In a practical education, scheming against people? I can also do a little.

"Yeah, how many points do you have left?"

"Only forty thousand."

"Then you'd better save them. There will be ways to earn points later, and I'll leave those to you to figure out. Forget it, you look so pathetic that if things go well on my end this time, I'll transfer you five thousand."

"Eh... that works. Better than nothing."

Kushida wanted to say that the amount was a bit low, but she realized she wasn't on the same level as him; him being willing to give her any points at all was just charity.

So, she could only sigh, feeling miserable about being placed in Class D.

If only she were in Class B.

But that was impossible. Because of her past, she was destined to be thrown into Class D.

"By the way, what's the deal with that woman in your dorm?"

"You mean Ryuen? What about her?"

"Who was it that told me to come find him whenever I wanted to vent?"

"So you came by?"

"Yes, but that woman opened the door. How am I supposed to vent with an outsider around?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Just come whenever you want; I'll just have her step aside when the time comes. Don't look at me like that. She isn't a blabbermouth, and she has no interest in such things. She won't go snitching to anyone."

"Really?"

"If she snitches, I'll give you all my points, alright?"

Since he had gone that far, there was nothing left to say. Kushida had no choice but to believe him.

"Alright, if you want to vent, why not start now?"

Hoya Chukai walked over to the door to close it, then began to listen as Kushida unleashed a torrent of garbage.

She had been bottling it up for a whole week. After dumping all that trash, she let out a sigh of relief.

"I can tell Class D has quite a few problems to push you to this point."

"You... you listened to all of it?"

"What else? Was I supposed to just nod and play on my phone, letting it go in one ear and out the other?"

Rubbing his chin, Hoya Chukai didn't understand what Kushida Kikyo meant.

He had already said he would be the listener, so how could he not listen properly?

Although it was filled with a massive amount of trash talk and various creative ways to curse people, overall, it was actually quite interesting to hear.

Hoya Chukai's words left Kushida silent for a moment. She hadn't expected Hoya Chukai to actually listen to all of it.

She was venting negative emotions, for heaven's sake! Did this man not feel even a hint of annoyance?

Of course not. She wasn't cursing him, so why would he have negative emotions?

Besides, watching the usual "good girl" break her persona and curse others so wildly, the distortion on her face actually seemed incredibly realistic.

Furthermore, if one filtered out the massive amount of useless information, he now had a much better understanding of the situation in Class D.

Horikita was starting to want to become the person in power in the class; that was indeed big news.

There were also plenty of annoying people among the girls, and if he needed to use someone else's blade to kill, he might have to struggle with which one to choose.

Ayanokoji hadn't been cursed much, mostly just for lacking social intelligence. Regarding that, Hoya Chukai thought he might let Ayanokoji sit in on the next session to hear what a negative example sounded like.

Aside from that, there were The Three Idiots. Sudo Ken was clashing with upperclassmen again, and Ike Kanji was constantly trying to get close to her but never daring to take it further. To Kushida, such pathetic, bootlicking behavior was no different from a fly.

If you've got the guts, then pursue her! What's the point of bothering her all the time?

As for Lord Yamauchi... forget it, don't even mention him. He was a guy who spent his days daydreaming; he had no ability, but he sure had plenty of imagination.

He was always thinking about dating Kushida, or Horikita, or sometimes even Ayanokoji. He looked at them with annoying eyes all day long, even more annoying than Hoya Chukai.

At least when Hoya Chukai talked about serious matters, he was genuinely earnest, and his usual gaze was one of appreciation. But him? He probably had nothing but sleeping on his mind.

Pfft—disgusting! Truly, absolutely disgusting!

After Kushida finished cursing everyone, she started talking about Hirata. This "kind" boy was too kind to everyone, so he got blasted too.

Who told him to always try to be a people-pleaser? But in terms of ability, he wasn't even as good as Ichinose. He could barely maintain a superficial sense of unity in the class, but in reality, he couldn't control the rebellious ones at all.

Koenji was naturally cursed as part of the daily routine; that arrogant-as-hell image of his was truly asking for it.

Karuizawa was mentioned too. She was always pestering Kushida, wanting to go buy new clothes together. She had already bought clothes with Matsushita last week. It seemed she didn't believe at all that they wouldn't have S-Points next month; she had already spent tens of thousands of points on clothes.

Matsushita and Sato, who were closest to Karuizawa, didn't escape either; they were mentioned too. Hasebe had also clashed with Kushida because she was always obsessed with the Archery Club. And Sakura wasn't spared either; her personality was weak and she didn't like communicating with others, so it took half a day just to explain something to her.

In total, almost all 39 classmates had been cursed.

Class D really was full of annoying drama.

This venting session lasted for an hour, right up until class was about to start, and only then did Kushida finally relax.

"Finished cursing?"

"Yeah."

"Still the same thing, if you feel like cursing someone in the future, come find me. Consider that a reward from me."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, time to go back to class. You, you've got your work cut out for you again~"

Holding his head, Hoya Chukai could practically feel the exhaustion just listening to what Kushida had just said; she was going back to suffer and toil again~

Chapter 87: Kanzaki Ryuji's Inquiry

"Very good, you passed today as well."

Hoya Chukai placed the test paper on the table, nodding with great satisfaction. "Now, let's get ready to eat."

"Oh."

After school, Ryuen Shoko had followed Hoya Chukai for tutoring again. It was the same as always; he only let her go once he confirmed she had mastered the material.

There wasn't much food today. Seeing only a single serving, Ryuen Shoko looked at Hoya Chukai in confusion.

"Aren't you eating?"

"Me? I have something else to do, so I just made this for you. Someone invited me to dinner, so I have to handle that."

"A guy or a girl?"

"A guy, don't overthink it."

Hoya Chukai smiled and flicked Ryuen Shoko on the nose. "You say you don't care, but aren't you feeling nervous just hearing that I'm going to eat with someone else?"

"I just wanted to understand the situation. Even if you were eating with a girl, I wouldn't care."

"Yes, yes. So, Shoko, tonight we'll still..."

Hoya Chukai didn't finish his sentence, but Ryuen Shoko knew exactly what he meant.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a light punch. "Talk about it when you get back."

"Alright, alright."

Laughing twice, Hoya Chukai left the dormitory.

He really did have an invitation today, and the person who invited him was none other than Ichinose.

But it wasn't just Ichinose; in fact, one could say she wasn't the one who truly initiated the invitation—she was merely the intermediary.

The person who actually requested this meeting was her classmate—Kanzaki Ryuji.

"Hoya-kun, I am very sorry to disturb you at this hour."

"It's fine, I was free anyway. Besides, since I'm not the one paying for this meal, I don't mind."

The place for their conversation was naturally not the cafeteria, but a private room in a restaurant.

Booking a private room was definitely not Ichinose's idea; it was Kanzaki Ryuji's consideration.

So, Class B has someone with some capability after all. Hoya Chukai looked at this boy who had always remained in the background.

Kanzaki Ryuji was much like Hoya Chukai; both intended to be the power behind the scenes. The only difference was that Kanzaki Ryuji was more laid-back—if Ichinose was doing fine, he wouldn't interfere.

Conversely, Hoya Chukai intervened proactively to prevent Ryuen Shoko from pulling off any suffocating stunts.

She was truly capable of doing such things, and Hoya Chukai didn't want to let her run wild. Otherwise, it would be a headache no matter how you looked at it.

"This meal isn't exactly easy to eat, Hoya-kun."

Sitting in the main seat, Kanzaki Ryuji watched quietly as Ichinose treated Hoya Chukai with such friendliness, and he frowned slightly.

He wasn't jealous of Hoya Chukai; he simply felt that Ichinose's behavior was inappropriate.

Even a benevolent ruler shouldn't be too easygoing; sometimes, one needs to maintain the dignity of a leader.

"Is that so? Well, we have to sit down and talk, right?"

Hoya Chukai pulled over a chair and sat down quite proactively. He was only willing to come for this meal because Kanzaki Ryuji's attitude toward him wasn't hostile.

If his attitude had annoyed Hoya Chukai, he wouldn't have bothered coming to this dinner at all.

"It seems Hoya-kun is much calmer than I imagined."

"What's there to be uncalm about? We're allies, aren't we?"

As Hoya Chukai spoke, he sat in the chair and began to look over the menu. Since someone else was footing the bill, he might as well pick something he wanted to eat.

Hoya Chukai's behavior made Kanzaki Ryuji snort softly. He hadn't expected that instead of discussing business, Hoya Chukai would be more concerned about his dinner.

Should he call him thick-skinned, or did he really have a plan in mind?

"Allies, you say. I would like to understand whether we are truly allies."

"Aren't we?"

"Although we did learn about the S-Points from you back then, and your proposal for the two classes to form an alliance was acceptable, over the past week, you have asked us for quite a few favors. As allies, it's impossible for one side to give while the other provides no feedback, right?"

Oh, so that's what this is about.

Hoya Chukai had thought they were making a big fuss over something, but it turned out they just wanted to get to the bottom of things.

Kanzaki Ryuji mostly wanted to know if Class C was genuinely cooperating with Class B, or if they were simply using Class B as a tool.

Isn't that obvious? Of course it's to act as a tool, just a more high-end version of one.

Cooperation between groups is different from that between individuals because groups consist of many people, meaning personal emotions cannot be mixed in; one must ensure the majority is satisfied. Therefore, cooperation between groups focuses more on whether the other party has any utility value.

Whether it is worth cooperating, whether it is one-sided exploitation, or whether they are simply trash—a bunch of useless waste that doesn't even deserve to be used.

"It seems true that I've troubled Class B a bit during this time, but it's only been a week. The cooperation I'm referring to isn't for a week or two, but for three years."

As he spoke, Hoya Chukai looked toward Ichinose: "Ichinose, can some things be discussed with him?"

"Yes, he is the vice class representative."

Ichinose answered immediately.

Hoya Chukai's meaning was simple: is he qualified enough? Ichinose indicated that he was.

Since he was qualified, the conversation could proceed.

"Have you ever chatted with the upperclassmen?"

"You mean..."

"In the future, we will have several instances where the four classes compete against each other. Some events change every year, while others occur annually. For example, the most recent conflict is the Uninhabited Island event after the first break. And in a four-class struggle, I think your opponent in Class B is undoubtedly Class A, right?"

"Yes."

"But you shouldn't have the confidence to deal with Class A, right? Don't look at me like that; you tell me who the leader of Class A is."

"Katsuragi Kohei, so what?"

"I see. In that case, it looks like you can't beat them."

Hoya Chukai clapped his hands: "If you can't even see through that, then don't bother thinking about it; you won't win. Don't look at me like that, I won't tell you the answer. Go find it yourself. Our Class C's opponent is also Class A, so don't you think it would be great for our two classes to cooperate on the Uninhabited Island?"

"..."

"Compared to this, mutual support in academics is actually nothing special. In this school, the points that can be added to the class through studying are few. For example, the upcoming midterm exam... oh, it's still five weeks away, so it's not exactly 'upcoming'."

Hoya Chukai calculated the time; it was still quite far off: "For the midterm exam, each class can get at most 100 points, but major events like the Uninhabited Island or the Sports Festival could potentially yield much more, and that is when the real seizing of other classes' points happens. I hope you understand that the cooperation I'm referring to is primarily for those times."