With This Many People, You Can't Avoid a Love Triangle Battlefield / You Know, I've Always Been on Team White Room

"There's no other way. After all, the unspoken rule of hiring teachers is there. If we can use it, Kitagawa can use it too. Chabashira- sensei probably has no other choice either."

After saying this, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, without waiting for Katsuragi Kohei to ask where he was, immediately continued speaking at a rapid pace:

"I have other things to do, I'll hang up now."

As the last syllable faded from his lips, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka hung up the phone almost simultaneously, refocusing his gaze on the screen in front of him.

This is the scene of another project of Class 1-A, a large-scale sale of ANHS exam questions and a question-solving challenge competition led by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Unlike the faculty and staff who flocked to the Special Teaching Building, this place was filled with invited junior high school students who were about to graduate. For them, who dreamed of applying to ANHS University next year, buying a few sets of test papers or taking a temporary test here was quite attractive. In particular, Sakayanagi Arisu brought out the popular ranking system, which further stimulated the desire of many students to become test kings after doing the test and seeing their rankings.

Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was well aware that the entrance exam for Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School actually accounted for a very small percentage of the overall evaluation criteria, it did not prevent him from carefully observing the academic level of these students. After all, this was still a high school, and good academic performance was definitely a stable advantage, especially in the Special Exam that primarily tested academic ability.

Since the start of the Cultural Festival, the top twenty spots on the leaderboard have been completely filled, and the rankings below them continue to change rapidly over time.

But the name of the first place winner has remained unchanged for a long time.

Ishigami Kyo.

What bothered Ayanokoji Kiyotaka even more was that after the other person finished answering the questions and left, as they brushed past each other, he clearly caught what the other person said:

"Ayanokoji's father will be meeting you in the Chairman's Office in half an hour."

Even now, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still doesn't know what Ayanokoji Atsuomi will do.

He never truly understood the other person, just as the other person never truly understood him.

Although they are father and son, in terms of the level of trust between them, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Ayanokoji Atsuomi is not as trusting as Kitagawa Ryo, whom he has only known for a little over half a year.

Just like now.

Half an hour had almost passed, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still showed no intention of leaving.

Finally, Kitagawa Ryo and Yuki appeared in his field of vision as they chatted and laughed intimately and walked towards him.

The other party kept their unspoken agreement.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally relaxed a little, and even unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile.

Now he may finally understand the answer to the question he had as a child about the only girl who would smile in that White Room: she simply wanted to smile.

Perhaps it's expressing one's attitude towards a certain matter, or perhaps it's showing one's feelings towards a certain person.

If we only consider this one moment, his reasoning is probably almost identical to that of the girl not far away.

They belong to the latter category.

Chapter 338: When there are too many people, a chaotic scene is unavoidable.

In fact, as early as when he learned that Yuki would be entering Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School during this Cultural Festival, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already conceived the idea of collaborating with Kitagawa Ryo.

In a sense, this is actually a follow-up to the bet the two made during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, because Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was actually betting that Kitagawa Ryo hadn't lied to him, and that Yuki, who was also a member of the Fourth Generation of the White Room, had indeed gotten rid of the shadows of the past and was not still troubled by various psychological problems like the other experimental subjects eliminated from the White Room.

For Ayanokoji Atsuomi, the White Room project, which has been temporarily suspended, can be unsuccessful, but it absolutely cannot be labeled as a failure. At the very least, it must produce some results, after all, he has devoted his prime years as a politician and a huge amount of personal connections and financial resources to this project over the past ten years.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, considered the White Room's Masterpiece to date, was the most important sample he presented to others, which is why he wagered it as the biggest stake in this gamble.

In this situation, Xue's stance and attitude undoubtedly appear quite delicate.

Because she was one of the students eliminated from the White Room.

Of course, the White Room has eliminated countless children over the past ten years, and at least among the Fourth Generation, including Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he was the only one left in the end.

However, unlike the other eliminated children, Yuki had a confirmed history of psychological and mental illness, but had gradually recovered in the past six months. She was discharged from the hospital with the approval of the doctor and was able to integrate into modern society. She was also able to enter this Cultural Festival as a guest through her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo and her family.

Frankly speaking, Ayanokoji Atsuomi would definitely not want to meet with a former White Room test subject who is so well-rounded, because it would be quite unseemly for something serious to happen in public.

After all, some things are only a couple of ounces light before being weighed, but once they're on the scale, even a thousand pounds might not be enough to stop them.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had thought it through very clearly. Under the completely closed management model of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, apart from Cultural Festival and other events open to the public, it was actually very difficult for Ayanokoji Atsuomi to directly extend his influence into the school. Regardless of whether the Chairman was Sakayanagi Narimori or Tsukishiro, especially the latter, after two brief encounters, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already seen through the latter's style of acting in a neutral and opportunistic manner.

So as long as we can get through today, that's fine.

Thinking this, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stared at Kitagawa Ryo's figure for a while longer, then continued to stand there until a familiar voice came from behind him again:

Aren't you planning to leave now?

"This is none of your business, Ishigami."

"It was Ayanokoji's father who asked me to inform you. If you don't go, it will naturally concern me."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned around and took a closer look at the boy named Ishigami Kyo. Although the boy was a year younger than him, he was very tall and handsome. He was calmly looking at him with his hands folded together.

Although he had heard that the other party had admired Ayanokoji Atsuomi since childhood, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still subconsciously frowned at the other party's constant use of the title "Ayanokoji's father".

"Then go back and tell him that I'm doing something more important right now."

"Does the more important thing mean just watching the show here?"

At this point, Ishigami Kyo also showed some impatience:

"I was sent by Ayanokoji's father to assist you, that's all."

"Conversely, if the other party's instruction is to exclude you, then I will comply."

"But actually you don't need to worry about that at all, because Ayanokoji's father has never had any intention of letting you drop out of this school, not even for a moment."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained silent on this matter. Of course, he understood this. After all, just as mentioned earlier, just as Ayanokoji Atsuomi certainly hadn't been able to meet Yuki yet, as the Masterpiece of the White Room, he would never be forced off the stage to be replaced, even if he lost his last piece, before Kitagawa Ryo took the initiative to end the duel.

However, what Ishigami Kyo and Ayanokoji Atsuomi failed to understand was that his current state of mind and thoughts were actually quite different from when he enrolled. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka no longer wanted to stay at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, but rather hoped to study and live there as an ordinary student. This was also the reason why he subtly indicated to Kitagawa Ryo that the two were not on opposing sides.

"The last person as confident as you was Yagami Takuya, and he dropped out of school here almost half a year ago."

After a moment of silence, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke.

"Don't make such pointless comparisons between me and the experiments in the White Room."

"Yeah?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka simply asked that question in return, then gestured for the other person to look at the screen displaying the leaderboard.

Ishigami Kyo, who had been at the top, had fallen to second place, replaced by a simple single-character name that didn't even have a surname—'Yuki'.

"These are the eliminated students from our White Room."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said this.

"Hmm... as expected, compared to the body, the mind doesn't need as much rehabilitation."

As soon as Xue came out of the room where she was taking the test, she saw her name at the top of the list. She stretched and walked back to Kitagawa Ryo's side with a relaxed and carefree attitude.

She was essentially reborn with the memories of the simulation, so compared to her body, which had been lying in a hospital ward for several years and whose functions had greatly declined, the knowledge in her mind was perfectly inherited.

The difficulty of the assignments for the Fourth Generation of the White Room students was already ten times greater than that of the later cohorts. As the student whose overall performance was second only to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the Masterpiece among them, Yuki was naturally the king of assignments. Taking a high school entrance exam assignment was indeed child's play for her.

But before Yuki's smile could last long, the event's organizer, Sakayanagi Arisu, appeared casually in front of her and Kitagawa Ryo.

Although she knew the other person was there to give her the prize for the event, ever since she learned from Kitagawa Ryo that morning that she and the other person actually shared memories, facing the person in person now still made her feel somewhat complicated and subtle.

"Congratulations to this guest for becoming the number one on the leaderboard for this event. These are your participation prizes. If you maintain your position until the end of the Cultural Festival, we will send you even more generous prizes."

Sakayanagi Arisu's attitude was quite normal. After handing over the participation prize, which was actually just a stationery set, to Yuki in a businesslike manner, she glanced at Kitagawa Ryo with a half-smile. It felt like a role reversal, except that Yuki wasn't making any declarations about her origins from the White Room.

"Haven't seen you for a long time."

After handling her official business as the organizer's representative, Sakayanagi Arisu greeted Yuki elegantly rather than politely. However, the thought of how Yuki had been teased by her and Amasawa Ichika in perfect unspoken understanding over the past six months made her smile a little hard to suppress.

"It really has been a long time. Arisu seems different from before."

After being thwarted by Nanase Tsubasa, Yuki finally regained her advantage with Sakayanagi Arisu. After all, although she was noticeably sickly compared to her contemporaries during the simulation, she was now considered to be developing normally compared to the current Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Ah, same to you."

Sakayanagi Arisu naturally understood Yuki's unspoken meaning. In fact, she herself was quite speechless about this matter. Unlike herself in the simulation, who had completely cured her heart disease in childhood, in reality, although she had indeed cured her congenital heart disease due to the butterfly effect caused by Kitagawa Ryo, she had only gone from being a patient to being in a sub-healthy state. It can only be said that if she hadn't exercised a lot with Kitagawa Ryo during this period, her complexion would probably be even worse.

Looking at the two girls in front of him, one who had been receiving psychological treatment in the ward for several years and whose skin was still somewhat sickly pale, and the other who needed a cane to help her walk just half a year ago but was now bickering happily, Kitagawa Ryo inexplicably felt a subtle atmosphere of a chaotic battle in the ward, and even thought about pulling over a certain self-proclaimed armchair detective to join the team.

"By the way, where 'Ichika?"

After reuniting with the familiar yet unfamiliar Sakayanagi Arisu, and briefly reigniting the verbal battle between the ANHS Faction and the White Room Faction, Yuki finally took the initiative to ask about Amasawa Ichika's situation, though it sounded almost like she was gritting her teeth.

After all, during the simulation, she really didn't regard this girl, who was a year younger than her and looked like a younger sister, as a rival in love like Sakayanagi Arisu. Even if she had a vague feeling for her, she only regarded her as the kind of affection that the Fifth Generation the White Room had for Kitagawa Ryo, and didn't think about it in a romantic way at all.

"Ichika didn't participate in this year's Cultural Festival; she wasn't feeling well and was resting in her dorm."

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, her tone tinged with regret. She knew all too well what kind of relationship Amasawa Ichika and Kitagawa Ryo had reached. Looking at Yuki, who was already somewhat disgruntled, she felt that if Yuki knew about this, she could storm straight to the dormitory building. However, she might not even find it there at first. Because Sakayanagi Arisu didn't even need to guess; there was a 120% chance that Amasawa Ichika was currently in Kitagawa Ryo's room, practically having sex with him.

As for her reason for asking for leave from this Cultural Festival, it was quite simple. On the surface Amasawa Ichika was the most innocent traitor of the White Room. There were also a large number of guests at this Cultural Festival, and Kitagawa Ryo had to accompany Yuki. If a few of Ayanokoji Atsuomi's people were mixed in and found an opportunity to kidnap Ichika directly out of the school, it would be quite troublesome. So, she simply found an excuse to ask for leave. Besides, she herself was a little embarrassed to face Yuki.

After all, among Sakayanagi Arisu, her, and Yuki, she was truly the only one who did something wrong.

"Alright then—I'll come find her again when I enroll in school. Liang, I'm leaving."

With a somewhat disappointed sigh, Yuki took Kitagawa Ryo's left hand, who had been standing to the side, trying to speak as little as possible and avoid making mistakes, and then casually handed the stationery set, which was the participation prize, back to Sakayanagi Arisu.

"It's too much trouble to carry this around. I'll come back to get it before we finish shopping."

Having finished speaking, Yuki, having freed her left hand again, wrapped both arms around Kitagawa Ryo's arm once more, deliberately raising her voice slightly in front of Sakayanagi Arisu:

"How about we go check out the Gymnasium next? I want to go to the haunted house with Ryo. It'll be my first time going to a place like that. Where's Ryo? Where's Ryo?"

"Hmm... I guess this counts as my first time."

"Welcome!"

As Kitagawa Ryo and Yuki approached the vicinity of the Gymnasium, the Class 2-A students who were selling tickets at the entrance began to enthusiastically greet the guests. However, when they caught sight of Kitagawa Ryo, they subconsciously showed a puzzled expression. After all, they knew this popular First Year student, but they never expected that the other party would have the time to wander around with the guests on the day of the Cultural Festival.

Could this be a new person they've just started dating?

Without making a sound, the student from Class 2-A glanced again at Xue, who was smiling like a girl in love, and made the same guess in his mind. Then he gasped.

Dude, the Cultural Festival has only been going on for a few hours, is that fast?

"Um, I want to buy a ticket for the haunted house..."

Xue, of course, had no idea what the student at the ticket counter was thinking. As she spoke, she took out her phone to pay, but then seemed to remember something:

"By the way, can Liang come in with me?"

Unlike the other stalls they had visited before, this was the first time the two had come to a facility that required tickets for entry. Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo, who was not a guest and could not buy a ticket, became a new problem.

"Um, theoretically speaking, if you, the customer, were willing to pay for him..."

The student from Class 2-A didn't think too much about it and was about to tell Xue to pay for both of them when another ticket seller stopped him, frowned, and shook his head, saying:

"No, only guests who have purchased tickets are allowed in."

Then, he explained the reason to his companion in a low voice:

"Are you stupid? This venue was meticulously prepared by Nagumo. You're letting students from other classes, or even Kitagawa, sneak in like this? What if something goes wrong? How will you take responsibility?"

Seeing that her plan to visit the haunted house with Kitagawa Ryo was about to fall through, Yuki tried to talk to the two of them. The commotion quickly attracted the attention of another enthusiastic student from Class 2-A nearby, which made Kitagawa Ryo's heart skip a beat.

Sister, why are you here?

After listening to her classmate's story, Asahina Nazuna quickly offered her own advice:

"It's definitely not good to push the guests out. Since you're worried about something going wrong, let me go in with them. That should solve the problem."

No problem my foot.

Kitagawa Ryo secretly rolled his eyes in his mind.

Of all the students present, you're clearly the one most afraid of this haunted house, right, senior?

Chapter 339: You know, I've always been a member of the White Room Faction.

Seeing that things were showing signs of turning around, Yuki, who was eager to go to the Gymnasium with Kitagawa Ryo, seemed afraid that Asahina Nazuna would change her mind, so she quickly nodded and agreed:

"Yeah, yeah, if you're really worried, you can just have this senior student watch over us, right, Liang?"

With things already discussed to this extent, and given that their group, who were at the very front of the line, hadn't entered yet, the other guests in the line behind them were starting to complain. The students of Class 2-A had no choice but to temporarily approve the suggestion. After all, it was Asahina Nazuna who suggested it, so if anything went wrong, they wouldn't be held responsible.

"Alright, then let Asahina Nazuna lead the two of you inside."

After handing the two haunted house tickets to Kitagawa Ryo and Yuki, the boy from Class 2-A had mixed feelings. They were all students at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, so how come some of them could go out and date with pretty girls at the Cultural Festival, while he could only be a ticket seller here?

"Phew--Finally, I can get in."

After successfully obtaining her and Kitagawa Ryo's admission tickets, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the programs and facilities for the four second-year classes were basically located in the Gymnasium. If they couldn't visit them together, it would be equivalent to missing out on about a third of this year's Cultural Festival.

"Thank you so much Asahina Nazuna- senpai."

As she spoke, Yuki politely thanked Asahina Nazuna again, since she had just heard the other person's surname from a student in Class 2-A, so she naturally addressed her that way.