Cooperation

"Onizuka, how much do you know about the school's vacation?"

"Vacation? To be honest, I don't know much. I've been busy with other things lately."

Back when he was having "friendly" sparring matches with some upperclassmen, some had told him things like:

'Just wait until the vacation, then you'll know what true despair is, you Class D trash!'

However, he hadn't been able to dig up any accurate information; no matter how much Onizuka asked, no one would open their mouths.

And if he wanted to buy the information with points, it would cost a full twenty million; the school kept a tight lid on this particular matter.

"I suppose you've been running around dealing with the situation involving Class C, haven't you, Onizuka?"

Hearing Ichinose say this, Onizuka glanced at her slightly.

"It seems you're quite well-informed, Ichinose. Even in our own class, hardly anyone knows about the incident involving those [three people]."

"You're mistaken, Onizuka. It's actually an incident involving [four people]," Ichinose corrected.

Onizuka let out an "oh" as if suddenly enlightened, then patted his own forehead.

"My apologies, my apologies. I've been so swamped with these matters lately that I'm a bit scatterbrained. But how did you know about that, Ichinose?"

"Well~ since the point distribution was delayed, I went and asked some friends in the Student Council."

"Still, it must be tough for you, Onizuka, dealing with something like this..."

Ichinose looked at Onizuka with a face full of concern and sympathy.

"It's alright, I suppose. I just wish they would learn not to cause trouble."

"That's true, but they are your classmates after all. You can just guide them slowly. Keep it up, Onizuka!"

"It's fine. After this lesson, I'm sure they'll behave themselves for a good while."

Clearly, Ichinose didn't realize that the people Onizuka was referring to were Ryuen and his group, not Sudo.

However, Onizuka clearly had no intention of correcting her.

"I've noticed that whenever I talk to you, Onizuka, the topic always seems to drift. We were just talking about the special vacation exam, so how did we end up here?"

Hearing Ichinose complain like this, Onizuka felt helpless. It was she who had changed the subject in the first place.

With such a good opportunity to gather intelligence right in front of him, he would be a fool not to take advantage of it...

"Sorry, where were we?"

"We barely started before the topic got derailed... I wanted to talk about the special vacation exam," Ichinose said helplessly.

"The attitudes of Class A and Class C toward our class have been getting worse lately."

"Class A is fine, they seem to have some internal chaos going on, but Class C is truly annoying. They keep causing trouble in the strangest places," Ichinose said, looking quite exasperated.

Onizuka nodded in total agreement with what Ichinose said.

It would be a miracle if those two classes could get along with Class B!

"So you want to..."

"Cooperate!"

"Cooperate!"

The two of them said it in unison.

Onizuka noticed that Ichinose seemed a bit embarrassed, so he took the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere.

"How does Ichinose want to cooperate? It's hard for Class D to play a positive role in certain operations, isn't it?"

Hearing Onizuka say this, Ichinose waved her hands hurriedly.

"How could that be! Just like you, Onizuka, there are many capable people in Class D. I believe you won't stay as Class D forever!"

"Then why didn't you go find Hirata or Kushida, Ichinose? They are the ones who can lead the direction of Class D, aren't they?"

"It's not that I'm looking down on myself, but to be honest, I'm actually the type of person who is quite unremarkable in Class D."

Seeing Onizuka keep pressing on this point, Ichinose became a bit flustered, her speech becoming stuttered.

"Th-that, don't say that. You are very capable, Onizuka, just like..."

She seemed to have suddenly remembered something.

"Just like in the swimming competition! Didn't you earn quite a lot of points back then, Onizuka?"

That was too far-fetched; that was a long time ago, and there was no need to bring it up now.

Besides, he was just a little fast at swimming.

That left only two possibilities, no... just one!

Those losers from the upper years basically wouldn't take the initiative to tell their own shameful stories to underclassmen, especially those in the Student Council who cared so much about their reputation.

Sakayanagi Arisu was an exception, but clearly, her source of information wouldn't be as gentle as Ichinose's.

"Ichinose, it was Hoshinomiya-sensei who sent you to find me, right?"

Hearing Onizuka say this suddenly, Ichinose became visibly flustered.

"Ah? No... it's not that, it's just... I myself..."

Feeling that she really couldn't smooth things over, Ichinose let out a heavy sigh.

"I told you I'm not very good at lying. Honestly, Teacher, it would have been better if we had just talked openly from the start."

"But Onizuka-kun is really sharp, to be able to notice something like this." She looked toward Onizuka, who was sitting to the side.

"Not at all, I just have a relatively clear understanding of myself."

"Hoshinomiya-sensei didn't just send you here to find me, did she?"

Onizuka narrowed his eyes slightly, leaning back against the chair with his body completely relaxed, and said with an expressionless face.

"Onizuka-kun guessed wrong~ Hoshinomiya-sensei only asked me to find you; she told me to handle everything else as I see fit."

Observing Ichinose's expression carefully, Onizuka felt that she didn't seem to be lying.

"Hmm... I don't have any objections to cooperating. As for the issue of working with Class D, I can help relay it to Hirata and the others when I get back. I'm sure they won't refuse."

At this point, Onizuka paused slightly.

"It's just that I don't know if you, Ichinose-san, might need some additional help?"

"What kind of additional help?" Ichinose asked with a puzzled look, seemingly not quite understanding what Onizuka was trying to say.

"I can help you as an independent entity."

Hearing Onizuka say this, Ichinose still couldn't quite grasp his meaning.

"But aren't you a member of Class D? Isn't that what our cooperation is all about?"

Onizuka shook his head, then spoke up:

"Class D is Class D, and I am I. It would be best for you, Ichinose-san, not to lump me in with them."

Seeming to finally understand what Onizuka meant, Ichinose cried out, unable to accept it.

"Onizuka-kun, are you saying that when necessary, you will act as a [mole]?"

"But... those are your classmates! They are people you should be able to entrust everything to. How could you do such a thing?"

Tsk, he knew this would happen. Having such high kindness stats isn't a good thing in this school.

"Don't worry so much about it. Just think of me as a devil. Ichinose-san, do you accept?"

"Think about the students in your class. You wouldn't want them to fail to reach Class A and end up with a miserable expulsion, would you?"

Ichinose sat in her chair with her head down, thinking for a long time, before finally making up her mind.

"Then, 'Devil'-kun, what is your price?"