"Maya! Chiaki!" Karuizawa suddenly raised her voice. "Sorry, I might not be able to go shopping with everyone later!"
"Eh? Karuizawa-san? What happened?" The two girls turned to her in surprise.
Karuizawa unconsciously glanced in Akira's direction, then straightened her back and announced, "I've decided to join the boxing club starting after school today!"
"The boxing club?!" Sato Maya's eyes widened. "Can girls join a sports club like that too?"
"Of course we can!" Karuizawa put her hands on her hips, adding proudly. "But I'm going to be the manager!"
"A manager! That's great!" Sato's eyes lit up. "The boxing club is one of the school's popular clubs, you know. Speaking of which..." She suddenly lowered her voice, winking mischievously. "Isn't Shimizu-kun one of the members there?"
Karuizawa cleared her throat. "Um... so starting today, I'll be going to club activities with him..."
"Eh—?" Shinohara suddenly leaned in, playfully poking her with her elbow. "You two aren't... dating, are you?"
"N-no way!" Karuizawa waved her hands frantically. "We just happen to be going to the same place!"
She thought silently.
In a way, she was also someone whose confession had been rejected.
Akira's phone suddenly vibrated.
He looked down to check the message and found it wasn't from Chabashira, but a text from Kamuro Masumi of Class A:
{Save your points from now on.}
That usually aloof Class A honor student actually took the initiative to remind him?
He quickly replied: {Has Sakayanagi Arisu already revealed the S-System information to you all?}
The other party replied almost instantly: {You're quick to react, not quite the level one would expect from Class D.}
Immediately followed by another message: {Otherwise, why do you think Sakayanagi Arisu could become one of Class A's core figures?}
A hint of surprise flashed in Akira's eyes as he tapped his finger on the screen: {One of? Class A has other core figures?}
Kamuro's reply carried a hint of deeper meaning: {Katsuragi Kohei. Steady in his approach, meticulous in his actions. He also commands considerable prestige within the class.}
Akira fell into a brief contemplation. Class A at this moment had clearly been thoroughly integrated as a whole.
Sakayanagi, like him, had already grasped the crucial information deliberately hidden by the school authorities.
His gaze once again fell on the second piece of information:
[Intelligence 2: Class point standings after the first month of school: Class A 940 points | Class B 650 points | Class C 490 points | Class D 0 points]
If they hadn't known the inside story beforehand, Class A would almost certainly not have accumulated such an astonishing 940 class points in the first month.
Don't just see it as a cold, hard data point—it conceals a lot of crucial information.
For instance, apart from Class A, the other classes had clearly not yet discovered these hidden rules.
Otherwise, the scores for Class B and Class C wouldn't remain at levels like 650 and 490 points.
Class B's performance, in particular, was intriguing.
When he initially spent ten thousand points to purchase information, the upperclassman had explicitly told him: In past competitions, Class B was often the class with the most potential for overthrowing the superior.
However, the current score showed a significant discrepancy from this expectation.
'Strange... With Ichinose Honami's social skills, she shouldn't have gained nothing.'
Akira thoughtfully stroked his chin.
He clearly remembered that at the very beginning of school, the pink-haired girl was already active among all grades. On the second day, she had already collected hundreds of contact details.
'Is she just making friends? Ichinose-san.'
He suddenly realized something, his gaze sharpening slightly.
'Wait... Could it be that she hasn't come into contact with those desperate Class D students?'
This thought brought him a sudden realization.
After all, in this school, those who would betray class secrets for a few private points were probably only some of the self-destructive Class D students.
As for the other classes, it was impossible for them to do something as foolish as betraying their class for a mere twenty or thirty thousand private points.
'This calculation is simply too uneconomical...'
Akira quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind.
Twenty or thirty thousand private points might seem tempting, but converted to class points, it was only two or three hundred points.
And once the school authorities discovered irregular operations, they could easily deduct one or two hundred class points—meaning the entire class would lose hundreds of thousands or even more in fixed income every month.
This kind of short-sighted action would probably only be considered by those who were desperate.
As for Class C—
'Speaking of which, I haven't interacted with anyone from Class C yet...'
The organizational structure of this class remained a mystery to him.
As for whether Class C had a charismatic leader like Sakayanagi of Class A or Ichinose of Class B who could unite the entire class, that remained a question mark.
After a long thought, Akira tapped his finger on the screen again: {By the way, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't cause you any trouble because of that can of beer, did she?}
Kamuro's reply carried clear annoyance: {? Do you think I'm that stupid? The evidence was already cleaned up by you. Besides—} The message paused for two seconds. {I'm an A-class student after all. How could I be caught with a handle over a can of beer.}
Akira's fingertips tapped out the words quickly: {Hard to say. I remember the first time we met, you almost revealed all your cards—that's not like Class A's style. I feel like if I hadn't shown up, you would have completely become Sakayanagi Arisu's puppet. For example, on a rainy day, you'd be holding an umbrella for her or something.}
As soon as the message was sent, his phone vibrated violently.
{Shimizu Akira! Do you want to die?!} Kamuro's reply almost conveyed her fury through the screen. {I just realized now—the first time we met, you were indirectly calling me stupid, weren't you?! Who would hold an umbrella for Sakayanagi Arisu! She's a genius in Class A, am I not?!}
{Forget it! It's a waste of time talking to someone like you.}
Akira looked at the screen, his fingertips paused for a moment, then he earnestly typed: {Sorry, I went too far this time. But... it's good that you weren't exploited by Sakayanagi Arisu.}
After the message showed as read, the conversation box continuously displayed "The other party is typing..."
After a full half-minute, a reply finally came:
{Apologize with a dogeza, and let me step on your head as atonement.}
{Heh~}
Akira thoughtfully put down his phone, his gaze turning to Horikita beside him.
He carefully chose his words, asking with feigned seriousness. "Horikita-san, if a girl sends a 'Heh' in reply, what does it usually mean?"
Horikita, without looking up from her textbook, let out a meaningful cold laugh. "Hmph~"
Akira blinked.
So, the question is... what does a girl's 'Hmph' mean?