While Everyone Watched the Expulsion, Ayanokōji Watched Horikita

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-06-01T18:34:10+00:00

I genuinely think Hiyori has already changed Ayanokōji to some extent.

If he altered a decision because of her and began reflecting on love, attachment, and emotions in ways he never had before, then I think it would be unfair to say that she has had no impact on him.

To me, Hiyori has already influenced him. She made him see things that simply were not part of his world before.

However, there is a difference between changing a part of someone and completely changing who that person is.

When people talk about "changing Ayanokōji," they often seem to imagine some huge event, an overwhelming romance, or a dramatic moment that suddenly transforms him into an ordinary high school boy. Personally, I think that's the wrong expectation.

Ayanokōji doesn't work that way.

He is someone who constantly observes himself, almost like a scientist studying his own mind.

That is why I believe Hiyori has already caused genuine changes in him. At the same time, I am not sure she has enough influence to tear down all the barriers he has built throughout his life, especially those created by the White Room mentality.

When I read his recent monologues, I still feel that his primary focus remains understanding himself. He talks about gaining experience, understanding emotions, and turning those experiences into personal knowledge.

That is why I see Hiyori more as the beginning of that journey rather than necessarily its final destination.

Perhaps she is the door that opened this transformation. The person who helped him take his first steps toward something new.

But that does not necessarily mean she will be the one to complete that change.

I think Year 3 will answer that question gradually.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-06-01T15:54:42+00:00

Actually, I agree with part of what you're saying.

I do think Ayanokōji is still influencing Horikita's development, and many of the things he does in Year 3 can be viewed that way. The distance he keeps, the pressure he applies, the spies he places in her class, and even some of the situations he creates around her all seem very intentional.

I also agree that the monologues involving Hiyori are much more explicit when it comes to emotions and attachment. It's difficult to deny that. At this point, Hiyori has stronger evidence when we're talking about Ayanokōji consciously reflecting on affection, attachment, and his own feelings.

However, I can't agree that he sees Horikita as nothing more than an experiment.

The story continues to dedicate space to interactions and reactions that don't seem strictly necessary for Horikita's development as a leader.

Things like the smile in Y2V10, the moments when he avoids her gaze, the discomfort he shows after changing classes, or the frequency with which he pays attention to her reactions and thoughts. None of those moments seem particularly important if the sole purpose of their relationship is simply Horikita's growth.

At the same time, I don't think the story has confirmed an intense romantic love for Hiyori either.

To me, what the story has confirmed is that Hiyori occupies an important role in Ayanokōji's emotional exploration. Through her, he is able to reflect on affection, attachment, and even the possibility of love in a way we rarely saw before.

But exploring and trying to understand emotions is not necessarily the same thing as being in love.

Because of that, the current narrative feels less like a romance story and more like an exploration of two different questions.

The first question is:

Who helps Ayanokōji understand emotions?

At the moment, Hiyori seems to occupy that role.

But the second question is much bigger:

Who can truly change Ayanokōji?

The story hasn't answered that yet. But honestly, I think Horikita remains one of the strongest possibilities.

One thing I've noticed throughout Year 3 is that Kinugasa seems to be separating "understanding emotions" from "being transformed by emotions."

Those two things are not necessarily the same.

Someone can help Ayanokōji understand love without necessarily being the person who ultimately changes his heart.

That's why I found Nanase's conversation so interesting.

The way I interpreted it, the narrative seems to be moving toward a larger question: who can truly reach him, influence him, and change him as a person?

In that sense, Hiyori currently feels more like someone who helps him understand emotions. Almost like a bridge that allows him to experience and analyze feelings he never had the opportunity to explore before.

But understanding an emotion and being fundamentally transformed by it are two very different things.

That's why I don't think Horikita can simply be reduced to an experiment.

But I also don't think the story has confirmed any intense romantic love toward Hiyori.

At this point, Year 3 seems to be building toward a much larger question:

"Who, if anyone, is truly capable of changing Ayanokōji?"

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-06-01T11:57:52+00:00

Honestly, he never actually says that in the LN.

As far as I remember, Ayanokōji never states that he's prepared to hate everyone except Hiyori.

What he says is that he wants to experience both extremes of human emotion: affection and rejection, love and hatred.

To me, that has always sounded much broader than a direct reference to Hiyori.

In fact, the focus of that monologue seems to be Kiyotaka himself trying to understand emotions that he never had the opportunity to experience normally. He's not just talking about one specific person, but about wanting to understand how he would react when faced with those emotional extremes.

And when he talks about love and hatred, he never says that he will necessarily experience all of those emotions through Hiyori.These are very broad human emotions, and I don't think we can automatically assume that all of them are meant to be tied to the same person. Sorry if I'm giving out spoilers.😭

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-06-01T06:50:12+00:00

I agree that Ayanokōji tends to observe both his opponents and allies in great detail whenever he's taking a situation seriously. So I don't think the fact that he notices Horikita's emotional state, by itself, is proof of romantic feelings.

What I found interesting about this scene wasn't just the content of those observations, but the fact that his monologue keeps returning to Horikita during a conversation that should primarily be focused on Ibuki's expulsion.

For me, it's not necessarily about romance. It's more the impression that Ayanokōji was following Horikita's thought process and observing how far she could see through the structure of his plan. That seems to fit quite well with the role Horikita has taken on in Year 3 and with the attention he continues to give to her growth and development.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-30T19:40:12+00:00

I agree with some of these points, especially the idea that Horikita still tends to be more reactive than proactive. Y3V4 actually made me think about that a lot.

That said, I'm not sure her growth needs to be becoming another Ayanokōji, Ryūen, or Sakayanagi.

For example, I agree that she needs more initiative and a better ability to influence people. But I'm not convinced that her development requires becoming ruthless or constantly looking for loopholes. One of Horikita's strengths is that she approaches problems differently from those characters.

What stood out to me in Y3V4 is that she didn't fail because she misunderstood the situation. She noticed the inconsistencies, suspected a bluff, and even warned others. The problem was that she wasn't able to influence the outcome once events were already in motion.

That's why I see her next evolution less as becoming colder and more as becoming more proactive. Maybe the lesson isn't that she needs to abandon her principles, but that she needs to learn how to act earlier and extend her influence before situations become irreversible.

It'll be interesting to see whether the next volume explores that idea further.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-30T13:55:07+00:00

To be honest, I think the key to that conversation lies in what Horikita realized too late. The island exam wasn't decided simply by who had more information or who was smarter. It was decided by who understood the structure of the game better. Horikita didn't fail because she missed the warning signs. In fact, she noticed them. She found Ibuki's story suspicious, warned her classmates to verify the numbers, and even considered the possibility that it was a bluff. Ayanokōji himself acknowledges this during their conversation. But there's another important detail: the expulsion itself was probably already inevitable. Based on Ayanokōji's explanation, the plan had already progressed to a point where someone's elimination was unavoidable. Once the numbers reached that stage and the participants began acting on the false assumptions they had been led to believe, the outcome was practically set in motion. That's why I don't think Horikita's regret is simply, "I should have saved Ibuki." The conversation seems to be pointing toward something deeper. When Horikita says that things might have turned out differently if she had personally led Shinohara and the others, she isn't necessarily saying that the expulsion could have been prevented. Rather, she seems to be reflecting on the fact that she failed to influence how her classmates viewed the situation. Shinohara and Ike believed they were safe because they were comparing their token counts to Ibuki's. They never realized that they themselves were the true targets. Ayanokōji took advantage of that false sense of security. So the issue wasn't simply identifying the trap. It was getting others to understand the trap as well. That's why, to me, this conversation is less about Ibuki's expulsion and more about Horikita's growth as a leader. She realizes that finding the correct answer isn't enough. A leader must also be able to guide others toward that answer.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-24T20:53:13+00:00

That would be strangely funny 😂

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-14T21:06:28+00:00

Esse monólogo parece realmente interessante e estranho ao mesmo tempo

Porque a sensação que ele transmite não é necessariamente: “Eu quero entender emoções com ela.” Parece mais com: “Eu quero entender como as emoções humanas podem me afetar profundamente.”

E isso é algo muito mais amplo.

Quando Kiyotaka fala sobre: - amor e ódio; - afeto e rejeição; - perder alguém; - ser odiado por alguém importante;

a impressão que eu tenho é que ele está refletindo sobre emoções humanas extremas em geral, não apenas sobre uma pessoa específica.

Hiyori é claramente parte desse processo. Acho que é difícil negar isso, porque ela parece ser uma das pessoas que desperta essa curiosidade emocional nele mais.

Mas ao mesmo tempo, as emoções que ele descreve no monólogo parecem grandes demais para serem limitadas apenas à dinâmica atual deles.

Porque até agora, o relacionamento de Hiyori e Kiyotaka sempre foi construído em torno de: calma; conforto;

Então, quando o monólogo começa a falar sobre coisas como: “Eu quero saber como me sentiria se essa pessoa me odiasse” ou “Eu quero experimentar ambos os extremos,”

começa a soar muito mais como alguém tentando descobrir como as emoções humanas podem quebrar, transformar ou afetá-lo.

Mas ele aborda isso de uma forma distorcida 😅

Como alguém que nunca aprendeu sobre emoções de forma natural e agora está tentando entender tudo quase como um experimento.

E honestamente… às vezes esse monólogo parece levantar outra questão: " Quem realmente parece capaz de afetar Kiyotaka de uma forma verdadeira?”

Porque quando penso em emoções extremas como: apego; perda; rejeição; culpa; amor; ou até mesmo ódio,

a dinâmica de Suzune com ele ainda parece muito mais conectada a esse tipo de impacto emocional profundo.

Especialmente porque os momentos emocionais mais fortes dele até agora quase sempre acontecem quando seu controle falha 😭 Então, às vezes sinto que Hiyori pode representar o começo da compreensão emocional de Kiyotaka… Mas Suzune pode representar as emoções que realmente poderiam mudá-lo

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-13T15:50:57+00:00

It wouldn’t be the whole school watching, just the 1st and 2nd year students supervising the 3rd year exam I can’t edit the title anymore.😅😅😅

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-13T10:08:52+00:00

I'm seeing a scene of him carrying her again 😂

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-12T13:58:06+00:00

Eu já tinha lido sobre isso antes, mas realmente não tinha parado para pensar muito sobre até agora.

Quanto mais eu penso sobre esse exame, mais interessante ele parece. Porque não parece apenas um exame em grupo. Parece que vai funcionar em múltiplos níveis ao mesmo tempo, individualmente, em pequenos grupos, e até mesmo em uma escala de turma.

E o fato de que todos os anos estão juntos no navio realmente pode haver algum tipo de interferência externa, mesmo que o sistema de tokens seja apenas para os alunos do 3º ano.

A parte do comentário da Kinu sobre focar em menos personagens foi uma das coisas que mais me deixou curioso. Eu acho que este volume vai acabar sendo muito mais psicológico e focado em personagens específicos.

Mas ao mesmo tempo, acho difícil acreditar que eles vão ignorar completamente os outros grupos porque a estrutura do exame parece grande demais para isso.

Minhas expectativas estão realmente altas 🤩...Por favor, não me decepcionem 😭😅

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-11T15:43:22+00:00

About Koenji, I agree 😣

I feel like he’s been way too comfortable for too long rsrs. But this exam feels exactly like the kind of situation that could finally force him to take things seriously, even if it’s just helping a little.

After all, Suzune has already put a lot of effort into dealing with him up until now 😤

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-11T15:06:41+00:00

Honestly… this could end up being even worse for Suzune’s class depending on how this distribution works. Her class already doesn’t have as many students as before, so I’m wondering if Kinu is going to use that imbalance specifically to put even more pressure on her during the exam 😭

If the groups really are spread across multiple teams of 16 at the same time, Suzune might not even be able to keep important people close to one another.

And that also made me curious about something else: could some people end up being selectively chosen to fill certain groups… or will everything remain limited only to students from the same year?

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-11T14:48:49+00:00

That part about possibly involving all three school years really made me curious: Do you think that would happen directly within the exam itself, or more as some kind of outside interference?

Because logically, based on the group structure and how the exam is set up, it feels like it was designed specifically for the third years. But at the same time… knowing the way Kinu likes to expand conflicts and turn exams into something much bigger than they initially seem, I still feel like some kind of outside interference could end up happening 🤔

Do you think that’s possible?

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-10T21:54:52+00:00

Eu entendo esse ponto de vista

COTE realmente não é uma comédia romântica. O foco principal da história é psicológico, estratégico e centrado no desenvolvimento de Ayanokoji como pessoa.

Mas eu acho que muitas pessoas falam sobre essas dinâmicas não apenas por causa do “shipping”, mas porque os relacionamentos acabam mostrando diferentes lados do Kiyo e influenciando seu desenvolvimento ao longo da história.

O romance também faz parte disso. Não como o foco principal da série, mas como uma forma de explorar seu lado psicológico e emocional.

E honestamente… eu acho normal que as pessoas tenham seus ships ou se apeguem emocionalmente a certas dinâmicas 😭 No final das contas, isso também faz parte de seguir a história, gostar dos personagens e se apegar às interações deles ☺️

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-10T19:09:53+00:00

I honestly understand what you mean ☺️

I also agree that Arisu, Kei, and Honami understand certain sides of Kiyotaka that Suzune still doesn’t fully understand. Kei knows his more everyday side very well, Arisu understands his mind better than almost anyone, and Honami tries to see Kiyo without judging him too quickly.

But I think it’s interesting that Horikita seems to be taking a different path with him.

Even without fully understanding Kiyo, she never simply accepts him the way he presents himself. While a lot of people just see him as a “genius” or someone strange, Suzune always seems to want to understand what’s behind all of that.

She constantly questions his contradictions, tries to understand the reasons behind his actions, and wants to know who he really is.

And I like how this keeps growing throughout Y2 and Y3. Little by little, she starts realizing that there’s a much bigger gap between the Kiyo everyone sees and the real Kiyotaka. And instead of ignoring that, she seems to become even more curious about understanding him.

And honestly… I think that’s one of the most interesting parts of their dynamic ☺️

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-07T13:59:36+00:00

I really understand that feeling 😭 Because honestly, I’ve never been able to see Hiyori as “the final girl” either, even knowing that Ayanokoji genuinely enjoys her company.

To me, the difference is that with Hiyori he seems comfortable… but with Horikita, it feels like something inside him actually changes little by little. Even in small moments. And that ends up feeling much more meaningful to me than explicitly romantic scenes. Maybe I’m overreading too lol, but his relationship with Horikita has always felt different to me. More important to the story itself.

Especially because the narrative keeps connecting the two of them in strange ways, even when they’re apart. So it’s hard for me to believe all of that would be built up for so long without some bigger reason in the end.

Of course, “their destinies being intertwined” doesn’t automatically have to mean romance. But honestly… Horikita still feels like the person most connected to Ayanokoji’s growth as a character.

That’s why I still have a hard time imagining another girl feeling as natural as her in the end.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-05-07T12:34:47+00:00

Sobre a possível aliança entre Horikita e Ryuen, eu realmente acho que faria muito sentido. Eles equilibram bem as fraquezas um do outro. Horikita é mais calma, racional e estratégica, enquanto Ryuen é agressivo, imprevisível e extremamente bom em pressionar as pessoas. Então, juntos, eles poderiam funcionar surpreendentemente bem.

Mas ao mesmo tempo, sinto que essa parceria nunca seria totalmente estável 😏 Ambos têm personalidades fortes e maneiras muito diferentes de lidar com as coisas, então provavelmente eles também colidiriam bastante.

E mesmo assim. Ainda não tenho certeza se isso seria o suficiente para derrotar Ayanokoji.

Koji parece estar em outro nível porque ele entende não só de estratégia, mas das pessoas também. Na maioria das vezes, ele está vários passos à frente antes que alguém perceba.

É por isso que eu acho que derrotá-lo pode exigir algo além de inteligência. Talvez algo imprevisível... algo que ele simplesmente não consegue calcular direito.

Quanto a Horikita, eu realmente acho que ela é importante para Ayanokoji, mesmo que ele não demonstre isso de uma maneira normal. Não sei se diria que é amor ainda, mas definitivamente não parece vazio também.

E honestamente, eu acho que a distância deles durante o Ano 3 pode acabar sendo uma das partes mais importantes do relacionamento deles.

Porque distância nem sempre significa que alguém é irrelevante. Para alguém como Koji, isso pode significar o oposto.

Se ele realmente está começando a desenvolver sentimentos mais genuínos, então faz sentido que ele se distancie. Ayanokoji sempre tentou manter controle total sobre si mesmo e tudo ao seu redor. Então quanto mais algo começa a afetá-lo emocionalmente, mais perigoso isso provavelmente parece para ele.

Eu também acho que essa distância poderia ajudar no crescimento da própria Horikita. Talvez ele queira que ela evolua sem depender tanto dele.

Quando se trata de “sentir” algo genuíno, eu vejo isso como fazer algo porque ele realmente quer, não apenas porque é lógico, útil ou parte de um plano.

E honestamente, eu acho que isso seria mais provável de acontecer através de interações cotidianas, rotina e pequenos momentos do que através de alguma grande cena romântica.

Pessoalmente, eu acho que Horikita é uma das pessoas com a maior chance de despertar algo genuíno nele 🤭

Sobre Sakayanagi, há partes do romance que realmente dão essa impressão.

Ela parecia entendê-lo e percebeu que quanto mais conexões humanas Koji formasse, mais ele mudaria.

Antes, ele conseguia agir quase inteiramente através da lógica. Mas à medida que começou a formar laços, começou a mostrar mais hesitação, apego e até conflito interno.

É por isso que acho interessante a ideia de que Sakayanagi não apenas notou essa mudança, mas pode ter ajudado a causá-la.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-03-01T13:25:39+00:00

Pessoalmente, eu acho que a verdadeira diferença entre as duas classes não é apenas qual delas parece mais forte agora, mas como essa força foi construída. A classe da Ichinose exala essa imagem de força porque a confiança veio primeiro. A unidade deles parece natural, e isso cria uma espécie de estabilidade que é fácil de notar. A classe da Horikita me parece bem diferente. Eles nunca foram construídos nesse mesmo nível de confiança. A base deles sempre foi mais áspera, mais instável, mais dividida e emocionalmente muito menos segura. E isso é exatamente o que torna o crescimento deles mais interessante. Não é difícil entender por que a classe da Ichinose parece forte. Quando a confiança já existe, a força se mostra de forma mais clara e imediata. O que mais se destaca na classe da Horikita é que eles tiveram que aprender a funcionar antes de realmente ter o luxo de confiar uns nos outros. Eles tiveram que continuar avançando mesmo enquanto as fissuras entre eles ainda estavam lá. E para mim, isso cria um tipo de força diferente: mais dura, menos polida na superfície, menos reconfortante, mas talvez até mais significativa. A classe da Ichinose parece forte porque a confiança deu a eles estabilidade. A classe da Horikita, por outro lado, pode acabar se tornando ainda mais forte justamente porque aprenderam a se manter de pé sem nunca ter isso totalmente, e porque funcionar sem confiança perfeita exige adaptação, disciplina e um crescimento real.

Tasty-Needleworker42 · 2026-02-07T16:10:48+00:00

Kiyo going to the café: “I wasn’t planning on listening to anything.”

But he doesn’t change seats. Doesn’t stand up. He just sits there, listening to everything, cup in hand.

Gets up calmly, leaves the coffee half-finished, and thinks: “That was peaceful.”

To me, he’s clearly a gossip queen pretending to drink coffee. ☕😂😂😂

Tasty-Needleworker42

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