19. Sakayanagi Arisu's Declaration of War!
"We meet again, Aragaki-kun."
The club information session hadn't officially started yet.
Class A and Class B occupied positions not far from each other, and the core members of both classes stood in the front row, allowing them to observe each other.
Therefore, Aragaki Shun could see the white-haired girl leaning on a cane at a glance.
A bad premonition rose in his heart, and sure enough, Sakayanagi Arisu from the other side directly led her people to him.
Clearly, this fellow, despite her weak body, had rushed to the first gymnasium.
Her purpose, of course, couldn't be the so-called club information session.
"Yesterday, you were so tired from playing chess that your head was spinning. Sakayanagi-san, why aren't you resting in your dorm? What are you doing here in the gymnasium?"
Just at first glance, he could feel the deep malice beneath the girl's petite body.
Since she came with ill intentions, Aragaki Shun naturally wouldn't give this chairman's daughter any face, directly and unceremoniously attacking her weakness.
Sakayanagi Arisu's smile faltered for a moment.
After yesterday's chess game, which lasted an hour and a half, she was immediately taken by the medical staff arranged by her father for an examination.
Afterwards, it was time for the chairman, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, to care for his daughter's physical and mental health.
Although it was the first time she had been so disheveled in front of her father, and was even advised that chess was just a daily pastime and not to be too serious about it... it was simply infuriating.
But it wasn't entirely without good things happening.
At least she already knew from her father that the person before her was a talented young man whom the Aragaki family—a larger and older family than the Sakayanagi family—had entrusted with their family name.
Not like her, who, due to noble birth and innate extraordinariness, naturally stood above those vulgar commoners.
But rather, because he possessed superb aptitude, he was valued by a behemoth and was able to inherit that noble family name.
In other words, a well-deserved genius of the world.
An existence that, more than her, who was flawed, could represent the meaning of "genius"!
[Humans can absolutely not overcome innate talent; there exists a gap between people that no amount of effort can fill.]
This was the creed she had formed in her childhood after visiting a certain artificial genius institution.
But at least at this moment, facing this person, she was willing to abandon this creed, to prove that the so-called unfillable gap did not exist.
As long as her wisdom was profound enough, even with this frail body, she would definitely be able to bury this comprehensive genius in this school's exams!
"Aragaki-kun really has no gentlemanly manners at all."
Sakayanagi Arisu sighed pitifully.
But the next moment, the girl's cute face suddenly turned murderous, her tone as cold as winter snow.
"Thanks to Aragaki-kun, those classmates who originally obeyed me seem to have different ideas now?"
"And yesterday's humiliation, I remember it clearly, and I'm thinking about when I'll have a chance to repay it."
Clearly, with so many people watching in the chess club yesterday, the match involving a million points must have already spread.
Sakayanagi Arisu losing this match wasn't a big problem in itself.
But the problem was, the reason she lost was that her physical energy was exhausted halfway through the game, and it even felt like if it continued, she might collapse directly.
This had too great an impact on the girl's prestige in class.
One must know, in this match, Sakayanagi Arisu's holding time for thinking intensely was actually less than forty minutes.
Most people couldn't understand how energy-consuming a mental sport like chess was.
They only knew that Sakayanagi Arisu was a sickly girl who could faint even from playing chess for a little too long.
If she were to compete against other classes, let alone those competitions involving physical fitness, perhaps even in a battle of wits, if the exam time was too long, she might have to withdraw midway.
Originally, because of her frail appearance, the girl's support rate in Class A was already lower than that of another class core who seemed more reliable.
Now, with this incident, many neutral individuals who were still hesitant immediately defected to another faction.
Fortunately, the wisdom Sakayanagi Arisu displayed when pointing out the school's hidden rules yesterday still gave people some expectations.
Or rather, everyone was more looking forward to her identity as the chairman's daughter being exposed.
In short, regardless of what the members of Class A were considering, at least the group of people who had already decided to join the Sakayanagi faction had not yet withdrawn.
She was still one of the leaders of Class A.
"So you're here to declare war?"
Aragaki Shun had an inexplicable expression on his face.
It was truly unlucky to be entangled with such a troublesome person.
"Sakayanagi-san, if you feel you've lost face, I can apologize to you here. Please don't come near me again in the future."
"But if you think you can frame me with your frail body, believing that your weakness gives you the right, and want to rely on your defect to make me hesitant... then I can only say, the Sakayanagi family is certainly not bad, but my Aragaki family is not to be trifled with either!"
Unceremoniously throwing down these words, Aragaki Shun swept his gaze over the few lackeys following behind Sakayanagi.
His sharp, knife-like gaze made this group of people couldn't help but swallow nervously.
How did this person's aura suddenly become so exaggerated?
It didn't seem like much when viewed from a distance before.
No longer paying attention to Sakayanagi Arisu, who was clenching her fists as if humiliated, her veins bulging, Aragaki Shun took a step back and directly returned to Class B's team.
Under normal circumstances, he actually didn't care about others' challenges.
Whether it was force, wisdom, wealth, or even power, competing was just a match.
Winning or losing were both decent experiences; anyway, he could continue to grow in the future.
But the problem was, Sakayanagi Arisu was clearly very troublesome.
Although yesterday was their first meeting, Aragaki Shun could vaguely sense the strong aggressiveness in her heart, and that arrogant personality that treated everyone as chess pieces or toys.
In his experience, people with such traits often acted unscrupulously.
They considered themselves superior and unconventional, so they wouldn't care about what ordinary people considered despicable.
If it were just that, it would be fine.
Aragaki Shun could just deal with her moves as they came.
If really pushed, he wouldn't mind directly resorting to a beating.
But to face a sickly person like Sakayanagi Arisu, he was afraid that with just a casual counterattack, the other party would end up in the emergency room.
At that time, he would gain nothing and be embroiled in a mess. Why bother?
The white-haired girl's surrounding air pressure grew increasingly low.
She stared deadly at Aragaki Shun's departing figure.
Never had anyone humiliated her to this extent!
But even though she gritted her teeth in hatred, the girl also knew that the other party was not like those in Class A who could be easily manipulated.
The other party's family background was not weaker than the Sakayanagi family.
Having given a warning, they would definitely not be polite in the face of provocation.
If she continued to pursue him now, it would instead fit his description of trying to frame him, only bringing humiliation upon herself.
"It's truly a school that won't let people get bored. Then let's take it slow, Aragaki!"
...