Classroom of the Elite, After the Intel Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! 24

A few minutes later.

Kushida took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if trying to purge all the pent-up frustration from her chest.

The ferocity on her face faded bit by bit, and her twisted lips curled back into a gentle arc.

Kushida Kikyou patted her skirt lightly and smoothed out her slightly disheveled hair.

"Whew~ refreshed!"

Her voice returned to its usual sweetness, the tail end rising slightly with the characteristic lightness of a young girl.

It was as if the person who had been hysterically kicking the door and cursing through gritted teeth a moment ago had never existed.

--At this moment, she was once again the beloved Kushida Kikyou.

Gentle, cheerful, and understanding; no one would ever guess that just seconds ago, such intense malice had been surging within this body.

"Shimizu-kun, sorry about that~ I lied to you." She suddenly stopped in her tracks, stuck her tongue out playfully at the empty corridor, her tone as light as if she were sharing a harmless little secret.

The question from that boy a few days ago seemed to echo in her ears—"How does Kushida-san usually relieve stress?"

(This is my answer.)

The dull thud of her toes kicking the iron door, the vicious curses squeezed through her teeth, tearing off her mask in the dark where no one could see—this was her unique way of letting off steam.

(When did this start?)

Fragments of memory suddenly surfaced: the dark history exposed during middle school, the overwhelming abuse on social media, that rainy night she was forced to delete all her accounts.

Then, at the entrance ceremony, the cold profile of Horikita Suzune, the nonchalant chuckle of Kouenji Rokusuke—that feeling of being completely ignored was more suffocating than direct malice.

That night, she had wanted to catch some air on the rooftop, only to find the iron door locked.

The emotions she had been bottling up for so long burst at that moment, and as her first kick landed on the door panel, a twisted sense of pleasure suddenly surged into her heart.

(So, I developed this bad habit from back then.)

Therefore, whenever she encountered something unpleasant, this gloomy corner would become her venting ground.

In the darkness where no one knew, the perfect Kushida Kikyou could temporarily set aside her disguise and let her real, ugly self take a breath.

Just then, a slight vibration from a message came from her pocket.

Kushida Kikyou's slender fingers reached into her pocket, fumbling to pull out her phone.

The cold light of the screen reflected on her face, making her expression look particularly gloomy.

"Who is it this time..." she muttered under her breath, her tone laced with impatience.

To maintain her "Class Angel" persona, Kushida Kikyou had not only added everyone in Class D (except for that annoying Horikita Suzune), but she had also saved the contact information of many boys and girls from other classes.

Just replying to those boring greetings every day took her two or three hours—it was even more exhausting than dealing with those two idiots, Yamauchi and Ike.

(Especially at a time like this at night...)

Kushida Kikyou pursed her lips, and the mindless nonsense sent by Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji immediately flashed through her mind: "Good night," "Drink more hot water," "Get some rest soon~."

Every time she saw these, she wanted to block them directly, but in the end, she could only grit her teeth and reply with "I'm going to sleep" or "I'm going to take a shower."

(It's so annoying... why don't those two just drop out!)

She took a deep breath, forced herself to smile, and swiped the screen—only to freeze the moment she saw the friend request.

[Yueqing (male) wants to add you as a friend]

(A stranger?)

The ID had a somewhat literary feel; at first glance, it looked like a girl's, but the profile indicated it was a male.

Her fingertip hovered over the screen, hesitating for a second.

(Could it be another boring guy who found out my account...)

However, the note attached to the friend request made her fingertip pause.

[I want to tell Kushida-san from Class D some important information.]

[Aren't you curious why the upperclassmen always look at you with a hint of contempt?]

The text on the screen was like a thin needle, precisely piercing her sore spot.

Kushida's fingernails tapped rhythmically against the phone case without her realizing it.

It was true.

Over the past few days, she had deliberately encountered upperclassmen in the hallways and the cafeteria, greeting them with her sweetest smile, hoping to get on their good side, only to catch the meaningful arcs of their lips as she turned away.

Those whispered giggles, those condescending gazes—they were like maggots that wouldn't go away.

"It's so infuriating... how does this student know... could he be a student from Class D?" she muttered to herself, her thumb trembling over the reject button.

But a mixture of resentment and curiosity ultimately made her press the green accept button hard.

The phone then emitted a "ding" notification sound.

Almost at the same instant, the phone screen was flooded with a long message.

Kushida Kikyou's gaze fell on the first message, and she couldn't look away.

This school implements a tiered class system, dividing students into four levels based on entrance exams and certain criteria: Class A represents the geniuses, while Class D is for the defective.

A few minutes later, Kushida Kikyou finished reading every word of the messages.

She had to admit, this information was truly shocking—the truth about the class system, the evaluation of Class D, the operating mechanism of class points...

But to her, none of that was the point.

"If I leak this information to my classmates tomorrow..." A faint, imperceptible arc curled at the corners of her lips, her eyes shimmering with calculating light, "I might be able to completely surpass Hirata Yosuke and become the true ruler of Class D. By then, everyone will look at me with those eyes full of adoration and dependence..."

Kushida Kikyou suddenly let out a sweet, soft chuckle: "Hehe... I really must 'thank' this netizen I've never met."

043 Today's Intelligence: The leader of Class C in the first year is Ryuen Kakeru.

Kushida Kikyou's fingers tapped rapidly on the screen: "Thank you for the intel~ I'm Kushida Kikyou from Class D of the first year. How should I thank you, fellow student?"

The moment the message was sent, the other party's status immediately changed to "typing."

Yueqing: "No need for thanks."

Kushida continued typing: "By the way! Which class are you in? How did you know my account?"

The dialogue box remained silent for a few seconds before a final message suddenly popped up: "As for that... it's not very convenient to say. Student, I'm going to take a shower."

Shimizu Akira pressed the send button and exited the chat interface without hesitation.

He had never actually chatted with Kushida Kikyou online.

Although they had added each other as friends a long time ago, the two had never exchanged a single word.

This contact was merely the execution of a task assigned by his homeroom teacher.

Since the key intelligence had been conveyed, this conversation should end here.

He knew Kushida's personality too well—that girl who was like a fish in water within the class might turn this conversation into gossip in the blink of an eye.

If she were to follow the trail and uncover his identity...

It wasn't that he was worried about the leak itself—this level of transaction was a daily occurrence on campus.

But if those noisy classmates found out, he would inevitably be pestered for details.

Just imagining that group of people surrounding him and chattering away made his temples throb.

"Troublesome," he muttered softly, checking the chat history with her once more.

This carefully disguised account was an important asset that would be of great use when dealing with Class A or negotiating with Class B and Class C in the future.

It would be a huge loss if it were ruined because of a slip-up on Kushida's end.

Maintaining anonymity was the only way to last.

[Ding~ Today's intelligence has been updated]

[Intelligence 1: The leader of Class C in the first year is Ryuen Kakeru.]

[Intelligence 2: Katsuragi Kohei of Class A in the first year suffers from alopecia.]

[Intelligence 3: At 19:55 tonight, Horikita Suzune will receive a physical punishment from Horikita Manabu behind the first-year dormitory.]

At exactly eight o'clock on Tuesday morning, the daily intelligence updated as scheduled.

After days of accumulation, Shimizu Akira had begun to consciously categorize and organize the intelligence:

The highest level was undoubtedly the information that predicted future events.

For example, the dispute between Kushida Kikyou and Kouenji Rokusuke over a bus seat, or Kamuro Masumi's attempted theft of beer—these were predictive pieces of information.

The second level concerned the overall situation of the school and the various classes.

And the lowest value was the personal privacy of his classmates.

Today's intelligence harvest was quite good—one piece of information about Class C, one predicting a future event, and one piece of personal private information.

Shimizu Akira pondered secretly, beginning to integrate the clues he had collected over the past few days.

It seems that besides Class D, all other classes have established clear leaders?

The situation in Class A was the clearest—Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei controlled the situation together. Kamuro Masumi had revealed this to him personally.

The leader of Class B was undoubtedly Ichinose Honami.

After all, Hoshinomiya Chie had explicitly stated in front of him that she was the class representative.

As for Class C, the intelligence directly provided the answer—Ryuen Kakeru.

Shimizu Akira did not yet know what kind of person he was or what methods he used to control Class C.

And as for Class D... the situation was somewhat subtle.

On the surface, Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou indeed held significant influence in the class, but calling them "leaders" was less accurate than calling them "core figures."

Their prestige was more like a naturally formed cohesion rather than true dominance.

There was a fundamental difference between a "core figure" and a "true leader."

A true leader must understand that being disliked by some is the norm, and enforcing discipline is a duty; there is an invisible boundary between subordinates and leaders.

Looking at the two "core figures" of Class D:

Hirata Yosuke always maintains the persona of a nice guy, not even daring to clarify his most basic stance.

Kushida Kikyou is obsessed with maintaining a false sense of harmony, using smiles to cover up every conflict.

This "egalitarianism" that pursues superficial harmony is precisely what exposes the fundamental flaws in their leadership.

(The reason Class D remains a scattered mess to this day is perhaps precisely because it lacks such a true "helmsman"...)

(...So this was the true intention of Chabashira Sae all along...)

Shimizu Akira thought about the deeper game behind yesterday's transaction—

As the homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae had long ago keenly sensed that Class D had two core figures, Hirata and Kushida, who kept each other in check.

By deliberately asking him to "inform only one person," she was testing which side Shimizu Akira would choose to lean toward.

(This transaction of 1,000,000 points was, in essence, a leadership assessment.)

No matter who the information was passed to, that person would inevitably use the opportunity to consolidate their position, ensuring their popularity and prestige would firmly overshadow the other.

However, Shimizu Akira actually had no interest whatsoever in the power struggle within Class D.

He was, in fact, more shocked by the third piece of information.

(Hmm? What does it mean that Horikita Suzune was beaten up by her brother, Horikita Manabu?)

(Are these siblings really that dysfunctional?)

(He is the Student Council president, so what does it mean that he violated school rules?)

Time quickly arrived at the end of the school day, and the noisy chatter in the classroom was suddenly interrupted by a crisp sound of clapping.

"Everyone, could I have a moment of your time?"