"If anyone else wants to come, that's fine too, but tell me here."
"I'll go!"
Katsuragi agreed without hesitation.
Meanwhile,
quite a few people turned their eyes toward Sakayanagi Arisu.
Everyone understood that in a negotiation like this,
going along would let them get firsthand information, but there shouldn't be too many people accompanying them. Otherwise, it would make Class A seem unable to act as one.
Although Kijima Tsukur had said that anyone who wanted to go was welcome, and no one had objected, a tacit understanding had still formed.
That was,
one person each from the Katsuragi Faction and the Sakayanagi Faction, or something along those lines. If all else failed, they could simply kick Kijima Tsukur out.
"Unfortunately, I'm a little inconvenienced."
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled from her seat, then turned to the side.
"But I do have a few people in mind. Kamuro, could I trouble you?"
"Tch..."
Kamuro Masumi looked thoroughly displeased. "Got it. I'll go, all right?"
Hmm?
Kijima Tsukur gave her another look.
He didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that Kamuro Masumi had become someone Sakayanagi Arisu trusted.
Still, the way she acted...
It felt more like Sakayanagi had gotten hold of some kind of leverage over Kamuro Masumi.
Something seemed off. If Sakayanagi really had leverage over her, Kamuro Masumi wouldn't be acting so disgusted.
For one thing, Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't allow it.
That kind of blatant disgust was practically saying, "Someone's got leverage over me! Somebody save me!"
It seemed more like,
although Sakayanagi had leverage over Kamuro Masumi, Kamuro didn't actually mind.
All bark and no bite?
Interesting.
"And one more..."
Sakayanagi Arisu stood, gripping her cane, and turned to smile at the back of the classroom.
"Although I oppose Kijima's approach, we still need to show the spirit of Class A when we're out and about. Kito, could I ask you to come?"
"..."
There was no reply.
A frightening-looking man stood up to show his agreement.
He was tall and lanky, with long hair draped over his shoulders and a white glove on his right hand. At a glance, he gave the impression of being quite skilled at fighting.
Sure enough, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled calmly.
"Kito has experience in karate and taekwondo, and he's very good at fighting. I don't think things will come to blows, but bringing Kito along will help us make an impression."
Clearly,
this was a show of force!
In just three days, Sakayanagi had won a few people over.
Judging from her attitude toward Kito, she hadn't completely won him over yet, but she was clearly making progress no slower than Kijima Tsukur.
Besides,
there were also people willing to do Sakayanagi Arisu a favor, so she could command even more people.
Of course,
Kijima Tsukur hadn't paid any attention to any of this.
He had simply let Yamamura Miki take care of his daily needs and accepted Morishita Ai, who had a good eye for things.
As for Katsuragi's side, Katsuragi was still the center of it.
But in Kijima Tsukur's eyes, none of that mattered.
"I'm coming too~"
Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a smile.
As an opportunist, he naturally wasn't going to miss out.
Strictly speaking,
he still wasn't sure where he stood.
He'd originally planned to support Kijima Tsukur, but the guy wanted to make the information public. He didn't know whether he was serious.
If he was bluffing,
Hashimoto Masayoshi had no problem with that.
But if he really intended to make the information public, then Hashimoto would have to side with Sakayanagi Arisu.
"Let's go."
Five people left the classroom in a row.
Yamamura Miki followed behind them, carrying a folding chair.
She'd originally wanted to buy a camping chair, but she hadn't had much time these past couple of days.
Besides...
Katsuragi and the others, who might have helped her carry the chair, were all ignoring her now.
Ugh.
At the thought, Yamamura Miki felt a little wronged.
So she was just the chair carrier? Someone else could have carried it too. Why did she have to be dragged along?
It was all Kijima Tsukur's fault.
She hadn't even had much time to go shopping these past few days.
Even though nobody chatted with her, she'd still heard plenty.
She'd heard that Patere Cafe was popular with girls and that its cakes were delicious. She wanted to go check it out too.
It was all Kijima Tsukur's fault!
Following behind them, Yamamura Miki raised the chair as if she were about to hit him with it.
How awful.
Meanwhile,
no one up ahead paid any attention to her little inner drama.
Kijima Tsukur walked at the front, with Katsuragi and Kamuro Masumi following on either side behind him. Hashimoto Masayoshi and Kito Hayato spread out farther to the sides.
Students approaching them quickly moved out of the way, as if afraid to bump into them. What kind of gang was this?
"Who are they?"
"They look like they came from the direction of Class A. They must be this year's Class A students, right?"
"Seriously?"
"If this were Class C or Class D, I could understand, but what's with this year's Class A?"
People around them whispered among themselves.
Every year had all kinds of students, but why did Class A's style feel so off this year?
Hearing the comments around them,
Katsuragi couldn't help feeling awkward. They really did look like a bunch of middle school delinquents going out together, all huddled in a group.
But Kijima Tsukur had only planned to bring Yamamura Miki. Adding himself made three.
Most of the others were from the Sakayanagi Faction...
They certainly made an impression, but something still felt off.
Would this affect their score?
"Hey..."
Just then, Kamuro Masumi looked at Kijima Tsukur, who was ahead of her, and called out, "You're not really planning to tell the other classes the information, are you?"
"Didn't I make myself perfectly clear this morning?"
"Really?"
Kamuro Masumi looked annoyed, but she still didn't quite believe him.
"Even though Sakayanagi asked me to come, and you might think I'm here as her representative, let me make this clear: she's her own person, and I'm my own person. Tell me the truth. This isn't some 'trick others before you trick yourself' kind of thing, or part of some other plan, is it?"
"Sigh..."
Kijima Tsukur finally sighed.
Whenever the people around him started overthinking things, he felt helpless. No matter how clearly he explained himself, they always came up with their own theories.
"Don't overthink it. There wasn't a single false word in what I told you this morning."
As soon as he said that,
everyone looked at him.
Hashimoto Masayoshi was thrown into a panic, and even Katsuragi wavered a little.
It felt like... he was actually going to do it?
This morning, Kijima Tsukur had said he was going to make the information public and get everyone promoted to Class A. No matter how he put it, everyone had assumed it was just a bluff.
But now... Kijima Tsukur was still saying the same thing...
His credibility had shot up to a hundred percent!
Was he seriously joking around?
"Wait, wait."
Hashimoto Masayoshi really couldn't accept it.
"You're serious? You really mean it?"
"..."
That was why
Kijima Tsukur had never liked explaining himself.
As they spoke,
the group arrived on the rooftop!
Chapter 26: Confession, an Interesting Woman
On the rooftop,
Yamamura Miki stood facing the rooftop door, setting the folding chair down on the ground.
Before you continue