Chapter 14

"In my view, Suzune's greatest flaw has never been her arrogance. It's that she's too stubborn and self-willed. A great man once said, 'A single spark can start a prairie fire.' But why are you so certain that the classmates you regard as dead weight don't have any qualities others might envy?" Horikita Suzune looked thoughtful. She had trouble accepting Yuan Yuyuan's argument. In her eyes, what admirable qualities could people who couldn't even manage their studies possibly have? But on second thought, everything Yuan Yuyuan had said made sense. Unless the school's assessment was mistaken, this was probably why she had been placed in Class D. "Why are you telling me this? By your own logic, aren't we enemies?" ??? Yuan Yuyuan didn't understand, but he was deeply shocked. Was Horikita's little sister's reaction time really this slow? She was only realizing now that they were enemies? And she was the one who had just asked her enemy a question. But now he was in a tough spot. Ichinose was sitting right beside him, and his usual "I just want your body" excuse had already gone on cooldown. Well, he was lying either way, so he just needed to give her a plausible reason. "Because I have high hopes for Class D. You may not know this, Suzune, but there's someone in Class D hiding strength beyond your imagination. He'll be the key to whether Class D can move up a class. If you can get him to contribute to the class, I might consider forming an alliance with Class D." Yuan Yuyuan didn't hesitate to sell out Masterpiece-kun, whom he hadn't even met yet. "Hiding his strength? Why? Wouldn't moving up to Class A be a good thing?" Horikita Suzune was baffled. Apart from being mocked, she couldn't imagine what other purpose Class D could serve. "Objectively speaking, the benefits of moving up to Class A are just preferential treatment after graduation, more spending money than students in other classes, and perhaps earning other people's respect. After all, not everyone has a brother in Class A like you do, Suzune. But that person in your class wouldn't be happy just because others looked up to him. He doesn't care even if he has no points, and his life has been planned out for him from the moment he was born until the day he's buried. So preferential treatment would be a joke to him. There's probably only one person like that in Class D. You might even know who I mean. Anyway, Honami and I have things to take care of, so we'll be going." As soon as they left the cafeteria, Ichinose couldn't help asking, "Yuyuan, you seem really interested in Horikita. Could it be that the type of girl you like is actually someone like her?" "How did this turn into that? Why bring it up all of a sudden?" "No, no, I was just curious." Yuan Yuyuan felt a headache coming on. He definitely couldn't agree with Ichinose's theory, but telling her that he was using Class D to keep Class C in check would make him seem scheming. That wouldn't go over well in Class B, where everyone was open with one another. With no other choice, he brought up Manabu Horikita. "It's like this: the student council president, who seems so serious on the surface, is actually a nasty little sister-con. Didn't you notice that I called him Manabu in front of Suzune? The siblings clearly care about each other, but their strong-willed personalities have twisted their relationship. So President Horikita specifically gave me permission to pretend I was close to him, so I could get near his sister and look out for her. That's all." "Is that so? I thought... Hehe, never mind." Ichinose didn't think anything of it. After all, she and her younger sister... had always gotten along well before that. "By the way, what did you want to talk to me about, Yuyuan?" Ichinose wasn't stupid. Once she thought it through, she didn't believe someone like Yuan Yuyuan would be rash enough to confess to her the day after they met. Yuan Yuyuan had been hesitating. If it was for Class B's sake, he should warn Ichinose, whether or not it would help. If it was for his own sake, he should wait until Ichinose suffered a crushing defeat and then criticize her in front of everyone. But he'd thought it over carefully. The entire class was already following Ichinose's lead. If things went on much longer, everyone would probably become her yes-men. Even if Ichinose really did fail then, they'd just wrap things up with, "We'll try harder and win next time." Meanwhile, he'd be the one blamed for criticizing her, like a rat crossing the street. Now Yuan Yuyuan had no choice but to take the plunge. "Honami, do you really think it's good for Class B to keep going like this? At this school, the winner will ultimately be decided through competition. Getting too close to students from other classes isn't a good thing." Yuan Yuyuan wasn't just making things up. Between Ichinose's leadership style and the personalities of the other students, many Class B students had friends in other classes. And because most students didn't know the truth about this school, many got along better with the kindhearted Class B students than they did with their own classmates. "I understand what you mean, Yuyuan. But as long as we stay alert during Special Exams, won't we be fine?" "I'm not against it. I just don't want your kindness to be taken advantage of. After all, some people always seem a little clueless. They look like the type who'd count the money for the person who just sold them." "Aw, Yuyuan, that's so mean. How can you say something so hurtful without batting an eye? I'll try to grow as a person too... right?" Ichinose had always treated people with the greatest kindness, ever since she was little. But after coming to this school, she'd been told she had to scheme against others. She found it hard to accept, and as she thought about it, she looked at Yuan Yuyuan with a pitiful expression. "If it's you, Yuyuan, I'm sure you can do it. During Special Exams, please lead our class!" He didn't know how to respond. Thanks to Ichinose's powerful angelic aura, Yuan Yuyuan had never been able to get the Class B students to do what he wanted. And while Class A above them was falling into infighting, Class B was united as one. So the students were more willing to follow Ichinose, whose affinity was maxed out, than Yuan Yuyuan. But he'd never expected Ichinose to hand him that authority so easily. If he didn't know how innocent she was, he might have thought she'd seen through his intentions. Maybe it was because they were classmates, but Ichinose had no guard up around Yuan Yuyuan. The way she seemed not to care at all made him want to put up a monument to his own virtue. "Is that really okay? Won't our classmates think I'm bullying you, Honami?" "Of course not. In terms of ability, you should be the one leading the class anyway. Besides, our classmates all think..." "Think what?" "Nothing, nothing. Anyway, our classmates won't misunderstand you. Ahaha, it's almost time for class. Let's head to the classroom together!" "True. But that line sounds familiar somehow. Who did you learn that trick from this time, Honami?" That was what he said, but Yuan Yuyuan didn't press her any further. If Ichinose didn't want to tell him, there was no need to make things awkward between them.

First Semester: Chapter 15 — Kiriyama's Lack of Progress and Nagumo the Pervert ### "Why is Honami... Could she have been with him the whole time after school?" Before the two had even entered the classroom, Chihiro Shiranami, who had been waiting anxiously in the corridor, came over. She glared at Yuan Yuyuan with clear hostility, sounding very much like the wronged party. But Yuan Yuyuan simply said goodbye to Ichinose and went straight into the classroom, not even bothering to acknowledge her. It was the perfect chance to quietly find Kanzaki while Ichinose soothed her little sister. "Ryuji, come over here. Have there been any strange rumors going around the class lately?" Seeing Kanzaki staring at him in confusion...