Hoshinomiya, Kushida, Ichinose, and Sae Chabashira!

"Cooperate?"

She added a question mark after "cooperation," probably because she felt she might not meet the conditions for cooperation.

No, that's not it.

However, Nakano Yuu smiled as he wrote, "[It's parasite. I have a very cute little dog at home that can do backflips, but I can't bring it with me since I'm at school. But I do have experience with raising things.]"

So, by writing like this, are you planning to raise people like puppies?

Although you could vaguely hear in the discussions that Classmate Sakayanagi from Class B seemed to be treating some things like pets, which was a bit excessive, now it seems you're not far behind.

Only.

Nakano's current intention is that if she chooses to cooperate with him here, he will protect her at school.

Even if he encounters those hot girls again, he will handle it.

But.

"..."

Karuizawa.

"..."

Karuizawa.

Can I trust you?

She wrote it like this.

The ability to write such characters usually indicates that one's inner resolve has already wavered.

Clearly, she hoped to achieve such a cooperative relationship.

In other words, she hoped someone would help her, just like when she proactively contacted Sato. It was her initiative, but she didn't think it would be completely effective.

Therefore, subconsciously she still believes that she needs to depend on others, or rather, in the past, if someone could help her, she felt that she could continue to stay in this school.

She didn't want to drop out; she wanted to stay at the school, but she also knew she wasn't strong, not strong at all.

She hoped someone would lend her a hand.

[Certainly.]

Nakano Yuu wrote, "[Because, just like Horikita told you at the beginning, I know everything about you. And because I know everything about you, I chose to use this method. Or do you have a better way?]"

Is there a better way?

That's probably all; all she can think about is... wanting to rely on someone who can protect her.

Because she had resisted, but her near-death experience had caused her PtSD, and she had lost her courage.

So, I stared at the words written by Nakano Yuu.

Karuizawa fell silent.

Her left hand grasped her right, and her right hand tightly gripped her left.

In the past, she almost lost her life in her rebellion, but now, a hand appears before her, a hand she might be able to grasp without having to risk her life again.

Finally.

I hope you're not lying to me.

She gripped the pen and, with a slight tremor, finally wrote down these words.

"Then don't worry, I, Nakano Yuu, have never lied to a girl."

Nakano-kun didn't write those words on paper; he said them aloud.

This means that I am now considered someone with a pet at this school.

Upon receiving this news, Nakano immediately sent a message to Sakayanagi Arisu.

"They have such a good relationship."

Meanwhile, Ichinose arrived at the Rabbit Group's room and immediately noticed that Nakano and Karuizawa were sitting together, seemingly writing something in a notebook with the same pen.

They seem very close. But they could also just be friends. And there's rarely any true friendship between men and women; it almost always develops into a romantic relationship.

"Yes."

Machida from Class B was somewhat disappointed.

He noticed yesterday that Nakano Yuu seemed to be getting closer to Karuizawa.

However, Nakano-kun and Ichinose seem to have a good relationship, so Machida thought that this would eliminate any connection between Ichinose and Karuizawa. But now it seems that Ichinose and Karuizawa are more like a couple. So if they form a couple, then Ichinose...?

However, he shook his head; this was beyond his level to access.

And.

He noticed that Ichinose's gaze was fixed on Nakano and Karuizawa, but ultimately it gently settled on Nakano Yuu.

"..."

You're so lucky, Nakano-kun.

Thus, this morning's gathering ended quickly amidst the diverse thoughts of the attendees.

But.

The girls in Class C were stopped by Nakano Yuu.

"Nakano Yuu from Class D."

What do you want?

It's clear that Manabe and the others remembered what Ryuuen said. When Ryuuen was at the restaurant, she led her students past Nakano Yuu and emphasized that they should stay away from Nakano Yuu, or they would be scammed by him.

And Manabe and the others did indeed avoid it.

But why is this guy showing up at their door now? Is he trying to scam them out of their money?

"When I was at the door earlier, I heard you guys planning to gang up on Karuizawa."

"Nakano Yuu said."

"And I don't agree with this kind of thing."

"Ha, you disagree? Then what are you going to do?"

"Should we go to Ryuuen? Ryuuen probably won't care."

The hot girls in Class C immediately burst into laughter.

Then they witnessed someone kick the railing so hard it shattered, even bending the steel material.

I can't even imagine what would happen if those punches and kicks landed on them.

Now, the hot girls in Class C weren't laughing anymore.

And so, in this atmosphere, the shipbuilding exam came to an end.

All the students boarded the ship and began their return journey.

And at school.

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the messages on Asahina- senpai's phone.

It was Nakano-kun's number, and the message he sent consisted of only one line of text and one photo.

Jealousy has distorted my self-image. If you can keep a pet at school, I've decided to get one too. Remember, this is my dog. And keep an eye on your friends; don't let them mess with you. Of course, since it's my pet, as its ex-girlfriend, you should take care of it if anything happens. After all, relationships are relationships; you can't just ignore your ex-boyfriend's pet.

The photo shows a cute girl with a blonde ponytail, smiling, and very pretty. She's probably the second cutest in the school.

Sakayanagi knew this girl; she was Karuizawa Megumi, the new Public Morals Committee Member of the Student Council that Nakano Yuu was going to join.

But.

"..."

Sakayanagi.

Classmate Sakayanagi remained silent.

This guy has such a terrible personality, treating his classmate like a pet. What kind of new fantasy is this? And he only told her after he got the pet, was he reporting it to her? Or was he jealous that she Kamuro? Or did he feel that she had a dog Kamuro but didn't tell him?

However, I should still go to the Student Council today; maybe I can catch a show there.

That's what she was thinking.

P. S.: I owe 196,500 words due to old books and bounties. Today I wrote 14,500 words, repaying 10,500 words, leaving me with 186,000 words still owed.

97

Chapter 97 Hoshinomiya, Kushida, Ichinose, and Chabashira Sae!

Let's go back to the night the exam ended.

The promised two-week luxury trip turned into a week of survival on a desert island, which turned out to be incredibly miserable.

Then, a week later, I thought I could finally enjoy the trip.

The next day, they surprised me by asking me to play Werewolf.

Finally, the fourth day of the Werewolf game ended. Then the news came that the cruise ship was heading back to the school.

However, we are now in the last hour of the waiting period.

Because.

"All groups have finished answering; the exam is over. Now that the exam is complete, the final results will be announced."

The voice of Hoshinomiya Chie was still coming over the loudspeaker, which meant that her class hadn't dropped out of the class after this exam, so she was still the homeroom teacher of Class A.

"The four groups that finished answering the question—Tiger, Snake, Sheep, and Pig—are ranked third because the traitor answered correctly."

"The two groups, Horse and Monkey, who finished answering the question, were eliminated because the traitor answered incorrectly, resulting in a score of four."

"The remaining six groups—Dragon, Rabbit, Ox, Rat, Rooster, and Dog—must answer within the allotted time and get the correct answer; otherwise, they will be ranked as the first group."

"The scores for each class are as follows: Class 1-A - 50 points, Class 1-B - 15 points, Class 1-C - 200 points, Class 1-D - 50 points."

I don't know if it was just my imagination, but it seemed like her voice sounded a little more joyful when she read out the score of -50 points for Class 1-D.

It was as if he had remembered something happy.

Meanwhile, the evaluation scores for all four classes were also updated.

That is.

Class 1-A: 1426 - 50 = 1376 points

Class 1-B: 1181 - 15 = 1166 points

Class 1-C: 1011 - 200 = 811 points

Class 1-D: 50 - 50 = 0 points.

Then came the Matoba, but of course, only the students in Class D were paying attention to it.

They've gotten their phones back and confirmed... whether they're VIP. But they're still getting paid.

"The specific Private Points you receive will be directly transferred to your Student ID Card account at 9:00 AM tomorrow. You can choose to have it credited directly, or you can reply to the school email address with the message 'Anonymous Points Card,' and the school will place the points card in your personal email inbox according to your chosen time."

In other words, they effectively covered for the traitor.

Nakano Yuu glanced at the class group chat; there hadn't been much of a commotion yet, and everyone had gotten their phones back. However, things were likely to explode when the paychecks were distributed tomorrow.

With that in mind, he began his final task on the return journey: adding Chabashira-sensei as a friend, moving beyond simply finding his number to send a message.

Adding such friends is not for harassment, but to accurately pinpoint her location.

This is what makes the school's cell phones unique; their location tracking is incredibly accurate.

Now, the exam is over, the notification has ended, and it's already 10:40 PM.

Nakano Yuu basically timed his departure perfectly.

At this time, in 20 minutes it would be the familiar dormitory lights-out curfew, but on the ship there's no need to worry about that. There's no curfew, and you can even go to the spa for a massage and fall asleep right afterward.

So even if Nakano Yuu goes out at this time, it's not strange, but the place he's going to is not a place that ordinary students can go.

Stepping out of the guest room, Nakano Yuu had a clear goal: to head straight to the lounge area next to the vending machines, where alcohol was sold.