Chapter 006 This is my route to getting to know Ayanokouji! / The eighth girlfriend is settled
Over on Ryuen Kakeru's side, he learned about Class A's movements shortly after school ended.
"Oh? That woman still has that many points left?"
This news was what surprised him the most. According to their agreement, Class A was required to pay Class C 780,000 private points every month. After nearly a year, Class C had accumulated over seven million points from Class A.
With one side rising and the other falling, Ryuen estimated that Sakayanagi Arisu likely had at most twenty million private points left in her possession. Meanwhile, because his Class C had almost no major expenses during this period, their class funds had accumulated to 36 million private points, making them quite possibly the wealthiest class in the entire school at the moment.
"Ryuen-san, should we also start looking for partners for everyone?" Ishizaki Daichi asked, scratching his head.
Currently, in Class C, except for a few members who got to know freshmen early through clubs, over 80% of the students had yet to find a partner.
"Ryuen-kun, I suggest we use a few million private points to engage in a wholesale collaboration with First-Year Class A or Class B," Shiina Hiyori proposed. Although she didn't socialize often, she frequently visited the library and had seen Ichinose Honami leading the students of First-Year Class C in group study sessions multiple times.
As for First-Year Class D, they had just been reported for a violation and had the lowest overall academic ability, so they were temporarily excluded from consideration. From the perspective of academic ability and stability, the only remaining options for collaboration were Class A and Class B. Regarding the spending of class funds, Shiina Hiyori felt it was no big deal. Points were saved for critical moments, and now was that time.
"Hmph, these freshmen... their lives are too comfortable," Ryuen Kakeru snorted coldly.
He couldn't help but recall when he first entered the school; there was no such thing as senpais proactively offering points. On the contrary, kouhais had to spend private points just to buy midterm exam papers or scout for inside information on certain rules from their senpais.
However, even though Shimizu Akira used the First-Year Class D violation incident to change the penalty from three months of zero private points to a deduction of 100 Class Points, the second-years still bore a greater risk. Furthermore, Class C's overall academic ability was not an advantage. After these few days of contact, if they didn't offer substantial terms, those brats wouldn't have the slightest desire to cooperate.
This time, it seemed they had no choice but to bleed a little.
"Hey, Ishizaki, Kaneda, and you guys..." Ryuen Kakeru said slowly, "Go find those freshmen with high academic ability over the next few days. Tell them we can give 100,000 private points as a gesture of sincerity for the collaboration. If the total score exceeds 501 points after the special exam, we'll give an additional 100,000. However, the negotiations must be conducted in private."
After a year of development, there were only about ten or so students in their class with academic ability at D-level or below. They just needed to find suitable partners for these people. At 200,000 per person, it would add up to about 3 million for ten-plus people. To be able to safely pass a special exam, it wasn't actually that much.
As for why it had to be private... Ryuen naturally had his plans. If necessary, he didn't mind using "special means" to drive the price down. Saving a bit where he could—unlike his neighbor, Ryuen Kakeru was actually quite frugal when it came to using class funds.
"Yes, Boss!"
"Understood!"
"Roger!"
The group took their orders and quickly left the classroom. Before leaving, Ishizaki Daichi couldn't help but turn back to ask: "Boss, do we really not need to worry about Sakayanagi? That woman started wining and dining the first-years so early; it won't be good for us in the long run, will it?"
Ryuen Kakeru sneered. "The future? You really think cross-grade exams will happen often? I've checked the data; they only happen two or three times a year, and next time the partners might be third-years. Since that woman thinks she has too many points to spend, let her spend them. Who cares?"
To put it bluntly, to strike iron, one must be strong oneself.
Improving your own class's strength is the foundation. No matter how much you try to win over kouhais, if you squander your class funds beforehand, who will pay you any mind? Besides, you've only given a sum of points—can that compare to the sentiment of Ichinose Honami tutoring those failing students for over ten days straight?
In Ryuen's eyes, Sakayanagi Arisu was simply bored.
Shiina Hiyori sighed and massaged her forehead. To be honest, she didn't quite understand Sakayanagi Arisu's intentions either.
Building relationships wasn't Sakayanagi's forte; that was more like Ichinose Honami's specialty. When push comes to shove, the freshmen would surely choose to help Ichinose over Sakayanagi.
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After dinner, Shimizu Akira and Karuizawa Kei arrived at the Boxing Club.
Shimizu Akira took a quick glance. Although seven freshmen had promised to come yesterday, only five actually showed up today. After a demonstration match between President Ueno and another senpai, only three freshmen ultimately decided to join.
Karuizawa Kei was currently filling out the membership application forms for those three, while Yamada Albert, towering with his massive frame, adjusted his sunglasses in confusion.
"Why...?"
Shimizu Akira shrugged helplessly. "I don't know either."
Logically, the Boxing Club's flyer stated clearly that official members receive extra private point subsidies, and students with outstanding performance have the chance to participate in intra-school exhibition matches with a share of the proceeds. Yet, it just wouldn't attract people. According to news from Kikyo, this year's freshmen seemed to be drawn away by popular clubs like baseball, soccer, and basketball.
Popular clubs were indeed more attractive. Thinking back, in his own year, only five or six people eventually joined the Boxing Club.
Just then, the door to the club was suddenly pushed open. Amasawa Ichika walked into the Boxing Club leading five first-year freshmen, greeting everyone with a beaming smile. The freshmen behind her curiously looked around the activity room. President Ueno immediately went to meet them, and though he stuttered a bit, he introduced the club enthusiastically.
Karuizawa Kei quietly walked to Shimizu Akira's side and whispered, "She really did bring five people..."
"And it looks like these people are seriously considering joining," Shimizu Akira observed the freshmen. "Her influence among the first-years is quite significant."
"Is it possible she hasn't given up yet?" Karuizawa asked. "How should we handle this? Should we just reject them?"
"No need." Shimizu Akira walked toward the freshmen. "As long as they truly want to join the Boxing Club, they are welcome. As for Amasawa Ichika, if she wants to be a manager or just visit, that's fine. But regarding the conditions other than cooking, we might be able to negotiate."
After the tour ended, the five freshmen filled out their applications on the spot. Adding the three who decided to join earlier, the Boxing Club added a total of eight new members today, which was quite a good result.
"Thank you, senpais!" Amasawa Ichika specifically walked up to Shimizu Akira. "Shimizu-senpai, since you're unwilling to cook, can we suggest two alternative conditions?"
Hm?
Shimizu Akira had intended to make a suggestion himself, but he hadn't expected the other party to speak first. His expression remained calm. "What do you want to change them to?"
Amasawa Ichika explained, "The academic ability of these five students isn't very good. I hope Senpai can arrange for second-year students with academic ability of B-rank or higher to partner with them, to ensure they can safely pass this special exam."
Shimizu Akira thought for a moment and nodded. "I understand. I can arrange for friends I know to team up with these five."
So she brought five people for this reason. A very fair trade. He was actually somewhat surprised; he thought she would make some bizarre request, but it was remarkably reasonable.
"And the second condition," Amasawa Ichika said, pointing to herself with a smile, "I want to join the Boxing Club as a manager. I hope Senpai will agree."
"That's not under my direct control," Shimizu Akira said. "But since you've brought new members to the club, I'll put in a good word for you. The President probably won't refuse."
Sure enough, after Shimizu Akira explained the situation, President Ueno was very welcoming of Amasawa Ichika joining. Since she brought five new members on her first day, President Ueno decided to allocate 100,000 private points from the activity funds left by Sato-senpai as a reward. However, Amasawa Ichika smilingly declined.
Subsequently, the Boxing Club held its first training session of the new semester. Perhaps because of the addition of eight new members and a manager, the usually quiet club became quite lively. Shimizu Akira and Yamada Albert engaged in a light sparring session, their exciting offense and defense drawing successive gasps of admiration from the freshmen.
Amasawa Ichika also watched with great interest from the sidelines. After the training ended, Shimizu Akira stepped down from the ring. Amasawa Ichika immediately approached him with a towel.
"Shimizu-senpai, that was a truly exhilarating duel just now! Here, wipe your sweat."
Shimizu Akira didn't take it immediately. He waited for Karuizawa Kei to walk over and then naturally took the towel she handed him to wipe himself.
"Senpai is really cold, isn't he? I can't even help wipe your sweat?" Amasawa Ichika said with mock regret.
Karuizawa Kei glared at her dissatisfiedly. Shimizu Akira explained calmly, "Sorry, I'm used to using Kei's towel."
Amasawa Ichika looked at the two and suddenly smiled. "Senpai and Senpai-chan are really in love. To tell you the truth, I'm quite interested in romance and want to meet some reliable senpais. Why doesn't Shimizu-senpai introduce some friends to me?"
There was actually a hidden motive in these words.
Her true goal was to have Shimizu Akira naturally introduce her to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Although she really wanted to contact Ayanokouji directly these past two days, she lacked a suitable opportunity.
After all, acting rashly would easily arouse suspicion. Being introduced by Shimizu Akira through the Boxing Club was undoubtedly the safest way.
"Sure, that's fine. You did help the Boxing Club a lot, after all," Shimizu Akira agreed readily.
"Great! Thank you, Shimizu-senpai!" Amasawa Ichika smiled happily.
"You said you like guys who can fight. Are there any other requirements besides that?"
Amasawa Ichika followed up by describing Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's characteristics. "Hmm... it would be best if he can cook, and it would be even better if he's handsome. I value looks quite a bit."
"Okay, I understand." Shimizu Akira roughly had some candidates in mind.
"How about this: at seven tonight, bring two female classmates, and I'll arrange for three guys to have dinner with you. How does that sound?"
"That's wonderful!" Amasawa Ichika's eyes lit up, and she nodded with a smile. She suddenly felt that this Shimizu-senpai was actually quite a nice guy. As long as it didn't involve dating him, he was unexpectedly easy to talk to.
Tsukishiro had once described Shimizu Akira as a "cunning old fox," but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all. For a brief moment, Amasawa Ichika even felt like she didn't want him to be expelled anymore. Of course! Only for a second or two!
After club activities, she returned to the dorm to dress up carefully and even specifically called two ordinary-looking girls to accompany her to make herself stand out.
At 6:30, the three arrived at the reserved private room. Inside sat a boy—handsome, with a gentle temperament—but it wasn't Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
'Wait, why did Shimizu Akira arrange for this person? Does this person look like he can fight?'
That senpai spoke gently: "Hello, kouhais. I'm Hirata Yousuke from Second-Year Class B. I heard from Shimizu that you are all students from First-Year Class A? It's a pleasure to meet you."
"H-Hello!"
"Hello, Hirata-senpai! We already heard rumors about you in our first year!"
The two accompanying girls were clearly very satisfied, responding with blushing faces. A few minutes later, a second senpai pushed the door open. This time it was a blonde handsome guy.
"Ahem, hello kouhais! I'm Hashimoto Masayoshi, called here by Shimizu. Ah, hello everyone!"
Amasawa Ichika was stunned again.
'Who is this guy?!'
However, her two classmates seemed even more satisfied.
"S-Senpai is so handsome!"
"Hashimoto-senpai is a celebrity in Second-Year Class A. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Amasawa Ichika comforted herself in her heart.
'Don't rush, don't rush. There's still one last person. The last one must be Ayanokouji-senpai!' Strong, handsome, and can cook—there weren't many people who fit those criteria.
After the five of them chatted for a while, the door was pushed open again. This time, it was another blonde handsome guy with a bright smile: "Hahaha! I am Koenji Rokusuke! Shimizu-boy said he wanted to introduce some kouhais to me. I heard one of you likes guys who can cook? I happen to hold a professional chef's certificate and am proficient in Chinese, French, Japanese, and American cuisine. In short, whatever you lovely kouhais want to eat, I can make it!"
Amasawa Ichika's vision went dark.
'Who is this?! Where did my Ayanokouji-senpai go?!'
Koenji Rokusuke? Isn't this that young master of the Koenji family, famous for being a playboy? What kind of people did Shimizu Akira introduce to her!
"Amasawa? Your face doesn't look too good..."
"Yeah, are you okay? Do you want to go back and rest first?"
Her two companions, thinking she was unwell, asked with feigned concern. In their view, Shimizu-senpai was so great, introducing three handsome guys with totally different styles. If you like the gentle type, choose Hirata Yousuke; for the laid-back vibe, choose Hashimoto Masayoshi; for the rich and talented, choose Koenji Rokusuke.
Did Amasawa Ichika have no taste? Their inner subtext was actually: 'If you're sick, go back quickly, so the three handsome guys can be divided between the two of us.'
Fortunately, Amasawa Ichika wasn't a pushover either.
The latest social courses from the White Room weren't for nothing. She immediately flashed a sweet smile: "Sorry, I'm fine. Well then, it's time for us girls to introduce ourselves..."
And so, this mixer-like gathering began. Hirata Yousuke seemed to have no romantic interest in them; the conversation repeatedly turned toward this cross-grade exam, hoping to reach a collaboration with First-Year Class A through them.
Hashimoto Masayoshi, while seemingly asking for their personal info enthusiastically, was actually quietly scouting the internal situation of their class and didn't seem very interested in younger girls.
As for Koenji Rokusuke... this man truly didn't discriminate. He proactively talked to every girl and even specifically pressed Amasawa Ichika for all sorts of information.
Amasawa Ichika had to lie about a stomachache to escape.
About ten minutes after she returned, the gathering finally ended. As they walked out of the room, her two female classmates even took the initiative to ask for the contact information of those three.
Amasawa Ichika thought about it and still took out her phone to call Shimizu Akira.
"Senpai, what kind of people did you introduce to me!" she couldn't help but complain as soon as she spoke.
"Huh? I think the introductions were quite good," on the other end of the phone, Shimizu Akira replied as if it were a matter of course.
"Didn't you say you wanted 'strong, handsome, and can cook'? These three fit the criteria perfectly. Is something wrong?"
"This..." Amasawa Ichika was momentarily speechless.
"Kouhai, I introduced people to you out of the goodness of my heart. If you're not satisfied, you can say it directly, but there's no need to call specifically to complain, right? Your classmates just sent a message through Hirata thanking me. Why are you so special?" Shimizu Akira added.
"S-Sorry, Shimizu-senpai! Maybe I'm just in a bad mood..." Amasawa Ichika could only apologize awkwardly and hurriedly hung up.
Seriously! She was full of frustration and didn't know who to take it out on. Blame Shimizu Akira? But the candidates he introduced were indeed beyond reproach. But there was no Ayanokouji Kiyotaka!
So, where exactly was her Ayanokouji-senpai?
Just then, the Ayanokouji Kiyotaka she was longing for appeared exactly three meters in front of her! He was holding a box of oden, eating as he walked, looking like an ordinary passerby. Amasawa Ichika's eyes lit up. She wanted to go up and say hello but didn't know what to say for a moment.
Fortunately, her two classmates had already left, and Hirata Yousuke noticed Ayanokouji Kiyotaka as he put away his phone. "Ayanokouji, good evening!"
Only then did Ayanokouji Kiyotaka walk over, looking at Hirata, then at the distant Hashimoto and Koenji.
"Hirata, Hashimoto and Koenji were here too? What are you guys...?"
"Yeah, we had dinner with a few kouhais and talked about collaboration. It's very helpful for our class's progress. I'll tell you the details in class tomorrow," Hirata Yousuke smiled, then noticed Amasawa Ichika nearby.
"By the way, Amasawa-san, this is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from our class; he's a good friend of Shimizu from your club. Ayanokouji, this is Amasawa Ichika, the manager of Shimizu's Boxing Club."
"Ayanokouji-senpai, hello."
"Amasawa-san, hello."
Under Hirata Yousuke's introduction, the two finally completed their first formal introduction. Amasawa Ichika lowered her head, her heart racing with excitement.
'Finally! Finally, I've successfully met Ayanokouji Kiyotaka! Tee-hee, didn't expect that, did you, Shimizu Akira! Even if you don't introduce us, I, Amasawa Ichika, can still encounter a wild Ayanokouji-senpai!'
However, when she looked up to observe him carefully, she was somewhat surprised. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka looked decent enough, but he didn't have that breathtaking handsomeness she had imagined. He was holding oden, his mouth greasy from eating, showing none of the "Masterpiece" aura at all—he looked like a plain, ordinary passerby.
The filter seemed to have shattered.
'This is the idol?'
But then she reconsidered.
'No! This must be a disguise! The first rule of a White Room assassin is to blend in with ordinary people. So, Ayanokouji-senpai is truly a master!'
While she was lost in thought, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka took the initiative to speak: "Amasawa-san, would you like to exchange contact information?"
Amasawa Ichika was stunned. Suppressing her surprise, she nodded with a beam.
"Of course~ Ayanokouji-senpai, take out your phone."
'The Masterpiece is quite proactive! What's going on here!'
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka took a bite of oden and thought to himself: 'A kouhai from Shimizu's Boxing Club! She's quite cute. I happened to promise Shimizu a few days ago to help him find a few more girlfriends. Let's use her as the first experimental subject. If Shimizu knows his eighth girlfriend is settled, he should be incredibly happy.'
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Thursday.
It was also the fourth day of the special exam. At 8:00 AM, the daily intelligence refreshed on time.
The homeroom teacher of First-Year Class D, Shiba Katsunori, is a direct subordinate of Tsukishiro Tokinari. Ryuen Kakeru of Second-Year Class C knows Housen Kazuomi of First-Year Class D. The more Nanase Tsubasa of First-Year Class D believes Ayanokouji Kiyotaka of Second-Year Class B is evil, depraved, and filthy, the more she feels sympathy and pity for Shimizu Akira of Second-Year Class B.
The first piece of news was a bombshell. Shiba Katsunori is Tsukishiro's man? He didn't expect the White Room to plant even a homeroom teacher this time.
After so many days since school started, Shimizu Akira hadn't met this teacher yet. He'd have to keep an eye out for his appearance later.
Second piece: Ryuen Kakeru knows Housen Kazuomi? Speaking of which, both were similar types who controlled their classes through violent means, so it wasn't strange that they had some crossover. That said, Miyake Akito should also know Housen Kazuomi, right?
As for the third piece... as expected, Nanase Tsubasa's sympathy for him was indeed real. However, her description of Ayanokouji was a bit too intense, wasn't it! "Evil, depraved, and filthy"?
What exactly did Ayanokouji do to make her hate him to that extent?
After Shimizu Akira finished reading the intelligence, he shook his head and then picked up his phone, seeing messages from Amasawa Ichika and Nanase Tsubasa respectively.
Amasawa Ichika: "Shimizu-senpai, can I come visit your dorm?"
Nanase Tsubasa: "Shimizu-senpai, regarding the Class D collaboration, if you're free today, could I invite you for a cup of coffee?"
He began to reply.
To Amasawa Ichika: "I refuse."
To Nanase Tsubasa: "Sure, I'll come find you after school today."
Amasawa Ichika's request was definitely rejected.
They weren't close enough for her to enter his dorm freely. Besides, Shimizu Akira had kindly introduced three senpais to her yesterday, and he hadn't received a single word of thanks.
He had no interest in dealing with such an impolite kouhai.
As for Nanase Tsubasa, she had always maintained respect for him, and according to the intelligence, she held goodwill toward him. Since it involved important matters of class collaboration, Shimizu Akira accepted the invitation.
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