Ichinose Honami's eyes were filled with curiosity.
She had noticed Shirogane's movements and even heard the *click* of him taking a photo just moments ago.
But more importantly...
She was from Class 1-B.
Shirogane's goal was Class A, and to reach it, he would inevitably have to surpass Class B.
That made them rivals.
As expected of a Class B student—only the second day after enrollment, and she was already making moves.
"Before we continue, what information have you gathered so far?" Shirogane asked, keeping things vague.
"About that..." Ichinose didn't hesitate. She pulled a small notebook from her pocket and stepped closer to him. "I already visited the third-year area earlier, but the seniors there completely shut me out."
"But I noticed that the third-year area also has these small blackboards. The numbers are different, but the 'ABCD' in front of them stands out."
"Also, I found that except for Class 3-A, the other third-year classes all have fewer than 40 students."
"Class 3-B has 34 students, Class 3-C has 29, and Class 3-D has the fewest, with only 26."
"As for the second-year students, I just got here, so I haven't had time to count yet." She said this with a slightly embarrassed look.
It was kind of cute.
Her notebook also had the number of students written down for each third-year class.
Class 3-A had 40 students.
There was also a calculation: (40+34+29+26) × 10, but it had been crossed out with a line.
She was probably trying to calculate how much the school would need to pay in living expenses if every third-year student received 100,000 points each.
But since she crossed it out, it meant that even she didn't believe every student actually got that much.
"Yesterday in the cafeteria, I saw some upperclassmen eating the free meals. It didn't cost anything, so I got one too—but it was really bad, almost impossible to eat. And they didn't look like they were eating it just to save money."
"So I think the amount of living expenses upperclassmen get might not be as much as we thought."
"That would mean it's impossible for them to keep giving every new student 100,000 points like we got when we entered."
Ichinose seemed eager to share this information, but—Shirogane noticed that as she spoke, she kept glancing at his face.
Was she trying to read his expression to get more information?
This girl… might be dangerous.
Shirogane realized she had a way of quickly closing the distance between herself and others.
Just then, the voice in his head spoke again.
[She's been staring at your face for quite a while.]
Yeah.
Shirogane had already noticed that.
He had to thank Shiina—after spending all of yesterday and today sitting right in front of him, he had built up a bit of resistance to pretty girls.
Now, even though Ichinose was looking at him with curious, searching eyes, he could still keep his cool. She was cute, and she openly showed him the notes in her notebook, seeming very honest.
But…
Didn't that make her even more dangerous?
It was hard not to feel like she was being completely sincere.
Maybe she thought he was an upperclassman, but he wasn't. So in a way, Shirogane had gotten all this information from Ichinose without giving anything in return.
"Looks like you do understand some things."
Noticing that Ichinose was still staring at him, Shirogane spoke up.
"Unfortunately, upperclassmen aren't supposed to share too much information with first-years."
"Even the details on this small blackboard aren't supposed to be revealed to underclassmen."
If Shirogane hadn't already gotten some intel from Ryuen, who pressured the upperclassmen, he would've gained a lot just from Ichinose alone.
By staying skeptical of the school and observing carefully, he could gather a fair amount of information.
But in reality—
Shirogane had already gotten hints from Sakayanagi and also taken advantage of Ryuen's efforts.
Now, with the information Ichinose provided, things were even clearer.
The number of students in each senior class was different. Did that mean the special exams every month weren't just about class points but also affected whether students got expelled?
Classes B, C, and D all had students who had been expelled, but third-year Class A, the class of Student Council President Horikita Manabu, had managed to keep all 40 students. That was really impressive.
Shirogane felt a little pressure about going to the student council.
Someone who could accomplish that—protecting so many classmates—had to have incredible vision, strength, and decision-making skills.
But...
Opportunities always came with challenges.
Among the four senior classes, only Class A hadn't lost any students. Did that mean they were the most united class, unwilling to let anyone drop out?
Unity was good, but if taken too far, it could become a burden. It might even stop them from making the best choices in exams.
According to the upperclassmen, after the first month, new students would be told the true nature of this school.
So...
Once that happened, they would enter the monthly special exam battles.
Thinking this over, Shirogane maintained his cool and composed demeanor. Under Ichinose's curious gaze, he left the second-year building and headed straight for the student council office.
---------------------------------------
You can read 30 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi