"Hello, you must be Karuizawa-senpai, right?"
Amasawa Ichika smiled as she greeted Karuizawa Kei after seeing her.
"Huh? Do you know me?"
Karuizawa Kei was a bit puzzled because she had never met Amasawa Ichika before.
"Yes, I've heard about you before, Karuizawa-senpai~"
Amasawa Ichika's face wore a sly smile.
[Karuizawa Kei, the de facto female leader of Class 2-A, holds a very high reputation among the girls.]
Before coming to this school, Amasawa Ichika had already memorized the information of all the students.
"I'm Amasawa Ichika, a first-year student from Class A. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you… Are you the one who partnered with Sudo-kun during the last exam?"
Karuizawa Kei finally had some impression of Amasawa Ichika.
"That's right. It was a reward—a reward for Saiki-senpai cooking for me~"
Amasawa Ichika deliberately said this while observing Karuizawa Kei's reaction.
"Kusuo, you cooked for Amasawa?"
Karuizawa Kei's eyes widened in surprise.
[Kusuo cooked for someone else? He's never cooked for me!]
'Strictly speaking, it wasn't me who cooked, but if I don't explain this clearly, it might cause trouble later. And why should I cook for you in the first place?'
Saiki thought to himself, then spoke up,
"It was Horikita's idea. To help Sudo pass the exam, Amasawa set the condition that someone had to cook for her."
"What a strange condition."
Karuizawa Kei shook her head.
[Karuizawa's reaction is a bit unusual. Is there a reason for that? Does she have some other feelings for Saiki-senpai? This seems like an unexpected discovery.]
Amasawa Ichika's smile grew even more delighted.
[This girl feels a bit off.]
Karuizawa Kei looked at Amasawa Ichika, her eyes filled with wariness.
Just then, Saiki's phone vibrated.
Kiriyama Ikuto: I need to talk to you. Meet me at the shopping center later.
"I have something to do. I'll head out now."
Saiki stood up, finally able to escape the café.
"Saiki-senpai, don't forget that I'll come find you later! I want to try your cooking!"
Amasawa Ichika deliberately said this loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the café.
[That girl is so cute! Is she a first-year?]
[First-year Amasawa, right? And Karuizawa from the second year is with her. Both are such beauties… I'm so jealous…]
[That's the famous Saiki!]
'What do you mean, "the famous Saiki"? Why does it feel like the students at this school already have some misconceptions about me?'
Saiki sighed inwardly.
…
After leaving the café, Saiki headed toward the shopping center. Although he didn't know why Kiriyama Ikuto wanted to meet him, he had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.
As Saiki passed by a construction site, he spotted a familiar figure.
Tsukishiro Tokinari.
At the moment, Tsukishiro had just put on a hard hat and was explaining the structure of the upcoming building to the workers around him before sitting down to take a break.
Unlike the confident demeanor he had when he first arrived at the school, Tsukishiro now looked exhausted.
'Yare yare, another troublesome person.'
Saiki muttered to himself.
[Sigh, as the acting chairman, there's just too much troublesome work to do…]
[It's all because of the White Room… Sigh, I didn't want to take on this task, but I had no choice.]
[This task is really putting me in a tough spot.]
'Oh?'
Saiki overheard Tsukishiro's thoughts and couldn't help but slow his steps.
[I couldn't possibly refuse the task given by Ayanokoji-sensei. If I did, there'd be no good outcome.]
[But agreeing to it isn't just about bringing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka back. As the acting chairman, I have so much work to handle every day…]
[If I use forceful methods to bring Ayanokoji Kiyotaka back, Ayanokoji-sensei probably wouldn't be happy… After all, if his greatest masterpiece could be brought back so easily, it would be a blow to his pride—especially since Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is likely to be the future head of the White Room. If I do something that displeases him now, it'll cause big trouble later.]
[At this point, the plan to bring Ayanokoji Kiyotaka back to the White Room is impossible to execute. At most, I can just go through the motions. Even if I fail in the end, Ayanokoji-sensei probably won't blame me too much… The only thing I'm worried about is those two kids. They've already started ignoring my instructions. If they do something unexpected, it might cause a huge mess…]
'Yare yare, so you're having a hard time too.'
Saiki looked at Tsukishiro, who now looked like a pitiful corporate drone.
He couldn't defy his superiors, had to maintain their dignity, and also ensure his own future safety…
Thinking about it, Tsukishiro was really a pitiful guy.
[I just hope… those two kids don't provoke Saiki… That guy and the forces behind him are pure monsters…]
'??? What does this have to do with me???'
[There's going to be a special exam on a deserted island soon… I really hope nothing goes wrong.]
'Another special exam? Back to the deserted island?'
Saiki couldn't help but recall what happened during the last deserted island exam…
His hair clip was accidentally removed…
If he hadn't found it in time, the entire island might have been destroyed by Saiki…
'I hope nothing strange happens during this deserted island exam.'
Saiki thought to himself, then quickened his pace toward the meeting spot with Kiriyama Ikuto.
…
"You're here."
Kiriyama Ikuto nodded when he saw Saiki arrive.
"Senpai, what's the matter?"
Saiki asked.
Although he had no interest in taking down Nagumo Miyabi, Saiki had previously agreed to cooperate with Kiriyama Ikuto at Horikita Manabu's request, so he had to show up.
However, after meeting Kiriyama Ikuto, Saiki sensed a change in the other's thoughts.
"I wanted to talk to you about Nagumo's recent situation."
"What about it?"
"You really don't care, do you?"
Kiriyama Ikuto said slowly,
"Recently, Nagumo's been in a bad state. He's been absent-minded about everything."
"Oh?"
Saiki found it hard to believe that the ever-confident Nagumo Miyabi could be in such a state.
"I'm not sure what's going on with Nagumo, but it seems like he's been like this ever since he met the new physics teacher at the school."
"The new physics teacher…"
Saiki immediately had a bad feeling.
"That's right. It's your brother, Saiki. Are you two close?"
"Not at all."
Saiki answered without hesitation.
[Is that true?]
Seeing Saiki's strong reaction, Kiriyama Ikuto was momentarily puzzled but didn't dwell on it.
"Then do you know what your brother did to President Nagumo?"
"No idea. We hardly ever talk."
Saiki replied, while thinking to himself:
'Yare yare, he wouldn't actually kidnap students for human experiments, right?… No, no, if it's him, he might actually do something like that… I'll have to ask him later.'
"I see… But with Nagumo in this state, we might have a chance to defeat him in the next special exam."
"The next special exam?"
Saiki pretended to be hearing this for the first time.
He had already overheard about the exam from Tsukishiro earlier.
"Yes. Although we haven't received official notice yet, the student council has already started preparing materials—it's almost certain that the next exam will be on a deserted island, though the specific rules are still unclear."
Kiriyama Ikuto said,
"The next exam will be our best chance to defeat Nagumo."
"I see."
Saiki nodded—
But he knew very well that Kiriyama Ikuto wasn't really thinking that.
[I just need to win and find a way to earn enough points to rise to Class A!]
[Defeating Nagumo isn't that simple. He practically controls the entire third year. I can't fight the entire third year alone.]
[But as long as I can rise to Class A, that's enough. Just getting to Class A…]
'Yare yare… Has he given up already?'
Saiki looked at the student council vice president. It seemed Kiriyama Ikuto no longer intended to honor his agreement with Horikita Manabu.
But Saiki didn't plan to say anything. After all, what Kiriyama Ikuto did had nothing to do with him.
In fact, if Kiriyama Ikuto stopped opposing Nagumo Miyabi, it would save Saiki a lot of trouble.
"It's all because of those weirdos in Class B…"
"Kiriyama."
Just then, an unfamiliar voice called out from nearby.
Kiriyama Ikuto, upon hearing his name, didn't react immediately.
[Dammit, why is he here? I'll just pretend I didn't hear him.]
"Kiriyama, didn't you hear me?"
The voice grew slightly louder.
"Speak of the devil…"
Kiriyama muttered to himself, reluctantly turning toward the voice.
Sitting on a bench was a third-year girl.
She crossed her legs, looking completely at ease.
'A female version of Koenji?'
Saiki quickly shook his head, horrified that he had even thought that. However, the girl in front of him did share many similarities with Koenji Rokusuke in terms of demeanor.
Saiki immediately took out his phone and checked the OAA for her name.
She was Kiryuin Fuka from Class 3-B.
"What do you want?"
Even though they were classmates, Kiriyama Ikuto's expression remained displeased.
[It's because of her that I can't rise to Class A.]
'Such deep resentment.'
Saiki thought to himself, then shifted his gaze back to his phone.
Although Kiriyama Ikuto harbored deep resentment toward Kiryuin Fuka, Saiki noticed that she was the only student in the entire school with both physical and academic abilities rated A or higher.
Truly one of a kind.
"Hehe, since you're hanging out with such an interesting junior, I thought I'd say hello."
Kiryuin Fuka smiled, then turned her gaze to Saiki.
"I've heard about you. Even Nagumo has taken a special interest in you. That peculiar physics teacher is also your relative, right?"
'Yare yare, I've been noticed by a troublesome person.'
Saiki inwardly complained.
"This has nothing to do with you, Kiryuin."
Kiriyama Ikuto's tone was filled with undisguised anger as he prepared to leave.
"What are you doing, Saiki? Let's go. We'll talk somewhere else."
"Spending time with that kind of man won't do you any good."
Kiryuin Fuka said meaningfully.
"It's more meaningful than spending time with you."
"Isn't that for Saiki to decide? Kiriyama, can you leave already?"
Kiryuin Fuka sneered, then continued,
"How about having a meaningful conversation with me instead?"
"She's just like Koenji in your class. As a person, she's beyond saving. Aside from her grades, she's contributed nothing to our class in three years, always acting alone—she's just a meddlesome outlier."
As he spoke, Kiriyama Ikuto gritted his teeth.
'Yare yare… The way our class feels about Koenji seems pretty similar…'
Saiki looked at Kiryuin Fuka, a thought forming in his mind—
He absolutely must not get involved with this female version of Koenji—Kiryuin Fuka.
However, Saiki also knew that if he left abruptly, it might cause some trouble.
'Someone, please come and get me out of here.'
Saiki inwardly pleaded.