Kushida Was a Lot More Worrisome Than Karuizawa

"I also noticed three things: the results of the quiz will not affect the grade at all, the failing grade standard has not yet been determined, and the decision on the partner will be made after the quiz."

Horikita presented her work, but she didn't feel that Chabashira-sensei had given them any pointers.

"One more thing, Chabashira-sensei deliberately used Hirata and Ike as an example of a pair. Do you really think that was a coincidence?"

"You mean... Chabashira-sensei suggests we group the high-achieving students with the low-achieving students together?"

Perhaps because he had interacted with Shuichi Kanda a lot, Hirata immediately understood what Shuichi Kanda meant.

"If that's the case, doesn't that mean the school will group high-achieving students and low-achieving students together based on the results of the next quiz?"

"Very likely, and the groupings will likely be as follows: the top student and the last student in the preliminary exam will be in one group, the second-to-last student and the second-to-last student will be in another group, and so on."

After Shuichi Kanda's blatant reminder, Kushida and Horikita immediately realized what was going on.

Horikita then looked at Shuichi Kanda with a complicated expression. "It was definitely the right decision to call you to the meeting."

"I just want to go back as soon as possible. If you guys start pushing it from scratch, it'll probably be pushed until night."

Although Shuichi Kanda mocking Horikita wasn't angry because she genuinely hadn't expected this outcome.

"Besides, if you're still worried, you can ask the upperclassmen. Didn't Chabashira-sensei say that this exam called Paper Shuffle isn't unique to this year's cohort?"

"I'll check with the senior members of the club about this."

Hirata nodded, indicating that he would help.

"Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about?"

While Shuichi Kanda and his group had finalized their plan, Karuizawa and Sudo were still completely bewildered.

"What do you mean by 'first place and last place in a group'? I don't understand at all."

Looking at Karuizawa's expression, Horikita really wanted to tell her that it was okay if she didn't understand.

But since Hirata brought her here, let Hirata handle it.

"Karuizawa, do you understand the three key points Horikita mentioned earlier?"

"I know that, because you mentioned it too, Chabashira-sensei." Karuizawa nodded.

"Firstly, the results of the quiz don't affect our grades, which means the quiz isn't designed to assess our academic abilities. Secondly, considering that our partners will only be mentioned after the quiz, we can confirm that the quiz results are used to assign us to groups. Do you understand?"

"Hmm, barely."

Then, Hirata explained what had just happened to them again, and finally they understood.

In fact, Shuichi Kanda felt there was no need to continue explaining to them; making them understand too much would only cause them more pain.

"But if that's the case, wouldn't students with scores around the average be the most vulnerable?"

Karuizawa immediately realized what was happening and exclaimed.

"Yes, the closer the score is to the center, the greater the risks become."

Because the scores of people in that area tend to be quite unstable.

This is one of the reasons why Shuichi Kanda agreed to attend this meeting.

Because Miyake's grades are around average, and he's also uneven in his studies. What if he's assigned to a student who's just as uneven in his studies...?

However, it would probably be difficult to give Miyake special treatment, considering there are other students in the class who might be in danger.

"These are the grouping rules. Next, we need to confirm with the upperclassmen. Could you please help me, Hirata Kushida?"

"Hmm, I'll ask the seniors in the Soccer Club."

"I'll ask the upperclassmen I know too." Kushida nodded matter-of-factly. "But for Horikita, it would be better to ask your brother directly. That might be a chance for you to make up."

Pfft!

Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Kikyo enough, Kikyo retaliated immediately.

Horikita glared at Shuichi Kanda before rejecting Kushida's suggestion.

"I don't want my brother to see me in such a sorry state yet, so I'm leaving it to you."

The discussion about grouping rules ended, and we quickly moved on to the next topic.

"The next question is which class should be designated to fight."

"Yes, but I think we only have one goal: Class C." Horikita immediately answered Hirata's question and gave his reasoning, "The reason is simple: it's about overall academic ability. Class C is inferior to Class A and Class B in terms of academic ability. This is a battle of academic ability, so choosing Class C is the safest answer."

"But Class A and Class B know that Class C's academic ability is weak, right? Won't we run into problems with them?"

"Don't worry, Hirata, neither Class A nor Class B will choose Class C or Class D." Shuichi Kanda's words attracted everyone's attention.

"Hirata, you should still remember the Class Points for each class, right?"

"Yes, Class A has 1019 points, Class B has 742 points, Class C has 478 points, and our Class D has 461 points, right?"

Shuichi Kanda nodded, indicating that Hirata had a good memory.

"In this exam, a successful attack could close the gap by 200 Class Points, while a mutual selection could potentially widen the gap to 400 Class Points."

This is a score enough to turn things around. For Class B, formerly Class A, this exam is a golden opportunity for them to return to Class A. Sakayanagi will definitely not give up this once-in-a-lifetime chance easily.

"I understand what you mean, but Class A might choose Class C."

"No, it's impossible." Shuichi Kanda shook his head. "As Class A, they have to face the challenge from the lower-ranked classes. Otherwise, putting aside the outcome, the blow to their morale alone would be enough to bring them down."

"Ichinose understands this very well, so she will definitely accept Sakayanagi's challenge, which is worth 200 Class Points."

"Besides, I think everyone knows how they got promoted to Class A."

That's right. The reason why the current Class A is Class A is not because they defeated the original Class A, but because the original Class A was tricked by Shuichi Kanda once when they were in school, and then tricked again by Shuichi Kanda and Ryuen when they were on the Uninhabited Island.

Ichinose were just lucky to get promoted to Class A.

If they can't beat Class A even once, they won't be able to build up their confidence.

Therefore, Ichinose have no choice but to engage in a real fight with Sakayanagi.

"That's right. If you're afraid of challenges from below, then you don't deserve to sit at the top."

Horikita was also aware of this, and it seems she understood that leading Class D to Class A was only the first step, and maintaining Class A's position was the final step.

"But if we face Class C, there will be another problem."

"There's a traitor in Class D. If we don't find that person, Class D' s defeat is inevitable, isn't it?"

Shuichi Kanda's final interruption plunged everyone into silence.

The Sports Festival incident has already proven that there is a traitor in Class D. If we let the traitor succeed again...

"Leave that to me!"

Horikita resolutely accepted this hot potato.

"Please let me know if you need any help."

Hirata stood up and looked at Horikita.

"Yes, I won't be polite."

Thus, the Class D's operational meeting came to an end, Shuichi Kanda and the others gradually left Palette's private room and dispersed.

Chapter 199 Kushida is much more worrisome than Karuizawa.

After the strategic meeting, the members of Class D dispersed on the spot. Some joined clubs, some prepared to set questions, and some started to slack off.

In Room 404, Kushida immediately started cursing after arriving with Shuichi Kanda.

"That bitch Horikita really did tell everyone about me! I knew she was a problem, and now she's even told strangers!"

Kushida was more irritable than usual today. After berating Horikita, he turned his fierce gaze to Shuichi Kanda.

"Why didn't you stop her? You just let her spout nonsense."

I wanted to stop them, but they can say whatever they want; there's no way to stop them.

"Anyway, she doesn't know much, and given Horikita and Ayanokoji's connections, no one would believe her even if she told them, so don't worry."

Faced with the irritable Kushida, Shuichi Kanda tried to comfort him.

It's true that he didn't seriously try to stop it; after all, he also wanted to know what happened in Kushida's past.

"No, I must make Horikita drop out of school! And that Ayanokoji too."

"Give up. Ayanokoji aside Horikita, you absolutely can't do it with Ayanokoji."

What do you mean by that?

"What I mean is, Ayanokoji is a cunning bastard who pretends to be weak while actually being strong; even I'm not confident I can handle him."

Shuichi Kanda's answer immediately shocked Kushida.

She knew about Shuichi Kanda's abilities; he had easily outmaneuvered Katsuragi and Ryuen during the Uninhabited Island and VIP Exam.

Although she didn't know what he did during the Sports Festival, she still felt that Shuichi Kanda was not idle.

That is indeed the case; Shuichi Kanda to launder money and has already successfully shorted 20 million yen.

In Kushida's mind, the most powerful person in Class D was not someone like Hirata Horikita, but Shuichi Kanda.

But now Shuichi Kanda is saying that Ayanokoji, who's always following Horikita around, is actually a formidable character that even he can't handle?

He just ran a little too fast, didn't he?

"I can't tell you the specific reasons, but Ayanokoji is a dangerous person, you'd better not get close to him." Shuichi Kanda rarely showed a serious expression. "You can do whatever you want with Horikita, I can handle it, but you absolutely must not do anything behind my back with Ayanokoji."

People tend to easily believe what others say, especially those who are better than themselves. Kushida thought Shuichi Kanda was more capable than him, so he immediately took Shuichi Kanda's words to heart.

Seeing Kushida nod, Shuichi Kanda slight sigh of relief.

However, he also knew that once he said this, given Kushida's personality, while he would become wary of Ayanokoji, he would also definitely become curious about Ayanokoji himself.

But it's okay, as long as Kushida doesn't do anything reckless behind his back, Shuichi Kanda has a way to cover up the consequences.

As for her going to cause trouble for Horikita, Shuichi Kanda absolutely no worries.

What trouble can two noobs cause by pecking at each other?

What should we have for dinner?

"I'm not eating anymore! I'm too angry to eat!"

After saying that, Kushida picked up his schoolbag from the door and left Shuichi Kanda's dormitory.

Shuichi Kanda shrugged, then took out ingredients from the refrigerator and began to slowly prepare the dish.

Then, not long after, there was another knock on Shuichi Kanda's door.

This guy's back again?

"Coming, wait a minute."

After washing his hands briefly, Shuichi Kanda opened the door. Standing outside was not Kushida, but Kei Karuizawa.

"It's you. Come in."

Seeing Karuizawa, Shuichi Kanda was not disappointed, because he had expected Karuizawa to come, but he didn't expect her to come so quickly.

"What am I going to do? That bastard Ryuen has made me do things for him again."

As soon as he entered the house, Karuizawa's face was filled with worry and displeasure.

"Don't rush, this is all within my calculations. Sit down, have some water, and we'll talk slowly."

Shuichi Kanda's confident words and calm demeanor subconsciously calmed Karuizawa down.

Then I picked up the hot water that Shuichi Kanda handed me and took a sip; it was very warming.

"Ryuen asked me to find a way to get the questions from Class D, and said she would give me a test paper in two days so I could submit it to Chabashira-sensei."

"So, she intends to expose you to Class D' s attention?" Shuichi Kanda frowned.

It's incredibly foolish of Ryuen to act this way. Only spies who remain hidden are useful; what use are exposed spies?

Or is it that this guy is willing to expose Karuizawa, his hidden spy, in order to thoroughly punish Horikita this time?

"Let me see your phone."