Chapter 4:
Dark Clouds
BRRRR-ING!
The same alarm clock I've had for the last ten years was ringing in my ears. I
quickly and silently reached for it, and violently slammed the button to stop the
alarm without a single care. The excess force caused the alarm clock to fall off
the nightstand, letting out one final ping!
My alarm clock wasn't so weak a partner that this level of abuse would break
it though, not after all the training it had been through at my hands.
"It's already six o'clock…?" I muttered.
Ultimately, I had only gotten about two hours of sleep before morning came. I
took off my pajamas, wondering why I'd even bothered putting them on in the
first place, and walked over to the washbasin in my underwear with heavy,
plodding steps. As I crossed the room, I picked up my alarm clock off the floor
and realized the cover had come off. Specifically, the latch that kept the cover
in place had popped out. It had broken before and I had patched up with tape.
On top of that, one of its batteries was loose on the floor.
"Looks like I was a little too rough with you," I said to my alarm clock. "I'll be
more careful tomorrow, so forgive me, okay?"
I walked over to the mirror.
"Ugh, I look awful…"
I supposed it wasn't too bad, but there was no way I could show my face to
my students the way I looked right now. The dark circles under my eyes were
even more pronounced because I'd been having a particularly hard time
sleeping the past few nights. After carefully washing my face, I lined up my
cosmetics, which I typically didn't use at all.
I really am a mess…
Well, I supposed it was just because I didn't want my students to know how
stressed out I was.
I reached for the container of lotion and took it in my hands, but I suddenly
caught sight of myself in the mirror.
"I certainly look terrible."
Without really thinking, I reached up and touched my cheek. The feel of my
skin under my fingertips probably couldn't begin to compare to what it was like
during my school days.
"I guess I'm getting old too," I muttered.
You could say it's only been a little over ten years since then, but still, ten
years. Just feeling my face was enough to remind me that so much time had
passed whether I liked it or not.
"Well, I guess that's probably a trivial problem now…"
It wasn't as though this was the first time I was confronted with the passage
of time. I always had a firm grasp on the concept. I resumed my previously
halted movements, opened the lid, and silently began applying lotion to my
skin.
I knew this would be coming someday. I knew it from the moment I decided
to become a teacher. But even so…I wasn't really prepared for it. I couldn't be.
"Calm down," I told myself. "This is not my fight. The situation now is
different from the way it was then too. The way the class is now, I bet they'll
make it through without incident. Yes, they should be able to do just that.
There's no point in me being nervous."
As I felt my heart beating faster and faster, I tried to tell myself that this was
essentially not my problem. Such shallow thinking was useless though, and my
heart started to pound in my chest. At this rate, I wouldn't be able to keep
myself together before the special exam ended. I was worried about the future.
I pressed both of my palms against the mirror and glared at my reflection.
"You have to be prepared…"
4.1
MORNINGS WERE SURPRISINGLY busy for teachers. We were already at our
place of work without commuting since we lived in the dormitories on campus,
close to the school building. Even so, there was a mountain of things for us to
do: preparing for our classes, checking for new messages, sometimes checking
the water quality of the pool, and so on. However, the start of our actual
workday was when homeroom started, so essentially, taking care of those
things amounted to unpaid overtime. They were things we had to take care of
on our own.
After our respective morning preparations were finished, we teachers had a
meeting as well for morning assembly. The rush of activity in the mornings was
twice or even three times as intense on days like today when special exams
were being administered. Any mistake on the school's part would be absolutely
unforgivable as it would affect some of the students' lives.
"The most important thing for you to keep in mind during this special exam is
that as instructors, you are not to intervene," warned Ikari-sensei. He wore a
stern look on his face. "Please make absolutely certain that you avoid any kind
of situation where you inadvertently offer help to your students because you
want to protect your class."
Ikari-sensei was in charge of we four homeroom instructors, and he was also
responsible for proctoring this particular special exam.
"Um, excuse me," said Chie, "I know it might be too late for me to speak up
now, but may I ask a question?"
"What is it, Hoshinomiya-sensei?" he answered.
"The last time this… Eleven years ago, when this exam was last administered,
the school implemented a rule to shuffle the classes around for this exam, so
each class wasn't led by its usual homeroom instructor, correct? So, why is it
that this time, we're watching over our usual classes for this exam? I would
think that, for the sake of fairness, this aspect should be changed."
It was clear from the school's warning to the teachers that the administration
wished to prevent teachers from intervening in the exam. However, shuffling
the classes so that teachers would be overseeing different students would
certainly be a much more reliable method. It was unlikely any of the teachers
would go so far as to take on such risks themselves for the sake of helping a
rival class.
"Isn't it simply because the school believes that fairness will be upheld in any
case?" Sakagami-sensei said this calmly, having come to that conclusion after
listening to the conversation thus far.
"Is that really so?" remarked Chie.
"…I cannot provide you with any reasoning for it," Ikari-sensei replied. "I can
only state that things are the way they are because it's been decided that way."
"Meaning it's a decision that came from the top?" asked Chie.
There was not a single thing we teachers could decide ourselves for any of the
special exams. Everything was decided upon by the higher-ups, meaning
Chancellor Sakayanagi and those involved in the administration and
management of this institution. All we could do was follow the rules and
enforce them accordingly. However, something about this decision didn't seem
to add up, and Chie made no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, Ikari-sensei spoke once more, in a low, strained voice.
"This is only my own personal opinion here, but I believe this exam could
potentially offer insight into the hidden workings of the students' minds," he
said. "There is, essentially, a great deal of information to be learned. I suspect
the school administrators felt that allowing teachers from other classes to
access that information could impact subsequent special exams."
"That sounds like they don't have faith in the teachers then," said Chie.
"There's nothing that can be done about it," said Ikari-sensei. "Besides, three
of the homeroom instructors present here have experienced something similar
to this special exam in the past, and… Well, perhaps it has something to do with
the fact that each of you were assigned to your usual classes during last year's
In-Class Voting special exam as well?"
"I suppose that's true," said Chie. She sounded convinced at that, as though
this was something she'd understood from the beginning.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei… May I continue now?" asked Ikari-sensei.
"Yes, yes, please do! I understand, so please go on ahead!" she replied.
Though Ikari-sensei was clearly annoyed, he resumed his explanation,
sounding like he had given up on trying to argue.
"If the person on monitoring duty deems it necessary, you will be issued a
warning," he said. "If there are repeated attempts to intervene, pay cuts will be
involved. While we aren't worried about you doing this, please keep in mind
that, in the worst-case scenario, if it is found that any teacher intervenes in an
underhanded manner and intentionally tries to coax their students into making
a certain choice, that teacher will be demoted."
The Unanimous Special Exam was all about choice. If a teacher were to try
anything that guided their students toward a particular choice the teacher
favored, it would naturally undermine the very purpose of the special exam
itself. Of course, neither myself nor any of the teachers from the other classes
had any intention of doing that. As usual, I wouldn't let myself get too
emotionally involved with my students—I would simply press on ahead silently.
That was all. Even if this special exam was full of bitter memories for me, I
wasn't going to do things any differently.
"That is all. Now then, I wish you all the best of luck in today's special exam,"
said Ikari-sensei.
After the morning meeting ended, I simply tried to get through my morning
classes the way I usually would. Well, I was probably the only one who felt like I
was being my usual self; in reality, I might have seemed different. I felt like I had
no sense of time and before I knew it, it was already time for lunch. I sat in the
faculty office with my lunch on the desk in front of me. After I had gotten about
a third of the food down my throat, my chopsticks just suddenly stopped
moving altogether. Not wanting myself to be seen like this, I decided to put my
remaining lunch into a bag and put it away.
Then came the sound that signaled the start of afternoon classes. As I left the
faculty office with my eyes on the ground, I heard the sound of footsteps
approaching from behind me.
"Guess it's finally time. Huh, Sae-chan," said Chie.
"…Chie?" I replied.
"You've been like this since this morning," she said. "I take it you couldn't
sleep last night because you were thinking about the special exam?"
I dismissed her obvious and cheap provocation, letting it wash over me like
water off a duck's back. Actually, it would probably be more correct to say that I
simply couldn't muster an answer to it.
"My current class has nothing to do with me," I told her. "It doesn't matter if
my students pass this exam easily or not."
"Hm? It doesn't look like you really believe that yourself though."
I started to walk away. As I turned my back to her, Chie said something else.
She made no effort to hide the resentment in her voice.
"Well, whatever. Don't forget that you don't deserve to aim for Class A, Saechan."
Throughout that whole exchange, I was unable to lift my face at all.
4.2
IT WAS SEPTEMBER 17, shortly after our lunch break. Less than three weeks
after our summer vacation ended, the next special exam was here. When I
came back to the classroom roughly five minutes before the exam was due to
start, there was already an adult standing by, quietly watching the students
from the back of the room. I was a little surprised to find that I wasn't assigned
to my usual seat. I had been placed in another seat just for the duration of this
specific exam. Perhaps that was to ensure even stricter adherence to the rules.
Interestingly enough, I was seated by the window at the very back of the
classroom, where I used to sit in my first year here. As for the rest of the
students, they…appeared to be spread about randomly, with no relation to
where they were seated this year or last. I guess that meant it was only a
coincidence that I was assigned in the same spot I used to sit in. When I looked
over at Horikita, already in her seat, I saw that she was still placed in the front
row. She was only one seat over from her usual spot.
Satou was seated to my right, and Onizuka was seated in front of me. The
students then began to arrive, one after another.
Starting now, we would be undertaking the "Unanimous Special Exam." We
would simply choose from the options available for the five issues presented to
us and repeat the voting process over and over until we reached a unanimous
decision on each issue. Nothing more and nothing less. Simple. While there was
little of anything of note for this particular special exam, it was also true that
there was little we could do in order to prepare for it.
There were only a few preparations we could make. We promised to split our
votes in the first round regardless of the contents of the issues we were voting
on, because communication wasn't allowed prior to the first round of voting.
We would also pay careful attention to the time limit when it was time to vote.
Thirdly, we decided in advance whom we would follow in the event that a
dispute arose over the choices and votes were split. That was about it for us,
and about all that any class could do to manage the situation. That was
probably the reason that there wasn't really any kind of heavy, oppressive air
hanging over our class.
On top of that, this was an exam all participants could manage quite easily. All
we had to do was make a choice and press a button for whatever we wanted to
vote for. As a result, the class was more relaxed. Of course, there were still
some feelings of nervousness over this particular special exam…
Our tablets were covered with a protective film to prevent any prying eyes
from getting a look at what was on the screen. Even if a person in a neighboring
seat did try to sneak a peek, they wouldn't be able to spy on you. We weren't
allowed to get up from our seats during voting either, so it was impossible for
us to figure out exactly who was voting for what based on sight.
Even if you could see someone else's voting results through some other
means, or even just by accident, whether anyone would actually believe you if
you tried to say anything was another matter entirely. It was impossible to
make a fuss about who voted for what since we were forbidden from stealing
glances in the first place. We had no other choice but to take this special exam
as it was, head-on. It also looked like the tablets placed on our desks had been
turned off, and we were forbidden from turning them on without permission.
"Heya!" Ike called to Shinohara. "So, like, if we pass this entire thing in an
hour or two, let's head over to Keyaki Mall."
"Well, sure, I'd like to go," she said, "but we're supposed to be doing selfstudy in the dorms after, right? So, how about we go in the evening?"
Ike and Shinohara, now dating and much closer with each other than they
were before, were talking about what they were going to do after class. Would
we really be able to pass this special exam so easily? Maybe. I wondered,
though, just how many of the students here right now understood that there
was a chance this exam could become fraught with difficulties, depending on
the conditions.
The issue was that voting was anonymous. It was impossible to know who
voted for what during the exam. Or ever, actually. Complete anonymity. In this
particular exam, everything came down to how big an impact that factor would
have. At any rate, the time limit for this special exam was a long five hours,
from one o'clock to six o'clock in the afternoon. Put simply, that meant we
could spend no more than one hour on each issue. It wouldn't be surprising if
we completed this special exam in one or two hours then, like Ike had said
earlier.
If we managed to finish within the time limit, we would get a quick and easy
fifty Class Points. On the other hand, in the event that we failed to pass the
exam within those five hours, we would be penalized by 300 Class Points. That
meant coming to a unanimous decision on all five issues was an absolute
necessity. Still, in light of the mechanics of this exam, you could say that the
scant rewards and heavy penalties were acceptable.
As I sat in my spot in the corner of the classroom, I noticed that about half of
the seats were filled now. Chabashira, the facilitator of this special exam, stood
over by the podium, while the teacher assigned to monitor both us and her was
stationed in the back of the classroom.
"As you have already been informed, we are now going to collect all
communication devices," announced Chabashira.
There were restrictions on the bags that we could bring into the room, and
the school had arranged to monitor us from both the front and the back of the
classroom in order to prevent anyone from stealing glances at other students'
tablets. They were being much more thorough than was strictly necessary. To
me, that was proof positive of how much they were trying to prevent people
from finding out who had voted for what. It might have seemed harsh, but it
was the right call for them to make.
In order to ensure that the students' true, genuine feelings were being
reflected in the voting, total anonymity had to be assured. If there were
opportunities for students to get a look at what others were doing, then the
chance that they would succumb to peer pressure would increase.
For example, let's say everyone went with option alpha. Even though you
really wanted to go with option beta, maybe you voted for option alpha,
because that's what everyone else did. That's what the school wanted to avoid
happening.
They were placing a lot of importance on students' respective wills, which was
the purpose of this special exam. But still, from the perspective of the students,
we wanted the vote to come to a unanimous decision anyway, whether it was
coming from peer pressure or not. In that sense, the measures the school was
taking weren't to our advantage.
In any case, there wasn't any room for fraud. Whatever issues we were going
to face, we had to come to a unanimous decision on it.
"Come on, Airi. You decided that you were going to say something, didn't
you?"
Hm? When I drew my gaze back from the window to see what was happening
inside the classroom, I saw Haruka pushing Airi from behind.
"U-um, excuse me, Kiyotaka-kun…!" Airi stammered. "I… If you don't mind,
would you… Would you mind, um, give me a minute, after school today?
Maybe?"
Haruka, standing beside her, nodded several times. She then looked at me
with an appeal in her eyes, as if to say, "You understand that you've gotta
respond to her efforts, right?"
"Um, I wanted to…to talk to you a bit. About the cultural festival," added Airi.
"Oh, that's what this is about," I said. "I figured I'd need to speak to you about
that in person anyway, so I don't mind. Sure."
"Th-thank you!" she squeaked. "W-well, okay then, later!"
Airi quickly shot away from me like she was trying to run away. She
proceeded to take her seat, far away from mine, with her back facing me.
"She managed to get a grip on things, somehow," said Haruka. "She's still not
over her heartbreak yet, but she is trying her best to face forward."
I didn't mention it when Airi was standing in front of me earlier, but she was
really struggling to make eye contact with me.
"Still, now we'll have to see if she really wants to go for the idea. It's all going
to come down to how much effort you put in, Kiyopon."
"I'll negotiate with her to the best of my ability," I said.
"All right. Well then, see ya after school, 'kay?"
It seemed to be that Haruka had been taking very good care of Airi. Or more
like, the two of them had been together a lot lately.
Just two minutes before the start of the exam, Chabashira, the one
overseeing us, started explaining how things were going to work.
"Well then…it's about time we begin," she announced. "The special exam will
start now. Please note that due to the length of today's exam, you will be
granted a maximum of four total bathroom breaks. You will only be allowed to
take breaks after you've come to a unanimous decision on an issue and before
the class moves on to the next one. During the course of the exam, you cannot
take breaks at any point while you are engaged with an issue and haven't yet
come to a unanimous decision. Also, please note that you will be granted a
maximum of ten minutes for each break. However, the exam time will continue
to count down during that time. It would be wise for you to skip taking a break
if you deem it unnecessary to have one."
Everyone in class had already used the restroom anyway, so that likely wasn't
going to be a problem for a while. No one in class seemed to be having any
issues that would warrant an unplanned bathroom break either, like a
stomachache or anything similar.
Well, it's finally time for the special exam to begin, eh? Or that's what I
thought, but Chabashira simply looked around at the students without actually
doing anything to start the proceedings. She stood there in a daze, like her mind
wasn't actually here right then. The students initially didn't notice anything, but
now they were starting to exchange glances with each other. The other teacher
standing at the back of the classroom also seemed to notice that something
wasn't right.
"Chabashira-sensei," said the instructor. "It's time."
"O-oh, yes," Chabashira said. "My apologies. Now then, we will begin the
Unanimous Special Exam. Starting now, we will proceed in accordance with the
rules. Do note that we will be observing you very carefully, so we caution you
not to get up from your seats outside the prescribed intervals, and to not talk
amongst yourselves during the times you are prohibited from doing so. Please
bear that in mind."
A timer was now displayed up on the monitor, beginning its countdown from
the twenty-six-second mark. The slight delay in the start of the countdown was
probably due to the delay in Chabashira giving us the sign to go ahead, but it
wasn't going to hinder the students. When the countdown finally reached zero,
text appeared on the screen, showing us the first issue.
ISSUE #1: Choose which class you will face in the year-end final exam to be
held at the end of the third semester. Your choice will still be in effect even if
there is a change in the class rankings.
*Note: The numbers in parentheses ( ) represent the additional Class Points
you will earn if you win in the chosen matchup.
CHOICES: Class A (100), Class B (50), Class D (0)
"Your choice here is to determine who you will be facing in the year-end
special exam, which will be held at the end of your third semester of your
second year," Chabashira explained. "As indicated in the issue description, if
you make a unanimous decision to choose Class A at this point in time but the
current Class A is demoted to B before the end of the school year, you will be
going up against the class that was ranked as A at the time of this vote.
Furthermore, you will still earn those additional Class Points as indicated. In the
event that you do not come to a unanimous decision on a desired opponent,
then the school will decide for you at random."
So, if we were to put it in simpler terms, the class's choices were to fight
against Sakayanagi, Ichinose, or Ryuuen. And no matter who was selected here,
our opponent wouldn't change.
"It is important for you to discern which class you can win against if you go up
against them," Chabashira went on. "Of course, you may not necessarily…get to
fight against the class that you wish."
If Horikita and her class nominated Sakayanagi's Class A and Ichinose also
nominated Sakayanagi's class, did that mean that the decision of whether to
compete against Horikita or Ichinose would rest with Sakayanagi? And then if
Sakayanagi's class didn't choose Horikita or Ichinose and instead picked
Ryuuen's class to be their opponent, then that would confirm their choice to go
up against Ryuuen. But then if Ryuuen's class was avoiding Sakayanagi's class, in
the end, no one's choices would go into effect and the matchups would be
decided randomly.
Normally, it would make the most sense to choose a class with a lower level
of strength. However, as one could see from the choices in the poll, lower-level
classes were treated differently from the high-level classes. If you were able to
defeat a high-level class, you would be rewarded with additional Class Points.
On the other hand, we wouldn't get any additional rewards for going up against
a lower-level class. In ordinary circumstances, you wouldn't want to go up
against Class A, but if there was merit in doing so, then the issue was worth
considering.
"We will now begin the first round of voting," Chabashira told us. "You have
sixty seconds."
If we didn't enter our votes within the sixty-second time limit, we would enter
penalty time. Of course, our classmates were going to simply go ahead and pick
their favored option as Horikita had instructed them to do in advance so we
could avoid any trouble in the first round. As for me, I had already talked things
over with Horikita and informed her that I was planning to choose the first
option right away, so I went ahead and chose Class A without hesitation.
Horikita was going to choose the second option, Class B. At this point, it was not
going to be a unanimous decision. But the other thirty-seven votes in class
would give an indication of which class everyone genuinely wanted to fight
against.
"Now that everyone has finished entering their votes, I will announce the
results," said Chabashira.
Round 1 Voting Results: Class A: 5 Votes, Class B: 21 Votes, Class D: 13 Votes
The votes were concentrated on Ichinose's Class B, rather than on Class D, the
lowest-ranked class.
"Because you haven't come to a unanimous decision, there will now be a
break interval."
For the next ten minutes, students were freely allowed to get up out of their
seats, talk to others, and engage in conversation. It didn't matter whether you
spoke up a little more loudly or if you just quietly whispered into the ear of one
particular student. Horikita, seated directly in front of Chabashira, raised her
hand, stood up, and turned around.
"Please allow me to go ahead and make a suggestion right away, so that we
don't waste any time on this first issue," she announced.
Since Horikita was in the position of leader for this special exam as well, she
was taking initiative to demonstrate that she had an idea.
"As the votes seem to be scattered, I'm sure that means you each have your
own thoughts on the matter," she said. "I'm sure you must have doubts, so I
don't mind if you ask me as many questions as you like. Feel free to voice your
opinions out loud to the entire class."
Then, Horikita took a deep breath, and began to explain what her preferred
choice was.
"My ideal opponent to go up against at the end of the year would be Class B.
In other words, Ichinose-san. I have three reasons for this. The first is that,
unlike Sakayanagi-san and Ryuuen-kun, Ichinose is far more likely to fight fair. A
matchup between us would be a pure contest between our respective
potentials. Even if it were some kind of irregular special exam, I have little worry
that we'd be outmaneuvered by an underhanded scheme. Next is that they are
currently ranked as Class B. We would be able to earn Class Points in addition to
the regular rewards, which would give us an advantage in building a lead over
the other classes. Now, the third and final reason is because the title of Class B
is nothing more than pretense. We're in Class C already, and our two classes, as
well as Ryuuen-kun's Class D, are all basically neck-and-neck with each other. At
this point in time, we're separated by only a few Class Points, but Ichinose-san's
class is now on a downward slope. In my opinion, they would be an ideal
opponent."
I got the impression that she was concerned about the time because she
spoke somewhat quickly. Despite that, she conveyed her reasons clearly, and
what she said resonated with many of the students in class.
"If there is anyone here who has any objections, I would like for you to offer
your opinions right here and now," she said. "On the other hand, if you don't
mind choosing Class B, this discussion would be over quickly if we all simply
went ahead and voted for them as soon as possible."
Horikita had wanted to come to a unanimous decision in the second round of
voting on this particular issue. She had conveyed those intentions loud and
clear.
As if in response to that, Yousuke stood up. "I agree with what you're
proposing, Horikita-san," he said. "Though we would receive greater rewards
for defeating Sakayanagi-san's Class A, there's little doubt that they're far more
formidable enemies. Of course, we can't drop our guard against Ichinose-san
and her classmates either. They have strong bonds and a tried-and-true fighting
style, but I also think that they'd be the best opponents for us to face."
After Horikita and Yousuke both endorsed the choice of Class B, our
classmates were starting to look in that direction. Then, as if to take hold of the
momentum and push it forward even more, another person spoke up to offer
her opinion from her seat.
"I'm all for this idea too," said Kei. "We don't get any additional rewards for
fighting against Ryuuen-kun anyway, and I kinda don't like to say this, but it
wouldn't be a laughing matter if we lost to Sakayanagi-san, y'know?"
Before anyone could voice any dissent, Yousuke and Kei quickly solidified
public opinion toward voting for Class B. It was possible that they were simply
supporting Horikita and following through as we had planned, but it was
probably safe to assume that they legitimately wanted to choose Class B too. It
was easy to see that was where this was trending, and Class B received the
most votes in the first round anyway.
We still had close to six minutes left in the discussion period, but no
dissenting opinions came forward in the end. Then, while checking the time,
Chabashira resumed the voting once again.
"All right," she said. "We will move onto the second round of voting now that
the break interval is over. As soon as the information is displayed on your tablet
screens, you'll have sixty seconds to vote, just as I explained to you before.
After sixty seconds have passed, any time that you go over will accumulate and
count toward your penalty. Remember that."
Such words of warning were unnecessary, though, as everyone had got their
votes in for the second round in under ten seconds. The results were tallied and
immediately displayed upon the monitor.
Round 2 Voting Results: Class A: 0 Votes, Class B: 39 Votes, Class D: 0 Votes
It seemed like Kouenji hadn't screwed around and decided to vote for another
class. We succeeded in coming to a unanimous decision for the first time,
without any slip-ups.
"The decision is unanimous. You have all selected Class B for the first issue,"
Chabashira told us. "We will inform you which class you will be competing
against in the year-end final exam as soon as the decision is finalized. That will
likely be some time tomorrow or later."
So, in just a little over ten minutes, we managed to clear one of the five total
issues. W successfully managed to guide the vote toward Class B, which was
Horikita's and the other students' preference. Speaking personally, I would've
chosen Ichinose's class too, if I had to pick someone to face. Horikita had
already stated all of the reasons why and I had nothing else to add. Aside from
that, we had to hope that Sakayanagi and Ryuuen would be matched up against
each other, but since Ichinose's class would be the easier target, we might have
three classes competing over the same choice if we got unlucky. Hopefully,
Ichinose's class would choose to fight against Horikita and there wouldn't be
any hassle.
"I don't think that anyone here needs a bathroom break, but I'm asking
anyway, just in case," Chabashira said. "Does anyone here mind if we go ahead
and move onto the next issue?"
None of the students in class objected to that, of course, and we immediately
went onto the second issue.
"All right then, we'll continue. Here is the second issue."
ISSUE #2: Choose a destination for the school field trip scheduled for late
November.
CHOICES: Hokkaido, Kyoto, Okinawa
I heard some students in class mutter things like, "What the heck?" Since we
were forbidden from talking amongst ourselves though, they immediately went
silent after Chabashira shot them glares. But it was an undeniable fact that
many students did indeed mumble their surprise. Still, we couldn't talk about
the issue at all before voting first. They just had to think for themselves about
which option they genuinely wanted to choose and vote accordingly.
"This vote is similar to the previous one, however. Your votes alone won't
finalize the decision. The outcome may change depending on what the other
three classes vote for. We ask that you please understand that."
Round 1 Voting Results: Hokkaido: 17 Votes, Kyoto: 3 Votes, Okinawa: 19
Votes
Putting Kyoto aside, judging from the tallied votes, the vote this time seemed
to be a much closer contest than the previous one.
"Since you didn't come to a unanimous decision, there will now be a break,"
announced Chabashira.
"Man, can you even really call this a special exam?," said Hondou with a
laugh. He almost sounded disappointed. "This is way too easy, dude. It's
practically a no-brainer."
It was certainly true that the first and second issues hardly warranted
preparing such an ostentatious set-up as this. We could've resolved these issues
in a regular homeroom session. However, we were still only on the second
issue. But, similarly, you could say we were already on the second one. When
we finished voting on this one, two-fifths of the special exam would be over.
This special exam really did feel far too easy. Many students were probably
starting to relax now instead of feeling nervous. What was interesting, however,
was that there were some students who actually were even more anxious when
situations like this arose. In particular, those were cautious and particularly
thoughtful students like Horikita and Yousuke. While everyone else in the room
was laughing and talking about where they'd like to go, those two were
seriously examining the issue at hand.
Well, that was just as well. It was absurd to imagine that we'd have easy
issues like this one all the way until the end. If anything, it felt like the easier the
first part of this exam was, the more pressure we'd be under in the latter half.
As I mulled over that premonition, I quietly watched everyone during the
interval.
"I'm sure that everyone has their opinions about the exam overall, but let's
focus on this issue first, okay?" said Yousuke. He was wary of everyone getting
distracted and wanted to get the class back on track.
I had voted for the first option as I promised, just like I did the last time. That
meant I put my vote in for Hokkaido. Still, I wondered, what was going to
happen? The issue was the same for every class, so whichever option got at
least two of the four classes' votes would be where we'd be going. Each
individual vote was important, then, in determining where the school trip would
be.
"Horikita-san, it seems like opinions are split here," said Kushida. Perhaps she
was worried about the fact that Horikita hadn't spoken up immediately like
before. "Do you perhaps have any words of advice?"
Horikita, however, didn't immediately respond to Kushida's question. She was
completely silent.
"Horikita-san?" asked Kushida, sounding a little worried.
That second time though, Horikita answered in a hurry. "I'm sorry. I was just a
little lost in thought… It's not a complicated issue or anything, but I was thinking
that it might actually be difficult to come to a unanimous decision on this. A
school trip is an important event for students, after all, and I can't make
everyone settle on a decision with just a few words."
Everyone in class had promised to follow her decisions as leader if the time
came when it was necessary, but that didn't mean Horikita was allowed to
decide on the destination for our school trip all by herself or anything. It was a
tough choice then, considering that it wasn't a matter of advantages and
disadvantages. It was just a matter of personal preference.
"At any rate, I'll guess I'll start by opening the floor. Would anyone like to
share their input on where they'd like to go for the trip?" said Horikita.
Sudou raised his hand, as if he had been waiting for his moment.
"Welp, guess I'll go then," he said. "I put my vote in for Okinawa. I mean,
when people think of school trips, they think of the beach, right? And Okinawa's
a classic choice! 'Sides, it's got the most votes already, so I think it's pretty
much a done deal, don't you?"
"Wait, wait, just hold on a second," said Maezono. "Okay, I'll admit that yes,
Okinawa is one of the go-to choices, but so is Hokkaido. And on top of that, it
was a really close vote. Doesn't everyone want to go skiing?"
"I wanna go with Okinawa too," exclaimed Onodera. "I want to go
snorkeling!"
Another student cut in. "I've already been to Okinawa a bunch of times, so I
think Hokkaido's…"
Students began to clash, arguing over the two destinations that had the most
votes. It wasn't surprising that students were critical of the choice that they
didn't want since each side felt that the choice they made was better than the
other.
"I mean, Hokkaido is all about snow in the first place, right? That's totally
boring!"
"Okay, but if you turn that around, Okinawa's all just ocean, right?"
Students argued back and forth for a few minutes without seeming like they
were anywhere near a resolution. Finally, unable to just sit by and watch,
Yousuke intervened.
"Yes, both Hokkaido and Okinawa are equally popular destinations for a
school trip, so it is understandable that we might fight over it, but… I think we
should maybe be a little more considerate of other peoples' opinions, okay?" he
said. He pleaded with his classmates to refrain from making comments that
came close to being insults.
At first, the students had just been saying how wonderful their choice of
destination was. But as time went on, then the discussion devolved into
students hurling comments that denigrated the other side's choice at each
other.
"Hirata-kun, you voted for Hokkaido, right?" asked Maezono.
"Hey, Hirata! You chose Okinawa, didn't ya?" said Sudou.
"Huh? Um…" stammered Yousuke.
Yousuke looked visibly flustered to find himself sandwiched between both
sides.
"Well, I guess it's…kind of…a secret?" he squeaked out.
Under these circumstances, it would be hard for him to answer either way. In
a sense, this was the kind of moment when anonymity really came into play.
"Okinawa's the only place where you can swim in November, y'know?" said
Sudou. "Don't you want to go down to the beach?"
"I've had enough of the beach myself," said Maezono. "We already got
enough of that on the uninhabited island special exam. I'm all for Hokkaido, for
sure!"
Yousuke had managed to put the brakes on the arguing for a moment, but
things immediately started to heat back up. The exchange between Sudou and
Maezono could probably be seen as a microcosm of the opinions of the entire
class as a whole.
"Wh-what do we do, Horikita-san?" Kushida had a troubled look on her face
as she appealed to Horikita for help.
"Yes, this is a tricky issue after all," said Horikita.
Unanimity was difficult. Maybe this was an issue that was going to be
troublesome for us to decide on after all, and it had come up rather quickly in
the exam. There was no simple way for us to wrap up discussion on the subject,
and the ten-minute interval had already come to an end.
Incidentally, I was planning on voting for Kyoto in the second round. Kyoto
has a rich history, and I had a strong desire to go through it and take in the
sights.
"Very well, then," said Chabashira. "Now that all of the votes have been cast
for the second round, I'll show you the results."
Round 2 Voting Results: Hokkaido: 18 Votes, Kyoto: 4 Votes, Okinawa: 17
Votes
"Oh, hey, Hokkaido came in from behind and took the win!" Maezono
cheered. "Yay!"
"Agh, damn it!" grumbled Sudou. "Who the hell changed their votes from
Okinawa to Hokkaido?!"
Although Hokkaido had slightly more votes than Okinawa, it was still pretty
much an even split. Both the Hokkaido camp and the Okinawa camp
immediately started arguing over the direction of the votes again. Even if we
tried to settle the issue, at this rate, we wouldn't come to a consensus no
matter how many times we redid the vote.
Still, it was just kind of sad that Kyoto wasn't being talked about at all. Well, it
had gotten my vote now and the tally went up a little, but…
I supposed that it was possible that Horikita might not have changed her vote
between rounds, voting for the second option again like she did in the first. Of
course, it was impossible to say for sure since she might've voted for Hokkaido
or Okinawa and someone else could have voted for Kyoto. At any rate, it was
possible for Horikita to just force a decision here and have us select whatever
option had gotten the most votes…but doing so meant some people were
bound to hold a grudge over it. After all, Hokkaido had gotten the most votes in
the second round, but Okinawa had gotten the most votes the first time.
"Looks like we don't have any other choice," Horikita declared. "Now that
we've gotten here, we're just going to have to decide with a contest. Let's have
three people who want Hokkaido and three people who want Okinawa come
forward to represent each side and play rock-paper-scissors. Each side will
determine in what order their members participate. We will do this
tournament-style, winner takes all. However, Kyoto has the fewest votes, so
they will only get one person on their team. It'll be a difficult battle for them,
but this way, we'll be keeping things as fair as possible."
That was true; it wouldn't be fair at all if Kyoto could compete on equal terms
with the other two while having the smallest minority of the vote. If Horikita
was going to bring this issue to a resolution without coercing anyone or
spending a lot of time on it, this was the method we should go with. There was
no avoiding some degree of dissatisfaction, but since we set a rule to follow
Horikita's orders in advance, we had no choice but to obey.
There was a little bit of squabbling over who exactly would play rock-paperscissors for each team, but everyone soon decided on the contestants.
Team Hokkaido was an all-girl team made up of Maezono as player one,
Ishikura as player two, and Shinohara as player three.
Team Okinawa was a mixed guy-girl team consisting of Onodera as player
one, Hondou as player two, and Sudou as player three.
"All we need now is someone who voted for Kyoto," said Horikita. "Will
someone step forward to play for Team Kyoto?"
One of the guys in class raised his hand high and spoke up for the Kyoto camp,
as if he had been biding his time for this very opportunity.
"If no one else is going to, then I'll volunteer. I will definitely be bringing the
whole class to Kyoto," declared Keisei, expressing his strong resolve as he
entered the difficult battle.
Kyoto was also my preferred destination for the school trip. Well, I'll leave this
matter to you, Keisei. I'm sure it'll be a grueling battle, but I hope that you'll pull
it off, somehow…
They immediately got started playing rock-paper-scissors so we could get to
the third round of voting quickly. First, Onodera threw scissors while Maezono
and Keisei both threw paper. Team Okinawa had achieved victory in no time at
all. Team Kyoto's dreams were shattered in an instant, and Keisei left the
battlefield with a broken heart. Keisei's time spent in battle was fleeting; he was
eliminated not even ten seconds after he stepped forward.
I also happened to witness the moment when Horikita placed her hand
against her forehead and let out a sigh. That must have been proof that she was
yet another person who had actually wanted to go to Kyoto. But the contest
continued on, as if the team who wished for Kyoto never even existed in the
first place. Onodera, who had defeated both Maezono and Keisei right away in
the first round, also defeated Ishikura in the second with a consecutive win,
putting her team in the lead. However, Onodera ended up being defeated by
Shinohara, the final player on Team Hokkaido. And then, in an unexpected
twist, Shinohara went on to defeat Hondou right afterward.
In the end, it was a showdown between the final players on each team. Both
sides stared each other down.
"We're definitely going to Okinawa! Okinawan soba! Okinawan lion dog
statues! Fishing!"
"We're definitely going to Hokkaido! Crab! Hot springs! Skiing!"
Sudou and Shinohara clenched their fists tightly as they shouted things at
each other that I didn't quite understand. Then, the two of them raised their
fists overhead before thrusting them back down.
They each threw paper. A tie.
Perhaps they felt like they'd get another tie right away, because even though
they clearly wanted to go again, both parties paused for a slight break before
throwing again. This tournament was only to decide where we were going for
our class trip, but the situation was unusually tense.
"Rock, paper, scissors… Shoot!"
The combatants then clashed once more. Sudou threw down a powerful rock.
Shinohara, on the other hand, threw out a magnificent paper for the second
time in a row.
"I did it! Hokkaido wins!" exclaimed Shinohara happily.
All of Team Hokkaido let out cheers of triumph.
"What the hell, Sudou?!" shouted Hondou.
"D-damn…!" huffed Sudou.
I didn't intend to rain on their parade or anything, but this only meant that
there was one vote for Hokkaido overall, meaning the one from our class. If
multiple other classes voted for Okinawa or Kyoto, we could still end up going
to one of those places. Horikita must have understood that this wasn't the kind
of situation where you could say those things out loud though as she only had a
look of exasperation on her face. Everyone went ahead and cast their votes for
the third round, entering their votes on their tablets all at once.
Round 3 Voting Results: Hokkaido: 39 Votes, Kyoto: 0 Votes, Okinawa: 0
Votes
"Having come to a decision in the third round of voting, you've now cleared
the second issue," said Chabashira.
About half of the class was dissatisfied with the result, but the fact remained
that we had successfully managed to come to a unanimous decision in the third
round of voting. It happened in a brilliant fashion with students engaging in a
fair fight that conformed to the established rules. Although Kyoto, my heart's
desire, had not been chosen in the end, I was still very much looking forward to
seeing Hokkaido for what it was. And besides, depending on what the other
classes voted for, it was entirely possible that we could still be going to Kyoto or
Okinawa anyway. At any rate, no matter where we ended up going, this issue
made me excited for the school trip.
"Now then, let's move on to the third issue."
Although Chabashira didn't look any different now than she did at the start of
the exam, I could tell that there was a slight change in the tone of her voice. I
figured that after the easy issues we had faced so far, we might be about to
face something that would change the flow of the exam.
ISSUE #3: Select one of these options. Regardless of which option is chosen,
Private Points will be affected for six continuous months.
OPTION ONE: Three random students in the class will be awarded Protect
Points in exchange for the entire class being awarded zero Private Points each
month.
OPTION TWO: One student, chosen at will, shall be awarded a Protect Point in
exchange for all students receiving half of the Private Points they would
normally be awarded for your Class Points.
OPTION THREE: If neither Option 1 nor Option 2 pass, then the five students
who score the lowest in the next written exam will receive zero Private Points
for six months.
Unlike the previous two issues, this issue presented serious advantages and
disadvantages for our class. The first option offered the greatest return due to
the large number of Private Points we'd be losing. However, we couldn't
overlook the fact that the Protect Points were going to be given out to
randomly selected students. Protect Points were exceptionally powerful, but if
you thought about it, there were some students who would become
unnecessary over the course of our time at this school. It was possible that the
Protect Points could be completely wasted if they were assigned to students
like that.
Option Two wasn't exactly a cheap price to pay either. We'd be losing half of
the Private Points deposited into our accounts for all those months. And on top
of that, only one student would get a Protect Point. However, the fact that we
could choose who would be getting it was an important factor.
Then, Option Three minimized the loss of Private Points as much as possible.
That would likely be the option to choose if you decided that Protect Points
were too expensive or that you didn't need them in the first place. Still, you
couldn't ignore the fact that even though only five students would be affected,
those five would suffer a setback. It would be necessary to consider not only
the gains versus the losses, but the class's overall situation in class and so on. I
figured that some students might have a lot to say about this, but we had no
other choice but to vote on it first.
"Before we have you all vote," Chabashira started, "I'd like to mention what
will happen if you unanimously choose the second option—namely, the option
to grant a Protect Point to a specific student. If you unanimously choose for the
second option, you won't be moving on from issue three yet. Instead, you'll go
on to select the particular student who will get the point. You remember the
examples I gave you before, yes?"
One person would be chosen during the interval, and we would vote for or
against granting the Protect Point to that student. If we voted unanimously in
favor of that student, they should receive it. If we voted unanimously against,
that student would no longer have any chance of being considered for the
issue. Then the remaining thirty-eight students would discuss it again and
another person would be nominated. We would repeat the vote over and over
with the pool of available candidates getting smaller and smaller each round as
we voted for or against.
"All right then. With that in mind, I'll now show you the results for the first
round of voting."
Round 1 Voting Results: Option One: Grant to three random students: 12
Votes; Option Two: Grant to one specific student: 5 Votes; Option Three: Do not
grant any Protect Points: 22 Votes
The results of the first round seemed to indicate that most of the students in
class were willing to turn a blind eye to the slight inconvenience some students
would face and give up on the Protect Points. That was just as well, I supposed,
since it was already a given who the bottom five scoring students would be on a
written exam, and they'd be the ones to lose Private Points. For students who
didn't fall into that category, it was essentially a risk-free move. On the other
hand, I was sure some students felt that since they weren't going to be getting
Private Points for six months anyway, it would be better to get the Protect
Points.
Ike and Satou were the very first to speak up: two students with some of the
lowest grades in class.
"H-hey, hold up a second! I don't really get what's goin' on!"
"Me either! So, like, this means we don't get any Protect Points, and only five
people lose out on Private Points?"
"Well, come on, it ain't like it's a surprise," said Sudou, trying to persuade Ike.
"I mean, not getting any Private Points at all for half a year is tough, and… On
top of that, people get selected at random for the Protect Points. I feel like I
probably wouldn't get one because of the low chances… So, come on, take one
for the team here, Kanji."
I supposed that was because, in terms of academic ability, Sudou had gotten
himself out of the bottom five students in our class.
"That's not fair, though!" argued Ike. "I need Private Points too right now,
y'know, for all sorts of stuff!"
"You're not going to say you're using your points to pay for dates with
Shinohara and stuff, are you?" replied Sudou.
"Huh? Huh? Wait, seriously? How in the heck did I get found out? Aw, man…"
Ike didn't seem to be too bothered by the fact people had found out what he
was using his points for, but he was acting like getting those points was a life-ordeath problem.
"All right, so that settles it," said Sudou. "It's unanimous. We're gonna decide
to keep our Private Points and forget the Protect Points."
"That'd be bad for me, though!" wailed Ike.
"In that case, study," Sudou told him. "That'll fix the problem, won't it?"
"Grr… I don't know, it's like, the fact that you're the one saying that makes me
feel like I can't accept it, Ken!"
It was important for Ike to study and get out of the bottom of the rankings,
but no matter how many points Ike specifically would get after breaking out of
the bottom five, the fact remained that five people would still be getting
nothing.
"I understand what you're trying to say, but it's far too early to be
pessimistic," said Horikita. "We should minimize the number of Private Points
that will be lost, and all of us, the entire class, should shoulder that burden to
make up for it. Those five students who wouldn't be getting any Private Points
deposited into their accounts each month could be given a number of points
based on averaging the number of points the remaining thirty-four students
get. We would spread points out to those people. That way, we won't just be
making specific students feel dissatisfied with the decision, right?"
For simplicity's sake, if one student earned 50,000 points per month on
average, then to make up losses for those five students, we'd have to pay out a
total of 250,000 points per month. So, if the thirty-four students in our class
received 1.7 million points in a month, and if we divided that number by thirtynine and rounded to the nearest whole number, that would come to 43,590
points. Losses were unavoidable, but that meant we'd only be losing about
6,500 points per student. Even if that situation were to continue for six months,
the stress placed on each individual student would be kept to a minimum that
way.
"W-well, I guess if we did that, then it'd be fine…" said Ike.
"I'm fine with sharin' what I get, I don't really mind," said Sudou. "I mean,
ain't like we got a choice."
Sudou seemed to have some grumbles about it still, but nevertheless, he
sounded like he was willing to help Ike out. Since many students preferred the
option of foregoing Protect Points, opinions naturally began to coalesce around
the idea of going with Option Three.
But then, Yousuke chimed in with a question. "Horikita-san, do you think it's
best that we choose the option of no Protect Points?"
"It's difficult to say," she replied. "To be completely honest, it's a rather
distressing choice to make. Protect Points are an extremely powerful tool that
can prevent expulsion. However, the same could be said for Private Points. Do
you have a different opinion on the matter, Hirata-kun?"
"This is only my personal opinion, but I think that we should go for the Protect
Points with this issue. For three, of course."
"Not being able to get any Private Points for half a year would be a tough pill
to swallow," Horikita said. "Not only would it put a great deal of stress upon us
in our daily lives, but depending on the situation, it could even have an effect
on our special exams."
There was no denying the possibility that Private Points could very well spell
the difference between winning and losing.
"We can protect three students with those points, though, in the event some
unforeseen situation comes our way," argued Yousuke. "There are very limited
opportunities for us to get Protect Points, and besides, they're so valuable that
we can't even put a price on them."
It was easy to understand Yousuke's somewhat passionate point. Protect
Points, which were capable of preventing a student from getting expelled, were
effectively worth 20 million Private Points each. And like he said, we didn't have
many opportunities to get three of them. Especially for someone like Yousuke
who cared for his friends, they truly had more value than money.
This was a very different issue from the matter of deciding where to go for
the school trip, but it was also something it would be hard to come to a
consensus on. It was difficult to influence the class's decision on where to go for
the class trip, sure, but this matter of Protect Points was a problem for the class
as a whole. Getting them might mean saving people in the future.
Keisei stood up then, indicating that he had something to say. "Excuse me,
but I'd like to share my opinion," he said. "We are intending to increase our
Class Points over the next six months, aren't we?"
"Of course," said Horikita. "We don't have time to stagnate if we're aiming to
move up in the class hierarchy."
"Let's say we get fifty Class Points for this special exam, and 100 for placing
high in the cultural festival," Keisei said. "And, assuming a similar increase in
points with the sports festival… By the end of our second semester, we could
end up getting 200 Class Points, or maybe even 300, depending on how things
play out. Is it safe for us to assume that?"
"Yes, I would think so," replied Horikita.
If we managed to get 300 Class Points before the end of the year, then we
could expect to reach a total of around 1,000 Class Points. If that happened, the
total amount of Private Points that would be paid out to us over the next six
months would be increased by about 50 percent over the amount we would get
as of now, coming to around 2 million points. If we considered all of that, then
the maximum value of just one Protect Point would be equivalent to about half
a year's income for the class. It made for a clean figure, almost as if it had been
calculated that way.
However, if we chose to go for the three Protect Points here, it would come
to about 7 million Private Points per every one Protect Points. There was a very
fine line. The option of choosing one specific person to give a Protect Points, the
least likely option to be chosen, looked like it had a good combination of
advantages and disadvantages. At the same time, it was the least cost-effective
choice and the most difficult option to pick. However, the fact that it was the
only option that has the benefit of allowing us to choose a specific student was
important. Still, if we did elect to give a Protect Point to one specific student,
then of course we'd need to come to a unanimous decision on whom. If we
carelessly jumped headfirst into the decision of granting the point to just one
student, there was a possibility that fights could break out over who to give it
to.
"So, are you saying that prioritizing Private Points would be an offensive
strategy, whereas prioritizing Protect Points would be a defensive strategy?"
asked Kushida. It seemed that she was trying to sort out the situation.
The three standing students, Keisei, Horikita, and Yousuke, all nodded at
almost exactly the same time.
"But there's also the risk of those Protect Points essentially becoming an
expensive waste of points if we end up not using them, right?" Kushida pointed
out. "I'd be fine with it, even in spite of that, but…"
It was inevitable that this point was going to be brought up in order to make
sure that everyone in class understood that fact ahead of time.
"Yes, you're right," said Horikita. "If we don't use those points, in the end,
they'll be worthless. Of course, there is the sense of security and relief that
comes with holding onto Protect Points, but…"
"Whether they have value or not is a different discussion," said Keisei. "Even
if they end up no longer being necessary for their intended use, we could still
use those points to employ strategies that require intentionally spending
Protect Points, like launching a surprise attack or self-destructing on purpose.
They might not simply be something we can use for protection. We might be
able to use them for offensive purposes."
It was easy to understand from Keisei's explanation that there were various
ways to utilize Protect Points. Being able to fight in a somewhat underhanded
way and turning the idea of having the ability to prevent expulsion on its head
was a significant advantage. We wouldn't know what future special exams
would be like until later though, not until all of the details were made available
to us. There was no guarantee that we would ever get the opportunity to put
those points to good use in the future.
Still, this issue, or rather, this special exam as a whole, was unexpectedly
deep. Even though the same issues were presented to all of the classes, things
were different for each group depending on each class's respective rank and
situation. If you were in a situation where your class had zero Class Points, your
class would unanimously decide to choose the option of getting three Protect
Points, and there wouldn't be any complaints about it at all. It could be a
chance to catch up to the other classes.
On the other hand, though, for Class A, which was in first place by a huge
margin, that option would be much more costly than it would for the other
classes. Though the meaning of each individual on its own may seem less
significant, the gap between classes could most definitely be narrowed. If we
were to look at this from another perspective, you could interpret the first and
third options in this issue to be slightly inconvenient for Class A.
"So then, Yukimura-kun, in that case, are you saying that we ought to grant
Protect Points to three students?" asked Horikita. She was trying to get a
definitive statement from Keisei so she could get a final confirmation and
narrow down the choices.
"No… The second option is the one that I'd suggest choosing," said Keisei.
"The option that allows us to grant a Protect Point to a specific person."
Horikita was surprised to hear that Keisei was hoping to go with Option Two,
which seemed to be the most unlikely one.
"So then, are you insinuating that we should grant it to you?" asked Horikita.
"Well, I would be honestly flattered if you did," Keisei chuckled. "But no, that
wouldn't be realistic. I think that, basically, everyone in class would want to
have it, after all."
Even if we were to ask for a simple show of hands, it wouldn't be a shock if
everyone in class raised their hands and said that they'd like the point.
"It's difficult to choose a particular person," he added. "Still, no matter how
good of a deal the three Protect Points would be, I don't know how well giving
them out to three random people is going to work."
"You seem like you have a clear idea of who to give the point to," said
Horikita. "Who might you have in mind?"
"Well, if we're trying to make a strategic decision here…there's no one else I
can think of other than you, Horikita," Keisei replied clearly and definitively. He
looked directly at Horikita as she stood opposite him.
"…Me?" said Horikita.
"Yes. Right now, you're demonstrating your capability as the leader of this
class. I have no complaints about your abilities in OAA either. You could say that
being the leader is the most dangerous role there is since you'll be competing
against the likes of Sakayanagi and Ryuuen in the days to come. It wouldn't be
too surprising if those two targeted you and tried to get you expelled without
mercy. In that case, you would be able to come up with strategies and fight
against strong opponents from other classes without fear, as long as you're
holding onto a Protect Point. That's the kind of scenario I'm imagining,"
explained Keisei.
Normally, there might have been animosity over this, but our classmates were
listening closely. That was because Keisei had solid reasoning for his proposal—
he didn't just randomly throw it out there.
"And those aren't the only reasons," he added. "Ordinarily, if someone has a
Protect Point, there's a chance they might let their guard down. They might
become less serious about things since they'd be the only one who feels
protected, but I feel like…you're probably not that sort of person."
Keisei was saying that instead of simply giving a Protect Point to someone
capable, we ought to give it to someone who, after being given the point, would
be inclined to demonstrate their abilities for the sake of the class even more.
And, according to Keisei, that person was Horikita.
"I understand what you're sayin' and all," said Hondou, "but…we're talking a
lot of points here, aren't we?"
If you weren't the person being granted the Protect Point, this arrangement
simply meant you'd be getting your Private Points cut in half for six months. It
was no wonder that there were students like Hondou who felt that way.
"I'm sure that some people will feel like this is a loss because they're thinking
only about the Private Points we'll be losing," Keisei said. "But this is an
investment. By going with this option, Horikita will turn this into more Class
Points, more than what we're paying here. If you think about it that way, the
choice becomes easier, doesn't it?"
"I don't know, you might be overselling this a bit… It's possible we could run
into financial problems, right?" asked Hondou.
"I don't think we can beat Class A without taking risks," Keisei replied. "I
understand that now, because I've been fighting here at this school for a year
and a half."
"Fu fu fu. Well then, that settles it, no? I agree with your proposal, Glasseskun." Kouenji, who had not once thought he would get involved with this
special exam, voiced his support. "We can have Horikita Girl work desperately
harder than everyone else, then, for a value commensurate with the Protect
Point given to her."
"You have a Protect Point, but you don't seem to be working hard yourself,"
snapped Sudou.
"Because working hard is what commoners do, you see," replied Kouenji.
Despite Sudou's barbs, Kouenji didn't seem to care in the slightest. At any
rate, getting approval from Kouenji seemed likely to be the biggest hurdle, so
this was a big deal. I had been expecting the class to go with the first or third
option, but I could agree with Keisei's presentation. More importantly though, if
anyone was going to voice their dissent at this late a stage, people would be
looking for a good reason why. Simply saying that you didn't like the idea of not
getting Private Points was hardly something you could say was for the class's
sake.
As the class was still mulling over what Keisei had proposed, the next round of
voting arrived before we knew it.
Round 2 Voting Results: Option One: Grant to three random students: 0
Votes; Option Two: Grant to one specific student: 39 Votes; Option Three: Do
not grant any Protect Points: 0 Votes
Keisei had brilliantly brought the class together and his proposal had been
adopted. However, the only thing that was somewhat of a bother was the fact
that there was an interval period between now and when we'd vote for who to
give the point to. Since no student had stepped forward to object to granting
Horikita the Protect Point, students used the interval period to speak freely and
just pass the time. It had already been decided that Horikita would be the one
we'd give the point to, so there wasn't any need to nominate anyone else to
run.
There were no further disturbances for this issue. The decision was
unanimous, and all thirty-nine votes were in favor of Horikita. I had expected
this to be stressful, so the fact that the class had gotten through it unexpectedly
smoothly was significant.
"And so, that concludes the third issue," said Chabashira. "For the next six
months, starting now, everyone's Private Point deposits will be cut by half
equally, and Horikita will be granted a Protect Point now."
Horikita, the acting leader, wasn't going to be able to make use of it in this
special exam of course, but the class had succeeded in giving her valuable
protection. It was by no means an inexpensive transaction, but it wasn't too
expensive either.
ISSUE #4: One of the following adjustments will be made to the written
exam being held at the end of the second semester.
CHOICES: Increased Difficulty, Increased Penalties, Decreased Rewards
What incredibly mean-spirited choices. No matter which one we chose, there
were nothing but drawbacks for the class. If talking was allowed, I'm sure a lot
of grumbling would be going on right now.
Round 1 Voting Results: Increased Difficulty: 6 Votes, Increased Penalties: 18
Votes, Decreased Rewards: 15 Votes
Essentially, none of the options were things that anyone wanted to choose, so
the vote was split. The issue was expected to drag on for quite some time as
there was a heated debate between students who were confident that they
could handle the next written exam and those who were not.
But in the second round, the class ended up unanimously voting for Increased
Penalties. Horikita's highly persuasive assertion that students could avoid the
penalties as long as they worked diligently seemed to have paid off.
4.3
THOUGH WE HAD a five-hour time limit for the exam, we were only about an
hour into it. We had gotten to the last issue almost too quickly. A few students
must have been thinking that clearing the exam was a certainty now, given how
smoothly things had been going. Once we finished the next and final issue, the
special exam would be over, and we would be awarded fifty Class Points.
However, if there was one cause for concern for everyone right now, it was
probably the look on our homeroom teacher's face.
"Well then…that brings us to the final issue," Chabashira said slowly.
It was clear to see that as we tackled each issue, the color drained from
Chabashira's face more and more. It was obvious to the students that she had
finally reached her peak, as she had now turned deathly pale.
"Sensei, are you all right?" asked Yousuke.
Even though the issue still hadn't actually been read to us yet, talking
amongst ourselves wasn't exactly encouraged. Yousuke couldn't overlook the
situation and decided to speak up anyway.
"…What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, it's just… You're clearly looking unwell, that's all," said Yousuke.
Chabashira paused. "You think so? I'm fine."
It didn't sound like she was putting on a brave face. In other words, it seemed
as if she herself didn't realize that there was anything wrong with her. Or
perhaps you should say it was like she wasn't conscious of it at all. At any rate,
Yousuke had no other choice but to back down since Chabashira told him
nothing was wrong. The other teacher watching in the back of the room wasn't
making a move either, so at this rate, the final issue was about to be
announced.
However, one thing was certain. Namely, it was that we should've assumed
the next issue had a lot to do with Chabashira's condition.
"Now then, I'll show you the final issue. Get ready to vote."
With that, Chabashira started tapping on her tablet that she held in her
hands. At the same time, the woman was trying to get her breathing under
control.
Then, the final issue was displayed.
ISSUE #5: In exchange for expelling one of your classmates, gain 100 Class
Points.
(In the event the class is unanimously in favor, a vote will be held to choose
the student to be expelled.)
CHOICES: For, Against
This final issue had the fewest choices of any issue we had voted on so far as
there were only two options. At first glance, it was easy for one to think that
given the fewer the choices, the easier it would be to come to a consensus. But
in reality, the number of choices didn't actually have that much of an effect on
that. If the vote was being held with a large gathering of total strangers, or if it
wasn't possible to have any discussion, then having a large number of options
was a disadvantage. In this situation, our class was able to hold repeated
discussions.
What was important for us was how much time we had and the substance of
the issue. We either expelled someone, or we would give up Class Points. Right
now, we were being presented with one of the worst possible issues that I
could have envisioned. Students were still forbidden from speaking amongst
themselves, but I was sure that after reading this issue, they were quite shaken
inside.
If we voted in favor of this issue, then that would mean one of our classmates
would be expelled.
Under normal circumstances, the entire class should vote against an issue like
this without hesitation. The prospect of 100 Class Points was certainly no small
amount, but the majority of the class would likely prefer not to have one of
their classmates expelled in exchange for those points. If this issue were
decided by a simple majority vote, then the most likely outcome would be that
the majority of the class would vote against in the first round of voting, and that
would be the end of it. However, as the previous four issues had proven, things
weren't quite so simple. This was the simple yet difficult problem of unanimity.
"I'll be starting the sixty-second countdown now… Everyone, begin putting in
your votes," said Chabashira.
We weren't given any extra time. The sixty-second voting period had already
begun. If the class voted unanimously in favor of the issue, we would
immediately begin the process of selecting who would be expelled. I'm
repeating myself here, but there was hardly anyone who wanted that, of
course. This issue was for 100 Class Points—not so great a sum that we had to
do anything it took to acquire them.
However, if this was the third semester of our third year of high school with
only one or two more special exams left to go before graduation, then we likely
wouldn't be in the same state of mind. Those 100 points would jump in value at
a time like that, when the competition between classes was so close that even a
single point would make a difference. A battle where we'd have to make the
ultimate choice between two options might very well be waiting for us when
that time came.
But the circumstances now were different. We weren't in the kind of situation
where nearly everyone in class would hesitate to vote Against in this issue. Still,
it was true that there were some causes for concern, and one of those was
Kouenji. That was exactly why I was slowly thinking things through as I held my
hand over my tablet. As Horikita and I agreed, I would vote for the first option
in the first round of voting, no matter what the issue was. That was my role.
However, if all thirty-eight other students in class, Horikita included, voted
against the issue, then it might be better for me to simply go ahead and vote
against as well, so that we'd get all thirty-nine votes in and not have to waste
time with the interval period.
I decided that this was an issue that we should finish quickly and without
spending any extra time. Besides, there was no guarantee that students might
not get swayed by the 100 points once we were thrust into discussion. I
determined that, in regard to this issue alone, an interval was unnecessary.
After nearly sixty seconds had passed, a notification was displayed indicating
that all votes were in.
"…Since all votes are now in, I'll show you your results," said Chabashira.
Despite the fact there was obviously something off, Chabashira maintained
her composure and continued with the exam.
Round 1 Voting Results: For: 2 Votes, Against: 37 Votes
So, it's not unanimous, huh. I removed my finger from the button and quietly
stared at the results.
The entire room was silent.
Chabashira should have been reading the results aloud and continuing the
exam process, but she remained motionless. She simply stared at the monitor
without a word, like the students were. These results were surprising… The split
was unlike anything that we had seen before. There was no guarantee that we
would've come to a unanimous decision on the issue immediately without an
interval period. In that case, maybe this was the issue that Chabashira was
concerned about.
Though it had only been a few seconds, Chabashira had remained completely
still. Her inaction prompted the teacher in the back of the class to urge her to
move on with the exam.
"Chabashira-sensei," said the observing teacher. "Please continue."
"Uh… Please excuse me," she said. "Um… That's two votes for, and thirtyseven votes against. Because you didn't come to a unanimous decision, we'll
have an interval period now."
Two votes in favor.
"Hey, who the hell voted in favor of this?!" yelled Sudou. "Are you kidding
me?!"
Though he was questioning who voted that way, Sudou shot a fierce glare
directly in Kouenji's direction. Kouenji had made some comments regarding the
Protect Point issue earlier, but he hadn't stood out much during this exam. Still,
he was probably the only person who came to mind when you considered the
issue and who might vote that way. Sudou had simply made a snap decision on
his own that it might have been Kouenji, but I was sure that many other
students shared his opinion.
"Which did you vote for, Kouenji?" asked Sudou.
"I don't need to answer that, do I?" replied Kouenji.
"If you can't answer the question, that means you voted For, didn't ya?"
snapped Sudou.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be so judgmental, Red Hair-kun,"
Kouenji said. "Besides, according to Horikita Girl, we should be allowed to make
whatever choice we wish in the first round of voting anyway. In that case, I
don't think you have any right to complain about how I vote, do you?"
Sudou wore an overtly disgruntled expression in the face of Kouenji's solid
argument.
"Still, if we figure that one of those votes was Kouenji, that means there's still
one other person who voted in favor, right?" said Ike, focusing on the other
voter.
"Yeah, that's definitely a problem too. Seriously, who the hell was it?!" roared
Sudou. He was frustrated, most likely because he was unable to figure out who
the other voter was.
"Don't panic," said Horikita. "Ayanokouji-kun was one of the people who
voted in favor," replied Horikita.
"Huh? A-Ayanokouji voted in favor?" asked Sudou. "How can you say that for
sure, Suzune?"
"I've been keeping this secret until now, but before this special exam began,
he and I came to an agreement about the voting. I did it to make sure that
regardless of what issue we were presented with, we wouldn't have a
unanimous decision in the first round. And that is because I made sure that we
adjusted things accordingly in advance."
Now that we had gotten to the final issue, Horikita began to explain the
details of the arrangement that she and I had made ahead of time. It was
certainly true that there wasn't any advantage in keeping it a secret any longer
now that we had gotten to this stage. It would obviously be a waste of time and
effort trying to figure out who the other person who voted in favor was.
"And you did that to avoid a situation where we unexpectedly came to a
unanimous decision on something, right?" Yousuke chimed in with a few words
to make things clearer for the students who still didn't fully understand yet.
"Yes," replied Horikita.
"Huh… So that's how it is," said Sudou. "In that case, you should've just told
us a lot earlier."
"I couldn't. Things wouldn't have worked out that way," Horikita replied. "In
the first round of voting, we aren't allowed to talk. That round is a valuable
opportunity for us to find out what our classmates' preferred choice is out of
the available options. If you all knew of my strategy to avoid coming to a
unanimous decision right away, students might have just entered in votes at
random. I wanted to avoid that from happening. It was Ayanokouji-kun's job to
cast his vote for the first choice every time, and it was mine to vote for the
second. So, in truth, there's really only one person here who actually voted
For."
As she spoke, Horikita surveyed the classroom, as if she was speaking to that
certain someone in particular.
"This is a bit of an extreme issue, but individuals are free to decide which
choice they'd like to vote for. I don't think that it's wrong to vote in favor of this
issue in order to gain Class Points. However, we should come together as a class
and vote Against. Still, if anyone has any objections, I would sincerely
appreciate it if you could speak your mind right now like we've done with
previous issues… What do you think?"
Normally, the student who voted in favor of the issue would step forward
now. However, no matter how long we waited, no one responded to Horikita's
question.
"How long are you gonna stay silent, Kouenji?" snapped Sudou.
"Fu fu. Like I mentioned before, I would appreciate it if you didn't assume that
I voted For," Kouenji replied.
"The hell with that! I know you're just messin' around anyway."
If it wasn't Kouenji, then whoever it was might've had a difficult time
announcing themselves. They might have felt apprehensive about Sudou's
tendency to rush to anger. If we came to a unanimous decision in favor of the
issue, that meant we'd have to vote on who to expel. Somewhere in this room,
there was someone who wanted to gain 100 Class Points in exchange for
expelling one of their classmates. That would draw attention and make them a
target for criticism. Deep down, they didn't want anyone else to know they
were thinking that way.
"All right, enough of—"
"Calm down, Sudou-kun," said Horikita. "It's still only the first round of voting.
There's no need to be in such a panic."
"B-but! I just can't stand that someone voted in favor of this kinda thing!"
"You are free to interpret the situation however you wish," she told him. "But
there's no proof that it was Kouenji-kun. Besides, the way that I see things, the
person who voted in favor of the issue must be feeling sorry about it as they
aren't coming forward. Since this vote is anonymous, let's not pursue the
matter too far. If everyone votes against the issue in the second round, it'll be
unanimous, and that will be good enough."
And so, the issue would be settled, and we'd finish it. From the sound of it,
Horikita seemed to have decided that there was no need to spend any extra
time on this. Not pursuing the issue was probably one of the best choices we
could make right now. I had been thinking the same thing myself.
"There's no need for further discussion on this issue," Horikita said. "Come
on, let's get this over and done with the next vote."
Seeing Horikita calm down, Sudou slapped both of his cheeks at once, to
center himself. Then, after a little bit of irrelevant chatter in the classroom, it
was time to begin the second round of voting.
"We'll now begin the sixty-second voting period," said Chabashira.
The LCD screens of our tablets now displayed buttons labeled For and
Against. Apparently we didn't even need the sixty seconds we had been given,
as everyone finished voting in about twenty seconds.
"Now that all votes are in, I'll show you the results for the second round…"
said Chabashira.
Round 2 Voting Results: For: 2 Votes, Against: 37 Votes
This special exam hadn't caused any especially tense feelings so far, but the
moment the second round's results were announced, everyone froze. Once
again, two people had voted in favor of expelling someone. That meant the
votes didn't change even after what Horikita said earlier. That harsh truth was
conveyed to us via the cold, sterile monitor.
"Wait, hold on a moment… What is the meaning of this?" asked Horikita.
As Horikita said those words, her gaze fell upon me, of all people. Her gaze
was asking me, "Why did you vote in favor of the issue in the second round?"
The students who had come to understand Horikita's strategy after she had
explained it to them were looking at me as well, Sudou included.
"Actually, I voted Against," I admitted. "Both in the first round of voting and
just now in the second round."
"Huh?" said Sudou. "H-hey, what the hell? Ayanokouji, wasn't your job to
vote for the first option, though?"
"Yeah, it was. But because of what this issue was, I decided on my own that it
would've been better to go ahead and vote against the issue anyway, in the first
round. I didn't say anything before because I didn't want to create any
unnecessary confusion."
If everyone knew that there were actually two people who legitimately voted
in favor of the issue in the first round, more people would be upset. It would no
longer be possible to just end the conversation by saying, "Oh well, it's probably
just Kouenji messing around."
Horikita, who had been calm and collected throughout this process so far,
now looked somewhat shaken. "I see… That means right now, there are two
people who are in favor of the issue," she said.
She brought her hand to her lips and put her mind to work. I was sure that
she wanted to stop and think long and hard about things, but the precious time
we had in this interval period was ticking by.
"If whomever is voting in favor plans to continue voting that way, I ask if you
would be so kind as to provide me with a good reason as to why?" said Horikita.
"As you can see from the results, there are two of you voting For, and thirtyseven of us are opposed to the issue. If you want everyone else to change their
vote to your side, you'll have to present your case accordingly."
Essentially, discussion was essential for changing votes. If more and more
people determined that there were greater advantages in being in favor of an
issue, then votes would naturally shift in that direction. Conversely, if there was
no discussion, then it wouldn't be easy to sway the vote.
Kushida, unable to bear the silence any longer, spoke up and asked Horikita a
question. "H-hey, Horikita-san. It's…going to be okay, right? No one's going to
be expelled from class, right?"
"My policy, as I've stated before, is to not have anyone expelled," said
Horikita, reiterating her stance.
But after Horikita had expressed her determination, there was another period
of silence. It was easy to keep asking people to speak up over and over, but…
Yousuke stood up. "I don't know who is voting in favor of this issue. But
whoever you are, I want you to listen very carefully." His words were gentle yet
forceful. "You should not choose to abandon a classmate to get Class Points.
Even if we could gain 500 or 1,000 Class Points, I don't think a choice like that
would be worth it. More importantly, though, we would only be able to get 100
points here. We can make up for missing out on that many Class Points quite
easily."
It was a natural appeal from a man who hated the idea of sacrificing anyone
more than anything. Thirty-seven of the thirty-nine students in class seemed to
have some degree of understanding of what Yousuke was saying. He believed
that we could forfeit 100 Class Points, but we couldn't allow someone to be
expelled. However…it was another matter entirely whether actually getting
Class Points were these two voters' true intentions.
Even before the first round of voting had started, the results of the vote,
meaning whether people were voting against or in favor of the issue, were
largely swayed by silent peer pressure. There were surely some students in class
who must have thought that they could never be expelled, so in times like
these, it made sense that some of those students might genuinely believe that
they didn't care if their fellow classmates were sacrificed.
"Fu fu fu. This special exam is getting quite interesting, don't you think? It's
kind of cool, I would say." Kouenji let out an amused chuckle, and then
continued to speak without even the slightest trace of guilt in his voice. "Putting
me aside, I thought for certain that the other person was going to vote against
the issue in the second round of voting."
"Wait, 'aside' from you, so… I knew it, that means you DID vote for it,
Kouenji!" snarled Sudou.
"Kouenji-kun, is that true?" said Horikita. "I would like for you to stop being a
lone wolf right now, because it could cause a nasty mess if you don't."
Horikita's first priority was to clarify whether Kouenji was really for or against
the issue.
"Rest assured," he said. "I firmly voted in favor of the issue in both the first
and second rounds."
"Would you mind telling me the reason why…?" asked Horikita.
"The answer is simple. We'd be increasing our Class Points by a hundred
points, yes? Which, in other words, means that we'd inevitably get more Private
Points every month as a result. There's no reason to vote against the issue."
"Stop spoutin' crap," said Sudou. "You seriously think Class Points are more
important than your friends?!"
"Well now, you've said something rather interesting," said Kouenji. "You
didn't seem like that sort of person when we first enrolled in this school. Hm?"
"Screw you!" Sudou shouted.
"I'm voting in favor of the issue, so naturally, I have taken such things into
account."
"Seriously, though. Don't you think about your friends…?" Sudou huffed.
"Friends? I have never once thought of you people as my friends."
"Meaning you ain't planning on changing your vote next time?" asked Sudou.
"Of course not. I will continue to vote in favor of the issue if things remain as
they are. I'm sure that Horikita Girl wishes to avoid letting time run out, no?"
"Fine," snapped Sudou. "Don't think that this is going to go the way you want
it, Kouenji. If that's the way he's going to play it, then let's not show 'im any
mercy either, Suzune. We can just have everyone vote in favor of the issue, and
then get Kouenji expelled!"
I was sure that was a response that Sudou simply came up with in the heat of
the moment, but it was also true that what Sudou said could apply to those
who were in favor of the issue. The class could come together in solidarity and
chase out a villain who went so far as to say that he was fine with getting his
classmates expelled.
People unconsciously chose what they wanted to believe and justified the
reasons for those choices later. No one wanted to have anyone else expelled,
but there were some students in favor of the issue, so they didn't have any
choice. A person's brain would start to move toward justifying that there was
no other option but to have that person expelled. People would also accept
convenient logic, conspiracies, and misinformation without questioning it.
"I wish for nothing more than for everyone to vote in favor of the issue," said
Kouenji. "However, it'd be best for you not to assume that you'd get me
expelled. Isn't that right, Horikita Girl?"
That much was obvious. There was no way that Kouenji wasn't aware that, in
normal circumstances, if someone came forward and said that they were one of
the people in favor of the issue, it would naturally cause a stir and they'd
become a target for expulsion. Kouenji's composure made it clear to everyone
that he was absolutely sure there was no way he'd be expelled.
"…He's right," said Horikita. "We can't expel Kouenji-kun."
"Whaddya mean?" asked Sudou.
"I made a promise to Kouenji-kun before the uninhabited island exam began,
remember?" Horikita said. "If he took first place in the exam, I said I would
protect him from then on, until graduation."
Our classmates should have remembered their conversation back then.
"I hadn't expected him to win first place," she added. "But thanks to him
doing just that, our class jumped up in the rankings and we're now neck-andneck with Class B. That is an immeasurable achievement."
"S-sure, I guess that's true, but… But, if he's tryin' to put our class at risk, then
that's a whole 'nother story!" shouted Sudou.
"Putting the class at risk?" said Kouenji. "Unthinkable. I am simply free to
make the choices that have been presented to us, nothing more. You can't
assume that me voting in favor of the issue is evil, now, can you?"
For the sake of argument, let's suppose the issue had said, "You may expel
one person from class. Vote for or against." In that case, you could state with
certainty that voting in favor of the issue would be seen as bad. However, in this
case, we would be getting Class Points in exchange for having someone
expelled. While it was difficult to define the specific value of a single student, no
one could deny that Kouenji was allowed to calculate that he would gain more
by voting in favor of the issue. And, considering Kouenji's solid argument and
the promise that Horikita had made to him, there was no way that she could be
in favor of Kouenji's expulsion either.
"W-well, fine then," grumbled Sudou. "You'll just have to go back on your
word! If Kouenji doesn't think of any of his classmates as friends, then ain't
nobody gonna be bothered if he's expelled."
"Not happening. I have no intention of breaking my promise to him," said
Horikita.
"There you have it," said Kouenji. "After all, no one would trust a class leader
who doesn't keep her promises. In that sense, I trust you more than anyone
else right now, Horikita Girl."
Kouenji's nastiness had reared its ugly head. Now that it had come to this,
Horikita had to first try to persuade Kouenji, somehow. There were still plenty
of opportunities for her to do just that. Even if he fundamentally believed that
she wouldn't betray him, that still didn't necessarily mean that Kouenji was 100
percent protected. He must have been keeping the possibility that Horikita
could abandon him in the back of his mind. To put it another way, even Kouenji
would change his attitude if he saw the situation start to turn against him.
If Horikita decided to immediately cut Kouenji from the class after he had
delivered results, right after Horikita had awakened to her responsibilities as
leader, then that choice would likely create major obstacles for her in the
future.
"Okay, so if you ain't kickin' Kouenji out, what are you gonna do, Suzune?"
asked Sudou.
"Please give me some time to think… But well, that being said, I can't just sit
back and be silent right now either, I suppose."
If Kouenji was the only person in favor of the issue, then the situation
would've been fine. But the fact that there was another person in favor of the
idea who hadn't stepped forward was something that couldn't be overlooked.
"I'm wondering if the person besides Kouenji-kun who voted in favor of this
issue might be willing to come forward?" said Horikita.
If we didn't know who it was, then we couldn't move this conversation
forward. However, the only thing Horikita got in response to her request was a
long, stifling silence. After all, that person must have feared that if they stepped
forward now, it would lead to intimidation and condescending arguments, like
what had happened with Kouenji. If anything, that person might be met with
even more disapproval than Kouenji.
All that Horikita got was silence. Eventually, time ran out, and it was now time
for the third round of voting whether we liked it or not. The silver lining here
was that there was no limit to the number of times we could vote. We had a
chance to come to a unanimous decision every ten minutes, as long as time
permitted it.
Round 3 Voting Results: For: 2 Votes, Against: 37 Votes
The results were the same as the previous two rounds. Kouenji and this
unseen other both voted in favor of the issue again. Many students were still
focusing their attention on Kouenji, but now I had to wonder what was going to
happen eventually. It wouldn't be long before they were faced with the
perplexing reality that there was another student who hadn't come forward
and was continuing to vote in favor of the issue. They were surely keeping a
close eye on the situation. We were about to come face-to-face with the true
danger of anonymity, which was the thing I had been hoping to avoid the most.
However, dealing with Kouenji was our first priority. There wasn't going to be
any resolution until the For votes were swayed over to Against.
"We cannot ignore whoever is voting in favor of this issue," said Horikita.
"Still, it's not as though I'm absolute either. I'm sure that whoever this person
is, they have a certain conviction about this issue, considering the fact that they
are still stubbornly voting in favor. In that case, I would very much like to hear
from both of those who voted For at the same time. That includes the person
other than Kouenji-kun, who we haven't seen yet."
Without wasting any time, Horikita began gathering her thoughts.
"The thirty-seven of us will continue to vote against this issue. And you two
will continue to vote for it. The absolute worst-case scenario that awaits us if
we continue to do that will be that we run out of time. As classmates, we lose
out on Class Points together, in the same way. Put another way, it might seem
like both sides, For and Against, are going to suffer. But if we, the faction voting
Against, win, then that means even though we miss out on Class Points, we
aren't losing any of our friends. We can make it through this special exam
without anyone getting expelled. Now, if the faction voting For this issue wins,
they will lose quite a lot rather than gaining anything substantial. It's essentially
putting the cart before the horse. Am I wrong?"
Horikita specifically explained the concrete losses and gains to be had, and
the risks of the exam ending in disagreement. Of course, the person who hadn't
come forward wasn't answering, but I couldn't help but wonder about Kouenji.
"Yes, it is most certainly true that if we run out of time, things will happen as
you say," replied Kouenji. "That is why you should go ahead and vote in favor."
He said that as though it were a matter of course.
"…Yes, I agree that if we unanimously vote for the idea, we'll be able to take a
step forward," said Horikita. "But what awaits us afterward is an even bigger
hurdle: the question of which of our classmates we expel. Surely you don't think
we'll be able to come to a unanimous decision on that so easily, do you?"
"It's your job to make that work, Horikita Girl," Kouenji said. "Besides,
expelling someone isn't such a bad thing, now is it?"
"No, it is a bad thing. We shouldn't expel anyone," replied Yousuke, cutting in
before Horikita could give a rebuttal.
"I don't understand this. You all seem to be afraid of expelling anyone, but
surely it would be much easier mentally to view this as a positive, no? We can
delete an unnecessary student as we wish, and we'll even get Class Points for it.
If you simply change your line of thinking on this issue, you can understand
what a wonderful option voting For is. The other person voting in favor of the
issue understands that."
A pointed line of thinking, to be sure, but it was good enough of a reason to
vote as he was.
"I think you're wrong about that, Kouenji-kun. Losing someone from class is in
no way a positive," said Kushida, backing up Yousuke.
In response to that, the people on the side of voting against the issue who
hadn't said much until this point all started voicing their objections at the same
time. Kouenji, however, simply smiled broadly, his attitude not budging a bit.
He was the person that I wanted to hear the most from, but he didn't respond