Sakayanagi Arisu Is Still Training / Suzune in Winter (4.5k)

The holiday time did indeed pass leisurely and quickly. After all, during the summer vacation, we had to deal with Special Exam from the school. After returning to school, we could use the swimming pool that the school had opened to students. There were even some novel and eye-catching limited-time shops, such as fortune-telling shops. It can be said that every day was quite fulfilling.

But winter break is different. Winter is indeed a season that makes people unconsciously start to feel lazy and slack. When we're in school, we can force ourselves to struggle out of bed every morning, but once the holidays start, the sealing magic of the blankets seems to be strengthened, making it so that we don't want to move a single finger after waking up. You can tell from the time when the class group is active every day that most students are still reluctant to leave their beds in the early morning or even the morning hours.

Speaking of class groups, theoretically, Kitagawa Ryo should have left his original Class A group after transferring classes. After all, the students' daily interactions in the group could be considered a form of information. However, since they felt that the transfer wasn't Kitagawa Ryo's own doing, after a brief discussion, the students in Class A created another group that didn't include him. The gist of it was that even though he had transferred classes, they were still classmates and friends, and that hadn't changed.

As for Class 1-B, they immediately added his account to the class group chat. Kitagawa Ryo was greeted with a barrage of welcome messages the day he joined.

It has to be said that the activity level and message refresh frequency of Class 1-B are indeed much higher than those of Class A. After all, Kitagawa Ryo also noticed this during the last Special Exam. The phenomenon of various small groups among the girls in Class A is quite common. Compared to chatting in a large group chat, they prefer to talk in their own small groups. Class B is the opposite. They share what they ate for lunch in the group chat. The usual atmosphere is also the classic praise group mode. To be honest, it's quite healing to watch. Even Kitagawa Ryo, who doesn't usually check the chat, unconsciously felt the urge to share.

So, after another winter morning workout with Sakayanagi Arisu, Kitagawa Ryo casually uploaded the exercise data, including time, distance, pace, and calories burned, from the app linked to his fitness tracker to the class group chat. Soon after, he received a string of replies, though Kitagawa Ryo guessed they were probably all lying in bed on their sides playing on their phones right now.

"The atmosphere in Class B is really great."

Because she was a little concerned about Kitagawa Ryo frequently checking his phone after his morning exercise, Sakayanagi Arisu took the opportunity to peek over on tiptoe, then nodded in relief and remarked with a sigh.

After training for a period of time, Sakayanagi Arisu has gradually adapted to the winter environment. Although the data on the OAA System has not been updated much since the summer vacation started, judging from the various sports data, Sakayanagi Arisu has made great progress compared to herself before the summer vacation. At least she has reached the average level of physical fitness of an ordinary high school student.

However, perhaps precisely because of this, Kitagawa Ryo could clearly sense that Arisu had finally calmed down for a while, had recently started to stir again, giving off a feeling of "the sun has come out and the rain has stopped, and now he thinks he's all set."

Watching Sakayanagi Arisu adjust the tightness of her scarf after her workout, intending to get some fresh air, Kitagawa Ryo unconsciously touched the scarf around his neck as well. It was a gift from Horikita Suzune just yesterday. He had only mentioned it briefly on Christmas Eve, but in just a few days, she had actually hand-knitted one for him from scratch.

Seemingly noticing Kitagawa Ryo's unconscious movement, Sakayanagi Arisu let out a soft hum.

"Do you like it that much?"

"Suzune's craftsmanship is really good. Although the design is quite simple, it's warmer than the ones sold in stores."

Because Sakayanagi Arisu's expression was excessively cute at that moment, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't resist teasing her again, but immediately changed the subject after the teasing subsided:

"Speaking of Arisu and Suzune lately?"

"Is there any need to ask? In the end, I will definitely win and become the new Leader of Class A."

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's question, Sakayanagi Arisu merely displayed a calm expression of confidence, responding in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Suzune's biggest asset in the class is her membership in the Student Council, but I have that too. Once the two are balanced out, she doesn't have much of an advantage left."

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu gave him another threatening glance:

"But I'm making this clear beforehand: just like the competition between Megumi and Honami at the Sports Festival last time, Ryo absolutely cannot interfere this time, not even in the slightest."

She was well aware of the influence this man wielded in Class A. Even though he had transferred to another class, many students, including Amasawa Ichika, Sakura Airi, and Ken Sudō, still cared a great deal about Kitagawa Ryo's opinion. If he showed even the slightest inclination or stirred things up, Sakayanagi Arisu's efforts to win over the entire Class A would be greatly affected, and it was even possible that the scales of victory would tip in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry, I definitely won't interfere in your battle for class Leader, but I can't guarantee that about others, like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from Class C."

"Why are you suddenly bringing up Ayanokoji? Wasn't his target Ryo from the beginning? Now that Ryo has transferred classes, shouldn't the focus naturally shift to Class B?"

"It's simple. He saw through my plan to transfer back to Class A, so he's seizing the opportunity while I'm not in Class A to give you a good beating. He's probably planning to leave some lingering effects or hidden dangers in Class A that won't disappear even after I come back."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo helplessly shrugged, realizing that he himself couldn't prevent this situation from happening either.

After he transfers to another class, Ichinose Honami will have to leave with him, so Class A will definitely fall into a brief period of chaos, because in fact, the only two people in Class A who are the most popular Leader are the two of them.

Kitagawa Ryo couldn't stop Sakayanagi Arisu and Horikita Suzune from vying for the vacant position. After all, once they entered the second year of school next year, the two of them would begin competing for power in the Student Council and for the positions of vice president and president. The battle for class Leader was, in essence, a preliminary battle in this presidential contest. After all, if you've never even been a class Leader, how can everyone confidently elect you as the Student Council President to lead the work?

What's more, these two are, to put it bluntly, rivals in love. Although Suzune has always been relatively mild in her attitude towards Arisu is currently preoccupied with becoming the class Leader so that she can have a couple more rounds of competition with him, so there's nothing she can do about it.

"Ayanokoji... I see. But I have indeed been having Chiaki keep an eye on him recently, and I have found some clues. At least he is no longer fighting alone."

"Did you find anything?"

"Hmm, is it because he's been quite active lately? Or is it that expanding his social circle inevitably leads to revealing his weaknesses? Based on the intelligence gathered and my assessment, he's probably already planted his own pawns in Class C, preparing to further interfere with class decisions."

"Ryo should know who the boy is, it's Hashimoto. But besides him, Katsuragi also seems to be wavering because of Totsuka Yahiko's withdrawal from school. If Ayanokoji is willing, he will most likely hand over the leadership of the class directly to him."

"As for the girls, it seems like he's getting along quite well with Kushida lately? Their interactions were originally limited to the beginning of the semester, but now they seem to be getting closer. But honestly, Ayanokoji's more suitable pawn should be Yamamura Miki from his own class."

"Yamamura?... Is there even a student like that in Class A?"

Upon hearing Sakayanagi Arisu mention the girl's name, Kitagawa Ryo instinctively showed a puzzled expression. Fortunately, he possessed the golden talent of Eidetic Memory, and casually recalled all the student information he had seen on OAA, quickly retrieving a somewhat unremarkable face from his memory.

"I do remember, but I always feel like the other person doesn't have much of a presence in Class A."

"Oh yeah, but on the other hand, maybe it's precisely because she's a girl with almost no presence that Ayanokoji approached her?"

Sakayanagi Arisu snapped her fingers lightly and explained to Kitagawa Ryo in a quick voice:

"Actually, the dynamics of the girls in Class C are quite similar to ours. Kushida Kikyo is roughly equivalent to Honami's position, standing at the top of the popular social circle in the entire class and even the grade. Below her are all sorts of small groups. Since the class Leader, Katsuragi, is a boy, and his personality isn't the kind that's easy to talk to girls, the command of the girls basically relies entirely on Kushida Hirata. But both of them are, at least on the surface, soft-hearted and easygoing. This led to the awkward situation where, after Class C's defeat, Katsuragi, having lost trust, could hardly command the girls in Class C."

After listening to Sakayanagi Arisu's words, Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement. After all, since the Uninhabited Island Special Exam and the spy investigation, the lack of cooperation from Class C had been quite obvious. Just like the saying goes, "If the hearts of the people are scattered, the team is hard to lead," Katsuragi Kohei's influence was indeed difficult to extend to include the girls in the class. The repeated setbacks of the maid café project at the last Cultural Festival were a clear indication of the problem.

"So, although I don't know what triggered Ayanokoji recently, all the evidence does indicate that he's trying to exert more personal influence over the entire Class C... Sigh, it was all Ryo's fault, but now he's just washing his hands of it and walking away, leaving me to shoulder this mess."

At this point, even the usually confident Sakayanagi Arisu revealed a hint of distress in her tone. After all, she was not currently in charge of a complete Class A, and under such internal and external troubles, it was indeed not an easy task to maintain the foundation laid by Kitagawa Ryo.

"What, do you think you're going to lose?"

"Tch, I'm just worried that something might go wrong with Suzune and she might be used as a pawn."

Of course, in front of Kitagawa Ryo, Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't easily show this worry, so she simply and directly changed the subject:

"What are Liang's plans for today? Is he going to do the same team-building activities with the students from Class B as the past two days?"

"I didn't make plans with them today. I've had enough time these past few days to get to know most of the students in the class. Actually, there are quite a few interesting students, but they haven't shown it much in the environment of Class B. And they're all very youthful in every way. I've already learned a lot of gossip about Class B in just these two days."

"Is youth... a topic for romance?"

"Yeah, come to think of it, quite a few boys in my class have asked me for all sorts of dating advice. They all want me to teach them how to pursue girls, how to confess their feelings, and how to test a girl's feelings for them."

"... To be honest, from my perspective, hearing about this topic of 'cool talk' makes me feel a bit conflicted."

Sakayanagi Arisu let out a dramatic sigh, her breath instantly turning into a thin white mist in the cold wind.

"So, Ryo's schedule is free today?"

"No, that's not it. Sudo and Miyake invited me out."

"Okay, have fun."

"Arisu, what are your plans for today?"

"It seems like there's nothing particularly important to do. I'll probably stay in the dorm all day and check the contents of the USB drive Liang gave me."

"Hmm... can you understand it?"

Kitagawa Ryo soul.

"Can't read."

Sakayanagi Arisu is quite honest.

"Then why are you still watching?"

As soon as he said that, Kitagawa Ryo was glared at fiercely by Arisu.

"I wasn't really looking for the technical terms and medical jargon; I was just trying to imagine what Ryo was like and what she was feeling when she wrote these things, since Ryo must have had it that time..."

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't finish her sentence. She simply reached out and grasped his little finger, then scratched his palm, as if to confirm that warm blood was still flowing in every vein and that every nerve was clearly responding to her touch.

She believes there is only one reason why she has been able to consistently stick to getting up early every day to exercise.

Kitagawa Ryo would wake himself up at her bedside every morning without fail.

In this way, no matter what your dream was like last night, it will instantly transform into the sweetest dream the moment you wake up.

He was her fairy tale, a reality that, whether after a beautiful dream or a nightmare, she could embrace without longing, fear, worry about loss, or dread waking up, a reality she could reach out and hug countless times without ever wanting to.

Chapter 388: The Suzune in Winter (4k5)

"Bang--"

With a clean back-to-the-basket move, Kitagawa Ryo deftly tossed the basketball into the overhead hoop. The ball landed with a crisp sound, bounced, and was finally caught by Miyake Akito on the sidelines.

"Hey Kitagawa, if you were in the Basketball Club, you'd probably be their absolute ace by now. I feel like Sudo wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"Really."

On the court, Ken Sudō received the ball thrown to him by Miyake Akito, and with a graceful three-pointer, he wholeheartedly echoed:

"If Kitagawa were in our Basketball Club, we probably would have won first place in this summer's tournament. It was such a pity about that game."

"It's not that exaggerated. I don't play basketball much, so I basically don't know anything about tactics and teamwork. I just have an advantage in one-on-one situations because of my physical attributes."

Faced with the praise from Ken Sudō and Miyake Akito, Kitagawa Ryo simply shook his head modestly, then unconsciously glanced at Yamada Albert, who in some ways should have more of this racial talent. The latter thought he wanted water and casually took a bottle of purified water from his backpack placed on the sidelines and handed it to Kitagawa Ryo.

"Oh, thanks."

After receiving the water from Yamada's large hands, Kitagawa Ryo sat down on the sidelines to rest for a while.

Compared to the biting cold outdoors, the environment inside the Gymnasium was undoubtedly much warmer. However, there were still very few students willing to come out to play sports at eight or nine o'clock in the morning. At least in the basketball court area, Kitagawa Ryo didn't see many students other than his group.

The guys who invited him out today— Ken Sudō, Miyake Akito, and Yamada Albert —are among Kitagawa Ryo's closest friends in Class A. Therefore, he's quite relaxed and enjoying the rare moment of sweating it out with the boys.

About an hour later, the Gymnasium gradually became lively. Soon, Kitagawa Ryo spotted several familiar figures coming from the volleyball court next door. They were the boys from Class 1-B, led by Shibata Sō, the class's sports enthusiast.

"Hey, Kitagawa, you're here too? Looks like you've been here for a while? No wonder you're in such good shape. If there's any betting next time at the Sports Festival, I'll definitely go all in on you."

Shibata Sō also spotted Kitagawa Ryo and jogged over to greet him cheerfully, then extended an invitation with a bright smile:

"Want to play together? We were thinking of splitting into two teams, but we didn't have enough people. Your joining would be perfect."

Because the invitation was extended to their group, Kitagawa Ryo didn't accept immediately. Instead, he turned around to ask Ken Sudō and the others for their opinions. However, the three of them responded even faster than he did. Before Kitagawa Ryo could even ask, they had already patted their chests and rubbed their hands together, seemingly ready to have a good match with Class B.

At this moment, Shibata Sō was clearly unaware of the intentions of the three members of Class A. After seeing them agree, he jogged back to the other side of the volleyball net, signaled from afar that the match had begun, and then deftly jumped up to serve. It seemed that this official member of the Soccer Club played volleyball quite often.

However, he was now facing the three Class A musketeers who were already thinking about proving to Kitagawa Ryo whether it was easier to win with them or with the others. Before Kitagawa Ryo could even react, the three of them had already clearly defined their roles and positions: the strongest and most athletic Ken Sudō was the main attacker, the tallest and heaviest Yamada Albert was the main defender, and the most agile and fastest, Miyake Akito, took on the role of libero, responsible for saving the ball everywhere. They won the first three rounds with overwhelming momentum.

Seeing that Class B was routed as soon as they came up, Kitagawa Ryo shook his head helplessly. He quickly raised his hand to signal the two teams to switch people slightly, sending the two Class B students to Sudo Group, while he went to Shibata's side.

After this substitution, the situation on the field changed from one-sided to a relatively balanced one. Shibata Sō's athletic ability is indeed among the best of his peers, and he is also the kind of person who is quite versatile. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been favored by so many students in his grade at the Sports Festival and considered one of the strong contenders for the championship.

After playing for about half an hour with this lineup, the Sudo Group, who were almost exhausted, were the first to ask for a break. After all, they had played basketball for quite a while before Class B arrived, and their stamina was definitely not at its peak. The two sides ended this volleyball friendly match, which could barely be considered a match between Class A and Class B, with a very close score.

Of course, in Ken Sudō's eyes, the fact that the match ended in such a close contest was entirely due to Kitagawa Ryo's substitution. Therefore, as soon as the match ended, he couldn't wait to speak out:

"If Kitagawa hadn't switched places with you, we would have won by a large margin long ago."

"A one-sided match is no fun, and to be honest, there might be Special Exam later that involves this kind of competition, so you guys need to get used to this kind of matchup in advance."

When Kitagawa Ryo those words, Ken Sudō belatedly realized that the other person had already transferred to another class and left. He immediately fell silent, silently drinking water, the plastic bottle making a slight crunching sound as he gripped it.

Thanks to the special system of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School and the existence of Class Points, collective interests are undoubtedly placed above individual interests more naturally. Therefore, students who give up collective interests for personal gain are more likely to be criticized by other members of the class. This is also why Ryuen Kakeru was driven off the stage by his classmates after the Uninhabited Island Special Exam.

That's why, even knowing that he and Ken Sudō were close friends in private, Kitagawa Ryo didn't want his personal feelings to influence the other person's choices and judgments at a crucial moment involving class competition. After all, the necessary prerequisite for the two survival rules that Kitagawa Ryo proposed in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School was to successfully survive there for three years and graduate smoothly.

Many students at ANHS do not actually have the so-called backup plan that allows them to drop out without affecting their future plans, like him and Karuizawa Kei. Whether they want to use this top-notch platform and abundant educational resources in the country to improve their abilities and horizons, or aim to graduate from Class A, they must first ensure that they can stay here for three full years.

This is also why Kitagawa Ryo almost completely cut off contact with Hirata Yosuke, who was in Class C, after the start of the second semester. Although Hirata always said that with the help Kitagawa had given him before, he could completely disregard the consequences of being discovered as a spy by the class, Kitagawa Ryo still chose to let Hirata do nothing and quietly lie low. Moreover, Hirata's work was now being helped by Kushida Kikyo and Chabashira Sae, who were the kind of people who would be fearless even if they were exposed.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room had suddenly become somewhat dull, Miyake Akito glanced at the time on his phone and took the initiative to change the subject:

"It's almost 11 o'clock. I've been tired all morning. Let's find a nice restaurant to have a good meal at noon."

Yes.

Yamada Albert nodded in agreement.

"Okay, shall we go check out the Keyaki Mall then?"

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo took out his phone and opened the school's online forum:

"Let me see... I think I saw a post on social media before about new dishes being added to the family restaurant on the fourth floor."

"Oh, I saw that too. There's a new package that seems to be pretty good value for money."

Seeing that the other three had changed the subject to appease him, Ken Sudō scratched the back of his head and gave up on continuing his emo, also grinning as he joined the discussion about today's lunch.

After saying goodbye to Shibata Sō, who was planning to play a little more, the four of them strolled from the Gymnasium to the Keyaki Mall, chatting and browsing. Once they found a shop they liked and sat down, Kitagawa Ryo proactively handed them the menu.

"You guys order first, I'll just grab something to tide me over."

"Hmm? What's wrong? Don't you have anything you want to eat here?"

"No, not either."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but sigh:

"I'll need to eat another bento box when I get back."

Seeing the other three looking quite puzzled, Kitagawa Ryo briefly explained to them:

"Suzune prepares my lunch every day now. I've been hanging out with the students from Class B for the past few days, and we usually find a place to eat together like today. But Suzune always makes me a meal, so it's been like this for a while now."

"Can't we save it for dinner?"

"These past two nights, Hui has been calling me over to give her special tutoring."