Horikita Suzune returned to the classroom with her brows still furrowed and her expression cold. She didn't seem to be in any better mood.
Of course she wasn't.
Chabashira Sae had actually said that it was only natural for her to have been assigned to Class D.
Even though she ranked third in her studies and had excellent physical abilities, the school had deemed her personality seriously flawed, so she couldn't get into the best class, Class A.
Horikita Suzune couldn't accept that.
So she had made up her mind in front of Chabashira Sae: if that was the case, then she'd just get this class promoted to Class A.
That would prove the school had been wrong to assign her here.
And she wouldn't bring shame upon her older brother, Horikita Manabu.
"Chihaya, Classmate Sakayanagi from Class A is waiting for you in the hallway."
Just then, Matsushita Chiaki came over to Chihaya Rei's desk and passed along a message from Sakayanagi.
Class A?
The keyword caught Horikita Suzune's attention, and she couldn't help glancing over a few times.
Matsushita Chiaki remained where she was, blinking as she looked at Chihaya Rei with curiosity.
She was a little surprised that Chihaya Rei knew Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, and that Sakayanagi had come to their classroom on a day like this.
In Matsushita Chiaki's eyes, Sakayanagi was quite a formidable person.
Chihaya Rei turned toward the classroom door in surprise. Sakayanagi Arisu stood in the hallway, a faint smile on her lips, her gaze directed at him.
"Thanks, Matsushita."
After thanking Matsushita Chiaki, Chihaya Rei left the classroom.
He was a little curious about why Sakayanagi Arisu was looking for him, too.
Aside from the day Kamuro stole something at the start of the school year, he'd barely interacted with Sakayanagi Arisu since April.
Now that she'd specifically come to his classroom to find him, she clearly had a reason.
It couldn't be that Class D had zero Class Points, and Sakayanagi Arisu had come all this way just to mock him, could it?
As far as he knew, Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't that childish.
Coming to stand before her, Chihaya Rei asked, "What is it?"
Sakayanagi Arisu rested one hand on the rounded handle of her cane and smiled. "Things don't seem to be going very well for your Class D."
"You can leave out the 'seem to.'"
Chihaya Rei replied casually.
Hearing how unconcerned he sounded, Sakayanagi Arisu blinked in surprise. Curiosity showed on her delicate face.
"You don't look worried at all," she teased with a smile. "You won't get any points this month, you know?"
As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu turned and glanced at the students in Class D's classroom, her brows drawing together slightly.
Although her arrival to find Chihaya Rei had drawn the attention of some Class D students, Sakayanagi Arisu felt that two pairs of eyes were staring at her with unusual intensity.
She scanned the classroom, and soon spotted the two students watching her.
One blonde, one pink-haired.
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't know either of them.
There was no reason for them to keep staring at her, so they must have been interested in Chihaya Rei beside her.
Sakayanagi Arisu's lips curled slightly. She felt she'd discovered something interesting.
"I still had quite a few points left over from last month."
Chihaya Rei answered her question, then regarded Sakayanagi thoughtfully, already hatching a mischievous plan.
As he recalled it, Sakayanagi Arisu had won quite a few points at the Chess Club.
And he'd just acquired chess skills on the level of an AI. Now Sakayanagi had come right to him.
It felt like she was delivering points to him.
"I see... Then I suppose I was worrying unnecessarily."
Sakayanagi Arisu nodded lightly, a glimmer moving through her eyes. "I was thinking that if you didn't have enough points, I'd be willing to lend you some."
"After all, you helped me at the beginning of the school year."
Sakayanagi Arisu put on a kindhearted air, placing particular emphasis on the word "helped."
Chihaya Rei gave a wry smile. "You really do hold a grudge."
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't respond. Instead, she smiled at Chihaya Rei and said:
"During the first month, a student using an anonymous account sold information to Classes A, B, and C. Did that person not approach Class D? Or did you not buy anything?"
"I'm not sure," Chihaya Rei replied without changing expression. "But given the state of Class D, even if we wanted to buy anything, we couldn't have scraped together enough points."
Chihaya Rei honestly didn't think the students in Class D would be willing to hand over the points they'd managed to get.
It seemed Sakayanagi had come because of that matter.
"Could the person selling the information be in Class D?"
Sakayanagi Arisu spoke softly, as if to herself, though it also sounded like a question for Chihaya Rei.
"Class D has zero Class Points. Wouldn't it make more sense for the seller not to be in Class D?"
Chihaya Rei glanced at her.
"What seems least likely is often the most likely."
Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, then continued, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. "Besides, I think that person might very well be you, Chihaya."
"What's your evidence?" Chihaya Rei asked.
Sakayanagi Arisu paused, her tone turning a little helpless and plaintive.
"Since the account was anonymous, I have no direct evidence. I got your contact information from Katsuragi, but you wouldn't even accept my friend request."
"But you shouldn't underestimate a girl's intuition."
She emphasized the last sentence.
"..."
Chihaya Rei couldn't help wanting to roll his eyes.
Now she was bringing intuition into it.
Sakayanagi Arisu had clearly made up her mind that he was the one who sold the information, even though she was right.
Chihaya Rei nodded as if nothing were amiss. "If you think it was me, that's fine."
"Hm? Are you serious?"
Sakayanagi Arisu's brows creased slightly, and her voice held more surprise than before.
He was just going to admit it?
How could he admit it so quickly?!
This wasn't how Sakayanagi Arisu had imagined things going.
She was supposed to use one scheme after another to set a verbal trap for Chihaya Rei, eventually forcing him to admit that he was the one selling the information.
And now he'd just confessed outright?
All the lines she'd spent an entire class period planning had nowhere to go.
"Your classmates in Class D probably don't know what you've done, do they?"
Sakayanagi Arisu glanced coolly at the foolish students in the Class D classroom and lowered her voice to Chihaya Rei.
"Aren't you afraid I'll tell them you sold information to other classes for a pile of points, while keeping Class D in the dark?"
"Then you'd have everyone turn against you, wouldn't you?"
Everyone turn against him? Chihaya Rei shook his head, completely at ease. "You can't do that, Sakayanagi. You don't have any 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 hold a grudge against me and are trying to damage my reputation."
"Besides, I can tell you that I'm surprisingly popular in Class D. Unlike you—do you even have any friends in Class A?"
As he spoke, Chihaya Rei wore a smug smile worthy of a villain.
He was now the great contributor who'd eased tensions within the class.
And with Karuizawa Kei's gal group on good terms with him, he had, to some extent, taken control of the flow of opinion in Class D.
Sakayanagi Arisu nodded thoughtfully, as if she'd taken his words to heart.
Still, she hadn't expected this alone to crush Chihaya Rei. That would have been far too boring.
Sakayanagi Arisu only found the situation more and more interesting.
She raised her eyes and looked intently into Chihaya Rei's. Her voice carried a hint of curiosity as she asked:
"Why did you choose Katsuragi instead of me?"
That was the main reason she'd come.
Chihaya Rei understood what she meant, and his gaze turned a little strange.
Sakayanagi was asking why he'd chosen Katsuragi Kohei as his trading partner instead of her, Sakayanagi Arisu...
He replied in a peculiar tone, "The reason's simple. I thought Katsuragi would become Class A's leader before you, so of course I made a deal with him."
"And that's exactly what happened."
Sakayanagi Arisu's breath caught slightly. In an instant, she felt that Chihaya Rei looked down on her.
Although, as it happened, some of what he said was true.
The struggle for leadership in Class A had split the class into the Sakayanagi Faction and the Katsuragi Faction.
At the moment, the Katsuragi Faction had a slight advantage, especially after the Class Points results came out today.
In fact, just a moment ago...
Katsuragi's right-hand man, Totsuka Hirohiko, had proudly declared to the class that they had only pulled ahead of the other classes because Big Brother Katsuragi had suggested that the whole class spend points on information.
In a sense, Chihaya Rei had even helped Katsuragi a little, swaying some of the Class A students who'd previously remained neutral to his side.
Sakayanagi's purple eyes narrowed slightly.
"So, in Chihaya's judgment, I'm inferior to Katsuragi?"
"I never said that."
Chihaya Rei looked at her in feigned surprise, then immediately said something that annoyed Sakayanagi Arisu even more.
"But Katsuragi really is better suited to lead Class A than you are."
"..."
Sakayanagi Arisu's chest rose and fell slightly. Her fair fingers tightened around her cane.
For a moment, she couldn't tell whether Chihaya Rei was deliberately provoking her or genuinely thought she was less capable than Katsuragi Kohei.
Katsuragi Kohei, with his shiny bald head, was better suited to lead Class A than she was?!
He thought so little of her. She'd make Chihaya Rei take those words back—and then ruin him.
"That judgment will prove wrong." Sakayanagi Arisu pressed her lips together slightly, her voice firm and confident.
"I'll stick to my opinion," Chihaya Rei said, suppressing a laugh. "After all, as far as Katsuragi's concerned, you're the challenger."
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