Sakayanagi Arisu, You Are the Challenger

Horikita Suzune returned to the classroom with his brows still furrowed and a cold expression on his face; it seemed his mood hadn't improved in the slightest.

That was only natural.

After all, Chabashira Sae had actually told him that his placement in Class D was perfectly reasonable.

Even though he ranked third in academics and possessed excellent physical ability, the school had determined that his personality had a severe flaw, which was why he couldn't enter the elite Class A.

Horikita Suzune, of course, could not accept that.

And so, he had made a resolution in front of Chabashira Sae: if that was the case, then he would simply lead this class to Class A.

That way, he could prove the school's placement of him was wrong.

And he wouldn't bring shame to his older brother, Horikita Manabu.

"Chihaya-kun, Classmate Sakayanagi from Class A is waiting for you in the hallway."

At that moment, Matsushita Chiaki suddenly walked up to Chihaya Rei's desk to relay a message for Sakayanagi.

Class A?

Horikita Suzune, having caught the keyword, couldn't help but glance over a few times.

Matsushita Chiaki also stood where she was, blinking as she looked at Chihaya Rei with curiosity.

She was somewhat surprised that Chihaya Rei even knew Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, and that the other party had come to their class on a day like today, of all days.

In Matsushita Chiaki's estimation, Sakayanagi was a very formidable character.

Chihaya Rei turned his head toward the outside of the classroom with a hint of surprise; Sakayanagi Arisu was standing by the hallway, a faint smile on her lips, her gaze fixed in his direction.

"Thanks, Matsushita."

After thanking Matsushita Chiaki, Chihaya Rei stepped out of the classroom.

He was also a bit curious about why Sakayanagi Arisu was looking for him.

Aside from the day Kamuro stole things at the start of the term, he and Sakayanagi Arisu had basically had no interaction since April.

Now that she had specifically come to the classroom door to find him, it was clear she had some sort of objective.

It couldn't possibly be that she had come all this way just to mock them because Class D's class points were zero, right?

Based on his understanding of Sakayanagi Arisu, she wasn't that bored.

Arriving in front of her, Chihaya Rei asked, "What's the matter?"

Sakayanagi Arisu rested one hand on the round handle of her cane and smiled. "The situation in your Class D doesn't seem very optimistic."

"You can drop the 'seem'."

Chihaya Rei said casually.

Hearing the indifference in Chihaya Rei's tone, Sakayanagi Arisu blinked in surprise, her delicate face revealing a hint of curiosity.

"You seem very unconcerned," she teased with a smile. "You didn't receive any points this month, you know?"

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu frowned slightly and glanced back at the students inside the Class D classroom.

Although she had come directly to Class D to find Chihaya Rei, which had drawn the attention of some students, Sakayanagi Arisu felt as though two gazes were watching her with unusual intensity.

After shifting her gaze to observe the students in the Class D classroom, she quickly spotted the two people staring at her.

One was blonde, the other had pink hair.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't know either of them.

Therefore, there was no reason for them to keep staring at her; they must be concerned about Chihaya Rei, who was standing beside her.

The corners of Sakayanagi Arisu's mouth curled up slightly, feeling as though she had discovered something interesting.

"I still have quite a few points left over from last month."

Chihaya Rei answered her question, then looked at Sakayanagi with a thoughtful expression, hatching a mischievous plan.

In his memory, Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have won quite a few points in the Chess Club.

And since he had just acquired AI-level chess skills, for Sakayanagi to show up on his doorstep now...

It felt like she was here to hand them over.

"I see... it seems I was overthinking things."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded slightly, a glimmer of light dancing in the depths of her eyes. "I had originally thought that if Chihaya-kun didn't have enough points, I would be willing to lend you some."

"After all, you did help me out at the start of the term."

Sakayanagi Arisu put on a show of being kind-hearted, placing heavy emphasis on the word "help."

Chihaya Rei curled his lip and smiled. "You're really holding a grudge, aren't you?"

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't respond to that, instead smiling as she said to Chihaya Rei:

"In the first month, there was a student using an anonymous account who sold information to classes A, B, and C. Did that person not approach Class D? Or did you choose not to buy?"

"I'm not sure," Chihaya Rei said with a neutral expression. "But given the situation in our Class D, even if we wanted to buy, we wouldn't have been able to scrape together the points."

Chihaya Rei actually felt that the people in Class D were reluctant to hand over the points they had obtained.

It seemed Sakayanagi had come for this matter.

"Could the person selling information be in Class D?"

Sakayanagi Arisu spoke softly, as if talking to herself, or perhaps asking Chihaya Rei.

"Class D's class points are 0, so it would be more reasonable for the person selling information not to be in Class D, wouldn't it?"

Chihaya Rei glanced at her.

"The least likely is often the most likely."

Sakayanagi Arisu, however, shook her head and denied it, her voice gaining a hint of amusement. "Besides, I think that person is very likely you, Classmate Chihaya."

"What's your evidence?" Chihaya Rei asked.

Sakayanagi Arisu paused, her tone laced with helplessness and a touch of melancholy.

"After all, it's an anonymous account, so there's no direct evidence. I got Katsuragi's contact information, but they wouldn't even add me as a friend."

"But please don't underestimate a girl's intuition."

She emphasized.

"..."

Chihaya Rei couldn't help but want to roll his eyes.

Intuition, now.

Sakayanagi Arisu's words clearly showed she was determined to believe he was the one selling information, even though it was indeed him.

Chihaya Rei nodded as if nothing had happened. "It's fine if Classmate Sakayanagi thinks it's me."

"Hmm, are you serious?"

Sakayanagi Arisu frowned slightly, her tone actually laced with surprise.

He admitted it so readily?

How could you admit it so quickly?!

This was not what Sakayanagi Arisu had envisioned.

She had expected to set a linguistic trap for Chihaya Rei through step-by-step calculations, ultimately forcing him to admit he was the one selling information.

And now he just self-destructed?

This left the words she had planned to say for the entire class period feeling useless.

"The students in Class D probably don't know what you did, right?"

Sakayanagi Arisu glanced indifferently at the bunch of idiots in the Class D classroom and lowered her voice to Chihaya Rei.

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell them that you sold information to other classes to earn a lot of points, but deliberately didn't tell Class D?"

"That would lead to everyone turning against you, you know?"

Everyone turning against me? Chihaya Rei shook his head with a relaxed expression and said, "You can't do that, Sakayanagi. You have no concrete evidence, and no one will believe you."

"Even if you spread rumors, it won't cause me much trouble. I'll just say you resent me and are deliberately damaging my reputation."

"Also, I can tell you that my popularity in Class D is surprisingly good. Unlike you, don't you have any friends in Class A?"

As he spoke, Chihaya Rei displayed a villainous, confident smile.

He was currently a great contributor to easing class conflicts.

Coupled with his good relationship with Karuizawa Kei's popular girl group, Class D's public opinion had, to some extent, been controlled by Chihaya Rei.

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded thoughtfully, as if she had taken his words to heart.

However, she didn't think this alone would be enough to defeat Chihaya Rei; that would be too boring.

Sakayanagi Arisu now felt it was getting more and more interesting.

She raised her eyes and looked intently into Chihaya Rei's eyes, her tone carrying a hint of inquiry as she asked, "Why did you choose Katsuragi, and not me?"

This was the true purpose of her visit.

Upon hearing this, Chihaya Rei understood and looked at Sakayanagi with a strange expression.

Sakayanagi meant why he had approached Katsuragi Kohei for the transaction at that time, and not her, Sakayanagi Arisu...

He said with a subtle tone, "The reason is simple. Because I thought Katsuragi would become the leader of Class A before you, so naturally, I went to Katsuragi for the transaction."

"And the facts prove it."

Sakayanagi Arisu's breath hitched slightly upon hearing this, and she instantly felt looked down upon by Chihaya Rei.

Although Chihaya Rei had indeed gotten some things right.

In the current struggle for leadership of Class A, a Sakayanagi faction and a Katsuragi faction have formed.

However, the Katsuragi faction holds a slight advantage at this stage, especially after today's class points results were announced.

Even just now...

Katsuragi's top subordinate, Totsuka Hirohiko, proudly declared in class that it was thanks to his big brother Katsuragi's proposal for the whole class to spend points on purchasing information that they had widened the gap with other classes.

In a sense, Chihaya Rei had also helped Katsuragi a little, causing some students in Class A who were originally neutral to lean towards Katsuragi.

Sakayanagi Arisu's purple eyes narrowed slightly:

"So, in Chihaya-kun's judgment, I am inferior to Katsuragi-kun?"

"I never said that."

Chihaya Rei looked at her with feigned surprise, and in the next second, he said something that made Sakayanagi Arisu even more displeased:

"But Katsuragi is indeed more suitable to lead Class A than you."

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu's chest couldn't help but rise and fall slightly, her fair fingers tightening their grip on her cane.

For a moment, she couldn't tell if Chihaya Rei was deliberately provoking her or if he genuinely believed her abilities were inferior to Katsuragi Kohei's.

That bald guy Katsuragi Kohei would be more suitable to lead Class A than her?!

To underestimate her so much, she would make Chihaya Rei take back his words and then bury him.

"That will be a mistaken judgment," Sakayanagi Arisu pursed her lips slightly, her voice firm and full of confidence.

"I reserve my opinion," Chihaya Rei chuckled, "After all, for Katsuragi right now, you are the challenger."