Chapter: 4

The day after the class matchups were decided…

Class C had arranged to hold another class-wide discussion once school was out for the day, so we were free to do what we wanted during the lunch break.

As a result, the Ayanokōji Group gathered to eat lunch together, just like usual.

We all met up at the back of the classroom once lunch started and headed off to the cafeteria.

"How did yesterday's discussion go?"

Wasting no time, I asked my friends about what the class had discussed the day before.

It had taken about an hour for the commanders to determine the class matchups and go over everything, so by the time I had gotten back to the classroom, everybody had already gone back home for the day.

"You didn't hear about it from Horikita-san? …I guess that might make sense."

Airi responded with a vague answer, but after faltering for a moment, she spoke up again.

"There was an event manual, right? Ultimately, everyone was having a hard time understanding the rules…"

"There wasn't even a discussion in the first place. It was a complete waste of time."

Keisei let out an exasperated sigh.

Apparently, our discussion during yesterday's lunch break hadn't been enough for everyone to get a grasp of the rules. From the looks of it, the discussion after school yesterday ended once everybody had gotten on the same page. If that's what had happened, it would've been fairly typical of Class C.

"Besides, the problem isn't just our class." "What's that mean, Yukimuu?"

"There are only so many places on campus where a bunch of students can meet up, right?"

"Well, it's definitely impossible for forty people to meet up at karaoke or some place at the mall. What of it?"

"I was the first person to leave the classroom after the discussion finished yesterday… When I walked into the hallway, there were some Class A students lingering just outside the door."

Haruka and Airi exchanged confused glances with each other.

At first, Akito didn't seem to understand what Keisei was getting at either, but after a moment, he realized it.

"…You're saying they were spying on us?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. During this exam, important information will be spoken verbally, right? Even if they were only listening in on our discussion, it's more than likely that they picked up on something."

Information like which types of events might get chosen, or who was good at what.

Without a doubt, it would be beneficial to obtain information like that, even if only a little.

In other words, the battle had already begun.

"Looking at it from that point of view, Class C has already fallen behind." "Scary! Sakayanagi-san's already made her move."

Trembling in fear, Haruka began to rub the back of her arms.

"Then, shouldn't we start to gather information about Class A? Kinda like that one guy said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Quickly changing her tone, Haruka then proposed we fight back against Class A.

However, there was no way Keisei would agree so easily.

"If it were that simple, it wouldn't be a problem in the first place." "Ehh?"

"I'm probably not the only one who thinks this either. Even Horikita should understand that there's no point in doing that. Do you really think Class A is going to gather up in a classroom and hold a forty-person discussion?"

Class C struggled with its lack of unity and cooperation, and these attributes were the first thing we needed to focus on.

This was completely different from Class A, where top students like Sakayanagi decided on everything.

Who the commander is. Who comes up with the events. Who's in charge of collecting information.

They had already decided on everything the moment the exam began.

Besides, even if they were to hold a classwide discussion, they would probably have two or three people stand guard to prevent us from eavesdropping.

"But, like, wouldn't it be fine to at least try? We might even be able to catch them off guard at some point. Who knows, maybe they'll meet up in their classroom to talk about the exam."

"If that happens, I'd be afraid instead. I'd suspect any information we'd manage to get our hands on."

If the information we overheard ended up being fake, we would've just been wasting our time. Keisei's concerns were spot on. Information should be hidden when possible; anything that isn't should be heavily suspected.

"However, an information war is absolutely inevitable. The crucial part is figuring out what kind of method to use…"

"Do… we even stand a chance?"

Airi spoke, surrendering to her feelings of anxiety.

"At this point, it'd probably be better to think of it as though they're just a step or two ahead of us."

Since Class C still hadn't even decided on anything yet, we had no reason to think we were in the lead in the first place.

"Still, who'd have thought we'd have to go against Class A." "Sorry. It's my fault for losing the lottery."

In reality, I would've chosen Class A even if I had won, but I'd at least act apologetic about it like this.

"Ah, no, I wasn't implying that! That's totally my bad! I wasn't blaming you at all, Kiyopon!"

Haruka seemed to take my apology more seriously than I had expected, as she hurriedly spoke up to correct herself.

"Expecting him to win a lotto with only a one in four chance of winning is kinda harsh, Haruka."

As Akito spoke, Haruka shrunk back even further. "T-that's why I said that's not what I meant…"

At this point she brought something else up, probably wanting to change the topic.

"I think it'd be nice if Class A'd go a little easy on us. They've got it easy going up against Class C. Dontcha think so too, Miyatchi?"

"Go easy…? Does Sakayanagi really seem like that type of person to you?"

"…Not at all. She completely crushed Yamauchi-kun, and she could prolly flatten the rest of us too."

Disheartened, Haruka looked up and began to stare at the ceiling.

"Anyways, it just keeps going wrong for you, doesn't it Kiyotaka? What with being commander under these circumstances."

Keisei patted me on the shoulder as if to console me for the trouble I was going through.

"Well, I do have that protection point though. I didn't really have any other choice this time. I don't want to lose or anything, but I'm pretty thankful that nobody has to worry about getting expelled."

For now, this was the only thing I could say to them.

Whatever the reason, I was the one selfishly leading us into the confrontation with Class A.

"Our opponent is Class A. It wouldn't be your fault if we lose." "Plus, their commander is Sakayanagi-san."

In this situation, ninety-nine percent of people probably think Sakayanagi will win. In which case, my position in the class wouldn't change even if I were to lose. On the other hand, if I end up winning, the victory would be credited to Horikita's excellent leadership and the elaborate strategy she comes up with.

"Yeah… Winning this is probably going to be difficult." Keisei crossed his arms and let out a defeated sigh.

At this point, however, Akito said something nobody was expecting.

"Just because we're up against Class A doesn't mean it'll be impossible to win."

"…Really? Well, it's not like I actually wanna lose, but…"

"This isn't some secret plan or strategy, Haruka. Think about it carefully. There's a way to snatch victory away from Class A, isn't there?"

With that, Akito began his explanation.

"Back when Chabashira announced the exam, I thought it was unreasonable to ask us to go up against the upper classes. But something Ike happened to say made me think of a way we could make it happen."

"Something Ike-kun said? Wait, are you talking about when he brought up rock-paper-scissors?"

Reminded of something, Haruka spoke up, causing Akito to nod in agreement.

"At first, I thought it was kind-of a stupid suggestion for an event. But, then I realized that, if we pick an event that revolves around luck, we'd always have around a fifty-percent chance of winning, no matter who we're up against. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to come up with five events like Old Maid or Daifugo that rely on luck for the day of the exam."

Having heard Akito's explanation, Haruka's eyes lit up.

"With a strat like that, we'd be on totally equal footing with anyone!" "Yeah! I don't think it's a bad idea either!"

"No… It wouldn't be that simple."

While the three of them were getting caught up in their excitement, Keisei calmly criticised the idea.

"I won't know for sure without actually doing the calculations, but the chances of us winning with that strategy are something like 5 to 10%."

"What? That's it? I'm not saying our chances would be like, exactly 50% or anything, but it should be like at least 20 or 30%, right? How hard could it really be for our five events to get chosen and for us to win four of em?"

"We'd have to be incredibly lucky for everything to play out that way, Haruka."

All five of Class C's events would have to end up getting selected, and we'd have to get lucky enough to win at least four of them. If our odds of winning were an even 50% for each of those five events, our overall probability of winning the exam was…

I took a moment to run the calculations in my head.

There was an 8.33% chance of all five of our events being chosen, and at a 50% win rate, the probability of winning four times would be 18.75%.

Considering that we'd have to make it past both of those conditions, we'd be left with a mere 1.56% chance of coming out on top.

In other words, it wasn't even close to 5%. It's hard to say that relying on luck to win would be a good idea.

That being said, this was only considering everything from a simple, standardized viewpoint where luck was the only thing supporting my calculations.

In reality, various other factors would affect our true chances of winning, but ultimately it's far too detrimental to call this an effective strategy.

This meant we should choose events based on what we're good at, even if it bears somewhat more of a risk.

The fewer events that revolve around luck, the better. "It's that bad? It was just a thought I had, is all."

Having realized how naive his suggestion was, Akito scratched at his cheek.

At this point, I noticed Airi was looking at me with concern, and her expression became all the more worried once I turned to face her.

"Kiyotaka-kun… Uhm, are you alright? Being the commander…"

It seemed like Airi had been getting more and more concerned as the difficulty of beating Class A became more and more apparent.

"Yeah Kiyopon. You don't need to push yourself just cuz you got a Protection Point."

Haruka spoke up, finishing Airi's sentence before she could come up with the words.

"Haruka's right. At the very least, none of us thought there was something going on between you and Sakayanagi. Right guys?"

Everyone nodded. It didn't feel bad being trusted like this.

"Like, some of our classmates seemed to be kinda suspicious of you still, but Horikita-san's explanation seemed like it convinced pretty much everyone. I mean, at first I totally thought having a Protection Point would be great, but now it seems like it'd be troublesome to have one, ya know?"

"I'm a little jealous of everyone who got Protection Points, but after seeing the situation Kiyotaka-kun's in, I feel like I'd just end up losing it right away if I had gotten one…"

At the end of the day, only one person was safe. Everyone else was left to fend for themselves. It wouldn't be easy to maintain safety like that without fully resolving yourself.

In contrast with Airi's timid self-evaluation, Keisei crossed his arms and disagreed.

"For me, I wouldn't give up my Protection Point no matter what anybody says."

"Even if you end being resented or hated because of it? Because of their jealousy?"

"You're missing the point here. I wouldn't want to give in to stuff like that just because of something that I rightfully won. Instead, Kiyotaka should've done what he could to keep it to protect himself."

As if he had become the victim here, Keisei indignantly kept his arms crossed.

Akito, who had been silent until now, looked at me and spoke.

"The truth is, fighting against Class A is gonna be tough, so it's probably better that Kiyotaka agreed to take the risk. If it had been anybody else, we

might be seeing our second expulsion here soon, right? Or are you saying that you could've been the commander, Keisei?"

"That… Well, I don't really think so."

Though, it's not like I didn't understand Keisei's frustration. He had probably just wanted to emphasize that we'd have an easier time winning with a more capable student as the commander.

"It's unfortunate that we have to avoid expulsion during this exam too, but I wonder who would've been the best fit as commander without it…? Horikita-san?"

Airi tilted her head as she carefully thought about all of the options.

"Huh, Horikita-san seems about right to me? Or maybe someone like Hirata-kun or Kushida-san? Yukimuu might've done pretty good too."

She listed off a bunch of students who'd have probably gotten consistent results as the class's commander.

"Hirata, huh… I wonder what his deal is."

At this point, Akito seemed to think that continuing to talk about going against Class A would only dampen the mood, so he changed the subject.

"Hey Keisei, how do you see the Class D versus Class B matchup playing out?"

In particular, he brought up the other teams that'd be waging war during this special exam.

"Chances are Class B's gonna win. Their teamwork is on another level, and overall, they're a strong class to have to match up against."

"Yeah! Plus, their commander is Kaneda-kun, not Ryūen-kun."

They probably thought that there was no need to be afraid of Class D without Ryūen.

However, Ishizaki and the rest of Class D had been looking to fight Class B from the very start. While it's unexpected, it isn't something to make light of. If I were in charge of Class D, I would've chosen to fight Class B as well. Class A is led by Sakayanagi, and has a number of tough opponents like Katsuragi and Hashimoto. What's more, their class as a whole has the best academic abilities out of our entire school year. When it comes to Class C, they probably don't like the idea of going against me. Of course, one could also argue that they'd expect me to keep my presence hidden, but either way, Class D's specialty is their physical ability, not their academics. In order to make the most out of their strong points, I'd still probably

choose Class B. Though, this wouldn't give them the upper hand or flat- out win the exam for them. It was just their best choice to avoid defeat.

Whether or not Class D can actually win would depend on their decisions moving forward, along with a little bit of luck.

It was nothing more than a small glimmer of hope at this point. "Hey guys, look at that."

Haruka whispered to us, notioning over to the entrance of the cafeteria where Hirata had just walked in.

At a glance, his steps were aimless and heavy, kind of like a zombie or somebody possessed by a ghost.

His eyes lacked ambition. The difference between the person we were looking at and his bright, usual self was striking.

"He's like… seriously ill or something."

Haruka muttered a few words, but there was simply nothing more to say. Hirata was somebody who had done more for our class than anybody else. The class had gotten through this past year without losing anyone, and Hirata's actions had undeniably played an important part in that.

"Hirata's pretty much useless in this special exam. Going up against Class A was already hard enough, but now we've also gotta deal with such a large handicap right from the start."

Keisei's words sounded a little cold.

"There… There's nothing we can do, is there?"

Other students have already attempted to approach him plenty of times.

So far, it didn't seem like anybody had managed to get through to him. Nothing they did seemed to have an effect.

Instead, the situation seemed to be getting even worse because of everyone's excessive prodding.

Nobody in the Ayanokōji Group was particularly close with Hirata either, so it's only natural that our voices wouldn't be able to reach him.

For that very reason, none of us saw the need to overreact to what Keisei was implying. It was somebody else's problem.

Part 1

After school, the full-fledged discussion was finally just about to begin. Nobody moved from their seats as the bell rang with the exception of Hirata, who stood up immediately.

"Hirata-kun!"

"H-Hirata-kun!"

Several of the girls raised their voices and shouted out to him. Among them was Mii-chan.

But Hirata didn't stop. It seemed like he didn't care what would happen to the class anymore.

He was just going to school, attending his classes, and heading back home, as if he was trying to avoid getting involved with the rest of the class.

He was probably just going to repeat this cycle over and over again. "Wait a second, Hirata-kun!"

"You guys are the ones who should wait."

Mii-chan and the others tried to chase after him, but Horikita's words stopped them in their tracks.

"We're about to have a discussion. Do you want even more people to miss out on it?"

"B-but…"

"There's nothing any of us can do for him right now. Hurry up and return to your seats."

Horikita suppressed their desire to chase after him and motioned for everyone to return to their seats.

Right now, our top priority was getting everyone on board with establishing the class policy for the exam.

"Kōenji's still here somehow?"

Given that Kōenji's participation was entirely unexpected, Sudō's voice was filled with surprise.

"Fufufu. I'm part of the class, am I not? Of course I'm here."

Kōenji spoke shamelessly, as if everything he was saying was completely natural.

"However, I'd like to wrap up this discussion today. I'm quite the busy person myself."

"That'll be difficult. This special exam isn't something that can be decided overnight. Even if we decide on the events today, we'll have to persistently practice them in order to win."

Horikita, taking a stand behind the teacher's podium, completely shut Kōenji down.

Kōenji didn't object any further and simply sat at his desk with a broad smile on his face.

For the time being, he seemed to be willing to hear her out.

"If that's the case, it seems I'll only be participating this one time."

Kōenji didn't waver even slightly. It seemed that, class policy aside, he had no intention of working through this together. Sudō silently began to stand up, but immediately sat back down after receiving a firm glare from Horikita. After all, if he were to start something here, the conversation would never move forward.

"Then, I'll just have to do what I can to try and get you to participate next time too."

Kōenji took Horikita's warning with a smile and simply crossed his arms and legs.

This was his way of telling her to continue with the discussion.

"Uhm, Horikita. I've got a simple question about event participation I wanna ask you."

"And what is that, Ike-kun?" His hand raised, Ike spoke up.

"We'll be competing in seven events, right? But, like, we won't have a turn at it, will we?"

"What do you mean by 'we won't have a turn at it'?"

"Erm… Well, to put it simply, I mean those of us who kinda suck? Like, the students who aren't particularly good at physical stuff or studying aren't gonna have a turn to participate. It's not like all seven events are gonna need a whole buncha people. If we pick events that only need a few skilled people to participate, a whole bunch of us won't really have anything to do, right?"

There are nearly forty students in each class.

Even if we chose a few events that needed a lot of people, the final seven would probably only need twenty to thirty.

In other words, Ike seemed to be trying to say that, depending on the participation requirements of the selected events, nearly half of the class wouldn't end up having to participate.

"I dunno about that. What if an event needs like, twenty people or something?"

Kei spoke up, slipping in her own opinion after Ike finished.

"You're sooo stupid, Karuizawa. You can play football with like, eleven people on a team. What event could need more than that? I can't think of a single one, can you?"

"Uhm~… Somethin' like baseball?"

"Baseball only needs ten people, which is even less than football!" "Baseball needs nine people."

Horikita immediately cut in, sharply pointing out Ike's inconsistency. "…Well, my point still stands either way."

"I dunno Kanji. American football needs eleven people like football does, and rugby needs fifteen."

Sudō listed off a few events that would require more than ten people.

"Yeah, but like, do you want to force people to play rugby or something? I don't even know the rules!"

While rugby was by no means a minor sport, it was in completely uncharted territory to people who weren't involved with it. It's not something regularly taught in gym class, and I'm sure that Class A was no exception to this either.

I could hardly imagine what it'd be like for us to start practicing rugby right now.

Besides, even if we submitted it as an event, it's doubtful that it would be accepted, and it wouldn't be very beneficial for anyone.

"So, that's why I don't think we'll need to participate." "What's your point here?"

"That… Well, I just don't think we need to meet up like this or hold practice sessions moving forward or anything."

"I understand that you want to take it easy. After all, it's mentally taxing to do something you don't want to do. Besides, it'd also cut down on your precious break time."

"I-I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but you know…"

"Either way, I've determined that all of us need to work together."

"How about you tell us why that is. I'll do my best to support you if you can convince me."

This time, Sudō was the one who spoke.

"Because how many people we'll need to participate depends on the rules our opponent comes up with. For example, let's say one of the events they propose is volleyball. Usually, volleyball is a competition between two teams of six, but the rules are allowed to change that to some extent. What if the match had a time limit of thirty minutes, and the rules stated that every ten minutes all of the participants had to change out with somebody new? I wonder what would happen then?"

"Erm… With six people changing out every ten minutes, that's…"

Eighteen people with that alone. Nearly half of the students in each class would have to participate.

Moreover, because there were only six people needed at any given time, the rule would be simple and easy to follow for pretty much anybody. The school would most likely approve of it as well.

"What if there's more than one event like this? Put simply, everyone would be forced to participate in two or possibly even three events. We need to be prepared for something like that."

Of course, this all depended on the events and rules that Class A would come up with.

It was more than possible that they might mix in a few fake events like this, just to make it more difficult for us.

"I know this hasn't quite clicked with all of you yet, but this special exam is more complicated than you're making it out to be."

If we were to go over each event one at a time, we'd eventually come up with some ideas that seem rather ridiculous.

At this point, it wouldn't be that unusual for there to be strange ideas for events like rock-paper-scissors or poker.

After all, getting those crucial four wins would be far more important than trying to make yourself look good.

Regardless of how impractical the suggestions might seem to be, picking out the right people for events we know they can win is what mattered most in the end.

"I don't even plan on taking up too much of your time."

Or rather, it might be better for her to say that keeping everybody stuck here doesn't necessarily mean we'd come up with good ideas right away.

"So for today, I'd like to leave everyone here with some homework. If possible, I want you to come up with ideas for events you're good at and events where you think you'd absolutely never lose, and give them to me by after school tomorrow. It doesn't matter if it's something you do alone or if it's done in a team."

One of the five events that we end up picking needed to be a one-on-one event. Odds are that every single class would put one forward with the unshakable confidence that they wouldn't lose it. However, when looked at from another angle, the damage done if you didn't win would be immeasurable. That being the case, students with special skills or talents that can't be outdone by others were highly desirable in this situation.

"But, there's no point unless it's something the school'd approve of, right? I don't really understand what their standards are."

Events and rules that are overly obscure would be turned down by the school.

However, the lack of clarity when it comes to that was probably an issue for many students.

"Don't worry about that right now. That's something we can think about after we've heard all of the ideas. For now, just feel free to suggest anything that comes to mind."

"Then, you're saying you'd even be fine with stuff like video games or karaoke?"

"Yes. Anything."

Horikita stressed this point once again, telling the class that they didn't have to worry. I had no issues with how she was handling the situation.

It was important for us to start by finding out what everybody's strengths were.

"What do we do if there's nothing we're really good at?" Haruka chimed in with a question for Horikita.

"I don't mind you not having anything if you're not very confident in yourself. It'd be risky to use an event if you lack confidence in your ability to win it."

I wanted them to come up with as many events as possible, but I wasn't sure if we had enough time to be careful with our selection. For the time being, I didn't have any issues with Horikita's plan, so I felt like it would be alright to just wait and see what happens.

With that, the discussion ended for the day and everyone began to gather their things and leave. At this point, Kōenji spoke up again.

"You're fine with ending the discussion so early like this?"

"If it's this short, it'll be easier for you to participate next time, won't it Kōenji-kun?"

"When I say I'll participate one time, one time is as much as I'll participate."

"…But, it'll be problematic if you don't do the assignment I gave you today. If you don't, it would be rather hard to say you participated, wouldn't it?"

"Come up with ideas for events I'm good at, was it?"

He put his hand to his chin and let show an unwavering smile.

"Yes. If you want to say you've participated, you at least have to do that."

Horikita was looking to force him to participate a second time if he couldn't.

Kōenji elegantly stood up from his desk before proceeding to announce something to Horikita.

"There's simply nothing I can't do. I am a perfect human, after all."

"No matter who you're up against or what the event is, you're absolutely certain you'll win. Are you sure about that?"

Her words were filled with one-part provocation, and one-part intrigue, as if she couldn't help but look forward to how Kōenji would respond.

"I see. You want me to pledge that I'll win any event I participate in, don't you?"

"That's right. If you can do that, you're free to do whatever you want. You wouldn't have to participate in any more discussions, and I won't ask you to give your input on anything."

"H-hey Suzune."

Sudō spoke up, alarmed by her outrageous proposal, but Horikita just continued.

"But keep in mind, if you don't participate or if you lose… I'll be suspicious of anything you say, and your classmates' distrust of you will skyrocket."

Horikita's idea wasn't bad. With this, she was looking to make full use of Kōenji on the day of the exam. Kōenji is a top-notch student when it comes to both academics and physical ability. His only problem had to do with his personality. It would be better to bear with him now than have him not show up on the day of the exam or take his event frivolously.

The question was: how exactly would Kōenji respond? He stood from his seat and began to walk out of the classroom, but just before he walked through the door, he stopped.

"I'll leave you with this. You'd best not think that you can bind me with words like that. While I am indeed an unrivaled genius who wouldn't lose to anyone, it's up to me to decide whether or not I use that talent for you."

Put simply, Kōenji's response was a no. It didn't matter to him if he was suspected or if the class distrusted him. He was just going to do whatever he wanted.

With that, Kōenji turned around and walked out of the classroom. "…Ordinary methods aren't going to work with him at all, huh."

"That guy… He's gotta lotta nerve underestimating us like that. Spouting out nonsense that he's some unrivaled genius who wouldn't lose to anyone. I'd kick his ass at basketball if he had me as his opponent."

I could fully understand why Sudō was speaking about him like that.

No matter how talented and brilliant a person is, it wouldn't be accurate to call them perfect.

In fact, it raises a question. Would Kōenji win if he faced off against Sudō at basketball?

"If he puts in the effort on exam day he might show results, at least to a certain extent. I don't know how much I was able to get through to him, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, but…"

It was definitely hard to imagine Kōenji losing. After flaunting us with those grandiose words and that self-confidence of his, the thought of him losing, even for a moment, feels like putting the cart before the horse. Sudō was probably well aware of this too.

"…But, do you think he's even gonna show up at all?" "Who knows."

While we can win if he takes it seriously, if he doesn't, we won't.

Part 2

The next day. Horikita informed me of something when she arrived at school in the morning.

"I've decided not to consider Hirata-kun as an asset, at least for this exam."

Yesterday, even Kōenji had participated in the after-school discussion, but Hirata had just silently left the classroom.

Having witnessed this firsthand, Horikita's decision was understandable. "That's reasonable. He's too unstable to rely on right now."

Even if we could force him to participate, it would probably only end up backfiring on us.

"It'll be fine if it's just for this exam, but depending on the situation, this behavior of his might continue for quite a while."

Her concern was not an exaggeration in the slightest.

Pretty much everyone was hoping for his recovery, but for the time being, it was unclear just how that was going to happen.

"If you think his behavior isn't going to stop any time soon, there's still the option of getting him to drop out, isn't there?"

I brought up another idea, and while she was somewhat surprised by it, she reacted calmly.

"That's… Well, that may be something I'll have to think about. It's at least a relief that he didn't throw everything away and suddenly say he wanted to become the commander this time."

The thought of Hirata nominating himself as the commander for this special exam wasn't that unreasonable.

If he had, he would've been able to lose on purpose and get himself expelled. It would've been as simple as that.

However, even if he doesn't have any lingering attachments to this school, he still wouldn't want to cause problems for others, which was why he didn't take on the position in the first place.

The reason why he was just passively doing what he had to every day was probably because the class would be penalized if he dropped out. He was looking to leave when the time was right, without stirring up trouble for the rest of us.

However, this was just how he was acting right now.

"But- That doesn't necessarily mean he'll always be acting like this, right? Who knows when he'll get desperate…?"

"Yeah."

As Horikita said, I didn't know what Hirata would do if he became self- destructive either.

I couldn't say for sure that the class would stay completely intact when he drops out.

"That's why I don't want to force him to participate right now. He's a bomb that could go off at any moment, and I'd like to unify the class so he doesn't explode on us."

Out of everything, Hirata hated internal conflict the most.

So in order to avoid causing more of it, Horikita had been taking an active role within our class since the exam first started.

"Sounds rough."

"You've taken on the responsibilities of the commander, so you're going to have it rough too."

"I'll leave all of that to you. I'm the commander, but I'm sure you'll be able to come up with adequate enough ideas."

She glared at me with an irritated look in her eyes.

"Can you beat Sakayanagi-san with that kind of attitude?" "Who knows."

"Who knows…? I, for one, intend to win. Could I get you to be a little more involved in making that happen?"

I was well aware that there was no need for her to be telling me that.

"Are you asking me to be actively involved with the class and decide on the participants for the events or the rules about how the commander will be allowed to intervene in them? Try and imagine what that would be like."

As I spoke, Horikita's expression gradually tightened.

"…I can't imagine it at all, almost to the point where it's terrifying." "Right?"

To the rest of the class, I was just a shadow. Even though I had become the commander, this was a fact that wasn't going to change.

People would think there's something wrong with me if I suddenly started rattling off instructions about everything.

I would take on a more active role, using the strategy Horikita comes up with as a baseline.

As the two of us were talking, I felt a sudden change in the atmosphere of the classroom.

Hirata had come to school. Although many students made an effort to avoid looking at him directly, it was clear that they were still worried about him.

"G-good morning, Hirata-kun!"

He was very nearly late for the start of school, and Mii-chan proceeded to call out to him. It was a brave decision, done in spite of the negative atmosphere of the classroom. However, her attempt to reach out was disregarded and ignored.

Hirata quietly took his seat without reacting to anyone around him. But even so, Mii-chan's smile didn't waver.

"Who could've imagined that this would happen now?" "Really."

Despite Mii-chan's best efforts, Hirata's self-isolation continued.

"All things considered, she's the only one who hasn't given up on reaching out to Hirata-kun. I didn't think she had such a deep connection with him, but…"

Horikita had noticed that Mii-chan was especially concerned when it came to Hirata, and she seemed to be starting to wonder about why Mii-chan would push herself to do something like that.

"It's because she's compassionate, isn't it?"

"That wouldn't make sense unless she treated other people this way as well."

"That's fair."

If that was the reason, Mii-chan would've probably been more compassionate back when Yamauchi was about to be expelled.

That being the case, there was only one reason left that would explain why she kept reaching out to Hirata.

"Maybe it's love."

"I suppose that's the only possibility left… What a truly worthless sentiment."

Horikita crossed her arms out of exasperation and shook her head as if to say she couldn't understand.

"Perhaps we should limit the class resources we're willing to spare on dealing with him… What do you think?"

In other words, she was saying to have everyone leave Hirata alone for a fixed period of time.

"Wouldn't that be difficult?"

"Not at all. Nobody takes the initiative to reach out to him anymore except for her."

Hirata was even choosing to ignore Mii-chan, the one who had been the most devoted to him.

Given the situation, there certainly wouldn't be very many students who'd be willing to do even more for him.

"Motive aside, I hope she forgets about it somehow."

Horikita was probably thinking about how she could get Mii-chan to give up.

"If this is as far as it goes, I'm not going to complain about it either. But it's clearly starting to take its toll on her."

"Well, it's true she hasn't really been herself recently."

Besides, the class's atmosphere worsens every time Hirata's situation comes up.

Hirata had pretty firmly disregarded Mii-chan a few moments ago, but it doesn't seem like she was discouraged by it, as she approached him a second time.

"Uhm, Hirata-kun, today at lunch-"

This time, it looked like Mii-chan had reached out to invite him to eat lunch together, but…

"Could you please leave me alone already?" "…!"

Hirata's relatively harsh words echoed throughout the classroom.

He had flatly rejected Mii-chan's request before she could even finish her sentence.

"It's annoying."

While his words weren't as harsh as they could've been, his voice contained nothing but cold emotion.

"Th-that, I… just wanted… to eat lunch, together with you…"

Mii-chan tried as hard as she could to keep smiling, but the tense emotions eventually got to her and she just couldn't hold onto it any longer.

"I'm not eating. Not with you."

His rejection couldn't have been more explicit.

Not wanting to see Hirata acting like this, many of the girls in the classroom quickly looked away.

"Hey, hold on Yōsuke-kun. Isn't that kinda going a bit too far?"

At this point, Kei chose to speak up. No, given the situation, it may be more accurate to say she had been forced to.

I could easily imagine the scene of Kei's friends asking her if she could do something. If Hirata pulled back now, not only would Kei save face, but the class would also temporarily regain its composure.

However-

"Would you mind not calling me by my given name so intimately like that? You don't have anything to do with me anymore, alright?"

"T-that's true… Then, Hirata-kun, you went way too far with what you said to Mii-chan."

Kei corrected herself, but still confidently addressed Hirata.

She played her role as the leader who brings the girls together perfectly.

"Compared to how you normally talk to others, there isn't much of a difference."

Hirata's rebuttal was merciless. "Wh…! F-for the sake of the class, I-!"

"Could you be quiet already? If you don't… You know what'll happen, yes?"

Hirata forcibly blocked Kei from trying to say anything further.

His words were a threat; If she carelessly said anything more than this, he'd expose absolutely everything.

At least, it was inevitable that Kei would take it that way, given that she had shared her weaknesses with Hirata.

"What? Ugh, how annoying. I don't care anymore."

Now that it had come to this, there was nothing more Kei could do. She backed down, albeit reluctantly.

"How long do you plan on standing there?"

Only moments after completely destroying Kei, Hirata changed his sights back to a crying, motionless Mii-chan. Having been completely rejected, Mii-chan returned to her seat with her head hung.

Hirata must've thought that, by doing this, Mii-chan would never reach out to him again.

"The entire class is demoralized…"

"Kōenji doesn't seem to mind at all, though."

Throughout the gloomy classroom, one student was clearly unaffected by what had happened.

Even while Mii-chan, Hirata, and Kei were in the midst of quarreling, he seemed to be fully concentrated on grooming himself.

Kōenji simply made one comment.

"Why must so many problem children be in my class?"

I wanted to say that I thought he was a problem child himself, but I held myself back.

Part 3

No matter how bad the atmosphere may get, time still moves forward all the same.

Naturally, the time for discussion arrived once classes had finished for the day.

It was the second class discussion. To be precise, it was actually the third if I included the one I hadn't attended.

It had already been three days since the exam started, so it was about time to get the ball rolling.

Once again, Hirata immediately stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Mii-chan seemed a little torn, as she just watched quietly while he left the room.

Then, as if inspired by something, she quickly sprung to her feet. However, she didn't move a single step forward.

Hirata's rejection earlier this morning had probably come to mind, stopping her in her tracks.

After a bit, her legs gave in and she sat back down in her chair. "As she should…"

Horikita spoke softly; her cruel, yet gentle words just barely reaching my ears. It would be better to stay away from Hirata right now. Horikita, as well as the rest of the class, understood that this was for the best.

In the past, some of the class's more jealous boys would vent their complaints about Hirata, but I couldn't hear any of that now. I had thought they were the type of people who'd look down on him now that he's fallen out of line. Or perhaps they weren't willing to say anything negative because it's Hirata?

"Mii-chan, wanna go home together after the discussion today?"

Having anticipated Mii-chan's mental state, Kushida reached out with a friendly invitation.

"She's fairly reliable in a situation like this, isn't she?" "I guess."

Kushida wasn't the type of person who'd neglect a friend in need. If she couldn't save Hirata, she'd at least want to save Mii-chan.

Even if her motive was to make herself look good, it was fine as long as she actually helped her.

Mii-chan accepted Kushida's invitation with a small nod. "Well then, I'll also be excusing myself."

Sure enough, Kōenji didn't seem to have any intention to participate either, as he proceeded to leave the classroom just after Hirata.

He seemed both unashamed and confident, as if he had already been given permission to leave from Horikita.

Ultimately, it seemed that the discussion would take place with only thirty- seven people.

Horikita kept her eyes locked on Kōenji until he walked out. Only then did she rise from her seat and take her place at the teacher's podium.

Chabashira cast a sidelong glance at Horikita before taking her leave as well.

"Now, I wonder if you've all come up with something you're good at?"

"Wait a moment, Horikita-san. There's something I'd like to bring to your attention before the discussion."

Keisei was the first person to raise their hand. "What is it, Yukimura-kun?"

"I'm worried someone might eavesdrop on our discussion."

Even though we were behind closed doors, we could still be heard if someone was lingering about in the nearby hallway.

"Yes. We're not even allowed to have a single, decent discussion at this school, are we?"

"Shouldn't we take preemptive measures? Like having a few of us stand guard or something? I honestly think it's a problem for us to talk like this without doing anything."

"Yes, you're quite right."

Having known this already, Horikita nodded her head.

"But I don't think having people stand guard will be an effective countermeasure."

"…Why?"

"By having people stand guard, do you plan on having them warn others not to approach the classroom? The hallway is a shared space that all students can use equally. No, strictly speaking, this very classroom is too. We have no right to deny access to students from the other classes."

Horikita was saying that, if we prevented others from using the hallways, there was a chance they might make a complaint to the school.

"That's why having some of us stand guard would be nothing but a waste of time."

"Then, you're fine with everything we talk about getting leaked? All of our strengths and weaknesses? We don't gain a single thing by giving away all of our information for free."

"We'll work around that using these."

Horikita took out her cell phone and showed it to the class.

"I'll set up a class-wide group chat dedicated to this special exam. While we can still share our opinions verbally, we'll communicate the important details in the chat. This way, it won't matter if the other classes eavesdrop or not."

Hearing her idea, Keisei nodded along as if totally convinced.

"I see… If that's the case, I think it should be alright." "Then, may I contact everyone and make the group?"

The one who offered to do so was Kushida, to which Horikita had no objection.

It would be no exaggeration to say she was the only person here who knew everyone's contact information.

"Uhm-"

Mii-chan rose to her feet, cutting into Horikita and Keisei's conversation. "Excuse me. Today, I… Uh, I've got something to do, so…"

"By that… are you saying you want to chase after Hirata-kun?"

Mii-chan nodded her head slightly in response to Kushida's question.

With heavy steps, she began to walk out of the room, trying to once again follow after Hirata.

"Wait. There's no point in doing something like that right now." "That… What do you mean?"

Mii-chan responded to Horikita with a question, the tone of her voice unexpectedly intense.

"He's useless and broken right now. You're going to get dragged down right along with him."

"I, I don't want to abandon Hirata-kun."

"I'm not telling you that you have to abandon him or anything like that. Only that he should be left alone for now."

"Then when are you going to help him?" "…That's up to him."

"You're wrong. That's… not true… I don't believe you!"

With that, Mii-chan went out of the classroom, unwilling to listen to anyone.

"Good grief. He just needs to be left alone."

Of course, none of us were going to chase after her.

"I'm going to have to excuse myself for a moment. None of you leave, just wait for me to get back."

Horikita left the classroom as well, making it clear she intended to go after Mii-chan and bring her back.

She probably thought that there was no way she could leave this to somebody else.

"What a mess… We can't even have one proper discussion because of Hirata."

It was understandable why Keisei wanted to complain like this.

After all, it had been three days now, and we still hadn't made any progress yet. I stood up from my seat.

"Oi Ayanokōji, are you gonna chase after 'em too? Suzune said to wait for her."

Sudō gave me a clear warning. Indeed, it was only going to get worse if more of us kept leaving like this.

"I know."

"You know? Oi!"

Disregarding Sudō, I walked out of the classroom and called out to Horikita who had just begun walking down the corridor.

"Horikita."

"…I thought I was clear when I said for none of you to leave."

"If you're trying to force Mii-chan to come back, you don't have to be the one to do it. I'll go. You're the one in charge of bringing the class together."

"And you're the commander. That's not something you can push on to someone else, now is it? You won't be able to make full use of the position if you don't analyze everyone's capabilities."

"You can handle that for me later. There's nothing I can do about it anyway."

"That's not the problem here…"

"Do you really think you can fix Hirata's problem?" "That's…"

"Somebody who thinks that leaving Hirata alone is the best course of action probably shouldn't be the one to chase after them."

Horikita, one of the driving forces that had led Hirata to his current state, shouldn't be the one to approach him.

"Then… Are you saying you think you can?" "It depends on more than just me."

"Then something should've been done about this a long time ago."

Many students had reached out due to their concern. It wasn't just Mii- chan.

Horikita was beginning to question Mii-chan's behavior because she had convinced herself that nothing would manage to get through to him.

"Well, we'll talk later. I'll lose track of them if we continue this now." "Come back soon."

She spoke like a mother would when seeing off their child. Just as I began walking, I bumped into Hashimoto.

It didn't seem to be a mere coincidence either… I found myself wondering if he was here to keep a watch on our class.

It was even possible that he had overheard my conversation with Horikita.

He didn't seem surprised. Instead, he just called out to me with a grin on his face that made it seem like he had witnessed something amusing.

"Yo Ayanokōji."

Nonetheless, I didn't have time to talk with him right now. "Sorry. I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"If you're going after your classmate, she ran off that way."

I responded to him with a light nod and proceeded to go after Mii-chan. These last two days, Hirata's behavior hadn't changed at all.

It was a safe bet that he had gone back to his room at the dorms as fast as possible so he could avoid running into anybody after school.

Part 4

Shortly after leaving the school building, I spotted Mii-chan.

And just slightly ahead of her, I could see Hirata heading back to the dorms.

Even though Mii-chan had gathered the courage to follow after Hirata earlier, it didn't seem like she had called out to him yet.

She probably still hadn't gotten over his rejection from earlier this morning. "You aren't going to call out to him?"

"…Ayanokōji-kun." Mii-chan noticed me.

I caught up and began walking alongside her, the two of us focusing on Hirata up ahead.

"I'm… just a bit intimidated…"

This was understandable, considering the fact he had shut her down not too long ago.

"Then why did you chase after him? Everyone else already gave up on him."

"That's… I don't really know why."

She didn't seem to have thought about this very deeply, as she only just now began to think about why she continued to chase after Hirata.

I didn't think it was just because she liked him.

After pondering for a while, it seemed like she had come up with an answer.

"Everyone's saying that Hirata-kun should be left alone right now, but… I don't think that's true. Because he's going through something so difficult, so painful, I feel like we absolutely have to help him… That's why I came after him."

"Then, it doesn't matter if he comes to hate you because of it?"

It was fine the first few times, but if she kept this up, Hirata's response would only get more and more severe.

There was no guarantee that he wouldn't end up yelling at her next time. "…No."

Recalling Hirata's attitude last time, Mii-chan shook her head.

"I don't want that, but… but if hating me makes Hirata-kun feel like he isn't alone, even if it's just a little… even if he hates me forever… then I'm fine with being hated!"

She was trying to seem strong. Trying to seem strong to protect her heart from breaking.

However, I found myself thinking that the powerful, determined look in her eyes was unmistakably the real thing.

"Am I making a mistake, Ayanokōji-kun?" "No. You're right."

Leaving Hirata alone right now wouldn't make the situation any better.

If we did, we'd be trapping him in a darkness that he wouldn't be able to escape from.

"So, are you going to go talk to him?" "Yes!"

Once again, Mii-chan put one foot in front of the other.

She ran toward Hirata, closing the distance between them.

Horikita probably wouldn't be very happy with me about this, but for now, it was the best course of action.

To drive Hirata into a corner, Mii-chan's kindness would be the most effective.

And soon, his spirit would break, forcing him to drop out of school of his own accord.

As I made my way back, Hashimoto noticed me while playing around with his phone near our classroom.

"Yo."

"You manage to steal any information from Class C?"

"Nope, unfortunately. Can't get my hands on anything with them texting each other the important bits over the phone."

Hashimoto shrugged and put away his phone.

From the looks of it, he had learned about Horikita's strategy because of his eavesdropping.

"I've been waiting for you to come back. How'd it go? Chasing after your classmate, that is."

"As you can see, I've returned empty-handed."

I emphasized the fact that I hadn't been able to bring Mii-chan back. "Must be hard to get everyone working together, eh?"

"Bringing the class together is Horikita's job. She's the one who has it hard."

"Did you have to become the commander because of your protection point?"

Hashimoto was giving me a hard time with his chatty behavior. It seemed like he was looking to find out at least a little information from me since he wasn't getting much from the class.

"We're up against Class A. We had no chance from the start. Since there's no way around the expulsion, I didn't think there was any other choice."

"I see, you do have a point there."

Even though Hashimoto didn't seem convinced, he began to walk away as if he had given up.

"I came to do a bit of reconnaissance even though our princess said not to. Still, I figured I'd pick up whatever info I could, but it looks like I was just being stupid, huh?"

He gave me a light pat on my shoulder before proceeding to walk off somewhere. I followed him with my eyes until he was out of sight and then went back into the classroom where the discussion on choosing the events was underway. With my eyes, I conveyed to Horikita that I hadn't been able to get Mii-chan to return and sat back down in my seat. She didn't say anything about it.

The discussion in the group chat had already progressed reasonably well, with more than half of the class having shared their responses to Horikita's homework.

It seemed to be headed in the direction I had expected, based on everything I knew about the class and the information I had gotten from Kei. First, there were sporting events that everybody was good at, with things like Sudō being good at basketball, Onodera with swimming, and Akito with archery. Then, the students who were confident in their academic abilities like Horikita and Keisei listed off subjects that they felt they could score particularly high marks in. However, unlike sports where people focus their talent and specialize in something, it would be very difficult to include an

academic event unless the person is considerably skilled in a certain subject.

"Ayanokōji-kun, were there any students from the other classes in the hallway?"

"It seemed like there was until a moment ago, but he left once he realized we had started the discussion on our phones."

"I see. Well that's the obvious thing to do I guess."

Having understood that nobody was eavesdropping any more, Sudō made his move.

"Basketball! We should definitely include basketball!" Sudō appealed directly to Horikita.

"I don't doubt your ability. Are you sure you won't lose, no matter who you go against?"

"There are tons of ways to compete in basketball. If we pick a one-on-one, I'll definitely win."

Basketball is typically played on the court in a five-on-five match.

That said, there are several derivations of the sport, including the one-on- one match Sudō was advocating for. With solid rules, the event would probably be enough to get approved by the school.

"You're not wrong. I have no doubts about your abilities as a basketball player. It's a safe bet to think that you'll win if we put you one-on-one against somebody."

"Exactly."

"However, for this special exam, it won't be so simple." "W-what? Why?"

"Because we can only choose one event that requires one person from each class."

One of the exam's rules was that we couldn't submit two events that required the same number of people.

"If we were allowed to choose as many one-man events as we wanted, those are the only type of events we'd end up choosing. As an example, Onodera- san is exceptionally good at swimming. If we're just trying to win, having her swim in a one-man swimming event would suffice as well."

With this, we could secure a win for one of the events.

Of course, there was a risk that Onodera would have to compete against a boy, but her competition times were good enough that it probably wouldn't matter.

"When it comes to English, Wang-san consistently gets nearly perfect marks. There are a number of students in this class who'd have a high chance of winning if they compete in a one-on-one environment that they specialize in."

Having thought he'd be the one to bring the class to victory, Sudō's expression clouded over a little.

"I'm just a beginner when it comes to basketball, so I'll simply ask out of curiosity. Let's say there's a standard basketball match, that is, a five-on- five, and your four other teammates are unathletic girls. Would you still be able to win, no matter who your opponents are?"

"Honestly, I'm pretty confident I can carry on my own against a team of weaklings… But, if they've got experienced players… I can't say for sure, ya know?"

"How sincere. Frankly put, I respect the fact that you chose not to boast empty words about your abilities in this situation. That's why…"

Horikita was saying this as a preface for what she was about to lead into.

"You should put some thought into it as well. It'd be a shame if we had to give up on a basketball event. So, it'll be up to you to choose teammates that you think you can win a five-on-five event with, provided that you seek to use as few resources as possible. If I'm satisfied with your choices, I promise I'll submit the event to the school."

"…Okay."

Sudō nodded, taking Horikita's words head-on.

And then, he sat back down in his seat to think over his options.

That was the hard part. Sudō is skilled at athletics. While there was no doubt he was at his best in a game of basketball, he could also participate in other sports.

In an exam like this one, he was a trump card who could be used in a variety of physical events.

There was another important aspect to consider here too. Namely, that it'd be a pity to use a trump card like him on a simple one-on-one event.

Besides, we should probably take the time to really consider whether or not to use basketball as one of our events. Even if we had a decent chance of winning in a five-on-five match, our opponents aren't stupid. If basketball

is one of our ten events, Class A would easily predict that Sudō would be taking part in it.

Then, they could probably steal the win from Sudō by putting together a solid five-man team of their own. Conversely, there was also the chance that they might completely give up on the basketball event so they could focus their resources on winning the other ones.

Just like that, Horikita and everyone else proceeded to hold many conversations similar to this.

I turned off my phone and pretended to keep track of the group chat by silently staring at the blank screen.

After all, as the commander, I wouldn't be asked about my strengths and weaknesses.

My participation in these discussions was merely a formality. My policy of leaving all the details to Horikita hadn't changed.

After about an hour of discussion, Horikita had finished gathering up everyone's information. Moving forward, she was probably going to focus more on individual one-on-one meetings instead of all of us gathering together as a whole.

Part 5

Thursday morning, on the way to school…

Even though spring was approaching, today seemed colder than usual. "Good morning! Good morning! It's so chilly~"

Behind me, I could hear a cheerful, energetic voice.

I didn't think they were calling out to me, but when I ignored it and continued walking, they became flustered and called out once more.

"W-wait a minute!? Ayanokōji-kun?"

Apparently, the greeting from earlier had been addressed to me after all. I turned around to see Hoshinomiya-sensei, Class B's homeroom teacher. "Wait up already~"

Her cold hand took hold of my own.

I found myself wondering what kind of female teacher just casually takes a male student's hand like this.

"My apologies. I didn't realize you were talking to me. Is something the matter?"

"Do I need a reason to say hi to you?"

With my hand still in hers, she looked up at me with upturned eyes. Only someone who knew just how cute they were would act like this.

Perhaps I was beginning to catch on to this type of behavior because I had made a habit of watching Kushida's every move.

"It's not that, it's just…"

With a little force, I pulled my hand away and shook free from her grip. For some reason, she grinned with a wicked smile upon seeing my reaction. "Hey, hey. At least you've gotten yourself a girlfriend, right?"

"Nope. I'm not sure I'll even be able to."

"Huh? Really? Even though you've been blessed with such a perfect environment? What a waste."

I had no idea what she was getting at.

"Aiya~ You don't understand, do you?"

Hoshinomiya-sensei leaned in closer and whispered 'That's no fun.' straight into my ear.

"The students here are in like, suuuch a good, romantic environment, you know?"

"Why is that?"

When I asked this, Hoshinomiya-sensei jolted back just a little. "You really don't understand?"

"Yes. Not in the least."

After I spoke, she patted me on the shoulder a few times as if to console me.

"Ya know, in a different light, you do look kinda adorable."

At this point, I had no idea what she was trying to get at. Not in the slightest.

"Lemme first let you in on a little secret… I'm not a fan of how things are these days. I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I think it's problematic to let boys and girls stay in the same dorm."

"Is that so?"

The individual rooms are separated, so I didn't really see any problems with it. I put some distance between us, trying to escape from having to hear her each and every breath. Or at least I tried to, as Hoshinomiya-sensei simply shortened it once again.

"Here's what I heard from a friend of mine. Apparently there's a tradition at a certain company where new hires undergo a two-month long training session in a company dormitory. Two people per room, separated by gender, of course."

"Huh."

Every time I tried to distance myself, she would come back even closer, so I decided to give up and just listen to her talk.

"But, there's bound to be trouble when two people live in the same room. There was one guy who really hated natto. Like, not only did he hate the smell of the stuff, he hated the thought of even looking at it. So, the first thing he said to the guy he was rooming with was 'don't you dare eat natto in front of me.' But the thing was, his roommate LOVED natto. The roommate figured that, even though the guy said he hated natto, it wasn't like he was gonna be forced to eat it or anything. So on their first day living

together, he ate some natto right in front of his roommate, and as a result, the guy who hated natto got pissed and stormed out of the dorm."

What in the world was she trying to say? It didn't sound like it had very much to do with boys and girls living in the same dorm.

"I know you think I've gone off on a tangent, but this is important." With that, Hoshinomiya-sensei continued.

"The company caught wind of the incident and abolished the room-sharing system that year. Starting that next year, every new hire would get their own one-person room, just like the dorms here at this school. But as a result, something changed drastically that year compared to the year before. Can you guess what?"

"Is it the problem with boys and girls you were talking about?"

"Yup. With the room-sharing system, there would only be at most one or two couples. But when they switched to having one room per person, there ended up being more like seven or eight. When you share a room, even if you invited your crush over to hang out, your roommate would always be someone getting in the way of things, no? After all, it would be really easy for strange rumors to spread, so everyone was kinda on-guard and love never really had a chance to develop. However-"

With single-person rooms, boys and girls would feel less apprehensive about meeting up in secret.

"The change caused romantic developments to happen like, way more often."

This appeared to be the reason why she was so surprised that I still didn't have a girlfriend.

"Then let me ask you this: Are a lot of students in actual relationships right now?"

"Well, somehow that isn't happening this year, like, at all."

Oi. If that's the case, isn't it wrong for you to be judging me for being single?

I wanted to say this, but it wouldn't make any difference to her, so I held back my words.

"Perhaps your theory is wrong?" "No way!"

She denied it confidently.

"As a student, you just don't understand how much you've been blessed with a perfect environment."

I couldn't tell if her actions were fueled by mere positive thinking or something else entirely.

"You'll come to regret it someday, so wouldn't it be better to fall in love now, while you still have the chance?"

What in the world was she trying to teach a student who should be focused on studying?

While I'm well aware that there are many different kinds of teachers, in a sense, she just might be the most unpredictable one out there.

"Say, may I ask you something?"

"Hm? Are you wondering if I would date a guy who's younger than me? Sorry, a first-year high school student is a bit…"

"I never said anything like that."

"I know. This is the point where you should be laughing."

So this is where I'm supposed to be laughing? I was somehow getting swept up in her mysterious pace.

"So what is it? Ask me, ask me!"

Despite having just changed the subject, she immediately tried to bring it back.

"You support student relationships, but it'd be difficult for students from different classes to date each other, wouldn't it?"

"How come?"

"Because the classes are at war with each other, it could end up causing problems."

I gave her what I thought to be an obvious response, but then I noticed Hoshinomiya-sensei's sparkling eyes.

"Then that's, like, even better!" "…Wha?"

"Normally, you would do your best for the sake of your own class, right? But here, your significant other would be from one of the rival classes. And that'll give rise to stuff like anguish and conflict. Drama!"

As if deeply moved by her own words, she nodded to herself repeatedly.

"If you put complex drama together with these relationships, won't the competition become even more exciting?"

"Well, I suppose that might be true."

Honestly, she probably wasn't wrong. Even if someone betrayed their own class in favor of their partner, it wouldn't be all that surprising.

Plus, it'd be virtually impossible to figure everything out and manage it all. "What're you two talking about?"

"Hoh? Speak of the devil."

Devil? Hoshinomiya-sensei's choice of words was strange. The person she was referring to didn't seem to understand either.

At this point, Hoshinomiya-sensei stopped our conversation and put some distance between us.

"We were just chatting, Sae-chan. Don't look at me with such a scary expression, would you?"

"He's my student."

"You seem to care about Ayanokōji-kun quite a bit. Well, we'll find out what he's capable of soon enough thanks to this special exam. He's going to be facing off against Sakayanagi-san, someone rumored to be the best in the school year."

"Then there's no need for you to force yourself to get involved."

"Ah, that's for sure. What a typical thing for you to say, Sae-chan."

Teasing Chabashira, Hoshonimya-sensei smiled. From the looks of it, she hadn't chosen to reach out to me for no reason. After Hoshinomiya-sensei left, Chabashira looked over at me with some sort of sidelong glance.

It seemed she really wanted to know what we had been talking about. "Do you want to know what we talked about?"

Since we were still on the way to school, I spoke up to satisfy her curiosity.

Chabashira didn't respond. She seemed to be waiting for me to continue talking.

"We were talking about room sharing."