"Uh... no, this..."
The sudden statement froze the girl in place.
Due to Class A's refusal to cooperate in the Rabbit Group, Ichinose Honami had been racking her brain for a way to persuade Katsuragi Kohei. Even earlier, while taking a bath, she had been rehearsing potential arguments, preparing herself for the negotiation ahead.
So when Kure Ragna called, she naturally assumed he wanted to discuss strategy.
But she never expected his opening words to be like this—cutting through her carefully crafted lie in an instant. She was completely caught off guard.
"Kure Ragna, why would you suddenly say that? I don't understand."
"There's nothing to misunderstand. Take it at face value. There is no preferential treatment in your class within the Rabbit Group." Kure Ragna's voice remained calm.
"I already told you, I can prove it with text messages—"
"Text messages? Just a cheap trick."
Kure Ragna shook his head.
"I looked into it. You can unbind a mobile SIM card by paying points. That means a preferential treatment student in another group could remove their SIM, insert it into someone else's phone, and make it seem like they're the one chosen. Simple, right?"
Ichinose's breath hitched.
"To make it more convincing, you could also delete synchronized messages, leaving only the ones that support your claim. That way, even if someone checked, nothing would seem amiss."
"But there's a flaw. Every official notification includes a meeting room for preferential treatment discussions. Let's say you were the real preferential student—then why would the message direct you to the Tiger Group's room instead of the Rabbit Group's?"
He crossed his arms. "If you don't believe me, check for yourself."
Ichinose stiffened. She didn't need to check—she already knew he was right. She had noticed the flaw when switching the SIM but hoped no one else would.
"Of course, I wouldn't say this without proof."
Kure Ragna continued.
"I know the real preferential treatment student of the Rabbit Group. They're from Class B."
With that, he pulled out his phone and opened his message log. The fourth entry clearly stated he had been selected as the preferential treatment for the Rabbit Group.
Ichinose stared at the screen in disbelief before shaking her head.
"Wait… you're the preferential treatment?"
"Not exactly."
Kure Ragna turned off the screen and put his phone away.
"I switched my SIM too. Yukimura, Toimura, and Kei are bad at keeping secrets, so I took their phones in advance. Oh, and anyone who claims they deleted their message without reading it? They're lying."
"But... why tell me this?" Ichinose hesitated. She had intended to expose the real preferential treatment, yet Kure Ragna was handing her the truth himself.
"Because Class A came to me earlier."
Without hesitation, he relayed his conversation with Katsuragi in the coffee shop.
Ichinose's expression gradually shifted—from shock to admiration, then to a wry smile.
"Katsuragi-san really thought ahead. I underestimated him."
"Yeah. Even I think he's improved."
Kure Ragna shrugged. "Before, he would've insisted on seeing proof firsthand. He knows he's not the best at strategy, so he'd avoid being tricked. But this time, he used conditions to trap me instead. If I had played along, I'd have walked straight into it."
"But Kure Ragna… you already planned to outmaneuver Katsuragi from the start, right?" Ichinose accused playfully.
"Uh…" Kure Ragna stroked his chin. "Actually, I think you played a part in this, too."
"Me?" Ichinose pointed at herself, bewildered.
"Yeah, you."
Kure Ragna smirked. "If you hadn't been so convincing as a decoy, Katsuragi wouldn't have been so determined to push his plan on me."
"...That's ridiculous."
Ichinose pouted, unable to refute it.
"Anyway, let's get to the real business." Kure Ragna motioned her closer. "Come here."
"Oh."
Ichinose leaned in, listening carefully as he whispered his plan.
"Got it." She nodded. "But if I accept the points and back out later, what then? Once the system synchronizes everything, it wouldn't take much effort to track the real SIM card owner. And it's 15 million points we're talking about. Kure Ragna, wouldn't you be risking everything—both class points and personal points?"
She emphasized 15 million with wide, serious eyes.
This was a strategy within a strategy.
Ichinose's false claim had baited Class A into an attempted manipulation.
Kure Ragna, in turn, had leveraged Class A's plan, coordinating with Ichinose to swap Karuizawa Kei's SIM with hers—replacing the real preferential treatment's identity with a fake one.
The main objective? For Ichinose to reveal the preferential message on her phone before the exam ended, ensuring Class A's plan failed.
Otherwise, as Katsuragi said, if Machida refused to sign, Class A would still secure a win. In that case, Ichinose's deception wouldn't matter anymore.
In exchange, Kure Ragna agreed to pay 50 million points to each Class C Rabbit Group member—totaling 15 million.
That was three-quarters of his current balance. After this, his account would be down to just 6 million.
Not much left.
But it didn't matter. Ryuen would be sending more next month, anyway.
Because he couldn't be bothered signing a contract, Kure Ragna had sent the points first, expecting the deal to be honored.
That meant if Ichinose decided to backstab him, revealing the real preferential student after taking the money, he'd not only lose his fortune but also cost Class B 50 points.
A total disaster.
"Yeah, I have to admit, there's a real risk," Kure Ragna mused, gazing at the ceiling. Then, after a pause, he looked at her. "Well, if it happens—"
He smirked. "I'll just take the loss."
"That's not a great way to see it…" Ichinose muttered under her breath.
PS: 𝘔𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘐𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘭! 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘐𝘵 𝘖𝘶𝘵!!
(𝘛𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸: Fairy Tail: Voyage Through One Piece)
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