Kiyotaka elaborate for her that if he organize the exam description, that is what it actually means for the group formation, telling him of how depending on their situation in the uninhabited island, they might have to end up working with a group they didn't expect or want in the first place. She left it to Kiyotaka to handle the explaining part as he points out how during the exam, there may just be certain conditions that they need to fulfill first in order for them to gain permission of being able to combine their groups. Since none of them knew the details of these unknown conditions, she keenly understood without a doubt that the school's explanation was more than enough to tell the former and her classmates of how it won't be easy to meet. Despite learning of this news, Daichi reasons that he, Kiyotaka, Hiyori, and Albert can still go out of their way to follow his proposal, preparing accordingly under the premise that they'll be able to somehow create their groups regardless of the conditions. Hearing this, it was said that Hiyori had also chosen to listen to Daichi's proposal with great interest.

Once Kiyotaka asked Daichi if he had any plans of talking to anyone else besides him, the latter said it was never his goal but the latter alone who she and Albert were also looking to have in their group and agreed with their classmate. Hiyori and Albert shared the same opinion as Daichi who remark on their huge praise of Kiyotaka, viewing him to be more powerful than Kakeru when it comes to mental agility, fighting, and academic abilities. Alongside Albert, Hiyori honestly states that she would love to bring someone like Kiyotaka over to her Class 1-B, liking the idea of having him switch to their side. She and Albert did not mind Daichi's long-term goal of accumulating twenty million private points whatsoever where he was planning to give it all to Kiyotaka as a way to secure his transfer to their classroom in the near future. According to Kiyotaka, both Hiyori and Albert went along with Daichi's proposal, knowing full well that it was absurd from the beginning. When Kiyotaka can't bring himself to accept the proposal, Daichi nervously questions why to which Hiyori reasons that it was since he has his own class to deal with. Even though Hiyori supported Daichi's plan to get him on board with their group, she more or less understood why Kiyotaka had decided to refuse without even having to ask him. In addition to that, Hiyori argues that the terms they've offered Kiyotaka like the twenty million private points are weak as well. Hiyori didn't believe it was insufficient but rather the amount was exceptionally good in terms of quantity, questioning Daichi of how effective the proposal is if it was really the only thing they'll really be giving him is the right to transfer to their Class 1-B and not the other classes. In other words, Hiyori figures that Kiyotaka would've just use their twenty million private points to reach Class A rather than be with them. Hiyori, who had mostly just been quietly listening to the discussion unfold before this, brought up the shortcomings one after another.

For instance, when Daichi said they would be fine so long as Kiyotaka joins up with somebody from Class 1-B, she tells him of how there was a problem with that way of thinking too. She told Daichi that surviving on the uninhabited island won't be a one-man effort. While reminding Daichi that if he was really serious about aiming for the top spot in the Uninhabited Island Exam, she advised him they will be better off with a strong team to back them up. And, with each correction made by Hiyori, panic began to set in for her classmate Daichi, who has his brow visibly dampened with sweat due to her words. Hiyori admits that if it was actually up to her to choose the small group and decide on the members, she will be putting Kakeru Ryūen, Satoru Kaneda, and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji together as a three-person team. She remarks that it was okay of Daichi to have Satoru be optionally replaced by Albert in that ideal small group but reminds him how indispensable Kakeru is to the team as he cannot be replaced. Nonetheless, since they are meeting up with Kiyotaka without letting Kakeru know about it beforehand, Hiyori is cognizant that their class leader won't ever think of approving such a plan suggested by Daichi. Hiyori states that Satoru would feel the same way, arguing how he won't try to ignore Kakeru's orders or participate in a strategy he's unsure of. She comments that there was no helping at this stage but respectfully accept Kiyotaka's decision and have Daichi reconsidered his flawed plan. On that note, this was Hiyori's true objective all along in coming to talk to Kiyotaka. She was able to successfully convey her, Albert and Daichi's thoughts to Kiyotaka, which the three of them should be satisfied with that for the time being. Hiyori already knew pretty much from the very start before meeting Kiyotaka that forming a group with him wouldn't happen so easily, judging that she and her two classmates would be more acceptable to just show the latter their intent to form one.

## References

*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 6
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — "I Wish We Can Become Friends" Short Story
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 7
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 7.5
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 8
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 9
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 10
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 11
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — "By Reading Books" Short Story
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — Volume 11.5
*You-Zitsu* Anime — Episode
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — "An Excuse" Short Story
*You-Zitsu* Anime — Episode
*You-Zitsu* Light Novel — "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" Short Story
*You-Zitsu* Anime — Episode