"Now then... I think this place should be safe, right?"

After that... I led the members of the Ayanokōji Group to a place with few people and decided to talk about something.

"So... what do you mean by Kiyotaka trying not to involve us?"

"This might take a while, but please listen until the end~!"

And so... Ichika-chan began to speak.

"Actually~! Right after April began and the Partner Written Exam was announced, you see? Among some of the new students, there was something called a hidden exam... a completely separate one being held~! I was... one of the selected participants too, you know?"

"A hidden exam? What exactly was its content?"

"The content is simple. If you can expel Ayanokōji Kiyotaka by the end of the second semester... you’ll receive 20 million points."

"““““What!?””””"

As expected... upon hearing the contents of the hidden exam, the members of the Ayanokōji Group couldn’t hide their shock.

"No way... why didn’t Kiyotaka tell us something that important?"

"Yukimuu..."

Yukimura-senpai let out a pained voice.

"There are two main reasons. First... among the selected members, there is Hōsen Kazuomi."

"Tch... of all people, Hōsen!? I had a bad feeling about this..."

Miyake-senpai, upon hearing Hōsen’s name, showed a look of understanding.

"As Miyake-senpai probably knows... he’s the kind of person who would resort to actions beyond your expectations if it serves his goal. And what if, instead of targeting Kiyotaka-senpai directly... he targeted Kiyotaka-senpai’s relationships?"

"I see... he could use us as hostages to force Kiyotaka into expulsion. That guy would definitely do something like that..."

In reality... even if Hōsen tried something like that, he’d just get crushed by Kiyotaka-senpai, but Ichika-chan understands that perfectly well~

According to Kiyotaka-senpai... even when Ryūen-senpai took Karuizawa-senpai hostage, he managed to rescue her without any trouble...

"Yes. Kiyotaka-senpai doesn’t want to involve you all in his situation... but if he warned you about it, you’d spend your days filled with anxiety... so he likely chose to tell you nothing."

"Kiyotaka-kun..."

"Kiyopon..."

Sakura-senpai and Hasebe-senpai... probably feel bad thinking that Kiyotaka-senpai was considering them in that way.

Now then... up to this point, from my perspective, this is nothing more than a farce of friendship~

...The real point starts here!

"The second reason is... Kiyotaka-senpai doesn’t trust you."

"“““What!?”””"

"Kiyotaka-kun..."

At my words, Hasebe-senpai, Yukimura-senpai and Miyake-senpai reacted in shock, while Sakura-senpai looked down sadly.

"Kiyotaka-senpai is someone who cannot understand emotions due to his upbringing. Even me, who has been with him since middle school, he likely doesn’t truly trust at heart. Haven’t you ever felt that before?"

"Now that you mention it... Kiyopon always had that expressionless face... and you could never tell what he was thinking..."

Hasebe-senpai muttered...

"That’s right. Kiyotaka-senpai was raised to think that as long as he himself survives in the end, that’s all that matters. In exchange, he excels in many areas like academics and sports and was called the masterpiece..."

"But! Kiyotaka-kun saved me..."

"Well, I don’t know the full details, but... I think that was because he wanted to make Sakura-senpai one of his pieces."

"Don’t say whatever you want!!"

At my words, Sakura-senpai glared at me with a look of anger she had probably never shown anyone before.

Being told something negative about Kiyotaka-senpai, whom she has feelings for, must’ve been too much for her to bear.

'Oh~? She looked timid, but... Sakura-senpai can make that kind of expression too~? Not quite like Kushida-senpai, but... it suits you~.'

Sakura-senpai just doesn’t understand... there’s no way Kiyotaka-senpai would help someone like her out of pure kindness.

"So then... the family environment you’re talking about... what exactly is it?"

"Hmm, I’m sorry. Regarding that... I’ve been told not to speak about it by Kiyotaka-senpai, so I can’t say anything."

"I see..."

If Miyake-senpai had asked Kiyotaka-senpai himself... he probably would’ve responded coldly with killing intent, saying ‘Don’t pry into me.’

"What I’m trying to say is~ even after knowing all this, can you still see Kiyotaka-senpai as a friend like before?"

At my words, the members of the Ayanokōji Group fell silent...

If they end up rejecting Kiyotaka-senpai after this... then it just means their friendship was nothing more than a shallow act...

But... if they still accept him, then perhaps the existence of the Ayanokōji Group itself could become the key to awakening Kiyotaka-senpai to true friendship...

With a faint sense of expectation in her heart... Ichika-chan waited for the Ayanokōji Group’s decision.