In Classroom of the Elite, Ichinose You Will Regret This

Setting aside that fake Ryuen for a moment.

Who on earth wrote that love letter to Ichinose? At this very moment, everyone's curiosity had reached its peak, and Uesugi Gen was no exception.

Tap~

Tap~~

Tap~~~

A mysterious figure walked slowly toward this side, their footsteps echoing...

Chapter 47: Shiranami Chihiro's Day of Suffering

Watching the figure draw closer, the members of Class B all swallowed hard in unison.

Just... who could it be?

Strange, everyone gradually began to feel that something was off.

This figure...

Why did they look a bit small?

Slowly, the students of Class B came to their senses; they realized they seemed to have overlooked one thing.

All the boys from Class B were here, so... what about the girls?

The figure drew closer, and her silhouette gradually became clear, revealing feminine features.

No way!

An indescribable feeling welled up in the hearts of the Class B students and Uesugi Gen.

Who is it?

Uesugi Gen immediately recalled the personnel participating in this operation and who else hadn't arrived.

A figure slowly emerged in Uesugi Gen's mind, perfectly overlapping with the silhouette before him.

Could it be...

No, until the very last moment, Uesugi Gen refused to admit he had miscalculated; he decided to make a desperate final stand.

Uesugi Gen gathered his thoughts for a moment and spoke into his earpiece, "Amikura, you should have told Shiranami about this earlier, right? Why didn't she come?"

The entire class waited in silence for Amikura Mako's explanation.

After a long while, a cautious voice came through, "Um, I asked her if she was free after school today, and she told me she had something very important to do and that I shouldn't disturb her no matter what..."

Slap!

Slap! Slap!

The whole class slapped their foreheads in perfect unison.

It was confirmed; there was no doubt it was her.

"So... what do we do now?"

Kanzaki Ryuji sighed speechlessly and turned to look at Uesugi Gen.

The current situation had fallen into a dilemma.

Eavesdropping on a classmate's confession was an immoral act, and the students of Class B were not the type to do such a thing.

However, if they ran away now, they would definitely be spotted by Ichinose and Shiranami Chihiro. Their eavesdropping would be exposed, putting Shiranami Chihiro in an awkward position within Class B.

Even if the students of Class B didn't mind, she herself certainly would.

So, how could they handle this?

How could they resolve it without making her—or themselves—awkward...

The students of Class B stared at Uesugi Gen, their eyes shining with expectation.

Almighty Uesugi Daimyojin, use your invincible brain to think of a solution!

Do you think I'm Doraemon? What the hell am I supposed to do about this!

Uesugi Gen was instantly caught in a bind.

By now, Shiranami Chihiro's figure had been fully revealed, and she was about to reach Ichinose...

Come on, Uesugi, you're carrying the expectations of all of us, don't you dare lose!

The members of Class B screamed internally.

Shiranami Chihiro had already walked up to Ichinose...

Quick!

Finally, at the very last second before she could speak, Uesugi Gen gritted his teeth and came up with a solution that wasn't really a solution at all.

"Everyone, cover your ears tightly. Do not listen to a word of this; we don't know anything about what they're saying today."

As long as I don't hear it, I don't know about it—this is the legendary self-deceptive art of plugging one's ears while stealing a bell.

The group had a sudden realization.

So that's how they were going to solve it.

They immediately covered their ears.

Although their ears were covered, they could still see the expressions on the two girls' faces.

Shiranami Chihiro gathered her courage to speak, while Ichinose responded with all her might...

Slowly, As the conversation progressed, Shiranami Chihiro became more and more agitated, while Ichinose appeared at a loss, her movements stiff as she tried to comfort her.

If nothing unexpected happened, the final result would be the young girl Shiranami Chihiro failing her confession and running away crying in heartbreak.

However, according to the first law of a certain universe, "nothing unexpected" is impossible.

A gentle breeze carried a single strand of Ryuen's hair, drifting slowly in front of Shibata, who had his ears covered and eyes squeezed shut.

Consequently, an impulse rose from his brain, flowing down his body like a stream, eventually surging out of Shibata's body with the unstoppable force of a rushing river.

Even though Shibata tried his best to cover his mouth and nose with his hands, suppressing it so hard only served to amplify the intensity.

(((ACHOO!!!)))

The massive sound of the sneeze echoed like a thunderclap throughout the back of the gymnasium.

Holy crap! Shibata, you guy...

The entire class stared at Shibata Hayate in stunned silence.

Ichinose and Shiranami Chihiro were also drawn by the massive commotion, stopping their conversation and walking toward them.

Uesugi Gen reacted instantly, quickly ripping off Shibata's hood and headphones and kicking him out, while not forgetting to instruct, "Think of any excuse to fool Ichinose; you absolutely cannot let her know that so many of us are here."

Shibata Hayate looked at Uesugi Gen in disbelief, pointing a finger at himself.

Me? Fool Ichinose?

But there was no time for Shibata to hesitate; Ichinose was already almost there. If he didn't go out now, the entire group of boys, plus Ryuen, would be caught in one fell swoop by Ichinose.

The arrow was on the string and had to be fired!

With no other choice, Shibata had to bite the bullet and walk out.

He forced a smile and greeted Ichinose, "Ahaha, what a coincidence, Ichinose-san and Shiranami-san. I was just nearby training my running ability."

"..."

Where did this unprompted confession come from? She hadn't even asked, so why was he in such a rush to answer?

Ichinose didn't pay attention to Shibata's words, instead staring straight at the place where Shibata had emerged, asking casually without looking back, "What about Uesugi-kun? Isn't he with you?"

Her internal Uesugi-radar was already beeping, signaling that the target was nearby.

Hearing Ichinose's words, Shiranami Chihiro behind her clenched her fists in frustration.

Even though, I was the one who came first...

"He... how could he be with me? At this hour, he would have already gone back to the dorms to play games."

It's over!

Uesugi Gen cursed inwardly.

All the phones of those who usually kept their location services on, including Uesugi Gen's, had been left by Uesugi Gen at Keyaki Mall under the care of a client.

As soon as Ichinose checked her phone, she would know Shibata was lying and that something fishy was going on here.

"Is this where Shibata-kun does his physical training? But it doesn't seem very spacious here. Is there some special purpose to it?"

Ichinose continued her offensive, peering curiously toward the spot where Shibata had come out.

Shibata hurriedly blocked Ichinose.

"It's... it's nothing worth looking at. I only came here to train to better improve my dodging ability."

There's no saving him!

Uesugi Gen completely gave up on struggling and spoke into his headset, "Everyone, take off your hoods and headphones. We're going out."

If they didn't go out now, once Ichinose walked in, their beating of Ryuen would be exposed.

As for why he didn't go out himself to lure Ichinose away? Shiranami would kill me, wouldn't she?

After everyone packed up their things, Uesugi Gen walked out of the corner helplessly.

"Uesugi... huh?"

The smile that had just bloomed on Ichinose's face froze.

Behind Uesugi Gen, one, two, and then more and more girls emerged from the surroundings; the crowd began to gather, eventually forming the entirety of Class B.

Watching as more and more Class B classmates appeared around her with awkward expressions, Shiranami Chihiro let out a mournful cry, "Ugh~"

Then, with a voice on the verge of tears, she said, "You've got to be kidding me..."

Chapter 48 It Must Be Uesugi Gen's Doing

Why? She had been so careful not to let anyone else discover this matter, so why did the whole class know about it now?

Facing the Class B students surrounding her, Shiranami Chihiro lowered her head, her face turning bright red as she awkwardly fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

Then, As if realizing something, Shiranami Chihiro widened her eyes and glared fiercely at Uesugi Gen.

It must be this guy. Although she didn't know the specific process, it had to be his doing; there was no mistake about that.

Looking into Shiranami Chihiro's large eyes, Uesugi Gen expressed his immense grief, It's one thing for people from other classes to pin the blame on me, but how could my own classmates do the same? Don't you all know what kind of person I, Uesugi Gen, am? Is this world even salvageable anymore?

Compared to Shiranami Chihiro, who held a grudge against Uesugi Gen, Ichinose was the one who was truly difficult to deal with.

At this moment,