Two girls walked in through the café's entrance.
One was a blonde with short hair, always smiling. She was popular among both boys and girls.
Kushida Kikyo.
The other was Shirogane's business partner—Horikita Suzune, the class beauty of Class D, with long black hair.
She and Kushida had completely different auras, but no one could deny that Horikita was stunning.
According to a ranking made by the boys of Class D, Horikita was second on the list of prettiest girls.
She was considered to be on the same level as Ichinose from Class B.
But Ichinose had taken first place, probably because she seemed a lot friendlier than Horikita.
After all, Horikita Suzune was as cold as ice.
It was a strange way to describe someone, but Shirogane wasn't unfamiliar with it.
Because this wasn't the first time he had seen the two of them together.
Yes.
The two of them.
Kushida was always hovering around Horikita, checking in on her and even walking to school with her.
That was pretty rare.
Kushida seemed like someone who wanted to be friends with everyone, and she had succeeded in making many, including Shirogane.
But Horikita mostly ignored her.
And with so many friends, Kushida had plenty of options for walking to school.
But she never changed.
From the very first day of school, Shirogane had seen them together in the elevator.
Even two days ago, they were still walking side by side.
To be more precise, Kushida was always the one starting conversations with Horikita.
She was serious about it.
Like a devoted follower.
It was as if she, like Shiina, wanted to find a true friend—someone who genuinely cared.
So even if her efforts seemed pointless, she kept trying to get closer to Horikita.
Right now, it seemed that Kushida had completed her task.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have come here with Horikita.
She looked to be in a good mood too—probably because Horikita seemed to see her as a friend now.
"Shiina, Shirogane, hello—" Kushida raised her hand slightly in greeting. Her aura was warm and welcoming, making people feel at ease.
Even though she and Shiina were about the same in terms of looks, at this moment, Kushida's charm was undeniably stronger.
"..."
Horikita didn't say anything. She just walked toward Shirogane and Shiina.
"Horikita, this is Shiina from my class. I also asked her to help gather information on Class A," Shirogane explained. "At the same time, I've also prepared intel on Class B."
As he spoke, he pulled out two stacks of documents.
"..." Kushida.
Huh?
Horikita hadn't responded yet, but Kushida was visibly stunned.
Because last night, Shiina had invited her over to the dorm and told her that she was collecting information on students from other classes. However, since she wasn't good at socializing outside her own class, there were many gaps in her data. That's why she asked for Kushida's help.
Although Kushida had found it a bit tricky, she didn't want to lose Shiina as a friend, so she agreed.
She ended up bending the truth a little and helped Shiina fill in the missing details about Ichinose's class.
At the same time, Shirogane had also asked for her help to complete Class A's student data.
It was two separate requests. Because of her wide social network, Kushida knew that Class C was now under Ryuen's strong control, so she figured these two might have been assigned this troublesome task by him.
Wanting to be helpful to her friends, she had gone along with it.
But now they were saying that the information was being used as part of a trade with Horikita?
And—
Listening to their conversation—
This was clearly the work *she* had done for them, yet they were acting like they had gathered the information themselves? And now they were using it as a bargaining chip in their deal with Horikita?
"..."
Kushida was surprised, but she kept her composure, maintaining a polite and pleasant expression.
"I see." Horikita nodded.
Earlier, Shirogane had told her that if she couldn't manage things alone, she should rely on others, even suggesting she ask Kushida for help.
In the end, she had done just that, which was proof of her own shortcomings.
But now, seeing that Shirogane himself had also sought help from others, it seemed that this was actually the right approach. Though she hated to admit her own weakness, perhaps asking for help when needed was the smart thing to do.
"For this exchange, I also asked Kushida for help," Horikita said to her.
"Well, as long as I could be of help to you, Horikita—" Kushida waved her hand lightly, acting modest.
But inside, she might not have felt the same way.
From just a few lines of conversation, she had already figured it out—Shirogane from Class C and Horikita had struck some kind of deal.
They… were planning to trade intel on three different classes.
Shiina was in charge of Class B, Shirogane had gathered information on Class A, and Horikita was responsible for her own Class D.
"..."
But…
With Horikita's social skills, gathering information on the students in her class was nearly impossible.
So…
Horikita asked her for help at lunchtime today, and she gave up her break to assist.
Now, the truth was clear.
All three groups expected her to do all the work alone?
Huh?
Kushida was starting to question everything.
"Alright, let's exchange information."
Shirogane handed his documents to Horikita.
Horikita, in turn, passed the compiled information on D-Class students to Shirogane.
The files contained names, class, gender, photos, and brief evaluations.
These evaluations were written by Kushida.
Shirogane first opened Horikita's profile.
Name: Horikita Suzune
Class: First-Year D-Class
Student ID: SD1345465X
Phone Number: 1455465eX
Personal Info: Strong in academics and physical ability. Has never scored below 90 on a written test. Studies for 10 hours a day. Slightly lacking in social skills.
It was obvious Kushida wrote this. Otherwise, the description wouldn't have been "slightly lacking in social skills." A more accurate assessment from Horikita's own perspective would have been "almost no social skills at all."
But Shirogane didn't dwell on Horikita's file.
When he previously saw Sakayanagi keeping Kamuro around, the narration system had provided details on a few D-Class students.
Back then, the system either labeled them as "bosses" or "hiding secrets."
Kushida, with her strong social skills, didn't just help Shirogane and Shiina gather student lists for A-Class and B-Class—she also added her own impressions.
Although she didn't list anyone's secrets outright, she fairly recorded their academic ability, physical fitness, social skills, and strengths or weaknesses.
For example, Kushida's notes on Kamuro Masumi from A-Class stated that she had excellent physical ability, possibly the best among first-year girls. She was good at track and field and had joined the art club.
However, her test scores might not be great—Kushida had accidentally seen her notes, which contained some mistakes.
Since there were no conflicting interests, the accuracy of this information was quite reliable.
And now…
The data on D-Class was right in front of him.
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