Kiyomizu discreetly looked away from the podium.
(As I thought... Kushida is still too naive.)
He had anticipated this outcome. Last night, he had used the same anonymous account to send the hidden information to both Hirata and Kushida. Chabashira wanted him to pick a side? Rather than being used as a pawn by the homeroom teacher, it was better to let these two "core figures" fight it out themselves.
And now it was clear: Yosuke Hirata had chosen the most practical approach, sharing the information with some classmates overnight. This honesty had, in turn, solidified their trust in him. As for Kushida... she had clearly treated the information as a prop for a performance, planning to play the "savior" in front of the whole class.
Kiyomizu glanced at the girl on the podium, who was forcing a smile. Her usually smiling eyes were now flashing with an imperceptible panic. It was a shame—this meticulously planned "press conference" had ultimately become a stepping stone for Hirata.
Beside him, Suzune Horikita had been silently watching the podium for a while. "Kiyomizu... was this your doing?" She had witnessed the entire transaction between Chabashira and Kiyomizu yesterday. She had thought he would just pick one of them and get it over with, but she hadn't expected him to send the information to both.
"Yes," Kiyomizu replied, flipping through his textbook. "Please keep it a secret, Horikita-san."
"...I have no interest in being a gossip," Horikita snorted and turned away, but she couldn't help but study her inscrutable deskmate from the corner of her eye. This deliberate creation of information parity was less a prank and more an ingenious political experiment. It allowed him to avoid the risk of taking sides while also observing how the two "core figures" would react.
Suzune Horikita's gaze lingered on Kiyomizu's profile for a moment.
(All the information came from Kiyomizu.)
(And Hirata and Kushida are just messengers... the gap between them and him is just too vast.)
Even though she didn't know the capabilities of the so-called geniuses in Class A, the level of intelligence Kiyomizu had displayed was clearly far beyond what Class D should possess.
"Since you have this ability..." Horikita lowered her voice, a rare look of inquiry on her face, "why don't you reveal the information yourself?" Chabashira had actually given him three options, one of which was to announce the information himself.
Kiyomizu turned his head slightly. "Horikita-san, I've already said it once. I have no intention of being anyone's 'blood bag.' By the way, now that you know the whole truth, don't you have anything to say?"
Horikita was silent for a moment. "...Nothing to say. This isn't the class I should be in, in the first place."
"Is that so," Kiyomizu raised an eyebrow. It seemed that even at this point, she hadn't given up. Perhaps only a direct scolding from her student council president brother could finally change her mind. From a brother's perspective, having such a stubborn sister must be quite a headache.
However, he glanced at the intel again and felt speechless. But it shouldn't have escalated to the point of physical violence! Just what did Suzune Horikita say to get beaten up by her brother? He'd go take a look tonight if he had time.
"I still don't understand..." A hint of incomprehensible frustration was in Horikita's eyes. "You... why can you remain so calm?" For the past few days, besides her dissatisfaction with the class assignment, what had puzzled her most was Kiyomizu's detached attitude. Even though his abilities were far superior to hers, and he had been thrown into the "trash heap" of Class D just like her, he always seemed so calm, not even once complaining about the class assignment.
"I think it's fair," Kiyomizu replied. "Based on my performance at the entrance exams, Class D is just right." His entrance exam scores, aside from his physical abilities, were practically worthless. Being assigned to Class D was a given.
In Horikita's eyes, Kiyomizu's tone was incredibly nonchalant. The person before her, though a high school student of the same grade, was surprisingly philosophical. For some reason, the nameless anger inside her was somewhat extinguished.
Meanwhile, Kiyomizu paid little attention to Horikita's gaze and continued to watch the podium. Hirata did not, as expected, use this opportunity to take the stage. Instead, he took a step back and gave Kushida the opportunity to explain the situation to the class. Kushida, of course, took the chance. Under the watchful eyes of the entire class, she clearly and methodically explained the hidden school rules and the workings of the S-System.
Some students were already aware of this, while others couldn't hide their shock. The classroom was instantly in an uproar, but with Hirata's gentle guidance and Kushida's patient reassurance, the students quickly pulled themselves together. Fortunately, it had only been a little over a week since school started, which meant they still had plenty of time to earn back the class points.
Hirata and Kushida were also much smarter than they appeared. They reached a tacit understanding and deliberately concealed the cruel truth of the class assignment system from their classmates. These Class D students still didn't know they were considered "defective products," thinking that those who were assigned to Class A were just lucky. The two of them only revealed the most superficial part—as long as they followed the daily code of conduct, their class points wouldn't be deducted. They even used the excuse that "the other classes probably don't know these rules yet" to motivate everyone, creating the three great illusions: "we have the upper hand," "we can win," and "we'll be Class A next month."
However, this brief period of harmony in the class was not destined to last. The classroom door was suddenly thrown open, and Sae Chabashira walked in with heavy steps. "You two," her sharp gaze darted between Hirata and Kushida, her fingertips tapping impatiently on her arm. "Come with me."
Hirata and Kushida were both taken aback, but she was their homeroom teacher, after all. They had no choice but to silently follow her to a shadowy corner at the end of the hallway. Chabashira suddenly turned, leaning against the windowsill. "Tell me, how did you find out about those hidden rules?"
Hirata paused for a few seconds before speaking. "Actually... a person named Yue Qing suddenly added me as a friend..."
"Me too... after I added that person named Yue Qing, they suddenly sent me a lot of key information," Kushida added, stealing a glance at Hirata with a subtle expression.
Chabashira's tone was laced with clear disappointment, like a gambler revealing their last card. "It seems... he didn't choose either of you, but sent the message to both?"
"Alright!" she suddenly slapped the windowsill. "I'm appointing you two as vice class representatives. Your first task is to collect 25,000 points from every student in the class as a class fee."
Hirata's brow furrowed tightly. "Sensei, what do you mean by that?"
Sae Chabashira gave him a cold look. "1,000,000 points. That's the cost of the information from him. Did you two really think there's such a thing as a free lunch in this world? Why would someone give you the information for free?"
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