Chapter 6: Good and Evil

Chapter 6: Good and Evil

Chapter 6:

Traps, Home Cooking, and a Favor

A RATHER UNUSUAL INCIDENT occurred the same day. It happened at the start of lunch break, when the Ayanokouji Group made their way to the cafeteria. As I walked with Akito and the others, we heard someone shout, somewhat aggressively.

“Come on, Ichinose. We should definitely say something about this! We gotta protest!”

The person who shouted those words was none other than Shibata, from first-year Class B. He was accompanied by two other students form Class B: Ichinose and Kanzaki.

“Huh, now there’s something you don’t see every day. It’s pretty unusual for Shibata-kun to get that angry,” said Haruka.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not something I’d expect,” replied Akito.

Their surprise was understandable.

“Really?” asked Airi.

She didn’t seem to know anything about it at all, since she didn’t really involve herself with the other classes. Shibata was part of the soccer club. He was bright, cheerful, popular, though a little different from Hirata. As far as I knew, he wasn’t the kind of person to raise his voice like that.

“But isn’t it possible that it was just a simple coincidence?” replied Ichinose calmly, trying to reason with the upset Shibata.

However, Shibata seemed to be convinced otherwise, because he immediately denied the possibility.

“It’s not. That was the third time just today. Get it? They’re definitely trying to pick a fight!” he asserted.

Kanzaki noticed us on our way to lunch, and gently gestured to Shibata, who looked over at us with an embarrassed expression on his face. He was trying to play it cool, but it was already too late. There was an awkward silence.

“Hey, were you guys just on your way to lunch?” asked Ichinose, calling out to us.

She wasn’t addressing a specific person, but rather our group as a whole. My friends hadn’t really interacted much with the leader of Class B, so they felt flustered, unsure of how to respond. Haruka, standing next to me, jabbed me in the side with her elbow. I decided to speak up on behalf of the group.

“…Yeah. We’re headed to the café. What’s up?”

After hearing my answer, Ichinose clapped her hands together happily.

“Oh, hey, what a coincidence. We’re headed there too,” she replied.

I noticed something a little strange. Normally, Ichinose always made eye contact with me when we talked. But today, she wasn’t.

“Hey, if you like, how about we all have lunch together?” she asked.

Everyone in the Ayanokouji group exchanged glances with one another, a bit bewildered at this unexpected invitation.

“What are you doing, Ichinose?” asked Kanzaki. He sounded a little flustered and confused, probably because he hadn’t expected Ichinose to offer us something like that.

“What am I doing…? We’re not competing against Class C or anything, so it’s not a problem, is it?” she replied?

“Well, that’s true, it’s not, but…”

Kanzaki didn’t seem that open to the idea of inviting us to join them for lunch. But, if Ichinose had already settled on it, there was no way he could refuse her. We, on the other hand, were left a little unsure of what to do or how to answer…

“Come on, time’s a-wastin’! Let’s go!” said Ichinose cheerfully.

When she smiled like that, there was no way anyone could refuse her.

6.1

W E JOINED TWO TABLES in a corner of the café and ate lunch together. Not only was this group made up of Class B and Class C students, but it was just a generally odd combination of folks.

“Sorry for inviting you to join us out of the blue like that. It’s my treat though, so please, eat up!” Ichinose apologized, then announced happily.

“Are you sure about that, Ichinose?” said Kanzaki, reacting strongly to her offering to treat us.

In the last special exam, Ichinose had made a deal with Class D. She’d had her class cast their praise votes for Ryuuen to keep him from being expelled, and in return, she’d saved a Class B student from the same fate. Doing so should have used up all her private points. I was sure she’d come up with some way to get by and make ends meet, but it wasn’t like she could afford to live lavishly.

“We were already planning to eat here, like we usually do, so we can cover ourselves,” I replied.

Everyone in the group nodded in agreement.

“I kind of strong-armed you into coming, though, so you don’t have to force yourself…” said Ichinose quietly.

“Nah, it’s all right. This way, we can all eat without feeling guilty.” I declined her offer, using the pretense of us then being able to enjoy our lunch as equals.

“So…why did you invite us to join you, anyway?” asked Keisei, apparently unable to hold himself back any longer.

“Well, I guess it’s because you all just seemed so shocked at how Shibata-kun was acting earlier. I figured it might be less confusing for everyone if I told you the whole story up front, rather than letting wild speculation get around,” reasoned Ichinose.

Her judgment might be correct. If Ichinose hadn’t approached us, we’d probably have discussed what happened with Shibata among ourselves for a while, wondering why he was so angry. We might have talked to a third party and unintentionally gotten the word out, too.

“Are you sure it’s okay to tell them?” asked Kanzaki.

“Do you really think this is something we need to keep on the down-low?” asked Ichinose.

“We can’t rule out the possibility that someone in Class C might be involved.”

“Even if there is, it wouldn’t really make much difference, would it?”

“Yeah, Ichinose’s got a point there. Honestly, we’re just grumbling,” said Shibata.

As soon as Shibata spoke up, Kanzaki shot him a sharp glare.

“Wh-what, Kanzaki?”

“Nothing…”

Shibata didn’t seem to understand the true meaning of what Kanzaki was trying to tell him with that look. He was probably trying to rebuke Shibata for so carelessly using the word “grumbling,” but the other students didn’t seem to notice anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“Anyway, now that they’ve heard this much, don’t you think it’d be best to just tell them?” asked Ichinose.

“…I suppose.”

Shibata’s thoughtless comment had apparently been the deciding factor, causing Kanzaki to back down.

“To put it simply, it seems like Class D has been, well, kind of harassing us lately,” said Ichinose.

“Kind of?” replied Shibata, incredulous. “They’ve been messing with me, Nakanishi, and even Beppu. It’s like, I dunno. They’re messing with us for no reason at all or like, they’re just following us around. I heard Beppu was nearly scared to death when Albert silently cornered him against a wall!”

Kanzaki must have decided it wouldn’t really matter at this point if he spoke up or not, since we’d already heard this much. So, he joined the conversation, too. “I interviewed both Nakanishi and Beppu. Their stories check out.”

Which meant Class D had been targeting some Class B students since the start of the special exam.

“But it’s not like anyone’s actually gotten in a fistfight, have they?”

“For now, no.”

So Class D students had just been intimidating kids and following them around. They hadn’t caused any physical damage so far. Of course, if they did end up crossing that line and resorting to physical violence, there’d be trouble.

“I guess this is just their way of trying to put pressure on us. I suspect their plan is to keep this kind of harassment going until the big exam day, in order to wear us down and dull our judgment.”

“Come on, gimme a break, man. Class D is just flat out scary, that’s who they are. I mean, even Class C has gotten caught up in their shenanigans before. I’m sure they know what we’re talking about, y’know?” said Shibata.

Shibata was probably referring to the time Sudou got in a fight with Ishizaki and Komiya. Keisei, who had been quietly listening to the conversation so far, now opened his mouth to speak.

“I know it’s probably weird to get advice from another class, but come to think of it, this isn’t unusual. It’s certainly true that Class D has a reputation for being the bad guys, but I think a certain degree of pressure is only to be expected from this exam. In fact, we’ve had people from Class A trying to spy on us, apparently,” said Keisei.

“Huh, really?” asked Shibata.

Keisei responded with a nod before proceeding to tell them how a student from Class A hung around near our classroom and tried to eavesdrop on our conversations.

“Class D is desperate, too. I wonder if they’re also trying to get their hands on whatever information they can get?” said Shibata.

He seemed totally convinced, just based off of the meager information he’d gotten from Class C. That being said, it certainly seemed like Class B was the one suffering the most here.

“Well, there’s no denying the fact that if we played it straight, our class would definitely have the advantage in this exam. We should expect the possibility that they’ll continue to harass us like this until they get to the very limit of what’s considered acceptable without violating school rules,” reasoned Kanzaki.

The only part of this theory that stuck out to me was the fact Class D was only harassing some students. Was it possible they’d decided it was too risky to go after Ichinose and Kanzaki…? Or did they have another goal in mind?

“I can’t imagine this is a strategy that Kaneda-kun thought of, though. Maybe Ishizaki-kun?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“I know it worries you, but we need to just do the best we can. We’ll pick events that make good use of our class’s unity, so that we don’t let our teamwork get disrupted, and try our hardest on the day of the actual exam. Right?” asked Ichinose.

Kanzaki and Shibata both nodded in agreement.

“Meaning you’re not going to do anything in response to Class D, Ichinose-san? Not even reconnaissance?” asked Keisei.

“That’s right. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to focus on dealing with the ten events that come out next week,” said Ichinose.

Basically, that meant they intended to continue fighting as themselves, focusing on bettering themselves. They wouldn’t be sidetracked by the hunt for information, but would face things head-on, relying on the truth. A solid and reliable approach.

“Wow. I don’t know what to say, except that you Class B folks really are incredible?” said Keisei, astonished. He continued, “But wouldn’t you normally do whatever it takes to beat a class above you? I mean, if things like spying and silent intimidation are effective, then you should probably use them. To be honest, focusing on yourself, not doing anything to your opponent, taking the high road—that’s not something our class could possibly do.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d put it like that. Maybe it’s just that we’re not clever enough to do that kind of stuff?” replied Ichinose, with a smile.

“Anyway, I think I understand what you wanted to tell us. If we went around casually telling people about Shibata being all angry earlier, we’d basically be signaling to everyone that Class D’s strategy is working,” said Keisei, having unraveled the meaning behind why Ichinose had invited us all out to lunch.

If Class D found out what kind of damage their harassment was doing to Class B, it would just encourage them to keep it up, meaning Class B would have even more to deal with than they already did. Class B wanted to hold their ground instead and maintain that Class D’s strategy was pointless.

“Exactly. Which is why I’d like to ask you to please not spread it around too much, if at all possible,” said Ichinose.

“It wouldn’t benefit us at all to do so. And we don’t want to make an enemy of Class B,” answered Keisei, accepting her request.

Haruka, Akito, and then Airi all nodded in agreement, without hesitation.

“Thank you so much, everyone!” exclaimed Ichinose.

As she did so, our eyes met for the first and only time that day. In that moment, she casually brushed her hair away from her face. As if carried on the wind, a faint citrusy scent tickled my nose. She quickly looked away, returning her gaze to our group as a whole.

Ichinose really was acting a little strange today. Not that I was going to point that out right now.

6.2

W HEN LUNCH HAD ENDED and we parted ways with Ichinose and the folks from Class B, Haruka spoke up.

“Wow, Ichinose-san sure is cute, isn’t she? Oh, and that last smile she gave us at the end there? Ugh, it’s like, not fair. Don’t you think so?”

“Me? Not really…” replied Keisei.

“Hey, Yukimuu, your face is turning red just thinking about it!” she teased.

“Is not!” he protested.

“Come on, there’s no point in denying it. I’m a girl, and even I think she’s cute. I bet guys are totally head over heels for her,” said Haruka.

Airi must have agreed, because she was nodding along vigorously.

“You think so too, right? Miyachi? Ayanokouji-kun?” asked Haruka.

Since Akito and I didn’t want to be targeted like Keisei, we just wore wry smiles and dodged the question.

“You know, I might have just been imagining it, but… Has Ichinose-san ever used perfume before?” asked Airi.

“Oh, hey, I picked up on that too. She was wearing some kind of citrus-scented perfume, right?” said Haruka.

“Yeah. That might have been what surprised me the most. Maybe she’s got something on her mind or something?” said Airi.

“Hey, what do the three of you think?” Haruka asked, posing us guys a question we couldn’t possibly know the answer to.

“Wait, was she wearing perfume? I mean, even if she was, maybe it’s just because she felt like it or something?” replied Keisei, matter-of-factly.

His offhanded comment prompted an openly exasperated sigh from Haruka.

“Ugh, boys, really… They never really notice the small changes, do they?” sighed Haruka.

“…More importantly, it looks like we’re not the only ones having trouble. It seems Class B has a tough road ahead of them, too.” Akito changed the subject, probably not wanting to deal with any more of Haruka’s teasing.

“Class D probably can’t afford to care about appearances if they’re going to win against a higher-ranked class. It’s possible they might escalate their harassment even further, going forward,” said Keisei, taking this chance to bail on the previous conversation and hopping onto the topic Akito presented.

His prediction was probably accurate. It seemed there were only three people being harassed so far, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the number of victims crept up.

“And Ryuuen’s nowhere to be found, either. So they probably won’t stand a chance of winning if they don’t do at least that much.”

“Even so, it feels to me like they’re pretty much following Ryuuen-kun’s example, anyway, and doing what he would’ve done.”

True enough. Applying pressure like this was definitely the kind of strategy Ryuuen would come up with.

“But it’s pointless, isn’t it? That’s not going to be enough to break Class B’s defenses. After talking with them today, I thought, maybe it’s a good thing that we’re up against Class A this time. Because I really don’t want to be fighting Class B,” said Keisei.

“Huh? What makes you think that, Yukimuu?” asked Haruka.

“I mean, the depth of their solidarity and the fact that they approach things honestly, without overestimating themselves, is incredible. I don’t think any other class can even touch them in that area. It allows them to consistently produce good results, no matter the test. I don’t think we could beat them,” said Keisei.

Class B would pull through anything and everything, all while holding to a higher standard than the rest of us. At least, that was what Keisei seemed to be afraid of.

“But like, even if they’re above average at, like, everything, it doesn’t really mean anything if they lose anyway,” said Haruka.

Even if they got eighty or ninety points in all seven events, if their opponents got a hundred, they’d still lose.

“How do you think we can keep winning when we don’t even know what the seven final events will be on the day of the exam? Sure, there might be some events that we Class C and Class D students specialize in and can win at. But we’re also the classes that could end up losing miserably and getting terrible results,” said Keisei.

“I see… You might be right about that,” said Airi, nodding several times in response, convinced that what Keisei said was correct.

“Hey, hold up!”

We were about to turn the corner in a hallway, with Keisei walking at the head of the group. Haruka shouted and grabbed his arm, getting him to stop.

“Wha—”

Keisei tried to ask her what was up, but she placed her hand over his mouth and pointed in front of us. She was pointing at Ike and Shinohara, who were walking just a little ways in front of us.

“H-hey, Shinohara,” said Ike.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Well… Umm.”

“Come on, spit it out. What?” said Shinohara.

We all stood there silently, listening in on the conversation that was going on just a short distance away from us.

“…Hey, uh, on Sunday, are… y-you, y’know, f-free?” he asked.

“Sunday? I don’t really have particular plans or anything on that day, no, but… Why?”

“Why? Well, uh, it’s just, I dunno, I was wondering if maybe you’d wanna hang out. Or something. Like if we could go somewhere.”

We could barely hear their conversation. Haruka and Airi exchanged looks, apparently really enjoying this. Keisei and Akito, on the other hand, were the exact opposite. They looked entirely exasperated.

“Sunday’s White Day, isn’t it? Do you think that maybe Shinohara-san gave Ike-kun chocolate on Valentine’s or something?” asked Airi.

“Maybe,” replied Haruka.

Although Shinohara had sounded skeptical of Ike’s invitation at first, she seemed to gradually understand what was going on here.

“Well, you know, it’s just, like, since you gave me chocolate and all, I, uh…thought I’d, y’know, return the favor,” said Ike.

“You’re being so sincere, even though that was just obligation chocolate. I mean, do you even have the money to do something like that?” she asked.

“I do have a little saved up… B-But anyway, if you don’t want to, it’s okay, we can just forget about it,” said Ike.

“…I never said I was against it, though,” said Shinohara.

“Th-then…?”

“D-Don’t get the wrong idea, okay? It’s just that our special exam is coming up soon and this is our last chance to relax a little. And if you’re offering to treat me, then I’d feel bad turning you down,” said Shinohara.

For some reason, this reminded me of the story I’d heard this morning, about the whole roommate thing. Various small seeds of love might have begun to take root in places I didn’t even know about.

“Let’s go.”

“H-Huh? Hey, wait! It’s just getting juicy!”

“Don’t stick your nose into other people’s relationships.”

Akito grabbed Haruka by the nape of her neck and pulled her away, walking her in the opposite direction.

“Come on, what’s the harm in listening just a little bit longer? I’m getting butterflies!” she protested.

“I’m not,” he answered.

“Ugh, this is exactly why I say you boys are so clueless… Right, Airi?” huffed Haruka.

“Y-yeah. I kind of feel like I’m getting butterflies too, a little… But it’d be pretty embarrassing if they saw us, wouldn’t it?” said Airi.

“Well, yeah, I guess, but I’m sure they’d feel more embarrassed if that happened.”

I supposed that if we were to get in the way here, we might interrupt the budding of this new relationship.

6.3

W E WERE STILL in the phase when everyone was suggesting events that they were good at. The after-class gatherings become less and less frequent with every passing day. As that happened, though, the huge chat group for Class C discussion became more and more active. Kouenji and Hirata still hadn’t contributed to the chat, but the way it was structured, anyone could participate at any time of day.

As it turned out, this might have been a better fit for our class, judging from the active exchange of opinions in the chat, because people didn’t generally summon the courage to speak up out loud, in person. That was the sense I got at a glance, as an outside observer, anyway. I was simply waiting for Horikita to finish everything that I’d trusted her to handle. It would be fine to think about our strategy and what part the commander would play later.

Still, there were a few things that remained worrisome. Kouenji and Hirata. Hirata in particular, at the moment. Horikita probably had no way to resolve that issue herself right now. Judging by the fact that the two of them hadn’t joined in the group chat, they probably weren’t actively preparing themselves for the special exam.

In Kouenji’s case, his absence was pretty much par for the course. Hirata’s absence, though, was painful.

Hirata had changed almost completely. Even now, he continued acting as though he were an entirely different person. For lack of a better term, he was basically a tumor. An eyesore. Although he was an important person, no one could touch him. There was basically nothing anyone could do but just pray the swelling would go down. It was a real shame, since he’d be a jack of all trades if he were his usual self, the kind of ace up our sleeve that we could put in play no matter the event.

Then, there was another concern.

“…Hirata-kun!”

As Hirata headed back to the dorm, Mii-chan chased after him. How many times had this scene played out already? Even though more and more people continued to give up on Hirata, Mii-chan still hadn’t. Unfazed, she called out to Hirata yet again.

Was this what love could do to a person? No…even if it was love, I still had some doubts. She had to be afraid Hirata would come to hate her for pursuing him so persistently. But why did she keep doing it, then?

“It’s like, really hard to watch Hirata-kun when he’s like this…” said Kei quietly, speaking to her group of girlfriends, who had remained behind in the classroom.

“Yeah. Is it okay to just leave him alone like this, Karuizawa-san?”

“I don’t think it’ll make any difference even if I do say something to him, though. He’ll probably just resent me,” said Kei.

The way Hirata had completely shut Kei down when she reached out to him the other day was probably still fresh in everyone’s minds.

“Yeah. I mean, first Hirata-kun got dumped, and then Yamauchi-kun got kicked out, and…” said one of the girls.

I cast a sideways glance at the girls as they chatted, then left the classroom myself. All things considered, my goal today wasn’t Hirata. I was going to do some digging into how to deal with another thing that was worrying me. It involved another student who’d left the classroom after Mii-chan did.

“Hey, do you have a minute?” I asked, calling out to a girl. After a short pause, she turned around.

“What’s up, Ayanokouji-kun?” she asked.

I had called out to none other than Kushida, who’d had no noteworthy input on this special exam so far. She wasn’t helping her classmates, but neither was she getting in anyone’s way, either. Instead, she was staying quiet, simply being part of the class.

Normally, Kushida would have taken something of a sub-leader position, supporting the rest of the class. This time, however, I saw no signs of that happening. There were probably two reasons for that. The first was probably because her position had been shaken during the last exam, the in-class voting. Even though you could say that she’d been used by Yamauchi, the fact that she was complicit in the attempt to get me expelled had come to light for all to see.

Many of our classmates seemed to have decided there was enough leeway there to be sympathetic to Kushida, but this still posed something of a problem for her. The incident had damaged the thing she took such pride in: her reputation as a truly good person.

The other reason was because Horikita was playing the part of leader. This was probably the main reason why Kushida was behaving the way she was now. She’d disliked Horikita from the very beginning, because Horikita knew all about her past. And on top of that, Horikita had strongly reprimanded her during the class vote.

Whatever the reason, she’d been verbally attacked, blamed for trying to get someone unfairly expelled. That had to have been a death blow to her pride. Knowing this, I purposefully decided to talk to her anyway.

“I see you haven’t really been supporting Horikita this time,” I told her.

After all, I wanted to understand what Kushida was planning to do in this special exam. The smiling mask she usually wore made it impossible to guess her true feelings, no matter how hard you looked. You’d have to see her real self—the one that lay beneath the mask—to understand.

“Shall we walk and talk?” she asked.

“Sure.”

Not wanting our conversation to be overheard by anyone nearby, Kushida suggested we take a walk.

“Do you have any plans today?” I asked.

“Yes. I’m going to hang out a bit with some girls from Class B. Do you think it’s wrong of me to spend this precious time before our exam hanging out with friends?” she replied.

“No, you gotta take time to relax. I think everyone in our grade would agree with that,” I replied.

It would be silly to spend all of your time thinking solely about the exam, twenty-four hours a day. When it was time to focus, you should focus. When it was time to loosen up, you should loosen up.

“You understand, don’t you? The reason why I’m not doing anything? I helped Yamauchi-kun. I even thought it’d be fine if you got expelled, Ayanokouji-kun. Now, because that fact has come to light, how could I possibly be seen leading the rest of the class?” she said, touching on the subject herself.

She had purposefully not mentioned Horikita being the main reason.

“You’re making a face that says you’re not convinced,” she added.

“Well, I guess I’m not.”

“Let me just be clear about this. It’s not like I don’t want to help out just because Horikita-san is the leader. Okay?”

“Really?”

“Really, really.”

I nodded in response. She was lying, though.

“You don’t believe me,” said Kushida.

Well, of course I didn’t. But even though I wasn’t showing it on my face, Kushida had decided that was what I was thinking. She had already determined that I was suspicious of her.

“How do I look to you right now, Ayanokouji-kun? Give me your honest thoughts.”

“Well, I guess…”

On the outside, she looked like a classmate with a cute smile. However…

I tried to imagine what Kushida’s true personality looked like, that she kept hidden underneath her mask.

“That bitch! I’m going to totally kill her! She humiliated me in front of everyone in class?! I’m never, ever letting that go! I’ll kill her! Kill, kill, kill! I am going to completely destroy her!”

A vein throbbing in her temple, hurling insults and abuse at Horikita. Shouting a series of words that you couldn’t bear to listen to.

“…………”

I couldn’t begin to describe what I’d just pictured.

“You thought of something incredibly rude just now, didn’t you?” she asked.

“No… Not at all,” I replied.

The extreme mental image had left me at a bit of a loss for words. I shook those thoughts out of my head and decided to cut right to the chase.

“If you can’t help me out, then I’ll do my best to honor your wishes as much as I can.”

“And in exchange, you want information… Right?” she replied.

Kushida was well aware of what this special exam meant.

“Exactly,” I answered.

“Is there no one else in class that you can rely on right now, Ayanokouji-kun?” she asked.

Though her smile never faltered, I knew she wasn’t going to agree to help me right off the bat. Even though we had a transactional relationship, Kushida was starting to grow intensely guarded once again. I suppose we were at the turning point where she’d finally determine whether I was an enemy or a friend.

“No one as much as you,” I replied.

“It’s really nice of you to say that. But unfortunately, I have a lot going on right now.”

“A lot?”

“You’re such a meanie, Ayanokouji-kun.”

The fact that her standing in class had been knocked down a few pegs was a huge setback for her. The character that Kushida Kikyou had spent a year building up had been tainted. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she still had a lot of support from her classmates, but even so, no one was about to say exactly what they thought of her right now. They might have doubts, deep down. I suppose it just went to show how it was difficult to gain trust, but only took a moment to lose it. As was usually the case.

“All right, then let me turn the question around, then. How can I get you to help me?” I asked.

“I think I have to ask you to give up on that for the time being. I’m just going to lay low, spending my time in class peacefully, until I can feel like myself again. Is that too much to ask?” she replied.

She was basically saying that she wasn’t going to help me, but she wasn’t going to get in my way, either. I supposed this also meant that if she were volunteered for an event, she’d put in the bare minimum required to succeed.

“Are you fine with doing that? Not just for me, but for Horikita, too?” I asked.

“I suppose you could interpret it that way. I’ve come to realize that this school is a far more comfortable place for me, personally, than I’d initially thought.”

She continued acting the part she wanted to play, all while continuing to wear her mask. I supposed presenting me with a favorable option was part of her strategy. It was a shame I couldn’t gain her cooperation, but it was probably best I just graciously accept what she was offering.

“All right. Sorry for asking something unreasonable of you.”

“No, no, it’s all right. It honestly makes me happy that you wanted to come to me.”

Once we reached the school entrance, Kushida and I parted ways. She headed toward the Keyaki Mall without stopping even once.

6.4

T HE WEEKEND WAS OVER and before any of us knew it, it was Sunday, March 14th. White Day. To be completely honest, I was grateful it had fallen on a Sunday. I’d prepared a few gifts, laying them out on my desk. If White Day had fallen on a regular weekday, I would have had a hard time figuring out when to hand them over. In the morning before class? Or after class? I had a lot to consider, such as the order in which I would give the gifts out, and what to do about students in other classes.

More importantly, it wouldn’t be good for my image if people saw what I was doing. I understood it would be best if I just handed the gifts over without worrying about getting stares from people nearby, but I couldn’t not worry about it. However, since we had the day off, I could simply drop them off in their respective mailboxes.

I left my room early to avoid running into anyone and headed toward the dormitory mailboxes.

“Let’s see…” I mumbled quietly to myself, while placing gifts in the mailboxes of each student who had given me chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

All right, that’s all the chocolate. Guess I ought to head on back , I thought to myself. Just as I was thinking that, though, I bumped into Ichinose. She reacted as though she had just seen something she shouldn’t have.

“G-good morning, Ayanokouji-kun.”

“H-hey, morning.”

It wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet, and I’d just had a surprising encounter. Just like the last time we met, Ichinose seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with me today, too.

“I happened to wake up kind of early today. I just got back from a walk,” she told me.

It seemed like she was looking at me when she spoke, but it was more like she was looking slightly away from me. She was probably planning to check her mailbox before heading back to her room.

“Oh, uh, excuse me,” I said, motioning her through.

I made way for her, so that she could see her mailbox. Ichinose responded with a grateful bow, and then checked the contents of her mailbox. When she did…she discovered the gift that I had placed there, of course.

“I’m sure you can already tell just by looking at it. But it’s, well, a return gift,” I told her.

Having removed the gift from her mailbox, she simply stood there with the box in her hands, unmoving, like she was frozen solid.

“But you didn’t have to, I mean, a gift like this…” she stammered, apparently now having remembered how to speak after struggling for a bit.

“Oh, no, no, I had to.”.

“…Th-thank you. And, um, I’m sorry. I guess I’m not really used to this kind of thing, so I’m kind of nervous.”

I felt the same way. I’d delivered the gifts early in the morning because I didn’t want to run into anyone, meaning I was feeling pretty flustered right now. This was beginning to get awkward, so I tried to change the subject.

“…Oh, hey, that reminds me. What happened after that whole incident on Thursday that we talked about? You know, the thing with Shibata?” I asked.

“Oh, um, well… Were you worried?” she asked.

“A little, yeah.”

Ichinose must have found it easier to talk now that I’d changed the subject, since things felt more like they normally did between us.

“Well, right after it happened, I interviewed everyone. But the only victims we heard about were the three people that Shibata-kun had mentioned. But, well…”

“But?”

“On Friday, it seemed like the number of victims just suddenly shot up. Three girls and three more boys. Just yesterday, I got reports that they were being followed around and harassed in the same way,” said Shibata.

Meaning there was a total of nine victims now. So, Class D limited their harassment to just three people for the three days after the exam was first announced, only to suddenly up their game and harass six more people on Friday?

“Do you know which students from Class D have been doing the stalking?” I asked.

Ichinose nodded and then proceeded to list some names. “As far as I know, it’s Ishizaki-kun, Komiya-kun, Yamada-kun, Kondou-kun, Ibuki-san, and Kinoshita-san.”

A total of six people, huh? Students who were willing to get their hands dirty, to an extent. They didn’t seem to be conducting their business in secret or anything, because Ichinose had managed to put names to faces so easily.

“I wonder if those six are just planning to just randomly follow whoever they happen to bump into?” said Ichinose.

Many of the people in Class D were entirely ordinary students, so I supposed it was only natural to think so.

“I plan on doing some more interviews on Monday,” said Ichinose.

“What are you going to do if the damage ends up being as extensive as you’re imagining it will be?” I asked. It was possible even Ichinose and Kanzaki might get dragged into it, eventually.

“Hmm. Well, I suppose there’s nothing I really can do. It’s not like they’ve actually gotten violent or anything… So I think we’ve decided to just put up with it until they actually end up causing some real harm. We’re planning to provide emotional support to the affected students, though, to ensure their well-being.”

From the sound of it, they were ready to take action at a moment’s notice if someone really got hurt.

“I see.”

Class D was acting strangely. I had to wonder if they really planned to go after every student in Class B. With only six students actually doing the harassing, it wasn’t like they were putting the screws to them that hard. Even if they kept going, when all was said and done, their behavior amounted to simple harassment and nothing more.

I supposed it was possible Ishizaki simply didn’t think that far ahead when he came up with this strategy. Or perhaps Class D was fine with the plan as long as they thought it inflicted at least a little bit of psychological damage?

“Do you think I’m handling this the wrong way?” Ichinose must have noticed that I was lost in thought, because she looked up at me with a somewhat anxious expression.

“No… I think what you’re doing is good. In fact, Class D probably wouldn’t be punished even if you did complain to the school. And if you went to the school, you’d probably be doing exactly what they wanted.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” said Ichinose.

What she needed to do was make sure that what Class D was actually after was what she thought it was. That being said, Ichinose didn’t seem like she intended to make a move, so telling her as much might be superfluous. Besides, if her way of doing things was to focus on a policy of nonaggressive self-defense, it was wrong of me to suggest anything else.

“Have you settled on your ten events?” I asked.

“Yep. We got to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses pretty early on. We finalized our list yesterday, mixing in some events that we thought Class D might have a hard time with, too. What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?” she asked.

“Oh, I haven’t gotten involved in anything this time around. I’ve been leaving everything to do with the ten events to Horikita.”

“But what about the ways in which the commander can get involved?” she asked.

“I left that part to Horikita, too.”

Ichinose was surprised. She must not have expected me to be so casual about my role as commander.

“Well, it sounds like you have quite a lot of faith in Horikita-san. Or maybe…you’re saying that you can handle any kind of event, or any kinds of rules, Ayanokouji-kun?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s the former, one hundred percent. Unlike you, I only have a few classmates that I’m pretty close to, so I honestly don’t know much about most people. I just volunteered to become the commander so I could prevent anyone from getting expelled is all,” I told her.

“But why did you want to go up against Class A, then?” she asked.

“That was Horikita’s idea, too. Maybe she thought we’d have a chance of winning or something.”

“I see,” replied Ichinose, not pressing the matter any further.

With that, our conversation was over, so we both just waited for the elevator to come.

“Ah… I was so not prepared for this…” said Ichinose, muttering to herself quietly. She sounded like she’d just remembered something. As she stood next to me, she twirled her hair with her index finger.

“Prepared?” I asked.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

We got on the elevator and soon arrived at the fourth floor, where my room was located.

“Well, see ya later.”

As I got off the elevator, my eyes met Ichinose’s for just a moment, seeming to catch her off guard.

“Y-Y-Y-Yeah! S-See you, later!” she stammered.

Suddenly panicked, she hit the button to close the doors repeatedly. The doors closed moments after, hiding her from view. That sure was a strange way of saying goodbye. I supposed just making it through this White Day ordeal was good enough.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t catch a whiff of that citrus scent today,” I mused to myself.

Well, it was early in the morning on a holiday. There was no reason for her to go out with perfume on.

6.5

I T WAS MONDAY MORNING —the day our opponent’s ten events would be announced. What kinds of events and rules would Class A come up with? And what kind of involvement would the commander have?

While on my way to school, I just so happened to bump into Horikita’s brother and Tachibana. It didn’t seem like they were waiting for me. If anything, it really seemed to just be a coincidence this time.

Tachibana didn’t really say anything in particular, but quietly took a step back. Perhaps that was a show of consideration, saying that she wouldn’t get in the way of our conversation when the two of us started talking. Her responses to situations were quick and polite. I was sure she’d been a constant source of support for Horikita’s brother while they were on the student council.

“Is the special exam proceeding well?” he asked.

I really had to hand it to him. He seemed to already have an understanding of the situation, without requiring any explanation from me.

“I thought that’s what I should be asking you. Are you going to be able to graduate from Class A?” I asked.

“Don’t know. I suppose that depends on the results we see next week.”

I couldn’t tell if he was totally okay, or if he was worried.

“Well, I can say your little sister really has been giving it her best effort. It seems you’ve had more of an effect on her than I thought,” I told him.

“That so?”

Horikita was incredibly full of energy right now. It was almost like she’d found and downed some magic elixir. In Hirata’s absence, she had taken the lead and brought the class together. And now, she was actively spending each day polishing our strategies so that we could win all ten events.

“Shouldn’t the third-years normally be on vacation around this time?” I asked.

“That’s right. I was surprised to find that out, too, after I enrolled here. This is the time of year when most high schools would already be on vacation, yes. But of course, the third-years are making favorable progress toward proceeding onto higher education or gaining employment. Things are in motion. You’re just not aware of it.”

From the sounds of it, the third-years had quite a lot to deal with between the special exams.

“Wait. People are going on to higher education and finding jobs even though it hasn’t been decided whether or not you’re graduating from Class A?” I asked.

“You’ll understand eventually,” he replied, leaving it at that. He didn’t give me an in-depth answer.

I supposed some things just couldn’t be revealed to the current students. From the sound of it, we’d have to wait until just before graduation to find out if being a Class A student was even worth it.

“If there’s anything you’d like to ask me about, feel free to do so. If it’s within the scope of things I can answer, I will.”

“It seems the scope of what you can tell me about is pretty narrow, though.”

When he heard my somewhat sarcastic remark, the corners of his mouth curved upward into a slight smile.

“Well, you might be right about that. Think of it as the ties of obligation that come from being the former student council president,” he answered.

I supposed that he couldn’t just casually talk about issues that affected the entire school.

“Well, now that I’ve bumped into you, this is a good opportunity. There’s something I’ve been wondering about for a while now.”

I decided to make use of this coincidence to ask Horikita’s brother a question.

“It’s about Horikita… I mean, your little sister. I think she’s excellent. Neither her academic nor athletic abilities miss the mark. While I don’t think anyone would say she’s the best of the best, she’s had the talent to be the second- or third-best since the day she enrolled at this school. She might not be as good as you, someone who made it onto the student council, but I can’t imagine her being lacking enough that you’d want to disparage or drive her away.”

There was something else that seemed out of place to me. More than anything else.

“In the first place, besides, you and your sister have a two-year age gap. Meaning you haven’t seen the last two years of her growth. And with the school’s system being what it is, there’s no way you’d be able to tell at a glance just how much she’s grown,” I told him.

Horikita Manabu hadn’t seen his little sister ever since she was in her second or third year of junior high. Even if he knew the kind of grades she was getting when she started here, I couldn’t imagine that being enough to make him this dissatisfied with her. But when I saw Horikita Manabu meet with his little sister outside the dorm a while ago, his behavior had been a far cry from what I’d call calm.

“I see. It’s understandable you’d find it strange, after seeing what happened then.”

That, I’d just remembered, was also the first time I came into contact with Horikita’s brother.

“I wasn’t disappointed in Suzune because of something superficial, like her grades. I was disappointed in her growth as a person. In her character.”

“Her character?”

“A long time ago, Suzune used to be completely different from how she is now. She was the kind of child who smiled a lot,” said Manabu.

Wait, she smiled a lot?

…It was useless. I honestly couldn’t picture it.

“So, you’re saying she’s pretending to be this cool, detached person because of your influence?” I asked.

“Because she’s been trying to imitate me in every single way. A bad habit that started to show when she was in elementary school. But, now that I think about it, it was my fault for neglecting her. For many years, I thought I could make her better by treating her coldly, but in reality, it just had the opposite effect,” said Manabu.

As a result, Horikita kept chasing her brother’s shadow, leading to her becoming the person she was today.

“So, even though you look completely flawless from the outside, you failed to set up a proper dialogue with your little sister?” I asked.

“No one is perfect. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re right about that.” I couldn’t argue that point. “So basically, reuniting with her at this school and having that one conversation was enough to make you understand how things stood?”

To be honest, it didn’t seem like they’d even had a long conversation.

“I knew the moment I saw her. Before we even spoke. I understood that Suzune hadn’t changed at all, these past two years,” said Manabu.

I wondered if he’d seen something that only an older brother could understand.

He continued speaking.

“She hung on every word I ever said. Go study. Exercise. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Honestly, it would’ve been fine if she’d just stopped there…but she didn’t. She even copied other things. What I liked to eat, what I liked to drink. My taste in clothing and the colors I liked to wear. She was completely and utterly dependent on me.”

The fact that she’d taken things that far was honestly kind of terrifying. Still, thinking back to how Horikita acted when she first enrolled here, it made sense.

“So after being reunited with your little sister here, you sensed that she was still completely dependent on you?” I asked.

Unless he was psychic, that was still far too little information for him to assess everything she’d gone through in that two-year gap.

“That’s right. Anyone who knew Suzune back when she was little could tell just by looking at her. She…”

Manabu stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“…No, this is probably something I should keep secret, even from you. I’d like to use it as my final metric to determine whether or not Suzune has really changed.”

“I guess it means it hasn’t happened yet.”

He nodded. While she’d made a great deal of progress since the year started, based on what her brother was saying, it apparently still wasn’t enough.

“She’s been trying her hardest to break free of the curse of her past, but she’s still only halfway there.”

I wondered if Horikita would be able to satisfy this final metric of her brother’s before he graduated. The graduation ceremony was in less than ten days.

“But, if…” said Manabu, his words trailing off.

He stopped speaking and looked at me. For some reason, I stopped walking, finding myself trapped by his powerful gaze.

“If Suzune can stop chasing after this illusion she has of me, break her dependence on me, and confront herself honestly, then…”

A gust of spring wind blew past us.

“She will probably surpass me and become someone even you can’t ignore,” said Manabu.

Horikita Manabu wasn’t some idiotic, doting brother who fawned over his sister. He meant what he said. I was also impressed by the height of the potential that Horikita had, in many ways. Why, though? Was it because of what her brother said to me?

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

What was I supposed to do here at this school? No…rather, what did I want to do? I suddenly felt like I understood.

“That’s only…if she can make the change herself, though.”

“She will change, though,” I told him. “Wait, let me rephrase that.”

I amended my statement.

“I’m going to try and change her. Not just expecting her to change, somehow, like I’ve been doing so far. But taking things seriously.”

“…Oh ho. I never thought you’d say something like that.”

I’d bumped into Horikita’s brother on accident, but our conversation would have a huge impact on my life. It would be a long, long time before I knew whether or not my hunch was right.

“Hey, can I ask you just one more thing, before you graduate? It’s a completely personal question.” I didn’t know if we’d have the chance to talk like this in the future.

“What is it?”

“Are you and Tachibana going out?”

I was well aware that it was a silly question, but I wanted to ask anyway. Even though they had left the student council, the two of them were often doing things together.

“No, that is not the case at all,” he replied, denying it straight out.

It didn’t seem like he was lying or trying to hide anything. However, a quick sideways glance at Tachibana’s face told me the situation was complicated. At the very least, I had no doubt that she had a certain kind of fondness for Horikita’s brother.

“I’ve spent the last three years thinking about nothing but school, for better or worse,” he added.

“Huh, okay.”

“But I have to say, I never thought I’d hear a question like that from you. Maybe you’re a normal high-schooler, after all?”

Maybe I’d been influenced by that chat I had with Hoshinomiya-sensei.

“I think I’m the kind of high schooler who is as closest to normal as possible.”

“I see. Well, then, Mr. Regular High School Kid, have you gotten yourself a girlfriend?” he asked.

Even though I’d been the one to bring up this topic, I hadn’t expected it to be turned on me.

“Not right now, no. But if someone comes along, I think I’m open to putting myself out there,” I told him.

“I feel like I could rest easy if I left Suzune to you. But I can’t really see that happening at all,” said Manabu.

“Yeah, definitely not.”

There was no way.

“Th-that’s not good. You do realize saying something like that pretty much jinxes you to make sure it happens, right?” Tachibana, flustered, suddenly cut into our conversation after having stood by listening quietly until now.

“Jinxing himself?” asked Manabu.

“Oh, uh, well, I guess you could say it’s like, a rule that things do the opposite of what you say,” Tachibana hurriedly explained. “Like dramatic irony or something… It’s not entirely uncommon for two people who thought they’d never end up getting together to actually get together. That sort of thing.”

Horikita Manabu and I exchanged looks, neither of us understanding her explanation in the slightest.

“N-Never mind, just forget about it,” Tachibana stammered, apparently giving up on getting her point across and deciding to leave it at that.

6.6

B ACK IN THE CLASSROOM , homeroom was already over. At the same time, the ten events chosen by our opponent, Class A, had just been announced via documents left for us in our classroom, which Horikita read aloud for everyone to hear. The events were listed in order by the number of people needed for the event.

Chess

Required Participants: 1 Person

Allotted Time: 1 Hour (Going over time results in a loss)

Rules: Standard chess rules apply. However, the allotted time will not increase, even after the forty-first move.

Commander: The commander can give instructions to their respective player for up to a maximum of thirty minutes at any time. Time spent by the commander in this way will use up the allotted time.

Flash Mental Arithmetic

Required Participants: 2 Persons

Allotted Time: 30 Minutes

Rules: Victory will be awarded to the class of the student who places first in terms of both accuracy and speed, using abacus-style mental arithmetic.

Commander: The commander can change the answer for just one question of their choosing.

Go

Required Participants: 3 Persons

Allotted Duration: 1 Hour (Going over time results in a loss)

Rules: Three one-on-one games will be played simultaneously. Standard go rules apply.

Commander: The commander is allowed to provide advice for one single move, at any time.

Contemporary Literature Test

Required Participants: 4 Persons

Allotted Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: Students will answer a set of questions within the scope of what they would find in the first-year curriculum. The winner will be decided based on total points.

Commander: The commander can answer one single question on behalf of a participant.

Social Studies Test

Required Participants: 5 Persons

Allotted Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: Students will answer a set of questions within the scope of what they would find in the first-year curriculum for geography, history, and civics. The winner will be decided based on total points.

Commander: The commander can answer one single question on behalf of a participant.

Volleyball

Required Participants: 6 Persons

Allotted Time: First to 10 Points or Best of 3 Sets

Rules: Standard volleyball rules apply.

Commander: The commander can switch three players at any time.

Mathematics Test

Required Participants: 7 Persons

Allotted Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: Students will solve a set of problems within the scope of what they would find in the first-year curriculum. The winner will be decided based on total points.

Commander: The commander can answer one single question on behalf of a participant.

English Test

Required Participants: 8 Persons

Allotted Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: Students will answer a set of questions within the scope of what they would find in the first-year curriculum. The winner will be decided based on total points.

Commander: The commander can answer one single question on behalf of a participant.

XL Jump Rope

Required Participants: 20 Persons

Allotted Time: 30 Minutes

Rules: The class that can successfully jump the most times in two rounds wins.

Commander: The commander can change the order of the opposing team’s lineup however they wish, one time.

Dodgeball

Required Participants: 18 Persons

Allotted Time: 10 Minutes Per Set, for 2 Sets

Rules: Standard dodgeball rules apply. In the event of a tie, a sudden death round will be held.

Commander: The commander can return one player who had been taken out of the game and put them back into play on the court, at any time of their choosing.

“They included more sport events than I had expected. I’d expected these to all be written exams and tests of intellect. That being said, there’s a good chance that some of these events are meant to fake us out,” said Horikita.

Such were her first impressions. Keisei spoke up, apparently sharing her opinion.

“Chess and Go are both well-known games, but it doesn’t seem many students have actually played them. So, I feel like those put us in a bit of a tight spot. Also, the sports they chose all involve a great deal of teamwork,” he said.

There was probably no one in class who hadn’t heard of chess or Go—but also probably not a lot of people who’d actually played them.

“I have to say, I didn’t expect such a minimal level of involvement for the commander. Though I mostly welcome that. Especially in the academic-focused events, where their intervention wouldn’t have much of an effect on the outcome.”

“That probably just speaks to how confident they are in their abilities, though. Not only is Class A particularly skilled when it comes to academics, but they picked four events where that’s the focus. And the required number of participants is high. That’s pretty rough for us…”

Class A had always taken the top spot in every test in terms of overall performance. The large number of required participants for each of these events was probably a testament to their confidence. Add to that the fact that the commander couldn’t do much, and it made this their way of essentially forcing us into a pure showdown of academics.

Also, the fact that they hadn’t gone solely with written exams for their submissions was the right move on their part. If they put forward seven or eight written exams, we could’ve shifted our attention solely toward studying. I was guessing they were probably trying to limit our ability to compete with them, while still setting up subjects for us to study that might just get tossed out later.

“There are six players in volleyball. Nine if you include the substitutes. For dodgeball, that’s eighteen players. The XL jump rope requires a maximum of twenty people. These events require so many people that we could easily end up having to make students compete a second time if any of them get chosen.”

Since we didn’t know which of the ten events would be adopted for now, we couldn’t afford to slack off in any way. Moreover, since many of the sports events required a large number of people, we’d need to invest a great deal of time and effort into assigning participants to those events and practicing for them. We couldn’t just boldly rent out the gym or something to practice, either—Class A would catch wind of what we were doing. Which meant we had to practice in secret.

However, the fact remained that we didn’t know which of these were their official events. Even if we spent a great deal of time practicing, all of our hard work could be for nothing if the events we prepared for didn’t get chosen. It’d just be a waste of our time. On the other hand, if we assumed an event was there just to fake us out and didn’t practice for it, that lack of practice would be painfully obvious on the day of the exam. There was no way for us to win.

While it was important for us to find out what Class A was doing this week, that information was going to be hard to obtain if they practiced early in the morning or late at night. It was possible they might split up and practice in small groups, too.

We couldn’t afford to slack off for any of these ten events. No matter which ones got picked, they all spelled trouble. Not that there were ever going to be any events we’d be happy to participate in, I supposed.

“Does anyone here have experience playing chess or Go?” asked Horikita, asking for a show of hands.

Only Miyamoto raised his hand.

“I’ve played go a few times with my family, but I’m not really good enough to recite the rules from memory or anything,” he said aloud.

From the looks of it, chess and Go were both lost causes for us, right off the bat. After a slight delay, I raised my hand, too.

“I know how to play chess, more or less. But I know nothing about Go. I’ve never played it before,” I announced.

Although I was the commander, I figured it would be a good idea to let everyone know that I could teach people the rules for chess.

“Well, I suppose it’s a relief that we have some people familiar with the games here. Still, I have to say, this really is quite a ridiculous test. We absolutely cannot afford to not take any of these ten events seriously,” said Horikita.

How much could someone even master chess or Go in less than a week? If luck was skewed in our opponent’s favor, then only two of our events and five of theirs would be chosen. We had no choice but to rely on our classmates’ skills for parts of this exam.

But why…?

“What’s the matter, Ayanokouji-kun?” asked Horikita, peering at my face with a puzzled look.

“…Nothing.”

The degree to which the commanders could get involved in the chess match was huge . It was almost like the match was actually between the commanders. I got a feeling Sakayanagi strongly desired to fight me directly through that event.

“Hey, Horikita. Shouldn’t we be launching a full-scale information war of our own at this point?” said Keisei, sounding impatient about something.

“You mean doing some investigating to…find out which of these Class A will choose as their official events, right?” replied Horikita.

“Yes. To be completely honest, it’s going to be fairly difficult for us to try and prepare for all ten events in the time we have left. If we don’t get our hands on some kind of intel, then our chances of winning get that much slimmer,” he argued.

“But it’s not like Class A is just going to give up information that easily,” said another boy, stating something that pretty much everyone in class already understood.

“Even so, we have to try.”

“I understand how you feel. But I can’t make a decision about that right now. First, let me get an idea of how many people here have some experience with each of the events.”

Shelving the idea of gathering information for later, Horikita began by focusing on understanding all ten of the events on the list.

6.7

“H ORIKITA , could I have a minute?” asked Keisei, during the break.

“Sure, not a problem. What is it?”

“Well, probably shouldn’t talk about it right here… It’s about the special exam.”

Keisei quietly urged Horikita to step out into the hall, not wanting others to hear their conversation. I had intended to just watch them go, but Horikita shot me a look.

“Do you mind if Ayanokouji-kun accompanies us?”

“…No, I don’t mind.”

While Keisei didn’t seem thrilled by the idea, he agreed. I wasn’t going to turn down the offer, so I followed the two of them out into the hallway.

“Have you given any thought to what I said?” he asked.

“About gathering information?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, I see… Well, I can’t imagine it’s going to be that simple for us to get information on Class A,” said Horikita.

“But it’d be a waste not to try. We should be using our time effectively,” said Keisei.

He seemed to want to start both gathering information and taking action as soon as possible. The desire to exhaust every possible option in pursuit of victory was something I understood quite well.

“Do you think we’ll figure something out if we just stick close to the students from Class A?”

“I suppose not. It’s doubtful whether the average Class A student will know which of the ten events are going to be their official five.”

It was possible that only Sakayanagi knew. Or that she’d only told those closest to her. It wouldn’t be unusual for someone like her to strictly control the flow of information.

“Even if Sakayanagi is the only one who knows what their five official events are, her classmates should have at least some idea of what’s going on, right? You agree with me, right, Kiyotaka?” said Keisei.

“Well, I suppose her classmates would probably know something, yeah.”

Since the students of Class A had been together for about a year now, I was sure they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, to a certain extent. They could at least hazard a guess as to which events they thought would be chosen.

“Right. So, I’ve come up with a way to get information from Class A,” said Keisei.

“And what would that be?” asked Horikita.

“We’ll bring Katsuragi over to our side. Make him an ally of Class C,” said Keisei, speaking in a low voice, making sure no one else was around to hear.

Katsuragi. The former leader of Class A and the one who stood in opposition to Sakayanagi.

“Totsuka, someone who followed Katsuragi, ended up being expelled because of Sakayanagi. Don’t you think Katsuragi would hold a grudge over that? I’ve passed him several times over the last few days. He’s clearly not the same person he was before.”

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he held a grudge against Sakayanagi. I remembered the conversation that had taken place between Katsuragi and Ryuuen on the day Yahiko was expelled.

“Do you think he’d betray his class just to frustrate Sakayanagi-san and screw up her plans?” asked Horikita.

“Well, we’d probably need a good bargaining chip, of course.”

Apparently, Keisei had already considered that.

“If he helps Class C attain victory, even if we end up winning four events and losing three, we’d still make out with one hundred and thirty class points. If you think about the class as a whole, that comes out to six million Private Points a year. If we set aside some points every month, it wouldn’t be impossible to accumulate close to twenty million,” reasoned Keisei.

Having heard all that, I could see what Keisei was trying to get at.

“Then, when we reach Class A, we propose granting Katsuragi the right to transfer into our class. What do you think about that condition? Besides, by doing things this way, we make him an ally,” said Keisei.

“First of all, there’s no way an ordinary student would accept a deal like this. No matter what we try to say to him, you do realize we’re still just Class C?” said Horikita.

“But considering the situation Katsuragi is currently in, can you really say for sure he wouldn’t go for it?” argued Keisei.

“While it may be true that Katsuragi feels like he doesn’t have a place in his class right now, if his classmates find out he betrayed them, he’ll definitely be the next student to get expelled. He can’t afford to sit pretty while we save up twenty million points. Even if we assume our class points will continue to steadily accumulate, and even if our entire class cooperates fully, it will probably take at least six months or more, at best,” I replied matter-of-factly.

If we wanted to save the twenty million without straining ourselves, we should realistically expect it to take more like a year. On top of that, even though we’d be getting class points, twenty million points was by no means a small price to pay.

“What do you think, Horikita?” I asked.

“…Well, just as you’ve said Yukimura-kun, it is extremely important that we get our hands on some information,” said Horikita.

“In that case—” said Keisei, but she cut him off.

“However, regarding your proposal, I cannot say that I can agree with it.”

“Wh-why not?” stammered Keisei.

“It’s true Katsuragi-kun is being backed into a corner. That said, I can’t imagine he’d accept these conditions to betray his class. Our bargaining chip isn’t nearly appealing enough,” said Horikita.

It’d be a different story if we could give him the points right away, but the fact that it’d probably be more than a year made it pretty doubtful that he’d go along with this.

“But if we don’t make a move, we’re not going to get any information,” said Keisei.

“I find it difficult to imagine we’ll get any information even if we do make a move,” countered Horikita.

“How can you know for sure if you don’t even try?” argued Keisei.

He was persistent, but Horikita refused to budge.

“I’m not shooting down the idea of gathering information, in and of itself. However, this plan of yours is simply no good. If you come up with another idea, come talk to me again,” said Horikita.

She ended the conversation there, and returned to the classroom.

“Damn it!” shouted Keisei, kicking the wall as a show of frustration. “…Hey Kiyotaka, will you help me out?”

“Convincing Horikita?” I asked in return.

“No… Help me convince Katsuragi. Just the two of us.”

That was a bold request.

“I wouldn’t say Horikita has given up on winning. But I get the feeling that deep down, she doesn’t feel like we’re a match for Class A. You know? I mean, if she wasn’t, then she ought to at least give this a try. Even if people find out that we made contact with Katsuragi, it’s not like that puts Class C at a disadvantage,” he added.

The way things were going, even if I told Keisei I disagreed with his idea, it probably wouldn’t stop him from going off on his own. I might be able to figure out a lot more about the situation if I tagged along.

“Okay. How are we going to get in touch with Katsuragi, though?” I asked.

“That’s… I’ll have to think about it. There’s still some time before the exam.”

“All right. Let me know what you decide, then.”

I’d agreed to Keisei’s idea just to stop him from acting on his own. And for the time being, I decided to cooperate with him.

6.8

“H EY. IF IT’S all right with you, can we talk for a little while now?”

It was a little past six o’clock in the evening, just before dinner. Horikita had asked me that question just as I was watching the burner heat up a pot. The water came to a boil, bubbling excitedly.

“Were you just in the middle of making dinner?” she asked.

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it.” All I had done so far was boil some water. I hadn’t really gotten started yet. “So, you wanted to talk? What about?”

If she was planning to request I help her come up with events, then I was going to refuse.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to decide what events we’re going with. I promise you that,” she told me,

apparently having guessed what I was thinking. “But, if it’s okay with you, I’d prefer we meet in person to talk. It should only take about an hour. That’s all.”

Was it something difficult to talk about over the phone? Or maybe there was something she wanted to ascertain by meeting face-to-face? Well, an hour wasn’t that long. I wasn’t going to turn her down.

“All right. Are you coming here?” I asked.

“While I’m fine with that, you’ve been in the middle of a lot of controversy lately. How about my room?” she replied.

She seemed to be wary of the possibility of an unexpected visitor. Well, I had gone to Horikita’s room before. There wasn’t really any particular reason for me to refuse her.

I turned off the burner, grabbed only my phone, and left my room. Then, I got onto the elevator and headed toward Horikita’s room. The sun was already down, but it was still actually pretty early in the evening, so it wasn’t a surprise to see boys walking around the upper floors, which was the girls’ area.

6.9

S HORTLY AFTER RINGING Horikita’s doorbell, I heard the sound of her door being unlocked. I expected her to greet me with her usual serious look, but got a surprise when she opened the door.

“Welcome,” she said.

Surprisingly, she didn’t look in a bad mood. I, on the other hand, I felt a little uneasy at this surprising change. The scent of miso faintly wafted from further inside her room.

“I was just preparing dinner. Come in,” said Horikita.

If she was in the middle of making her dinner, she could’ve just called me later…

When I hesitated to enter, Horikita gave me a look, urging me to get a move on, so I decided to come in. Maybe she’d been reluctant to have me over later at night, or something like that. I figured I’d just leave it at that and not overthink things. But as soon as I set foot inside her room, I noticed something strange.

For some reason, places had been set for two people at her small table. I wondered if she was going to have dinner with someone after we were done talking?

“Well then…”

Just as I was about to try confirm her plans were, Horikita interrupted me.

“Please, don’t be shy. Have a seat.”

Wait. Hold on a second…

There was clearly a pair of chopsticks placed on the table at the spot she motioned me to sit at. My instincts were telling me this was a trap designed to force me into doing something.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Rather than sit down, I tried to start the conversation immediately.

“Are you going to stand and talk? I still have some stuff to finish up, so could you please sit down and wait for me?”

“Well… I just feel like I want to stand.”

“You feel like what now? Having you just stand there makes me uncomfortable. Sit.”

Her tone was growing harsher, so I decided to sit. It had been a surprisingly long time since I’d been subjected to her usual forceful, pushy and unreasonable attitude. Maybe I’d forgotten how Horikita typically behaved because I was starting to distance myself from her. And she was distancing herself from me.

At any rate, I figured I should probably just sit down and wait quietly. However, a quick glance showed me that dinner was still a work in progress. It seemed it would be quite some time before she was done cooking.

“Hey, you did say this would take an hour, right?” I asked.

“Yes. The conversation itself shouldn’t take more than an hour,” said Horikita, speaking with her back turned to me.

I couldn’t help but pick up on the way she worded that. It was certainly true that, when we spoke on the phone, she said the conversation would be over in an hour. Meaning anything outside the actual conversation didn’t count toward that estimate.

“Okay, and how long with everything else?” I asked.

“Let’s see… I’d say we’ll be done in about an hour and a half to two hours or so,” she replied.

I knew it.

“Considering what time it is, I thought that I’d at least offer you dinner,” she added.

No one wanted this. I felt like I was at the mercy of her absurd word games. That being said, I could see she’d already started cooking, and I didn’t really feel comfortable outright refusing to eat and then returning to my room. She had skillfully lured me into coming here.

Even though she had her back turned to me, I could see that Horikita’s cooking skills weren’t bad. If anything, she was fairly good for a first-year high school student.

“Both of my parents worked, so I was often put in charge of making dinner,” muttered Horikita, as if she understood what I was thinking just from my gaze.

“You don’t think it’s a hassle or time-consuming?” I asked. While cooking could be fun, there were more than a few annoying aspects to the process.

“When I found out that oniichan got accepted into this school, I took the opportunity to cook more often.”

“In anticipation of coming to this school yourself and living on your own, I’m guessing?” I asked.

“Correct.”

Chop . She got done chopping something with her kitchen knife and then moved to finish the miso soup.

I wondered what she wanted to talk about, if we weren’t discussing the special exam? It was the only thing I couldn’t figure out yet.

6.10

A BOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER , Horikita had finished cooking and set out everything on the table. Everything looked better than I had expected. It was the kind of spread that you would sometimes see on TV shows.

Horikita sat down across the table from me. If Sudou were to see this, he’d probably fly into a rage and punch my lights out. Even if I told him it was all a misunderstanding, he probably wouldn’t listen. I hoped he’d had already been treated to a feast like this himself…but, well, even if he had, he’d probably still feel jealous anyway.

“Eat,” ordered Horikita.

In response to her demand, I picked up the chopsticks. The two of us sat facing each other, with the food between us. For some reason, this situation made me feel a strong sense of déjà vu. It reminded me of the time back when we first started school, when Horikita got me a meal from the school cafeteria and then used me.

“Do you feel suspicious of me?” she asked.

“Well, to be honest, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable about all this,” I told her.

“If you start to doubt the kindness of others, that’s proof that you have issues, as a person.”

“That, coming from you?”

“Today is special,” she answered.

“………”

Well, if she’d made this out of consideration for me, it would rude of me to not even touch it. But it was in my nature to be doubtful. Well, no…rather, it was everything I’d experienced that taught me to be suspicious.

Still, I’d been completely trapped by her. The outcome of this little game had been decided the minute I carelessly set foot in her room.

For the time being, I decided to try the soup. The smell of miso tickled my nose. She seemed to use particularly healthy ingredients, with daikon radish being the main one.

“Barley miso, huh?” Its characteristic intensely sweet flavor spread throughout my mouth when I took a sip of the soup.

“You know your stuff. It’s a type of miso that people prefer in Kyushu, but I wasn’t sure if it’d be to your liking,” she replied.

“You’re a good cook.” I tried giving her a genuine compliment, but she didn’t look particularly pleased.

“You don’t need any particularly special skills to be able to cook, nowadays. It’s nothing to be proud of. If there’s something you want to make, all you have to do is go buy stuff at the supermarket or convenience store and then look up the recipe online. Right?”

Sure, it was easy to just throw something together. But you could still show off your skills in lots of other ways, like how you arranged everything on the plate or how you cut up the vegetables. Those weren’t exactly skills you could learn overnight.

“Have you been cooking for Sudou like this, too?” I asked.

She shot me a somewhat disgruntled look. “Why should I have to feed him my cooking?” she snapped.

“Well… you’ve been tutoring him pretty often.”

“That’s right. But that being said, that has nothing to do with me cooking for him, does it?” she answered.

I thought it was just a trivial question, but Horikita continued to assail me with her objections.

“Now, if he were the one tutoring me, then I suppose I could understand your question. It would make sense, as an act undertaken to show thanks for everything that he had done. But considering that I’m the one doing the tutoring, there’s no way I’d go to the trouble of doing all that for him,” said Horikita.

It was such impressive logic that I was entirely at a loss for words, but…

“I can’t tell if you’re clever or if you’re stupid,” she added.

Honestly, she took the words right out of my mouth. Sudou had a crush on Horikita, and because of that, I thought she might have cooked for him sometime. But it seemed she had yet to come to terms with Sudou’s affection, probably because she didn’t place much importance on things like love. She hadn’t matured to the point where she could even really be aware of such things.

“Well, then. How about we get down to business?” said Horikita, taking out a notebook.

She handed it over to me. I didn’t need to ask about the contents. This was what Horikita had been working on for a while lately.

“I’ve come up with a plan that I think is best for Class C. I’d like you to give me your opinion of it,” said Horikita.

After saying that, she added one more thing.

“You did eat my cooking after all, didn’t you?”

Talk about playing dirty. She hands over the reward first, and then expects me to put in the work to earn it?

Without batting an eye, I took the notebook and opened it up. It was packed full of information about the special exam. There were also notes on the ten events from Class A, but because those events had just been announced today, they seemed to be a work-in-progress.

Incidentally, the ten events chosen by Class C were: English, Basketball, Archery, Swimming, Tennis, Ping Pong, Typing Skills, Soccer, Piano, and Rock Paper Scissors. The last one seemed like it had just been tossed in as a secret, last-ditch measure for when we were really in trouble. Horikita had also noted who would be best for each event and what our chances of winning were.

Everything that we needed was collected in this notebook. I quietly scanned through the notes in great detail. Horikita made a face like she was surprised when she saw what I was doing.

“Putting the fact you fed me dinner aside, you didn’t think that I was going to read this seriously, I’m guessing?” I asked.

“W-Well, that’s true, I didn’t. I was prepared for you to refuse, but…”

“You’ve compiled all this data through careful analysis for the upcoming exam. It’s crucial. I wouldn’t be able to demonstrate my ability as a commander if I didn’t take a look at it,” I told her.

There wasn’t a single discrepancy between what she had recorded here and the things that I had happened to learn about myself.

“The data you’ve collected here almost feels like it lays the entire class bare.”

“That data is the culmination of everything I’ve collected after a week of intense struggling. If it wasn’t accurate, I’d be in trouble.”

As long as we had this, anyone could probably be the commander, if it came to that.

“I’m going to continue refining the information included in the notes. Eventually, I’ll include who should be assigned to each of Class A’s ten events. I was thinking you could take a look, so you can use it in your role as commander,” said Horikita.

“I see. Well, I suppose Sudou and Akito would both be a force to be reckoned with, even outside of a one-on-one event. In Onodera’s case, though, I think her chances of winning will probably diminish if she’s pitted against a guy. It would probably be wise to consider a third or fourth candidate ahead of time,” I told her.

Horikita quietly nodded. It would be a shame to jump the gun and commit a student to a certain event when there was a possibility that they might really shine in others. In any case, I had nothing to complain about so far. This was great work.

“I have no objections to anything in your notes. However, can I just add one thing?” I asked.

“What is it?” she asked.

“One of the events that Class A chose was chess, if I recall, right?”

I took a sip of water after bringing up the new topic. Since none of our classmates were good at chess, that space in the notebook was naturally left blank.

“Yes. I’ve been putting off deciding what to do about that event. I’ve never played it before, myself. The only person who knows the rules to the game in our class is you, the commander. So I thought that I might ask your advice about it,” said Horikita.

“Well, about that, I’d like you to be the one to play.”

“…Me? I suppose it’s true that no matter who we went with, they’d have to practice anyway, but…why me?” she asked, before adding that she wouldn’t be able to get very good at the game, nor would she be able to win.

“Because I think that you’re the right person for me to teach,” I told her.

“You mean you’d have an easier time teaching me, since you wouldn’t have to build a relationship with someone new?”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said that that wasn’t part of it.”

“I suppose that I’m fine with accepting that role, but…I’m sure there are a few students who would be amenable to you, aren’t there? Besides, I think that there are other events where I would prove useful,” said Horikita.

Horikita was essentially good all around. Whether it was a written test or a sporting event, she’d produce results. I had no doubt about that.

“What we’re looking for is pure skill. There’s a time limit on the commander’s involvement in the game. No matter how confident Sakayanagi is at chess, there’s just not enough time. I can’t imagine Class A will use the option to bring in the commander right away at the start of the match. If they do, though, then the opening moves will be crucial to winning the game.”

If we were overwhelmed in those opening moves of the game, it would become extremely difficult for us to bounce back.

“You’re not focusing on chess simply because you know the rules to it, are you? You think Class A is going to pick chess as one of the main five events?” she asked.

“I’m almost certain they will. The fact that chess is the only event where the commander has such strong influence does worry me,” I told her.

“That’s certainly something that’s been bothering me too… Very well. I’ll defer to your judgment, then.”

I showed that I was grateful for her consent, and then continued eating my meal.

“By the way, how are we going to practice playing chess?” she asked.

“This probably is going to be tough for you, but we’re going to have to practice online, in the middle of the night,” I told her.

“Well, it’s certainly true that if we do it that way, we won’t be seen by anyone. And on top of that, no one will know what we’re doing.”

Another advantage was that it wouldn’t get in the way of practicing for other events.

6.11

I HAD BEEN HOPING that our conversation would have been over right then and there, but unfortunately, things seldom go as one wishes.

“I have a favor to ask you, Ayanokouji-kun. You did eat my cooking after all, didn’t you?” said Horikita.

“Don’t you think it’s underhanded to pull the same thing on me over and over?” I replied.

Just when we were about halfway through dinner, that demon reared her head once more. I supposed the notebook she showed me earlier wasn’t the end of it, then.

“Underhanded? Considering what kinds of methods you employ, I would think it would be more accurate to describe you that way, hm?” she snapped.

“What are you talking about?”

“The class vote exam. You were the one running around behind my back, weren’t you? Answer me.”

“Wait. I didn’t do any—”

“Oniisan gave me advice. But you were the one behind it,” she snapped.

I couldn’t imagine from the way she was speaking that she was just coming up with these ideas randomly. On the other hand, it was unlikely that her brother had leaked anything.

“I didn’t notice at first. But after thinking about it for a while, I knew.”

Meaning she had managed to arrive at this conclusion on her own.

“You predicted everything I was going to do,” she added.

“Even if I denied that, it doesn’t seem like you’d believe me,” I told her.

“Yes. Well, it goes without saying that I have no conclusive proof that you did anything. If I did ask oniisan about it, I’m sure he wouldn’t say anything to even imply you were involved. But it’s become a certainty in my mind,” said Horikita.

Little by little, Horikita had matured over this past year. That was something both her brother and I both recognized. But, as the antagonism she had with her brother had diminished, she began to blossom almost immediately. I was sure that her brother, who had been around her for much longer than I had, was aware of her high levels of latent potential. That was probably why he got so fed up with his little sister doing nothing but chasing after him.

“You seem awfully uncomfortable,” said Horikita.

“That’s because it feels like I’m in the middle of a hostile interrogation.”

“Well, whatever. Judging from your attitude, it’s clear I’m not going to break you, anyway,” said Horikita, bringing that subject to a close for the time being.

It seemed I was going to have a harder time manipulating her from behind the scenes from now on.

“I have some more questions for you, but you’re free not to answer,” she added.

Her gaze was powerful. It seemed to grab hold of me and didn’t let go.

“Do you think that we can win against Sakayanagi-san?” she asked.

“I don’t think it’s entirely impossible, at least. That’s the impression I get when I look at your notes.”

“…Very well. I’ll contribute how I can, by bringing the class together.”

“You’ve been doing a great job of that lately.”

In Hirata’s absence, almost everyone in our class had been acting on Horikita’s instructions. She was prepared to take charge and guide our class to victory. Honestly, I wanted to thank her for taking the lead on things I couldn’t do.

“I’ll leave the rest to you. It’s your call.”

“Understood. Even so, wouldn’t it be better for you to make decisions related to the rules for the commander’s involvement?” she asked.

“Nah, it’s fine if you handle it.”

“…Are you saying you plan to do battle with just the information I prepare for you?” she asked.

“I don’t really know that much about our class, anyway.”

“Good lord… If you think you can beat Class A like this, then you’re naïve.”

“Maybe.”

Horikita walked me over to the entrance to her room, and then watched me go as I left.

“I’ll say thanks for the meal this time, but…don’t do this to me again,” I told her. I could imagine myself jumping at shadows every time someone invited me to share a meal.

“All right. I’ll come up with another scheme.”

No, that’s not what I’m asking…

6.12

A FEW DAYS BEFORE our showdown with Class A, Keisei managed to successfully get in touch with Katsuragi. Shortly afterward, he called me, asking me to come out to a spot where no one else would be around. Since Katsuragi was essentially isolated and acting on his own right now, it probably wasn’t too hard to get hold of him.

“…So what can I do for you, Yukimura?” Katsuragi, who was probably burning with intense anger at Sakayanagi, had his sharp gaze fixed on Keisei.

“There’s something we’d like you to help us with, Katsuragi,” Keisei answered.

“Considering you’re calling me out to talk right now, I suppose I don’t even need to ask what it is you’re suggesting.”

From the looks of it, Katsuragi had already sensed what Keisei was about to propose.

“Then, this will be quick. I was hoping that you could tell us which five events Class A plans on choosing officially. And one more thing. I’d like you to throw any events that you’re involved in, during the exam,” said Keisei.

That last part was something he hadn’t previously mentioned to either Horikita or me.

“And what exactly would I be getting in return for doing so?” he asked.

“We would welcome you into our class.”

“That’s an interesting offer. You want me to betray Class A and drop to Class C?” he replied, letting out an amused sneer, dismissing Keisei’s proposal.

“We will make it to Class A someday. We’re capable of doing so,” said Keisei, implying Katsuragi could choose to make the change once we became Class A.

But to Katsuragi, the words probably sounded like nothing more than nonsense.

“You’ll make it to Class A someday, hm? If you ask any other class, they’d say the same thing,” replied Katsuragi.

“Well, but…”

“And if you really do possess the ability to do so, then why don’t you try to win against Class A without resorting to underhanded tactics like this? You can’t, so you’re trying to use me. Isn’t that right?” said Katsuragi.

Keisei fell silent at this powerful reprimand. Katsuragi’s tone was close to scornful, and his words left Keisei unable to respond.

“Well, all right. Let’s suppose that you really will make it up to Class A. Are you saying you’re going to offer me the twenty million points in exchange for that information right now? No, that’s probably unlikely. If you could provide that amount to me right now, then you could’ve used it to prevent Yamauchi from being expelled.”

Of course, Katsuragi also knew that we didn’t have such a vast number of points.

“Well, that’s…” sputtered Keisei.

“Were you planning on asking me to wait for two years for you to come up with twenty million points?” asked Katsuragi.

“…Yes.”

“You must understand what a ridiculous fantasy that is. Even if you do make it to Class A, there is no guarantee whatsoever that you’ll be able to come up with the twenty million points by then. We could draw up a contract, but that’s meaningless if you don’t have the points. You can’t give what you don’t have. Wait a minute. Did everyone in Class C even agree on this offer in the first place?”

Katsuragi was not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination. I was sure he understood the situation in our class quite well. If this was an offer that everyone in Class C had agreed upon, then the person who came to meet him would have been Horikita. Since Keisei and I were the ones talking to him right now, it was quite obvious this was all happening off the record.

“I understand full well that you’re desperate, but you’re not even prepared to negotiate your deal. Were you planning to talk to the rest of your class after you got me to cooperate with you, and then get their permission? Did you really think I’d accept such an offer?”

Betraying your classmates wasn’t something you did easily. Even more so for a man with a strong sense of duty, like Katsuragi.

“…S-So, you’re really just going to sit back and let Sakayanagi keep you quiet? Keep you down?” asked Keisei.

“What?”

“Do you really want to stick with Class A, even though they got Totsuka expelled?” Keisei, having realized he wasn’t going to convince Katsuragi of anything, decided to go for broke and push ahead, even if that meant being shot down. “I can’t guarantee I could just sit around and wait in such a pathetic state until graduation. That’d be the coward’s way out.”

“So in the end, you resort to trying to get a rise out of me by telling me I’m pathetic. You get zero points for negotiation skills like that, Yukimura.”

“Gr!”

Katsuragi looked over at me where I stood next to Keisei.

“Is there anything you’d like to say, Ayanokouji?” he asked.

“No, I think you’re exactly right, Katsuragi. There’s no room for argument from us.”

Recognizing that as a white flag, Katsuragi directed his gaze back at Keisei.

“Yukimura, it’s not like I want to criticize you or anything. But if you want me to betray my class, then you really need to be better prepared,” he said.

Katsuragi leaned against the wall and turned his gaze away from us, looking somewhere far into the distance. He wasn’t looking at something. It was more like he was looking at nothing at all.

“That being said, you were right about one thing,” he added.

“…Right about what?” Even though Keisei had already completely lost his will to fight, he looked up when he heard Katsuragi say that.

“It is true that I am inexplicably angry with Sakayanagi. To me, that makes it worth taking action against her personally, even if you can’t offer me anything in return,” said Katsuragi, arms crossed, now fixing his gaze firmly on Keisei. “You might have already guessed this, but Sakayanagi has not shared what our official five events will be with anyone.”

Just as I’d expected. Sakayanagi was keeping her plans secret, playing her cards close to the chest.

“And I don’t like that, personally. That’s not how we should be doing things. In an exam like this, the entire class should be working together. We should share information with our allies, and adopt strategies that provide a sure path to victory,” said Katsuragi.

The biggest advantage of not sharing information with your class was that the five events you were choosing wouldn’t be leaked. However, that also made it that much more difficult for anyone to practice for those events. Trying to prepare equally for all ten would naturally reduce class efficiency.

“However, if you have no issues with me simply telling you what my predictions are, I wouldn’t mind telling you that,” said Katsuragi.

“R-really?!” exclaimed Keisei.

Just as Keisei had determined there was no way he could win Katsuragi over, he unexpectedly caught a lucky break. I supposed it just went to show how strongly Katsuragi resented Sakayanagi.

“That’s…only so long as you promise you won’t tell anyone else what I’m about to you, however,” added Katsuragi.

“O-of course. I’ll wait a bit and bring up the twenty million points with Horikita and the others later,” replied Keisei, nodding to signal his promise.

“That won’t be necessary. Even if the information I provide you with proves to be beneficial, you probably won’t be able to save up twenty million points,” said Katsuragi.

“Then what do you want in return?”.

“Nothing. If I had to name anything, it would simply be that I want you to defeat Sakayanagi,” said Katsuragi. “I’m absolutely certain that Chess, English Test, and Mathematics Test will be chosen as official events. Those three for sure. After that, I think Contemporary Literature Test and Flash Mental Arithmetic are most likely. Conversely, I would say it’s fair to assume events that require a large number of participants, such as XL Jump Rope and Dodgeball, are most likely meant to fake you out. From what I can tell, our class doesn’t seem to be practicing for those,” said Katsuragi.

We wouldn’t know if he was correct until the day of the exam. If more than three of the events he mentioned as likely candidates for the official test ended up on there, then it would be fair to assume he was right.

“Are you really okay with this? With not getting anything in return, I mean,” said Keisei.

“I already told you. Even if you don’t have enough bargaining power to convince me of anything, it’s still worth it for me to help you,” said Katsuragi.

Keisei had managed to get information from Katsuragi that he’d thought would be difficult to obtain, albeit in an unexpected way. He was probably filled with joy right about now.

“Th-this is awesome, Kiyotaka! Now we’ve got a chance to win this thing!” exclaimed Keisei, pumping his fist excitedly.

“One more thing. You said you wanted me to throw any events that I’m in, didn’t you?” said Katsuragi.

“Uh, oh, well. You don’t have to—”

“Hmph. You came all this way to negotiate with me, and now you’re satisfied with just getting information?” replied Katsuragi, letting out a slight chuckle, as if he found Keisei’s flustered reaction amusing.

“Well, it’s not like that, it’s…”

“Don’t go thinking that you can beat Sakayanagi half-cocked. It’s best for you to assume you’ll still barely be able to hold your own, even if I do slack off during the events. However, the only event I can really help you in is probably Flash Mental Arithmetic. Or, in the unlikely event that it’s chosen, XL Jump Rope,” said Katsuragi.

I decided to ask Katsuragi just one question.

“Will you even be allowed to participate, with Sakayanagi being so wary of you right now? I suppose you might have to participate at least once if the XL Jump Rope event is chosen. But in the end, since only one or two participants can make or break the Flash Mental Arithmetic event, what makes you think she’ll count on you?” I asked.

“That’s because the students in our class who are best at mental arithmetic are me and one other student, Tamiya. And Tamiya isn’t that good at it. With that in mind, leaving me out of the running for the event would simply lower our chances of winning. Sakayanagi probably thinks she’s completely subdued me by having Yahiko expelled. She’ll probably appoint me a role so she can use me like a pawn,” said Katsuragi.

I supposed that to Sakayanagi, the idea of making a pawn of Katsuragi, a force who resisted her, would be quite appealing. Katsuragi offered to help us by deliberately getting questions wrong in the event that the Flash Mental Arithmetic event was chosen or by jumping on the rope right away if the XL Jump Rope event was chosen.

“However, I’d like to avoid Sakayanagi finding out that I’m losing on purpose. I could make it look as though I happened to mess up on accident for the XL Jump Rope event, but I can’t intentionally make mistakes on the easy questions for the Flash Mental Arithmetic event.”

So, even though we’d be pretending to compete on equal ground, we’d just barely come out on top.

“If Flash Mental Arithmetic is chosen as one of the events, but I’m not selected to participate, then you’ll just have to recognize that luck wasn’t on your side and give up,” said Katsuragi.

Regardless, we’d been provided with some very valuable information. We had no reason to complain.

After Katsuragi left, Keisei spoke excitedly. “Let’s hurry and tell Horikita about this right away.”

“No…I think it would be best if we don’t tell her we contacted Katsuragi today yet,” I replied.

“Wh-why?” he asked.

“In retrospect, it only happened to play out well for us by chance. She’ll be ticked off if she finds out we arbitrarily took action on our own,” I told him.

“Even so, we should be putting this information to good use, shouldn’t we?” said Keisei.

“I want to find the right time to tell her. I’ll make sure it goes well,” I told him.

Keisei seemed a little bothered at first but eventually agreed, probably because he felt guilty for having met Katsuragi in secret like this.