Chapter 6: Class D and Class D

Chapter 6: Class D and Class D

Chapter 6:

Class D and Class D

I T WAS NOW THURSDAY , and the weekend was drawing near. After class ended, I went to the library with Horikita in tow. It was where we’d be having our discussion with Class 1-D, who Nanase would be bringing with her today. On our way there, we chatted about the special exam.

“Have you checked out today’s update yet?” I asked her.

“Seventeen more partnerships have been finalized. Which brings the total number of partnerships to seventy-three,” replied Horikita.

While there wasn’t anything about the number of partnerships itself that was particularly noteworthy, there was one substantial difference between this last update and the previous two. Namely, the fact that two students from Class 1-D had decided upon partners. There were now some visible signs of activity in a class which had, for the past three days, seemed motionless.

“I’m a little flustered. I thought Housen-kun was planning to wait and see how things would play out a little longer. I tried talking to some Class 1-D students today during lunch, but they just brushed me off, saying they didn’t really know anything about the students who decided on partners,” said Horikita.

“It’s hard to tell if they really don’t know, or if they’re just under some kind of gag order.”

It wouldn’t be too surprising if there was some kind of rule in place, forbidding them from partnering with anyone or even talking about the whole situation unless one of the smart kids in class got offered a lot of points.

“That’s true. At any rate, it’s great that we’ll be meeting with Nanase-san now. I’m sure she might be able to tell us something about this situation,” said Horikita.

Horikita had only ever met Nanase once, and they’d never actually ever had a proper conversation. Even so, Nanase, the person who’d stood beside Housen, seemed to be someone with whom we could communicate. Personally, I’d gotten a strong impression that she was an honest person when we talked. She had a very firm, upright character, vaguely reminiscent of Ichinose somehow.

Horikita and I arrived at the library. When we set foot inside, the first person to greet us wasn’t Nanase, but rather Shiina Hiyori, from Class 2-C.

“Oh, hello there, fancy seeing you here,” said Hiyori.

Apparently, this bookworm had come to the library right away after class today.

“We might be making a little noise today. We’re going to talk to some first-year students about the special exam,” I told her.

“Oh, is that so? In that case, it might be a good idea for you to use the seats in the far back. I don’t think you’ll bother the other patrons then, and you should be able to talk a little. Also, you’ll quickly notice if someone does try to approach you,” said Hiyori.

I decided to take the advice she had so kindly given me.

“Are things coming along okay in Class C?” I asked.

“Yes, they are. It seems there’s a lot going on right now.”

Since our classes were competing with one another, we couldn’t exactly clue each other in on their inner workings. So with that brief exchange of pleasantries, we said goodbye to Hiyori and decided to go take our seats. While I was still kind of curious about what was going on with Hiyori, I went with Horikita toward the seats at the back of the room.

“Putting Nanase-san aside, now that we’re getting involved with Class 1-D, it raises the question of whether Housen-kun is going to show up,” said Horikita.

“Yeah. I guess that whether he shows up or not is going to make a substantial difference to how this goes.”

Since we hadn’t given Nanase restrictions, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t bring Housen with her. If she did bring him along, we’d just have to go for broke and negotiate for all we were worth, flying by the seat of our pants.

“I hope you don’t mind if I ask you something before we start a full-blown discussion. Have you been studying?” asked Horikita.

“Well, a little bit, here and there. Why, what about it?” I asked.

“I was just wondering whether you’re getting enough time for your studies, considering I have an advantage in this situation by being able to choose the subject.”

“Oh, what’s this? Taking pity on your enemy?” I teased.

“As if. I’m not so nice as to willingly give up advantageous conditions. This is a contest I must win,” said Horikita.

Even so, she was apparently concerned about whether I was studying properly or not. Which was to say, she was actually worried that I’d come up with some excuse that I was too busy dealing with the special exam to study, or something like that.

“You’re one to talk, you know. You’re spending a lot of your time getting our class organized,” I replied.

“I always make sure to devote time to my studies. I have no problems whatsoever,” said Horikita.

She seemed to be quite confident that she had managed her time well, with everything she had to do in her daily routine.

“Well, relax. I don’t plan on losing,” I told her.

“Well, that’s all well and good, I suppose…”

She didn’t seem to trust me, strangely enough. She didn’t seem to think that I was taking this test seriously.

To that point, there was one other thing that I wanted to ask her about. Horikita had a lot of roles to fill, in addition to keeping our class organized. She had to spend time on her own studies and on top of that, she tutored others. I had no idea if she could keep going at that pace all the way up until test day.

Just as I was about to ask Horikita about that though, Nanase showed up at the library, alone. She quickly located us, rushed over toward us, and bowed her head. From the looks of things, Housen wasn’t going to be showing up to this initial discussion.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” said Nanase, politely.

“Nah, we just got here ourselves,” I replied.

Horikita prompted Nanase to sit down in the seat directly across from her and opened the discussion with a brief introductory greeting.

“All right, well… Once again, my name’s Horikita Suzune. Thank you for making the time to talk with us today,” said Horikita.

“Yeah, and I’m… Err, I mean yes, I am Nanase Tsubasa. I haven’t done anything worthy of your thanks, though. If anything, I should be the one thanking you,” replied Nanase.

We were all in Class D, so we all started from an exceptionally humble position. Horikita, after listening to Nanase’s polite and proper words, decided to immediately get down to business. “I’m sorry for how sudden this might be, but do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

“Not at all, please go ahead,” said Nanase.

“First, just to establish a baseline, I’d like to ask what your class’s policies are. Two students in your class confirmed partnerships today, while the status of the remaining thirty-eight students in your class remains to be seen. You were one of the two students who confirmed a partnership, aren’t you, Nanase-san?” asked Horikita.

While it wasn’t clear if it was Housen or someone else, it was clear a member of their class was giving orders here.

“That’s correct. I had a feeling you’d ask me about that. I’m assuming you asked Kajiwara-kun that same question today, yes?” replied Nanase.

Kajiwara was the name of another student in Nanase’s class. Apparently, she already knew that Horikita had reached out to Class 1-D students during lunch today. If that was the case, I supposed we ought to assume she also knew that we had reached out to Shiratori and his friends on the first day of the exam period.

“I’m surprised. You seem to have a very good handle on this situation,” said Horikita.

“Many students are already acting on Housen-kun’s orders,” said Nanase matter-of-factly, openly admitting that Housen was the one taking the lead, rather than being evasive about it.

“Is it because of his aggressive attitude? No, I can’t imagine that’s all there is to it. What methods did he use, exactly?” asked Horikita.

Nanase looked like she was lost in thought for a brief moment. Then she opened her mouth to speak.

“I am terribly sorry, but unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what kind of methods he used. Housen-kun brought the class together. Whether the way he did that was right or wrong, I do not know. But letting word of it get outside our class would be an act of betrayal,” said Nanase.

“I see. You’re correct in saying so,” said Horikita.

In response to that, Nanase thanked Horikita again and bowed. I supposed that just because we were Nanase’s seniors, that didn’t necessarily mean she was going to tell us anything. Just like in our conversation the other day, she seemed to have firm thoughts and convictions as a member of her class.

“In that case, I’ll get right to the point. Is it safe for us to assume we will be able to work with your class, just like those two students who settled on their partnerships yesterday?” asked Horikita.

“As I’m sure you’ve already heard from Shiratori-kun, our offer is always open. As long as you offer us a set number of Private Points with your proposal, we will accept whatever partnership requests you make, without hesitation,” said Nanase.

So our chat with Shiratori and his friends had reached Housen after all. From that, we could infer a high number of points were paid out to the two students from their class who had gotten partners.

“But what I’m asking you about today is different from establishing a partnership contract based on points,” replied Horikita.

“Yes, I know. I’ve already heard a little about your offer from Ayanokouji-senpai. A collaborative relationship where we would cover for each other—that is to say, mutually work to protect the less academically inclined students in our classes, yes?”

“Yes. If you’ve come to this discussion understanding all that, there must be some room for negotiation, yes?”

“There is… Or at least, I’d like to think so.”

Nanase’s face darkened. Then she continued speaking.

“Housen-kun’s way of thinking is rooted in ideas of intense individualism. And he enforces that ideology. If things continue at this rate, the less academically capable students will be unable to find partners, and get left behind. If they only got their Private Points withheld for three months, that wouldn’t be too bad. But I fear they’ll end up being branded as incompetent for their failure to find partners. Well, no… I suppose that might not be too bad, either. What I really don’t want to happen is for this intense sense of individualism to dominate our class in the future, to the point where we lose any sense of unity,” said Nanase.

Horikita listened to everything Nanase had to say, and then mentally calculated what might happen to Class 1-D in the future.

“Right, that is a valid concern,” she said. “If no one in the class helps each other out, the trend toward individualism will naturally accelerate. Once there’s no one around to assist other students, everyone will feel like they must do things on their own. Once that ideology has sunk in, even if someone does ask for help, no one will step in. Which means that if your class were faced with a test that required you to function as one, you’d lose that battle.”

Which was precisely why Nanase took it upon herself to negotiate with Horikita alone. She was trying to avoid that fate.

“You’re not afraid of Housen-kun?” asked Horikita.

“No,” replied Nanase, firmly, without a second’s delay.

She hadn’t glanced much at me until this point, but now looked over in my direction. It was the same look she’d given me twice before. I remembered that when I asked her something similar, she responded with “I will never yield to violence.”

There were things about her that bothered me, of course, but Nanase might be the only person who could get her class on our side. If this really was nothing more than a chance encounter, I was honestly grateful for it.

“Well then, I’d like to ask you a slightly more in-depth question. How many students in your class are currently struggling to find partners? Please tell us about as many as you can, regardless of academic ability,” said Horikita.

The OAA app could tell you which students had yet to finalize partnerships, but not how likely they were to find a partner or not. To learn that, you could only ask someone directly related to that class.

“At this current point in time, I think that there are close to fifteen students who would have difficulty in finding a partner on their own,” said Nanase.

“Fifteen… That’s more than I thought,” said Horikita.

However, many students in our class hadn’t found partners, either. If we came up with good combinations of people, there was still room for our classes to work well together.

“Nanase-san. If you’ll allow it, we would like to come to a rather significant arrangement with your class,” said Horikita.

“A significant arrangement?” she repeated.

“I’m hoping you and I can come up with fifteen partnership pairings and take care of this matter all at once, Nanase-san. It doesn’t matter if they have an E or an A in academic ability. There are no conditions. And of course, no points will be involved. An equal partnership based on mutual collaboration, where we both strive to help those who need it,” said Horikita.

In other words, give-and-take. The idea was that we would mutually give and take what we needed, without getting points or feelings involved. Establishing such an agreement would likely greatly reduce the probability of students getting expelled.

But both Horikita and Nanase knew that it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“This is all based on the assumption that we can come to an agreement. But there’s no guarantee that we can save the students in your class who are near E-rank in academic ability, Horikita-senpai. Most of the students in our class who are struggling to find partners are around C and D level,” said Nanase.

Even if the highest-ranked student they had available had a C+, they’d still be at significant risk if they were paired with an E-ranked student from our class. You might say the benefits of such an arrangement were almost nil.

“In that case, I’m going to need to ask you to do your absolute best to make sure things don’t turn out that way for us,” said Horikita.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Even so, I don’t think we’ll be able to come to terms that easily,” said Nanase, not denying that there could be issues, but openly admitting to it. “Housen-kun would never approve of helping you for free. Especially not now.”

Class 1-A had held onto a great many points ever since they started school last year, and they had ample funds saved. Even though Class C had blown through a considerable number of points in order to save Ryuuen, they still had a stable supply of funds thanks to their contract with Class A. I was sure Ryuuen’s classmates probably had a fair number of points saved up, too. Considering the current situation, where 2-C and 2-A were throwing around lots of points in a bidding war, it was not at all surprising that the new students would want to sell themselves to the highest bidder.

So you could say that Housen’s way of thinking was correct. But even if he tried to put a high price tag on the kids from his class, the truth of the matter was that they were asking for more than the other classes. The small number of students from his class who had settled on partners spoke to this.

“Even if it would be for the good of his class?” asked Horikita. “There should be no downsides to this for him.”

It would be more of a downside if some students were unable to find partners and thus deprived of Private Points they were supposed to have raked in. Though I was sure that went without saying.

“I know what you’re trying to say, Horikita-senpai. I understand much of what you’re saying very well,” said Nanase.

She seemed to be responding quite positively to Horikita’s proposal. However…

“But… I don’t think Housen-kun will allow it, after all.”

There was a slight pause. I had a general idea of what she was thinking about. So I took a guess.

“Well, there’s one thing we can be sure of. Housen isn’t taking the points for himself , ” I replied.

“What do you mean?” asked Horikita.

“I thought the reason Housen was only allowing partnerships to form if people paid a high number of points was because he was taking the points for himself. However, if that were really the case, then he’d be more proactive about trying to set up even the lower-ranked students. And in extreme cases, he’d be telling those students to hand over what points they have so he could go find a partner for them.” I replied.

“Yes, you’re certainly right… Three months’ worth of Private Points is nothing to scoff at. It would be much better to pay Housen-kun half your points and be saved, rather than get a failing grade and not get any points at all for all that time,” said Horikita.

There was nothing to suggest that Housen was doing anything of the sort, though. Not in what we’d seen their class do so far, nor in our conversation with Nanase.

“Ayanokouji-senpai’s deduction is correct. Housen-kun has not received any kind of compensation from our classmates,” said Nanase.

He was controlling his class and imposing rules upon them. Presumably, if a student broke those rules, they would be completely ostracized by Housen and his followers. Which was why they didn’t dare try and find a partner without permission. They couldn’t. And the reason why no one from their class showed up to the meet-and-greet was because they knew it would be pointless.

“Couldn’t you use your influence to control even a few of the more academically gifted students?” asked Horikita.

There was no form of quid pro quo of any kind in Horikita’s proposal. She was only asking for students from both of our classes to help one another. Unlike the students in our grade level, though, the new students naturally had less emotional attachment to their class and to their friends. It was unreasonable to expect them to have formed strong emotional connections only a couple of weeks after enrollment.

“I tried talking to a few of them, but none of them said they’d even consider it,” replied Nanase.

“It sounds like some form of quid pro quo is a requirement after all, then,” said Horikita.

“If we only need a couple people, couldn’t we work out an arrangement using points?” I asked, turning to Horikita.

If our goal was to fight with our wallets, like Class A and Class C, we’d need a huge amount of funds in order to recruit a significant number of students. But if we focused only on getting a few students, just enough to stop anyone from being expelled, our costs would be reduced accordingly.

“That’s true… I suppose that if we really run out of options, we’ll have no choice but to go that route. But relationships created using Private Points can only be maintained using Private Points. I want a relationship that goes beyond that,” said Horikita, responding to me.

She then turned to look right at Nanase.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Nanase.

“Our grade levels are on different playing fields. First-year students have no risk of being expelled, so you’re in a better position than us. However, that dynamic won’t last forever. The day will come when you have to do battle while facing possible expulsion, not too far from now. If you only establish relationships based on points, what do you think will happen when the time comes that you need to pay up and are out of funds?” asked Horikita.

Some students might still make it through, but it wouldn’t be surprising if many of them did not.

“Which is precisely why I’d like to establish an equal partnership, not a dynamic based on points. And I want to build trust. The special kind of trust that comes from us being from different grade levels,” added Horikita.

She was essentially saying that by doing things this way, establishing this kind of partnership, we would be able to discuss things as equals when students from Nanase’s class had problems in the future. In short, a strategy that valued trust, just like what Ichinose was doing. The main difference between us and Ichinose, though, was that we were partnering exclusively with Class 1-D, while she was helping students from every class. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, Horikita had zeroed in on Class 1-D, wanting to establish a collaboration with them.

We were already on the fourth day of the special exam period. We couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

Nanase must have understood how driven Horikita was. Even so, her darkened expression didn’t light up.

“I understand very well what you’re trying to say. But I don’t think that my peers understand the same. Many of the first-years are already frantically working to save up Private Points. They would see partnering with someone for free as a loss, simple as that,” said Nanase.

The only way they’d understand would be with time, as they came to know the system this school operated on.

“Right now, there are two major obstacles in the way of us partnering up with your class, based on what you’re telling us. We need to convince Housen-kun, and we need to persuade the honors students who want points. Well, I suppose the latter point could really apply to students from any class, not just yours, but…”

It was certainly true that, at least on the surface, the many obstacles in our path made it seem like it wasn’t particularly beneficial to team up with their class. One of those obstacles, in particular—dealing with Housen.

But that wasn’t actually true. I wondered if Horikita was aware of this fact.

“Please allow me to discuss things with Housen-kun,” proposed Horikita, having decided that it would be impossible for us to proceed any further without Housen.

“Yes, I suppose that’s reasonable… If we’re going to try to establish an equal partnership, there’s no avoiding the fact we’ll need to talk to him,” said Nanase.

“If it’s all right with you, I’m ready to meet with him immediately,” said Horikita.

“I understand. I’ll try calling him,” replied Nanase.

She took out her phone and headed toward the library exit.

“It seems like Housen-kun’s control extends even further than I had imagined,” said Horikita.

“Seems like it,” I replied.

“My idea about teaming up with Class 1-D isn’t…wrong, is it?” asked Horikita.

“Looking to the future and trying to build a relationship with them isn’t a bad strategy,” I told her. “If anything, I’d say it’s a prerequisite for what we need to do. Sakayanagi and Ryuuen are trying to buy the trust of skilled first-years by using their class’s reputation or using points. Ichinose lacks for points, but she’s also working to build trust by saving those in need of help. You’re doing something similar to Ichinose, but you’re focused on building a relationship with just one specific class. Right? It’s the same thing, but with different methods and in a different form. You’re already becoming a leader who can compete with those three.”

Horikita nodded after hearing what I had to say. Now, we just had to see how well she could handle negotiations.

As we waited, I saw Nanase beckoning us over towards the exit, bowing to us.

“I wonder if something happened,” said Horikita.

“Let’s go and find out.”

We left the library and joined up with Nanase.

“Please excuse me, senpai. Um, well… Housen-kun is on the line,” said Nanase.

She handed her phone over to Horikita. It was currently set on mute. Horikita took it from her and then put it on speakerphone before beginning her conversation with Housen.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” said Horikita.

“Sup. I heard a li’l bit from Nanase.”

“If possible, I’d like for us to meet in person so I can explain my proposal to you directly,” said Horikita.

“Ain’t no need. Don’t gotta bother meetin’ up,” replied Housen, with a laugh.

“So, does that… mean that you’re not willing to negotiate?”

“Exactly what it means. Wasn’t even any point in talkin’ to ya on the phone, but Nanase wasn’t havin’ any of it.”

“Housen-kun, I think that it would be a good idea to consider her offer,” said Nanase.

“Shut the hell up. What right do you got to talk to me like that, huh? HUH? I’ll kill you.”

“I have no intention of letting you kill me. Please meet with Horikita-senpai at least once,” said Nanase.

“If you can’t cough up enough points, then don’t bother contactin’ me again.”

Nanase tried to continue the conversation, but Housen quickly ended the call. She immediately called him back, but no matter how many times she dialed his number, he didn’t answer.

“…I’m so sorry!” shouted Nanase, apologizing to Horikita and me while bowing her head as low as she possibly could.

It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong, though.

“Come on, lift your head. My plans and Housen-kun’s are completely different. It was clear things weren’t going to work out that easily. I’m incredibly grateful that you went out of your way to assist us so much,” said Horikita.

“It really wasn’t much…” replied Nanase, bashfully.

“I think that’s all for today. Now, we need to think of a way to get Housen-kun to talk to us. But I’d like to try and get this over with by the end of this week,” said Horikita.

If this got drawn out any longer, she’d have to start looking beyond just Class 1-D. Nevertheless, I hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. It would be quite a painstaking task for us to try and snatch up students from the other three classes, when they’ve already been thoroughly picked over.

“I’m awfully glad to hear that you still haven’t given up, Horikita-senpai. But…” Nanase trailed off, swallowing the words that were about to come out of her mouth. She was probably going to tell us we’d never be able to form a real partnership with Housen, but had decided it would be all over if she actually came out and said that.

“At the very least, we conveyed to Housen-kun what I want to do. That’s enough for now.”

Even though Horikita was running out of both time and patience, she still spoke encouragingly to her junior. Horikita then suggested we all walk back to the dorms together, but Nanase apparently had somewhere else to be, so she left, after telling us that she’d like to meet us again in the library tomorrow. Maybe she went to go meet up with Housen.

“Let’s head back. I’ve still got a full schedule ahead of me today,” said Horikita.

From the sounds of it, she was going to hold a study session with Sudou and some other people after she got back to her room.

“Oh, and I think I’d like to hear more about your partner situation now, if possible. Like if you’re going to be finding a partner on your own or if you’re planning to let me handle it for you. It might have an impact on things down the line,” said Horikita.

If we were going to start negotiations with Housen, I was sure we’d probably need to adjust the specific number of people involved.

“There’s someone I think I might be able to work with,” I replied.

“Does that mean you actually have a specific person in mind, rather than looking at academic ability rankings? Who?” asked Horikita.

“That’s a secret,” I answered.

“A secret…? What do you have to hide from me?”

“I’ve only just scratched the surface of what this person is like, I don’t know anything beyond that about them yet.”

“Is that really that much of a problem? We all have to fumble around and do our best to help each other, right?” said Horikita.

“Yeah, I guess so. I thought it would become clearer to me today, but… Well, I guess I’ll know by the end of the week, at the latest.”

“I suppose that’s all well and good, but…I don’t know how much I can help you even if you come crying to me at the last minute, you know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Oh, more importantly, I forgot to ask you earlier. Are you feeling okay?” I asked her.

“…Are you worried about me?”

“I probably don’t need to worry about your energy levels right now, but there are still quite a few days to go before the special exam,” I told her.

If she got dizzy and worn out in the final stretch, it could affect how things went on the day of the test. In addition to her daily study sessions, she’d also spent a fair amount of time preparing for Amasawa’s cooking challenge late Tuesday night. It was obvious that fatigue was gradually accumulating.

“It’s true that I might get worn out in the final stretch. But I don’t have the time to rest right now. I’m not planning on collapsing until after the special exam is over,” said Horikita.

Rather than just trying to look tough, she was beginning to show the mentality of someone who knew they were leading their class into battle. Yousuke and Kushida were already helping. They needed no introduction. But even other students with a high level of academic prowess, like Keisei and Mii-chan, had offered to help Horikita right away this time. So she decided to push ahead with her plan, which was based on the premise of working with Class 1-D now and into the future.

If a leader acted without thinking, or delayed making a decision, it could only have a negative impact on the ones they led. In this race against time, the speed at which we could settle things was critical to our class.

6.1

I T WAS A LITTLE CHILLY that night. I stood in the kitchen, cooking something with the vast quantities of untouched groceries I had been forced to buy the other day. This time, of course, I was using recipes and videos as a guide while I cooked. I wanted to try the tom yum goong I’d made for Amasawa for myself. The name of the dish, tom yum goong, was a combination of three Thai words, which meant “to simmer,” “to mix,” and “shrimp.”

“It’s got a unique flavor, but it’s not bad,” I said aloud.

The way the spicy and sour flavors filled my mouth, and the way the aroma shot up my nose, definitely made it seem like a dish that would be a hit with people who were into these flavors and sensations. After I was done cleaning up, I turned on the ventilation fan to get rid of the smell that had filled the room. Even though the sound was drowned by the noise from the fan, I eventually noticed my phone vibrating on my bed. I thought I’d just let it go and I’d call back later, but it just never stopped ringing, so I picked it up.

“You sure took your time answering the phone,” said the person on the other line.

It was Kei. This was the first time I had gotten a call from her in several days, since the special exam started. And the first thing that came out of her mouth was a complaint.

“Aren’t you the one who told me to call you around this time? Get your act together,” added Kei.

“Sorry. So, did you look into the thing I had asked you to this morning?”

“I’m only calling you because I did a great job of it. Don’t you think you’re not being nearly grateful enough to me?”

“I am grateful. So?”

“I don’t really feel like you’re grateful at all, but… Well, whatever. Anyway, according to the clerk, only one’s been sold since April this year. It seems it barely sells at all, compared to similar things, and they’re lucky if they sell or one two a year. Oh, but get this, there was some new kid who tried to buy one,” said Kei.

I already knew exactly who the person who’d bought one was. So I was more interested in hearing about the new student who tried to buy one.

“When you say they ‘tried’ to buy it, that means that they didn’t actually buy it in the end, right?”

There was no way someone would be functionally incapable of buying that product, unless they did something absurd like spend all of their points right after starting school here. And if you were in the batch of new students that had arrived this particular year, I couldn’t imagine you would do something so foolish.

“So, anyway, yeah, I tried asking the clerk about it. Apparently, right as the kid was trying to check out, someone else came up and said they shouldn’t buy it, that they should put it back. And the student who tried to buy it was—”

As I listened to Kei give me details about this student, I analyzed the situation in my mind. It was a little… actually, no, it was quite a bit different from what I had originally envisioned. I’d never expected that they would be involved in this.

“Do we know who prompted the student to not buy the item?” I asked.

“Nope. The clerk didn’t know who it was. They just said they were pretty sure that it was a girl, though,” said Kei.

Students presented their I.D. when making purchases, so the clerk would’ve known the name of the one who tried to buy the item. But they wouldn’t have known who stepped in and stopped them.

“Was my info useful?” said Kei.

“Yeah. Actually way more useful than I originally thought it’d be.”

“ Heh heh . Well, I am pretty capable, after all. You need to really show me some gratitude for this. But why’d you have me look into something like this, anyway? I honestly don’t get it at all,” said Kei.

“Neither do I.”

“Huh?”

I had thought having Kei look into this would give me something to help make sense of this person’s incomprehensible behavior, but this development went far beyond what I had imagined. In fact, it was so disconnected from what I had imagined that it made me wonder if it was actually completely irrelevant.

“Oh, that reminds me, I heard that you got yourself a partner for the special exam,” I told her.

“Oh, yeah. Shimazaki-san from Class 1-B, I think his name was. I feel like Kushida-san really came through and saved the day for me,” said Kei.

Now that we’d dealt with the item of business, I figured I’d change the topic.

“I don’t think your partner’s too bad or anything, but are you making pretty good progress on your studies yourself, Kei?” I asked.

“Oh, well, uh, how do I put this…? I guess I was thinking I could start doing it at the last minute, maybe?”

I knew it. I hadn’t heard anything about her going to the study group yet, so I figured as much.

“This exam isn’t something you can get through completely on your own, you know. Kei, your grade is a D+. If you don’t consider the fact that you’re not really in the best position here, you could be in for a world of hurt,” I told her.

“I know, I know that. It’s just, I dunno, I just don’t feel motivated to do anything… And if I do go to study group, you won’t be there, Kiyotaka,” said Kei.

“What? So, you’re saying that you’ll study hard if I’m there?” I asked.

“…Yeah, so? I’d work hard in front of my boyfriend,” said Kei.

I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but if that’s the way it was, there was a quick and easy solution.

“In that case, how about we… Yeah. How about you come to my room around six o’clock tomorrow?” I asked.

Considering the fact that we had a meeting with Nanase after class, that should be plenty of time.

“I can come hang out with you?!” she exclaimed.

“We’re not going to hang out, we’re going to study,” I replied.

“Huh?”

Don’t you “huh” me.

“I’ll help you study. That should help you get a little motivated, right?” I replied.

First of all, I’d try to get a concrete sense of where Kei’s actual abilities were at. Then, if I found she was at a level where additional study sessions were essential, I’d have to strongly encourage her to go.

“You’re worried ’cause you’d be sad if your girlfriend got expelled, aren’t you?” said Kei rather suddenly and happily, almost like she thought she had the upper hand on me.

I could have answered her in a somewhat mean or teasing way, but Kei would probably be more motivated if I told her I was worried.

“Of course I’m worried. If the girl I just started going out with got expelled, that wouldn’t make me happy,” I told her.

“I-I see… I mean, I know, right?! Well, in that case, I guess I don’t have any choice now, do I? I actually did have tons of things planned, but I’ll make a special appearance, just for you,” said Kei.

While it wasn’t exactly the most honest answer I could’ve given her, it was a small price to get her to make progress.

“What should I bring with me?” she asked.

“Everything you’ll need is already here in my room. As long as you aren’t late, there’s nothing else we’ll need,” I told her.

“Okay,” said Kei.

“All right, I’m hanging up now.”

“W-Wait, hold on! Wait! We only talked about the special exam and studying and stuff though!” wailed Kei.

Apparently, she wanted to talk about something unrelated to those matters.

“Yeah, I suppose you’ve got a point.”

“Jeez, you really are a piece of work,” said Kei.

For a while after that, we no longer talked about the exam or about studying. Instead, she continued to shower me with criticism.

6.2

O N FRIDAY , the fifth day of the exam period, eighty-one partnerships had been confirmed. Which meant that a little more than half of all students had found partners, including more and more students from within Class 2-D.

The same held true for those close to me. Yesterday, Kei had gotten herself a partner. And now Airi and Haruka from the Ayanokouji Group had both confirmed their partnerships, too.

The driving force behind those partnerships was Kushida. She worked with her kouhai from junior high school, Yagami, to introduce some of the students in our class to kids from Class 1-B. That was a big deal. However, it didn’t solve all our problems. Although Yagami was rising to prominence within his class, he seemed to have no intention of taking on a leadership role, and was only cooperating with Kushida as an individual, at most. It wasn’t like he could provide us with enough students to cover everyone in our class who was struggling.

Yagami had only one condition for his cooperation. Namely, that he had to be Kushida’s partner. That had apparently come to pass yesterday, as reflected in the OAA update. Having Kushida partner with Yagami basically used up one of our more academically gifted students, but Horikita didn’t seem dissatisfied by the exchange, considering the level of support we’d gotten out of it.

There were still quite a few capable people left in our class, including Horikita herself, Yousuke, Keisei, Mii-chan, Matsushita, and others. In any case, just because a student had chosen a partner didn’t mean they could rest easy. You had to study hard. That was completely unavoidable. If anything, it could be said the competition only really got started once you found a partner.

Even though I wasn’t speaking to anyone all that much, I could sense a feeling of unity in our class, with people working together. This was possible precisely because we were friends who had been through thick and thin together for a year. And in the midst of all of that…

One of the students stood up and tried to leave. Then Horikita, as if she were waiting for the right moment, walked over and called to him.

“It seems like you still haven’t found a partner yet, Kouenji-kun.”

“And what of it?” replied Kouenji.

This was an act of intervention on Horikita’s part, with the single, solitary person who wasn’t contributing to our class’s togetherness.

“I just thought I’d talk to you and see how your situation is going, as your classmate. So, how are things?” asked Horikita.

You generally knew what even the students who worked independently were up to, because they would talk to the people around them. But since Kouenji didn’t say anything at all, we couldn’t tell what was going on with him.

“You’re smart. You’ve never even considered the possibility that you might get expelled, have you?” said Horikita.

“Of course not.”

“I suppose not, no. Even if you were partnered with a student with grades like Ike-kun’s, you would still score close to four-hundred points quite easily. I think you’d be safe,” said Horikita.

Generally speaking, you’d think we might want to position Kouenji as one of our most valuable assets, since he was a smart student. I supposed that was the purpose behind Horikita reaching out to him like this, but still…

“ Fu fu fu . What I’m saying is that I am not going to do anything in this special exam. The important thing is that whoever my partner will be gets a score of one hundred and fifty points or higher on the test. As long as that minimum-level requirement is satisfied, it will be quite easy for me to get a high enough score to pass, you see,” replied Kouenji.

According to what Chabashira told us, everyone should be able to at least get one hundred and fifty points on this test. So, unless you teamed up with an assassin from the White Room, it was unlikely you’d have to worry about your partner getting a zero on the test, like I did.

However, you still had to rely on your partner. And no matter how hard you looked, you probably wouldn’t find a student who could state with absolute, one-hundred-percent certainty that they would score a certain amount on the test. Students from both grade levels had to work on the assumption that their partners would score at least one hundred and fifty points. It was a ninety-nine-point-nine-percent certainty at best.

In order to make that as close to one hundred percent as possible, the school had implemented a rule stating that students who scored low enough that it appeared to deviate from their expected level of academic ability would be expelled. Because of that fact, Kouenji could afford to be confident. Which meant there was no need for him to go through the trouble of trying to talk to anyone or to build a relationship.

“You mean you’re fine no matter who you get partnered with? In that case, why don’t you allow me to decide your partner for you? I understand you think you’ll be safe regardless of who you’re with, but I imagine you’d rather not get hit with a five percent penalty,” said Horikita.

It was a rather simple offer. She was offering to handle everything for him. A proposal which could fundamentally only be beneficial to him.

“Yes, certainly, it is as you say. However, I must decline your offer,” said Kouenji.

“…Why? Can I ask you to tell me the reason for that?” said Horikita.

“Because I am who I am.”

Simply put, he didn’t like the idea of being used for Horikita’s convenience. No matter the situation, Kouenji was Kouenji. If I was ever in a situation where I needed to use Kouenji in order to win, I would find myself thinking I should’ve gone with a different strategy to avoid being put in such a situation in the first place.

“Satisfied?” asked Kouenji.

After hearing what Kouenji had to say back to her, Horikita couldn’t keep pushing. Kouenji wasn’t the kind of person who would budge at all, even if you tried to force him. It was a waste of effort.

“Yes, for now. But you can’t carry on like this forever, you know. When the class needs to come together, we will need your cooperation,” said Horikita.

She wasn’t talking about this particular special exam. Horikita was looking ahead to what might come in the future. It seemed she wanted to say something now for him to keep in mind.

“Well, I can understand why you’d want to rely on someone as perfect as I, but I don’t think I can offer you any advice,” said Kouenji.

And then he left, as if he couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore, headed off to who knew where, like usual.

“Kouenji sure is impossible, huh,” I said aloud to Horikita, jumping in and adding my two cents almost without even thinking about it.

“I’m just irritated by the fact that if he took things seriously, our class would be that much stronger,” said Horikita.

There was hardly anything as frustrating as having a secret weapon that you couldn’t use. It was precisely because she had those feelings of expectation that she felt despair when things ended unsuccessfully.

“If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t have counted on him to start with,” I told her.

It would probably be easier to think of Kouenji as a special case from now, and just leave it at that.

“I’m not giving up,” said Horikita.

“…I see.”

I was afraid she’d only end up wasting her time and going in circles, but I supposed it was a good thing that she was motivated.

6.3

A S SOON AS I set foot in the library that weekend, I could sense the atmosphere was different from the other day. Many students, both first- and second-years, had gathered there. Most of the students had their tablets and notebooks spread out in front of them and were engaged in what looked like a study session. It seemed a lot of students were starting to move forward and take steps they needed to take, rather than let themselves get complacent after having found a partner. I vaguely recalled that we had a study session here in the library too, about a year ago.

“This is a bit of a bother. With this many people around, we might end up attracting unnecessary attention,” said Horikita.

“In that case, it’d probably be a good idea for us to try to blend in.”

Fortunately for us, the seats we had used at the back of the library yesterday were still available. Since it wouldn’t have been surprising if they’d been taken, I fixed my gaze on a certain part of the room. Shortly afterward, I saw Hiyori, waving to me with a gentle smile on her face.

“I thought that you might be coming today, Ayanokouji-kun, so I made a special request that those seats be reserved for you,” said Hiyori.

“Was that okay?” I asked.

“Well, I suppose it would’ve been a different story if the library were full to capacity, but there’s no need to worry,” said Hiyori.

This was a spacious library, so there was quite a bit of room. That being said, it was still a kind gesture on her part to do that for us.

“Please, go ahead and take all the time you need,” said Hiyori.

She must not have intended on staying for awfully long, because Hiyori left immediately after saying that.

“She really is quite kind, isn’t she? Do you think she heard our conversation the other day?” asked Horikita.

“Hard to say. Considering how far away we were, I think it would’ve been hard for her to eavesdrop.”

Since the seats had been generously reserved for us, we sat in the same spot we did yesterday. Then we took study materials from our bags, and acted as though we were there to study. However, no matter how long we waited, there was no sign of Nanase.

“Nanase-san is late,” said Horikita.

We had promised to meet after class, at four thirty in the afternoon. But it was already past five now. We had sent her multiple messages, but there was no sign she’d read any of them. It might be a good idea for us to go and check on her right about now, but that was tricky, since we didn’t know where she was.

“Should we go looking around the first-year classrooms for the time being…?” asked Horikita.

Just as we were about to go and do that, though, Nanase appeared, looking rather flustered. Once she noticed us, she approached, looking out of breath.

“I-I’m sorry. I kept you waiting for so long, and…!” huffed Nanase.

“It’s all right. We were just worried that something might have happened,” said Horikita.

“I was negotiating with Housen-kun, trying to see if I could bring him along with me one way or another,” said Nanase.

“Is that so…? It seems like you were unsuccessful, unfortunately.”

There wasn’t any sign that anyone else was coming through the library doors.

“Still, he didn’t try to stop you from coming here to talk with us today?” asked Horikita.

“He did not. Most likely because he doesn’t think that anything could be decided without him,” said Nanase.

No matter how much Nanase tried to do on her own, Housen had the final say. I supposed if he had that kind of confidence, there was no need for him to warn her or try to stop her every time she did something.

“Seems like we have no choice but to try and force a meeting with him after all,” said Horikita.

“But…”

“I realize we won’t be able to resolve matters so easily. But if we don’t try and discuss things face-to-face, we’ll never reach any kind of agreement,” said Horikita.

Today’s discussion certainly seemed like the kind of thing that she wouldn’t want to rush into without thinking.

“Yes, you’re certainly right about that… but, well…” said Nanase, trailing off.

She looked unsure of what she wanted to say, but then came to a decision and started speaking once more.

“Horikita-senpai, you want to establish a collaborative relationship with our class, at any cost. I’m not incorrect in saying so, am I?” said Nanase.

“Not all. You’re absolutely correct.”

“In that case… Will you please listen to my proposal?”

Nanase seemed to have come up with some ideas of her own, in her own way.

“It’s clear that even if you propose to Housen-kun that we establish a fair and equal partnership, he will reject your offer flat-out. I believe that would most likely be the case even if you met with him in person, Horikita-senpai. In that case, how about proceeding to negotiate with me, in secret?” said Nanase.

“Proceeding to negotiate with you, Nanase-san? But it’s not like your classmates would go along with our plans without Housen-kun’s involvement, would they?” said Horikita.

“You’re right. However, that’s only because I have yet to step forward as leader,” said Nanase, coming right out with a rather unexpected proposal. “I’ve decided we cannot continue going by Housen-kun’s methods. Though these are desperate measures, I’m hoping I can become the leader of my class before his dangerous ideas spread too far. And to that end, I would like to establish a relationship with your class, Horikita-senpai.”

Horikita had never expected Nanase to propose something like this, of course. And neither had I, for that matter. Nanase Tsubasa would become leader of Class 1-D, deposing Housen. If that plan could be realized, Horikita’s goal of a collaborative partnership would quickly become a reality.

“We don’t really have enough information to determine whether you or Housen-kun would be a more appropriate choice as leader, Nanase-san. However, one thing that I can tell you is that we don’t have much time,” said Horikita.

The special exam period was already nearing its end. There wasn’t enough time to fight over leadership.

“Many of my classmates don’t agree with Housen-kun’s way of doing things. In fact, after talking things over with them—like how we discussed things yesterday and today—I’ve successfully managed to get seven students to agree to help,” said Nanase.

“And you’re sure it’s not just students with a low level of academic ability?” asked Horikita.

“Yes. There are about three students with an academic ability ranking of B- or better who are willing to negotiate,” said Nanase.

“…I see.”

Horikita thought for a moment. Three people certainly wasn’t perfect, but if we could get just a few more, it might not be a bad idea for us to try to go ahead and form this partnership, with Nanase as the focal point.

“Won’t it spell trouble for us if Housen-kun finds out about this?” asked Horikita.

“There would be quite a bit of trouble, needless to say, yes. Which is why we’ll need to keep every part of this arrangement secret all the way up to the day before the special exam, which is the deadline for when partners need to be selected. If partner applications are submitted at the last minute, he won’t notice anything,” said Nanase.

“But that might make it difficult for us to win over the more academically-inclined students from your class, won’t it?” asked Horikita.

There was no changing the fact that those students would want Private Points.

“We will help compensate you for that. The students in my class who struggle academically will be saved thanks to you and yours, Horikita-senpai, thereby avoiding the three-month penalty. Therefore, we can float you some points. Even if you needed two hundred thousand points to gain the cooperation of the more academically gifted students from our class, we would still be able to help you recoup. Although we wouldn’t be able to reach the five-hundred-thousand-point per-person price that Housen-kun would like, I think it would still be within an acceptable range,” said Nanase.

So, they’d basically be sorting out this mess themselves, then. We’d originally intended to use our own points to try to entice the honors students from their class, but this way, the less academically gifted students from their class would essentially be using their own points to get their classmates to help out.

“This way, we won’t inconvenience you and your class, Horikita-senpai. Of course, Housen-kun will surely be angry once he finds out, but I intend to take full responsibility for everything to ensure the kids who cooperated with me will not be harmed in any way. What do you think?” asked Nanase.

“That’s… No matter how much you might say this would be your responsibility as a leader, don’t you think that this proposal places far too much on your shoulders?” said Horikita.

“It’s quite all right. I don’t want to lose this opportunity, and I don’t want to lose your trust, Horikita-senpai, after you’ve offered me a helping hand.” Nanase seemed to be saying this was a small price to pay to save her classmates. “Besides, even if my class doesn’t recognize me as its leader, I can at least save your class in this special exam, Horikita-senpai.”

If you were to only consider the immediate benefits, then Nanase’s proposal was by no means a bad one. I had to wonder how Horikita would respond.

“Something is very clear to me now. Namely, that I want to form a real partnership with your class,” said Horikita.

“In that case, are you saying that you agree with my proposal?” asked Nanase.

“No. I’m afraid I cannot accept it.”

“But there’s no other way…”

“All your class’s problems will be resolved if we get Housen-kun on our side. You don’t actually want to be the leader. You just don’t like the way Housen-kun does things. Isn’t that so? In that case, if Housen-kun is willing to do this without pay, there should be plenty of other students who’ll support him, right?” said Horikita.

“Well, yes, I suppose. Certainly,” said Nanase.

“Plus, if you and Housen-kun were to oppose one another, it’s possible your class would end up fracturing in two rather than being united as one. We cannot allow that to happen. So how about you allow me to help you change his mind?” said Horikita.

Apparently, this conversation with Nanase had helped Horikita to realize something as well—that as long as we got Housen, the rest of our problems would be solved.

“It’s a risky gamble. If it fails, it might not be possible for our classes to collaborate again in the future,” said Nanase.

“I am prepared for that… Well, no, that’s not quite right. I believe that it’s entirely possible that we can work with one another. And it’s not just me, either. I’m sure Housen-kun is thinking the same thing,” said Horikita.

“Even though he spoke to you so rudely over the phone before?” said Nanase.

“I’ll just take that as him playing hard to get. At least for now.”

Nanase seemed to understand what Horikita was trying to say. She quickly voiced her agreement.

“I see that making time to meet with you today was the correct choice, Horikita-senpai, Ayanokouji-senpai. It would seem my hunch wasn’t wrong, after all.”

“What do you mean? I rejected your proposal, didn’t I?” said Horikita.

“No, you didn’t. Actually, you and I have been of the same mind from the very beginning, Horikita-senpai,” said Nanase.

“Wait… Do you mean to say that you’ve been thinking of trying to persuade him, too?” asked Horikita.

“Correct,” said Nanase.

Apparently, the idea Nanase had pitched, about her becoming a leader, was completely made up. It was a test. If Horikita had chosen to ignore Class 1-D’s future for the short-term profit of our own class, and taken Nanase up on her offer, she probably would’ve turned around and refused to help us.

“Just as you said yourself earlier, we do not have time, Horikita-senpai. We cannot move forward unless we bring everyone together to negotiate, even if that means we need to be a little forceful. Would you please allow me to handle setting up this meeting? I will be sure to bring Housen-kun to you the day after tomorrow, on Sunday, Horikita-senpai,” said Nanase.

It didn’t seem like a test this time, considering she was bowing deeply and asking Horikita for help. If this meeting took place on Sunday, it would mean we’d have even less time remaining, as a result.

Horikita turned her gaze towards me, looking for confirmation. Thinking it was all right to take this gamble, I nodded in response. The hesitation in her eyes vanished.

“I believe you. I look forward to seeing you and Housen-kun the day after tomorrow, on Sunday,” said Horikita.

“Yes… Absolutely. However, we would like to avoid meeting in a public place. It’s quite possible that Housen-kun might act out indiscriminately, depending on how things go,” said Nanase.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. In that case, karaoke might be a good place for us to meet. I don’t mind meeting at night either, if Housen-kun wishes,” said Horikita.

It was certainly true that meeting late at night on a Sunday would substantially lower the risk of being seen by anyone.

“Understood. I’ll be sure to let him know,” said Nanase.

Just as the conversation got to a point where our plans were taking shape, Horikita’s phone rang. She looked at the message she’d received and let out a sigh.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“It’s time for the study group. It seems like they’re short on people, with me not there,” said Horikita.

It had already gotten to be five thirty before I even realized it.

“I think that we’ve wrapped things up here. Can I ask you to handle the rest?” asked Horikita.

“Sure.”

Horikita gave Nanase a quick, polite bow, then gathered up her things and headed to the study group with our classmates. Trying to support our entire class required her to run all over the place and do all kinds of things.

“She is quite busy, isn’t she? Horikita-senpai, I mean,” said Nanase.

“That’s what it’s like to keep a class together,” I told her.

“I hope I can become as impressive as her a year from now…”

“Horikita didn’t ask for any details, but just wondering—how do you intend to draw Housen out, anyway?” I asked.

“Well… I’m happy to answer that question, Ayanokouji-senpai, but I’d like you to tell me something about yourself.”

“Something about me?”

The sun was starting to set outside, the world glowing a brilliant orange color.

“Horikita-senpai is the class leader. But you’re different, aren’t you, Ayanokouji-senpai?” asked Nanase.

I see. It seemed Nanase wasn’t sure I was the appropriate person to be here right now. If I said I was only here because Horikita forced me to come along with her, it would probably backfire and cause Nanase to clam up.

“Senpai… What kind of person are you?” she asked.

When I didn’t answer her questions, Nanase propped her arm on the desk in front of her, showing me her side profile. It looked like some kind of defensive strategy on her part, to prevent anyone but me from reading her facial expression and mouth movements.

“Can you please answer me?” she asked.

“Well, Nanase, it sounds like what you want to ask me isn’t what kind of relationship I have with Horikita,” I replied.

She was asking something entirely different. She was asking me what kind of human being I am.

“That’s right. I believe you’re an evil, disgusting human being, Ayanokouji-senpai . That’s what I think,” said Nanase.

Those were some incredibly dramatic, intense words that she hurled at me. But despite the content of her statement, Nanase looked straight at me without hesitation, and with almost an overabundance of honesty. I honestly had no idea what I’d done to make her look at me like that. Considering all the interaction we’d had so far, she should only have had trivial, surface-level information about me.

Also, despite the issues that arose from my lack of chemistry with people, I didn’t recall ever having been called evil before. Nanase Tsubasa might be the person I was looking for. The one sent from the White Room.

There were reasons why I thought that. Even though getting me expelled was the most important directive for the agent, it wasn’t like they would carry that task out routinely or robotically. Rather, they’d come into close contact with the person known as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and observe him. That was what I thought. They wouldn’t just want to get me expelled. They would want to prove that they were definitively better than me.

Well, I supposed that if they didn’t do as much, he would never approve of them.

If I were on their side and had to get Ayanokouji Kiyotaka expelled, I would probably think that way. However, what she’d just said to me also sounded rather out of character for someone who came from the White Room, like I did.

“When I’m talking with you like this, you look like a normal person to me, Ayanokouji-senpai,” said Nanase.

“Does that mean you usually see me as someone who isn’t normal?” I asked in return.

“…No. That’s not what I’m saying,” said Nanase.

She denied it, but I wondered if that was what she really thought, deep down. I’d run into Nanase four times now, and sensed her giving me a strange look in each of those encounters. I felt like I was about to find out where her loyalties lay, but the opportunity quickly slipped from my grasp.

“I’m sorry, but please just forget we ever talked about this. What’s important right now is whether our classes can cooperate with one another,” said Nanase.

We both got up from our seats and left the library. Just as we were about to go our separate ways, I remembered something I had wanted to ask her.

“Oh, come to think of it, when we were talking about losing three months’ worth of Private Points, you said you’d only lose two hundred and forty thousand. Why is that, anyway?” I asked.

When I asked her that question, Nanase no longer wore the expression she had only moments before. Her face was back to normal.

“Why? I simply calculated that if we were to retain the eight hundred Class Points which we were granted when we started school here, then we would end up with two hundred and forty thousand points as a result is all…” she said, sounding perplexed.

Apparently, this year’s batch of new students had a different starting line than we did.

“Last year, we were given a total of a thousand Class Points at first,” I told her.

“Huh? So, you’re saying that we were given two hundred points less, then?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I wonder what things are like for Class A and Class B in your grade level.”

“I think that they started with eight hundred points as well. That was how Shiba-sensei explained things to us,” said Nanase.

Why wasn’t there any official notification put out for that, though? I imagined that if you knew that you were being given fewer Class Points than previous years had gotten, you would feel like it was a little unfair. Did the school officials simply decide that it wasn’t worth showing that much consideration for the new students, because they felt like eighty thousand Private Points was quite a lot of money as is?

No—even if that were the case, they should have informed everyone right at the start, rather than try to hide it out of laziness and risk having students find out and come back to complain about it later. The students would have been more satisfied if they had put out some statement ahead of time. There were a number of other things that we knew were different from how they were last year.

“You do know that what you do every day has an effect on your Class Points, right?” I told her.

The homeroom instructor for Class 1-D, Shiba-sensei, had said something earlier that made me think they already knew. He said, “ I’m also quite sure that the school rules have been drilled into you so much by now that your head feels like it could explode .”

“Yes. We were told that, ‘Tardiness, absences, and chatting during class time will influence your Class Points,’” replied Nanase.

Was it possible that the school had reduced the number of Class Points they were awarded after taking into consideration the fact that they’d gone to the trouble of disclosing the rules to the new students right at the beginning? We knew that societal contribution was an important metric in OAA, so even if it was hidden, the students probably would’ve found out anyway.

Though I was about to tell her that I understood and accepted her answer, I saw that Nanase was lost in thought for a bit. Then she got a look on her face like she’d just thought of something, but only for a moment. Immediately afterward, the look disappeared. It was a very subtle gesture. I noticed it precisely because I had met with her quite frequently over the past few days.

However, since Nanase didn’t say anything, I decided that I’d refrain from pressing her about it. We walked out of the library together and made it to the entranceway.

“Well, then, senpai, if you’ll please excuse me,” said Nanase.

Just as she was about to go, though, I called out to her and stopped her in her tracks.

“Nanase, this isn’t meant as a thank-you for telling me about the whole Class Points thing earlier or anything, but have you heard about something called Protection Points?” I asked.

“Protection Points? No, I haven’t heard about those before,” she answered.

“It’s a system where students who have those Protection Points can essentially use them to protect themselves from penalties that would normally end in expulsion. But considering the fact that very few people in our grade level have them, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about them,” I replied.

“Hm, I see… Why are you telling me this, though?” said Nanase.

“Because you gave me information. I just thought I should give you a little bit in return.”

After saying my piece, she and I parted ways.

I had decided to test Nanase’s skills. To see if she could make use of what I’d just told her.

6.4

A LTHOUGH IT HAD TAKEN some time for everything to come together, it was decided that we were going to have a discussion with Housen (albeit forcefully), thanks to Nanase’s dedicated cooperation. The situation was still entirely unpredictable, but it was still a definite step forward.

A little before six o’clock that evening, my doorbell rang. Kei must have only just gotten back to the dorms from the school building, because she was wearing her uniform, not her regular clothes.

“You know, there’s lots of people coming and going at this time of day, so I had to be pretty careful. Like, I had to use the stairs and stuff , ” said Kei.

There probably weren’t many girls who’d be coming to a boy’s room, and even fewer who would visit for an extended period of time. That kind of thing didn’t happen often unless a guy and a girl were dating.

“All right, let’s get started, then,” I told her.

“Huh?! Come on, aren’t we like, gonna do some other stuff first?” wailed Kei.

She didn’t take out her study materials. It sounded like she had wanted to chat instead. But time was limited. The later it got, the less time there would be to study.

“If there are no problems with your academics, then we can chat as much as you want,” I told her.

“Hmph…”

“First of all, we need to find out what you’re good at and what you’re not so good at.”

“How are you going to find that out?” asked Kei.

“With these,” I replied.

I took out five test sheets. Keisei had made them for our group, to check what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses were. They were extremely useful to have, considering how much time it would’ve taken to have carefully screen through the number of questions needed to get things started. Horikita and Yousuke had used these sample tests in their own study groups, too.

“Most of our classmates have already been tested with these,” I told her.

“Oh…”

“There’s a ten-minute time limit per sheet. Go ahead and get started.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

Despite her grumpy response, Kei got started on the tests. After fifty minutes had passed, she collapsed onto the table like a limp noodle.

“Ugh, I’m so worn out…!”

“You did good. So you are able to concentrate on regular tests, after all.”

“Oh come on. I’ve been studying all day today, it’s tiring. It’s not like I can just flip a switch,” she huffed.

As she grumbled, I quickly finished grading her tests.

“Okay. I think I have a good understanding of what your abilities are, Kei,” I told her.

“H-how’d I do?” she asked.

She didn’t seem to know that herself, because she was looking at me with eyes filled with both expectation and anxiousness.

“You will definitely be going to Yousuke’s study group from tomorrow,” I told her.

“What?!”

“There’s nothing to panic about. But to be honest, if you don’t keep up your studies, you’ll be in imminent danger of getting expelled.”

“B-But, hold on, my partner’s Shimazaki-san. He’s got a B minus, right? So, I’ll be okay, won’t I?” asked Kei.

“The passing score for this special exam is five hundred and one points. Someone like you, Kei, who doesn’t study enough, would probably get about two hundred points, give or take. Whereas Shimazaki would probably get around three hundred and fifty. It’s hard to imagine that getting an assumed total of only five hundred and fifty points puts you entirely in the clear. And on top of that, if this Shimazaki dislikes studying like you do, then it’s actually quite possible that he could end up scoring less than three hundred points,” I told her.

And if that were to happen, there was a very good chance that she would fall below that five-hundred-point threshold.

“I’m starting to feel really scared all of a sudden…” said Kei quietly.

“Which is why it’s important we get you to a place where you can definitely get a score of two hundred and fifty points on the test, as soon as possible.”

This test was designed in such a way that even a D+ student should be able to score that well if they studied efficiently.

“Um, hey, I kinda have a question, though,” said Kei.

“A question?”

“I mean, you’re gonna tutor me and all, but don’t you have a C in academic ability, Kiyotaka? So, doesn’t that mean you’re average? But I bet in reality, you like… You can do way better than that, can’t you?” said Kei.

“Something like that.”

“It’s just like how you’re really good at fighting, too. Why do you hide it all so much?” asked Kei.

“I don’t want to stand out. So I don’t try to get high scores is all,” I replied.

“Okay, so, like, how many points do you think you could get if you were serious about it?” asked Kei.

“No idea.”

“Come on, don’t mess with me. Just tell me!” said Kei, forcefully but playfully pushing my shoulder and smiling at me as she pleaded.

“I’ll be more than happy to answer your question if you show up and put in the work at the study group from tomorrow onward.”

“I’ll go, totally. I feel, like, a sense of impending danger from what you just told me,” she admitted.

“Instead of telling you how many points I can get, though, I’ll tell you how many points I’ve decided I’m going to get,” I told her.

“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean? That’s a pretty incredible claim to make,” said Kei.

There were a total of five subjects. I had no intention of slacking off in any individual subject, considering I had to compete against Horikita in one. However, if I actually put everything I had into each subject, then my reputation amongst my peers would change dramatically.

“Four hundred points,” I told her.

“…Wait, for real? Four hundred points, that’s definitely…”

“The equivalent of an A rank.”

That was a level only a select few bright students in our class, like Horikita and Keisei, could reach. It would’ve been more accurate for me to have said near four hundred points, but there was probably no need to amend my statement now.

“A-and you’re saying that you can get that score if you want to?” asked Kei.

“Of course. There hasn’t been a single problem that I thought I couldn’t solve since I enrolled here.”

I didn’t know how many highly difficult questions would be included in this exam, but compared to the kind of studies I’d undergone in the White Room, it seemed fair to assume it was going to be pretty easy. Noticing Kei seemed to have a blank look on her face, unable to understand what I was just telling her, I decided to pull her back down to Earth.

“Now that you can see the big picture, I want you to keep that sense of impending danger in mind, and focus,” I told her.

“Okay… I guess I’ll study here for a bit and head back to my room then…”

It was only a little after seven at night, so there was nothing wrong with her sticking around for another hour or so. It would also be helpful for me, so that I could tell Yousuke more clearly what kind of level Kei was at tomorrow.

“Okay. Well, then, let’s get started right away.”.

“Hey, over here,” said Kei.

“Hm?”

I had intended to get started while we sat across from one another, but Kei lightly patted the floor next to her.

“Tutor me from right here, next to me,” said Kei.

6.5

W E SPENT A LITTLE OVER an hour together in my room. During that time, I gave Kei advice while she studied. I got the impression that she fundamentally had a good head on her shoulders, but the fact that she hadn’t taken her studies seriously all this time was holding her back. I didn’t plan to point that out to her, though.

If Kei had just been neglecting her studies from an early stage, I could’ve admonished her over it, but in her case, it was the abuse she had suffered in junior high that had prevented her from getting a legitimate education. So because she didn’t properly learn the ‘basics’ in junior high, she was struggling in her classes in high school. When I considered all of that, I’d say she was actually doing quite well.

Guiding her with compassion and giving her advice was probably the correct decision. If she could come to feel that studying wasn’t a painful experience, she might even start growing and maturing in a big way, just like Sudou.

“Um…”

“What’s up?” I asked.

Kei suddenly started looking down at the floor. Then, after what seemed like a few seconds of continued staring at the floor, she reached out and grabbed something.

I had thought maybe a small piece of garbage or some dust was laying there or something, but…

“What… is this?” asked Kei, holding her arm out to show me something she was holding between her index finger and thumb.

It was a single strand of long red hair.

“Looks like a hair,” I replied.

When I came right out and said what I thought, Kei’s face gradually transformed more and more into that of a raging demon’s.

“A red hair! And…and…it’s a long one! No matter how you look at it, it’s gotta be a girl’s hair!” she shouted.

Well, yeah, she was probably right about that. It was physically impossible for that to be my hair, considering the length. And my hair also had a completely different quality to it, of course.

The person the hair belonged to immediately sprang to mind. It had to be Amasawa Ichika, who had made me cook for her the other day.

“Who did you have over?!” asked Kei.

She was probably asking me because she had no idea who it could have come from, out of our classmates or others.

“Wait, is this that thing? Jealousy…?” I asked.

“Well, is that a bad thing?! I’m your girlfriend, Kiyotaka! I have the right to keep an eye on you when it comes to this stuff!”

This was the first time I had heard of a right like that. In any case, I supposed there was one lesson I should take from this. Namely, after inviting a girl into your room, you should clean thoroughly.

I’d thought the lesson would end there, but the disaster was still ongoing. While I was racking my brain over how best to explain myself, my doorbell rang without warning. The sound echoed throughout my room. And then, an image of the lobby was displayed on the monitor.

I, the resident of this room, wasn’t the only one curious about who had just rung my bell. Kei was, too. We both peeked at the video on the monitor.

On the screen, we saw the figure of Amasawa, waving, with a big grin on her face. The first person to react wasn’t me, but rather, Kei, still clutching the red hair in her hand.

“Red hair. A girl I haven’t seen before…” she muttered.

It was almost like she was solving a mystery on a children’s detective show. Kei reached out and pressed the call button before I could do it myself.

“Hello, who is it?!” asked Kei, her voice containing rather overt tones of anger.

Amasawa was, of course, visibly surprised.

“Huh? Wait, this is… room four-oh-one, right? Ayanokouji-senpai’s room?” she said.

I forcefully pulled Kei’s arm away, and I took over.

“Sorry. It’s me. What do you want?” I asked.

She was an unexpected visitor, but I couldn’t just let Kei deal with it. Putting the matter of Amasawa aside, there was also the problem of people coming and going in the lobby being able to hear that Kei and I were together.

“Oh, is someone there with you? Should I come back later? There was something I wanted to talk to you about, so I thought I’d drop by,” said Amasawa.

Even though Kei was glaring at me, she gestured for me to let her come on up, rather than turning her away. Apparently, she wanted to be certain the hair belonged to Amasawa.

“Nah, it’s okay. Come on up,” I told her.

I pushed the unlock button and let Amasawa come in through the lobby.

“Are you sure this is okay? Other students are going to know you’re here,” I said to Kei.

“…Oh.”

Apparently, she’d gotten so angry that the blood rushed to her head and she lost track of things. Kei was the one who’d told me we should keep the fact that we were boyfriend and girlfriend a secret from everyone else for now, still. If we casually bumped into someone else while together, there was a chance rumors of that sort might start going around.

“Well, it’s a little late for all that. We’ll just have to try and hide it,” said Kei.

In any case, Amasawa had already heard Kei’s voice, and rushing to get rid of her wouldn’t really have much of an effect. In fact, we had to consider the possibility that doing so would lead to some strange speculation.

About a minute or so later, Amasawa must have reached the fourth floor. The doorbell for my room rang.

“I’ll let her in, so just sit here and wait for now,” I told Kei.

“O-… Okay.”

I went to my front door and welcomed Amasawa.

“Sorry for dropping by so suddenly, Ayanokouji-senpai,” said Amasawa.

After examining the look on my face, she took a look at the shoes near the entranceway, in calculating fashion. How to put it…? The way she looked around the room… It seemed like what they called a woman’s intuition.

“Girlfriend?” said Amasawa, asking me straight out, with a big grin.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Aww, you didn’t bite. Well, to tell you the truth, senpai, I think I might have forgotten something in your room.”

“You forgot something?” I repeated.

“My favorite hair tie. I can’t seem to find it anywhere…”

So she’d come by my room after realizing it had gone missing, huh?

“In that case, come on in,” I told her.

I couldn’t exactly make her just stand there and wait, so I decided to let her come inside. I thought it would be quicker to let Amasawa explain things than for me to try to come up with petty excuses about the hair.

“Sorry to barge in like this!” Amasawa entered my room, completely unconcerned about the presence of the other guest who had arrived before her. She must have been on her way back from school, because she still had her book bag in her hands.

She then came face to face with Kei, who had been sitting and waiting.

“Oh, hello! I’m Amasawa Ichika,” she said.

“Hi.” Kei looked clearly unhappy about this, but she seemed like she was putting up with it, in her own way.

“Oh, you’re my senpai too, right? I’d love to know your name.”

“…Karuizawa Kei.”

“Karuizawa-senpai, huh? Oh, looks like you two were studying together. Are you his girlfriend, by any chance? Ayanokouji-senpai dodged the question earlier when I tried asking him, so I wanted to try again,” said Amasawa.

It was a bit of a gift to be able to just come right out and ask whatever you wanted, without hesitation.

“That’s really none of your business, is it? Actually, hold on, what about you? What’s your relationship with Kiyotaka?” asked Kei.

Although the fact that Kei called me by my first name naturally made Amasawa suspect even more that there was something going on, she looked around my room.

“I’ll answer your question in just a sec, so hold on, okay? Hmm… I don’t see it anywhere at first glance. I’m sure I took it off when I was last here, though. Hmm… Maybe it rolled along the floor somewhere?” said Amasawa.

Paying absolutely no mind to Kei glaring at her, she got down on her knees, trying to peek under the bed. As she did so, her skirt rode up, naturally accentuating her rear end, which was positioned facing us.

“Oh… senpai? I feel like this might look a little bit naughty ,” teased Amasawa, looking back at us. Her tone suggested she was doing it on purpose.

Kei reacted quickly and immediately, turning her head to direct her glare at me.

“I’ll try looking for it,” I told them.

I started searching, seeing if the hair tie had gotten under the bed somehow.

“Hey, can you not ignore me? Answer the question,” said Kei.

“Hmm, let’s see, I guess Ayanokouji-senpai is my… Hm, what’s the best way to put it? My personal chef?” said Amasawa.

“Huh? Wait, what?” Kei, unable to understand what she was talking about, looked over at me once again. And she was glaring at me more intensely than she was moments before.

“She’s Sudou’s partner. Some stuff happened, and we became acquainted. I ended up serving her a meal once,” I told Kei.

“Okay, sorry, but I really don’t get what you’re saying at all. Why did you cook for Sudou-kun’s partner?” asked Kei.

Well, considering she’d only heard the general outline of what happened, it was understandable she’d be confused. I responded by explaining the situation more in depth, while continuing to search for the hair tie underneath the bed.

“Oh, can I go and look in the kitchen too, just in case? I might have taken it off there when I was washing dishes. Oh, but please keep looking in the room yourself, senpai. Like maybe under the closet or something?” said Amasawa.

“All right.”

I didn’t find anything under the bed, so I started looking around the closet next. Kei then came up close to me.

“Wait, hold on a second… This whole thing about her hair tie maybe being here… What is that supposed to mean?!” said Kei, in a hushed voice, trying to confirm what was going on.

“I already told you. I invited Amasawa over and cooked a meal for her the one time. That’s all.”

“I-is that really all that happened?” said Kei.

“Of course it is,” I answered.

“…Really?” she asked.

It seemed like even if I said as much, she wasn’t going to believe me so easily.

“I’m gonna check with that girl and make sure that’s true,” said Kei.

Just as she tried to stand back up, though, I forcefully grabbed her arm. Then, I quickly brought my index finger up to my lips and gestured to her to be quiet. Kei was quick on the uptake at times like this, and didn’t cause any fuss.

“I want you to search the area too,” I told her.

“O-Okay,” she replied.

Even though she didn’t understand my intentions, she seemed to understand that it was important, and she started helping me search.

“Oh! Ayanokouji-senpai, it’s here!” said Amasawa, her voice echoing from the kitchen.

When Kei and I both peeked into the kitchen at the same time, Amasawa showed us the hair tie, held in the palm of her hand.

“Looks like it fell in the gap between the counter and the fridge,” she said, smiling happily as she spoke, tucking the item into her pocket. “Anyway, it feels like I kinda got in the middle of something here, so I’ll be going now.”

“Sorry for all the commotion,” I told her.

“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have forgotten it in the first place. Anyway, sorry again about bothering you!” said Amasawa, quickly grabbing her bag and putting on her shoes in the entranceway. “But y’know, you really are a smooth operator, senpai, aren’t you? I never imagined you’d have yourself such a cute girlfriend.”

She put a finger up against her cheek, as if pretending to think something over.

“Yeah, come to think of it, that’s a good point. Next time I have you cook for me, it might not be a good idea for us to be alone together,” she added.

“Obviously!” yelled Kei.

“In that case… Karuizawa-senpai will just have to eat with us, then. Anyway, goodbye!” said Amasawa.

She arrived like a whirlwind and departed in the same manner.

“Seems like you’ve gotten acquainted with a pretty cute kouhai, huh, Kiyotaka?” said Kei.

“You’re probably not going to listen to me no matter what I say, are you?”

The atmosphere was no longer conducive to tutoring. I couldn’t do anything but explain what had really happened over and over to Kei until she was satisfied.

6.6

F RIDAY CAME AND WENT , and now Saturday, our day off, was here. I’d had many opportunities to interact with the younger students during the week as a result of the special exam. There was my encounter with Amasawa from Class 1-A, which in turn led me to having to make her a home-cooked meal to secure a partner for Sudou. Then there were the discussions with Nanase regarding entering into an agreement with Class 1-D.

Other than what was going on with me, Kushida had had a discussion with Yagami from Class 1-B. Thanks to Kushida asking him to introduce people to some of his friends, we had managed to secure partnerships for Kei and other students in our class. While the importance of this special exam depended on your point of view, I was sure it would be deeply significant in terms of interaction between grade levels. Many students already knew the names and faces of the students in the grade above or below them, and even knew what kind of grades they had.

We had also ascertained what kind of tendencies each class had. Class 1-A did not have a clear leader at the moment. I got the impression each student was essentially free to do what they wanted. One of the reasons they were allowed to do so was the class’s overall excellent grades. True to their name, they had the highest number of students with a B- or better out of the four classes in their grade level.

Many of the more academically inclined students had already individually negotiated their own terms with Class 2-A or 2-C, using points. And though there were naturally some students in their class who had been classified as D- in terms of academic ability, they were also picked up by Class 2-A because they excelled in other areas. Of the forty students in Class 1-A, thirty-four had already confirmed partnerships.

Class 1-B exhibited similar trends to A, in that they still didn’t have a clear leader. Also, the good students were selling themselves off individually one after another. The difference was that most of these partnerships weren’t with Class 2-A, but with Class 2-C. I wondered if that was due to the fact that Ryuuen and his ilk were offering a larger sum of points than Sakayanagi was. The exact details of the situation were unclear at the moment, but currently, thirty-three of their students had settled on partners.

As for Class 1-D, Housen had total control, ruling his class with an iron fist. If I had to compare it to anything in our year, I’d say it was almost exactly the same as how Ryuuen used to do things. What was interesting to me was that Class D was also the class with the least number of partnerships out of everyone. We would probably find out more details when we meet on Sunday.

And finally, there was Class 1-C. The class I had hardly interacted with at all over the past week. I had already committed the names of their students to memory, but their class had never come up in conversation, not even from Horikita. What was the primary reason for this? Well, it was the meet-and-greet event spearheaded by Ichinose from Class 2-B. As a result of that, many students from their class had confirmed partnership agreements.

Ten students from their class still hadn’t finalized their partnerships yet, but of those ten, none had a D- or lower in academic ability. In other words, almost everyone in their class had successfully managed to secure a safe position. Perhaps there was someone helping organize things within their class, and they had successfully managed to save their classmates by way of the meet-and-greet event.

Just past noon, I booted up the OAA app, and looked up the partnerships that had been formed as of today.

“A hundred and five partnerships formed. Close to seventy percent then, huh?”

If you looked at the number of people in the library yesterday, you could see most students had wanted to get things wrapped up before the weekend. There was more movement in Class 1-D, and now a total of eight students from their class had confirmed partnerships. I wasn’t sure if the fact that it was the weekend now was making Housen impatient…

Well, at any rate, the remaining number of first-year students who hadn’t yet picked a partner was fifty-five, and for second-years, fifty-two. If there was a White Room agent hiding among those remaining students, then the odds of me getting partnered with them were pretty high. To be honest, there was no guarantee that I wasn’t going to end up choosing the White Room student, because they weren’t showing themselves at all.

I’d been dragging things out, hoping something would present itself along the way so that I could determine if someone were a safe choice or not, but I was reaching my limit now. I was going to need to decide before my options dwindled down even further.

Though we were close to negotiating with Class 1-D, I wanted to have other options available to me. I decided to head over to Keyaki Mall on Saturday afternoon to expand my possibilities.

6.7

N ATURALLY, THE MALL on a Saturday was positively packed with students, particularly ones who’d already confirmed their partnerships for the special exam. Since they had no need to panic in that regard anymore, they were just studying with their friends in preparation for the written exam next week, and having fun, to relax a bit. I hadn’t come into contact with any first-year students yet, but even so, I felt like if there was a White Room agent nearby, I would’ve encountered them.

Still, I didn’t have a gut feeling that anyone I had met was the agent. If I had to pick one example of such a feeling, I’d have to say it was the feeling I got back when I was talking with Nanase in the library. Most likely, Tsukishiro or someone else close to them had thoroughly taught the agent how to really act like a “student.” The problem wasn’t whether they had a personality with some quirks or not. The problem was whether they could completely mask the scent that betrayed them as someone from the White Room.

I’d been in a comparable situation myself a year ago, when I first came to this school. There were disadvantages and drawbacks of being raised without any knowledge of the world. Namely, I didn’t know what it was like to be a student at all. That was naturally something we weren’t taught in the White Room, as they had never intended for us to be sent to school.

Which was why, after coming here, I had briefly tried coming up with a character that I could “act out” appropriately. I tried various things, like being more talkative than I usually was and changing my tone of voice. Being a somewhat cocky student with a kind of cynical, shrewd view of the world. Well…

In the end, I found it kind of tedious to put on an act, so I quickly went back to being my regular self. Because I had come to realize that I could still be a “student” here without hiding my original self.

But the person the White Room had sent in now was different. They were putting up a front, camouflaging themselves as a student to prevent me from finding out their true identity. I had no idea if they were playing the part of a quirky student or if they were playing a blank slate. Either way, I probably wasn’t going to see through their act all that easily. Anyone who had managed to survive in that world could not be underestimated, regardless of their gender.

Even though I was confident I could win when it came to individual skill, I was in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position due to essentially being forced to go on the defensive. My opponent could get me expelled in any way they chose, while the only thing I could do was defend myself by trying to detect what they were planning.

After I finished dropping into Humming and was on my way back, I happened to bump into Sakayanagi.

“My, it seems you’re being quite proactive in engaging with the new students, hm? Ayanokouji-kun?”

“Well, that’s because this exam leaves students with low scores no choice but to fight desperately for their lives. I’m just helping Horikita find partners for Sudou and Ike.”

“I see. It’s certainly true that if either of those two drew the short straw, so to speak, and ended up with a poor excuse for a partner, expulsion would be imminent.” Sakayanagi seemed to accept what I’d said, but our conversation didn’t end there. “But is that really all there is to it?”

“Meaning what?” I asked in return.

“Well, I was wondering if perhaps…the White Room, or something similar to it, had sent in an assassin among the first-year students to get you expelled, Ayanokouji-kun? Even if you were to get a perfect score on the exam, if your partner got zero points, then both you and your partner would be expelled. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but I just happened to let my imagination run wild about this special exam, and came to the conclusion it might be particularly troublesome for you,” said Sakayanagi.

I tried to play dumb, but this sounded like it was more than just an idea that had popped into Sakayanagi’s head as a mere possibility. She spoke as if she had known from the very beginning that such a scenario was inevitable.

“You can’t possibly continue to live a quiet life here at this school forever, can you? If your opponent were so inclined, they certainly wouldn’t mind making your true abilities known to everyone, Ayanokouji-kun. Though I suppose if you can maintain an enjoyable life here at school regardless, this will all prove to be needless apprehension on my part,” she added.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“May I inquire as to your reasoning for saying so?”

“I’m going to abandon my old way of thinking. The way I’ve been thinking until now. I’m not planning on holding back anymore.”

Right now, continuing my life here at this school was my top priority. If I kept doing things halfway, I might find the rug pulled out right from under me.

“I see. Well, I suppose you’ve shown some of your abilities to Mashima-sensei, so it might be more convenient for you to boldly go ahead and lay everything bare now,” replied Sakayanagi, apparently quite thrilled to hear this. “Well then, I’ll get right to the point. If you haven’t settled on a partner for yourself as of yet, may I lend you my assistance to save you the trouble? I have only a vague idea, mind you, but there are certainly some first-year students still available who come to mind. They are children who will not adversely affect you, should they offer to partner with you, Ayanokouji-kun.”

It sounded as though Sakayanagi had gone to the trouble of doing some digging herself, trying to determine which students were safe choices for me.

“That’s very generous of you. But I’ll have to decline your offer,” I replied.

“Do you not trust my judgment?” she asked in return.

She had already seen right through me quite some time ago. She knew I needed to come to a decision soon.

“I acknowledge your abilities. But I’ll be the one to decide my own fate.”

If I failed after entrusting my fate to someone else, I’d have nothing left but regret.

“Besides, I have a pretty good idea of how I’m going to fight this,” I added.

“Oh, is that so? Well then, I will refrain from saying anything uncouth. I will watch you from afar to see how you acquit yourself in this battle, Ayanokouji-kun. And I look forward to the day we can fight again in the near future,” said Sakayanagi, bowing to me before walking off somewhere.

She didn’t even consider me getting expelled a possibility. In that sense, I supposed she had immense faith in me, huh?

6.8

W HILE I WAS ON MY WAY BACK to the dorms from Keyaki Mall, I heard a somewhat slow, strained voice call out to me from behind.

“Excuse me, do you have a minute?”

When I turned around, I saw a boy and a girl staring back at me. The girl seemed to be alternating looking at me and looking at her phone. She was Tsubaki Sakurako, from Class 1-C. Her companion was from the same class. His name was Utomiya Riku.

“You’re…Ayanokouji-senpai, from Class 2-D, right?”

I couldn’t see the screen of the girl’s phone because of the angle, but she most likely had the OAA app open.

“My name is Utomiya, and her name is Tsubaki. May we talk with you about a partnership?” asked Utomiya.

“About a partnership?” I repeated.

“Yes. We’re going around looking for senpai with Cs or higher in academic ability, to see if anyone can help us,” he replied.

Since I had been out and about looking for a partner myself, this felt too good to be true. It was almost like they were waiting for me to show up. Should I see someone who blatantly walked up to me as dangerous? Or conversely, should I see them as safe? Well, no—the most dangerous thing would be for me to make a judgment based on the issue of their timing alone.

“I’ve been having a pretty tough time finding a partner myself. Can you tell me a little bit more?” I asked.

With the app, you could understand what a student looked like and what their name was, as well as what grades they had. But you couldn’t get a sense of their personality, which was precisely why it was necessary to meet face-to-face, so that each party could determine if the other was trustworthy.

Incidentally, Utomiya had already found a partner, but Tsubaki had yet to find one for herself. Her academic ability certainly wasn’t high. Only a C-. I was sure she wanted to be partnered up with someone who had a C or better. It seemed these two were out together looking for someone from my grade level with a C or higher, but were they looking to help Tsubaki find a partner? Or were they looking for someone for another classmate?

“I’d prefer not to stand around here and chat though. How about we talk at the café?” Utomiya took the lead in the conversation, speaking to me quite respectfully and suggesting we talk somewhere else.

This definitely wasn’t something that could be decided upon in a minute or two, so I accepted his proposal to change venues.

It was crowded, but we found an empty space in the corner of the café and sat down there.

“I apologize for being hasty, but we’d like to get right into it, if you don’t mind,” said Utomiya. He then looked over at Tsubaki and motioned for her to speak up.

“I don’t like having to owe anyone anything, and I don’t like anyone having to owe me anything. I’m not a fan of debts. So, I want a relationship that won’t come back to bite me,” said Tsubaki, looking at her nails as she spoke. She sounded both laid-back and candid.

It was true there was little difference between a C- and a C, meaning the person with the higher ranking couldn’t really feel superior in such a situation.

“Can I ask you something that’s been bothering me?” I asked in return.

“Yes, go ahead,” said Utomiya.

“The majority of students are around C rank. Why didn’t she find a partner sooner, then?”

Sure, you wouldn’t get a high score that way, but you could avoid getting expelled. I was sure some second-years would have gladly partnered with Tsubaki. The fact that she remained available all this time, through the first half of the exam period, was worrisome.

“Well—”

Utomiya started to speak, but then went silent for a moment, the words getting stuck in his throat. Upon noticing him struggling, Tsubaki turned and looked at me, actually making eye contact for the first time during this entire conversation.

“That’s my bad. I never said anything,” said Tsubaki.

Utomiya used what she said as a starting point and supplemented it with his own explanation. “Tsubaki didn’t talk to anyone about finding a partner. I’m guessing she got impatient once Friday rolled around, because she came up to me for the first time and asked me what she should do…”

So, Tsubaki’s classmate Utomiya had begun helping her find a partner in a race against the clock. It seemed most of the students in their class had already found partners. Even though there was still a week left in the exam period, it was understandable that they’d be panicking.

“Considering Tsubaki’s academic ability, the five percent penalty could be a problem,” said Utomiya.

That seemed to be why they had approached me, a student with a C ranking. If this were a normal situation, I might have readily agreed to their request. However, there was a reason I couldn’t just make a snap judgment and say yes to them right off the bat. That was because what was happening here was strikingly similar to a scenario I had imagined when the special exam had just begun. Namely, the fact that the students I had the highest probability of getting partnered with were people with the same academic ability ranking as me.

And now Tsubaki, a student with a C- ranking, had come to me in search of a partner. I had only just met Tsubaki and Utomiya for the first time. So, the first thing I needed to do was get a feel for what they were like.

“I wanted to ask you something. You said you were going around looking for a partner. How many people did you talk to before you came up to me?” I asked.

I thought I’d start with finding that one. But the response I got from Utomiya was rather unexpected.

“I’m sorry. I suppose it might have been a bit underhanded of me to say that. To tell you the truth, you’re the first person we’ve talked to, Ayanokouji-senpai,” said Utomiya, apologizing to me directly, as jumping ahead of what I might be speculating. “If that means you’re not willing to partner with her, Ayanokouji-senpai, we’ll just look for someone else.”

“Oh, okay. You’re saying that I just happened to be the first person you talked to, is all.”

“It was a coincidence that we approached you, but there is a reason you’re the first, Ayanokouji-senpai. We thought if we asked a student from Class 2-A or 2-C, we might need to strike a deal using Private Points,” said Utomiya.

I see. It was certainly true that first-year students were being bought up by second-year students right now. In a situation like this, if they were to request that someone partner with Tsubaki, it wouldn’t be surprising if a certain number of points were involved in the transaction.

But she wasn’t requesting to be partnered with a student with excellent grades or anything. There were still quite a few students remaining, so there was probably a good chance she could easily team up with someone. It was unlikely they hadn’t already considered all of that.

That being said, it would probably sound a little strange if I responded to them by saying something like, “I think it’ll be okay, so why don’t you try Class 2-A or Class C?” Objectively speaking, there wasn’t a single reason for me to be reluctant to accept the offer to partner with Tsubaki. The options available to me were limited.

“I don’t currently have a partner, but I have found a potential candidate. We’ve discussed things a few times to see if we can actually work together,” I told them.

What I said was only half true, but there was no way the two of them could know that for sure. Furthermore, if saying that was enough to make them back off, it was highly likely that Tsubaki was a safe choice as a partner.

“Oh, so you have… I see,” replied Utomiya, sounding somewhat troubled, casting a glance over at Tsubaki.

“In that case, guess there’s nothing we can do, right? It’ll probably be faster to just start looking for someone else,” said Tsubaki, deciding to back off as soon as she heard I already had a candidate in mind.

“Just for reference… What first-year student are you planning on teaming up with?” asked Utomiya, somewhat insistently, though Tsubaki herself had already disengaged from the conversation.

“Can’t say. The one thing I can say for sure is it’s not someone in Class 1-C,” I answered.

Though I didn’t go into detail about the reason I couldn’t tell them, I was sure they could hazard a guess. Namely that if I were dealing with someone from a rival class, I couldn’t exactly give out any information about the student I was working with to a potential enemy of theirs.

“Let’s go, Utomiya-kun. We shouldn’t take up any more of Ayanokouji-senpai’s time,” said Tsubaki.

“…Yes, I suppose so.”

I was grateful they had approached me, but I couldn’t make a snap decision. I just had far too little data on Sakurako.

“Just in case, here’s my contact info,” said Utomiya, handing over a piece of paper with his information written on it, which he must have prepared ahead of time.

“This might be kind of self-serving of me, but if the person I’m talking with turns down my offer for partnership, I might call you. If she’s still okay with partnering up with me at that time, I’d be happy to work something out,” I told them.

“I understand. Let’s go, Tsubaki,” said Utomiya.

Tsubaki uncrossed her arms and stood up from her seat. She gave me a gentle bow before leaving with Utomiya, probably in search of other candidates besides me.

“Tsubaki Sakurako and Utomiya Riku. I’ll have to remember them,” I told myself.

Now that I had thrown away my chance of securing a partnership right here and now, my actions from this point onward would be quite important. It wouldn’t be a laughing matter if I ended up getting partnered with a different student who proved to be the wrong choice.

6.9

T WO GIRLS from Class 2-D walked together, side by side. Me, Karuizawa Kei, and my friend Satou Maya-san.

Until a few months ago, we used to hang out a lot. But lately, we’d been seeing each other less and less frequently. Much less frequently. It wasn’t like we’d quarreled or anything, though. It was just that, subconsciously, I’d started to feel guilty as of late. Which made it really hard for me to reach out to her.

“Sorry for calling you out of the blue, Karuizawa-san.”

“Oh, no, it’s totally fine, don’t worry. I was just thinking I wanted to hang out with you too, Satou-san. Besides, it’s been a long time since we went out and did anything together, hasn’t it?” I replied.

“Yeah, definitely, it has! I felt like when we first started here, we were hanging out like all the time.”

I was walking a little bit ahead of Satou-san. I turned to look at her and asked what we were going to do today. “So, what’s up? What do you wanna do? I think it’s kinda early for lunch right now.”

It was only a little after eleven in the morning right now. Satou-san had called me and suggested we take a walk together around Keyaki Mall. However, just as we approached the mall entrance, she quickly spoke up, sounding kind of flustered.

“Oh, um, hey.”

“What’s up?”

“Can we, um…go this way?” she asked, pointing to the path that continued on to the school building, in the exact opposite direction from the mall.

“Wait, toward school? Is there something you need? But we’ve got the day off today, and I’m pretty sure you can’t go in wearing casual clothes, right?”

“I don’t have anything I need at school, but… I just wanted to go somewhere where there aren’t other people around right now,” said Satou-san.

I furrowed my brow in confusion, not really understanding what it was she was trying to say. Well, no, actually. I had an idea of what this might be about. But I pushed it to the back of my mind, trying to convince myself that that couldn’t be it. I kept pretending I didn’t notice anything.

“What’s up, Satou-san? This doesn’t really sound like you. You feeling okay?” I asked.

“…I just wanted to talk a little bit is all,” she answered.

I had a bad feeling about this, but I couldn’t really turn her down right now. So I agreed to her request, and the two of us headed away from the mall and toward the school building.

There wasn’t really anyone around, as you would expect. No one who might hear our conversation.

“All right, out with it. We are friends, right?” I said, getting straight to the point.

What I’d just said wasn’t gentle at all. It was cruel. But even though I was aware of that, I couldn’t stop myself from saying it. Because I was Karuizawa Kei. The leader of the girls in my class. A self-centered person who didn’t think about how anyone else felt, just herself. If I didn’t act that part, everything I’ve done would fall apart.

I was guessing Satou-san’s mental image of me lined up with the way I was talking to her now. That was why she didn’t appear dejected or angry. She would draw her own conclusions from my behavior, seeing Karuizawa Kei as someone who didn’t care and wouldn’t see what she wanted to talk about as anything worth paying attention to.

I hoped that maybe, just maybe, she’d be satisfied with that and this conversation wouldn’t keep going. I hoped that if I acted mean, it would make her want to avoid potentially souring our relationship, and so she wouldn’t bring the topic up after all. But Satou-san didn’t back down.

“Karuizawa-san… Why did you break up with Hirata-kun?” she asked.

“Huh? Didn’t I already tell you the reason?”

Even though her question wasn’t directly related to the subject of Kiyotaka, it was close enough to make my heart jump in my chest. Even so, I managed to keep those feelings from showing, thanks to everything I’d gone through until now.

“I mean, yeah, I’ve heard the reason, more or less. It’s just…something about it doesn’t feel right to me.”

“Really? Y’know, I was thinkin’ it was kinda a waste, how it went down and all. Hey, do you maybe have your sights set on trying to become Hirata-kun’s girlfriend or something?” I asked her.

Satou-san was no longer interested in Kiyotaka. That was what I was hoping to hear, which was why I said what I did, like I was trying to confirm that she was now after someone else. But Satou-san didn’t respond to that. Instead, she came back at me with a question that felt like a surprise attack.

“I was thinking… Is it possible you broke up with Hirata-kun because you actually had a different goal in mind?”

Oh, so she had noticed, after all. She knows that I’ve fallen in love with Kiyotaka, and that our relationship is changing…

“What’re you talking about? I have no clue what you’re trying to say.”

Even now, I was forcing myself into a box. Trying to force myself to be the “normal” persona I’d created. Sooner or later, the day would come when I had to reveal my relationship with Kiyotaka. And when that day came, I’d have no choice but to run away, because I had decided I needed to keep all of it secret.

No matter what Satou-san might say to me, I was determined to, at least on the surface, smooth things completely over.

Well, no. I supposed I should say I thought I was determined to do so.

“…Karuizawa-san… Are you dating Ayanokouji-kun?”

“Huh…?”

Because I got hit with an entirely unexpected gut punch. My reaction was delayed, like I’d just gotten smacked from behind. If I had been talking to any other girl, it would’ve been different. But since I was talking to Satou-san , that delayed reaction was basically a fatal blow. She saw right through me, as if my answer was totally obvious.

If she’d asked me if I liked him or something, I could have handled it. But what Satou-san said went further than that.

“…So, I was right after all, huh?”

“Hey, wait, uh, no, no, why would you even think that?!” I wailed.

I denied it, of course. Whether I actually intended to deny it or not, I did it anyway. Because there was no way I could admit what was going on to her right now.

“Why would you, I mean, I, uh…” I stammered.

I kept trying to deny it, but I just got lost in Satou-san’s eyes. She looked like she was about to cry, but she looked angry, too. That was totally fair. She’d trusted me and come to me asking for advice on how to get Kiyotaka into a relationship. And I’d cooperated with her, while hiding the fact that I was attracted to him.

If I were in Satou-san’s shoes, I would’ve slapped me in the face for going out with Kiyotaka after all of that. Even if I didn’t come out and admit to it, I was sure it was already becoming a certainty in Satou-san’s mind.

“Did you already have your eye on Ayanokouji-kun when I said I wanted to get to know him better and asked you to help? Or did you like him before then?”

“H-hey, wait, hold on a second. I…”

I had no other choice but to stand there and take everything that Satou-san was throwing at me.

“I… I said the same thing to Matsushita-san and the others, too. That I think that you broke up with Hirata-kun because you like Ayanokouji-kun. But it’s not like I was just throwing that out there randomly, you know? I’ve felt fairly sure about it… So, yeah, that’s why I brought it up,” said Satou-san.

I had already heard Matsushita-san had some suspicions about my relationship with Kiyotaka. I couldn’t talk my way out of this situation anymore.

“Please tell me the truth. If you don’t, I… I don’t think I could see you as my friend anymore, Karuizawa-san,” she added.

The intensity of her emotions could be heard in her words. If anything, it felt like she was trying her hardest to keep being my friend, until the very end.

“I…” I stammered.

Seeing how serious that look in her eyes was, I just couldn’t bring myself to lie to her anymore. Where should I even start? Well, I supposed there was no point in hiding anything. The least I could do was apologize to Satou-san by opening up and telling her everything.

“I’m… Ayano… Well, it’s just like you guessed, Satou-san. I’m going out with Kiyotaka,” I told her.

Naturally, she reacted quite strongly when she heard me say that. Even though she’d been rejected when she told him how she felt, she still liked Kiyotaka. It was because I’d fallen for the same person that I understood how she felt.

“So, you call him Kiyotaka, huh,” said Satou-san.

I wanted to run from her somewhat cold stare, but I couldn’t.

“We started going out at the end of spring break. Really not very long ago,” I replied.

“What I want to know most is when you started liking him,” said Satou-san.

“…To tell you the truth, I’m not sure exactly when. But when you came to me earlier, talking about how you wanted to go out with him, I was starting to think of Kiyotaka as more than a classmate,” I answered.

“I see…”

I didn’t think she was very satisfied with my answer.

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” I asked.

Satou-san had been looking me in the eye until moments ago, but now I couldn’t seem to return the favor.

“Well, I don’t exactly feel good about it. You knew how I felt, but you went behind my back and started to get closer to Ayanokouji-kun yourself.”

There wasn’t a single thing I could say back to her about that.

“But still, Ayanokouji-kun did turn me down after I told him how I felt about him, so… I’m not really in a position where I could be mad at you. But it’s just…”

A spring breeze gently blew past us. I was startled by a sudden, dull sound. The next moment, I realized I’d been slapped on the left cheek.

“Okay, so I guess that means we’re square… Can we forget all of this ever happened and go on being friends, Karuizawa-san?” asked Satou-san.

Honestly, the fact that she had slapped me was a little unexpected. I guessed that was just how hard to forgive my actions were, in her mind.

“You want to give me one more shot?” I replied in a friendly way, offering my right cheek to her.

After all, the pain she’d felt was a lot greater than what I was dealing with right now.

“No, I don’t, I mean… I really don’t think I could do that. I’m sorry for hitting you…” said Satou-san.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I mean, falling for the same guy as you. Satou-san, and … ” I replied, trailing off.

“Hey, I don’t blame you for that. Ayanokouji-kun is really cool, and he’s way hotter than Hirata-kun,” she replied, teasing a little.

Without even thinking, I spread both my arms wide and hugged Satou-san tight.

“Whoa, hey, Karuizawa-san, what are you doing?!”

“…I’m so sorry!”

“R-really, it’s okay, you don’t…”

Although I felt so sorry about everything that happened, I was overjoyed, too. I hugged her tight, unable to hold back my emotions anymore. Falling for the same person was really tough, but I guessed this meant that we both understood his charms. This wasn’t a situation where we could talk about who won and who lost. I mean, I was sure that from here on out, the number of people who discovered Kiyotaka’s charms would only keep increasing.

And I had to keep fighting to make sure I didn’t lose to any of them. If I didn’t take being his girlfriend seriously, I was sure someone would swoop in and snatch him away from me. Satou-san might even end up being that rival for me.

“Wanna go grab a bite?” I asked her.

Satou-san, still in my arms, nodded in response to my self-serving request.