Honami Ichinose’s words caught both Mako Amikura and Ryuji Kanzaki, who were present, completely off guard.
“Honami?
What are you saying?”
Anyone with a normal level of reading comprehension could, from the surrounding context, figure out exactly what Honami Ichinose meant by that statement.
Mako Amikura seemed to be a rather emotional person, and she looked genuinely anxious and confused.
“You really don’t have to go that far, do you?!
If push comes to shove, we can just rely on ourselves—there’s no reason Class A absolutely has to be stronger than us!”
Beside her, Ryuji Kanzaki nodded with a serious expression as well, clearly also opposed to Honami Ichinose’s decision.
“Right now everyone’s standing at the same starting line.
As long as we can bite down and hold the class points gap in the first month, then with a bit more effort afterward, overtaking Class A won’t be hard at all.”
Axel End said nothing, only smiling quietly to himself.
It wasn’t really the two of Class B’s fault for still clinging to such innocent, rose-tinted ideas—after all, they didn’t know the specific content of the exam.
One had to remember that back then, both Chie Hoshinomiya and Sae Chabashira had fallen at the very last step…
It had to be said, this thing called the Expulsion Voting Exam really was disgustingly cruel.
Even Class B, which in this generation possessed a walking succubus like Honami Ichinose, had been persecuted to a devastating degree.
Or rather, in this generation, the only class this kind of expulsion exam could truly wound was Class B.
Because this generation’s leaders of Classes A, C, and D were each ruthless people through and through—when it came to killing off their own, they would never show the slightest mercy.
Naming and criticizing a certain man in particular.
“Mako, Kanzaki-kun…”
Honami Ichinose could naturally understand her friends’ thinking perfectly well, but by the same token, she had thoughts of her own.
Aside from not wanting to accept an excessive Task penalty, the reason she was willing to obey the system’s will and act accordingly was, of course, because she wanted to confirm one particular thing.
[Cash Exchange (Kinship Edition): Points may be used to exchange for Japanese yen at a 1:1000 ratio on behalf of a blood relative.]
[Note: Cash obtained in this manner will be gifted in an absolutely legal form.]
Her choice to attend this school was, apart from wanting to start over in a completely unfamiliar environment, also motivated by the fact that it could waive all tuition and miscellaneous fees, easing her family’s financial burden.
After all, sooner or later in the future she’d end up choosing a man to marry and have children with anyway—so wouldn’t it be just the same to go with the “prevailing tide” now and make a better choice while she could?
Judging from the impression at their first meeting, Honami Ichinose’s favorability toward Axel End was not low.
But she didn’t know what impression Axel End had of her—if she rashly showed too much enthusiasm, wouldn’t that come across badly?
The girl, utterly without any romantic experience, had for once fallen into a state of anxious second-guessing.
“I didn’t mean it that way~ I’m just a little curious about the relationship between you, End-kun, and that Horikita-san.”
“As for the matter of cooperation, I don’t think there’s any need to rush for now.
How about we talk it over again after a month has passed…
What do you think, End-kun?”
That one month was both a period to observe the school and Axel End, and the final ultimatum she gave herself to reach a decision.
Axel End smiled and nodded, going along with Honami Ichinose in skipping over the topic. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“I don’t have a girlfriend, and with Horikita it’s just an ordinary classmate relationship.
The reason we’re acting together is that she happened to also be investigating the school’s secrets, so the two of us hit it off and decided on a temporary partnership.”
“That said, I really was a little startled by your remark, Ichinose-san—after all, you seem very much like the well-behaved, strictly-raised good-girl type.”
“But to be honest, I’m also quite curious about what sort of requirements you’d have for a boyfriend, Ichinose-san.”
Honami Ichinose likewise wore a polite yet faintly awkward smile, and her verbal reply was just as watertight.
“It’s nothing much, really.
If I truly met someone who felt right, I definitely wouldn’t just do nothing and let them slip away.”
“As for requirements…
in the end I suppose it comes down to a feeling.
Anything too specific is hard to put into words.”
The two of them didn’t spend the whole time just chatting, either.
Because there wasn’t a lot of time during the lunch break—once they’d finished eating and rested briefly, the afternoon classes would be starting.
After finishing his meal, Axel End politely took his leave.
Facing the questioning gazes brimming from Mako Amikura and Ryuji Kanzaki, Honami Ichinose gave a little smile.
“Don’t worry.
I know what I’m doing.”
“Class B, sandwiched between Class A and Class C, is by nature the class in the most awkward position—so we absolutely cannot let Class D become our enemy as well.”
Watching Axel End’s retreating back, Honami Ichinose seemed to be both persuading Mako Amikura and Ryuji Kanzaki, and persuading herself.
“For that reason, we must win Axel End over.”
…
…
Axel End headed straight back to Class D.
Suzune Horikita was still sitting upright in her seat reading a book, like a lone snow lotus atop an iceberg that had forsaken the world—carrying very much the air of something to be admired from afar but never toyed with up close.
“Chabashira-sensei already knows about our actions this morning.
She wants me to lead Class D in climbing upward.”
“What do you think?”
I’ll watch while sitting—no, I’ll watch while lying down.
Axel End clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back against his chair, his face wearing a lazy, leisurely expression.
“What exactly did she say to you?”
“She learned about us selling information from the three other homeroom teachers.
At first she thought we shouldn’t have done such a thing.”
“But after I answered that it was your idea, she first fell silent for a while, and then asked me about your situation.”
Axel End raised an eyebrow.
This person, Sae Chabashira…
carried the faintest shadow of what an adult version of Suzune Horikita would be like in a world where she’d never met Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
Her reputation was generally rather poor, but if one were into physical looks, there’d probably be no shortage of fans.
“And what did you tell her?”
“You and I haven’t even had a full twenty-four hours of contact all told, so naturally I said that I don’t know much.”
Suzune Horikita’s tone remained steady throughout.
Axel End knew she had been all along clumsily imitating Manabu Horikita.
Though she was his future sister-in-law, as a man, Axel End certainly hoped that the man occupying the heaviest emotional weight in Suzune Horikita’s heart would be himself.
Mm, I’ll have to figure out a way to work on that.
“But after I told her the things you’d said to me earlier, she went silent again for a while, and then, without saying anything, let me leave.”
Suzune Horikita paused, cast Axel End a glance, and then continued: “I have a feeling she’ll probably seek you out alone at some point, so watch yourself.”
“Mm, I know.”
Axel End stretched.
The obsession in Sae Chabashira’s heart was hardly any weaker than Kikyō Kushida’s.
Having learned that he was both selling information and aiming to ascend to Class A on his own, she was certain to come looking for him.
Just as in the original work she would seek out Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
But this time, she was probably going to be disappointed.
Axel End had no desire to serve as Class D’s full-time babysitter.
That kind of dirty, exhausting work was best left to Suzune Horikita—she was more than happy to do it, after all.
Speaking of Suzune Horikita, a new idea had come to Axel End’s mind here.
Today was a trial run to test the waters.
From today onward until the book goes on sale, I’ll basically be keeping up a triple-update schedule.
So this little flop of an author kneels here and begs all you esteemed patrons to please, as much as possible, not hoard chapters to binge later—even just clicking in whenever you have a spare moment and dragging the progress bar to the bottom would do.
And if you have any spare votes, I’d love your support as well—a thousand thanks!
Also, I’m soliciting inspiration for items, leaning toward the tech side—if you’ve got any brilliant ideas, feel free to leave a comment.
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👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: COTE: