Give It Up, Kei!

The class should have been celebrating being in Class A, but after school, the atmosphere was rather tense.

"Sorry, Sakayanagi, I can't play chess with you today. I made plans with Yuki."

Amasawa Yuto packed up his bag. He and Yuki had arranged to go to Palette and try one of its new desserts.

"That's all right. But are you sure you want to leave in this atmosphere?" Sakayanagi asked with an elegant smile.

In his field of vision, Katsuragi Kohei slowly walked over.

"Everyone, please wait a moment." Sakayanagi's voice rang out. "It seems Katsuragi has something important to say."

"I'm only here to talk to you, Sakayanagi."

But the commotion had already caught the attention of the whole class. Everyone was watching them.

"Looks like I'll have to wait a little while," Amasawa said, taking out his phone to message Yuki and ask her to wait.

"I didn't want the whole class to find out, but since you insist, Sakayanagi... I'm sure everyone knows we're the best students, which is why we were placed in Class A."

Katsuragi folded his arms. "To graduate from Class A, we have to hold on to its throne until the end of the third term in our third year. I don't want another class to take it from us, even for a single moment."

The students nodded. None of them wanted to hand over Class A's throne.

Seeing that others agreed with him gave Katsuragi more confidence. He continued:

"But everyone saw the results from our first month. Class B is only twenty points behind us. How did that happen?"

Katsuragi looked around the classroom. "Of course, I'm not saying you did a poor job. You all did well this past month and lived up to the school's expectations of us. Just as I said on the first day, points represent the school's evaluation of us."

"So what I'm really saying is this: someone leaked that information to Class B, and that's why they're only twenty points behind us."

He was practically saying that there was a traitor in Class A.

As soon as Katsuragi said this, the class erupted into a commotion.

"No way. What would they even gain from that?"

"I thought about what reason someone might have for risking Class B overtaking us, and I came to the conclusion that—"

Katsuragi paused, his stern gaze meeting that of the elegant girl, who wore a faint smile.

Just as I thought, Amasawa mused.

This was essentially a public condemnation of the Sakayanagi Faction by the Katsuragi Faction.

"Sakayanagi, why don't you explain it to everyone yourself?"

"Oh my, Katsuragi. Are you implying that you suspect I leaked the information to Class B?"

"Who else could it be?" Totsuka Yahiko snapped when he heard Sakayanagi trying to talk her way out of it. "You're obviously jealous that Katsuragi is more suited to lead Class A than you are!"

"You can't just say things like that, Totsuka." Hashimoto Masayoshi stood up. "I understand that you want to stand up for the big man, but we're honest people. We need evidence before making accusations."

He walked over and patted Totsuka Yahiko on the shoulder.

"Exactly. There has to be a limit to making baseless accusations. Is slandering a classmate out of nowhere really Katsuragi's style?" Masumi Kamuro stood up to defend Sakayanagi as well.

"You... You..." Totsuka Yahiko was at a loss for words. He could only look to his leader for help.

"I have a question for you, Katsuragi." Kito, who had been silent until then, suddenly stood up. His face looked like it had come straight out of a horror movie, and he fixed Katsuragi with a terrifying stare. "Do you have any proof that Sakayanagi betrayed the class?"

Sweat beaded on Katsuragi's forehead. Of course he had no proof. Class B wouldn't tell Class A, and there was no way he could catch Sakayanagi in the act.

"Anyway, I'll keep an eye on you, Sakayanagi. I hope you don't do anything you'll regret."

After saying this, Katsuragi left. On his way out, he glanced at Amasawa, who was sitting beside Sakayanagi. "Amasawa, Sakayanagi is a dangerous woman. Don't get too close to her, either."

"Thank you for the warning, Katsuragi," Sakayanagi replied politely, her tone proud. "As for my relationship with Amasawa, you needn't worry about it. Amasawa and I have been childhood friends, after all~"

"What?" Katsuragi furrowed his brow. His gaze toward Amasawa grew more wary. He had probably decided to count Amasawa among his enemies.

The other students were surprised, too. This was the first time Sakayanagi had openly admitted it. For the past month, Amasawa had been practically invisible.

He'd seemed like an ordinary, mysterious, handsome guy who kept to himself.

Risonaka and Kamuro already knew, though. It seemed they hadn't told anyone. Their discretion was rather likable.

The difference between Katsuragi and Sakayanagi was clear. Sakayanagi had won this time, though Katsuragi had also accused the wrong person entirely. Amasawa himself had leaked the information to Class B.

The difference in how well they commanded their subordinates was clear, too.

Sakayanagi hadn't said a word in her own defense. She'd only started things off, and her followers had stepped forward to defend her on their own.

The Katsuragi Faction, meanwhile, had more than a dozen supporters, yet in that situation, only Totsuka Yahiko had come forward to stand by him.

The contrast spoke for itself.

With the matter settled, Amasawa got up to leave the classroom, but a little shadow followed behind him.

He wondered why this unexpected person was following him, and considered whether he should deal with her before meeting Yuki.

But the girl behind him suddenly spoke.

"Where do you think you're going, Amasawa Yuto, traitor to the class?"

The words took him by surprise.

Amasawa narrowed his eyes, stopped, and turned around to look at the purple-haired girl following him.

"What do you mean, Morishita?"

"How many points do you want to borrow?" Tsubaki Yuki narrowed her eyes. That was her signal that she was considering making a move.

Kei Karuizawa and the others across from her naturally didn't understand the White Room students' distinctive way of threatening people. They thought Tsubaki Yuki had given in and was about to hand over her points obediently.

"Let me think. About twenty thousand? You didn't spend much last month, so you should have plenty left, right?"

"So why did you come to me? I don't think I've done anything to you," Tsubaki asked. She wasn't very noticeable in class, and she wasn't like Kushida, who could compete with Kei Karuizawa for the position of the girls' leader. So why had they targeted her?

"I didn't want to, Tsubaki. But unfortunately, none of our classmates have many points left from last month." Kei Karuizawa put on a regretful expression.

"And Tsubaki, you might think you go unnoticed, but a girl as talented as you is naturally going to be well liked—as long as she doesn't shut herself off like Horikita Suzune. Especially since you came in first this time!"

Tsubaki listened coldly. So Kei thought she was a threat to her position now?

"Kei, maybe we should just drop it..." Sato Maya said quietly from behind her. The girls they'd pressured in the past had all been timid and handed over their points without a fuss, so they'd never really had to do anything.

But Tsubaki Yuki clearly wasn't an easy target. If they pushed any further, they might actually have to do something to her. Once they crossed that line, there'd be no going back.

Sato Maya had only followed Kei along for the thrill of bullying others. She wasn't prepared to actually lay hands on someone just to save face.

She figured Kei Karuizawa probably didn't have the courage to actually act, either, so she quickly offered her a way out. Better not to let things escalate into a real fight. They couldn't explain that away by saying they'd only been playing around.