Karuizawa Kei Has Found Her Target

"First, get the list, then we should contact Ryuen and... um, Kamuro."

After a slight pause, Asakusa Toru said this.

Contacting Ryuen was naturally due to the need for the cooperation of Ryuen, the leader of Class C. As for why Kamuro was contacted instead of Sakayanagi Arisu...

Let's consider this a test.

If Sakayanagi Arisu the energy to jump around a couple more times, she will naturally take over Kamuro Masumi's negotiating power.

But if not...

Her current condition is questionable.

After all, in the past six days, Asakusa Toru had not seen Sakayanagi Arisu her door at all.

He didn't leave his house, didn't send any messages, didn't send anyone to look for him, and didn't even send a boomerang to deliver any words to him.

Asakusa Toru had absolutely no idea what was going on with the Little Princess.

But to say he was completely bewildered by his dream is an overstatement. If the situation were truly that critical, the cruise ship would have already turned back to the school.

Sakayanagi Narimori was more protective of his daughter than one might imagine.

In short, let's take the exam first.

6 PM, cruise ship, second floor, room 204.

Knock on the door.

"Come in."

A cold, deathly sound came from behind the door, Asakusa Toru opened it.

Following in his footsteps, Ichinose Honami, who was asked to go to the same room as him, and another random classmate entered the room.

The room was large, resembling a duplex, with a staircase leading up to the next floor. A fine sofa and a piano were clearly visible nearby; it's likely that every room on this floor has one.

Besides that, there's an office space consisting of a desk and five chairs.

The only slightly odd thing was that, whether it was to create an atmosphere or because some other light was broken, the room, which should have been brightly lit, only had the lamp next to the desk on.

Regardless of the lighting and room layout, there is only one person responding in the room at this moment.

The homeroom teacher of Class D, Chabashira Sae.

It seems she's the one responsible for explaining the exam rules to them this time.

"Is the school short of money to turn on the lights? They rented a cruise ship and still want to save on electricity?" Before even taking a seat, Asakusa Toru asked Chabashira Sae.

Chabashira Sae: "..."

Just as she had prepared her opening remarks to guide the students to sit down and explain the rules, he choked her. After a moment of silence, Chabashira Sae slowly began to speak:

"The switch is by the door; turn it on yourself."

Whether the lights are on or off... this must be the school's arrangement, otherwise the school wouldn't really care about the electricity bill.

But saying it directly... feels like too much trouble. Let him drive it himself, and we can just take it with us when he leaves.

Soon, a series of clicking sounds rang out, and the dim yellow light that created a mysterious mystery atmosphere was quickly replaced by incandescent bulbs, making the entire room bright.

"Yes, that's much more comfortable." After glancing around, Asakusa Toru nodded with a smile, "We still need to pay attention to protecting students' eyesight."

"Whenever you can turn on the lights, you should definitely turn them on."

I pulled out a chair and sat down.

Chabashira Sae didn't reply. Instead, after glancing around to confirm that the three were all seated, she picked up the documents on the table and said:

"You are Asakusa, Ichinose, and Hamaguchi from Class A, right? Now, I will explain the Special Exam."

The confirmation of names and the announcement of exam instructions proceeded without interruption; the only sound in the room was the quiet of Chabashira Sae's voice.

Unsurprisingly, she wasn't interrupted by the students' panicked cries. Chabashira Sae couldn't help but inwardly marvel at how far ahead the students in Class A were. Without pausing, she continued explaining the Special Exam:

"For this Special Exam, the school will use the Chinese sexagenary cycle (干支) as a metaphor for all first-year students and divide them into twelve groups. We will hold exams within those groups. The purpose of the exams is to test thinking abilities."

"There's no need to explain 'Thinking,' let's skip to the rest." Chabashira Sae waved his hand as Asakusa Toru Sae paused again, seemingly out of instinct.

It was as if I had predicted what she was going to say.

"..." After a moment of silence, Chabashira Sae obediently spoke up, "The three of you here will be in the same group. Right now, the other rooms are also explaining to the group members who will be in your group."

Chapter 249 Karuizawa Kei has found her target

"So that's why I'm in the same group as these guys!"

"Even if we can't team up with students from other classes, do we really have to team up with these guys?"

In a dimly lit room not far from where Asakusa Toru was, Karuizawa Kei loudly proclaimed her opinions, chattering on and on.

Before me stood Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class B, and beside him were three male classmates: Sotomura, Yukimura, and Ayanokoji.

They're mostly useless guys.

Ugh, seriously, why are there suddenly Special Exam?

Doesn't that mean there's absolutely no chance of them getting to know each other?!

A few days ago, Karuizawa Kei had already considered changing hosts.

Although Hirata Yosuke seems alright, he's still too 'selfless' as a host for parasites.

It didn't meet her expectations at all.

He is indeed a very good person. Although I made such a scene to vent my emotions and said that we should break up, there has still been no official breakup announcement to this day.

This actually put Karuizawa Kei at ease.

Of course, having already made the statement, Karuizawa Kei certainly wouldn't want to shamelessly go back and say, "Let's not break up."

Although Hirata Yosuke would probably nod and agree without hesitation, it wouldn't make a difference.

Hirata Yosuke couldn't truly protect her or give her the security she needed; even if they hadn't broken up, the outcome would have been the same.

She was relieved because the decline in her status due to the breakup would be delayed for a long time, giving her ample time to find a new host.

But she wasn't entirely at ease.

As soon as she received the money, many classmates came to her door.

She even got into an argument with several female classmates because of this.

That's right, the first people to come looking for the debt were actually their classmates.

The reason is simple: the first to hear that the money had been received were classmates; the classmates who could best understand the pain of being broke were also classmates; and the classmates who knew even more clearly that if they didn't get the money back now, they would never have another chance to get it back were also classmates.

The students in Class D knew this all too well.

No money is no money, no matter what you say.

I'm in Class D, and I have no idea what the students in Class D are like?

Karuizawa Kei certainly didn't want to pay back the money; if she did, her wallet would be empty, and besides, the amount wasn't even enough to settle all the debts.

That's why she got into an argument with someone.

But arguing is useless; the more you argue, the clearer things become. Arguing only exacerbates emotional conflicts and serves no purpose whatsoever.

They'll be spending a lot of time together on this cruise ship, and even after they go back to school, they'll be in the same class for a long time.

Quite reluctantly, Karuizawa Kei had no choice but to settle accounts with some of her classmates first.

After several days of back-and-forth commotion, she couldn't find a chance to find a new host.

Although she had developed an interest in Asakusa Toru, she couldn't take the initiative without first investigating and confirming what kind of person he was.

If it turns out to be a really nasty guy, we're doomed.

Parasites are very selective in their choice of hosts.

Strength is naturally the primary criterion. Only a truly powerful host can disregard someone feeding on them, protect this parasite, and provide her with sufficient security.

However, in addition to these factors, preferences, personality, behavioral patterns, and various other elements can also have an impact.

At the very least, you should find someone who is emotionally stable.

I had just managed to get rid of all my classmates these past two days, so I could ask Kushida Kikyo for her contact information and chat with her a bit.

But today I had Special Exam.

Unfortunately, his teammates weren't girls from his class, nor were they Hirata Yosuke, but rather these three boys who were basically at the bottom of the class.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is a quiet and unremarkable guy, but he spends most of his time with the Yamauchi trio. Although Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike have had disagreements and conflicts with the other two over the past few months, they still stick together because they are all from the bottom of the class and can't make other friends.

After all, those two guys were complete weaklings, with no strengths whatsoever.

However, Sudo has excellent physical qualities, is quite different from the other three. He has the desire to learn, but he also seems to be suppressing his emotions, gradually creating a sense of separation from them.

Therefore, it was actually Ayanokoji Kiyotaka who spent more time with the other two.

Judging from Yamauchi and Ike's behavior, this guy must be a rather low-quality, trashy man.

Yukimura Teruhiko, a typical high-achieving, bespectacled boy, exudes the stale air typical of intelligent people. His gaze often carries a sense of superiority, as if he were looking down on idiots. He is aloof and doesn't seem to consider himself to be on the same level as others, nor has he ever really accepted being assigned to the utterly worthless Class D.

He has extremely poor social skills; his intelligence is completely useless, making him a good-for-nothing.

Sotomura Hideo, a bespectacled, chubby, and incredibly unsophisticated otaku, exudes the quintessential anime geek vibe. He's the kind of guy who's obviously sleazy.

They are at the very bottom of the social hierarchy.

What?! Why am I in the same group as these three people?!

Karuizawa Kei was filled with complaints.

Being grouped with these people makes it impossible to win the exam, right? Even if you fail, there's nothing you can do about it, isn't there?

"Huh? You're really infuriating. Does being in the same group as us make you that unhappy?"

"Of course--"

"--Enough." Before the pointless argument could even begin, Mashima Tomoya interrupted their bickering with a deep voice, "Although disrespectful attitudes towards teachers won't result in a deduction of points in this exam, I personally hope that you can all remain calm."

"In short, I will continue with the explanation of the exam."

Before the four could react, Mashima Tomoya continued explaining the exam rules:

"The group is composed of about three to five people from each class, and the group you are assigned to is 'Mao'."

"Here is the list of group members. Please return this sheet when you leave the room, so please write it down here if you feel it's necessary."

As he spoke, a piece of paper the size of a postcard was handed out.

The group names and the names of a total of fourteen people were written on the paper.

With an extremely domineering manner, Karuizawa Kei snatched the paper and scanned the list by herself.

[Class A: Asakusa Toru, Ichinose Honami, Hamaguchi Tetsuya]

Class B: Takemoto Shigeru, Machida Koji, Morishige Takuro.

Class C: Ibuki Mio, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, Yamashita Saki.

Class D: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Karuizawa Kei, Sotomura Hideo, Yukimura Teruhiko.]

Then, her gaze fixed intently on the first name.

'Asakusa Toru'.

A light shone in Karuizawa Kei's eyes.

Could such a chance encounter be a coincidence, or was it destined?

That being said... the other name next to it seems a bit out of place.

'Ichinose Honami'.

With her around, how am I supposed to live off her?

"Hey, don't be so selfish! Let us see too!" Shinmura shouted at Karuizawa, clearly dissatisfied.

"Honestly, I really don't understand what's so interesting about a list." The Sotomura scoffed, pouting.