Chapter 3 Part II

The special exam was a difficult subject to talk about in class.

There was such a bad atmosphere hanging over the classroom that it felt like you could reach out and feel the tension in the air.

"Mornin' Kiyopon."

"Good morning."

I exchanged greetings with Haruka as I sat down in my seat.

I couldn't feel any enthusiasm from the expressions of the students who had already arrived in the classroom.

The idea of being targeted by censure votes had gotten in the way of normal class relations, making them impossible to maintain. This was probably going to continue until the end of the special exam.

And it would probably even continue for a while after that.

[The classroom's atmosphere is super gloomy, isn't it?]

Haruka messaged me personally.

[Anything unusual?]

[Nothing yet. Sure enough, they're all on guard, aren't they~?]

In the classroom, it was impossible to know when somebody could be listening. 

No one would carelessly drop specific names about who they intended to vote for. 

[Here's hoping for better luck tomorrow, then.]

[Yeah.]

After this short exchange, I put away my cell phone.

Without standing out or causing any problems for the class, we'd simply sit back and wait for the storm to pass.

If only our classmates would allow us to have such an easy way out of this.