After the forest training camp ended, the students of Kōyō returned to school. The next day was Friday, but the students didn't have classes.
The school likely realized how tired the students were and gave them a three-day holiday.
Kamio Tatsuya even used this holiday to visit the two students from his group who were injured during the training camp.
After all, he had played a part in their injuries. After a brief visit, he told them about Koenji's expulsion.
For the next three days, Kamio Tatsuya mostly stayed in his dorm room. Kamuro and Shiina would also visit, mainly to wrap up the work on the first volume of "Dragon Raja."
On Monday, the students returned to their normal school routine, and so did Kamio Tatsuya.
However, things were different now compared to before. After the forest training camp, Kamio Tatsuya had completely fallen out with Nagumo.
So, he would have to be careful of him from now on. During his lunch break, Kamio Tatsuya went to a shopping mall and bought something.
A listening device.
He planned to install it in the student council office. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but it was worth a shot.
After all, the student council office was essentially Nagumo's stronghold. While Nagumo wouldn't say much when Kamio Tatsuya was around, that might not be the case when he left.
Besides, most people wouldn't think of installing a listening device in such a place. He was taking advantage of that blind spot.
After school, Kamio Tatsuya went to the student council office as usual. Seeing that the room was empty, he immediately took out the device and installed it in a hidden spot.
This listening device was the latest model, newly released. Once connected to the corresponding app on his phone and paired with a password, he could hear the recorded sounds anytime.
Moreover, he could activate its one-touch recording function through his phone. For Kamio Tatsuya, the user-friendly operation was incredibly convenient.
He had barely finished when the office door was pushed open. Nagumo entered with several second-year students.
Kiriyama followed behind him.
This guy had spoken out against Nagumo before, but now he was completely in Nagumo's camp.
Well, maybe that's not the right way to put it. He had completely surrendered to Nagumo.
But there was nothing wrong with that, as Nagumo's policies did benefit the talented students in the lower classes.
Kamio Tatsuya might not think highly of Kiriyama, but his abilities were actually quite good.
At least he was significantly stronger than most of the second-year students.
"Kamio, you're here early, junior."
As soon as Nagumo entered, he greeted Kamio Tatsuya as if nothing had happened at the forest school.
"Good afternoon, Nagumo-senpai, and all other senpais."
Since Nagumo wasn't bringing it up, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't going to either. Whatever.
Nagumo smiled and returned to his seat, then took out a stack of documents from his drawer.
"This is the final special exam for your first-year third semester. Take a look and see if there's anything that needs improvement."
Kamio Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.
Kamio Tatsuya knew that the student council could interfere with the special exams held by the school to some extent.
But he hadn't expected Nagumo to have him start working on it right now.
"Is it okay for me to look at this now?"
Before he finished speaking, Kamio Tatsuya operated his phone.
"Of course, it's fine. This is part of the authority of the vice president of the student council. Horikita Manabu acted this way before."
With that, Kamio Tatsuya no longer refused.
"Then I'll gratefully accept."
The listening device was in place and activated. Even if Nagumo tried to use this against Kamio Tatsuya, he wasn't afraid.
After receiving the documents from Nagumo, Kamio Tatsuya began to read them confidently, while others busied themselves with their own work.
About half an hour later, Kamio Tatsuya handed the documents back to Nagumo.
"I've finished reading the documents and have also made a suggestion."
A suggestion?
Nagumo took the documents from Kamio Tatsuya and flipped directly to the last page. When he saw Kamio Tatsuya's suggestion, he sighed.
"Kamio, junior, are you planning to use the same trick again?"
"Nagumo-senpai, what do you mean?"
"Originally, this exam was supposed to be a one-on-one duel. But with your changes, it has turned into a free-for-all for the entire grade.
Are you planning to team up with the lower classes to target class A?"
"I don't have that intention. I just believe that a class that can suppress the combined efforts of the other three classes is worthy of being called class A."
"Your actions might bring about a backlash, though. Is that okay with you?"
"It's fine. If I attain the position of class A too easily, I'll get bored," Kamio Tatsuya said calmly to Nagumo.
"Very well. I admire your personality, Kamio, junior. I will submit this revised suggestion. If you have no other comments, you may leave now."
"Then I'll leave the rest to all of you senpais and jiejies."
Since Kamio Tatsuya wasn't assigned any work, he was happy to be free. He packed his bag and left.
After leaving the student council office, Kamio Tatsuya put on a pair of earbuds.
"Nagumo, are you grooming Kamio to be the next student council president?"
As soon as Kamio Tatsuya left, Kiriyama brought up the topic of Kamio Tatsuya.
"Why not? Among the first-year students, only Kamio, Katsuragi, and Honami have joined the student council. In terms of ability, Katsuragi and Honami are not as good as Kamio, junior."
"Weren't you angry when he disrupted your plan at the forest training camp?"
Tsk, Kiriyama, what's with you?
Are you trying to sow discord?
Hearing this, Kamio Tatsuya paused at the entrance on the first floor and listened to the sound coming from his earbuds.
However, Nagumo also fell silent at this point.
Angry?
How could he not be angry? Kamio Tatsuya alone caused Nagumo a loss of forty million private points, which was his biggest failure since coming to this school.
"It's just a matter of skill," Nagumo said with a smile. "So, if there's an opportunity in the future, I'll get it back.
Even though I am grooming him to be the next student council president, if he gets expelled halfway, there's nothing I can do about it."
This guy, his intention to destroy me is unwavering.
"I've inquired. There's one more substitute for Kamio, Sudou from class D. To expel Kamio through an exam, he must be dealt with first.
So, if you don't have a foolproof plan, I hope you won't act rashly. I don't want to see you waste another forty million private points unnecessarily.
That's a huge amount of points that could be used to help two students from the lower classes. If you fail again, the people below will be dissatisfied."
I see. Letting more lower-class students graduate as class A is Kiriyama's goal. That's a clever move, advancing by retreating.
After that, they stopped discussing Kamio Tatsuya. So Kamio Tatsuya took off his earbuds and headed back to the dorm.
When he returned to the dorm, Kamio Tatsuya saw a pair of shoes at the entrance. When he walked into the room, he saw Kamuro sitting by the kotatsu, drawing.
"Good work, Masumi."
"This is the last one."
Kamuro didn't look up and continued drawing her manuscript.
"By the way, Masumi, do you want to transfer classes? I happen to have some points that I can use to get you into class C."
Kamio Tatsuya said, then also slipped into the kotatsu.
Ah, it's so warm.
I'm talking about the kotatsu, not Kamuro's feet.
When Kamuro heard Kamio Tatsuya's words, her drawing hand stopped. After a pause, she shook her head.
"No, I think it's fine like this."
"Worried about Sakayanagi?"
Kamuro looked up at Kamio Tatsuya.
"Your knowing everything is really similar to that guy."
"Heh, you're too kind. I don't know everything. I just know you well," Kamio Tatsuya said with a smile. "By the way, Sakayanagi is having a tough time in class, isn't she?"
Katsuragi had warned Sakayanagi to be careful before the exam, but Sakayanagi insisted on her own way, which resulted in class A's crushing defeat.
However, Katsuragi managed to gain five million private points through his own planning during the exam.
Although Katsuragi's success wasn't huge, it was a comforting success compared to Sakayanagi's.
"Thanks to you, some people in the class have lost confidence in Sakayanagi, and some even want Katsuragi to take charge again.
Especially that Totsuka, he's making a scene. Even though Katsuragi himself hasn't made a statement, he's even stopped him multiple times."
Totsuka, this guy is a loyal follower of Katsuragi, so his actions are not surprising.
However, what piqued Kamio Tatsuya's interest was Sakayanagi's next move.
In this situation, Sakayanagi must be thinking about how to regain control of class B. The simplest way is to make Katsuragi make a mistake again.
However, Katsuragi is no longer the Katsuragi he was when he first enrolled. He is much more composed than before.
Besides, there haven't been any special exams recently, so it's hard to make Katsuragi make a mistake in daily life. Therefore, Sakayanagi has only one way to regain control of the class.
That is to achieve a victory on her own.
Ideally, a victory targeting Ichinose's class would show the students of class B that they still have hope of returning to class A.
This way, Sakayanagi would regain the trust of the students in class B.
Unlike Ichinose's class, where everyone bears the burden of things together, Sakayanagi's class is a form of dictatorship. The advantage is that the leader can easily command anyone in the class.
The disadvantage is that once the leader falters, it's easy to suffer backlash.
This is true not only for Sakayanagi's class but also for Ryuen's class. If Ryuen falls, there will be a backlash, and Ryuen will be ostracized by other students.
At that point, either someone else will step up to lead, or the class will simply disband on the spot and decline, with no third possibility.
So, how does Sakayanagi plan to target Ichinose?
In the following days, Kamio Tatsuya's life was quite relaxed. He spent most of his free time revising "Dragon Raja."
Finally, he submitted the manuscript to the editor at the end of the month.
Time flew by to February. During this period, Kamio Tatsuya's life was very relaxed. After school every day, he only needed to visit the student council office briefly. He basically had no work.
This was mainly because the current student council work was being handled by the second-year students.
According to the information obtained from the listening device, Nagumo seemed to be preparing to quantify the abilities of all students based on several projects.
Perhaps he was worried about Kamio Tatsuya interfering, so he was completely excluded from this matter.
In response, Kamio Tatsuya thought, That's great.
"Have you heard?"
One morning, as soon as Kamio Tatsuya sat down in the classroom, Ryuen turned to him with a smile and spoke.
"Heard? About what?"
"Don't play dumb. It's about Ichinose."
Ryuen said with a smile.
"You're actually interested in something like this," Kamio Tatsuya said speechlessly. "Besides, those things sound fake, don't they?"
"Heh, yeah, but it also shows that Sakayanagi, that shorty, can't sit still anymore."
A cold smile appeared on Ryuen's lips. That's right. This was Sakayanagi's plan.
Since the rumors only spread among the first-year students, it could be assumed that they originated from first-year students.
So, let's use the process of elimination.
Class D... It's unlikely. Neither Horikita nor Hirata's personalities would allow them to do such a thing. As for Kushida, to maintain her image, she wouldn't badmouth others behind their backs.
As for others, perhaps someone might do this out of jealousy towards Ichinose, but Kamio Tatsuya doesn't think much of them; they simply don't have the drive to take action.
Next is class C...
For class C, you only need to look at Ryuen. No one besides Ryuen would do such a thing. Moreover, the students of class C wouldn't dare to act secretly behind Ryuen's back, except for that Tokito.
But this guy looks cowardly, so we'll rule him out.
Besides, if Ryuen were to deal with Ichinose, he wouldn't need to resort to such methods, because Ryuen never considered Ichinose to be his rival from the beginning.
So, pss.
Therefore, the answer is simple: class B, and it can only be Sakayanagi.
However, Kamio Tatsuya was curious. How did Sakayanagi know about Ichinose?
Although the rumors above were quite malicious, one of them was correct.
That is theft.
Ichinose did indeed commit theft at one point.
And it was precisely because of the series of events triggered by this act that Ichinose was not assigned to class A.
No matter how foolish Sakayanagi is, since she dared to spread such rumors, it means she has obtained some information.
So, she really knows what happened to Ichinose in the past.
Then...
How does she know?
Did Ichinose tell her?
Unlikely. Ichinose should be quite wary of her.
Wait...
Could it be that she used her father's authority to check Ichinose's enrollment investigation report?
If so, that would be truly despicable.
Of course, there's another possibility: Ichinose told someone about this, and that person then passed the information to Sakayanagi.
This is simple. I can confirm it with Ichinose later.
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