Shiina: I Was Worried for Nothing

"Do you think Shiina might betray Class C?"

Shuichi Kanda said as he turned over a slice of meat.

"That's a possibility."

"I see." Shuichi Kanda nodded. "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."

When Ryuen heard the words "well," a disdainful smile had already appeared at the corner of his mouth. But the words that followed made his face freeze.

"In that case, Hiyori, what's your position?"

"I won't betray my class!"

"Yeah, I don't think you would. But it doesn't matter what I believe. Plenty of people in your class don't trust you. That alone could interfere with my plans—and hurt Class C."

Under Ryuen's forceful pressure, Shiina opened her mouth several times, but couldn't get a word out.

"Come on, are you really so worried Shiina might leak Class C's information that you have to be this cautious?"

Unable to bear watching Shiina struggle, Shuichi Kanda harshly called Ryuen out.

"When it comes to getting into Class A, you can never be too careful."

"So you sent those three idiots under you to pick a fight with Class D?"

At the mention of that, Ryuen suddenly looked wide awake.

"Sudo's reaction was your doing, wasn't it?"

"That's right. I told him to say that. Now you're in a bind, aren't you? And besides, your methods were too amateurish. You can't do anything without evidence.

Don't believe me? Look at what I did. I cost Class A 200 Class Points in one go. That's how you pull off a sacrificial play."

As soon as Shuichi Kanda said this, Ryuen immediately thought of what had happened earlier.

"So you did that on purpose!"

"Don't you think your methods were a little crude compared to mine? You staked your chance of winning on Sudo saying something wrong. Wasn't that a little too arrogant—or maybe just plain stupid?"

After saying this, Shuichi Kanda stared unblinkingly into Ryuen's eyes. It was as if sparks were flying between them.

A few seconds later, Ryuen suddenly laughed.

"This is interesting. This school really knows how to keep things from getting boring."

Seeing Ryuen laugh, Shuichi Kanda went back to his duties as the meal's chef.

"Besides, you don't need to target Shiina. Like you said, saving up 20 million Private Points is easy, isn't it?"

Ryuen looked displeased that Shuichi Kanda had already thrown his own words back at him.

"How about this? Let's work together. Then you won't have to worry about Shiina leaking your information, right?"

At that, Ryuen seemed to hear something amusing. "Are you joking? You want Class C to work with Class D?"

It seemed even this guy looked down on the trash in Class D.

"Looks like you like to joke too. I said me, not Class D."

As he spoke, he pointed his right thumb at himself.

Hearing that, Ryuen's expression turned serious.

"Let's hear it."

"For example, we could try working together on the next Special Exam. What do you think?"

"Special Exam? What do you mean?"

"To encourage competition among students, this school regularly holds exams that can affect Class Points. These are collectively known as Special Exams, and their timing and format are unknown.

"For example, when we first enrolled in April, we had the First-Year Conduct Exam. Then the Midterm Exam in May tested the students' ability to gather information."

Ever since the Midterm Exam had ended, the truth about the past exam questions was no longer a secret, so the real purpose of the test had been revealed to the first-years.

"I know all that. Get to the point."

Ryuen picked up a piece of meat and ate it, impatiently urging Shuichi Kanda to tell him what he wanted.

"You know we'll have a two-week vacation after the Final Exam, right?"

Ryuen's hand paused. "You mean that's part of a Special Exam too?"

"Of course. Do you think the school would be kind enough to let us vacation on a Southern Island without any strings attached?" Shuichi Kanda said with a smile.

After hearing him out, Ryuen began weighing the pros and cons.

Chapter 80: Shiina: I Was Worried for Nothing

While Ryuen thought it over, Shuichi Kanda started eating and didn't forget to serve Shiina some food.

"Our biggest obstacle in getting to Class A isn't Class D, and it isn't Class B under Ichinose either. It's Class A, with Sakayanagi in charge.

"I don't know what you got from her last time to make you choose to go down with Class B, but didn't that just widen the gap between you and Class A?"

"You even know about that?"

Ryuen narrowed his eyes and stared at Shuichi Kanda.

"It's obvious." Shuichi Kanda sounded exasperated. "Class B looks united and powerful, but its weaknesses are just as obvious. They're no threat at all. The real problem is Sakayanagi, who treats people like chess pieces."

"So you want to join forces with me and take down Class A first?" A cold smile appeared on Ryuen's face.

"If necessary, I'll bring Class B in too."

A similar smile appeared on Shuichi Kanda's face.

Watching the two of them smile maliciously, Hiyori Shiina suddenly felt that she'd been worrying over nothing. They were cut from the same cloth!

The meal went smoothly enough. Ryuen agreed to consider working with Shuichi Kanda on the exam scheduled for summer vacation, depending on the circumstances. Until then, he wouldn't bother Class D again.

Shuichi Kanda also agreed not to retaliate against Ryuen by accusing him of making a false report. That was the real reason Ryuen had invited him today.

If they actually did that, Ryuen's class would most likely lose the case. The result would be Class C's Class Points dropping close to zero, after which they'd start making even more reckless moves.

At that point, all four first-year classes might end up having to live in poverty.

To prevent that bizarre outcome, Shuichi Kanda had accepted Ryuen's invitation—and even made him pay a hefty price.

Neither side wanted a mutually destructive outcome, so they might as well let Class A die. It wasn't as if they were short on points.

That was why the two of them reached a tacit agreement about working together.

In reality, Class D couldn't have filed a counterclaim anyway. To be honest, even though the other side had provoked them first, Sudo had still thrown the first punch.

If their counterclaim went wrong, they could end up in the same awkward position as Class C was in now.

Besides, all they wanted was to get through this crisis. They had no intention of making trouble for themselves.

Pathetic...

The worst part was that they all had this boring sense of justice.

So old-fashioned...

More importantly, if those guys learned there was an opportunity like this, they'd probably get carried away and fall into Ryuen's trap.

Getting Sudo to hold back for a week was already the limit. There was no way they could put this off any longer, so the sooner they dealt with it, the better.

So even if someone tried to use this opportunity to go after Ryuen, Shuichi Kanda would stop them.

Knowing when to quit was enough. Getting carried away was a fatal mistake.

As for Ryuen, this meal had made him raise his estimate of how dangerous Class D was by more than a little. He'd thought it was a class full of useless losers, but he hadn't expected someone like Shuichi Kanda to be among them.

As one of his kind—at least, that was how Ryuen saw it—Ryuen knew how destructive someone like that could be. If he couldn't take Shuichi Kanda out first, then the other boy's retaliation would surely cause plenty of trouble.

So until he was absolutely certain he could crush Shuichi Kanda, Ryuen saw no point in continuing to test him. For now, he decided to back off.

And Shuichi Kanda was right. Class D had fewer than 100 Class Points, so they could try working together to take down Class A, which was far ahead of the rest.

At this school, being the strongest didn't automatically make a class Class A. A class had to be stronger than the other three classes combined to hold onto the top spot.

Otherwise, Class A's position would never be secure before the final showdown.

No matter how arrogant Ryuen was, he wasn't confident he could beat all three classes working together. So he'd muddy the waters first and bring everyone closer together. Then, when the final showdown came, they could each fend for themselves and fish in troubled waters!

Because at that decisive moment, every class would have a chance. There was no way they'd work together again!

It was nine o'clock on Saturday morning. It was so hot that Shuichi Kanda put on a breathable, cool-to-the-touch T-shirt and slim-fit pants before heading out.

Today was the day he and Kushida had arranged to accompany Sakura to get her camera repaired. He and Kushida had agreed to meet in the dormitory lobby on the first floor.

Honestly, Shuichi Kanda still felt bad for Sakura. None of this had anything to do with her, yet she'd been dragged into it for nothing—and someone had smashed her beloved camera.

Kushida had clearly offered to pay for the repairs, but that didn't mean the whole incident hadn't caused Sakura trouble.

They were meeting in the dormitory lobby on the first floor.

Shuichi Kanda was the first to arrive. He hated standing people up, so whenever he arranged to meet someone somewhere, he made sure to get there early.

Sometimes the other person was late and it made him furious, but he still arrived early the next time.

Today, though, he ran into someone he hadn't seen in days: Kamuro Masumi.

"Long time no see, Kamuro."

"Oh, you're still alive."

At the sound of Kanda's greeting, Kamuro looked over. Her relatively peaceful mood turned stormy in an instant, and then she shot him a line sharp enough to choke on.

"What are you talking about? I can't die before I've pinned you to the ground and rubbed your face in it." Shuichi Kanda froze for a moment, then immediately shot back.

"With a body that got a concussion from one punch?"

Looking at Kamuro's disdainful expression, Shuichi Kanda's brows twitched several times. Then he rubbed his temples.

Why does it feel like she's mad at me? Shuichi Kanda raised a hand to massage his temples, completely baffled.

The last time we studied together, things seemed to go pretty well. Why's she suddenly acting like this?

Then Shuichi Kanda thought of a possibility—a possibility he could barely believe himself.

"Kamuro, you..."

Shuichi Kanda stepped toward Kamuro. In the blink of an eye, their faces were less than ten centimeters apart.

Hearing Shuichi Kanda's breathing so close made Kamuro's heart pound with alarm, but she kept her expression perfectly composed.

"You're not worried about me, are you?"

"Who's worried about you? Even if you died, it wouldn't matter to me." Kamuro stubbornly turned her head away, not daring to look Shuichi Kanda in the eyes.

"Then why can't you look me in the eye when you say that?" Shuichi Kanda's eyes were full of amusement. "But I'm happy. Nothing makes me happier than having a loyal dog worry about me."

At his words, Kamuro's breathing grew noticeably quicker, and her chest rose and fell more visibly.

"Ah, Kanda. Long time no see."

At that moment, the voice from nearby made Shuichi Kanda frown.

Damn white-haired loli, why are you everywhere? Can't you see I'm enjoying myself?

"Please don't tease Masumi."

Following the voice, he saw Sakayanagi Arisu in a white sundress, looking more homely than usual.

The gray beret she usually wore had been replaced by a large white sunhat today. She wasn't even wearing the white thigh-highs she usually put on.

Did she wear a hat every day because she was afraid I'd discover she was actually bald?

And wasn't she shorter?

"Oh, yeah? By the way, have you gotten shorter?"

Shuichi Kanda was being as honest as ever.

Shuichi Kanda's words made the smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's face stiffen. Then her hand tightened slightly around her cane.

The next moment, she looked at Shuichi Kanda with murderous intent.

"If I could, I'd love to break both your legs with this cane, then let you enjoy the same view I do."

"Hey, don't say something that terrifying with a smile on your face." Shuichi Kanda rolled his eyes, then suddenly realized something too.