XXXVI.

This morning I opened my emails to see one mail from Karasuma-sensei in my mailbox. Seeing the straightforward subject of Employment Contract Amendments, I already what it was about.

Dear Kitani,

Given the recent events I found it appropriate to inform you about the details of the progression of the talk we had a few weeks prior.

The email contains the full contract and its amendments we talked about. My superiors are currently reviewing the full contract and I will contact you again upon its approval. It may take a few weeks longer since some people have voiced some dissatisfaction about the long-term clauses in case of mental trauma.

It is a pity that this process had taken such a long time already, but I hope that we can push the amendments before the end of your summer vacation.

Best regards

Karasuma Tadaomi

Well, how cheery. I should have guessed that it should take longer than necessary. But this point of the contract was inherently necessary.

By now everyone in class should at least have an inkling of what our teacher's greatest weakness was.

How was it possible not to know when he actually went ahead and bit the metaphorical bullet for us after the last incident?

There was no way he would let us, his precious students, come to harm in any way.

In a way, Karma's jump from the cliff had been such a great tactical use of that weakness.

I shuddered at the thought. Never again.

"Kitani? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice called out to me in surprise when I was standing in front of the school library with a popsicle in hand. It was just in time before I wanted to go into the building.

"Huh, Asano, hi," I greeted the other flatly, a little bit annoyed by the lack of greeting. He was rather rude. "I'm enjoying some ice cream here, as you can see."

"Don't be so daft, Kitani, you're obviously not here on the main campus for 10 minutes of eating ice cream." A twitching eyebrow showed me that I had annoyed him back. "I'll just assume that you're actually here to study?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm here," I admitted, actually not that much in the mood to play mind games with Asano. Karma actually refusing to study with me, didn't make me too happy. I had expected him to join me.

The twitching eyebrow evolved into a raised one.

"Why would you even want to study here? You need to reserve a seat and class E members have such limited time slots for our library."

"Well, I just got reminded that we had exams," I answered drily, and it was the honest truth. For some reason I never got wind of when exam season started in school. From the short time I remembered of uni in my last life it was for more straight forward there.

The lectures ended and exam season started.

In school there were so many exam seasons during the year. I really didn't like it, especially the way the Japanese school system just slapped all exams into a few days. Last time it had been only 2 days for all exams.

It had taken 10 Koro-senseis and the whole class studying in front of my face before I even checked the date and realized that the end of term exams was in about two weeks.

And our teacher's obnoxious announcement about blowing his tentacles off for the best grade in the exams of course.

Asano also didn't look too impressed by my answer.

"And the reason you're on the main campus? Again, you have to reserve the slot."

"I wanted to try my luck and for some reason it worked." I shrugged. "Someone actually cancelled their reservation, and I got the spot."

"Students from the main building have a higher priority than your class," Asano pointed out, visibly frustrated by how little sense everything I said made. Maybe I lied about not wanting to get into mind games with Asano. This was more fun than I remembered.

"Eh, that might be because I have still class A priorities," my cheery answer made the strawberry-blond freeze for a second.

"Excuse me?" I smiled at him.

"I got my seat reserved with class A priorities. Need me to repeat it again?" For a certain number of reasons, I was sure the chairman had something to do with my wrong class assignment in the library system.

"There's an error in the Kunugigaoka system," now his voice was completely flat, making his question sound more like a statement than anything.

My grin widened. I could somehow feel it hurting his pride despite the school being under his father's jurisdiction. Huh, he seemed to feel more solidarity with his father about the school than I originally thought. The irony that it was his father who had most likely included this error was too laughable.

"Apparently. I only noticed it now, but I felt like I could use these privileges one last time during this hellish weather."

"One last time? You were going to report this to the administration?"

"Sure. It's not really right for me to use this when I'm in class E. It's discriminatory, but I did get into trouble to get where I am now. I'm committed enough to report this after today." It was convenient, since I felt quite motivated from all the positive energy of my classmates and our teacher today, so I wanted to review a bit on Japanese, since I had been reading more in other languages as of lately.

"You don't need to bother, I will report it for you, Kitani," Asano offered, now full of false polite smiles again. "It won't do for this error to go on."

"Oh really? Thank you for your generosity, president. Then I will leave it in your capable hands!" I popped the rest of my popsicle into my mouth. "It seems like my allotted time will begin soon. Have fun studying for the exams."

"Wait-," Asano made a sound as if to stop me, but right then a group of people burst out of the entrance of the library, a certain agitated energy following them.

"Kitani-!"

"Asano! What a surprise!"

Startled exclamations began to fill the air, and I could finally recognize the people who had interrupted Asano.

Former classmates from class A or probably more well known in the school as the Virtuosos. It was such a ridiculous name.

For a moment I wondered what had them so worked up. Given that I knew that Isogai had somehow reserved some seats in the library, their agitation probably had something to do with them. Curious.

I glanced back at Asano, who looked faintly surprised but was still paying attention to me. I pursed my lips. How to escape him?

In my inattentive state, I missed Sasakibara approaching me.

"What a surprise to see you here, Kitani. I wouldn't have thought to see you here again," he greeted me, moving closer than was strictly comfortable.

I had pushed down any physical flirting he had tried in my last school year, but that guy was actually just bad about respecting personal space. He got even up and close with Asano out of all people, despite the president always shoving him away after it got too much. Well, maybe they were playing a game of chicken. Who was there to judge them?

"Yeah, I am about to study. If you would please?"

"Oh? How about we make it a study date then? I could help you a little but with Japanese," he suggested while the other Virtuosos badgered Asano, talking in more hushed whispers about some bet. Interesting.

"I believe we got the same grade last time. No need for the help," I replied, still finding amusement in the fact that he had asked me about the subject that I just wanted to review. "And Sasakibara? Just for the record, I have a boyfriend now and even if I didn't have one, I would appreciate you respecting my personal space a little bit more just like I told you last year."

I saw Asano's head cocking up in a startled motion. Heh.

"Oh? Are you and Akabane finally an item then? And my apologies. I always forget about people's personal space." He raised his hands to show he meant no harm and stepped at few paces away. It was hilarious that someone who was so Japanese otherwise totally missed the concept of some polite personal space.

"Yep, started just a few weeks ago." I smiled a bit. "He was cute about it."

"Oho, congratulations then." Chatting with Sasakibara was not so bad once in a while when he laid off on the flirting. In class A he had been one of the people I had actually talked more than just a few sentences with. But he was more sociable and empathic than other boys his age. It was probably the reason many girls in the school liked him.

"Thanks. I really ought to go now. My slot is starting." He moved out of the way easily enough once he had something to gossip about now. I rolled my eyes in amusement.

"Kitani!" I turned around one last time. Asano paused as if he wasn't sure what he even wanted to say. "I'll beat you this time."

I pulled my lips into a quirked smile.

"Sure, we'll see."

"I had the feeling that Asano's friends had been so angry because of you guys," I said to the group sitting in front of me in a quiet voice. It was a library after all.

"Oh, Sayori? What are you doing here? I thought you needed reservations to get into the library," Nagisa looked up from his textbook, startled by my appearance.

I grinned before I answered.

"A mistake in the administration system of the school. I'm still a class A student in their books." I waved away their concerned looks. "Just the library system I believe. Sensei would have kicked me out of the classroom a long time ago if I hadn't been on the role call list.

"But thanks to that I was able to book some time in the library. I was feeling studious today cause all of you were so motivated."

"Heh, so you thought you would just go to the main campus for fun? Ballsy of you, Sayori-san," Nakamura chirped, a wicked grin on her face. "Seen any familiar faces? And where is your shadow?"

"If you mean Karma? He went home. He wasn't so excited to study with me. And I have indeed seen a few familiar faces. Asano and his friend group from class A but I bet you have seen them too, right? What did you do to them? They looked quite shaken."

Sheepish looks grew on their faces, except for Yukiko, who had a serene smile on her face when she answered me.

"They bet their lives on the exams. We just showed how they shouldn't give their lives for something this small." I had to whistle at her smooth delivery.

Eyebrows raised; I appraised my classmates once more.

"Nice. I wish could have seen that." Given the amount of bloodlust they had exuded maybe not but seeing them stand up for themselves had to be worth it.

"Okuda-san was really impressive! She told them into their faces how we would surpass them in the exams." Isogai's proud face was mirrored by the others. It was a good look on them.

"You're awesome, Okuda. I knew you had that in you." The bespectacled girl blushed at the praise but nodded, nonetheless.

"Thank you, Sayori-san."

"Ah, we may or may not have made a bet with the Virtuosos though…," Kayano mentioned sheepishly, hand tugging on one of her pigtails.

It drew my attention to her scalp. Huh, so the green hair was just hair dye? Given that we had a whole color palette when it came to hair colors in our school, I had assumed that it was just natural in my second life. I myself had hair that went into a bluer direction than it was strictly natural in my first life.

"What bet?" I asked, only slightly apprehensive of what this could mean. That was the bet I had heard about earlier.

"They wanted to compete against us for the top scores in all main subjects. Whoever gets the most top scores wins."

Tilting my head to the side in bemusement, I questioned the intelligence of the so called Virtuosos.

"Not to dismiss any of you, but they do know that Asano and I have been tying regularly from the beginning of the first year, right? How would that bet even work out if it continues like this?" I was really puzzled by how shortsighted these terms were.

"Actually…," Suddenly no one wanted to look me in the eyes. "They kinda excluded you from the terms, since you have been part of class A in the last school year."

What?

"They were kind of praising you in a really backhanded manner? Like, how only you were actually able to compete with them and we stood no chance without you," Nagisa recited, but his face showed me that he suddenly noticed how dumb it must have been to accept the terms that had been stated.

"And you guys just accepted? Just like that?" I couldn't help but think about Asano's irritation at me being in the system still registered as a class A student. Now it was biting me back in the ass.

"It was a very heated decision…?" I wanted to slap Isogai's pretty face with my books. I sighed.

"Just inform the class of the bet. I'll try to contact Asano about the terms of the bet and then we'll set up a meeting to talk about it," I said in defeat. This was a good added motivation to get the top scores besides the increased probability of killing our teacher. There was probably even a bonus added somewhere.

"Why Asano though? Shouldn't we contact one of the others?" Nakamura's point was valid, but she didn't know them as well as I did.

"Yeah, normally, but Asano actually micromanages class A and those 4 are definitely going to tell Asano everything. They were prattling on about something already when they saw him talking to me at the entrance," I told them, already mentally thinking about what to write in the incoming message.

"Do you have his contact info?" A raised eyebrow accompanied Yukiko's question. I could already feel her wanting to ask me about things later on.

"Also, yes. Class 2A had a group chat which means I actually have all of their numbers." That seemed to satisfy their curiosity at least. I had at least tried to be civil when I had been in 2A last year. Refusing to be in a group chat, which mostly just relayed the most important facts was too petty even for me.

"Okay, we probably chatted enough in the library for now. I want to study, and you ought to do the same. We can talk about this in during homeroom, I think. I'll be here for a while. Bye guys."

A chorus of goodbyes greeted me, all of them looking like they had a lot to think about.

Sigh, now I had to read about archaic Japanese and study some more Kanji…

I went home after three exercise sheets of Japanese Kanji, reading through a lot of archaic phrases and a few classic Japanese short stories. I would have said that had been a productive study session, but the conversation with my classmates was stuck in my head.

Isogai had had the courtesy of informing our class of the current events by group chat and thus had then merrily going on about it via text messages. I wouldn't even have to inform Karma about everything, he would be already informed about the vague details.

The class representative had also written emails to all our teachers, and we would be having the subsequent discussion about the details tomorrow in homeroom.

That was going to be a discussion that I was very curious about. I had to admit, middle school education wasn't the most challenging for me and I could have skipped a grade, would have skipped a grade, if I actually hadn't been that keen on being in the same class/school as Karma.

Probably another point for a bit of an unhealthy dependency. But we went on with our lives without the other too, so hopefully we weren't that bad.

Speaking of; the buzzing of my phone informed me of incoming messages. That was probably…

Asano Gakushuu

Hello Asano,

I believe you have heard about the bet between your classmates and mine. I believe the terms of that bet were too vague and my class representatives and possibly myself would like to sit down with the representatives of your choice to discuss this bet if your class is still eager to keep it going.

Hello Kitani,

You believe correctly. My class and I insist on continuing with this wager and we are amenable to the meeting. Do two days from now on after classes sound reasonable to you? I have forwarded you a draft of our demands and the established terms. If there is anything unsatisfying to you or missing, you can come up with amends and we will discuss them during the meeting.

Very well, thank you for your time. The meeting time is alright. We will forward you our own draft sometime tomorrow so that you have time to review it. I hope the negotiations will go well.

You are welcome. We hope the same.

I forwarded the draft of the terms and the information about the meeting to the classroom chat. There was definite need for amendments from what I had seen from my short peek into the document. Who the fuck would need someone else to feed them during lunch? That was just ridiculous.

It was also a bit ridiculous how fast Asano had come up with the whole thing just during this afternoon. It was a well worded document. But still ridiculous.

Maybe I was getting a bit annoyed by dumb drafts and their approval process. Not was only this bet annoying but the Japanese Government was being so stubborn about not rewarding someone the reward if they actually seriously endangered someone in the class or if someone from 3-E died in the process.

For the first time in a long while I stepped into my house alone after school, sighing in relieve when I actually could drop off my uniform shoes. It wasn't a bad feeling just being alone for once. Different but also a little bit freeing.

I texted Karma.

Akabane Karma

I'm done for the day. You want to come over for some more info on the situation or are you going to stay at your place?

Definitely coming over. You haven't actually read the details of the bet yet, haven't you?

The answer was so immediate that I was almost startled be the buzz of my phone. What…?

I texted him an affirmative, no I hadn't read the whole contract yet, I wanted to do it with more time at hand.

I didn't get another text as an answer.

Puzzled, I opened up the document containing all the terms of the bet and class A's (more like Asano's demands) and skipped all the parts I had seen already.

My attention was caught when I read my name in the legal jargon.

Should Kitani Sayori be the only one to reach a rank within the top 10 and class A win the bet, the student in question will transfer back to class A due to the unsuitable environment that her class provides.

I raised my eyebrows at that. How… childish. I had expected something less underhanded from Asano. But at the same time this fit him just as well. Pen and paper were just another weapon within his arsenal of skills that he could wield so well for someone who was still 15 years old.

But this explained Karma's reaction towards the bet. No way he would let this go. I wasn't particularly enthused about the fact that Asano was bartering about me like a rarity to collect.

I had to wonder about the capability of the teens around me. I knew for sure, that I hadn't been that skillful at that age. Mature for my age? Yes, but that intelligent or skillful at things? No, definitely not.

My former life gave me a definite advantage over everyone here in terms of experience and maturity, but physically we were all just teens. I was rather blessed to have gained such an athletic body this time around, the asthma none-withstanding.

The sound of the door slamming open alerted me to Karma's arrival. I glanced at the clock. Huh, he probably jogged the whole route from his house to time. He had taken no less than 5 minutes.

"Sayo! Where are you?"

"Let me come down quick. I'm on the stairway," I answered him, already on my way downstairs to the living room.

I braved myself for the conversation about to happen.

"Hi," Karma greeted me, a little more breathless than he would normally would have been from a little jog. Someone had been in a hurry then.

"Hi, Karma. I guess you want to talk about that bet?"

"Why did you agree to that?" Karma blurted out, a little bit of hurt and worry bleeding through his tone. My eyes widened at his emotional state. I hadn't wanted to hurt him.

I thought about the way the whole situation appeared, me being the one who had forwarded class A's demands straight from Asano. It gave somewhat the appearance that I had discussed it with Asano a little bit already.

"I actually wasn't there when they made the bet. The others who had been in the library did that," I tried to comfort him a little. "The terms weren't established. Asano and I had been talking outside and then his friends burst out and talked to him about it. I think he made those terms up on the fly. They are definitely not the finished version."

Karma sighed in relief.

"Of course, you wouldn't agree to going back to class A like that. Sorry for the dumb assumption." His whole posture slumped at the confirmation, that I hadn't actually agreed on going back to class A. It made me feel guilty about the entire procedure.

"Don't worry about it. I hadn't even seen that condition when he send me the terms. Otherwise, I would have told you that I didn't agree to anything yet." A realization hit me. "I may or may not have teased Asano a little bit too much about me still being in class A in the library system. That must have been his payback."

I didn't really want to feel it, but I felt little bit of amusement at the pettiness of that move.

"You two…," Karma sighed again but this time in exasperation. "That's such a dumb condition. It's your call to go back and not his."

I shrugged.

"It is. I have a running invitation from the chairman anyway to return to class A. I think he extended it to you too."

"You what now?" Karma's perplexed expression made me wince. Oh my, apparently, I hadn't told him yet.

"I met him once before. He told me then I could come back."

Karma furrowed his brows. A complicated emotion settled on his face.

"I really don't trust the Asanos even one little bit. Those two definitely have some hidden agendas in all their dealings."

"Me neither. The condition about not lying worries me," I referred back to the contract. "Asano is suspecting something from our class. It would be a disaster if anything concerning our teacher gets revealed to the public."

"They would have to put a gag order on him anyway," Karma said, his frowning face now replacing with a calculating gaze. "But if it were accidentally leaked it would ruin the chairman. Asano would have a blast doing that to his father."

I nodded. We both were probably aware that he wouldn't risk the security of the nation or worse that of the world over his grudge with his father, but the temptation was there. There was certainly no love lost between the two of them.

If those two weren't two people who could easily outsmart a psychiatrist and have them write glowing (and false) statements about their wonderful relationship, somebody would probably have sent them there already. As it was, that endeavor was totally useless.

"Do you still want to talk more about that contract? You probably saw that the meeting is tomorrow," I poised the question at the redhead, not sure how much he still wanted to talk about it. It was helpful to our relationship to be open about our feelings, but Karma and I both weren't the most eloquent about our emotions. Sometimes talking about them made things quite awkward.

"I don't- I-," Frustrated Karma ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not even sure why I'm feeling so angsty about this whole thing? I just hate the thought of you leaving."

"Did I hurt you by not telling you things first?" That was probably the first thing that came to mind when I thought about what could have bothered him. I had somewhat a history of forgetting to inform people and reaping the consequences of that.

"No, I don't think that's it exactly," he objected hesitantly. "I was anxious when I read about your part. It's a bit annoying to find things out later, but it can happen."

"Separation anxiety," I mused thoughtfully. It didn't really fit in its right definition.

"I would hate it if you were forcefully taken from me." And that also rang true in my own mind. I had hated it when we had been separated by the class division, but it had gone well enough since we were able to walk to each other's classes. But separating from class E meant not seeing each other at all without our consent.

"I feel the same way," I answered, intently staring at Karma's face to get my point across. This conversation felt both frustrating but also relieving.

"Promise me, you'll stay with me, Sayo," Karma pleaded, tugging me into a tight hug, which had his head resting on my shoulder.

I brought my arms around his frame, carding one hand through his hair. His thick mop felt softer than I always anticipated, the knowledge of red hair actually being the thickest among all hair colors tricking me into the assumption. The undercut on his nape tickled my fingertips.

"I won't leave you alone, I promise." I could never willingly do that.

Our class accepted the challenge willingly, some more than others. It was funny once we actually went through what was written in the actual draft. It certainly showed who prepared for things like these and who didn't.

There was also the expected outrage, that came, when it was revealed what would happen if only myself got in the top 10. To say that I wasn't touched by their feelings was a lie.

"They can't do that! Sayori-san is part of our class and they cam't exclude her like that! And they can't remove her from our class!" I didn't know if Kurahashi's outrage was cuter or Kanzaki's frowny face at me when Kataoka summed up all the important points.

My amused smile was probably completely amiss in this situation. But I saw Karma's expression freeze in place once the subject was addressed. That wouldn't do.

Scooting my chair closer to Karma's desk, I took his hand in mine to hold to let him know I wasn't going anywhere. He squeezed back tightly, silently taking the reassurance.

"I'm not going anywhere," I reiterated once the commotion had somewhat settled. "We can negotiate with Asano and his lot tomorrow. Everyone seems to be willing to hold this little contest, so the conditions for how to hold the bet seem to be fair. The part with me transferring and how we have to tell them always the truth should be changed. And you know that other ridiculous stuff with feeding them and doing shows for them."

"You will have to put in some better incentives for them to change their terms. They won't be satisfied if they won't be able to ridicule each and everyone of you," Koro-sensei cut in all of a sudden, having stayed quiet during the whole conversation. "The part where you guys have to create a play for them every week might have to stay."

"We'll keep that in and exclude us feeding them. I can see carrying their bags as some kind of extra exercise for stamina. I don't know where they are going with having to tell them the truth. Do they want blackmail material?" Kataoke picked up from there, standing at the front with Isogai as class representatives.

I exchanged a glance with Karma. I was pretty sure that my guess was spot on but decided to let Karma decide whether or not we should tell the others. Being aware of Asano's suspicion was a double edged sword. Some of our class could slip up if they knew.

I jerked my head towards the ginger to let him know he could decide. Karma nodded.

"Asano probably suspects our class. Our behavior beginning from the first day of school until now has been too unusual for a class E and he would do almost anything to have some kind of blackmail material on his father."

A stunned silence ran through the whole classroom.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Nagisa asked Karma, being the first one to break the silence.

"I didn't," the boy admitted. "That was all Sayo."

I felt the stares directed towards me boring into my side. Pinching Karma's side with my free hand, I turned toward the questioning gazes that weren't letting up.

"I know him well enough from my time in class A," I aswered the unspoken question. I didn't feel like elaborating too much on my relationship with the other boy. While I tried not to feel too much animosity towards him, there weren't any benign feelings lost between the two of us. We had a quite fundamentally different approach towards people and the world.

While I understood that the other could still change a lot as a teenager, it didn't make it easier for me to get along with him, when we both antagonized each other on every occasion we met each other.

I could admit that I wasn't mature enough to stop sniping at him. My mind was stuck somewhere in between my physical age of 15 and my mental age that had most likely stagnated somewhere around my mid-twenties. If I didn't live as a 25-years-old that I had died at, then I couldn't grow. There was no deluding myself into believing that I was that far ahead mentally.

The discussion had moved along meanwhile, and Karma had taken to absentmindedly moving his thumb in a circling movement on my palms, while he added a few comments about what our class could offer 3-A as compensation.

As I read the suggestions on the blackboard, I trapped Karma's fingers in my own, just to annoy him. He just squeezed my hand instead.

The class written down three other suggestions.

Cleaning, cooking, and writing morning greetings out of all things. Well, that was probably on the same level as feeding the 3-A students. How ridiculous.

As well as the price that 3-E would demand if we won. A luxury island cut off from most of the world was quite an exquisite place to hold our little assassination. Also, a demand of being polite towards all of us and respecting personal space. I had an inkling that Kanzaki had something to do with that.

"-Sayori-san should probably come along," Isogai's voice pulled me out of my musings. What?

The class representative addressed me directly once he saw that he had my whole attention.

"Since one condition involves you more directly than the others, you should really come along for the discussion. Even if it's only to protest that you don't want to move classes."

"… Fair enough," I answered back, feeling a but lopsided since I hadn't really thought about this. The whole Asano situation had occupied my mind more.

"Does anyone have anything to add?"

Headshakes and silence greeted the class presidents.

"Alright, let's hope for the best tomorrow then. I'll forward our amendments towards 3-A today then."

Out of the blue, an arm snagged me around the waist making me automatically turn into a counter to twist the limb around to pin the person to the wall.

Wha-

"Yukiko! Don't do that!" I released her the moment I realized who she was. This wasn't anything particularly unusual. Every single on of us had developed reflexes by now that were often enough triggered involuntarily.

"Well, I had to get your attention somehow." She gave me a gentle smile, contrasting what had happened before.

"Haha, you have it now. Wanna gossip about today?" I remembered the look she had given me in the library.

"Yes, tell me all about your interaction with Asano. How did Karma react? Also, how are you feeling about all of this?" Kanzaki bombarded me with questions. She was peering at my expression, looking for any sign of anxiety or discomfort with the topic.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I am more or less annoyed that Asano thinks I am some cattle to bargain about but we'll see how he reacts. That fucking brat," I took a breath, recalling my annoyance with the guy. "And we just talked in front of the library."

I told her all about my conversation with Asano and his friends. Also, Karma's reaction towards the bet and the terms. It was good to talk about it and let it out. Talking to Karma about it had been good too, but Kanzaki took it more calmly instead of Karma's rather emotional reaction. Seeing what this was about, it was pretty obvious why he would react like this.

"Seems like Karma was pretty shaken up. Is he okay?" Kanzaki asked. It was sweet that she was worried about Karma also.

"I think he will be fine. Once we have finalized the terms it will be better. He's not happy right now, to be honest." I shrugged a bit helpless how else to comfort him.

"Yeah, that's understandable." The other girl tilted her head, considering. "I think he would be more assured if you would try to be more physically affectionate with him. He seemed to become calmer when you held his hand during the discussion."

I blinked.

"Do you think it will help?"

"It would make him happier; I think. No harm comes from trying," she said, a small grin on her face. "How could I let my favorite couple come apart like this?"

"Oh, shush you, Karma and I will manage. But thanks for the advice. I'll try it out." I swatted her shoulder in embarrassment of her calling us a couple so openly. I still was unused to such terms. "But how are you feeling about this? Did Sasakibara make you feel "uncomfortable again?"

I thought about our encounters with the other boy, who always seemed to gravitate towards to the other dark-haired girl

Nothing I couldn't handle. I Don't think he will come back soon after yesterday." She smirked at the memory. "I don't want to lose my friend to those rotten people, but I am confident we can do this."

"Aww, thank you. That definitely won't happen. You guys got this." I had 100% faith in them. If there was any attribute fit my class perfectly, then it was stubbornness. "Let's show those asshole what we can do."

"Well, see you later. My place or yours?" I asked Karma in front of the school's main building.

"Yours, can I just stay in your room?" Asking his question, Karma wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. In retaliation I wound my own arm around his neck, brushing against his red hair.

It was concerning how worried Karma was. I didn't exactly understand what had him to twisted up, but that was something we would have to talk about once this whole deal was over.

"You're always welcome there," I muttered into his shoulder. "Don't worry too much. I know how to make myself clear. Asano won't be able to pull any tricks on me."

"I know, but I just hate this. You're being bargained over like some cattle." He pulled away to cradle my face in his palm.

"Good thing I am not a cow then," I said and followed Kanzaki's advice from yesterday, turning my head to kiss his hand cradling my face. "I won't let them toy with me like that."

His breath hitched at the tender gesture so unlike what I had done before.

"… I know you won't."

"Good." Feeling far braver than I had allowed myself before, I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. This had to do. This wasn't the end of the world.

"Thank you for coming everyone and welcome to the meeting for the terms of the wager between class 3-A and 3-E. Assume all of you have been briefed about the wager and do not need another revision?" Of course, it was Asano leading the discussion as the 3-A representative. Everyone had expected this.

Despite the normally supportive people of his class, only silence greeted his words. Seems like the representatives from 3-A, aka Sasakibara and that one Social Science guy, were far more nervous about this bet than thought. How funny.

"Alright, 3-A had proposed the bill and 3-E has proposed amendments to the bill. The points that are to be discussed are written down in this presentation." With a tap on his laptop an overview of all the topics appeared on the screen in front of the assembled parties. As the last topic stood my name, silently mocking me with its placement.

I gave Asano a flat look. He was being just a tad much. The teen had definitely inherited the dramatic gene from his father.

He only gave me a charming smile back.

"Let the discussions begin."

I hope it was enjoyable. I had fun writing this so yeah. Leave a comment about what you liked and thanks for the interest.

-Yuki