2nd Year Room 4

This is the fourth chapter for the 2nd Year arc of You-Zitsu manga series.

Summary
Takuya Yagami approaches Kushida and asks whether she would be willing to be his partner for the exam. She suggests that he team up with someone who is more academically capable than she is, but Yagami responds that he would rather partner with someone he can trust. Kushida then asks him to allow her some time to consider his offer, which Yagami readily accepts. Kiyotaka, who had been listening in on their conversation, asks Suzune if she believes Yagami is aware of that, referring to the event Kushida instigated in middle school. Suzune replies that she's not sure because there was nothing to suggest that he knew.

Haruka then invites him to come over and talk with the rest of the Ayanokōji Group. Haruka agreed with Sakura that Hōsen was a frightening character. Yukimura inquired about Akito's silence, noting that he hadn't spoken anything about the incident. Akito responded that neither Sudō nor Ryuuen could be compared to Hōsen in terms of strength. He told them that, while he had never met him in person, a rumour had spread that he had beaten up and hospitalized a gang boss at his school. Haruka inquired if he had also been a delinquent, to which Akito replied that he had already quit a long time ago. She suggested that he might be able to fight Hōsen since he used to be a delinquent. Akito emphatically stated that even if he tried, he would never be able to fight someone like him.

Suzune, Kiyotaka, and Sudō went to the Keyaki Mall the next day to find partners for the exam. She noticed a group of three freshmen sitting on a bench and suggested they approach them. Kiyotaka remembers seeing them on the OAA App, they were Kaga, Mikami, and Shiratori. They had a B- or higher academic ability and were from Class D. Suzune approached them and asked for some of their time. The boys approached with caution and inquired as to what they wanted. She responded that they were seeking partners for the upcoming exam and asked if they had already found any. The three confirmed that they had yet to pair with anyone. Suzune then recommended that they try to work out a deal to pair up with Class 2-D, to which the boys agreed. Mikami deduced that her top priority was to find matches for students with low grades, which she confirmed. Kiyotaka believed that he was able to discover this information because it would have been spread among the first years by now.

Sensing the direction of the conversation, Mikami inquired if they were seeking a partner for Sudō. When Suzune confirmed this, he checked Sudō's profile on the OAA app, and given that he had an E+ in academic abilities, he speculated that it may be challenging for him and turned to his friend Shiratori and asked whether he would be willing to partner with Sudō instead since he had an A in academic abilities. When he accepted, Suzune thought the deal was done, but then Shiratori showed them his hand with the number five raised. He explained that he would naturally have to get something in return for giving up the rewards that come with coming out on top. Suzune realized that he was demanding private points. Sudō thought he wanted 50,000 points in exchange, but Shiratori corrected him and said he needed 500,000. They were taken aback when they heard such a large sum. He stated that this payment is appropriate since if he didn't agree, the second year could get expelled. Sudō remarked that he didn't even have 500,000 private points, and the three boys smiled as he had disclosed his own financial situation. Suzune offered Shiratori Class D's future cooperation in exchange for partnering with Sudō. However, Shiratori refuted that there aren't many students in Class D with good academic ability, and if they were looking for favors, they'd rather go to Class A or B. Shiratori mentioned that another second-year class approached them before they arrived. Suzune wondered if this truly happened, which irritated him, and he inquired as to what she meant. She pointed out that they, too, were from Class D. He told her that they were indeed approached by students from higher classes, citing Hashimoto from Class 2-A as an example, and Class 2-C as having offered them a large sum of points. Mikami went on to say that other academically brilliant students had received similar offers. Suzune acknowledged his point and stated that they would be unable to pay the requested amount in that case. Mikami stated that they weren't finished; all they had to do was provide them with 500,000 private points and they'd be willing to partner with them.

She changed the subject and asked if they could introduce them to other classmates so they wouldn't have to look for them one by one. The three boys became agitated and said that they couldn't help them since Hōsen would be angry if they did it on their own. Kiyotaka concluded that this proved Hōsen had Class 1-D in his control. Suzune understood, and before she left, she promised to contact them if they needed anything else.

Sudō believed they were being taken advantage of by requesting 500,000 points. Suzune agreed that it was a ludicrous price, but she knew they wouldn't agree unless they paid that. Kiyotaka reasoned that the entire first-year student body was undoubtedly already aware of the private point exchange and that it had to be part of Sakayanagi and Ryuuen's strategy. He told them that it was pointless for them to continue talking to random freshmen since they would get the same response. He believed that Hōsen should have ordered his classmates to demand 500,000 points before partnering with anyone and wait until someone was ready to pay those points. Sudō pointed out that this would put Class 1-D on the backfoot, so Kiyotaka assumed that they already had contingency plans in place. Suzune claimed that they were exploiting the fact that the second years were attempting to avoid expulsion as a weapon to win private points, describing this as a reckless strategy. Kiyotaka inquired as to how she planned to address the problem. She revealed to them that when she learned about this special exam, she set three key goals for Class D: to ensure that no one was expelled, to finish third or higher in the overall class ranking, and to avoid any exchange of money. After hearing her, Sudō expressed some reservations about her strategy. She explained that it would be pointless to use all of their points to find partners because the risks would outweigh the advantages; even if they won first place in the exam, they would only receive 50 class points, which would equate to a little over 2 million private points after a year. If they spent 500,000 private points to find matches for their partners, they would wind up with negative numbers. Suzune stated that they would have to negotiate with Class 1-D to achieve her objectives. Sudō questioned how she would do it since Housen, their leader, had ordered them to not accept it unless they were offered points. She emphasized that this only applies to exceptional students, since there were also students in class D with a C or lower in academic ability. Furthermore, if they continue to demand points, the less prepared students would face a penalty if they do not locate a partner in time, which would be an issue for them. Suzune indicated that if Hōsen does not want to fall behind in the class battle, he will be compelled to change his strategy. She remarked that there were risks for the class if they all agreed to Housen's plan, and they'd have to work in order to minimize them.

Suddenly, a female student who had overheard their conversation, approached them, claiming that she was also looking for a partner.

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