After Secretary Tachibana announced the class rankings and scores, Katsuragi stood in front of the bulletin board and looked at the figures before him:
[Class A: 1004 cp Class B: 906 cp Class C: 492 cp Class D: 87 cp]
"Has Class C started to wear down? Is Ryuen behind this again? He really is a dangerous person."
Standing beside him, Yanagihara replied, "That guy Ryuen is pretty tiresome, but compared to Class C, you should be paying more attention to Class B, Katsuragi. The gap between our points is getting small. Be careful they don't overtake us in the next Special Exam."
"Don't worry about that. We've more or less figured out the current state of Class B. But more than that, I'm concerned about Kitahara Seiichi from Class D. So far, all we know is that he spends a lot of time in the dorms."
"Whether he took an active part in the class competition this time is unclear, but there's no doubt about his abilities. He's a serious threat to Class A."
After saying this, Katsuragi looked at the notice posted nearby and continued, "And now he's joined the Student Council. Apart from you, Yanagihara, he's the only one in the first year."
There was something Katsuragi Kohei didn't say aloud: he suspected that Yanagihara had worked with Kitahara during this exam. After all, the two of them had often been seen together before, and now they'd both joined the Student Council. He wouldn't believe there was nothing going on between them.
But even though he and Yanagihara were now opponents, they were still in the same class. As long as she didn't harm the class's interests, he didn't want to meddle in her affairs.
Katsuragi had been talking for a while when he suddenly realized that Yanagihara, who'd been responding to him just moments ago, had gone quiet. He looked over and noticed that she was messaging someone on her phone.
Just as she finished replying, Yanagihara smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to meeting you."
Katsuragi looked puzzled, but ultimately said nothing.
Yanagihara continued, "Katsuragi, I have my own plan for the next Special Exam."
Looking at Yanagihara's resolute gaze, Katsuragi thought it over before replying, "As long as you don't harm the class's interests, do what you like."
Katsuragi had said this because he had no other choice. Until today, he and Yanagihara had been evenly matched, but what had happened had already led his supporters to gradually shift their allegiance to her.
He could imagine that if they lost the next exam, he'd lose his leadership over the class for good.
Yanagihara nodded, then slowly left, leaning on her cane.
After enduring the hardships of the start of the school year, it wasn't just the students of Class D who were eager to see the latest Class Points. The entire student body was waiting for them.
But the two groups were looking forward to different things. The former wondered whether their latest Class Points would be enough to keep them going, while the latter were thinking about the current state of the classes.
This showed just how wide the gap between Class D and the other classes was.
Meanwhile, in Class C's classroom, Ryuen, who'd been keeping an eye on Class D all along, looked at the latest Class Points and said, "Looks like it's time for us to make a move against Class D."
Hearing Ryuen speak, one of his underlings, Kaneda, said, "Boss, can we really carry out this plan without getting caught? Kitahara Seiichi from Class D has become a Public Morals Committee member. If he finds out, then we'll..."
Hearing the concern in his underling's voice, Ryuen replied confidently, "They already had a clash this morning. Kitahara even threatened Sudo at the time."
"Big bro, how'd you hear about that?" Ishizaki asked.
Seeing the stupid look on his face, Ryuen's forehead creased with annoyance. "Those idiots in Class D blabbed about it at lunchtime."
"Hmph. Komiya, Kondo, how's it going with them lately?" Ryuen turned away from him and addressed the other two.
"Don't worry, Boss. Everything's going according to plan," they assured him confidently.
"Good." Ryuen nodded.
"Heh. Let's send Class D plummeting to the bottom again." Ryuen burst into laughter.
"Nice one, bro..."
"That was brutal..."
A steady stream of keyboard clicks came from Kitahara's dorm room, along with his repeated refrain: "Just basic stuff. Don't make a fuss."
As the words "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" appeared on the screen, Kitahara finally couldn't hold back and yelled, "I finally got a win! Do you know how stressful it is to keep getting under 450-plus every time? This is seriously hard. And I did it on the school Wi-Fi, too."
That's right. While the other classes were making plans, he'd been in his dorm the whole time, playing from Dragon Hidden Cave Heaven all the way to Jukuzhou. As Kitahara savored his hard-earned victory, his phone suddenly vibrated several times.
When Kitahara picked it up, he saw that the Student Council president had sent him a few messages.
[You did a good job with this matter, and you've also undermined Miyabi Nagumo's control over the second-years. The 2,000,000 points I promised you will be transferred tomorrow.]
Looking at the praise in the first message from President Horikita, Kitahara recalled the deal he'd made with him in private.
It was a dark and windy night, and we...
No, wrong story. Actually, after Yanagihara and I left, I messaged Horikita Manabu and arranged to meet him that evening in the school's central plaza to discuss something important.
Why had I chosen that place to meet? It definitely wasn't because I was curious about where the "handprint" incident had happened.
When I got there, I found President Horikita already waiting. I immediately apologized to him.
But he clearly didn't mind. Instead, he went straight to the point and asked Kitahara, "What was so important that you had to meet me alone?"
"President, let's get straight to the point. I have a deal I'd like to discuss with you. It concerns Miyabi Nagumo, the Student Council vice president."
Hearing Kitahara's words, the usually composed Horikita Manabu lost his composure. But he quickly regained control of his emotions, then studied Kitahara intently.
Looking at Horikita Manabu's expression, Kitahara couldn't help thinking, "So it really is something the Horikita siblings inherited. I wouldn't say their expressions are exactly alike, but they're remarkably similar."
"Ahem. Have you made up your mind, President?" Kitahara finally asked, unable to stand the intense stare any longer.
Coming out of his thoughts, Horikita asked, "When did you start investigating information about the Student Council?"
Kitahara had anticipated Horikita Manabu's reaction, so he'd prepared what to say in advance.
"I started getting suspicious when you rejected Ichinose and Katsuragi Kohei's invitations to join. I wondered why the Student Council would turn down two people who were outstanding in so many ways."
"Then I noticed that the vice president, despite holding the position, had never shown up—not at the opening ceremony or in the meeting room this morning. So..."
"So you started investigating? You have impressive powers of observation and analysis," Horikita finished for him.
"Right, exactly." (That's what you get when you've got the script in hand—Kitahara Seiichi, at your service. Looks like President Horikita believed my story.)