Shirogane and Sakayanagi walked together to the corner near the stairs.
It was break time, but no one else was around, so it was a good spot to talk.
As they walked, Shirogane couldn't help but glance back at Ryuen's emotionless face.
In truth, Sakayanagi and Ryuen had just had a brief standoff.
Ryuen purposely said Sakayanagi's name out loud—he was showing her that he knew about Class A's info. But Sakayanagi easily said his name back too.
That meant she had already gathered info about them as well.
In other words—
Ryuen thought being promoted to Class B was something to be proud of, but Class A was still playing at a higher level like it was nothing.
That hit him a little.
"So, why did Sakayanagi come here this time?" Shirogane wrote in his notebook.
A response quickly popped up in his mind.
[At this point, Sakayanagi Arisu should've already met the student council president with Katsuragi Kohei. After that, she came to see you alone.]
Oh, I see.
She met the student council president?
Shirogane thought about it.
Why wasn't Ryuen's class informed?
That means even though Ryuen's class did really well in the rules-based test this time, the only class that got attention in the end was still Class A.
Class A won in the class competition.
That fits with President Horikita's belief in ability above all else.
But—
If Sakayanagi went with Katsuragi to see the student council, that means the power struggle inside Class A isn't over yet. In fact, they might be evenly matched right now—otherwise, there'd be no need for both of them to visit Horikita Manabu.
That's actually good news for Ryuen's class.
Right now, the gap between the two classes is under 200 points. If they make use of the monthly special exams, they still have a shot at catching up soon.
But that's just the hopeful view. Shirogane knew their class relied on Ryuen's strict control—he forced everyone to follow the rules to keep their points.
Then look at Class A. Even with their internal factions, they didn't rely on any kind of strict control, yet they only lost 76 points this month.
That kind of self-discipline, without pressure, is something the other classes just can't manage.
So—
Even if they manage to fight their way up to Class A, staying there will be really hard.
Shirogane couldn't help but worry about that.
Only students who graduate in Class A get the rewards from the school. That means they need to make sure their class is still in Class A in the final month of third year.
But three years is a long time. Is it better to push for Class A early and hold onto it? Or should they play it safe now and go all-out in the second half of third year?
If they can reach Class A early on, it would definitely boost the class's morale. That would have a positive effect.
So—
Shirogane was walking with a super cute girl with a cane, but all he could think about was class competition.
*Knock knock—*
Finally, Sakayanagi came to a stop.
"Shirogane, how do you feel about being invited out by a girl for the first time?"
"Are you a little nervous?" asked Sakayanagi.
"The first time?" Shirogane looked a bit confused. "Not really. I was invited by Kushida from Class D before. I didn't feel nervous then, and I don't now either."
"..." Sakayanagi.
She seemed stunned for a second.
But she stayed calm. That sweet smile appeared on her face again.
"I'm sorry for having someone from my class follow you around," Sakayanagi said.
As soon as she brought it up, Shirogane remembered that someone had indeed been tailing him these past few days.
But since he already got Class A's info from Horikita in exchange, he had no reason to care about tracking down who it was anymore.
So Shirogane got straight to the point. "So, Sakayanagi, you just got back from the student council. What is it you want?"
"You really do seem to understand how I think," Sakayanagi replied.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Arisu Sakayanagi seemed to be in a slightly better mood.
"That's right," she said. "I just met with the student council president along with Katsuragi. The president gave Class A a verbal praise and also shared some special news with us."
"Normally, you'd only hear this kind of thing after being here for half a year, maybe even a full year. Usually from a teacher or an upperclassman."
"It's about what points really mean."
"When you entered this school, your homeroom teacher probably told you that the private points on your student card work like real money. And if you have enough, even things that seem impossible can be made to happen."
"But what if someone had a massive number of points — like 20 million? What do you think could be done with that?"