Mantis Stalks Cicada, Oriole Behind, and an Eagle Too?

"Pair of Aces."

"Pass."

"..."

"Kamuro? It's your turn."

"Huh? Oh, right... I pass too..."

Boring. What did Sakayanagi mean by that? They'll come find me? No, how is that possible? She didn't even say who.

The Class A students were killing time with playing cards bought using Class C's points.

For Class A, there was no shortage of entertainment supplies or food right now—all bought with Class C's points.

Katsuragi had Class C handle everything they needed, paying them 800,000 points a month.

Meanwhile, Kamuro was still mulling over what Sakayanagi meant. Poor thing—she still hadn't realized that the "they" wasn't referring to her, but to Class A.

"Who's there?! This is Class A's territory. Leave now."

A commotion came from outside the cave, and Kamuro snapped to attention.

"Kamuro, three with one—you in or not?"

"Royal Flush, airplane with wings. I'm out."

Kamuro's combo was fierce: first a royal flush, then an airplane with wings to clear her hand.

The two she was playing cards with stared wide-eyed at each other, practically wanting to eat their cards out of frustration.

Kamuro set down her cards and left directly, watching Katsuragi's retreating figure ahead. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Where are you going?"

One of Sakayanagi's core inner circle members, Hashimoto Masayoshi, grabbed Kamuro and asked.

Kamuro snapped back without any courtesy, "What? You need to supervise me going to the bathroom too?"

Shaking off Hashimoto's hand, she jogged away.

Watching Kamuro's hurried departure, Hashimoto was puzzled. Did she swallow gunpowder? No, looks like she's in a real hurry... but... she didn't seem to bring any tissue...

At that moment, Kamuro was hiding behind the plastic sheet blocking the cave's interior, peeking out to see what was happening.

The moment she looked out, a hand reached forward, startling her—but that hand was caught by another, thicker one.

"You need to understand what the consequences will be if you pull that aside. I already told you just now.

Although the school hasn't ruled that students from other classes can't enter a class's already-occupied base, it's an unspoken rule among all our classes.

If you insist on pulling it open, I won't stop you. But you'd better be mentally prepared for Class A to regularly visit your D Class's home base."

She is... Horikita Suzune? That's the name, right? Who's that expressionless guy behind her? What's his name? Probably just a lackey. Is this the pair Sakayanagi told me to watch?

Horikita frowned, displeased, and withdrew her hand.

"Fine, I give up. Let me just see how many points Class A's turtle strategy can earn."

"Heh. You D Class people really do love talking big."

Horikita turned and walked away.

"Let's go, Ayanokoji."

After watching Horikita and Ayanokoji disappear into the distance, Katsuragi launched into a lecture for Yahiko.

Kamuro didn't stay behind the plastic sheet any longer. She took the chance to slip back into the cave's depths.

Is Sakayanagi really telling me to watch those two? It doesn't feel like they did anything? They left without doing a thing. Why bother thinking so much? I'll leave the brainwork to Sakayanagi. I'll report to her after the exam ends.

"Come on, come on, let's keep going. Kobayashi, Yamada."

Kamuro felt her task was done, a weight off her shoulders, and called her two companions back for more cards.

"What are you doing? Another D Class student? Still not giving up? Katsuragi already said you can't get in."

?????

"Kamuro, spacing out again. It's your turn."

"Royal Flush, double twos, straight. I'm out."

Kamuro quickly caught up with Katsuragi's footsteps, leaving the two staring at each other wide-eyed once more.

"She must have cheated, right?"

"She definitely cheated."

"..."

"Yahiko! Put your hand down!"

The moment Katsuragi stepped outside, he saw Yahiko about to make a move on a boy and immediately barked sternly.

Kamuro, meanwhile, was skulking behind the plastic sheet, sneaking a peek with one eye. When she saw that figure—no mistake, she wouldn't forget it even if he turned to ash—Qiuyue.

It's that damn bastard! Go for it, Yahiko! I'm rooting for you! Hit him!

Qiuyue suddenly apologized, then hugged Yahiko.

...What? No way... He's... huh...? Is he gay? Disgusting.

From this angle, Kamuro could see Qiuyue's hands roaming all over Yahiko, and her conviction that Qiuyue was "gay" only grew stronger.

Until Kamuro saw Qiuyue's hand slip into Yahiko's pocket—then she knew something was wrong. From her angle, she could see it, but Katsuragi couldn't!

Qiuyue Qi... No wonder Sakayanagi wanted to recruit him. With sleight of hand this smooth and invisible, he had to be a pro. What was he looking for?

Kamuro, whose brain wasn't the sharpest, still hadn't realized why Sakayanagi wanted to recruit Qiuyue. She naively thought it was just for his pickpocketing skills, and didn't even understand what he was searching for.

If Qiuyue had known the situation and what Kamuro was thinking, he would've definitely quipped, "Miss, if your brain isn't up to it, maybe just don't use it, okay?"

"Sigh... Yahiko, go on inside. Leave this to me."

Katsuragi suddenly said this, and Kamuro panicked, scrambling back. The two factions were now at each other's throats.

Back in her seat, Kamuro watched Yahiko enter after her, took a deep breath, and finally relaxed a little.

"Kamuro..."

"Hm? What is it, Kobayashi?"

"You... cheated, didn't you?"

"How could I! Do I look like someone who'd cheat? I don't even know how."

Kamuro lied. She really hadn't known before, but after getting crushed by Sakayanagi using that cheating trick, she shamelessly begged Sakayanagi to teach her. That's what she was using now.

"I don't believe you."

True—Kamuro had arranged her cards too perfectly. No one would buy it.

Just as Kamuro was about to leave again, Katsuragi came back in, throwing her brain into confusion. She thought it was over.

But Katsuragi just took Hashimoto out. After waiting a bit, Kamuro followed.

She'd barely reached the spot behind the plastic tarp when Hashimoto flipped it open and came back in.

...Huh?

Hashimoto looked at Kamuro, frozen in place, and asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

Snapping out of it, Kamuro snapped irritably, "None of your damn business. If you've got nothing to do, get back inside."

"??????"

Pushed back by Kamuro, Hashimoto grew even more puzzled, let out a mental question mark, then thought it over and declared decisively:

"...I get it. She's not on a warpath—she's on her period. Girls at that time are all moody. Yeah, that explains it. I'll tell her to drink more hot water later."

Meanwhile, Kamuro was back at that familiar spot, behind the plastic tarp.

She looked over and saw Qiuyue saying something nearby, Katsuragi holding something in his hand, and not far away, Class B's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya.

Kamuro's brain stopped working. It really wasn't up to the task. All she knew now was to memorize this situation and report it to Sakayanagi.

Qiuyue handed a card to Katsuragi. Katsuragi looked at it, then picked up a pen to write something on paper.

Even as dim as Kamuro was, she finally understood one thing: Qiuyue had betrayed the class. That card was unmistakably a key card.

Kamuro saw Qiuyue lean in as Katsuragi was signing, reaching one hand around to Katsuragi's other side. From her angle, it looked like he was about to embrace Katsuragi.

This pervert really was gay, wasn't he? Disgusting. I'm getting goosebumps. No way—I'm staying far away from him from now on.

After Katsuragi signed, Qiuyue and Hoshinomiya left together.

Kamuro hurried back inside the cave and sat down at the card table again.

The moment she sat down, a cup of hot water was placed beside her. She looked up to see Hashimoto smiling with a "no need to thank me" expression.

??????