Shiraishi Makoto did not answer directly. Instead, he turned to Tsubaki Sakurako beside him.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I take it I was right about your relationship with Yagami, President?" Tsubaki Sakurako asked evenly.
"You guessed right," Shiraishi Makoto said without trying to hide it. "Only one of us can stay at this school."
"But what's your plan? Yagami is in the alliance now."
Because Hosen Kazuomi intended to place his own people in the joint group, the first-year alliance existed mostly in name. Takahashi Osamu and Utsunomiya Riku, who had attended the original talks, had both chosen not to join it for their own reasons. Even so, the group brought together strong students from Classes A, B, and C. Yagami Takuya led it, and they held a Trial Card.
In Shiraishi Makoto's view, the best way to cause Yagami Takuya trouble was to push the group out of the top thirty and make them suffer the Trial Card's penalty. But that penalty would apply to everyone in the group, including the student sent by their own Class C.
"Utsunomiya got a little too worked up. We don't intend to make a move against Yagami during this exam," Tsubaki Sakurako explained. "But we can interfere with his plan."
In other words, they could work with Shiraishi Makoto from both sides to foil Yagami's plan to corner Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Why are there so many traitors among the first-years? Shiraishi Makoto almost laughed, but he kept a serious expression. "We can work together, but I won't tell you my plan, and you don't need to tell me yours. You can tell me when and where he intends to make his move, though. Our Route Schedules are the same, so you can find me without a walkie-talkie."
"I understand."