Just as Shimizu Akira and Karuizawa Kei stepped away from the rooftop, a shout ca from behind them: "Shimizu! Karuizawa! Wait up!"
The two turned around to see Ishizaki Daichi chasing after them. Kei frowned.
"What? Still want to fight?"
Ishizaki held his stomach with one hand and awkwardly extended the other.
"No, no... your phone was left on the rooftop. I ca to bring it to you."
"Ah, right. Sorry!" Kei only then rembered that Ryuen had kicked her phone onto the rooftop floor earlier.
She took the phone with a hint of embarrassnt and looked down to check it.
The school-issued phones were quite sturdy, and since she always used a case, the screen was perfectly intact despite the fall, and all functions seed fine. The two said nothing more and turned toward the stairs.
On their way down, they encountered Kondo Reo standing to the side, forcing an awkward smile at them.
"Shimizu-kun, Karuizawa-san, good afternoon! I wish you... a happy winter break! Um, is it okay if I..."
"It's fine, go on up," Akira waved him off before he could finish.
At the end of the day, Kondo Reo was just a lackey following Ryuen's orders.
Much like Ishizaki, these two were always polite and greeted him whenever they saw him.
Since they were being so humble, there was no need to go out of his way to make things difficult for them.
Besides, Ryuen... wouldn't be causing any more waves in the future.
Kei watched Kondo head toward the third floor and then looked at Akira. She blinked, and a delayed shiver ran through her body.
"Akira-kun... I'm so glad you got there in ti."
Akira couldn't help but smile.
"Kei, didn't you make it very clear? Even if I hadn't arrived, you wouldn't have lost to Ryuen or Manabe."
"That... well, actually, it was because I saw you coming that I suddenly found the courage to say those things." Kei lowered her head, her voice trailing off.
How could she have grown that much all at once? It was only because her pillar of support had arrived that she felt steady.
"So that's how it was..." Akira was montarily stuck between laughter and tears.
Fine, he took back his previous thought; Kei really hadn't managed to "ultra-evolve" in one go. Thinking about it, even his seatmate Horikita Suzune was only at "Stage 2" right now—how could Karuizawa Kei suddenly transform?
He reached out and ruffled her hair, comforting her.
"Don't worry too much about it. You took the initiative to learn boxing from that senpai. And that punch you landed on Manabe was actually quite cool. You've made a lot of progress lately. If that senpai is busy later, you can practice boxing with ."
Kei's face instantly lit up. She was long used to him rubbing her head, and now the gentle touch made her feel warm and incredibly comfortable.
"So, how did Ryuen trick you into coming out?"
"It was Yabu Nanami... she pretended to be a girl being bullied and called ..."
"Ryuen Kakeru's thods are low, but I have to admit he's quite smart. It's no wonder you fell for it.
Still, no matter what the excuse, eting on the roof in the middle of winter? A normal person would choose a café. Next ti sothing like this happens, rember to call or Matsushita first.
Learn from your mistakes, okay? I was just lucky to arrive in ti today; it might not happen next ti."
"Mhm... I understand."
Kei didn't find Akira's nagging annoying at all. Everything he said was for her sake, wasn't it? It seed she really needed to be more careful in the future and stop troubling him like this.
Still, looking back, this rooftop excursion actually yielded quite a lot.
She had another "highlight mont" in front of Akira, and he even invited her to practice boxing with him... their relationship must have grown much closer in an instant, right?
"By the way, Akira-kun," Kei suddenly rembered sothing and looked up, asking as if in passing, "What exactly is your relationship with Kushida Kikyo? I saw you defending her so much this morning..."
"Oh, we're boyfriend and girlfriend," Akira said, the words slipping out almost reflexively.
"Ah, boyfriend and girlfri—wait, you two are dating?!" Kei's heart felt like it had shattered into pieces.
She hadn't been this upset even when Ryuen was bullying her just now. The pajama photos hadn't even been selected yet, and the winter break date plan hadn't even been proposed... and now you tell these two have been together all along?!
Are you kidding !
Before Kei could ask another question, her phone suddenly rang. It was Matsushita Chiaki.
"Kei? I'm already at the entrance of the Karaoke place. Where are you?"
"Uh... I'm coming right now."
Kei rembered she had an appointnt with Chiaki and Maya this afternoon. A glance at the ti showed it was nearly 2:30 PM. She couldn't continue walking back to the dorms and talking with Akira.
'Ugh... why am I so unlucky lately?'
Her blooming love, which she felt was finally going smoothly, was suddenly... gone.
She was just a few days away from her "power spike" period! So unlucky!
.
.
.
Elsewhere.
2:30 PM.
Sakayanagi Arisu sat in the café, leisurely sipping warm coffee. Holding a warm cup while quietly watching the falling snow and scenery outside was, for her, an essential part of the winter break.
Before long, she saw her subordinate, Yamamura Miki, push open the door.
About five or six minutes later, Sakayanagi finished listening to the report regarding Ryuen Kakeru and Shiina Hiyori's recent movents.
It was truly interesting.
Shiina Hiyori had secretly gone on a date with Shimizu Akira, and ntioned that "X" was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and "Anonymous" was Kushida Kikyo... anwhile, Ryuen Kakeru had failed in his sche at Class C this morning and failed a second ti on the rooftop this afternoon.
If she didn't know better, she'd ask: why does this man keep failing?
"Ryuen Kakeru... it seems he is no longer a concern." Sakayanagi took a sip of coffee, a smile playing on her lips.
She, Sakayanagi Arisu, had once viewed this "Dragon Boy" as half a rival, even considering using him as a stepping stone to higher heights.
But looking at him now—a guy who fails repeatedly, gets beaten black and blue, and might not even be able to hold his position as leader of Class D next sester... he truly wasn't worth keeping her eye on anymore.
Just then, her phone rang. Sakayanagi looked down and couldn't help but smile. It was Shiina Hiyori calling her.
"Good afternoon, Sakayanagi-san."
"Good afternoon, Shiina-san. Why the sudden call? Is there sothing I can help you with?"
Despite Sakayanagi's arrogant nature, ever since the "Shimizu Akira is Yue" incident, she actually considered Shiina Hiyori a friend.
Whether that was true or not—at least, that's how she had responded to Kamuro Masumi a few months back.
"Actually... there's sothing I'd like to ask of you."
"Go ahead. As long as it isn't too excessive, I can agree to it."
Sakayanagi did a quick ntal calculation; she owed Hiyori at least two favors: one was asking Hiyori to go all out against Akira during the deserted island exam, and the other was during the Paper Shuffle, where Class D chose Class B as their target.
While the latter was more of a convenience, the forr was a solid debt. In this closed-off school, maintaining credit was important—Ryuen Kakeru this morning was a perfect example of what happened when you didn't.
"I'd like to ask you to have so people from Class A join so Class D students who have colds to negotiate with the school. If Sakayanagi-san could show up in person... that would be even better," Hiyori continued.
Sakayanagi imdiately understood the intent.
"You want to push the school to change the policy of Class D's dorms having no air conditioning and lower living standards?"
"Yes. More than ten students in our class have developed colds or fevers. With Christmas and New Year coming up, I hope the school can at least let the Class D students spend the holidays in peace."
"Hehe, Shiina-san's motive... doesn't seem very pure. You know exactly who my father is, yet you're asking to step forward. Was that a mistake, or was it intentional?"
"I don't deny my motives aren't purely selfless. But if we don't do sothing, Class D's situation will only get worse. You wouldn't want to have only three classes left to compete for Class A, would you?" Hiyori showed a rare bit of distress.
She didn't really want to ask Sakayanagi for this, but there was truly no better way.
"...Fine, I accept." Sakayanagi paused for a few seconds before smiling and agreeing.
First, it was to repay a favor.
Second, on her chessboard, it was necessary for Class D to remain competitive; it wasn't ti for them to exit yet.
Third... she had disliked Nagumo Miyabi for a long ti. Wasn't this the perfect chance to slap his face? From any angle, she had no reason to refuse.
"Then thank you, Sakayanagi-san! We'll be in touch." Just as Hiyori was about to hang up, Sakayanagi stopped her.
"Wait, I have one more question."
Hiyori thought it was sothing serious and sharpened her tone, only for Sakayanagi to ask with rare curiosity: "How did the date with Shimizu-kun feel?"
"Mhm, it was very comfortable. That was probably the happiest day I've had since school started," Hiyori replied with a smile.
"I see... I understand."
After hanging up, Sakayanagi looked a bit sulky.
Not just Kushida Kikyo, but now even Shiina Hiyori had, in a sense, grown close to Akira.
They had already gone on their first date... yet she herself had never gone on a date with Akira. Even though they were the rivals who had t by destiny at the convenience store on the first day of school.
...Right, and there was that stray cat nad Kamuro Masumi, who was tsundere and had sticky fingers, stuck in the middle.
"Shiina probably doesn't know about Ryuen getting beaten on the rooftop yet." Sakayanagi picked up a small spoon and gently stirred her coffee.
Only the parties involved and her subordinate, Yamamura Miki, knew about the rooftop incident.
According to Akira's plan, the news wouldn't officially spread until tomorrow. Hiyori wanting to improve Class D's conditions quickly could be seen as a tily shot in the arm for the current Class D.
Sakayanagi felt that given Hiyori's intelligence, she might have already guessed sothing. Otherwise, why would she contact her so perfectly at this timing?
'Tsk, truly the "smartest female student" as certified by Akira himself.' For so reason, Sakayanagi felt a bit irritated again.
So what?
"It seems the next leader of Class D will be Shiina Hiyori."
There weren't many candidates in Class D qualified to be leader. Aside from Ryuen, Hiyori was really the only one left. Sakayanagi thought of this and sent her another ssage.
Sakayanagi Arisu: If it were you during the deserted island exam, and putting aside Shimizu-kun's overpowered winning thod, would you have made the sa choice as Ryuen Kakeru?
Shiina Hiyori: Not exactly. I think the "Zero Points Strategy" was actually a surprisingly good idea. I would have continued to trade with Katsuragi-kun from Class A, but I wouldn't have considered the spy plan.
Instead, I would have chosen to appear openly before the other three classes on the first day and directly... sold our class leader's identity.
Seeing the reply, Sakayanagi finally laughed out loud.
That was a truly zero-risk "Zero Points Strategy."
Not only selling exam points to Class A, but also selling the leader's identity to the other classes... compared to Ryuen hiding in the woods alone to gather resources, the profit from this would clearly be much higher.
Fine, it seed she wouldn't have to worry about Class D's strategy in future special exams.
In so ways, Hiyori's thinking and brains were far beyond a re thug like Ryuen. Her only flaw, perhaps, was that she was too much laid back and disliked direct confrontation.
"Sakayanagi, do you need to... continue monitoring Ryuen and Shiina?" Yamamura Miki asked softly, seeing her leader lost in thought.
"No need. Enjoy your winter break. I'll arrange new work for you when the third sester begins. You've worked hard."
Sakayanagi snapped back and smiled at her. She wasn't a demon. New Year's was coming; she didn't want to keep her subordinates working the whole ti.
"But speaking of which, you sold Shimizu-kun another favor this morning. Did he say how he would reward you?"
"That... it was just a small favor. Shimizu-kun has helped far more often. I... I won't ask for any reward."
Yamamura understood this well.
Whether it was helping her out during the Paper Shuffle by tracking Ayanokouji, solving Kamuro's study problems, or helping her buy books—Akira had done so much for her. By comparison, notifying him about Kei being trapped on the rooftop was a negligible favor.
She gave a small bow and quietly left the café.
Sakayanagi didn't leave after finishing her coffee. Her gaze remained on the café entrance as if waiting for soone. Three or four minutes later, a familiar figure walked in. Ichinose Honami of Class 1-B walked up to her alone and pulled out a chair.
"Good afternoon, Sakayanagi-san!" Ichinose greeted her energetically.
Sakayanagi returned the smile.
"Good afternoon, Ichinose-san."
Although Class A had lost to Class B in the last exam, Sakayanagi had adjusted her mindset quickly. As she always said, she didn't feel she had lost to Ichinose—she had only lost to Akira.
"I wonder why you asked to et here? The 3 million private points should have been transferred to you the day the results were announced."
"Mhm, the points were received," Ichinose nodded.
Kanzaki Ryuji had already transferred 1.5 million to Akira; the remaining 1.5 million was split between the teachers and the class fund. For Class B, it was a break-even deal; they had lost 3 million to Class A during the sports festival, so this just won it back.
"Sakayanagi-san should rember that our agreent wasn't just 300 million points. The winning side could also make a 'not-too-excessive' small request," Ichinose said with a smile.
"Interesting. Let's hear it. What is your request? Don't tell you want to reveal so dark history... unfortunately, I have no secrets to speak of."
"No, it's not about revealing anything. Actually, I just hope Sakayanagi-san will stop targeting the students of the Katsuragi faction as much as possible."
"...Huh?" Sakayanagi nearly laughed.
"That's it? You set the stage for so long just to ask for this?"
She thought the other party would propose sothing more interesting or difficult. She hadn't expected it to be just a plea for the Katsuragi faction to live in peace.
"You really are a good person. But good people have a hard ti surviving in this school; you won't be able to reach Class A like that. I told you this a long ti ago."
"I know what you an, but I'm not doing this just for Katsuragi-kun's faction. It's more for my own selfish reasons... because I plan to invite Katsuragi-kun to transfer to Class B," Ichinose said honestly.
"Regrettably, our current resources are only enough to buy one person. So for the other mbers, I ask that Sakayanagi-san lets bygones be bygones and allows them to stay in Class A peacefully."
"Oh? Class B—no, it must be Kanzaki who took a liking to Katsuragi."
Sakayanagi was surprised, smiling after a few seconds.
"Interesting. Is this paving the way in advance? But has Katsuragi already agreed to your invitation?"
"Katsuragi-kun is still considering. I think his current situation isn't great, so I wanted to help resolve this issue first."
Ichinose and Kanzaki had spoken with Katsuragi Konpei a few days ago about joining Class B.
The biggest reason for his hesitation was the safety of his faction mbers—whether they would continue to be harassed by the Sakayanagi faction. The kind-hearted Ichinose imdiately thought of this "not-too-excessive" request.
"I don't quite understand your logic. If Class B wants Katsuragi, shouldn't you want to suppress his faction even harder? That way he'd feel like he can't stay in Class A and turn to you instead," Sakayanagi said with a grin.
Ichinose shook her head seriously.
"No, I don't think that's right. I have no desire to hurt his companions just to get him to join us."
"I can agree to that; it truly isn't excessive. Katsuragi really only has Totsuka Yahiko listening to him now; the others have more or less been put off by his 'justice' shtick. I can leave those two alone... but have you thought about it? If their situation in Class A improves, they might be even less willing to leave. Won't you regret it then?"
"I can accept that. Only then can I continue to invite Katsuragi-kun with a clear conscience. Thank you for agreeing to my request. I have business with the Student Council, so I'll take my leave now." Seeing Sakayanagi agree, Ichinose gave a small nod and left.
"I really can't understand it at all..." Sakayanagi pressed her hand to her temple. If Ichinose had asked her to keep targeting the faction—or even just drive Totsuka to expulsion—Katsuragi would likely have joined Class B just to oppose her.
Yet Ichinose did the opposite.
Why did Class B even want Katsuragi Konpei? In her eyes, he wasn't particularly useful; at most, he was soone who was excellent in all areas but far from a genius.
Her original plan, back during the VIP exam, was to work with Akira to guide all four classes to a win-win situation, letting each class accumulate over 10 million points.
Katsuragi, being calm and reliable, was better suited to go to Ryuen's Class D to act as a stabilizer for his aggression. anwhile, letting the Ayanokouji join Class B would have been a good choice.
Combined with Akira's Class C and her own Class A, the four powers would have truly ford a balanced "Four-Way Stand-off."
That was the result she wanted.
But what was the situation now? Ryuen had temporarily exited. Katsuragi was about to transfer to Class B. And that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka always stuck to Akira's side, with no intention of leaving Class C.
Her chessboard was shifting in an uncontrollable direction. At this rate, what would the four classes look like by the second year? Honestly, even she found it hard to predict.
"Ah... how annoying. Isn't there a way to relax quickly?"
Sakayanagi suddenly rembered Hiyori saying she felt great after hanging out with Akira. If Hiyori could do it, there was no reason she couldn't. After hesitating for ten seconds, she couldn't help but send Akira a ssage.
Sakayanagi Arisu: Shimizu-kun, do you have ti during the break? Do you want to... go out for a stroll, just the two of us?
Sakayanagi Arisu: It's paid, you know.
The reply ca back almost imdiately.
Shimizu Akira: No.
Shimizu Akira: I'm not really short on points lately.
"Wait! ...Why did he reject so flatly?! And it was an instant rejection?!"
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