The Two Ladies Have Been at Each Other Since the Beginning

"That makes sense. Maeda, what exactly did you call us here to talk about today?"

When Ken Sudō spoke up, Shinohara Satsuki and Sato Maya, who were sitting opposite him, belatedly realized what was going on. After exchanging glances, they also took the initiative to ask questions.

"Yes, there's a reason... I deliberately didn't mention today's gathering to Honami and the others because I felt that some things were better left to us to discuss, or rather, it would be better for us to discuss them."

It seemed that he had indeed thought things through carefully before coming, and when asked by several people, Maezono calmly began to explain the purpose of the gathering.

To put it simply, it's about this Special Exam.

"First of all, what follows are my own opinions. I think that in this Class Vote, shouldn't we be more careful and have more options for our future?"

Perhaps finding the wording somewhat inexplicable, after saying this, Maezono quickly added:

"Of course, I'm not saying we shouldn't listen to Kitagawa, the class Leader. It's just that I feel that compared to the important figures in the class, it's Student Council like us who will be unfairly affected by this Special Exam."

"You see, this Class Vote basically only has two options: eliminating the bottom performers in our own class or attacking the Leader of other classes. Either way, we could end up falling to a lower ranking and being eliminated."

"Suppose Class D wants to vote out Beichuan this time, then we must use all our praise votes to protect him, and we absolutely cannot vote for him with Criticism Vote. This way, the opponent's votes might become more than forty praise votes and more than forty Criticism Vote, and the final score would be close to zero. But each student in the class has a full three Criticism Vote. If we don't vote for Beichuan, it means that one more person has to bear those three extra Criticism Vote, but he will get fewer praise votes. In the end, it is very likely that we will have a few praise votes and a dozen Criticism Vote, resulting in a final score of negative ten points."

Although some sophistry was employed, the minds of those present were not particularly sharp, and for a moment they couldn't find any obvious loopholes or errors, unconsciously developing the feeling that what the other party said made a lot of sense.

"I believe Kitagawa can handle this kind of thing."

But Ken Sudō quickly escaped this mental trap, mainly because he was too lazy to think about it in detail and simply said, "Believe first, then question."

"Our class was able to move up from Class D to Class A only because of Kitagawa's leadership, so I think this Special Exam will be the same; we just need to follow his instructions."

"But what if their instructions are for us to vote out the student with the lowest OAA rating in the class?"

Maezono spoke up, Miyamoto Kurashi was standing next to him, broke out in a cold sweat. After all, according to the latest OAA ratings, he was the lowest in Class 1-A. Hasebe, Shinohara, and Sato, who were next to him, also looked rather grim, probably because their OAA ratings were also among the lowest.

"Kitagawa wouldn't do such a thing."

"Didn't he already do something like this in the first semester? He expelled six students from the class during the Midterm Exam, just because the Class Points were already zero, so there was no point in deducting any points and it didn't cost him anything. Isn't this Special Exam the same thing, expelling people without deducting any Class Points?"

Maezono quickly retorted to Ken Sudō. Her own OAA score was actually near the bottom, so she had a particularly strong memory of the Midterm Exam around May of this year. After all, the fact that six desks were vacated in a class of forty students was truly unforgettable.

"Weren't those people expelled because they failed their Midterm Exam? What does that have to do with Beichuan?"

After two semesters of growth, Ken Sudō's thinking ability had also improved, and he immediately refuted this with clear thinking.

"But it's a fact that Kitagawa couldn't save them back then, right? According to your logic, if Kitagawa expels someone again this time, can't we also say it's because his OAA grade is at the bottom?"

"... All of this you're talking about hasn't happened yet; such pointless loans are meaningless."

"But it's important to plan ahead; this is just a means for us to protect ourselves."

Maezono merely sneered at this, then continued speaking:

"Besides, even if Kitagawa really said he wouldn't expel the students, no one can guarantee that it's just a smokescreen to buy time. After all, if they knew in advance that they were going to be the sacrificial lambs to be pushed out, they would definitely drag the whole class down with them."

"I know you and Sudo are close, Sudo, but we're not. Besides, I've said from the beginning that I don't intend to disobey his orders; I just want to protect myself within that framework."

Having said that, before Ken Sudō could retort, Maezono proactively brought up a new topic:

"Speaking of which, don't you all think Kitagawa's existence is strange in itself? Why would a student like him be placed in Class D in the first place? Although OAA was only implemented after the Sports Festival this semester, he has been acting incredibly strangely since he entered school. If the school's class placement criteria are based on talent, he shouldn't have been placed in Class D in the first place."

"I know you're thinking there are other outstanding students in the class, but they're all different from Kitagawa. Honami clearly has some issues with her personality or past. To be honest, I never really believed there was such a girl who could be so kind to everyone and have no flaws. Sakayanagi, needless to say, has obvious physical problems. Horikita isn't good at socializing, and Sakura and has been a 'problem student' for quite some time."

After giving a series of comments on several girls in the class, Maezono steered the conversation back to Kitagawa Ryo:

"As for Kitagawa, can you find any reason why he was assigned to Class D?"

When asked about this by Maezono, the first to answer was Sato Maya, who had just worked at a confectionery shop during the Cultural Festival two days prior and witnessed Kitagawa Ryo eating Matoba with a girl from out of town.

"Because his personal life is very messy... for example, he once caused someone to have an abortion?"

"Please, Kitagawa was a very famous theater Actor before he enrolled in school. If that were true, the media and reporters would have dug it up and reported it long ago."

"Well, now that you mention it, it's true."

"Right? Right?"

After successfully persuading the other party, Maezono herself could hardly hide the joy on her face.

"But in the end, isn't this a good thing? Just like Sudo said, if it weren't for Kitagawa, we'd probably still be Class D with zero Class Points, right?"

This time, it was Hasebe Haruka who spoke up, having barely said a word since entering the class. Despite possessing the very figure that Sakayanagi Arisu the most, she was actually no less attractive than the most popular students in the class. However, her academic, physical, and thinking abilities were not outstanding, and could only be described as below average. In addition, she had always been on the fringes of interpersonal relationships, so she didn't have much of a presence in the class.

However, for her personally, Hasebe Haruka quite liked this kind of school life where she could quietly improve her grades along with the rest of the class, and maybe even get some of the benefits of Class A after graduation—provided, of course, that she didn't get expelled.

"That's why I've already said it. I believe in Kitagawa just like you, but I really can't gamble my entire Fate on a Leader we don't really understand. From the beginning, my only goal was to protect myself, nothing more."

Maezono looked on with a helpless headache, then turned to ask the others:

"And you? Do you think you know Kitagawa well enough to know he would never abandon you in this Special Exam?"

"Xiaomei, I remember you were called the wrong name by someone before, right? It was already a whole semester into the semester, and as the class Leader, you couldn't even remember the students' names..."

Being suddenly called on, Wang Meiyu was a little confused, but she still nodded and answered:

"Yes, that's true, but it was a long time ago. I think it's probably because you all call me Xiaomei that he thinks my full name is Wang Xiaomei."

Seeing that the situation was not developing as he had expected, Maezono gritted his teeth and once again dropped a bombshell he had received from someone:

"Actually, Kitagawa never intended to stay in our class forever. As far as I know, he will transfer to another class this school year, either Class B or Class C."

Her words caused an uproar in the private room. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances before the impatient Shinohara Satsuki broke the silence:

"Are you serious? Such baseless claims..."

"There's evidence! Karuizawa from Class B was in a relationship with Kitagawa before she even enrolled, and she also earned a lot of Private Points at the Sports Festival. So did Chabashira, the homeroom teacher from Class C. Do you remember when they came to help our Class 1-A earn revenue at the Cultural Festival a couple of days ago? They said they used a loophole in the rules to threaten us, but if they really threatened us, why didn't they threaten Hoshinomiya teacher from Class B, as well?"

After another round of statements, Maezono of truth and falsehood, Qian Yuan, having delivered her full-blown speech, picked up a drink from the table to moisten her throat and reiterated her position once again:

"I'll say it again: I've always believed in Kitagawa and don't deny his contributions to the class, but I'm also genuinely afraid he'll end up like Yamauchi and Ike."

Then, she turned to Ken Sudō and said:

"As for Sudo, I know you have a good relationship with Kitagawa, and your OAA rating has been rising. You're different from us. But the reason I invited you here today is because I think you used to be a bottom-of-the-class student like us, so you should be able to understand our current thoughts better. At the same time, I also hope that you can become a pillar of the class like you through your own efforts in the future."

"So, even if you don't agree with my opinion, I hope you won't tell anyone about what happened today, okay?"

Finding this moral blackmail tactic somewhat difficult to resist, Ken Sudō could only nod helplessly.

"I understand. I won't tell anyone, but I won't get involved either... I'll be going now, sorry."

And so, he stood up from his seat and quickly left the private room.

"If no one else is leaving, it means everyone agrees with my idea, right?"

Watching Maezono begin to talk incessantly about her plans, Hasebe Haruka simply propped up her somewhat plump cheek with her hand, looking slightly bored.

Perhaps it was precisely because of her lone wolf nature that she considered herself to be taking a relatively objective, Bystander's perspective on the interpersonal relationships among the girls in her class.

Both Maezono, who Maezono the discussion, and Shinohara, who sat there nodding repeatedly, were actually the kind of people who wanted to enjoy being the center of attention and be the center of attention among the girls. However, their positions in the class were firmly occupied at the top from the beginning by a certain archangel and a certain former idol. The next few positions were occupied by Matsushita Chiaki and her small group of followers, Sakayanagi Arisu. And Horikita Suzune, who was at least a Student Council member, was definitely not as good as them. For girls with their personality, it was indeed a bit frustrating.

As she thought about it, Hasebe Haruka suddenly recalled a scene she had witnessed earlier.

The girl who was walking hand-in-hand with Maezono then, I think it was Hashimoto from Class C.

Chapter 361: The Two Ladies' Battle from the Beginning to Now

It was lunchtime again, and the Student Cafeteria was bustling with activity during lunch break and mealtime. Students from all three grades lined up in front of their chosen windows. Ichinose Honami, who had already gotten her food, easily found Sakayanagi Arisu's seat in the crowd. After greeting the other girls who had come with her, she took her tray and sat down next to them.

This is a seat in the corner of the restaurant, a small space separated by a wall and pillars. Because it is relatively remote, very few students choose to eat here. The closest seat was reserved in advance by Matsushita Chiaki, who will act as a lookout if anyone approaches.

"So, that's pretty much the situation. Hasebe also recorded the second half of the meeting on his phone, so there shouldn't be any problem with its credibility."

"Yes, I already heard it when you sent it to me last night."

Sakayanagi Arisu leisurely ate the school-provided nutritious meal. Unlike Horikita Suzune and Kitagawa Ryo, who brought their own lunches, she and Ichinose Honami were always cafeteria regulars. However, the former simply couldn't cook, while the latter did it for social reasons. After all, girls still really liked this kind of interaction where they did everything together.

"Did Honami and Liang talk about it?"

"Not yet."

Ichinose Honami put down her plate and sat down opposite Sakayanagi Arisu, gently shaking her head in response to her question.

"I don't think it's necessary; we can handle it ourselves."

"Indeed, but have you considered that even if you handle this matter alone, what about next time or the time after that? Maezono Honami, other students would do the same thing."

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to disagree with Ichinose Honami's idea, and stopped eating with her chopsticks, continuing to speak with a somewhat complicated expression:

"Actually, this was something that could have been predicted long ago. Liang's management style for this class has always been problematic, but it just hasn't really come to a head because the class has been winning all semester. No, it's more accurate to say that the class's success has been too easy and too fast, which has made the problem increasingly serious."

As early as when the OAA System was launched after the Sports Festival, Sakayanagi Arisu had already keenly noticed this problem: in fact, most of the students in Class 1-A, although they were nominally in Class A, generally maintained a C grade in terms of various abilities and overall evaluation in the OAA. Compared with their abilities at the beginning of the school year, they had indeed made visible progress, but it was still difficult for them to match the name of Class A, which currently held an absolute advantage in the grade.

Simply put, the class is indeed Class A, but in terms of the students' overall quality, the quality is still quite questionable.

Putting everything else aside, of the eight people that Maezono, apart from Ken Sudō and Wang Meiyu, who each secured their OAA overall ratings at the B level thanks to their exceptional athletic abilities and diligent studies, the remaining seven can be considered to be at the bottom.

It wasn't just at the bottom of Class A; it was rather lackluster in the entire First Year. Judging from the data alone, someone who didn't know better might have thought it was a student from Class D.

As for why we don't mention Class C, it's because the students from the original Class A really outperformed these so-called bottom-ranked Class A students in terms of average OAA scores. For example, Shinohara Satsuki, who was most enthusiastic about the proposal to Maezono, lost DCDC ratings in all four dimensions of OAA, including academic ability and physical ability, and her overall score was undoubtedly D+.

It can only be said that as the class Leader, Kitagawa Ryo only needs to think about how to get Class Points and lead the class to advance in rank. The bottom students in the class have to think about many more things on a daily basis, such as cramming before each major exam, how to increase their voice in the girls' circle, and how to have a youthful campus romance, etc.

Although using the metaphor "when people are well-fed and warm, they think of lustful desires" is not quite appropriate, at least when Class A was still Class D, the most difficult Class Points, none of the students, including them, would have acted so recklessly. But now that Class D has become Class A, many students' minds have naturally become more active.

In this respect, the introduction of the OAA System can be seen as adding fuel to the fire. After all, it ripped off the fig leaf for the bottom-ranked students in Class A in front of the entire grade. It was as if the words "Don't mistake the platform for ability, you're just being carried" were printed on their faces. They were the kind of students who couldn't even fight back when they were being mocked. Over time, some inexplicable little emotions would naturally arise.

How to properly deal with these emotions and prejudices actually became the criterion for separating these students in Class A into different groups again.

Faced with Sakayanagi Arisu's questioning, Ichinose Honami while, because she knew very well that the other party's point of view was actually not wrong.

The reason this conflict intensified was not only because the class advanced too quickly and the students' overall abilities couldn't keep up, but also because of the indulgence of Kitagawa Ryo, the class Leader.

In fact, Ichinose Honami did not completely agree with Sakayanagi Arisu's statement, because Kitagawa Ryo's attitude towards class affairs and students actually underwent a fairly clear transformation. In the first semester, he did indeed project an aloof persona, refusing to communicate with people he didn't know well. However, starting from the Uninhabited Island Special Exam during the summer vacation, he did indeed increase his communication with class members.

However, compared to other classes, it seems insufficient.

Regardless of how Class B, Class C, and Class D change, the Leader positions of each class will remain unchanged. Karuizawa Kei, Ryuen Kakeru, and Katsuragi Kohei are undoubtedly the core of their respective classes, and their strong personal characteristics are reflected in the way each class operates.

If we were to find a common trait among the three of them, it would be that each of them made a deep impression on the other students in the class on the first day of school and quickly established their leadership position in a short period of time.

However, Class 1-A was different. Back then, Class D was practically in turmoil during the first two months of school. Putting aside external factors, the first to accumulate prestige within the class and even have a hint of Leader were Ichinose Honami and Sakura Airi. At the very least, Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu quickly joined the Student Council.

Kitagawa Ryo officially established his position as the class Leader only after the Uninhabited Island Special Exam during the summer vacation. On that occasion, Class D did indeed achieve an unprecedented victory, sweeping away the gloom of the Class Points in the past.

Then what?

Following closely behind were the Sports Festival and the Cultural Festival, where the class leaders became Sakayanagi Arisu and Ichinose Honami again, and Class 1-A achieved a similarly unstoppable victory. It was actually quite easy to create the subtle illusion that even if Kitagawa Ryo were not the Leader, they could still win.

Of course, the above are just some of Maezono's rhetoric. Anyway, as they argue, everyone forgets Kitagawa Ryo's record-breaking undefeated championship at the Sports Festival and his brilliant performance at the Cultural Festival, where he brought in the Chabashira Sae to secure the victory.

This is the second fundamental reason why this happened: Kitagawa Ryo himself adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards the specific affairs and interpersonal relationships of Class A. His management style was more like asking Honami if something happened among the girls, and asking Sudo if something happened among the boys. He himself hardly participated in most of the interpersonal interactions within the class.

Although Kitagawa Ryo only wanted to say that dealing with so many messy girl emotional entanglements and past lives had already overwhelmed him, forcing him to become Time Management Master, some of the students in Class A didn't know or care about any of this. In their daily lives, Kitagawa Ryo was a so-called Leader who would disappear without a trace immediately after school and who only interacted with a few fixed boys and girls in the class in a somewhat distant manner.

"Isn't this a good thing? Does Arisu want Ryo to continue radiating affection like a Central Air Conditioner? Or does she think it's necessary to add a few more answers to the question of 'how many girlfriends does Ryo have?'"

Ichinose Honami took a different approach and chose a different response, seemingly still wanting to argue that Kitagawa Ryo's class management style was not wrong.

"This kind of slippery slope thinking is not conducive to the continuation of normal dialogue, don't you think, Honami?"

"Is Arisu's next line going to be 'If it were me,' indeed, if it were you, you would definitely be able to control and integrate the current class much better."

After offering this lukewarm compliment to Sakayanagi Arisu, Ichinose Honami calmly added a reply:

"If that's your thinking, why not just talk to Liang and ask him to give you the position of class Leader so you can control the whole class according to your own ideas?"

Perhaps provoked by Ichinose Honami's somewhat sarcastic reply, or perhaps because her mood hadn't been great these past few days, Sakayanagi Arisu retorted without backing down:

"At least I believe my approach will be better than Liang's. At least it will prevent a repeat of the incident where students in my class were easily swayed by students from another class who had already used their charm once, leading to a gang-like attempt to sabotage the Special Exam."

"... Arisu says that, I'm even more certain now that Ryo will transfer to another class this school year. After all, when it comes to competition, it has to be as rivals."

At this point, Ichinose Honami smiled brightly at Sakayanagi Arisu:

"Now I've changed my mind. I won't use the 20 million I have to stop Liang from transferring classes. On the contrary, if he does transfer classes one day, I'll use these points to transfer to the same class as him."

"Then, let's Arisu your rivals together."

Room 408, First Year Dormitory Building.

"I must say, your Class B's style of doing things is so obvious that you're openly competing with other classes, from the Uninhabited Island Special Exam until now, it's been the same."

When Kitagawa Ryo brought out two cups of brewed black tea from the kitchen on a tray, complaining as he walked out, Karuizawa Kei, who had unlocked his door a few minutes earlier, was already sprawled out on his freshly washed and dried sheets and blankets like a salted fish.

"I think this is what a normal high school student should be like. Liang, out of the four classes in the First Year, isn't our class the one that feels the most like high school campus life?"

"I don't deny that."

"Hehe, so Ryo should hurry up and come experience it for himself. Everyone here is a very enthusiastic and friendly group."