Sudo has a crush on Horikita, Yamauchi is tailing Kushida?

"Tennoji-kun, could you check if my answer to this problem is correct?"

Inside the school library, Kinoshita Minori handed her problem book to Tennoji Kaede.

The study session for Class C was, as usual, sparsely attended. Including the regulars Hiyori and Ibuki, there were fewer than ten people.

After obtaining the archaeological questions early, their class had indeed slacked off considerably, but this situation was well within Kaede's expectations.

Speaking of Kinoshita Minori, she was a member of the Athletics Club.

Tennoji Kaede had recently exchanged a few words with her during study sessions and recalled that she was the unlucky girl from the original work who suffered two fractures to her left leg.

The first time, Ryuen deliberately injured her left leg, causing her to stumble into Horikita at the sports festival.

The second time, during a future Uninhabited Island Exam, the White Room assassin Yagami ambushed her, and her left leg was ruined once more.

Kaede could sense a certain malice in her tragic experiences, so he had been diligently tutoring Kinoshita during these past few student council meetings, considering it a form of compensation.

"Kinoshita-san, your problem-solving is good. Although your foundation is a bit weak, you're still willing to attend every study session after getting the archaeological questions. With such a positive attitude, your academic ability will surely improve greatly in the future."

Kinoshita's brown hairstyle was similar to Karuizawa Kei's, and her personality was somewhat outwardly gentle but inwardly strong.

Upon hearing Kaede's evaluation, she bashfully nodded and thanked him.

Thanks to the study sessions held over the past two weeks, Kaede had also gotten to know many new classmates, subtly changing their future positions in Class C. As a result, he had gained a large amount of karma points from Haiya, details omitted for now.

At this moment, in the area where Class D's study session was taking place, something interesting happened, as expected.

Tennoji Kaede shifted his seat and began eavesdropping with his excellent hearing... perhaps it wasn't even necessary, as the noise from over there was quite loud.

"Horikita! How dare you say something like that to me!"

The red-haired Sudo Ken slammed the table in anger, completely disregarding the library's quiet rule. Judging by his posture, he might actually resort to physically assaulting Horikita.

If he remembered correctly, the study session that Class D had painstakingly organized was about to be unfortunately canceled.

However, an unexpected turn of events occurred!

Horikita, seemingly having grown somewhat, did not retort with sarcasm as usual but calmly explained the relationship between individual performance and class interests.

Coupled with Kushida's efforts to mediate, the three idiots of Class D were so ashamed that they continued to endure their studies.

"People truly grow without realizing it." Perhaps Tennoji Kaede was responsible for one-third of Horikita's accelerated growth.

The dispute in Class D ended, and apart from attracting attention for a while, it had no other negative repercussions.

Tennoji Kaede and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka both witnessed Horikita's growth, each with their own differing sentiments.

Afterward, Tennoji Kaede continued to carefully observe the situation at Class D's study session, and some more absurd things happened.

Horikita Suzune handed Sudo Ken a notebook she had personally compiled, indicating she had been prepared for some time.

After accepting it, Sudo clearly developed a noticeable liking for Horikita.

After all, no matter what, Horikita's appearance was top-tier: long black hair, an oval face, and when she wasn't speaking, she presented the image of a complete ice-cold beauty.

To put it bluntly, Sudo was instantly smitten by Horikita's beauty! (Recalling those days when Ayanokoji hadn't yet taken Kei, and volume 4 of the original work hadn't been released, this author was also smitten by Horikita every day, however...)

Furthermore, thinking about some events in the original work later on, such as Ayanokoji's first smile, Kaede had good reason to raise serious doubts:

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's instincts also favored Horikita's type!

At this moment, a purple-haired male from Class C with a melancholic expression, Shi Renyu, suddenly asked, "Tennoji, are you very concerned about those people from Class D just now?"

"...Don't you find it interesting, Shi Ren? Speaking of which, Shi Renkeji from Class B, isn't he your relative?" Kaede asked casually.

His attention was still on Class D, as he sensed another peculiar anomaly.

"Yeah, that seems to have spread completely... Keiji was assigned to Class B. With his physical condition, it's reasonable; he's much stronger than me, sigh~"

The attendees of Class C's study session offered him words of comfort.

These dozen or so people attending the study session were considered the Class C students Tennoji Kaede somewhat approved of. The others were either Ryuen's loyal followers or some girls who were difficult to communicate with.

Thus, their Class C was now divided into three factions:

Through these study sessions, over a dozen people had rallied around the three members of the Tennoji Group;

Over a dozen people led by Ryuen, the Tyrant faction;

The last dozen or so were scattered into other small groups, huddling together in Class C for warmth.

Looking at the first-year students as a whole:

Class A was a conflict between two factions (Sakayanagi Toy House);

Class B was a republic (Honami Harem Group);

Class C was a Three Kingdoms period (Kaede Ryuen United Nations);

Class D was a regency (Ayanokoji Toolbox);

The atmosphere, indeed, was clear at a glance.

The time spent studying was always a mix of pain and pleasure, and the sky gradually darkened.

Preparations for the midterm exams were almost complete... Hmm?

Tennoji Kaede said to everyone, "I just remembered something. I'll be leaving now. You guys can finish up normally."

Shiina Hiyori: "Trouble?"

"No... just something interesting. I'm leaving now."

The Class D study session nearby had already ended, and Ayanokoji, Horikita, and the others had long since departed. But that person's behavior was a bit strange...

Tennoji Kaede quickly moved into the indoor corridor of the library.

"Ah! Tennoji-kun, is Class C leaving already?"

[Detected 'Ichinose Honami' failing the Black House test with a score of 1 point.]

[Causal Mark for 'Ichinose Honami' has been deployed.]

['Cause': Ichinose Honami is recently troubled by the persistent Class C, and Ryuen's stubbornness worries her, so she sought you out.]

['Effect': Charisma +5, Leadership +10, Encyclopedic Knowledge +5, Diversion Technique +1]

Tennoji Kaede mused to himself that he was quite the master thief now...

Kaede happened to meet Ichinose Honami, the leader of Class B, in the corridor. They had become quite familiar with each other from spending so much time in the library recently.

"Yes, Ichinose-san and everyone from Class B must be fighting late into the night, right... Sorry, I have to leave now."

"Okay..."

Ichinose sighed inwardly at Kaede's departure. She had wanted to convey a message to Ryuen through this seemingly approachable Tennoji-kun, such as: "I hope Class C will stop bothering Class B."

Unfortunately, under Kaede's deliberate maneuvering, Ichinose had never received a definite answer.

Not far in front of Kaede, near the adjacent school building.

Yamauchi Haruki was actually tailing Kushida Kikyo suspiciously?

"This is quite surprising. Where did Ayanokoji run off to?"

Kaede couldn't sense Ayanokoji's presence. He should have returned with Horikita by now.

Earlier in the library, the expressions of Kushida and Yamauchi often met, exuding a strange atmosphere.

"Did they really go into the school building? Interesting, I'll go take a look!"

Kaede patted the special item he had prepared on the fly in his pocket, a strange smile appearing on his lips.

As the sky grew darker, he calculated the timing, followed the footsteps of Kushida and Yamauchi ahead, and entered the school building...