Chapter 4: The battle of the 1st and 3rd years

Intro

Now, nearly 3 months into the school year, the 1st years have gotten to understand the Advanced Nurturing High School and its rules a little better.

They were also in the process of forming groups for the next special exam.

However, an unpleasant instance soon happened after the group formation started.

Students of Class 1-D, led by Kazuomi Housen, were making their move, stubbornly refusing to participate in the groupings and to trade their cards. They were demanding points without which they were unwilling to form groups with the remaining year.

Because of this, the first years were put in a situation where they could not freely form groups.

Although representatives from each of the classes had hoped that Housen would have changed his mind during June, even today, July 1st, his stance on the matter hadn't changed.

There was a chorus of voices from the 1st years to just ignore Class D in the group formation process, but in response, Takuya Yagami from Class 1-B stood up and calmed those voices. He raised that while it would've been easy to simply ignore Housen's class, the important part about this special exam was that they need to compete with the "other school years." Under the case where this point was given highest priority, it was necessary to select talented students from the entire year in order to form a strongest group. Around the same time, some students who had the same idea as him also expressed their support, so the three classes agreed to wait until July came.

Housen, however, had gone through the entire time with a negligent attitude,

causing their negotiations to bear no fruit.

Finally, the deadline had arrived, and it had been decided that the representatives from all 4 classes would come together to discuss a way out of the current situation.

In order to keep the negotiations an open matter for the 1st year, Yagami had proposed for a simple gathering. Although the three classes have agreed on their class leaders or someone in a similar position to attend the meeting, there was still no reply from Class D, who was the point for this discussion, by the end of the school day.

Yagami had arrived in the corridor of one of the empty 1st year classrooms. As the one who had proposed this, he felt obliged to arrive before anyone else did.

Not long after that, Utomiya Riku from Class C showed up. "Looks like only you're here now, Yagami."

"Hey Utomiya-kun. I was thinking you would be the person from Class C to attend this gathering."

"Although I don't think I'm the type to be a leader, I came because the other students didn't want to come. While students in my class speak their minds freely in general, they don't have much taste for these troublesome matters."

"Isn't it because they believe you to be a reliable student that they sent you? I saw this month's updated OAA, and your Social Contribution has been raised to a B."

After saying that, Yagami smiled brightly. Utomiya frowned, despite the praise he received.

Although Yagami had a C in Physical Ability, his Academic Ability was rated A. Moreover, due to his repeated contributions to his class, his Adaptability and Social Contribution scores had both risen up to A. Utomiya's overall ability was already topped by Yagami.

Moreover, Class C was not in a situation to rejoice over.

"We've recently lost a comrade. Honestly, it's quite a heavy loss."

"I also didn't think that Hatano-kun would get expelled. How regretful." "… Ah."

Hatano had been one of the boys in Class 1-C, a valuable student with an A in Academic Ability.

However, the decisive blow was that he took on actions that would result in the penalty of being expelled.

This had made the lax 1st years realize again how harsh the school was. That being said, it had already been a month since Hatano was expelled.

Utomiya, who was his fellow classmate, didn't even get the time to mourn his loss.

Now that Class 1-C had already lost an excellent student, getting a solid result on the next exam became necessary.

"Looks like you got along with Hatano very well."

"He had once said to me that he wanted us to join the student council together and create a livelier environment for everyone in this school."

Utomiya nodded lightly, and then looked toward Class 1-D's classroom. "Do you think Hosen will come?"

Utomiya asked Yagami about the person that led to this discussion in the first place.

"About 50/50 chance he'd come?"

"50/50? You seem to trust Housen quite a bit. I bet he won't come at all."

"If he fails to show up this time, then we'll just be forming groups within the remaining classes. With that, Class D who were trying to extort us at high prices would be left alone, and their chances of winning would disappear as a result."

"If he thinks he can simply force us to hand over our private points like that, he is too arrogant. If we can smoothly form the groups with all four classes this time, it would be meaningful. Since we are facing the 2nd and 3rd years, we should cooperate. Nevertheless, Housen refused our offer."

Although they were all 1st years, Housen wanted to fight in areas where they didn't have to.

"It might seem like that on the surface, but I don't think that's Housen-kun's endgame."

"I understand that this is his strategy. However, it stands no chance of winning."

"If he truly intended on carrying out this strategy, isn't that a blessing? That just means Housen-kun's not that much of a threat to our classes."

"…Yeah."

Yagami explained that he set up this gathering also to gauge what Housen's actually thinking about.

The two of them were in the course of their discussion, when a third person appeared—

"Oh! Riku, Takuya. As expected, it's you guys."

Greeting them with a loud voice, Takahashi Osamu of Class 1-A boisterously approached them while waving his hand.

Although he was an unassuming figure with a C+ in Academic Ability, he was good at getting along with people, and as a result often asked to go to the

meetings that took place. He had amassed many friends in the other classes and years.

"Osamu-kun, did you come because you were given this troublesome task again?"

"The leader of my class is the type who dislikes these kinds of troublesome things. That's why I'm the one coming to this discussion."

"Well, the discussion will move more smoothly since you came, Osamu."

Like Utomiya, it was fine if the student who came to this forum wasn't the leader of their class.

In fact, if a student with good communication skills came, it would be a good thing for the other classes as well.

"So only Kazuomi isn't here yet?"

There was still about three minutes until the meeting time. If he didn't show up, they would start the discussion without hesitation.

"What about we just work together now? What I actually want is to isolate Class D and crush them as soon as possible."

"We were told that this uninhabited island exam would also test skills other than academic ability. While Class D is last place in terms of academic ability, their physical abilities are second in our year and only by a narrow margin to being the first. As a result, they might play an important role in the formation of optimal groups. "

"I understand what Riku has to say. My class is also quite frustrated with the current situation. However, isn't it too soon to brush them aside now?

There's no guarantee there won't be exams in the future like this one that requires cooperating with each other within the year, right?"

In response to Riku's proposal of isolating Class D, Yagami stood on their side. Takahashi, on the other hand, held a neutral position on this matter.

"If there are such exams in the future, we can just cooperate within our three classes. Indeed, I admit that Class D also has students that could be valuable assets, but they aren't worth bending over backwards to meet Housen's demands. It's almost meeting time. Can we start discussing in the direction of just our three classes working together?"

"It doesn't seem like we can, Riku."

A man slowly walked out, seemingly as if he had seen how this conversation would pan out.

"Looks like you came after all, Housen-kun."

Housen, after being greeted by Yagami's smile, approached with his terrifying white teeth as usual. After a quick glance at him, Utomiya averted his eyes outside the window.

"You've shown up at a great time, Kazuomi."

Takahashi didn't shy away from Housen, instead striking up a friendly conversation.

All he wanted was for everyone to get along.

"Don't call out my name like we're close, or I'll kill ya."

Having intimidated Takahashi, Housen then turned to look at Yagami and Utomiya once again.

"So y'all decided upon paying up?"

"That's such a bad joke. I am not giving you a penny."

"Anyway, let's calm down first. There's no way to have a discussion if you're belligerent from the start."

"Then, now that everyone's here, let's start the conversation. The groups—" "Don't ya just start off like that."

Housen suddenly pushed Takahashi's shoulder, causing him to fall on his butt.

Utomiya, who was displeased by such an act, shot a steely glare at Housen. "Housen, don't bring your violent tendencies here."

"Oh? You want to get in my way?" "If it's necessary."

"Huh, interesting. Come and try, if you can."

As soon as he raised his left hand, Takahashi, who fell to the floor, called out in a panic.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait. I just slipped and fell, so calm down, Riku."

"He's saying that's the case, no?" "Unfortunately, I'm not as kind as Takahashi." "Then let's see what ya got."

Utomiya grabbed Housen's arm before he was able to clench his fist. "Oh…?"

Housen smiled happily upon feeling the strength of his grip. Utomiya's gaze wasn't just putting on an act, but also showed his determination to fight him here if necessary.

Housen thought getting into a fight then and there would have been fun, but reconsidered.

Although his approach had been different, Housen was the most eager to fight the students in the other years.

"Looks like playing with ya is gonna be fun. I'll save it for next time." "Do you think of violence as a game?"

"Ah yea, it's a game."

"How boring, but, if that's what you want, you don't have to wait until next time. I can take on the fight now. However, that is only if you promise not to attack any more of my classmates."

In that hair-trigger atmosphere, both of them looked at each other with an unyielding look in their eyes.

"Hey, hey, what do ya mean by that?"

"I suspect that you're the one who got Hatano expelled. He's not the kind of student who would easily break the school rules."

"Ain't it just the small fry imploding as a result of fearing expulsion?"

"I remember clearly the look on his face when he got expelled. He had been tricked by someone."

"And, you're saying it was me?" "Who else could it possibly be?"

Although Housen was going to back off, tension sparked again.

"Calm down, both of you. If you start a fight here, you'll be doing exactly what Kazuomi wants."

"Takahashi-kun is right. The most important thing now is to focus on the uninhabited island exam."

"Ah, right, we could group up with the other classes in the next special exam."

Housen said that as if he hadn't thought about it until now.

"So what? Since you have refused to work with the other classes, this has nothing to do with you right?"

"If you beg me sincerely, I could also work with ya."

"Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't group up with you even if you were the last

person remaining." "How cold."

Utomiya slowly let go of Housen's arm.

Yagami, who was watching, seized this as the right moment to speak. "We're wasting time, shall we begin?"

"Begin? Who said I'd join your little conversation?" "Then why are you here? To simply pass the time?" "What if I said yes?"

"I don't believe that. You're not that stupid."

Confronted with Housen, Yagami answered unflinchingly with a smile.

"Although the uninhabited island survival exam is out of the ordinary, the 2nd and 3rd years have already experienced it once. We 1st years have to challenge this test against overwhelming odds."

"But we were given an advantage, right?"

In comparison to the optimistic Takahashi, Yagami continued in a gentle manner.

"That doesn't change the fact that the 2nd and 3rd years have the age advantage over us in terms of academic and physical ability. So, if we can't cooperate with each other, we might just become food for the upperclassmen, right?"

Yagami stressed that because of that, cooperation between the four classes was essential.

"Your meek attitude is pissing me off, Yagami. Doesn't matter if they're 2nd or 3rd years, I have the confidence to crush them all."

"Of course, there are some individually outstanding students. However, you can't deny the fact that we are weaker in terms of overall ability. Not everyone is as lucky as you, Housen-kun."

Yagami's gentle attitude and him praising Housen was what kept the conversation going.

"That's why— I think it's necessary for us to join forces and at least form one strong 'group of 4' in our year. Just like what Housen-kun said, form a group with students that won't lose to the 2nd and 3rd years."

"In other words, we won't compete with each other for Class Points in this special exam?"

"Because the rules of this exam makes cooperation within the same year difficult, it's hard for the 2nd and 3rd years who don't have much time left to squander this opportunity away to gain Class Points. On the other hand, we 1st years have more than two years left, which is why we should simply give up on the Class Points."

From Class A to D, the difference between the Class Points, even at its largest, was only about 300 points. Compared to Yagami, who thought there was no reason to panic, Utomiya seemed to think differently, and frowned.

"The benefits of cooperating with the other classes are too small. It's pointless. We're just giving up on Class Points."

"Losing Class Points won't be our only concern if we end up becoming food for the upperclassmen."

"If we go with that strategy then we won't be able to make any difference to our current class standings."

Utomiya emphasized that if they were going to fight, then there was no helping it.

"Ah, wait a moment. I have a question about what Takuya said. Why only make one team? All top three teams will get Class Points, right? If we also

take into consideration that we could merge into big groups during the official exam, isn't it better to form a lot more strong teams?"

Yagami immediately replied to Takahashi's question.

"Of course, you're right. However, if we want to create a lot of strong groups from the get go, we'll have to consider the balance of each team. Our opponents are older students, and they won't be easy to beat. That's why we should focus on forming a strongest team of 4 that can get first place.

Besides, it seems like it'll be difficult to form big groups freely during the official exam, and even if the older students cooperate with each other, they can only choose 3 people from 3 classes to work together."

Takahashi, after hearing Yagami's reply, realized what he meant.

"So as long as we get 1st place, it doesn't matter what we sacrifice to achieve it."

"We can still form a really strong group if we ignore Housen-kun and cooperate with just three classes, but if we do that, we'll be on the same playing field as the other years. That's why I strongly hope that all four classes will cooperate with each other, not only for the sake of selecting strength from the classes but also because I think that it's essential for our class year to have a sense of unity to fight together in this exam. Only us first years are allowed to form 'a small group with up to 4 members,' so we should take advantage of this rule. It would be a waste to throw away the upper hand that we were given."

If Class D was ostracized, they will of course take actions to hinder the other classes from winning first place.

In which case, it's obvious they would use any means to prevent the other 1st years from winning.

Yagami believed that since the rules allow for the cooperation between all four classes, they should aim for that ideal.

And then, Yagami turned to Housen once again.

"I fully understand that you have the ability to compete with the upperclassmen alone, which is why I hope you can lend us a hand."

Yagami said that the cooperation of all four classes was necessary, no matter what, but Utomiya still suspected Housen.

He didn't think that Housen would agree to it, since he had refused all negotiations for more than two weeks now.

"Alright, I'll help you."

However, after all this time, Housen readily accepted Yagami's proposal. "… What are you trying to do? Housen."

"What am I trying to do? Didn't you guys want my help? Ain't I just listening to ya cute wishes?"

"Then, tell us your conditions."

Seeing how fast Housen changed his attitude, Yagami didn't want to waste any more time so he urged Housen to continue.

"The remaining two spots in the strongest team must be reserved for Class D. That's a must."

"What?"

Utomiya naturally showed his disgust towards Housen's proposal that would only benefit his class.

"But what if we can't form big groups at will?"

"Didn't I just say? My condition is that two students from Class D must be in the group."

"I see. If we can't group with the two Class D students once the exam starts, then we would just clear it with the four of us."

"After all, if you've already prepared the strongest small group of four, whether or not they merge into the big group shouldn't affect the result of the exam, right?"

"You've got to be kidding, Housen."

"I'm not joking. If you don't like that, fuck off." "You bastard…"

Utomiya was about to clash with Housen on his unreasonable demands. But, Yagami jumped in between them, as if he were jumping a queue. "Calm down, Utomiya-kun, I'm fine with this condition."

"You're just going to give all the benefits to Class D like this?"

"The most important thing for us 1st years is to work together as a team and to not lose to the other years."

"If we let him take advantage of us now, he'll be sure to do it again."

"Then, do you think the outcome will be any different if we abandon Housen- kun's Class D here?"

"That…"

"The most important thing in this exam is for us 1st years to win. If we do, nothing else can be considered as a loss."

"I agree. I understand how you feel, Riku, but first, we must have the 1st years work together."

Although Utomiya made a face, he finally gave in, at the request of Yagami and Takahashi's persuasion.

"Housen, no more demands. Okay?"

Housen didn't give any response to Utomiya. He turned his back as if to signal the end of their conversation.

"Lastly, there's one more thing I want to say. This is necessary for us first years to work together as a team. In order to avoid any disputes among us, I want to redistribute the item cards with rewarding effects in order to make the most out of them. It's also important to give students lacking the abilities Half-Off cards and place them in the same group. Are you fine with that, Housen-kun?"

"Do what ya want."

Housen immediately left without any reluctance.

While the three of them were watching him leave, Takahashi said to Yagami. "By the way, Takuya, who do you plan to choose from Class B?"

"At least, I think that all of us who participated here can be in the strongest team, of course that's including Housen-kun. Right?"

Yagami looked at Takahashi and Utomiya, as well as Housen's retreating figure with a gentle yet sharp gaze.

"Even if his strength is the real deal, it would be a mistake to let him join the group. That guy—"

"Well, let's carefully decide on that later. For now, isn't it already good enough that we're on the same page?."

"… I understand."

"If we work together, we can definitely get 1st place. Let's first aim for that."

Although Utomiya was reluctant, he still accepted Yagami's words, after which they all disbanded.

Part 1

The next day, after school, I was at the cafe at Keyaki mall.

"The tick tock sound of the second hand going round, and round, and round is so annoying. I dislike these kinds of watches."

While Amasawa stared at Housen's watch on his left arm, she cursed at Housen, who was sitting in front of her.

"Shut the fuck up. Don't ya know how much this is worth?"

"Worth? Is it worth a lot? I don't have the time to care for things I hate." "Huh? This is exactly why girls are so boring."

After saying that with a laugh, Housen touched his watch. "You… Well, never mind. So, what do you want from me?"

"I called you out because of the upcoming uninhabited island exam. Team up with me, Amasawa."

"You want me to help you out again, huh? And on the uninhabited island? Are you thinking 'bout doing something vulgar?"

"Huh?"

Even as Housen frowned and stared at Amasawa, she fearlessly returned with a devilish smile.

Amasawa slowly lowered her crossed legs, then quietly opened them up. "Want to see my panties? You can sneak a peek at them under the table,

yeah?"

If one went into a crawling posture, one could see between those legs.

Faced with this temptation, Housen placed his right elbow on the table and leaned forward.

"You think I wouldn't lay my hands on a woman?"

"Not at all. Don't worry, I reckon you're the type of guy who would beat a girl up and act as if nothing had happened."

"Then stop sprouting your bullshit. It's a waste of time."

"A waste of time, huh. Then let me hear it first. Your plan. Why did you invite me?"

"It's because you were bold. On the matter of expelling Ayanakouji, you didn't hesitate at all."

"Well, that's true? The other guys either knew about the bounty and didn't do anything, or wanted to do something but gave up halfway. 20 million points is a large amount, isn't it normal to go all out?"

Amasawa said that without showing any signs of guilt.

"Then what's my reward if I group with you? I'm not cheap, yeah?"

Right after Amasawa asked for what she could get, a serious voice came from behind her.

"We should be on equal footing. Didn't I already say that before?" It was Nanase, who came a bit late.

"Equal? You have a cute face, but your words are so bitter. So this boldness is what Housen-kun likes about you?"

After Nanase sat down at the table, all three of them had arrived.

"I see. So the group that Housen-kun was thinking of forming was the three of us. What about the fourth person?"

"That's not necessary. The winner of this uninhabited island exam will neither be a 2nd nor a 3rd year group. It will be the three of us."

"Cocky, aren't you? But, it seems to me there's a lotta formidable upperclassmen compared to the first-years though?"

"So what? I'll crush them all."

"Well, even if you're the strongest, Housen-kun… Didn't the 1st year agree to work together as four classes? If we're talking about the main force in Class D, there's no doubt the two of you will be considered as such, right?"

"That's up to me, who's in charge of Class D, to decide. Understand?"

"So that means you're just going to openly send in the small fries to represent the main forces. All the other classes are gonna be mad."

"Depends on what the main force's criteria is. As long as we send students with high academic or physical abilities, it won't cause too much of a dispute. Besides, problems will definitely rise if Housen-kun joins the strongest group."

"Well, teamwork probably won't be a thing if Housen-kun joins. In that sense, excluding him from the group is a safer option. Anyway, let's go back to the topic. How much would you give me?"

"There are no points for you. Like I said earlier, you're on equal footing with us. Of course, we will evenly split the extra private points our class gets from the rewards."

It was as if Nanase was asking Amasawa "Was that not enough for you to be satisfied?".

"But, that reward won't align with my contribution, don't you think so? Whether it's the uninhabited island exam or something else, I'm confident that I'll be able to contribute the most. This exam seems to require quite a lot

of physical strength. Nanase-chan, cute and lovely as you're, can you keep up with me?"

"You wanna test it now?"

In response to her provocation, Nanase also responded with a provocation. Amasawa turned her attention to Housen for a moment, then without warning stretched her hand out suddenly to Nanase's face and wanted to slap her in order to rattle her.

But Nanase grabbed her arm that was quickly extended without hesitation. "You've got guts, eh? Trying it here."

"Woah. Damn, you're pretty good aren't you? I love strong girls." "You're not bad yourself."

"Maybe? You wanna test again?"

One side was laughing, the other was stone-faced. Time passed as they were testing each other's strength.

"Nanase and I, and you. We'll form a group of three. Alright?"

"Although I now know that Nanase-chan has considerable skill, I still don't think she and I are on equal footing."

"Why? Because two out of three of us are from Class D?"

"I don't care about that. It seems like the private points will be evenly split, but…. it's you guys that asked for my help, so if I don't get extra it's kinda…"

After Amasawa said that, she made a fist with her left hand, then made the gesture of asking for a tip: pinching her thumb and index finger together and then rubbing them.

"Since you're trying to bribe me, isn't it natural for me to increase my price?"

"What an arrogant attitude. Be it Nanase or you, both of you women are bolder than Yagami and Takahashi."

"Don't you know? Nowadays, girls are the stronger ones."

"Fine, I'll listen to what you have to say. What else do you want, besides the group rewards?"

"First place, of course, but that's not the only thing that's important—"

Amasawa changed the position of her left hand, and raised only her thumb to her neck.

Then, slowly slid it from right to left…

"I must receive all the points from the bounty to expel Ayanokouji-senpai. That's my condition for forming a group with you."

"Hah, you're demanding a lot, eh? That's not a condition I can easily agree to."

"So you are gonna say no? However, what will you do without me? If you don't have a comrade apart from Nanase-chan that you can trust, won't you have a difficult time during this special exam?"

Just like Amasawa had said earlier, Housen had already made enemies on all sides.

Moreover, since all four classes had already decided to work together, if he were to create a separate group, no other students would help him apart from an odd person like Amasawa.

"Besides, if I group up with Housen-kun, I'll be even more isolated in Class A than I am now, so isn't it only natural for me to not say 'yes' if I don't get the corresponding rewards that would compensate for that loss?"

Housen and Amasawa's gazes collided with each other.

"It's true that if you give me the bounty for getting him expelled, you won't get any money, but the reputation for getting Ayanokouji-senpai expelled will be given entirely to you Housen-kun. Is that enough for you to accept the condition?"

"There's no need to accept this condition. Consider the future if Class A gets an extra 20 million points…"

"Shut up, Nanase."

Interrupting Nanase's advice, Housen continued to stare at Amasawa. "The bounty is yours."

"Thanks. The fact that you're not a stingy guy is just brilliant." After saying that, Amasawa briskly stood up from her seat. "Please take care of me during the official exam."

Now that the negotiation was over, Amasawa judged that there was no need to stay and left without hesitation.

"Are you sure about this?" "Yeah."

"Alright, since you're the one who makes the decision after all. But are you sure it's okay to trust Amasawa-san? I think she's the type who would betray her partners without giving it a second thought."

"Trust? Don't just assume that I trust her. That goes for you too, I don't trust either of you."

"Then why did you decide to group up with her?"

"Because she's different from the rest of the trash. There are parts of her that I can't see through, just like you."

"I see, that may be true. Even so, 20 million points is too much."

"It's just a verbal agreement anyway. As long as it's clear I am the one who gets Ayanakouji expelled, I'll be the one who receives the points. I don't care if she cries about it later."

Housen expressed that he had no intention of keeping his promise from the start.

"You really are a terrible person."

"Whether it be Ayanokouji, Ryuuen, or the others, whoever comes at me with their fangs, I'll crush them all. I'm sick of being bogged down by the trash rules of this school."

Housen was so happy he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Part 2

Summer vacation was soon approaching, and it was now July 6th. The entire group, apart from Akito, who went to his club, gathered by my seat near the classroom door. This was because we had agreed to go to Keisei's room together afterwards.

"Ayanokouji-kun, can I talk to you for a second?"

As we were leaving the classroom, Kushida called after me. "What's up?"

Since the number of times Kushida had come to talk to me had decreased lately, this sudden call was a bit of a surprise.

Even though I had to give her my points monthly based on our contract, it was merely a monetary exchange. Since everyone in the class receives the same amount of private points, there was no need for her to double check.

"Actually, a 1st year student told me that they wanted to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun… Is this a bad time?"

After a sorry look at Haruka and the others in the group, Kushida continued.

"They asked me to arrange a meeting with you. I think it'll probably take about an hour. "

"What, what?? Kiyopon, don't tell me a kouhai girl's confessing?" Airi panicked upon hearing Haruka's joke.

"Eh-ehhh!? I-is that true?!"

"If that's the case, I don't think we can allow them to meet."

She's the one who brought the topic up arbitrarily, but now she's also promptly deciding that I wasn't allowed to go.

"… Is that the case?"

Just in case, I decided to check with Kushida first.

"Eh? Ah, that… It's actually a boy that wants to meet you… Sorry." Kushida apologized with a troubled expression.

No, she didn't need to apologize for that at all.

Although I didn't think it was something like that to begin with, I still felt relieved.

"Isn't that great? It's good to communicate with the 1st years, right?"

"Right. After all, our group isn't particularly good at interpersonal relationships, so it wouldn't be a bad thing if Kiyotaka could gain some acquaintances in the 1st year."

Putting the objective of the first year student aside for now, both of them felt that I should show up to the meeting. Airi also grew relieved after hearing that it wasn't a confession, and was sending me off happily, so I had no particular reason to refuse.

"Okay. What should I do?"

"Thanks! Well, let me tell him you said yes." Kushida took out her phone and gave him a call. "Then we'll go now. See you later."

After a brief talk, the members of the Ayanokouji group went back to the dormitory.

"Sorry about this."

It seems like he hasn't picked up the phone yet, Kushida apologized to me again as she held her phone to her ear.

"It's not a big deal. Nobody in the group will complain about it." The 1st year boy picked up the phone shortly after.

"Ah, hello? Ayanokouji-kun said that you could meet him now. Uh-huh, ah, is that so? Then we'll wait here."

Kushida hung up in less than ten seconds.

"He seems to be heading this way already, so let's just wait here, so that we don't miss him, okay?"

The 1st year student who wanted to meet me seemed to be already on his way over.

"So, it seems like you're already on good terms with the 1st years?" "Ehhh? It's July already, it's been a long time…"

"… That's true."

It's been over three months since the 1st years joined the school. If you look out the hallway window, you could see the highly raised sun burning the ground.

It will soon be time for the cicadas to begin singing their cantatas.

To me, who was socially awkward, it was merely three months, but to Kushida, that was more than enough time.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you too have already made friends with some of the first years, right?"

From Kushida's perspective, that should be a matter of course, but that

wasn't the case for me.

"There's still no one I can call a friend."

"I-I see… Well… There's no need to rush. It's just the beginning of the year."

Kushida replied with considerate and caring words, but they sounded hollow. Although I've indeed spoken to a few first years, my relationship with them hasn't reached the point where we would privately contact each other.

The conversation came to a halt as the atmosphere became awkward.

As I was thinking about what topic to bring up next with Kushida, the 1st year appeared in the corridor where people come and go.

"Kushida-senpai."

Appearing from the corner was Takuya Yagami, who had graduated from the same junior high school as Horikita and Kushida. Seeing Yagami's appearance as a chance to dissipate the awkward atmosphere, Kushida let out a smile.

"Yagami-kun is the one who wanted to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Nice to meet you, Ayanokouji-senpai. Thank you very much for taking your time to see me today."

Because it was a 1st year who connected with me through Kushida, I had a rough idea of who he was.

"I believe you're in… Class 1-B, right?" "Yes. I'm Takuya Yagami of Class 1-B."

As one of the bystanders at the turmoil that had happened with the first years, I've seen Yagami then, but I've never spoken with him till now. We're finally having our first conversation before summer comes.

I've heard that he had gradually become known as the leader of Class 1-B, but exactly how far did his influence reach? With his good first impression and his likeable look, along with his high academic ability, he seemed to be pretty popular.

"Standing is sort of… for the place, what about we go to my room to talk? The rare black tea I had ordered happened to arrive already. Although it takes some time to steep, it's very delicious!"

Yagami suggested that— if that's ok with me, please have a try. Since I didn't usually drink black tea, I was slightly interested. But then we may not be able to keep the meeting within an hour.

"Ah, sorry Yagami-kun, but actually, Ayanokouji-kun has plans to meet up with his friends after this, so can we try to keep this within an hour?"

Kushida noticed that it might take some time, so she quickly rejected Yagami's proposal for me.

"I see, that's fine. Let's talk at the cafe in Keyaki mall then."

Although a bit disappointed, Yagami readily agreed after understanding my situation.

"Then, let's go Ayanokouji-kun."

I slightly nodded, and decided to go to Keyaki mall with Kushida and Yagami.

"Oh, by the way, the special exam on the uninhabited island is about to start. I heard that you guys had the same special exam last year."

"Yeah. It was a pretty tough time."

"Could you tell me about the rules and what happened? Since we haven't experienced the exam as 1st years, we want to at least gather some information beforehand."

"That's fine… But I don't know if it'll be of any help. It seems like the rules this year are completely different from last year's."

"I know. The uninhabited island exam that the 3rd year senpais took at the time also seemed to be different from the exam you took, Kushida-senpai."

"Oh right, now that you mention it, the 3rd years also took the uninhabited island exam."

"Like you guys, it seems like they also took it in the 1st year. In the past, it seems that the uninhabited island exam was only conducted once during one's time at the school— Is this year an exception, or has that rule changed?"

It seemed like Yagami had much more information than we did. "Are you surprised? That I have information about the 3rd years."

Yagami asked me, who had been listening quietly all this time.

"It's because I joined the student council. I took the opportunity to ask President Nagumo about the uninhabited island survival exam held two years ago, and he kindly told me. At that time, they were divided into groups of four within the class, and a total of 12 groups competed."

The rules of their special exam were different from the rules we had been given last year.

We can say that, apart from a few exceptions, there basically won't be special exams that are exactly the same.

"How did the 2nd years spend their time on the uninhabited island? I might be able to learn from that."

Even if Kushida and I had kept Yagami in the dark, someone else could still tell him, so there was no need to deliberately hide it from him. Also, Kushida would definitely tell him anyway.

As expected, Kushida started to explain to him in detail about the uninhabited island exam last year.

I listened in silence as I followed them.

Part 3

It seemed like we had arrived at Keyaki mall just as we finished the talk about our previous uninhabited island exam.

We had planned to go to the cafe, but something unexpected happened. "It's so crowded."

The cafe was already full, and there were even more students at the entrance waiting for a seat.

"What should we do? Shall we go to the second floor?" "Just a minute."

Yagami took out his cell phone and started to operate it.

"I just checked with a friend, and the cafe on the 2nd floor seems to be just as crowded. Since we've to wait either way, why not just wait here?"

It seemed like his friend was already at the cafe, so he got in touch with him right away. A quick decision to avoid wasting time. When we agreed with his proposal, Yagami noticed a student approaching from behind. If we didn't hurry, we'd be pushed down by one more in the queue. And so while holding his phone in his left hand and a pen in the other, he wrote his name and the number of people he had brought on the reservation sheet in front of the cafe with beautiful handwriting. It was particularly eye catching when compared to the sloppy writing written by other students above him.

"Wow, your handwriting is really good, Yagami-kun~"

It was only natural for Kushida to make such a compliment upon seeing it.

Yagami, on being praised, smiled happily.

And then, accordingly, the three of us went to the waiting chairs that had been placed outside the store.

"My grandfather told me that even if I'm not good at studying, I should still be able to write well."

"Your grandpa?"

"Yes, because my grandfather is a calligraphy teacher."

"That's amazing. I don't have much confidence in my own writing."

Despite what she said, it wasn't bad at all, as I remembered seeing it a few times. Although not as elegant as Yagami's refined handwriting, I remember it was a round style commonly used by girls, which was pretty nice.

It seems like Yagami was a student who didn't show off his abilities at all. Even though his grandfather mentioned something about being bad at studying, he got an A in the OAA evaluation for Academic Ability. He was an honor student who wasn't obnoxious, and he gave me the same sort of feeling as Yosuke did.

After a while, a table of four became available, and we sat down after ordering.

"Actually— You might think, why I am talking to you after all this time, but there's something I want to tell you, Ayanokouji-senpai. There's a special exam that only a very small of 1st year students have been informed about. You already know about this, right? "

It seemed like Kushida hadn't received any explanation beforehand, and she listened to Yagami with a dumbfounded expression. This limited special exam was, of course, the one where the person who got me expelled would receive a bounty of 20 million points. From his tone it seemed like he had first hand knowledge of this fact, instead of having a surface level understanding from a rumour. I decided to be prudent about this, and just

waited.

Neither confirming nor denying, I simply waited for Yagami to continue, and he nodded his head, in understanding.

"In April, I received a notification about this. However, since I wasn't interested in getting paid for setting people up, I decided not to participate."

It's true, Yagami hadn't done anything to me. Though, it wouldn't have been surprising if he had paid a little attention to me upon learning about the bounty, but it seemed as if he hadn't been aware of my existence until recently.

"Why are you telling me now?"

"I recently heard that Housen-kun had failed in his first attempt. However, Ayanokouji-senpai's left hand was injured in the process. I wouldn't have been surprised if he did something inhumane but this was beyond my expectations."

"Well, there's really no denying it."

Kushida's gaze alternated between me and Yagami, listening attentively, desperately trying to understand what was going on. It looked like Yagami was going to be telling me everything.

"There's another reason that prompted me to decide to tell you all of this." After saying that, Yagami paused for a moment before continuing.

"For the sake of protecting the first year students, I was going to be a complete bystander. However, if I don't do anything about it, Ayanokouji- senpai… depending on the situation there's a possibility that the situation will also affect your classmate, Kushida-senpai. That's why I asked Kushida- senpai to help me out."

Kushida raised her left hand in embarrassment upon hearing that, and asked. "Excuse me, I have no idea what you guys are talking about…"

"Can I continue to talk like this?" "I've got no right to stop you."

Yagami asked her to come with him because he seemed to be worried about her.

Even if I had stopped him from saying it here, Yagami would have told her later without me present, so there was no point in that.

"Then I'll start from the beginning so Ayanokouji-senpai will know the entire story. It all started when I was contacted by President Nagumo of the student council. He instructed that one or two representatives were to be sent from each class and would secretly gather in the student council room. Actually, we were summoned there shortly after entering the school."

The keyword 'student council' leaked out of Yagami's mouth.

"The first year students there were Takahashi Osamu-kun and Ishigami Kyou-kun from Class A, me from Class B, Utomiya Riku-kun from Class C, and Housen Kazuomi-kun and Nanase Tsubasa-san from Class D. A total of 6 students."

If what he said was true, it was valuable information. Those two people from Class 1-C weren't simply striking conversation with me by chance. What was most intriguing though, was that Amasawa's name didn't appear on that list.

"The special exam was to get the 2nd year student Ayanokouji-senpai expelled from the school."

"Eh?! To get Ayanokouji-kun expelled?"

Yagami nodded at the surprised Kushida and continued.

From Kushida's expression, I could make out that she didn't have any foreknowledge on this matter.

"The deadline was the beginning of the 2nd semester, and you could use any means. In addition, we weren't allowed to tell anyone about the special exam.

However, since Utomiya and I were the only participants from our classes, we were allowed to tell one person in our classes about it to make it fair, but I didn't tell anyone. Utomiya might have told someone though."

In other words, 6 or 7 people from their grade knew about this special exam.

"The student council president Nagumo-senpai told the six of us that he'll give 20 million points to the student who got him expelled."

"Th-that's a lot of points… I-is that sort of thing allowed?"

The exam was a surprise to Kushida who heard about it. Until now, I've been wondering how much I should trust Yagami, but he didn't seem to be lying. Nevertheless, if his lies were to reveal themselves, it would directly lead to the breakdown of my relationship with him. And if the interests of our Class 2-D were to be jeopardized, Kushida would be affected as well.

"It's no wonder that you're surprised, Kushida-senpai. Back in April, we didn't have a deep understanding about the school, but now it's very clear. This is an unusual special exam. That is what I've judged it to be, and that's why I arranged to meet you here."

The explanation has more or less come to an end, and Yagami took a deep breath and picked up his cup of tea.

After learning about the 20 million points bounty on my head, Kushida asked Yagami a question.

"Isn't it a bit strange that the student council president is conducting this special exam on his own…?"

"Yes. I too think the problem lies in how I expressed it as. I'm calling it a special test, but it would be easier to understand if you think of it as a challenge that President Nagumo made up on his own and gave to the first year students."

The possibility existed that Nagumo was involved in this matter. This also gives Horikita a clear direction to proceed. However, just when I thought he

wouldn't easily reveal his involvement in this, it was leaked by someone unexpected.

"Wh-why is it Ayanokouji-kun? Are there no other students apart from him?"

"As far as I know, it's only Ayanokouji-senpai. As for why it's him, I don't think there's a specific reason behind that. President Nagumo said that the student was selected at random from the 2nd years'. It was a simple game of chance, 1 in 157."

For Yagami, who didn't know Nagumo's background, this was not something he could understand.

He didn't even doubt that it was a random selection. Of course, the chances of me being randomly selected wasn't zero. Although judging from the current situation, that was impossible.

However, would Nagumo be prepared to spend 20 million just to get me expelled? From our interactions so far, I didn't think he was someone that would do something going to such lengths as that. No, actually, he would do anything once he decided on it, but, his evaluation of me shouldn't be so high.

"Even if it's the student council president conducting this special exam on his own, how was he able to prepare 20 million points?."

I prodded Yagami in order to explore any further possibilities that remained.

"Yes. Although it might not sound good… Could it be a lie, a joke? I really can't believe he prepared 20 million points for an exam from an unknown source like this."

Even Kushida seemed a bit uneasy when faced with such a huge amount of points as 20 million.

Even if it was a student council president who offered that kind of money, it would still be suspicious.

"It really is a lot of money. I now know just how difficult it is to save up that

many points. However, when I first entered the school, he was the student council president from the 3rd year, and a member of Class A, therefore he seemed more trustworthy than the average student. Above all, I held the naive perception that he could've easily accumulated those many points."

Even though the amount of points had decreased this year, all first years were still given 80,000 points when they entered the school. The points would again be given to the students every month The dormitories were well equipped and clean, and there was a shopping mall that was almost exclusive to students. There were shops everywhere. It was like a utopia, and my sense of money was greatly distorted, something that I had experienced last year.

"In fact, I've already confirmed with my own eyes that he has 20 million points."

It wasn't surprising that a person like Nagumo would have that many points.

"But wouldn't you feel a little disagreeable about participating in a special exam that wasn't officially recognized by the school?"

"Apart from the disagreeable content of the exam itself, there's nothing else unpleasant about it. I think that other than me, all the other students welcomed it. It's being treated as a legitimate special exam."

"I've never heard of a student council president issuing a special exam before."

"No, it's not because we trust the president of the student council that we're participating in the exam."

"Eh…?"

"When the student council president announced the exam, the acting director was also present."

Tsukishiro's likely involvement finally revealed itself.

It was now confirmed that Tsukishiro and Nagumo were the ones behind the 20 million points.

"Under that situation, it's only natural for one to accept it as a special exam without any qualms, right?"

"If the Acting Director was present… Yeah, that would be the case."

A special exam to get a student expelled. Just hearing about it would raise all kinds of suspicions.

However, the presence of the acting director dispelled all those suspicions. "That's all the information I have about this matter."

"Although I'm grateful that you told me about this, you might be putting yourself in some unnecessary danger by doing so."

It's useful information for me, but it wasn't so good for Yagami. "Yagami-kun, will you be alright? If this conversation is exposed…"

"It's fine, Kushida-senpai. I didn't hear about any punishment for talking about this to anyone."

Yagami smiled without a worry.

"Plus I'm already prepared to be hated by the 1st years, because I'm going to have to face the other classes sooner or later."

It seemed like he was ready to take them on. Yagami Takuya of Class 1-B was a more defensively minded fighter, but depending on the situation, he was also the type to preemptively strike as a self defense measure.

Though it was unclear how much Yagami understood his current situation. There were many students huddled in one corner of the shop. One of them, a female student, kept on looking here from time to time. Since she was right behind Yagami, he probably didn't notice her.

It was Class C's Sakurako Tsubaki.

As soon as we were seated, she appeared, and managed to secure a good lookout position in the crowded store.

Then she took out her phone, and seemed to be talking to somebody over it.

Was her purpose me… Or was it Yagami who was amiably chatting with me? Either way, she now knows that I've been in contact with Yagami. Whether it be by chance or choice, this was not a favorable situation for Yagami. It would be hard to escape the watchful eyes in the narrow confines of the school. Not to mention if one person wasn't sufficient they had an entire class to back them up in their surveillance. This was proof that a battle among the 1st years was unfolding, and that their competition was getting more and more intense.

"Please be careful, Ayanokouji-senpai. It's entirely possible that there might be other students who broke the rules, to tell others, just like I am doing right now."

"Taking that into consideration, who do you think I should watch out for?"

"Yeah. Generally speaking, Housen-san from Class 1-D is someone you need to be alert against. His complete disregard for the rules is very troublesome."

It seemed like even the first years knew how dangerous an individual Housen was.

"But apart from that, there's actually another person…" Yagami, while saying that, hesitated a little.

"Forget it, we should stop here."

"Eh? Why? I'm concerned about this." Yagami smiled bitterly and said.

"I feel like this isn't something I should be telling you senpais. If I list the names of who to watch out for, they'll of course be marked by the senpais. While I think that is important for you to know, I don't think it's fair to them

if I tell you, although I already marked Housen-kun."

It's true, that if he mentioned who in what class was dangerous, Kushida and I would take suitable precautions.

We would also warn our classmates to prepare accordingly.

"Although, I'm not entirely sure yet. It's just a guess based on my feelings."

Even though he was also their opponent, Yagami seemed to want to fight fairly.

"I'll try to investigate in the next special exam. Once I'm sure that he's a threat, I'll tell you, Ayanokouji-senpai."

Looks like he would need to confirm for himself how dangerous that individual was before telling us.

"Be careful, Yagami-kun."

"Yeah. Also… after the exam on the uninhabited island is over, can I meet you alone for a bit? I'd like to talk to you, Kushida-senpai."

"Ye-yeah… Sure, about what…?"

Kushida said so while pretending not to understand entirely, but even I, who was rather slow to understand such things, noticed more or less what was going on.

The way Yagami looked at Kushida was different from the way one would normally look at their senpai.

"In any case, your information was very helpful, Yagami. Thank you."

"No problem. I felt bad that you were the only one at a disadvantage, Ayanokouji-senpai."

"I also have to thank you too, Yagami-kun, thank you very much."

"You saying that, is more than enough for me. If Ayanokouji-senpai drops out of the school, it's going tobe very hard on your class, Kushida-senpai. I really want you to graduate from Class A."

There aren't many 1st year students that I've been able to talk to for this long.

Yagami who did that looked to be nothing more than an ordinary honor student.

Usually, I was on guard when approaching someone, wondering if they were the White Room student or not, but among the first years I've met so far, he was the most natural of all the 1st years I've met so far. He never asked me for anything in particular, on the contrary, he has never hesitated to provide me with useful information.

Of course, that doesn't rule him out, but if he was from the White Room, he was an opponent I wouldn't want to face.

However, I highly doubt that the people cultivated in that facility can really become so natural in such a short period of time.

For now, let's make the most out of the information Yagami gave me.

"There are even more people now. Now that we've finished talking, I'll be going first."

"You have plans?"

"No, I just want to stay out of sight from the other 1st years."

It was the right thing to do, although it's too late now. I thanked him once again, and Yagami left.

After that, I stayed there with Kushida. "You've got a good kouhai in him, Kushida."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's kind of a pity. This wasn't the kind of development I wanted."

Kushida said, stroking the rim of her cup with her index finger. I didn't say it, but it was obvious what she was thinking.

If they had graduated from the same junior high, he would have known about her past.

"He also knows, Yagami-kun."

Kushida simply told me what I wanted to know. "Is that ok? Telling me something like that."

"It doesn't make a difference either way." "In other words—"

"I'll have to get rid of him as soon as possible. Yagami-kun, that is."

There was a strange sort of determination in her eyes as she looked at me and whispered that.

Yagami looked like he admired Kushida, but that wasn't enough to let him off the hook.

I suppose she would never look kindly upon someone who knew her past.

"It would be harder to eliminate an underclassman compared to Horikita and I."

"That only depends on the method."

From her tone, it sounded like she already had a plan.

"The more arrogant you are about your own excellence, the more simple you are. Horikita-san and youself are no exception to this."

"Didn't you agree to a ceasefire?"

"Only for now."

Kushida looked like she wasn't going to let up, but I myself didn't think that the ceasefire alone would be enough to be rid of her.

"But since I kept losing to you, I will keep quiet for 'now'." After that, she pushed her chair out, and prepared to leave. "See you later, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Yeah."

Since there was no reason to urge her to stay, I simply watched as she left.

Through that speech, I also learned that Kushida seemed to be up to something beneath the surface.

Part 4

After Kushida and Yagami left, I approached the convenience store.

I wanted to bring a little something for when I met with Keisei and the others later.

I also wanted to give the person who had been tailing me a chance to contact me.

So I decided to buy some snacks and drinks. "Umm…"

I heard a long, drawn-out voice.

As I was about to pay, Tsubaki from Class 1-C who was standing behind me called out to me. She grabbed a lollipop, probably to bump into me under the guise of 'buying something'.

"Hello Tsubaki. What can I do for you?"

I asked without mentioning that she was at the cafe.

"I'd like to talk to you about something. Could you wait outside for me?" She looked a little deflated and paid for the candy in her hand.

It was true that it wouldn't be easy to talk to her in front of the cash register, so I waited outside the store.

After waiting for a bit, I didn't notice any signs of her coming out, so I turned around and saw that she was talking to someone on her phone.

Keeping someone waiting like that, how brazen of her. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Tsubaki peeled off the wrapper with her slim fingers, and walked over in the direction of the dormitory.

"So, what did you want to say?"

"There is something that we wanted to tell you, that's why I approached you."

What was it that she wanted to tell me?

I thought she'd say it right away, but she just licked her lollipop and didn't say anything.

Instead of being interested in me it seemed like she was focusing on what was in front.

"Is it Utomiya?"

As I spoke the name of the student I could think of, Tsubaki stopped licking her lollipop.

"Looks like I was right." "He said he'd be right over."

The person she was talking to on the phone at the cafe was her classmate, Utomiya, after all.

As soon as Tsubaki said that, Utomiya came this way. After he saw me, he nodded slightly, and joined us. "Sorry. For having to talk to you like this."

"What did you want to say?"

Was it about Yagami, or the special exam? "It's about Housen Kazuomi."

But from his mouth came the name of the student I wasn't expecting. "Ayanokouji-senpai. In the April special exam, you teamed up with Housen." Tsubaki was looking for a 2nd year to partner up with.

She had asked me, but I had turned her down.

"I never would've thought that you had a previous arrangement with Housen."

"What's so surprising about that?"

"By now you must know that getting Class 1-D to cooperate with anyone is a hard task. Even for this island exam they're showing a non-cooperative attitude until the end."

Housen should know by now that there was nothing to gain in this exam by isolating themselves from the other classes.

However, Housen didn't seem to be shaken by this fact, and had maintained his unyielding attitude.

"So what?"

"We want to take Housen by surprise on the uninhabited island exam." His originally polite tone became sharp, as he tightly clenched his lips.

"However, neither the contents nor the complete rules of the exams have been made clear to us"

"Well… That's true, there's no guarantee that we'll be allowed to attack or ambush the other groups. However, since it's confirmed that we'll be competing with each other, then we should be able to plan something in

advance."

There was no problem with that line of thought.

It's a sure thing that the groups will fight each other.

"Housen doesn't have many private points right now. In other words, if he withdraws from the exam. Even as a first year student who gets a lighter penalty, he won't be able to pay for his relief."

In which case, Housen Kazuomi would have to drop out from Class 1-D. "Are you trying to force Housen out of the school?"

"Yes. Right, that's it."

Although he was mixing up his honorific language, Utomiya replied without hesitation.

"Can you tell me the reason for this?"

"In Class C, a boy named Hatano was expelled from the school. I think Housen had something to do with it."

If he could give out names, he must have gathered sufficient evidence. "So this is revenge?"

"Of course, I'd be lying if I said I didn't hate him. Nonetheless, what's most important is to prevent another unprepared person from being expelled."

"Yes. Thanks to him, our class lost 100 points." Tsubaki put the candy in her mouth and mumbled that.

"I guess I know the reason now, but what does it have to do with me?"

"Housen hasn't formed any alliances with people outside his class. However, he has formed a partnership with you, Ayanokouji-senpai."

So he thought there was a way to take advantage of Housen's weakness and came into contact with me.

From Utomiya's attitude, it really did seem like he wanted to obliterate Housen.

Tsubaki didn't seem to possess such an attitude, but she would probably help Utomiya.

If that hadn't been the case, she wouldn't have helped Utomiya contact me. "Please lend me your hand."

"I can't give you an answer when we don't even know what's going to be on the exam."

"Then, could you keep this in mind? We're willing to pay you a large sum of points if you're able to get Housen expelled from this school."

He offered to buy my cooperation, but there are more than just a few aspects that made it difficult to accept.

"Did you ever consider that I might be Housen's comrade? Since we worked together it's only natural to assume that we have some sort of relationship.

Don't you think I might just tell him what you told me right now?" In any case, he had unguardedly revealed too much of his plans. "That."

At that moment, Utomiya turned his attention to Tsubaki for the first time. The lollipop was getting smaller, and Tsubaki had a lonely look on her face.

She kept staring at the lollipop. I don't know if she noticed that the two of us were looking at her.

After a short while, she said.

"Didn't you get that injury on your left hand after you fought with Housen?" She licked the lollipop with the top of her tongue and said that.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because we were also aiming for the 20 million point bounty." She admitted this without hesitation.

"I see. You're also participants in that special test, huh? That's why you previously approached me as if you were looking for a partner."

Even though Yagami had already informed me on this matter, I pretended not to know about it.

On the other hand, Tsubaki also didn't mention my contact with Yagami. "That's right."

"But, even if I had partnered up with Tsubaki, you still wouldn't have been able to force me out of the school."

While it's true that I would've been expelled if Tsubaki gave up on the exam, but so would she.

"We can't answer that."

Up till now, I've thought that Utomiya was the one who came up with the idea.

As things stand now, it doesn't seem to be that way.

"I apologize for that. We've already given up on the bounty." "Why is that?"

"If we get you expelled, news of that'll spread throughout the school. We'll be enemies with the 2nd year Class D. Them hating the people who got their

classmate expelled is to be expected."

Utomiya only realised this after his friend Hatano had been forced to drop out due to Housen's actions.

"Then wouldn't it be the same if Housen was expelled?"

"No. The reason for that is because all the Class 1-D students are afraid of Housen. Rather, there're a lot of students who wish that he be expelled."

If you weren't worried about being hated by the others, you could do whatever you wanted.

"Anyway, remember. Please remember this. The only thing we care about is defeating Housen."

After emphasizing that part again, Utomiya and Tsubaki left, walking in the direction of the dormitory.

Although I've met them twice by now, the 1st year Class C didn't let me grasp anything.

But their relationship with the White Room Student is still opaque.

For the time being, I'll stay vigilant, and keep in mind what they said about Housen.

Part 5

Horikita had already joined the student council, but even after that, she couldn't provide me with any new information.

Putting aside personal opinions of Nagumo, the student council operated smoothly.

It was a week before the deadline for the formation of the small groups, and a situation arose.

It all started when I was called out by the Vice President, Kiriyama.

Kiriyama had been trying to stop Nagumo's rampage by supporting Horikita Manabu, the student council president who graduated last year, but the situation hadn't improved, and time was running out.

Maybe he had already given up.

Although that was what I thought, I didn't expect him to offer to meet up at this point.

Although, why did he call me out in broad daylight on a weekday after school?

If he wanted to keep this a secret from Nagumo, he could have chose to meet late at night or early in the morning.

If he was going to act cautiously, he would have done so.

However, I agreed to his proposal without any contention, as I had no obligation to do so.

And so after school, I went to Keyaki mall to meet up with Kiriyama.

"You're here."

"What does the Vice President want with me?"

"Don't be in such a hurry to get this done with, it's going to take some time today."

Saying that, Kiriyama guided me away.

"The large scale uninhabited island exam is coming at the end of the month, are you prepared?"

I thought he wanted to talk to me about the student council, so I was surprised when he started talking about the special exam.

"I feel I've done everything I can. How about you, Vice President Kiriyama?"

"I've formed a group of 3 without anyone from Class A."

This was to shorten the gap between Class A and the other classes, and to make the test less difficult.

For the 3rd year, the difference in Class Points with Class A was much greater than in the 2nd year. If there was any possibility left of reversing this situation, it was to get the higher ranks in the exam through your class alone.

"I know what you must be thinking, if our Class 3-B wanted to reach Class A, then it's a must to win first place with a team with only our class. Not only that, we would have to continue to win the following special exams by a landslide. However, that's not realistic."

If miracles like these happened ever so often, they wouldn't have been in their position in the first place

"I wanted to personally battle Nagumo in this special exam." "Personally battle, huh."

"It's been a long time since we lost the battle with Nagumo and fell into Class B. After which, Nagumo became the student council president, and took control over the entire 3rd year, and eventually the entire school. It's safe to say that the battle of the classes has already been decided."

"I've been thinking the same thing."

The reason why most of the 3rd years followed Nagumo was because they gave up on their plans of reaching Class A.

"But based on my evaluation of myself, I don't think I'm any weaker than Nagumo."

The Class 3-B student, Kiriyama, had received high evaluations on the OAA. With an overall evaluation being above B+, it was understandable that he was confident in his ability. However, Nagumo's overall strength was even higher than his, so you could say that Nagumo's boisterous attitude was in line with his strength.

Nevertheless, the OAA wasn't indicative of one's ability. Not only were there students who weren't able to display their full strength, but there were mental elements that couldn't be expressed numerically, and there were also students with certain talents that couldn't be reflected by the OAA.

If Kiriyama thought he could take Nagumo on a one on one fight, he probably did have a chance of winning.

"You can form a big group of up to 6 people regardless of class. In order to win, you'll have to have an eye for talent and the ability to get people to join you— In that aspect, I don't think I can lose to Nagumo."

Even though this special examination is a battle between the years, it also contained elements that allowed you to fight within your year.

This exam was one of the few opportunities left for Kiriyama.

"I understand where you're going with this, but is it really necessary to specifically tell me this?"

What good would it do him to tell me about it? "I don't want you to get in my way."

"I'm not interested in your duel with the President anyway."

"I know that, but what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to be distracted by any outsiders."

"Outsiders?"

"I'm referring to Horikita Suzune, who just joined the student council."

"I see. It looks like she's in your way, However I want to at least tell you that I sent Horikita Suzune to the student council on the wish of her brother, the former student council president."

Maybe this kind of thing didn't matter to Kiriyama anymore. To be sure, I asked him outright.

"There's already no point to it. He's only got a few months left as Student Council president. If we could do something starting from now, it wouldn't be to take his presidency, but rather to settle a personal dispute with him."

"If that's what you want, then just do it, yeah?"

It's not surprising that he wanted them to have a fair fight. The question was, what did it have to do with me?

"You wanted Horikita Manabu's sister to join the student council to monitor Nagumo, right?"

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't, but it was mostly for another reason. Just like Horikita said in front of Chairman Nagumo, it was to follow in her brother's footsteps."

"That means she won't get in Nagumo's way, right?"

"Unless Horikita thinks Nagumo's an obstacle."

"That won't work. Forget all thoughts about dealing with Nagumo. It'll only lead to unnecessary fights."

He withdrew what he had once said, and it was as if everything had come full circle.

It meant nothing to me, but I had a desire to personally witness Nagumo in action. If Horikita judged Nagumo's actions to be wrong, I was afraid she might face him directly. But it was a bit strange that Kiriyama was telling me not to do anything meaningless.

"I'll remember what you said, Vice President."

I listened to his advice and planned to skim over the matter with a lighthearted response.

Kiriyama showed a look of displeasure, probably because of my half hearted reply.

"To put it politely, don't do anything."

"I know, I've made myself clear on that, right?"

"Then, you swear you won't do anything. Can I interpret it like that?" "How you interpret it is your choice, but I didn't make any promises."

As the conversation continued, Kiriyama's normally calm voice grew impatient.

"Nagumo was more or less aware of what I'd been doing with Horikita- senpai. But since I'd been following his orders, he remained calm and simply observed what happened. Horikita-senpai's sister joining the student council was annoying enough, so if you don't stop meddling in this—"

"Are you in trouble, Vice President?"

"…Yeah."

So that's why he called me out, to specifically tell me this. On the surface, it was as if he was worried about us.

However, the truth of the matter was, he was protecting himself, putting his safety before anything else.

Of course, this was a normal move to make.

I didn't want to interfere in the relationship between Nagumo and Kiriyama, in which the winner and the loser had already been decided.

"Nagumo's idea, the one in which anyone can graduate from Class A. You want that chance."

"Well…"

It was the policy of the former student council president Horikita Manabu to continue on with the school's premise of winning by class.

No, I should say that this was the school's policy, until last year.

But relying only on that, there was no chance of defeating Class 3-A led by Nagumo.

In fact, Kiriyama seems to have resigned himself to the fact that he would graduate from Class B.

However, if he followed Nagumo's 'individual strength' policy, his position would certainly change.

If Kiriyama was strong enough individually, he may be able to move up to Class A.

Although he said he wanted to compete with Nagumo in the uninhabited island exam, in the end, he's just trying to gain private points, and occupy the top spots.

It was just a prettier excuse to keep Horikita and I out of his way. He wasn't really going to challenge Nagumo.

"Is it really that strange… Wanting to graduate from Class A."

It really was nothing strange, but Kiriyama wouldn't spot talking. He was trying to protect his dignity.

"What's the point in graduating from a class other than Class A, if you're in this school? I won't go down the same road as those who have talent but have given up fighting. I will never sink with Class B, which is full of strange and incompetent people."

If Manabu-senpai had heard those words, he would be disappointed.

Even so, Kiriyama was aware of this weakness, so would he really talk about this so calmly?

"Anyway, you should have understood what I want to say by now."

"I understand. When Horikita joined the student council, she was supposed to be introduced to the other members later on, but you came early, Vice President. I know the reason for that."

He was worried that Horikita and I would say something unnecessary. "Say whatever you want-"

"Kiriyama."

While we were talking, a voice came from nearby.

Although Kiriyama's name was called, he didn't react immediately. "Kiriyama. Can you not hear me?"

Once again, but this time the voice grew louder.

"Speak of the devil…"

After saying that to himself, he reluctantly turned towards the direction of the voice, with a subtle expression of disgust.

The girl who was sitting on the bench was a 3rd year student.

She crossed her legs and put her open hands on the back of the bench, in a relaxed manner.

Comparing this with the face, name, and various abilities shown in the OAA…

Class 3-B, Kiryuuin– right? "What do you want from me?"

Faced with his own classmate, Kiriyama's disgruntled expression didn't change.

It seemed like the two of them didn't get along well.

"Fufu. You're with an interesting underclassman, so I said hello." Kiryuuin said that, and then turned her attention to me.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, right? I heard you became famous after a perfect score on a difficult math test."

"It's none of your business, Kiryuuin."

Before I could speak, Kiriyama raised his voice a little and said that. Kiriyama distanced himself from Kiryuuin and tried to force his way out. "What are you doing, Ayanokouji? We're leaving."

Kiriyama said to me. I had no intention to do so, though.

"You won't get anything from being with a guy like that, you know?" I was caught between two 3rd years.

Which side was the right one to listen to?

To be honest, I didn't want to listen to either of them. "Staying with you is meaningless."

"Ayanokouji's the one who should decide that, right? Kiriyama, can't you leave any quicker?"

Kiryuuin made fun of him while maintaining her sitting posture. "Would you like to join me in a meaningful conversation? "…!!"

Seems like instead of being taken lightly, what Kiriyama didn't like was her interference at the last moment.

"You can ignore that woman."

He intensified his tone, and warned me.

"She's a third year just like you, Vice President. So that won't be too good." "…This girl is Kiryuuin, a student of Class B and my classmate."

"I saw that from the OAA. She's a highly rated student, isn't she?"

"She's just a good student, but Kiryuuin doesn't have anyone supporting her, unlike Nagumo. She doesn't even have a single friend."

So that was why Kiriyama said that ignoring her wouldn't cause any trouble. "Don't praise me like that, I'm getting embarrassed!"

It wasn't meant to be a compliment at all, but Kiryuuin laughed boldly.

"She's a lot like Kouenji from your year. All her words and actions, if you take her seriously, you'll just be wasting your time."

I didn't expect his name to come up here.

In a way, Kouenji Rokusuke was someone who had a unique personality, and if you were similar to him, you would be pretty strange too.

While I was interested, I also thought it was better not to get involved with her.

However, Kiryuuin's Academic and Physical Abilities were both rated A+.

She was the only student who had two A+ evaluations in those two categories in the school, out of everyone.

Her Social Contribution was a C+, which wasn't that low, and her only defect was Adaptability, in which she got a D.

If we simply looked at grades, you could say that she's the best in the school. "What's wrong? Aren't you coming?"

"Are you calling for me?"

"If you don't come, I'll go there myself. But is that okay with Kiriyama?" "… It's because of people like this, that I don't want to rely on Class B." Kiriyama said in a low voice.

"Couldn't you oppose Nagumo, since you have these sorts of outstanding classmates?'

"I told you that she's the same as Kouenji, didn't I? She's already hopeless as a human being. In these 3 years, she didn't contribute at all to the class, except for her own grades. She always acts alone. Even though she lives

among us, she's an alien in the class."

It was true that even that she had maintained her excellence in the OAA, I had never heard her name from other people's mouths. If she had been someone Nagumo or Manabu-senpai would pay attention to, it wouldn't have been strange to hear about her.

"Thanks for the compliments, Kiriyama." "Huh!?"

Kiryuuin, who got up from the bench, whispered in Kiriyama's ear

She was surprisingly tall. Over 170 centimetres? You could tell just by looking at her that she was well built, reflecting her physical ability. There was actually a student like this in the 3rd year? I recalled the conversation I just had with Kiriyama.

There was no way he was going to sink with Class B which was filled with these kinds of 'strange' and 'incompetent' people.

This Kiryuuin was probably the strange person he referred to. "If you want to say something, say it quickly.

"Of course, I'll do that. But you're in the way, Kiriyama." "…Do whatever you want. I'm leaving."

It seemed like he didn't want to be with Kiryuuin, so Kiriyama started to take his leave.

"Don't forget what I just said, Ayanokouji. Depending on the situation, I'll become your enemy as well."

I received a warning from the Vice President.

By now, I would have gone back, but this time, I had to deal with Class 3-B's Kiryuuin.

"What are we doing, standing up? Why don't we sit down?" "Sure…"

Kiryuuin invited me to sit on the bench. I hope I'd be released soon.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Anything is fine. It's enough as long as I can figure out what sort of person you are.

"Figure out? Vice President Kiriyama said that you don't contribute to the class, Kiryuuin-senpai. That means you're not interested in what happens to your classmates right?"

"Being interested and cooperating are 2 completely different things, aren't they? There are some interesting people in my class, and sometimes I want to have a friendly conversation with them, just like what I'm doing with you now."

I see. It was exactly as she said.

"I'm not interested in the system of aiming for Class A of this school. Although the biggest selling point of the school is that you can go to whatever university you want and find employment wherever you want, I believe I can achieve whatever I want with my own abilities. I simply chose to come to this school on a whim."

From her words, she did indeed seem very similar to Kouenji. She has absolute confidence in her own abilities.

1

Besides, that can be justified by the fact that she had an A+ in both Academic and Physical Ability.

"Would you have chosen this place if you knew before you came here that the structure of this school is centered around cooperation?"

"That's not the case. I like this school. In fact, I haven't had a single complaint about life here since I arrived. The point system is also very pleasant."

Kouenji also seemed to like this school, and enjoyed all of its benefits to the max.

There's no need to cling onto the goal of Class A if you could achieve anything you want by your own abilities after graduation.

"It seems that you are fine with being hated by others." "Other people's evaluations don't matter to me."

Kiryuuin gave a straightforward reply accompanied with strange laughter

"I wanted to ask you something, but instead you're the one asking the questions."

As if switching from defence to offence, Kiryuuin asked me a question. "It's about time you told me about yourself."

"Why me? There are many students who excel in their studies."

"It's intuition. My instincts tell me that the person in front of me is no ordinary person."

Trusting her instincts with no basis at all.

If it wasn't for the fact that I knew they were alike, I might have mistaken her for Kouenji.

"Are you planning to get first place in the uninhabited island exam?" "There's no student who doesn't want to be first. Except maybe, for people

like you, Kiryuuin-senpai."

"Letting aside first place, I'm also one of the people who is aiming for a top spot. If I get a high position, I can get private points. I'm the type to spend whatever I have, so I'm always short of money."

Class Points and Protection Points were of secondary importance to her.

At the end of the day, Kiryuuin would only take the exam for her sake and for the sake of the private points.

"Nagumo and Kiriyama will obviously aim for 1st place, and it seems that there are some competent underclassmen, right? The upcoming special exam will determine the top student at the school."

"That does seem to be the case."

What was needed was not limited to just academic and physical ability.

If it was a battle where you had to fight with everything you've got, then what she said was true.

"Whether my interest in you disappears or not, it all depends on what you do in the uninhabited island exam."

"On the contrary, I hope that your interest in me disappears."

"I see. You say some interesting things, underclassman. I'm looking forward to fighting you, Ayanokouji."

With that, Kiryuuin waved me away as if shooing away a stray animal. "I'll take my leave then."

Although I've met with a strange 3rd year, one thing is for certain.

If I wanted to secure a top position in the next special exam, I would have to defeat Kiryuuin.

And it might prove to be even more troublesome than defeating Nagumo and Kiriyama.

Part 6

After Ayanokouji left, Kiryuuin remained where she was. It was her daily routine to spend her time in leisure.

In her vision, there suddenly appeared the swaying blonde hair that she had become accustomed to seeing.

Next to him stood Kiriyama, the vice president of the student council, who had just left.

"Hey hey, the loyal dog came back with his master eh?" "What…?"

"If you're getting mad at this, then that means that you know what I'm talking about. Right now, no one should know who's the loyal dog and who's the owner, as I don't remember declaring who was who. I'm simply stating from the perspective of an outsider who doesn't know anything. Why?

Because the one who left and as returned is you, Kiriyama, and so that fits the image of a loyal dog."

Kiryuuin said this once again to the approaching Kiriyama, and Nagumo who was standing by.

"This woman's a real pain in the ass…"

"You've got a dirty mouth, Kiriyama, it doesn't suit the image of a serious vice president."

"Nagumo, you're wasting your time on this woman. You know that, right?" "Agreed. So can the two of you disappear from my sight right now? It's a

waste of my precious time."

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're the one-"

"Kiryuuin, please don't mock my beloved student council member."

Nagumo tapped Kiriyama on the shoulder and interrupted him. He forced Kiriyama to move away a little, and stood in front of Kiryuuin.

"A beloved comrade? You didn't say that with any sort of emotion at all." "That's just your imagination."

"Well. What does the student council president want from me? I thought I'd never see you again."

"If possible, I too don't want to stay here for longer than I have to." With that, Nagumo forcibly sat down beside Kiryuuin.

"You're beautiful but charmless, and I don't have much interest in charmless women."

"I have charm. It's just that I haven't met a man who could draw it out yet."

"If there's a man who can bring out the charming side of you, I'd like to meet him."

"Me too. But putting aside your personal tastes, why aren't I popular?"

"Women with too high an ability are hard to deal with. Unfortunately, I don't like those types either."

"I see, if that's the case then I'll never be able to meet your standards. If being too excellent is the reason why I haven't found a boyfriend, then I understand."

After the meaningless banter with Kiryuuin, Nagumo got to the point.

"I heard something from Kiriyama. I would have never thought that someone who wasn't interested in both Horikita-senpai or I, would be interested in Ayanokouji. I was surprised when I heard that."

"Is that why you have come to see me? The student council president has too much time on his hands."

"I've finished my administrative work, so there's a lot of free time."

"You seem to have misunderstood something. I'm not a person who doesn't care about other people, Nagumo. I talk to people I'm interested in. There was a time when I was interested in you and Horikita Manabu."

Saying that, Kiryuuin gently stroked the ends of Nagumo's bangs.

"Your hair is well maintained. I know you take even better care of it than I do, a woman. I'm sure you're extremely popular, student council president. How's your love life been in these past 3 years?"

"Someone who has never been with a man before, can understand the fundamentals of love?"

"It's true that I've never been in a relationship, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Rather, I should say that it has raised my value?"

"Like always, your way of thinking is rather strange."

A meaningless conversation between them started up again, but Nagumo immediately returned to the topic at hand.

"So… Ayanokouji? Is he someone worth keeping an eye on?"

"Since he's such a cute underclassman, I paid him some lip service, but that's all."

"That's it? So does that mean you don't care anymore?"

"I'll leave it on hold for now. We had a face to face talk, but I wasn't able to grasp his true motives. Although you can't really call that an ability, he was

at least more interesting than you, the student council president, who I lost my interest in."

"You're the only one in the 3rd year who can say such disrespectful things to me."

Then Nagumo brought his mouth close to Kiryuuin's ear and whispered.

"If you think you're better than me, then let me show you your place, alright?"

Nagumo challenged her to the uninhabited island exam.

"The moment you lose, you'll lose something immeasurable, student council president. However, it seems you've misunderstood something, student council president. I'm not underestimating you. I don't have the leadership skills that you or Horikita Manabu possessed. I'm no good at making friends either, in fact I've never had someone who I could consider a friend, let alone a close one. You know that, right?"

Nagumo moved his mouth away from her ear, bored.

"However, if we're talking about the other elements, it's different."

Although he had moved his mouth away from her ear, the distance between their faces was less than 40 centimetres.

Kiryuuin gazed at Nagumo with her sharp eyes.

"Are you saying I'm inferior to you in some aspects?"

"Well well, can you really say that there's definitely nothing in which you're inferior to me at?"

"I have given you several chances to prove that, but till now you haven't done anything, and as a result ended up in Class B."

Up till now, Nagumo had competed with Kiriyama's class many times in the past special exams.

However, Kiryuuin never helped, and they eventually fell from Class A to Class B.

"Certainly, if you only look at the results, I failed miserably."

Kiriyama simply glared at Kiryuuin, who was merrily talking, but didn't interfere with their conversation.

"Well, I know that you're not the type of person who cares much about being in either Class A or B."

Marking the end of their conversation, Nagumo stood up.

"Sorry for being a nuisance, Kiryuuin. Enjoy the remainder of your school life."

Nagumo left her with those words, and prepared to leave.

"Although I said I would put his evaluation at hold, I think he's an interesting student."

"What?"

"You wanted some answers about Ayanokouji, didn't you?

One of the reasons for approaching her was to find out what Kiryuuin thought about Ayanokouji.

"Interesting? I think his personality is far from it."

Kiryuuin laughed, as she saw that the fish had eaten the bait.

"There's a saying, that a predator doesn't reveal his fangs, right? He seems to have gotten a perfect score in a difficult test."

"There are people who hate being in the limelight and hide their talents. I've defeated all of them, and they weren't very interesting."

After he said that, Nagumo turned his attention to Kiriyama, who was waiting

for him.

"If I had to say, it's his aura. I feel that he has a different aura from you and Horikita Manabu."

"How abstract."

"Then why don't you test him?"

"Of course, that's what I'm thinking of doing. In the next uninhabited island exam, I might be able to see his true power."

"You seem to be bored ever since Horikita Manabu left. So this underclassmen should be a good playmate for you, eh? If you're really serious, then you'll definitely get 1st place in the upcoming exam."

"Of course I'll get 1st place. Or maybe it'll be Kiriyama, who's been dying to fight me. But to get control of the whole podium, I still need more groups, right? I'll give you this role, Kiryuuin. If necessary, I'll even help you find comrades."

And now, he finally spoke about the main reason he contacted Kiryuuin. Kiryuuin laughed, as if she understood.

"I see. So you came here to ask for my help?"

"Although letting the underclassmen get 3rd place wouldn't be too bad, I'm not that soft."

"You have a lot of pieces on the chessboard right? You don't have to rely on me."

"So you're not interested?"

"The top 50% is enough for me. Sorry that you had to come all this way for nothing."

Nagumo seemed to be expecting that for his answer, and turned around.

"That's just how you are. We're both 3rd years, but it seemed to be a waste of time to try to talk to you like that."

Nagumo gave instructions to withdraw and headed over to Kiriyama. "Since you came all the way here, I'll give you some tips."

"You to me? Sorry, but I don't need any advice from someone below me." "With that logic, nobody can give you any advice".

Kiryuuin, who was behind Nagumo, continued talking after he mocked her.

"Then listen as if this were a monologue. You should look at what's going on in front of you, instead of playing with your underclassmen. If you pay too much attention to those behind you, you'll get badly hurt."

"What a boring monologue."

It was a waste of time to remain there any longer, so Nagumo left.