Chaos in Classroom of the Elite: Class 1-C

The previously lively and excited students of Class D instantly fell silent, as the mere mention of Yukio's name cast a shadow over them. They had been tricked by him too many times before, and now, just hearing his name was enough to make their hearts race with anxiety, fearing they might get duped again.

Some of them even considered suggesting to Matsushita that she should just hang up the phone. In their eyes, Yukio was like a devil, skilled at manipulating people and deceiving them for his own gain.

However, Matsushita thought differently. She quickly realized that Karuizawa's current popularity put Class D in a strong position to negotiate. "Yukio-kun, we're all classmates, so we should help each other out," she said. "But you must understand just how popular Karuizawa is right now, which is why you made this decision, right? Karuizawa is very busy these days."

Her implication was clear: if Yukio wanted to hire Karuizawa, he would need to offer something substantial to Class D in return. Given Karuizawa's rising popularity online, if Yukio were to shoot another advertisement with a different lead, it probably wouldn't have the same impact as one with Karuizawa.

Matsushita wasn't going to let Karuizawa go so easily. After all, the success of Class D's advertising strategy wasn't like Ichinose's approach, which relied on winning people over—something that couldn't be replicated. But an advertisement could easily be copied and reused with slight differences.

Karuizawa, realizing that Yukio was calling because of her, couldn't help but feel overjoyed. She wished she could fly over to him right now and leap into his warm embrace. There was no way she would allow Matsushita to try and haggle with her boyfriend.

Karuizawa immediately raised her voice slightly, ensuring that Yukio could hear her on the other end of the line: "Huh? What are you talking about, Chiaki? I'm not busy at all."

Matsushita's expression froze. She knew perfectly well how busy Karuizawa was, but this was supposed to be a seller's market—she intended to raise the stakes!

Karuizawa tilted her head slightly, meeting Matsushita's "confused" yet eager gaze. Matsushita quickly began winking and signaling with her eyes, trying to indicate that she was intentionally saying this and asking Karuizawa to play along.

But to her dismay, Karuizawa seemed even more "confused." "Chiaki, do you have something in your eye? I'm really not busy at all."

Karuizawa, please just stop talking! Matsushita was mentally screaming, feeling like she was about to lose it. It wasn't that something was in her eye—she was trying to give a secret signal!

Matsushita used to think Karuizawa was a pretty sharp girl, but now, with just one phone call from Yukio, her IQ seemed to have plummeted to zero.

On the other end of the line, Yukio, who was out enjoying a day with his classmates, was struggling to contain his laughter. He hadn't informed Karuizawa about this in advance, but hearing her sincerely insist she wasn't busy actually touched him. He thought about taking Karuizawa out for a proper date soon—maybe their first outing as a couple.

He could also imagine the frustration on Matsushita's face, which only made him want to laugh more. "Ahem, but I distinctly heard someone say she wasn't busy."

"I've seen your class's promotional video, and I have a good memory. I'm pretty sure it was Karuizawa's voice."

This way, he could subtly protect Karuizawa, ensuring Matsushita wouldn't easily suspect that he was very familiar with Karuizawa's voice.

Matsushita felt like her scalp was about to lift off. Holding the phone with one hand, she grabbed Karuizawa's hand with the other, silently pleading for her best friend to stop making things worse. "Maybe Yukio-kun heard or remembered wrong."

"Actually, Karuizawa is really busy right now. You know, because of the promotional video, our Fujii Eel Farm has received more orders. Mr. Fujii still needs Karuizawa's help with some additional small promotions."

"Eh?" Karuizawa continued to feign ignorance, perhaps because her acting skills had awakened after filming the ad. Her clueless expression was almost convincing. "I really don't have anything to do, Chiaki."

"Mr. Fujii needs me to do more promotions? No one told me about that. When did that happen?"

Matsushita was on the verge of curse out loud! 'Kei! We're best friends, aren't we? Can you please stop undermining me like this?' She was really struggling to hold on, feeling repeatedly stabbed in the back.

"Oops!" Yukio, unable to hold back any longer, burst out laughing, "It seems that your control over the class isn't very strong."

"Karuizawa is right next to you, isn't she? Matsushita, lying isn't a good habit."

Even though Matsushita felt continuously betrayed by her best friend Karuizawa, she managed to hold her composure and responded clearly to Yukio: "Sorry, but unlike you, Yukio-kun, we don't 'control' our class. We simply work together with everyone's best interests in mind. And as for lying, Yukio-kun, I think you've told quite a few lies over time yourself."

"Didn't you lead both the Sakayanagi class and our class around in circles?"

"That's true," Yukio admitted openly. "And it's precisely because of that, I understand very well that lying isn't a good habit. I'm just a bad person by nature, and I hope others don't become as bad as me. It would make them too difficult to deal with."

"…" Matsushita was at a loss for how to respond to this slightly shameless Yukio and could only offer a polite social reply: "You can't say that. If Yukio-kun could change that bad habit of yours, maybe we could even become friends."

It was a very standard conversational line—"If this or that happens, maybe we could be friends." In the social circles Matsushita was accustomed to, this phrase was a classic, something she could toss out casually, born into a wealthy family as she was.

But when Karuizawa heard this, it sounded completely off to her. Her sapphire-blue eyes narrowed slightly—why was Chiaki chatting so much with Yukio? For some reason, the joy she felt when Yukio called her started to fade a little, replaced by a tinge of jealousy. "Chiaki, do you want to be friends with my... with Yukio-kun?"

"?" Matsushita looked at Karuizawa, stunned. What? How did a social comment turn into her wanting to be friends with Yukio? Her best friend was acting completely out of character today!

"Matsushita." At this moment, Horikita, standing beside her, reached out her hand, signaling for the phone.

"I'll handle this. When negotiating with that guy, empty talk won't work. Start from the angle of mutual benefit—demand that he cancels the contract for monthly point payments."

"And also, insist that he pays an additional sum of private points; otherwise, there's no deal."