Everyone, who had been feeling down thinking tonight's BBQ party was ruined, suddenly brightened after hearing the result of Katsuragi Ren's penalty.
Especially the three students: Kanzaki, Shibata, and Amikura.
Shibata and Mako Amikura had volunteered with full confidence, carrying everyone's hopes, but unfortunately lost the competition. Ryuji Kanzaki, who was forced to participate by Katsuragi Ren, still wanted to win glory for the class just as much as the others.
In this situation, failing made everyone feel really bad.
"Those who work for everyone's sake shouldn't be left out in the cold. Whether you won or not, you're all heroes who fought for the class."
Katsuragi Ren chuckled softly. As long as classmates were willing to step up, that was enough.
Within the class, everyone could be kind and avoid conflict, but when it came to outsiders, someone had to take the lead. That's what a real class should be.
And this… was also a reward for the three of them.
This open-air BBQ was thanks to the three of them. Having them cook for everyone later would make it clear who the real heroes were.
Yume Kobashi, ever the social butterfly, stepped forward and hugged Mako Amikura, who was still feeling guilty. "Mako, you were amazing! I could never have swum that fast."
"Yume, I..." The failure of this match was ultimately still a thorn in Mako Amikura's heart.
Ichinose joined in, smiling: "Just win it back next time. Besides, Mako, you got us a BBQ party."
With Ichinose speaking up, the girls in the class all gathered around Mako Amikura, showering her with praise.
The thorn in the girl's heart was replaced by a sense of pride.
"What about us? Is no one going to speak up for us?" Shibata and Kanzaki, having walked out of their low spirits, looked at Mako Amikura's treatment with extreme envy.
Unlike the girls' side, the boys' way of expressing themselves was extremely simple and crude.
A middle finger and a laughing curse.
"Embarrassing. How could you lose that? Be good slaves to the class tonight and grill for everyone."
"Exactly. Kanzaki, you're the vice monitor. Let me take over."
"Shibata-kun, so short."
Shibata and Kanzaki, getting scolded, looked at each other and laughed too.
It seems... this isn't bad either?
...
Ryuen Kakeru, after getting 6 million points, looked very upset.
He made a mistake. He thought he could figure out how strong Katsuragi Ren was in this competition, but he didn't expect that Katsuragi Ren had never planned to join at all.
He didn't believe Katsuragi Ren would just hand over these 6 million points to someone else like this.
Ryuen became even more careful around Katsuragi Ren. He didn't know what Katsuragi Ren would do next.
"Ryuen-boss, getting these 6 million points was really easy." Ishizaki, who couldn't read the mood, was beaming with joy at this moment.
With the huge sum of competition prize money landing in Class C, he wondered how much Boss Ryuen would distribute to everyone. Surely he would distribute a little more or less?
Thinking of Ryuen's style, Ishizaki thought uncertainly.
"Ishizaki, starting today, stop sending people to track Class A. And Class D's Ken Sudo—don't look for trouble with him anymore."
Better safe than sorry. Ryuen decided to stop trying to get money from Class A for now. Next, he had to focus on what Katsuragi Ren might do to get back at him.
Ken Sudo, who was just an idle move on the board to begin with, was also discarded by Ryuen.
He didn't have time to worry about Class D people now.
He had to admit,
The pressure from Katsuragi Ren earlier was just too much.
In the tough world of the first year, the 'evil dragon' Katsuragi Ren was putting so much pressure on the leaders of the other three classes that they felt like they had to give in.
Ryuen Kakeru, who was just as sneaky, would never give up so easily.
What he needed to do now was to lobby the representative animals of the other two classes to join this operation to hunt the evil dragon.
Class B's leaders, Arisu Sakayanagi and Kohei Katsuragi, had endured no less pressure than he just now. It depended on what thoughts they had next.
As for Class D...
In this plan to take down the 'dragon,' someone had to be the one sent in first, and that would be Class D.
Therefore, abandoning the pawn Ken Sudo was necessary.
...
Leaving the swimming pool, Kohei Katsuragi didn't separate from Arisu Sakayanagi immediately this time. Instead, he led Yahiko Totsuka and followed behind Arisu Sakayanagi.
To keep the 'Princess' safe, Masayoshi Hashimoto kept a close eye on Kohei, who led the other group in the class.
"Hey, Hashimoto, what's with that look?" Seeing Hashimoto's blatant defensiveness, Yahiko Totsuka asked unhappily.
Kohei Katsuragi, who had matKohei Katsuragi, who wanted to talk with Arisu Sakayanagi, stopped Yahiko, who wanted to start a fight with Hashimoto. Frowning, he said, "Totsuka." Yahiko drooped his ears like a wilted puppy and stood to the side, speaking no more.
"Heh, really..." Just as Hashimoto was about to mock Yahiko...
Arisu Sakayanagi spoke up as well: "Hashimoto."
"Understood, Princess." Hashimoto instantly understood Arisu's meaning. He shut his mouth immediately and even made a motion like zipping a zipper across his lips with his hand.
Does this person have to be such a lapdog...
Everyone was formerly from Class A, so why are you so skilled at being a lackey?
Seeing Hashimoto like this, Masumi Kamuro felt she had lived long enough to see everything, complaining frantically in her heart.
Arisu Sakayanagi smoothed her skirt, sat down gracefully on a bench, and spoke to Kohei Katsuragi. "Katsuragi-san, it seems you felt the pressure too."
Because of her health, Arisu Sakayanagi felt Katsuragi Ren's pressure the most.
Looking at the reactions of those around her at the time, she believed the others wouldn't be much better off than she was.
"That's right, Sakayanagi-san. I think we can't afford to fight internally anymore." Without any concealment, Kohei Katsuragi gave his proposal.
With that huge pressure, he didn't think he or Arisu Sakayanagi could face Class A's Katsuragi Ren alone.
He needed to unite with Arisu Sakayanagi; otherwise, Class B might never have the chance to rise to Class A again.
"So, is Katsuragi-san going to give up fighting for the leader position?" Arisu wanted to use the pressure brought by Katsuragi Ren to swallow the position of Class B leader in one gulp.
Kohei Katsuragi certainly wouldn't grant her wish, just as he had thought before.
Whether it was him or Arisu Sakayanagi.
Neither of them alone could withstand the pressure brought by Katsuragi Ren.
"I mean, you take the offense, and I'll take the defense. You decide on external policies, and I won't interfere. In return, you cannot interfere with my defensive strategies for the class."
This was the solution Kohei Katsuragi could think of right now.
The bold group could keep being bold, and the careful group could stay careful, but they could not stay split like this anymore.
To prevent the radical faction from stabbing them in the back, they might as well draw the line clearly between their territories.
Signaling with her eyes for the "Kamuro puppy" to bring her cane, Arisu Sakayanagi tapped the cane on the floor—tap, tap, tap.
The two decision-makers of Class B remained in a stalemate like this.