I'm Just an Ordinary Student

"That went without saying. I don't want us tearing each other down, either." Katsuragi Kohei spoke earnestly. "You're right. We should work together."

Yagami Shizuka turned to Hashimoto Masayoshi. "What about you?"

"I'm fine with it, too," Hashimoto Masayoshi replied without hesitation. He didn't have much of an opinion of his own right now and wanted to hear what Yagami Shizuka planned to do next.

Hashimoto Masayoshi wasn't suited to leading others. He preferred being a strategist to running the class.

Yagami Shizuka glanced at Shiraishi Asuka and the other girls, but sat down without saying a word, as if their opinions didn't matter.

"Hey, hey, did you forget someone? What about us?" Shiraishi Asuka led the protest. Morishita Ai didn't say anything, but Nishikawa Ryoko joined in.

"Then I'm asking you to help me out, all right?" Yagami Shizuka finally said, humbling himself.

"That depends on what you want us to do. And why should we help you? What's our reason? Don't try to pressure me with that 'it's for the class' stuff." Nishikawa Ryoko's expression hardened.

"Then please keep quiet. Just pretend I invited you for a cup of coffee today," Yagami Shizuka said coldly.

His attitude instantly silenced the two girls, as if he hadn't needed them there in the first place.

But they didn't want to leave just yet.

It was such an important meeting. They'd already come all this way; wouldn't it be a waste not to hear what was going on?

Even if they planned to cause trouble, they should wait until the meeting was over and they knew what was happening.

"I have a question," Katsuragi Kohei said. "If this is the Seven Star Gathering, why not choose more capable people? If you're having trouble finding anyone, I can recommend a few."

He was quite dissatisfied with Shiraishi Asuka and Nishikawa Ryoko. Neither of them seemed particularly capable, yet they were both so brazen.

They didn't get along with the others present, either. There seemed to be some friction between them.

"No, no, you just don't know what they're capable of. You'll understand in time," Yagami Shizuka said, trying to smooth things over.

"All right. First, I'd like to ask everyone a question. What do we need to do most right now?" Yagami Shizuka looked at Katsuragi Kohei, then Sakayanagi Arisu, and scanned the rest of the group.

Sakayanagi Arisu lowered her head in thought, wondering what Yagami Shizuka was after. She knew he was trying to raise money. Was he planning to borrow from these people?

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

Was he really planning to unite Class A, as he'd said?

But uniting Class A wouldn't be simple. There would always be a few troublemakers who didn't care about the class's interests.

People were selfish. That had never changed.

As long as there was even one selfish person, the class could never be united.

That was why she hadn't tried to unite Class A from the beginning, but had instead split the class into two factions.

She hadn't been wrong. Ichinose Honami's ability to win people over through virtue was a rare exception. Sakayanagi Arisu didn't have Ryuen's brutality, either. Class D was the most ordinary class.

It would be very difficult for Class D to reach a consensus on uniting. Ayanokoji had to keep strategizing behind the scenes, and even then, they couldn't do something like pool their points.

"Unite the whole class?" Katsuragi Kohei guessed.

"Exactly." Yagami Shizuka was grateful for his suggestion and picked up from there. "Uniting the class is very important, and the sooner we do it, the better. I'll make a small group chat with just the seven of us, then explain the detailed plan there. All you have to do is cooperate with me."

Then Yagami Shizuka naturally asked for their contact information and created the group.

"That's it for now. Let's call the meeting. You can stay and have a cup of coffee before you go."

After everyone else had left, only Sakayanagi Arisu remained. She asked, "All right, tell me. Why did you choose those two?"

Yagami Shizuka leaned close to her ear and said, "She started the rumors about herself. They're all fake. Do you understand what I'm saying? She's not as simple as you think."

Sakayanagi Arisu paused. Her violet eyes flickered slightly. A moment later, she seemed to understand. Her pupils widened, then narrowed.

No wonder she hadn't found any conclusive evidence that the other girl had gone on dates with men.

Rumors were frightening. When one person said something, you might not believe it. When lots of people said it, you could start to accept it as true without ever looking into it.

But why would she spread rumors about herself?

What was her goal?

That also seemed completely at odds with her outward appearance.

When someone's temperament and personality were completely different from their appearance, it meant they were putting on an act.

What was she hiding?

What sent a chill down Sakayanagi Arisu's spine was that she hadn't noticed a thing and had even lost sight of her original impression of the girl.

Seeing that she'd figured out part of it, Yagami Shizuka lowered his voice again. "She's from the White Room. In other words, she's an artificially created genius. You'd better not underestimate her."

Sakayanagi Arisu's lips parted slightly in surprise as familiar memories came flooding back.

She remembered her father once telling her that photographic memory was only a basic skill among people from the White Room.

As long as they followed the White Room's training program, anyone could become a genius there, like a product rolling off an assembly line.

She didn't believe that artificially created geniuses were better than those born with talent, and she'd always looked down on them. But the people from the White Room were no ordinary people, either.

"What did she come here for?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked softly.

"I can't tell you yet. It wouldn't do you any good." Afraid she might misunderstand, Yagami Shizuka added, "I'm not from the White Room, by the way, so don't get the wrong idea. I'm just an ordinary student."

"An ordinary student?" Sakayanagi Arisu gave him an amused look. "Then, ordinary student, tell me how you know someone from the White Room would be willing to follow your orders."

As far as she knew, artificially created geniuses had all received brainwashing-like education. Most of them would only obey the organization.

If they didn't obey the organization, they would simply go their own way. They wouldn't take orders from someone else.

They'd grown up in the White Room, where they had no such thing as weaknesses. On the contrary, their personalities were rather eccentric, and they weren't bound by ordinary people's sense of morality.

"Well, I have my ways. I can make her follow my orders without complaint. I won't tell you exactly how I'll do it, though."

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

"She's very useful. She loves gossip and has her own gossip network. She can chat with just about anyone, and the more sensational the story, the more she enjoys spreading it. She's the perfect person for circulating information.

"Spreading information is more important than any strategy. Think of her as the indispensable stick in the shit-stirring business.

"She can muddy a clear lake and send a school of fish into a frenzy. Then we can stand on the shore and easily spot the school's weak points.

"And I absolutely can't do what I'm about to do without her."

After hearing Yagami Shizuka's explanation, Sakayanagi Arisu nodded, accepting that he had a good eye for people.

In that case, Nishikawa Ryoko really was quite useful.

No one else could imitate her strengths.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't know what Morishita Ai was capable of. She only had a vague feeling that Morishita Ai was smarter than most of the students in their class—not in her schoolwork, but in her way of thinking.