Suzune Horikita/Plot

Anime
Despite having one of the best grades among the first years at school, Suzune was placed in Class D most likely due to her inability to work with others, in which she found troubling and made a goal to get into Class A, the top class.

After entering Class D, she did not attempt to interact with her classmates, even rejecting their offers of friendship. Despite that, she found herself talking to Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, whose insightful yet mysterious personality caught her interest.

In the light novels, Suzune later met Kiyotaka again at the convenience store, where she dubbed the chance meeting an "unpleasant coincidence". She said that she had just come there to get some necessities, when asked and talked to him about the introductions in the class, and how she had thought he was the kind of person to avoid them. After explaining why she herself had not stayed for them, Suzune puts off further discussion. When they arrive at the noodle section, Kiyotaka asked her if the price of a cup was reasonable, then starts thinking about Suzune's chest cup size, earning a glare from her, and being asked if he had been thinking of "something stupid". Kiyotaka later asks her if she wanted a razor which apparently had five blades, to which Suzune replied that she did not need anything like that, as she had nothing to shave anywhere. Although annoyed, Suzune praises Kiyotaka's ability to "babble inanely" to a stranger. She then tags Kiyotaka's recommendations of an assortment of creams as unnecessary. When they started discussing the free section of the shop, they were interrupted by Ken Sudō's shouts from the other end of the shop.

Days went by, and eventually, Suzune was asked by Kiyotaka to go with him to a cafe for a meetup. After class, Suzune accompanied him, as it was a girls' café and he felt too scared to go alone. Upon arriving at the packed place, a table opened up for them to sit, where they were joined by Kikyō Kushida, although it caused Suzune to leave due to her uncovering their plan to make friends with her.

The next day, the class was told they wouldn't get any more monthly private points after losing all their S-points in just one month due to their lack of work. She treated Kiyotaka to a free lunch, though while he was skeptical about her intentions, he went ahead with it. Suzune used this as an opportunity to force him into helping her reach Class D, using the free lunch as something to be paid back with this favor. Reluctant, he agreed and was tasked to gather up the 3 Idiots of D-Class. Kiyotaka succeeded, but that was only conditional, as he got Kikyō to help him out only if she could join, but was shut down quickly by Suzune. While at the study group, Ken was having trouble understanding Suzune's instruction and threatened to leave. Suzune tried to prevent that from reaching out to his dream to become a professional basketball player, saying how if his grades were to continue failing, teams would be likely not to accept him. This kept him in the study session for the time being but after some more dispute he up and left after Suzune continually insulted them. Kiyotaka brought up her bluntness towards others, in which her reply stated that she paid it no mind and said what they did had no repercussions on her.

During one meeting with Manabu Horikita, she was told to drop out of the school since his reputation that he worked hard to build would be tarnished if people found out that his sister was placed in the lowest class. She pleaded with him to hear her out as she was going to make it to Class A, but he told her that her shortcomings would prevent that from happening. He grabbed her and prepared to strike her, but Kiyotaka intervened on her behalf. She begged him to go as it was not his problem, but Manabu went on to fight Kiyotaka, in which the latter dodged all attacks and repelled him. Manabu then recognized Kiyotaka as the student who scored precisely half of all the entrance exams, which left Suzune in awe. Manabu then turned his attention to Suzune, surprised she managed to make a friend and as she disregarded it stating Kiyotaka was simply a classmate and how friends weren't needed, leading Manabu to walk off.

She spoke with Kiyotaka apologizing for the trouble, but he shrugged it off. As she complimented his fighting skill, Kiyotaka replied that there was nothing special just behind it, just simple piano and calligraphy lessons, which left her unconvinced. Suzune asked him if her brother's statement about him scoring half on the exams was true, receiving a vague answer in response, in which she then remarked that everything about him was a mystery, in which he responded by asking her if she was really done with the study group, which of course Suzune confirmed and stated she didn't care who failed. Kiyotaka soon inquired on whether she ever thought it was this distant and cold personality of hers that got her placed in Class D but instead of answering she just pondered on the idea.

After Class D had passed their tests, she instinctively questioned Kiyotaka if he had something to do with it, but again he didn't answer. After the teacher informed the class that Ken would be expelled as his score was below the class average. Kiyotaka proceeded to try and buy another point to save him from expulsion, in which Sae Chabashira demanded 100,000 points, which Kiyotaka couldn't afford so Suzune stepped in and split the cost 50/50. Amused by this, Sae voiced her earlier belief that the current Class D would interest her and accepts their offer, telling them to inform Ken that he wouldn't be expelled.

Suzune later attended a celebratory party at Kiyotaka's room. During the party, Kikyō inquired if Kiyotaka was the one that helped Ken out, but he passed the credit to Suzune who was barely able to explain to a curious Ken her reasons for helping.

When Ken Sudō was accused of beating up three boys from Class C, Suzune investigated it, and very soon she found out there was someone who witnessed the incident. Learning it was Airi Sakura, she headed to Kiyotaka but found he had company and nearly left though, though stopped and passed on the news anyway.

On the day of the hearing, she is surprised to find her brother presiding over the case and became nervous and fearful of his presence, thus leading her to become unable to speak for most of the hearing and nearly fail to protect Ken from expulsion (yet again).

Noticing her behavior, Kiyotaka forced her to return to her thoughts, much to her dismay. After he told her to get a grip on the situation, she realized his motives and became aware of the situation. She regained her composure and asked about the circumstances behind the fight and pointed out that in a three against one match, it was nearly impossible for those injuries that serious to be all Ken's doing. She revealed there may have been a set-up to get Ken in trouble before presenting Airi as a witness.

Airi gave evidence that she was present as she captured the fight going on in the background during a photo shoot. However, the evidence only proved that she was present and did not clear Ken of any wrongdoing. The Class C homeroom teacher named Kazuma Sakagami proposed a compromise to suspend Ken for two weeks and the three Class C students for one week each, but Suzune rejected it, stating while Ken does indeed have faults he was not the one responsible for this. That resulted in an argument that was soon broken up by Manabu, who stated he would decide himself. After the hearing finished for the day, Suzune was asked by Kiyotaka of her next strategy, in which she replied she wouldn't lose and walked off.

She and Kiyotaka visited the stairwell looking for evidence that might help the case. They lured the Class C students involved in the fight to the staircase and showed the cameras in the area that caught the incident on tape and after the boys questioned why the council hadn't brought this up, Kiyotaka stated that they do have the knowledge and are just waiting to see how the students are sorting this out as a test of sorts. The boys were fearful at the thought of being expelled, but Kiyotaka told them there is a way for both classes to walk away. Still unconvinced, Suzune pointed out that if they withdrew their accusation, everyone would be safe. Daichi Ishizaki considered it and tried to make a call to someone, but Suzune knocked away the phone calling him pathetic for being a person's pawn. He got angry and grabbed her, but she pointed out the cameras were still in the area, leading to him relenting and withdrawing his accusation.

Much later, Suzune was summoned by Chabashira-sensei on the roof where Sae inquired as to what might've caused the boys to withdraw their complaint, but Suzune didn't give an answer. Sae decided to change the topic, informing Suzune that to enter Class A, she must be aware of the depths of Kiyotaka's abilities and personality. Suzune questioned as to why that might be the case, with Sae telling her that the students of Class D have defective traits and that Kiyotaka is the most broken in her opinion because of how he purposely doesn't show any potential despite being possibly one of the best students at the school.

After the talk with Sae, Suzune found Kiyotaka in the hallway where she walked with him in the rain with their umbrellas and when they reached the street, she accused him of manipulating her into using false evidence to get the complaint to be withdrawn, which he denied, and she brought up the promise he made to help her reach Class A as he was forced by her. He tried to walk off, but she stopped him and pressed him for the reasons for his actions as she wanted to know if she could trust him, which Kiyotaka replied that he wanted a peaceful life but she stated that he wouldn't have helped if that were true. Kiyotaka continued saying he was looking out for a friend, but she disregarded this and pressured him into revealing his motives. Kiyotaka stated he would help her in reaching Class A but sternly told her never to try prying into his past or reasons again.

During summer break, she spent most of her time in her room in solitude until she was contacted by Kiyotaka, whose calls she rejected at first because of how she didn't want to be involved with anyone over the summer break. He persisted until she eventually answered, questioning his intentions as he invited her to the pool and although she hung up the phone. When he called back, he informed her of the three idiots of Class D's plan to peep at the girls changing rooms, much to her shock. Kiyotaka continued by revealing he wanted to ruin the plan by asking her to get the memory cards from the camera after everything was done.

She went to meet him and others who were going as well. It is shown that Suzune studied the personalities of those around her during her time at school, such as Kikyō, who she hates and questioned why she would want to get close with her and then asking herself why she is going along with them. The group headed to the pool where they met students from other classes as well. In the changing room, Suzune questioned Honami Ichinose about her chest size as the latter seemed somewhat embarrassed about answering. Suzune also agreed with Kikyō's comment of Honami seemingly being close to Kiyotaka as Suzune internally noted Honami's capabilities.

She spent most of her time at the pool to herself observing those around before playing volleyball and questioning Kiyotaka on why he hid his athleticism since she saw what he could do, but he continued to ignore this. Later on, she helped out Kanji Ike (Who was trapped in the female changing rooms) by giving a speech on how Class D can advance to the top, which distracts everyone and allows Kanji to escape. After the speech, she quickly found and removed the memory cards for the cameras as Kiyotaka thanked her and asked if she had fun, but she stated she is better off alone as he tried again to get her to shake off her strict nature by pushing her in the pool. This act caused her to do the same in return, which led to everyone else joining in the fun. Later that night, Kiyotaka sent Suzune an email that contained a picture of her with the other students at the pool stating how she got along well fine anyway but still smiled at the gesture.

During the school cruise, she spent most of the time in her room due to feeling ill. She soon called to meet Kiyotaka at a drinks stand, talking for a while until Kakeru appeared. He addressed her by the first name, dropping hints that he was aware of what she had done to get the complaint withdrawn at Ken's hearing. Suzune, who seemed to be disgusted by his presence, found his arrogant attitude off-putting and told him to keep away from her but he responded by taking a picture of both her and Kiyotaka, after claiming to be a fan of her and stating he had already made plans to take care of her, he told her to look forward to it. She and Kiyotaka then watched on as Kakeru and Albert Yamada bully Mio Ibuki, with Suzune remarking on how Class C is falling apart.

The ship soon arrived on a deserted island where the students were told they would undergo a survival test. It proved to be a challenge for Suzune as she revealed she has been uncomfortable being around others for so long and that the woods were not her strong suit. When Class D set up camp, she spoke with Kiyotaka about her reasoning behind enrolling at the school, merely saying how she would get enrolled in a university or job, following up by asking Kiyotaka his purpose for entering but receiving no response from him.

Suzune was later nominated as the class leader by Kikyō since no one else would expect her to be the leader. Kiyotaka then asked whether Suzune would go with him to gather firewood, but she rejected him, leaving him to go with Airi and Haruki Yamauchi instead. Later on, the group returned with an injured Mio and learned of Rokusuke Kōenji dropping out of the test due to being 'ill,' worrying about their lost points.

The next day, Suzune and Kiyotaka scout out to the situations of the other classes and their camps. When they arrived at Class B's camp, they see it is set up near a waterfall and operated much like Class D's but at a better location. Suzune noted on a boy who seemed distant from the class as Honami stated he was a student of Class C who got kicked out. Suzune and Kiyotaka then go to Class A's camp, which is in a cave that is heavily guarded as Yahiko Totsuka threatened Suzune as she attempted to take a peak. But she was turned away when Kōhei Katsuragi summoned his security force and warned her that her actions might start a war. Class C's camp is on a beach where under Kakeru's leadership, all of the points are spent, and the classmates treat this test like a vacation. While there, Kakeru flirted with her and was persistent in his advances on Suzune by stating that he will prepare a special tent just for the two of them, as well as letter her taste real heaven. She glanced back at him and told Kiyotaka that being there any longer would make her condition even worse. After they left, she berated Kakeru's apparent disregard for points as Kiyotaka told Suzune that Kakeru did that knowing that they would not be penalized if they had spent all of their test points beforehand. He also explained the strategy was foolproof since they could do what Rokusuke did and return to the cruise ship.

After the underwear incident, the girls of Class D decided to move their tent, asking Yōsuke to keep guard, while Suzune suggested that Kiyotaka watches over him as well due to his apparent disinterest in doing anything radical. When he finished working, he inquired why she did this as she stated her distrust of Hirata as he seemed secretive and had Kiyotaka put on guard duty as insurance. Kiyotaka then noticed her sickness, and though she denied it, her slow reaction to his hand confirmed it as he touched her forehead and saw she had a fever. After finding out, he questioned her about that was sick and hid it from the class.

While gathering fish, Kiyotaka asked her about the leader key card as he had seen it on another student's hand and wanted to match them. Once she saw his reasoning and agreed, Kiyotaka confirmed they didn't match, but Haruki threw mud on Suzune's hair after noting their closeness, which earned him a flip from Suzune, but Kiyotaka caught him. Suzune then went to the waterfall and washed off the mud but found the key card missing and became worried. She returned to camp and informed Kiyotaka of this, and they decided to hide this to not cause a panic.

Another problem occurred when the survival manual was burned, and Suzune saw Mio escape and suspected her of the recent wrongdoings in the camp. She pursued Mio and discovered the stolen key card in her possession, demanding it back, leading Mio to challenge her in a fight since there were no witnesses to prove the battle happened. Despite her ill condition, Suzune put up a good fight but was shocked when Mio revealed she didn't start the fire as she deduced that Kiyotaka was responsible for burning the survival manual before being defeated and knocked out.

After her fight with Mio, she was found by Kiyotaka who brought her to a tree before she awoke. She confided in him her reasons for wanting to reach Class A was to be noticed by her brother. She stated how she would lose allies for losing the key card before he implored her to withdraw from the test and let him take care of it, but she refused out of pride, though she fell unconscious, forcing him to carry her and have her withdraw due to her ailing health.

Afterward, she rested and watched the results of the test on the monitor in her room. She was immensely shocked to see her class come out on top and questioned the outcome. When the class returned to the ship, she found Kiyotaka, demanding to know what he did for the class to have passed the test and he revealed that he made himself leader after she withdrew. He then informed her of his plan and how he outsmarted the other classes with various tactics, which left her in awe at his intellect. She then inquired as to what motivated him if he didn't want to advance to Class A, but before she could get an answer, she discovered he also gave her credit for the correct guessing of the other class leaders, much to her dismay as the class swamped over her giving praise for the plan.

She later caught up to Kiyotaka, confronting him once more about why he made it seem his plans were all someone else's. He calmly replied that she needed allies and noticed she had finally changed. After he confirmed he did everything to help her, she got flustered and blushed before begrudgingly thanking him as she stated she would see him as an ally, although told him not to get too friendly back at school.

Volume 4
In the Cruise Ship Special Test, Suzune was placed in the Dragon Group, along with Yōsuke Hirata and Kikyō Kushida from her class. The group also included prominent students from other classes, like Kōhei Katsuragi from Class 1-A, Ryūji Kanzaki from Class 1-B, and Kakeru Ryūen from Class 1-C (as it was later revealed to be the group with the representatives of all classes). She was angry at Rokusuke Kōenji when Kiyotaka told her that he had ended his group's test early because he was bored, and scolded Kiyotaka for not stopping him from doing so as he was Rokusuke's roommate. She was shocked when Kakeru told her that he had figured out the V.I.P. of their group (Kikyō Kushida), when the results were going to be displayed, and even more so when he told her that he had already cracked the exam from the second day, and had targeted Class 1-A specifically, as was apparent from the results.

Volume 4.5
During the summer vacations that followed, Suzune had accidentally put her hand inside a water bottle, and it had become stuck, leading to her asking Kiyotaka Ayanokōji for help. He tried to remove it with force, but eventually gave up and figured that they'd need some water or soap to get it, however, the water supply had been cut off that day, and neither of them had any water in their rooms. They decided to ask for Airi Sakura's help, but since she didn't reply, tried to go to Keyaki Mall to get some water, but upon coming across Kikyō Kushida, Suzune, not wanting to be faced with humiliation of being caught in such an embarrassing condition, gave up and they went back to her room, upon reaching there, Kiyotaka told her that Airi had offered help when she saw his request and they were able to get Suzune's hand out from the bottle.

Volume 5
After the summer vacations, Yōsuke Hirata proposed that they also bring Kikyō into their group as he thought she could be a good complement to their leadership group, but Suzune rejected the idea stating that it was unnecessary, since they already had him and Kei Karuizawa, unless they planned to be "uncooperative" (hinting at Kiyotaka). When it was revealed that the Class-Ds and Class As of each year would be placed in one group-Red Team, which meant that she would get to interact with her brother. Later, while talking to Kiyotaka, she points out that the event was not necessarily a special exam, as it was only ever referred to by the teachers and the pamphlet as the Sports Festival, and says it meant that shifty strategies would be less likable to work, and that it was a pure test of physical ability, analogous to the written exams for academic ability. She further says that it would be better to be wary of Kakeru Ryūen, as he might have a bigger plan in mind after refusing cooperation with Class 1-B. During the class meeting for the selection of candidates, Suzune proposed that all the highly athletic students be grouped together to get the best chance at winning, which was objected to by Satsuki Shinohara and Kei Karuizawa, since it left the lesser athletic students without a chance to get test points. Suzune's idea was readily accepted by most of the class, especially the physically active students, but she agreed to compromise when Kikyō asked for a middle ground that would benefit both the athletic and non-athletic students, saying that those students who place at the top and don't need to boost their scores, would boost the scores of the students who place lower, and the total gained private points would be shared in the class. Her plan was accepted as it got a class majority of 16 votes against Kei's 13. When Ken Sudō repeatedly called her by her first name, Suzune snapped at him and warned him never to do it again as she wasn't close to him, or she would have to take a more "direct action" to make him stop, but agreed to let him use it if he was able to get first among all the grades, though calling it idiotic.

In the three-legged practice race, Suzune was paired with Onodera, who wasn't able to match Suzune's pace while running. Suzune blamed her for being too slow, but when Kiyotaka did the same thing to her when they paired up, and ran way faster than her, causing her to stumble and being caught by him, she understood that she had to match her partner in order to win. Later, Kiyotaka persuaded Suzune to come with him and Kikyō to "uncover the truth" about her betraying the class in the Cruise Ship Special Test or not.

The next morning, Suzune met up with him and Kikyō and they began scouting, and came across Yōsuke Hirata, Sō Shibata, and Miyabi Nagumo playing on the football field, and observed that Shibata was even faster than Hirata, later, Suzune asked Kikyō if she was reliable in class -- someone who would not betray and asked if she had told Katsuragi or Ryuen that she was the V.I.P. in the zodiac exam. Kikyō looked shocked but said that she also wanted her class to rise up to Class-A, from the very beginning. When the participants of the relay race were being decided upon, Suzune said she wanted to be the "anchor", as this was the position her brother would also be assuming, and was given the role.

In the girls 100m dash event, during the first day of the sports festival, Suzune was matched to run against Mio Ibuki, from Class-C, and 5 others. Though Suzune had a slightly delayed start, she was able to pick up her pace and cross the finish line, coming first. In the hurdle race, Suzune was matched against two of the fastest girls in the track and field club from Class-C-Yajima and Kinoshita, who ended up being faster than her, as predicted by Hirata, and Suzune placed third. Again, during the obstacle course, Suzune was matched with Yajima and Kinoshita. This time, though Kinoshita was able to take an early lead, Suzune was able to close the distance and become first, but at the final leg of the race, she kept glancing back at Kinoshita and she caught up, but suddenly they both got entangled and fell, causing Suzune to come in seventh. In the cavalry event, despite her injuries, Suzune participated, only to get ganged up on by 4 other horsemen attacking her at the same time from Class-C and falling. Suzune was told by Kiyotaka that she was way more useless than Ken Sudō at that moment as she was injured and hadn't contributed as much as him, so he told her that the best way to help the class would be by bringing Sudou back in as he would only listen to her. She was later summoned by Sae Chabashira because Kinoshita had raised an accusation that Suzune had intentionally kicked her and made her fall. Kakeru Ryūen came to the scene and threatened Suzune that if she didn't pay up a million Private Points and also begged on her knees for forgiveness, he would ask for the Student Council President's opinion on the matter, and Suzune had to agree. Suzune was able to persuade Sudou into joining back for the remaining events. After the results, she even allowed him to call her by her first name even though he had not been the MVP, provided he did not use violence ever again. According to the agreement, Suzune had to meet Kakeru after the results, and when she arrived, she confronted Kikyō and told her that she knew about her past, though not clearly, and that she wanted to expel her. When Kakeru revealed his entire plan to her, Suzune shocked him by showing that she had recorded the whole of his scheme, and would hand over the recording, but Kakeru had a back-up plan and had also been recording the whole conversation, along with the video, however, on receiving a message from the "mastermind", he had to let Suzune go.

Volume 6
During the middle of the second semester, after Sae Chabashira congratulated them on no dropouts in the mid-term exams (thanks to Suzune's study groups) and explained the next special exam - Paper Shuffle, Suzune called for a meeting and told Kiyotaka to bring Hirata over, who also brings Kei. Later, Kikyō also joins them after they decide on holding the meeting at the Pallet. Suzune tells them to go ahead and then talks with Kiyotaka about Kikyō. On the condition that he joins the meeting, Suzune tells him about her history with Kikyō, saying they had gone to the same middle school, where she(Kikyō) was just as, or even more popular than she was here. She says that she didn't exactly know what happened, but according to some rumors, a schoolgirl had caused a class breakdown, and that girl was Kikyō, but only she knew the details, as it had been very well covered up by the school. Suzune also thanked him for whatever he had done after the Sports Festival to stop Kakeru. During the meeting, Suzune and Hirata arrived to the conclusion that the quizzes before the final examinations were just to determine the pairings for the Paper Shuffle final exam, and realized that the best way to tackle the exam would be to not let the students with low grades be paired together, so they decided on asking the senior students for more information. They also decided that they would target Class-C, as that class is weakest in academics among the other classes. During the next homeroom session, Suzune apologized to the class for not bearing any good results in the Sports Festival, as she had always looked down upon people who underperformed. She also revealed how the pairings for the final exams might be done, and proposed a strategy so that everyone could be matched with an ideal partner and the class could make do without any expelles, stating that the students with very low academic ability should just write their names on the quiz and not answer any questions, regardless of whether they know the answers or not, so that they are matched with students who get the highest marks.

The next day, before the quiz was to be taken, Sae Chabashira announced that their class would be both, making questions, and also be attacked by Class-C, which was the "ideal" combination, according to Suzune. When asked by Sae if she was sure about her strategy, Suzune replied that she was confident that she was correct, causing even the others to be confident in following her strategy. She turned out to be correct, since when the results were shown, the students with highest scores were matched with those with the lowest, causing Sae to be impressed with how she had handled the quiz and the class. Suzune also proposes to create a study group for the final exams, agreeing to work together with Kikyō Kushida and Yōsuke Hirata on it. She also persuades Kiyotaka to help (manage) with Yukimura's study group (which include Akito Miyake and Haruka Hasebe) and he obliges. During a study session, in the library, Suzune meets up with Honami Ichinose and Kiyotaka, and agrees to hold a joint study group with Class-B, since the two classes weren't competing in the special exam. Later, she asked Honami if she would help a fellow student of Class-B in trouble even if the student hated her, and she also had a bad relationship with him/her, to which Honami replied that she absolutely would provide help. After asking her some more questions, Suzune came to the conclusion that she was a "truly" good person. She met up with Kikyō to ask about her past, and let Kiyotaka eavesdrop on their conversation by calling him from her phone as he had been made to go back by Kikyō.

Suzune proposes a bet to Kikyō, according to which if Suzune scored more marks (individually) than her in the upcoming final examinations, in the subject of Kikyō's choice, Kikyō would have to co-operate with her in the future, however, if Suzune lost, she would have to willingly drop out of the school, and to make the bet more credible, Suzune asked her brother, the former student council president, to act as a "reliable witness" to their bet. Kikyō agreed, and chose Mathematics as the subject in which they would compete. Noticing that Suzune's mobile was engaged in a call throughout their discussion, Kikyō realizes that Kiyotaka was eavesdropping on their conversation and asked him to come there. She then asks to add another condition to their bet -- that Kiyotaka also be forced to drop out if she wins, but Suzune denies, saying it was their personal bet. However, Kiyotaka agrees to Kikyō's condition on the condition that she tell them what happened during her middle school, due to which her class had fallen apart.

While going to submit the questions for Class-C, Suzune and Kiyotaka were met with Kakeru, who also seemed to be submitting the questions at the last moment so as to reduce chances of leaks. Sae accepts the questions after talking about their class' condition, however, while leaving, Suzune realizes that something was wrong with her behavior and asks her if someone(Kikyō) had already submitted different questions, and her guess was affirmed by Sae. Suzune tried to persuade her to take her questions and discard the earlier ones, but to no avail. They were even more shocked on seeing that the difficulty of her questions was comparable to Suzune's own questions, however, Suzune had already made countermeasures if such a situation were to arise, as she had already told Sae after the special exam was announced, that (1) she had the sole right to make decisions about submission of exam questions and (2) pretend to accept questions if anyone else comes to submit their own. Sae was worried about the deception among their own class and warned Suzune that things would not be so easy if the condition of their class is not resolved. Suzune looked very confident on the exam date. After confirming with Kikyō that she did indeed score higher marks in the mathematics exam (Suzune's >98 vs Kikyō's ~80), Suzune left.

Volume 7
One day in late December, Suzune and Kiyotaka talk about their class and Kakeru's future plans and how to face them. Suzune also gives him the book-"Farewell, My Lovely", by Raymond Chandler, which he had been wanting to read for a long time but had not been able to borrow it from the library due to its high demand, to return to the library and borrow it at the same time so that it does not get borrowed by someone else.

Volume 7.5
On Christmas Eve, Suzune invited Kikyō for tea, however, Kiyotaka also had something to tell her, so he also joined at a cafe in Keyaki Mall. Kiyotaka was surprised seeing Kikyō there, and tried to leave saying that whatever he had to say was between him and Suzune as individuals, and could be saved for later, but Suzune persuaded him to say whatever he had to say then and there since Kikyō was also a part of the class and entitled to hear everything. Suzune was confused when he told her that her brother wanted her to join the student council, and called it absurd. She told him to stop lying, however he told her to confirm it herself by contacting him, but since neither of them had his mobile number, they decided to contact Akane Tachibana, his secretary for his number. When she asked her brother, he told her to join "for her sake", and Suzune decided to talk about this with Kiyotaka later.

Volume 8
Just before the exam on the Mixed Training Camp, Suzune talks to Kikyō to try and get her to her side and co-operate but Kikyō flatly rejects the proposal, however, Suzune decides to not stop till she achieves her goal.

Volume 9
After the training camp, in February, Suzune asked Honami Ichinose and Kiyotaka to her room and asked Honami who did she think was behind the rumors, to which Honami replied that it was probably Arisu Sakayanagi as she had declared war on Class-B. When Suzune asked her if she was going to answer the rumors or not, Honami said that she couldn't share that with the two of them and also said that it was up to the discretion of her and Kiyotaka to accept them or not. After talking for some more time about what happened with Ryūji Kanzaki and Masayoshi Hashimoto, Ichinose leaves, and after discussing their alliance with Class-B, Kiyotaka also leaves. On a later day she shows him the rumors that had been spread on the school forums, and asks him if the rumor about him having a crush on Kei Karuizawa was true, which he denied, and said that their only option was to check with all victims one by one.

Volume 10
After the results of the end-of-term exams were displayed, everyone from the class had passed, thanks to Suzune's study groups, especially Ken, who had improved substantially, courtesy of her tutoring. She started writing down all the scores so that she could create a study plan and asked Kiyotaka to use the whole of his ability so that the class' average may go higher and be comparable to the other classes'(Class-A and Class-B). The next day, after Sae Chabashira explained the new special exam, The Class Poll, Suzune suggested that if every student received three praise and three censure votes, no one would be expelled. However, this was rejected by Sae, saying that the vote would be declared void and it would repeat until they had a definitive result. When Ken and Rokusuke Kōenji started arguing with each other about who should be expelled from the class, Suzune had to intervene and tell Ken to stop, after Hirata failed in doing so, and later complained that the special exam was unreasonable and outrageous, though she looked fiercely determined in doing something about it.

She later went with Kiyotaka to ask Kakeru what he was going to do to avoid expulsion during the special exam, since he seemed to be at the highest danger of being expelled from his class. After talking with him about his situation, she left. A few days later, when Kiyotaka asked her if it was unusual for her to not ask for his advice, she replied that he would not have given her a straight answer anyways and that this exam wasn't one in which one could go and ask their classmates for help. When he offered to join his group so that she could be somewhat safe from expulsion, she replied that she had no intention of doing that and that she would do what she could in the exam. On Thursday night, Suzune received a message from her brother, Manabu Horikita, asking her if there was anything she regretted, to which she asked him back if he could talk to her. Manabu then called her and she requested to meet her in person, which he accepted. The next day she met up with him near the special building, and asked him to give her courage for what she was going to do about the special exam. After talking some more about the school and Kiyotaka, they part.

On the day before the special exam, after school, Suzune asked everyone to listen to what she had to say and refrain from going home. She said that she wanted to nominate someone who deserved to be expelled in the vote, however Hirata tried to intervene, but she brushed him off, with Ken and Rokusuke's approval to her speaking. She nominated Haruki Yamauchi to be expelled since his contributions to the class had been nominal, and after he tried to create excuses, she told him the "final" reason for his expulsion - that he used Kikyō as an intermediary to convince the class into getting Kiyotaka expelled, in order to save himself and because Arisu Sakayanagi, from Class-A had told him to. Suzune reprimanded Kikyō for her actions, saying they were a huge mistake, since she had the power to bring many people to her side. She charged Haruki for colluding with the leader of Class-A, who had probably promised him that they could start "dating" if he were to follow her orders and get Kiyotaka expelled. She shot down Ken and Hirata's protests saying they were "impractical" and the expulsion of a classmate was unavoidable, and that Haruki was the weakest link in the class and also had colluded with the enemy hence he should be the one expelled according to her. When Sae Chabashira announced that Kiyotaka had been the student with the highest amount of praise votes-42-more than even the class strength, Suzune was shocked and asked him what he had done, to which she did not get any definite reply, however, she was able to deduce that he had been the one who had told her brother about Haruki and Arisu.

Volume 11
Later in February, after The Class Poll, Chabashira-sensei announced the next special exam - The Event Selection Exam. After explaining the rules and answering Suzune's, and others', questions, she left. When Ken asked how Kiyotaka had ended up with 42 praise votes in the earlier special exam, Suzune covered for him, saying that it had just been mere coincidence that Arisu had used him to expel Haruki. She supported Kiyotaka in being commander for the special exam as she also did not want to be in the danger of being expelled. In Hirata's absence as leader, Suzune conducted class meetings on her own and deliberated on their events with the rest of the class. She later tells Kiyotaka that she thought it would be better to not consider Hirata as an asset for this exam as he was in a troubled mental state. In order to prevent leaks about their choice of events to Class-A, Suzune proposed to communicate to each other during meetings via a chat room in their mobiles.

On a later day, Suzune invited Kiyotaka to her room to talk with him. When he tried to get on with the conversation quickly, she persuaded him to sit down for dinner, as she was almost done with preparing it, and assured him that the conversation itself would not take more than an hour, as she had promised over the mobile, and maybe two hours with everything included. Her cooking skills were said to be very presentable and professional by Kiyotaka and the way she had presented the food on the table was comparable to the way it was sometimes shown on TV. After they had eaten the food, Suzune asked his opinion on her plan, since he had eaten her food, much like the way she had tricked him in Volume 1. According to Kiyotaka, the information collected by her was not much different from what he had gathered himself. He told her that the best candidate for the chess event that would be chosen by Class-A would be her, since she was one of the most well-rounded students of their class, and offered to teach her to play chess over the internet, which she accepted, and according to him, she had improved in her chess skills considerably till the special exam was upon them.

During the special exam, Kiyotaka chose her for the last event-chess, in which she was matched against Masayoshi Hashimoto. She was able get the upper-hand against him during the initial stages of the game, causing him to think carefully before moving. Arisu and Kiyotaka both seemed to understand that Suzune was going to win if Arisu were not to intervene, forcing her to. As the game progressed, Arisu won, but Kiyotaka would have won, as is revealed later, that if Tsukishiro had not intervened between their match by sending Suzune a wrong move, different from what Kiyotaka had told her to carry out, Hashimoto and Arisu would have lost. It was also revealed that the reason for that would be due to how well Suzune had played in the early stages of the game, and had given Kiyotaka and herself the advantage.

Volume 11.5
In Volume 11.5, when asked by Kiyotaka if she would be going to see her brother in the closing ceremony, Suzune replied that she had no plans of doing that. Later, Suzune met Kiyotaka at the gym, where the juniors had gathered, where she was praised by him for showing up, saying the "old her" would not have. After the thank you gathering ended, Suzune was hesitant to go to her brother, saying she would look like a complete outsider. Later, when Miyabi Nagumo came to greet Suzune after talking with her brother, and told her to watch what he would do the next year, Suzune seemed shaken up, but asked him if he had any regrets, for losing to her brother, to which he replied that judging who won in a battle between students of different grades was not viable. After talking for some more time about his plans for the next year, they parted ways.

Later, Suzune met Kiyotaka at the entrance to Keyaki Mall, where they had planned to meet Honami Ichinose and talk about the relationship between their classes going into the second year, and after some small talk about the topic of the conversation, they met Honami at the café. After getting their food, Suzune straightaway asked Honami what they would be talking about, when Kiyotaka mentioned that it was her who had told him to target Class-A in the Event Selection Exam, she shot him a glare, since she had told him to pick Class-D if he won, and not A. She let it slide, observing that he wanted to continue the conversation. Suzune readily picked up on the story and apologized to Honami, saying her loss might have been due to her picking Class-A. When Honami revealed how Kakeru had won against their class by drugging and physically injuring her classmates, Suzune offered to assist Honami in finding evidence against Kakeru and using it to report the incident to the school authorities, but Honami rejected, saying that it was a learning lesson for her, and after Suzune and Kiyotaka tell her about their battle against Class-A, Suzune says that she thought it would be best to cancel their co-operative partnership for the coming year, since the gap between their classes had reduced, and concluded that from the next year, their classes would be enemies. After Honami leaves, Suzune asked Kiyotaka why he had targeted Class-A in the Event Selection Exam, without informing her. She said that it was almost as if he and Arisu Sakayanagi had already planned about the exam earlier, but rejected the possibility as absurd. When Kiyotaka explained that he did not want to use his potential to the fullest since he did not want to create rumors, she stated that his self-evaluation was a bit exaggerated, even for him, and was shocked when he said that there was no one in their school year at the same level as him. She challenged him, saying that she was sure she could beat him in a written exam if she got serious with her studies, and accepted Kiyotaka's proposal that if she would be able to score higher marks than him in a subject of her choice, which she could inform him of even just a day before the exam, he would have to do everything he could to work towards reaching Class-A, however, if he scored higher, she would have to grant him one wish, which he would decide later. As Manabu was just going to leave the school premises on the 31st, after a long talk with Kiyotaka, Suzune came to the school gates, with hair cut short (which was probably the reason for her lateness), and apologized for being late, however, Manabu looked relieved and said that she had returned to her "old self", saying that she had changed. Suzune said that she earlier always just followed his shadow, but she was no longer that person, and that she would try and create her own path. Manabu explained that the reason he had pushed her away was that when he had sensed great potential in her-like an unpolished diamond, and he wanted her to surpass him, but she had been trapped in an illusion that she was inferior to him, and had given up trying to surpass him, which was unforgivable to him, and saying this, he hugged her gently. He also confessed that he had lied to her, saying that he liked her hair to be long, when she kept it short, and when she started keeping it long, he understood that she had not grown up, and just wanted to meet his expectations, and had immediately recognized this same mentality when he had first seen her in their new school, but he knew now that she had indeed changed and smiled tenderly as he said that he would meet her two years later, at the main entrance, and would like to see her all grown up, and left, with Suzune watching him as he ventured into the horizon. Suzune was later seen crying when Kiyotaka stubbornly insisted on following her around, when she said she wanted to walk alone, because she had again been separated from her brother after having realized the "error in her ways". When Kiyotaka teased her about sending a photograph of her crying, to others, she glared at him, saying she would kill him if he did so. He then revealed that his "wish" that she would have to grant, if he won against her in the bet they had agreed on earlier, was that she would have to join the Student Council. After talking a bit more about his deal with Kikyō and what was to be done with her, they leave.

Year 2 Volume 1
In the Second Year Arc, Suzune appears for the first time in Class 2-D with short hair, becoming the cause for many shocked screams and exclamations from her classmates, who were seeing her in the new look for the first time. She rejected Kikyō's reason for this sudden change-heartbreak, and suggested Ken and her to return to their seats. Suzune was surprised when Chabashira explained the new grading process-the OAA app system, since she had come to expect class-based competition after the first year, and the OAA system was more individual-oriented.

During the break between classes after the homeroom session in which Chabashira had explained the next special exam-the Partner Exam, Suzune went to Hirata's desk where many worried students had gathered for fear of being expelled in the exam. She calmly explained that in order for a student with Academic ability E to pass the exam, he or she would need to partner up with a first year student with at least a B rating in it. She, along with Hirata were able to calm the others down. She also told the others to contact her or Hirata if they wanted to ask anything. Suzune and Hirata were able to communicate perfectly, almost as if their thoughts were in tune with each other, as described by Kiyotaka. In the lunch break, Suzune called Kiyotaka out to the hallway to discuss the exam and the information she gat gathered through the OAA app. After talking about the plan of action for choosing partners for the academically weaker students and the meeting scheduled by Honami for the first and second year students, they leave.

Suzune, along with Kiyotaka and Ken later went to the gymnasium, where the meet and greet had been scheduled. After observing the scene, she decides to leave the hall, saying that over half the invited First Years had not turned up, and those were the ones she was going to target. She further explains that the students who did come to the meeting were academically insecure, while they were looking for students with at least a B-rating in Academics. Moreover, students of Class 1-D had not attended the meeting at all, which indicated that there was someone, probably the leader of the class, who had forbidden them from joining the meeting. Suzune says that if there was indeed someone like a leader who could negotiate at the class level, they would not even need to talk individually to students. When they reach Class 1-D, they find an empty classroom, causing Suzune to realise that it might be harder to negotiate with them than she initially thought.

The next day after lunch break, two students from Class 1-D - Tsubasa Nanase and Kazuomi Hōsen arrived at Class 2-D. Suzune maintained her composure even when she was faced with Hōsen's rudeness, and further challenged him on everything he said. After a small talk which amounted to nothing, the first years leave.

After school that day, Suzune approached Kiyotaka to go with him to Keyaki Mall. Ken also "forced" his way into their group and they made their way into the Mall. Suzune approaches a group of first year Class-D students who Academic Abilities B or higher, looking to find a partner for Ken. When Shiratori, with Academic Ability A, asks 500,000 private points in compensation for partnering up with Ken, she tries to negotiate with him, but to no avail, since they already had been approached by both Class-A and Class-C earlier, and would not sell themselves cheap. She later reveals that she had decided on three goals for the exam that she planned on carrying out - 1)Not to get anyone expelled. 2)To try and get 3rd place in class rankings, or higher. 3)To avoid monetary exchanges. She then explains the reasoning behind them, saying that the risks just did not outweigh the returns, and Kiyotaka affirms that she was correct in every regard. She then explains to Ken that it was best to negotiate with Hōsen and Class 1-D by trying to take advantage of whatever they could.

They were then interrupted by Ichika Amasawa, a first year Class-A student. Ichika offered to partner up with her after revealing that she had an "A" rating in Academic Ability, but Suzune declined it, but instead asked her to partner up with Ken. When Ichika asked about Kiyotaka's partner status, Suzune answered that if she really did not want to partner up with Ken, she could pair up with Kiyotaka instead, causing Kiyotaka to abruptly decline it. Suzune asked Ichika about her conditions for partnering with Ken, Ichika replied that since she was not going for the first place prize, she wanted to partner up with someone she liked, and she particularly liked "strong and powerful" guys. She then asked Suzune to gather all strong second year students and have them fight it out and she would partner up with the one who would win in the competition, causing Ken to dejectedly tell them to move on, since Ichika did not seem to be serious about partnering with him, however, Suzune and Kiyotaka then start to openly discuss how Ken could easily beat any other second year, and that he should take the offer, to show their confidence in Ken's physical abilities. After a bit more talk about how the competition would be held, Ichika suddenly says that she changed her mind, stating that there would be no one to challenge Ken, since he seemed to be very strong, and Kiyotaka and Suzune both seemed to be completely confident about it. Ichika says that she also liked guys who could cook, and if Ken could prepare a delicious home-cooked meal for her, she would be happy to pair up with him. When it looked like Ichika was going to have to drop the offer, Ichika said that she could also pair up with Ken if some other guy could cook for her. Suzune immediately brought Kiyotaka's apparent cooking skills into the conversation, saying that he had earlier bragged to her that he was an amazing cook. Understanding Suzune's intentions, Kiyotaka backs the claim, saying that cooking was his only strong point. After more back and forth negotiation between Suzune and Ichika about the time of the cooking session with Kiyotaka, they both agreed to hold it the next day after school.

The next morning Suzune met Kiyotaka waiting for her at the entryway to the school, wanting to discuss his earlier conversation with Nanase. She seemed surprised when he told her that he had proposed a collaboration between Class 1-D and 2-D to Nanase, stating it was a "momentous decision" considering he had always refrained from acting on his own. She asks him if she could just share her thoughts on the special exam with him, which he accepts. She explains how she deduced that Class-A had probably offered fewer private points to the first years than Class-C due to their "brand value" as Class-A, while also observing that Class-B was trying to build a trusting relationship with the lower classes, by saving the first year students with very low grades in Academic Ability. She states that their current objective would be focusing on those students with a ratings in the C+ to B- range, since they wouldn't have been the first choice for the other classes. She said she planned on manipulating those first year students by disillusioning them by making them feel worth more. After discussing more about her earlier confrontation with Hōsen, she brings up her negotiations with Yagami, the underclassman from Class 1-B, who had already partnered with Kikyō, about cooperation with his class. During the break after the first period, she was approached by Hirata, who had asked his fellow first year soccer club members for partnering with someone from their class, but had minimal success in getting anyone to cooperate since those who were willing to, were demanding private points, which she had already anticipated. Upon receiving crucial information from him that the Second year Classes were not only making offers to the academically gifted students, but also those with exceptional abilities like high Physical Ability rating, she texts Kiyotaka from her phone to immediately take up Nanase on her offer of cooperation with Class 1-D.

When it was decided that Kiyotaka was to cook for Ichika, Suzune had put two plans into motion- first, to teach Kiyotaka about the basic kitchen techniques, such as slicing, dicing and shredding, things that "blatantly" displayed culinary skill, even at a glance, and the second, an exploit with which he could check recipes in real time, using a earplug he would insert in his ear, and Suzune would give him real time instructions to prepare the dish-Tom Yum Goong. Although it took longer than "expected", Kiyotaka prepared the dish with Suzune's help, and it was declared "good enough" by Ichika, and as per their agreement, she would partner up with Sudō for the Partner Exam.

After Ichika left, Kiyotaka then talked with Suzune over phone about how everything had worked out, and after he explained his reasoning behind why he had asked Ichika for negotiations to form pairs from Class 2-D and 1-A, Suzune said she understood why her brother had paid so much attention to Kiyotaka-he was able to understand the bigger picture and his talks with Ichika had been in Class-D's favor. On Thursday, Kiyotaka met up with Suzune to go to the library, where a meeting with Nanase and some other students of Class 1-D had been organised. After exchanging pleasantries, they begin their negotiations for establishing a "co-operative" partnership between the two classes. Nanase says that she understood how Hōsen's strategy of individualism was flawed, making the academically weaker students vulnerable to losing out on private points for three months, which Suzune agreed with, thereby asking her to form an alliance with her class, by which 15 students of lower academic ability rating from both the classes would be matched to help each other, however Nanase stated that coming to a decision on the subject would be difficult, considering that Hōsen would not allow them to form an agreement, especially at that time. She explained that Hōsen was in complete control of their class, since he wasn't actually hording the points for himself that he demanded for pairings, those who went against him would be ostracized from the class as a whole, which they would not want. Suzune on the other hand explained that she did not want a hierarchical, private points-based relation with her class, but a trust based one, by which both the classes could help the other out in future exams as well, quite like Honami's approach to the special exam. Nanase still rigidly stated that in order for an alliance to form between their classes, she would have to consult Hōsen in the matter, since he was the de-facto leader of CLass 1-D, and proceeds to then call him to meet up with them at the library.

After Nanase leaves to call him, Kiyotaka states that Suzune's strategy was very much like the other class leaders', all of them were were the same idea molded into different forms, reassuring her that she was rising up to be a leader comparable to the other three. Nanase then gives her phone to Suzune, with Hōsen on the line, after which Hōsen flatly declines any hope for negotiations regarding the proposal he had heard from Nanase, and tells them to not bother him unless they were willing to bring private points into the deal. Suzune and Kiyotaka then leave Nanase, and proceed to part ways soon after discussing about the issue of finding Kiyotaka's partner, and Suzune's tired mental state before the exams.