Let the Show Begin (4.5k) / Reviewing Things with Ayanokoji and Officially Switching Classes

"Well... to put it simply, I promised Arisu during the Cultural Festival that I would help her teach Nagumo a lesson, but I also heard that Nagumo used the debt contract she had with Class C to semi-forcefully obtain those thirty-odd Criticism Vote from their class during this Special Exam. So I'm a little worried that if I act rashly, it might ruin Ryo's plans for this Special Exam, which is why I came to ask you about it."

As she spoke, Amasawa Ichika also sighed with some distress:

"This semester is almost over, and I was originally planning to enjoy this winter break and then play a prank on Nagumo when the next semester starts, but Arisu insisted on using this favor."

"I don't mind, but Ichika, have you thought of any specific plans yet?"

"As for the plan, I have a few rough ideas, but I haven't thought of the details yet. The simplest and most direct method is, of course, to find a blind spot in the surveillance and call him out to beat him up. Don't think this method is bad, Liang. In fact, straightforward physical violence can easily leave a long-term psychological shadow on a person."

As an outstanding graduate of the White Room, Amasawa Ichika never denied that there were some rather dangerous violent factors lurking in her deep psyche, especially when it came to issues related to Kitagawa Ryo. Otherwise, she wouldn't have unleashed such a fierce attack on Kushida Kikyo on the Uninhabited Island, an attack that the latter still can't forget.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't answer immediately, but seemed to be deep in thought, which made Amasawa Ichika opposite him, inexplicably uneasy. Her right hand unconsciously played with a few strands of hair that fell beside her cheek, twirling them around her slender fingers as she began to worry about whether her previous remarks had revealed her true nature and whether she should continue to act innocent and cute.

"Ichika should be aware of Nagumo's sudden change in attitude towards Arisu recently, right?"

"Yes, that's why I offered to teach Arisu a lesson back then."

"Actually, I've had some guesses about this for Ichika while now. Do you remember the last Cultural Festival, who did President Amasawa come with to visit us?"

"It's Nagumo. The two of them first went to the dormitory area against the rules, and then they followed them to the Gymnasium."

"That's right. I actually did a detailed timeline of the changes in Nagumo's work style and even his personality. It was roughly the period after the start of the second semester of this school year, before the start of the Sports Festival."

"Theoretically speaking, Nagumo had already secured the position of the next Student Council President at that time, and was just waiting for the formal handover and succession ceremony after the Sports Festival. He should have been at the peak of his life, full of vigor and eager to realize his ambitions. Therefore, for a period of time, I subconsciously felt that his abnormalities were actually due to the influence of becoming the Student Council, since the timing was just right."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo also casually quoted some keywords that he had heard from Asahina Nazuna- senpai's countless complaints:

"Whether it's stubbornness or willfulness, there are plenty of people in reality who suddenly gain power and develop this kind of personality. But that doesn't explain his attitude towards Arisu or his actions at the Cultural Festival. To put it simply, in the eyes of many students in Class 2-A, Nagumo's current image is somewhat of a sycophant and bully."

"Fawning on superiors and bullying inferiors?"

Amasawa Ichika seemed unable to grasp the specific meaning of the word Kitagawa Ryo used for a moment. After all, although she had little contact with Miyabi Nagumo, she had at least heard some of the deeds of this second-year absolute ruler. Thinking of the other party's confident attitude of being second to none, she always felt that it was a little difficult to associate him with this word.

"Well, take the last Cultural Festival for example. Although Class 2-A ultimately achieved fourth place in the entire grade and class, which seems pretty good, compared to the investment the class made in the preparation stage, whether in terms of Private Points or Class Points, Class 2-A, and even the entire second year, was a complete loss. After all, apart from Class A taking the lead in spending extra points to buy venues and equipment, the other three classes were also forced to contribute some."

In Kitagawa Ryo's view, compared to the many Private Points he lost at the Sports Festival, this Cultural Festival had a greater impact on Miyabi Nagumo, because one of the invisible but very important conditions for his dominance over the second year was that he could indeed make the entire second year's pie bigger.

The greatest advantage of cooperating across the entire grade is that it allows them to ideally extract the most substantial benefits from each Special Exam administered by the school. Therefore, unlike the First Year and third grades, the total number of Class Points for each class in the second grade is actually quite alarming. In fact, if you only look at the Class Points, the lowest-ranked Class 2-D would easily be a Class C if they came to the First Year.

With more Class Points, the Private Points allocated each month are naturally more. Even if a certain percentage needs to be handed over to Miyabi Nagumo, the Private Points she ultimately receives will still be more. In addition, there is the bonus of being able to enter Class A for graduation through a lottery. All of these factors together constitute the legitimacy of Miyabi Nagumo's rule within the second year.

However, Miyabi Nagumo person in charge of the Cultural Festival, completely abandoned his previous policies. In addition to the fact that the benefits for each class were far less than any of the previous Special Exam, his completely indifferent attitude, to the point that he did not even show up on the day of the Cultural Festival to make arrangements, made the students of Class 2-A feel somewhat disheartened.

"So, it's more likely that Nagumo experienced some kind of shock during that period. And in the time after the start of the second semester, besides the fact that he was about to take over Student Council, another major event actually occurred at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

Amasawa Ichika's mind was naturally quite sharp; as soon as Kitagawa Ryo revealed the specific time, she had already guessed the correct answer:

"Is Liang referring to Acting Chairman Tsukishiro?"

"Yes, it's him. He officially took office Acting Chairman after the start of the second semester. I suspect that Nagumo's recent changes are related to him."

Having spent a considerable amount of time in contact with Tsukishiro during Sakayanagi Arisu's final simulation, Kitagawa Ryo believed he understood some aspects of the other man's personality and style of doing things. Unlike his usual kind and smiling demeanor, this notorious political figure was never one to be soft-hearted. His politeness towards Kitagawa and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was simply due to their status.

As for the reason why the other party approached Miyabi Nagumo, it is not hard to guess. The system of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School has always been that the Special Exam are jointly managed by the school and the Student Council. As the Acting Chairman, Tsukishiro actually needs the support of the Student Council. In this way, in some situations where he cannot show up, the Student Council can act on his behalf, and it is also the most suitable person to be the one to shift the blame.

In fact, Tsukishiro has always been well aware that he is only a temporary Acting Chairman. It is precisely because of this that he has been able to carry out such sweeping reforms to the entire ANHS despite the opposition from most of the teachers. For example, the Class Vote exam that was originally supposed to be held at the end of the first academic year. Since he wouldn't be in office for long anyway, he might as well add more variables and highlights to this gamble.

"Tsukishiro does seem like the kind of person who would do something like that. Now that Ryo says it, it makes a lot of sense."

As someone who had also participated in the final simulation Amasawa Ichika was quite familiar with Tsukishiro, and thus nodded in approval.

"Although we don't know exactly what Tsukishiro did to Nagumo, it's undeniable that Nagumo is now starting to prepare for her future after graduation. Hmm, that's a high-EQ way of putting it."

After briefly recalling the few glances he had made at Miyabi Nagumo and President Amasawa during the Cultural Festival, and connecting that with Asahina Nazuna's statement that the Nagumo Cultural Festival was about abandoning the whole class to get close to those supposedly important guests, Kitagawa Ryo could easily deduce the other party's thought process from the cause and effect.

If we follow this line of thinking, then the reason why Miyabi Nagumo's attitude towards Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly improved becomes obvious, because Arisu's biological father is the former Chairman who was recently suspended from his post.

Of course, practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and if we want to verify these conjectures, Amasawa Ichika is a very good candidate.

"I want Ichika to test Nagumo's reaction a little, or rather, scare him, because if I'm not mistaken, you can now use the Amasawa Family's name to intimidate them."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo tapped the table lightly with his fingers, expressing his thoughts to Amasawa Ichika:

"Ichika's performance at the Cultural Festival should have indeed had an effect, reaching your biological father's side. At that time, Nagumo happened to be with President Amasawa, so he would most likely know about the relationship between the two of you. Of course, it's the fake one, since Nagumo wouldn't know that you two father and daughter have never actually met and have no feelings for each other. But with the surname here and Arisu's example before, he'll fall for it."

"Mmm, and then what?"

"Then, before you prank or teach the other person a lesson according to your own Ichika, you can try to hint that there is a student in your class that you particularly dislike. Nagumo himself has the Criticism Vote for Class C. Given his current behavior, he will most likely want to use this bargaining chip to curry favor with you, or rather, to curry favor with President Amasawa, whom he considers a 'big shot'."

"As for that person's name..."

"I know, Ryo wants me to fill in the Maezono, right?"

Amasawa Ichika readily gave Maezono's name, and then added without hesitation:

"Recently, quite a few people in the class have heard that she seems to be doing something naughty."

Kitagawa Ryo simply nodded in agreement.

Honami's cooperation arrived as scheduled.

Chapter 373: The Show Begins (4k5)

The atmosphere in Class 1-A has become noticeably subtle in the past few days. Besides the fact that the Special Exam is approaching and the class has not yet established a specific strategy, the main reason is some rumors that have suddenly become rampant.

Over this period of time, Maezono's clique has grown to a size of more than a dozen students. After all, humans are instinctively inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm, and her excuse of merely protecting herself doesn't seem to have any faults for the time being. However, the only thing that bothers Maezono is that Ken Sudō, who inexplicably started competing with them, somehow managed to pull several people away from her clique. She even regrets including him on her list of potential recruits in the first place. So much for the idea that athletes are easier to fool.

As the number of students increased and the conflict escalated, even well-behaved students like Miyake Akito Yukimura Teruhiko vaguely sensed a change within the class. However, knowing their own limitations, they hoped that Kitagawa Ryo would step forward and come up with a solution, as he had done before, so that the class could get through this Special Exam safely.

In their eyes, these unusual phenomena were nothing more than the students' fear and confusion about the Special Exam, the voting process taking too long, and Kitagawa Ryo's failure to make corresponding arrangements, which led to the current situation.

In short, as long as Kitagawa Ryo gives specific instructions, everything will be alright.

But until a week before the Special Exam officially began, Kitagawa Ryo, and even Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu, who had previously served as commanders in the Special Exam, fell silent at the same time, as if they had agreed to do so.

Although some impatient students took the initiative to ask Kitagawa Ryo or Ichinose Honami privately, they generally received the answer that they were still communicating with other classes and that there would be a result in a few days.

During this anxious wait, another rumor that originated from Class 1-C once again grabbed the attention of the entire grade and even the whole school. Totsuka Yahiko student from Class 1-C, voluntarily revealed the results of his investigation over the past month in front of the whole class, claiming that their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, was the spy that Class C had been searching for for so long. He even went so far as to imagine that the relationship between the two was not as simple as that of teacher and student.

Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Katsuragi Kohei had predicted, the students in Class 1-C, both boys and girls, were too lazy to believe a single Totsuka Yahiko's nonsense. They subconsciously regarded him as a precious person who knew he was going to be voted out of school and therefore shamelessly clung to him and spread rumors everywhere.

However, once this sensational rumor was spread, it was completely out of control. Moreover, it was a topic that was extremely sensitive for the school. Therefore, Chabashira Sae and Kitagawa Ryo, who were involved, were quickly summoned to the Academic Affairs Office for investigation.

At this point, Chabashira Sae's past persona and image came into play. If it were Hoshinomiya Chie, whose private life was so messy that it was an open secret among the faculty, the school would probably have to investigate further with some skepticism. But Chabashira Sae had been an ice queen here for almost five or six years, and she didn't seem like the type to get involved with students.

Of course, as the Acting Chairman, Tsukishiro also implicitly expressed his attitude of minimizing the matter. Therefore, after a series of swift actions, the school issued a special notice defining the incident as a defamation case, calling on teachers and students not to believe or spread rumors, and giving the rumor- Totsuka Yahiko a severe punishment.

Although the process and outcome of this incident were not unexpected by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself, and he had not intended to bring down Chabashira Sae with just this one move, he still sensed something was amiss. Chabashira Sae herself had unusually held several one-on-one teacher-student talks afterward. Ostensibly, she used the excuse of wanting to strengthen communication with her classmates to prevent such unfounded misunderstandings and slander from happening again, but such actions were not like Chabashira Sae's own style. Instead, it seemed more like an instruction from Kitagawa Ryo.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was unable to investigate exactly what Chabashira Sae had said to each person in these conversations, especially among the girls. He had indeed managed to acquire a valuable pawn through various means over the past few months, but her personality made it difficult to gather such information, so he had to put the matter aside for the time being.

For students in other classes, it was more like a rotten melon that they started with great enthusiasm but ended up feeling bored and tasteless.

Especially for the students in Class 1-A, they endured several more days of anxiety and unease. Finally, on the day before the voting deadline, Kitagawa Ryo, for the first time after school, stepped onto the podium amidst gazes filled with a mix of emotions and thoughts, and began to outline his plans for this Special Exam:

"First of all, I want to apologize to everyone here. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to make significant changes to various plans and overturn my previous ideas during the preparation for this Special Exam, which is why it has been delayed until now."

"Besides the reasons mentioned above, the reason we've waited until now is also due to the need for confidentiality and strictness. According to the agreement I signed with other classes, any slight oversight or discrepancy will result in severe penalties for breach of contract, so I hope everyone can understand."

"Now, the following is the formal statement regarding this Special Exam for Class Vote. In fact, over the past month, I have communicated with other classes in the same grade, and we have finally reached a consensus, albeit reluctantly."

Having said that, Kitagawa Ryo scanned the faces of all the students in the class, took a deep breath, and began to give his final instructions:

"Regarding the Class Vote, I will not interfere in any way. All students are free to use their three votes for praise and Criticism Vote of their classmates. I have no mandatory requirements regarding this."

These words immediately sparked a heated discussion in the class. The first to stand up from his seat in an almost abrupt manner was Ken Sudō, who was sitting in the back row:

"No way, I heard that Nagumo from the second year collected all the Criticism Vote from Class C. Given the time you spent with him during the Sports Festival, Kitagawa, with his petty personality, there's no way he wouldn't use them on you. Even if it's just for safety reasons, every single person in the class should at least give you a vote of praise."

Kitagawa Ryo could even speak, another sentence popped up out of nowhere:

"How do you know those Criticism Vote were definitely for Kitagawa? He himself, as the Leader, said so; he must have his own reasons."

Then came another sneer, deliberately lowered in voice:

"Why are you jumping out to pledge your loyalty now? Where were you before?"

If we could turn back time to half a year ago, Ken Sudō would probably have already dragged these sarcastic people out on the spot and given them a good beating from the PE students. But now he has indeed learned to control his emotions. Although he still subconsciously felt angry in the face of this situation, he still suppressed his desire to attack and turned his gaze to Kitagawa Ryo on the podium.

"Yes, that's true. Nagumo's targets won't necessarily be just me. You don't need to vote for me because of that."

Kitagawa Ryo remained remarkably calm, which left Ken Sudō somewhat bewildered, prompting him to instinctively continue his defense:

"However, I think if Kitagawa can get the Protection Point for first place, it will benefit our entire class."

Just like before, as soon as he uttered those words, the small group led by Maezono once again uttered a few sarcastic remarks that made Ken Sudō's forehead veins throb and his blood pressure skyrocket:

"Hehe, so Leader is just about getting personal benefits?"

"Wow, is it okay to say something like that so openly?"

"Sudo just doesn't understand. If he says something like that, how is Kitagawa going to subtly suggest we vote for him?"

However, Kitagawa Ryo remained oblivious to these ambiguous remarks, gesturing for Ken Sudō to sit down before skipping over the topic and continuing with the arrangements:

"As for the praise and Criticism Vote from other classes, I hope everyone will fill in the name of Totsuka Yahiko Class 1-C for the former and Manabe Shiho from Class 1-D for the latter."

Two more completely unexpected names, but what made Kitagawa Ryo somewhat amused was the reaction of some students in the audience. Maezono, who had just been saying, "He must have his reasons for saying that," suddenly adopted a righteous and selfless attitude, raising her hand to ask, "I'm not going to let you off the hook!"

Why should we vote for those two?

"This involves the terms of an agreement with other classes, and we will inform everyone once the results of this Special Exam are released."

Seemingly bothered by Maezono's question, Kitagawa Ryo pursed her lips and added, as if feeling wronged:

"Wasn't it the same on the Uninhabited Island? Everyone just needed to follow my instructions."

"Back then, our class was just Class D with zero Class Points, but now we're Class 1-A with a clear lead. If we continue to unconditionally obey your orders, the class will find it harder to improve. Or do you expect us to unconditionally obey your commands in everything without thinking?"

Maezono's words, seemingly flawless at first glance, demonstrate her mastery of the Maezono of seizing the moral high ground and the fallacy of slippery slopes. However, Kitagawa Ryo responded with a firm stance:

"I said I would explain everything afterward, but now, all students, please follow my instructions to write the names of the two individuals on the two votes for praise and Criticism Vote, and cast them. Afterward, I will take photos to verify with the Leader of other classes."

"It seems you really have been getting close to Ryuen from Class D; you're almost 70% as good as him now."

Faced with Maezono's relentless Maezono to dictate the narrative, Kitagawa Ryo simply displayed an unyielding expression, tapped the blackboard once more, and continued to ask questions with an air of unquestionable authority:

"Have you filled out and submitted everything?"

At this point, even Maehara, who had been opposing him all Maezono, could only sit down again. On one hand, she secretly cursed Kitagawa Ryo, thinking that his reputation in the class would definitely plummet after he revealed his true nature. On the other hand, she honestly carried out his instructions. After all, going any further in rebellion would be going too far. Their stated purpose was always self-preservation, not to kill Kitagawa Ryo.

This was actually the first time he had shown such a willful attitude in class. Just as Kitagawa Ryo had predicted, his past reputation did indeed support him in doing something like Ryuen Kakeru, but he had not done it because he was worried that doing so would consume and destroy the collective atmosphere of the whole class.

After checking each class member's phone and confirming that they had all submitted the voting results to the school as instructed, Kitagawa Ryo hurriedly left the classroom, leaving the remaining time to the students of Class 1-A.

With Kitagawa Ryo gone, Maezono resumed her familiar back-and-forth rhythmic mode. Just as Ken Sudō was about to physically punch her in the face, Ichinose Honami suddenly walked up to the podium, clapped her hands as if she had made a great decision, and attracted the attention of the entire class.

Regarding the matter of transferring classes, no matter what you say, you might be labeled a traitor. The best way to resolve this is to have the class betray you first, thus shifting your role to that of the victim. And to become the perfect victim...

"... Well, although Ryo has been telling me to keep this arrangement a secret until the Special Exam is over, now that things have come to this, I really do want to clarify some things, especially for you and Maezono- kun."

At this point, Ichinose Honami, unusually serious, abandoned her usual smile and earnestly explained to herself and the entire class:

"Your thoughts and your demands have never been ignored by Liang. In fact, he made significant changes to his strategy midway through the preparation for this Special Exam, hoping to find a better solution for you."

"He knew you were worried about being unfairly targeted in this Class Vote, so besides not making any mandatory requirements in the Class Vote to prevent taking away the praise votes you might have received, he also made a deal with Class B and Class D that was definitely not worth it. All the praise votes from those two classes will be evenly distributed among every student in our Class A, everyone gets a share."

This was Kitagawa Ryo's first wordplay. The contract between Ryuen Kakeru and Katsuragi Kohei only guaranteed that the former would collect at least thirty praise votes for Totsuka Yahiko, but it never said that these praise votes had to be from the students of Class 1-D. These votes were transferred to Class A, which is the praise vote they just cast.

As Ichinose Honami said at this moment, Kitagawa Ryo demanded that the praise votes for Class 1-D be distributed equally among every student in Class A, and the same was true for the praise votes for Class 1-B.

Of course, Ichinose Honami would not reveal the truth.

"The transaction with Class D involved the two forms of tickets you just filled out. As for Class B, Ryo personally purchased them at a price of 100,000 Private Points per ticket, totaling 3.9 million Private Points."

"He would really spend so many points out of his own pocket for us?"

Maezono could even utter her instinctive retort, Ken Sudō had already rushed up from behind, furious, and grabbed her by the collar:

"What do you know? How do you know Kitagawa isn't that kind of person? Back in the last semester's Midterm Exam, he already paid out of his own pocket hundreds of thousands, even millions, of Private Points for several students in our class to buy their way to higher scores. Did you know that? Huh? Did you know that?"

With Ichinose Honami's statement and Ken Sudō's actions as the trigger, the classroom of Class 1-A immediately fell into unprecedented chaos.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat motionless in her seat, even applauding inwardly with amusement.

The real show has only just begun.

However, she was now eager to see what the class would look like after Class 1-B, thanks to this windfall and the perfect combination of 20 million Private Points, transferred Kitagawa Ryo to their new class.

Chapter 374: The Recap and Formal Transfer with Ayanokoji

After leaving Class 1-A's classroom, Kitagawa Ryo hadn't taken two steps when Ayanokoji Kiyotaka appeared in front of him, nodding slightly as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.

"Shall we chat?"

"Good."

After a brief question and answer, Kitagawa Ryo walked over and walked out of the teaching building with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. They sat down on a nearby bench and began their respective debriefings.