Unlike Kushida Kikyo, Horikita Suzune wasn't overthinking things.
She slightly furrowed her brows, having initially suspected Nagumo Miyabi as the mastermind, only to find it was Ryuen Kakeru.
Well, the reason she had bluffed Yamauchi was because his simultaneous attacks on Karuizawa and Kushida seemed suspicious, with Kaoru being the primary target.
Horikita immediately connected it to the conflict between Kaoru and Nagumo, suspecting Yamauchi had become Nagumo's pawn in dealing with Mitoma.
As for the reason, it was probably because they had been spending too much time with Kaoru recently, drawing Nagumo's attention.
Though she hadn't asked for more details, rumors had been circulating around her, and the student council turmoil had recently swept through the first-year classes—even Horikita had heard about it.
As if reading the classroom atmosphere, Horikita similarly deciphered the tension between Kaoru and Nagumo Miyabi.
From Nagumo's perspective, it was difficult for him to directly intervene in first-year conflicts, so he could only apply pressure and influence from the sidelines.
If Class A remained united with no one cooperating, he would have virtually no means to deal with Kaoru.
In that case, switching targets seemed much easier.
The moment this thought occurred to Horikita, she was surprised by her own reasoning and fell silent.
Thus, her silence appeared to Yamauchi as her being at a loss.
Even Horikita Suzune, who had repeatedly offered suggestions, was now helpless and confused when faced with his trump card—this peculiar feeling filled Yamauchi with considerable satisfaction.
"Haruki, what were you doing colluding with Ryuen?"
Ike Kanji was shocked. "So it was Ryuen who made you try to expel Kikyo?"
"What choice did I have? If I didn't do this, I would be the one getting expelled! It was a necessary act of self-preservation!" Yamauchi Haruki said as a matter of course. "Besides, you heard what Horikita said earlier—she thinks both you and Ken should be expelled. I was protecting you!"
Ike Kanji was stunned for a moment before angrily retorting, "You're just protecting yourself, aren't you? With Ryuen giving you Praise Votes, you're the last person here who needs to worry about expulsion!"
"Nonsense! If everyone votes for Karuizawa and Kushida, we can pass this exam smoothly!"
Yamauchi Haruki finally dropped all pretense. "I can even get Ryuen to reward you all. This is for your own good too. Karuizawa and the others must be connected to Mitoma somehow."
"Shut up, Haruki!" Sudo Ken couldn't take it anymore.
He could feel the entire class staring at their trio with extremely strange looks.
Yamauchi Haruki glared back with clear displeasure at being interrupted.
"Well, well. What an excellent performance today. Your acting was absolutely flawless, Red Hair-kun."
Koenji Rokusuke chuckled lightly and gave them a round of applause.
Sudo Ken's face flushed crimson.
Yamauchi Haruki was his close friend - who would have thought he'd betray the class by accepting Ryuen's orders to get a classmate expelled?
Now the entire class was glaring at him and Ike Kanji with hostile eyes.
The trio's reputation was likely about to hit rock bottom again.
"Yamauchi-kun, why are you going this far?"
The speaker was Hirata Yosuke, his face dark and pained.
"What's wrong with protecting myself? Besides, aren't you all struggling to decide who should be expelled? I'm helping you out here. I can split the points Ryuen gave me with everyone."
Of course, Yamauchi wouldn't reveal his true motives.
Even now, he kept making excuses to justify his actions.
Sudo nearly punched his so-called friend.
Even with his limited intellect, he knew Yamauchi's words would infuriate the entire class.
Yes, everyone might silently agree that someone had to be expelled.
They might even form factions to deliberately target someone.
But they could never say it out loud - that would make them all shameless villains.
Yamauchi Haruki was trying to tear off that veil of decency.
No one would agree to this unless they wanted to become social outcasts like him.
Hirata Yosuke's face turned ashen.
He couldn't accept anyone being expelled, but he equally couldn't accept Yamauchi's behavior.
"Ryuen-kun's condition was to have either Karuizawa-san or Kushida-san expelled, wasn't it?"
Horikita Suzune suddenly spoke up. "If we choose to expel you instead, would he still give you those Praise Votes?"
Yamauchi's smiling face instantly froze, like a duck being choked.
He fell silent, just staring daggers at Horikita Suzune.
"He can't, can he? After all, your plan has failed. There's no reason for him to waste effort saving a pawn that has lost its value."
Horikita didn't even glance at Yamauchi Haruki anymore, addressing the class with her final words.
"The official exam is tomorrow. I've said all I need to say. Who you choose to cast your precious votes for is up to you. Even if it's me, I don't care."
The room fell silent. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka withdrew his gaze and sent a message on his phone.
Someone's protective instincts are going too far. Even without him, things would probably be fine.
...
Meanwhile, Kaoru obtained the key to the school building rooftop using the student council's authority.
"Yoohoo, long time no see, Master!"
The first figure to appear on the rooftop was Manabe, her school bag slung over her shoulder and a bright smile on her face as she waved enthusiastically at Kaoru.
Following her, Yabu and Yamashita also greeted Kaoru with surprised smiles.
Today was supposed to be a long-awaited reunion between master and servants, and they seemed quite excited, though Kaoru didn't quite understand what they were so thrilled about.
"I want to talk with you about Class C and the exam."
Kaoru got straight to the point.
Time was somewhat tight, and the rooftop wasn't the safest place either.
As rumors about him continued to spread, people paid more attention to his every move—it was safe to say almost everyone in the school knew him by now.
"Haven't we already talked about it on the phone?"
Manabe naturally moved closer to him, pressing against him and sniffing the scent that belonged to her master.
"Not today... I'm a bit happy..."
She seemed pleased, as if she had detected something.
Compared to Manabe's boldness, Yabu and Yamashita appeared much more reserved.
However, Kaoru suspected that if he gave the order, the two of them would obediently drop their guard.
"It's hard to explain everything in just a few words over the phone, and chat logs can easily leave evidence. It wouldn't be good if Ryuen suddenly caught us."
Ryuen hadn't yet considered the possibility of spies in his class, so his surveillance in this area wasn't particularly strict.
However, if they were exposed, he would likely suppress the situation with swift and severe measures to prevent further negative consequences.
While other classes might not be able to do it, Ryuen was fully capable of checking phones—confiscating the entire class's phones at once, leaving Manabe and the others no time to delete their chat records.
Kaoru brushed away Manabe's mischievous hand and turned to the other two girls.
"Has anyone been voting for you?"
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