"Senpaku, I am Sakamoto. What brings you here?"

By the light

She looked at Ichinose, who had an awkward and uneasy expression in the alley ahead.

Sakamoto's words seemed to strike her right in the heart.

Yes…

My feelings

Have you really thought it through completely?

This sudden light and words,

It seemed to cool down her impulsive and feverish mind a little.

She looked at Sakamoto, whose expression was gentle under the lamplight.

She glanced again at Ichinose, who was visibly relieved but still watching her with concern…

I confessed my feelings so rashly.

If this really troubles Ichinose-san...

Wouldn't that mean...?

Her cheeks were still flushed.

But the impulse in his eyes quietly faded away.

Instead, a sense of reflection and hesitation emerged.

Seeing this, Sakamoto

No more words.

He simply nodded slightly to Ichinose.

He then turned around.

He walked away from the alley with a leisurely gait.

Space and time,

It was left to the two girls who needed to sort out their feelings on their own.

First Year Transition (Not very well written, you can skip this): Chapter 082: Sakamoto's Greeting

The afterglow of the midterm exams hasn't completely faded yet.

New undercurrents are quietly brewing.

Classroom of Grade 2, Class B.

Long Yuanxiang's eyes were fixed on the class ranking displayed on his phone screen.

Class A 1082

Class B 956

Class C 902

Class D 87

Class A is still a distant dream.

The towering mountain called "Sakamoto" loomed in front of us.

Unshakeable.

But what made him feel an even greater sense of urgency was...

It was Class C, which was closely following behind.

902 points.

He was only 54 points behind his B class.

That woman, Honami Ichinose,

He does have some skill.

To be able to unite Class C to this extent.

"They're biting really hard..."

Long Yuan murmured to himself.

Head-on confrontation is not his style.

He prefers to dismantle his opponents in a less strenuous and more covert way.

His gaze eventually fell on Class D, which was ranked last.

87 points.

A pitiful score.

almost negligible.

But sometimes,

The most inconspicuous chess piece,

It can often become the key to changing the situation.

Especially within this class,

There seem to be some interesting "cracks" hidden inside.

A rough outline of a plan began to gradually take shape in his mind.

Utilize Class D.

Take advantage of their internal conflicts.

Let them become a blunt knife aimed at Class C.

No need to cause fatal injury.

All it takes is creating enough trouble and suspicion.

This slowed down the upward momentum of Class C.

It affects the assessment of the class points.

Will suffice.

As for Sakamoto...

Long Yuan's gaze swept over the scores of Class A once again.

His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

That man,

It remains a huge variable.

The sudden change in the format of the midterm exam

Hashimoto's ambiguous response

All of this made him vaguely feel that,

That conspiracy against Sakamoto, framed by a second-year student,

It's likely that the other party has already quietly resolved the issue in some way that he can't understand.

Even turn around and use it.

This solidified its position.

"Do they have connections with the school's higher-ups...?"

Long Yuan let out a low chuckle.

I shook off this somewhat absurd idea.

Now is not the time to delve into this.

at the moment,

Let's deal with the immediate threat first.

His plan needs to be more cautious.

We must avoid areas that might attract Sakamoto's attention.

Meanwhile, in Class D of Year 1.

The classroom was filled with a lazy and lethargic atmosphere in the afternoon.

The feeling of relief after narrowly passing the midterm exams gradually faded.

The harsh reality has resurfaced—

They are still in the bottom-ranked Class D.

The three idiots—Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo—

They still got together and joked around.

But in the details,

It seems that something has changed.

They would still chat and laugh around Kikyo Kushida.

Kushida responded to everything with her flawless, sweet smile.

however,

A certain indescribable sense of alienation,

Yet it quietly exists among them.

It was as if there was an invisible film separating us.

On the contrary, their relationships with Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka are...

After experiencing the hardships together during the study session,

The atmosphere became more relaxed and even a little closer.

at least,

Sudo stopped verbally abusing Horikita at the drop of a hat.

Yamauchi and Ike would occasionally ask Horikita for advice.

Ayanokoji remained silent, observing the situation.

Both he and Horikita tacitly maintained a certain distance from Kushida.

That "past exam questions" of dubious origin.

Horikita initially suspected that it was either Sakamoto's "charity" or a "framing" of her.

However, Ayanokouji offers a more reasonable speculation:

This looks more like something a second-grade student would say.

Extensive dissemination under the guise of Sakamoto's name;

Kushida may just be one of many recipients.

This explanation put Horikita at ease.

Her inexplicable aversion to Sakamoto seemed to have eased somewhat as a result.

But her opinion of Kushida quietly changed.

"Even if the test papers came from the same source, it is suspicious that she chose to give them to the trio of idiots privately instead of making them public at the study session."

Horikita said this to Ayanokoji during their phone call that night.

"She doesn't seem... as open and honest as she appears."