everyone reaction to Horikita hair

small group of friends that I had gotten close with.

"I was a little worried 'bout you, since you didn't come to hang out

with the group all that much during the break," said Akito.

That was certainly true. I hadn't really interacted at all with the group during spring break. Or rather, I suppose, I should say I'd been negligent I had been so busy dealing with various other issues.

"I mean, there's no rule that says that we have to mcet up or anything of course, but Haruka was pretty worried. And Airi especially was concerned about you, it seemed like." Akito was basically advising mne to be mindful of the feelings of the girls in our group.

"Sorry. I'll plan to hang out with you guys occasionally," I replied.

"That'd be good. I was feclin' a little lonely without you around myself," said Akito.

I did feel a little bit uneasy, hearing that from a friend. But it wasn't a bad feeling. Akito gave me a light wave, as if to tell me he wasn't planning on hanging around my seat for long, and then returned to his own desk.

I really felt like I had made some good friends. I mean, he even went

out of his way to give me some friendly advice.

After he had left, I didn't feel like fiddling around with my phone anymore, so I decided to listen in on what the other people in class were saying. The topic of conversation had shifted from what people did over spring break to the new students. Tomorrow was the entrance ceremony,

when new first-year students would arrive.

Last year, we Class D students had gotten carried away by the good treatment we received from the school at first and been tripped up as a result. But that was understandable. We were given one thousand Class Points immediately upon enrollment, the equivalent of one hundred thousand yen. Students were incredibly excited by the large amount of money that they thought they'd be receiving every month, and many went on buying sprees, getting all kinds of things they wanted. Furthermore, tardiness and absences were common, and many students had private conversations or took naps in class.

The serious students, on the other hand, were focused only on themselves, not on paying attention to what was going on around them. I was sure there were many reasons for their lack of attention to the others, but the school's apparent neglect of the problem children was probably the biggest one. After all, if the teachers weren't giving them any warnings, then the students surely didn't need to do so. Or so they thought.

But I supposed you could say that was just the first "special exam" this school had for us. The school was testing us, to see if we could realize that the education we were receiving here was different from the compulsory education we received in elementary school and junior high. And Class D had gotten the lowest possible evaluation in that special exam. Quite spectacularly so.

In the following month, May, our Class Points had dropped to zero. Meaning the number of points we received in our accounts that month suddenly plummeted to a happy zero as well. After that, Class D faced a series of trials and tribulations throughout the year. But after our class had hit rock bottom, our scattered, disparate classmates slowly started to mature, and the class became more unified. At one point, we even managed to make it up to Class C. But unfortunately, because of what happened at the year-end final exam, we were demoted back down to Class D.

However, our class had managed to regain two hundred and seventy-five Class Points by the end of the year. While there was still a huge gap between us and Class A, the most important aspect of our attempt to reach for

the top was just how many Class Points we could gain over this next year, our second at this school.

"Good morning!" said a rather energetic girl, her voice carrying across the room.

The girls in the classroom reacted as soon as those words were said.They gathered around the speaker, who was the leader of the girls in our class, Karuizawa Kei. The number of girls around her kept increasing. Before I knew it, they'd resumed the same conversations they'd just been having

Also, it was just the other day that I had started dating Kei, our class's

queen bee. The only person who knew that fact right now, aside from me,

was Kei herself.

As I reminisced, while listening to the conversations around me, a surprised shout-no, more of a shriekreverberated throughout the classroom. When I looked up to see what was happening, I immediately

realized what the shock and awe was all about. You could say it was an

exceedingly natural reaction to have upon seeing what the girl who had just

quietly arrived at school looked like.

The girl, despite attracting the attention of everyone around her, didn't

react at all to everyone's surprise. Instead, she went to take her seat, right

next to mine. Her formerly long, beautiful black hair was gone. It was now

rather short, not even shoulder length.

She had reconciled with her older brother, Horikita Manabu, and decided to say goodbye to her past self, cutting her hair to reflect that decision. It was precisely because I knew that that I wasn't surprised right now, but I supposed that if this were my first time secing her like this, I would probably have reacted similarly to those around me.

"S-Suzune...? You, your hair... What happened to your hair?m

shouted Sudou Ken, flustered. He abandoned the conversation he'd been

having with his friend and ran over toward Horikita. Sudou was one of our

classmates, and he was also in love with Horikita.

One other person, a girl, seemed perplexed by Horikita's transformation and approached her in a similar fashion. "Horikita-san, you've...had a complete makeover. I'm so surprised!" she said.

Kushida Kikyou. Another of our classmates, and someone who had attended the same junior high as Horikita.

"Is it really so strange that I cut my hair?" Horikita shot glances not only at Sudou, but at the many other students who were staring at her.

"W-well, no, it's not like, strange or anythin', it's just surprisin' is all. It's like, with this hairstyle, you've got a completely different look and all... Well, um, it's not like I'm saying it doesn't work for you or anything! I think you look good with short hair, too. D-don't you think so too, Kushida?" said Sudou.

While the sudden change in her appearance certainly had quite the

impact, from Sudou's point of view, things like the length of her hair were

trivial. If anything, he welcomed his crush's new look with open arms,

showing that he was quite happy about it. However, Kushida couldn't really

hide her discomfort when Sudou suddenly put her on the spot, asking for her

to agree.

"Yeah, I suppose. Yeah. I think it looks good on her. But... Did something happen?" She must not have wanted to explain what she thought in detail, because she shifted the topic of conversation to asking about the

reason Horikita had cut her hair.

"Wait, whaddya mean, did something happen? Like what?" asked Sudou, jumping at Kushida's question before Horikita could respond herself.

"Well, for example... maybe she had her heart broken, or something,"

said Kushida.

"B-B-B-B-broken?!" stammered Sudou.

"IfI had to say anything, it's an expression of my determination," replied Horikita, without skipping a beat, as if trying to banish the words heart and broken from the air.

"O-okay, I see. Yeah, there's no way you'd have your heart broken or

something, right?" said Sudou.

Despite saying that, he seemed like he was breaking out ina cold Sweat.

"Now that we're second-year students, I'm going to fight to make sure Class D rises to the top. And I want to do what I can to make that happen, said Horikita.

"I see, okay. Well, in that case... Maybe I'll try the opposite, grow my hair out," said Kushida.

She made it sound cutesy, but the words somehow also conveyed how she really felt, deep down. She was upset that her hair was the same length as the person she hated. I didn't think anyone would assume she was being serious about growing her hair out long, but she might actually do just that. I

couldn't help but imagine the raging emotions hidden inside what she'd just

said.

"If you're satisfied, could you both return to your own seats?" snapped

Horikita.

She clearly didn't want people to stand around and gawk at her this

much, whether her hair was long or short. Though Horikita's new look had

certainly had a significant impact on the people around her, she seemed to be

rather unhappy with the attention it was getting her. She looked like she was

in a bad mood now, but fortunately enough, the bell rang soon afterward,

bringing the chatter to an abrupt end.