Chapter 4: Approaching Summer, Premonition of a Fierce Battle

Chapter 4: Approaching Summer, Premonition of a Fierce Battle

Chapter 4:

Approaching Summer, Premonition of a Fierce Battle

M ID-JUNE was almost here. There hadn’t been any new special exams since the one held at the end of April, and we had basically gone back to our normal lives here at school. I saw no signs of the White Room agent that was supposed to be after me making a move either. The only inconvenient thing that happened to me was Amasawa’s visit, but there was no imminent danger of expulsion.

However, it did seem like the incident had left a deep impression on Kei and me, considering that even now we were still holding off on trying to kiss again. Even in situations when the mood was getting fairly good, it was like there was this invisible wall separating us. While I wanted to remove that wall and to make progress, there was probably no need to rush things. With time, Kei should be able to break past that wall on her own and naturally move on to the next step. Which might be more effective, in the sense of helping her to grow both emotionally and mentally.

Summer was approaching steadily. At the same time, I was experiencing a daily routine that was almost too fulfilling for a high school student. The temperature outside was slowly beginning to rise, just like in years past. On particularly sunny days, the temperature started reaching as high as thirty degrees. We truly were in the transition period between spring and summer.

Having spent an extended period of time living the carefree student life now, there were some topics that I heard people talk about quite often. One of these seemed trivial: which season was your favorite? However, this proved to be a surprisingly deep and interesting topic of conversation. Even people who grew up in the same place and were raised in the same way had different answers to that question.

I had experienced all four seasons here at this school, and I was looking forward to the hot season coming once again. Now that I thought about it, I recognized that summer was my favorite season. Maybe that was why the blue skies looked so beautiful and dazzling during this time of year.

“Good morning, Ayanokouji-senpai.”

As I was walking along, looking up at the bright blue sky, I was greeted by a voice coming from in front of me. It was a student from Class 1-D, Nanase Tsubasa. She seemed to be going to class by herself, as there were no friends around her.

“Oh, morning,” I replied.

Considering the fact that she had been walking ahead of me, she’d probably just so happened to turn around and see me. Either that or she had some business with me and had been waiting for this.

“Is there something up in the sky?” she asked.

The reason I didn’t notice Nanase was because I was concentrating on looking up at the blue sky. She must have been observing me for a while if she had noticed me doing that.

“Nothing. I was just looking at the sky,” I replied.

“At the sky?” she repeated.

Nanase, now standing side-by-side with me, turned her gaze up toward the sky, like me. It was a clear blue today, without a single cloud in sight.

“It’s really nice out, isn’t it?” said Nanase.

“Yeah. And by the way, it’s been a while.”

Even though we’d passed each other while out and about, we hadn’t actually had a conversation like this in a long time.

“Yes. We haven’t talked for about a month and a half or so now,” said Nanase.

Nanase had colluded with Housen in his plan to get me expelled from school. It would be no surprise if, like Amasawa, she’d felt it difficult to approach me under normal circumstances.

“I feel like I did something really terrible to you, Ayanokouji-senpai,” said Nanase, while still looking up at the sky.

Apparently, she had more on her mind that I had imagined she would.

“Do you resent me?” she asked.

“I don’t really have a reason to. It was part of a special exam, right? So there’s nothing to talk about. Besides, I saw you try to protect me anyway.”

Although Nanase had been complicit in Housen’s schemes, she eventually leapt to my defense, without regard for the danger. I remembered that she had confronted Housen, who was being quite hostile.

“Is that special exam over yet? I didn’t hear anything about a deadline,” I told her.

“No, it’s still ongoing. The deadline isn’t until the start of the second semester,” said Nanase.

So from the sounds of it, the special exam would be ongoing for a while. However, if that were the case, I found the fact that Nanase and Housen had been silent for the past month and a half was somewhat curious.

“Aren’t you concerned about the fact that I haven’t tried to make contact with you?” asked Nanase.

“It’d be lying if I said that didn’t concern me. It makes me worry that there might be some scheming going on behind the scenes or something.”

“Considering what happened the last time, I was convinced that even if we did devise a new plan, it wouldn’t work so easily. Besides, it’s extremely difficult for us to try and force you into a corner in the course of your daily life now that you know our objective, Ayanokouji-senpai,” said Nanase.

“So you’re waiting for another special exam that’ll involve multiple grade levels, huh? What about the other students in your grade, though?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think they do already know that Housen-kun made a move.”

“So, now that Housen has failed, you’ve all decided that you can’t make any careless moves? I guess that’s one benefit of my injury.”

“I don’t know if that’s worth your left hand, though,” said Nanase.

Of all the first-year students, Housen Kazuomi was one who really attracted attention, for better or for worse. The fact that he was the first to act might have been a stroke of good luck, in a way. The question was, who knew about this hidden special exam? It was easy for me to just ask Nanase about that, but…

I tried looking at her a few times, but she kept averting her gaze, so I gave up on that and faced forward again. Even if I tried asking Nanase that question, it wasn’t like she was going to answer. The students in the other three classes were still staying hidden so I wouldn’t know out their identities. I was sure Nanase wasn’t going to sell them out, to maintain fairness. The only thing Nanase had done was make me aware of the existence of this special exam in general, to offset any disadvantage to Class 1-D.

“I sincerely appreciate your understanding,” said Nanase, speaking as though she understood what I was thinking once I had remained silent for a while.

Since we were both headed to class anyway, I decided to talk about something completely unrelated.

“Seems like you’ve gotten completely used to things here at this school,” I told her.

From the way she was acting, it looked like she had lost the innocence she had when she first arrived, now blending in with the rest of the students.

“Yes. I think the students in my class, myself included, are starting to get better at tolerating the special circumstances of this school. I’m not sure how much the upperclassmen know about this, but we first-years had our second special exam at the end of May,” said Nanase.

Just as we second-years had our own battles to fight, so too did the first-years have their own.

“I haven’t had this information directly confirmed by anyone, but I hear that a student has been expelled,” said Nanase.

We second-year students had also heard news about someone getting expelled. One student had been expelled from the last special exam.

“It seems like you are also aware of it, then. As I expected. The expulsion was one boy from Class 1-C,” said Nanase.

We’d found out because there was one student’s name missing from the list in OAA. He’d had had an A in academics, so he must have been hit with some kind of penalty.

“People are always going to talk when an expulsion occurs,” I answered.

“Friends who were laughing together just the day before can just up and vanish at this school. It’s ruthless. What happened made me realize once more that I need to live my life here in a way that leaves me with no regrets,” said Nanase.

Although her class might consider what happened to everyone else as not their problem, they didn’t know when the time would come that they’d have to deal with something similar. It was especially important for them to have some sense of alarm, like Nanase. That being said, I didn’t know anything about the Class Points situation in the other grade levels. Meaning that I had no information at all about who won or who lost.

“What kind of results did your class get in the special exams?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do so well. We came in last place the previous time and in third place this time. However, this time around, it was an exceptionally close match between us, Class A, and Class B, so the gap in Class Points is quite narrow,” said Nanase.

It seemed like Nanase felt that they were capable enough to not get left in the dust by Class A and Class B, but if anything, hold their own against them. On the other hand, Class C sank to the bottom of the rankings, largely because someone from their class had been expelled, most likely.

“So, is Housen behaving himself more these days? Or…?” I began, before being cut off by Nanase.

“I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t exhibiting any problematic behavior. However, he wasn’t involved in this most recent expulsion scandal. That’s because it seems as though he’s obsessed with you, Ayanokouji-senpai.”

Nanase, who had been looking up at the sky for a long time, turned directly to me for the first time since our conversation began, looking at me with a wry smile.

“Though this is definitely hindsight talking, I do think that Housen-kun has calmed down somewhat, thanks to you, Ayanokouji-senpai. I think the strong emotions he’d previously directed solely at the students in our grade are now being directed at our senpai, too. Lately, he’s been saying things like, ‘I wanna throw down with the second-years as soon as I can!’ Which makes me glad.”

Well, that’s… I supposed it was certainly good news for the first-year students, anyway. The Housen and I would occasionally lock eyes when I passed his large, conspicuous form, but if I recalled correctly, the look he gave me felt something like, “Bring it on already.”

“Sooner or later, there might come a time when we have to fight your grade,” I answered.

We had only worked together once so far. But if Nagumo’s policies were strongly endorsed by the school, the day we’d end up competing with each other wasn’t that far off.

“I intend to live my life here at this school without regrets,” said Nanase.

“That’s nice.”

Just like Nanase had said earlier, a friend who was laughing with you one day might very well be gone the next. This was the sort of school where things like that could happen. That was why we had to cherish each and every day that went by, and not take anything for granted. Because each day that passed could never come back. They would be in the past.

“Ayanokouji-senpai, please try and live your life here at this school without regrets, too,” said Nanase.

She said in a way that implied my days here at this school were numbered. And there seemed to be some kind of powerful conviction in her eyes as she looked at me.

“Of course. I’ll make sure I don’t have any regrets,” I replied.

After she heard my reply, Nanase responded with a nod, seemingly satisfied.

“Well then, if you’ll please excuse me.” She bowed to me and went her own way, just as we neared the school building.

4.1

C ONSIDERING THAT THE first-year students had had their second special exam at the end of May, it wouldn’t be too surprising if we, the second-year students, had one announced any day now. It was about time for us to be ready for something like that. Then, as if to evaluate our resolve, our usual morning homeroom began.

“It seems like everyone is present. That’s good.”

After Chabashira had finished taking attendance, she started fiddling with her tablet, most likely to project something up on the monitor. Shortly afterward, she must have finished what she was doing, because the screen went completely white. When that happened, the students looked up at it.

“We have been together for quite a long time now. So I’m sure you probably have some idea of what this is about,” said Chabashira.

A new special exam was about to begin. Even though everyone clearly had something they wanted to say, they all waited to hear what Chabashira was going to announce. After a brief period of silence, she let out a little chuckle as she took in the gazes of nearly all of the students in the class.

“Yes, we will certainly be discussing a special exam. However, to keep you in suspense for a while longer, we’ll hold onto that discussion until later. First, I’m going to talk to you about summer vacation,” said Chabashira, casting her gaze down at the tablet.

An image appeared on the monitor—first, a picture of a luxury cruise ship. Our class certainly had memories of a similar ship.

“Now, I’m going to start by explaining a bit about what this summer vacation will be like,” said Chabashira.

The students looked at each other for a moment, their expressions conveying the joy they felt at the sweet-sounding words that had just come out of Chabashira’s mouth. However, the combination of the words “ship” and “vacation” ultimately dredged up some very different memories that had been deeply ingrained in us. Those memories reminded us that there was no way this school would let us indulge in such sweet fantasy.

As we were reminded of that fact, the picture on the monitor changed from an exterior view of the ship to an interior view. The itinerary was also displayed, in similar fashion.

“From August 4 through August 11, you’ll be able to enjoy your summer vacation freely and to the absolute fullest on this luxury cruise liner. That’s a total of eight days and seven nights. You can watch plays or indulge in tasty meals. And there will be nothing even remotely like a special exam held on this cruise, either,” said Chabashira.

In other words, we were being promised a true, genuine vacation for about one whole week. The students who had serious doubts felt themselves relax a bit.

However, that slight easing of doubts disappeared as soon as the on-screen image faded away. It was almost like poison had been delivered right into our eyes.

“However, in order to fully enjoy this cruise, you must successfully complete the upcoming special exam,” said Chabashira.

After those few brief moments of dreamlike bliss, my classmates were swiftly yanked back to reality. The act of lifting the students’ hopes, only to drop them back down right after, would normally have resulted in great disappointment. However, the students instantly changed gears in their minds, adopting an attitude that showed that they were ready and willing to accept this upcoming battle.

“It seems you really have been learning,” said Chabashira, an approving smile appearing on her lips, as if to express her admiration of us.

It wasn’t like she had mentioned the vacation part first simply out of sheer meanness or anything. She probably wanted to prove that even though we were still Class D, we were different from how we were a year ago. After all the trials and tribulations we’d endured, we’d learned to brace ourselves and keep our spirits up.

The very first person to ask a question was none other than Horikita, whose seat was directly in the middle. “When will this special exam begin?”

“Well, typically when we make these announcements, the special exam would be given that very same day or the next. Unfortunately, in this instance, it’s still a ways off. The next special exam is going to be held during the summer break,” said Chabashira.

So, the school was going to hold the special exam during summer break, after the first semester had finished? If that was the case, what concerned me was the fact that it seemed far too early for the teachers to be explaining the rules right now. What was the purpose of this announcement, if the exam was still more than a month away?

At any rate, whether we liked it or not, there was one particular special exam that sprang to the students’ minds when they considered what had been said so far. Then, just as everyone seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, Chabashira spoke once more and transformed those thoughts into reality.

“You’re going to participate in an ‘Uninhabited Island Survival’ test, and will be competing against each other.”

Survival on an uninhabited island for a special exam. The battle between the classes that took place during summer break during our first year had been deeply etched into our brains. Each class competed against one another using the limited number of Class Points that we were given during that exam. Also, there were additional rules such as trying to guess who the leader for each class was and getting points by occupying zones.

“So, we have to do that again this year…” mumbled Keisei, who must have been recalling what had happened then. He would normally have quietly listened to the entire explanation of the special exam, but had probably spoken up because our class had quite a challenging time back then, including some fierce infighting between the guys and girls.

“I’m sure you’re thinking back to the uninhabited island survival exam that you took last year. However, this year’s exam is going to be different from the previous ones. This will be more rigorous, more grueling than any other special exam. Of course, the Class Points and Private Points that you can earn in this exam will be significant, though,” said Chabashira.

We’d been free to fight any way we wanted to in the Uninhabited Island Survival battle last year. If you were determined to win, you needed to be frugal with your assets, but if you were fine with giving up on trying to win, then you were allowed to spend your time relatively freely. That was the kind of exam it was. There were no harsh measures such as expulsion, at least not as long as the students didn’t violate any important rules.

She said that this exam was going to be more rigorous and more grueling, but what changes would be implemented from last year’s exam? I didn’t need to worry about getting an answer to that question, though, because I was sure Chabashira was going to tell us right away.

“Let’s start by going over the schedule. You can download it to your own devices later and look it over, so there’s no need for you to take any notes here,” explained Chabashira.

She put up the schedule for the special exam, just as she said she would, the monitor lighting up again now that something was being projected to it.

July 19: Assemble on the sports field. Depart by bus. Board the cruise ship at the harbor. Depart.

July 20: Special exam begins. Explanation of special exam, distribution of supplies, etc.

August 3: Special exam ends. Rankings will be announced onboard the cruise ship. Rewards will be handed out accordingly.

* Private Points for the month of August will be allotted after the results of the uninhabited island special exam are applied.

August 4: Start of free time on the cruise ship.

August 11: Arrive at harbor. Return to campus. Dismissal.

The closing ceremony, which would mark the end of the first semester, was going to be held on Friday the sixteenth. We were scheduled to depart three days after that. Moreover, we could tell from the schedule that the duration of this special exam would be twice as long as the previous one, at two weeks.

“Sensei, based on this schedule, won’t our summer break be shortened like, a lot?” asked Nishimura, launching his question like it were an arrow.

The summer break was generally supposed to be around forty days long, but even if you counted the free days spent lounging around on the cruise ship as part of our summer break, we still were only getting about twenty-four days. It was no wonder students felt dissatisfied.

“Unfortunately, there will be no making up for that lost time. The fact of the matter is that your summer break will most definitely be shortened this year. That’s just how it is,” said Chabashira.

The school had stopped Nishimura’s arrow dead in its tracks. I supposed that a bit of booing was unavoidable. To many students, days spent on break were more valuable than days spent learning in school.

“However, on the bright side, you’ll get to spend one week on a luxury cruise ship. Depending on how you look at it, this one week you get to spend on the cruise ship might be more valuable than the two weeks of normal time that you’ll be losing. And as I stated earlier, you can enjoy your time on the ship purely as a vacation period,” said Chabashira.

It seemed like Chabashira was trying to encourage us to hang in there by saying all of that. We did get to ride on a cruise ship last year, but we’d had extraordinarily little time to actually enjoy it. After the uninhabited island survival exam ended, I remembered, we’d been thrust into the zodiac exam.

To the students, who lived here on campus, the outside world was so fresh and exciting. And even though we were going to be onboard a ship, we could still say we’d be able to spend our time there differently from how we usually would. It could be the best summer vacation ever.

Even the students who had been complaining seemed to be satisfied, more or less. If you weren’t satisfied, you couldn’t move forward. And besides, unlike last year, we had replenished our Private Points to a certain extent, so it wasn’t like we’d be inconvenienced by a lack of funds on the cruise ship. I supposed that was another reason why this might be less stressful on the students.

“Now then, let’s get down to business. This is similar to the uninhabited island survival exam that you had last year, but you could say that the most significant difference here is in terms of scale. In addition to the fact that there’s going to be a two-week long test period for this exam, the island that we’re using for this is larger in size than the one you were on before,” explained Chabashira.

An uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean was shown on the monitor. The photographs seemed to have been taken from the air.

“And this time, it won’t just be students in the same grade competing. Students from every grade level will be competing against each other.”

Meaning that the competition was going to be larger in scale than the previous one in many ways.

“Therefore, the number of opponents you have to fight will also be higher than ever before,” added Chabashira.

Well, that was an unexpected development. This test of survival would involve all grade levels, and on top of that, students wouldn’t just be facing off against opponents from their grade. That bit was particularly unexpected.

“So, wait… Doesn’t that mean that the first-year students will be put at a significant disadvantage, whereas the third-year students will have an advantage?” asked Hirata, a student who despised inequality.

If this were an exam where we were partnered with students from other grade levels, then everyone would be equal. But that didn’t seem to be the case this time. If so, it meant the difference in physical ability and experience that came with age would create a considerable handicap.

“I understand what it is you’re trying to say but let me just go ahead and say that no exam is ever going to be one-hundred-percent fair. Even if we’re only talking about you second-year students, you’ll be competing on the same stage despite the fact that there’s nearly a year’s difference between those born in April and those born in March of the following year, right?” replied Chabashira.

To put it another way, though, that meant there were also cases where students in grades only a year apart might have an actual age difference of nearly two years. That would be a significant handicap.

“If a first-year student comes to you asking you for advice, it befits you as their senpai to give them at least some kind of answer. However, the exact nature of what you say to them is entirely up to you. Likewise, you could also ask a third-year student for their opinion,” said Chabashira.

So, while there didn’t seem to be a problem with discussing things as much as you’d like or if necessary, it would basically be like helping the enemy.

“There will be a minor handicap applied based on grade level, but you’re basically going to be on a level playing field. So how are we going to make up for the difference in grade level, you ask? The answer is that the lower the student’s grade level, the more rewards they can receive and the fewer penalties they have to worry about,” said Chabashira.

Which in turn meant that the higher your grade level, the fewer rewards you might receive, and the more severe the penalties, huh? This seemed somewhat similar in structure to the special exam that was held in April, where we had to find partners. Though the test contests were the same in that exam, the penalty the second-years faced expulsion, whereas the first-years just saw a difference in the number of Private Points they’d gain. That was a significant difference.

“Anyway, taking all of that into account, let’s move on. I’m now going to explain part of the outline, regarding the new rules for the uninhabited island survival exam,” said Chabashira.

The word “part” made the students exchange looks.

“That means not all of the rules are going to be revealed to you today, at this time,” she added.

Chabashira instructed us to listen quietly to her explanation and then brought up a new image on the monitor. We looked up at it, seeing the word “group” stand out prominently.

“In order for you to understand the rules of the survival battle on the uninhabited island, we must begin with the rules regarding the formation of groups,” said Chabashira.

It seemed the preliminary part of this particular special exam was going to be much longer than any we’d had before. This also seemed to hint at the intensity of the battle that awaited us.

“Your next special exam, which is to say, the uninhabited island survival battle, has a rule that allows you to form large groups of up to six people and cooperate with one another. The first thing that you must remember is that these large groups can be formed with any student from your grade level, regardless of class,” explained Chabashira.

“So, does that mean…the other second-year students are our allies…?” muttered Horikita quietly to herself.

She’d assumed, until then, that everyone outside our own class was an enemy. Her quiet monologuing echoed throughout the room. I was sure her muttered words had reached Chabashira’s ears, but she continued speaking without answering the question.

“For the next four weeks or so, from today until the end of Friday, July 16, you second-year students will be given the right to form small groups of up to three students with any partners of your choosing in your grade level. These groups will be the basis for the large groups. However, even though I said you can team up with partners of your choosing, there are some restrictions involved. One of those is, as I just said, that you can only choose students from your grade. You cannot form a group with first-year students or third-year students,” explained Chabashira.

We could work with anyone from our grade. In other words, students from Class A could team up with Class C. Apparently, first-year students were allowed to make small groups of up to four students, while third-year students could make small groups of up to three, like we second-years could. I supposed that was one of the handicaps were being doled out for each grade level. The rule in question was then clearly displayed on the monitor.

It might be possible for all four second-year classes to work together to form the strongest groups to compete in this test. If we were free to assemble ideal groups, we’d naturally have a chance at winning this thing. On the other hand, if the other grade levels were similarly able to form the best possible groups of people, we’d need to summon all our strength in order to compete with them.

“Next, we have the gender ratio. In the case of a mixed-gender small group, girls must make up at least two-thirds of the group,” said Chabashira.

So groups of two boys and one girl, or just one boy and one girl, weren’t allowed, huh? The possible group combinations were shown up on the monitor.

[1 Boy] [2 Boys] [3 Boys]

[1 Girl] [2 Girls] [3 Girls]

[1 Boy & 2 Girls]

Seven possible configurations. Meaning that group configurations like [2 Boys & 1 Girl] or [1 Boy and 1 Girl] would be rejected.

“What happens if you don’t form a group? …Or in the event that you can’t form a group? What then?”

“As you can see from the list of possible combinations, ‘groups’ of just one person can be formed. There would be fewer benefits to such an approach, but it’s not disallowed. The next special exam can be conducted regardless of the number of people in your group. If anyone does want to try going it alone, they are allowed to, regardless of gender,” said Chabashira.

Although the fact of the matter was that the more people in your group, the better off you were, it sounded you could still take this special exam on alone without issues.

“I’m sure that some students might feel more comfortable being on their own, but the more people in your group, the better. In addition to the advantages you gain by simply having more people, there are also special benefits for having more members. I would strongly recommend you do not choose the option of trying to go it alone in this test, except as a last resort,” said Chabashira.

I supposed if that if you could handle yourself well enough, it would be all right to be on your own. But students who couldn’t form a group would essentially be forced to take the exam while at a disadvantage, which meant joining a group of three was basically the minimum requirement necessary for a normal student to be ready to compete.

“There are a considerable number of benefits to forming a group, but there is one caveat. Once a group has been established, people cannot transfer to another group for any reason whatsoever,” said Chabashira.

Once you’d formed your group, it seemed you were stuck together as allies until the special exam was over.

“I understand that we’re unable to change our group, but we can form groups of up to six people for the special exam, correct? So far, we’ve only heard about being able to form small groups of up to three people. Could we please hear more about that?” asked Hirata, addressing Chabashira.

“Yes, that is a key point. When the actual special exam begins, the small groups will be allowed to form up with each other. You could have two groups of three people come together, or three groups of two people, or even six individuals. However, there are conditions for the formation of larger groups as well. In large groups of four persons or more, the group must be at least fifty percent girls,” explained Chabashira.

So the gender ratio rule would change, requiring groups to have a one-to-two ratio of girls instead of two-to-three. If these restrictions were going to be changing, I supposed sticking with a small group of just one or two people in the beginning was a viable strategy.

“From everything you’ve heard thus far, I’m sure that some students might think that it’s fine if they form their groups right after the special exam starts, but it’s really not as simple as all that. Though you are free to form groups with anyone you’d like, it will be extremely difficult for you to form your ideal large group during the exam. There will be many cases where you might want to form a group of up to six people, but won’t be able to do so,” said Chabashira.

So it seemed that being in a smaller group wasn’t necessarily entirely without merit. But considering the risks of having to survive on an uninhabited island alone from start to finish, it would be safer to form a group of three people at this stage after all, I supposed. If we didn’t take into account students who had been expelled, there were forty students for each class in all grade levels. With four classes in each grade level, that was 160 students per grade. Since the school had clearly stated that groups of up to a maximum of six students could be formed, the minimum number of groups that could be formed in this test, for all grades combined, would be eighty-one. Since there were no guarantees that you would be able to form a group of six people during the actual test, depending on how things played out, it was possible that the number of groups competing against each other could actually be somewhere in the triple digits.

“I understand you must feel perplexed, after being told to just go ahead and form small groups of your choosing. If you don’t know what the contents of this exam will be, you can’t exactly narrow down what kind of people you might need,” said Chabashira, sure that everyone in class had arrived at that conclusion.

She continued speaking.

“I cannot tell you exactly what the next special exam is going to be assessing you on. But I can lightly touch on what kind of skills that you may need. That kind of thing,” she added, taking a look at the students, whose expressions had tightened. “I’m sure many students were left feeling frustrated by last year’s survival exam on the uninhabited island, feeling as though they were unable to really demonstrate their potential. However, it is safe for you to assume that this year’s exam is going to test all kinds of ability. Academic ability, physical ability, emotional strength, and communication skills. There’s a strong possibility you’ll be able to make use of strengths other than those I just mentioned, too,” explained Chabashira.

So it wasn’t enough to simply be good at academics or sports. This meant that students who were good at many things would have an advantage, from the sounds of it. A connection between an uninhabited island and academics was difficult to imagine, but I supposed there were many ways in which it could be accomplished. For example, a rule that said you didn’t get any food if you couldn’t answer a question correctly first. A group made up of people who could only boast of their physical prowess could be eliminated all too quickly.

“Although it is important for you to choose students you have a good relationship with, a group’s overall strengths are likely to tie directly into their performance during this special exam. I recommend that you look for the right people for the job when forming your groups,” explained Chabashira.

This meant students who were talented all-rounders would simply have better odds if they teamed up with each other. However, as Chabashira had said, choosing students you got along with was an important consideration, too. Considering that we weren’t sure exactly what kind of exam this would be, chances were good that cooperation would be key.

“Although I’ve said that the more people you have, the more advantages you’ll have, the reason this is true isn’t because you’ll have six brains or six bodies working together. It’s because there’s a rule for this exam which implements a dropout system. Let’s compare what would happen in a situation if Hirata tried to get through this exam by himself versus what would happen if we were in a group of three, with Sudou and Hondou,” said Chabashira.

She then typed something on her tablet. After she did so, there were two groups displayed up on the monitor. One was a group made up of just Hirata and the other was a group of three people, which included Hirata. Each name shown on the screen was colored blue.

“Let’s suppose that, during the special exam, Hirata suffered some kind of unfortunate accident that made it impossible for him to continue. Naturally, if he were going this test alone, that would mean his group would be disqualified at that point, and he would be penalized,” said Chabashira.

In the box for the one-person group, Hirata’s name now turned red, indicating disqualification.

“On the other hand, what would happen if Hirata were forced to retire during the exam if he were in a group of three…?” said Chabashira.

Though Hirata’s name in the three-person group went red, the other two names remained blue.

“Hirata would be disqualified and sent back to the cruise ship, but the remaining two members of the group would be able to continue the test without any issues. And if the group managed to stick around until the end and win first place in the exam, then Hirata would be considered as having come in first place as well, since he was also a member of the group,” she explained.

So even if an individual dropped out, it would be okay as long as the rest of the group survived. That being said, the loss of any member of the group was bound to have a negative impact.

“It doesn’t matter how many people you lose along the way. The group will continue to function without issue until the very last person is gone. In other words, the more people you have in your group, the more ‘lives’ you have, to put it simply,” she added.

I see. This confirmed how significant the groups were. No matter how capable a student might be, accidents were still bound to happen, like getting injured or falling ill. In order to minimize that risk, the formation of a group of six was essential in order to win.

“Now that you understand the importance of the groups, let’s talk about the rewards,” said Chabashira.

Now the real impact of this uninhabited island survival battle would become clear to us.

Rewards

FIRST PLACE GROUP

300 Class Points, 1,000,000 Private Points, 1 Protection Point

SECOND PLACE GROUP

200 Class Points, 500,000 Private Points

THIRD PLACE GROUP

100 Class Points, 250,000 Private Points

GROUPS IN THE TOP 50% (Including those in First through Third Place)

50,000 Private Points

GROUPS IN THE TOP 70% (Including those in First through Third Place)

10,000 Private Points

* Class Points awarded to the groups in the top three places will be transferred from the grades of the groups in the bottom three places.

Class Points will be divided evenly by the number of classes, regardless of the number of the students (rounded).

Based on the rewards shown up on the monitor, the Class Point and Private Point rewards were fairly large. If one particular class dominated the top three spots, the class rankings would be significantly shaken up.

But there were some bizarre things to take note of.

“This is the list of rewards for this particular exam. It is important for you to note that you cannot form groups with students outside your own grade for this exam, so essentially, each grade level will be competing against each other. However, the effects of the rewards and penalties are applied based on the composition of each group. In other words, if a group made up of only Class D students takes first place, then the rewards for first place will all belong to Class D. On the other hand, if a group composed of students from all four classes wins first place, then the rewards will be divided equally among the four classes. So, if you create a group made up of the best, most capable students from each of the four classes, you might be able to increase your odds of winning, but your Class Point standing might not really change all that much,” explained Chabashira.

And because the number of people in a particular group didn’t factor into the equation at all, the 300 points would simply be divided out equally among the four classes. Which means that even if you did take first place in that situation, you wouldn’t really be able to close the gap in Class Points. Well actually, I supposed, given we could only form three-person groups at this stage, we wouldn’t be able to form any with students from all four classes in the first place. That would make it impossible for us to have any sort of ideal discussion, most likely.

“And then… The total Class Point rewards for the top three places, a massive 600 points in total, will be collected equally from the grades that fall into the bottom three groups. Say for example that the group that comes in first place is made up of second-year students, and the group in last place is made up of first-year students. That means Class Points will be collected from each of the first-year classes. The rewards for the group that comes in second correspond with the group that comes in second-to-last, and similarly, the group that comes in third place will get their rewards from the group that comes in third-to-last,” explained Chabashira.

So there was a strong possibility that different grade levels would try and rob points from each other, from the sounds of it.

“Now then, I’ll go on to explain what will happen in a situation where groups from the same grade level come in first and last place, respectively, for the sake of comparison. In this instance, it would be a bit of a special case. The classes included in the group that placed in last would have to pay a hundred Class Points to the classes that had come in first place. Second-to-last place, sixty-six points. Third-to-last, thirty-three points. If a group made up of a single class comes in first place, they will still get the 300 points, as usual. However, if another group of students from the same class were to come in last place at the same time, that means a hundred points would be deducted, so the winning class would only get 200 points,” explained Chabashira.

Which meant that if a group comprised of students from all four classes were to win, each class would get seventy-five Class Points. No matter how many students your class had in first place, if you happened to have students from your class in a group that placed at the bottom, it was possible that you could lose out.

“Additionally, in the event that the Class Points the school has collected is not enough to cover the payout, the school will compensate and pay the remainder. The same rule applies when collecting points from the other grade levels, as well,” she added.

Apparently, even in situations where they didn’t have enough Class Points to pay up, the rewards would still be guaranteed.

“Well, supposing if a group comprised of students from all four classes does finish in last, the amount that they have to pay out will be reduced, but only slightly. Last place will have to pay out seventy-five points. Second-from-last will pay out fifty points. And third-from-last will pay out twenty-five points. I suppose you could say that everyone shares the burden equally,” said Chabashira.

I supposed that was kind of a bonus, in an exam where cooperation was quite difficult.

“And of course, groups that place at the bottom of the rankings will naturally suffer some penalties. The groups that place in the bottom three positions will have Class Points snatched from them, as I had mentioned earlier. But that’s not all. Students in the bottom five groups will be expelled,” said Chabashira.

The students gasped. Five entire groups meant it was possible that a maximum of thirty students could be expelled.

“B-but, if only students from our class are the ones who end up getting expelled, then…”

“In the worst-case scenario, that would leave only nine of you. But there’s no need to worry about that. In the unlikely event that you are penalized, you could pay six million Private Points to save yourselves. That amount is divided by the number of people in a group. So, for a group of six people, it would cost one million Private Points per person,” explained Chabashira.

So, even in the unlikely event that we did get hit with the expulsion penalty, there seemed to be ways that we could save ourselves.

“There is a condition, though. You must have the requisite number of points to pay out that fee to save someone on hand, on your own phones, before you board the ship. You will not be able to borrow or lend any Private Points once the exam has begun.”

Which meant we didn’t have the option of helping each other later. We needed to procure those points before the exam.

“But within the group that is penalized, I’m sure that there will be some students who can pay up and some who can’t. What happens if one of the students in the group doesn’t have enough points to cover their share?”

“Don’t worry about that. Even if five out of the six people in a group come up short and can’t pay their share, the sixth person, the one who does have enough to cover their share, can still save themselves by paying out that one million Private Points,” said Chabashira.

Basically, if you had enough people, it seemed like you didn’t need to worry about having the others dragging you down with them.

“May I ask a question?” asked Horikita, raising her hand, sitting directly facing where Chabashira was standing. “The rules state that if you team up with other classes, each class gets an equal share of the rewards. In the end, wouldn’t that rule result in students choosing to form groups only with students from their own class?”

Horikita was saying that even if you did your best to win, it would be pointless if you had to split the Class Points multiple ways.

“If you decide that there’s no benefit in doing so, then yes, you can simply decide to team up with your own classmates only. That’s all,” replied Chabashira, telling us to figure out for ourselves what to do.

There wasn’t going to be a definite right answer to that question. However, if there was one thing we could be sure of, it’s that if you tried to monopolize all of the rewards and only form groups with students from within your own class, the less-capable leftover groups comprised of a mishmash of students who didn’t get picked for the main groups, would be forced into a difficult situation. At the same time, you’d be creating groups that would likely run the risk of getting expelled.

On the other hand, if you increased the number of classes represented in your group, the rewards would be fewer, but you would be able to create a broader group more easily and you could control the risk of being penalized. Of course, there were other risks that might come up.

As far as forming groups for the survival test on the uninhabited island went… Here was a summary of the information that Chabashira had presented to us so far.

•Survive on an uninhabited island for up to a maximum period of two weeks

•A wide variety of skills will be needed, and a high level of overall ability will be more advantageous, but cohesion cannot be ignored

•Special rewards such as Class Points, Private Points, and a Protection Point will be given to the groups that place at the top (Class Points are divided equally based on the number of classes though)

•Groups will be formed, with a minimum of one person to a maximum of six, and the more people in your group, the more advantages you’ll have (Group rankings are determined by when the last person gets eliminated from the group)

•The groups that come in last will receive penalties, expulsion is also a possibility

•In accordance with the rules, we can freely form small groups within our grade (up to a maximum of three people)

•Forming a large group during the exam will not be easy

That was a rough breakdown of everything so far, but that explanation alone wasn’t enough to give us the entire picture.

“I understand that this has all been a lot to take in so far, but there is still a lot left to explain,” said Chabashira.

She drew a breath, then moved on to the next part of her explanation.

“Please take a look at this.”

The monitor refreshed, now showing eight items on the screen.

Basic Card Overview

Head Start: Points available at the start of the exam are multiplied by 1.5.

Bonus: Whoever owns this card gets double the Private Point rewards.

Half Off: Halves the number of Private Points that needs to be paid out for a penalty. Only valid for the student who owns this card.

Free Ride: At the start of the exam, designate a specific group. You will receive half of the number of Private Point rewards that the designated group will receive. This effect disappears if you join with the group you’ve designated.

Insurance: If the owner of this card would normally be disqualified from the exam due to poor health, they are instead given one full day to recover. Not valid in the event of disqualification due to cheating, etc.

Special Card Overview

One More: The owner of this card can join a group as a seventh member. It takes effect once the main portion of the exam has started and is not affected by the gender ratio rule.

Nullify: The Private Points needed to be paid out for a penalty are reduced to zero. Only valid for the student who owns this card.

Trials and Tribulations: Using this card entitles you to be able to earn 1.5 times the Class Point rewards for the special exam. However, if your group fails to place in the top 30%, then your group will be penalized. The school will cover the increased reward amounts.

“Wh-what are those all about?”

“These cards are items that will affect the uninhabited island survival exam. Everyone will receive one card. With one exception, there is no drawback to having any of these cards. Their efficacy can be roughly understood by looking at the descriptive text on the cards,” explained Chabashira.

There was a total of eight kind of cards in the lineup, ranging from cards that would give you an edge in the special exam to cards that specialized in protection. The latter cards were useful in the sense that you can keep yourself safe, but if you consider that they were basically for when you’re prepared for defeat, it was likely that those cards would be evaluated differently. The tricky card out of the lineup would be “Trials and Tribulations,” the only one that has a disadvantageous aspect to it. If you used the card effectively, then it carried greater potential than any other rewards, but it wouldn’t be easy to break into the top thirty percent.

“Each student will get one of these eight cards, selected at random. The cards will be distributed tomorrow morning. The cards that you’ve obtained can be transferred or traded with students from other classes so long as they are in your grade level until the special exam officially begins. Anyone can view who holds which cards in the OAA app. You can sell your cards to anyone who wishes to buy them from you. You can even buy up a bunch of cards and hold onto multiple. However, the same card effects cannot be stacked, so there is absolutely no point in having two of the same card,” explained Chabashira.

Card Overview and Rules

Both Basic Cards and Special Cards can be traded with students from within your grade level. You cannot trade with students from within your own class. Also, once a card has changed hands, it cannot be traded again. Even if multiple copies of the same kind of card are used, card effects do not stack.

This meant that a single student could theoretically hold up to a maximum of eight kinds of cards at once and could use them all. However, because the cards had positive and negative applications, it wasn’t like you could activate all their effects at once. In the end, you would just have effective options at your disposal that you could use.

“Also, regarding the special cards… There are three kinds of special cards, and they’ll be handed out randomly, but only one will be handed out to each grade level. Therefore, there is the possibility that, through sheer coincidence, one class may come to hold all three cards. That’s all,” said Chabashira.

An explanation of the uninhabited island special exam, followed by an explanation of the rewards and penalties. And then an explanation about the distribution of items called cards. And thus, we came to the end of the long overview of the uninhabited island survival exam.

“I’m sure that some of you might not have understood everything that we just went over, but by lunchtime, the special exam manual will be automatically distributed to your tablets so you can check out the information that way,” said Chabashira, having now finished explaining everything to us.

The bell rang loud and clear, signaling that it was the end of our first-period class.

“I suggest that you think long and hard about what kind of group strategy you’re going to produce. You have time,” she added.

After giving us that bit of advice, Chabashira left the classroom. Afterward, the students began to huddle together. Kouenji, who was sitting far to the left of me, one empty seat between us, stood up, and then went out into the hall. It looked like he was simply acting according to his selfish whims, as we had come to expect, but he was walking at a quicker pace than usual. I felt like there was something off about the way Kouenji was behaving, so I decided to follow him.

I tried to soften my footsteps and anything else that might cause me to be detected so that I wouldn’t be noticed. That being said, there was only so much that I could do. There weren’t an infinite number of things I could hide behind, like I could on the island.

However, ordinary people didn’t usually go about their day with the consideration of being followed. Even if an amateur were to try and tail another amateur, the person being followed would probably only vaguely suspect something was up.

Shortly afterward, I heard the voices of both Chabashira and Kouenji coming from around the corner. I hid near the corner, holding my breath, and listened in on their conversation.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about, Kouenji?”

“Well, teacher, I can’t help but feel that you left a crucial detail out of your explanation,” replied Kouenji.

I was guessing that Chabashira was probably standing face-to-face with Kouenji now, as she waited for him to ask his question.

“A crucial detail?” she asked in return.

“Namely, if a person who is taking the exam entirely on their own happens to succumb to illness or injury, what would happen to him or her as a result?” asked Kouenji.

“Ah, I was wondering what you were going to ask. What a trivial question,” replied Chabashira.

Even though I couldn’t actually see her, Chabashira had a somewhat amused smile on her lips when she said that.

“If I remember correctly, you bowed out of the last exam due to illness. Unfortunately, that’s not going to work this year. No special exceptions will be made. You would be penalized, meaning that you’d be asked to pay six million points if you wanted to stay. And judging from what you have on hand, that would be impossible for you,” said Chabashira.

“Fu fu, yes, that’s certainly true. I’m the sort of man who is quite liberal with his cash flow, after all, so it seems like I am in quite the predicament here, yes.”

It seemed like Kouenji had been planning to bow out of even this special exam on the uninhabited island, as expected. But there was no escape route open for a solo-participant trying to tackle this exam.

“In that case, what are you going to do? Maintain your freedom and get expelled?” asked Chabashira.

“Hmm, I wonder? Yes, yes, I wonder. Well, I don’t mind if you run along now, teacher.”

Kouenji must have been satisfied with the answer he had gotten from Chabashira, because he just told her to leave. I started hearing footsteps. They immediately picked up in speed, and then I couldn’t hear them anymore. I’m guessing that Kouenji was going to start moving soon too. In that case, I supposed there wasn’t any reason for me to hang around here for long.

I decided to leave without making a sound. But then…

“By the way, who is the person hiding over there, spying on me?” asked Kouenji.

Kouenji had noticed me hiding from him. I could tell from the way his voice carried in the hall that he must have turned around.

“Whether or not you come out is entirely up to you,” he added.

It wasn’t like he just blurted that out on a whim or anything. It was almost like he had the keen senses of an animal or something…

Although I could have returned to the classroom without revealing myself, I decided to face him honestly.

“Oh ho, Ayanokouji Boy. Do you have some business with me, perchance?”

He didn’t seem surprised at all. If anything, he was indifferent to my presence there, acting nonchalant about it. It wasn’t so much like he had been anticipating that I would have been there. It was more like he just didn’t care who was there.

“Horikita told me to keep an eye on you. She said it’s because she can’t tell what you’re going to do,” I replied.

“Hmm.”

Kouenji looked at me as though he were sizing me up, and then slowly started walking towards me.

“You seem to be quite good at coming up with a front to hide what you’re up to. But I see neither truth nor lies from you, Ayanokouji Boy. I won’t trust the words of a person like that,” said Kouenji.

“I never saw you as the type of person who would trust anyone anyway,” I replied.

“Fu fu fu, well, that’s certainly true, yes. I do not trust anyone other than myself. Not a single person. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I’m not even interested in anyone else.”

Once Kouenji got directly beside me, he stopped completely still.

“And of course, that applies even to you, Ayanokouji Boy,” he added.

Even after I had gotten that perfect score in the math section of the exam, Kouenji looked no different than usual when he left the classroom earlier. And there hadn’t been any signs at all of him asking anyone about it, either. I could detect no lies whatsoever in what he was saying.

“What are you planning to do for this special exam?” I asked.

“Hm, yes… I’m sure there will be more to discuss, but may I be included in your group?” asked Kouenji.

I was wondering how he was going to respond to my question. I see. So that’s how it was going to be. If he partnered with at least one person, then that means Kouenji can withdraw from the exam right at the start with ease.

“Sorry, but I have to turn you down. I don’t exactly have the kind of leeway to invite in the sort of person who is essentially guaranteed to bow out right when the exam begins,” I replied.

“Fu fu fu. I see. Well, I suppose that’s that, then,” said Kouenji.

“Is it okay for you to think that way, though? Even if you find a group somewhere that’ll let you in, in the end you’ll be leaving the fate of your expulsion in someone else’s hands,” I answered.

“Yes, that certainly is true. If I simply withdraw without doing anything, that is,” said Kouenji.

He resumed walking, moving past me. As he did though, he gave me a parting shot.

“I’ll think long and hard about how I’m going to get through this before the exam begins.”

With that, he returned to the classroom.

4.2

“S PECIAL EXAMS on uninhabited islands for two years in a row. I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t considered it at all or anything, but…”

“I was expecting something like this to happen, and it has.”

When I got back to the classroom, I saw that discussion regarding the special exam had begun. You could say was sort of a customary thing that happened now whenever we had these sorts of tests. Nearly everyone in class, Yousuke included, had gathered near Horikita’s seat in the front row and were trying to sort out the situation. Kouenji had returned to his own seat, swooning over his reflection in his prized hand mirror.

“The especially important part of this special exam is that while there are certain conditions, we can team up with anyone in our own grade level.”

That was most definitely a new rule that we hadn’t seen in any of the special exams until now. Besides, such a rule being implemented should have been outside of the realm of what was expected at this school, in the first place.

“But what about how the Class Points are gonna be handed out when you win, though? I mean, I more or less get the idea behind it at all, because we’ve basically gone through somethin’ kinda like it. But I don’t see the benefit in teamin’ up with other classes,” said Sudou.

I supposed it was quite natural that Sudou would’ve brought that point up right away. This special exam is a battle between grade levels, but also between different classes in the same grade level. The only way to finish this exam in an efficient and effective manner was for a group consisting of only students from your own class to take first place.

Even still, the school really had come up with some interesting rules. It was much easier to aim for the top spots if your group was made up of many students from within your same year. You’d minimize the risks, but there weren’t many rewards. “Low risk, low return,” I suppose they’d say. On the other hand, if you narrowed your group’s focus, that meant you’d have a high-risk, high-return opportunity.

The most ideal solution would be to form two groups with three people in the same class, and then have them combine into a group of six later. However, Chabashira had mentioned earlier that it wasn’t going to be easy to bring groups together how we wanted once the exam began. If we didn’t get any guarantees that we would be able to form groups freely beforehand, the damage would be great if we tried something and failed.

However, it was also a fact that this particular special exam had tremendous destructive power. Supposing if the top three spots were dominated by a single class, the total number of Class Points gained would be as high as 600. And supposing if our class had managed to pull that off, it would essentially be like our magic express ticket to move on up to Class B in one shot.

“But, if we try and do this with only the people from our own class, I’m sure there are going to be gaps in talent that we aren’t going to be able to make up for. And besides, if we were to form a group with students from our own class, and… Well, what if the other classes work together? In the worst-case scenario, we might end up being the only class getting left behind.”

It went without saying that managing to take first place in this exam only with people from our own class would be ideal, but that was it. It was nothing more than an ideal. If any one class chooses to fight alone, they create the risk of being ganged up on by the other three classes. And if that solitary class were to lose, well, there’d be no “high return” in that situation whatsoever.

“It would be one thing if it were simply a concern about if we couldn’t win. But if we were to get eliminated early, then we’d run the risk of getting expelled. Meaning, if we aren’t incredibly confident that… No, as long as we don’t have a completely certainty of winning on our own, forming a group of six people, blended together with students outside our class is a prerequisite.”

This special exam, where the other classes were going to be both friend and foe, was shaping up to be something truly unprecedented. If you considered that, then I suppose you’d conclude that including students right away from the beginning with the goal of unifying your objectives, would be an important strategy. However, there was no guarantee that we would be able to easily align ourselves with the other classes. Even if you understood that there’s no apparent advantage in forming groups only with students from your own class, in the end, it was normal to want to outpace the other classes if possible since there were going to be a large number of Class Points moving around. That was especially true for the lower-ranked classes. So, the starting point for us would be deciding which way to go, while operating on the premise that we’ll begin with forming a group, with all that in mind.

“How are Sakayanagi-san, Ryuuen-kun, and Ichinose-san going to play this?” asked Horikita.

In order to get us to come to a decision, Horikita decided to start the conversation with our whole class with that particular question, directing it at Yousuke.

“Well, I’m sure that Class A won’t be stressing at all about trying to team up with other classes since they have a significant lead over the rest of us. No matter what group wins, it won’t exactly be a problem for them as long as the gap in Class Points doesn’t close too much. On the other hand, the rest of the classes, us included, definitely want to close that gap somehow,” replied Yousuke.

Sudou, who had been listening closely to the conversation, spoke up, offering an idea that wasn’t bad.

“’Kay then. How about formin’ an alliance with us three? B, C, and D? If Class A is so far ahead of the rest o’ us, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if we were to start by workin’ together with B and C to try and close the gap, right?” said Sudou.

The idea was that we would an establish a common enemy, and we’d work together to attack Class A on all sides.

“They do say ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ after all. Trying to isolate Class A isn’t a bad idea. And there’s a good chance that Ichinose-san would go along with this proposal,” replied Horikita.

“But if we suggest isolating Class A, we’re going to need to be prepared to bear some serious resentment. Considering Sakayanagi-san’s personality, I’m sure she’ll devote any and all of her resources to hunt even us, D, the lowest class, down,” said Yousuke.

Normally, you would think that someone in their position would be focused on knocking down the class that was on their tail in second place, Class B. But, just like Yousuke had said, Sakayanagi tended to persistently chase after anyone she had selected to be her prey.

“We need to close the distance between ourselves and the upper classes quietly, as much as possible,” he added.

“If B, C, and D are going to fight together, it’s better that we’re not the ones who propose the idea,” said Horikita.

The idea was to set up someone else to be the spokesperson for this plan, and let them suffer Sakayanagi’s, and the rest of Class A’s, ire. The difficult part wasn’t talking about it, but actually going through with it. The trouble with this special exam is that not everything could be solved through discussion from just within your own class. It didn’t matter how heated our debates got from this point onward. Nothing was going to move forward. If we didn’t understand what Class B and Class C were thinking, and if we couldn’t unify our intentions and put plans into action, then we ended up with nothing more than armchair theory.

It wasn’t going to be easy for our three classes to simply come together and hold a discussion. Ichinose wouldn’t be an issue, but it was hard to imagine that Ryuuen would be willing to agree to it so easily. Besides, if Sakayanagi got wind of this information, then she would naturally act.

“Seems like we’re going to have to make a real difficult decision…”

Even though we had a grace period of more than a month to form groups, if we went about things slowly, the other classes would be making their own moves, trying to form their own groups, one after another. We wouldn’t sit around and not take a firm stance.

“It’d sure be a huge help if one of the other classes proposed a similar plan themselves…,” said Yousuke.

The students of Class D were racking their brains.

“Just figuring out how we should make a group is proving to be quite a headache,” said Horikita.

In addition to the important task of forming a group, there were still other things that needed to be done too. There was the matter of the cards, which had various effects. Tomorrow morning, each and every student was going to be given one of these unique cards, which cannot be transferred between classmates. Moreover, once an item had been transferred once, its possession becomes fixed, and couldn’t be returned. Meaning the only way to get a card for sure is to simply trade with a student from another class, or by buying and selling.

“It seems highly likely that everyone will start making their moves tomorrow.”

“Yeah. And gathering up effective cards for your group is also going to be a point that we’ll need to think about.”

Today was the day when the school gave us the go ahead to start making groups for the upcoming special exam. Naturally, the situation was going to take a major turn. That included our class, D, as well.

4.3

A FTER CLASS HAD ENDED , the phones of students were who classified as exceptional in terms of academic ability or physical ability started ringing. Horikita approached me, while keeping an eye on the situation.

“Seems like they’ve started making their move right away. I suppose it’s only natural for them to try and pull in the most talented students to their side,” said Horikita.

Regardless of whatever policy the class you’re in had adopted, there wasn’t any harm in kicking things off with some tentative reservations.

“Have you gotten any calls or texts?” I asked.

“None.”

“I see. Well, the number of people who actually have your contact information is extremely limited,” I replied.

“You knew that, and yet you deliberately went ahead and said something meant to agitate me. That goes to show that you really are inconsiderate. So, did anyone try to contact you, Ayanokouji-kun? Mister ‘I got a perfect score in math’? Your phone seems surprisingly quiet, doesn’t it?” snapped Horikita.

Horikita had come back at me with some harsh words of her own. I decided to look at my phone, which wasn’t ringing.

“Unfortunately, my battery’s dead. I haven’t charged it for about two or three days now,” I replied.

“If you don’t use your phone so often, you won’t need to charge it as often,” said Horikita.

As much as I’d like to deny that and say it wasn’t the case, she wasn’t wrong. If you didn’t use your phone that much, you’d usually forget about charging it.

“Shouldn’t you go ahead and give warnings to our classmates? If they carelessly start forming groups on their own, it might spell trouble later,” I cautioned.

“I don’t need to explain anything to them. I’ve already given my instructions. I summed things up in a very easy-to-understand message and sent it to everyone. You just didn’t notice since your phone is dead,” said Horikita, showing me her phone’s screen.

—Do not finalize any group assignments until we’ve had the chance to discuss it within Class D.

—If you need to finalize a group assignment as soon as possible for some reason, please contact Horikita.

It seemed like Horikita had seen something like this coming and established some minimum-level ground rules.

“It’s not like these rules are binding, though. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to decide, based on their discretion,” said Horikita.

It was certainly true that it was up to the individual to decide who to partner up with and to whom not. You couldn’t really meddle when it came to things like personal chemistry, and besides, expulsion was at stake here. Even if all four classes worked together, there was no ideal combination that would keep absolutely everyone safe from the threat of expulsion. With that in mind, all you could really do was offer some advice.

I always carried around a portable charger with me, so I plugged in my phone and got up from my seat. I figured there might be some students eavesdropping on conversations happening in our classroom.

“Any word from Ichinose? It wouldn’t be surprising if she threw out a suggestion for our grade level to all work together,” I asked.

“Haven’t gotten anything from anyone yet so far. And there haven’t been any suggestions coming from Class A or Class B, either. If our entire grade level were going to be joining together as one, we should assume that there would be an attempt to come to a mutual understanding of some kind at this current stage,” said Horikita.

If students just went ahead and started forming groups based on their own wants all willy-nilly, it would gradually become more difficult for us to coordinate. If we weren’t going to have some kind of discussion at the outset, that was essentially establishing the reality that the classes in our grade level were going to be fighting one another. If Horikita wanted there to be some cooperation between our classes, she should be making her move now.

Horikita didn’t show any visible signs of displeasure at the fact I got up from my seat. Instead, she got up and followed me. It seemed like she apparently still had more she wanted to say. After we got out into the hallway and she made sure that no one else was around, she started talking to me again.

“Regarding this special exam… Would you be able to get first place all by yourself?” she asked.

“Don’t be absurd. All we know right now is that there’s going to be a test on an uninhabited island,” I replied.

“I just figured that someone like you, who got a perfect score in math, wouldn’t even need a group,” said Horikita.

What kind of logic was that? It seemed like she just tried throwing that out there, just asking for the impossible.

“As long as we get first place, our class will see positive results. I don’t care if the first-years and third-years get second- and third-place, they can have them. I’d rather they take those places than someone else from our grade level,” said Horikita.

Easier said than done.

“Well, in that case, I suppose we could form groups in such a way to prevent as many expulsions as possible, and that would make things easier, but…” I replied, pausing briefly.

But if we steered towards making strong groups to win, we would inevitably be creating some weak groups, as well.

“But it’s not like everyone is going to be able to pay up the number of Private Points to save themselves,” I added.

“Yes, that’s true. I’d like to collect as many Private Points as possible for the students who are still feeling anxious. But if the students who I borrow any points from end up getting penalized and expelled, that’ll be almost too terrible to imagine,” said Horikita.

There was hardly anything more fruitless than trying to save others only to end up taking a fall yourself.

“If you hate the thought of that happening, then you’ll just have to only request points from students who have extra,” I replied.

That would certainly work. But in that case, the number of students we could reach out to was quite limited.

“There are ways to do this without letting anyone get expelled, though I doubt anyone would want to do it,” I added.

“You mean the idea of having people bow out right at the start, deliberately?” asked Horikita.

Apparently, Horikita had also noticed the few holes in this exam. According to the rules, only the first five groups that are taken out are expelled. In that case, if we set up five groups specifically to be sacrificed and deliberately let them get taken out, we wouldn’t have to worry about any students after them getting expelled. However, to carry that idea out, a total of thirty million Private Points would need to be prepared. And, more importantly, whatever grade levels made up those bottom three spots in the exam would be handing over Class Points to whoever placed in the top three. And even if people from the same grade level took both the top and bottom ranks, the rewards would be decreased a little bit, so it was inevitable that by taking on the role of deliberately getting out, there were going to be some losses. I supposed that the reason the top three places were tied to the bottom three could be considered the school’s way of preventing anyone from cheating all that easily.

“I guess we just need to survive on our own power somehow,” I told her.

“Yes, it really does seem that way. May I consult with you again later?” asked Horikita, stopping in her tracks.

“As long as it’s something I can help with, sure.”

“That’ll be plenty. Thank you.”

Horikita seemed like she must have had something to talk about with someone else because she went back inside the classroom. After I watched Horikita go back inside, I decided to head for the exit.

4.4

W HILE I WAS WALKING in the hallway, making my way to the main entrance…

“’Sup!”

As I stood there looking at my phone’s pitch-black blank screen before it powered on, the student who called out to me was none other than Ishizaki Daichi from Class 2-B. He had a wide grin plastered on his face. I guessed that something good must have happened to him.

“Hey dude. I tried sendin’ you a text, but I didn’t get an answer. So I figured I’d just come over.”

“Sorry. My battery ran out.”

“No worries, man. Hey, I’m just gonna borrow you for a sec. ’Kay?” said Ishizaki.

“Am I being mugged or something right now?” I asked.

“What? Come on dude, now that’s a good joke. I mean, hell, is there even anyone in this school who could mug you?” he replied, responding to what he thought was a joke with one of his own. “What, do you have something you gotta do or something?”

“No, I was just about to head back to my dorm.”

“Yeah, I figured. In that case, ain’t no problem, right? Let’s go,” said Ishizaki.

Ishizaki beckoned to me with an impassive smile on his face. He started walking on ahead, going faster and faster, inviting me to follow. If I just stood there and let him walk off, I’d probably lose sight of him in a flash. However, if we carelessly conducted a conversation here in the hallway and caused a commotion, we’d only end up attracting attention. Since I had time right now anyway, I decided to follow Ishizaki.

But the minute I turned the corner, an impossibly large wall suddenly appeared right before my eyes. No, wait, that’s not what it was. It was Yamada Albert, Ishizaki’s classmate. He was wearing sunglasses. Then, with an air of intimidation about him, he placed his right hand on my shoulder.

“Hey,” he said in English.

“…Hey,” I replied similarly.

I didn’t really understand what was going on right now, so I figured I’d just respond to him with the same thing he said to me. But what was happening here? This mugging that was supposedly just a joke now seemed to be a little more real.

“Hello, Ayanokouji-kun.”

Right there, besides the gigantic Albert whom I had earlier thought was a wall, stood Hiyori.

“It’s kind of unusual seeing you three together,” I told her.

“You might be right about that,” she replied.

I had thought for sure that Ryuuen would show up too, but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen.

“Anyway, probably not so great to hang ’round here. Let’s move,” said Ishizaki.

“Move? Where to?” I asked.

“Hmm, yeah… I actually haven’t really given that any thought,” said Ishizaki, rubbing underneath his nose with his left index finger, chuckling sheepishly.

“Hey, I’ve got a bad feeling about all this, so can you please just let me leave now?” I asked.

I had the feeling that this was in no way going to be a good turn of events, so I asked for their permission to make my exit.

“Hey, the hell man? You’re free, ain’tcha? We ain’t lettin’ you go.”

“You’re…not letting me go?” I repeated.

Albert, who was standing behind me, used the strength from his massive frame to hold me, binding my arms behind my back. Then Hiyori grabbed hold of my arm as well, pulling herself close. The two of them had captured me.

“I’m sorry, Ayanokouji-kun. We can’t let you escape.”

“Huh…?”

Finally, my mugging theory was starting to look increasingly plausible.

…Okay, that’s enough of me making that joke.

Anyway, the three of them seemed like they were planning to bring me to some other location.

“We’ll draw attention here. Let’s go somewhere else, Ishizaki-kun.”

“Yeah. But where?” he asked.

“That is a good question… Well, how about your room, Ishizaki-kun?” she asked, making a casual suggestion.

“Huh? M-my room? N-no, that’s uh, kinda… I mean! No way! We can’t!” cried Ishizaki, in a panic, after she had suggested we move to his room.

“Why? Is it inconvenient or something?” asked Hiyori.

“W-well, there’s, uh, lots of reasons. I mean, you just asked me totally out of nowhere and all, and, uh…”

“I don’t think anyone would mind if your room were a little bit messy though. Right?” said Hiyori, turning to Albert, looking for his opinion.

Albert slowly moved his large head up and down, nodding in agreement.

…Is it okay for me to assume that he understands Japanese? I mean, I’m certain that he would have to get through classes and take exams, but I’d like to hear him speak it at least once.

“Y-yeah, that’s it. And it’s not just a little messy, it’s like, super, crazy messy! It’s like, you won’t even have anywhere to step, it’s that bad. Oh darn, that’s just too bad!” said Ishizaki.

“There’s no need to worry. If necessary, we can help clean up,” said Hiyori.

“No, no, no! There’s like, tissues, and stuff, definitely not the kinda stuff I want a girl to help clean up!” wailed Ishizaki.

Ishizaki couldn’t help but blurt out exactly what was littered around his room.

“Tissues…and stuff? What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Hiyori, cocking her head to the side in apparent confusion, wondering what Ishizaki was talking about.

“Anyway, my room’s a no-go! S-so hey, let’s go to Albert’s room!” said Ishizaki, changing the topic while still panicking. “Yeah! I mean, Albert’s room should be great, right? Right? Right!”

Ishizaki threw that suggestion out like he was trying to run away from something.

“OK.”

So Albert did understand Japanese after all. He gave Ishizaki a brief response, indicating that he accepted his proposal. Then, we started to move, with Albert carrying me in his arms.

“So, um… Am I just going to be carried there like this?” I asked.

“It’s all right. Yamada-kun is quite strong,” said Hiyori.

Yeah, uh, that’s not exactly the problem here. If anything, I felt like we were unusually conspicuous looking like this…

“It’s all right. I suppose that in a way, this is kind of like sending a message,” said Hiyori, the same kind-hearted smile she usually had on her face as she led on the way.

“Yeah, all right! You go, Shiina! Great idea!” shouted Ishizaki.

What in the world were they planning to do, dragging me along like this?

With that question in mind, I was brought over to the dorms.

4.5

T HIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I had visited Albert’s room. Even though he was much larger than the rest of the students in terms of physique, his room’s layout and structure were naturally the same. However, everyone decorated their rooms in different ways, and his was a bit unique.

A large American flag and Japanese flag hung in the center of his room—and those weren’t the only flags he had up. He also had countless others, including the Chinese flag, Italian flag, the flags of some African countries, and more. The others were smaller in size, but still displayed all over his walls. I felt a sense of passion in the display, particularly when I noticed these weren’t simply printed on paper, but proper cloth flags.

“Albert’s kinda a flag fanatic. Surprised?” asked Ishizaki.

He must have visited Albert’s room several times before, which was why he was able to explain that to me in a calm manner.

“Yeah, seems that way,” I replied.

After Albert released me from his hold, he urged me to take a seat. Once I had made sure everyone was now sitting, I decided to go ahead and ask them what they wanted.

“So… What are you three after?”

The three of them exchanged glances. For some reason, they all had happy smiles on their faces, like they were enjoying this. Then, Ishizaki, the representative of their group, spoke up.

“I’m just gonna come right out and say it. Here goes, this is my proposal… Form a group with us for the next special exam!” shouted Ishizaki.

Well, that was one of the things I’d predicted that this might be about. So this did have to do with the special exam, after all.

“Form…a group? Can you explain your plan in a more detail?” I asked.

“Whaddya mean, more detail? That’s everything”

“Um, no, that doesn’t cover nearly everything. I can’t tell who exactly I’m supposed to be partnering up with.”

There were four people present in this room right now. Which meant that there was one extra person. And on top of that, Hiyori, a girl, wouldn’t be able to participate due to the gender ratio restrictions. Ishizaki was certain to suggest that I team up with him and Albert, but since he hadn’t come right out and said exactly what he wanted me to do, I couldn’t be sure.

“Honestly, with whoever, we don’t really care. ’Kay? It can be with me, or Albert, or Shiina, anybody. The point is, we’re askin’ you to team up with people from our class,” said Ishizaki.

Wow, talk about a grand and daring proposal. In a sense, it was the kind of thing that could only be suggested precisely because it was Ishizaki proposing it.

“So, you’re saying that you want me to form a group with two people from Class B?” I asked.

“Yep. Then, when the exam starts, you can form up with another three-person group from Class B, makin’ a six-person team. It’ll be perfect. With five folks from Class B and you, Ayanokouji, you can shoot for first place,” said Ishizaki.

He talked like the idea was a thing so sublime it could move one to tears. But it was significantly important that we calmly discuss this.

“Hiyori… Did you explain the rules of the special exam to Ishizaki properly? In the simplest terms possible?” I asked.

“No,” she replied immediately. “I felt like if I tried to interrupt earlier, I’d end up having to correct him on something after only five seconds. I thought it would be better to just let him carry on till he was done.”

Yeah, I had to wonder about that. I didn’t think it was better. Well, it certainly was true that even just five seconds into his suggestion, it was clear that there were things that he didn’t understand about the exam…

“Okay, even though there are many points I’d like to bring up, I’ll narrow it down to two… no, three questions for the time being. First, when the special exam begins, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to form the large group you want so easily,” I explained.

In fact, our homeroom instructor had already told us that it wasn’t going to be easy. If teaming up was as simple as “Hey, let’s make a group!” “Yeah, let’s!”, there would be no point in forcing us to create three-person groups at this stage. If anything, it would only put us at a disadvantage. It was precisely because it was difficult to form larger groups during the exam that we were allowed to freely choose our teammates for the smaller groups right now.

“Huh, that so?” Ishizaki seemed like he didn’t understand one bit. He cocked his head to the side in confusion, looking to Hiyori for an answer.

“If you sort through everything that’s been explained to us, then yes, you can see that it’s true. Basically, depending on how the situation plays out, it’s possible we might have to cooperate with groups we didn’t expect to team up with,” said Hiyori.

“Oh. What’s the deal with that? I don’t get it at all, man.”

“During the exam, there might be certain prerequisites necessary for teaming up with certain people, or to make certain groups. That’s what we’re talking about.”

“And the heck is that supposed to mean?” asked Ishizaki.

I supposed if he’d understood what that meant, he wouldn’t be struggling so much right now.

“The details are unclear. But judging by what the school has explained to us, we can be sure it’s not going to be easy,” said Hiyori.

“But… Even if there are conditions, we gotta get ready. We gotta start actin’ on the idea of makin’ groups, right?” asked Ishizaki.

“Well, if you put it that way… Yes, that’s true.”

“Then we’re all good, right? We just gotta go ahead and prepare for the exam like I suggested, and then we’ll be golden.”

The fact that he could break things down in such simple terms was honestly something I kind of respected. Hiyori was also listening to Ishizaki’s suggestion with an amused look.

“I mean, ain’t no reason to worry ’bout stuff I don’t really understand, y’know?” said Ishizaki.

Was it safe for me to say that this was one of Ishizaki Daichi’s charms?

“Well, anyway… Onto my second point,” I continued.

Figuring I couldn’t really get him to understand my first point, I decided to just move on to the next.

“Who else have you talked to, other than me? Or are you planning to talk to anyone else?” I asked.

“Ain’t really talked to anybody else, no. And not plannin’ on it, either. Right?” said Ishizaki, looking to his two companions for approval.

They both nodded, indicating their agreement.

“Meaning you’ve only talked to me, then. And the reason for that is?”

“Well, ain’t that obvious? I mean, you’re just as amazin’ as Ryuuen-san… Well, no, if I had to say, I think you’re even more amazin’ than Ryuuen-san is right now. It’s like, you’re crazy strong in a fight, and your quick thinkin’ has even gotten Ryuuen-san’s seal of approval. And on top of all that, you got a perfect score in math, dude. That’s just nuts. I figure, whoever controls Ayanokouji basically controls the special exam. How could I not invite you?” said Ishizaki.

“My, that’s some high praise, Ayanokouji-kun. However, I agree with everything he said,” added Hiyori.

Albert nodded in agreement as well, without hesitation. I’d said I was only going to bring up three points earlier, but now I wanted to raise a fourth. How much Japanese did Albert actually understand and speak? I’d never seen him in class or anything, but I was sure that he was being taught in Japanese, so…

Anyway, Ishizaki hadn’t denied that they were basically trying to win me over…

“All right then, the third thing… What’s in this for me? What do I stand to gain? If I assume that everyone else in my group is going to be from Class B, and we manage to get first place in this test, then your class is going to be the only one who really gets anything,” I told them.

The Class Points we’d get might be the same, but the number of Private Points earned would be very different.

“Aw, come on dude, ain’t no thing. ’Course we ain’t gonna screw you over so you’re the only one who loses out. Right? When we move on up to Class A, we’ll pay up twenty million points to welcome you into our class, Ayanokouji. Whaddya think?” said Ishizaki, answering my question in a confident, cocksure manner. “So basically, either you get your own class up to A, or our class gets up to A. Don’t matter either way. There’s a 50 percent chance that you’re going to graduate from Class A.”

The proud smile on his face seemed to be saying, “Well, how ’bout that?” His reasoning would certainly hold true if all four classes had an equal chance of getting up to Class A. In that case, my chances of getting there via either his class or mine would be 50 percent. But that wasn’t how this worked. Each class had a different level of skill, making it difficult precisely calculate their chances of making it to Class A. Of course, there was no denying the fact that even having one more class I could potentially move into would be an advantage for me.

“Hiyori and Albert agree too, right?” said Ishizaki.

“Yes. We would welcome you with open arms,” said Hiyori.

“Yes,” said Albert, but in English.

Both of them went along with Ishizaki’s proposal happily, even though they understood it was nuts. What was going on here? Anyway, if I were going to go ahead and accept this absurd proposal for the time being, there was an especially important point I had to bring up before I could commit. I decided to go ahead and ask another question.

“Was Ryuuen the one who decided to invite me? Or was this Ishizaki’s sole decision?” I asked.

Ishizaki had been answering all my questions in a casual manner so far, but he now wore a tense look for the first time in our conversation.

“It was my decision. Ryuuen-san doesn’t know a thing about it.”

So apparently Ishizaki had thought up this plan and made this decision all by himself. I had thought that might be the case, but wow, that really was reckless of him. If that were the case, though, I now understood why Ibuki, who usually hung around Ishizaki, wasn’t here right now. Did that mean that Albert and Hiyori were Ishizaki’s advocates, then?

“Have you thought about what might happen if Ryuuen were to find out about this?” I asked.

“Nope, I haven’t! I mean, don’t even need to! Besides…I’m ready for it.”

Even though Ishizaki was shaking in his boots, he desperately tried to put up a brave front.

“The rules say there ain’t any problem with formin’ groups with people in other classes, anyway. So I figure, even if I decide that we need you and invite you, what’s so weird about that? Y’know?”

That was true. If their class’s policy stated they were to only form groups with people from their own class, I supposed Ryuuen would have no reason to be dissatisfied with Ishizaki’s decision here.

“The key to this special exam is to make sure the Class Points stay with our grade and aren’t taken by anyone else. Naturally, this means we need to aim for the top in the overall rankings. And Ayanokouji-kun is indispensable to achieving that goal,” said Hiyori.

“Right!”

“Well, even though there are still many aspects of this plan of yours that concern me… I’d like to say that I do understand where you’re coming from,” I told him.

“So will you join up with us?” asked Ishizaki.

“Although I don’t think you did anything wrong by inviting me, I can’t say yes to you right now.”

“B-but why?”

“That’s because Ayanokouji-kun has his own class to consider. Right?” said Hiyori.

Even though she’d endorsed Ishizaki’s plan, she still understood my reasons for refusal without needing to ask.

“Besides, I think the terms we’ve offered Ayanokouji-kun aren’t enough, anyway,” she added.

“Not enough…? What, you sayin’ that twenty million points ain’t enough?” said Ishizaki.

“That’s not what I’m saying. If we’re talking strictly in terms of the number of points, then yes, it is an exceptional amount. However, in reality, all we’re really offering to him is the right to move into our class, correct?” said Hiyori.

“B-but, we can’t just like, hand over twenty million and let him transfer to Sakayanagi’s class or somethin’.”

If Ishizaki and company said I was free to use the points they gave me however I wanted, then of course I’d go to the class that was sure to be Class A in the end. Obviously. Ishizaki’s class wouldn’t be able to bulk up their own power by bringing me into the fold, then.

“On top of that, you told Ayanokouji-kun it was fine for him to team up with anyone from Class B, Ishizaki-kun. But that’s a problem, too. Surviving on an uninhabited island isn’t a task for a single person. If you really intend to strive for first place, your chances of successfully doing so are much higher with capable teammates.”

Hiyori, who had simply sat back and listened to Ishizaki lay out his proposal so far, now viciously pointed out each flaw in his plan in turn. And every time she pointed something out, Ishizaki started to panic, sweating bullets.

“W-well, then anyone would be fine” he exclaimed.

“If it were up to me to choose a group right now… Yes, all right. I would choose Ryuuen-kun, Kaneda-kun, and then Ayanokouji-kun to make up a group of three. I would be fine with replacing Kaneda-kun with Yamada-kun, but Ryuuen-kun is indispensable,” said Hiyori.

In terms of leadership capability, he was one of the best in our grade, and he had the guts to break the rules with his schemes. Last year, he’d been the only person left standing in his class on the uninhabited island. He even had the physical and mental fortitude to endure on said island without anyone noticing he was still around until the very last minute. The other two people she mentioned were Kaneda, the best student in their class, and Albert, a student who boasted immense physical strength. It was true that having two of those three would be essential to maximize the odds of winning.

“Don’t talk crazy! Do you seriously think Ryuuen-san will agree to my plan?!” wailed Ishizaki.

“I think he’ll immediately reject it,” said Hiyori.

“Obviously!” shouted Ishizaki.

“I’m sure that Kaneda-kun would, as well. He wouldn’t ignore Ryuuen-kun’s orders and endorse such a careless strategy,” said Hiyori.

“So, in that case, what the heck should we do?” wailed Ishizaki.

“There’s nothing we can do, really. At the very least, not at this current moment,” said Hiyori.

“Urgh… Well, that’s a bummer…”

Ishizaki crossed his arms, racking his brain in a desperate attempt to produce an idea, but it didn’t seem like anything was coming to him.

“At any rate, we were able to convey Ishizaki-kun’s and our wishes, and I think we should be satisfied with that,” said Hiyori.

It seemed like that had been Hiyori’s objective all along, apparently. She’d known all along that they couldn’t easily persuade me to join their group, and so she’d determined the most important thing was to just show me that they desired to work with me. Perhaps Albert had understood that this was a foolhardy attempt on Ishizaki’s part, too, because he patted his shoulder gently.

“…All right, I get it. In that case, guess there ain’t anythin’ I can really do…”

Although reluctant, Ishizaki seemed convinced, at least superficially, after hearing the response to his plan.

“I don’t know if I can meet your expectations. Let me think about it for now,” I told them.

I had judged that was the best answer I could give them in this situation. That being said, I wasn’t planning to group up with anyone at the moment because of Tsukishiro and the agent from the White Room that was hiding among the first-year students. The first semester was already almost over. There was no way they would let things continue as they were, allowing me to keep living my life here at this school.

The upcoming special exam was most likely going to the final battlefield on which Tsukishiro and I met. In other words, it was very likely he was going to launch an attack on me without any concern for appearances. If I did form a group, I’d be getting dragging those people into it. And if that happened, I’d need to make sure I was the only one who got expelled. That would be the least I could do, as a courtesy if nothing else.

Thus, I reaffirmed the situation in my mind.

4.6

W HEN I WAS DONE getting ready to head to school the next morning, I turned on my phone. I got a notification telling me that I’d received a private e-mail from the school. In the message, it was stated that I had been given the card designated “Trials and Tribulations.”

“Never thought that I’d end up getting one of the special cards…” I muttered to myself.

Just when I’d thought the infamy I gained after getting that perfect score in math had finally died down…this happened. The Trials and Tribulations card was powerful, although it was a double-edged sword. Having possession of this card was likely to attract attention. It was safer and preferable to trade it with another student who needed it, but since the Trials and Tribulations card had powerful effects that could go one way or the other, it couldn’t easily be handed off to someone from one of the other classes. If the group I ended up trading it to get first place, then the blame would fall squarely on me.

It was possible that Tsukishiro had slipped the card into my possession deliberately to get me expelled, but considering the fact that cards were transferrable, that was far too weak a strategy to drive me out. It was more natural to simply interpret this as luck of the draw. The two remaining special cards seemed to be in the hands of Amikura Mako from Class C and Yano Koharu from Class A, respectively. The former had drawn the “One More” card and the latter had drawn the “Nullify” card. I supposed it was fortunate that the cards had been well separated.

I left my dorm room a little earlier than I usually did, pondering about what I was going to do from here on out. When I set foot on the elevator, I bumped into Shinohara.

“Morning.”

“Good morning,” she replied.

Even though we were classmates, we weren’t particularly close, so we didn’t really do more than exchange that simple greeting as we headed down toward the lobby. The ride wasn’t long. When we reached the first floor, I pressed the open button and let Shinohara off first.

In the lobby, we saw Ike, who normally showed up at school relatively late. He looked over in my direction, seeming somewhat restless. I thought he might have been waiting for Sudou, but that didn’t seem to be the case, since he only exchanged a brief greeting with her as they crossed paths and then proceeded to watch her leave. Right after she went out, however, he followed her.

I slowed my own pace down somewhat, trying to keep my distance from the two of them, as to not get in their way.

“Hey, Shinohara,” said Ike.

“What?” she replied.

When I got outside, I could hear Ike and Shinohara’s conversation carried on the wind, although only just barely.

“Well, uh, y’know. About this whole uninhabited island exam group thingy, and all… Just wondering, have you talked with anybody yet, about teamin’ up with them?” asked Ike.

“No, I haven’t really talked to anyone yet about it… Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no real reason, really. Just figured I’d ask is all.”

“Oh, okay… So, what about you? You’re probably going to team up with Sudou-kun and Hondou-kun, right?” said Shinohara.

“That so bad? I mean, it’d be fun, bein’ with those dudes,” said Ike.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Shinohara laughed as though she was making fun of him, but Ike didn’t seem to mind at all. It seemed he had something he wanted to say, but he was desperately struggling to get the words out.

“But, I mean, dudes can make it on their own more or less, anyway, I think… ’Sides, Ken’s really strong, so I think in terms of like, manpower, he’d be enough for the whole group, I think,” said Ike.

“Hmm.”

Although Shinohara’s reaction was a little cold, it didn’t seem like she disliked talking to Ike at all.

“Okay, not sure how to put this, but, uh. I should be able to lend you a hand where you need it…? So, if you’re feelin’ like you’re in trouble, you can… Well, y’know, you can form a group with me, okay?” said Ike.

“What’s that all about? Look at you, being all high and mighty,” said Shinohara.

“Hey, you saw me in action last year, didn’t you? I’m pretty good at the kind of stuff this exam needs,” said Ike.

He was trying to sell Shinohara on the fact that she could capitalize on his skills. Basically though, the reason Ike was doing this seemed to be that he just wanted to partner up with Shinohara.

“Well, I suppose I can think about it… You want to be in the same group as me?” asked Shinohara.

“Oh, uh, hey, don’t get any weird ideas or anything, okay? Look, you’re like, one of the people who’s in danger of getting expelled, right? That’s why I’m saying that I, kindhearted guy that I am, will sacrifice myself to protect you.” Ike, unable to honestly say what he wanted to, blurted out something that Shinohara was sure to take issue with.

“Excuse me? Sacrifice? What? I don’t remember asking you for that!” she shouted.

And of course, considering the way that Ike had phrased his offer, there was no way she was going to graciously ask that Ike join a group with her. The mood started to sour between them, badly. Just as the vibe was getting grim, though, Kushida approached and called out to Ike from behind.

“G-good morning, Ike-kun. Do you have a minute?”

The moment Kushida called out to him, Ike averted his gaze from Shinohara and excitedly waved at her.

“Oooh, what’s up?! Yeah, I’m super free right now!” he exclaimed.

He left Shinohara and approached Kushida. Shinohara simply watched him go with a somewhat cold look in her eyes.

“To tell you the truth, Kobashi-san from Class C said she wanted to invite you to join her group, Ike-kun. I think she’s already at school right now. Do you think you could maybe talk about it with her?” asked Kushida.

“Seriously?! Yeah, totally, let’s go! Let’s get going right now!” Ike shouted. He looked incredibly excited to learn he was being requested by a girl.

“Oh, but it seems like you were just talking with Shinohara-san just now… Is it okay for Ike-kun to go talk to her?” asked Kushida, wanting to make sure that Shinohara was okay with it.

“Yeah, it’s completely fine. He’s been annoying me with all his babbling. Take him with you,” said Shinohara.

“Hey, you’re the one who’s been annoyin’ me!” shouted Ike.

They were each giving as good as they got. Ike was mainly at fault here, but he started walking away with Kushida with a skip in his step. Shinohara stopped where she stood, watching them go with a somewhat lonely look on her face. It wasn’t long before I caught up to her and then proceeded to pass by her.

How should I put this? Ike was just the sort of guy who got carried away rather easily. It seemed he’d grown so ecstatic at being requested by a girl that he was missing something big.

“Satsuki.”

Suddenly, I heard someone call Shinohara’s first name from behind. I couldn’t help but turn back and look at who it was.

“Oh, Komiya-kun… Hello,” said Shinohara.

It turned to be none other than Komiya Kyougo from Class 2-B.

“What’s wrong? Are you crying?” he asked.

“Huh? Wh-why do you ask?” she replied.

“Well, ’cause your eyes are all red.”

“Oh, guess you noticed, huh? Yeah, just got some dust or something in my eye a little while ago… Ouch,” said Shinohara, putting up an act, trying to cover up how she was really feeling. “Oh hey, that reminds me, Sudou-kun said that you’re going to be a regular player on the basketball team. Is that right?”

“Yeah, finally.”

“Well, you always practice until late, so I’d be lying if I said you didn’t deserve it,” said Shinohara.

She’d stood still as she talked with Komiya, so the distance between us widened as I continued to walk on. As I kept going, their voices grew fainter, until I eventually couldn’t hear them anymore.

4.7

“I SEE YOU’VE CERTAINLY been having your fair share of misfortunes too, having drawn the Trials and Tribulations card. I’m sure you must be the center of attention again,” said Horikita, coming up to me right after she got to the classroom.

“Yeah, I was just going through the same mental agony this morning.”

“It would’ve been nice if we could freely trade cards within our own class. A student who isn’t confident they can win absolutely would not want the Trials and Tribulations card, and yet, we can’t just hand it over to a student who is confident that they can win,” said Horikita.

The card that Horikita had drawn was the “Half Off” card. It was a useful card to have when you suffered a

penalty, but if you were the sort of student who was shooting for a higher place in the rankings, it didn’t do you much good.

“In any case, since things have turned out this way, you’re simply going to have to work hard, get into the top thirty percent, and if possible, win the prize,” said Horikita.

“You’re talking to me like I’m a stranger or something. Aren’t you worried about me at all, as a classmate?” I asked.

“If you really, really want to rely on me so badly, I’ll help you, of course.”

Horikita was getting increasingly brash. Or rather, she was getting to be more difficult to deal with than before. The incendiary glare she was giving me seemed to be saying, “What the heck do you want?” It made me not want to rely on her.

“Sorry, but if I find someone who wants it, then I might hand it over to them,” I replied.

“What you choose to do is entirely up to you. I hope it’ll be easy for you to find someone who’ll take it, for sure. The Trials and Tribulations card affects not just the person who owns it, but the entire group. It’s a dangerous risk to take on,” said Horikita.

It was nice that she’d explained all that so politely, but to me, it simply sounded like sarcasm.

“In case you were wondering, I was being sarcastic,” she added.

“I figured.”

“It’s payback for the many times that you’ve tormented me,” said Horikita.

“I don’t really remember ever tormenting you, though.”

While the Trials and Tribulations card was a burden to bear, it could also be a bit of a protective charm. Icould expect the number of students who might offer to partner with me to decrease without me needing to do anything. In the worst-case scenario, I’d have to consider the possibility of starting the uninhabited island test alone, while holding onto this card.

“Since this is you we’re talking about, is it safe to assume that you can handle things?” asked Horikita.

I could rely on Horikita, as she was the class’s leader. But there were bound to be students that needed her support. It would be best if I placed as little burden on her as possible.

“Yeah, well, I’ll try my best,” I replied.

I told Horikita that I’d get through this on my own and then took my seat. As I was doing some digging to see who had drawn which cards, I heard a loud shout from Ike, who had arrived late to the classroom.

“Huh? Wait, you… you found someone to partner up with?!” wailed Ike.

“Yes, I did. Is something wrong with that?” asked Shinohara.

Apparently, Shinohara had decided to form a group with someone during the time she and Ike were apart. Most likely, her partner was…

“Come on, though! I just invited you to join a group before! I mean, ’sides, we’re not allowed to form a group without Horikita’s permission, anyway! It’s forbidden!” shouted Ike.

“It’s not forbidden, though. Anyway, the group isn’t even officially confirmed yet…though, I’m planning on confirming it today,” said Shinohara.

“Wha—”

“And besides, what are you even talking about? What invitation? Who was the one who started drooling over another girl and ignored me?” said Shinohara.

“Hey, come on, it wasn’t even like that! I even turned her down for you, you know!” shouted Ike.

“Oh, you turned her down now, huh? Ugh, you’re getting on my last nerve. You really are the worst person in the world,” said Shinohara.

“Who…did you form a group with, anyway?” asked Ike.

“What’s that got to do with you?” she snapped.

“Nothing, really, just kinda curious,” said Ike.

“Komiya-kun, from Class B. He invited me to join his group right after the special exam started yesterday,” said Shinohara.

So, it was Komiya after all. Huh. I’m guessing that either Shinohara or Komiya must have mentioned the idea while they were walking to school together.

“Huh? Komiya? Wait, Komiya? That flashy showoff from the basketball team? No way!”

Deep down, Ike had probably thought that Shinohara would’ve joined his group. I’m sure he had been holding onto that arrogant assumption.

“He isn’t a show-off. He promised to meet me at the café after class so we could discuss it,” said Shinohara.

After Shinohara had said her piece, she turned her back to Ike. I’m sure that from our classmates’ perspective, who had been overhearing their argument in the classroom, what they just heard sounded like an extension of their usual fights. After class had ended, Shinohara had left the classroom right away, just as she said she was going to do. Ike quietly watched Shinohara leave, but then he left the classroom himself right after, looking as though he had just made up his mind about something.

Yousuke, having seen what happened, approached me after Ike had left the room.

“Hey, do you have a minute?” he asked.

Maybe it was because he wanted to avoid anyone else hearing our conversation, but he said he wanted to talk to me in the hallway, so I went along.

“Hey, so, about what’s going on with Ike-kun. I don’t think it’s a good idea to just leave him be right now,” said Yousuke.

“Yeah. Even though he’s pretty self-centered, it’s clear that his knowledge and experiences will be useful during the uninhabited island exam. It’s possible that this incident with Shinohara might make him unable to utilize his full potential,” I answered.

“Yes, I agree. And considering how he looked, I’m worried about what will happen if he sees Shinohara-san and Komiya-kun’s discussion.”

I could certainly understand why Yousuke was feeling uneasy about this. It wasn’t a good idea for us to get into a dispute with Class B at this current point in time

“I think I’d like to go check things out. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming along, if you were okay with it? Ike-kun doesn’t really like me very much, after all,” said Yousuke.

If you asked me, I wasn’t so sure that Ike liked me either, really. That being said, it was understandable why Yousuke felt discouraged.

“Shinohara-san said that she was going to meet up with Komiya-kun at the café, right?” said Yousuke.

“Yeah. Maybe we should head over there and check things out for the time being,” I replied.

“Sure,” said Yousuke.

I decided to head over to the café in Keyaki Mall together with Yousuke. While we were on the way there, we talked a little bit about group formation plans.

“I had wanted to recommend a plan where our entire grade level would work together to fight against the first-years and third-years, but from the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like the rest of the classes are intending to collaborate. If we got just the second-year students to come together and agree to not let anyone from our grade level get expelled, then it wouldn’t be impossible for us to make it through without losing anyone. Though I suppose there’d be no shortage of suffering if we went along with that plan,” mused Yousuke.

I had discussed as much with Horikita yesterday. We could make sure that no one got expelled by deliberately losing the exam. However, the grade that actually executed that kind of plan would inevitably suffer particularly severe damage. I suppose it would be unrealistic to expect our entire grade level to share that pain. That was exactly why, even after an entire day had passed, not a single student had come forward to make a such an idealistic pie-in-the-sky suggestion like that.

“I guess all we can do is form groups that won’t leave us with any regrets,” I told him.

“Guess so…” he replied.

“I’m sure you’ve probably been invited by quite a few people, haven’t you, Yousuke?” I asked.

It was impossible that Yousuke wouldn’t have been approached by people. He was popular both with men and women, and his abilities were impressive all around.

“Personally, I think that I’d like to pick two people from Class D. Rather than aiming for the top spot, I’d like to try and tackle this exam in a way to avoid penalties,” said Yousuke.

If he were going to protect anyone, it would be the students of Class D, not people from the other classes. That was a natural way of thinking about things. If you’re a talented and popular student, you’ll have no trouble at all finding someone to partner up with. However, students who were less capable weren’t going to be able to ask for help from anyone, not even people in their own class.

“Is Sakura-san okay?” asked Yousuke.

Yousuke was worried about Airi, who was part of my circle of friends, and who was the most lacking in terms of ability.

“As of now, she’s looking at making a group with Akito and Haruka,” I replied.

“Miyake-kun is athletic and has great motor coordination, so that group doesn’t seem badly balanced at all,” said Yousuke.

Although Keisei had been left out of their group, he had been approached several times by students from other classes who had wanted to scout him because of his brains. I supposed that if Keisei chose a student who could compensate for physical ability, an area that remained a concern for him, then he’d make a formidable group.

However, one problem had emerged while we were in pursuit of Ike. There was someone tailing us. Whoever it was, they had done their utmost to avoid being noticed before, but it seemed like now they were willingly allowing me to spot them, like they were prepared for it. Ike headed straight into Keyaki Mall, so now it was just me, Yousuke, and the person following behind us. This state of multiple parties tailing someone, with us tailing Ike and this mystery person tailing us, continued.

Although ignoring this person wouldn’t be difficult, if things like this kept happening in the future, it was going to be troublesome. As we got near Keyaki Mall, I stopped for a moment.

“Sorry, Yousuke. Would you mind going on ahead?” I asked.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I just remembered that there’s a little something I need to take care of. I think I should catch up to you in about ten minutes, give or take,” I replied.

“All right. If anything happens, give me a call or text,” said Yousuke.

Yousuke, without asking me for any additional details, went into Keyaki Mall, disappearing from view. Then, the student who had been following us approached, as if they thought this was their cue.

It was my classmate: Matsushita Chiaki.

“You don’t seem surprised. Did you notice me following you right from the beginning?” she asked.

“I just don’t show surprise in my expression is all,” I replied.

Was this the first time since spring vacation that I had talked with Matsushita alone like this, just the two of us? Well, no, actually, even if you took away the “just the two of us” part, it still applied. This was the first time we had talked since back then.

“What were you talking about with Hirata-kun? About Ike-kun? About the uninhabited island exam?” she asked.

Matsushita, now standing beside me, looked up at me, as if she were trying to read me.

“And what business is that of yours, Matsushita?” I asked.

“Well, I suppose it’s not so much my business as it is our business. Because you’re someone particularly important in order for us to get to Class A, Ayanokouji-kun,” said Matsushita.

She seemed to think very highly of me, but what was she after?

Considering how quick-witted Matsushita was, she should have known that a little bit of gentle persuasion by way of flattery wasn’t going to work. But I couldn’t imagine that she was approaching me right now for no reason at all.

“Don’t be so alarmed. I came up to you today because I have something I needed to tell you, and as soon as possible.”

“Something to tell me?” I repeated.

“The Trials and Tribulations card is an item with powerful effects, but it’s difficult to handle. If you’re having trouble, I think I’d like to offer you my help, Ayanokouji-kun. What do you think?” she asked.

Putting aside my own thoughts and intentions, she had shown a willingness to help me anytime because we were on the same side. When I didn’t open my mouth to respond to that, she looked a little bit distressed by it.

“I guess you’re not going to give me an answer unless I tell you straight out, huh?” said Matsushita.

I wasn’t trying to be mean to her or anything, but I didn’t want to get thrust into a conversation like this while there were so many people coming and going. It was after class, and you could start to see all kinds of students around. It wasn’t like Matsushita hadn’t noticed that herself. Then, without waiting for an answer from me, she started talking once again.

“You need to stay at the top of the rankings to avoid a penalty, so you’re having a difficult time finding people to form a group with, right? Which is why I wanted you to rely on me if you’re having trouble,” said Matsushita.

After she said that, she must have forgotten something important, because she quickly spoke up and made an addendum.

“Of course, I intend to completely follow your instructions during the exam, Ayanokouji-kun.”

Apparently, that was the message she had wanted to give me, going as far as deliberately tailing me to do so.

“I’m honestly happy that you’re offering to help me, but you’ll be penalized if we don’t make the top thirty percent. Do you understand that you’ll be taking that risk on too, Matsushita?” I asked.

“I understand. That’s exactly why I think it’s important for me to cooperate with you by helping you out, Ayanokouji-kun.”

It wasn’t like I thought she didn’t have good intentions. But I figured that the true essence of her request must have laid elsewhere.

While suppressing my wish to hurry things up and go join up with Yousuke, I turned towards Matsushita, who was walking alongside me.

“Did you determine that your odds of survival are highest if you form a group with me?” I asked.

To put it simply, you would normally expect that the group with the Trials and Tribulations card would have a higher chance of getting expelled. Yet despite this, Matsushita had offered to help me, without concern for the dangers. I couldn’t interpret that simply as something done solely out of good intentions.

“…Guess I’ve been found out, huh?” said Matsushita, smiling with her whole face, raising the white flag in surrender.

“I was thinking that it won’t be difficult for you to stay in the top percentage of groups, Ayanokouji-kun, since, well, it’s you. Even if you don’t necessarily make it to the very top, it’s almost a complete certainty that you’ll break into the top thirty percent. It would be more dangerous for me to casually prioritize my friends and join a group haphazardly,” said Matsushita.

Those were her true feelings. She weighed me against the other students she could have possibly chosen, and she ended up choosing me.

“I thought you might get snatched up, Ayanokouji-kun,” she added.

So, she came to talk to me as soon as possible. That made it easier for me to understand her intentions, by coming to me with her evaluation. I was grateful for her offer, but I had no intention of coming to a firm conclusion here from the beginning. That wasn’t Matsushita’s fault or anything. It would’ve been the same regardless of whoever approached me.

“I’m not going to decide on a group now, at least not this month,” I told her.

“Meaning that you’re going to sit back and see what happens?” she asked.

“I want to see what the other classes are doing,” I replied.

I gave her a plausible answer. But what I was concerned about was very different from what the average student was concerned about. A special exam on an uninhabited island required extensive preparation. It was impossible to imagine that Tsukishiro wasn’t involved in this somehow.

It had already been a month and a half since the previous special exam, and there still hadn’t been any significant movements on his end. As days went on, we were getting further away from his original scheme to have me expelled by the end of April. Because of the fact that the White Room agent had been acting at their own discretion, Tsukishiro’s plans had gotten off track. Something was likely going to happen at this stage while we were forming groups. This period of time could be called the preliminary battle. There was an element of danger that not even Matsushita could read. If she got involved, she wouldn’t be able to get out that easily.

“Well, it seems like I can’t get a satisfactory answer now then, I suppose. I get it. In that case, please just think it over,” said Matsushita.

She probably had no intention of pushing this matter too hard because she seemed to back off immediately, waving her hand to say goodbye.

“Oh, that reminds me. Here’s my personal contact info,” she added.

She handed me a slip of paper with her ID written on it. It seemed like she had prepared it ahead of time.

“Well, I said what I wanted to say.”

Matsushita said her piece quickly and efficiently, without wasting any time. After she had made her offer, she turned on her heel and walked back towards the dormitory.

“It doesn’t feel bad, getting another girl’s contact information,” I said to myself.

Right now, it was unclear whether I’d be able to live up to Matsushita’s expectations of me in the future. Afterward, I met up with Yousuke in Keyaki Mall.

“What’s the situation?” I asked.

“Well, I get the feeling that it’s not going to be the worst-case scenario or anything, but, well…”

I followed Yousuke’s line of sight and saw Shinohara and Komiya chatting away happily in the café, engaged in friendly conversation. And a little further away from them, I spotted Ike from behind, slouching his back like he was feeling depressed. He was watching Shinohara and Komiya quietly.

“What should we do?” asked Yousuke.

“Well, for the time being, if he doesn’t show any signs of going on a rampage of charging in there, I think we can just wait and see. Just carelessly calling out to him might not lead us to a solution anyway,” I replied.

Yousuke nodded in agreement.

“In the meantime, I think we should find out more about Komiya. I’m not sure what Komiya’s intentions are in inviting Shinohara to join a group, but we can’t make a move until we make sure what those intentions are,” I replied.

“I’ll think about who the best person for Ike-kun to partner up with would be, in the event that he can’t partner with Shinohara-san, just in case,” said Yousuke.

“Please do,” I replied.

We both agreed to split up and gather information separately.

4.8

A FTER I SEPARATED from Yousuke, I gave Ishizaki, who was in Komiya’s class, a call and asked him to come out. He told me that he was still at school, so I decided to walk on over to where he was. As soon as I met up with Ishizaki, he immediately ran up to me with a huge smile on his face.

“Hey dude! You’re ready to pair up with us?!” he shouted.

“No, the jury is still out on that one, sorry. I actually wanted to talk to you about a different matter today,” I replied.

When I told him that, Ishizaki looked a little bit disappointed, but he quickly recovered.

“What’s up dude? Come on, talk to me,” said Ishizaki.

I was about to launch right into what I wanted to talk to him about, but then I turned my attention to a girl that was approaching Ishizaki. It was Nishino Takeko, from Class 2-B.

“What’s this? So, your business you had to take care of was meeting up with Ayanokouji-kun?” said Nishino.

“H-hey, I told you not to follow me, didn’t I, Nishino? Sorry, Ayanokouji,” said Ishizaki.

After Ishizaki apologized to me, he urged Nishino to go on ahead to Keyaki Mall. Nishino didn’t listen to him at all, but instead approached me.

“You’re close with Ishizaki, huh? It’s kind of surprising to see the two of you together,” said Nishino, observing me closely.

I also noticed that she didn’t include any honorific after Ishizaki’s name.

“Hey, you never listen to people at all! This is exactly why everybody shuns you!” shouted Ishizaki.

“Shuns her?” I repeated.

“Oh, uh, yeah, she’s all alone in our class right now. She hasn’t got a single friend. It’s kinda a problem,” said Ishizaki.

“All alone? I’m not really bothered by it though,” said Nishino.

On that subject, that reminded me, Ibuki was also something of a lone wolf herself. Apparently, Nishino was quite like her.

“Anyway, just go on ahead. ’Kay?” said Ishizaki.

“Nope,” said Nishino.

“N-Nope? Hey, come on… Sorry Ayanokouji, hold on just a sec. I’m gonna get her outta here,” said Ishizaki.

“I’m just curious why you’re sneaking around and meeting Ayanokouji-kun in secret like this, Ishizaki,” said Nishino.

I hadn’t ever talked with Nishino before, but she seemed to be the type of person who just said what was on her mind without hesitation. It was certainly true that a person like that tended to make a lot of enemies. However, I supposed that since Ishizaki and I were meeting together, it was understandable that she would find it curious. It might be counterproductive to just turn her away without telling her anything.

I decided to tell Nishino about what I was going to talk to Ishizaki about. First though, I wanted to give her some background context, before going on to the matter at hand.

“Ishizaki and I were in a group together during the camp thing last year. We became friends there,” I told her. “I contacted Ishizaki because I want to know a few things about Komiya from Class B. And since this isn’t something that we wanted people to overhear, I asked him to meet me here.”

“About Komiya-kun? What do you mean?” asked Nishino.

She didn’t drop the honorific in Komiya’s case, apparently. With that thought in mind, I went ahead and explained what was going on.

“I heard that he promised to make a group with Shinohara, from my class. Did you know about that?” I asked.

“Nope, first I’ve heard ’bout it. But like, it ain’t all that weird, is it?” said Ishizaki.

Partnering up with someone from another class was certainly by no means strange, no. So, it wasn’t unreasonable for Ishizaki was curious why I’d ask about it.

“So, what ’bout it?” he added.

“Even in the kindest of terms, Shinohara isn’t the type of person who can perform well in the uninhabited island exam. Our class is worried about whether her forming a group with Komiya might be a problem or not. I wanted to know what kind of person he is,” I answered.

“I mean, I guess he’s a normal, good dude, y’know? He’s pretty coordinated and stuff, and he’s on the basketball team, so he’s got stamina,” said Ishizaki.

Ishizaki then turned to Nishino for her opinion, with a look that said “Right?” I’m guessing she must have agreed with him, because she responded with an immediate nod, as if there was no issue.

“Apparently, one of them had asked the other to be in a group, from the sounds of it. Are they going out or something?” I asked.

“Huh? U-uh, I dunno, I guess…” said Ishizaki.

“There’s no way that you could find that out by asking Ishizaki, though. He doesn’t know a single thing about love,” said Nishino.

“Shut up! What, do you know anythin’ about it?” shouted Ishizaki.

“I know more than you, at the very least. I don’t think that they’re dating, but I’m pretty sure that Komiya-kun likes Shinohara-san,” said Nishino.

That must have sparked Ishizaki’s memory, because he spoke up and told me something.

“Whoa, serious? Komiya likes Shinohara? Oh, but hey, come to think of it, I’m pretty sure he might’a said somethin’ about there bein’ a girl he liked in another class… Though I only have like, a vague memory of that,” said Ishizaki.

If students were to form a group with each other, they would obviously want to look for certain things. There were many factors. Talent or a bond of friendship. Or things like romantic feelings, perhaps. If, as Nishino had said, Komiya had feelings for Shinohara, then it was no wonder that he would want to form a group with her.

“But why do you care about all that, though?” asked Ishizaki.

“I saw the two of them together this morning. Since Komiya had called Shinohara by her first name, I figured they must be close. I thought there might be something going on,” I replied.

“Oh… Hey, hold on. Ayanokouji, are you, maybe…? Do you like Shinohara?” asked Ishizaki.

“No.”

I immediately denied it, but Ishizaki was grinning happily, like a switch had been flipped in his brain.

“Dude, come on. So, you’re just pretendin’ to be this quiet dude, but turns out there’s a lady you like. All right, I get it,” said Ishizaki.

“I said no, though. It’s not true.”

“Aw, don’t hide it from me. You and me are buds, right?” said Ishizaki.

Well, I didn’t think we were close at all until the training camp exam, though… But I supposed it was true that lately he’d been more of a friend to me than the people in my class who I hardly knew at all.

“But seriously dude, knowing you, you probably could score a much cuter girl,” said Ishizaki.

If this kept going any further, there was a chance that some misguided rumors could start going around. If that happened, then Ike and Shinohara’s relationship might sour even further.

“It’s Ike. Ike, from my class. He’s the one who has a crush on Shinohara,” I told him.

“Huh? Oh what? So, it ain’t you, Ayanokouji?” said Ishizaki.

“Which is why I’m here, trying to find things out,” I added.

“All right, I understand what yer gettin’ at now sure. But, I mean, it ain’t like love is somethin’ another person can just butt into though, know what I mean?” said Ishizaki.

“I agree with that. I think that getting involved in their business would be wrong,” added Nishino.

“Normally, yes, I would agree with you. However, for our class, this is a situation that we can’t really ignore, since Ike taking part in this exam is vital to our class,” I answered.

The more strained that Ike and Shinohara’s relationship became, the more chance there was that he might run off in a weird direction. This wasn’t a good turn of events, because the uninhabited island special exam, a place where we could really make use of Ike’s talents, was approaching. However, what I was requesting didn’t offer any benefits for Class B. If anything, it would be like them helping their enemy. This wasn’t something that they’d want to help us too much with. That’s what I had thought, anyway.

“All right. If you need it, I’ll lend ya a hand. What should I do?” asked Ishizaki.

Ishizaki offered to help me, not minding it at all.

“Wait, Ishizaki, are you being serious? You’re Komiya’s friend, aren’t you?” said Nishino.

“So, what, am I just s’posed to abandon Ayanokouji right here, when he’s in trouble?” said Ishizaki.

“Well, yes, you are supposed to abandon him. I get that you two are friendly, but we’re supposed to be enemies,” said Nishino.

“They do say that yesterday’s enemies are tomorrow’s friends, right?” replied Ishizaki.

Well, technically, he should have said “today’s friends,” but it was fine, so I decided to just let that slide.

“That’s very kind of you to offer, but it might be tough for me if you’re asking for something in return,” I replied.

“Somethin’ in return? Nah dude, I ain’t askin’ for nothing. It’s normal to help a friend when they’re in trouble,” said Ishizaki.

Ishizaki wasn’t good at lying. He seemed to be willing to give me some advice without asking for any kind of payment. I was grateful for that, but considering that he was Komiya’s friend, I couldn’t make an unreasonable proposal. Besides, if I carelessly tried to separate Komiya and Shinohara, it would probably be frowned upon, especially by Nishino.

“Okay then, in that case… Could you try to get Komiya to tell you how he really feels?” I asked.

“So, you just wanna know if he really likes Shinohara?” asked Ishizaki.

“Yeah, but please make sure to keep quiet about the fact that there’s someone who wants to know about it,” I answered.

“Yeah, ’course I’ll do that. But how am I s’posed to actually ask him? Any ideas?” asked Ishizaki.

Ishizaki was struggling because he didn’t have any motive to ask Komiya how he felt, but Nishino stepped in to throw him a lifeline.

“Ayanokouji-kun, you saw the two of them together having fun, didn’t you? In that case, why don’t you guys pretend like it was Ishizaki who actually witnessed them, and then Ishizaki can use that to ask if they’re dating? Wouldn’t that work? Besides, since Ishizaki is a guy who isn’t very popular. It would bother him when one of his friends beat him to the punch, right?” said Nishino.

Ishizaki immediately accepted Nishino’s proposal since he didn’t really have many ideas of his own to work with.

“W-well, it definitely feels pretty flimsy as a reason and all, but… A-all right, I’ll do it. Just wait a sec. Club stuff still hasn’t started yet, and—”

Ishizaki had added that he thought the plan would probably work, and then proceeded to call Komiya.

“…Oh, hey, Komiya? Sorry for hittin’ you up before your club stuff. Oh, uh, yeah, just somethin’ I wanted to ask ya. Were you talkin’ with Shinohara from Class D this morning? …Dude, I knew it. Aw man, and here I thought we were like brothers in arms, since we didn’t have girlfriends and all. And here you go, leavin’ me in the dust,” said Ishizaki.

He asked Komiya about Shinohara, handling it better than I had expected he would.

“Oh wait, so you guys aren’t really goin’ out? Guess that must be true, yeah. If I find out later that you’re lyin’ though, we’re gonna have a problem, y’know?” said Ishizaki.

He confirmed that the two of them were not dating, and then made an “okay” gesture to me with his right hand. Just then though, his expression changed slightly.

“Huh… Seriously? O-oh. All right, I getcha, huh…”

Ishizaki had been asking questions in a way that I could follow along up with so far, but the amount of information I could pick up from the conversation suddenly diminished. He began to listen intently to Komiya, who was speaking on the other end of the line.

“…That so? Huh, okay. Yeah dude, I get it. Guess that means the time has come for you to become a man. I’m pullin’ for you dude, of course. Let me know how it goes, okay?” said Ishizaki.

Based on how the conversation had gone, I was able to understand what Komiya had told Ishizaki, more or less. When Ishizaki finished his call, he looked at me with a somewhat awkward expression on his face.

“So, Komiya’s plannin’ on telling Shinohara that he’s got a thing for her. He’s gonna do it on the island,” said Ishizaki.

“I see,” I replied.

If they formed a group, that meant they’d be together on the island for twenty-four hours a day. I’m sure there would come plenty of times when he’d have the perfect opportunity to tell Shinohara how he felt about her.

“What now? I mean, ain’t no way we can stop ’em, right?” said Ishizaki.

He was right, of course. Komiya had the unassailable right to tell her how he felt. Besides, even though Ike and Shinohara both liked each other, neither one of them had taken that first step in the first place. So if someone else were to cut in before Ike were to get there himself, well, that just meant that was the way things were meant to be. Or maybe after Komiya told her how he felt, Ike could eventually win her back…

“Anyway, thanks for the help. I think I’ll talk to Horikita about all this. Oh, and if Nishino seems to be having a tough time getting a group, come talk to me. I might be able to help in some way,” I replied.

“I told ya I didn’t need anythin’ in return though,” said Ishizaki.

“Well, it’s just like you told me. If you’re in trouble, I’ll help you out, too. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll help,” I told him.

“Thanks. I know you’ve got a lot you’re dealin’ with too, so hang in there,” said Ishizaki, offering me some words of appreciation.

I decided to go ahead and report back to Horikita on the matter.

4.9

T HAT EVENING , I called Horikita to the cafeteria. Since there were so many people around, it would be difficult for anyone to pick up on our specific conversation, even if they were trying to listen in. I told Horikita about how Ike had a crush on Shinohara but was unable to take that first step. I also told her that Komiya had a crush on her as well, and that he was planning to tell her how he felt. I also told Horikita about how deeply I think it might affect the upcoming exam. And Horikita’s reaction to all of that was…

“Wouldn’t it be fine to just leave them alone?”

I had halfway expected as much, but her reaction was one of cold indifference.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something, and I was wondering what it could have been about. But this really isn’t something that other people should get involved in. Besides, I do value Ike’s camping skills as well. We should place him in a group to make the best use of his abilities, leaving personal feelings out of the equation,” said Horikita.

“I’m not so sure about that. It seems like Ike can’t get his mind off Shinohara. Depending on how things play out, it’s possible that he might not be able to perform as well as he did last year. If that’s all there is to it, then that would be fine, but we should consider the possibility that he’ll be so preoccupied thinking about Shinohara that he’ll drag his group down,” I answered.

“You’re saying that he’ll get all weird about it and end up getting expelled?” said Horikita.

“Well, I can’t say for sure that it’s impossible .”

“…In that case, that could be a problem. This is absolutely stupid,” replied Horikita, letting out a bitter sigh, seeming to be at her wits’ end.

“It seems like Komiya and Shinohara have promised to be in a group together, but they haven’t made it official yet because of your instructions. But if you do give them your permission, it is almost a guarantee that they will form a group together. You are the leader of Class D now. If you tell Shinohara that teaming up with Komiya is, strategically speaking, a bad move, then Shinohara couldn’t go against it,” I told her.

“So, you’re saying that we need to stop them. But if we prevent them from being in a group together, wouldn’t Komiya-kun just pick a different time to tell her how he feels? Depending on how things play out, he might even decide to tell her that very same day,” said Horikita.

“We can’t discount that possibility,” I conceded.

“This issue is more trouble than it’s worth. It’s impossible for us to see what’s going on before they officially become boyfriend and girlfriend,” said Horikita.

“In that case, what do you think we should do?” I asked.

“Why don’t we just make Ike-kun come out with it and tell Shinohara-san how he feels about her? If she responds well to it, then Ike-kun will give his utmost so that he won’t be expelled, no matter what group he’s placed in, right? On the other hand, if she turns him down, Ike-kun can forget about her and concentrate on the exam,” said Horikita.

While I agreed that the former scenario was likely, I wasn’t sure if the latter would happen that way if Ike did get rejected. There was a possibility that he’d fall into despair and just give up. But we could keep talking back and forth about this topic all day long. It was certainly true that getting Ike make his feelings with Shinohara clear at this stage would be the simplest, least time-consuming solution.

“You’re good at quite a lot of things, but when it comes to love, you’re really hopeless, aren’t you?” said Horikita.

“I’m studying hard right now,” I replied.

“For the love of… All right. I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, should I go ahead and lead Ike-kun and Shinohara-san to try and form a group together?” said Horikita.

Even though we were still in the middle of eating, Horikita took out her phone and launched the OAA app. However, when she did so, an unexpected fact came to light.

“Unfortunately, it seems like we’re too late,” said Horikita.

Horikita slid her phone across the table over to me and showed me the screen. In the OAA app, I could see that groups had been formed. I saw both Shinohara and Komiya’s names listed together already, as two people in the same group. They were in a group of three people, together with Kinoshita Minori from Class B.

“Since it’s come to this, we’re going to need to take steps to make sure that Ike-kun doesn’t lose motivation,” said Horikita.

“Let’s talk about this with Yousuke too. He’s been thinking about ideas for the best group to put Ike into right now,” I replied.

Completing the task of forming groups for the uninhabited island special exam was fraught with difficulties.

4.10

T HAT EVENING , my stay-home date with Kei started, something that had become a regular happening for us. The topic of our conversation today mostly centered around groups, starting with Ike and Shinohara’s break up due to their fight earlier.

“So, um, hey… Kiyotaka, who are you planning to group with for this exam?” asked Kei, looking up at me as she asked that question with a somewhat bashful look on her face.

“I’m not planning on joining a group with anyone right now,” I told her.

“Huh? Wh-why?”

I could sense that Kei had wanted to be in a group with me, but even if we did team up, it wouldn’t work out in my favor. It wasn’t like she was lacking in ability or anything. It was more that, considering we would be going up against Tsukishiro, she’d be unfit for the task.

“There are definitely advantages in forming a group. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t win on your own. In fact, if anything, there are advantages in being able to stand freely without being influenced by others. In addition, depending on how things go, you might be able to save other groups. If a group is about to get eliminated, you could step in and cover for them,” I told her.

“So, you’re saying that in general, you could be more resourceful and adaptable if you’re going it alone,” answered Kei.

Whether you were a boy or a girl, you were still allowed to take part in this exam by yourself. In other words, there was a chance for students who prided themselves on their versatility to be able to win on their own.

“If a student were to take first place and they were acting alone, that would mean only their class would be getting 300 Class Points,” I told her.

“Do you think you could get first place, Kiyotaka? I mean, considering the fact it’s you.”

“What do you think?” I asked.

After I turned the question back at her, our eyes had met. We stared at each other for a while, as Kei stiffened, lost in thought.

“I-I feel like…you would get first place without even breaking a sweat. Huh? But wait, hold on. If you get first place, it’ll get even harder for me to tell people that we’re going out, won’t it?!” she wailed, immediately starting to imagine what the future would be like, panicking.

“If you get first place all by yourself Kiyotaka, I think I’d be so happy that I’d swoon. I would think that you’re super cool. But, but… Ah! I don’t know what the best thing to do is!” she added.

“You’re getting overly excited. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like getting first place is that easy,” I answered.

“S-so hold on, does that mean that you don’t think you can win?” she asked.

“Let’s just say my chances are about fifty-fifty,” I replied.

“Just saying that you have a fifty percent chance is still absolutely incredible though…” said Kei.

“Anyway, the thing you should be concerned with right now isn’t who you’ll be partnering with, Kei.”

“Huh? Wait, isn’t that really important though? If I slip up, I might get expelled,” said Kei.

“That’s right. There is the threat of expulsion in this special exam. If you slip into the bottom five, then you’ll get penalized. However, you can’t just freely choose someone to partner up with,” I told her.

“Okay. To be honest though, I wanted to partner with you, Kiyotaka… I want you to protect me,” said Kei.

Kei had basically asked me as much before, albeit in an indirect way. But now she had come out and honestly said how she felt.

“There are ways to save you without me having to protect you though, right? By that I mean you can hold onto the number of Private Points that you need to save yourself.”

“Well, yeah, that’s true, but…” said Kei, trailing off and pausing for a moment.

Although it required a substantial number of Private Points, if you put it another way, that meant that as long as you held onto that number of points, you’d never get expelled.

“So, yes, it is true. But even if you form a group of six people during the exam, you’d still need a million points to avoid getting expelled, right? I don’t have that many,” said Kei.

“How many points do you have left now?” I asked.

“Let’s see… 240,000, I think. A-Anyway though, I have been saving points pretty well lately though!” said Kei.

I didn’t really say anything that indicated I was blaming her for her lack of points though. Since I was in a comparable situation financially, I couldn’t really criticize her.

“So, you’re short 760,000 then,” I replied.

I had about 250,000 points on hand. Even if I handed them all over to her, she would only have a total of around 500,000.

“Kei, you’ve got the Free Ride card, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. What’s it worth, in terms of value?” she asked in return.

“I couldn’t say it’s a good card, to be honest. For better or worse, it seems the be the card that has the least impact on the holder. It’s not the sort of card that will add to your efforts or help you when you make a mistake,” I told her.

You could basically only bet on whatever group was likely to win. In terms of simple value, you could say that her card had the least value.

“Yeah…you’re right,” replied Kei, letting out a dejected sigh. She had already known that was the case, more or less. “You have the Trials and Tribulations card if I remember right, Kiyotaka. Yeah? It has some powerful effects if you win, but if you lose, it would be really traumatic… Oh, well, I know that you’re not going to have any problems at all of course, Kiyotaka. I was really hoping I would have gotten the Half Off or Nullify card.”

I suppose that from Kei’s point of view, it was natural that she would feel more appreciative of a card that could save her in this exam.

“It’s not like there aren’t any hopes for your card, though. Chances are there are many students who feel like the Half Off or Nullify cards are worthless. In those students’ eyes, there may be value in the Free Ride card,” I replied.

Unlike the Head Start and Bonus cards, her card might not really resonate with students who were confident in themselves. On the other hand, though this card was targeted for the middle-of-the-road students who didn’t think they could win. Furthermore, the middle-of-the-road category was likely to be comprised of the greatest number of students, making it easier to find someone who would want to trade.

However, cards like Half Off were greatly desired by some students both in that middle range category and in the lower range category. They’d want it so badly that they could taste it. Depending on who was holding the card, some cards might seem worthless, while others might shine like they were solid gold.

“I’ll take care of the points,” I told her.

“Huh? You’ll take care of… But how?” she asked.

“There are several ways to do so. Selling off the Trials and Tribulations card to get the funds we need is one way,” I answered.

“But that means you might have to give up your card… Are you sure?” asked Kei.

“It’s more important to make sure that you don’t get expelled,” I replied.

“O-okay… Th-thank you,” she replied, blushing.

Afterwards, we went on to talk about summer vacation, which was exciting, but new developments in our relationship were being put off for later.

4.11

T HE SCHOOL had allowed us to form groups of up to three people up until the summer special exam started in earnest. However, there was a conversation happening that didn’t cover just that. It was also about looking ahead to the future.

“I’m glad that you’ve come, Ichinose-san.”

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Sakayanagi-san.”

It was after school on the first Friday after we were given permission to start forming groups. Sakayanagi had called Ichinose and asked her to come to the café.

“Is this a good time? I was thinking that you might have turned down my offer since I had made this request so suddenly,” said Sakayanagi.

“It’s a perfectly good time, no problem at all. Though to be honest, I was a little surprised since I didn’t think that you’d contact me, Sakayanagi-san.”

That day, just an hour before they had met up with one another at the café, Sakayanagi had suddenly contacted Ichinose and asked her to come out. If Ichinose’s schedule had been packed, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had turned down the offer, of course.

“I really wanted to meet you today and talk with you, Ichinose-san.”

That was a lie on Sakayanagi’s part. Inviting Ichinose so suddenly and without any advance notice was part of her strategy. It was meant to give Ichinose no time to think. If they had arranged in advance to meet in a few days, Ichinose would have thought about what would be discussed. And depending on how things went, she might have even sought help from her classmates, like Kanzaki. This was a precautionary measure on Sakayanagi’s part to prevent that from happening.

“At any rate, why did you accept my sudden request to meet, anyway?” asked Sakayanagi.

“Why? Well, I didn’t really have any plans today,” said Ichinose.

“That isn’t what I meant. I have done some terrible things to you before, Ichinose-san. I thought it wouldn’t be surprising if you hated me,” said Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi had secretly gotten details about Ichinose’s past out of her in their conversations as part of a plot to bring Ichinose down. Sakayanagi had tormented Ichinose by taking something from her past that she didn’t want other to know and revealing it to a great number of people. If someone you trusted and talked to betrayed you, many people would end up hating that person. Or even if they didn’t come to hate that person, they should feel an intense sense of distrust, and want to keep their distance.

However, not only did Ichinose immediately respond to Sakayanagi’s sudden request, but she didn’t give the slightest impression that she held anything resembling a grudge.

“No, actually, I don’t think you’ve done anything particularly horrible to me, Sakayanagi-san. It’s true that what I did in junior high was something that I needed to reflect on anyway, and I’m ashamed of what I did. But it’s not like I had explicitly asked you to keep a secret from everyone, so it would be wrong of me to blame you for what happened,” said Ichinose.

What Ichinose was saying was that in the end, she herself was the one who revealed her past, so she was the one to blame for what happened.

“You are, without a doubt, a truly good person, Ichinose-san,” said Sakayanagi.

“I’m not so sure about that. I don’t really know, myself , ” said Ichinose somewhat sheepishly, lightly scratching her cheek. She seemed to be embarrassed, averting her eyes away from Sakayanagi like she couldn’t bear her gentle gaze.

“So then… What did you want to talk about?” asked Ichinose.

Perhaps Ichinose felt like it would’ve been awkward if they continued discussing that topic any further, because she urged Sakayanagi to start talking about the matter at hand.

“As you wish then, I’ll get down to business. However, I suspect that you might feel uncomfortable about what I wish to discuss with you,” said Sakayanagi.

After Sakayanagi had prefaced what she was going to say with that warning, Ichinose quietly muttered to herself. “I hope she goes easy on me.”

“Please pardon my bluntness, but I’m not so sure that you’ll even be able to make it back to Class B, let alone Class A. I would like to know your thoughts on the matter. Would you care to share them with me?” said Sakayanagi, pointing out the current situation that Ichinose was in without an ounce of hesitation or restraint.

“Ah ha ha… Well, that really was honest,” Ichinose replied.

For a brief moment, Ichinose’s mind went blank. Then, with a bitter smile on her face, she started to fan herself with her hand. Sakayanagi, with a deliberate smile plastered on her face, simply watched, and waited for an answer.

“It’s certainly true that the situation we’re in now isn’t good, by any means,” said Ichinose.

As of the first of May, there was only a twenty-six-point gap in Class Points between Ichinose’s class and Ryuuen’s class, with Ichinose trying to play catch-up. Since those points fluctuated based on things like tardiness and absences every month, she thought that her class might be able to catch up if there weren’t any special exams. In fact, the Class Points that her class had accumulated over the past year had largely come from smaller amounts of points being gained from those kinds of daily activities and evaluations building up over time.

However, after their positions in the rankings had been reversed and Ryuuen’s class became Class B, they didn’t show a single weakness to exploit. In June, the gap between the two classes had narrowed slightly, but only by a mere two points. Ichinose could feel Ryuuen’s and his followers’ strong will to never let her pass them. That was something that Sakayanagi, who was now being pursued by Ryuuen, could sense without even needing to say anything about it.

“I am well aware that they’re very formidable opponents,” added Ichinose.

“Even though you’re aware of that fact, there are still some things that you just can’t seem to do anything about, aren’t there? Ryuuen-kun’s boisterous, excessive class hasn’t been causing any problems lately with their behavior, which is so surprising that it’s practically unthinkable. If you cannot catch up to them from daily activities, then you have no other option but to put your heart and soul into future special exams,” said Sakayanagi.

Ichinose nodded meekly. Sakayanagi was by no means intending to answer with sweet, gentle words in response, though.

“He’s not the sort you can defeat so easily. It is no exaggeration to say that he would be the most difficult kind of opponent for you, Ichinose-san, as someone who takes a very honest, straightforward approach,” said Sakayanagi.

That point was something that Ichinose understood quite well herself, having faced Ryuuen directly at the year-end special exam. Ryuuen was coercive, abnormal, and certainly wasn’t loath to break the rules. Ichinose’s true intention was probably to avoid fighting him, if possible.

“But, well, that’s something that I can’t avoid running into on the path to get to the top. And while it’s true that Ryuuen-kun is a difficult opponent to face, it’s not as though you’re someone who could be defeated so easily either, Sakayanagi-san,” said Ichinose.

Even there had been a brief struggle with Katsuragi, who was also in Class A, they had nearly double the points that Ryuuen’s class had, creating a strong lead. Class A was undeniably far, far ahead of everyone else in the running. Even if Class A were to be defeated once or twice, it would be difficult to shake them out of first place.

“Even though there is more than two-hundred-point gap between your class and Class D, what do you think might happen, considering their momentum? Are you confident that they won’t overtake you?” asked Sakayanagi.

“Horikita-san’s class is also rapidly gaining strength, by leaps and bounds. In terms of individual abilities, they have people who can stand toe-to-toe with those from any other class… When I look at things that way, I can say that I definitely do not have that much room for error,” said Ichinose.

“Indeed, there are certainly several interesting and exceptionally gifted individuals in Class D. First, you have Hirata-kun and Kushida-san, both of whom have excellent communication skills and well-balanced grades. Then there’s Sudou-kun, who is the sole student to have earned an A+ rating in physical ability. And you have Ayanokouji-kun, who made a surprise attack like a soldier lying in wait by getting a perfect score on the mathematics section of the exam, which was an exceptionally difficult subject. And then we have Kouenji-kun, someone whose true abilities still can’t be discerned fully, making him yet another dangerous person,” said Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi had made Ichinose once again feel the depths of what Class 2-D had to offer by deliberately making mention of their strengths.

“Lastly, there’s the leader that they rally around, Horikita-san. She is quite gifted both academically and physically, and I even heard that she had joined the student council the other day,” she added.

Sakayanagi had once again confirmed the situation that Ichinose was in.

“I am terribly sorry to keep saying such harsh things, but I think that it’s only a matter of time before your class is demoted to being Class D, Ichinose-san.”

“Well, I think there’s no arguing that we do warrant that kind of evaluation right now. But—” said Ichinose, before being interrupted.

“Are you going to say something abstract, like you’ll make it through hard work and friendship?” said Sakayanagi, cutting her off.

Ichinose had been made to swallow her words when Sakayanagi had precisely taken them right out of her mouth beforehand.

“It is impossible for you to win with such vague ideas. Every class has clearly grown in power over the past year, but I don’t see any significant growth coming from your class, Ichinose-san.”

“That’s… That’s not true, though. Everyone has been really coming along.”

“I didn’t see that you haven’t grown. The problem is by how much,” said Sakayanagi.

“You might not believe this, but I don’t think we’ll lose, Sakayanagi-san,” said Ichinose.

Sakayanagi, with a faint smile on her lips, simply shook her head from side to side, slowly.

“If you look at OAA, the answer is obvious. If you compare the overall ability that all four classes have this year versus where we were at last year, you can see that your class is undoubtedly the one that has demonstrated the smallest degree of growth among them. I had thought you would have at least checked into it that much, Ichinose-san… But perhaps you already knew that and pretended not to notice anything or maybe you were too afraid to afraid to check for yourself…” said Sakayanagi.

Ichinose firmly recalled a time before when she had been alone with Sakayanagi. It was almost like an adult with a child. It was only natural that Ichinose felt like she was being talked down to, driven further and further into a corner. She was unable to say anything back to Sakayanagi, who was accurately exploiting her weakness.

“You are a smart student. In an honest and equal tête-à-tête, I don’t think you would fall behind me by any means. However, you’re unable to demonstrate your abilities when put in a disadvantageous position. Both then and now, you could only stay silent as your weakness was exploited. However, both I and Ryuuen-kun, who you are facing off against now, are able to bare our fangs when placed at a disadvantage. Do you understand?” said Sakayanagi.

“Ye… Yes, I do.”

Those two would not doubt their strength, regardless of whatever situation they were in.

“I think it’s safe to say that as you are now, Ichinose-san, you have no chance of winning.”

“Is that what you called me here to talk about?” asked Ichinose.

“If I were simply trying to harass you, I could do that anytime, anywhere. I wouldn’t waste precious time,” said Sakayanagi.

Then, Sakayanagi decided to tell Ichinose the real reason she had called her here today.

“Why not join forces with me, Ichinose-san?”

“Huh…?”

Sakayanagi’s shocking proposal came as such a surprise to Ichinose that she was at a loss for words.

“Wait, but that’s—”

“A cooperative relationship between classes isn’t a terrible thing. In fact, if I remember correctly, you had a similar relationship with Horikita-san from Class D during our first year, didn’t you?” asked Sakayanagi.

It wasn’t strange that Sakayanagi had heard about their alliance.

“Now, this is merely speculation on my part, but I believe that Class D might have already nullified their partnership with you. Even though they are at the bottom of the class rankings, they have accumulated more Class Points than any other class has in one year, and they are gaining momentum. In comparison, Ichinose-san, your class has fallen a step behind and has been demoted to Class C. From the perspective of Horikita-san and her peers, continuing to collaborate with you would have no benefit whatsoever,” said Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi had perfectly and succinctly summed up what had happened, almost as if she had witnessed the conversation that Ichinose and Horikita had firsthand. Ichinose couldn’t deny any of that. She responded in a way that halfway sounded like she was openly admitting to it.

“Yes, I suppose so… Partnerships can’t last forever,” said Ichinose.

“Yes. For a collaborative partnership to be maintained, a certain condition must be met. Your class and Horikita-san’s class had fulfilled that condition last year. And it was precisely because of that that you were able to successfully establish a good relationship without fighting each other in vain,” said Sakayanagi.

Ichinose nodded meekly in agreement.

“And that certain condition was…the difference in Class Points,” added Sakayanagi.

In fact, that was exactly it. The truth of the matter was that the reason Ichinose and Horikita’s classes made a ceasefire agreement was because of the difference in Class Points they held.

“Although I don’t think this was intentional, there is now quite a substantial difference between my Class A and your Class C, Ichinose-san. In other words, I think that it wouldn’t be impossible for us to join forces,” said Sakayanagi.

“The sad thing is though; I can’t really think of this as a happy proposal. Because it implies that our class is insignificant to you, we’re not even worth being cautious about, Sakayanagi-san.”

“If I may be so bold, that’s because that’s exactly true.”

The merciless reality of what Sakayanagi was saying struck Ichinose. But Ichinose didn’t stop smiling. Although emotional denial would’ve been easy, she couldn’t turn away from the reality that her class was in a crisis.

“I can’t imagine that there are any benefits for you in partnering with us though, Sakayanagi-san.”

“No, that’s not quite true. If we look at things purely in terms of power, then yes, it is true that you come up short. However, you possess a powerful weapon that no other class has,” said Sakayanagi, with a smile.

“And that weapon is…trust. I can say with absolute certainty that during the time in which our classes are allied with each other, you will not betray me, no matter what happens. That is of foremost importance in looking for an ally,” said Sakayanagi.

A partner that you could rest easy about and trust to watch your back. Sakayanagi was saying that alone was worth an alliance.

“While I’m happy that you think so highly of me, we’re in a situation now where we can’t really care for appearances, right?” said Ichinose.

“Yes, that is true. However, I cannot imagine that you would abandon that weapon called trust, which you have built up so much so far, Ichinose-san. If you do abandon that trust and betray me, then the blame would fall squarely on me for having judged incorrectly,” said Sakayanagi.

Even if this were a trap that Sakayanagi had laid for her, Ichinose couldn’t help but feel that being trusted wasn’t a bad thing. However, she already taken into consideration the fact that Sakayanagi was someone she couldn’t drop her guard around.

“Could I ask that you please give me some more details about what you’re thinking?” asked Ichinose.

“Can I take this to mean that you wish to move forward with this partnership?” replied Sakayanagi.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“In that case, let’s discuss.”

Sakayanagi started to act, to take Class 2-C, led by Ichinose, under her banner.

“The upcoming special exam, where we need to survive on an uninhabited island has some rather troublesome rules. We can only form groups with students from our grade level and the rewards are distributed equally. This means that even if you were to bring together the best of the best from each class, it wouldn’t create any gap in Class Points whatsoever,” said Sakayanagi.

“Yes, you’re right about that. Which is why it’s inevitable that we’ll have to make a group that’s capable of winning from within our own classes,” said Ichinose.

“But in that scenario, you couldn’t say that you’re able to handpick the best of the best in forming your group, no? There would inevitably be certain areas that each class won’t be able to cover on their own… However, what if two classes were to work together? I would say it’d be a different story if we could freely choose between a total of seventy-nine people,” said Sakayanagi.

“So, if your class and our class worked together…”

“Although you wouldn’t be able to chip away at the lead that Class A has, you would be able to overtake Ryuuen-kun’s class and widen the gap with Class D as well,” said Sakayanagi.

“But… If we do this, that means we’ll be losing an opportunity to catch up to your class then, Sakayanagi-san.”

“As we head into the second and third semesters, isn’t your first priority to return to a stable position? Even if you refuse to join forces with me here, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to win. Am I wrong?”

“Well…”

“On the other hand, if you lose to the other classes, you will be demoted to Class D, Ichinose-san. You will lose out on a lot of Class Points, thereby putting you in an extremely tricky situation. If that were to happen, it would be close to impossible for you to aim for Class A, wouldn’t it?” said Sakayanagi.

Ichinose had once again fallen silent, unable to respond to what Sakayanagi had said.

“I think that you still harbor some doubts about me. But I don’t think there are going to be many chances for the other classes to team up with each other. Neither Class B nor Class D would ever join forces with me, as they are intending to catch up to Class A. Their only option would be for D, C, and Class B to form a clique and to challenge Class A together. That way, they could form strong groups,” said Sakayanagi.

No matter how strong Class A was, if B, C, and D worked together, Class A’s chances of winning would be slim.

“I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t thought about that myself already,” said Ichinose.

“Yes, quite. However, D, C, and B working together isn’t a realistic strategy. Ichinose-san, have you received word from anyone about that yet, in the few days since we’ve been notified that we’re allowed to create groups?” asked Sakayanagi.

Ichinose, eyes cast downward, slowly shook her head from side to side.

“If three classes joined forces, that would mean the Class Point rewards would be divided equally amongst them. Even if you did your utmost and were able to take first place, you would only close the gap between us by a mere one hundred points. If you placed second, then sixty-seven points. And if you got third, that would be thirty-three points,” said Sakayanagi.

Even if Classes 2-B, 2-C, and 2-D had managed to secure all of the top positions, that would still only decrease Class A’s lead by a mere 200 points. Although that was by no means a small amount, it would be difficult to monopolize the top spots in this special exam in the first place.

“It’s natural to want to win on your own, and to close the gap by 300 or 400 points,” said Sakayanagi.

“But, if we enter a partnership, Sakayanagi-san, then Horikita-san and Ryuuen-kun might make a partnership, to… And besides, there are people who have already formed their own groups in our own classes already, aren’t there?” said Ichinose.

“Yes. Rather, I’ve been waiting for the group-building to begin. So, while we are currently seeing a trend where the individual classes want to join forces and instead compete on their own, I propose that we team up, and focus on a main fighting force,” said Sakayanagi.

“And what would this main fighting force be?”

“Just like last year, I am unable to move around on the island, because of my legs. However, I am allowed to participate. Albeit in a somewhat special position, though.”

“Special?”

“Students who are unable to participate due to reasons like illness or injury are eliminated from the beginning, yes? However, I will be participating in this exam as a ‘partially-eliminated’ student.”

“Partially eliminated?”

“I cannot walk around freely on the island because of the state of my legs. However, I have the right to remain at the starting point and compete just like everyone else, while adhering to the same rules. Meaning that if you come seeking my opinion, I can give it to you, and if there’s a difficult problem, we can solve it together. However, if the point comes where I am the sole remaining person in my group, then my group will be eliminated from the exam,” said Sakayanagi.

“So that’s what you mean when you say you’re participating via a special position then,” replied Ichinose.

Although there would be a need to be a way to remain in contact, Ichinose immediately understood that having Sakayanagi function as the brain of a group could be a major factor in the exam.

“You can freely choose anyone out of myself, Hashimoto-kun, Kitou-kun, or Masumi-san. We are undeniably the main fighting force of Class A. And from Class B, I suppose that would be you, Ichinose-san, Kanzaki-kun, and then Shibata-kun.”

All the students that Sakayanagi had just listed then had not yet formed a group and were monitoring the situation. At this current stage, there were no inconveniences for either side.

“That’s right. If you consider that physical strength will be required on the island, I think that’s true. However, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to merge groups as we’d wish once the actual special exam begins, right?” asked Ichinose.

“Although it will be difficult to merge groups, it’s not exactly impossible,” replied Sakayanagi, smiling broadly.

Her smile showed that she was confident that they could form groups no matter what difficulties there were.

“Sakayanagi-san, may I tell you my honest thoughts?” asked Ichinose.

“Of course.”

“Sakayanagi-san, you really don’t want B, C, and D to fight together. Even more so than I had originally thought. Actually, if anything, you’re afraid of that happening, aren’t you?” said Ichinose.

“What makes you say that?” asked Sakayanagi.

“You said that I and my class are partners that you can trust, and I think that you really do mean that. However, the most important thing for you is that you want to avoid a situation where B, C, and Class D were to work together and get on Class A’s tail. It’s certainly true that the amount of Class Points we could earn if we won would decrease, but there’s no guarantee that the three classes below you won’t continue to work together in the future, should that happen,” said Ichinose.

Ichinose, who had been relentlessly pushed around during this whole conversation so far by Sakayanagi, struck back with the feelings she had been holding onto.

“If we successfully managed to pull it off, the idea of the three classes banding together and chasing after Class A, then that would mean you’d be forced into fighting an uphill battle from this point onward, Sakayanagi-san… Am I wrong about that?” said Ichinose.

Sakayanagi looked surprised, albeit only a little, after witnessing Ichinose’s counterattack, since she had only been on the defensive this whole time.

“Apparently, it looks as though I’ve underestimated you a little, Ichinose-san.”

Sakayanagi didn’t care at all if any of the classes below her happened to win this particular special exam on their own and gain the 300 Class Points. The most important thing to Sakayanagi, whose Class A was so substantially far ahead, the thing that she wanted to avoid the most, was the three lower classes banding together and gaining a sense of solidarity. What Sakayanagi was doing here was making a preemptive move in anticipation of more tests like this that may come in the future.

If there were someone who could rally the three other classes together, it was highly likely that person was Ichinose Honami. Which is exactly why Sakayanagi had decided to take Ichinose into her hands first.

“So, regarding my proposal to form a partnership, does this mean you will not accept? Or will you?” asked Sakayanagi.

After acknowledging what Ichinose had said, Sakayanagi had come out and pressed for Ichinose’s cooperation.

“If you do collaborate with me, I don’t mind giving you a pledge for three person’s worth of deposits. I will loan you a total of three million points, for the students who are at a considerable risk of expulsion. In the unlikely event that you are to be penalized, you may use those points to save those students. I would think this is quite a helpful proposal to you, Ichinose-san, since you wish to avoid letting anyone get expelled more strongly than anyone from any other class,” said Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi, fearing that her offer would be rejected, held out her hand.

“Would you mind giving me enough for five people? That way, I would feel totally reassured, I think,” asked Ichinose.

“My, my, quite greedy, aren’t we? Although I had been planning to distribute a similar number of points in the near future, I will offer you a special loan,” said Sakayanagi.

Class A had been continuously receiving the highest number of Private Points out of any class for over an entire year. As a result, the amount of funding that each of their students had accumulated was far beyond what any of the other classes had.

“Okay, I suppose we have a deal then. But to be honest, I would have chosen to work with you even if you hadn’t mentioned the financial help, Sakayanagi-san. Our ultimate goal is to get to Class A, of course. But as you said, I’ve been demoted to Class C, and we really have our backs against the wall now. If we were to be demoted to Class D, I’m sure that the class’s motivation would drop significantly. I don’t want that to happen,” said Ichinose, offering her hand to Sakayanagi, for a handshake.

“So, regarding your proposal that Class 2-C and Class 2-A fight this battle together… I accept,” she added.

Now that the two of them had shook hands on it, both classes had mutually entered an alliance.

“And now I’ll be able to fight without worry. I apologize for how sudden this might be, but I do have one request,” said Sakayanagi.

“I’m guessing that it’s about how to maximize our chances of winning, that it’ll be necessary to start things off by handing over the ‘One More’ card to Class A’s main fighting force… Right?” replied Ichinose.

Now that Ichinose was their ally, she had already started to think about the best path forward for their battle, as an allied force. By using the “One More” card, of which there was only one of in their grade level, you could form a group of up to seven people. This was also one of the reasons why Sakayanagi had decided to fight together with Ichinose.

“I sincerely appreciate that you understood what I meant so quickly,” said Sakayanagi.

“But even still, Ryuuen-kun and Horikita-san are both formidable opponents,” said Ichinose.

Sakayanagi also was absolutely not going to underestimate those two, by any means. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight, considering the lingering shadow of Ayanokouji looming behind Horikita. However, Sakayanagi had chosen to fight together with Ichinose because she was sure that she would definitely win.

“First place is ours to take. Thus, I do not intend to skimp on the efforts necessary for that goal,” said Sakayanagi.

With their forces consolidated, Sakayanagi was going to challenge Ryuuen and Horikita’s respective classes, as well as both the first- and third-years.