Sakayanagi Arisu's words sounded like a greeting, but in truth, she had already placed a challenge before him.
"No, I'd still rather deal with Katsuragi." Shiraishi Makoto took another sip of coffee.
"Oh? And what does that mean?" The smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's face deepened.
"Katsuragi is more straightforward, while Classmate Sakayanagi is smarter. And I dislike dealing with smart people the most."
Faced with Shiraishi Makoto's indirect compliment, Sakayanagi Arisu merely smiled. "So does that mean you intend to win Katsuragi over and suppress me?"
Holding his cup, Shiraishi Makoto slowly savored his coffee, looking as though he were seriously weighing the feasibility of it.
"Forget it. I don't want Classmate Sakayanagi to hold a grudge against me." Shiraishi Makoto spoke only after a while.
Sakayanagi Arisu glanced back at Kamuro Masumi. Kamuro immediately understood and silently retreated into the distance to keep watch for them.
"Then how about this? What if I asked you to help damage Katsuragi's reputation?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked.
"And the compensation?" Shiraishi Makoto agreed without hesitation.
Sakayanagi Arisu seemed not to have expected Shiraishi Makoto to reply so quickly, agreeing without even thinking it over.
"As for compensation, how about victory in one exam?" Sakayanagi considered it for a moment before offering her terms.
"Not enough." Shiraishi Makoto rejected the proposal. In the original story, Sakayanagi Arisu would join forces with Ryuen Kakeru from Class C during the Uninhabited Island Exam to strike at Class A under Katsuragi's leadership, so Shiraishi was not surprised by her suggestion.
However, Sakayanagi's condition was indeed insufficient. Class A's current style made it impossible for them to resort to underhanded methods to slander others. Sakayanagi could not possibly fail to understand that, so the only opportunity to make Katsuragi suffer a setback would be during a Special Exam.
And victory in an exam was itself a necessary outcome of striking at Katsuragi. Even if Sakayanagi secretly assisted him, the offer still lacked sincerity.
"First, I need to borrow Classmate Kamuro. I won't mention the timing or details for now. Before the operation, I'll tell Classmate Kamuro exactly what it entails. This should benefit Classmate Sakayanagi as well." Shiraishi Makoto had taken an interest in Kamuro's abilities and intended to send her to handle something important.
"No problem." Borrowing a person was only a minor matter. Besides, Sakayanagi Arisu had leverage over Kamuro Masumi, so she readily agreed.
"The second condition may not necessarily come into play." At this point, Shiraishi Makoto hesitated slightly. "In the future, I may need to meet Chairman Sakayanagi once. I hope you can introduce me."
"Oh?" This condition surprised Sakayanagi Arisu somewhat, but after considering it, she still nodded in agreement.
Neither of these conditions was particularly difficult, and they had also piqued her interest.
Since this transaction involved Sakayanagi betraying her own class, they could not have the school notarize a contract. The agreement remained merely verbal, but Shiraishi Makoto still trusted Sakayanagi's credibility in this regard.
At that moment, Shiraishi Makoto's phone rang.
Shiraishi Makoto glanced at the caller ID, and his expression turned somewhat strange.
"Hello, Hoshinomiya-sensei." Shiraishi Makoto answered the call.
"Makoto, are you free right now? I have something I need you to come to the office for~" Hoshinomiya Chie's voice came through the phone.
"No problem." Although he was curious about why Hoshinomiya Chie wanted to see him, Shiraishi Makoto did not refuse.
"Since Classmate Shiraishi has something to do, I won't keep you any longer. I hope our cooperation goes well." Sakayanagi Arisu stood up, bracing herself against the table with her left hand to maintain her balance while extending her right hand toward him.
"Likewise." Shiraishi Makoto raised his hand and gave hers a light shake, releasing it an instant later.
After bidding farewell to Sakayanagi and Kamuro, Shiraishi Makoto hurried to the faculty office. Since school had been over for quite some time, there were no other teachers inside. Only Hoshinomiya Chie remained.
"Makoto, you're here." Hoshinomiya Chie beamed when she saw Shiraishi Makoto. "Close the door, would you?"
"Of course." Shiraishi Makoto shut the door and walked over beside Hoshinomiya's desk. "May I ask what you wanted to see me about, Sensei?"
"Sit first." Hoshinomiya found a stool, and after Shiraishi Makoto sat down, she asked a deeply meaningful question.
"What do you think of Sae?"
Chabashira Sae was not only the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, but also taught Japanese history to the entire first year. That subject happened to be Shiraishi Makoto's weak point, so he had always studied seriously during Chabashira's classes.
However, Shiraishi Makoto knew perfectly well that Hoshinomiya was not asking about her teaching ability.
"A Class D with zero points shouldn't be worth worrying about, should it?" Although he knew about the history between Hoshinomiya Chie and Chabashira Sae, Shiraishi Makoto could not show it. On the surface, Class D was also a history-making class—the first in the school's history to lose all its Class Points in its very first month.
"That's what I thought too, but Sae has been making little moves lately~" As she spoke of Chabashira Sae, Hoshinomiya's gaze turned dangerous.
"So, Sensei wants to ask you for a favor." Hoshinomiya Chie said, "I hope you can help suppress Class D and make sure they can never rise again."
"May I know why?"
"It's like this..." Hoshinomiya paused before telling him the story of herself and Chabashira Sae. They had once been students at this school too, and on the eve of graduation, they had an opportunity to overtake the Class A of their time. Then their class encountered an exam.
In that exam, the entire class had to reach a unanimous decision in a vote, and the final vote could choose to expel one student in exchange for 100 Class Points. As long as they obtained those 100 points, they could complete their comeback.
At the time, the class leader was Chabashira Sae's boyfriend, and he decided to sacrifice himself for the sake of the class. But Chabashira Sae opposed it the whole time, making a unanimous vote impossible. In the end, not only did the class fail to gain any points, but because they could not reach an agreement, they lost 300 Class Points and completely lost their chance to become Class A.
Because of that, huge conflicts erupted within the class, and many people became lifelong strangers. Hoshinomiya Chie, meanwhile, came to resent Chabashira Sae for causing it all.
"Anyone else would be fine, but not Sae. She has no right to lay a hand on Class A." That was Hoshinomiya Chie's reason.
"I understand." Having obtained this information from Hoshinomiya, Shiraishi Makoto nodded lightly.
"Classmate Shiraishi has strong observational skills, so start by observing these two students." Hoshinomiya wrote down two names on a sheet of paper.
"Horikita Suzune, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka." Shiraishi Makoto looked at the two names, somewhat surprised. Horikita Suzune made sense, but how had Hoshinomiya noticed Ayanokoji at this point?
"Today, Sae called these two students into the office for private talks."
I see. Perhaps Shiraishi Makoto's comeback in the first month had alerted Hoshinomiya. When she saw Chabashira Sae summon two students separately, she immediately sensed something was amiss and used her authority as a teacher to look into their information.
Horikita Suzune's academic and athletic abilities were both outstanding. Moreover, Horikita's surname and her similar hair and eye colors reminded Hoshinomiya of the current Student Council president, Horikita Manabu. Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's entrance exam scores were extremely strange—exactly fifty points, right in the middle, in every subject.
As the saying went, too many coincidences became inevitability. To control his scores so perfectly, and during an important occasion like the entrance exam at that, meant that this student named Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could not be underestimated.
"Now then, this is the reward for the first phase." Hoshinomiya Chie operated her phone and transferred Shiraishi Makoto 300,000 Private Points.
"Make sure you work hard~"
Before you continue