Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's POV

In Class B, it was another bright and sunny morning. As was customary, the mood was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Everything appeared to be normal to them, and the only thing they needed to be concerned about was the first semester's fast-approaching and eagerly awaited final exams. After that is said and done, our reward for passing the examinations would be a lavishing summer vacation spent on a gorgeous and resplendent island.

Or so Chabashira-Sensei claims...

I do have a lot of doubts and am feeling quite skeptical about it, but I have little to no proof to support or refute my suspicions and assertions.

I resolved to take action after half a day had passed. The bell rang loudly, as it does every day, signifying the beginning of lunchtime. Chabashira-Sensei's habit of leaving the classroom earlier, as usual.

"That will be all for today, Class B. When you have some free time, please review the contents again. Particularly now that final examinations are hovering around the corner." She was strict in her announcement. "I will now depart if there are no further inquiries."

Before she could leave the classroom, I hurriedly stood up, causing my seat to rock backward, emitting an obnoxious sound that echoed throughout the room.

Most of my classmates cringed hearing the unpleasant noise, with some even covering their ears with their palms. I didn't mean to make that much of a fuss to gain the attention of Chabashira-Sensei. Well, there's no turning back now.

"Chabashira-Sensei, can you spare me some time later? I have something extremely salient that I would like to discuss with you." I told her about it. "Don't be concerned. It's not anything dreadfully complicated. There are just a few questions I would like to ask you to satiate my curiosity. Will that be alright you?" I was courteous with my question.

"Ayanokouji? Hm... It's quite rare for you to seek help from me about anything. "It's not every day that you come to me for answers to your questions, so it must be significant. Fine then, it'll be no problem for me. I'll actually be taking my leave now. For real this time." She nimbly waltzed out of the classroom in silence.

My peers began to assemble around their social circles once she left, and the atmosphere returned to normal. For a lunch, I usually joined Hirata's group of girls, Kushida's gang of pals, or the Ayanon group. But that would have to wait because I had other plans in store for today.

Before anyone could flee the scene, I rushed forward with quick steps and took a position in front of them. I laid my hands on the podium and peered around the room at everyone.

Everyone was taken aback when they saw me in the front. They suddenly fell silent, and the room became deafeningly quiet.

"Everyone, will you please give me some of your patch and attention. I'd want to share some critical information with all of you." I asked for their undivided attention.

"I assume it must be something important if you have to worry us during such a trifling period," Hirata observed.

Horikita and Kushida, along with the rest of the class, were nonplussed. They sat up straight, waiting for me to say my piece. Eichiiro was the lone one who was anticipating my signal. After all, I'd told him everything during our meeting the day before.

Miyake, Sakura, Hasebe, Yukimura, and Mori all appeared to know what was about to happen at the same time. I summoned them last night in Eichiiro's presence to attest for my words.

I threw Eichiiro a glance, signaling him to take a step forward and join me on the podium. When he received my signal, he rose from his desk and strolled to the front.

"Alright. Now that I've garnered all of your heeds, I'd like to issue a cautionary statement to all of you." I bluntly informed them of it.

"Huh...?"

"I don't get it." Murmurs like that could be heard all around the classroom.

"Ayanokouji-Kun." Horikita raised her hand, to which, I merely nodded as a response. "What exactly do you mean when you say 'cautionary statement'?" She had a puzzled expression on her face.

"Well, for your query, I'll let Eichiiro here explain to all of you." I stepped aside and let Eichiiro take the spotlight.

"First and foremost, despite the fact that you all should be chowing down on your collations right now, I'd like to thank you all for sticking here." He bowed to appear genuine, which was received well by our classmates. "Now, returning to the matter at hand, we have reasonable grounds to believe that a Class has begun to make its move against other classes." After that, he made a gesture and directed his index finger towards Miyake. "Miyake, is it true that you nearly got into a fight with three boys from Class D a couple of days ago?"

Someone with an inflammatory disposition like Sudou, for example, could have misinterpreted the question and struck back against Eichiiro for advertising such a humiliating event in front of their peers if it had been someone with an explosive disposition.

Miyake, on the other hand, is a peaceful individual. So he should be able to understand what we were trying to do. Furthermore, we had already notified him of our plans for the day, so there should be no hitches.

"Yeah..." He made light scratching motions on his head, seemingly a bit ashamed. "I was going to go to the cafeteria for lunch when I bumped into some delinquents from Class D. They were Komiya, Kondou, and Ishizaki if my memory serves me correctly. Those bastards wouldn't let me through and kept harassing me and my friends nonstop which started to annoy me by the second. I almost considered intervening to stop them, but luckily, the situation was defused with the help of Matsuo and Ayanokouji stepping in. If it weren't for them, I might have gotten into trouble with the school."

Our classmates continued to listen intently. Well, except for Koenji, who was just acting like his wonted self. He was currently filing his nails while ignoring the discussion entirely.

"Thank you, Miyake, for providing some background." I redirected everyone's eyes back to me. "Given their deviant character, most of you might assume that the fight was merely Class D trying to stir up some trouble. But, based on my theories, I believe there is more to it than meets the eye."

Everyone, including Horikita, was perplexed and baffled, save from the folks I just stated.

"To put it simply, we're being attacked by Class D," I affirmed in a ruminative manner.

"We're... Being attacked?"

"Wait, what?"

"How does that even work?"

"The fuck?"

"Language!" Eichiiro comically leered at Hondou.

Of course, you wouldn't use the word "attack" to describe a situation in which kids are competing for a spot at the top of the hierarchy. It's not like we are at war with the other classes, even though we're all contending for first place.

"Later on, we'll give a more complete explanation. Kiyotaka's allegations are backed up by some substantial evidence. The first is that we have a voice recording of yesterday's dispute." I snatched my phone from one of my pockets. The recording was then played after I entered my passcode and tapped on an app.

"I'm aware that owing to the distance, all of you at the rear are unable to hear this recording clearly. After school, I'll submit this audio recording to the group chat in case you all want to hear it." As I turned off my phone and slid it back into my pockets, the recording came to an end.

"Second of all, according to Ichinose from Class C, her classmates have also been constantly bullied and tormented by the students from Class D. You should be able to notice how little class points they earned this month."

"Even Ichinose-San's class...?"

"They sound like a bunch of annoying pricks."

"They probably are."

"I'll sum up my argument by stating this. If you have friends from Class D, you don't have to treat them with venom or be blatantly unfriendly." Eichiiro went on. "I'm just asking that you all be cautious around them because we don't know what their genuine intentions are. I thank you, everyone, again for your time and attention, and you may now continue with your lunch." We both genuflected and ambled out of class.

For a split second, we both stared at each other and cocked our heads. We part ways since he is skipping lunch today due to working on the assignment I assigned him just a short time ago. I also had no intention of eating anything right now because I was trying to figure out where Chabashira-Sensei was.

Her response to my inquiry would be one of the deciding variables in determining whether or not my scheme to combat Class D would work. I merely need to control a couple more chess pieces before I can ser this operation into place.

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Matsuo Eichiiro's POV

I took my time walking down the corridors of the building, carefully inspecting my surroundings. I decided to spend some of my lunch break working on the homework Kiyo had given me.

I peeked into the corridor's penultimate classroom and, after a few moments of staring, grabbed a folded A3 sheet of paper from my pocket and wrote on it with a red marker.

I ascended to the third floor through the stairwell. Our classroom was on this floor in the first-year block, which made me wonder if there was also an unused classroom on the comparable floor in the second-year block.

As I walked down the corridor, I made notes on my paper. Because this was a staff floor, most rooms could not be mapped; nonetheless, the passageway itself was arguably the most climacteric element. Students aren't likely to find themselves in these staff rooms on a regular basis.

I rounded the bend, and as I neared the end of the L shape, I made one last mark. However, there was also an unused classroom lurking around the corner of the second-year block's third level. This is most likely the room we'll be assigned for our second year. I took a peek around the room and scribbled a red mark on the paper.

"The final site should be on the roof..." As I turned around, I muttered to myself.

After hours, the roof was locked, although students were permitted to utilize it during lunch. This meant that now was the best moment for me to finish the mission I'd been given. I'd be able to do it all in one sitting without having to return to finish the roof later.

I returned to the main corridor's U-shaped stairway and ascended to the roof. As I made my way up the stairwell, I spotted something peculiar and came to a halt. The door was slightly ajar. That most likely implies that someone is currently up there. No one who comes up here would ever leave it open.

I crept up the steps, squinting through the half-open doorway. I saw a well-endowed girl with waist-length pink-tinted hair there. She appeared to be by herself, resting against the railing and gazing out over the campus.

"Ichinose...?" I whispered unconsciously.

What was she doing up here? Was she having lunch with a friend here? I don't see anyone with her though. Maybe she just wanted to eat alone? I didn't see any food. Maybe she is eating with someone but they're the ones who are bringing the food?

Hm... I don't know. I can't make a conclusive deduction. I'm not Kiyotaka after all.

I was intrigued by the discovery I had just made, but I didn't want to draw her attention to myself. I'm not sure if I'm permitted to answer her possible questions about what I was doing roaming around the rooftop. I also didn't want to go overstep my boundaries and upset her in any way, just in case it was a private topic that was only for her to know about.

I was deep in thinking about what I should do in a scenario like this when the tapping sound of shoes began to reverberate from the floor below. I darted behind the corner, looked out, and dashed away with light and silent steps. Nobody would notice me from this distance, even if they happened to glance down the corridor for some inexplicable reason.

As he moved upwards to the third floor before continuing to the roof, the visitor's blond hair and well-built figure became visible. That individual would most likely be the mystery visitor Ichinose was meeting with.

"Nagumo-Senpai...?" I carelessly mumbled in hushed tones, not bothering to hide the flabbergasted expression on my face.

So he's the guy Ichinose was hoping to meet...

He didn't appear to have brought any additional guests to the meeting, so they must have mutually decided to meet one-on-one. I'm curious as to what they'd be discussing if they were alone. Were they on a date? If they were, there'd be a great outcry among the boys in our class- no, wait, scratch that. If I'm being candid, that would generate quite a ruckus among the males in our year.

Were they conceivably involved in a secret relationship that they didn't want their classmates to know about? If that is the case, I may have just encroached on something very intimate and unspoken.

Nagumo-Senpai, as far as I'm aware, is someone at this school who's worthy of admiration and respect. Many of the females in my year think he's incredibly attractive and occasionally fawn over him, and many of the senpais I've talked with have similar views.

I mean, How could you not, right? In this prestigious school, he served as Vice President of the Student Council. I don't blame people for chanting his praises all the time.

Ichinose and her Class C buddies were also people I frequented. She would rhapsodize about how meritorious and hardworking he is, and how he had aided her greatly mentally after Horikita Manabu had rejected her application for membership in the student body.

I was stunned to my core when I learned she had been denied. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck me out of the blue. I was confounded to a fault as to why she had been denied membership in the student council.

To me, she seemed like the ideal prospect. She had an excellent reputation among students and teachers, was an honor student who scrupulously adhered to the regulations, was a kind and gentle-hearted person, and was essentially the model student for this institution.

However, I witnessed Kiyo being summoned to the student council office a month ago. If it hadn't been for Kiyo's presence, she could have been the ideal choice. Maybe there was only one slot remaining and they opted to give it to Kiyo, who I think deserves it more than Ichinose.

Then again, he did say that he hasn't accepted nor denied Horikita Manabu's invitation to join the student council. I'm not sure how serious they are about making him a member, but I'm undoubtedly certain that they don't want to wait a long time for an answer.

Someone who ceaselessly beats about the bush round the clock would naturally irritate them.

Trust me. I can talk from personal experience.

He should probably give a reply to them as soon as possible, or else he'll somehow piss off the entire student council. But it's not like that would be a problem for him.

Ichinose and Nagumo-senpai had returned from the loof on time. I stood there watching as they walked down the stairs, listening to their shoes clacking as they walked away.

I galloped to the stairwell and climbed to the roof once the footsteps vanished. Before turning around to make my way back, I took a quick look around and placed one final red marker on my paper.

I instantly saw a major snag when I returned to the second floor. Nagumo-Senpai had gone, but Ichinose remained, resting against the wall, deep in thought.

"Yabe." I panicked and attempted to think of a quick method to get away without being seen.

I attempted to slip back upstairs without being noticed, but today was just not my lucky day.

"Matsuo-Kun?" She addressed me with a startled tone of voice. "What are you doing here?"

Her tone had a tinge of panic in it, denoting that she was concerned that I'd seen her meet with Nagumo. That pretty much reinforced my suspicions that they had discussed something confidential.

God damn it. Why did this have to happen to someone as gracious as me? I feel like I've done nothing wrong to be deserving of this.

Wait a minute...

Is this karma for not sharing my garlic bread with Yamauchi?! Oh come on God! Can't I just be selfish when it comes to garlic bread? Jesus Christ. The world can be very annoying at times.

Alright, Eichiiro, all you need to do is just come up with a convincing reason as to why you were descending down the stairs. I used up all of the IQ of my brain to come up with the best solution.

Playing dumb.

"Oh, uh... I was..." I stuttered nervously. "Cleaning the chimney...?"

Not that dumb you idiot!

I internally slapped myself for that pathetic excuse.

"Chimney...? I'm pretty sure we don't have something like that, Matsuo-Kun..." She raised her eyebrow, indicating she was starting to get suspicious of me.

"What...?" I pretended to gape in surprise. "That's crazy! I didn't know that!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Matsuo-"

"That was a joke Ichinose. I apologize for the bad endeavor."

As I switched on my brain, time seemed to literally stop. Ichinose's non-confrontational, overly nice, and trusting demeanor sprang to mind as I tried to come up with the greatest possible elucidation for me dropping by without notice.

Because this was a second-year building, I couldn't use an explanation like "I was called to a staff room." If a teacher needed to speak with me, I would have been summoned to the first-year building's third floor.

I wasn't sure how credulous Ichinose was, so sacrificing any chance of her ever trusting me just so I could use that clarification wasn't worth it.

That meant I'd have to come up with a different justification for being on the second-year building's staff floor. Ichinose is aware that I was not up on the roof for lunch; otherwise, she would have run into me. Basically, there was no purpose for me to be on that floor in the first place.

The most practical option for me was to simply give her the truth. As I walked over, I retrieved the folded sheet of paper from my back pocket and opened it, pointing it in her direction.

"I was putting together a map," I said in a careless and indifferent tone.

"A map? Why would you need to draw a floor plan for this building? Isn't a map of the school included in the handouts we received at the entrance ceremony?" Ichinose inquired, addled.

As I approached her side, I exclaimed, "Ah, it's not just any map. Look. A surveillance camera is represented by all of the red dots I've added to it."

I decided that if I told her the truth and let her in on some of Class B's business, she'd be more likely to believe me.

"You're mapping out surveillance cameras?" She interrogated in a befuddled tone.

"You're right. I've been doing so for the past week, to be more pinpoint. This was one of the last areas of the school I hadn't yet mapped." I went over it in greater depth.

"Hm..." Ichinose, who I'd heard was generally a terrific conversationalist, trailed off and glanced down as if she didn't know what to say.