Before Summer's End

"Here's one last piece of advice."

The witch turned back, pulling her hood up to reveal most of her face, which had been hidden. When she smiled, her wrinkles gathered together, revealing her as a very ordinary old woman.

"The human heart has a limited capacity; too much emotion will overflow, while too little will dry up—both are undesirable states."

"The human heart is actually very fragile, so we need to soothe it often, and frequently place our hand next to our heart and say to ourselves—"

Everything will be alright.

Quite touching lines, paired with a witch's patient admonition.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to be moved for a while, a silver card reader was pushed towards him:

"It's time. Please settle your bill."

Well, this is indeed a shady shop.

"You look quite disheveled."

Standing outside Karuizawa Kei's door was an unexpected visitor.

Sakayanagi Arisu stood smiling outside the door. Karuizawa Kei frowned. She didn't recognize the white-haired girl in front of her, only knowing that she was the temporary leader of Class A.

Aren't you going to let me in first?

"Please come in."

Although she had applied a hot towel to her eyes temporarily, the tear stains and severe nasal tone still betrayed Karuizawa Kei.

In fact, after parting ways with her friends yesterday, she had locked herself in her room.

Fortunately, it's summer vacation, so there's no need to worry about anyone noticing anything unusual.

"We're having Sports Festival next semester."

Sakayanagi Arisu sat down on her own and directly revealed an important piece of information to Karuizawa Kei.

However, this information would be known sooner or later, and as is customary, it would be announced by the homeroom teacher after the start of the next semester, so Sakayanagi Arisu didn't mind doing another favor.

"Are you here to tell me this as the Leader of Class A?"

Karuizawa Kei quickly reverted to her demeanor Leader Class D. Even though she looked somewhat haggard, she stared intently at Sakayanagi Arisu, analyzing the other party's intentions.

"Following the usual practice, the Sports Festival will be divided into two teams, Red and White, to compete. Class A and Class D will be natural allies this year."

"Are you here to form an alliance with me?"

No.

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head:

"As I just mentioned, this is in accordance with past practice."

"This year's situation may be very different."

"Due to some internal issues within the Student Council, the format of this year's Sports Festival may be adjusted."

"Does the Student Council... have that much power?"

"This school prioritizes Classroom of the Elite Studio, and the Student Council, as the student representatives, naturally has the right to change the rules."

Sakayanagi Arisu Karuizawa Kei with a smile.

"Please get ready."

"You came all this way just to tell me this?"

Karuizawa Kei asked somewhat dejectedly, since she wasn't really familiar with Sakayanagi Arisu, and according to her, Class A and Class D might not be allies like in previous years.

What are your stance and intentions?

She began to scrutinize Sakayanagi Arisu with a sharp gaze, as if trying to glean clues from the other's expression.

"I just hope you can help him."

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu took a photograph out of her pocket:

Her slender fingers gently brushed across the group photo; thirteen-year-old Kitagawa Ryo held a white cat in her arms and gave the camera her best smile.

The logo of the photography studio in the lower right corner is somewhat blurry; only the small words "... group photo" are clearly visible.

This is a very strange group photo.

Because on the right side of the group photo, the neat knife cuts seem to exclude someone who should be standing there, leaving only a wisp of honey-colored hair that can be glimpsed.

"Keep it up!"

Chapter 58: Before the End of Summer

Good morning, Honami.

At the tail end of summer vacation, with only three days left before the start of school, Kitagawa Ryo met Ichinose Honami at the agreed-upon 9:00 AM.

Good morning, it's chilly.

Ichinose Honami's long, golden-pink hair was casually draped over her shoulders as always, without any hairbands or hair clips. Because it was still the height of summer, Ichinose Honami's attire was also very cool. Two fair and delicate wrists peeked out from the sleeves of her light blue striped shirt, which had a summery feel. Her chest was supported by a captivating figure that didn't match her actual age. She seemed to be wearing a black tank top underneath, and her light black shorts barely covered her upper thighs, exposing her plump and straight legs, which were quite eye-catching.

"It's so hot, could you please come with me?"

Kitagawa Ryo walked up to Ichinose Honami and spoke.

"It's alright. After all, I'm the only First Year Student Council member, so it's perfectly reasonable for Ryo to ask me for help."

Ichinose Honami smiled knowingly and said:

"Moreover, the information Liang gave me last time was also crucial. Chihiro was living in fear for a long time, but now she has finally returned to class normally."

"The intelligence we gathered last time was merely a bargaining chip to get Honami to voluntarily withdraw from the Werewolf game. It was essentially a mutually beneficial arrangement, so there's no need to thank us."

Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami and said calmly:

"I never imagined that Vice President Nagumo is so well-regarded on campus, would be such a scoundrel who Malice leaks other people's privacy. Fortunately, not many people know about it yet, and Ryuen only obtained that thing by chance, which is why he chose to threaten your Class B."

Yes, before the last Werewolf game started, Kitagawa Ryo had already reached a secret agreement with Ichinose Honami. In exchange for exposing Shiranami Chihiro, a spy he had been using for a semester, Ichinose Honami would work for Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami in that Werewolf.

For Ichinose Honami, no matter how many points Werewolf, it's not as important as eliminating potential threats within the class and restoring peace to the class.

This might be a naive move that others would scoff at, but Ichinose Honami made that choice nonetheless.

After discussing with Ryuen Kakeru, Kitagawa Ryo also chose Ryuen as the person who would threaten Shiranami Chihiro. On the one hand, this would further create the appearance that he and Ryuen had a disagreement and were acting in different ways. On the other hand, it would also make it easier for Kitagawa Ryo to gain Ichinose Honami's trust.

However, just two days ago, Kitagawa Ryo obtained another important piece of information from Sakayanagi Arisu.

Ichinose Honami had also explained her past experiences of theft to Miyabi Nagumo.

In order to win over Sakayanagi Arisu and Class 1-A to cooperate in the Sports Festival, Miyabi Nagumo generously revealed a lot of information, and this is one of the key pieces of information.

Miyabi Nagumo's move was simply to use Class 1-A to suppress Ichinose Honami's class. According to him, it would be best to force Class Ichinose to the point where they had no way to retreat, and only then would he appear as the only savior.

Unfortunately, Sakayanagi Arisu immediately informed Kitagawa Ryo, so Kitagawa Ryo and Ryuen Kakeru promptly changed their statements, shifting most of the blame onto Miyabi Nagumo.

Shiranami Chihiro had already deleted the recording from her hands long ago, and Kitagawa Ryo wasn't worried that the two of them would notice anything amiss.

"It seems there was a reason why President Horikita didn't allow new students to be recruited in the first place..."

Ichinose Honami muttered something under her breath, then, seeing Kitagawa Ryo looking at her questioningly, she explained:

"Because the Student Council didn't recruit any new members this year, both Katsuragi from Class A and I were rejected. Later, Vice President Nagumo had a private talk with me."

"At that time, I didn't think too much about it. In fact, because he was also from Class B and I felt close to and respected him, I told him about my past without hesitation."

At this point, Ichinose Honami asked curiously:

"Speaking of which, Liang probably doesn't know about this yet, right?"

"Although it's being used against me, I believe that even in the past, Honami wouldn't have done anything too outrageous."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled:

"The past is meaningless; focusing on the present and the future is the right thing to do."

"Of course, if Honami is willing to confide in me, I'm quite good at listening, as a friend."

"Um."

Ichinose Honami gave a soft reply, then quickly looked up and returned a bright smile:

"I'll tell Liang first, when I finally have the courage to announce it to the whole class."

"Good."

Ichinose Honami made a temporary agreement with Kitagawa Ryo, and he did not force her to confront the past that he least wanted to remember right now.

However, he was also aware of the risks of this matter being exposed. Without any preparation, if Ichinose Honami perfect person, were suddenly subjected to such Malice slander, she could easily fall into a predicament of self-doubt and blame. At least now there was a buffer period.

Hopefully, she can get through this on her own.

Kitagawa Ryo never thought that Ichinose Honami was a hypocrite.

Even though this was the past she most wanted to hide, when faced with Kamuro Masumi who had stolen, Ichinose Honami still spoke of her own experience without hesitation to advise her.

So even now, Kitagawa Ryo still feels a little guilty towards Ichinose Honami.

"Hiyori would be very happy if she knew about Ryo's plan."

When Shiina Hiyori's name came out of Ichinose Honami's mouth, Kitagawa Ryo also withdrew his previous thoughts.

He is indeed someone who is quite inept at matters of the heart and is still in the exploratory stage, but once he is sure of his feelings, he will not waver.

"Therefore, it should be kept secret from Hiyori."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded and said:

I wonder if the Student Council will approve my application?

As they walked and talked, they arrived at the club center building. Because it was summer vacation, the various clubs that were usually active were either out of school to participate in competitions or on vacation. Most of the students in the school had gone to the swimming pool, which was originally reserved for the swimming club but was now open to all teachers and students for three days. Therefore, it was much quieter here than outside.

Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami took the elevator to the top floor of the Student Council. Like other clubs, the Student Council's workload was much less during the summer vacation, and there was only one student in the meeting room organizing materials and dealing with possible emergencies.

"Ichinose? You're not on duty today, are you? Is there something you need?"

Noticing the two enter, the student stood up and asked Ichinose Honami was also a Student Council member.

"Vice President Kiriyama."

I originally thought he was a secretary, but I didn't expect him to be a vice president.

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at the seemingly unremarkable student, but he had never heard of her before. Despite both being vice presidents, Miyabi Nagumo was much more well-known on campus.

Ichinose Honami, of course, had no idea what Kitagawa Ryo was thinking. After politely greeting Kiriyama, she also took the initiative to explain:

"This is Kitagawa Ryo, who will be promoted to Class B after the start of the new semester, and is in Class 1-C."

"Hello."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's name, Kiriyama frowned slightly but still extended his hand to greet Kitagawa Ryo.

"Hello Kiriyama -senpai."

One doesn't hit a smiling face, especially since Kitagawa Ryo came here to gain the Student Council's approval, so he politely responded to their greeting.

"The reason I was asked to bring Honami here today is to submit an application."

Kitagawa Ryo took the neatly prepared application form out of his bag and handed it to Kiriyama.

The Student Council handles most of the school's affairs, big and small. If Kitagawa Ryo wants to create a grand Confessions ceremony for Shiina Hiyori as he wishes, he must get approval from the Student Council. Just like when he spent 20 million points to buy Hotaru a student status a few days ago, he first reported it to the Student Council for processing.

"Class 1-C wants to apply to host a party in two days?"

After glancing at the title and the general content, Kiriyama looked up and asked with some confusion.

This isn't to say that the application was particularly unexpected; on the contrary, compared to Kitagawa Ryo's application a few days ago to grant a cat student status, this application was as normal as could be.

In the past, there have been cases where classes applied for venue approval for various activities, such as parties and birthday parties, which are all reasonable requests.

"There's nothing wrong with this application."

Sitting down, Vice President Kiriyama carefully reviewed the application again and nodded in approval:

"However, the event must end before 10 p. m., no alcohol is allowed, and all dangerous activities such as lighting bonfires or setting off fireworks are prohibited."

"As for the location, the Special Administrative Building and the nearby open space are both available for your use."

"At the same time, a deposit must be paid to the Student Council. If any damage to the venue or other issues arise afterward, the class will also need to provide corresponding compensation."