Chapter 077 Sakayanagi Arisu's Plan / The One Being Dishonest Was Her
Wednesday arrived quickly.
The final period was the homeroom class designated by the school for discussing the Cultural Festival. After two weeks of brewing, many students in the group chat had already submitted their proposals.
Hirata Yousuke initiated a simple voting phase in the group. Horikita Suzune walked up to the podium, picked up the school-issued tablet, and announced the five activities with the lowest vote rates.
They were: the Haunted House, the Maid Café, the Fortune-Telling Booth, the Mini Theater, and the Game Room.
The reactions were varied upon hearing the results.
The boy who proposed the Haunted House looked indignant. "How is it the lowest? I wrote several thousand words for that proposal!"
"Writing thousands of words is useless," Ike Kanji said mercilessly. "A Haunted House needs atmosphere and props. Our class budget is so small it wouldn't even cover equipment rentals."
"What about the Maid Café?" The girl who proposed it was named Sonoda. She looked at Horikita Suzune pitifully. "Horikita-san, did you vote against it too?"
Horikita Suzune remained expressionless. "I voted for the Milk Tea Shop. The Maid Café's target audience is unclear, the costume costs are too high, and the recovery period for the investment is long. It's not cost-effective from a profit perspective."
"What about the Fortune-Telling Booth?" another girl asked, raising her hand.
"No one knows how to tell fortunes," Hirata Yousuke said gently. "We can't just find someone to play pretend; if a guest sees through it, it would damage the class's reputation."
"But the students in the Drama Club..."
"The Drama Club students only joined this year," Hirata shook his head. "And I asked; they don't have the confidence to carry a lead performance yet."
"The Game Room?" someone asked.
"Only Sotomura-kun has a laptop," Kushida Kikyo said with a smile. "We can't have everyone lining up to wait for his one computer, can we? Besides, if the machine malfunctions, there's no way to fix it."
"Doesn't Ike-kun have a handheld console?" someone remembered.
Ike Kanji had a bitter face. "Satsuki sold it."
Everyone looked at Shinohara Satsuki. She said righteously, "He plays games all day and his OAA is nearly at the bottom. If I didn't sell it, was I supposed to keep it for New Year's?"
A wave of laughter erupted in the classroom.
"Alright." Horikita Suzune tapped the podium to quiet the room. "The five eliminated projects have been confirmed. Next are the top five projects by vote rate."
She tapped the tablet, and the screen displayed them in order:
Food Stall Balloon Shooting (Gallery) Ring Toss Milk Tea Shop Photo Backdrop Wall
"The Food Stall and Milk Tea Shop fall under food and beverage, Balloon Shooting and Ring Toss are games, and the Photo Backdrop Wall is an experience-based activity," Horikita Suzune said clearly. "This structure is quite reasonable. We have catering income, entertainment interaction, and a point for social media photos to draw traffic. The footprints aren't too large, and the funding is reasonable. These are very pragmatic decisions."
"What about the specific labor division?" someone asked.
Hirata Yousuke looked at everyone. "Balloon Shooting and Ring Toss were both written by Horikita-san. The Photo Backdrop Wall was Kushida-san's idea, and the Milk Tea Shop was Karuizawa-san's. Several people wrote for the Food Stall... some suggested fried noodles, some takoyaki, and some fried rice."
"We can't let Horikita-san do two activities at once, right? She'd be exhausted!" a student said. "Let's rethink the specific personnel list. Each activity needs at least two to three people just in case."
"You're right," Hirata Yousuke nodded. "At least two people per project, and important ones can have three."
He wrote the five projects on the blackboard and drew lines underneath. "The Food Stall has the most proposals, meaning everyone is interested. Who will take charge?"
Inogashira Kokoro raised her hand. "I can do the fried noodles and takoyaki, but I need someone to help me."
"I'll do it," Wang Meiyu raised her hand. "I can make fried rice."
"I'll help too," Mori Nene added, raising her hand. "Three people should be enough."
"Good." Hirata wrote the three names behind the Food Stall. "Milk Tea Shop... proposed by Karuizawa-san. Who will assist?"
Matsushita Chiaki immediately raised her hand. "I'll help Kei!"
Sato Maya also waved. "Me too!"
"Good, then it's settled." Hirata wrote the three names. "Balloon Shooting and Ring Toss—both were written by Horikita-san, but she can't manage both at the same time." Hirata looked at Horikita Suzune. "Horikita-san, which one do you plan to be responsible for?"
Horikita Suzune thought for a moment. "Ring Toss. I need someone to help prepare the site and arrange the prizes. Who will help me? Females only."
After all, she didn't want any misunderstandings with Shimizu Akira.
Onodera Kayano raised her hand energetically. "Leave it to me, Horikita! I'll help you."
For the subsequent Balloon Shooting, Ike Kanji and Sudou Ken volunteered, and they dragged Ayanokouji Kiyotaka along with them. Finally, the Photo Backdrop Wall was, of course, handled by Kushida Kikyo, Hasabe Haruka, and Sakura Airi.
"That completes the personnel distribution," Hirata nodded.
Horikita Suzune continued, "Next is the budget allocation. The Food Stall is estimated to need 30,000 points, the Milk Tea Shop 30,000, Balloon Shooting and Ring Toss 20,000 each, and the Photo Backdrop Wall 20,000. I'll leave a 30,000-point margin for stall fees. Total..."
"150,000 personal points," Kushida Kikyo calculated for her. "Our class's initial budget is 195,000 points. We haven't carefully calculated the additional funds yet, but there should be a baseline of over 30,000, totaling 225,000 points. There's a 75,000-point surplus. The budget is sufficient; we can even consider adding two backup projects."
"What should the backup projects be?" someone asked.
"Let's discuss that later," Hirata Yousuke said. "Let's implement these five first. We can buy a small portion of the ingredients, and materials like balloons, air guns, and disposable plates can be procured before the end of September. We can try setting up the stalls at the end of this month and let our own classmates experience them first."
"That's all for today then." Horikita Suzune closed the tablet. "Project leads, go back and list the specific materials and submit them to me by Friday. Procurement will be arranged by me, Hirata-kun, and Kushida-san."
.
.
.
In the neighboring Class 2-B, Sakayanagi Arisu also made a simple plan for the Cultural Festival.
"We won't be running any activities ourselves this time. We only need to focus on producing a guidebook for the Advanced Nurturing High Cultural Festival."
The other students were somewhat confused by Sakayanagi's maneuver. "Sakayanagi-san, what do you mean by this? If we don't set up stalls, won't we end up in last place?"
"Exactly, Sakayanagi. We are already in Class B and trailing behind. Shouldn't we seize every opportunity to gain class points?"
Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled. "Has everyone noticed that this Cultural Festival is strictly speaking not a special exam? Even if we come in last, there is no penalty. Don't you find this feeling a bit familiar?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi scratched his head. "I say, Lady Sakayanagi, what do you mean? I really don't understand. Can you speak plainly?"
Morishita Ai, rubbing her bruised thigh, muttered, "Exactly, can you stop with the suspense? Just say it."
Sakayanagi Arisu was about to give the answer, but Shiraishi Asuka, who rarely spoke in public, raised her hand and said with a smile, "A special exam without any penalty only reminds one of last year's deserted island special exam. Does Sakayanagi-san mean to recall Ryuen-kun's zero-point strategy? Are you planning to intentionally come in last and then demand benefits from other classes? Something similar?"
The eyes of some students lit up. Yes, since there was no penalty for coming in last, imitating Ryuen's set from last year and openly demanding benefits from other classes was a special kind of solution.
However, there were also rational students in the class. Nishimura Ryoko shook her head and said, "Sakayanagi, there are twelve classes participating this time, and the bottom four classes receive no penalty. Can your strategy really proceed smoothly?"
"Exactly, even if our class intentionally comes in last and doesn't get a high rank, other classes won't give us subsidies, will they? They'll just think there's something wrong with us."
"I don't think it's necessary to copy Ryuen Kakeru. At this stage, getting class points is more important. Reclaiming the status of Class A is the most important thing."
Sakayanagi Arisu tapped her cane lightly. "Everyone, please don't be hasty; I haven't finished yet. On the contrary, it is our class that will pay a certain price to let one of the other classes become one of the bottom four, and then bring all of that class's sales revenue to us."
A portion of the students immediately looked bewildered.
This time, Shiraishi Asuka was again the first to voice the answer: "I probably understand Sakayanagi-san's idea. She wants a certain class, while running their activity and collecting money from guests, to present our class's specific payment QR code for the guests to scan. The rules don't strictly forbid this. When a class holds an activity, the recipient doesn't necessarily have to be their own class; using another class's payment code is permitted."
"So, we're having another class collect money for us?" Hashimoto Masayoshi finally caught on. "But why would they help us?"
"Exactly!"
"Equivalent exchange," Sakayanagi said unhurriedly. "Remember the guidebook I mentioned? It will organize all class activities and the places worth visiting in this school. If we can get school approval, Advanced Nurturing High has promised us a 500,000 personal point subsidy as extra compensation for not participating in the Cultural Festival.
Additionally, before the Cultural Festival begins, we need to contact each class and help them organize their activity content. This is also beneficial to them, so I decided to charge each class a certain amount of personal points as a fee. Combined with the income from selling the guidebooks and reselling our class's surplus budget points to other classes, we can get several million personal points in total. Even if we give 1 million to the class in last place, we'll still have plenty left."
The students were stunned. A guidebook! Speaking of which, since it was a Cultural Festival, there would surely be promotional materials like flyers and pamphlets. If all the class activities could truly be organized into a booklet containing map locations and recommended activities from each class for the guests to see, then 99% of the guests would buy it. It would definitely be the number one seller of the Cultural Festival.
Moreover, their class's Cultural Festival budget was about 200,000 points; making a booklet wouldn't cost much at all. Reselling the remaining budget points to other classes could likely double the price!
"Sakayanagi, you're too smart! Other classes definitely wouldn't think of this strategy!"
"Exactly! Looking at it this way, we only need to focus on the booklet!"
"Not only can we make a fortune, but we also have a chance to get a top-four result. This is great."
Sakayanagi Arisu naturally accepted the praise from her classmates with a satisfied smile. After all, she had spent a full half-month thinking of this strategy.
Once the praise died down, she clapped her hands. "That is the plan for this Cultural Festival. Does anyone have anything else to ask?"
"Then who would be willing to be the class in last place? Is 1 million really enough?" someone asked.
"If it's not enough, we can add more," Sakayanagi smiled. "As long as the profit is sufficient, someone will be willing. It's unlikely the third or second years will agree; we can just go directly to the first-year students."
"Wait a moment," someone hesitated. "Will other classes agree to let us make the booklet for them? This requires leaking activity content in advance; isn't that a violation of rules?"
Sakayanagi was prepared. "We just need to sign a non-disclosure agreement at the Student Council. This is a good thing for other classes as well, since the booklet marks the locations, introductions, and products of the shops."
Everyone thought about it and felt there were no more questions.
Sakayanagi Arisu clapped her hands. "Alright, thank you for your hard work, everyone. Meeting adjourned!"
Everyone began packing their things to head home. Sakayanagi Arisu walked down from the podium and sat back in her seat.
It was said that a new special exam was about to be held, and there was the Sports Festival waiting in October. Her head throbbed slightly. Previously, there was at least Katsuragi Kohei who could share some of the pressure. Now that he was gone, the pressure and planning for all special exams fell solely on her.
Actually, she could let her subordinates share some of it. But Hashimoto Masayoshi and Yamamura Miki were merely obedient followers, Kito Hayato was a qualified enforcer, and Kamuro Masumi was out of the question—she only listened if given personal points, and she wasn't the "smart" type anyway.
The more she thought, the more her head ached. Sakayanagi Arisu rubbed her temples and suddenly remembered the person from just now—Shiraishi Asuka. That person was able to keep up with her line of thinking.
But she hadn't strictly joined the Sakayanagi faction; she was still considered neutral. She might as well invite her to join her faction; she also had things she wanted to ask her about.
With that in mind, Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane and walked over to Shiraishi Asuka and Nishimura Ryoko, who were also planning to leave.
Nishimura Ryoko asked with some confusion, "Sakayanagi-san, do you need something from the two of us?"
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't answer immediately but looked at Shiraishi Asuka first with a slight smile. "Shiraishi-san, the fact that you could follow my reasoning so quickly just now... to be honest, it surprised me a little."
Shiraishi Asuka raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I just happened to think of it."
"Just happened?" Sakayanagi Arisu praised. "Ryuen's zero-point strategy isn't something just anyone can associate so quickly. Your thinking is very flexible."
Nishimura Ryoko stood to the side, looking at Sakayanagi and then at Shiraishi. She was also smart and probably guessed Sakayanagi Arisu's intention, so she tactfully didn't interrupt but didn't intend to leave either.
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't mind; it wasn't a shameful matter anyway. "Shiraishi-san," she said directly, "I would like to formally invite you to join my faction."
Shiraishi Asuka raised her head slightly.
Sakayanagi Arisu continued, "As you can see, although our class isn't weak, on a strategic level, there is almost no one who can truly discuss things with me. Hashimoto and the others have decent execution, but to expect them to come up with strategies... honestly, it's not realistic."
"So you want me to help you?" Shiraishi Asuka asked.
"Not help me," Sakayanagi Arisu corrected. "Help our class. You should also be aware that the gap between us and Class A cannot be closed overnight. If I am the only one thinking of plans for every special exam, there will be times when something is overlooked. I need someone who can propose different views or even refute me."
Sakayanagi Arisu thought Shiraishi Asuka would consider it for a bit, but to her surprise, the other girl didn't hesitate at all and said decisively, "I'm sorry, Sakayanagi-san, but I have no intention of joining any faction."
Sakayanagi Arisu blinked. "So direct?"
Shiraishi Asuka nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm not very interested in power."
Nishimura Ryoko, worried Sakayanagi Arisu would get angry, couldn't help but explain, "Asuka is the type who lives in her own world. She's usually only interested in sounds."
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Nishimura Ryoko and didn't get angry. The rejection was, in a sense, within her expectations.
Sakayanagi Arisu waved her hand. "Fine, I'll listen to Nishimura. Since Shiraishi-san has no intention of joining, I won't persist. However, can I ask a personal question?"
Shiraishi Asuka thought for a moment. "Please go ahead, Sakayanagi-san."
"I heard from Miki that the day before Tsukishiro left, he seemed to have a secret meeting with you. Can you tell me exactly what you two talked about?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked, staring into her eyes.
Shiraishi Asuka answered calmly, "Acting Chairman Tsukishiro did look for me, but it wasn't the kind of secret deal you're imagining. He just asked me some questions about the internal atmosphere of the class, likely wanting to understand the attitude of ordinary students toward
the school's various policies—especially their thoughts on the Cultural Festival and Sports Festival."
"That's all?" Sakayanagi Arisu clearly didn't quite believe it.
"That's all," Shiraishi Asuka said honestly. "If you don't believe me, you can ask Tsukishiro himself. Of course, he's no longer at the school."
Nishimura Ryoko coughed twice. "Sakayanagi, Asuka never lies! I can testify for her!"
Sakayanagi Arisu stared at her for a few seconds and slowly said, "Although Shiraishi-san doesn't speak much in class, there truly is no precedent for her lying. I'm just a bit surprised—why would Tsukishiro seek you out?"
"I'm not clear on that," Shiraishi Asuka said. "Perhaps because I don't usually participate in class activities, I seemed representative to him."
Hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but laugh. "I see."
She leaned on her cane, prepared to leave, but suddenly stopped. "By the way, Shiraishi-san."
"Yes?"
"On the luxury cruise ship, you seemed to have participated in the treasure hunt contest with Shimizu-kun and won the grand prize. Is it convenient to tell me the specific details?"
This time, Shiraishi Asuka actually showed a bit of girlish bashfulness and whispered, "I'm sorry, Sakayanagi-san, I can't tell you the specific details of that matter. It's my private business, sorry."
"I see." Sakayanagi Arisu's expression soured slightly, but she managed a smile. "I was being intrusive then."
With that, Sakayanagi Arisu slowly left the classroom. Once the door closed, only Shiraishi Asuka and Nishimura Ryoko remained.
Nishimura Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief. "That scared me. The way that woman Sakayanagi looked just now, I thought she was going to get angry."
Shiraishi Asuka didn't speak but looked down, showing a faint, amused expression. This Sakayanagi Arisu was quite direct.
Acting Chairman Tsukishiro had indeed said quite a lot to her before leaving and had given her a slip of paper with his contact information—the kind that could be reached using a school phone. She had indeed lied.
However, the other girl actually pressed her for details about participating in the treasure hunt with Shimizu Akira. As expected, this Sakayanagi-san also harbored some curious thoughts toward Shimizu Akira.
"Asuka?" Nishimura Ryoko saw her dazed and waved a hand in front of her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Shiraishi Asuka looked up, giving her friend her usual smile.
"By the way! I wanted to team up with you for that treasure hunt last time, but you tactfully refused me! Instead, you went to find that Shimizu Akira! And you two got the grand prize—that was 1 million! What on earth happened? Tell me quickly!" Nishimura Ryoko didn't hold anything back with Shiraishi Asuka and asked directly.
Shiraishi Asuka felt a bit of a headache. Why did her own Ryoko ask the exact same question as Sakayanagi Arisu? Given their relationship, she couldn't not answer, so she had to say, "It was nothing. It was just that Shimizu-kun is quite smart and connected the treasure hunt with iconic buildings. We found the QR code at the oil painting by the third-floor banquet hall entrance. We were lucky—one scan and we got the million."
During that time, she had intentionally or unintentionally let him see her panties and thighs... such things she was embarrassed to say even to Ryoko, so she simply omitted them.
After listening, Nishimura Ryoko frowned. "Was it really that simple? He didn't do anything strange to you?"
"It was just that simple. He was always very honest," Shiraishi Asuka said with a straight face.
The one being dishonest the whole time was her.
"Oh! So that means you got a million!"
"No, actually I gave 500,000 to Shimizu Akira."
"Shimizu Akira actually dared to ask for half?"
"Actually, I offered it to him proactively."
"Asuka, you're just too kind-hearted! You let him take a huge advantage!"
"It's not like that. If it weren't for Shimizu-kun, forget 500,000, I wouldn't have even had 100,000."
"You know the rumors about that guy, right! He's building a harem! He has seven or eight girlfriends already! You'd better stay far away from him!"
"It's fine; after all, I am a 'hundred-person slayer' too."
Nishimura Ryoko didn't know what to say for a moment.
'You're a fake 'hundred-person slayer,' but he's a real scumbag! If this continues, you'll definitely be eaten up by him until not even crumbs remain!'
"Ryoko, that look on your face makes it seem like I've already been tricked away by Shimizu-kun."
"You're usually so smart; how can you be so naive about this kind of thing!"
"Ryoko. Shimizu-kun and I only collaborated once for a treasure hunt; we aren't going to date. You're overthinking it."
"...You really don't have feelings for him?"
"None." Shiraishi Asuka told a lie with a straight face.
Nishimura Ryoko sighed. "Fine, I believe you. But promise me, if that Shimizu Akira dares to do anything out of line to you, you must tell me!"
"Okay, I'll tell you," Shiraishi Asuka said with a smile. "And then you'll go beat him up?"
"I can't beat him!" Nishimura Ryoko shook her fist. "I'll call the 'Shimizu' in our class to beat him up. Everyone is a 'Shimizu'; there's no reason he shouldn't be able to beat him!"
This time, Shiraishi Asuka was truly amused.
"Let's go, let's go. I promised to treat you to coffee." She grabbed Nishimura Ryoko's wrist and walked toward the café in Keyaki Mall.
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