Chapter Twenty-Eight: Suzune Knows What She's Doing / Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Busy Beginning of May

"Class A's leader is Katsuragi—and he'll remain the leader unless I get expelled."

"One last reminder: if you come after me, make sure you take me out in one strike. Don't say I didn't warn you."

There wasn't much to gain, so Aoyama had little interest in Class A's internal power struggle. He didn't want to waste too much energy on it, either.

And since he didn't particularly like Sakayanagi, he simply acted like an overbearing CEO and appointed his choice.

At the same time, by naming his choice, he also served as something like a "nuclear weapon," making it several times harder for Sakayanagi to seize power.

Before she could go after Katsuragi, she'd have to take Aoyama out first. If she couldn't, he'd be able to drag all of Class A down with him.

As long as Sakayanagi couldn't come up with a perfect way to deal with him, her supporters wouldn't dare act on her orders.

As long as Aoyama remained in Class A, Katsuragi would remain its leader.

The class meeting ended, and Katsuragi became Class A's leader, living up to "Aoyama's" expectations.

The first thing he did after taking office was suggest collecting class fees to prepare for emergencies. They settled on collecting twenty-five percent of the monthly allowance the school issued.

"Everyone's going to hate you for this, Aoyama."

On the bench beside the vending machines near the school building, Yamamura rubbed her hands together, looking a little worried.

No one enjoyed being threatened.

She hoped more of their classmates would like Aoyama.

"So Yamamura's going to hate me too? Oh, I couldn't bear that." Aoyama raised an eyebrow and replied teasingly.

A little while ago, he'd felt that Yamamura calling him "Aoyama-kun" all the time sounded a bit too formal, so he'd told her to just call him Aoyama.

"How could I possibly hate you, Aoyama? I... I..."

"I knew it. There's no way Yamamura could hate me. If a cute girl like you hated me, I'd be heartbroken."

He placed a hand on Yamamura's head as her flustered expression turned red, and happily stroked her hair.

A shy expression was a girl's best makeup. Her muted blue-green hair felt incredibly smooth to the touch, too.

A girl who was so accommodating really was endearing.

"There's something I'd like to ask you to do, Yamamura." Aoyama had arranged to meet her here during the break because he had something to ask her.

Though after giving her a spontaneous head pat, he'd decided he could come by even when he didn't have anything to ask.

"I'll do my best."

"Then let's exchange phones first. I'll need to use mine for this."

After giving her shoulder-length side ponytail one last stroke, Aoyama took his phone from his pocket and handed it to Yamamura.

The students' phones were specially made by the school. They had a little feature that many first-years hadn't noticed yet.

Friends could check each other's locations.

As long as the feature hadn't been turned off in the settings, Aoyama's phone—since he was friends with Kushida—could monitor her location at any time.

"I expect it'll only take a few days. I need you to follow Kushida Kikyo from Class D. You can check her location here."

"If you find anything interesting, remember to record it."

Unlike someone as pure-hearted as Ichinose Honami, Kushida accumulated a great deal of dark emotion as she wore her mask and played the part of an angel to win people over.

When she reached her limit, she went somewhere deserted and let it all out by shouting insults and smashing things.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Suzune Knows What She's Doing

"How many students in Class C are failing?"

"Six."

In the girls' dormitory that evening, Aoyama Shiki answered Horikita Suzune's question, then popped a piece of tempura into his mouth.

Its golden appearance was exactly what you'd expect from its taste: crispy, fragrant, and delicious.

Perhaps because she had so many questions, dinner was more lavish than usual.

After the homeroom teachers explained the rules that morning, the results of the late-April quiz were announced, and the date of the mid-May exam was set.

As for the warning that anyone who failed the Midterm Exam would be expelled, only certain students in Classes C and D seemed particularly worried.

"About the same number as in Class D. I guess the students in Classes D and C are at roughly the same level," Horikita murmured.

Seven students in Class D had failed the quiz. The Three Idiots from Class D accounted for three of them—not one was missing.

Hirata, the class's resident good guy, had immediately invited all seven students who failed to join a study group.

"If a student gets expelled, will the class lose Class Points?"

When it came to Sudo, Yamauchi, and Ike, Horikita Suzune's first thought was to give up on them.

When Hirata threw them a lifeline, the three of them had refused just because they were jealous that he was so popular.

"No. But they will if they withdraw voluntarily without a good reason." Aoyama held out a paper cup to Horikita.

In no time, the drink that had been nearly gone was topped up again.

How could you eat fried food without a refreshing drink to go with it?

A mouthful of ice-cold cola left Aoyama feeling completely refreshed.

"Why does Class C have so many Class Points? Based on the number of students who failed and what I observed in April, Class C has plenty of students who act like delinquents, just like Sudo."

"That's a lot of questions. Give me a back rub later as payment."

Thinking about how Class D had only 250 Class Points left made Aoyama feel a little weary.

He could only make money off Class D if Class D had any money to begin with. The same went for Horikita Suzune; he'd already given up on making money by selling her information.

"I don't know how, but I can learn." Horikita Suzune's expression barely changed.

She didn't think Aoyama's request was unreasonable. It wasn't the first time she'd worked off a debt, and a back rub was simple enough.

"The reason is that Class C's leader is Ryuen Kakeru, a delinquent who became leader through violence. Anyone who defies him gets beaten, whether they're a boy or a girl."

"Isn't that bullying?"

"There's a saying: everything has to be backed up by evidence. Ryuen's smart, so he won't leave any behind."

Of the leaders of the four classes—Katsuragi Kōhei, Ichinose Honami, Ryuen Kakeru, and Hirata Yosuke—Aoyama thought Ryuen was the best, despite looking like such a reckless, arrogant delinquent.

He was ruthless toward others and himself, and he had brains and a sense of responsibility.

After he'd been defeated and become a burden on his class, the first thing he'd thought of was withdrawing so the class wouldn't keep bleeding points because of him.

"You seem to have a high opinion of Ryuen." Horikita Suzune's pretty eyebrows lifted slightly.

"Yeah. In my judgment, Ryuen is a lot stronger than you, Suzune. He's stronger than Hirata, too, of course."

After eating his fill, Aoyama began holding forth.

"Katsuragi's style is to pursue stability at all costs. He doesn't know how to adapt. That's fine as long as his opponents aren't strong."

"As for Ichinose, she's just too kind. Even when someone picks on her, she's afraid of hurting them if she fights back."

"Hirata is indecisive. Like Ichinose right now, he can only be a second-in-command."

"Ryuen likes to use violence to solve problems, but otherwise, he's a fairly capable leader."

Talking so much made him thirsty. Aoyama drained the drink in front of him, and Horikita Suzune promptly refilled it, like a thoughtful wife who didn't need to be asked.

"Before worrying about how the leaders of other classes are doing, I think you should focus on how to become Class D's leader."

Seeing how considerate Horikita Suzune was being, Aoyama decided to offer her some advice.

Hirata wasn't completely useless, but his personality made him unable to handle troublemakers like Sudo and Yamauchi. If they wouldn't pay class fees, why would the other students?

"Hirata will listen to your suggestions, but he'll listen to everyone else's, too. Having the right to make suggestions isn't enough."

"I have a way to take the position of Class D's leader by force."

"The odds of succeeding are pretty high, but you'd lose a lot in the process."

Aoyama rubbed his chin. Based on how he'd forced Katsuragi into the leadership position that morning, he'd come up with a similar plan.

Class D had only 250 Class Points left. It wasn't much, but it was still something he could use as leverage.

Hirata had only one bottom line: as long as there was no bullying in the class, he was easy to threaten.

If Horikita gave up her good reputation and got help from Karuizawa and Kushida, whom Aoyama had set his sights on, she might be able to force the whole class to accept her as their leader.

She could promise that if she failed, she'd step down and stop causing trouble. That would greatly reduce the other students' resistance.

All she had to do was give herself one chance to protect the 250 Class Points they had left. That was the perfect reason to convince herself.

"What's the plan?" After a moment of silence, Horikita Suzune sat up straight and looked at Aoyama attentively.

There seemed to be determination in her exquisite face and reddish-purple eyes.

"This morning, I..."

With a slight smile, Aoyama began describing what he'd done that morning, then carefully explained the plan he'd come up with.

Whether Horikita Suzune chose to go through with it was up to her. He wouldn't force her.

If she wanted to become Class D's leader quickly, this was probably the fastest way—but it would have the worst consequences afterward.

Once she put it into action, Horikita Suzune could forget about making friends in Class D.

Anyone who got close to Horikita Suzune would be shunned by the rest of Class D.

Late that night, in Aoyama's dorm room.

"Kushida has so many friends."

"She smiles so warmly, too. It seems like she never gets angry. She's really amazing."

Sitting on the familiar cushion, Yamamura reported on her evening spent following Kushida, then added that she felt a little envious.

She'd started following Kushida from a distance after school. She'd watched Kushida spend the evening entertaining one friend at a time, or groups of friends, like she was hosting guests.

They'd moved between three or four places during the evening, and Kushida had friends in every class.

"You're right that Kushida's amazing, but you're wrong about the first part." Aoyama took back his phone and logged into his messaging account again.

He thought Kushida was even more amazing than Hirata.

If she could be friends with the Three Idiots from Class D, her tolerance might be as high as a three-story building.

Not everyone could smile sweetly and agree with an idiot who'd done something stupid.

To put it plainly, she could eat chocolate that tasted like poop and keep praising it—every single day.

"Have you seen Kushida get angry, Aoyama?" Yamamura rubbed the end of the side ponytail resting against her shoulder.

"I've seen it from very far away. And you'll see it yourself soon, Yamamura."

Aoyama's lips curled into a slight smile as he read the reply on his phone from Horikita Suzune.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Busy Beginning of May

"Bzzzz."

"Bzzzz."

I'm exhausted.

I don't want to go to school.

Kushida Kikyo opened her eyes and reached for her phone as soon as she woke up.

She checked her new messages and, finding nothing from Aoyama Shiki, breathed a sigh of relief.

She opened her Personal Terminal. The modest five-digit balance had shrunk again.

At the end of last month, she'd turned down invitations from quite a few friends to go out, claiming she was short on Personal Points. Yesterday had been the first day of May, when the monthly Personal Points were issued.

"Drop dead a million times, you idiots."

Her arm and phone crashed onto the blanket. Thinking of the Three Idiots from Class D, Kushida felt an urge to stab someone.