Counterattack 3

"What kind of joke is this!"

Ishizaki's eyes were filled with shock.

He turned his head abruptly to look at Horikita Suzune, but her face was equally blank.

"Kamuro, you can stop recording now." The blond-haired man waved his hand and said.

"I know that without you telling me."

The girl referred to as Kamuro then put away her Student Terminal and tucked it securely into her pocket.

Ishizaki's expression turned ugly, and he gritted his teeth as he said:

"You guy, are you from Class A?"

"Bingo." The blond-haired man snapped his fingers, revealing a relaxed smile: "You guessed right, but there's no prize."

He then straightened his clothes and said: "Allow me to introduce myself. Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class 1-A. And this is..."

"Kamuro Masumi from Class A." The girl beside him said directly.

"Class A..." Horikita Suzune muttered to herself. Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper as she raised her puzzled eyes and asked:

"Since you're from Class A, why would you appear here?"

"Oh?" Hashimoto Masayoshi showed a curious look, rubbing his chin with his hand: "Don't you know? We are your allies, after all."

"Allies?" Several conversations she had previously had with Horikita Etsuka flashed through Horikita Suzune's mind.

"Etsuka, how certain are you about this matter?"

"I don't know. We have to ensure the information we get isn't leaked, and we have to ensure the person providing the information won't betray us. I'd say it's a toss-up."

"Hmm... a 50% probability is already worth fighting for. After all, no matter how we try to persuade Sudo, it doesn't seem to have any effect."

Horikita Etsuka leaned back in his chair, looking at the bright sun in the sky, and said casually:

"But the more allies we have, the stronger our ability to resist risk will be. It would be great if a few more allies suddenly appeared when the time comes."

"How is that possible? Without a certain level of certainty, other classes definitely won't believe it, and they might even mistakenly think it's a trap within a trap."

"That's true, sister." Horikita Etsuka's mouth curled up, revealing his white teeth as he smiled slightly: "You're right."

"Hey! What on earth are you guys talking about? And you, this guy named Hashimoto Masayoshi, why did you have the girl next to you record this?"

Sudo said, cursing and swearing.

He was completely bewildered at this moment. He had already been confused when he saw Horikita Suzune and Hirata appear, and the appearance of Class A only gave him a headache.

"Heh... I guess we lost." The fighting spirit had long since vanished from Ishizaki's eyes, and he admitted defeat directly.

Komiya clenched his fists, not daring to make a sound.

As for Kondo, he clutched his stomach with a slightly pained expression. He raised his hand slightly and said:

"Um... I feel like my stomach hurts a bit. Can I go to the infirmary to get it checked out first?"

"Of course you can, that is your right." Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged indifferently and stepped aside to clear the way.

Just like that, the three from Class C left while supporting each other; their backs looked as lonely as could be.

"However, please keep your mouths shut. After all, inducing Sudo to throw a punch could lead to direct expulsion, you know." Hashimoto Masayoshi added at the right moment.

The three supporting each other paused, and Ishizaki spoke slowly: "Understood..."

Hashimoto Masayoshi waved his hand: "Take care! Remember to tell Ryuen to come to Mos Burger tomorrow to talk!"

Ishizaki did not answer, only gritted his teeth and left in a dejected manner.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to discuss whether this matter should be reported to the school; they already had their own internal judgment.

[Points are the most useful tool in this school...]

Of course, only Sudo was left with a massive headache, and he later asked with slight worry whether this incident would lead to expulsion.

After everyone left the school building, footsteps suddenly came from the stairs on the 5th floor.

Nakanishi Jiro held a camera in one hand and rubbed his neck with the other, causing it to make a cracking sound.

He looked at the footage playing continuously on the screen and muttered to himself: "This should fulfill the task Etsuka gave me, right?"

At night, Room 528.

Ichinose and Kanzaki Ryuji met at the door. They exchanged a tacit glance, and then Ichinose reached out and knocked gently on the door.

"Horikita-kun, we're here."

Click, the door was opened. Horikita Etsuka stood at the door wearing pajamas. He turned to the side and yawned, saying:

"Come on in now that you're here."

The two walked into the room. Just as Ichinose closed the door behind her, Kanzaki Ryuji couldn't help but speak up.

"Horikita, I didn't expect you to still have such a childlike heart."

"Childlike heart?" Horikita Etsuka was stunned.

"It's true, indeed." Ichinose looked Horikita Etsuka up and down, taking in the dinosaur pajamas he was wearing, and gently flicked the long tail of the pajamas with her hand.

"How adorable, I never knew Horikita had a side like this."

Horikita Etsuka's face darkened, and he didn't want to speak. Could he really tell them that his older sister had picked out this style for him?

After a few moments of teasing, the group returned to the main topic.

Kanzaki Ryuji spoke up first:

"Horikita, you were right. Class D really couldn't keep Sudo under control, and Class A has successfully seized evidence that Class C was the one to provoke the incident!"

Horikita Etsuka sat at his desk, resting his chin on one hand:

"Sudo has such a volatile temper that no one can predict what he'll do next. As long as you assume the most extreme and violent outcome, you can pretty much guess what happened. It's nothing special."

"But that's still impressive! We've only been enrolled for a few weeks, and most of us don't even know our own classmates that well, yet you understand Sudo from Class D to this extent!"

Kanzaki Ryuji expressed his heartfelt admiration.

Horikita Etsuka just smiled and didn't answer.

He couldn't exactly tell them that he ran toward Class D every day after school, acting like a stalker following Sudo, and that he judged the other boy's psychological state through his communication style, micro-expressions, and everything else, could he?

"It's just..." Kanzaki Ryuji seemed to think of something. He sighed and shook his head:

"It's a shame Class A didn't make any other moves during this incident. Otherwise, we might have been able to get some leverage on them."

"That couldn't be helped, though." Ichinose tapped her index finger against her cheek, a thoughtful expression on her face as she said:

"After all, simply recording the conflict between Class C and Class D was already a huge gain for Class A. It wouldn't be worth it for them to pull any strings and risk getting caught."

"Ah, that's true." Kanzaki Ryuji nodded in agreement.

"Since we've finished discussing that, let's talk about tomorrow." Horikita Etsuka looked at Ichinose and said:

"We'll stick to the original plan. Ichinose, you will represent Class B to conduct the negotiations."

"Mm." Ichinose nodded at first, but then asked with a hint of curiosity: "But... Horikita-kun, why won't you participate in this yourself?"

Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Horikita Etsuka with equal curiosity; he also wanted to know why.

Horikita Etsuka stretched, then placed a blue bottle cap and a white bottle cap on the desk.

"Suppose I set a rule for these two caps: whoever paints their entire body blue first wins. Who do you think has the highest probability of winning?"

"The blue one," Kanzaki Ryuji answered without hesitation.

"Then, by the same logic, what if the goal is to paint their entire body white?"

Ichinose seemed to realize something, and she answered thoughtfully: "The white bottle cap."

"Then what if the rule isn't white, and it isn't blue, but red?"

"Well, that... the probabilities would be about the same, right?" Kanzaki Ryuji said.

"Exactly. So, when the rules are unfavorable to one side, the contestants on the field are all standing at the same starting line. And in that moment..."

"So in that moment, a transparent bottle cap has the greatest advantage!"

Ichinose finished Horikita Etsuka's sentence, her thumb and index finger forming a circle as she slowly placed it on the desk.

Ichinose blinked her lively eyes, looking at the handsome Horikita Etsuka, her gaze seemingly shimmering with light.

It was a strange feeling, like having a front line prepared for battle while the rear was fully stocked with strategic supplies.

[Horikita-kun is the transparent bottle cap of Class B...]