After the student council meeting ended, Kanda Shuichi left the student council room right away, planning to head back. But just as he stepped out, someone called out to him.
"Wait a second, Kanda-kun."
He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
When he looked back, Ichinose Honami was jogging over from behind, her movements quite a sight to see.
"You could've at least waited for me since we came together."
Even though she said that, there was no sign of annoyance in her voice. It sounded more like a casual joke between the two of them.
Wait, are we really that close?
"I saw you go to Nagumo, so I thought you'd take a while."
Kanda Shuichi casually came up with an excuse. In truth, he had completely forgotten about Ichinose. Right now, all he wanted to do was go to the supermarket and buy groceries—otherwise, he'd have to rely on that gourmet tablecloth again.
"Ahaha, well, since I joined the student council with Nagumo-senpai's approval, I thought I should at least congratulate him."
"I see. No wonder Horikita Manabu never mentioned it."
"But Nagumo just let you join that easily? That seems a little strange." Kanda Shuichi tilted his head slightly.
Based on what he had observed today, Nagumo seemed like a very confident guy—the type who never does anything unless there's something in it for him.
Letting Ichinose join the student council just like that? It had to be part of some scheme.
"Well…" Ichinose smiled. "It's nothing major, really. I just told Nagumo-senpai the reason why I was placed in Class B."
…
Kanda Shuichi was speechless. Nothing major, huh?
Ichinose Honami was like the upgraded version of Kushida Kikyo (on the surface, at least). She genuinely wanted to get along with everyone, unlike Kushida, who only pretended to.
Her mentality was also impressive. Among the first-years, whether it was the number of friends she had or how random students talked about her, there wasn't a single bad thing to be said.
Even Horikita, whom Kushida could never seem to handle, had a working relationship with Ichinose.
She was practically a role model of good morals, yet she had been placed in Class B.
That meant there had to be something about her that was considered unstable. Maybe not as bad as Kushida, but she must have done something questionable in the past.
"I see. Then, can I hear the reason too?"
"That's… a bit of a tough request." Ichinose's smile turned slightly awkward.
Damn, feels like I lost to that bastard Nagumo.
"Alright, I won't ask."
Kanda Shuichi was dying to know what secret Ichinose was hiding, but he didn't push any further. If it wasn't a big deal, she probably would've said it herself.
But since she didn't give any details, it meant that it was something that weighed on her mind.
Still, Ichinose, isn't this the kind of thing you're supposed to keep completely secret?
Why did you easily tell a stranger just to join the student council?
Yes, a stranger—because back then, Ichinose and Nagumo definitely weren't close. Calling them strangers isn't wrong at all.
Kanda Shuichi thought this silly girl might be a little too careless. He also realized that B—wait, no, A class really wasn't a class worth paying attention to.
No wonder Ryuen didn't care about Ichinose at all. It seems he also understands what she's really like.
She's a good person, but her personality doesn't suit this school at all.
---
"Speaking of which, Kanda, you were a bit mean, you know. You had already joined the student council during summer break, but when we went swimming with Ike, you still let me say, 'I'm the only first-year in the student council.'"
Oh, right. That did happen. Back then, Kushida even laughed at Ichinose for a while.
"Well, I actually didn't want to do any student council work, so I asked President Horikita to keep it a secret for now. If it weren't for the leadership change, I probably still wouldn't have shown up in the student council room."
Since he really had laughed at her, Kanda Shuichi felt a little guilty. But embarrassed? Not at all.
"I see." Ichinose Honami nodded. "But Manabu Horikita sure spoils you. He actually agreed to that kind of request."
Do you even know how to talk?
What do you mean, he spoils me?
He spoils his sister! What does that have to do with me?!
"But now that I've shown up, I guess some of the student council work will end up on my plate." Kanda Shuichi sighed. "By the way, since you're also a first-year, want to help me out, Ichinose?"
"Well…" Ichinose looked troubled. "Nagumo-senpai was the one who brought me into the student council, after all."
Makes sense. I wonder if D class will ever find someone willing to join the student council.
But hopefully, that guy Nagumo knows better than to dump work on me. Otherwise, I might just mess things up for him on purpose.
While Kanda Shuichi was enjoying his carefree school life, things weren't so easy for Ryuen.
Because of that email from an unknown sender, Ryuen immediately started investigating his class. But…
He found nothing!
He did uncover quite a few people secretly cursing him behind his back, but he didn't care. He had always been prepared for that as a tyrant, and those people weren't traitors.
At first, he suspected that Manabe and her group had left some kind of evidence when they bullied Karuizawa, allowing someone to blackmail them. So, he interrogated them harshly.
But they were so scared they nearly passed out, yet they still insisted they didn't know anything. And from what Ryuen knew about them, they wouldn't be able to lie in that situation. That meant they weren't the traitors either.
Who else? Hiyori? No, that didn't seem right. Hiyori got along well with Kanda Shuichi, but lately, they hadn't been meeting much. Besides, when it came to class conflicts, Hiyori wouldn't betray the class.
Ryuen analyzed the rest of the students one by one. Either they didn't have the ability, or they had no reason to do it. In the end, the conclusion was the same—no one in C class had the traits of a traitor.
But someone still managed to eavesdrop on C class's secret meeting.
After school, Ryuen was still in the classroom, lost in thought, trying to figure out who did it and how the information got leaked.
"Boss, could it be that someone used the classroom's security camera to get the intel?" Ryuen's underling, Ishizaki Daichi, suddenly said something completely random.
"That's the school's security camera. It can record video, but there's no way it can record audio." C class's strategist, Kaneda Satoru, immediately dismissed Ishizaki's ridiculous idea.
"Wait a second!"
Ishizaki's words gave Ryuen an idea.
If the camera couldn't record sound, wouldn't installing a bug be enough?
Ryuen immediately walked up to the podium and started inspecting the wooden surface carefully.
And finally, underneath it, he found something.
A sticker-shaped listening device!
"This… this is…"
"A small bugging device. This must be how the information leaked!" Ryuen's eyes lit up with excitement.
How could he not be excited? After searching for so many days, he finally found it. Of course, he was allowed to celebrate a little.
"But when was this even installed? No outsiders have entered our classroom recently, right?"
"Hah, naive!" Ryuen sneered. "There are plenty of chances to plant something like this. For example, after school, when no one from Class C is around."
The classrooms in this school aren't locked because they have security cameras, so there's no fear of things getting stolen.
So as long as someone waited until after school, when the classroom was empty, they could stick this device here without anyone noticing.
After all, who the hell goes around checking the teacher's podium for no reason?
"But why place it on the podium?"
"Could it be that they know you like to sit there when making plans, Ryuen?"
"Exactly. This person must be very familiar with my habits." Ryuen looked at the bugging device in his hand and smirked. "But this ends here."
"To the person on the other side, I don't know if you're listening, but if you are, listen carefully. No matter who you are, I will find you, and you'll pay for messing with me!"
With that, Ryuen threw the bugging device to the ground and crushed it under his foot.
"Now that we know their methods, things just got easier. We just need to find out who did it. Since the recording was sent to me at that specific time, it must have been someone from Class D."
"Does Class D even have someone like that? Could it be Kanda? That guy always gives me a bad feeling." Kaneda Satoru crossed his arms, looking cautious.
"If it were him, he would've shown me the recording on the spot during the sports festival. Instead, he gave me 20 million points. So he's not the most suspicious, but I can't rule him out completely."
"Anyway, let's start by investigating others before we go after Kanda Shuichi. If we can't find anyone, then we'll make him talk!"
Ryuen made up his mind. But he also didn't rule out the possibility that someone from his own class had planted the bug. The location of the device clearly targeted him, and only someone who knew his habits well could have placed it there.
So who put the bug there?
That's right—it was Ayanokouji, far away in his dorm.
Since he hadn't contributed much in past exams, Chabashira-sensei had pressured him to produce some results.
So he asked Chabashira-sensei to stick the bug on Class D's podium.
As a first-year history teacher, Chabashira-sensei had plenty of opportunities to do so. And since it was for the sake of the class, she agreed to Ayanokouji's request.
But Ayanokouji never expected that this small action would drag him into such a huge mess.
A recording?
What recording? I don't know anything about that.
And I only put that bug there a few days ago! Now you've gone and destroyed it already. That thing cost me a lot of points…
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