Assault on Ichinose's Inner Defenses

"That clerk has already memorized my face, so I am not suitable to be the one to go and scout for information."

"Then leave it to me—"

"No."

I rejected Ichinose's decision.

"Why?"

"Ichinose-san, I think it is necessary for you to understand one very simple thing."

"I do not intend to hand these tasks over to you because you are Ichinose; you are the leader of Class B. Every move you make does not represent just you, but the entirety of Class B."

"Your surroundings are always bustling, so you cannot do this. Furthermore, to be blunt, considering your past record, I do not trust your capabilities, nor do I believe you have the ability to complete this task according to my requirements."

"Your good intentions might lead to Sakura-san suffering even more severe harm."

If I wanted to destroy Sakura and Ichinose, I would not hesitate to let Ichinose investigate this incident in depth.

Ichinose's high popularity and affinity would cause the students of Class B to spontaneously join the investigation team, and this matter would certainly not escape Kushida's notice, which would mean that some students from Class D would also intervene.

Once the number of people increases, chaos will follow. In that chaos, the clerk would be driven to a corner, Sakura would be disgraced and voluntarily drop out, and Ichinose would suffer another blow, perhaps even dropping out herself. What an interesting picture that would be.

"Then, then—"

Having been rejected by me repeatedly, Ichinose fell into confusion and loss. As someone in the know, she did not know what she could do to help.

"Everyone has their own strengths. The reason I told Ichinose about Sakura-san's story is because I believe that in this school, only Ichinose-san can truly lead Sakura-san out of her predicament."

Ichinose does not need to know the specific execution or the detailed plan; she only needs to handle the aftermath.

"Only I can do it?"

Ichinose pointed at herself with her finger and shifted her gaze toward Sakura.

"The hierarchy I told you exists in this school is not alarmist; it is something that has been happening in reality all along."

"Even if Sakura-san, who is at the very bottom, gets through this crisis with our help, what about the next one? If we just let Sakura-san waste three years in this school like this, then when she reaches the university stage, or enters society to work later, how will the troubles caused by her introverted personality be resolved?"

"This society is not something we can change. All we can do is help Sakura-san so that she can at least appear to be integrated with this society on the surface. Only then can her life be better showcased."

"The problems with the students in Class D are too great; I don't think they have the will or the ability to help Sakura-san. As for Class C, I cannot find a suitable candidate."

"As for Class A, the students there are basically arrogant. To put it bluntly, they look down on Class C and Class D as lower-ranked classes, and by extension, they look down on the students of those classes."

"After thinking it over, only Ichinose-san of Class B has this ability."

I don't even believe this statement myself, but as long as I don't make any errors in principle, Ichinose will agree to help regardless.

"Class A... it does seem to be that way. Totsuka Yahiko-kun had a conflict with Yamauchi Haruki-kun of Class D in the library today, and they almost came to blows."

"Totsuka-kun's attitude toward the students of Class D was very hostile, and his words were extremely mocking. Although the other Class A students with him didn't say anything, you could tell they also looked down on the students of Class D."

"But shouldn't Hirata-kun and Kushida-san from Class D reach out to help their classmates? Even if they gave false testimony during that incident with Sudo last time, wasn't it because they were helping a classmate from their own class?"

Ichinose followed my words and began to think, first denying the possibility of Class A, then proposing Hirata and Kushida as candidates. It seems she still holds hope for those two.

"Ichinose, Hoshinomiya-sensei should have told you the truth about how this school sorts classes during the homeroom meeting at the beginning of this month, right?"

Giving her the answer directly is a poor strategy. One must use words to guide her to first guess something close to the answer, and then use the answer to help her verify her own conjecture. That way, she will believe that the answer she obtained is correct.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei said that this school sorts classes according to the excellence of the students. The most excellent students are sorted into Class A, and the worst students are sorted into Class D."

It seems Hoshinomiya is at least reliable on this matter and did not mislead Class B.

"Then, Ichinose-san, what do you think the school uses to determine excellence? Or rather, what is a student's excellence judged by?"

"Academic grades? No, that's not right. It's not just academic grades. Perhaps athletic ability? Moral character?"

Ichinose kept adding criteria based on the images of Hirata and Kushida, while constantly denying the standards she proposed.

Because in her perception, whether it is intelligence, physical fitness, or moral conduct, both Hirata and Kushida of Class D could receive excellent evaluations; it is impossible for them to be sorted into Class D.

"If a person is very excellent on the surface but has unspeakable dealings behind the scenes, those who do not understand their past cannot see their full picture. When this school sends out invitations, it conducts a comprehensive investigation of the students. These guys who are shiny and beautiful on the surface but vicious and dirty in private will be ferreted out."

"Hirata Yosuke has good grades, and his physical fitness and athletic ability are also quite good. It's just a pity that he did something major during middle school. If Ryuen could unify this school through violent means, the harm and impact caused would be comparable to what Hirata did in middle school."

"As for Kushida Kikyo, she is very special. Hirata relies on physical strength to commit violence, while she relies on connections to obtain information and then stabs others in the back on a mental level. The harm caused by both of them encompassed an entire middle school. There were reports about this in the news here in Japan. I conducted in-depth interviews and investigations when I was here for travel and research."

This is the "gold content" of Class D. I only need to tell the truth to achieve my goal. Can other classes do that?

"Why were they still invited by the school even after committing such serious mistakes in middle school?"

Feeling that her worldview had been severely impacted, Ichinose wanted to struggle a bit more, attempting to refute me by relying on the natural protection provided by the school facility.

"Control group—have you learned this concept in biology class? Finally, I have one more thing to say that is even more offensive to Ichinose-san. Do you want to hear it?"

I was already prepared for the finishing blow.

"I am already prepared. Please speak, Masaryu-kun."

Ichinose's firm gaze looked as if she had made some kind of resolution.

"If I hadn't chosen to do that back then, but instead waited a little longer—waited until you made a mistake before I took action—then Ichinose-san would also be in Class D."

In any case, the school won't tell the students how they sort classes. When you're out and about, your mouth is your own; you provide your own script.