Chapter 8: Blind Spot

IT WAS THE FINAL DAY of camp, the day when our groups would be ranked according to the special exam. During this last week, the twenty-six or so small groups had passed time in their own unique ways. Some groups had gotten to know one another better and worked well together. Others were on the verge of collapse. Others had completed their daily tasks with indifference, growing neither closer nor further apart.

At first, our group had been a disaster. However, we'd grown significantly closer to one another by the end. I mean, we weren't perfect. At best, we were a ragtag lot. This was a temporary alliance—come tomorrow, we'd be enemies again. There was a certain sense of sadness at the thought of our group activities coming to an end.

"For the time being, we've done all we can. No matter what the outcome, we have no regrets."

"I think so too. Thanks for being our representative, Yukimura." Ishizaki and Yukimura shook hands.

"No matter what happens, let's give it our all."

"Let's do it."

The other guys complimented each other and shook on it. Afterward, we headed to our assigned classroom. There was nothing to worry about as far as group unity. Our biggest concern was Kouenji.

Right now, he seemed calm, quietly following us. But no one could predict when he might suddenly cut loose. The second- and third-years from our large group had already arrived, so we hurried to our seats in a bit of a panic just as the chime sounded. The teacher entered and began to explain the contents of the exam.

Even though we'd gathered in our large group, the exam would be administered to the small groups by grade level. The large groups would affect the overall ranking when the scores were tallied. No matter how vast

the camp grounds, if everyone tried doing all the same activities at the same time, we'd be crammed in together.

The four sections of the exam were as expected. They included Zen, Speech, Long-Distance Relay Race, and Written Exam. We first-year students would begin with zazen. Then we headed to the next classroom for our written exam. We'd follow that up with the long-distance relay race and, finally, we'd give our speeches.

The second-years had a higher hurdle to jump right out of the gate, since they were starting with the long-distance relay. The third-years, apparently, were beginning with speeches.

8.1

AFTER WE FINISHED BREAKFAST, we headed to the zazen dojo. We were exempted from cleaning this morning. The exam began as soon as all of the first-year guys had gathered.

"Without further ado, we will begin. There are two criteria in determining your scores: your manners and posture upon entering this dojo, and the presence or absence of any disorder during zazen. After you've finished, you will stand by in your assigned classrooms until you are given instructions for your next exam. Starting now, I will call out names. Students whose names have been called will line up and begin taking the test. Class A, Katsuragi Kouhei. Class D, Ishizaki Daichi—"

The instructor continued to read names aloud. After Katsuragi came Ishizaki. That was an unexpected development. The crowd murmured its surprise.

"Hurry up, Ishizaki. Next, first-year Class B, Beppu Ryouta." Confused, Ishizaki got in line, panicking slightly.

"Is this a different order then usual?"

Keisei mentally prepared while panicking himself. We hadn't expected this. We'd performed zazen several times over the past week, but always in our small groups. This time around, the school was assigning spots randomly.

That meant students outside our comfort zone would be close to our personal bubble. That might seem like a trivial difference, but on the day of the exam, when people were tense to begin with, it made everything that much harder. The school's goal to shake things up was working.

Keisei was flustered. Then a large hand rested on his shoulder—Albert, offering a gesture of consideration to calm him down. Getting the message, Keisei looked like he had regained a little bit of his composure.

"Sorry. If I'm like this during the very first exam, it'll affect our group's morale."

Rather than consider the pressure of being the representative as a

negative, Keisei thought of it as a positive. When his name was finally called, he responded clearly and entered the dojo. I was called before Albert, the second to last. Several instructors inside the dojo stood around holding clipboards and pens.

On top of that, there was a strange number of cameras installed throughout the dojo, perhaps to add certainty to the scoring. I already had the basics of zazen down in my head, so I wasn't going to slip up. Since it was very likely the scoring system was set up in such a way where you'd start with one hundred and have points deducted based on performance, I calculated that I would definitely have a perfect score.

After all, there wasn't any need for me to hold back in performing zazen. A slight distance away from me, Kouenji was participating too. He made no mistakes—in fact, he had beautiful posture. His movements were flawless. He'd never once seemed to take practice seriously, but I guess this was what you'd expect from him, huh?

Since we kept our eyes closed during the assessment, I couldn't be sure about the finer details. But I was sure we'd done well.

8.2

AFTER WE FINISHED with zazen, everyone began to disperse in silence. We were still being graded until we actually left the dojo. Under the watchful gaze of the instructors, the students silently exited and headed toward their respective classrooms as instructed.

Once everyone in our group gathered, Keisei slumped in his chair. "Ugh, my legs went numb during the test."

"Did you make it?" asked Ishizaki. His legs might have suffered a similar fate, because he rubbed at them as he asked Keisei that question.

"I think so. But I might've gotten a few points taken off." "Well, no use worryin' about it. Nothing ya can do now. Right,

Ayanokouji?" said Hashimoto.

"That's right. Next up is Keisei's forte: the written exam. Just focus on that," I told him.

Nagumo's words from last night were probably still in Hashimoto's head. But he wasn't going to confront me directly about them, because he had no idea what Horikita's brother considered special about me in the first place.

Two other small groups of first-years were in the room with us. One of them was the group that Ryuuen was in, which Akito was the representative for. I could tell that Ishizaki and Albert shifted their gazes over toward Ryuuen, but Ryuuen, rather than look back at us, took his seat, alone. He didn't talk to anyone. He was part of the group, but at the same time, he wasn't. He gave off an air of being completely and utterly isolated.

"Huh, that's pretty weird," muttered Hashimoto, standing next to me. It would be easy for me to ignore him, but I supposed I'd play along a bit.

"What is?"

"Ishizaki and Albert's eyes. I don't get the impression that they hate him. If anything, they look sorrowful. Like pets whose master has abandoned them."

"I don't get it. Didn't Ishizaki and Albert get fed up with Ryuuen?"

"That's what they say, but…maybe there's something more to Ryuuen stepping down. Don't you think so?"

Hashimoto almost certainly had no evidence linking me to Ryuuen. It was likely he was trying to steer the conversation in that direction because Nagumo had expressed an interest in Ryuuen.

"Dunno. I'm not really familiar with other classes' goings-on." "I see. Sorry for asking you something weird."

After the ten-minute break ended, we moved on to the written exam,

which proved to be nothing special. They tested what we had learned during our time at the camp. If you had a good grasp of the main topics we'd covered, you could almost certainly get a perfect score. If you were a student who struggled, you would get somewhere between fifty and seventy points.

What should I do?

While everyone else around me put their heads down and worked away, I tried to figure out how many points I should allow myself to lose. They probably weren't going to make individual scores public, but I didn't want to let the school see me get successive perfect scores. There were a lot of students who had been trying to feel me out as of late. Honestly, I would much rather hold back and not score too high.

I decided I would miss just one question that people would consider difficult. That would give me a solid 95 or so. After I finished penning down all my answers, I was tempted to look out the window. I didn't want the teachers to think I was cheating, though, so I shut my eyes and waited for the end.

After the test, the groups assembled and assessed our scores. It wasn't like calculating our scores ourselves was going to change the results, and yet, I couldn't really help but wonder whether I got that one question right or wrong. I guessed forcing yourself to think differently was effective, to a certain degree.

Everyone in our group was here except for Kouenji, who'd left the classroom as soon as the test was over. Ishizaki, as expected, hadn't understood most of the questions. My insurance was going to come in handy.

Still, the written exam had been easy overall, meaning every group probably scored high.

Based on what I'd seen in the dojo, the written exam and zazen test might not have resulted in a significant point gap between groups. Everyone seemed to have performed zazen with a certain degree of precision. Both tests were about demonstrating what you'd learned, so if you could pull that off, there likely wouldn't be a huge variation in scores. Of all the sections of the exam, it was the long-distance relay race that was likely to have the biggest impact.

If final scores were awarded based on where you placed in the relay, you might assume that the group who got first place would have earned a perfect score…but that was probably too simple, huh? I had a feeling they'd be taking our times into consideration too. In fact, you might even score well if you came in sixth place but made good time in the race.

When we left the classroom, I saw a number of vans parked outside. It seemed they'd be taking us to the spot where the batons would be handed out. When we got into the van, we received additional instructions from the teachers.

Every individual student must run a minimum distance of 1.2 kilometers.

Baton passes are only allowed every 1.2 kilometers.

If a student is unable to finish the race due to an accident, or if they fail to meet the minimum requirements, they will be disqualified.

After the teachers explained those three points, they dropped off Keisei, our first runner, and the van drove on. We'd decided our running order by the students who weren't confident in their speed. Keisei was first. Next were Sumida, Tokitou, and Moriyama from Class B. Yahiko was fifth.

We placed them like that because there were relative dips and rises in the terrain during the early stages of the race. Also, it put as little pressure as possible on them to worry about being overtaken by other runners. Those five would run the minimum distance each. Thus, we'd knock out a total of six kilometers.

Next up would be Hashimoto. He'd run at full speed for 3.6 kilometers, including the turnaround point. Then Albert would take the baton and run for

1.2 kilometers before passing it to Ishizaki, who'd run 3.6 kilometers. I would've been fine with placing after Albert, but Keisei believed the transition would be smoother if classmates were placed together.

Kouenji would only be running 1.2 kilometers. I was going to run 2.4 and pass the baton to him for the last leg. That was the conclusion that Keisei had reached in the end. Kouenji was put last to give him a little more motivation to finish. He'd get the credit for crossing the finish line, and relieve some of our anxieties about him not passing on the baton.

The downside was that if anyone cut corners, we wouldn't know who was running late. After Ishizaki got out of the van, there were three of us left: the instructor who was driving, Kouenji, and me. They could have dropped us off first, since they were going around the turning point anyway, but I supposed they intended to drop us off in the order we were running.

All that remained for me to do was wait at my spot 3.6 kilometers away from the finish line.

The van started moving back in the direction we came from. "Ayanokouji Boy. Allow me to ask you something plainly. Should we

take first place in this race, what do you think will happen? Overall, I mean."

"…There's no way that I'd know the answer to that, even if you ask. Besides, our overall results are determined by the average score of the large group. So it depends on how well the upperclassmen perform, right?"

No matter how hard we try, it'd be difficult to reach first place if they dropped the ball.

"So you won't even lie to reassure me that there's a possibility of getting first place, hmm?" he asked.

"You're not the kind of guy who'd be cheered up if I said something like that, are you?"

"Hmm, I have to wonder. How about you allow me to relieve you of

1.2 kilometers? If I run at full speed, there's an extremely high chance we'll defeat the other groups," Kouenji whispered into my ear, leaning in close.

"Okay, what the hell brought this about?" I asked.

"Just a whim. A whim that can help you. Not a bad offer, no?"

"You mean to tell me that you'll take responsibility for running 2.4 kilometers and for making us place well?"

"My, there's no need to speak so formally. It's just a whim, after all." "I see. Sorry, I'm turning you down. I can't change Keisei's strategy

on my own."

"Heh. I see. Well, that's unfortunate," said Kouenji, retaking his seat.

I didn't know what he was planning, but I had no intention of going out on a limb and trusting him. If he could decide to help on a whim, he could change his mind back on a whim too. Kouenji had only promised to run the minimum required distance. That meant he'd probably hold himself back if he ran anything beyond those 1.2 kilometers. The proof was in how he'd dodged the question I gave him about taking responsibility.

Besides, if I ended up causing us unnecessary trouble because of a decision I made, there'd be hell to pay.

"It seems you're cleverer than I thought. But also quite boring." If that was how he saw me, I was grateful for it.

I got out of the van and waited for Ishizaki at the marker 3.6 kilometers

from the finish line.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun."

Naturally, there were other guys waiting there, too. Hirata greeted me. "Huh, you're not the anchor?" he asked.

"Nope. Kouenji is going last. What about you? Is Sudou your anchor?"

"Yeah. He's raring to go—wants to run a lot. But with fifteen people, that's not really going to work."

Sudou's rivalry with Kouenji would probably flare up during the final lap of the race.

"Personally, I wish we'd had more people," I said. "It would probably have made things a little easier."

"At any rate, let's both do our best. As long as we don't fall below the school's standards, no one will be expelled, after all."

"Yeah."

While we waited, everyone was free to chat or quietly concentrate.

Since water stations were placed every 1.2 kilometers, it was also possible to get a drink…though you increased your chances of a stomachache if you guzzled down water before you ran. One student, totally oblivious to the peril, sucked down the contents of a plastic water bottle.

"Ah, I'm so nervous," he muttered before turning around and locking eyes with me. It was the Professor. Maybe he wanted someone to talk to, because he approached me. "So, you're in this spot too, Ayanokouji-kun."

"A-Ayanokouji-kun? In this spot…?"

I couldn't believe my ears. The Professor I knew would have said something like "Honorable Ayanokouji-dono, art thou currently placed upon this land?"

"Ah. Well, I quit talking like that. I was doing it to play a character, but after getting that warning during zazen, I thought I'd knock it off."

"I see."

I couldn't hide my shock at hearing the Professor speak so normally. It didn't suit him at all. It was like the thing that made him him had disappeared. He felt like a placeholder now, like Student X, or Y, or whatever.

We went on to have a completely ordinary conversation, but to be honest, I didn't remember any of it. Guess just changing the way you talked could make a huge difference.

At any rate, I wondered if Keisei had successfully passed the baton. No matter how long it took, finishing the race was crucial. Cold as it might sound, even if our large group did place dead last or fell below the school's standard line, no harm would come my way.

Of course, I did genuinely think it'd be better if no one got expelled.

As I wondered how many minutes had passed, I finally saw a student coming our way. However, it wasn't Ishizaki. It was someone from the mostly Class B group led by Kanzaki. More students began to arrive, one after the other. After a close struggle with the runner in third, Ishizaki was in fourth.

"Huff huff. Take it, Ayanokouji! Go for first!" he shouted, handing the

baton over.

Whether we took first would come down to Kouenji, but I took the baton and ran.

"I'll kill ya if ya hold back!" shouted Ishizaki with the last of his strength, before collapsing to the ground.

His exhaustion was natural, considering he'd run more than three kilometers on a mountain path. I decided to slowly but surely close the gap with the runners in front. I ran a little bit faster than everyone else, making sure not to disrupt my breathing. Rather than trying to go on the offense right off the bat pace, I waited for their stamina to drain before overtaking them.

By doing that, I fooled them into thinking I'd passed because they were too slow.

Despite the bumpy terrain, two kilometers wasn't enough to leave me out of breath. Just like that, I overtook one runner ahead of me, putting me in third, only a short distance behind the second-place runner. Then I handed the baton off to Kouenji.

Nine people had handled this baton. Our fate was in this man's hands. "Now then. Let's work up a light sweat, shall we?"

Kouenji, brushing back his hair, took the baton in hand and ran with a nonchalant look on his face. He probably wasn't going at full speed, but he was quite fast. If he kept to that speed, we'd probably be fine. That was, of course, so long as he didn't slow to a stroll once he was out of sight.

In the end, despite all the anxiety he'd caused us, Kouenji wound up finishing in second place. I didn't know if he couldn't overtake the runner in first or if he simply didn't want to. Probably the latter.

The speeches we'd have to give after this intense race were going to be hell for the first-years. We'd have to speak at length in raised voices after completely exhausting ourselves.

However, nothing particularly noteworthy occurred. While I had some doubts about Kouenji's somewhat…let's say dramatic performance during his speech, everyone seemed to have completed the assignment without any real difficulty.

8.3

AND SO, the longest day of the special exam was over. The majority of our group—no, of the entire student body—was totally exhausted. I had no doubt that our group would score much higher than we'd initially expected. If this came down to what the average scores were, then our group had a good chance to finish strong. The rest came down to how well Nagumo's group and the third-years scored, but I was certain we wouldn't score below the threshold set by the school.

As on the first day, all the male students assembled inside the gymnasium, shortly joined by the female students. They were probably going to announce the results for both the guys and girls. It was already five o'clock in the evening—safe to assume it would be late by the time we made it back to school.

"You've all done excellent work at this camp school these past eight days. Though the exact nature of the contents differ, of course, this special exam is held every few years. Overall, you performed better than the students from the previous exam. I suppose that's down to your good teamwork," announced an elderly man I'd never seen before. He smiled the whole time he spoke.

I was guessing he was the person in charge of the camp.

"I will announce the results, but first, I must say that the boys couldn't have had a better finish. They all successfully met the school's standards, and thus there will be zero boys expelled."

The moment he announced that, I heard the relieved murmurs of several boys.

"Whew, no one's getting expelled," said Keisei, putting his hand to his chest with a sigh of relief. Ishizaki lightly smacked him on the back.

"Never once thought we'd get expelled from the start. We were aimin' for first, after all."

"Yeah."

No matter our personal feelings, avoiding expulsion was significant. However, the way the elderly man phrased that announcement was slightly concerning. If no one from the entire student body was getting expelled, he'd have no reason to specify "boys" the way he'd just done.

Which meant…

"Now then. I will announce the overall winner among the boys' large groups, but I will only be reading the name of the third-year student acting as representative. Points for the students placed in that group, which includes first- through third-year students, will be given at a later date."

With that, the elderly man slowly read the names aloud.

"Third-year Class C Ninomiya Kuranosuke-kun's group took first place."

When that announcement was made, some third-year students immediately began to cheer. For a moment, I didn't know whose group that was, but then realized it was the large group that Horikita's brother was in. It would seem he'd won his battle against Nagumo.

"Well done, Horikita. Just what I'd expect of you."

Fujimaki praised Horikita's brother, ignoring the rest of the announcements. The groups that came in second place and below were announced, but from the senior students' point of view, this was nothing more than a bonus.

"Hey, Yukimura. We got second. We did it!" "Yeah, I'm glad. I'm really, really glad."

They didn't announce the actual difference in our scores, but

Nagumo's group had come in second place, so I was guessing the margin had been narrow. Everyone seemed to think Nagumo would quiet down a little now that he'd placed second, but honestly, I wasn't sure whose strategy would carry the day in the end.

Why was that? Well, I didn't have anything particular at stake here, but…Nagumo was smiling beside me, showing no sign of being upset at all. That wasn't the look of a man who'd lost after dramatically and defiantly throwing down the gauntlet.

I supposed I expected as much. Expected, in other words, that he was

concocting something incredibly evil behind the scenes.

"You've earned first place. Congratulations are in order, Horikita- senpai. Just as I'd expect from you," said Nagumo, speaking loudly.

Horikita didn't offer any kind of response. He simply stayed silent for the rest of the announcements. Maybe he was also beginning to feel something was off about this.

"You lost, Nagumo," said the third-year student Fujimaki, clearly oblivious to what was going on. He probably felt he'd just served a cocky junior student a piece of humble pie.

"It sure seems that way. But they've only just started announcing the results, haven't they?" replied Nagumo.

"Enough already. It's over." "Sure. For the boys."

"For the boys? Well, yeah, but the girls have nothing to do with this.

That was the agreement, wasn't it, Nagumo?"

"Yes. They have nothing to do with the fight between Horikita-senpai and I, that's right. At all."

Fujimaki's face turned stern upon hearing Nagumo's enigmatic choice of words. Ishikura, a third-year student from Class B, stood beside Nagumo and listened to the conversation, quietly observing what was happening.

"Next, I would like to announce the results for the girls' groups. First place goes to third-year Class C Ayase Natsu-san's group."

This time, some of the girls let out cheers of joy. The large group that the third-year student named Ayase was in charge of contained a small group composed mostly of first-year Class C students, including Horikita and Kushida. They might have earned quite a few points.

But the joy was short-lived. Something dire came close on its heels. "Um, well… This is truly regrettable, but unfortunately, there is one

small group among the girls that failed to secure the necessary score."

Everyone's faces froze upon hearing that. Even the students who'd been cheering went silent. Everyone had tried their absolute best not to fall below the borderline. However, life can be cruel. Someone was definitely

going to be expelled.

Now the only question that remained was: Would be a first-year getting expelled? Or perhaps an upperclassman? Horikita's brother looked over at Nagumo as though he had just noticed something. Like he was trying to discern the meaning behind the cocksure smile that Nagumo had worn on his face this entire time.

However, it was already too late.

"I will first announce the group that came in last place… That would be the group represented by third-year Class B student Ikari Momoko-san."

Just like with the boys, it wasn't immediately clear to me who was included in that group. But the anguished cries from some of the girls began to make things clear. The large group that had come in last place had been decided. Now it was just a matter of which of the small groups within it had fallen below the acceptable threshold. In a worst-case scenario, students from all three grade levels might be expelled at the same time.

"As for the group that fell below the threshold…"

The gymnasium grew even quieter than during zazen. Everyone's eyes were focused on the old man's mouth, desperate to know the results.

"It is also…"

The gymnasium was divided into two camps: those who continued smiling, and those who were getting nervous.

"The group Ikari Momoko-san represents. That is all."

The moment the old man declared the results, Nagumo started laughing happily, as if he had been holding it in until now. The passage of time, which had slowed to a trickle, started to flow normally once more. However, many of the students didn't seem to understand what was happening. Why was Nagumo laughing because some student he didn't even know was going to be ordered to leave the school?

One student from third-year Class B was going to be expelled. But he was laughing because…that wasn't all there was to this.

"What did you do, Nagumo?!" shouted Fujimaki, who now understood what was going on. He closed in on Nagumo.

Horikita's brother didn't approach Nagumo, but he wore a grim look.

"Come now, senpai, we're still in the middle of the results. Please calm down. This has nothing to do with you anyway, Fujimaki-senpai. Does it?

The only thing that's happening is that a Class B student will be expelled. If anything, this means you'll pull even further ahead of your rivals, right?" Nagumo snickered.

"Um, please, some quiet, if you would. Now, it is truly unfortunate, but this means Ikari-san will have to take responsibility for the group, and thus, she will be expelled. Ikari-san may also decide to invoke the solidarity rule and name someone else within her group. Ikari-san, please consult with me later. Next, I will announce which of the girls' groups has taken second place."

Despite saying that it was unfortunate, he continued speaking, solemnly. But Horikita's brother no longer cared about getting first place himself. He'd fallen for the trap set for him, just like Nagumo had intended. It was precisely because Horikita Manabu was an upstanding, honorable individual that he'd got beaten by Nagumo Miyabi, who'd struck from where you'd least expect it.

"Ayanokouji, why is Fujimaki-senpai so angry…? Just like Nagumo- senpai said, the representative is a student from Class B. Isn't this a boon for Class A?" Keisei whispered into my ear.

"No, the problem isn't the representative. I think it's who's going down with her."

"Huh?"

We were ordered to disband. While they prepped the buses for our return trip, we were given free time to change. Nagumo stood his ground proudly. He called one of the girls over.

"Ikari-senpai. I'm sure everyone is wondering just who in the world will be expelled alongside you."

The third-year Class B girl named Ikari, who was slated for expulsion, was calm. If anything, it was the other girls in her small group, which was mostly composed of students from Class B and Class D, who looked worried.

I knew what was going to happen. I was certain of it, thanks to the

information I'd gotten from Asahina and Kei.

And among the people in that group…there was one single participant from A Class: Tachibana Akane. I looked over at Horikita's brother and slowly spoke to him inside my mind.

Look, I get it. To ensure that you all graduated from Class A, and also to counter Nagumo, you instructed every Class A student, both guys and girls, not to take on the role of representative. Didn't you? Because as long as you produced solid scores, none of you would get expelled.

However, you knew that wasn't an airtight defense. That was why you accepted Nagumo's challenge, making sure to set the conditions that the fight be above the board, in an attempt to defend against his malice. You also avoided making any imprudent contact with the girls, hoping to lower the risk of Nagumo exploiting that opening and targeting them.

You exhausted every measure available to you, and still kept things civil, I'll grant you that. But even so, Nagumo's malice knows no bounds. I don't need to say much more about that, though.

This special exam was a trap that Nagumo had set without even the school realizing it. The people who had gotten caught in his trap understood the situation they were in now. Their faces had gone so pale that it looked like they might collapse any moment.

"Well, isn't that obvious? It's the student who made sure our group knew no peace. Tachibana Akane-san, from Class A," spat Ikari angrily, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Nagumo… You promised Horikita that you wouldn't involve any third parties in this, didn't you?" shouted Fujimaki. He rounded on Nagumo, getting in his face, like he was about to start throwing punches.

"Please wait. This has nothing to do with me." "That's a bald-faced lie!"

Fujimaki was furious, and it was obvious why. No one here was

fooled. Nagumo had known what was going on.

"Well, I'll go notify the school who I'll be dragging down with me," announced Ikari indifferently, heading off toward the instructor. Her classmate Ishikura went with her, nestling close.

No one could do anything to stop what was happening. Even Hashimoto recognized that.

"Tachibana-senpai dragged down Ikari-senpai's group," he said. "As a result, their group's score fell below the average, so she's being taken down as well via the solidary rule. That's all there is to it, isn't it?"

Unlike Fujimaki, Horikita's brother called over to Tachibana, who stood still, before he approached Nagumo. Some of the third-year students walked away, the looks on their faces indicating that they couldn't even bring themselves to say anything in the current situation.

"Horikita-kun, I'm sorry…!"

"Tachibana, why didn't you consult with me sooner? Surely you should have noticed something was amiss."

"That's because…I knew that you would take the burden upon yourself, Horikita-kun…" said Tachibana, apologizing, in tears.

She likely hadn't noticed at first. How she'd been caught in a trap from the moment the groups were decided. But as time passed, she must have sensed something was wrong…sensed that the group she had been placed in was created for the sole purpose of taking down Tachibana Akane.

And still, she'd faced the exam, working as hard as she could in hopes of a miracle. But as you might expect, reality was cruel. Still, Tachibana should have been prepared to accept this. Even if she was expelled, it would only cost Class A one hundred class points.

"Ah, such beautiful friendship. Or perhaps I should call it love?

Anyway, congratulations to you, Horikita-senpai. Once again, please allow me to pay you my compliments. I've lost."

A loser would never speak in the tone of voice Nagumo did now. I doubted there was a single person here who believed what he said.

"It was a truly fantastic strategy. No, perhaps I should say that it was a strategy that went well beyond what is expected. There is not a single person here who can read my intentions, and that includes you, Horikita-senpai," said Nagumo. He laughed loudly, not ceasing his attacks on his injured opponent. "Please, enlighten me, Tachibana-senpai. How does it feel to have served on the student council, to have been on verge of graduating from Class A, only to then be expelled? And Horikita-senpai, how do you feel right now? I'm sure you must be positively filled with feelings of frustration, the likes of which you've never felt before. Hmm?"

After hearing what Nagumo said, Horikita sighed quietly. "Why didn't you go after me?" he asked.

"Because I can't imagine you ever being expelled, even if I tried such a method on you, senpai. I was terrified you'd counter me with some method I couldn't anticipate. But more importantly, I've never actually wanted you to be expelled, Horikita-senpai. If anything, if you got expelled, then we wouldn't be able to see each other, would we? That's why, of all the many possible targets, I went after Tachibana-senpai. I wanted to see your face when I made her disappear," said Nagumo. He laughed as he said it, as though implying he'd done it purely for curiosity's sake, or on a whim.

"I understand that we have very different principles, but I trusted you. Regarding the matter of competition, I had thought you were a man capable of facing me directly, head-to-head. It would appear that I was wrong," said Horikita.

Nagumo apparently took no offense to this.

"Trust is an awful lot like experience points in a game," he said. "The more you accumulate, the more you increase your worth. I think that the ultimate form of this is family. If you ran into a stranger when you were out and about at night, you'd be cautious. But if that person happened to be family, then you'd drop your guard. It's like that, Horikita-senpai. Though I

feel you don't like me very much, I've managed to gain a certain degree of your trust over these past two years. Even though our values were different, I've always done everything that I said I would do. I followed your instructions and stuck to the rules. That being said, you are a rather canny upperclassman. I'm sure you didn't trust me completely, did you?"

It was safe to assume that Nagumo knew the orders that Horikita's brother had issued his class to protect them and collect information.

"However…even if you had your suspicions about me, it wasn't as though you could betray me first, senpai," added Nagumo.

That was the downside of a nonaggressive defense policy.

"You've lost something rather significant because of your curiosity, Nagumo."

"Oh, you mean your trust? I chose to discard that myself. For the sake of trying to gain an understanding of my senpai, who cares so deeply for his juniors."

Nagumo had proven that he cared nothing for promises. He wanted to fight without limiting factors such as trust and respect. That was the kind of challenge he was offering.

"I've come to understand how you do things quite well," said Horikita Manabu.

"I'm glad to hear that. This was, after all, nothing more than a warm- up," replied Nagumo. "I'm fine with getting people expelled, if I have to.

That's the way this school operates."

While everyone else panicked, Horikita continued to speak calmly. "You seem to be operating under the impression that Tachibana will be expelled."

"W-wait, Horikita-kun!" Tachibana shouted.

But there was a fierce determination in Horikita's eyes.

"Oh, ho? I thought we were going to end with a draw, both of us losing something. But you're really gonna spend all that? I mean, that would mean a lot of money and class points."

Revocation of expulsion. The ultimate tool that anyone could use, as

long as they met the requirements.

"Please, don't do this. This is all my fault…"

Tachibana desperately tried to stop Horikita. However, it seemed Fujimaki shared Horikita's opinion, as he addressed Class A.

"We understand. We've made it this far as Class A because we understand it better than anyone else. Isn't that right?"

"That's exactly right, Horikita. No need to hold back. Use it." Some of their classmates spoke up to voice their support.

"Are you really okay with this, Horikita-senpai? For a third-year class to save a student from expulsion right now would mean essentially giving up your position as Class A, you know?"

"Even if we give up our position, all we need to do is take it back again. As you said, that's how this school operates."

"Is that so? Well, I guess that's fine."

Miyabi was probably going to amicably discuss the strategy he had in mind from this point onward. I already knew what that strategy was. There was no need for me to stay and hang on to every word.

Besides, there was nothing I could do, even if I stayed.

Horikita Suzune had anxiously watched the entire situation unfold, from beginning to end. She was looking so intently at her older brother that she didn't even notice me as I walked away, which was fine by me.

I left the gymnasium. When I did, I saw Kei standing near the entrance, looking like she was waiting for me. As I stepped out into the corridor, she followed a little way behind me.

"Everything happened the way you said it would, Kiyotaka. You seriously knew what was going to happen. You knew Tachibana-senpai would be targeted. I would have thought anyone other than Horikita-senpai would've been fair game for Nagumo to target…"

"It was the rules of the special exam," I said. "As soon as I heard the student council was involved in its planning, I thought this might happen. It's certainly true that anyone could have been targeted. However, Nagumo went through the trouble of setting up a trap this complex. If he wanted to stick the

knife in as deep as possible, his targets were limited. The only female student that Horikita had a deep connection with was Tachibana."

That was the conclusion I'd drawn after piecing together information from Kei, Ichinose, and Asahina. Also, there was a clear sense of collusion going on between Nagumo and Ishikura. It was clear those two were connected. Nagumo hadn't just gathered all the second-year students under his wing. He'd also brought all the third-year students who weren't in Class A over to his side.

"I'm sure everyone in the large group colluded to get a low score. The members of Tachibana's small group must've been holding back quite a bit, too. That way, it was simple for them to fall below the threshold."

But Kei didn't seem quite convinced.

"But why did he use Class B? It would've been fine if he put a Class D student in charge as representative. I mean, since he used Class B, that means Horikita-senpai is still in Class A, right? If Nagumo wanted to knock him down to Class B, shouldn't he have gone with a Class D student?"

Kei had a good eye. She was certainly right about that. If that was Nagumo's goal, it would've been an excellent strategy for him to make a Class D student the representative, thereby lessening the gap between Class A and Class B that way. Or so you'd assume, normally.

"It's precisely because it was Class B that this was possible. If Tachibana acquitted her tasks during this special exam without issue, it wouldn't be easy to get her expelled via the solidarity rule. Unless the three classes all came together, the strategy wouldn't be viable. Let's consider third-year Class D. They're the least likely to make it to Class A before graduation, given their current situation. If a student from Class D was the representative, they might decide to name a student from B or C to take down with them in order to move their class up, even if it's just by one level. But it would be pointless to drag down a student from a lower class at this juncture."

On the other hand, if you looked at it from the perspective of Class D or Class C students who weren't the representative, they'd probably be happy to help bring down students from Class A and Class B. That was why Ikari's group had banded together to thoroughly demonize Tachibana, making her out to be the bad guy. If anything, they probably blatantly and maliciously

harassed her. Tachibana probably hadn't been able to sleep at night.

And as a result, they didn't get good grades in the end. Even if their average grade was mediocre, if it appeared Tachibana had held the group back for the entire week, that would be enough to paint her as a target.

If someone filed a complaint, there would've been a discussion. But if the entire small group conspired to claim that Tachibana had been an obstacle for them in places and in ways that weren't publicly visible, the school would have to recognize that. Of course, it would set a bad precedent, but there would probably be some amendments made to the rules for the next special exam in a few years.

And so Nagumo's elaborate strategy had come together, and he'd successfully laid the way for Tachibana to be expelled.

"But wait, how could he even pull off a strategy like this? If I were a student in Class B, I sure as hell wouldn't be okay with getting expelled for the sake of my class. What's the payoff?"

"I'm not sure what kind of payoff there was, but Ikari won't be expelled."

"Huh? But she was the representative, wasn't she?"

"They probably predicted Horikita's brother would use that lifeline option. By paying twenty million points and three hundred Class Points, he can revoke a student's expulsion. Because Horikita used that option, Nagumo was okay with Class B using it too."

"Well, now I can't tell what he gained from all this. If anything, isn't it a loss?"

"Spending those class points will sting, but if Class A had to use the same lifeline, the gap between the classes won't widen at all. As far as private points go, this won't hurt them at all."

"So third-year Class B is that rich?"

"No. The ironclad condition of Nagumo's strategy was that he would pay all the private points himself. If he didn't, there's no way they'd cooperate."

Most likely, Nagumo had contacted Ishikura on the bus and paid him the twenty million points in advance. The proof of that could be seen in

Ikari's and Ishikura's calm behavior.

"The second-year class is a monolith. If he collected money from the entirety of the second-years, he wouldn't even need fifteen thousand per person. Saving one student from expulsion could be bought on the cheap."

"What a seriously insane way of fighting. That is definitely not

normal."

"That's how Nagumo Miyabi does things. That's all there is to it."

He didn't come up with a strategy after seeing what the exam was like.

He came up with a strategy and then created the exam. Class A, led by Horikita's brother, would get stuck with paying twenty million private points in total, as a single class. Quite a bit of damage. They might have to face one or two more special exams before they graduated, and they'd just lost a staggering amount of money.

If Horikita's brother were expelled in the next exam, he wouldn't have enough money to save himself. That lifeline would be dead in the water.

"I think it's time we head our separate ways."

"Wait, one more thing." Kei was persistent. "I can't think of any way to counter the way Nagumo-senpai's thinks. The method he used to set Tachibana-senpai up for expulsion… It's, like, the perfect trap or something. Is that why you didn't make a move, Kiyotaka?"

"It's quite a formidable strategy. Nagumo had a checkmate set up by the time his enemy got in the game."

This was a good precedent to set. Private points could be powerful. "Say, what if I wind up in the same situation that Tachibana-senpai

was in…? In a situation where you can't even use a lifeline? I mean, there'd be nothing you could do at a time like that, right?" asked Kei in a soft voice.

"You don't even need me to answer, do you? I won't let you get expelled. No matter what methods I have to use."

In the end, Horikita Manabu chose to part with Class A's class and private points, thus saving Tachibana Akane. As I'd predicted, Ishikura from Class B did the same to save Ikari. An extremely unusual happenstance: two classes utilizing the lifeline option at the same time.

From this point on, students across all grade levels at the Advanced Nurturing High School were going to be expelled, one after another.