Airi's hand clutched the love letter tightly. She couldn't manage to give it, until her heart felt bitter.
"Even at the last moment, I can't gather courage? I'm really useless..."
Airi's gaze dimmed, it seemed she had given up. Even the love letter fell to the floor without her realizing it.
Everyone stared at Ryunosuke, waiting for the final choice to be made.
Ryunosuke looked at the crowd of bastards below the stage. He really wanted to raise both middle fingers, but he held back...
Although he wanted to save Airi, he wasn't the type to take a loss. No matter what happened, he would make these assholes cough up the points they gained thanks to his help on the cruise ship! At least that could reduce his losses.
He walked to the front of the desk, secretly took out the Stardust Dragon card, and entered chuunibyou mode.
Chiaki, who had studied psychology, was the first person to notice the change in Ryunosuke and clicked her tongue inwardly.
"This is bad!"
Chiaki wanted to pull her two best friends, Sato Maya and Karuizawa Kei, to make an excuse to go to the bathroom and leave immediately.
"Eh? What are you doing, Matsushita?" Kei released Chiaki's hand. She still wanted to see what Ryunosuke would do.
Chiaki was almost going crazy with worry. "Leave quickly! If not now, there won't be another chance!"
Kei and Maya found it very strange.
On the other side, Ayanokouji also noticed Ryunosuke's change and contemplated silently.
(This feeling...)
(It seems similar to the condition when he faced that Hiratsuka-sensei...)
(This is bad!)
Ayanokouji also prepared to sneak away, while pulling the confused-looking Suzune. But Suzune completely ignored him, which made him feel slightly regretful.
"Don't blame me for not warning you, Horikita." Ayanokouji said with a flat face.
"Hmph, boring." Suzune, who hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation, remained stubborn and refused to leave.
Ayanokouji could only leave their fate to destiny...
Meanwhile, Megumi also understood what Ryunosuke wanted to do. She looked at the surveillance camera mounted on the classroom ceiling, then silently stood up and walked out soundlessly to destroy that camera. Not a single person noticed her movement.
Koenji also seemed to know what Ryunosuke was going to do. He smiled mockingly. "Need help, lovely boy?"
"No need! I'm enough by myself." Ryunosuke loosened his tie.
Koenji lifted his legs onto the desk, preparing to watch the show.
Haruka, who had been staring blankly, slowly raised her head to look at Ryunosuke on the stage.
While Airi had already closed her eyes in fear. She was afraid of hearing the sentence she least wanted to hear. She gripped the edge of her skirt tightly, then stood up and ran out of the classroom.
Airi chose to run away from reality. She wanted to keep the most beautiful memories in her heart... she ran away.
Ryunosuke didn't chase her. He had urgent business to do now. Meanwhile, Haruka had long lost the right to chase, after all, she had voted to expel her own best friend... She smiled bitterly, mocking herself.
Ryunosuke didn't waste time. He tried to suppress the chuunibyou impulse in his heart. He knew now wasn't the time yet, at least he had to wait for Megumi to destroy the surveillance camera first. So, he said while smiling:
"Everyone, listen to me. I plan to collect money to save Sakura."
The people below who had refused from the start immediately wanted to interrupt. But Ryunosuke raised his hand to stop them.
"Let me finish speaking."
Everyone was cooperative enough and remained calm, wanting to see what else he would say.
At that moment, Wang Mei-Yu, a female student who was always high-achieving and almost always got perfect scores in mathematics, raised her small hand and expressed her doubt.
"Akasaka-kun, our points don't seem to be enough. I've already calculated it, the shortage gap is at least about 10 million."
Mei-Yu actually also wanted to save Airi, she didn't care how many points were needed. However, her words directly triggered dissatisfaction from the rejection group.
"You just be quiet! Those aren't your points, so you can speak easily!"
Mei-Yu jolted in shock and said plaintively, "I just wanted to save Sakura-san, no other intention..." However, she still withdrew her hand and stopped talking.
Ryunosuke glanced at Mei-Yu briefly and answered her doubt.
"I know. Even if your points are combined, it's still not enough to save someone. Therefore, I'll cover the remaining shortage. You only need to collect what you have."
"Hirata!"
Ryunosuke called Hirata's name loudly, instantly awakening Hirata who had been spacing out.
"W-what is it?" Hirata looked left and right, clearly not fully conscious yet.
After all, the expulsion of a classmate had too great an impact on him. Unconsciously he had confined himself so he didn't hear what had just been discussed.
Ryunosuke was forced to patiently explain the entire process.
After hearing the explanation, Hirata stood up happily and began following Ryunosuke's instructions to persuade the remaining students to be willing to collect points. He knew, now Airi could be saved.
Hirata persuaded the 18 people under his influence, while also embracing Kei's group of 5 fashionable girls (gyaru). Although the two of them had already broken up, Hirata still hoped Kei would consider the common interest and persuade her friends to collect points.
Kei waved her hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Look how enthusiastic you are, I'll do it."
Hirata expressed thanks for that. "Thank you, Karuizawa-san, for your understanding."
Kei actually didn't want to interfere in other people's affairs, but she glanced secretly toward Ryunosuke on the stage. Her cheeks flushed unnaturally red, she snorted irritably and turned her face away.
Hirata smiled helplessly. He realized that Kei was doing it not for him, but for the person on that stage. He shook his head.
"Whatever... important matters come first."
Not long after, Hirata met with Kushida, trying to persuade her small group consisting of 8 people.
Kushida nodded with a full smile on her face, a sign she agreed. However, she stared deeply at Ryunosuke standing on the stage, who knows what she was thinking...
Ayanokouji, Haruka, even Suzune didn't raise objections when they saw the majority of people supporting Airi staying. Even the usually arrogant Koenji nodded slightly and agreed with a smile on his face.
What remained were only the "three lucky treasures": Yamauchi, Ike, and Shimura. They disagreed, and Yamauchi even stood up and kept instigating.
"Are you all stupid?"
"Using points to save someone?"
"Wouldn't it be better to save them for yourself? What a bunch of idiots."
Everyone showed dissatisfied expressions, but Yamauchi's next words made some people start to agree.
"Those points are your own, why should you listen to others? I won't spend points to save someone."
Yamauchi began to act like he didn't know the rules and stated his position, and pulled Ike and Shimura with him. The three of them stated they wouldn't spend a single point.
The people who had been persuaded began to waver again. Actually they weren't fully willing either, they were only persuaded because they were following the majority flow. Seeing that some didn't want to spend points, they also didn't want to spend them.
From the 35 people who had agreed, instantly 13 people betrayed and stated they wouldn't spend points. The rest looked at each other, seemingly also becoming reluctant.
Seeing this, Hirata showed a troubled expression. When he was about to persuade them again, Ryunosuke raised his hand from the stage to stop him.
"Those who agree please go outside, those who disagree stay here."
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