Uh.
That was quite a way to put it.
He wasn't trying to avoid anyone on purpose—he simply took photos of every student who walked out of Class A.
It just so happened that Sakayanagi wasn't among them at the time.
In reality, Shirogane had only started doing this yesterday afternoon.
If he wanted information on students from other classes, he could do what Sakayanagi did—spend a lot of money to print out the student directory.
The directory didn't just list which class a student belonged to—it also included their contact information, name, and photo.
But that cost money.
And while Sakayanagi had access to the records, she didn't seem like the type to share them. So, Shirogane chose the most old-fashioned approach.
Since he couldn't tell which students belonged to which class, he simply camped outside their classroom.
When students left after class, he could confirm which class they were in.
If he couldn't get more detailed information on them, he would take a photo first and then ask around to fill in the missing details.
Originally, Shirogane's target was Class D students, so this method was supposed to be used on them.
But after learning that Shiina was on good terms with Kushida from Class D, he started to form a new plan.
Recently, rumors in Class C have been spreading about a golden-haired little angel appearing in Class D.
It seemed that Kushida from Class D was willing to talk and interact with them.
Some students weren't very popular, and some even had a bad reputation, yet Kushida was happy to befriend them—whether they were boys or girls—just like a little angel.
She even sincerely helped others with their problems, which was truly touching.
Because of this, Kushida had become very popular in her class.
She even said things like, "My name is Kushida Kikyo. My goal is to be friends with everyone in the school. I want to make lots of memories, so let's all have fun together!"
No one knew exactly what her goal was, but it seemed like she wanted to meet and interact with every student one by one.
That was scary.
Was she also gathering information on students from her own class? At this rate, she probably wasn't just focusing on her own class—she might even be trying to get intel on Class C as well.
Shiina mentioned that Kushida had also expressed interest in becoming friends with her, even asking her to pass along a message.
When Shirogane asked Kushida to meet after school, she agreed.
So, after hearing this, Shirogane immediately headed to Class A's classroom and waited nearby.
Since Kushida was so good at socializing, she could help identify students from Class A.
After school, he went straight to Class A's classroom and secretly took pictures of the students coming out.
He thought he was being discreet, but it turned out he had already been noticed.
"Since you caught me taking pictures, I guess I won't do it next time," Shirogane said. "Or do you want me to hand over the photos?"
"No," Sakayanagi replied. "I don't intend to stop you. Some people reported it to me, but I see it as you taking action."
"For example, since you don't have enough points to print a student roster from the student council, you decided to gather the information yourself."
"Can I take this to mean that you're determined to climb higher?" Sakayanagi smiled.
Uh-oh.
That was terrifying.
She had completely seen through his actions.
And not just that—she had figured out that he was trying to help Class C rise in the rankings. After all, if he wasn't interested in competing against other classes, he wouldn't be collecting information on their students.
He had originally thought that Sakayanagi was just passing by by chance, but no—she had come to declare war.
Now, even lunch was going to taste worse.
Shirogane also realized there was something he needed to confirm.
While secretly observing the students in Class A, he had noticed something odd—the class seemed to be divided.
The desks in every other class were evenly spaced and arranged toward the front.
But in Class A, the desks were split into two groups—one in the upper left and the other in the upper right, leaving a large empty space in the middle.
It was as if the class had been split into factions.
Could this mean that Class A was divided?
"Sakayanagi, it seems like you don't have absolute control over Class A," Shirogane said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to take pictures of your classmates so freely."
"Heh, looks like you noticed," Sakayanagi replied. "You must be talking about Katsuragi, right? Some students support me, but others prefer his more conservative approach."
"It seems they want to focus on holding onto their class points after this month ends," she added.
That statement confirmed it—while Sakayanagi Arisu was the boss of Class A, she hadn't completely taken control. In fact, the class had even split into factions with opposing views.
Let's call it the Katsuragi faction for now.
"How foolish." Sakayanagi Arisu casually insulted the Katsuragi faction, as if making an objective statement.
"..." Shirogane didn't respond.
He wasn't familiar with the internal affairs of Sakayanagi's class, but based on what he had learned so far, Class A had split into two factions.
That meant Sakayanagi couldn't fully control Class A, which weakened their overall strength.
That was good news for Class C.
Besides, Sakayanagi seemed to look down on the Katsuragi faction.
If he thought about how the Katsuragi faction had formed, it was clear that their goal was stability. They believed that since Class A's overall score was much higher than the other classes, all they needed to do was maintain their lead until graduation.
And the one responsible for this situation… was probably Sakayanagi Arisu herself.
Her exceptional performance likely allowed her to grasp the true nature of this school earlier than any previous Class A students.
That meant that during the school's standard behavior test for first-year students in the first month, Class A had gained an overwhelming advantage—an advantage that even past Class A students hadn't been able to achieve.
This created a gap between Class A and the other classes right from the start.
As a result, some Class A students decided to protect this advantage by aligning themselves with the cautious Katsuragi, forming the Katsuragi faction.
But Sakayanagi called them idiots.
So… had the Katsuragi faction not realized that Class C's score had already stabilized?
If Class A's Katsuragi faction was expecting the other classes to be left far behind, they might be in for a rude awakening.
PS: Fourth update!
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