Ichinose Honami Mediates a Dispute

"This is interesting, the so-called 'pot calling the kettle black'?"

"What do you mean? Shouldn't we be the ones at a hundred paces?"

"It seems the animal friends of Class C are only at this level... it's truly regrettable," Konoe said blankly.

"What did you say!" Yamawaki, who had been grinning foolishly, changed his expression and glared fiercely at Konoe.

Horikita followed up, "If we cause a commotion here, who knows how things will escalate. Perhaps the school will expel the troublemakers directly. Besides, it's fine if you want to badmouth us, but aren't you from Class C? Honestly, that's not a class to brag about either."

Yamawaki retorted dismissively, "The gap between Class C and Class A is visible to the naked eye, while the difference compared to your Class D is like another dimension."

"Your standard of evaluation is truly pathetic. In my opinion, all classes except Class A are indistinguishable."

"Do you know how big the point difference is in your class? You speak so arrogantly. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're cute."

"Thank you for your illogical statement. While I never cared about my appearance, being praised by you makes me quite disgusted," Horikita said with a look of disdain.

"You guys!" Yamawaki slammed the table and stood up.

The Class C students accompanying him quickly grabbed his arm, "Hey, if this blows up, it'll be bad if it gets out that we provoked them first."

Yamawaki forced a smile and said, "You should know that failing this exam means expulsion, right? I'm really looking forward to seeing how many people from Class D will be expelled, especially a few of you."

"Don't trouble yourself, no one from Class D will be expelled. You should worry about your own class instead."

"We're not studying just to avoid failing, but to achieve better results. Don't compare us to you. Besides, answering questions outside the exam scope and grinning like that, is your brain broken? What's the use of studying things outside the exam scope?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, hey, you guys don't even know the exam scope, do you? Truly flawed products."

"Don't push it too far!" Sudo stepped forward and grabbed Yamawaki by the collar. Konoe pondered whether to use his student council authority to suppress the other party, as the situation would be different if Sudo made the first move.

"Alright, that's enough!" a clear girlish voice rang out.

Sudo temporarily stopped his actions, "Who are you? Outsiders shouldn't meddle!"

Konoe saw who spoke and felt a sense of unease. He stood up gently and shifted his body towards the outside.

If he were called out here, Konoe would not only be accused of standing by idly but also have his student council identity exposed. This was because the speaker was Ichinose Honami from Class B.

Ichinose calmly replied to Sudo, "Outsider? As one of the students studying in the library, you are disturbing everyone here. If you insist on fighting, could you please take it outside?"

Hearing this, even the enraged Sudo calmed down and released Yamawaki.

"Also, you guys have been provoking them too much. If you continue, I will have no choice but to report this to the school administration... Huh?" Ichinose looked back towards Class D, but didn't see Konoe, and then rubbed her eyes.

"...Sorry, Ichinose. I didn't mean to." Yamawaki seemed to remember something after hearing Ichinose's words. He quickly apologized and left with the Class C students.

"...Still haven't found him. How strange, I was sure I saw him just now... Right, if you're going to continue studying here, please be a little more well-behaved." Ichinose turned and left, leaving only her refreshing back to the Class D students.

So... so dangerous! Seeing her leave, Konoe emerged from under an empty table nearby and quietly returned to his seat.

It seemed a few students had seen his strange behavior, but Konoe felt this price was far better than being called out by Ichinose.

"Wait, what did Yamawaki mean by 'outside the exam scope' just now... what's going on?" Konoe came to his senses and looked at Ayanokoji.

"When Chabashira-sensei set the scope, both Horikita and I recorded it, and the results were the same," Ayanokoji answered Konoe.

"Could it be that each class has a different exam?" Ike asked doubtfully.

Kushida, who had already received the test paper, immediately denied it, "No, it should be unified for each grade."

Konoe said worriedly, "Let's go ask Chabashira-sensei right away. If there's a mistake in the scope, not only us, but Hirata and the others might also be in danger."

Everyone nodded in agreement and decided to stop studying and immediately head to the teachers' office. Just as Konoe was about to follow everyone, his phone rang.

The name displayed was: Ichinose Hano.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later." Konoe greeted the others and answered the call, "Hello, Ichinose-san."

"Konoe-kun, this is a bit sudden, but where are you right now?"

"...I'm in the library, is something wrong?"

"Could you look behind you?"

Konoe turned around, and at the same time, a voice came from the phone, "Konoe-kun, it seems I wasn't mistaken just now. Could you come over here?"

The call was hung up by the other party. Behind Konoe, by a bookshelf, Ichinose waved at him with a smile. From her position, the place where Class D had been having their study group was clearly visible.

Seeing Ichinose's smile, the guilty Konoe felt a little nervous and quickly walked over to her.

"What a coincidence, you're here to study too?" Konoe forced a smile and greeted Ichinose.

Ichinose nodded in response, "It is indeed a coincidence. But I was just here to pass the time, and I accidentally got caught up in a dispute just now."

"Oh? That's quite unlucky."

"Yes, I thought someone sitting there would step in to resolve it, but the shouts of Red Hair Classmate kept echoing in the library."

"Is... is that so." Konoe felt cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Konoe-kun, I was reading right here just now."

"..."

"Hehe, so you make that kind of face?"

"I'm sorry, Ichinose." Konoe sincerely apologized for his concealment.

"I was just kidding, you don't need to be so nervous. I know you must have your own difficulties, Konoe, which is why you didn't step in to resolve the dispute. Ah, I forgot to congratulate you on joining the Student Council."

Even though Konoe was a member of the Student Council, he still didn't really want to get involved when he saw disputes. Looking at the girl in front of him who was still making excuses for him with such a mindset, Konoe felt even more guilty.

"...Actually, I think you're quite suited for the Student Council, Ichinose. I can only say that I might have been luckier."

"That's not true at all. I truly admire you, Konoe. Not only did you see through the school's rules at the beginning of the semester, but you're also helping classmates study for the Midterm Exam now. I genuinely think you're more Excellent than me."

Konoe's heart felt a little broken. He used seeing through the school's rules to sell points, and helping with studies for the Midterm Exam was also because Chabashira-sensei gave him points. He felt he didn't deserve such praise from the girl in front of him. "You called me over, Ichinose, not just to say hello, right?"

"Really, you were just calling me Ichinose directly a moment ago? Is that okay? I'll call you Konoe directly too."

"Is that so? I understand."

"I feel like you're keeping your distance from me... Did I do something wrong?"

"Absolutely not. It's probably me who's being strange. Sorry."

"I know! Konoe, you're definitely still bothered by me seeing that just now, aren't you? Honestly, I already said I was just kidding... How about this, consider it that you owe me a favor."

Konoe had already felt guilty before, and hearing Ichinose say this, he immediately felt relieved and said, "No problem, thanks, Ichinose."

"Lunch break is almost over, shall we go back together?"

"Did you forget that we're not in the same class? Also, did you really call me over just to say hello?" Konoe said helplessly.

"And to congratulate you on joining the Student Council! Also, I'm curious, you clearly saw me, but then you suddenly disappeared. Where exactly were you hiding just now?"

Konoe had no choice but to change the subject: "...Let's go, we can walk together to the school building."