Hiyori Shiina/Plot

Volume 6
Accompanied by Daichi Ishizaki, Hiyori made her first debut at a cafe inside Keyaki mall when Kakeru Ryūen asked her to accompany him to give her plans and analysis for spying Class 1-D. They started with greeting the members of the Ayanokōji Group who were studying together around a group table. When he asked her if she managed to catch a clue concerning "X," Hiyori told Kakeru that she can't say anything noteworthy at this stage in her information gathering. She kept looking back and forth between Teruhiko Yukimura and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, determining if one of the two was possibly the "X" individual they were looking for. After examining them, Hiyori then tells Kakeru that both their faces left a weak impression on her and that she will probably come to forget the two boys immediately. So far, she was able to know for certain that neither Kiyotaka nor Teruhiko are "X" to her and questions who was the other guy in Class 1-D to which Daichi answers it was none other than Yōsuke Hirata. Hearing that, Hiyori starts to recall Yōsuke while questioningly stating her own hardship of remembering everyone's faces and names she met outside her class. Nonetheless, the one and only person she can confidently remember in Class 1-D that stands out as unique to her for suspecting to be "X" by Kakeru was Rokusuke Kōenji.

Kakeru and her classmates part ways with the group of Class 1-D students, leaving Hiyori alone who who stay behind to remain watching them. As the group was unable to concentrate on studying, Haruka Hasebe calls out to Hiyori that she was getting in the way of their studies. However, Hiyori asked them to just wait but Haruka frustratingly refuses arguing that she is being a distraction and demands the former to go away. Hiyori simply responded with a smile, understanding that Hasebe must've been upset at the former as her fellow classmate Kakeru had crushed the latter's cup of drink. Realizing what she needs to do next, Hiyori grabbed her bag and walked over to the cash register. Hiyori right then and there placed an order at the register using her own private points to pay for the group's two cups of coffee. Upon purchasing and getting her hands on them, she went ahead and already took the liberty of adding some sugar into the coffee. Not before long, Hiyori offers the drinks to Hasebe, hoping the latter can accept it as her apology on Class 1-C's behalf. At the same time, she would reassures Hasebe that the coffee is quite all right to safely drink from, telling the latter how the former isn't someone to be so wary of. When the Class 1-D students finds it tasty like her previous cup of coffee, Hiyori explains how she noticed that a lot of sugar had collected at the bottom of the cup Kakeru squashed and deductively presumed that Hasebe has a liking for coffee sweet. Hiyori was glad to see that her analytical assumption was not inaccurate or mistaken as Hasebe happened to enjoy the coffee she modified. Hiyori informs her that the former used the same amount of undissolved sugar to estimate exactly how much of them Hasebe put in initially, admitting her amazing perception to discern small details despite how she may look to them.

After which, Hiyori fixed her gaze on the three boys of the group and asked them if they were holding a study session together. Hiyori questions the group whether they think of her as a spy working under Class 1-C to which one of them arguing that she was one. Hiyori tells the group to not view her as a spy, reasoning that she generally keep her distance away from the leader of Class 1-C Kakeru. Although he calls her by her first name, Hiyori insisted how it has nothing to do with that as she asked for Kakeru's permission to accompany him and his subordinates on their way to visit them. When discovering which class Kakeru and his gang was going to see, Hiyori expresses her desire to tag along with them as she states that the students of Class 1-D interests her. Seeing that the group was confusedly puzzled by her curiosity, she realizes that none of them have the slightest clue of what is going on behind the scene in Class 1-D. She reveals to the Class 1-D students how it's all her classmates ever mainly talk about in Class 1-C at that time. Particularly, she tells them that there is a master tactician they called "X" secretly hiding in their Class 1-D, disguising his or her true identity while scheming in the shadows. She states that this unknown tactician has contributed significantly to Class 1-D's successes as of late, from the Deserted Island Special Test to the Cruise Ship Special Test and Sports Festival. Again, she questions if they really don't know anything about who their master tactician really is but Teruhiko shrugs off the former's explanation as her likely referring to Horikita which Akito Miyake agreed with him on. However, she flatly and intuitively claims that the master tactician was not in anyway Suzune whatsoever and inquires Kiyotaka if he happened to spend a great deal of his time with the latter.

While Kiyotaka argues that he spent more time with Suzune than with his other classmates but not so much anymore recently, Hiyori can't help but still be suspicious of him considering he was the student who was seated next to her. As they discussed the identity of "X", Hiyori's hunch, though, contrarily stems from the scenes where Kiyotaka frequently orbits around Suzune whenever their class faces demise and downfall. This in turn, lead Hiyori to come up with an intuitive hypothesis that, perhaps, Suzune was just a cover-up and a puppet leader of Class 1-D to hide X's schemes while that person's successes were given to her. Hiyori's words were not proven convincing to the rest of the group as both Haruka and Akito strongly believed that nobody in Class 1-D is superior to her at planning and how Suzune's the only one which comes to their mind as the possible candidate for X's identity when crafting all of their strategies. Nonetheless, Hiyori was still somewhat doubtful of their group's reasoning, coming to an understanding that no matter what says, the Class 1-D students will all feel the same way about Suzune being the mastermind and not possibly anyone else but her. Finally hearing enough, Teruhiko snobbishly asked her to leave them alone after she "supposedly disturbed" their group's study routine, which Hiyori apologizes for that. Haruka instead defended her and expressed her gratitude for replacing the coffee cup she dropped earlier. Hiyori stood up from her seat, looking apologetic and expresses her apology once again that Teruhiko was right on the mark how it'd be a real risk not to take their studies for the upcoming test seriously. She suggests Hasebe and her group that they could always talk about that sort of stuff after the final exam's over, picking up her cup of coffee and preparing to leave. Upon saying her goodbyes to Hasebe and the group of Class 1-D students, she soon part ways with them not long afterward. Kiyotaka learned from Yōsuke Hirata that Hiyori had came by the latter's study group to talk to them and search for the mastermind "X" who was hiding in Suzune's shadow.

Volume 7
During a certain day, Hiyori went towards the library when the lunch break started. She had been heading to the school library for several days in a row in order to look for 's  and get her hands on it. Hiyori understood it had been hard to borrow that book due to how popular the novel was among students who already got a hold of them before she could. As soon as she arrived at the mystery novels section, she realizes there were no novel with that book title in the area as it was unavailable, leaving her to immediately dropped her shoulders in disappointment. Hiyori decided that she will come back later after her classes are finished to check for it again. Reasonably so, she decided to return to the library next time before dutifully going to the Tea Ceremony Club. While sorting out her thoughts, she ended up spotting a book in a high shelf position way above her height that feels out of place, pondering whether the librarian staff had made a mistake putting it there accidentally. Believing the novel was likely misplaced within the wrong area and order as it didn't match up with the classification of the mystery novels section, Hiyori extended her hand out in order reach for that book and get it down but couldn't touch it due to the difference in height. Even though she knew reaching to grab the book was almost impossible for her, Hiyori refuses to give up and tried to do it several times after. Despite her best attempts, she was still unsuccessful and understood how unreachable the book was from where she was standing at.

Between the bookshelves under the library's section for the mystery genre, Kiyotaka Ayanokōji met Hiyori who was about to arrive at the conclusion that she couldn't reach the book. While the former was thinking on borrowing another book, he observed a girl who was trying hard to reach the book titled,  by which was supposed to belong in the romance novels section. Kiyotaka helped the girl without realizing that it was none other than Hiyori herself who he soon recognized immediately after helping her take down the book that was classified wrongly. Once he grabbed the book, she recalls his name from when the two met each other previously during Kakeru's introduction and how her fellow classmates were looking for "X" who defeated their leader. Hiyori noted that her fellow classmates performed a thorough investigation on Class 1-D while she in her mind never been interested over those things. Hiyori sincerely expressed her gratitude to Kiyotaka for the assistance, as she was handed the book by him. Taking the novel and confirming it using the library card, she understood that the book was indeed supposed to have been placed in another section rather than with mystery novels. Afterwards, he spontaneously inquires whether Hiyori likes reading through Brontë's works or not. She opened the book and closed it again while noticing his gaze on her as if what he asked about that was strange. Realizing Kiyotaka has the looks of someone who misunderstood her and thought she liked Brontë's books, Hiyori clarifies that wasn't really the case as she neither like nor dislike any of the author's works personally. Upon telling Kiyotaka that she just doesn't have any sort of special preference over the author, Hiyori states it was just her wanting to put the book back in the right place of the library as it didn't belong in the mystery novels section and shelf but somewhere else.

After her disclosure, with an inquisitive outlook, Hiyori noticed and confirmed the book titled, "Farewell, My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler, that Kiyotaka was holding — is what she herself was looking for in the library's mystery novels section. That book, as Hiyori claimed, was considered to be a popular masterpiece that was being borrowed by a lot of sophomores, making the book's availability rare. With her eyes starting to sparkle, Hiyori didn't know why but the former thought she has a found a comrade at this moment, so she couldn't help but to inquire him about the novel he was in possession of. She learns from Kiyotaka that it was a book he had read after borrowing from a friend (Suzune Horikita). She tells Kiyotaka how lucky he was to have the book as it is very popular amongst the 2nd-year students to the point where the battle over it has been continuing for quite a while. Hiyori expresses her desire to re-read the novel once again for some time now but admits she didn't have the good chance to successfully find one in the school library and borrow it. Kiyotaka apologizes to Hiyori for how bad of him to monopolize the book she wants by borrowing it from his friend. However, Hiyori stated that there's no problem with Kiyotaka borrowing the said book whatsoever since she already read the novel before. Hiyori argues that while searching for Brontë's work, it ended up turning out to be a fortunate blessing for her in disguise as she was able to run into other good collections of interesting books along the way. She tells him how massive this school's library was with its large collection of books. Hiyori tells Kiyotaka that if she were to immerse herself into reading each and every book in all its shelves entirely, it might as well have taken her until graduation to not completely finish them in time before the former realized. Hiyori boldly declares that she'll do her utmost best to read through all of the books she could find until she graduates from their school. Hiyori said this while clutching Brontë's book with a small smile shown on her face, knowing that there is a person with her who she can freely talk to about her reading interests.

When she starts opening herself up to Kiyotaka, she unconsciously talked passionately about books with him without hesitation. Although she also realized in the middle of the speech that he remained silent while listening to her speak, Hiyori feeling extremely happy did it involuntarily. Kiyotaka was about to leave the scene to execute the purpose he initially had in the library, but Hiyori didn't seem to be satisfied with their small talk after finding out there was someone she remembers who seemingly has similar tastes to her when it comes to books. To continue the conversation further without stopping, Hiyori asked if Kiyotaka was planning to borrow another book besides the one he has and check it out, to which he denied. She believes that there was a reason behind why he was here with her, thinking Kiyotaka was not really here in the school's library to return "Farewell, My Lovely" and then borrow it for himself as he could've done that at the service desk instead. Hiyori then immediately turned her attention to one of the shelves in the mystery section. Not before long, Hiyori has already gone out of her way and attentively scan the mystery novels section to search for the right books to recommend Kiyotaka so that he can considered reading. After finally finding what she was looking for, Hiyori asked if he had already read ' works. Kiyotaka claimed that he has read 's but not any of Dorothy's yet. Hearing that, Hiyori recommended to Kiyotaka that he can try checking out and borrowing the first work among book series by Dorothy — . She affirmed that once he starts reading the said novel until the very end, he'll be entranced enough to keep immersing himself into the rest of the sequels which comes after that first volume. She pulled several books from out of the shelves and handed them over to him. Realizing that she has been rambling all this time, Hiyori asked him if the former had been bothering him by any chance from that talk to which he said she wasn't.

With how much time passed in the blink of an eye through her talking to him, Hiyori begins feeling lonely because the chat was almost coming to an end and she unknowingly said the words that didn't match her usual self. Hence, Hiyori noticed that Kiyotaka was not particularly interested in the matter but didn't have the heart to refuse her offer, so she immediately apologized afterwards for talking incessantly about books. He cleared up Hiyori's uneasiness by telling her that he was just perplexed for a while but was genuinely interested in grabbing the book she recommended and borrowed it while he was still in the school's library. Hiyori was extraordinarily happy and pleased with his response, smiling so widely that her eyes scrunched up. Noticing that Kiyotaka has not ate anything so far and that their break wasn't over yet, she decides to invite Kiyotaka out to have lunch and spend time eating together with her. Seeing his look of confusion, Hiyori admits in her mind that she never would have expected the former can proactively say those kinds of words openly. Although she knew there was a lot of dispute going on between Class 1-C and Class 1-D, Hiyori still expresses her desire to continue talking with him regardless even if the former thought of being rejected in turn. While Kiyotaka didn't expect this sudden development — thinking that the whole thing is a fragment of Kakeru's plan — Hiyori stated there was no one in Class 1-C who likes reading novels except for her and how she was the only classmate left alone with no friend to talk to about books. Hiyori frankly told him her honest feelings of what she wanted. Though Classes 1-C and 1-D are currently in dispute against each other, Hiyori argues that mingling with him will not be a problem for her. Hiyori reassures Kiyori to not worry about that as she was just playing along with with what Class 1-C seeks from the former so that Kakeru doesn't bother her.

To Hiyori, she was only helping Kakeru as an act of formality. While she admits to not having any interest at all in joining either of the parties involved as she wants no part in their class conflicts from the start, Hiyori asked of him whether he thinks conversing with her will be a problem for him on its own to which Kiyotaka said it won't. She was glad and relieve to get his mutual consent, reasoning that creating cracks between their two classes clashing over such trivial things makes her unhappy and prefers for everyone to get along nicely. She believes the best thing that can happen for them was if everybody in Classes 1-C and 1-D were to live in harmony without class conflicts getting in the way of their friendship. Kiyotaka didn't reveal a disgusted expression on her remarks, so that made Hiyori feel very happy that it was acceptable to him. She prompted Kiyotaka to leave with her and go to the cafeteria as they can't afford to waste time before lunch break is over. However, Kiyotaka told Hiyori to wait for him as he needs to move to the service desk and take care of checking out these books first that she suggested he borrow and read. Through the conversation she have had with Kiyotaka, Hiyori began to develop hope on the possibility that it was maybe likely possible of her to make a friend such as him with similar interests. A part of her thought these actions were not like how she usually was, while the other part was extremely excited towards the prospect of this new development between herself and Kiyotaka. As she thought it deeply in her heart, Hiyori hoped and prayed that in the far-off future, the dispute Class 1-C had with Class 1-D wouldn't create a crack between them like destroying their friendly relationship.

After that discussion and waiting for Kiyotaka to clear his matter at the library, both of them side by side head their way to the school's cafeteria and eat lunch together. While Kiyotaka chose the daily special, Hiyori on the other hand seemed unable to come to a decision on what to get for her lunch at the ticket machine. Her finger hovered over the buttons, and she looked at all the options carefully. Hiyori convey her sorry twice to Kiyotaka for keeping him waiting in line as she remained a bit indecisive for several minutes. At long last, she finally to go through with purchasing the same meal of what Kiyotaka had chosen. Once she and him turned in their tickets, two meals were placed before them on the counter for her to grab. Hiyori struggled to adjust her heavy schoolbag of textbooks to take her tray. Noticing that Hiyori was having trouble handling her tray due to carrying her schoolbag, Kiyotaka volunteers to hold her equipment as it was in the way. Doing so, she was able to freely take and move her tray around much to Hiyori's reluctance who felt it was her being an inconvenience to him. In the end, when Kiyotaka reasons that he doesn't want to see her fall and drop her tray because of the schoolbag, Hiyori quickly gives up on resisting by accepting his assistance to step in and handed him her belonging to carry in her stead. Hiyori conveys her apology to Kiyotaka once more as she understood how heavy her schoolbag filled with a lot of mystery-related books must've been for the latter before soon thanking him. She and Kiyotaka avoided hanging out with the big crowds, finding some empty seats to use with just them two, and sat across from one another, slowly tucking into their late lunch. As they are sitting near each other and eating, Kiyotaka opened the conversation by asking her whether Hiyori usually had lunch in the cafeteria or not. Hiyori claimed that she had always tend to bought her lunch at the convenience store in the morning and ate them in the classroom, so technically, it was a rare event for the former. She asked the similar query to him if he had lunch in the cafeteria often to which Kiyotaka answered that the latter himself preferred best the taste of food freshly made in the cafeteria than in the convenience store.

Meanwhile, in Kiyotaka's monologue, he noted that the way Hiyori held the pair of chopsticks was exceptionally and charmingly refined from his eyes. For instance, Hiyori utilized her chopsticks to elegantly raise a morsel of food to her mouth, leaving Kiyotaka to watch her in admiration due to how well she handled them with such graceful movement. Hearing his opinion, Hiyori affirmed and agreed that the cafeteria food was delicious as he said and the way Kiyotaka compared the taste of foods sold between the two sources will be kept in her mind. Kiyotaka then asked whether it was her first time experience to eat at the cafeteria, to which she replied that it was certainly the case before coming with him, accepting the fact that he found her out. He deduced that from the fact of how Hiyori was struggling in the ticket machine. Hiyori expresses how she wanted and waited for so long to try having lunch in the cafeteria. However, it was said by Hiyori that she lost the heart and motivation to do so given how, to her, it's too far from her classroom until the former befriended Kiyotaka who became the reason to consider inviting him to eat there with her. She was aware that missing out on her initial chance to do something would only served to drag her feet and figured the time spent being around Kiyotaka was now her good chance to go to the cafeteria. From now on, she plans on going to the cafeteria after hearing out his thoughts on the school meals. Hiyori and Kiyotaka continue to talk while they finished up their lunches. Since she and him arrive to the cafeteria late than the other students, most of them are done eating and left before the two. Following the scene where they finished their meals respectively, they talked again about the topic of books. Hiyori placed her schoolbag on the table in front of Kiyotaka, telling him that she'll head back to the library after lunch break is over.

Upon glance, Kiyotaka immediately acknowledged that her selection of books was nice to see, complimenting the former for her good taste in literature. Hiyori asked Kiyotaka if he have read any of these novels before, presenting to him four authors:, , , and. Knowing and confirming that both of them indeed liked those kinds of mystery novels, Hiyori felt elated to know he recognize the books as she laughed and clapped her hands together in joy. Kiyotaka noticed that the book she took out of her bag wasn't from the library. When Kiyotaka noticed that the books were not originally from the library, Hiyori confirmed that it was from her own personal collection of novels that she always brought along with her wherever the former go. Hiyori explains her reason for this action was so that she can hopefully one day meet a special someone who shared her tastes in reading mystery novels, believing such person would express their desire to borrow them from the former. Hiyori admits that she recently started out just carrying one and reveals how her schoolbag had ended up only accumulating more and more books as time goes on while waiting for that certain someone to find their way in her life. Now that she knows it was Kiyotaka who she has been waiting on all this time after their first meeting in the library, Hiyori encourages the latter to go ahead and reach out to her, telling him to not hold back in taking whichever book he would like from her as she welcomes the thought of letting the guy borrow it for free. The lunch break ended with Hiyori allowing Kiyotaka to take the book that was written by the author Ellery Queen with him and he promised afterwards to return the books to her soon.

During the final day of the second semester, just as her homeroom teacher Kazuma Sakagami of Class 1-C announced the end of class time, Hiyori was free to do whatever she wants by afternoon. This was apparently the case when there were no Tea Ceremony club activities for the day that she and her fellow classmates are advised to head back home early into her dormitory, so that hardly anyone would be left behind in the school building before it closes off after school. She stayed temporarily in the classroom to talk to Kakeru Ryūen about her concern for the overall state of the class, seeing the strangeness of the atmosphere surrounding her fellow classmates. She tells Kakeru how everyone seems really restless at the moment while surveying everywhere across the room. She then asked Kakeru of what scheme he was planning to do next. Learning that he made it his objective to confront "X" once and for all after past several months of investigating Class 1-D's true tactician, Hiyori was given an invitation by Kakeru if she wants to come tag along with him and find out who the mastermind really was. However, Hiyori chose to turn down his invite, claiming she herself don't quite see how going out of her way to take part in something like that would be something fun for even the former.

Not before long though, she proceeds to ask him if it was really worth the time and effort in hunting them down for, questioning him whether it was truly necessary and needed in the end. Seeing how puzzled he was to her inquiry, she dismisses the question as nothing to be answer, understanding and acknowledging that it was solely for him to decide alone as their class leader. Hiyori reminds Kakeru that she will be in the library during the meantime as he and her fellow classmates carry out their class strategy, telling him to stop by and contact her if he ends up getting in any trouble. When Kakeru hears her decision and argues that she won't be of any use to the class either way regardless of her accompanying them or not, Hiyori agrees with Kakeru's harsh words and tell him to have a nice winter vacation. She said that calmly, without a trace of fear in her tone of voice before leaving him behind to be with her remaining classmates to plan their move on cornering "X". After Kakeru has suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Kiyotaka Ayanokōji at the school's rooftop, he had decided to step down as class leader for the time being and leave it to both Hiyori and Satoru Kaneda to take charge of leading Class 1-C from here on out in his stead without him.

Volume 7.5
It was revealed by Kakeru that he had already informed Hiyori and his classmates ahead of time to be vacating his class leader position to her and Satoru. Kakeru has been laying groundwork in his plan to have Hiyori and Satoru as the future class leaders next-in-line after him for his fellow classmates to rely on for their leadership that will begin during the third semester of school. Particularly, it was she and Satoru who were tasked with leading the new Class 1-D after they got demoted in the class ranking. Based on the former class leader's words, Hiyori and him will ultimately be the ones to decide from now on what kinds of decisions and strategies to make about attacking Class 1-A while moving forward. At the same time, Hiyori and Satoru must not lay a hand on the previous Class 1-D led under Suzune Horikita who have risen to Class 1-C, telling Kiyotaka that they will be persuaded by him of how those are good plans he had in mind for these two class leaders.

Volume 8
During the Mixed Training Camp, Hiyori was paired up in a group with other students who are from outside her class like Honami Ichinose, Mei-Yu Wang, and Shiho Manabe. At some point of the following day, she would wear her gymnasium uniform and go on jogging around campus ground with her group members. Seeing Mei-Yu's exhaustion who was ahead of her and feeling concern for the girl, she runs a little faster and was able to able to eventually catch up to both Honami and her after the two girls slow down their running speed and linked up with them. From then on, with a smile on her face, Hiyori alongside Honami tries to maintain the same pace as Mei-Yu who was exhausted from running, where all three of them decides to jog side by side with each other in unison. According to what Kakeru Ryūen and those around him have been saying, it was revealed that Hiyori has been acting as the leader of the girls in Class 1-D. On the third day of the special exam, she greets Honami and desires to get along well with the Class 1-B leader, feeling like it was a badge of honor to befriend her. She then gently called out to Mei-Yu and welcomes her with open arms, giving a friendly greeting to the latter while approaching her from the side. She tells Mei-Yu of how nerve-wracking it was for the latter to be surrounded by unfamiliar people like herself, reassuring the girl that they can become friends. Hiyori comforts her that she understands where Mei-Yu is coming from, describing how the latter must've been bewildered when the two of them were told to break down walls and start getting along which her fellow classmates agreed. 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 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 is a nice country which she recalls having things like the Great Wall of China and all. Hiyori put her hands together in front of Mei-Yu and smiled after saying that. Once Kiyotaka brought up the idea of 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 ends, Hiyori soon parted ways with Kiyotaka as she and Mei-Yu both headed 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 is 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 formder 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 is 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
Coming soon...

2nd Year Volume 2
Coming soon...

2nd Year Volume 4
Coming soon...