Shirogane had already learned about a few notable students in Class D.
Now, all their information was laid out before him.
However, some of the details were different from what he had expected.
For example—
Karuizawa Kei: Her grades and athletic ability are average. However, she has formed a group with a few other girls in class, giving her some influence. She doesn't get along well with the boys.
Or—
Sakura Airi: She doesn't stand out much in class and has a shy personality. Her grades are slightly below average, and her physical ability is poor. She prefers to be alone and enjoys photography—she even bought a camera.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka: His grades and athletic ability *seem* to be average. He doesn't attract much attention, but on the girls' ranking of best-looking guys, he's placed fifth in the grade.
"..."
Kushida seemed to be trying hard not to offend anyone in her evaluations.
The information she provided was different from the narrator's version, leaving out anything too personal.
There were no secrets or hidden details at all.
Which made sense—this was meant to be compiled into a report. Even though Class D's students weren't fully aware of the class competition yet, they still wouldn't want to share information that could cause trouble. After all, who knew who might end up reading this?
Still—
Shirogane noticed something unusual.
Kouenji Rokusuke: His grades and athletic ability are top-tier. In PE class, his swimming speed even surpassed Sudou's. However, he is extremely self-centered and spends money without a second thought. In just ten days, he burned through all his points, choosing to wait in line for bad-tasting free meals. That said, upperclassmen occasionally treat him to meals.
This information was mostly in line with what the narrator had provided.
Kouenji was clearly an impressive student. And the fact that upperclassmen treated him could be related to his background—after all, as an heir to a wealthy family, there were bound to be people trying to get close to him.
But—
Did Kouenji do something to upset Kushida?
There was a simple reason for this suspicion—her evaluation of him was much longer than the others. It seemed objective at first glance, but was she subtly leaking personal details about him on purpose?
As he read on, Shirogane realized that Class D actually had quite a few outstanding students.
Aside from Horikita, who excelled academically, there was also Yukimura Teruhiko, Kouenji Rokusuke, Kushida, and Hirata Yosuke, who all had strong test scores.
One student, Wang Meiyu, had mid-to-high scores in most subjects but was able to score full marks in English.
Among these students, Hirata seemed to be emerging as the representative of Class D.
He was an exceptional student, excelling in both academics and sports.
He was also one of the few Class D students who had joined a club.
A week ago, during a class meeting, he had even informed his classmates that club members could receive extra financial support.
Thanks to his influence, the class's overall athletic performance had improved significantly.
Sudou, a student with incredible physical ability, had joined the basketball club. Despite being a new member, he had already secured a spot as a regular player within a week.
In just one month—a period that was neither too long nor too short—each class had already begun to form its own leadership structure.
Class A had Sakayanagi and Katsuragi.
Class B had Ichinose.
Class C was held together by Ryuen's iron-fisted rule.
And in Class D, Hirata Yosuke had taken the lead.
"..."
But there was something that still puzzled Shirogane.
According to the narration system, aside from several students in Class D—Kushida included—who were hiding secrets, there were also two boss-level figures.
One of them was Rokusuke Kouenji, who made no effort to hide himself. However, Kouenji didn't seem interested in the class competition at all. He paid no attention to what was happening in class and even carelessly spent all his points.
The other boss was Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. But based on the information Shirogane had gathered, Ayanokouji hadn't done anything noteworthy during the past month either.
…
At the same time, Kushida and Horikita had also received information on Classes A and B.
Kushida, however, just sat there with a blank expression and didn't even bother looking through the documents. That wasn't surprising, since she was the one who had filled in all the information for the three sets of data.
"Kushida," Shirogane got straight to the point. "Do you think there's anything strange about Ayanokouji?"
"Huh? Ayanokouji?" Kushida gently raised her left hand, twirling a strand of her hair. "Are you interested in him, Shirogane?"
"Well, the girls did make a ranking of the best-looking guys, and Ayanokouji came in fifth while you were sixth. But I think it's just because you always have dark circles under your eyes. If you got some proper rest and got rid of them, you'd actually be really handsome. I even voted for you," Kushida said with an innocent look on her face.
Uh…
That wasn't what Shirogane was asking.
And as for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Shirogane had only seen him once in the cafeteria. Back then, he had just observed from afar, and Ayanokouji had acted like any other normal student—there was no sign of motivation or ambition.
"Ayanokouji?" Shirogane was still questioning Kushida when he suddenly noticed Horikita Suzune turning her gaze toward him.
"Isn't he just an ordinary high school student?" Horikita said. "He sits right next to me in class."
Hmm.
Shirogane was starting to confirm his suspicions.
Horikita really was nothing like her brother. She had a boss-level figure sitting right next to her but wasn't even aware of it.
Did that mean Ayanokouji had shown absolutely no signs of standing out?
Why would he be hiding his true abilities? Was he simply uninterested in the class competition, or did he just give up after being placed in Class D?
…
Well, the only way to know for sure was to find out what Ayanokouji was really thinking.
Shirogane took Class A seriously, but that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down against Class D.
After all, this Class D was beyond ridiculous.
…
With that, Shirogane and Horikita went their separate ways after leaving the café.
Even though it was just a trade, Shirogane still made a copy of the information he received.
And they didn't part ways immediately—Horikita even watched him make the copies.
Clearly, she hadn't been directly involved in the process. That meant that, even though she had used Kushida's help, she didn't really consider Kushida an ally.
She hadn't even shared the analysis with her.
In a way, that was pretty pitiful for Kushida.
According to the narration, Kushida had a secret. Shirogane didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling that the pressure she was under was about to reach its limit.
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