The Restless Class C

At the end of June, the weather began to grow increasingly hot, and some of the students grew restless along with it.

"Ying, keep your distance from those Class C students lately. I hear they've been causing trouble everywhere." During break, Hamaguchi came over to talk to Ying.

"Okay, I'll be careful," Ying replied.

"Don't take it lightly. This morning, they deliberately knocked over my breakfast. Brothers never lie to each other." Seeing Ying's unconcerned expression, Hamaguchi couldn't help but worry.

"Tetsuya's right. Those Class C guys really are awful. People from their class pick on me all the time on the soccer team, too." Shibata overheard them and came over to add his two cents.

"Heh, so you do know that brothers never lie to each other. You've reminded me of that whole incident. Prepare to die!" With that, Ying elbowed Shibata and Hamaguchi once each.

Shibata and Hamaguchi: Wait, dude's still hung up on that?

Looks like our little brother Ying really had his heart broken by that love letter.

After school, Ying was heading to the Student Council to check in as usual when someone called out to him as he passed Class C.

"Hey! You, over there! Yeah, you! What are you acting so smug for?"

Ying looked over. Three Class C students stood at the classroom door, and the one in front was pointing at him.

"Huh? What makes you think I'm acting smug?" Ying was at a loss. He was just walking normally. How was he getting picked on for that?

"You're saying you're not smug? Who walks around with both hands in their pockets, a smile on their face, and a stride like they don't care about anyone?" the student said.

Ying truly wasn't trying to act smug. Ever since he'd read that book a few days ago, he'd started walking in the pose it described. He found it pretty comfortable, and before he knew it, it had become a habit.

Ying sighed. "All right, all right. So what do you want?"

"Is this guy looking down on me!? Want me to beat you up!?" the student said, stepping forward to throw a couple of punches at Ying.

" Ishizaki, calm down. Ryuen said we're not allowed to lay a hand on anyone." Before Ishizaki could take more than a couple of steps, the two classmates beside him held him back.

"Hmph! You're lucky. Now get lost," Ishizaki said.

"Hey, don't say I'm lucky. You're just afraid to hit me. Bleh!" Ying made a face at the three of them, then hurried off.

"You!?" Ishizaki started after him, but the two classmates beside him stopped him.

"Everyone, I'm sorry to take up your time after school, but I have something very important to discuss with you." After school, Ichinose hurriedly gathered the whole class for a meeting.

"I'm sure quite a few students have been harassed by Class C lately. I called everyone together to think about how we can resolve this. Just yesterday, our classmate Chihiro Shiranami was threatened by students from Class C, and now she's worried they'll bully her. And it's not just Chihiro Shiranami. Most of our classmates have probably been threatened by Class C and are feeling uneasy."

At that, Ying glanced over at Shiranami. She had her head bowed, and her shoulders seemed to be trembling. Shiranami wasn't the only one; most of the Class B students had lowered their heads uneasily.

"But everyone, please don't let this weigh too heavily on you. I've confirmed with the school that Class C won't dare use violence against any of you. At worst, the Class C students involved will be suspended and have their Class Points deducted. At worst, that student could be expelled outright. I'm sure the students in Class C know this, too. Otherwise, why would they limit themselves to harassing us? So I suggest that from now on, we travel in groups, preferably with the boys accompanying the girls. If we run into students from Class C, we should ignore them. If we do that, I'm sure they'll stop harassing Class B before long. What do you think?"

After Ichinose finished speaking, she waited for the class to share their thoughts.

"I think Honami's suggestion is great! If we ignore those Class C people, they'll get bored and stop bothering us," one girl said.

"Yeah, I agree with Ichinose."

"Me too!"

Nearly everyone in the class agreed with Ichinose's plan, but Ying wondered, Is this really a good idea? If we just ignore them, will they really stop bothering Class B?

"Kanzaki, what do you think?" Ying asked Kanzaki, who sat in front of him. Kanzaki hadn't voiced his agreement after Ichinose shared her opinion.

"I never thought you'd come ask me. If you want my opinion, all I can say is that Ichinose's plan has some merit. It might not work, though," Kanzaki said.

"Fair enough. How would we know unless we tried?"

"Then, thanks for your efforts, everyone. Let's all go out together afterward!"

After Ichinose said that, the whole class cheered excitedly.

After that, the Class B students started forming small groups and spent their time around school with their groupmates. Ying's group, the Byakuya Group, had five members: three boys and two girls—Ying, Hamaguchi, Beppu, Amikura Mako, and Kobashi Yume.

"Everyone, where do you want to go after we finish eating?" Hamaguchi asked the group.

"Hmm... I kind of want to spend some time at the arcade. I hear they've just got a new game machine," Beppu said after thinking it over.

"They've got a new game machine? I'd like to check it out, too," Ying said, clearly interested.

"I'm almost out of shampoo in my dorm, so I kind of want to look around the mall," Amikura said.

"I heard the mall got a new shipment of hair clips. I'd like to browse, too," Kobashi said.

"I want to go to the arcade, too. So, let's—" Hamaguchi was just about to decide that the group would go to the arcade when Ying cut in.

"Okay, the minority yields to the majority. Let's all go to the mall."

"Didn't you want to go to the arcade, too!?" Hamaguchi demanded.

"I wanted to go a moment ago, but not anymore. Besides, I'm the group leader, so you have to listen to me," Ying said. It definitely wasn't because he wanted to show the girls how generous he was.

"Hmph! You traitorous jerk! And when did you become the group leader?" Hamaguchi cursed.

"Huh? Ichinose told me to look after you guys. Doesn't that mean I'm the group leader?" Ying said, spreading his hands as if it were obvious.

"I object! We can't let this guy be the group leader. I want a new vote!" Hamaguchi protested.

"All right, raise your hand if you agree that Tetsuya should be group leader," Ying said.

Only Hamaguchi raised his hand.

"Heh. Give it up. I really am the people's choice," Ying said happily.

"Hmph! Raise your hand if you agree that Ying should be group leader!" Hamaguchi said.

Only Ying raised his hand.

"How... could this be..." Ying was devastated. He crouched off to the side and started drawing circles on the ground.

"Looks like I'm the group leader after all. Raise your hand if you agree I should be group leader," Beppu said, raising his hand. Just like the previous two, he was the only one to do so.

Then Beppu joined Ying in drawing circles on the ground.

In the end, Amikura became the leader of Ying's group, and the Amikura Group was formed.

While the Amikura Group was discussing who should be their leader, a dispute was unfolding nearby...