The chalk scratched across the blackboard with a crisp tapping sound. As the final Class Points were listed one by one, the entire class focused on the numbers:
Class A: 890
Class B: 885
Class C: 490
Class D: 0
Ichinose Honami stared at the painfully stark rankings on the blackboard. The zero points for Class D, especially, left her with mixed feelings.
To be honest, although she'd known all along that Class D would most likely end up with zero points if Wu Qiao didn't intervene, she still felt that the boy had to have some other plan in mind. There was no way he'd simply given up.
She turned her head slightly toward Hoshinomiya Chie, smiling brightly at the front of the classroom. Ichinose Honami knew perfectly well that their homeroom teacher, who usually seemed carefree and even a little flaky, probably thought Wu Qiao had single-handedly engineered Class D's abysmal score.
After all, the two of them really had made a deal in private about "Class D getting zero points."
But... only a handful of people knew that Wu Qiao had simply taken advantage of Hoshinomiya Chie's desire to see Class D come in last, using the information gap to neatly trick her.
Looking at Hoshinomiya Chie, who seemed to think she'd seen through everything when she was actually being kept in the dark, Ichinose Honami gave a quiet sigh.
The side of their homeroom teacher that she kept hidden in private was both exasperating and amusing.
Still, Wu Qiao's ability to quietly maneuver a teacher into his calculations was truly hard to fathom.
At noon, Ichinose Honami carried her tray through the bustling crowd and found Wu Qiao. She sat down across from him and brought up Class D's current predicament.
"You've seen how things are for Class D now. They have zero points, so everyone must be panicking." Ichinose Honami looked at him with concern. "What are you planning to do? You can't really just watch everyone go hungry, can you?"
Wu Qiao ate at an unhurried pace as he replied nonchalantly, "Don't worry. I won't let them starve. I'm planning to use the personal compensation A Class gave me last time as emergency aid for the class."
Ichinose Honami's eyes lit up. She was just about to praise him when he continued, "But I'm not giving the money away for free. I'll require every student who's struggling academically to attend the remedial classes I organize, no exceptions. As long as they show up, I'll cover the costs."
"Mandatory remedial classes?" Ichinose Honami was taken aback, but quickly realized that it was very much in keeping with Wu Qiao's style.
"Of course, I won't hand the money directly to them. It'd be too easy for them to waste it." Wu Qiao took a sip of water and added, "I'm only providing basic meal assistance to those who truly don't have enough points to eat."
Listening to his plan, Ichinose Honami couldn't help marveling to herself. Wu Qiao made it sound casual, but he was actually using the aid to pressure Class D's students into improving their academic performance.
Simply giving them handouts would only turn them into a bunch of deadbeats. Wu Qiao's approach—"I'll give you enough to eat, but you have to work for it"—both kept them from falling below a basic standard and gave them an incentive to improve.
"You..." Ichinose Honami smiled helplessly and put a piece of meat on his tray. "You're doing a good deed, but you have to make it sound like you're some heartless capitalist. Still, I suppose it'll motivate them."
Wu Qiao shrugged without arguing. To him, it was simply the best way to keep Class D's overall strength from collapsing at the lowest possible cost.
While Wu Qiao was leisurely arranging Class D's "emergency aid" in the cafeteria, Kushida Kikyo was already panting with exhaustion as she dashed between the upperclassmen's floors. One hand was still gripping a thoroughly bewildered Karuizawa Kei.
According to the "future Ayanokoji Kiyoha" in her mind, Karuizawa Kei was a natural "information expert." She wasn't aware of it herself and often couldn't tell which information was important or urgent, sometimes even missing crucial details. But most of what she said could prove useful if you looked at it from a different angle.
So Kushida Kikyo became a heartless taskmaster, dragging Karuizawa Kei around campus like a spinning top.
From casual conversations in the cafeteria to chance encounters in the library, then wandering around the Commercial Street, Karuizawa Kei complained the whole time, but Kushida Kikyo alternately coaxed and threatened her into serving as an information-gathering machine.
By Thursday evening, Kushida Kikyo dragged herself back to the dormitory. Looking at the Personal Terminal filled with all kinds of trivial information, cobbled together from Karuizawa Kei's offhand gossip, she finally couldn't take it anymore and demanded in her mind, "Why did you make me gather all this random information? I'm exhausted just from dragging her around everywhere!"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha, the one who'd started this whole thing, sounded completely unconcerned, her voice carrying a lazy hint of amusement. "Why are you in such a hurry? Just organize it a little and find an opportunity to give it to Wu Qiao."
"Give it to Wu Qiao?" Kushida Kikyo frowned, utterly confused and resistant. "Why should I give it to him? Didn't I go to all this trouble to avoid that jerk?"
"Precisely because you want to avoid him, you should give it to him." The voice in her mind held a playful little laugh, as if a prank had gone just as planned. "Think about it. If Wu Qiao has plenty of information, enough to keep him busy analyzing the situation and dealing with problems, won't he be too occupied to cause trouble for you? A Wu Qiao who's run off his feet won't have time to scheme against you, will he? You're drowning a potential threat in work. Get it?"
Kushida Kikyo was at a loss for words. The reasoning sounded fishy, but when she thought about it, it did seem to make a little sense. If Wu Qiao was busy handling information and had no time to bother her, wouldn't she have achieved her goal?
"Fine." Kushida Kikyo gritted her teeth and finally gave in. "But if he tries to use the information as an excuse to give me trouble, I won't let him get away with it!"
"Don't worry." Ayanokoji Kiyoha gave a soft snort. "He'll just thank you for being so thoughtful. After all, free information labor isn't easy to come by."
At that point, the voice in her mind, which never seemed to tire of watching the show, acted as though it had just remembered one crucial detail and added slowly, "Oh, and there's one more thing. Make sure you don't mess this up. When you have Kei hand over the information, make sure she doesn't reveal that it was your idea. Just stay behind the scenes, like a humble little snail girl who takes no credit."
Kushida Kikyo pouted. She didn't need reminding. She'd rather keep as far away from Wu Qiao as possible. Why would she step forward and claim credit?
"Also," Ayanokoji Kiyoha continued, her tone shifting to something subtly coaxing, "try to persuade Karuizawa Kei to be completely open with Wu Qiao. Based on what I know about him, Wu Qiao has probably already figured out everything about her and knows all her secrets... but confessing to him of her own accord can have a remarkable effect."
"A remarkable effect?" Kushida Kikyo asked in her mind.
"Exactly. A remarkable effect." Ayanokoji Kiyoha chuckled softly, as if savoring an interesting chemical reaction. "He may seem easygoing, but he really responds to sincerity. When someone holds nothing back and willingly shows him their vulnerabilities, he develops this inexplicable sense of protectiveness and responsibility. Of course, if you want to try this strategy of retreating in order to advance, I wouldn't mind at all."
A chill ran through Kushida Kikyo, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. Be completely open with that jerk? What a joke! Just imagining it made her uncomfortable all over.
Still, making Karuizawa Kei the "guinea pig" seemed like a pretty good idea. If confessing really could distract Wu Qiao, or even redirect his attention toward Karuizawa Kei, that could only benefit her.
"Fine. I'll try to talk Karuizawa into coming clean... I mean, encourage her to do it." Kushida Kikyo weighed her words in her mind, a calculating smile tugging at her lips.
Since she'd been given such a terrible idea, she might as well use it. If it could keep her away from that dangerous summer cruise, what did it matter if Karuizawa Kei had to sacrifice a few secrets?
Ayanokoji Kiyoha seemed to catch the meaning behind her words. She chuckled softly but didn't call her out. "Suit yourself. But the game has only just begun, so don't push yourself too hard, Two-Faced Girl."