"Cough...!"
Sakura Airi, who was drinking water and observing the situation, suddenly choked on the spring water in her mouth and began coughing uncontrollably.
"Huh...?"
Ichinose Honami blinked, seemingly not understanding the situation, and froze in place.
"Wha-What...?"
Everyone else present also had their mouths agape in shock.
Even Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyou, Hirata Yousuke, Karuizawa Kei, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka showed astonished expressions.
As for Hori, his movements also stiffened, and he looked at Kanzaki Ryuji with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Silence descended, engulfing the entire camp.
Everyone was at a loss for words, dumbfounded.
It wasn't until after a while that Ichinose Honami was the first to react.
"Kanzaki... Kanzaki-kun!?"
Ichinose Honami panicked.
But even if Ichinose Honami was flustered, it couldn't stop what was about to happen next.
"WHAT————!?"
A thunderous cry echoed over Class D's campsite.
"Rom... romantic relationship!?"
"Nanaya and Ichinose!?"
"What... what's going on!?"
All the students in the class erupted in astonishment.
Even the likes of Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka seemed a bit caught off guard, showing signs of shock.
"Kanzaki-san?"
"The... the romantic relationship you just mentioned is...?"
Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou were equally surprised.
In this situation, Kanzaki Ryuji felt somewhat strange. He frowned and spoke up.
"What? Don't you guys know about this?"
Know?
How could they possibly know!?
If they knew, they wouldn't be so shocked!
"Kanzaki-kun!? What are you talking about!?"
Ichinose Honami's face turned red as well.
But Kanzaki Ryuji didn't waver in the slightest.
"There's no need to hide it deliberately, Ichinose. I've heard everything from Shiranami, that you're in a relationship with Nanaya from Class D. Shiranami seemed to want me to advise you to give up this relationship, thinking that dating students from other classes has its drawbacks. However, I believe that even though the classes in this school are in competition, it shouldn't be an excuse to prevent free love. So I don't intend to express any opposition to this matter. In fact, I believe that if you two are cooperation partners, this kind of relationship will be beneficial to both of you."
With reasons not entirely clear, Kanzaki Ryuji expressed this view.
I see.
So everything was stirred up by Shiranami Chihiro?
That Yuri girl actually did something like this behind the scenes.
She made Kanzaki Ryuji, who is the vice-class representative, advise Ichinose Honami?
How obsessed is she with Ichinose Honami?
Hori felt speechless about this.
But Ichinose Honami seemed at a loss.
"No... that thing... that thing is..."
It seems that Ichinose Honami wanted to say that the whole thing was just a show for Shiranami Chihiro.
Unfortunately, it's not just Kanzaki Ryuji here, but all the students in Class D.
If it were revealed here that they pretended to be a couple to deceive Shiranami Chihiro, it would spread throughout the school in no time.
By then, regardless of the topic surrounding them, Shiranami Chihiro would surely be heartbroken, right?
Considering this, Ichinose Honami was at a loss too.
But Ichinose Honami didn't know that appearing silent at this moment was just an indirect admission.
"I didn't expect Nanaya and Ichinose to be in this kind of relationship. Congratulations to both of you."
"When did you two develop this kind of relationship?"
Hirata Yousuke seemed genuinely happy for them, while Kushida Kikyou still looked surprised, unable to conceal her astonishment.
You see, if it weren't for Kushida Kikyou's connection, Hori and Ichinose Honami wouldn't have met each other.
As a result, the fact that she didn't know when they became a couple surprised Kushida Kikyou.
The rest of the class was equally surprised, completely unexpected.
Only Sakura Airi, shrinking in the corner, looked at Hori with a rather distressed and depressed expression.
"Nanaya! You...!"
"So you've secretly got a girlfriend already!?"
"I don't know why! Suddenly I feel so angry!"
Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken stood up angrily, about to rush over, but were suppressed by their classmates.
"That guy..."
"This is really unexpected..."
Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka either watched with cold eyes or were still surprised.
Even these people's reactions turned out like this, not to mention the rest of the class.
"I thought Nanaya would choose from among Horikita, Kushida, and Sakura. I didn't expect him to target a girl from another class."
Karuizawa Kei's words caused a commotion among the surrounding students.
Apparently, the others thought the same, right?
The entire campsite suddenly became noisy and chaotic because of this unexpected news.
"Na... Nanaya-kun... what should we do?"
Ichinose Honami could only stare blankly at the scene, helpless, and showed a tearful expression to Hori.
This girl, still as sharp and capable in class competition as before, was at a loss when it came to love topics.
Hori could only sigh and issue a direct command.
"Quiet down, all of you!"
With one word, the entire venue fell silent.
The noise and commotion disappeared instantly.
Hori intimidated all the students in the class with just one sentence, leveraging the respect he had accumulated during this time.
Then, in front of the whole class, Hori redirected the topic.
"So, establishing cooperation with us is something that all of Class B agrees on, right?"
Hori threw this question to Kanzaki Ryuji.
Kanzaki Ryuji understood Hori's intention and returned to the main topic.
"This is the conclusion that Ichinose and I reached after discussing. Although we haven't told everyone in the class yet, as long as it's something that Ichinose and I have approved together, everyone in the class will support it unconditionally."
Kanzaki Ryuji perfectly demonstrated the unity of Class B.
"I understand." Hori nodded and said, "In that case, I agree to this cooperation."
After saying that, Hori looked at Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
Receiving Hori's gaze, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka seemed to understand and took out a card from his pocket.
It was the key card symbolizing the leader's identity.
The name written on the key card was.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka".