And from the data he had, Kushida had a good opinion of Hirata. His overall stats were strong, he was sociable, had many friends, and often helped resolve fights or disagreements in class.
Hirata seemed like a genuinely good guy.
But after learning what this school is really like—and with the new term just starting—some students choosing to drop out isn't necessarily a bad thing.
After all, Class D's current class points are at zero, which basically means their living allowance is also zero.
But he blocked the way out for those who wanted to quit. Was it to keep the class united, or was it just his own stubbornness?
As for the makeup of Class D, Shirogane felt calm about it now.
So even though the narration didn't say it directly, Shirogane also thought that Hirata might be hiding something or had some kind of obsession.
There was still a short part left in the video.
"Well, that's about it. How you deal with it is up to you, since you're the ones being tested," Chabashira Sae finally said someone's name. "It's free time now. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, come with me for a bit."
"Hirata, you come too—in ten minutes."
Chabashira gave instructions, and at the same time, the video's progress bar hit the end.
Kamuro had probably only recorded up to that point, since Chabashira-sensei was about to leave the classroom.
That meant Kamuro had to leave quickly.
Good thing this was the second month. If it had been during the rules and behavior test, secretly filming something like this could've caused Class A to lose a lot of points.
Of course, Sakayanagi might have been punished too.
As for Shirogane—
He was in the clear.
That's because it was Sakayanagi who suggested eavesdropping in the first place, and now he had just "received" the video from her.
"Shirogane."
At that moment, a student returned from the cafeteria. It was Shiina from Class B, the silver-haired class beauty.
But Shirogane wasn't in the mood to admire her looks.
"After school, tell Ryuen to hold a meeting about the upcoming test."
"I've gotten some information. It should be useful," Shirogane said.
"Oh!" Shiina nodded.
But she looked at him curiously.
Because Ryuen had already gathered his small group for a meeting during the homeroom session in the morning.
And even though Shirogane had been talking to someone at the time, he should've heard what they discussed.
So, does Shirogane have a new idea?
...
He did.
After school, Shirogane Miyuki, Shiina Hiyori, Ryuen, Ishizaki Daichi, Ryuen's bodyguard Albert, Kaneda, and Ibuki were going to meet up at a karaoke place.
They planned to meet off-campus.
After all, there were big cameras in the classrooms. Even if this wasn't during a rules test, Shirogane still liked to play it safe.
Because once you get too used to letting your guard down, even if you don't get caught this time, you might next time.
This school is just that unusual.
Better safe than sorry.
They had thought about going to a café, but Ryuen said too many people go there. Even if they found a private room, it wouldn't be safe, so karaoke was the better choice.
Plus, they could mess around a bit while they were there.
Totally Ryuen's style.
Shirogane didn't really care about that kind of stuff, and he rarely went to karaoke places, so he was a little curious.
As long as no one made him sing, everything would be fine.
Even though they were all classmates, aside from Shiina and Ryuen, most of the others still felt a bit unfamiliar to Shirogane.
Ibuki hardly ever talks.
When Shirogane arrived, Ibuki was already there, sitting silently with a cold look.
Compared to that, being with Shiina felt more natural.
"By the way, Ibuki, why are you here? I mean, why did you join the team Ryuen put together?" Shirogane decided to start a conversation.
Ibuki gave him a surprised glance—she probably didn't expect someone to talk to her.
But she still replied.
"My grades are bad, but I want to go to a good university. Normally, I wouldn't have a chance."
"But in this school, if you graduate from Class A, there's another way to get into a good college."
"And honestly, there's no chance if I try on my own. There are lots of people like me in this class. We're way behind Class A and Ichinose's class."
"So probably only you guys can lead the class up," Ibuki said.
She looked cold, but she was pretty honest.
Shirogane nodded.
Still, he felt a little disappointed.
Ibuki was one of the more rational ones—she knew her own limits and joined Ryuen's group for that reason. She still had some sense of teamwork. But sadly, when Shirogane observed D-Class students during lunch, he felt like most of them were hopeless.
Even in his own class, there weren't many people who thought like Ibuki.
If he hadn't given them empty promises—well, calmed them down—then there might've been up to ten students who would've rebelled against Ryuen or stopped following him.
Some were angry about Ryuen's violent behavior. Others felt like they'd worked hard for a month and were now financially stable, so they didn't see why they had to keep obeying him. Helping out was completely out of the question.
"Big bro Ryuen."
When Ryuen showed up, Ishizaki suddenly got excited.
Back in middle school, Ishizaki was the top fighter in his area. When he started high school, he didn't know Ryuen well. In fact, when Ryuen was using violence to control the class, Ishizaki was one of the first to fight back.
But after getting beaten up twice, he gave up. Now he was basically Ryuen's lackey.
"Since everyone's here, let's start."
Ryuen was the last to arrive.
On the left were Ishizaki, Ibuki, and Albert—none of them were great at thinking. On the right were Ryuen Kakeru, Shiina Hiyori, and Kaneda—the brains of the group.
"So, what do you want to discuss?"
"This morning, we came up with a plan to make sure everyone passes," Ryuen said.
The plan was for the whole class to pick the same answers. Since it was all multiple choice, it was easy—they'd all just pick A.
That way, everyone would get the same score. No one would fail or get expelled.
It was a solid plan for protecting the weaker students in the class.
But there was still a risk—the school might think they were doing it on purpose.
ps:二合一.