novel volume 8-10

by flametornadohd

this is volumes 8 - 10 of y1 picks up after season 3 of the anime

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 6:

Class D and Class D

IT WAS NOW THURSDAY, and the weekend was drawing near. After class ended,

I went to the library with Horikita in tow. It was where we'd be having our

discussion with Class 1-D, who Nanase would be bringing with her today. On

our way there, we chatted about the special exam.

"Have you checked out today's update yet?" I asked her.

"Seventeen more partnerships have been finalized. Which brings the total

number of partnerships to seventy-three," replied Horikita.

While there wasn't anything about the number of partnerships itself that was

particularly noteworthy, there was one substantial difference between this last

update and the previous two. Namely, the fact that two students from Class 1-D

had decided upon partners. There were now some visible signs of activity in a

class which had, for the past three days, seemed motionless.

"I'm a little flustered. I thought Housen-kun was planning to wait and see how

things would play out a little longer. I tried talking to some Class 1-D students

today during lunch, but they just brushed me off, saying they didn't really know

anything about the students who decided on partners," said Horikita.

"It's hard to tell if they really don't know, or if they're just under some kind of

gag order."

It wouldn't be too surprising if there was some kind of rule in place,

forbidding them from partnering with anyone or even talking about the whole

situation unless one of the smart kids in class got offered a lot of points.

"That's true. At any rate, it's great that we'll be meeting with Nanase-san

now. I'm sure she might be able to tell us something about this situation," said

Horikita.

Horikita had only ever met Nanase once, and they'd never actually ever had a

proper conversation. Even so, Nanase, the person who'd stood beside Housen,

seemed to be someone with whom we could communicate. Personally, I'd

gotten a strong impression that she was an honest person when we talked. She

had a very firm, upright character, vaguely reminiscent of Ichinose somehow.

Horikita and I arrived at the library. When we set foot inside, the first person

to greet us wasn't Nanase, but rather Shiina Hiyori, from Class 2-C.

"Oh, hello there, fancy seeing you here," said Hiyori.

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

today.

"We might be making a little noise today. We're going to talk to some firstyear students about the special exam," I told her.

"Oh, is that so? In that case, it might be a good idea for you to use the seats in

the far back. I don't think you'll bother the other patrons then, and you should

be able to talk a little. Also, you'll quickly notice if someone does try to

approach you," said Hiyori.

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

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

"Yes, they are. It seems there's a lot going on right now."

Since our classes were competing with one another, we couldn't exactly clue

each other in on their inner workings. So with that brief exchange of

pleasantries, we said goodbye to Hiyori and decided to go take our seats. While

I was still kind of curious about what was going on with Hiyori, I went with

Horikita toward the seats at the back of the room.

"Putting Nanase-san aside, now that we're getting involved with Class 1-D, it

raises the question of whether Housen-kun is going to show up," said Horikita.

"Yeah. I guess that whether he shows up or not is going to make a substantial

difference to how this goes."

Since we hadn't given Nanase restrictions, there was no guarantee she

wouldn't bring Housen with her. If she did bring him along, we'd just have to go

for broke and negotiate for all we were worth, flying by the seat of our pants.

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you something before we start a full-blown

discussion. Have you been studying?" asked Horikita.

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

"I was just wondering whether you're getting enough time for your studies,

considering I have an advantage in this situation by being able to choose the

subject."

"Oh, what's this? Taking pity on your enemy?" I teased.

"As if. I'm not so nice as to willingly give up advantageous conditions. This is a

contest I must win," said Horikita.

Even so, she was apparently concerned about whether I was studying

properly or not. Which was to say, she was actually worried that I'd come up

with some excuse that I was too busy dealing with the special exam to study, or

something like that.

"You're one to talk, you know. You're spending a lot of your time getting our

class organized," I replied.

"I always make sure to devote time to my studies. I have no problems

whatsoever," said Horikita.

She seemed to be quite confident that she had managed her time well, with

everything she had to do in her daily routine.

"Well, relax. I don't plan on losing," I told her.

"Well, that's all well and good, I suppose…"

She didn't seem to trust me, strangely enough. She didn't seem to think that I

was taking this test seriously.

To that point, there was one other thing that I wanted to ask her about.

Horikita had a lot of roles to fill, in addition to keeping our class organized. She

had to spend time on her own studies and on top of that, she tutored others. I

had no idea if she could keep going at that pace all the way up until test day.

Just as I was about to ask Horikita about that though, Nanase showed up at

the library, alone. She quickly located us, rushed over toward us, and bowed

her head. From the looks of things, Housen wasn't going to be showing up to

this initial discussion.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," said Nanase, politely.

"Nah, we just got here ourselves," I replied.

Horikita prompted Nanase to sit down in the seat directly across from her and

opened the discussion with a brief introductory greeting.

"All right, well… Once again, my name's Horikita Suzune. Thank you for

making the time to talk with us today," said Horikita.

"Yeah, and I'm… Err, I mean yes, I am Nanase Tsubasa. I haven't done

anything worthy of your thanks, though. If anything, I should be the one

thanking you," replied Nanase.

We were all in Class D, so we all started from an exceptionally humble

position. Horikita, after listening to Nanase's polite and proper words, decided

to immediately get down to business. "I'm sorry for how sudden this might be,

but do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Not at all, please go ahead," said Nanase.

"First, just to establish a baseline, I'd like to ask what your class's policies are.

Two students in your class confirmed partnerships today, while the status of the

remaining thirty-eight students in your class remains to be seen. You were one

of the two students who confirmed a partnership, aren't you, Nanase-san?"

asked Horikita.

While it wasn't clear if it was Housen or someone else, it was clear a member

of their class was giving orders here.

"That's correct. I had a feeling you'd ask me about that. I'm assuming you

asked Kajiwara-kun that same question today, yes?" replied Nanase.

Kajiwara was the name of another student in Nanase's class. Apparently, she

already knew that Horikita had reached out to Class 1-D students during lunch

today. If that was the case, I supposed we ought to assume she also knew that

we had reached out to Shiratori and his friends on the first day of the exam

period.

"I'm surprised. You seem to have a very good handle on this situation," said

Horikita.

"Many students are already acting on Housen-kun's orders," said Nanase

matter-of-factly, openly admitting that Housen was the one taking the lead,

rather than being evasive about it.

"Is it because of his aggressive attitude? No, I can't imagine that's all there is

to it. What methods did he use, exactly?" asked Horikita.

Nanase looked like she was lost in thought for a brief moment. Then she

opened her mouth to speak.

"I am terribly sorry, but unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly what kind of

methods he used. Housen-kun brought the class together. Whether the way he

did that was right or wrong, I do not know. But letting word of it get outside our

class would be an act of betrayal," said Nanase.

"I see. You're correct in saying so," said Horikita.

In response to that, Nanase thanked Horikita again and bowed. I supposed

that just because we were Nanase's seniors, that didn't necessarily mean she

was going to tell us anything. Just like in our conversation the other day, she

seemed to have firm thoughts and convictions as a member of her class.

"In that case, I'll get right to the point. Is it safe for us to assume we will be

able to work with your class, just like those two students who settled on their

partnerships yesterday?" asked Horikita.

"As I'm sure you've already heard from Shiratori-kun, our offer is always

open. As long as you offer us a set number of Private Points with your proposal,

we will accept whatever partnership requests you make, without hesitation,"

said Nanase.

So our chat with Shiratori and his friends had reached Housen after all. From

that, we could infer a high number of points were paid out to the two students

from their class who had gotten partners.

"But what I'm asking you about today is different from establishing a

partnership contract based on points," replied Horikita.

"Yes, I know. I've already heard a little about your offer from Ayanokoujisenpai. A collaborative relationship where we would cover for each other—that

is to say, mutually work to protect the less academically inclined students in our

classes, yes?"

"Yes. If you've come to this discussion understanding all that, there must be

some room for negotiation, yes?"

"There is… Or at least, I'd like to think so."

Nanase's face darkened. Then she continued speaking.

"Housen-kun's way of thinking is rooted in ideas of intense individualism. And

he enforces that ideology. If things continue at this rate, the less academically

capable students will be unable to find partners, and get left behind. If they only

got their Private Points withheld for three months, that wouldn't be too bad.

But I fear they'll end up being branded as incompetent for their failure to find

partners. Well, no… I suppose that might not be too bad, either. What I really

don't want to happen is for this intense sense of individualism to dominate our

class in the future, to the point where we lose any sense of unity," said Nanase.

Horikita listened to everything Nanase had to say, and then mentally

calculated what might happen to Class 1-D in the future.

"Right, that is a valid concern," she said. "If no one in the class helps each

other out, the trend toward individualism will naturally accelerate. Once there's

no one around to assist other students, everyone will feel like they must do

things on their own. Once that ideology has sunk in, even if someone does ask

for help, no one will step in. Which means that if your class were faced with a

test that required you to function as one, you'd lose that battle."

Which was precisely why Nanase took it upon herself to negotiate with

Horikita alone. She was trying to avoid that fate.

"You're not afraid of Housen-kun?" asked Horikita.

"No," replied Nanase, firmly, without a second's delay.

She hadn't glanced much at me until this point, but now looked over in my

direction. It was the same look she'd given me twice before. I remembered that

when I asked her something similar, she responded with "I will never yield to

violence."

There were things about her that bothered me, of course, but Nanase might

be the only person who could get her class on our side. If this really was nothing

more than a chance encounter, I was honestly grateful for it.

"Well then, I'd like to ask you a slightly more in-depth question. How many

students in your class are currently struggling to find partners? Please tell us

about as many as you can, regardless of academic ability," said Horikita.

The OAA app could tell you which students had yet to finalize partnerships,

but not how likely they were to find a partner or not. To learn that, you could

only ask someone directly related to that class.

"At this current point in time, I think that there are close to fifteen students

who would have difficulty in finding a partner on their own," said Nanase.

"Fifteen… That's more than I thought," said Horikita.

However, many students in our class hadn't found partners, either. If we

came up with good combinations of people, there was still room for our classes

to work well together.

"Nanase-san. If you'll allow it, we would like to come to a rather significant

arrangement with your class," said Horikita.

"A significant arrangement?" she repeated.

"I'm hoping you and I can come up with fifteen partnership pairings and take

care of this matter all at once, Nanase-san. It doesn't matter if they have an E or

an A in academic ability. There are no conditions. And of course, no points will

be involved. An equal partnership based on mutual collaboration, where we

both strive to help those who need it," said Horikita.

In other words, give-and-take. The idea was that we would mutually give and

take what we needed, without getting points or feelings involved. Establishing

such an agreement would likely greatly reduce the probability of students

getting expelled.

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

"This is all based on the assumption that we can come to an agreement. But

there's no guarantee that we can save the students in your class who are near

E-rank in academic ability, Horikita-senpai. Most of the students in our class

who are struggling to find partners are around C and D level," said Nanase.

Even if the highest-ranked student they had available had a C+, they'd still be

at significant risk if they were paired with an E-ranked student from our class.

You might say the benefits of such an arrangement were almost nil.

"In that case, I'm going to need to ask you to do your absolute best to make

sure things don't turn out that way for us," said Horikita.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Even so, I don't think we'll be able to come to

terms that easily," said Nanase, not denying that there could be issues, but

openly admitting to it. "Housen-kun would never approve of helping you for

free. Especially not now."

Class 1-A had held onto a great many points ever since they started school

last year, and they had ample funds saved. Even though Class C had blown

through a considerable number of points in order to save Ryuuen, they still had

a stable supply of funds thanks to their contract with Class A. I was sure

Ryuuen's classmates probably had a fair number of points saved up, too.

Considering the current situation, where 2-C and 2-A were throwing around lots

of points in a bidding war, it was not at all surprising that the new students

would want to sell themselves to the highest bidder.

So you could say that Housen's way of thinking was correct. But even if he

tried to put a high price tag on the kids from his class, the truth of the matter

was that they were asking for more than the other classes. The small number of

students from his class who had settled on partners spoke to this.

"Even if it would be for the good of his class?" asked Horikita. "There should

be no downsides to this for him."

It would be more of a downside if some students were unable to find partners

and thus deprived of Private Points they were supposed to have raked in.

Though I was sure that went without saying.

"I know what you're trying to say, Horikita-senpai. I understand much of what

you're saying very well," said Nanase.

She seemed to be responding quite positively to Horikita's proposal.

However…

"But… I don't think Housen-kun will allow it, after all."

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

So I took a guess.

"Well, there's one thing we can be sure of. Housen isn't taking the points for

himself," I replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Horikita.

"I thought the reason Housen was only allowing partnerships to form if

people paid a high number of points was because he was taking the points for

himself. However, if that were really the case, then he'd be more proactive

about trying to set up even the lower-ranked students. And in extreme cases,

he'd be telling those students to hand over what points they have so he could

go find a partner for them." I replied.

"Yes, you're certainly right… Three months' worth of Private Points is nothing

to scoff at. It would be much better to pay Housen-kun half your points and be

saved, rather than get a failing grade and not get any points at all for all that

time," said Horikita.

There was nothing to suggest that Housen was doing anything of the sort,

though. Not in what we'd seen their class do so far, nor in our conversation

with Nanase.

"Ayanokouji-senpai's deduction is correct. Housen-kun has not received any

kind of compensation from our classmates," said Nanase.

He was controlling his class and imposing rules upon them. Presumably, if a

student broke those rules, they would be completely ostracized by Housen and

his followers. Which was why they didn't dare try and find a partner without

permission. They couldn't. And the reason why no one from their class showed

up to the meet-and-greet was because they knew it would be pointless.

"Couldn't you use your influence to control even a few of the more

academically gifted students?" asked Horikita.

There was no form of quid pro quo of any kind in Horikita's proposal. She was

only asking for students from both of our classes to help one another. Unlike

the students in our grade level, though, the new students naturally had less

emotional attachment to their class and to their friends. It was unreasonable to

expect them to have formed strong emotional connections only a couple of

weeks after enrollment.

"I tried talking to a few of them, but none of them said they'd even consider

it," replied Nanase.

"It sounds like some form of quid pro quo is a requirement after all, then,"

said Horikita.

"If we only need a couple people, couldn't we work out an arrangement using

points?" I asked, turning to Horikita.

If our goal was to fight with our wallets, like Class A and Class C, we'd need a

huge amount of funds in order to recruit a significant number of students. But if

we focused only on getting a few students, just enough to stop anyone from

being expelled, our costs would be reduced accordingly.

"That's true… I suppose that if we really run out of options, we'll have no

choice but to go that route. But relationships created using Private Points can

only be maintained using Private Points. I want a relationship that goes beyond

that," said Horikita, responding to me.

She then turned to look right at Nanase.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Nanase.

"Our grade levels are on different playing fields. First-year students have no

risk of being expelled, so you're in a better position than us. However, that

dynamic won't last forever. The day will come when you have to do battle while

facing possible expulsion, not too far from now. If you only establish

relationships based on points, what do you think will happen when the time

comes that you need to pay up and are out of funds?" asked Horikita.

Some students might still make it through, but it wouldn't be surprising if

many of them did not.

"Which is precisely why I'd like to establish an equal partnership, not a

dynamic based on points. And I want to build trust. The special kind of trust that

comes from us being from different grade levels," added Horikita.

She was essentially saying that by doing things this way, establishing this kind

of partnership, we would be able to discuss things as equals when students

from Nanase's class had problems in the future. In short, a strategy that valued

trust, just like what Ichinose was doing. The main difference between us and

Ichinose, though, was that we were partnering exclusively with Class 1-D, while

she was helping students from every class. Instead of trying to appeal to

everyone, Horikita had zeroed in on Class 1-D, wanting to establish a

collaboration with them.

We were already on the fourth day of the special exam period. We couldn't

afford to waste any more time.

Nanase must have understood how driven Horikita was. Even so, her

darkened expression didn't light up.

"I understand very well what you're trying to say. But I don't think that my

peers understand the same. Many of the first-years are already frantically

working to save up Private Points. They would see partnering with someone for

free as a loss, simple as that," said Nanase.

The only way they'd understand would be with time, as they came to know

the system this school operated on.

"Right now, there are two major obstacles in the way of us partnering up with

your class, based on what you're telling us. We need to convince Housen-kun,

and we need to persuade the honors students who want points. Well, I suppose

the latter point could really apply to students from any class, not just yours,

but…"

It was certainly true that, at least on the surface, the many obstacles in our

path made it seem like it wasn't particularly beneficial to team up with their

class. One of those obstacles, in particular—dealing with Housen.

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

"Please allow me to discuss things with Housen-kun," proposed Horikita,

having decided that it would be impossible for us to proceed any further

without Housen.

"Yes, I suppose that's reasonable… If we're going to try to establish an equal

partnership, there's no avoiding the fact we'll need to talk to him," said Nanase.

"If it's all right with you, I'm ready to meet with him immediately," said

Horikita.

"I understand. I'll try calling him," replied Nanase.

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

"It seems like Housen-kun's control extends even further than I had

imagined," said Horikita.

"Seems like it," I replied.

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

"Looking to the future and trying to build a relationship with them isn't a bad

strategy," I told her. "If anything, I'd say it's a prerequisite for what we need to

do. Sakayanagi and Ryuuen are trying to buy the trust of skilled first-years by

using their class's reputation or using points. Ichinose lacks for points, but she's

also working to build trust by saving those in need of help. You're doing

something similar to Ichinose, but you're focused on building a relationship

with just one specific class. Right? It's the same thing, but with different

methods and in a different form. You're already becoming a leader who can

compete with those three."

Horikita nodded after hearing what I had to say. Now, we just had to see how

well she could handle negotiations.

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

"I wonder if something happened," said Horikita.

"Let's go and find out."

We left the library and joined up with Nanase.

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

Nanase.

She handed her phone over to Horikita. It was currently set on mute. Horikita

took it from her and then put it on speakerphone before beginning her

conversation with Housen.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," said Horikita.

"Sup. I heard a li'l bit from Nanase."

"If possible, I'd like for us to meet in person so I can explain my proposal to

you directly," said Horikita.

"Ain't no need. Don't gotta bother meetin' up," replied Housen, with a laugh.

"So, does that… mean that you're not willing to negotiate?"

"Exactly what it means. Wasn't even any point in talkin' to ya on the phone,

but Nanase wasn't havin' any of it."

"Housen-kun, I think that it would be a good idea to consider her offer," said

Nanase.

"Shut the hell up. What right do you got to talk to me like that, huh? HUH? I'll

kill you."

"I have no intention of letting you kill me. Please meet with Horikita-senpai at

least once," said Nanase.

"If you can't cough up enough points, then don't bother contactin' me again."

Nanase tried to continue the conversation, but Housen quickly ended the call.

She immediately called him back, but no matter how many times she dialed his

number, he didn't answer.

"…I'm so sorry!" shouted Nanase, apologizing to Horikita and me while

bowing her head as low as she possibly could.

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

"Come on, lift your head. My plans and Housen-kun's are completely

different. It was clear things weren't going to work out that easily. I'm incredibly

grateful that you went out of your way to assist us so much," said Horikita.

"It really wasn't much…" replied Nanase, bashfully.

"I think that's all for today. Now, we need to think of a way to get Housen-kun

to talk to us. But I'd like to try and get this over with by the end of this week,"

said Horikita.

If this got drawn out any longer, she'd have to start looking beyond just Class

1-D. Nevertheless, I hoped that it wouldn't come to that. It would be quite a

painstaking task for us to try and snatch up students from the other three

classes, when they've already been thoroughly picked over.

"I'm awfully glad to hear that you still haven't given up, Horikita-senpai.

But…" Nanase trailed off, swallowing the words that were about to come out of

her mouth. She was probably going to tell us we'd never be able to form a real

partnership with Housen, but had decided it would be all over if she actually

came out and said that.

"At the very least, we conveyed to Housen-kun what I want to do. That's

enough for now."

Even though Horikita was running out of both time and patience, she still

spoke encouragingly to her junior. Horikita then suggested we all walk back to

the dorms together, but Nanase apparently had somewhere else to be, so she

left, after telling us that she'd like to meet us again in the library tomorrow.

Maybe she went to go meet up with Housen.

"Let's head back. I've still got a full schedule ahead of me today," said

Horikita.

From the sounds of it, she was going to hold a study session with Sudou and

some other people after she got back to her room.

"Oh, and I think I'd like to hear more about your partner situation now, if

possible. Like if you're going to be finding a partner on your own or if you're

planning to let me handle it for you. It might have an impact on things down the

line," said Horikita.

If we were going to start negotiations with Housen, I was sure we'd probably

need to adjust the specific number of people involved.

"There's someone I think I might be able to work with," I replied.

"Does that mean you actually have a specific person in mind, rather than

looking at academic ability rankings? Who?" asked Horikita.

"That's a secret," I answered.

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

"I've only just scratched the surface of what this person is like, I don't know

anything beyond that about them yet."

"Is that really that much of a problem? We all have to fumble around and do

our best to help each other, right?" said Horikita.

"Yeah, I guess so. I thought it would become clearer to me today, but… Well, I

guess I'll know by the end of the week, at the latest."

"I suppose that's all well and good, but…I don't know how much I can help

you even if you come crying to me at the last minute, you know."

"I'll keep that in mind. Oh, more importantly, I forgot to ask you earlier. Are

you feeling okay?" I asked her.

"…Are you worried about me?"

"I probably don't need to worry about your energy levels right now, but there

are still quite a few days to go before the special exam," I told her.

If she got dizzy and worn out in the final stretch, it could affect how things

went on the day of the test. In addition to her daily study sessions, she'd also

spent a fair amount of time preparing for Amasawa's cooking challenge late

Tuesday night. It was obvious that fatigue was gradually accumulating.

"It's true that I might get worn out in the final stretch. But I don't have the

time to rest right now. I'm not planning on collapsing until after the special

exam is over," said Horikita.

Rather than just trying to look tough, she was beginning to show the

mentality of someone who knew they were leading their class into battle.

Yousuke and Kushida were already helping. They needed no introduction. But

even other students with a high level of academic prowess, like Keisei and Miichan, had offered to help Horikita right away this time. So she decided to push

ahead with her plan, which was based on the premise of working with Class 1-D

now and into the future.

If a leader acted without thinking, or delayed making a decision, it could only

have a negative impact on the ones they led. In this race against time, the speed

at which we could settle things was critical to our class.

6.1

IT WAS A LITTLE CHILLY that night. I stood in the kitchen, cooking something

with the vast quantities of untouched groceries I had been forced to buy the

other day. This time, of course, I was using recipes and videos as a guide while I

cooked. I wanted to try the tom yum goong I'd made for Amasawa for myself.

The name of the dish, tom yum goong, was a combination of three Thai words,

which meant "to simmer," "to mix," and "shrimp."

"It's got a unique flavor, but it's not bad," I said aloud.

The way the spicy and sour flavors filled my mouth, and the way the aroma

shot up my nose, definitely made it seem like a dish that would be a hit with

people who were into these flavors and sensations. After I was done cleaning

up, I turned on the ventilation fan to get rid of the smell that had filled the

room. Even though the sound was drowned by the noise from the fan, I

eventually noticed my phone vibrating on my bed. I thought I'd just let it go and

I'd call back later, but it just never stopped ringing, so I picked it up.

"You sure took your time answering the phone," said the person on the other

line.

It was Kei. This was the first time I had gotten a call from her in several days,

since the special exam started. And the first thing that came out of her mouth

was a complaint.

"Aren't you the one who told me to call you around this time? Get your act

together," added Kei.

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

"I'm only calling you because I did a great job of it. Don't you think you're not

being nearly grateful enough to me?"

"I am grateful. So?"

"I don't really feel like you're grateful at all, but… Well, whatever. Anyway,

according to the clerk, only one's been sold since April this year. It seems it

barely sells at all, compared to similar things, and they're lucky if they sell or

one two a year. Oh, but get this, there was some new kid who tried to buy one,"

said Kei.

I already knew exactly who the person who'd bought one was. So I was more

interested in hearing about the new student who tried to buy one.

"When you say they 'tried' to buy it, that means that they didn't actually buy

it in the end, right?"

There was no way someone would be functionally incapable of buying that

product, unless they did something absurd like spend all of their points right

after starting school here. And if you were in the batch of new students that

had arrived this particular year, I couldn't imagine you would do something so

foolish.

"So, anyway, yeah, I tried asking the clerk about it. Apparently, right as the kid

was trying to check out, someone else came up and said they shouldn't buy it,

that they should put it back. And the student who tried to buy it was—"

As I listened to Kei give me details about this student, I analyzed the situation

in my mind. It was a little… actually, no, it was quite a bit different from what I

had originally envisioned. I'd never expected that they would be involved in

this.

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

"Nope. The clerk didn't know who it was. They just said they were pretty sure

that it was a girl, though," said Kei.

Students presented their I.D. when making purchases, so the clerk would've

known the name of the one who tried to buy the item. But they wouldn't have

known who stepped in and stopped them.

"Was my info useful?" said Kei.

"Yeah. Actually way more useful than I originally thought it'd be."

"Heh heh. Well, I am pretty capable, after all. You need to really show me

some gratitude for this. But why'd you have me look into something like this,

anyway? I honestly don't get it at all," said Kei.

"Neither do I."

"Huh?"

I had thought having Kei look into this would give me something to help make

sense of this person's incomprehensible behavior, but this development went

far beyond what I had imagined. In fact, it was so disconnected from what I had

imagined that it made me wonder if it was actually completely irrelevant.

"Oh, that reminds me, I heard that you got yourself a partner for the special

exam," I told her.

"Oh, yeah. Shimazaki-san from Class 1-B, I think his name was. I feel like

Kushida-san really came through and saved the day for me," said Kei.

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

"I don't think your partner's too bad or anything, but are you making pretty

good progress on your studies yourself, Kei?" I asked.

"Oh, well, uh, how do I put this…? I guess I was thinking I could start doing it

at the last minute, maybe?"

I knew it. I hadn't heard anything about her going to the study group yet, so I

figured as much.

"This exam isn't something you can get through completely on your own, you

know. Kei, your grade is a D+. If you don't consider the fact that you're not

really in the best position here, you could be in for a world of hurt," I told her.

"I know, I know that. It's just, I dunno, I just don't feel motivated to do

anything… And if I do go to study group, you won't be there, Kiyotaka," said Kei.

"What? So, you're saying that you'll study hard if I'm there?" I asked.

"…Yeah, so? I'd work hard in front of my boyfriend," said Kei.

I wasn't sure if that was true or not, but if that's the way it was, there was a

quick and easy solution.

"In that case, how about we… Yeah. How about you come to my room around

six o'clock tomorrow?" I asked.

Considering the fact that we had a meeting with Nanase after class, that

should be plenty of time.

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

"We're not going to hang out, we're going to study," I replied.

"Huh?"

Don't you "huh" me.

"I'll help you study. That should help you get a little motivated, right?" I

replied.

First of all, I'd try to get a concrete sense of where Kei's actual abilities were

at. Then, if I found she was at a level where additional study sessions were

essential, I'd have to strongly encourage her to go.

"You're worried 'cause you'd be sad if your girlfriend got expelled, aren't

you?" said Kei rather suddenly and happily, almost like she thought she had the

upper hand on me.

I could have answered her in a somewhat mean or teasing way, but Kei would

probably be more motivated if I told her I was worried.

"Of course I'm worried. If the girl I just started going out with got expelled,

that wouldn't make me happy," I told her.

"I-I see… I mean, I know, right?! Well, in that case, I guess I don't have any

choice now, do I? I actually did have tons of things planned, but I'll make a

special appearance, just for you," said Kei.

While it wasn't exactly the most honest answer I could've given her, it was a

small price to get her to make progress.

"What should I bring with me?" she asked.

"Everything you'll need is already here in my room. As long as you aren't late,

there's nothing else we'll need," I told her.

"Okay," said Kei.

"All right, I'm hanging up now."

"W-Wait, hold on! Wait! We only talked about the special exam and studying

and stuff though!" wailed Kei.

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

"Yeah, I suppose you've got a point."

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

For a while after that, we no longer talked about the exam or about studying.

Instead, she continued to shower me with criticism.

6.2

ON FRIDAY, the fifth day of the exam period, eighty-one partnerships had

been confirmed. Which meant that a little more than half of all students had

found partners, including more and more students from within Class 2-D.

The same held true for those close to me. Yesterday, Kei had gotten herself a

partner. And now Airi and Haruka from the Ayanokouji Group had both

confirmed their partnerships, too.

The driving force behind those partnerships was Kushida. She worked with

her kouhai from junior high school, Yagami, to introduce some of the students

in our class to kids from Class 1-B. That was a big deal. However, it didn't solve

all our problems. Although Yagami was rising to prominence within his class, he

seemed to have no intention of taking on a leadership role, and was only

cooperating with Kushida as an individual, at most. It wasn't like he could

provide us with enough students to cover everyone in our class who was

struggling.

Yagami had only one condition for his cooperation. Namely, that he had to be

Kushida's partner. That had apparently come to pass yesterday, as reflected in

the OAA update. Having Kushida partner with Yagami basically used up one of

our more academically gifted students, but Horikita didn't seem dissatisfied by

the exchange, considering the level of support we'd gotten out of it.

There were still quite a few capable people left in our class, including Horikita

herself, Yousuke, Keisei, Mii-chan, Matsushita, and others. In any case, just

because a student had chosen a partner didn't mean they could rest easy. You

had to study hard. That was completely unavoidable. If anything, it could be

said the competition only really got started once you found a partner.

Even though I wasn't speaking to anyone all that much, I could sense a feeling

of unity in our class, with people working together. This was possible precisely

because we were friends who had been through thick and thin together for a

year. And in the midst of all of that…

One of the students stood up and tried to leave. Then Horikita, as if she were

waiting for the right moment, walked over and called to him.

"It seems like you still haven't found a partner yet, Kouenji-kun."

"And what of it?" replied Kouenji.

This was an act of intervention on Horikita's part, with the single, solitary

person who wasn't contributing to our class's togetherness.

"I just thought I'd talk to you and see how your situation is going, as your

classmate. So, how are things?" asked Horikita.

You generally knew what even the students who worked independently were

up to, because they would talk to the people around them. But since Kouenji

didn't say anything at all, we couldn't tell what was going on with him.

"You're smart. You've never even considered the possibility that you might

get expelled, have you?" said Horikita.

"Of course not."

"I suppose not, no. Even if you were partnered with a student with grades like

Ike-kun's, you would still score close to four-hundred points quite easily. I think

you'd be safe," said Horikita.

Generally speaking, you'd think we might want to position Kouenji as one of

our most valuable assets, since he was a smart student. I supposed that was the

purpose behind Horikita reaching out to him like this, but still…

"Fu fu fu. What I'm saying is that I am not going to do anything in this special

exam. The important thing is that whoever my partner will be gets a score of

one hundred and fifty points or higher on the test. As long as that minimumlevel requirement is satisfied, it will be quite easy for me to get a high enough

score to pass, you see," replied Kouenji.

According to what Chabashira told us, everyone should be able to at least get

one hundred and fifty points on this test. So, unless you teamed up with an

assassin from the White Room, it was unlikely you'd have to worry about your

partner getting a zero on the test, like I did.

However, you still had to rely on your partner. And no matter how hard you

looked, you probably wouldn't find a student who could state with absolute,

one-hundred-percent certainty that they would score a certain amount on the

test. Students from both grade levels had to work on the assumption that their

partners would score at least one hundred and fifty points. It was a ninety-ninepoint-nine-percent certainty at best.

In order to make that as close to one hundred percent as possible, the school

had implemented a rule stating that students who scored low enough that it

appeared to deviate from their expected level of academic ability would be

expelled. Because of that fact, Kouenji could afford to be confident. Which

meant there was no need for him to go through the trouble of trying to talk to

anyone or to build a relationship.

"You mean you're fine no matter who you get partnered with? In that case,

why don't you allow me to decide your partner for you? I understand you think

you'll be safe regardless of who you're with, but I imagine you'd rather not get

hit with a five percent penalty," said Horikita.

It was a rather simple offer. She was offering to handle everything for him. A

proposal which could fundamentally only be beneficial to him.

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

Kouenji.

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

"Because I am who I am."

Simply put, he didn't like the idea of being used for Horikita's convenience. No

matter the situation, Kouenji was Kouenji. If I was ever in a situation where I

needed to use Kouenji in order to win, I would find myself thinking I should've

gone with a different strategy to avoid being put in such a situation in the first

place.

"Satisfied?" asked Kouenji.

After hearing what Kouenji had to say back to her, Horikita couldn't keep

pushing. Kouenji wasn't the kind of person who would budge at all, even if you

tried to force him. It was a waste of effort.

"Yes, for now. But you can't carry on like this forever, you know. When the

class needs to come together, we will need your cooperation," said Horikita.

She wasn't talking about this particular special exam. Horikita was looking

ahead to what might come in the future. It seemed she wanted to say

something now for him to keep in mind.

"Well, I can understand why you'd want to rely on someone as perfect as I,

but I don't think I can offer you any advice," said Kouenji.

And then he left, as if he couldn't be bothered to listen anymore, headed off

to who knew where, like usual.

"Kouenji sure is impossible, huh," I said aloud to Horikita, jumping in and

adding my two cents almost without even thinking about it.

"I'm just irritated by the fact that if he took things seriously, our class would

be that much stronger," said Horikita.

There was hardly anything as frustrating as having a secret weapon that you

couldn't use. It was precisely because she had those feelings of expectation that

she felt despair when things ended unsuccessfully.

"If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have counted on him to start with," I told

her.

It would probably be easier to think of Kouenji as a special case from now,

and just leave it at that.

"I'm not giving up," said Horikita.

"…I see."

I was afraid she'd only end up wasting her time and going in circles, but I

supposed it was a good thing that she was motivated.

6.3

AS SOON AS I set foot in the library that weekend, I could sense the

atmosphere was different from the other day. Many students, both first-and

second-years, had gathered there. Most of the students had their tablets and

notebooks spread out in front of them and were engaged in what looked like a

study session. It seemed a lot of students were starting to move forward and

take steps they needed to take, rather than let themselves get complacent after

having found a partner. I vaguely recalled that we had a study session here in

the library too, about a year ago.

"This is a bit of a bother. With this many people around, we might end up

attracting unnecessary attention," said Horikita.

"In that case, it'd probably be a good idea for us to try to blend in."

Fortunately for us, the seats we had used at the back of the library yesterday

were still available. Since it wouldn't have been surprising if they'd been taken, I

fixed my gaze on a certain part of the room. Shortly afterward, I saw Hiyori,

waving to me with a gentle smile on her face.

"I thought that you might be coming today, Ayanokouji-kun, so I made a

special request that those seats be reserved for you," said Hiyori.

"Was that okay?" I asked.

"Well, I suppose it would've been a different story if the library were full to

capacity, but there's no need to worry," said Hiyori.

This was a spacious library, so there was quite a bit of room. That being said,

it was still a kind gesture on her part to do that for us.

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

She must not have intended on staying for awfully long, because Hiyori left

immediately after saying that.

"She really is quite kind, isn't she? Do you think she heard our conversation

the other day?" asked Horikita.

"Hard to say. Considering how far away we were, I think it would've been

hard for her to eavesdrop."

Since the seats had been generously reserved for us, we sat in the same spot

we did yesterday. Then we took study materials from our bags, and acted as

though we were there to study. However, no matter how long we waited, there

was no sign of Nanase.

"Nanase-san is late," said Horikita.

We had promised to meet after class, at four thirty in the afternoon. But it

was already past five now. We had sent her multiple messages, but there was

no sign she'd read any of them. It might be a good idea for us to go and check

on her right about now, but that was tricky, since we didn't know where she

was.

"Should we go looking around the first-year classrooms for the time being…?"

asked Horikita.

Just as we were about to go and do that, though, Nanase appeared, looking

rather flustered. Once she noticed us, she approached, looking out of breath.

"I-I'm sorry. I kept you waiting for so long, and…!" huffed Nanase.

"It's all right. We were just worried that something might have happened,"

said Horikita.

"I was negotiating with Housen-kun, trying to see if I could bring him along

with me one way or another," said Nanase.

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

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

"Still, he didn't try to stop you from coming here to talk with us today?" asked

Horikita.

"He did not. Most likely because he doesn't think that anything could be

decided without him," said Nanase.

No matter how much Nanase tried to do on her own, Housen had the final

say. I supposed if he had that kind of confidence, there was no need for him to

warn her or try to stop her every time she did something.

"Seems like we have no choice but to try and force a meeting with him after

all," said Horikita.

"But…"

"I realize we won't be able to resolve matters so easily. But if we don't try and

discuss things face-to-face, we'll never reach any kind of agreement," said

Horikita.

Today's discussion certainly seemed like the kind of thing that she wouldn't

want to rush into without thinking.

"Yes, you're certainly right about that… but, well…" said Nanase, trailing off.

She looked unsure of what she wanted to say, but then came to a decision

and started speaking once more.

"Horikita-senpai, you want to establish a collaborative relationship with our

class, at any cost. I'm not incorrect in saying so, am I?" said Nanase.

"Not all. You're absolutely correct."

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

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

way.

"It's clear that even if you propose to Housen-kun that we establish a fair and

equal partnership, he will reject your offer flat-out. I believe that would most

likely be the case even if you met with him in person, Horikita-senpai. In that

case, how about proceeding to negotiate with me, in secret?" said Nanase.

"Proceeding to negotiate with you, Nanase-san? But it's not like your

classmates would go along with our plans without Housen-kun's involvement,

would they?" said Horikita.

"You're right. However, that's only because I have yet to step forward as

leader," said Nanase, coming right out with a rather unexpected proposal. "I've

decided we cannot continue going by Housen-kun's methods. Though these are

desperate measures, I'm hoping I can become the leader of my class before his

dangerous ideas spread too far. And to that end, I would like to establish a

relationship with your class, Horikita-senpai."

Horikita had never expected Nanase to propose something like this, of course.

And neither had I, for that matter. Nanase Tsubasa would become leader of

Class 1-D, deposing Housen. If that plan could be realized, Horikita's goal of a

collaborative partnership would quickly become a reality.

"We don't really have enough information to determine whether you or

Housen-kun would be a more appropriate choice as leader, Nanase-san.

However, one thing that I can tell you is that we don't have much time," said

Horikita.

The special exam period was already nearing its end. There wasn't enough

time to fight over leadership.

"Many of my classmates don't agree with Housen-kun's way of doing things.

In fact, after talking things over with them—like how we discussed things

yesterday and today—I've successfully managed to get seven students to agree

to help," said Nanase.

"And you're sure it's not just students with a low level of academic ability?"

asked Horikita.

"Yes. There are about three students with an academic ability ranking of B-or

better who are willing to negotiate," said Nanase.

"…I see."

Horikita thought for a moment. Three people certainly wasn't perfect, but if

we could get just a few more, it might not be a bad idea for us to try to go

ahead and form this partnership, with Nanase as the focal point.

"Won't it spell trouble for us if Housen-kun finds out about this?" asked

Horikita.

"There would be quite a bit of trouble, needless to say, yes. Which is why

we'll need to keep every part of this arrangement secret all the way up to the

day before the special exam, which is the deadline for when partners need to

be selected. If partner applications are submitted at the last minute, he won't

notice anything," said Nanase.

"But that might make it difficult for us to win over the more academicallyinclined students from your class, won't it?" asked Horikita.

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

Points.

"We will help compensate you for that. The students in my class who struggle

academically will be saved thanks to you and yours, Horikita-senpai, thereby

avoiding the three-month penalty. Therefore, we can float you some points.

Even if you needed two hundred thousand points to gain the cooperation of the

more academically gifted students from our class, we would still be able to help

you recoup. Although we wouldn't be able to reach the five-hundred-thousandpoint per-person price that Housen-kun would like, I think it would still be

within an acceptable range," said Nanase.

So, they'd basically be sorting out this mess themselves, then. We'd originally

intended to use our own points to try to entice the honors students from their

class, but this way, the less academically gifted students from their class would

essentially be using their own points to get their classmates to help out.

"This way, we won't inconvenience you and your class, Horikita-senpai. Of

course, Housen-kun will surely be angry once he finds out, but I intend to take

full responsibility for everything to ensure the kids who cooperated with me will

not be harmed in any way. What do you think?" asked Nanase.

"That's… No matter how much you might say this would be your responsibility

as a leader, don't you think that this proposal places far too much on your

shoulders?" said Horikita.

"It's quite all right. I don't want to lose this opportunity, and I don't want to

lose your trust, Horikita-senpai, after you've offered me a helping hand."

Nanase seemed to be saying this was a small price to pay to save her

classmates. "Besides, even if my class doesn't recognize me as its leader, I can

at least save your class in this special exam, Horikita-senpai."

If you were to only consider the immediate benefits, then Nanase's proposal

was by no means a bad one. I had to wonder how Horikita would respond.

"Something is very clear to me now. Namely, that I want to form a real

partnership with your class," said Horikita.

"In that case, are you saying that you agree with my proposal?" asked

Nanase.

"No. I'm afraid I cannot accept it."

"But there's no other way…"

"All your class's problems will be resolved if we get Housen-kun on our side.

You don't actually want to be the leader. You just don't like the way Housenkun does things. Isn't that so? In that case, if Housen-kun is willing to do this

without pay, there should be plenty of other students who'll support him,

right?" said Horikita.

"Well, yes, I suppose. Certainly," said Nanase.

"Plus, if you and Housen-kun were to oppose one another, it's possible your

class would end up fracturing in two rather than being united as one. We

cannot allow that to happen. So how about you allow me to help you change

his mind?" said Horikita.

Apparently, this conversation with Nanase had helped Horikita to realize

something as well—that as long as we got Housen, the rest of our problems

would be solved.

"It's a risky gamble. If it fails, it might not be possible for our classes to

collaborate again in the future," said Nanase.

"I am prepared for that… Well, no, that's not quite right. I believe that it's

entirely possible that we can work with one another. And it's not just me,

either. I'm sure Housen-kun is thinking the same thing," said Horikita.

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

"I'll just take that as him playing hard to get. At least for now."

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

voiced her agreement.

"I see that making time to meet with you today was the correct choice,

Horikita-senpai, Ayanokouji-senpai. It would seem my hunch wasn't wrong,

after all."

"What do you mean? I rejected your proposal, didn't I?" said Horikita.

"No, you didn't. Actually, you and I have been of the same mind from the very

beginning, Horikita-senpai," said Nanase.

"Wait… Do you mean to say that you've been thinking of trying to persuade

him, too?" asked Horikita.

"Correct," said Nanase.

Apparently, the idea Nanase had pitched, about her becoming a leader, was

completely made up. It was a test. If Horikita had chosen to ignore Class 1-D's

future for the short-term profit of our own class, and taken Nanase up on her

offer, she probably would've turned around and refused to help us.

"Just as you said yourself earlier, we do not have time, Horikita-senpai. We

cannot move forward unless we bring everyone together to negotiate, even if

that means we need to be a little forceful. Would you please allow me to

handle setting up this meeting? I will be sure to bring Housen-kun to you the

day after tomorrow, on Sunday, Horikita-senpai," said Nanase.

It didn't seem like a test this time, considering she was bowing deeply and

asking Horikita for help. If this meeting took place on Sunday, it would mean

we'd have even less time remaining, as a result.

Horikita turned her gaze towards me, looking for confirmation. Thinking it was

all right to take this gamble, I nodded in response. The hesitation in her eyes

vanished.

"I believe you. I look forward to seeing you and Housen-kun the day after

tomorrow, on Sunday," said Horikita.

"Yes… Absolutely. However, we would like to avoid meeting in a public place.

It's quite possible that Housen-kun might act out indiscriminately, depending on

how things go," said Nanase.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. In that case, karaoke might be a good place for us

to meet. I don't mind meeting at night either, if Housen-kun wishes," said

Horikita.

It was certainly true that meeting late at night on a Sunday would

substantially lower the risk of being seen by anyone.

"Understood. I'll be sure to let him know," said Nanase.

Just as the conversation got to a point where our plans were taking shape,

Horikita's phone rang. She looked at the message she'd received and let out a

sigh.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It's time for the study group. It seems like they're short on people, with me

not there," said Horikita.

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

"I think that we've wrapped things up here. Can I ask you to handle the rest?"

asked Horikita.

"Sure."

Horikita gave Nanase a quick, polite bow, then gathered up her things and

headed to the study group with our classmates. Trying to support our entire

class required her to run all over the place and do all kinds of things.

"She is quite busy, isn't she? Horikita-senpai, I mean," said Nanase.

"That's what it's like to keep a class together," I told her.

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

"Horikita didn't ask for any details, but just wondering—how do you intend to

draw Housen out, anyway?" I asked.

"Well… I'm happy to answer that question, Ayanokouji-senpai, but I'd like you

to tell me something about yourself."

"Something about me?"

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

"Horikita-senpai is the class leader. But you're different, aren't you,

Ayanokouji-senpai?" asked Nanase.

I see. It seemed Nanase wasn't sure I was the appropriate person to be here

right now. If I said I was only here because Horikita forced me to come along

with her, it would probably backfire and cause Nanase to clam up.

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

When I didn't answer her questions, Nanase propped her arm on the desk in

front of her, showing me her side profile. It looked like some kind of defensive

strategy on her part, to prevent anyone but me from reading her facial

expression and mouth movements.

"Can you please answer me?" she asked.

"Well, Nanase, it sounds like what you want to ask me isn't what kind of

relationship I have with Horikita," I replied.

She was asking something entirely different. She was asking me what kind of

human being I am.

"That's right. I believe you're an evil, disgusting human being, Ayanokoujisenpai. That's what I think," said Nanase.

Those were some incredibly dramatic, intense words that she hurled at me.

But despite the content of her statement, Nanase looked straight at me without

hesitation, and with almost an overabundance of honesty. I honestly had no

idea what I'd done to make her look at me like that. Considering all the

interaction we'd had so far, she should only have had trivial, surface-level

information about me.

Also, despite the issues that arose from my lack of chemistry with people, I

didn't recall ever having been called evil before. Nanase Tsubasa might be the

person I was looking for. The one sent from the White Room.

There were reasons why I thought that. Even though getting me expelled was

the most important directive for the agent, it wasn't like they would carry that

task out routinely or robotically. Rather, they'd come into close contact with the

person known as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and observe him. That was what I

thought. They wouldn't just want to get me expelled. They would want to prove

that they were definitively better than me.

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

them.

If I were on their side and had to get Ayanokouji Kiyotaka expelled, I would

probably think that way. However, what she'd just said to me also sounded

rather out of character for someone who came from the White Room, like I did.

"When I'm talking with you like this, you look like a normal person to me,

Ayanokouji-senpai," said Nanase.

"Does that mean you usually see me as someone who isn't normal?" I asked

in return.

"…No. That's not what I'm saying," said Nanase.

She denied it, but I wondered if that was what she really thought, deep down.

I'd run into Nanase four times now, and sensed her giving me a strange look in

each of those encounters. I felt like I was about to find out where her loyalties

lay, but the opportunity quickly slipped from my grasp.

"I'm sorry, but please just forget we ever talked about this. What's important

right now is whether our classes can cooperate with one another," said Nanase.

We both got up from our seats and left the library. Just as we were about to

go our separate ways, I remembered something I had wanted to ask her.

"Oh, come to think of it, when we were talking about losing three months'

worth of Private Points, you said you'd only lose two hundred and forty

thousand. Why is that, anyway?" I asked.

When I asked her that question, Nanase no longer wore the expression she

had only moments before. Her face was back to normal.

"Why? I simply calculated that if we were to retain the eight hundred Class

Points which we were granted when we started school here, then we would

end up with two hundred and forty thousand points as a result is all…" she said,

sounding perplexed.

Apparently, this year's batch of new students had a different starting line than

we did.

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

"Huh? So, you're saying that we were given two hundred points less, then?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I wonder what things are like for Class A and

Class B in your grade level."

"I think that they started with eight hundred points as well. That was how

Shiba-sensei explained things to us," said Nanase.

Why wasn't there any official notification put out for that, though? I imagined

that if you knew that you were being given fewer Class Points than previous

years had gotten, you would feel like it was a little unfair. Did the school

officials simply decide that it wasn't worth showing that much consideration for

the new students, because they felt like eighty thousand Private Points was

quite a lot of money as is?

No—even if that were the case, they should have informed everyone right at

the start, rather than try to hide it out of laziness and risk having students find

out and come back to complain about it later. The students would have been

more satisfied if they had put out some statement ahead of time. There were a

number of other things that we knew were different from how they were last

year.

"You do know that what you do every day has an effect on your Class Points,

right?" I told her.

The homeroom instructor for Class 1-D, Shiba-sensei, had said something

earlier that made me think they already knew. He said, "I'm also quite sure that

the school rules have been drilled into you so much by now that your head feels

like it could explode."

"Yes. We were told that, 'Tardiness, absences, and chatting during class time

will influence your Class Points,'" replied Nanase.

Was it possible that the school had reduced the number of Class Points they

were awarded after taking into consideration the fact that they'd gone to the

trouble of disclosing the rules to the new students right at the beginning? We

knew that societal contribution was an important metric in OAA, so even if it

was hidden, the students probably would've found out anyway.

Though I was about to tell her that I understood and accepted her answer, I

saw that Nanase was lost in thought for a bit. Then she got a look on her face

like she'd just thought of something, but only for a moment. Immediately

afterward, the look disappeared. It was a very subtle gesture. I noticed it

precisely because I had met with her quite frequently over the past few days.

However, since Nanase didn't say anything, I decided that I'd refrain from

pressing her about it. We walked out of the library together and made it to the

entranceway.

"Well, then, senpai, if you'll please excuse me," said Nanase.

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

tracks.

"Nanase, this isn't meant as a thank-you for telling me about the whole Class

Points thing earlier or anything, but have you heard about something called

Protection Points?" I asked.

"Protection Points? No, I haven't heard about those before," she answered.

"It's a system where students who have those Protection Points can

essentially use them to protect themselves from penalties that would normally

end in expulsion. But considering the fact that very few people in our grade

level have them, it's understandable that you wouldn't know about them," I

replied.

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

"Because you gave me information. I just thought I should give you a little bit

in return."

After saying my piece, she and I parted ways.

I had decided to test Nanase's skills. To see if she could make use of what I'd

just told her.

6.4

ALTHOUGH IT HAD TAKEN some time for everything to come together, it was

decided that we were going to have a discussion with Housen (albeit forcefully),

thanks to Nanase's dedicated cooperation. The situation was still entirely

unpredictable, but it was still a definite step forward.

A little before six o'clock that evening, my doorbell rang. Kei must have only

just gotten back to the dorms from the school building, because she was

wearing her uniform, not her regular clothes.

"You know, there's lots of people coming and going at this time of day, so I

had to be pretty careful. Like, I had to use the stairs and stuff," said Kei.

There probably weren't many girls who'd be coming to a boy's room, and

even fewer who would visit for an extended period of time. That kind of thing

didn't happen often unless a guy and a girl were dating.

"All right, let's get started, then," I told her.

"Huh?! Come on, aren't we like, gonna do some other stuff first?" wailed Kei.

She didn't take out her study materials. It sounded like she had wanted to

chat instead. But time was limited. The later it got, the less time there would be

to study.

"If there are no problems with your academics, then we can chat as much as

you want," I told her.

"Hmph…"

"First of all, we need to find out what you're good at and what you're not so

good at."

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

"With these," I replied.

I took out five test sheets. Keisei had made them for our group, to check what

everyone's strengths and weaknesses were. They were extremely useful to

have, considering how much time it would've taken to have carefully screen

through the number of questions needed to get things started. Horikita and

Yousuke had used these sample tests in their own study groups, too.

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

"Oh…"

"There's a ten-minute time limit per sheet. Go ahead and get started."

"Fine," she huffed.

Despite her grumpy response, Kei got started on the tests. After fifty minutes

had passed, she collapsed onto the table like a limp noodle.

"Ugh, I'm so worn out…!"

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

"Oh come on. I've been studying all day today, it's tiring. It's not like I can just

flip a switch," she huffed.

As she grumbled, I quickly finished grading her tests.

"Okay. I think I have a good understanding of what your abilities are, Kei," I

told her.

"H-how'd I do?" she asked.

She didn't seem to know that herself, because she was looking at me with

eyes filled with both expectation and anxiousness.

"You will definitely be going to Yousuke's study group from tomorrow," I told

her.

"What?!"

"There's nothing to panic about. But to be honest, if you don't keep up your

studies, you'll be in imminent danger of getting expelled."

"B-But, hold on, my partner's Shimazaki-san. He's got a B minus, right? So, I'll

be okay, won't I?" asked Kei.

"The passing score for this special exam is five hundred and one points.

Someone like you, Kei, who doesn't study enough, would probably get about

two hundred points, give or take. Whereas Shimazaki would probably get

around three hundred and fifty. It's hard to imagine that getting an assumed

total of only five hundred and fifty points puts you entirely in the clear. And on

top of that, if this Shimazaki dislikes studying like you do, then it's actually quite

possible that he could end up scoring less than three hundred points," I told

her.

And if that were to happen, there was a very good chance that she would fall

below that five-hundred-point threshold.

"I'm starting to feel really scared all of a sudden…" said Kei quietly.

"Which is why it's important we get you to a place where you can definitely

get a score of two hundred and fifty points on the test, as soon as possible."

This test was designed in such a way that even a D+ student should be able to

score that well if they studied efficiently.

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

"A question?"

"I mean, you're gonna tutor me and all, but don't you have a C in academic

ability, Kiyotaka? So, doesn't that mean you're average? But I bet in reality, you

like… You can do way better than that, can't you?" said Kei.

"Something like that."

"It's just like how you're really good at fighting, too. Why do you hide it all so

much?" asked Kei.

"I don't want to stand out. So I don't try to get high scores is all," I replied.

"Okay, so, like, how many points do you think you could get if you were

serious about it?" asked Kei.

"No idea."

"Come on, don't mess with me. Just tell me!" said Kei, forcefully but playfully

pushing my shoulder and smiling at me as she pleaded.

"I'll be more than happy to answer your question if you show up and put in

the work at the study group from tomorrow onward."

"I'll go, totally. I feel, like, a sense of impending danger from what you just

told me," she admitted.

"Instead of telling you how many points I can get, though, I'll tell you how

many points I've decided I'm going to get," I told her.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean? That's a pretty incredible claim to

make," said Kei.

There were a total of five subjects. I had no intention of slacking off in any

individual subject, considering I had to compete against Horikita in one.

However, if I actually put everything I had into each subject, then my reputation

amongst my peers would change dramatically.

"Four hundred points," I told her.

"…Wait, for real? Four hundred points, that's definitely…"

"The equivalent of an A rank."

That was a level only a select few bright students in our class, like Horikita and

Keisei, could reach. It would've been more accurate for me to have said near

four hundred points, but there was probably no need to amend my statement

now.

"A-and you're saying that you can get that score if you want to?" asked Kei.

"Of course. There hasn't been a single problem that I thought I couldn't solve

since I enrolled here."

I didn't know how many highly difficult questions would be included in this

exam, but compared to the kind of studies I'd undergone in the White Room, it

seemed fair to assume it was going to be pretty easy. Noticing Kei seemed to

have a blank look on her face, unable to understand what I was just telling her, I

decided to pull her back down to Earth.

"Now that you can see the big picture, I want you to keep that sense of

impending danger in mind, and focus," I told her.

"Okay… I guess I'll study here for a bit and head back to my room then…"

It was only a little after seven at night, so there was nothing wrong with her

sticking around for another hour or so. It would also be helpful for me, so that I

could tell Yousuke more clearly what kind of level Kei was at tomorrow.

"Okay. Well, then, let's get started right away.".

"Hey, over here," said Kei.

"Hm?"

I had intended to get started while we sat across from one another, but Kei

lightly patted the floor next to her.

"Tutor me from right here, next to me," said Kei.

6.5

WE SPENT A LITTLE OVER an hour together in my room. During that time, I gave

Kei advice while she studied. I got the impression that she fundamentally had a

good head on her shoulders, but the fact that she hadn't taken her studies

seriously all this time was holding her back. I didn't plan to point that out to her,

though.

If Kei had just been neglecting her studies from an early stage, I could've

admonished her over it, but in her case, it was the abuse she had suffered in

junior high that had prevented her from getting a legitimate education. So

because she didn't properly learn the 'basics' in junior high, she was struggling

in her classes in high school. When I considered all of that, I'd say she was

actually doing quite well.

Guiding her with compassion and giving her advice was probably the correct

decision. If she could come to feel that studying wasn't a painful experience,

she might even start growing and maturing in a big way, just like Sudou.

"Um…"

"What's up?" I asked.

Kei suddenly started looking down at the floor. Then, after what seemed like a

few seconds of continued staring at the floor, she reached out and grabbed

something.

I had thought maybe a small piece of garbage or some dust was laying there

or something, but…

"What… is this?" asked Kei, holding her arm out to show me something she

was holding between her index finger and thumb.

It was a single strand of long red hair.

"Looks like a hair," I replied.

When I came right out and said what I thought, Kei's face gradually

transformed more and more into that of a raging demon's.

"A red hair! And…and…it's a long one! No matter how you look at it, it's gotta

be a girl's hair!" she shouted.

Well, yeah, she was probably right about that. It was physically impossible for

that to be my hair, considering the length. And my hair also had a completely

different quality to it, of course.

The person the hair belonged to immediately sprang to mind. It had to be

Amasawa Ichika, who had made me cook for her the other day.

"Who did you have over?!" asked Kei.

She was probably asking me because she had no idea who it could have come

from, out of our classmates or others.

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

"Well, is that a bad thing?! I'm your girlfriend, Kiyotaka! I have the right to

keep an eye on you when it comes to this stuff!"

This was the first time I had heard of a right like that. In any case, I supposed

there was one lesson I should take from this. Namely, after inviting a girl into

your room, you should clean thoroughly.

I'd thought the lesson would end there, but the disaster was still ongoing.

While I was racking my brain over how best to explain myself, my doorbell rang

without warning. The sound echoed throughout my room. And then, an image

of the lobby was displayed on the monitor.

I, the resident of this room, wasn't the only one curious about who had just

rung my bell. Kei was, too. We both peeked at the video on the monitor.

On the screen, we saw the figure of Amasawa, waving, with a big grin on her

face. The first person to react wasn't me, but rather, Kei, still clutching the red

hair in her hand.

"Red hair. A girl I haven't seen before…" she muttered.

It was almost like she was solving a mystery on a children's detective show.

Kei reached out and pressed the call button before I could do it myself.

"Hello, who is it?!" asked Kei, her voice containing rather overt tones of

anger.

Amasawa was, of course, visibly surprised.

"Huh? Wait, this is… room four-oh-one, right? Ayanokouji-senpai's room?"

she said.

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

"Sorry. It's me. What do you want?" I asked.

She was an unexpected visitor, but I couldn't just let Kei deal with it. Putting

the matter of Amasawa aside, there was also the problem of people coming and

going in the lobby being able to hear that Kei and I were together.

"Oh, is someone there with you? Should I come back later? There was

something I wanted to talk to you about, so I thought I'd drop by," said

Amasawa.

Even though Kei was glaring at me, she gestured for me to let her come on

up, rather than turning her away. Apparently, she wanted to be certain the hair

belonged to Amasawa.

"Nah, it's okay. Come on up," I told her.

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

"Are you sure this is okay? Other students are going to know you're here," I

said to Kei.

"…Oh."

Apparently, she'd gotten so angry that the blood rushed to her head and she

lost track of things. Kei was the one who'd told me we should keep the fact that

we were boyfriend and girlfriend a secret from everyone else for now, still. If

we casually bumped into someone else while together, there was a chance

rumors of that sort might start going around.

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

In any case, Amasawa had already heard Kei's voice, and rushing to get rid of

her wouldn't really have much of an effect. In fact, we had to consider the

possibility that doing so would lead to some strange speculation.

About a minute or so later, Amasawa must have reached the fourth floor. The

doorbell for my room rang.

"I'll let her in, so just sit here and wait for now," I told Kei.

"O-… Okay."

I went to my front door and welcomed Amasawa.

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

After examining the look on my face, she took a look at the shoes near the

entranceway, in calculating fashion. How to put it…? The way she looked

around the room… It seemed like what they called a woman's intuition.

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

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Aww, you didn't bite. Well, to tell you the truth, senpai, I think I might have

forgotten something in your room."

"You forgot something?" I repeated.

"My favorite hair tie. I can't seem to find it anywhere…"

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

"In that case, come on in," I told her.

I couldn't exactly make her just stand there and wait, so I decided to let her

come inside. I thought it would be quicker to let Amasawa explain things than

for me to try to come up with petty excuses about the hair.

"Sorry to barge in like this!" Amasawa entered my room, completely

unconcerned about the presence of the other guest who had arrived before

her. She must have been on her way back from school, because she still had her

book bag in her hands.

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

"Oh, hello! I'm Amasawa Ichika," she said.

"Hi." Kei looked clearly unhappy about this, but she seemed like she was

putting up with it, in her own way.

"Oh, you're my senpai too, right? I'd love to know your name."

"…Karuizawa Kei."

"Karuizawa-senpai, huh? Oh, looks like you two were studying together. Are

you his girlfriend, by any chance? Ayanokouji-senpai dodged the question

earlier when I tried asking him, so I wanted to try again," said Amasawa.

It was a bit of a gift to be able to just come right out and ask whatever you

wanted, without hesitation.

"That's really none of your business, is it? Actually, hold on, what about you?

What's your relationship with Kiyotaka?" asked Kei.

Although the fact that Kei called me by my first name naturally made

Amasawa suspect even more that there was something going on, she looked

around my room.

"I'll answer your question in just a sec, so hold on, okay? Hmm… I don't see it

anywhere at first glance. I'm sure I took it off when I was last here, though.

Hmm… Maybe it rolled along the floor somewhere?" said Amasawa.

Paying absolutely no mind to Kei glaring at her, she got down on her knees,

trying to peek under the bed. As she did so, her skirt rode up, naturally

accentuating her rear end, which was positioned facing us.

"Oh… senpai? I feel like this might look a little bit naughty," teased Amasawa,

looking back at us. Her tone suggested she was doing it on purpose.

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

me.

"I'll try looking for it," I told them.

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

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

"Hmm, let's see, I guess Ayanokouji-senpai is my… Hm, what's the best way to

put it? My personal chef?" said Amasawa.

"Huh? Wait, what?" Kei, unable to understand what she was talking about,

looked over at me once again. And she was glaring at me more intensely than

she was moments before.

"She's Sudou's partner. Some stuff happened, and we became acquainted. I

ended up serving her a meal once," I told Kei.

"Okay, sorry, but I really don't get what you're saying at all. Why did you cook

for Sudou-kun's partner?" asked Kei.

Well, considering she'd only heard the general outline of what happened, it

was understandable she'd be confused. I responded by explaining the situation

more in depth, while continuing to search for the hair tie underneath the bed.

"Oh, can I go and look in the kitchen too, just in case? I might have taken it off

there when I was washing dishes. Oh, but please keep looking in the room

yourself, senpai. Like maybe under the closet or something?" said Amasawa.

"All right."

I didn't find anything under the bed, so I started looking around the closet

next. Kei then came up close to me.

"Wait, hold on a second… This whole thing about her hair tie maybe being

here… What is that supposed to mean?!" said Kei, in a hushed voice, trying to

confirm what was going on.

"I already told you. I invited Amasawa over and cooked a meal for her the one

time. That's all."

"I-is that really all that happened?" said Kei.

"Of course it is," I answered.

"…Really?" she asked.

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

"I'm gonna check with that girl and make sure that's true," said Kei.

Just as she tried to stand back up, though, I forcefully grabbed her arm. Then,

I quickly brought my index finger up to my lips and gestured to her to be quiet.

Kei was quick on the uptake at times like this, and didn't cause any fuss.

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

"O-Okay," she replied.

Even though she didn't understand my intentions, she seemed to understand

that it was important, and she started helping me search.

"Oh! Ayanokouji-senpai, it's here!" said Amasawa, her voice echoing from the

kitchen.

When Kei and I both peeked into the kitchen at the same time, Amasawa

showed us the hair tie, held in the palm of her hand.

"Looks like it fell in the gap between the counter and the fridge," she said,

smiling happily as she spoke, tucking the item into her pocket. "Anyway, it feels

like I kinda got in the middle of something here, so I'll be going now."

"Sorry for all the commotion," I told her.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have forgotten it in the first place. Anyway, sorry

again about bothering you!" said Amasawa, quickly grabbing her bag and

putting on her shoes in the entranceway. "But y'know, you really are a smooth

operator, senpai, aren't you? I never imagined you'd have yourself such a cute

girlfriend."

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

over.

"Yeah, come to think of it, that's a good point. Next time I have you cook for

me, it might not be a good idea for us to be alone together," she added.

"Obviously!" yelled Kei.

"In that case… Karuizawa-senpai will just have to eat with us, then. Anyway,

goodbye!" said Amasawa.

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

"Seems like you've gotten acquainted with a pretty cute kouhai, huh,

Kiyotaka?" said Kei.

"You're probably not going to listen to me no matter what I say, are you?"

The atmosphere was no longer conducive to tutoring. I couldn't do anything

but explain what had really happened over and over to Kei until she was

satisfied.

6.6

FRIDAY CAME AND WENT, and now Saturday, our day off, was here. I'd had

many opportunities to interact with the younger students during the week as a

result of the special exam. There was my encounter with Amasawa from Class

1-A, which in turn led me to having to make her a home-cooked meal to secure

a partner for Sudou. Then there were the discussions with Nanase regarding

entering into an agreement with Class 1-D.

Other than what was going on with me, Kushida had had a discussion with

Yagami from Class 1-B. Thanks to Kushida asking him to introduce people to

some of his friends, we had managed to secure partnerships for Kei and other

students in our class. While the importance of this special exam depended on

your point of view, I was sure it would be deeply significant in terms of

interaction between grade levels. Many students already knew the names and

faces of the students in the grade above or below them, and even knew what

kind of grades they had.

We had also ascertained what kind of tendencies each class had. Class 1-A did

not have a clear leader at the moment. I got the impression each student was

essentially free to do what they wanted. One of the reasons they were allowed

to do so was the class's overall excellent grades. True to their name, they had

the highest number of students with a B-or better out of the four classes in

their grade level.

Many of the more academically inclined students had already individually

negotiated their own terms with Class 2-A or 2-C, using points. And though

there were naturally some students in their class who had been classified as Din terms of academic ability, they were also picked up by Class 2-A because they

excelled in other areas. Of the forty students in Class 1-A, thirty-four had

already confirmed partnerships.

Class 1-B exhibited similar trends to A, in that they still didn't have a clear

leader. Also, the good students were selling themselves off individually one

after another. The difference was that most of these partnerships weren't with

Class 2-A, but with Class 2-C. I wondered if that was due to the fact that Ryuuen

and his ilk were offering a larger sum of points than Sakayanagi was. The exact

details of the situation were unclear at the moment, but currently, thirty-three

of their students had settled on partners.

As for Class 1-D, Housen had total control, ruling his class with an iron fist. If I

had to compare it to anything in our year, I'd say it was almost exactly the same

as how Ryuuen used to do things. What was interesting to me was that Class D

was also the class with the least number of partnerships out of everyone. We

would probably find out more details when we meet on Sunday.

And finally, there was Class 1-C. The class I had hardly interacted with at all

over the past week. I had already committed the names of their students to

memory, but their class had never come up in conversation, not even from

Horikita. What was the primary reason for this? Well, it was the meet-and-greet

event spearheaded by Ichinose from Class 2-B. As a result of that, many

students from their class had confirmed partnership agreements.

Ten students from their class still hadn't finalized their partnerships yet, but

of those ten, none had a D-or lower in academic ability. In other words, almost

everyone in their class had successfully managed to secure a safe position.

Perhaps there was someone helping organize things within their class, and they

had successfully managed to save their classmates by way of the meet-andgreet event.

Just past noon, I booted up the OAA app, and looked up the partnerships that

had been formed as of today.

"A hundred and five partnerships formed. Close to seventy percent then,

huh?"

If you looked at the number of people in the library yesterday, you could see

most students had wanted to get things wrapped up before the weekend.

There was more movement in Class 1-D, and now a total of eight students from

their class had confirmed partnerships. I wasn't sure if the fact that it was the

weekend now was making Housen impatient…

Well, at any rate, the remaining number of first-year students who hadn't yet

picked a partner was fifty-five, and for second-years, fifty-two. If there was a

White Room agent hiding among those remaining students, then the odds of

me getting partnered with them were pretty high. To be honest, there was no

guarantee that I wasn't going to end up choosing the White Room student,

because they weren't showing themselves at all.

I'd been dragging things out, hoping something would present itself along the

way so that I could determine if someone were a safe choice or not, but I was

reaching my limit now. I was going to need to decide before my options

dwindled down even further.

Though we were close to negotiating with Class 1-D, I wanted to have other

options available to me. I decided to head over to Keyaki Mall on Saturday

afternoon to expand my possibilities.