I have a life simulator.

"What we, Class 2-C, are seeking is an equal and long-term cooperative relationship, so please rest assured about that."

Hiyori Shiina quickly revealed her feelings, and it can only be said that in terms of negotiation, whether it is her image, temperament or language skills, she is indeed much more effective than Ryuen himself.

"I know, and I also know a bit about the situation in your Class C."

Xue hesitated for a moment after hearing this before continuing:

"More than that, I'm worried about whether the strength of our two classes can support everyone to get through this special exam safely."

Although it looks like she's cosplaying Ryuen Sho, Xue clearly knows that if she wants to maintain control of a class in the long run, she must at least make the students in the class genuinely feel that she is capable of doing things, such as ensuring that all students in Class D pass the special exam.

Even if you fail, the maximum penalty is only a deduction of three months' worth of personal points. But everyone would rather not have their points deducted, as tens of thousands of personal points are still a considerable amount for freshmen who have just entered Dongyu.

However, compared to the other three classes, there is no doubt that Class D in the first year is the worst in terms of overall academic ability. This can also be seen from the data from OAA. There are only fifteen students with an academic level of B-, which is above average. Less than half of them are students who are struggling at an average level, seemingly able to pass but also seemingly unable to pass, as well as poor students who would definitely not pass without the help of an older student.

"In fact, Class C's scores should be higher than the OAA's on paper. From March to now, a month and a half, including the spring break, everyone has been studying very hard."

Seeing Yuki's worries, Shiina Hiyori offered a reassuring explanation.

The data on OAA does indeed have a certain lag, since its changes are based on midterms, finals, club grades, and various special exams. Although Class C unexpectedly beat Class D in the special exam at the end of March, they still lost miserably in several academic-related subjects. There haven't been any quizzes since the start of this academic year, so the data on OAA has not been updated.

"Moreover, there are still two weeks until the special exam. If we study hard, it shouldn't be difficult to pass this exam. However, this requires everyone's full cooperation. Regardless of whether they are good or bad students, they must accept their assigned partners 100% in order to have a chance for everyone to pass."

At this point, Shiina Hiyori cast an inquiring glance toward Yuki.

In fact, in this special exam, the underachieving students are naturally not the ones who will cause trouble. After all, without the help of the class, it would be difficult for them to find a suitable partner on their own. Even if they could find one, they would have to pay a considerable amount of personal points as a price.

On the other hand, precisely because there is profit to be made in this special exam, high-achieving students may be unwilling to accept the class's assignments, or want to take on orders on their own to earn personal points, or want to team up with high-achieving seniors to boost their rankings, which is a headache to think about.

"I might need to mediate."

Yuki didn't make any grand promises, but Shiina Hiyori immediately understood and said:

"If there's anything we can do to help, please let us know."

Although the goal is to achieve an equal cooperative relationship, the pressure faced by first and second year students is not equal due to the punishment for this special exam. Therefore, Class 2-C can accept a certain amount of effort, as long as it is within a controllable range.

"Okay, then it's settled."

With Kitagawa Ryo as their witness, Yuki and Shiina Hiyori, representing their respective classes, signed this alliance treaty.

After the somewhat heavy and tedious topic ended, the three of them, including Kitagawa Ryo who hadn't said much the whole time, were finally able to relax and chat.

This was the first time Kitagawa Ryo had ever seen Yuki display such a complex expression in front of others, sometimes enthusiastic and sometimes bored. After all, apart from Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika, she rarely had such a strong desire to communicate. When Ichinose Honami took the initiative to communicate with her, she only left after saying a few words.

However, after thinking for a moment, Kitagawa Ryo understood Yuki's thoughts.

Just like his own initial belief in Hiyori that "no matter how the times change, you remain the same," the pure and innocent heart that shines through naturally possesses a complex attraction for Yuki herself.

After all, in a sense, that is who she wants to be, and firmly believes that she has become, the person she is today.

In that white room, Kitagawa Ryo and Yuki had discussed each other's names many times, his Ryo and her Yuki.

Although Xue is still not used to her surname to this day, as if by a twist of fate, the mystery she seeks is actually hidden in her name.

Camellia, snow.

Turn it upside down and it becomes snow jasmine.

This is one of the subspecies of camellia, which usually grows in snowy areas and blooms in the snow. The white variety of camellia is also known as 'Hime Shirayuki'.

Kitagawa Ryo, who also possesses the talent of a 'flower language master,' is well aware of the meaning of this flower.

The meaning of snow bud flowers—

It means perfect and flawless beauty.

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

"It went even more smoothly than I expected, and the other party was even easier to talk to than I anticipated."

After the three-person chat ended, Kitagawa Ryo got up and first took Shiina Hiyori to the tea ceremony club, while Yuki went back to inform and coordinate the cooperation with the students in her class. Ryuen Sho was in charge of Class 2-C.

"It's nothing like the rumors say. At first, I really thought it was like Ryuen's personality from before."

After successfully reaching an agreement, Hiyori Shiina was in a very relaxed and happy mood, constantly sharing her feelings with Ryo Kitagawa.

"By the way, when is Ryo planning to transfer to this class?"

"Have you collected enough points?"

"No, although Longyuan won another four million personal points as the commander in the special exam at the end of the last school year, the twelve million IOUs he has can't be suddenly converted into liquid funds. But if you include the part I saved, it should be soon."

Shiina Hiyori counted on her fingers for a while, then tilted her little face up slightly towards Kitagawa Ryo:

"What? Liang's getting impatient? Are you going to pay for it yourself?"

"Even if you asked me to pay now, I wouldn't have that much. I used most of my personal points to save Suzune in the special exam at the end of the school year. If you really think about it, I still owe Airi a huge debt."

"That should be considered Lingyin's fault, right?"

"Although I think the root cause should be Arisu's problem, no, it should be Ichika's. Ichika is because of me, and I am because of the White Room... It really is Ayanokouji Atsuomi's fault. Let me think, the son pays for the father's debts, so maybe it should be Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's fault."

"Ryo has been mentioning Ayanokouji quite often lately."

"Because I think it's becoming increasingly likely that the other side is going to destroy our campus life."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Although it's a bit early to say, I don't think I can stay in this school until I graduate from my third year. Maybe one day I'll have to leave on my own."

This was the first time Shiina Hiyori had heard Kitagawa Ryo mention this matter, but she didn't press for further explanation, only murmuring somewhat forlornly:

"That's it..."

This wasn't the first time she'd experienced something like this. In the simulation where she gained her memories, Kitagawa Ryo had chosen to drop out of school midway through. However, that time was earlier; she disappeared after the sports festival in the second semester of her first year, and only stayed for half a year.

"However, Hiyori doesn't need to worry or be anxious. It should still take some time. I estimate it will take at least another year. And if I really leave then, I actually hope that Hiyori can finish her last year of high school here in peace."

To be frank, Kitagawa Ryo has never really agreed with the idea in many love stories where the couple abandons their plans for the future because of a momentary impulse. Temporary separation is always for the sake of a longer companionship in the future, especially for high school students like them, and for students who will have been in high school for two years by then. Giving up their studies halfway through is definitely an unwise thing to do.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as Karuizawa Kei, who had planned her future early on and came to Dongyu University just to accompany him.

"Well, I know."

Seeing Shiina Hiyori silently nod in agreement, Kitagawa Ryo also felt that the atmosphere between them had become somewhat heavy, so he changed the subject again:

"By the way, Hiyori can also talk to Yukito more in the future. Actually, she has a very good feeling about you, and I also feel that you two are very compatible. What do you think, Hiyori?"

"Hmm... I think she's quite friendly. Her bad relationship with Arisu is probably like mine with Megumi, they probably had some kind of conflict 'in the past'?"

"Pretty much, but the situation between the two of them is much more complicated than that between you and Hui. It's like a super-upgraded and enhanced version."

With that, Kitagawa Ryo shook his head, no longer insisting, and instead asked:

"Has Hiyori been reading any new mystery novels lately?"

"Yes, I read Na Duo's 'A Brief Account of Murders Over 19 Years'."

"I've read this book before. The plot is very well-designed, and the manipulation is very successful. It's easy for the author to lead you by the nose and constantly generate and then overturn one suspect after another in your mind."

"I particularly liked the design of the murderer and the victim writing letters to each other without knowing it, and the plot twist was also used to create a nice twist later on. It's no wonder that the setting was deliberately made to be the end of the last century. I haven't heard the term 'pen pal' for a long time now."

"Hey, I wrote a handwritten letter to everyone on Valentine's Day."

"I wish that the 'everyone' in Liang's sentence could be replaced with my name."

"It would be better for Hiyori to just ask, 'Is this something unique to me or something that all the other sisters have?'"

"really."

Perhaps because he had chatted casually with Hiyori Shiina about letters for a while, Ryo Kitagawa unconsciously recalled the handwritten letter that his sister, Toyuki, had brought him.

When he checked the letter again a few days ago, he discovered that there was a faint cat paw print at the end, which looked like some kind of 'this cat approves' stamp, making Kitagawa Ryo both amused and exasperated.

It seems that by the time this special exam ends, during the May Day Golden Week...

He has to leave the school again.

Chapter 18: You little dog, you don't even deserve to be called one!

With Class D of Year 1 and Class C of Year 2 officially finalizing their cooperation, Class A of Year 2 also took the opportunity to officially pair up with the first-year students who had already reached an agreement. In just one night, more than half of the second-year students on OAA had formed partnerships with first-year students.

However, the remaining second-year students were not in a great hurry, especially the students in Class D of the second year. Most of them were not thinking about how to pass the test, but rather hoping to find a strong partner to help them improve their ranking. Therefore, they were mostly targeting the freshmen in Class A and Class B of the first year.

Thanks to Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's connections in the first year, the process went quite smoothly, allowing the students of Class 2-D to once again witness the strength of their class leader and stabilize the class's morale.

Although at first glance it seems that Class 2-D has returned to Class D, considering that the last year's special exam was lost due to bad luck and the last time Ayanokouji Kiyotaka left, and that Ayanokouji and Katsuragi Kohei have both joined the student council, with the former being one of the vice presidents, most of the Class D students still have a certain degree of confidence in the future of their class. This special exam is their first shot in the counterattack.

After all, it is a well-known fact that Class 2-C is weak in academic ability. This time, their partner is Class 2-D, the weakest class in the first year, which is almost guaranteed to be at the bottom of the class rankings. If Class 2-D works hard, it is entirely possible to reverse their order.

Just as the students of Class 2-D were preparing to launch a counterattack, their class leader, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, secretly arranged to meet with someone: Kyo Ishigami from Class 1-A.

"You met me later than I expected."

Although he was a first-year student, Ishigami Kyo was taller than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and showed no respect for his senior.

He has always revered Ayanokouji Atsuomi's ideology and naturally wanted to inherit his political legacy. In this respect, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka could even be considered his direct competitor. In particular, Ayanokouji Atsuomi's initiative to bring his own son from behind the scenes to the forefront in the past two years showed that he almost designated the other party as his successor.

If it were someone else, they might have given up at that point. After all, they are father and son by blood. Moreover, in Japan, it is only natural for a son to inherit his father's position. The same applies to politicians. Why would they give resources to an outsider instead of nurturing their own son?

However, Ishigami Kyo knew Ayanokouji Atsuomi very well, even more so than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, his biological son raised in the White Room. Therefore, he was more aware of the man's character and the fact that there was no affection whatsoever between the father and son.

It was precisely for this reason that Kyo Ishigami chose to enter Tokyo Advanced Educational High School to personally confront Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

His family wasn't a large company or conglomerate, and their wealth was even less than that of Ryuji Kanzaki. While this was a very comfortable situation for ordinary people, it was far from enough for Kyo Ishigami, who wanted to enter politics.

Therefore, he needs Atsuomi Ayanokoji's help.

However, resources and favors are things that are always dwindling once used. Therefore, even if Ayanokouji Atsuomi has a good impression of him now, as long as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka exists, the amount allocated to him will definitely decrease.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji looked at Kyo Ishigami sitting opposite him. His face remained calm, but he had already guessed the other's thoughts with great accuracy.

Of course, all of this was told to him by Yuecheng Changcheng before he left.

After all, he knew very little about this kind of knowledge and information. Tokyo Advanced Educational High School was a boring and closed-off high school for other students, but for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, it was much larger than the White Room. He had spent the first ten years of his life in these two places.

If it were the old him, he would probably have approached this outsider, whom he had never met before and knew nothing about, whose motives, background, and purpose were unknown, testing and hesitating little by little before finally meeting him in person.

But it's different now.

Both Tsukishiro Tsuneshige and Kitagawa Ryo provided him with considerable assistance, especially the latter.

If the relationship between the former and him was one where they both knew the truth but wouldn't say it out loud, then the latter was different.

After learning that Ishigami Kyo had enrolled as a freshman, the other party asked Kamuro Masumi to send him a story.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji understood perfectly well that Ryo Kitagawa meant to protect Kamuro. After all, with Masayoshi Hashimoto expelled from school, this student, who had been a spy, could easily become his next target.

But I must say, the story that Kitagawa Ryo sent was very useful.

Even if it were just to hear more stories like this in the future, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji didn't think he would ever lay a hand on Masumi Kamuro again.

After all, Dongyu and his class were no longer his top priorities.

The true story that Kitagawa Ryo told him featured Ishigami, who was sitting right in front of him at that moment.

According to him, that must have happened about ten years ago.

At that time, Atsuomi Ayanokouji had a habit of organizing a banquet every year, and the guests were investors and participants of the White Room Project. Essentially, it was a way for everyone to get to know each other and also to attract new investments. Therefore, many attendees would bring their children with them.

After all, at their age and social class, comparing the excellence of younger generations is always a source of endless enjoyment.

Kyo Ishigami was one of them, as was Ryuji Kanzaki.

The dispute began when a child lied out of vanity.

A boy named Fuji boasted that he had a soccer ball autographed by a famous player at home, but he was quickly exposed by another boy named Nogi, because he had met the player two months ago and the player told him that he never signed autographs on his own initiative, and the one he gave him was the only one available.

Nogi had two followers on either side of him, and the three children together demanded that the boy named Fuji apologize. Kanzaki Ryuji was just an observer at the time, and after realizing that Fuji was lying, he found the whole thing boring and didn't want to get involved.

In his view, if the child had apologized instead of stubbornly insisting that he did, the matter would have been resolved quickly. But the other party simply refused to apologize, which made the situation even more awkward.

Just as Fuji was about to be bullied, Ishigami Kyo suddenly arrived. He was Fuji's friend, so he stood up to protect him, even though he knew Fuji was lying.

Faced with the aggressive Nogi trio, he ultimately chose a course of action that Kanzaki Ryuji considered extremely drastic.

He chose to provoke the other party and make a scene, even offering himself up by letting Nogi grab his collar. Then, just as the other party swung his fist, he shouted loudly, attracting the attention of all the other adults present.

In this way, by portraying himself as a victim, Ishigami Kyo successfully scared away the Nogi trio and protected his friends.

Without a doubt, this is a pretty good quick thinking move for a child.

Especially when faced with the threat from Nogi, who came from Nogi Pharmaceuticals, that "I'll have my father ruin your parents' company," he was still able to calmly respond, "Then let's make a big scene, run around making a scene here, and the more famous your father becomes, the more embarrassed he'll feel."

But ultimately, it's only a method that works for children.

Children are afraid of making a scene and upsetting their parents, and adults are unwilling to lose face because of their children's issues.