Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 25
The first group discussion ended terribly.
First of all, we began with a self-introduction, then chatted casually with Kanzaki and the others to pass the time. There were Class A groups that were filled with leisure and our Class B group that weren’t interested in the exam at all. It would’ve been weirder if something particular happened to just us.
Because of that, both Class A and Class B ended without incident… but the problem was the other two classes.
Just before the group discussion concluded, an incident occurred.
Manabe of Class C said to Karuizawa that she “pushed my friend” and began to quarrel in front of all of us. The scene of Manabe demanding Karuizawa to apologize publicly turned the atmosphere of the place for the worse.
Upon witnessing that, Kiyotaka took an extremely aggressive response.
After interfering by getting between the two, he strongly insisted on the lack of evidence in Manabe’s remark and dismissed that as an accusation. He went as far as saying they could have teachers and student council interference just like the incident that occurred at the end of June, showing a strong attitude to never accept Karuizawa having to bear the responsibility.
I found Kiyotaka’s behavior surprising. There were two reasons why.
First would be the way he acted and made it clear to everyone that he was trying to protect Karuizawa.
Even though he insisted on hiding their relationship until now, it was unexpected for him to take such a conspicuous action. There were other methods he could possibly do if the intention was simply to protect Karuizawa. Both Yukimura and Sotomura were also surprised, so maybe Kiyotaka was laying the groundwork to announce their relationship.
The second was his wording, which sounded like he was trying to incite others.
His attitude made it easy for others to argue, which was opposite to his supposed policy to let everything flow. As a matter of fact, Manabe, who was on the receiving end of his words, flushed in anger. Not only would this not calm the situation, it would instead escalate it in a more radical direction. Karuizawa was overjoyed by that, showing an attitude that she wouldn’t want to leave his side for the rest of her life… but for some reason, I couldn’t see it as Kiyotaka really trying to resolve the situation.
It was Kiyotaka that I was talking about after all. It wouldn’t be weird at all if he was trying to make use of this event for Karuizawa’s education material. Far from resolving the situation, perhaps he might even be trying to make things worse on purpose.
While thinking about such a thing, we returned to the guest room.
After a while, Honami-san visited us.
She seemed to be placed in the dragon group, where the main forces of each class like Ryuuen and Katsuragi were gathered. It couldn’t be helped considering how conspicuous she was and the results she kept showing… So maybe the teachers decided to place her there on purpose.
“The VIPs of our class are these three.”
Honami-san revealed the VIPs of Class A to us without hesitation.
Geez, how much did she trust us? I didn’t know if I should refer to her as a good person or something else.
“I understand. As I thought, they are selected based on the ruling I have expected.”
“Ruling?”
As Honami-san had a question mark on her head, Arisu-chan began to explain the exam to Honami-san.
Her hypothesis that the VIPs were selected based on their names arranged according to the Kana phonetic chart was proven.
The goal was right there. I guess the exam would be concluded by the next time we met Kikyou-chan.
Although Honami-san was surprised, she understood Arisu-chan’s explanation.
“…So it means victory is just around the corner.”
“Fufu, by the way, our group is not an exception. Also, I have something to ask from Honami-san.”
“I will listen to whatever request Arisu-chan may have, but what is it?”
“Thank you very much. My request is extremely simple. I just want somebody in the rabbit group to send the message that ‘the VIP is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka’ to the school. Can I ask for that?”
“O-okay…”
In this exchange, I gradually became able to grasp the two’s intentions.
In the rabbit group, they would have a student of Class A send the wrong answer on purpose.
What would happen then? Class D would earn 50 cl while Class A would lose 50 cl.
Also, the actual VIP was Karuizawa. The meaning of this… was to show off as if she managed to cleverly deceive other classes into making the wrong answer. It would improve her status within her class even more.
Considering this, it made it consistent with Kiyotaka’s remark in the morning.
[“There’s no problem with this group alone. There’s an aspect that makes it more convenient that way.”]
If everything went as planned, Class D would be defeated while Class A won with an overwhelming lead. For others who had no idea of the situation behind the scenes… it would make it seem that Karuizawa of the rabbit group was the only person who managed to inflict an injury on the strongest Class A.
Rather than having the class as a whole achieve victory, having Karuizawa stand out was prioritized.
This was most likely the goal of Kiyotaka this time.
I understood Kiyotaka’s intention now. All that was left was Arisu-chan’s thoughts.
While anticipating that, I decided to enjoy the next few days.
“…I wonder if the day when I could surpass Arisu-chan’s expectations will come?”
“Fufu, I am looking forward to that day. If it’s Honami-san, I’m sure you can do it.”
Honami-san let out a big sigh with a slightly melancholic expression.
When I saw that expression, I reconfirmed the fact that she was by no means a perfect human being.
The reason that Honami-san won so many times was because of Arisu-chan’s high expectations of her. Arisu-chan was just helping Honami-san because she was looking forward to the person who would oppose Ryuuen to the end. If Arisu-chan found someone else was more suitable for the role, she might switch to that person instead… Well, Arisu-chan might choose to drop out of school voluntarily if she didn’t do that much, so I didn’t stop her.
In any case, Arisu-chan would soon weaken her support for Honami-san.
Nobody knew what would happen after that.
The overwhelming lead in this exam would make Ryuuen’s mind fill with a sense of defeat. The real show would begin after that.
Even to me personally, I also looked forward to the sight of that man climbing up in status by force.
While looking at Honami-san being encouraged, I was filled with anticipation for the future.
About an hour after Honami-san returned, Kiyotaka’s group visited again.
It seemed they chose to come late on purpose so they wouldn’t encounter Honami-san.
For Kiyotaka, being thought of as having a connection with Honami-san at the moment was a big demerit after all.
“Kiyotaka, let’s kiss~”
“…I’ll say it just in case, just because two of them are our friends, it doesn’t mean you can do everything without restraint in front of them, you know?”
“Eh~ isn’t it okay!?”
No, Kiyotaka was completely correct in this case. I beg of you, please don’t make our room into your “resting” place.
However, the current Karuizawa wasn’t someone who could be stopped with just those words.
“Chuu.”
In the end, we were shown the scene of them exchanging deep kisses. I realized Karuizawa was quite annoying in her love love mode, but the sight of Kiyotaka losing his momentum was interesting, so I decided to forgive her.
“…Haah, I love you. I love you very much. Will you protect me from now on as well?”
“…Aah.”
Kiyotaka brushed off Karuizawa with a cramped expression.
So he actually could have expressions like that. Lately, I have discovered a lot of new sides of Kiyotaka.
In a way, it was all thanks to that idiotic woman. It didn’t change that it was annoying, though.
“Um, can we proceed with the conversation?”
“Sorry, Arisu. How should I apologize…”
“Forget the apology and let’s proceed with the conversation, okay?”
Arisu-chan’s words also sounded prickly. This situation was very interesting.
Being able to stay just fine despite irritating these two could be considered some sort of skill.
I admit it, you were a genius, Karuizawa. Not that I knew what kind of genius that was.
After regaining their composure, the two began their conversation.
They have agreed that in the rabbit group, Class A would send a wrong answer to achieve result 4.
It had been arranged that Kanzaki would do that around 10 PM tonight.
In addition, as a result of combining the fact that Karuizawa was the VIP of the group and the VIPs of Class A that Honami-san informed us, Kiyotaka also decided that Arisu-chan’s hypothesis was correct.
Then, as soon as Kikyou-chan found out who the VIPs of her class were, it was decided that the matter would be settled in a way that favored Class A as much as possible. It seemed the matter would take place today at the earliest or tomorrow at the latest.
The critical decision that decided the outcome of the exam was made in just half an hour.
While I was overwhelmed, I couldn’t help but be exasperated seeing Karuizawa begin to doze off.
No really, you were amazing.
Author Note:
Arisu-chan has a surprisingly high opinion of this idiot girl.
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