A familiar voice interrupted their intimate moment.
However, unlike usual, Amane wasn't flustered.
"Suzune, did you get anything on your end?"
"No, Kushida is very cautious. She went back when Karuizawa didn't show up."
"Is that so? That's a real shame."
Karuizawa's heart tightened.
She looked at the two of them, somewhat flustered.
"You... knew I was meeting Kushida-san today?"
Karuizawa's eyes filled with fear.
Thinking about it carefully.
Amane's actions today were indeed a bit unusual.
First, he took her to watch a movie, then he deliberately acted so intimately with her, causing her to not have extra time to check Kushida's messages... Was everything planned?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
If it was a coincidence, she could accept it.
Although Amane was already a formidable person in her mind, it was impossible for him to know in advance that she was meeting Kushida and then wait for her halfway, right?
It should be noted that Horikita wasn't present at the time.
Amane didn't use any communication tools to contact Horikita throughout, and it was impossible for people to achieve such a thing solely through telepathy.
"I don't know. Speaking of which, it was indeed a chance encounter, but your excuse, Kei, was too bad, which made me curious. So I had Suzune, who was secretly following me, keep an eye on things, and it turned out to be little Kikyo..."
Amane's eyes darted around quickly, as if he was thinking about something.
"So... Amane, because of my terribly bad excuse, you deduced in reverse that I was meeting someone today?"
Karuizawa found this unbelievable.
She even couldn't believe that she could say such a judgment that seemed bizarre to her.
"Yes, is there a problem?"
"What do you mean, is there a problem? The problem is huge..."
Karuizawa glanced at the accustomed Horikita, and then at Amane, who seemed genuinely puzzled.
Why did they both think this outcome was reasonable?
Seeing someone walk by on the street, and merely based on an excuse, deducing that the person was waiting for someone, and even calculating the location and time of the wait... this was simply not something a normal person could do.
"You guys wouldn't even have guessed what she wanted to do with me, would you?"
Karuizawa nervously took a few steps back.
To her relief, Horikita shook her head.
"Kushida and I don't see eye to eye, we barely exchanged a few words, and I'm not very clear about your arrangements. You can rest assured about that."
Horikita noticed Karuizawa's tension and tried to comfort her, but unfortunately, she seemed to have forgotten that Amane was also a monster-like person in her mind.
"If we exclude some logical anomalies... I think little Kikyo probably wanted to discuss with you how to suppress me, in order to maintain your absolute position among the Class D girls, Kei, right?"
Amane casually uttered words that shocked both of them.
"You just earned class points for Class D. No matter what, Kushida wouldn't..."
Horikita seemed unable to understand how Amane had arrived at such a dangerous speculation.
"She's too scared, scared of being liquidated by me, that's all. She also helped some people, but I didn't bother with her out of consideration for old times."
Amane casually spoke those terrifying words.
Liquidation... what does that refer to?
"Um... I didn't participate in her conversation. Actually, I told Kushida on the phone that I wasn't interested in her proposal..."
The instinct for survival made Karuizawa state her position at a rapid pace, fearing that she would be targeted by Amane.
Amane glanced at Karuizawa.
"Kei, can I trust you?"
Cunning!!!
Horikita narrowed her eyes.
Karuizawa's intention to push all responsibility onto Kushida was too obvious.
If Karuizawa truly wasn't tempted at all, then she would have no reason to come here and meet Kushida.
But she came.
It could only mean that Karuizawa indeed felt a sense of crisis after Amane's sudden rise to prominence.
As a result, Karuizawa tried to trust Kushida.
She wanted to use all means to stabilize her position within the class.
Amane should have seen through it.
But Amane didn't point it out directly; instead, he very cunningly left the most crucial question of whether to trust her to Karuizawa.
It seemed like he was letting Karuizawa make the decision for him.
He gave Karuizawa enough trust.
In reality, it was merely a means of winning people over. No matter what Karuizawa chose, it wouldn't change his opinion of her.
Karuizawa was different from people like Ichinose and Ryuuen.
Although Ichinose and the others had different personalities, they all had thick enough skin. Anyone with thinner skin wouldn't be able to fight for the maximum benefit for their class.
The difference between Karuizawa and them was that Karuizawa was not an excellent leader at all.
She would get nervous when lying, and she would feel guilty for deceiving friends.
Amane, on the other hand, deliberately buried that guilt deep in the other person's heart.
"Of course, of course you can trust me. We're friends, aren't we?"
Karuizawa said, her eyes flickering.
Her fingers were tightly clasped together in nervousness.
Anyone paying a little attention would notice Karuizawa's unease.
Amane, however, just nodded calmly.
"That's right, we are friends."
July 1st.
The month of June, which had put the entire first year through a rollercoaster, finally ended.
People from all four classes gathered around the school's notice board, eager to see the class point changes as soon as possible.
Sakayanagi and Katsuragi from Class A both arrived at the notice board with their respective factions, standing distinctly apart.
Although they were all present, their points of focus were not entirely the same.
Katsuragi was more concerned with the changes in Class A's points.
Ever since Sakayanagi helped Amane defeat Ichinose and became the successor to the Student Council secretary position, there wasn't much room for error left for Katsuragi.
If he fell behind in class affairs, he could be replaced by Sakayanagi at any moment.
Sakayanagi Arisu, on the other hand, was the opposite.
Compared to the relatively stable Class A, she was more concerned with Class B and Class D.
Class B had a large number of points deducted due to the previous incident.
However, it was undeniable that despite the deduction, they were still the closest class to Class A.
Her interest in Class D stemmed from Amane's recent activity, which made Sakayanagi hope for an opportunity to contend with Amane.
In Class B, due to Ichinose's suspension, Shibata stood in front of the notice board.
The usually optimistic Shibata, seeing the numbers on the notice board, couldn't bring himself to be happy.
Even though the massive drop in points this time had little to do with his management, others wouldn't see it that way.
This meant that Shibata had to achieve more concrete and effective results to gain everyone's trust.
Shiina from Class C merely glanced at it before turning and leaving.
The result was not unexpected for her.
Class C would likely have to be a bit more subdued for a while.
After the Ishizaki Incident and the fake love letter incident, Class C, despite shifting some responsibility, was still greatly weakened, and without a truly effective way to increase points, they would likely have to tread carefully.
Hirata from Class D, however, looked at the changing numbers on the notice board, a joyful expression appearing on his face.
Class A: 1040 points
Class B: 393 points
Class C: 350 points
Class D: 207 points
Except for Class A, which was far ahead, both Class B and Class C saw a decrease in class points due to student absences.
Only Class D accomplished the feat of increasing their class points by two hundred in one month.
If they continued to maintain this, becoming Class A seemed like a not-so-distant dream... However, the most vexing problem for Hirata at the moment was that Amane had gone on strike.
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