I have a life simulator.

However, Kitagawa Ryo never intended to contact her. He always had a vague feeling that this girl seemed to harbor a deep malice towards Horikita Suzune, which made him instinctively reject her.

"I went shopping with Kushida the other day and bumped into Horikita on the way. I felt that her attitude was a little strange."

Karuizawa Kei seemed to have noticed this as well. At first, she simply felt that Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo were incompatible, but recently she discovered that the two seemed to have some kind of grudge between them. However, it seemed to be one-sided on Kushida Kikyo's part, as Horikita Suzune didn't seem to care much about the other party.

"But these are minor issues; it's normal for girls to have a little annoyance with each other."

A little worried that the conversation might veer towards Horikita Suzune, Karuizawa Megumi quickly stopped it and instead took out some small items from her bag:

"Dang-dang-dang--"

"perfume!"

Kitagawa Ryo looked at the delicate little bottle placed in the other person's palm:

How many points?

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You absolutely can't ask such a jarring question in the future."

Karuizawa Megumi flipped her palm over and brought the perfume to Kitagawa Ryo's nose:

"How is it? Does it smell good?"

The sweet scent of roses instantly filled my nostrils; it wasn't particularly strong, but the aftertaste was lingering, gently tugging at my heartstrings.

"Why are there roses again?"

"Ok?"

Karuizawa Kei heard Kitagawa Ryo's quiet mutter, but she didn't pay it any mind and explained naturally:

"Because every girl who loves perfume is looking for her own rose."

"White roses represent purity, red roses represent passionate love, and what happens after that is no longer the rose's concern."

Kitagawa Ryo watched as the girl gently inhaled the fragrance of the perfume, and Karuizawa Megumi exuded a pure beauty. With her eyes closed and the perfume placed against her chest, this prayer-like posture momentarily captivated Kitagawa Ryo.

"Oh, right, this one."

Karuizawa Kei seemed to suddenly remember something, hurriedly stuffing the perfume back into her bag, and then taking out another bottle with wooden packaging:

"For you."

She didn't say anything about it being a free gift when she bought it or something she bought on a whim. Karuizawa Megumi earnestly handed the perfume to Kitagawa Ryo:

"I spent a long time choosing..."

"I think it would be perfect for cooling down."

Kitagawa Ryo took the small bottle of perfume and sniffed it lightly. He knew a lot about the various scents of flowers, plants and trees, and almost instantly he could distinguish the top notes of basil leaves, wormwood and mint, with a hint of citrus in the middle, and lavender as the main note. However, Kitagawa Ryo could also smell the faint scent of rose mixed in, and finally the fragrance of incense.

This is a standard men's fragrance. Looking at the girl's expectant yet hesitant eyes, Kitagawa Ryo ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse it.

"Take it."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo had accepted her gift, Karuizawa Megumi breathed a small sigh of relief. Smelling the fresh scent of herbs emanating from Kitagawa Ryo, she even had a dazed feeling as if she were imprinting her own scent onto the boy in front of her.

However, Karuizawa Megumi did not dislike this hazy feeling. On the contrary, she was enjoying the mingling of scents, which gave her the vague illusion that the two of them were holding hands. She hurried forward a few steps, only to see Kitagawa Ryo suddenly turn around and pin her against a tree.

"There is someone."

Karuizawa Kei snapped back to reality the moment she saw Kitagawa Ryo mouth the words to her. Although the two had deliberately chosen a secluded spot outside the surveillance range to exchange information, there was still a risk of being seen by students passing by. Other grades would be fine, but if first-year students saw Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei—the leaders of Class C and Class D communicating in private—it would definitely escalate into a serious situation, and their relationship might even be exposed.

This consequence sent a chill down Megumi Karuizawa's spine, but she didn't lose her ability to think and reacted quickly:

"You called me here for something so trivial?"

Karuizawa Kei forcefully pushed away Kitagawa Ryo's arm, leaned against the tree with her arms crossed, and impatiently tapped the ground with her right foot as she asked in return.

"I'm just a little interested because I heard that Karuizawa-san got a huge number of points from Class B that were enough to offset her debts."

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't annoyed. With his back to the person behind him, his tone didn't reveal anything unusual.

"I've already paid you the points for this month, but I don't want to see you at all. I suggest sending someone else when you pay the points next month."

Karuizawa Megumi showed none of the girlishness she had displayed moments before, and spoke with a strong, assertive tone:

"Does that mean you're still holding a grudge about Class B?"

"Tsk,"

Seemingly having his sore spot touched by Karuizawa Megumi, Kitagawa Ryo clicked his tongue in exasperation:

"If it weren't for your Class D interfering without permission, Class B would be Class C by now."

"That's also because Long Yuan from Class C was careless and left a handle on you."

Karuizawa Kei raised an eyebrow and smiled:

"To be honest, I'm also quite curious about what price you paid to achieve reconciliation between Class B and Class C."

"That's not your concern."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head with a gloomy expression:

"Even if your Class D benefits from this incident, it will only be a drop in the ocean. With four students dropping out, Class D has basically lost its advantage in future class competitions."

"That's none of your concern, Kitagawa."

Karuizawa Kei responded bluntly with her own words, directly confronting Kitagawa Ryo:

"It seems that not being able to crush Class D with debt is making you a little upset. Well, such tricks only work once and then they won't work. Whether it's you or Longyuan, in the end, you're all just using underhanded methods. Class D will surpass Class C sooner or later."

"Then I'll really have to wait and see."

Kitagawa Ryo sneered:

"But Class D should just pray for passing the final exams. If four students drop out like they did in the midterms, tsk tsk."

After saying that, Kitagawa Ryo walked out of the woods without looking back, and Karuizawa Megumi also walked out from the other side with a pout.

It wasn't until quite some time after the two left that a robust man emerged from behind the tree, holding a digital camera in his hand.

"Boss, Task Completed."

The man spoke softly to his collar.

"Complete my foot! And you're even using English to show off."

Kitagawa Ryo walked up behind Ishizaki Daichi without a word and gave him a slap without any hesitation:

"You're addicted to playing a secret agent, aren't you? There's nothing on your collar except for your drool from last night."

"Hehe... I'm getting into character, I'm getting into character."

Ishizaki Daichi chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head. Ever since Kitagawa Ryo asked him to film on the first day of school, the kid had been on a one-way street of secretly filming. Originally, the plan was to have Ryuen Sho come today, but Ishizaki Daichi firmly took on the job:

"But boss, what did you mean by lying just now?"

"Let's test Hui's ability to react on the spot."

Kitagawa Ryo, flipping through the video Ishizaki Daichi had just recorded, casually replied:

"And who knows, it might come in handy later."

-------------------------------------

That evening, just as Karuizawa Kei was confidently knocking on Kitagawa Ryo's door, intending to boast about her quick wit and resourcefulness during the day, she saw the following scene playing repeatedly on the television in the living room:

"You called me here for something so trivial?"

"You called me here for something so trivial?"

"You called me here for something so trivial?"

The image shows the character pushing away Kitagawa Ryo's hand with a look of disgust, but with repeated shots, it exudes an increasingly arrogant and tsundere vibe.

"Oh, that was a good performance."

Kitagawa Ryo commented while eating potato chips, noting that he smelled faintly of lavender perfume.

"cold."

"Ok?"

Karuizawa Megumi appeared beside Kitagawa Ryo at some point, and spoke with a radiant smile:

"Give me your hand."

Kitagawa Ryo stretched out his right hand with a puzzled look, only to have Karuizawa Megumi grab it and gently bite it, with about the same force as Hotaru, leaving only a shallow tooth mark on the back of Kitagawa Ryo's right hand.

"You lied to me!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Special Exam Begins on the Deserted Island

In early August, the final exams at Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School finally came to an end, marking the conclusion of the first semester for first-year students. A month-long summer vacation awaited them, and it's safe to say that no student dislikes summer vacation, especially since the school had already announced that it would take all first-year students on a luxury cruise to a deserted island for a holiday. This shocking news not only made people marvel at the school's wealth but also added to their anticipation for the summer vacation.

"I've heard that the first thing you see when you open the door determines your fortune for the day."

Kitagawa Ryo stroked his chin and looked out the door at Ishizaki Daichi, who was already dressed in brightly colored beach clothes and wearing large sunglasses, and Yamada Albert, who was dressed similarly and wearing a beach hat:

"Have the girls in our class become so few that I need the two of you to wake me up?"

"Sir."

Ishizaki Daichi adjusted his sunglasses, while Yamada Albert pulled a small notebook from his pocket:

"FBI, open the door."

Kitagawa Ryo ignored the clown Ishizaki Daichi, took the small notebook from Yamada's hand, flipped through it, and put it in his pocket:

"Is everyone in the class here?"

"Everyone's here, everyone's here. Brother Longyuan is organizing things downstairs. We'll be catching the bus soon."

"Five o'clock in the morning, that's quite rare."

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at the clock on the wall and yawned:

"If only you were this proactive when you were studying."

Although there were no answers for the final exam of the first semester of the first year, all the students in Class C passed the exam with the help of Hiyori Shiina and Satoru Kaneda. In fact, they were able to stay here until the end of the first semester. Even the students in Class D had made considerable progress since the beginning of the semester. Therefore, no students failed or dropped out during the entire first year.

"Hehe, although the boss said this was probably a special exam arranged by the school, it's still a luxury cruise ship, such a huge cruise ship!"

Daichi Ishizaki stretched out his arms excitedly, clearly looking forward to the cruise vacation. However, for these sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school students, the combination of the words "luxury cruise vacation" was indeed enough to keep them awake at night. It seemed that their mindset would be hard to change until the real special exams officially began.

"Okay, let's go."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't need to take anything, since the school had taken care of everything. He just made sure he had his phone and student ID. Kitagawa Ryo then walked down from the dormitory building with Ishizaki Daichi and Yamada.

Just as Ishizaki Daichi had said, almost all the students in Class C had arrived. Both boys and girls wore bright smiles similar to Ishizaki Daichi's, discussing their upcoming two-week vacation with great anticipation.

Class teacher Kazuma Sakagami, as always, had a calm and composed expression. Unlike the students who were laughing and joking in their casual clothes, he was still dressed in a formal suit, like a teacher taking elementary school students on a spring outing. After seeing Ryo Kitagawa yawning as he walked downstairs, he announced that all the students in Class C had arrived and led them onto the bus that had been parked nearby.

The seats on the bus were arranged in pairs. No one in the class had been heard to be dating this semester (except for the rumors about Kitagawa Ryo and Shiina Hiyori), so everyone tacitly agreed to have the girls sit in the back and the boys sit in the front.

Although a certain lady tried to sit next to Kitagawa Ryo, before she could even speak, the next second, another long-haired woman... no, it was Ryuen Sho who unceremoniously sat down in that seat:

"Why do you seem just as relaxed and careless as them?"

Ryuen Sho was just about to discuss the special exam with Kitagawa Ryo when he saw Kitagawa Ryo lying by the window like an elementary school student, whistling and looking at the scenery, with a leisurely expression as if he were really going on vacation.

"Didn't you say you were going to take this opportunity to reverse the deficit between Classes B and C and close the gap with Class A in one fell swoop?"

"Um……"

Kitagawa Ryo turned his head and thought about it seriously:

"Did I say that?"

“…Okay, that was just my personal opinion. I think Kitagawa probably feels the same way as me.”

"Before we set off, I did share the same thoughts as you, and I had already made some small preparations."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, his face filled with grief:

"But it was only when I was actually leaving that I noticed a very serious problem."

"Ok?"

Hearing the seriousness in Kitagawa Ryo's tone, Ryuu Yoshihiro was somewhat moved and leaned closer, lowering his voice to ask:

"Your relationship with Karuizawa Kei has been discovered?"

"almost."