After entering a private room in the restaurant, Kanda Shuichi noticed that Ryuen wasn't waiting for them as he expected. Instead, Ryuen was cooking meat on the grill by himself, looking more like an ordinary customer than a tyrant.
"Please sit, both of you."
Ryuen casually picked up the tongs and flipped over the beef on the grill.
Seeing this, Kanda Shuichi's eyebrows twitched.
"What is this you're grilling?"
"You're completely ignoring the heat, can this even be eaten?"
"Hmm?"
At that, Kanda Shuichi grabbed another grilling tongs from the side, stopping Ryuen's movement.
"Hmm?"
Ryuen froze for a moment when his tongs were pushed away. Was he trying to provoke him?
"People who don't know how to grill meat shouldn't waste such precious ingredients."
So, the first words exchanged between them weren't about the class, but about grilling beef.
However, Ryuen was curious to see what Kanda Shuichi could do, so he put down his tongs.
"Well, I'm looking forward to trying your cooking."
After a quick glance, Kanda Shuichi continued to wait, turning the meat to make sure it was cooked properly. He then brushed oil on the meat, flipped it over, grilled it for a few more seconds, and added seasoning.
Then, he carefully placed the cooked meat on a clean plate.
"Eat it while it's hot. Once it cools down, it won't taste as good."
Ryuen smiled and picked up two pieces with his chopsticks, placing them in his mouth. Shiina, after quietly thanking him, also joined the eating.
After trying the meat Kanda Shuichi grilled, Ryuen's eyes immediately lit up. It was indeed better than his own cooking.
"Not bad. How about following me from now on?"
Hearing Ryuen's words, Kanda Shuichi looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"Just 20 million points. If I want, I can gather that amount pretty quickly."
Ryuen wasn't bothered by Kanda Shuichi's stare and boldly spoke up.
So, you also have the value bank?
"No need. Just tell me, why did you want to meet me?"
"Don't you know why I'm meeting you?"
Kanda Shuichi glanced at Ryuen, then started placing new pieces of meat on the grill.
"I have no idea."
The blunt answer made Ryuen pause, then he sneered.
"Looks like you're not as clever as Akito. I think I might have come to the wrong person."
"Ah, right, right, so you're not treating me for this meal?"
Kanda Shuichi raised his head slightly, looking at Ryuen.
The moment Ryuen saw the expression on Kanda Shuichi's face, he realized the guy was messing with him.
"Hmph, your personality really is awful... I'll just say it straight, I want you to stay away from our class's students."
As soon as Ryuen spoke, Shiina's expression darkened a little.
Kanda Shuichi naturally saw all of this.
"Do you think Shiina would betray Class C?"
As he flipped the meat, Kanda Shuichi casually asked.
"There's a possibility."
"I see." Kanda Shuichi nodded. "Well, I'll have to refuse."
Ryuen's lips had already curled into a mocking smile when he heard "Well," but the following words froze his expression.
"In that case, Hiyori, what's your attitude on this?"
"I won't betray the class!"
"Yeah, I don't think you would, but believing in it doesn't change anything. There are plenty of people in the class who don't trust you. Just that is enough to affect my plans, and that will affect Class C."
Faced with Ryuen's pressure, Shiina opened her mouth several times but couldn't say anything.
"Enough, is it really necessary to be this cautious just because you're afraid Shiina will leak Class C's information?"
Unable to watch Shiina struggle, Kanda Shuichi couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark about Ryuen.
"It's not overcautious if it's about advancing to Class A."
When it came to this matter, Ryuen immediately stopped feeling sleepy.
"So, you sent your three idiots to try and frame D-Class?"
"Yep, I told Sudou to say that. What's your plan now? Plus, your move was too amateurish. You can't work with no evidence, can you?
Don't believe me? Watch this—I just knocked 200 points off A-Class's total. That's what you call a real sacrifice."
When Kanda Shuichi spoke, Ryuen immediately thought of something that had happened earlier.
"Ah, so you were behind that!"
"See? Don't you think that compared to my move, yours was pretty rough? Relying on Sudou messing up his words, wasn't that a bit too cocky—or maybe just plain stupid?"
After saying this, Kanda Shuichi stared straight into Ryuen's eyes, their gazes locking like sparks flying between them.
After a few seconds, Ryuen suddenly laughed.
"Well, this school really never gets boring."
Seeing Ryuen laugh, Kanda Shuichi returned to his role as the chef for the day.
"Also, you don't need to go after Shiina. Like you said, getting 20 million personal points is easy, isn't it?"
Ryuen didn't like hearing his own words used against him so quickly. His expression darkened.
"How about this, we team up? That way, you won't have to worry about Shiina leaking your information."
Hearing this, Ryuen seemed to find it amusing. "Are you serious? You want to team up with D-Class?"
It seemed even he looked down on the trash in D-Class.
"Looks like you enjoy making jokes. I'm talking about me, not D-Class," Kanda Shuichi said, pointing his thumb at himself.
Upon hearing this, Ryuen's expression turned serious.
"Tell me more."
"For example, in the next special exam, we could try working together. What do you think?"
"Special exam? What do you mean?"
"This school holds exams that affect class points to encourage competition among students. These exams are called special exams. The exact time and format of the exams are unknown.
For instance, at the beginning of the year in April, there was a behavior exam for all first-year students, and then in May, the midterm exam tested students' ability to gather information."
Since the midterm exams ended, the fact that the previous exam was about ancient topics was no longer a secret. So, the real purpose of the midterm exam had become clear to the first-year students.
"I know all this. Get to the point."
Ryuen picked up a piece of meat, eating it impatiently, signaling Kanda Shuichi to hurry up.
"You should know that after the final exams, we'll have a two-week vacation, right?"
Ryuen paused for a moment, then asked, "You mean, that's part of the school's special exams too?"
"Of course. Do you really think the school is nice enough to let us go on vacation to a southern island without any ulterior motive?" Kanda Shuichi smiled.
After hearing this, Ryuen began thinking about the pros and cons of the situation.
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