After school in the afternoon, dozens of students had already gathered at the first gymnasium.
Most of these students were first-years, while the second-years were led primarily by Class 2-B.
Horikita Suzune watched Ichinose Honami mingling in the crowd, laughing and chatting.
Her smile soothed much of the freshmen's anxiety and tension - her social skills could only be described as terrifying.
At this moment, probably only Hirata Yosuke or Kushida Kikyo could keep up with her.
But the former was currently still Depressed, and the latter had no interest in first-years, so neither had come.
"Only Class B's leader is here. It seems this is her stage."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's voice came from beside her, interrupting Horikita Suzune's thoughts.
Turning around, Horikita Suzune found not just Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but Sudo Ken following behind him.
"It's rare for you to come along."
"Without a partner, it would be troublesome, so I came to take a look."
"Is that so?"
Horikita Suzune wasn't particularly interested in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's response, though she was indeed curious about whether Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Sudo Ken could bring any value to her.
"Horikita..."
Sudo Ken hesitated as he looked at Horikita Suzune. "Could I... discuss something with you?"
"If it's about tutoring, everything remains as usual."
Horikita Suzune thought he had come along to talk about this, so her voice showed no particular inflection as she continued calmly observing the exchange meeting.
Sudo Ken opened his mouth, though that wasn't actually what he wanted to say.
His real concern was about Nagumo Miyabi and Ryuen Kakeru - he was deeply conflicted about his previous decisions.
His blind trust in these people had led to Yamauchi Haruki's expulsion, and now he found himself trapped on Nagumo Miyabi's problematic path, filling Sudo with regret.
The person he instinctively thought of was Horikita Suzune, hoping she could help resolve his troubles.
But facing the aloof girl who seemed uninterested in others, Sudo had no idea how to broach the subject.
He could only close his mouth, alternating between glancing at the girl and looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"Just standing here is pointless, isn't it?"
Ayanokoji said, "Even though this is Class B's exchange event, we won't understand the situation without interacting with some freshmen."
"What would talking to them accomplish anyway?"
Horikita Suzune countered, "Is your social ability superior to Ichinose's?"
In reality, about half of the freshmen at the exchange event were gathered around Class 2-B.
Ichinose Honami's radiant smile acted like a black hole, continuously drawing in the surrounding freshmen.
Just witnessing this scene made Horikita Suzune abandon any thought of competing in social skills.
"I've already gathered plenty of valuable information just by overhearing their conversations nearby."
Horikita sighed, "Most of these freshmen have weak academic abilities and lack confidence, which is why they're hoping this exchange event will help them pass their exams."
These weren't the freshmen she was looking for - they were too weak to be of any help to the struggling students in her class.
For students like Sudo Ken with poor learning abilities, finding a partner required at least B-level academic skills, otherwise both would fail together.
And Class 2-C had six or seven more students like Sudo Ken, making Horikita Suzune feel utterly exhausted.
Sudo seemed to understand his own situation too, his face flashing with frustration and guilt.
"I'm leaving. If you want to stay until the end, feel free."
Horikita Suzune had completely lost interest in the exchange event and turned to leave without hesitation.
"Leaving already?"
"The freshmen gathered here are too few. Probably more than half of them aren't interested in this exchange event. They're my target."
Sudo Ken and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka exchanged glances before following her.
...
Kaoru and Katsuragi Kohei were working in the Student Council.
The Student Council, having just started the new semester, was buried in paperwork - mostly budget forms and reports submitted by various clubs.
Besides the two of them, Sosuke Tonokawa was also present.
"Nagumo-kun seems to be making contact with first-year students recently."
Sosuke Tonokawa reported Nagumo Miyabi's movements to Kaoru, "There have been sightings of him interacting with freshmen at coffee shops, and similar sightings in the dormitory buildings."
It must be mentioned here that Kaoru was quite wealthy.
Moreover, as Student Council President, he not only had wealth but also the authority to access surveillance cameras, enabling the monitoring room to report certain individuals' movements to him.
Officially, Kaoru had purchased surveillance access using some Personal points.
Beyond surveillance, many people were currently attempting to pledge their loyalty to Kaoru.
These individuals hoped that Kaoru would offer some benefits, such as overthrowing Class 3-A, providing Personal points, or even securing future employment at the Shinomiya Group.
Kaoru didn't need to intervene personally—information about Nagumo Miyabi was already flowing steadily to him.
In short, an iron curtain targeting Nagumo was descending from all directions within ANHS.
"A first-year?"
Katsuragi Kohei was curious. "Are there any photos or the like?"
Sosuke Tonokawa shook his head.
Taking photos with a phone would make a sound, so almost no one would dare to secretly photograph someone face-to-face.
"No photos, and Nagumo-kun is very cautious. He only met with a few first-years."
Katsuragi Kohei fell into deep thought.
He knew Nagumo Miyabi was scheming another move against Kaoru—was he planning to use this exam to expel him?
Sosuke Tonokawa glanced at Kaoru.
Since last semester, the expulsion of his friend had made him realize that his relationship with Nagumo Miyabi was irreconcilably hostile.
Therefore, he now had no choice but to rely on Kaoru.
To earn that reliance, Sosuke needed to demonstrate his value in front of Kaoru, and this intelligence gathering was part of that effort.
If he could gain Kaoru's trust, Sosuke believed he could not only remain at the school but also prevent his class from falling behind.
Yes, Sosuke was wary of Kiriyama, trying to outdo this rival who had aligned himself with Kaoru earlier.
Kiriyama's indecisiveness during the voting period now gave Sosuke an opportunity.
He even suspected that the "wavering faction" Kaoru mentioned during the entrance ceremony referred to Kiriyama Ikuto.
Kiriyama wasn't loyal enough, but Sosuke could offer his loyalty!