I'm Going to Make a Scene-I'm Doing It Right Now / The Academic Year-End Special Exam Begins (5k)

For Amasawa Ichika, only the second half of the content remained.

So, which match is she most resentful of, and still wants to win back to this day?

Amasawa Ichika has never been the best Chess in the world, not because of talent.

But also because--

From then on, she only studied one opponent.

Chapter 512: I'm Going to Make a Scene! I'm Going to Make a Scene Right Now!

"Well then, starting today, Kanzaki and Himeno will learn some Chess skills from me. As for the location... let me think... could we borrow your dorm room, Kanzaki?"

Since he was still keeping a mistress (and, to put it another way, a cat) in his dorm room Kitagawa Ryo Kanzaki Ryuji for his opinion.

"No problem."

Kanzaki Ryuji nodded in agreement.

"Okay, shall we head over now? Or Kanzaki you need to go back to your room first and spend some time tidying up?"

"No need, just come directly. There's nothing special that needs to be packed or tidied up."

Just like Kanzaki Ryuji's frank attitude, the other party's dormitory room was also decorated in a fairly proper and standard style. Apart from a few drama-related posters hanging on the wall, everything else was quite normal.

"I just happened to be passing by when I grabbed some Chess pieces and a chessboard from my room."

Did Kitagawa play Chess often before?

"I wouldn't say often, but I do download them quite a lot, although most of the time it's with the same person. Thank you."

After taking a sip of the hot water poured by Kanzaki Ryuji, Kitagawa Ryo began setting up the Go board and pieces on the coffee table. Just as he finished, he heard Himeno Yuki, who was kneeling opposite him, speak up:

"Actually, I lied just now. I know absolutely nothing about Chess; I don't even know the basic rules."

"Oh, I guessed it."

Kitagawa Ryo's reaction was quite calm, showing no surprise whatsoever. He continued arranging the chess pieces as if nothing had happened, and only after finishing did he smile and reply:

"Actually, even if you, Himeno, hadn't volunteered, I would have eventually called on you to come and learn Chess."

As the girl who was most out of place with the overall style of Class 1-B, Himeno Yuki was actually unable to participate in the large-scale, multi-person projects that Class B had applied for, which required teamwork. However, it wouldn't be good to just single her out like that, so Kitagawa Ryo had already planned to find a pretext to single her out.

"Oh... thank you."

After quietly thanking her, Himeno Yuki still seemed a little awkward. After all, she wasn't shameless, and this blatant act of dragging her down was putting her under considerable psychological pressure.

"However, you two don't need to overthink it. After all, for Arisu, there's no difference between a novice who knows the rules and has played a few rounds and an outsider who doesn't even know the rules. Her skill level has already surpassed amateur level; she's undoubtedly a professional, and one of the highest ranks at that."

"... If that's the case, is there any need for practicing like we did today?"

Of course.

Faced with Kanzaki Ryuji's confusion, Kitagawa Ryo simply nodded confidently:

Even so, Class B is not without a chance of winning this match. The reason we brought you two here today is to take a more foolproof and secure approach.

Then, Kitagawa Ryo patiently explained to them:

"Because the one-on-one spot for Class 1-A was used for Computer Typing Contest in Sotomura, this Chess will be held in a two-on-two format."

"And this is the first possible breakthrough."

"It's not Arisu who's good at Chess in Class 1-A. If the other person is also selected to participate in this event, she will provide hands-on guidance to both of you on the field."

"Ha?"

"What?"

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's words, Kanzaki Ryuji and Himeno Yuki both stared wide-eyed in disbelief, exchanging a bewildered glance.

"Is Kitagawa your spy?"

"Even a spy shouldn't betray the class so openly, right? How is she supposed to stay in Class A after this?"

"Well, this is actually a long story. It's not about espionage or not. Well... the person in question has arrived, so I'll just let her in."

After glancing at the message on his phone, Kitagawa Ryo stood up again and, to the surprise of Kanzaki Ryuji and Himeno Yuki, opened the door to the room, letting the student in.

"Yah hello--"

"Amasawa?"

"It's definitely me."

Entering the room with a bright smile was Amasawa Ichika from Class 1-A. As if she were cold, she tucked her hands into her sleeves and casually flicked her half-empty sleeve at the two of them before sitting directly next to Kitagawa Ryo.

"You're the helper Kitagawa mentioned?"

"Hmm, from your Class B's perspective, I do seem to be a big help, since you would have had a tough time with this project without me."

As she spoke, Amasawa Ichika exaggeratedly adopted a pitiful tone:

"But I didn't actually do this to help your Class B. How should I put it, when you put the words Arisu and Chess together, I really couldn't help it. After all, she didn't want to betray the class."

"Of course! If I really get kicked out, Liang, remember to take me in! Ah... I'm thirsty."

"It would be a lie to say that Ichika will be kicked out; rather, this Special Exam was truly designed to create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Kitagawa Ryo stopped Kanzaki Ryuji from getting up to pour water, and handed his own water glass to Amasawa Ichika.

"In the two-on-two Chess competition, if you, Ichika, are actually selected, then the only students who can see what's happening in the competition arena will be me and Suzune, the two Commander, and the four of you participants."

"Furthermore, to ensure fairness, the proctors were assigned to different classes for this exam. The teachers supervising our two classes' competition were Sakagami teacher from Class C, and Chabashira, the homeroom teacher from Class D. They wouldn't care what students from other classes did on the day, as long as it wasn't blatant misconduct."

"However, the rules of this Chess do not prohibit communication between teammates and opposing players."

After explaining the venue and rules, Kitagawa Ryo held up two fingers again:

"Therefore, we only need to consider two scenarios now."

"First, Ichika herself has been selected to participate in this Chess event, so things are very simple. You two just need to follow her instructions."

"Secondly, if Ichika himself is forced to participate in the previous event and is unable to participate in this Chess event, then Kanzaki and Himeno will need to put in a little extra effort. However, it can't be called a little extra effort; it will be quite a difficult task."

Amasawa Ichika then smoothly picked up the conversation, picking up the chess pieces on the board with interest and fiddling with them, while adding with a smile:

"Well, to put it simply, all you two need to do is memorize the moves. For example, let's say I'm Arisu, and my first move is this piece, and the moves are like this. Then what you need to do is move this piece to this position."

"What if the opponent doesn't move their piece like that as their first move?"

"This is the most likely opening strategy for Arisu a probability of over 70%. Of course, I've also prepared other options. Let me think about it. As for the first step, you should memorize about four or five options. If you divide the work between two people, the amount of memorization won't be too much."

At this point, Amasawa Ichika took out a whole stack of documents from his bag, covered with dense diagrams of various game scenarios, which made Kanzaki Ryuji and Himeno Yuki somewhat dizzy.

"You don't need to worry about why you have to go this way. Just memorize most of the scenarios, and make it through the first thirty minutes so that the situation isn't too dire when Liang takes over."

Looking at the marks at the top that were clearly not written in the last two days, Kanzaki Ryuji swallowed hard again.

"Um, if I may ask, would you mind revealing some of your reasons for doing this, Amasawa? It seems a bit too outrageous, doesn't it?"

"Oh, didn't Ryo tell you guys? Actually, the reason is quite simple: I lost to Arisu once in this area before."

Although her tone and smile remained unchanged, still displaying a relaxed and cheerful demeanor, even Kanzaki Ryuji and Himeno Yuki, who didn't know much about Amasawa Ichika, could clearly sense that her inner emotions didn't seem to match her outward appearance when she spoke so casually.

Kitagawa Ryo also said he had no solution to this.

Actually, it wasn't him who actively wanted to implement this plan this time. Rather, it was Amasawa Ichika who took the initiative to approach him and explained the plan to him with an attitude that made it impossible for him to refuse.

However, just as Amasawa Ichika just said, she doesn't have any deep prejudice against Arisu herself, but the fact that the name Sakayanagi Arisu is associated with Chess again can only be said to have awakened a kind of almost instinctive stress response in her in an instant.

Kitagawa Ryo himself didn't really remember what happened in the White Room that day. After all, he was still unconscious in his hospital bed when Amasawa Ichika and Sakayanagi Arisu were playing chess. If it weren't for his good sister physically breaking down the door of the ward, the simulation would probably have ended in a tragic bad ending without ever meeting the chapter's heroine.

But you know, Amasawa Ichika isn't as fragile as you think.

The sentence above is out of context; please cross it out.

However, Kitagawa Ryo could also understand how deep Amasawa Ichika's obsession was with that defeat. Sakayanagi Arisu the White Room was indeed the beginning of his story with her, but it was also the end of his story with Yuki and Amasawa Ichika in the White Room.

If I had to describe it with an emoji, it would look something like this:

"I'm taking this child with me. I don't believe the White Room is qualified or capable of raising him."

And so, when Sakayanagi Narimori uttered those words...

The lives of Arisu, Yuki, and Ichika were completely changed.

"Regardless, on behalf of myself, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Amasawa for your help."

"Besides, rather than having the two of you here doing the homework, I'd much rather be directly selected to go in. Otherwise, even if we win, it won't feel quite right."

In response to Kanzaki Ryuji's thanks, Amasawa Ichika simply rested her chin on her hand and gave a perfunctory reply before taking Kitagawa Ryo's hand:

"Then you two can spend some time memorizing the chessboard, pieces, and information. Liang and I have something to discuss privately."

"I'll be back in a bit."

Amasawa Ichika half-dragged and half-carried them to the corridor. Instead of taking the stairs, the two slowly walked down the stairs that were rarely used. For a while, the only sound in the stairwell was their footsteps.

"If I actually end up playing, I'd like to ask Ryo to explain things to Suzune after the exam, since she doesn't know about what happened between Arisu and me."

After a while, Kitagawa Ryo finally heard Amasawa Ichika say this to him.

"Well, if that situation really happens, I won't use the Commander's intervention authority. Ichika and Arisu will settle things fairly and squarely."

"Good."

After hesitating for a moment, Amasawa Ichika couldn't help but ask again:

"Won't Ryo think I'm weird? If it's just about the outcome of a game, I could just go to Arisu and ask her for another match... right?"

"This shows that for Ichika, this is no longer a matter of winning or losing a game of chess. If he thinks he can overcome this hurdle in this way, I don't find it strange at all."

As someone who has been through countless battles, Kitagawa Ryo has seen all kinds of psychological problems over the years. Even if we don't mention that he and Karuizawa Kei Ichinose Honami avoided each other for several years because of what happened back then, and they never met, in the last simulated ward, Amasawa Ichika was the one with the mildest symptoms.

You know...

Although Kitagawa Ryo also felt that this was related to the other party's explosive speed and quick action, and that the psychological urges hadn't had time to take over the high ground of intelligence before being replaced by physical satisfaction.

"That's good."

Amasawa Ichika breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It can only be said that children are indeed quite self-centered when they are making a fuss, but afterwards they are still afraid of being scolded by their parents.

After confirming that Kitagawa Ryo had no objection to her antics, Amasawa Ichika took the initiative to bring up the topic of Valentine's Day, specifically the performance that took place off-campus and was therefore unknown to most students on campus.

"I promise, Sister Xue definitely saw it!"

"Did you call for your sister again at this time?"

"Of course! We're the real White Room Alliance!"

"So this alliance hasn't broken down after all? Come to think of it, it seems like last year at the Cultural Festival, we were forced to retreat to the dorms because of you and me, Ichika."

"Yes, that's why I've helped you two take your relationship a big step forward."

"Thank you so much."

Although they were still exchanging banter with Amasawa Ichika, Kitagawa Ryo's mind was once again reminded of Yuki's face by the other's words.

Come to think of it, the last time the two met was on Christmas Eve last December, almost three months, a whole season ago.

He suddenly recalled a line from the United Kingdom writer Carroll's "Silent Night":

Winter is a time when snow slowly siftes through the darkness.

Chapter 513: The End-of-Year Special Exam Begin (5k)

After another week of preparation, March 21st finally arrived as the last Special Exam of the academic year began.

The End-of-Year Special Exam First Year through three were all scheduled for this day. However, the third-year exams should probably be called graduation exams, since their high school careers would officially come to an end after today, even though there would still be a graduation ceremony and Graduation Ceremony.

With this in mind, Commander Kitagawa Ryo, who was in charge of Class 1-B in this Special Exam, arrived at the designated location, the multimedia classroom, about fifteen minutes early.

As the final Special Exam of the school year, the school was undoubtedly quite generous in rewarding the Class Points. In extreme cases, it's even possible that all four classes (A, B, C, and D) would be rearranged after the exam.

Of course, the price of failure is equally heavy. Either the Commander himself will be expelled, or two scapegoats will be chosen from the class. In any case, after this Special Exam, at least two more First Year students will be expelled.

When Kitagawa Ryo arrived, Horikita Suzune, the Commander of Class 1-A, and Ryuen Kakeru, the Commander of Class 1-D, were already in place. However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the Commander of Class 1-C, was nowhere to be seen. The teacher waiting there kept checking the time on his phone, seemingly discussing the matter with other colleagues.

About three minutes before the exam was about to begin, a student from Class 1-C finally arrived, but it wasn't Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but rather Katsuragi Kohei who was in a hurry.

At the same time, the teacher in charge here also announced a temporary message to everyone:

"Due to a temporary illness, the original Commander of Class 1-C, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, is currently unable to continue participating in this Special Exam. Therefore, after consultation and communication within Class 1-C, Katsuragi Kohei will replace Ayanokoji Kiyotaka as the Commander of Class 1-C to participate in this Special Exam."

"Of course, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself will also be prohibited from interfering in this Special Exam in any way."

As soon as the staff finished reading the message, the students present showed varying degrees of surprise. But before they could ask any more questions, the teacher in charge announced that the exam was about to begin and instructed the two pairs of Commander, Class A and Class B, and Class C and Class D, to go into their respective classrooms for final preparations.