Chaos in Classroom of the Elite: Class 1-C

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Karuizawa finally felt at ease. It turned out they were just looking for candidates for the promotional video, and it seemed Matsushita and the others hadn't overheard any of the confidential conversation earlier. Thus, no one would be asking about her relationship with Yukio.

Feeling more relaxed, Karuizawa acted even more at ease: "I don't want to. Find someone else to shoot the video."

Are they kidding? Last night, Yukio had just laid things out for her, stating in a domineering way that he wouldn't let go. Now that she was deeply involved, how could she possibly go shoot a promotional video with Hirata? If Yukio misunderstood, she'd regret it deeply.

After rejecting outright, considering the class, Karuizawa reluctantly offered another suggestion: "I think you could do it, Chiaki. There's no need for it to be me."

Matsushita's expression turned a bit awkward. She could do it, but she was considering Karuizawa's past with Hirata.

Karuizawa's refusal was so blunt that Matsushita could only assume Karuizawa was still mad at Hirata. After all, Hirata's actions during the sports festival's Sudo incident had upset the girls. Sudo was a jerk who even dared to swing his fists at girls. It's understandable to be mad if Hirata couldn't let that go and wanted Sudo back in school.

With this misunderstanding, Matsushita didn't want to shoot the video with Hirata either. She didn't want to risk Karuizawa hating her too, which could ruin their friendship during their three years of high school.

Hirata felt conflicted as well. He knew he had no grounds in the Sudo incident, but he was the type who wanted to take care of the whole class. Seeing Karuizawa like this, he felt helpless.

Horikita's original personality would have her sneering, mocking Karuizawa for being a freeloader who didn't contribute to the class's advancement.

However, ever since receiving some advice from Yukio during the sports festival, Horikita had changed a bit. At least now she understood that to get the class members to follow her orders willingly, she needed to consider their interests and interpersonal relationships.

"Can I ask why you don't want to shoot the video? Is it because of Hirata? If so, I can have Hirata apologize to you."

"Horikita!" Matsushita thought this was a disaster and pulled Horikita back, not letting her continue. What a way to start by offending people right away.

If Horikita persuaded Karuizawa like this, what would Hirata think? Was she helping or causing trouble?

Fortunately, Hirata didn't mind such things. He waved to Matsushita to indicate it was okay, then straightened his expression: "Actually, I think Koenji-kun is more suited to shoot the video, but we don't know where he is. And Karuizawa, about the Sudo incident, I'll apologize on his behalf."

"But no matter what, Sudo-kun has already applied to leave school. We should stop bad-mouthing him. Don't you agree?"

Karuizawa already knew Hirata was an incorrigible nice guy and rolled her eyes, not even bothering to respond.

Sure enough, Hirata was the type to take care of everyone in the class indiscriminately. He wasn't like Yukio, who cared for her in such a special, attentive way.

The more Karuizawa compared them, the more she missed Yukio's care and found Hirata bothering. But she wasn't ungrateful.

No matter what, without Hirata agreeing to pretend to be her boyfriend at first, she wouldn't have her current status in the class: "Alright, alright, I didn't say anything bad about him. No need to apologize. I just won't do the shoot."

"If you don't want to do it either, then let Horikita do it."

Matsushita was in a bind. If she or Horikita could do it, they wouldn't need all this trouble: "Horikita isn't suitable."

Given that Horikita's casual remarks could offend people, Matsushita truly didn't dare let her shoot the video.

This time, Horikita didn't question why Matsushita pulled her back. Instead, she thought deeply about the whole process and proposed a new suggestion: "How about if we just let Karuizawa shoot the video?"

"Remove Hirata-kun from the shooting plan."

Matsushita was utterly confused. This lady sure had an offbeat way of thinking. The original plan of having one male and one female was just scrapped? She wasn't even worried about offending Hirata anymore.

Hirata had no objections: "Yes, I voluntarily step aside. Karuizawa-san's image will definitely be perfect."

Karuizawa was startled, not understanding why she was suddenly so important: "Why does it have to be me? Why am I being singled out?"

"It's simple." Horikita, oblivious to the complicated feelings of the group, explained her reasoning: "Because an ad featuring a girl is more effective than one featuring a boy."

This is an undeniable fact. If you count the number of ads globally, you'll find that girls appear far more frequently than boys.

"Moreover, we can change our approach." Horikita, entirely focused on devising a new campaign, spoke while thinking: "We initially planned to promote the deliciousness of eel, which is why we wanted both a boy and a girl."

"But if we tweak it slightly to highlight the eel's beauty benefits? Eel is rich in collagen. From a scientific perspective, the anti-aging effects are very minimal, almost nonexistent."

"However, there is indeed a slight beauty benefit, and it's even been rated by the media as an edible aquatic beauty product. So having someone like Karuizawa in the ad, combined with the prestige of the school, might yield better results than just promoting its taste."

"After all, market research has shown that, in terms of spending power, women top the list, followed by children, dogs, and then men."

"As long as it involves beauty, and we add something like 'This eel farm exclusively supplies Advanced Nurturing High School,' the consumer market is very likely to respond positively."

Everyone was astounded by Horikita's sudden burst of creativity. How did she come up with this? Linking eel to beauty benefits? Incredible, she really knows how to sell!

Matsushita, realizing the potential impact of this approach, couldn't help but persuade Karuizawa: "Yeah! Kei, would you consider it, please?"

"Uh? I, well." Karuizawa hesitated, thinking it was for the class's sake after all, and eventually nodded: "I, I can give it a try. But if my acting isn't good and the result isn't satisfactory, you'll have to find someone else."

"No problem," Matsushita responded with an expression that indicated she had everything under control. "I've already talked to Mr. Fujii. The eel farm will provide a certain percentage of the funding."

"Although our class finances are a bit tight, we should have enough to rent a camera. I'll go rent it now. Horikita, please think carefully about the ad script."

"Since you came up with the idea, it makes the most sense for you to write it."

"I understand." With this in mind, Class D's advertisement officially began production...