Natsukawa completely tamed Karuizawa Kei using the three girls from Class C, Manabe and her friends. He not only gained indirect control over the girls in Class D but also obtained leverage over the four Manabe girls, killing two birds with one stone.
Through some small methods, he temporarily subdued Kushida Kikyo. However, Kikyo is probably not the type to be easily loyal, so he needs to continue to wear her down, lest she gets too restless and causes trouble for him.
Establishing deep trust and mutual benefit with Ichinose goes without saying. The key point is that he used this opportunity to thoroughly connect with Katsuragi and leave a deep impression in Katsuragi's heart—though it was under Horikita's name.
It seems I'll have to continue borrowing Horikita's name in the future. She probably doesn't mind; she's never said anything against it... "Here."
Just as Natsukawa was finishing his summary, he stopped and leaned against the railing, and a bottle of iced fruit juice was handed to him.
Natsukawa turned his head.
Karuizawa Kei held two drinks in her hands, her expression showing a hint of flattery and curiosity.
"Thanks."
Natsukawa took the drink, twisted open the cap, and took a sip.
Karuizawa made no other moves but stood beside him, hesitating for a moment, but ultimately couldn't suppress her curiosity.
"Um... Natsukawa-kun."
"Although I don't understand the matters of Class A and Class B... that 'Result One' from the Rabbit Group yesterday."
She looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at him.
"How did you do it?"
"That Machida from Class A was uncooperative, and that woman from Class C was so fierce... why did everyone obediently submit their answers in the end?"
Natsukawa looked at the sea, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Want to know?"
"Mhm!" Karuizawa nodded vigorously.
"It's actually not that complicated."
Natsukawa turned around, leaning against the railing, and said in a relaxed tone:
"When you're a person, the most important thing is sincerity."
"In private, I separately approached students from Class A, Class B, and Class C for a very friendly discussion."
"I moved them with my sincere words, telling them that peace and love are the main themes of this world. They were deeply touched and all expressed that they would definitely live up to my expectations."
"That's how it was."
Karuizawa Kei listened, bewildered.
Sincerity?
Friendly discussion?
Moved?
These words, when applied to Natsukawa, sounded completely out of place.
"...You're lying."
Karuizawa puffed out her cheeks and boldly reached out to lightly punch Natsukawa's shoulder.
"If you don't want to say it, then don't say it. Why try to fool me with such an excuse?"
She mumbled somewhat aggrievedly, "Do you think I'm silly and easy to trick? If sincerity worked, I wouldn't have..."
Mid-sentence, she realized she had misspoken and quickly shut up.
Seeing that Natsukawa wasn't angry about her overstep, she breathed a sigh of relief and then resumed her somewhat coquettish tone.
"Anyway, you definitely used some schemes and tricks, didn't you?"
Natsukawa chuckled, reaching out to pinch her cheek.
"Why can't there be a little more trust between people?"
Though it was a joke, Natsukawa's thoughts drifted back to that busy afternoon yesterday.
The so-called friendly discussion, of course, had a positive meaning.
For Ichinose Honami of Class B, it was truly friendly.
On the deck, he directly told Ichinose that there was no need to continue with that time-consuming and laborious induction plan.
'I want to achieve Result One in this group. Honami, you'll help me, right?'
Facing his request, Ichinose Honami just smiled helplessly.
"There's really nothing I can hide from Sōsuke-kun."
"Since it's the request of a major creditor, how could a humble woman like me dare not listen?"
Although her tone was joking, Ichinose agreed without hesitation.
But for the other two classes, the methods were equally gentle.
For Class C.
Natsukawa simply did one very simple thing. He took a small clip from the video he recorded in the emergency exit of Manabe and others assaulting Karuizawa and sent it to Manabe's phone. As for contact information, he had previously encountered Fujiwara Rika acting alone on the ship and very amicably obtained their phone numbers and emails from her.
Just during the last discussion.
Manabe looked at the video on her phone, and her face instantly turned pale. She looked in horror at Natsukawa, who was sitting among the girls, her eyes filled with fear.
Then, a message was sent.
[What do you want to do?]
[What do I want to do? It's simple. I want Result One.]
[As long as you help me deal with the other two people in Class C, this video will not appear on the Student Council's or the school's desk.]
[As for Ibuki... you can tell her that this information came from Machida of Class A, who got it from Katsuragi.]
With such leverage, Manabe had no choice but to completely follow Natsukawa's instructions.
As for Class A.
Natsukawa didn't go directly to Machida but instead went straight to the source—Katsuragi Kohei.
He made another deal with Katsuragi, though this time it was verbal.
He exchanged the information that Ryuuen would submit Class D's preferred student immediately after the exam for Katsuragi's guarantee that the three Class A students would submit the Rabbit Group's preferred student on time at 9:30 PM.
Katsuragi readily agreed after hearing this, as it was undoubtedly beneficial to his class with no harm.
The rest was simple: just wait until the time came, tell these people that Karuizawa was the preferred student, and even if they thought there was no penalty for making a mistake, they would still send the message to the school.
Natsukawa did all this just in case, as even he didn't know if any of these people were reckless enough to guess a preferred student's name after the exam due to not trusting his information or for other reasons, or if they would deliberately cause trouble for some people in the Rabbit Group, even if it meant forfeiting the 500,000 points.
This so-called "Result One" was a gift he gave to Karuizawa, and also a performance to demonstrate his absolute control. Only then would Karuizawa truly be on his side.
"Alright, don't think so much."
Natsukawa withdrew his thoughts, looking at the girl in front of him, her eyes full of admiration.
"Since you got those 1,000,000 points, treat yourself well when we get back."
"You've performed very well these past few days. Keep it up when we get back to school. Don't let me see your bad temper at school."
"Remember, don't get stuck in the shadows of your past."
Karuizawa Kei paused, then a brilliant smile bloomed on her face.
"Yes, Master!"
She happily linked her arm through Natsukawa's, completely ignoring the gazes of those around them.
"Then, when we go back, you have to spend more time with me so I can constantly reflect on myself and learn more from Master!"
...This preferred student exam, filled with schemes, betrayals, and lies, finally came to an end with Natsukawa Sosuke's complete victory.
Natsukawa felt a sense of relaxation he hadn't experienced in a long time. From the moment he boarded this ship, he began planning how to gain more points in these two exams. Now, Natsukawa was burnt out, and he didn't plan to participate much in the upcoming Sports Festival.
On one hand, Class D always needed to experience some setbacks, to be disgusted by Ryuuen and witness some dirty tricks. This way, they would have expectations and defenses against these things in the future, as broken bones are the best textbooks. On the other hand, Natsukawa was genuinely lazy, and the Sports Festival wasn't a competition that could be carried by a single person. Coordinating it would be truly exhausting, especially when dealing with those three idiots... Ugh, just thinking about it gave him a headache. He might as well relax and enjoy Karuizawa's soft, fragrant embrace as she leaned against him.