Soon, the members of the Snake Group met again.
"Good evening, everyone!" Honami Ichinose greeted with a radiant smile, full of energy.
"Have you all thought things through regarding what happened during the day?"
Her words were primarily directed at the students of Class C.
Although their interaction had been brief, this group didn't have any overly dominant individuals, and Class D was even more leaderless.
If Class B and Class A were to join forces and address the issues with Class C, they could likely achieve Outcome One quite quickly.
As for Class D, aside from Hasebe Haruka who had a bit of initiative, the rest seemed to just follow the mainstream opinion.
"We plan to wait and see. If the VIP's identity is revealed at the end, Class C wouldn't mind helping to achieve Outcome One," Hiyori Shiina said in a gentle voice, her eyes unblinking, showing no sign of her deceptive talent.
However, Honami Ichinose was clearly delighted.
"I'm relieved that everyone feels this way," she said, already prepared as she pulled out a few decks of playing cards.
"Although it's just my personal suggestion, how about we play some cards? After all, it's boring just staying in the room, and we shouldn't waste an hour doing nothing."
Except for a few students like Miki Yamamura and Haruka Hasebe, most of the others joined Honami Ichinose's card game.
Due to the large number of participants, the usual rules didn't apply, so they had to adopt some special variations, such as Old Maid.
While shuffling the cards, Honami Ichinose casually suggested, "Isn't it a bit boring without some stakes?"
"Stakes?" Hiyori Shiina tilted her head. "But we can't bet money. The school might scold us if they find out."
"Of course, we wouldn't bet money. It's more like punishing the loser, making them do something, like truth or dare," Honami Ichinose said with a chuckle, her gaze occasionally flickering toward Kaoru Mitoma.
Kaoru Mitoma pretended not to notice and interjected, "Who decides the punishment?"
"The first one to finish their cards?" Masayoshi Hashimoto offered the most common answer.
"Ahaha, that's right. The winner decides the punishment for the loser," Honami Ichinose's smile grew wider.
"If that doesn't work, we can switch later."
"Is there no limit to the punishment?" Mei Yu Wang asked timidly.
"If it's too extreme, it's okay to refuse. We shouldn't make things difficult for our classmates. This is just a game," Honami Ichinose replied.
Since they had to draw cards, everyone rearranged their seats to form a circle and Honami Ichinose took the opportunity to sit next to Kaoru Mitoma.
Hiyori Shiina sat across from them, with Masayoshi Hashimoto and Mei Yu Wang beside her.
"Alright, let's start right away!" Honami Ichinose seemed eager as she cut the deck.
Kaoru Mitoma silently picked up his hand of cards.
Fortunately, he didn't draw the Joker.
Starting with Honami Ichinose, they proceeded clockwise and she was able to draw a card from Kaoru Mitoma's hand.
Kaoru Mitoma calmly watched the girl cheerful expression as she happily drew a card and then allowed him to draw from her hand.
Next, Kaoru Mitoma chose a card from the hand to his right and flipped it over—it was a Joker.
It seemed like an unlucky start and she was clearly prepared.
Kaoru Mitoma calmly organized his hand and then exchanged cards with Masayoshi Hashimoto.
After a while, Honami Ichinose's smile froze.
Because, in the end, she was the loser.
"What a shame, but what will Honami-chan do?" Himeno Yuki, as the winner, naturally had the right to command Honami Ichinose.
"Please, have mercy, Yuki-chan!"
"No way."
"Yuki-chan..."
"I've always been curious, how did you develop so well? Can you tell me?"
"Yu...Yuki-chan!?"
In the end, Honami Ichinose, blushing deeply, leaned in close to Himeno Yuki ear and whispered something.
"So that's how it is..."
Before Himeno Yuki could speak, Honami Ichinose hurriedly covered her mouth.
"You can't say that, Yuki-chan!"
It seemed the punishment was effective, as Kaoru Mitoma averted his gaze from the girl's chest.
Honami quickly regained her composure, took a deep breath and declared with renewed vigor that they would play another round.
***
"How could this be... It's impossible... I tried so hard... Why couldn't I catch him..."
As they played, Honami muttered to herself from time to time, unwilling to give up as she picked a card from Kaoru Mitoma's hand.
Without a doubt, she drew the Joker.
In an instant, Honami's body trembled slightly and a flash of despair crossed her eyes.
"It's Honami-chan again, are you really okay?"
"I-I'm fine, I don't care at all, it's just a game."
"..."
Although she still wore a smile on her surface, upon closer inspection, there was no joy in Honami Ichinose eyes.
This was probably what they called a forced smile.
After sixteen rounds, she had been the Joker seven times and each time she lost against Kaoru Mitoma.
Honami couldn't understand; she had observed Kaoru Mitoma's expressions, so why couldn't she catch him off guard?
During this time, she also suggested that the winner could command the second-to-last place, trying to turn the tables.
Unfortunately, Kaoru Mitoma managed to pass through steadily from beginning to end.
"It seems like it's about time," Hiyori Shiina checked the time.
After the tense and exciting game, her face was flushed and she seemed somewhat reluctant to leave.
"But it was quite fun, it's more comfortable with more people!" Masayoshi Hashimoto sighed.
He had been the Joker once and couldn't help but glare at Kaoru Mitoma.
"Speaking of which, you haven't been the Joker even once, I was planning to punish you!"
"Why would you punish me?" Kaoru Mitoma was puzzled.
'I could understand Honami's motives, but why were you getting involved?'
"Hey, hey, hey, don't you know what you've done?" Masayoshi Hashimoto's face darkened.
His little princess must have been tainted by this guy.
Kaoru Mitoma shook his head and then someone gently tugged at his sleeve.
"Why can't you let me win?" Honami looked at him with dissatisfaction, her voice very low.
"There's no need for that, whatever you want me to do, I'll satisfy you."
For some reason, when he said this, Honami started to feel shy.
"If you say it, will you do it?"
"Of course."
"Did you have a girlfriend before?"
"No."
Honami, who had been shy just a moment ago, suddenly stared at him intently.
Her entire demeanor underwent some kind of change.
Although she was still the same as usual, she felt different.
Kaoru Mitoma had to avert his gaze and softly asked, "Why are you asking this?"
"I don't know, it just feels like it's not your first time."
Since everyone was here, Honami didn't say much more and silently turned her head away.
Meanwhile, Hiyori Shiina across from them looked at the two with some confusion.
She had always been quite perceptive, having noticed Kaoru Mitoma and Kamuro Masumi's little actions in the library and this time was no exception.
However, she felt strange.
Aren't Kaoru Mitoma and Kamuro Masumi a couple?
Why does he seem to get along well with Honami Ichinose too?
It seemed a bit chaotic.
Hiyori Shiina thought for a moment and decided not to delve deeper into it.
After all, it wasn't her concern
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