Narumori stared at his disconnected phone, then sighed softly in silence.
He knew very well. His teacher wouldn't let him off that easily. He had opposed his teacher's wishes in order to maintain Ayanokouji's life at this school.
His teacher would definitely intervene directly. Considering that man's power and methods of operation, his position as Chairman might even be threatened...
Narumori took a long resigned breath. "Can only take it one step at a time now..."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side.
Hachiman had shared his speculation with all Class A members. He stated the need to recruit one other class as an ally or alliance. Otherwise, Class A would face a cornered one-against-three situation.
Honami didn't think too long and intended to cooperate with Ryunosuke. After all, they already knew each other and were very close. In terms of strength, this was the most optimal choice.
After Hachiman stated he had no objections, the plan was established. In front of her friends, Honami took out her phone and directly called Ryunosuke.
Everyone's eyebrows immediately raised, including Hachiman's.
Wait a minute?
How could Honami have Ryunosuke's phone number? Were they that close?
Actually, it made sense—looking at their interactions all this time, they did seem to know each other. However, people didn't think too deeply about their personal relationship, only assuming they were just acquaintances.
Even so, they couldn't help but admire Ryunosuke's network of connections. According to circulating rumors, he seemed close with the two Class B leaders, Sakayanagi Arisu and Yuuki Asuna. Even with Class D's leader, Shiina Hiyori, there had been rumors circulating that the two of them were dating.
Moreover, both parties never clarified or denied these rumors, which made this very questionable. If you said they had no special relationship, even a dog wouldn't believe it. If there really was nothing, they should have clarified it immediately. However, because both remained silent, it was tantamount to indirect acknowledgment.
Hachiman clicked his tongue in admiration internally.
(Love god! How can he be involved in rumors with so many girls who are all class leaders, isn't he afraid of getting "axed" (retaliation)? Most importantly, none of the three girls are denying it, making the atmosphere even more ambiguous.)
Hachiman didn't know that Asuna felt she was right so she didn't care about outside gossip. Arisu purely had a little devil nature, she was an enjoyer of chaos who found the rumors amusing so she didn't clarify them. As for Hiyori, she was indeed the one most wanting to formalize her relationship with Ryunosuke. Unfortunately, Ryunosuke deliberately played dumb; even though Hiyori's signals were very clear, just one step away from a love confession.
Ryunosuke was afraid that if he "stepped on too many boats," his boat would capsize. So he chose to pretend not to know. Hiyori was also helpless because she wasn't the type of girl who would confess love bluntly. As a result, the current situation was created.
Rumors flew wildly outside, while Hiyori guarded an "empty room" at the dormitory.
"Haaah..." Every time she thought about this, Hiyori felt very vexed and decided to continue reading books at the library to forget her frustration.
Elsewhere, Honami, accompanied by her right and left hands, Hachiman and Ryuji, made an appointment to meet Ryunosuke at a private karaoke room.
Ryunosuke looked at Honami sitting in front of him with slight surprise. He didn't expect the girl would suddenly seek him out. More precisely, he didn't expect Honami would realize that Class A's current position being too high carried great risk.
Yet this was a plan he deliberately devised to redirect conflict. Ryunosuke was fully aware that he was a hate magnet; he had offended many people. To divert attention and prepare an exit route, he deliberately pulled Class A's points up that high.
His purpose was to create a 1vs3 situation so he could withdraw from the spotlight. If not for that, why would he bother pulling Class A's points sky-high? Purely so that the other three classes would have the same competitive target.
That way, even if he later caused trouble or sparked conflict within, the other classes would deprioritize him and prioritize dealing with Honami first. After all, Class A's points being this high originated from the first month of school when Ryunosuke pulled down the original Class A (which now became Arisu's Class B). Added to that, during the cruise ship exam, he trapped Arisu's class until it fell to the bottom ranking, widening the point gap.
(Eh? Now that I think about it, I really do have a lot of enemies...)
Ryunosuke secretly broke out in cold sweat and felt slightly guilty.
He even offended Class D to its roots. After all, their homeroom teacher and their original leader, Ryuen Kakeru, were eliminated by him. If not for his very good relationship with Hiyori, he might have to always be alert lest his head get ambushed with a sack and beaten on the road...
Ryunosuke shook his head, stopped daydreaming, and began getting into serious business with Honami.
"What do you need from me, Ichinose-san?"
Honami looked at him strangely. Usually, Ryunosuke would call her "Honami-chan". Why was his attitude so unusual today?
What Honami didn't know was that Ryunosuke had just been thinking about many things and decided to act formal to maintain good relations. He had many sworn enemies... (at least according to his own perception).
So he had to choose to cultivate good relations with Honami, so as not to end up in a situation surrounded from all directions—like the scene "Four Great Sects Besieging Light Summit".
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