I have a life simulator.

Although Class A in Grade 3 did not hold an absolute leading position in the entire grade like Class A in Grade 2, after nearly three years, it had already created a considerable gap in class points between itself and the lower-ranked classes, especially Class C and Class B. It can be said that these two classes had basically lost the ability to compete for the position of Class A after entering the third grade.

Akane Tachibana originally thought that their Class A's only remaining rival after that was Class B in the third year. After all, Class B and Class A were only one step apart in terms of graduation benefits, but their situations were vastly different. They would never give up until the very last moment. Wasn't Ishikura, the leader of Class B, flirting with Nagumo from Class A in the second year with this in mind? But who knew that the situation would quickly take a turn for the worse, and a situation would emerge where the three classes in the lower ranks would jointly attack Class A?

No, buddy... at least Class B got some real benefits from defeating Class A, but why are you Class C and Class D, who clearly have no chance, fighting so desperately?

"Yes, the current situation in the third year is indeed all Ayanokouji's doing, and his method of winning over the lower-ranked classes is very simple: he directly dangles a big promise for them after graduation."

Just as Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was fully aware of Ryo Kitagawa's actions in his second year, Ryo Kitagawa was also very clear about Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's series of operations in his third year. After all, the other party was able to offer millions of personal points as a real stake to tempt Ryuen during the special summer exam after the first semester ended. By following the clues and conducting a little investigation, one could guess most of the truth.

To be honest, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's logic for action can probably be traced back to Koenji Rokusuke, or rather, he got his inspiration from Koenji. After all, this Ayanokouji in the real world is not the experimental subject who escaped from the white room and hid in Dongyu in the simulation, but a representative who was pushed to the forefront by Ayanokouji Atsuomi himself with a political mission. This means that he can now use the resources and bargaining chips of Ayanokouji Atsuomi and even the Naoe faction without any scruples or burdens.

In this respect, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who wields such power, is even more troublesome than that beautiful guy who used to admire himself in the mirror. After all, the only son and heir of the Koenji Zaibatsu mostly had a playful attitude, and his large-scale collection of personal points from senior students was just to make his school life more carefree. He did not choose to directly control senior students or even classes like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

At this point, seeing Akane's puzzled expression, Kitagawa Ryo patiently explained it to her again:

"Indeed, the students in Class C and Class D of the third year are about to graduate. From Class A's perspective, they would definitely feel that the other side doesn't need to make a futile struggle at this hopeless point in time. But the reverse is also true. It doesn't matter what they do before graduation, so why not choose to add more chips to their future? That's why Ayanokouji's promise is so sweet to them."

"Yes, that's exactly what Kitagawa said."

Horikita Manabu nodded slightly upon hearing this, and calmly expressed his thoughts:

"However, this will not affect the fact that we will graduate as Class A in the end."

Class 3-A had already suffered such a blow during the Sports Festival, which not only made them realize the current situation of the alliance between the lower-ranked classes in the third year, but more importantly, it made them get rid of their previous views on Nagumo Masashi. After all, Horikita Manabu himself was a gentleman, and for a long time before, even though he felt that Nagumo Masashi's ideas conflicted with his own, he did not use his power as the student council president to prevent her from eventually taking the position. In fact, he had always maintained a very high opinion of Nagumo Masashi.

Just like what he said to Nagumo Masa during the sports festival, the other party's casual sabotage this time actually came at the cost of all the unspoken trust they had built up over the past two years. Anyway, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and being sabotaged during the sports festival was better than being sabotaged at a more crucial moment.

"Now that it has been confirmed that Ayanokouji is indeed involved with the other third-year classes, or that he can command them, then it is necessary to tell you and Suzune what follows."

After displaying a calm yet confident demeanor, Horikita Manabu then spoke to Kitagawa Ryo and Horikita Suzune, revealing the true purpose of his invitation to them:

“I’ve worked with Nagumo in the student council for over a year, and I’m very clear about his ideas about the school. His advocacy of meritocracy has never been limited to competition between students in the same grade, so there will definitely be more special exams between students from different grades.”

"Your relationship with Nagumo is strained, while Ayanokouji is on good terms with all the third-year classes except Class A. So you must be extremely careful when you encounter special exams that involve competition or cooperation between different grades."

Having heard Horikita's words to this point, Kitagawa Ryo also discerned a hidden meaning in them, and tentatively asked, resting his chin on his hand:

"It sounds like we'll meet soon?"

"Well, based on past experience, it should be around the next month or two... As for the format, if it's not a training camp, it should be a school trip."

"I see."

Faced with Horikita Manabu's reminder, Kitagawa Ryo nodded thoughtfully in agreement. Sitting next to him, Horikita Suzune's purplish-red eyes also flickered, and she had already begun to think about how to use this information obtained in advance to increase her influence in Class A.

"Okay, that's all for today. See you next time."

Having said that, Horikita Manabu gracefully rose to leave, but before departing, he casually remarked something unrelated to the main point:

"I saw your photos on the forum a few days ago... Hmm, nice scarf."

-------------------------------------

Having just seen off one senior, Kitagawa Ryo was called out by another senior who looked melancholy less than half a day later. The good news was that, just like with Horikita Manabu, this time the other woman would pay the bill.

"After all, we agreed before that we would cover the bill for every drink we go out. Just order whatever you want, like cold drinks. We still have a long way to go to use up the individual points we earned from voting for you at the last sports festival. Anyway, we'll just give them to that bastard Nagumo."

"Then I won't be polite."

Having no intention of disappointing the other party, Kitagawa Ryo casually chose a drink from the local winter special, then casually raised an eyebrow at Asahina Nazuna, who was sitting opposite him, after placing his hands on the table:

"Your coat looks great on you, senior."

His words weren't exactly a forced compliment. After all, compared to the common white or black down jackets, the warm orange-yellow thick coat that Asahina-senpai was wearing today was indeed eye-catching. Paired with her bright and sunny personality, it gave him a warm and dazzling feeling on this somewhat chilly winter morning.

"Hehe, right? I spent a long time picking this one out."

Seemingly pleased with Kitagawa Ryo's praise, Asahina Nagisa, who had just been cursing Nagumo, nodded smugly, the sunflower hair clip on her forehead swaying with her movements.

So, after exchanging a few compliments about each other's outfits, Asahina Nazuna moved on to her familiar approach with Nagumo, which was her standard tactic when chatting with Kitagawa Ryo. Although she had a wide social circle, when she talked about Nagumo in front of other second-year students, he could only stammer and not dare to respond. Among her friends, only Kitagawa Ryo could talk to her like that.

"Let me tell you, Nanon went crazy again a couple of days ago and insisted on removing Kiriyama from Class B's position as vice president of the student council. Even though Mizowa and Tonakawa from the class, oh, they are also student council secretaries, they all disagreed. But no matter who tried to persuade him, he wouldn't listen. He even angered Kiriyama. Apparently, he came to Nanon in private and the two of them shouted things like, 'Nanon, you'll regret this!' 'Kiriyama, don't forget, I'm the student council president!'"

Upon hearing Asahina Nazuna's words, Kitagawa Ryo already knew that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was making his move. After all, the conflict between Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu was about the two of them vying for an empty position. The best way to avoid offending either of them was naturally to kick Kiriyama, who was occupying the other position, out of the competition. It could be said that this was a case of collateral damage.

"It's alright, actually. After all, it's the same every year. The position of vice president of the student council is always handed over to the next freshman."

"That's true, but only Nagumo has done something so undignified... Speaking of which, since he took office, apart from launching the OAA system, it seems like all he's done is negative news."

At this point, Asahina Nazuna sighed in disappointment, carefully sipping her hot drink through the straw for a while. Suddenly, she looked around alertly, making sure no one was watching, before leaning forward slightly from her seat and whispering to Kitagawa Ryo:

"By the way, I kind of want to see Hotaru do a backflip again."

Chapter 391: Ryota Knows How to Win Over Girls (4k5)

"Wow, this is my first time in the freshman dorms. I hope everything will be alright?"

"It's okay, we're still on winter break. Just two days ago, Sudo from our class invited his seniors from the basketball club to his room for a bit of fun. And although it's supposed to be a first-year dorm, I remember all the dorms at Dongyu are the same style, so they shouldn't be any different from yours, the second-year dorms."

After Asahina Nazuna offered to go to his room to see the kitten, Kitagawa Ryo didn't refuse and readily agreed to her request, quickly leading his senior into the first-year dormitory building.

"That's what they say, but this is actually my first time here in your first-year class, especially since it's a boy's... junior's room."

Seeing Asahina Nazuna-senpai hesitate a little as she approached the door, seemingly only then realizing what was happening, Kitagawa Ryo didn't pay much attention. After taking the elevator to the fourth floor, he went to room 408 on his own, took out his key and opened the door first. After confirming that there were no other suspicious traces in the entryway, such as an extra pair or several pairs of shoes, he turned around and greeted his senpai.

"We're already at the door, so let's hurry up and come in. If we linger in the hallway any longer, the other students on the same floor will really notice us."

"Okay, okay."

After being slightly 'intimidated' by Kitagawa Ryo, Asahina Nazuna quickly slipped into his dormitory room. Before even changing her shoes, she slammed the door shut from the inside like a thief. She leaned against the door and let out a long sigh of relief. Once her heartbeat had calmed down a bit, she curiously looked around at the layout of Kitagawa Ryo's dormitory.

The dormitory layout and style assigned to each student at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School are indeed identical, but depending on the occupants' living habits, the room arrangements of each student are actually quite different. Asahina Nazuna's first impression of Kitagawa Ryo's dormitory is probably best described as being packed full.

Whether it's the kitchen or the desk, almost every tiny corner of the space is utilized to the fullest. All sorts of decorations practically fill her entire field of vision. However, because everything is so neatly arranged, even the bedding on the bed, it doesn't feel messy at all. Instead, it gives people the kind of satisfaction that comes from the release of an obsessive-compulsive person.

"What an amazing room!"

Although she had claimed she wanted to see the cat's backflip, once she entered Kitagawa Ryo's room, Asahina Nazuna completely ignored the small wooden house near the shoe cabinet, which looked like a decoration but was actually for Hotaru. After changing into her indoor shoes, she went into the small kitchen next to the entrance with great interest. She was quickly drawn to the various kitchen utensils hanging on the walls and the oven that took up a large space in the corner. When Kitagawa Ryo went in to look, Asahina Nazuna had already picked up his apron hanging on the rack and was curiously gesturing to herself. When she saw him come in, she smiled at him a little shyly and put Kitagawa Ryo's apron back in its original place.

"The cold kitchen is definitely the most extravagant one I've ever seen in Dongyu. How should I put it? It just feels incredibly professional!"

"It's probably because I usually cook for myself, and I only use the oven for baking in my spare time."

"I know that, after all, I've eaten desserts made by Ryo herself, and your class's dessert shop was especially famous during the school festival... Hmm, it seems like Ryo has transferred to another class now?"

"Oh, right, didn't you want to see Hotaru? Let me see where she went."

Realizing that Kitagawa Ryo didn't seem to want to delve deeper into the topic of transferring classes, the highly emotionally intelligent Asahina Nazuna smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, it shouldn't sneak out again like it did the first time I found it, right?"

"No, Ying is very well-behaved."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo walked out of the kitchen and went to his wardrobe. He cleanly and neatly pulled the wardrobe door open, and sure enough, the other person was curled up in another little nest made of his old clothes, rolling around.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and in fact, Hotaru has three places to sleep. One is the wooden hut with "Hotaru's House" written on it. The other is the little nest in the wardrobe, which was originally a temporary place before the former was built. Now it occasionally serves as a temporary refuge when other unsuspecting people come to visit. As for the last place, that is Kitagawa Ryo's own bed.

It has to be said that Hotaru truly lives up to her reputation as a deity disguised as a cat. Unlike other cat owners who encounter problems such as cat hair, litter, or other issues, Kitagawa Ryo has never been bothered by Hotaru. However, upon closer reflection, Hotaru has remained unchanged in both size and appearance since he adopted her, so he can only say that he is at peace with her.

Conversely, if Hotaru weren't such an easy cat to raise and requiring absolutely no effort, the other person wouldn't have been able to stay peacefully at Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School for so long.

"No matter how many times I look at it, I always think Hotaru's eyes are especially beautiful."

Easily drawn to the cat's presence, Asahina Nazuna, who was sitting on the sofa, couldn't resist and hugged Hotaru tightly in front of her.

"I saw other cats on campus a few days ago, but none of them were as cute as Ying."

Are there any other cats on campus? Stray cats?

"No, it doesn't seem like it. I remember it had a collar around its neck and it was quite affectionate. It probably came from the faculty dormitory area. After all, the faculty area is different from us students; they are allowed to keep small pets like this."

"This is the first time I've heard of this, but the faculty and staff dormitories are indeed separated from the campus living area, and since everyone there is an adult, I feel that the school wouldn't particularly prohibit this."

"Yes, so I've been thinking of a backup plan for Ryo and Hotaru these past few days. If Hotaru's existence is accidentally noticed or discovered one day, Ryo can try to ask a teacher he's close to for help, and have them pretend to claim her. That should solve the problem. Of course, this is just a backup plan for emergencies."

After hearing that Asahina Nazuna was genuinely thinking of him and his sister, Kitagawa Ryo nodded with a smile, showing his appreciation:

"I understand, thank you so much, senior."

For some reason, after Kitagawa Ryo gave a heartfelt thank-you speech, Asahina Nazuna on the other side seemed a little embarrassed. She put her hands under Hotaru's armpits, using her as a shield to cover her face, and her voice unconsciously became much softer.

"Why so formal... It's just a small suggestion from me."

"Besides, Ying is so cute, I don't want the school to just take her away and take her off campus."

"Right, Hotaru?"

"Meow."

Seeing Asahina Nazuna suddenly start talking to the cat, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but smile and stood up, heading towards the kitchen.

"I forgot to pour tea for you, senior. You treated me to tea at the Beech Tree Shopping Center earlier, so let me treat you back now."

"That would be troublesome."

While Kitagawa Ryo went to the kitchen to make tea, Asahina Nazuna resumed her unfinished observation. She quickly and astutely noticed that most of the decorations and ornaments in the room were gifts from girls. Considering the various rumors circulating on the forums surrounding this junior, Asahina Nazuna couldn't help but chuckle, feeling as if she had discovered a wealth of real evidence to prove those rumors true.

"It's a little hot, you can wait a while before drinking it."

Before long, Kitagawa Ryo brought out two cups of black tea and a teapot from the kitchen on a tray. He gently handed one of the cups to the other person and then carefully gave him a word of advice.

"Ah."

Asahina softly agreed. The air conditioning in the room had already turned up the temperature, so she took off her down jacket. Underneath was a beige sweater. Compared to the bulky down jacket that could almost cover Ichinose Honami to the level of Sakayanagi Arisu, although she was still wearing quite a lot, the curves of the girl's chest could still be shown in a relatively obvious fullness, somewhat conspicuously demonstrating to Kitagawa Ryo what it meant to be a year older than her and called "senpai" (senior).

"Speaking of which, what is Ryo's view on childhood sweetheart relationships?"

While waiting for the black tea to cool down to a drinkable temperature, Asahina Nazuna took the initiative to ask Kitagawa Ryo this question.

In a sense, this was a question that had been troubling her for a long time.

"Childhood sweethearts?"

Upon hearing Asahina Nazuna mention this word, Kitagawa Ryo's hand holding the teacup paused in mid-air, naturally conjuring up the talent he had once drawn called "A Promise is a Promise."

If we define childhood friend as growing up together, then in all his Sims, he has actually had quite a few childhood friend experiences with the heroines in the stories. Whether it's Ichinose Honami's second Sim, Karuizawa Megumi's first Sim, or Sakayanagi Arisu's first Sim, there's even a 'childhood friend from the sky' relationship that would be considered the quintessential romance manga. But the endings of these stories can't really be described as happy.

It could even be said that, in the development of certain plot points, it is precisely this childhood sweetheart relationship that truly restricts their relationship, highlighting the sense of entitlement and fearlessness of the favored one in every aspect.

"...Although it sounds strange, I actually think the phrase 'being favored makes one fearless' is a good way to describe this relationship."

After saying that, Kitagawa Ryo took a sip of the black tea in his cup, only to see Hotaru, who was lying on Asahina Nazuna's lap, wagging her tail at him in dissatisfaction.

Hey, if childhood sweethearts are simply defined as people who grow up together, then wouldn't a younger sister be the perfect fit for this definition of a "childhood sweetheart"?

But she has never done anything like being 'favored and taking it for granted'.

"Those who are favored are fearless... I actually think Liang's summary is surprisingly apt."

Asahina Nazuna was taken aback by what she heard, but she quickly grasped the meaning and responded with a wry smile.

After all, the reason why Nan Yunya dared to abandon her and make advances on pretty girls in the second and even first years without any scruples was simply because he felt that she, his so-called childhood sweetheart, did not have the courage to truly leave him. That's why he became more and more outrageous, to the point where he is today.

Aside from her chaotic private life, what Asahina Nagisa finds increasingly distasteful of Nagumo Masaru is his behavior after taking over as student council president.

Stubborn, suspicious, and autocratic... These adjectives used by Nagumo Masaru's opponents to attack him in the past have become increasingly apt over time. Especially for Asahina Nazuna, who has known him for a long time, Nagumo Masaru's changes during this period have even exceeded the sum of the other party's previous ten years of life.

If she initially only felt a little disappointed and annoyed, by today, Asahina Nazuna had actually become somewhat numb.

The antonym of "like" is sometimes not "dislike," but rather indifference or lack of concern.

Ultimately, whether you like or dislike someone, it means you're still investing your emotions in them. The relationship truly ends when you no longer care about any news from them or are unwilling to comment on their actions.

Without a doubt, Asahina Nazuna is now close to that stage.

If her initial conversation with Kitagawa Ryo about Nanono Masaru stemmed from some lingering habit from the past, by now, the other person had almost become a topic of conversation that was no longer relevant to either of them.

She no longer wondered why the other person had become like this, nor did she feel disgusted by their actions.

In Kitagawa Ryo's view, from the moment he asked the question about 'childhood friends,' the relationship between Asahina Nazuna and Nagumo Masaru had already become a mere formality.

However, he didn't think it was a bad thing.

It wasn't that he had any special feelings for this beautiful senior with the air of a girl next door; after all, his schedule was already almost overloaded. He simply felt that Nan Yunya and she were not a good match.

Childhood sweethearts is indeed a wonderful phrase; just having it evokes a flood of touching stories.

However, no one in this world has ever stipulated that childhood sweethearts must be together.

And so, over their respective cups of black tea and reminiscing about their past experiences, Kitagawa Ryo leisurely shared his many thoughts with Asahina Nazuna, until he saw that the other woman's previously somewhat confused eyes gradually regain their resolve.

"Phew—I got it."

"I never thought I would be mentored by someone younger than me."

After finishing the last bit of black tea in her cup, Asahina Nazuna stretched lazily again, her tone somewhat complicated, as if she were relieved but still troubled by love.

"This has nothing to do with age."