Class C's Cooperation-Could It Be a Honey Trap?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: If we can eliminate Hosen Kazuomi, then we'll only have one target left.

Hashiba Hikaru: Hehe, does Ayanokoji really think the chances of Hosen being an assassin are slim?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: Yes, but that's just my intuition. We'll have to wait until Classmate Hashiba gets the information before we can make a judgment.

Sakayanagi Arisu: Remember to distinguish carefully, don't be fooled by Ryuen, Classmate Hashiba.

Hashiba Hikaru: Ryuen doesn't have that ability. Even if they interrogate me, they'll still get the information they want.

After sending the message, Hashiba Hikaru put her phone in her pants pocket and walked out of her dormitory.

The time is almost up; it's time to go keep my appointment with my sweetheart.

At 8 PM, Hashiba Hikaru arrived at the agreed-upon location alone.

Having been to the Library many times, he wouldn't get lost. Following the route he remembered, after turning two corners, the boy arrived at the alley behind the library.

The warm yellow streetlights illuminated his path. After walking for a little over a minute, a slender figure appeared before Hashiba Hikaru's eyes; it must be Shiina Hiyori.

"Classmate Hashiba."

The other person spotted Hashiba Hikaru's tall figure first and immediately called out softly.

"Hmm, long time no see, Shiina."

After approaching, Hashiba Hikaru greeted the gray-haired girl with a smile.

Shiina Hiyori wasn't wearing her school uniform at the moment, but rather a simple set of casual clothes. Her style was quite simple: a loose-fitting hoodie over a pleated skirt with lace trim, giving her a fresh and youthful look.

As Hashiba Hikaru gazed gently at the graceful young woman before her, she could always feel the tender affection in her eyes.

After all, Shiina Hiyori had confessed her feelings to him a long time ago, but because she was a student in Class C, the boy had never developed a very close relationship with her.

"Yes, Classmate Hashiba is a very busy person. As the Student Council President, there's nothing she can do about it."

Shiina Hiyori smiled gently. She had always missed Hashiba Hikaru, but due to the class's position, the girl could only chat with him on her phone and couldn't openly invite him to meet in person.

"I've been really busy lately, but things should be a bit more relaxed after the Special Exam are over. Maybe then I'll have some time to catch up with Shiina."

"That's great! I'll be looking forward to it."

Shiina Hiyori nodded seriously, her eyes lighting up immediately.

"Hmph, even if I had the time, I would have gone along!"

A discordant female voice suddenly broke into their conversation. Hashiba Hikaru looked up and, sure enough, it was Ibuki Mio.

A short-haired, spirited girl emerged from the nearby woods, crossed her arms, and sized up Hashiba Hikaru with an unfriendly look.

"Just as I guessed, Ibuki really did come along?"

Hashiba Hikaru shrugged helplessly; he had already guessed this.

"Do you think I'd let you meet with Hiyori alone? Especially so late at night."

Ibuki Mio raised an eyebrow, her tone slightly displeased, "You already have so many beautiful girls, aren't you satisfied?"

"... Ibuki still misunderstands me so deeply."

Hashiba Hikaru didn't bother arguing with her and looked up at the dark forest in front of her.

"Ryuen, stop hiding it. Since we have important business to discuss, let's get started."

"Haha, as expected of our Student Council President, you spotted me as soon as you arrived, didn't you?"

A man with long hair strolled out of the woods unhurriedly, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"Of course, after all, Ryuen is my fan, so of course I have to keep an eye on her."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled faintly. This was a sentence he had used to tease the other party a long time ago, because back then, Ryuen Kakeru had been sending people to collect information about the boy, which seemed like the behavior of a fanatic fan.

"Snort."

Chapter 752 Class C's Cooperation: Was it a Honey Trap?

"Enough with the small talk, let's get down to business."

Hashiba Hikaru glanced at Shiina Hiyori, who was standing beside her and staring at her, and said directly to Ryuen Kakeru, "Since you said you have information about Hosen Kazuomi, what are you planning to do by contacting me? Discuss cooperation?"

"Of course, otherwise do you think I would voluntarily provide you with information?"

Ryuen Kakeru smiled contemptuously. He had known Hosen Kazuomi for a long time and had even suffered losses under their tutelage.

"Let's get started. You tell me first, and then I'll decide whether I want to join."

Hashiba Hikaru spoke calmly. Since it was a negotiation, she couldn't show any eagerness, or she would put herself in a passive position.

"Heh, you certainly have a condescending tone."

Ryuen Kakeru suddenly smiled. "If my information is correct, you should be very eager to find out what kind of person Hosen Kazuomi really are, right?"

"What's the meaning?"

"Stop pretending, Hashiba. Although you do have a lot of resources at your disposal, there's one thing you don't have as much as I do."

"I'd really like to hear that. Where do you think you're better than me in your opponent's situation?"

Hashiba Hikaru raised an eyebrow slightly, not intimidated by Ryuen Kakeru's sudden statement.

"The Disciplinary Committee has been keeping a close eye on Hosen Kazuomi lately. Was this at your behest?"

Ryuen Kakeru stared into his eyes.

"So what if it is?"

"Although I'm not entirely clear about your purpose, some outward signs are enough for me to make a judgment."

Ryuen Kakeru smiled, a hint of smugness in his expression. "This is where you fall short of me."

Do you mean your own fantasies?

No, what I mean is...

Ryuen Kakeru pointed at the boy in front of him and said, word by word.

"You are the Student Council President and the head of the Disciplinary Committee, both of which are the most important clubs in the school. This means that your every move will be watched by countless people. As long as someone pays special attention, they can find that your actions have a very obvious target and cannot be hidden at all."

"That's where you fall short of me."

"..."

Hashiba Hikaru paused for a moment before speaking again, "That's beyond my control. I don't want to hide myself, and there's no need to."

Ryuen Kakeru shook his head and said, "That's my advantage; I can see many things you can't notice."

"Is this all you have to offer?"

Hashiba Hikaru glanced at the two girls standing next to her. Although Ryuen Kakeru was still the person in charge of Class C of the First Year, Ibuki Mio Shiina Hiyori had always had a lot of fans in the class, so they didn't need to care about his expression at all.

The fact that they were able to come along this time suggests that they have already agreed on a common goal.

"Since it's a collaboration, of course we need to discuss terms."

Ryuen Kakeru grinned, "I can give you some information about Hosen Kazuomi to help you deal with him."

"Deal with him?"

"Heh, you've already sent people to keep an eye on him, isn't that to deal with him?"

The long-haired man seemed quite pleased with his guess; he had been talking about it constantly ever since he confirmed it.

After all, this was a rare opportunity to have the upper hand over the other party, allowing Ryuen Kakeru to reclaim the "initiative" he had never had before in front of Hashiba Hikaru.

"..."

Although his analysis at the beginning and end was wrong, he didn't expect that it would end up with the result he wanted.

Not bad.

If Ryuen Kakeru can actually provide crucial information, cooperating with him is fine; Hashiba Hikaru wouldn't mind, she'd just have to spend some resources.

"Then tell me, how do you plan to cooperate?"

Hashiba Hikaru seemed to tacitly agree with Ryuen Kakeru's guess and asked directly.

Upon hearing his decisive statement, the three students from Class C of the First Year standing opposite him were somewhat surprised.

After figuring it out, Ryuen Kakeru finally felt the satisfaction of having the upper hand, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Shiina Hiyori, on the other hand, revealed her heartfelt joy. The girl's eyes crinkled with happiness as she was delighted with today's outcome. If Class C could establish a cooperative relationship with Hashiba Hikaru, then she could take the initiative to ask him to meet her privately.

No matter what she does, even if it's boring, Shiina Hiyori is willing to do it, because this is what she has always looked forward to.

As for Ibuki Mio, she kept staring intently at Hashiba Hikaru's face, her mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

When Ryuen Kakeru proposed this cooperation plan in class some time ago, she immediately concluded that it was like trying to get something from a tiger, after all, since the beginning of the semester, their Class C had been fooled by Hashiba Hikaru many times.

But now that they finally had a chance to "control" each other, none of the students in Class C wanted to miss it.

But...

Looking at Hashiba Hikaru's calm expression, Ibuki Mio felt inexplicably concerned.

She was wondering if Class C had fallen into another trap...

After all, Hashiba Hikaru had never shown such an attitude before...

"That's straightforward! No wonder you're the Student Council President."

Ryuen Kakeru's smile was hearty, quite unlike his usual gloomy and violent demeanor. "In that case, let's talk about terms first."

"You say."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded.

"I can give you all the information I have about Hosen, and I can even help you deal with him."

As the discussion turned to cooperation, Ryuen Kakeru's expression gradually became serious. "But the prerequisite is that you need to give me two benefits in exchange."

Two portions?

He raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression one of Hashiba Hikaru speechlessness.

Although we don't know what conditions he plans to propose yet, he's offering two benefits right off the bat. You don't really think your buddy is begging you, do you?

"To be precise, it's an exchange of benefits plus a collaboration."

Ryuen Kakeru immediately added, "Don't misunderstand, I won't ask for an exorbitant amount."

"Hehe, then just say it."

"The first condition is the simplest: the cost of purchasing the intelligence is two million Private Points. Our Hashiba President has tens of millions of Private Points, so this should be nothing to him, right?"

These figures were jointly determined by Ryuen Kakeru and his classmates in Class C. His ability to obtain information about Hosen Kazuomi was entirely due to his past experiences, something that others did not possess.

Two million points... that depends on whether your intelligence is worth that price.

Two million points is indeed not a lot for Hashiba Hikaru, but he only needs to determine Hosen's identity at the moment, and there is no need to really invest such a large sum.

"The second condition is that in the next Special Exam, Class C must establish a cooperative relationship with Class A."

This is Ryuen Kakeru's real purpose; the Private Points are just a cover.

"Heh, we don't even know what the rules will be for the next Special Exam. Are you sure you want to make this kind of request?"

Hashiba Hikaru was a little surprised, because this line of thinking didn't seem like Ryuen Kakeru's idea.

Could there be another strategist?

"Whether it's a team battle or an individual battle, it's the same: establishing cooperation has nothing to do with the rules; the key is the class's inclination."

Ryuen Kakeru explained with a smile, "Well, you should be able to make decisions for everyone in Class A, right?"

"Our class leader is Ichinose."

"Heh, do you think I look like an idiot?"

Ryuen Kakeru curled his lip. Everyone had been forcefully suppressed by Hashiba Hikaru for a whole year. Did any Second Year student not know who the real decision-maker of Class A was?

"Is that all your terms?"

"That's right."