In Classroom of the Elite, My Love Stock Market Only Wants Full Positions

The two of them instantly clashed, but Ibuki kept Hashiba Hikaru's instructions from yesterday in mind. Instead of meeting Ryuen's assault head-on, she relied on her physical reflexes to dodge continuously, subtly using her leg techniques to counterattack in the process.

Before they parted ways last night, Hashiba Hikaru had added one final remark.

"Ibuki-san, although we are asking you to carry out this plan, remember that if Ryuen truly tries to hurt you during the fight, you are allowed to fight back."

"We don't need you to get hurt for the sake of the plan's success; after all, this operation is about mutual assistance, not ordering you around."

Upon hearing this, Ibuki immediately boasted that her leg techniques were formidable, and if it really came to that, she could fully utilize them to counter.

To everyone's surprise, this remark made Hashiba Hikaru's eyes light up. The boy immediately used a camera to demonstrate to Ibuki that if she used leg techniques, they could frame the shot higher up; by showing only the upper body, they could still accuse Ryuen of his violent behavior.

The four-person group from Class 1-B was currently huddled inside the Science Classroom, each of them watching the footage captured on the phone with nervous intensity.

Ryuen's vicious fighting style made everyone's expressions grave, but what was even more astonishing was Ibuki's physical reflexes. Nearly twenty seconds had passed since the start, and the man on screen hadn't managed to touch the girl even once.

"Are you not here to fight, you bastard? Why do you keep dodging!"

Ryuen panted heavily, berating Ibuki across from him.

Ever since she finished her harsh words earlier, this woman hadn't shown any intention of actually fighting. She kept dodging while using her leg techniques to obstruct his movements, making it impossible for him to pin her down.

"Don't you want to beat me? If you can't even touch me, how do you expect to win?"

Following the plan, Ibuki wore a complex expression on her smiling face. It wasn't just anger; there was a flicker of fear in her eyes. Although her acting was clumsy, from an outsider's perspective, it looked as if she were simply evading her opponent's fists out of terror.

"Tch, I knew you wouldn't fight me properly."

Just then, the previously ferocious Ryuen suddenly stopped his hands. A dangerous curve tugged at the corner of his mouth as he slowly spat out a sentence: "I felt something was off from the moment you invited me. If you really hated me, you would have attacked long ago; there was no need to actually make an appointment."

"I don't know what you're planning, but since I'm here today, I'm going to beat you until you submit!!!"

"What do you mean by that?"

Seeing Ryuen suddenly stop, a sense of foreboding instantly loomed over Ibuki.

"Komiya, Ishizaki, you two can come out now!"

A sinister grin appeared on Ryuen's face as he shouted toward the front.

The next moment, two boys in school uniforms suddenly stepped out from behind Ibuki. Each of them wore a mocking smirk, clearly having been lying in ambush for some time.

"What!"

Ibuki's face was filled with shock and anger. She hadn't expected Ryuen to bring others along. She wasn't afraid of Ryuen in a one-on-one, but she wasn't confident about facing three boys at once.

"What are you doing!!?"

Just as the two boys moved closer to Ibuki and prepared to strike, the door to the Science Classroom was suddenly thrown open.

The members of Class 1-B had been shocked by Ryuen's cunning the moment they heard him call out the others' names, but time was of the essence. Without hesitation, Hashiba Hikaru immediately handed the phone to Ichinose nearby.

"Ichinose-san, stay here and don't move. We're going out now!" he said in a low voice.

After saying this, the boy hurriedly led Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Sou out the door of the Science Classroom. He hadn't expected Ryuen to have an ace up his sleeve, catching everyone off guard.

"Who's there?"

Hearing a strange shout, Ryuen immediately looked toward the sound, only to see three boys walking out of the Science Classroom.

"Who are you guys?"

"I should be the one asking who you are. The three of you are ganging up to bully a girl, aren't you ashamed?" Shibata, full of a sense of justice, spoke first, looking at Ryuen with anger. "Don't think I won't report this to the teachers!"

"We are students from Class 1-B. We just received a request from a teacher to come to this Science Classroom to pick up equipment for tomorrow, and then we saw you." Kanzaki Ryuji was equally indignant. "Which class are you from, and why are you bullying someone?"

"It's none of your business. Don't get in our way."

Ishizaki Daichi, already a lackey tamed by Ryuen, spoke with a very aggressive tone. Despite seeing three boys emerge from the classroom, he wasn't flustered in the slightest.

As a delinquent, he had been in plenty of group fights and didn't care about the numbers at all.

"If we don't leave, are you going to beat us up too?"

A smile appeared on Hashiba Hikaru's face. After walking out, he had subtly exchanged glances with Ibuki, who was standing to the side, and signaled that they had successfully captured the footage with a nod.

So, today's mission was effectively over.

"Fight if you want! You think I'm afraid of you?"

Ishizaki's voice remained loud, but the next moment, he heard Ibuki speak up from the side.

"That's enough. Don't do anything unnecessary." Ibuki Mio's gaze swept coldly over Ryuen, as if she had given up resistance. "Ryuen, you win. I won't oppose you anymore. You can be the class leader if you want."

"Hmph, should have done that sooner."

Ryuen Kakeru acted as if he hadn't even seen Hashiba and the others standing nearby. Upon hearing Ibuki's affirmative answer, he turned around and swaggered away.

Ishizaki Daichi and Komiya Yogo, his two lackeys, naturally followed suit, and the three of them quickly descended the stairs together.

Once their figures had completely disappeared, Hashiba Hikaru looked at Ibuki and said softly, "Thank you, Ibuki-san."

"As long as the job is done, what's next?" Ibuki Mio crossed her arms over her chest, her demeanor calm.

"It's simple. Ibuki-san can take this video footage directly to the Student Council to file a complaint. The footage we just captured is excellent; Ryuen won't be able to escape a suspension."

Hashiba Hikaru opened the clear footage on his phone, his mood involuntarily lightening.

Chapter 26: Ibuki Mio's Probe

The planned ambush for the secret filming incident ended with Ryuen's unexpected deployment of manpower, and the members of Class B stood on the second floor of the Special Building to review and summarize the plan.

Ichinose handed the footage captured by Hashiba Hikaru's phone to Ibuki to view. The girl watched her own angry expression on the screen, along with the occasional flicker of panic; although it was faked, it was more than enough.

"I didn't expect that guy Ryuen to have an ace up his sleeve. How insidious."

Even after Ryuen and his group had left, Shibata remained somewhat resentful. He hadn't expected that a man would actually bring backup to a duel against a woman—it was truly shameless!

"He's always been the type of guy who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals," Ibuki said, handing the phone back to Ichinose with a look of disdain on her delicate face. "Such behavior is entirely consistent with his usual conduct."

"It's a good thing we all came along, otherwise there's no telling what might have happened."

Hashiba Hikaru seized the moment to chime in, looking toward Ibuki Mio, who was standing to the side: "Ibuki-san, the angle of this recording is excellent. It doesn't matter that you used a leg technique to counterattack earlier; that part wasn't captured."

"We can go straight to the Student Council to submit your accusation. You know where the Student Council is, right?"

"I don't. I've never been there."

"That's fine. The school brochure has detailed location instructions anyway. I'll go with you in a moment."

Hashiba Hikaru felt there was no need for so many people to go; him accompanying Ibuki would be more than enough, and a large group might actually arouse the Student Council's suspicion.

"Can I go too?" Ichinose Honami raised her small hand, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"No need. Let just him and me go."

At that moment, the usually cold Ibuki Mio expressed her opinion in an uncharacteristic manner, leaving the watching Hashiba somewhat bewildered.

What was going on here?

"Oh, okay." Seeing the lightning-fast rejection from Ibuki, the light in Ichinose Honami's blue eyes dimmed noticeably, but she still forced a smile and said, "Then I'll wait for your good news."

"Don't worry, I'll bring back a result that everyone will be satisfied with."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded with a smile at Ichinose and the two boys beside her, then walked down the stairs with Ibuki Mio.

"Ichinose-san, why didn't Ibuki-san let you go with them?"

The thick-skinned Shibata didn't quite grasp the current situation, so he asked directly.

But to his surprise, the expression on the usually gentle Ichinose's face was now extremely grave, her beautiful brows clouded with gloom, as if she hadn't heard his question at all.

"What's the point of asking? Let's just look forward to Hashiba-kun's triumphant return."

Kanzaki Ryuji's mind was clearly more delicate than Shibata's. He immediately reached out to pull his companion's arm and smiled as he suggested to Ichinose: "Well, Ichinose-san, we'll be heading off first. Are you coming with us?"

Hearing this, the girl simply shook her head in silence. After Kanzaki and Shibata Sou had both left, Ichinose stood alone in a daze, wondering what she was thinking.

What on earth is going on... Could there be something between them that I don't know about?

Didn't I meet Ibuki-san first? Is Hashiba-kun trying to...

As her thoughts flew, Ichinose Honami's mind was already in a state of chaos; she hadn't expected things to unfold this way.

After a long while, the girl silently reached out to pat her pretty face, then stepped forward and walked outside.

Too many things had happened today; perhaps she needed some time to properly process it all.

On the other side, Hashiba Hikaru walked with Ibuki on the way to the Student Council, his mind still lingering on the confusion from just moments ago.

The boy couldn't figure it out—didn't Ibuki know Ichinose first? And since they were both girls, it would seem better to go with her regardless of how one looked at it.

Just then, the short-haired girl in front suddenly stopped and looked back at Hashiba Hikaru's face to ask.

"Hashiba-kun, you're actually the leader of Class B, aren't you?"

"Not at all. The leader of our class is Ichinose-san."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled slightly. He now understood why she hadn't let Ichinose Honami come along—she had questions for him.

"But from my observations, she clearly relies on you a great deal. Why is that?"

Ibuki Mio's powers of observation and analysis were not weak; she even possessed a very mature way of thinking. After last night's talk and the execution of today's secret filming plan, she could tell that this group of Class B students was led by the Hashiba-kun in front of her. The decisions were made by him, and the others were merely cooperating.

"How should I put this? It's a bit complicated to explain that to you," Hashiba Hikaru's expression didn't change much as he explained to Ibuki nonchalantly. "What I can tell you now is that Ichinose-san is indeed our class leader; that is something everyone acknowledges."

"As for other class intelligence, I'm unable to answer you at this time."

The meaning of this was for Ibuki to give up on her probing; it was better for everyone that way, especially since Hashiba Hikaru and she were currently partners.

"Tch, don't think I believe everything," Ibuki didn't care about Hashiba Hikaru's hint at all, curling her lips into a cold sneer as she questioned him. "Actually, you lied to me yesterday, right?"

"What did I lie to you about?"

"About the class leader being able to use everyone's Private Points. Even though I'm a freshman, that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to believe whatever anyone says."

Ibuki Mio looked straight into Hashiba Hikaru's eyes, her tone extremely spirited: "But do you know why I still agreed to your plan even after I realized last night that you were lying to me?"

"Because you can't stand Ryuen."

Hashiba Hikaru's eyes still held a smile, but in his heart, he had gained a brand-new understanding of the short-haired girl before him.

She was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Although she had been assigned to Class C, the comprehensive qualities Ibuki Mio displayed were not bad at all, and her analytical and observational skills were quite decent.

Is it because your grades are bad?

"That's right. Even though I know you're lying, it's precisely because I can't stand Ryuen that I want to get him expelled."

Ibuki stared at the boy before her and asked again, "Besides, you didn't finish what you were saying yesterday. You said that once Ryuen is expelled, you have something to discuss with Class C."

"It isn't another one of your schemes, is it? If you try that again, I absolutely won't play along!"

"Rest assured, that matter will be mutually beneficial for both of our classes," Hashiba Hikaru shrugged, a serious expression appearing on his face. "I hope you don't harbor any misunderstandings about me; I'm not the type of person who enjoys playing mind games."

"Believe what you want."

Ibuki Mio didn't want to continue the conversation with him any longer. She turned around and kept walking, but after a few steps, she turned back to add:

"Let's go. Aren't we going to report Ryuen? Why are you just standing there?"

"Right."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded slightly and hurried to catch up with Ibuki.

"Remember, we need to get our stories straight before we go in. Don't slip up."

"Don't worry, I care about the outcome of this even more than you do."

Chapter 27: The Structure of the Student Council

After walking for a while, Hashiba Hikaru and Ibuki finally arrived at the fourth floor of the school building where the Student Council was located.

From the outside, it looked no different from a regular classroom. A metal sign was mounted on the wall with the words "Student Council Room" engraved on it. It looked as if it were wiped down frequently, as the surface of the sign appeared bright and clear.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Hashiba Hikaru raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Please come in."