-231- You can do anything?
Although each group was isolated and had its own discussion room, all twelve group rooms were located on the second floor, making it possible to reach other group rooms within a matter of seconds.
In this situation, Hori and Ichinose Honami left the Rabbit Group's room at the same time and walked towards the Dragon Group's room.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka did not follow.
He wanted to come and see the situation, but since Ichinose Honami was accompanying Hori, there was no opportunity for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to discuss anything with Hori, so he simply gave up.
Hamaguchi Tetsuya and Beppu Ryota also wanted to accompany Ichinose Honami but were politely refused with the reason that it was not suitable for many people to visit another group's room.
Yukimura Teruhiko was still racking his brains over strategies to tackle Class A and did not notice what was happening here, which was rather unfortunate.
As a result, only Hori and Ichinose Honami headed to the Dragon Group.
The second discussion session had just ended not long ago.
The hallways were filled with students coming out of the group rooms.
These students, seeing Hori and Ichinose Honami together, showed expressions of surprise.
"Isn't that Nanaya from Class D and Ichinose from Class B?"
"Aren't they in the Rabbit Group?"
"I don't understand why they're not in the Dragon Group."
"Those two are definitely elites."
These were the comments from onlookers.
Students from Class B and Class D who saw this scene had a different reaction.
"…Are those two still sticking together even during the exam?"
"Damn… I'm so jealous of people with girlfriends… That bastard Nanaya…"
The voices filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment coming from the Class D students made it clear without even looking that it had to be Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki.
Ichinose Honami, only now seemingly realizing that walking with Hori made them look like a couple flaunting their relationship, blushed uncontrollably.
Especially some students from Class B, who teased Ichinose Honami upon seeing this.
"Ichinose-san, are you finally going on a date with your beloved boyfriend?"
"It's already 9 PM. Don't go to the rooftop deck; it's crowded. Go to the aft deck where it's empty and you can do anything."
Two girls who seemed to be Ichinose Honami's friends teased her and gave her rather suggestive advice, making the passing boys almost collapse on the spot.
"No… it's not a date!"
Ichinose Honami's face was now as red as a tomato.
Watching Ichinose Honami like this, Hori walked beside her without changing his expression, but he couldn't help but smile wryly inside.
Why does someone so sharp in exams become so flustered when it comes to romance?
It's truly baffling.
Of course, it was also very cute.
However, Hori couldn't help but feel like smiling wryly.
There was no helping it.
After all, Hori could sense two very concerning gazes from the surrounding crowd.
One was a very sad look from Sakura Airi, who seemed to have taken a blow.
The other was a glare filled with intense hatred from Shiranami Chihiro.
How could Hori not smile wryly at this?
Shiranami Chihiro could be ignored since she wouldn't dare to do anything against him, at most pestering Ichinose Honami, which would be her problem to deal with. But Sakura Airi, with her personality, would likely overthink things and end up sighing on the deck again, right?
(What a hassle...)
Hori believed that even if he were entangled in negative rumors and regarded as dirt by the entire school, he could still walk in front of everyone without being swayed, ignoring all reactions.
But reality proved that Hori had overestimated himself.
(Looks like I'll have to comfort that shy idol again tonight...)
With this thought, Hori and Ichinose Honami finally walked the seemingly interminable journey that only took a few seconds and arrived at a room.
On the door of this room hung a sign that read "Dragon".
This was the Dragon Group's room.
However, unlike the other groups, whose doors were open and were gradually disbanding, the Dragon Group's door remained tightly shut.
Although no sounds came from the room, Hori could still sense activity inside.
In other words…
"Is the discussion not over yet?"
After completing an hour of standby duty, they could leave the room at their discretion or continue the discussion.
Currently, it seemed the Dragon Group was engaged in a topic that couldn't be easily concluded even after the standby duty ended.
"Just as expected of the elite group, the competition seems intense."
Ichinose Honami admired but also felt puzzled.
"However, it's hard to imagine the Dragon Group having a productive discussion."
Ichinose Honami had reason to think this.
Katsuragi Kouhei had firmly decided not to participate in the discussions.
As the initiator of this policy, Katsuragi Kouhei would certainly stick to it, making productive discussion unlikely.
Without the participation of Class A, even if Classes B, C, and D joined the discussion, the effectiveness wouldn't be this significant, right?
The Rabbit Group's situation had already proven this point.
Moreover, leaving aside Class B and D, Class C had Ryuen Kakeru.
Ryuen Kakeru didn't seem like someone who would engage in intense discussions with others.
With Class B and D having already formed a cooperative relationship, the necessary discussions had already taken place, so there wouldn't be such intense discussions within the group.
This was Ichinose Honami's reason for puzzlement.
But Hori had a different view.
"Since Ryuen called me here, it means he must have taken some action."
Therefore, Hori was certain that Ryuen Kakeru was the one who created this situation.
This thought was confirmed in the next second.
As Hori unceremoniously pushed open the door, the current state of the Dragon Group came into view.
Inside the room, a heavy atmosphere pervaded.
Then, a three-way standoff unfolded before Hori's eyes.
Katsuragi Kouhei sat with the Class A students, his face as hard as stone.
Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyou, and Hirata Yousuke sat with Kanzaki Ryuji and other Class B students, staring intently ahead.
And then there was Ryuen Kakeru.
Like an emperor, Ryuen Kakeru sat opposite Horikita Suzune's group, with a delighted smile on his face, surrounded by Class C students, looking more like a gang leader than a king.
This obvious power structure showed that the four classes were engaged in a discussion.
Clearly, this discussion was initiated by Ryuen Kakeru.
The reason was that Classes A, B, and D were all staring at Ryuen Kakeru, who was laughing unabashedly, seeming to enjoy being the common enemy.
Soon, everyone was drawn by the sound of the door opening and turned to look towards the entrance.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone