Demon Slayer: I was taken home by Shinobu Kocho at the beginning.

"Then what do you want?"

"Heh." Tatsuya Kamio waved his finger from side to side. "This isn't about what I want, but what you all have."

Kushida's situation definitely couldn't be exposed, or even told to the general public, so Horikita couldn't get any help from the students in Class D.

If she wants Kamio Tatsuya to give up his leverage over Kushida, she has no choice but to find a way to pay a price that satisfies Kamio Tatsuya.

Furthermore, we must try our best to keep Kushida's secret from becoming too big for our brilliance, otherwise it will be a losing proposition.

"Or you could try a desperate measure and expose Kushida's situation directly, then I won't be able to threaten her anymore."

Looking at Tatsuya Kamio's mocking expression, Suzune Horikita glared at him. If this method were usable, it would have been used long ago.

After some thought, she could roughly guess how Kushida had managed to bring a class to its knees.

That is, Kushida, who is a fake good guy, must have known many secrets of the students in the class, and these secrets cannot be exposed.

If Kushida is truly chosen to be sacrificed, Kushida will inevitably reveal this information.

Class D will definitely explode and completely lose any hope of being promoted to a higher class.

Therefore, it is better to let Kushida continue to provide information to Kamio Tatsuya than to expose Kushida's true identity.

Therefore, Tatsuya Kamio is sitting calmly and not in a hurry at all.

"Sakura-san."

"Sakura? What happened to her?"

"If you promise to let Kushida go, I promise to take care of Sakura in future exams." Horikita finally revealed his last trump card.

If there's anything in Class D that Tatsuya Kamio can't quite let go of, it's definitely not the wicked Kushida, nor Karuizawa who seeks his protection, but rather the harmless Sakura.

However, Horikita's ability to pinpoint the crux of the matter so precisely shows he has some skill.

“As a student in Class D, it’s your duty as a leader to take care of Sakura,” Tatsuya Kamio said calmly.

"Really? But Sakura and you have a very special relationship. If I told her now that Sakura is your spy in Class D, what would she think?"

It's confirmed. The person who thought of Sakura couldn't possibly be Horikita Suzune. That idiot Horikita Suzune wouldn't have come up with something like that.

"Horikita, if you rely too much on Ayanokouji's power, you will be devoured by it."

Since the other party has already said this much, there's no point in Tatsuya Kamio denying it anymore.

Although he didn't believe the other party would really frame Sakura as a traitor to the class, he himself wouldn't reveal Kushida's situation.

This is not good for anyone.

"There's no way I can persuade you to give up threatening Kushida on my own." Horikita showed no remorse whatsoever.

Seeing Horikita like this, Kamio Tatsuya decided to give her some respect; it wouldn't be good to keep messing with her.

"I can agree to that, but I have one condition."

"what?"

"For the final exam, Class D must designate Class C as their target and give me the questions that Class D submitted to the school."

"What did you say?"

Horikita was stunned for a moment. Good grief, now you're threatening me instead of Kushida?

"With two students missing, Class D is essentially down by several hundred points. I really can't figure out how Class D can win."

Since we're destined to lose this exam no matter how hard we try, we might as well give up now. Of course, if you're not planning to create the questions, I can provide some.

Kamio Tatsuya wore an indifferent expression.

He hadn't even planned how to persuade Class D to let Class C win the exam, when someone came knocking on his door.

Moreover, it was a door-to-door delivery service; Tatsuya Kamio never expected the other party to pull such a stunt.

Furthermore, Kamio Tatsuya never threatened Kushida to provide him with information.

So even if he agreed to Horikita's request, it wouldn't have any impact on Tatsuya Kamio.

However, it would be suspicious to agree directly, so he added his true purpose as an additional condition.

Incidentally, they did add an additional condition.

Moreover, he knew that he couldn't rush things at times like this, so he didn't urge Horikita and just waited quietly for her to think.

"I'm going to think about it."

"No problem, I'm not in a hurry."

Tatsuya Kamio put down his teacup, looking completely at ease.

As for Horikita's consideration, it must be to discuss it with Ayanokouji, because judging from what he just said, Ayanokouji must also be someone in the know.

However, I need to tell Kushida about this. I wonder how he'll react when he finds out. Oh no, just thinking about how he got unfairly blamed makes me want to laugh.

I will get back to you as soon as possible.

After Horikita left, Kamio Tatsuya contacted Kushida by phone.

Do you have time? There's something I'd like to talk to you about.

Kushida, who was playing in his friend's room, felt his phone vibrate and took it out. After seeing the message on it, he immediately smiled.

It's quite surprising that you would take the initiative to ask me out.

"Wow, Kikyo was laughing so happily just now, could it be her boyfriend?"

"No, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Really? That's suspicious."

……

After finally managing to smooth things over with jokes, another message came from Kamio Tatsuya.

Horikita just came to my place to discuss something about you. Don't you want to know?

Upon seeing this, Kushida immediately became restless. Although he could still maintain a smile on his face, he was filled with shock and anger inside.

I've been doing my best to help the class reduce the dropout rate, what else do you, you damn Horikita, want to do?

Thanks to this, Kushida spent most of his time going along with his friends after that, and completely lost the desire to have fun that he had at the beginning.

"Then I'll be leaving now."

After saying goodbye to his friends, Kushida immediately went to Tatsuya Kamio's door when no one was paying attention.

"Boom boom boom!"

Upon opening the door, Kamio Tatsuya saw a face that, though smiling, was completely unable to suppress its rage.

"I thought you weren't coming." Tatsuya Kamio yawned and checked the time. "Be earlier next time."

Generally speaking, Tatsuya Kamio would be lying in bed trying to fall asleep by this time.

However, he knew that Kushida would definitely come over, and he would probably have to get up then, so he didn't lie down.

However, he was curious to know what Kushida would do after learning about Horikita's actions.

Chapter 209 Horikita: I'm so stupid, really.

A few minutes later, Tatsuya Kamio sat wearily in a chair. He had just given a brief account of what had happened.

However, Kushida was not informed about the transaction.

"Anyway, it seems like Horikita thinks you're my spy in Class D, so he's begging me to let you go."

After hearing this, Kushida's expression became uncertain.

Is she helping me?

Also, was there actually a witness to what happened that night?

Never mind, that's not important. Ayanokouji is such a nobody, no one would believe him even if he told them.

The key is Horikita's attitude. What is that guy thinking?

Is she afraid that my past will be exposed?

Kushida was somewhat incredulous. If that was the case, then what about everything she had done before?

Yes, she must have done this for the sake of the class, not for me at all. Didn't she suspect that I was a traitor to Class D?

With all sorts of information flooding his brain, Kushida felt like his head was about to explode.

"I'm going back."

After Kushida left, Kamio Tatsuya couldn't hold back any longer and fell asleep on the bed shortly afterward.

The next day, Horikita sent word that she could agree to Kamio Tatsuya's request, and the two even signed a contract in the presence of their respective homeroom teachers.

Kamio Tatsuya agreed not to use Kushida's weaknesses to threaten him, while Horikita was to take care of Sakura in Class D.

Furthermore, this final exam will be specifically for Class C, and the exam questions provided by Tatsuya Kamio will be used.

Of course, if you violate the contract, you will be expelled from school.

After the contract was signed, the homeroom teachers of both classes left.

The person on the board also breathed a sigh of relief.

When Ryuen told him yesterday that he would be designating a class, he was a little worried about whether Class C could win. But Tatsuya Kamio immediately came up with a plan.

If there were exam questions, even without more people, let alone one more person, Class C would definitely be able to defeat Class 2.

After leaving the teachers' office, Horikita breathed a sigh of relief.

In that case, although Class D is almost certain to lose the final exam, Tatsuya Kamio will no longer be able to obtain information about Class D through Kushida.

"Oh, right." Kamio Tatsuya looked at Horikita with a mischievous grin, as if he had just remembered something. "Although I will no longer coerce Kushida into providing me with information."

However, if Kushida provides me with the information voluntarily, it wouldn't be considered a breach of contract.

Then, ignoring Horikita's shock, Kamio Tatsuya began to mutter to himself, "Come to think of it, I've never threatened Kushida to get information from me. Thanks for this exam, Horikita-kun."

After saying that, Kamio Tatsuya waved his hand and slowly walked away, leaving Horikita standing there dumbfounded.

Kamio Tatsuya didn't understand either. If they had just discussed it with Hirata, they could have easily concluded that Karuizawa Megumi was Kamio Tatsuya's informant.

However, Horikita mistakenly believed that his informant in Class D was Kushida.

And they even paid a price for this baseless accusation, which is simply laughable.

But then again, Class D is really interesting, hahaha!

Back in class, Horikita was somewhat absent-minded, even appearing a little dazed.

"What's wrong? Is the contract not going well?"

Seeing Horikita like this, Ayanokouji couldn't help but ask.

"No, the contract went smoothly." Horikita glanced at Ayanokouji with a lingering look. "But, Ayanokouji, have you considered one possibility?"

"You're not trying to say that Kushida offered the entry form to Kamio, are you?"

Horikita gritted his teeth in hatred as he watched Ayanokoji state the 'truth' with an expressionless face.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner if you thought of this?"

"Because you said that Kushida was threatened by Kamio and had no choice but to become his informant in Class D." Ayanokouji looked somewhat innocent.

Horikita rubbed his head, feeling as if he were being manipulated by these two guys.

However, no matter what, we must make sure that Tatsuya Kamio loses his inside man in Class D. Otherwise, even if a competition that doesn't rely on numbers comes up in the future, we won't be able to compete against Class C.

So, should we still try to reach out to Kushida?

Horikita hesitated. If this was also a trick by Kamio Tatsuya, if he was lying, and Kushida was not someone he wanted to betray, wouldn't that mean he had misunderstood Kushida?

After much deliberation, Horikita decided to talk to Kushida, because regardless of whether Kushida appreciated it or not, she had to tell him about the contract.

At the very least, you should let the other party know your goodwill.

With these thoughts in mind, Horikita contacted Kushida and arranged to meet him after school.

Kushida was also very conflicted because she had two reasons for targeting Horikita: one was that she was worried Horikita would reveal her past.

Another reason is, as Tatsuya Kamio said before, is that seeing Horikita makes her feel that her actions are being rejected.

But now Horikita is actually planning to keep her secret, even going so far as to ask Kamio Tatsuya for help.