Ichinose Discovers the Truth

There is a legendary figure among the first-years.

Though it is called a legend, not many people actually know about this person.

He is an eccentric who traded points with a teacher on the very first day of school.

Very few people knew about this at the time, and even fewer paid any attention to it.

Ichinose was one of those few; she heard the news directly from Hoshinomiya.

However, in the days that followed, various rumors regarding school rules began to circulate throughout the first-year grade.

Ichinose was the first person in the entire grade to discover the source of the information.

That person was the gyaru from Class C, Manabe Shiho.

Ichinose had no intention of investigating the truth of the matter.

But there were many people who spoke to her about it.

It didn't take long to pinpoint the center of the storm.

If Horikita Manabu, as Student Council president, possessed intelligence on the first-years and analyzed Kujo's actions to arrive at the truth.

If Sakayanagi relied on excellent hounds and a powerful ability to search for information to gather enough fragmented data to deduce the truth.

If people like Ayanokoji and Koenji had truly witnessed Kujo's uniqueness.

Then, Ichinose used a completely different approach.

That was to use a simple process of elimination on the things the people around her were saying.

The first time the students of Class B heard that rumors existed online was during the lunch break on the third day after school started.

It was said they heard it from people in Class D.

The people in Class D heard it from Class A.

The people in Class C said they heard it from the people in Class D.

There could only be one class lying.

With that, the scope could be narrowed down to Class C and Class B.

No one in Class B would ever lie to her.

Therefore, it had to be Class C.

The boys in Class C did not have the ability to spread gossip among all the girls in the grade in such a short time.

Therefore, it had to be the girls in Class C.

The rest was simple.

All she had to do was find out who among her classmates in Class B had been in contact with people from Class C.

Excluding those who could be immediately ruled out, the gyaru group that made up the largest portion of the girls in Class C had all been in contact with people from Class B at the start of the school year.

Only one person had not.

The answer surfaced.

This was a method that only Ichinose could use.

Because her name was Ichinose, and she was the most popular student among this year's first-years.

Chabashira once remarked that this year's first-years were a gathering of monsters.

Looking at it now, that was no empty boast.

It goes without saying for Class A and Class C, but now the leader of Class B also possessed such outstanding insight and interpersonal skills.

The key point remained the other party's courage to charge forward for the sake of her class.

"Hello, I'm Ichinose Honami from Class B. Is Kujo from Class C here?"

After visiting Class C once, Ichinose went directly to find Manabe Shiho, the gyaru who wasn't staying put in Class C but was wandering around alone outside.

If Ryuen of Class C wouldn't let this gyaru named Manabe come forward, then she was either an idiot who couldn't hide her own thoughts, or she was the leader of the Class C gyaru group.

In other words, the other party was either very capable or very weak.

It didn't matter.

Because as long as she could talk.

Ichinose was good at handling it.

Taking advantage of the fact that she was alone, Ichinose approached her.

"I don't know where that guy is! You're asking the wrong person. That Shiina girl is his girlfriend."

Ichinose smiled, intending to continue extracting information from her:

"Are you aware of the plan for Class C to join forces with our class and Class D to attack Class A? We in Class B are here to negotiate with the true leader of Class C, so could you please lead the way for me?"

Manabe was a peripheral figure in Class C. Although she always put on the airs of a big sister in front of her classmates, now, facing Ichinose, she felt completely overwhelmed in every aspect for the first time in her life.

I already told you, that Shiina girl is Kujo's girlfriend, why are you asking me?

Manabe realized her awkward situation and felt extremely ashamed and angry. Her voice grew slightly louder, much like a hunter in the wild roaring after encountering a grizzly bear; she struck back in that exact manner:

"I won't take you to Class C. Not to mention I don't know, even if I did, I wouldn't take you there."

I see.

Kujo was not currently in Class C, but what Manabe said was about taking her to Class C.

In other words, she was acting under the orders of Ryuen.

Ryuen and Kujo were not on the same side.

The gyaru had not denied the proposal Ichinose mentioned about a joint attack on Class A.

She had even said she would go to Class C herself.

It was a bold hypothesis that Ishizaki was also an accomplice of Ryuen.

Then, this so-called "cooperation" might just be Ryuen's one-sided claim.

The goal was to make her face Kujo.

Therefore, the person who brought this up was Ryuen, and Kujo himself might not necessarily know about it.

Fine~

Then I'll just go find Kujo.

Ryuen, are you satisfied now?

Ichinose figured out the truth of the matter and understood what she should do most right now.

She put away the half-smiling expression on her face and said to Manabe:

"I understand. Since Class C is unwilling to cooperate with Class B, I'll be going now."

Manabe was stunned and wanted to hold her back, but wouldn't pulling the other party back at this moment be playing right into her hands?

Ichinose must be tricking her into keeping her there.

That must be it.

As a result, it wasn't until Ichinose had walked far away.

That Manabe realized something was wrong.

Things seemed to have gone south.

She felt like she had committed some kind of major taboo?

If Ryuen found out, he would definitely shove her into the pool.

Manabe didn't dare to return to Class C now.

"Hmm~ maybe I should go find Shiina instead?"

Ichinose suddenly realized that her behavior of going to visit Kujo alone was a bit reckless.

She really had been quite exhausted lately.

Hehe.

Boys' dormitory. At the door of Kujo's room.

Until he pushed the door open, Kujo couldn't believe his eyes.

Ichinose was standing at the door of Kujo's dormitory, waving at him.

"My name is Ichinose Honami, the class leader of Class B. Hello, fellow leader of Class C, Kujo. Would it be convenient for me to enter your room?"

Kujo clearly refused the other party.

"Sorry, I have a girlfriend. She might not like other girls entering my room."

Kujo's reaction made the smile on Ichinose's face grow even wider.

"I understand. In that case, I have already greeted your Hiyori. Today, I will borrow her most, most, most, most favorite boyfriend for just a little bit of time. I have already prepared the most expensive tea service nearby, so please do me the honor of attending."

Kujo's phone received a special message from Hiyori at this moment.

It was the special ringtone that only played when a contact in the account was set to special attention and they sent a text message.

It was pure piano music.

"I understand."

Kujo knew he could no longer refuse the girl in front of him.

The tea room in Japan was an enclosed space composed of tatami mats and sliding doors.

More than the tea itself, its interior attempted to make people feel an infinite sense of space.

Dressed in a kimono, Ichinose Honami had a light sheen of sweat seeping from her temples.

Kujo's gaze was entirely focused on whether his clothes were worn correctly.

After all, he hadn't lifted a finger to dress himself throughout the entire process; the staff had done it all for him.

"Kujo, this outfit looks very handsome on you. Now that you've learned how to wear it, if you wear it for Shiina next time, she'll be very happy, won't she?"

There was a touch of magic in Ichinose's words.

Because Shiina's club was the Tea Ceremony Club, Ichinose had brought Kujo along to drink tea and teach him how to wear a kimono and the etiquette of the tea ceremony.

The direction of the conversation was unconsciously being steered by her.