With so many friends, Kushida had plenty of people she could go to school with in the morning.
But she hadn't changed.
Ever since Classmate Shirogane had seen her with them in the elevator on his first day, he'd continued to see them together over the past couple of days. To be precise, Kushida had been the one making an effort to strike up a conversation with Horikita.
She'd been so earnest about it.
Like a lovesick puppy.
It was as if she wanted to make a true friend, like Classmate Shiina had, so even though she was getting nowhere with Horikita, she still hoped to get closer to her.
And now, Kushida seemed to have met her quota.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have come here with Horikita.
She also seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Perhaps Horikita had started thinking of her as a friend.
"Classmate Shiina, Classmate Shirogane, hello!" Kushida raised a hand gently. Her presence was so warm and friendly that it made people feel as if they were basking in a spring breeze.
Although Kushida was about as pretty as Classmate Shiina, at this moment, Kushida was the more charming of the two.
"..."
Horikita didn't say anything. She simply walked over to Shirogane and Shiina.
"Horikita, this is my classmate, Shiina. I asked her to help gather information about Class A," Shirogane said. "I've also prepared information on Class B."
As he spoke, Shirogane took out two stacks of papers.
"..." Kushida.
Huh?
Horikita hadn't replied yet, but Kushida was already taken aback.
The previous night, Shiina had invited her to her dorm room and told her she was gathering information about students in the other classes. Since she wasn't good at socializing with students from other classes, she hadn't been able to fill in a lot of the information and wanted Kushida's help.
Kushida had found it a bit difficult, but she didn't want to lose Shiina as a friend, so she agreed.
So she'd gone against her conscience a little and helped Shiina fill in information about the students in Class Ichinose.
Shirogane had also asked her to help fill in information about the students in Class A.
They'd both asked her for help. Because of her wide social network, she knew Class C was now under Ryuen's iron-fisted rule, so perhaps the two of them had been assigned this troublesome task by Ryuen.
So, with the intention of helping her friends succeed, Kushida had lent them a hand.
But now they were saying that the information they'd asked her to gather was being used to trade with Horikita?
And what's more—
Just listen to the two of them.
They were clearly taking credit for the work she'd done for them and using it as a bargaining chip with Horikita!
"..."
Kushida seemed a little surprised, but she was so well-mannered that she kept a polite, composed expression.
"I understand." Horikita nodded.
Shirogane had told her before that if she couldn't manage something, she should rely on other people and had suggested that she ask Kushida for help.
In the end, she'd chosen to ask Kushida. To Suzune, that was proof that she wasn't capable enough.
But now Shirogane had also asked other classmates for help. It seemed this was the right approach after all. She didn't want to admit that she was incompetent, but perhaps asking for help in time was the right way to get things done.
"I asked Kushida for help with our deal, too," Horikita told Kushida.
"Well, if I can help you, Horikita—" Kushida waved her hands repeatedly, trying to appear modest.
But the feelings behind her expression might not have matched her words.
It had only taken a few words of conversation for her to understand. Classmate Shirogane from Class C and Horikita seemed to have reached some kind of deal.
The two of them seemed to be exchanging information on three classes.
Shiina was responsible for Class B, Shirogane for Class A, and Horikita for her own class, Class D.
"..."
But—
Given Horikita's social skills, it would have been almost impossible for her to gather information about her classmates.
So—
Horikita had asked her for help over lunch, and she'd given up her lunch break to help.
Now the truth was out.
All three groups had made her do the work by herself?
Huh?
Kushida was beginning to question her whole existence.
"Then let's exchange information."
Shirogane handed the papers in his hands to Horikita.
Horikita, in turn, handed Shirogane the compiled information on Class D's students.
The documents listed each student's name, class, gender, and photo, along with a brief evaluation.
The evaluations had come from Kushida.
Shirogane opened Horikita's information first.
Name: Horikita Suzune
Class: First-Year Class D
Student ID: SD1345465X
Phone Number: 1455465eX
Personal Information: Excellent academic and physical abilities. Her written exam scores have never been below 90. Studies for 10 hours every day. Her social skills are somewhat lacking.
It was obvious Kushida had filled this out. Otherwise, she wouldn't have described Horikita's social skills as "somewhat lacking." Horikita's social skills could just as easily have been described as practically nonexistent.
But Shirogane didn't keep his eyes on Horikita's information.
Earlier, when he'd seen Classmate Sakayanagi keeping Kamuro as her underling, the Narration System had provided information about several students in Class D.
Of course, it hadn't described them as "bosses" so much as people with secrets.
Kushida had strong social skills. She hadn't just helped Shirogane and Shiina compile lists of students in Classes A and B; she'd also added her impressions of them.
She hadn't written down anyone's secrets, but she'd given fairly fair assessments of each student's basic academic and physical abilities, social skills, and even the things they were good or bad at.
For example, Kushida's evaluation of Kamuro Masumi from Class A said that she had exceptional physical abilities and might be the most athletic girl in the first year. She was good at track and field and had joined the Art Club.
However, her written exam scores might not be very good. Kushida had accidentally seen her books, which had incorrect notes in them.
Since there was no personal interest involved, the information they'd gotten firsthand seemed highly trustworthy.
And now—
The information on Class D was right in front of him.
Classmate Shirogane already knew about a few of the more notable students in Class D.
And now, the information on all of them had been laid out.
But some of the details didn't quite match what he wanted to know.
For example—
Karuizawa Kei: Her academic and physical abilities are average. She's part of a group of gyaru girls in the class and has some influence among her classmates, but she has a very poor relationship with the boys.
Or—
Sakura Airi: She doesn't stand out much in class and is rather introverted. Her academic ability is slightly below average, and her physical ability is poor. She likes being by herself and enjoys photography. She bought a camera.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: His academic and physical abilities seem average, and he doesn't stand out much. However, he ranked fifth in the grade on the girls' handsome guy ranking list.
"..."
Kushida seemed to have described everyone with the intention of not offending anyone.
The information she'd provided also differed from what the Narration System had said. She hadn't revealed any more personal details.
There was nothing about secrets or anything like that.
That was only to be expected. This information was going to be compiled into a document. Even though Class D's students didn't yet know they'd be competing against the other classes, Kushida wouldn't include too much information that might offend anyone. After all, who knew who might end up seeing it?
But—
Shirogane came across something unusual as he flipped through the pages.
Koenji Rokusuke: Both his physical and academic abilities are outstanding. His swimming speed in PE was faster than Sudo's. However, he's extremely self-centered and seems not to care about spending money. He used up all his points in just 10 days, and even lined up to eat the terrible free meals, but he can occasionally be seen being treated to a meal by upperclassmen.
That was more or less the same as the information the Narration System had given him.
Koenji Rokusuke was incredibly capable. As for why upperclassmen treated him to meals, it might have had something to do with his background. There were bound to be people who wanted to get close to the heir of a conglomerate like him.
But—
Had Koenji done something to offend Kushida?
It was easy to see why Shirogane suspected as much. The description was longer than the others. It sounded like an objective account, but could it also have been a deliberate attempt to reveal information about Koenji?
As he continued reading, Shirogane noticed that Class D had a few other capable students, too.
Besides Horikita, who was academically gifted, Yukimura Teruhiko, Koenji, Kushida, and Hirata Yosuke all had good written exam scores.
A student named Wang Meiyu had above-average grades in her other subjects, but scored full marks in English.
Among these students, Hirata seemed to have gradually become the class representative for Class D. He was also quite capable, with written exam and athletic skills that surpassed those of the average student.
He was also one of the few students in Class D who had joined a club.
A week ago, during homeroom, he'd told the students that joining a club would earn them some extra living expenses.
Inspired by him, Sudo Ken, whose physical abilities were far above those of the average student—as if he'd been given a cheat—had joined the Basketball Club. He'd supposedly been made a regular player after only a week.
A month wasn't a very long time, but it was long enough for each class to develop its own representative.
Class A had Sakayanagi and Katsuragi.
Class B had Classmate Ichinose.
In Class C, the class was united under Ryuen's violent rule.
And in Class D, it was Hirata Yosuke.
"..."
But there was something that puzzled Shirogane.
According to the Narration System, besides a bunch of people in Class D—including Kushida, who was right in front of him—having secrets, there were also two bosses. One of them was the unreserved Koenji Rokusuke. But Koenji didn't seem interested in class competition at all. He didn't pay attention to what was going on in the class, and had even casually spent all his points.
The other boss was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but from the information Shirogane had gotten, it seemed that he hadn't done anything at all over the past month.
At the same time, Kushida and Horikita had also received the information on Classes A and B.
Kushida looked completely numb and didn't bother reading it. That was understandable, since she'd filled in all three sets of information herself.
"Classmate Kushida," Shirogane began bluntly. "Do you think there's anything strange about Ayanokoji?"
"Huh? Ayanokoji?" Kushida gently raised her left hand and twirled a lock of her hair. "Are you interested in Ayanokoji, Classmate Shirogane?"
"Well, the girls did make a handsome guy ranking list, and Ayanokoji came fifth while you came sixth, Classmate Shirogane. But I think that's because you often have dark circles under your eyes. If you got some proper rest and they went away, you'd be quite handsome. I actually voted for you," Kushida said.
As she spoke, she gave him a pitiful, pleading look.
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