In practice, I originally just wanted to be a slacker.

"That's not what I meant," Shiina said somewhat helplessly. "It was actually Sakayanagi's attitude; she refused to let Ichinose join her group."

And you said you didn't trust Ichinose-san? Don't you know that it was Masumi-san who brought that up back then?

Upon hearing this, Tatsuya Kamio rubbed his forehead.

Then he couldn't help but sigh, looking at Shiina with a helpless expression.

"Hiyori."

"Hey, wh, what's wrong?"

“Masumi is a student in the class, after all. Even if we are close, she would not betray the interests of the class.”

There must be a deeper meaning behind Sakayanagi's actions, so why would she tell me something like this?

Upon hearing Tatsuya Kamio's explanation, Shiina blushed deeply. The time they spent together during winter break had almost made her consider Kamuro a companion.

The main reason was that she didn't think there was anything to hide about it, so she didn't tell Tatsuya Kamio about it.

"Yes, I'm sorry, it was my oversight."

"It's nothing. No matter what, Sakayanagi wouldn't make trouble for Ichinose at this time. After all, Class B has actually helped the class in terms of the boys."

Shiina nodded.

"I see. No wonder Sakayanagi stopped targeting Ichinose-kun afterward."

While chatting and eating with Shiina, they also observed the people coming and going in the cafeteria.

Not far away, Horikita Manabu was eating with his classmates, while Tachibana Akane, whom he was more interested in, was hiding alone in a corner, listlessly putting food into her mouth.

Kamio Tatsuya understood Horikita Manabu's feelings. This guy wanted to avoid contact with girls because it might cause Nagumo to go berserk, which would eventually lead to more problems for others.

A prolonged defensive strategy will inevitably lead to defeat, and focusing solely on defense is exhausting.

Akane Tachibana's mealtime was very short, partly because she had a small appetite and partly because she wasn't in the mood, so she quickly picked up her tray and left.

At that moment, Tatsuya Kamio also stood up.

"Hiyori, I'm leaving now. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Well, don't worry."

Shiina nodded to Tatsuya Kamio.

Tatsuya Kamio followed Akane Tachibana out of the cafeteria. Whether it was his superior tracking skills or Akane's psychological pressure, he didn't notice that there was a tail following him.

Walking alone, Akane Tachibana stopped in a secluded corner of the school building, then squatted down against the wall, hugged her legs with her arms, and buried her face in her arms.

Not long after, Kamio Tatsuya heard sobbing coming from around the corner.

"You'll get caught if you cry here."

As Tatsuya Kamio emerged from around the corner, he also gave Akane Tachibana a heads-up.

"I... I wasn't crying!"

Akane Tachibana looked up and saw Tatsuya Kamio. She stubbornly argued while wiping her already red eyes with her tracksuit.

"I can only fool myself with this kind of thing. It's not like I can't see for myself."

Tatsuya Kamio shrugged and then walked to a spot about a meter in front of Akane Tachibana.

"W-what do you want to do?"

Tatsuya Kamio is quite tall, so when he stood there, he blocked the light, casting Akane Tachibana's figure in shadow.

Akane Tachibana felt inexplicably scared.

Seeing Akane Tachibana like this, Tatsuya Kamio found it amusing.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted. Did Horikita-senpai dump you?"

"You're the one who got dumped! Besides, Horikita and I aren't in that kind of relationship."

Upon hearing this, Tachibana immediately perked up, or rather, became annoyed. However, this energy lasted only a moment before she lowered her head in dejection.

Tatsuya Kamio understood Akane's thoughts very well; she probably felt that she was about to be expelled from school.

Then Horikita Manabu will still be able to graduate from the class and still have a bright future. Compared with Horikita Manabu, the gap between him and me will only widen, and then I will probably never see him again.

Don't think that Tatsuya Kamio's idea is exaggerated, because this is exactly what Akane Tachibana is thinking right now.

The thought of never seeing Horikita Manabu again made Tachibana Akane feel very anxious, which is why she secretly ran to this deserted corner to shed tears while everyone was eating in the cafeteria.

As a result, this Kamio junior was so annoying that he actually came over to make fun of me. How awful!

Just then, Tatsuya Kamio suddenly spoke again.

"Hey, Tachibana-senpai, it must feel awful to be isolated, right?"

The moment Tatsuya Kamio suddenly revealed the truth, Akane Tachibana couldn't hold back anymore, and the panicked expression on her face could no longer be concealed.

"How...how did you know?"

"Never mind that. I just think you should talk to Horikita-senpai about this." Kamio Tatsuya glanced at her.

Although Akane Tachibana had a sharp tongue when she was in the student council, she is actually a good person.

Aside from occasionally casting envious glances at Tatsuya Kamio and Manabu Horikita when they went to the gym together, she did indeed help Tatsuya Kamio a lot with his work.

She is a good senior student.

Moreover, Horikita Manabu really takes good care of himself, so Kamio Tatsuya can't just sit idly by.

However, to resolve this matter, a large amount of personal points must be spent, so much that Tatsuya Kamio cannot afford it.

Therefore, this matter must be handled by Horikita Manabu.

Kamio Tatsuya came up with a solution, but Horikita Manabu would have to pay the price.

"No, I can't tell Horikita-kun. He's been fighting alone since first year, and he's still battling third-year students and that annoying Nagumo. I can't let him get distracted!"

Akane Tachibana stood up from the ground, looking at Tatsuya Kamio with a determined gaze.

"Really? It's okay if you drop out of school?"

"It's okay if I drop out of school!"

There wasn't a hint of wavering in Tachibana Akane's words, so she really hadn't considered the possibility that Horikita Gakuin would sacrifice class points and personal points to help her.

"It's okay even if Horikita-senpai can't graduate from the class?"

"Even if..." Akane was about to say it was okay, then immediately realized what she meant, "What did you say?"

"I'm saying, if you drop out of school now, Horikita-senpai will probably be too devastated by such a big blow, and then Class B led by Ishikura-senpai will overtake you."

"This, this is impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible. Even if you two still address each other by your surnames, you shouldn't be unaware of Horikita-senpai's feelings for you, right?"

Akane Tachibana lowered her head in silence.

"Emotions are a very strange thing. They can unleash unprecedented power in a person, or they can crush a person into a useless person."

"Can you bear to... turn Horikita-senpai into a cripple?"

Tatsuya Kamio spoke softly, but his words seemed to touch Akane Tachibana's soul, and her mind raced, conjuring up what might happen next.

After a long while, Akane Tachibana finally looked up at Tatsuya Kamio.

"I, what should I do?"

“You don’t need to do anything.” Tatsuya Kamio gave a reassuring smile. “You just need to tell me whether you want to stay at this school.”

"I... I don't want to drop out of school. I want to graduate from this school with Horikita-kun!"

Akane Tachibana almost cried as she said those words.

"Did you hear that, Horikita-senpai?"

As soon as Tatsuya Kamio finished speaking, Manabu Horikita walked out from around the corner, his eyes filled with heartache as he looked at Akane Tachibana.

"Horikita-kun..." The moment Akane Tachibana saw Horikita, tears welled up in her eyes. All the pent-up frustration of the past few days exploded within her, and she threw herself into his arms, sobbing, "Waaah~~"

Seeing this, Kamio Tatsuya consciously left the area and stood outside the corner, quietly keeping watch.

Haha, I never thought I was actually a good person.

A few minutes later, Horikita Manabu came around the corner, while Tachibana Akane had already left via another route to return to her dorm.

"Thank you, Kamio." Horikita Manabu's expression was very serious. "I overlooked Tachibana's feelings."

"It was nothing, and Horikita-senpai helped me a lot too." Kamio Tatsu waved his hand dismissively. "But what are you planning to do about this?"

"To be honest, there's nothing I can do, because the outcome was already decided when we were grouped up. I lost to Nagumo."

Horikita Manabu unequivocally admitted his defeat.

"So you plan to use 300 class points and 20 million personal points to help Senior Tachibana?"

"That's right, I will never give up on Ju!"

Horikita Manabu's face was also filled with determination.

Looking at Horikita Manabu, Kamio Tatsuya shook his head. Did this guy not think of it, or did he think of it but didn't want to do it?

"Don't be so quick to admit defeat, it's not time yet."

"Do you have any other ideas?"

Horikita's heart skipped a beat.

“Since Nagumo wants to play dirty tricks, then we’ll play along.” Kamio Tatsuya’s lips curled into a cold smile. “There’s a saying that Horikita-senpai should have heard: no matter how solid something is, it can’t withstand internal collapse.”

Upon hearing this, Horikita Manabu's heart skipped a beat: "You mean..."

"That's right, not all the students in Senior Tachibana's group are from Class B. On the contrary, there are some students from Class D who want to see their class make a fool of itself."

If we can successfully turn the members of Class D against us, we can not only thwart Nagumo and Ishikura's plans, but also make them lose more than they gain.

What are your plans? Is there anything you need me to do?

"Horikita-senpai is being closely watched by Nagumo right now, so you don't need to do anything. Just prepare 20 million private points, and I'll take care of the rest."

Upon hearing this, Horikita Manabu immediately understood Kamio Tatsuya's thoughts.

After weighing the options in his mind, he nodded and agreed to Tatsuya Kamio's plan.

After all, it was Ishikura and Nagumo who were unrighteous first, so we can't blame him for being unjust.

Moreover, if Tatsuya Kamio's plan succeeds, then Ban's title defense will likely be a foregone conclusion.

Chapter 254 Conspiracy

After dinner, Tatsuya Kamio quickly took a shower and returned to his dormitory.

When it was eight o'clock, while the second-year students were taking a shower, Kamio Tatsuya took the opportunity to approach Yoshida Arata, a third-year student who was out alone in the bathroom.

Good evening, Yoshida-senpai.

"Oh, it's Kamio. Good evening."

After spending these few days together, Kamio Tatsuya and Yoshida have gotten along quite well, and they have also gained a basic understanding of what kind of person the other is.

Simply put, he's somewhat similar to Yukimura in Class D of the first year; both are academically gifted but relatively weak in other areas.

He was the kind of person who, when he first arrived at the school, basically thought that academic ability was the most important thing. He had the shortcoming of only focusing on academic ability, which is why he was assigned to Class D.

"Speaking of which, Yoshida-senpai's academic ability seems to be among the top in his third year. Is his goal the University of Tokyo?"

The University of Tokyo (Todai) is the best university in Japan.

Yoshida hesitated when this was mentioned.

"Actually, I've been having some worries lately."

"Troubled? Would you mind telling me about it?"

Yoshida hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

At this point, Tatsuya Kamio smiled to himself; this was the benefit of building up favorability.

"Actually, it's about Saya."

"Saya?"

Kamio Tatsuya was surprised, but in reality he was pretending not to know. He had wanted to steer the conversation in this direction, but he didn't expect it to go so smoothly.