I Am Just an Ordinary Student

"That is only natural; I have no desire for internal friction either," Katsuragi Kohei said with a sincere attitude. "You are right, we should stand united."

Yagami Shizuka turned his head to look at Hashimoto Masayoshi. "And you?"

"I have no problem with it either," Hashimoto Masayoshi replied without hesitation. He currently lacked any strong opinions of his own and wanted to hear what Yagami Shizuka planned to do next.

Hashimoto Masayoshi did not possess the ability to lead; compared to being a class leader, he preferred the role of a strategist.

Yagami Shizuka swept his gaze over the girls, including Shiraishi Asuka, but sat down without saying a word, making it seem as if their opinions were irrelevant.

"Hey, hey, did you leave someone out? What about us?" Shiraishi Asuka took the lead in protesting. Morishita Ai said nothing, but Nishikawa Ryoko joined in the clamor.

"Then I am requesting your assistance, is that alright?" Yagami Shizuka asked, finally adopting a subservient tone.

"That depends on what you want to do. Also, why should we help you? What is the reason? Don't try to pressure me with that 'class collective interest' nonsense," Nishikawa Ryoko said, her face hardening.

"Then please keep your mouths shut and just consider today's coffee my treat," Yagami Shizuka said coldly.

This attitude silenced the two of them instantly, as if he didn't actually need them at all.

Yet, they didn't want to leave just like that.

It was such an important meeting; since they had already come, wouldn't it be a pity not to listen?

Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they should wait until the meeting was over and they had gathered enough intelligence.

"I have a question," Katsuragi Kohei spoke up at this moment. "Since this is the Seven Star Gathering, why not choose more capable people? If you can't find anyone, I have a few recommendations."

He was very dissatisfied with Shiraishi Asuka and Nishikawa Ryoko; they had no real talent, yet their attitudes were so arrogant.

They also didn't seem to have good relationships with the others present, and there appeared to be some underlying friction.

"No, no, you just don't know their talents yet. You will understand in the future," Yagami Shizuka said, smoothing things over.

"Alright, moving on. I would like to ask everyone a question: what is the most important thing we need to do right now?" Yagami Shizuka looked at Katsuragi Kohei, then at Sakayanagi Arisu, scanning the group.

Sakayanagi Arisu was deep in thought, pondering Yagami Shizuka's motives. She knew his goal was to raise funds; could he be planning to borrow money from these people?

But it didn't quite look like he was asking for a loan.

Could it really be, as he claimed, that he wanted to unify Class A?

But unifying Class A was not that simple; there would always be a few thorns who didn't care about class interests.

People are selfish; that has never changed.

As long as there is one selfish person, a class can never be truly unified.

This was why she hadn't chosen to unify Class A from the start, but had instead split the class into two factions.

Her reasoning was sound. Leading by virtue like Ichinose Honami was a rare exception, and she lacked the violent methods of Ryuen. The most "normal" class was Class D.

Class D would find it extremely difficult to reach a consensus on unification, requiring Ayanokoji to constantly pull the strings behind the scenes, and even then, they couldn't achieve a total unification of points.

"Unify the whole class?" Katsuragi Kohei guessed.

"Exactly." Yagami Shizuka appreciated his input and, following his lead, continued, "Unifying the class is vital, and the sooner, the better. I will create a small group with just the seven of us. I will explain the detailed plan there; you just need to cooperate with me."

Following this, Yagami Shizuka naturally collected their contact information and created the group.

"That is all. The meeting is adjourned. Everyone can finish their coffee before leaving."

After the others had left, leaving only Sakayanagi Arisu behind, she asked in a questioning tone, "Tell me, why did you choose them?"

Yagami Shizuka leaned into her ear and whispered, "The rumors about her were spread by herself; they are all fake. Do you understand what I mean? She is not as simple as you think."

Sakayanagi Arisu felt a jolt in her heart. Her purple eyes flickered slightly. After a moment, as if she had realized something, her pupils dilated sharply before constricting.

No wonder she hadn't been able to find any conclusive evidence of the girl dating men.

Rumors are terrifying. When one person says something, you might not believe it, but when many people say it, you might take it as truth without ever digging deeper.

But why would she spread scandalous rumors about herself?

What was her goal?

This was completely inconsistent with her appearance.

When a person's temperament and personality are vastly different from their appearance, it means they are wearing a mask.

What was she hiding?

What chilled her to the bone was that she hadn't noticed it at all, and had lost her original judgment of the girl.

Seeing that she had begun to understand, Yagami Shizuka whispered again, "She is from the White Room, an artificial genius. It is best not to underestimate her."

Sakayanagi Arisu's small mouth opened slightly in shock as familiar memories flooded her mind.

She remembered her father once saying that having a photographic memory was merely the baseline for those in the White Room.

As long as one followed the system's training regimen, anyone could become a genius in the White Room, just like a product on an assembly line.

She did not admit that artificial geniuses were superior to natural ones and had always been disdainful of them, but those from the White Room were never to be taken lightly.

"What is she doing here?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked softly.

"I can't tell you that yet; it wouldn't be good for you." Fearing she might misunderstand, Yagami Shizuka added, "I am not from the White Room, so don't get any wild ideas. I am just an ordinary student."

"An ordinary student?" Sakayanagi Arisu rolled her eyes at him, finding it amusing. "Then, 'ordinary student,' please tell me: how can you be sure that someone from the White Room would be willing to follow your lead?"

As far as she knew, artificial geniuses had all undergone brainwashing-style education, and most of them would only obey the organization.

If they did not obey the organization, they would only act independently and would never take orders from others.

They grew up in the White Room from a young age and did not possess anything like weaknesses; on the contrary, their personalities were rather eccentric, lacking the constraints of ordinary human morality.

"Well, I have my own clever plan. I can make her obediently work for me, but I won't tell you the specific operations."

"Then what about Nishikawa Ryoko? What use is she?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked again.

"She has great utility. She loves gossip, has her own circle of gossipers, and can chat with many people. The more explosive the news, the more she likes to spread it, making her the perfect candidate for disseminating information.

Spreading information is more important than any scheme; you can just think of her as the essential stick used to stir up trouble.

She can make a clear lake murky and cause the school of fish to panic, allowing us, standing on the shore, to easily find the weaknesses of the school.

And for what I am about to do next, she is absolutely indispensable."

Hearing Yagami Shizuka's description, Sakayanagi Arisu nodded, acknowledging his ability to judge people.

Put that way, Nishikawa Ryoko was indeed very useful.

Those strengths of hers were things others could not learn.

As for what skills Morishita Ai possessed, she did not know, only vaguely feeling that she would be smarter than most students in the class—not in terms of academics, but in terms of quick-wittedness.