Sakayanagi Arisu’s words sounded like a greeting, but in truth, she had already laid down a challenge.
“No, thank you.
I’d prefer to deal with Katsuragi-kun.” Shiraishi took another small sip of his coffee.
“Oh?
What’s that supposed to mean?” The smile on Sakayanagi’s face deepened slightly.
“Katsuragi-kun is more straightforward.
Sakayanagi-san is more clever—and I dislike dealing with clever people the most.” At Shiraishi’s roundabout compliment, Sakayanagi simply smiled: “Does that mean Shiraishi-kun intends to ally with Katsuragi-kun to suppress me?” Shiraishi held his cup, sipping slowly, genuinely appearing to weigh the feasibility of the idea.
“Never mind—I wouldn’t want to earn Sakayanagi-san’s resentment.” After a moment, he finally spoke.
Sakayanagi glanced back at Kamuro Masumi, who immediately understood and quietly stepped away to keep watch.
“Then how about the reverse—if I ask you to help undermine Katsuragi-kun’s prestige?” Sakayanagi asked.
“And the compensation?” Shiraishi agreed without hesitation.
Sakayanagi seemed surprised by how quickly he responded—he hadn’t even paused to think.
“The compensation would be a victory in one exam.
How does that sound?” After a moment of consideration, she named her terms.
“Not enough.” Shiraishi rejected the proposal.
In the original plot, Sakayanagi would ally with Ryūen Kakeru of Class C during the uninhabited island exam to strike at Katsuragi’s Class A.
So her suggestion didn’t surprise him.
But the terms she offered were indeed insufficient.
The current Class A’s style would never resort to underhanded tactics to defame others—Sakayanagi knew this perfectly well.
The only way to truly frustrate Katsuragi was through a Special Exam.
And a single exam victory was already a necessary outcome of undermining Katsuragi.
Even if Sakayanagi offered covert assistance, the proposal still lacked sincerity.
“First, I’ll need to borrow Kamuro-san for something.
The timing and details are undecided for now—I’ll inform Kamuro-san of the specifics before taking action.
But this should benefit Sakayanagi-san as well.” Shiraishi had his eye on Kamuro’s abilities and planned to use her for a certain important task.
“No problem.” Borrowing one person was a minor matter.
Besides, Sakayanagi held leverage over Kamuro, so she agreed readily.
“The second condition may not even be needed.” Shiraishi hesitated slightly.
“In the future, I may need to meet with Chairman Sakayanagi.
I’d like you to arrange an introduction.” “Oh?” This condition surprised Sakayanagi somewhat.
But after weighing it, she nodded in agreement.
Neither condition was particularly difficult—and they piqued her curiosity.
Since this transaction involved Sakayanagi betraying her own class, they couldn’t get the school to notarize it as a contract.
The agreement would remain verbal.
But Shiraishi trusted Sakayanagi’s reputation in this regard.
Just then, Shiraishi’s phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID and his expression turned slightly odd.
“Hello, Hoshinomiya-sensei.” Shiraishi answered.
“Makoto-kun, are you free right now?
I need you to come to the office for something~” Hoshinomiya’s voice came through the phone.
“Understood.” Though curious about what she wanted, Shiraishi didn’t refuse.
“Since Shiraishi-kun has matters to attend to, I won’t keep you any longer.
I hope we have a pleasant cooperation.” Sakayanagi rose to her feet, steadying herself with her left hand on the table as she extended her right hand.
“Pleasant cooperation.” Shiraishi lightly shook her hand, then released it.
After parting with Sakayanagi and Kamuro, Shiraishi hurried to the teachers’ office.
Since it was well after school hours, no other teachers were present—only Hoshinomiya Chie.
“Makoto-kun’s here.” Hoshinomiya’s face lit up with a pleased smile upon seeing him.
“Close the door, would you?” “Of course.” Shiraishi closed the door and approached Hoshinomiya’s desk.
“What did you need me for, Sensei?” “Have a seat first.” Hoshinomiya fetched a stool.
Once Shiraishi was seated, she asked a loaded question: “What do you think of little Sae?” Chabashira Sae was not only Class D’s homeroom teacher but also taught Japanese history to the entire grade.
That subject happened to be Shiraishi’s weakest area, so he paid close attention in her classes.
But Shiraishi knew full well—Hoshinomiya wasn’t asking about her teaching abilities.
“A Class D with zero points shouldn’t be worth worrying about, right?” Though Shiraishi was aware of the history between Hoshinomiya and Chabashira, he couldn’t let it show.
On the surface, Class D had also made history—the first class ever to drain all their Class Points in the first month.
“That’s what I thought too—but little Sae’s been up to something lately~” When it came to Chabashira, Hoshinomiya’s gaze grew dangerous.
“So I’d like to ask for your help with something.” Hoshinomiya said.
“I want you to help suppress Class D and keep them from ever recovering.” “May I ask why?” “Here’s the story…” Hoshinomiya paused, then recounted the story of her and Chabashira.
They had once been students at this school, and right before graduation, they’d had a chance to overtake the then-Class A.
Their class had faced a certain exam.
In that exam, the entire class needed to reach a unanimous vote.
The final vote would either select one student to gain 100 Class Points—enough to overtake the other class—or pass.
The class leader at the time, who was Chabashira’s boyfriend, decided to sacrifice himself for the class.
But Chabashira had opposed him, preventing a unanimous decision.
In the end, the class not only failed to gain the 100 points but also lost 300 for failing to reach consensus, forfeiting their chance at Class A forever.
Because of this, the class had fallen apart in bitter conflict, with many cutting ties forever.
And Hoshinomiya had held a grudge against Chabashira ever since.
“Anyone else would be fine—but not little Sae.
She has no right to set foot in Class A.” That was Hoshinomiya’s reason.
“Understood.” Having obtained this intelligence from Hoshinomiya, Shiraishi nodded.
“With your keen observation skills, Makoto-kun, start by keeping an eye on these two students.” Hoshinomiya wrote two names on a piece of paper.
“Horikita Suzune, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.” Shiraishi stared at the names, somewhat surprised.
Horikita Suzune was one thing—but how had Hoshinomiya already noticed Ayanokōji?
“Today, little Sae called those two students to the office for a private talk.” I see.
Perhaps Shiraishi’s first-month comeback had alerted Hoshinomiya.
Seeing Chabashira summon two students privately, she immediately sensed something was off and used her teacher privileges to look up their information.
Horikita Suzune’s academic and athletic abilities were both excellent—and her surname, along with her similar hair and eye color, made Hoshinomiya think of the current Student Council President, Horikita Manabu.
As for Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, his entrance exam scores were strangely consistent—exactly 50 in every subject, right in the middle.
As the saying goes, too many coincidences are no coincidence.
Anyone who could control their scores so perfectly—especially on something as important as the entrance exam—was definitely not to be underestimated.
“And this is your first payment.” Hoshinomiya operated her phone and transferred a sum of Private Points to Shiraishi—300,000.
“Do your best~”