Chapter 25

Horikita was the victim. And, as expected of her, she didn't want the Class Points to take another hit. "I'm fine, anyway. Let's just let this go."

"I see. Normally, if the victim doesn't press charges, that would be the end of it. But I was there, and if someone reports me for witnessing an assault and doing nothing, that'll put me in a difficult position as vice president."

Horikita Suzune finally caught on. Yuan Yuyuan had been stirring up trouble all along, and she'd gotten emotional over nothing.

"So what do you want?"

"Are you going to grant me a wish, Suzune? Though I haven't thought of one yet. What should I do? How about this: as long as it doesn't harm your class, Class D has to do one thing for me. Deal?"

"Even if you put it that way, we can't speak for the whole class."

For the first time, Horikita Suzune was glad Class D didn't have a leader. It wasn't that she was being conceited; the truth was, her class couldn't even agree on an opinion.

"That's fine. In that case, I'll just have to visit Class D in person when the time comes. At least that way, everyone's Points won't disappear without explanation."

"Enough. We understand."

"I'll have the contract printed in a few days, so don't even think about backing out. The Student Council has the authority to access the security footage. Well, I won't keep you from your studies. Goodbye."

With that, Yuan Yuyuan left with Kamuro, who'd had her fill of the spectacle, leaving the Class D students glaring after him.

After parting ways with Kamuro, Yuan Yuyuan kept wondering whether Kushida Kikyo's actions had been an honest mistake or if she'd deliberately targeted Horikita Suzune. Given the angelic persona she presented, she should have stopped Horikita and Sudo from arguing right away. But in fact, Kushida, like him, had only stepped in after one of them made a move. He'd just been there to watch, but that made Kushida's actions all the more intriguing. The two shouldn't have had any serious history; otherwise, given Horikita's personality, she wouldn't have held a study group with her. So it was probably one-sided hatred on Kushida's part. Yuan Yuyuan had just found a real spy he could plant in Class D. After all, he now saw Horikita Suzune for who she was, and someone as single-minded as her probably wouldn't stoop to becoming a mole. He'd keep an eye on things and figure out the details later.

Since he was already here, Yuan Yuyuan decided to drop by the Student Council after such a long time and get the others some answers.

"President-sama, don't hide in there without saying anything. I know you're home."

"Come in."

When Manabu Horikita didn't play along, Yuan Yuyuan wasn't embarrassed. He sprawled casually across the sofa, and in the end, Manabu Horikita was the first to break the silence.

"You didn't come here just to relax. If you have something to say, get to the point."

"Well, I think the upperclassmen's exam papers would be really useful for reference. Name your price."

"We haven't spent much time together, but from what I know of you, you should have realized this sooner."

"We have exams coming up, and I've been running around nonstop. You get it, right? As soon as I had some free time, I came straight to see you."

Manabu Horikita nodded in agreement. He believed that the greater one's ability, the greater one's responsibility, and he handled all the affairs of Class 3-A himself.

Yuan Yuyuan didn't share Manabu Horikita's sense of duty. His principle was to make others do the work. As long as someone else could solve a problem, he wouldn't lift a finger. If Hoshinomiya hadn't made a deal with him, and if he hadn't needed her to insure his position, he'd have been too lazy to help improve Class B's already decent academic performance.

"I have the papers. You can have them for free. They're nothing important."

"You're just giving them to me? You're so generous. Thank you, Manabu Horikita."

Yuan Yuyuan made a point of emphasizing that Manabu Horikita was giving them to him, just in case he tried to use a small favor to get him to do something. It probably wouldn't happen, but better safe than sorry.

"Well, now that we've settled that, I won't keep you. I'm off."

"Wait. I heard you had some trouble with Class 1-D."

"You're not here to stand up for Suzune, are you? I got into a feud with Class D to protect her."

Yuan Yuyuan wasn't surprised that Manabu Horikita knew about it. It wasn't that Manabu Horikita had eyes everywhere; third-year students often studied in the library. Students from the lower classes were preparing for their futures, while those from the upper classes didn't want to fall behind on the cultural exams. Unlike the other grades, the third-years didn't have much time left. The point gap between the upper classes wasn't that large, but the lower classes had no hope left. All they could do was study hard and try to get into a good university.

Besides, when that hot-tempered monkey Sudo got angry, he was as loud as a shrew. The whole library must have heard him.

"No. I was just curious about what you told me last time—that Suzune hadn't grown. From this incident, it seems you were right."

"She tried to stop me from punishing Sudo, but going by her way of thinking, she was really just clinging to the last sliver of hope of reaching Class A."

"Let her be. If you can, please keep an eye on her for me."

"Don't worry. Thanks to you, Suzune isn't as cold and sharp-tongued toward me. Overall, she's like a tsundere little sister."

After getting the answers, Yuan Yuyuan didn't linger in the Student Council. Mostly, he was afraid Manabu Horikita would suddenly get the urge to make him work overtime. Now that exams had finally given him a little time off, he didn't want to waste his youth in front of a desk.

A few minutes before afternoon class, Yuan Yuyuan walked up to the podium and tapped on the desk to quiet everyone down.

"All right, everyone's worked hard lately. I got something good from President Horikita. Can a few of you hand these out?"

Once everyone had received the midterm papers with the answers, along with the test papers from two years ago—which had the exact same questions as their last quiz—they all cried out in surprise.

"Is this for real? Isn't this cheating?"

"Ahem. Be careful what you say. Are you accusing President Horikita of breaking the school rules? Do you remember what Hoshinomiya-sensei said on the day the quiz results came out?"

"Is this the way Hoshinomiya-sensei meant when she said she'd get everyone to pass?"

This time, the one to speak up wasn't Ichinose, but Himeno Yuki, who had recently been appearing beside Ichinose on Yuan Yuyuan's behalf. Of course, the two had coordinated their stories so Himeno Yuki could stand out in Class B.

"That's right. This is just how this school works. It's not just our class; as far as I know, even Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, has said something similar. Setting aside whether our grades are so good that Hoshinomiya-sensei would have any reason to go out of her way to help us, can Class D really all pass with their grades?"

After they'd established the general direction, Yuan Yuyuan shared his theory about the whole affair, with Himeno Yuki playing the eager supporter, naturally. It also reminded everyone once again that Class B couldn't do without Yuan Yuyuan, just as the West couldn't do without Jerusalem.

While everyone was relieved to have the answers, Yuan Yuyuan still poured cold water on their excitement.

"Don't celebrate too soon. We won't get a lucky break like this often. Next time, or starting next semester, there probably won't be any answers. Besides, we still have Class A to contend with, and their average academic ability is higher than ours. So the study group will continue as usual. Honami and Xiaoxue can decide the details."

Yuan Yuyuan returned to his seat. When he saw Himeno Yuki staring at him with a resentful look, he could only pull out his phone and message her.