Big Sister's Eye for People Is Spot-On

Although he knew that the other person was just using the class as an excuse to express their little emotions, Kitagawa Ryo also knew that Ichinose Honami said was not wrong. After all, this Special Exam was a competition between classes, and if he, who was the most sought-after student in the eyes of the First Year students, kept delaying in finding a partner, it could indeed give Class 2-A some initiative.

After all, Ichinose Honami is quite professional when it comes to getting something for nothing.

"Okay, I'll try to confirm later."

"However, I'll still need to trouble Hui and Honami with the specifics of this Special Exam. Of course, just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Compared to being a planner who needs to oversee the overall situation, Kitagawa Ryo is now increasingly willing to be a simple executor. Moreover, this Special Exam doesn't seem to be particularly stressful in any aspect, so it shouldn't cause any problems if Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami are in charge. After all, they have led classes in many Special Exam over the past year.

"Okay, Ryo, just focus on your own things."

Karuizawa Kei nodded confidently in agreement. After all, for this kind of Special Exam that tests academic ability and communication skills, Class 2-A was definitely the best group of students in the entire second year.

First of all, everyone's average academic level is quite good, and there are very few poor students who would risk dropping out of school if they weren't associated with their older brother. Therefore, their actions would not be particularly restricted because of this.

Then there's the so-called communication skills. While not all the students in Class 2-A are social butterflies, compared to the students in the other three classes, they are definitely among the best in terms of personality and the most approachable in their dealings with others. They have absolutely no problem interacting with First Year students.

Rather, in just over a week, many students in Class A have already become quite familiar with some of the First Year students through club activities and other means.

Thinking about club matters, Karuizawa Kei spoke with renewed enthusiasm:

"Actually, I think it's better to start by contacting clubs for this Special Exam. It's much better to ask juniors in clubs you're familiar with and who you'll be working with in the future than to approach strangers from the First Year."

"Well, ultimately, we second-year students are the ones in a passive position during this Special Exam, or rather, we second-year students are the ones who need their help. It feels like contacting unfamiliar freshmen will only result in them demanding exorbitant prices."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly realized that he could also raise prices on the spot when dealing with First Year students. If it were Miyabi Nagumo, she might have already started to enjoy the benefits of being Central Air Conditioner and auction off the spot for a study session with a handsome, rich, and academically gifted senior.

"But I think the most troublesome class is probably Class C. Although they've been more serious lately and hold their own study sessions after class, it's not something that can be truly caught up in just one or two months. They're the ones who need the most help from the First Year students."

"But from First Year student's perspective, compared to taking on a burden and helping others, they would definitely prefer to team up with a senior who has better academic abilities, since a higher group ranking also brings Private Points rewards."

"So in the end, it will definitely become a transaction where one hand pays money and the other helps."

"Sigh, last year when we first entered school, we could choose to pay the second-year students for Midterm Exam using Private Points. But this year, after we moved up to the second year, it's become a situation where the second-year students have to pay the First Year Private Points. It's like we've wasted this whole year of school."

After making that subtle comment, Kitagawa Ryo picked up his phone again. A few minutes later, the crazy stream of message requests had finally quieted down. At the top of his contacts, he could see a text message from Yuki, whom he had set as a special contact.

The content is very simple, just a few words:

"Approval of the application."

Having just assured Karuizawa Kei that he would postpone the matter slightly, Kitagawa Ryo thought for a moment and then proactively replied:

"Has get out of class ended over there? I'm coming to find you."

Yuki replied quickly; Kitagawa Ryo's message status changed from unread to read within seconds, and then a few seconds later, the reply came through:

"Not going to club activities today?"

"You can take leave. I'm the minister, and I just approved it for myself."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the entrance on the first floor of the teaching building."

"Coming right away."

After exchanging a few words, Kitagawa Ryo took his schoolbag. Since textbooks were all replaced with electronic tablets this year, students have been packing their schoolbags much faster, and sometimes they even feel that it's not a problem to come to school without a schoolbag.

"I have something to do here, I'll be going now."

After saying goodbye to Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami, Kitagawa Ryo left Class 2-A with his schoolbag. The other three classes seemed to be still discussing the Special Exam that had just been announced, so there weren't many people in the corridor.

The situation was similar for the First Year. After descending the stairs in a few quick steps, Kitagawa Ryo quickly jogged to the entrance of the first floor of the teaching building, where he bumped into Yuki, who was waiting for him there with her bag.

"Liang replies so slowly..."

The other person made this small complaint as soon as we met.

"I received so many messages and applications that the page kept loading and wouldn't load. I had no choice but to add Xue to my favorites list."

"Huh? Really? Let me see your phone."

"As soon as I give it to you, you'll probably go straight to the OAA interface and apply through your partner."

"Tch, you figured that out."

"Because Xue always wears her heart on her sleeve."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo looked again at the girl's slightly upturned face, which was turned in his direction:

"It's always been like this: I laugh when I'm happy, and I cry when I'm sad."

"Isn't that how normal kids are? And I'm only like this in front of Ryo. In the eyes of the other students in our Class 1-D, I'm basically synonymous with a female demon or a violent maniac. So maybe I'm pretty good at acting? Thinking about it this way, Ryo's Drama Club seems like a pretty good place for me."

"Why are you suddenly interested in joining the Drama Club? Did your interview with the Student Council not go well?"

"No, I did pass the second round of interviews, but it felt like it dragged on for far too long. The final round of interviews hasn't even started yet, and the Special Exam have already come first."

Xue yawned wearily, seemingly dissatisfied with the Student Council's work efficiency.

"I feel like by the time I officially join the Student Council, it might be the end of April, even though all the other clubs have already finished recruiting and the new members have participated in several club activities."

"This year's situation is indeed quite special."

As one of the people in the know, Kitagawa Ryo explained the specific situation in the Student Council to Yuki. These were some complaints that Horikita Suzune had been venting to him about these past few days, and she was basically just asking him for comfort.

It can only be said that Suzune used to be someone who would endure any hardship without ever uttering a sound, but ever since the ring that Hotaru gave away changed something, a part of Suzune's personality has also subtly changed.

"Due to the nature of the organization, the Student Council's recruitment process has always been slower than all other clubs, or you could say it's more rigorous. After all, ANHS's Student Council is different from the outside world, and Xue should be aware of that."

"As for why this year's recruitment is unusually slow, one reason is that the number of students applying has exceeded all previous years, making the selection process much more complicated. The other reason is that there are also disagreements within the Student Council union itself."

"What disagreement?"

"Should we expand enrollment?"

"Expanding enrollment?"

"Well, according to previous practice, the Student Council usually recruits between two and four new members every April. This number is better left unrestricted than too many. However, due to the surge in the number of applicants this year, Ayanokoji, as the vice president, suggested that we consider increasing the number of recruits."

"He just wants to put all his people in the Student Council, doesn't he?"

Upon hearing this, Xue curled her lip in slight disdain:

"Even someone like Hosen, who's not very good at this, passed the second round of interviews. That's practically an open secret. It would be a joke if someone like him could join the Student Council."

"... really."

After briefly imagining the Matoba Ryuen Kakeru joining the Student Council, Kitagawa Ryo nodded in deep agreement:

"But besides him, there are indeed many good students among this year's First Year students. Suzune's side is also hesitant. After all, not recruiting anyone is definitely not an option, but recruiting too many students from Ayanokoji Faction would obviously cause them trouble. Eliminating them and choosing others would also raise questions about the specific criteria."

"Arisu? Isn't she also the Student Council vice president?"

"Her main goal is to get her friend Matsushita into the Student Council, so she's in favor of expanding recruitment. With the two vice presidents in agreement, president Suzune can't ignore it, so we're stuck here."

"No wonder the recruitment process has been dragging on for so long; it's even started now that the first Special Exam has begun."

"Actually, it's a good thing that it's been delayed until now. It will make it easier for the Student Council to assess the abilities of the students who have entered the final round of interviews based on the results of this Special Exam, and it will also be more convincing to the public."

"So Liang should definitely team up with me to get first place! Approval of your application—approval—approval..."

Seeing her snuggle up to his hand again, repeating herself in a coquettish manner, seemingly ready to snatch his phone at any moment, Kitagawa Ryo put his phone back in his pocket.

"There's no need to be in such a hurry. Are you worried that I'll end up paired with another First Year student?"

"Coming from someone whose phone is temporarily overwhelmed by real-time messages and applications, these words just don't sound very convincing."

"I wouldn't bother with them anyway, and frankly, I don't even know them. I haven't had much contact with the First Year students."

"Where's Nanase? Didn't she join your Drama Club?"

"Although it's a club, Fanbo basically leads all the club activities. He works behind the scenes, and his chances of performing on stage are still a long Honami off."

After hearing that Kitagawa Ryo's account matched the information he received from his sister, Yuki felt relieved and naturally shifted the topic to her sister.

"How about Sakurako? How did she do?"

"She's surprisingly good. At first, I thought she lacked motivation, but she's been quite serious about learning and is progressing very quickly."

"After all, she's my own sister. Actually, she's very capable in every aspect, whether it's academics or sports. It's just that she intentionally hid some of her abilities because she wanted to be in the same class as me. In the end, I ended up in Class D, while she was actually at the level of Class A."

"Is this the first time Xue has praised Sakurako to me like this?"

"But not a single word he said was a lie."

Yuki stopped in front of Kitagawa Ryo, hesitated for a moment, and then told him her true thoughts:

"Therefore, I hope Ryo can pair Arisu and Sakurako up."

"Want to challenge them?"

"Hmm! Genius against genius."

She nodded vigorously at the boy in front of her.

Many years ago, there was a variety show that was once very popular across the country with a similar name. However, back then, she was just a viewer and could only be a viewer. All she could do was pray for his victory and congratulate him on his victory.

There is indeed no incurable pain in this world, nor is there any despair that cannot be ended.

But everything that is lost is destined to return in another form someday.

Just so you know, it never really left.

Chapter Fourteen: My sister's judgment is indeed excellent.

"Me... going to team up with Sakayanagi- senpai for this Special Exam?"

In the Drama Club's activity room, after listening to Kitagawa Ryo's words, Tsubaki Sakurako, who was looking at the drama script, also looked up with some confusion.

"Yes, it was your sister's idea."

"Sister..."

She muttered to herself. Although she and Yuki were quite similar in appearance, the two gave off completely different vibes. Kitagawa Ryo herself was a little curious about how the two sisters usually got along.

"So, are you going to team up with me, senior?"

That's right.

"So, what's my reason for teaming up with Sakayanagi -senpai? Simply to be your opponent?"

Even though she didn't know exactly what had happened between her older sister and Sakayanagi Arisu, Tsubaki Sakurako could still sense the obsession her sister held for her. The grand performance called "Für Elise" near Tokyo Tower on Valentine's Day might still be unknown to outsiders, but if she read a few names that her sister always mentioned aloud, the answer would naturally emerge.

Thinking of this, Tsubaki Sakurako couldn't help but glance at Kitagawa Ryo again, completely baffled as to why he would choose to Matoba in Tokyo, outside of school, if he was expressing his love to Sakayanagi Arisu, who was studying at ANHS at the time. It was practically a direct and blatant mockery.

Moreover, the idea of juggling multiple relationships at the same time is already quite ridiculous, but when I went to ANHS and checked the campus forum, I found that the students seemed to have accepted this as commonplace, and they were even making fun of it. This made Tsubaki Sakurako wonder if some strange setting of the world had been secretly altered.

"Because Yuki thinks Sakurako is an excellent child who is no less than herself, that's why she chose to have you partner with Arisu. After all, any competition is only interesting when the two sides are evenly matched, or at least on the surface, they have to appear to be evenly matched."

Facing Tsubaki Sakurako, Kitagawa Ryo naturally couldn't say that his sister made dumplings just for the sake of this dish of vinegar. Rather, he should say that it was wrong of Yuki not to discuss this matter with her younger sister Tsubaki Sakurako before bringing it up with him without thinking. He could only use the art of language to help Yuki smooth things over a bit.

"She has never said any of this to my face."

Upon hearing this, Tsubaki Sakurako simply shook her head slightly, her tone somewhat meaningful. Then, she picked up the script she hadn't finished reading earlier and agreed to the matter.

"However, if Sakayanagi- senpai agrees, I'm fine with that too."

"If you don't want to, Sakurako can refuse."

Just like when Yuki encouraged Tsubaki Sakurako to join the Drama Club, Kitagawa Ryo said something similar to her again:

"I'll talk to Xue about it."

"Why wouldn't I be willing? Sakayanagi- senpai has one of the highest academic abilities in the OAA System. Countless First Year students want to team up with her but don't even have the chance. Of course I'd be happy to."

Tsubaki Sakurako turned the pages of the book in her hands, her actions and words conveyed a clear sense that she didn't want to continue the conversation.

"Good."

Kitagawa Ryo gazed at her intently one last time before turning and walking away.

However, before he had taken more than a few steps, he heard Tsubaki Sakurako's hesitant questioning voice behind him again.

"Sister, does she really want to win, or does she simply want to partner with you, senior?"

"To be honest, I don't know myself, maybe it's a combination of both."

"Then I just feel that in the end, it's impossible to be perfect in any aspect."

Although she said that, Tsubaki Sakurako still held the Shakespeare anthology, and even when Kitagawa Ryo turned around to look at her, she deliberately raised the script in her hand to block his gaze, as if she didn't want to meet his eyes, and her voice unconsciously became a few decibels lower:

"If the goal is to compete against Sakayanagi- senpai, then this duel is unfair from the start. Because if the final result is a ranking based on the group's overall score, then since Sakayanagi- senpai can't beat you, and I can't beat her, we'll definitely lose. But if it's a ranking based on individual scores..."

At this point, Tsubaki Sakurako hesitated slightly again, and the script that had almost covered her entire face was pulled down a little, revealing her snow-white, purplish-red eyes.

"My sister changes when she's with her senior."

"What's different?"