Ichinose Discovers the Truth

There was a legendary figure among the first-years.

They were called legendary, but not many people knew about them.

They were a strange person who had made a points deal with a teacher on the very first day of school.

At the time, very few people knew about it, and even fewer paid attention.

Ichinose was one of them. She had heard about it from Hoshinomiya-sensei.

But over the next few days, all sorts of rumors about the school rules gradually spread among the first-years.

Ichinose was the first in the entire year to figure out where the information was coming from.

It was Manabe Shiho, the gal from Class C.

Ichinose hadn't set out to uncover the truth.

But plenty of people had told her about the matter.

It hadn't taken long to pinpoint the center of the storm.

Horikita Manabu, as Student Council President, had access to information about the first-years and could analyze Kujo's actions to uncover the truth.

Sakayanagi had relied on her excellent hounds and formidable ability to search for information, gathering enough scattered details to piece together the truth.

Ayanokoji and Koenji, on the other hand, had witnessed Kujo's unusual nature firsthand.

Ichinose had taken a completely different approach.

She had simply eliminated possibilities based on what the people around her had told her.

The first time people in Class B heard about rumors circulating online was during lunch on the third day of school.

Apparently, they had heard it from someone in Class D.

The people in Class D had heard it from Class A.

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

Only one class could be lying.

That narrowed it down to Classes C and B.

No one in Class B would lie to her.

So it had to be Class C.

The boys in Class C weren't capable of spreading gossip among the girls throughout the entire year in such a short time.

So it had to be one of the girls in Class C.

The rest was simple.

All she had to do was figure out which of her classmates in Class B had interacted with someone from Class C.

Aside from a few girls in Class C who could be ruled out immediately, nearly all the girls in the class belonged to the gal group, the largest group among the girls in Class C. Most of them had interacted with people from Class B at the start of the school year.

There was only one who hadn't.

The answer had emerged.

This was a method only Ichinose could have used.

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

Chabashira had once described this year's first-years as a gathering of monsters.

Now it seemed she hadn't been exaggerating.

There was no need to mention Class A or Class C. Now the leader of Class B had shown such exceptional insight and social skills as well.

Most importantly, she had the courage to charge ahead 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 straight to Manabe Shiho, the gal who wasn't staying in the classroom like she was supposed to, but wandering around outside by herself.

Ryuen from Class C didn't want this gal named Manabe to step forward. That meant she was either an idiot who couldn't even keep her own thoughts to herself or the leader of Class C's gal group.

In other words, she was either formidable or weak.

It didn't matter.

As long as she could talk.

Ichinose was good at handling people.

She approached Manabe while she was alone.

"How should I know where that guy is? You've got the wrong person. Shiina's his girlfriend."

Ichinose smiled, planning to keep drawing information out of her.

"Do you know that your Class C, our class, and Class D are planning to join forces to attack Class A? Class B is here to negotiate with the real leader of Class C. Could you show me the way?"

Manabe was an outcast in Class C. Although she usually put on a big-sister act around her classmates, facing Ichinose made her feel completely overpowered in every way for the first time in her life.

I told you, Shiina's Kujo's girlfriend. Why are you asking me?

Realizing how pathetic she sounded, Manabe was mortified. She raised her voice a little, like a hunter roaring at a bear in the wilderness, and tried to fight back.

"I'm not taking you to Class C. I don't know where it is, and even if I did, I wouldn't take you there."

I see.

Kujo wasn't in Class C right now, but Manabe had said she wouldn't take her to Class C.

That meant she was following Ryuen's orders.

Ryuen and Kujo weren't on the same side.

The gal hadn't denied Ichinose's claim that they were planning to join forces against Class A.

She'd even said she would go to Class C herself.

Suppose Ishizaki was also one of Ryuen's accomplices.

Then this so-called "cooperation" might just be something Ryuen had made up himself.

His goal was to get her to meet Kujo.

So Ryuen had been the one to bring it up, and Kujo might not even know about it.

All right.

Then I'll go find Kujo.

Ryuen, that should make you happy, right?

Ichinose had figured out the truth and understood what she needed to do next.

She let the half-smile fade from her face and said to Manabe:

"I understand. If Class C doesn't want to cooperate with Class B, I'll be going, then."

Manabe froze. She wanted to stop her, but if she pulled her back now, wouldn't that be exactly what Ichinose wanted?

Ichinose was definitely trying to trick her into stopping her.

She had to be.

But it wasn't until Ichinose had walked away that Manabe realized something was wrong.

This was getting bad.

She felt like she'd committed some terrible blunder.

If Ryuen found out, he'd stuff her into the pool.

Manabe didn't dare go back to Class C now.

"Hmm... Maybe I should go find Shiina after all?"

Ichinose suddenly realized that going to visit Kujo by herself had been a little reckless.

She really had been rather worn out lately.

Hehe.

Boys' dormitory. Outside Kujo's room.

Even after opening the door, Kujo could hardly believe his eyes.

Ichinose was standing outside his dorm room, greeting him.

"My name is Ichinose Honami, and I'm the class leader of Class B. Hello, Kujo, fellow class leader from Class C. Would you mind letting me in?"

Kujo clearly refused her.

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

Ichinose's smile only grew at Kujo's response.

"I understand. In that case, I've already spoken to your Shiina. I'll be borrowing a little bit of her very, very, very, very favorite boyfriend's time today. I've booked the most expensive tea room nearby, so please do me the honor of joining me."

At that moment, Kujo's phone received a special message from Hiyori.

It was the special ringtone that played when a contact set as a favorite sent a message.

It was a pure piano melody.

"I understand."

Kujo knew he couldn't keep refusing the girl in front of him.

A Japanese tea room was an enclosed space made up of tatami mats and sliding doors.

More than the tea itself, the room was meant to give people a boundless sense of space.

Ichinose Honami, dressed in a kimono, had a faint sheen of sweat at her temples.

Kujo, meanwhile, was focused entirely on whether his clothes looked right.

After all, he hadn't dressed himself at all. The staff had done everything for him.

"You look very handsome in that outfit, Kujo. Now that you've learned how to wear it, Shiina will be so happy when you wear it for her next time."

Ichinose's words had a certain magic to them.

Since Shiina was in the Tea Ceremony Club, Ichinose had brought Kujo here to drink tea and teach him how to wear a kimono and observe tea ceremony etiquette.

Without him realizing it, she had taken control of the conversation.