After listening to Horikita, Ayanokouji fell into deep thought. He finally understood how Kushida had taken down an entire class.
If Kushida really was the person from the rumors, then she must have used her classmates' secrets to completely destroy them.
If Horikita didn't handle things properly, history might repeat itself, and this time, Class D would be the one to collapse.
To be safe, Ayanokouji decided to ask,
"Horikita, if Kushida really is the traitor, what do you plan to do?"
"What can I do? I don't have much choice. The only option is to make her accept that I don't know the details and that I won't expose anything."
Hearing that, Ayanokouji felt relieved. If Horikita had insisted on digging up Kushida's past, he would have had to stop her.
Because if they went down that road, Kushida wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. Class D might end up exactly like the class from the rumors.
If that happened, Class D would lose any hope of rising to Class A, and an enraged Chabashira-sensei would probably have him expelled.
Ayanokouji wouldn't let Horikita expose Kushida until he could guarantee his own safety.
That's why her answer put him at ease.
"But it's too early to talk about this now. After all, we don't even know for sure that Kushida is the traitor."
That was true—because Kushida wasn't actually the traitor.
But if Kanda Shuichi hadn't stopped her back then, Horikita's guess would have been completely right.
"Let's head to Palette and meet up with them. It's not good to keep them waiting too long," Kanda Shuichi suggested after checking his phone.
"Good idea."
Meanwhile, Kushida removed the earphone hidden beneath her hair, her expression darkening in a place where Karuizawa and Hirata couldn't see.
The moment Horikita brought up the idea that Kushida was the traitor, Kanda Shuichi had secretly called her.
Which meant… she had just listened to their entire conversation.
A few minutes later, seven members of Class D gathered in a private room at Palette.
"Ugh, what were you even doing? You took way too long. No apology or anything?"
A very Karuizawa-like complaint—completely ignored by everyone.
"Let's get started. Hirata has club activities later, after all."
"Alright, let's begin with next week's quiz."
As soon as Horikita brought up the topic, Hirata responded immediately.
"This isn't even up for debate, right? No one thinks this test is pointless, do they?" Kanda Shuichi's words made several people in the room feel awkward.
At the very least, Karuizawa and Sudou were among them.
"Chabashira-sensei already made it clear enough."
Kanda Shuichi let out a sigh.
"I also noticed three key points: the test results don't affect our grades, the passing criteria haven't been set yet, and the partner selection will be announced after the test."
Horikita shared her thoughts, but she didn't feel that Chabashira-sensei had actually given them any hints.
"And one more thing—Chabashira-sensei specifically used Hirata and Ike as an example of a pair. Do you really think that was just a coincidence?"
"Are you saying... Chabashira-sensei is suggesting we pair strong students with weaker ones?"
Maybe because he had talked with Kanda Shuichi a lot, Hirata quickly understood what he meant.
"If that's the case, does that mean the school will pair the top-scoring students with the lowest-scoring ones based on the test results?"
"It's very likely. They'll probably match the highest and lowest scorers together, the second highest with the second lowest, and so on."
After Kanda Shuichi laid it out so bluntly, both Kushida and Horikita caught on immediately.
Horikita then looked at Kanda Shuichi with a complicated expression. "Inviting you to this meeting was the right choice after all."
"I just wanted to go home early. If I left you guys to figure this out from scratch, you'd probably still be discussing it by tonight."
Even though Kanda Shuichi's words sounded like a jab at Horikita, she wasn't angry. After all, she hadn't realized this possibility at first.
"Besides, if you're unsure, you could ask the upperclassmen. Chabashira-sensei did say this Paper Shuffle test isn't unique to our year."
"I'll check with the seniors in my club about that."
Hirata nodded, showing he was willing to help.
"Wait, wait, wait! What are you guys even talking about?"
Just as Kanda Shuichi and the others had finalized their plan, Karuizawa and Sudou were still completely lost.
"What's this about pairing the top and bottom scorers? I don't get it at all."
Looking at Karuizawa, Horikita felt like telling her it didn't really matter if she didn't understand.
But since Hirata had brought her here, it was up to him to handle it.
"Karuizawa, do you at least understand the three key points Horikita just mentioned?"
"Well, yeah, because Chabashira-sensei said them too." Karuizawa nodded.
"So first, the test results don't affect our grades, which means it's not actually assessing our academic ability. Then, considering that they'll announce the partner pairings after the test, we can confirm that the test scores will be used to assign groups. Does that part make sense?"
"Uh... sort of."
Hirata then went over the explanation again, making sure Karuizawa and Sudou finally understood.
Honestly, Kanda Shuichi felt it was unnecessary to explain things to them in such detail. Understanding too much would probably just stress them out more.
"But if that's how it works, doesn't that mean the students with average scores are in the most danger?"
Karuizawa suddenly realized the problem and blurted it out.
"Yeah, the closer you are to the middle, the more risks you face."
Since the scores around that range tend to fluctuate a lot, it makes things even more unstable.
And that was one of the main reasons Kanda Shuichi agreed to attend this meeting in the first place.
Since Miyake is around the average score range and struggles with certain subjects, if he gets paired with a student who has the same weaknesses…
But it would be difficult to give Miyake special treatment since there are other students in the class who might also be at risk.
"The pairing rules should be like this. Next, we need to confirm with the upperclassmen. Can I leave that to you, Hirata and Kushida?"
"Yeah, I'll ask the senior members of the soccer club."
"I'll check with the upperclassmen I know too," Kushida nodded naturally. "But Horikita, wouldn't it be best to ask your brother directly? This could be a good chance to make amends."
Pfft!
Kanda Shuichi couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Nice one, Kikyo—striking back immediately.
Horikita shot a sharp glare at Kanda Shuichi before rejecting Kushida's suggestion.
"I don't want my brother to see me in a weak position right now, so I'll leave it to you."
With that, the discussion on the pairing rules came to an end, and they quickly moved on to the next topic.
"The next issue is deciding which class to challenge."
"Yeah, but I think we only have one real target—Class C," Horikita immediately answered Hirata's question and explained her reasoning. "It's simple: overall academic ability. Class C is weaker than Class A and B, and since this exam is based on academics, choosing Class C is the safest option."
"But A and B must also know that Class C is the weakest, right? Won't we end up picking the same opponent?"
"Don't worry, Hirata. Class A and B won't choose Class C or D," Kanda Shuichi's words caught everyone's attention.
"Hirata, you still remember the class points, right?"
"Yeah. Class A has 1,019 points, Class B has 742, Class C has 478, and our Class D has 461, right?"
Kanda Shuichi nodded, acknowledging Hirata's good memory.
"In this exam, a successful attack can close a 200-point gap, but if two classes pick each other, the gap could widen by 400 points.
That's a game-changing amount. For Class B—the former Class A—this is their golden opportunity to climb back up. Sakayanagi would never let such a rare chance slip away."
"I see what you're saying, but Class A might still choose Class C."
"No, that won't happen," Kanda Shuichi shook his head. "As Class A, they have to accept challenges from lower-ranked classes. Even if they win, if they avoid fights, it'll crush their morale and weaken their position."
"Ichinose understands this, so she'll definitely accept Sakayanagi's challenge, which puts 200 class points on the line."
"Besides, we all know how the current Class A got to where they are."
That's right. The reason they became Class A wasn't because they defeated the previous Class A, but because Kanda Shuichi outmaneuvered them once at school. Then, on the uninhabited island, Kanda Shuichi and Ryuen teamed up to take them down again.
Ichinose and her classmates just happened to take advantage of the situation and rise to Class A.
If they don't win against Class A at least once, they'll never gain true confidence.
That's why Ichinose and her class have no choice but to face Sakayanagi head-on.
"That's true. If you're too afraid of challenges from below, you don't deserve to sit at the top," Horikita agreed. She seemed to understand that leading Class D to Class A was just the first step. The real challenge was holding onto that top spot.
"But if we go up against Class C, there's another problem."
"There's a traitor in Class D. If we don't find them, we're guaranteed to lose, right?"
Kanda Shuichi's last remark left everyone in silence.
The sports festival had already proven there was a traitor in Class D. If they let that person get away with it again…
"Leave that to me!"
Horikita took on the difficult task with a determined look.
"If you need any help, just let me know anytime."
Hirata stood up and looked at Horikita.
"Alright, I won't hold back."
And with that, Class D's strategy meeting came to an end. Kanda Shuichi and the others gradually left the private room at Palette before going their separate ways.
---
————— ----
You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu