Season 3 Episode 9
Fortitude501: Sorry, wrong answer. But you'll soon find out
The Alpha Grey Wolf: Thank you!
The month of March has arrived but things aren't the same for Class C. Yamauchi's well-deserved expulsion left an impact in all of the students. Even his desk is taken out of the classroom.
Ayanokouji can clearly see this as he decided to leave them to their thoughts.
Later on...
"Like what I said before, the Class Poll's design and sole purpose is to expel you." Sakayanagi told him and they're in the annex building. The same building where Ayanokouji and Horikita trapped Ishizaki, Komiya and Reo regarding the incident between them and Sudou. "It would be uninteresting to settle our matter in such a way. Therefore, by using Totsuka-kun, he was able to get every student in Class A to cast their praise votes on you and thus, you've been protected."
"And to think he's expelled." Ayanokouji stated.
"Yes. But his efforts were not in vain for he also volunteered to be expelled in Katsuragi's place. A selfless and noble deed he did for me and I can give him that." She replied.
"In that case, why Yamauchi?" He asked.
Sakayanagi had serious look on her as she explained it. "Do you remember his rudeness to me at the training camp?"
"Yeah. But he only tripped you by accident."
Tapping her walking can hard on the ground. "Yes. But his rudeness went the extra mile for he had the nerve to call me a clumsy cripple and worse, he mocked me over my appearance! Calling me flat-chested is the greatest insult I ever went through!"
"Huh...I don't know if I should laugh or not..." Ayanokouji thought when, "Excuse me. I'm new here in this school. May I know which way is the staff room?"
Both looked to see a middle-aged man wearing a business suit and standing at the staircase platform.
"And who might you be?" Sakayanagi asked.
"I am the new board chairman for this school. Call me Tsukihiro." He introduced himself as he made his way down to meet the 2 students.
"And you must be quite directionally challenged." She told him as he reached them. "I wonder if you spotted us on the new surveillance cameras and came here to check on us."
"That's quite an interesting thing you say." Tsukihiro told her.
"If you're looking for the staff room, you're in the wrong-"
"KICK!" Her walking cane was suddenly kicked down as she stumbled down also.
"Wait a minute..." Ayanokouji saw right through it as he blocked a few grapple attacks from the middle-aged and surprisingly, physically fit Tsukihiro as he attempted 3 more grapple attacks but all were blocked. "As expected from the Masterpiece of the White Room, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." He complimented.
"As expected. I take it my father sent you to deal with me?" Ayanokouji asked as Sakayanagi looked up at them. "You've gone and done something quite contemptible." She stated to Tsukihiro.
"Hmph! I was sure you're given orders to have him expelled, right?" He asked turning to face her.
"Since school officials can't blatantly expel a student, I suppose it's understandable that they would want to rely on someone like me." She replied as she managed to stand up on her feet with her walking cane supporting her. "Don't you think there might be a problem with the acting director getting violent with students?"
"Nothing to worry about. The cameras there have been changed to show dummy footages. It's no wonder the masterpiece read through it and countered my moves without haste." He then faced Ayanokouji. "You are right about one thing. Your father did send me to deal with you."
"The fact that you're the new Acting Director is staged isn't it?" Ayanokouji speculated. "Chairman Sakayanagi's removal was planned by my father so that he can put you in his place." This shocked Sakayanagi and with the unveiling already done, "Precisely. You must also know that I am his right hand man. He puts a lot of faith and trust in me to return you to the White Room." Tsukihiro added as he fixed himself. "I have a message from your father." He then relayed it.
"I have no intent on playing these stupid, childish games anymore. Come home at once."
"That's it?" Ayanokouji asked as Tsukihiro attempted another grapple attack but Ayanokouji delivered a spin kick and he backed off dodging it. "So you have no intention of leaving this school voluntarily, huh?"
He said nothing as he shook his head. Still, "I can choose to make my move now but since I just got the job, I will officially start working at this school on April. Your days are numbered, your freedom is near it's limit, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I hope you're looking forward to it." Tsukihiro then left the annex building.
"It seems they're desperate to force your return as soon as they can." Sakayanagi stated.
"They can try all they want but they're gonna have to do better than that..." Ayanokouji then faced her. "More importantly Sakayanagi. Let's officially have our contest for the next exam."
She smiled in satisfaction. "I never thought you'd say that directly to me."
"If that man is going to be involved in the coming April, I'd like to make things explicitly clear and end our matter before that." He stated also.
"Yes I agree. For I will happily be your opponent." She agreed with him and it's settled between them.
On March 8...
"I will now explain the details of the Final Special Exam for your first year." Chabashira-sensei began as Class C listened to her. "This time, it is an "Event Selection Exam" that competes on your overall performance. Just like the Paper Shuffle, the classes will face off against each other."
"Another class battle..." Ijuin thought as the teacher briefed on. "First, you are free to choose 10 events, whatever you like. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me, Ike."
He was startled by the mention of his name. "B-But you'll get angry if I talk too much when you're explaining."
"Well...I won't be able to rest at ease until you go ahead and get your interruption over with." She told him.
"Okay...then can I choose rock-paper-scissors as an event?" Ike asked.
"Impossible..." Sudou whispered to him but somehow, "Yes you can choose it as an event." Chabashira-sensei answered his question with a smile leaving the 2 boys surprised as she explained some more. "The point to note that when selecting events, is that the same event cannot be registered. Events that are too difficult to implement due to equipment, season or number of participants are not allowed. The same applies to events that are too minor. In the academic field, the school will prepare the questions on the specific subjects. Rules can be set freely but those that result in a draw will not be permitted. The same applies to the class match-ups with 10 events to be submitted and the total number will be 20."
"Are we really going to do those 20 events?" Shinohara asked.
"It's too many of us to handle!" said Karuizawa.
"No. Each class will choose 5 out of the 10 events on the day of the test." Chabashira-sensei explained.
"Which means the other 5 events are bluffs?" Horikita asked.
"That's right. The actual exam has 7 events. After each round, the school will randomly select an event. There is no disclosure of what the next event will be and once a student has competed, they cannot compete again until all students have competed. In the event, if a class wins it, they earn 30 class points and the losing class loses the same amount. At the end of the exam, the class that has more victories in the events will earn 100 class points. There is also a consolation reward in it but details will not be revealed yet."
This was perplexing to Satou and Sakura until Kikyou explained the details to them in an easier way for them to understand.
"And the most important rule in this exam is the existence of a Commander." Chabashira-sensei briefed on. "The student who becomes a Commander cannot compete in the events but instead, they're authorized to select and command the class on which events they can participate and can intervene in any event and get bonus points for winning."
"And what if it results in the class losing?" Haruka asked as all murmured about it.
"The Commander will be immediately expelled." She answered as everyone cringed from the expulsion since they already had one student booted out already. Even so, Yousuke is in a depressing mood ever since the Class Poll. "After school, we'll have the Commanders draw lots to determine their opponents. You can choose whoever you want so please discuss this seriously." She then ended the briefing and made a statement. "Now for this month, our class points have increased."
"Nani?" Sakura wondered as all looked surprised.
"Since we somewhat have a student in our class expelled from the Class Poll, we are granted 100 class points." Chabashira-sensei revealed to the class. "That also applies to Class A. For Class B and D, since they're able to prevent an expulsion, they earn only 50 class points."
"Just like the Protection Point, the consolation rewards are also far too luxurious..." Ayanokouji thought and classes began.
Around 4pm...
"Hey...where's Kouenji?" Ike asked for he noticed that his presence is gone and already, the whole class is reading through the exam details on paper.
"That bastard must be acting on his own again! We're suppose to discuss the event exam and yet, he just darted off for nothing!" Sudou complained.
"You'll only have disadvantages if you get frustrated." Horikita reminded him. At the same time, "Hey, where did Hirata-kun go?" Mori asked via whispering.
"I don't know. He was told to go to a meeting after school." Kokoro whispered back to her and behind, "Ever since the Class Poll, Hirata-kun's behaviour has become too different from his usual self to the point that he's completely useless now. I guess I'll have to do it myself." Horikita spoke to Ayanokouji. She then stood up when, "Ah! Horikita-san! I need to go to the restroom! I'll be back in a jiffy!" Mii-chan hurried off when Sudou stood up to speak to Horikita. "I just want to make sure of one thing before we begin our discussion."
"What is it?" She asked.
"A lot of people aren't satisfied with the results of the last exam." He began. "Isn't that right Kanji?"
"I...I don't know if I'm satisfied or not...it's just I don't understand. Why did Ayanokouji get the most praise votes in the first place?" Ike asked.
"About that. I'll explain what happened and I thought of it." Horikita decided to explain but, "Matte! It's best if we hear from him." Sudou suggested seriously. "We lost a good buddy you know..."
"Sorry...but I don't know either." Ayanokouji apologized to cover his tracks.
"There's no way you didn't know about it!" Sudou replied to him when, "I don't think he can answer your question. It's probably none of his business." Horikita defended him.
"You kidding me Suzune? What do you mean by that?" He asked her.
"Do you remember what Yamauchi-kun said during the previous exam?" Suzune asked and a flashback played him mentioning Sakayanagi, the praise votes and the betrayal that made him frantic. "Sakayanagi betrayed him by making a secret agreement with him to instigate and destroy Ayanokouji-kun."
"She's right." Ijuin joined the conversation. "Through my observation ever since she visited our class and spoke about seeing Yamauchi, the trap has been set."
"And on the day of the exam, it has been sprung, right?" Sakura asked.
"Precisely." Horikita replied with a nod.
"Still...why him?!" Sudou asked still not understanding his placing on the praise votes.
Looking at Ayanokouji, "Without doing any harm or good, you can get the Protection Point." She explained. "Under those conditions, I'm sure anyone would like to take it. That's my guess for it." Sudou was surprised by this and, "If anyone is to blame, it should be me, not Ayanokouji-kun. I was the biggest cause for Yamauchi-kun's expulsion."
Sudou said nothing else when Ayanokouji stood up. "If I may, I would like to volunteer myself to be the Commander for this special exam."
All were surprised by his request as he spoke on. "It's true that I've made the whole class feel suspicious of me. That's why I want to dispel those doubts by offering to sacrifice myself in this exam."
"That's a good idea! This way, no one will get expelled!" Ike supported this and likewise, Sudou.
"Hey wait a minute. Doesn't that mean he's going to throw the game away from the start?" Shinohara asked.
"Yeah. Are we going to fight against the other classes under his command?" Kokoro also asked.
"And wouldn't it be better to see if anyone else wants to volunteer to be the Commander?" Mori joined in.
There was silence in the class and, "I don't think anyone here would like to take the risk of being expelled. Including myself." said Horikita.
"You're right about this..." Shinohara realized.
"And he has the Protection Point and with that, we can make plans for everything ahead of time." Horikita added. "It won't make much difference who does it."
Good. It seemed that Horikita had wanted all along to foist the Commander role on me. And I don't think there is anyone that wants to argue with that right now
"Any objections about Ayanokouji-kun and the Commander role?" Horiktia asked the class. No response for 10 seconds so with that, "Well then Ayanokouji-kun, would you please go to draw lots right away?"
"Wakata." He answered and at the drop of the hat left the classroom.
In some random meeting room...
Ayanokouji is in there along with Sakayanagi, Honami and Kaneda. The 4 teachers of their respective classes are there too.
"As I expected, those here for the drawing of the lots all have a Protection Point and are expected to be the Commanders for their classes." He thought.
"Now, starting with Class A, we're going to have you each draw a slip of paper." Mashima-sensei began. "The class that draws the marked paper will be given the right to choose their opponent."
"They say good things come to those who wait. I don't mind going last." Sakayanagi requested. "You may have the first draw, Ichinose-san."
"Well then, don't mind if I do." Honami drew a slip of paper and opened it. It was a blank. "Oh too bad."
Ayanokouji drew next and too got a blank on the paper.
Kaneda drew next and, "It seems I got the jackpot."
"And I don't need to check the last slip of paper, right Mashima-sensei?" Sakayanagi stated and he nodded at her as he turned to Kaneda. "Alright Kaneda, let's hear which class you want to fight against."
"Class D wishes to go up against Class B." He answered.
"Then let's do out best. No need to hold back." Honami told him as he nodded at her with a smile.
"You know, I thought for certain you'd go for Class C." Sakayanagi spoke up.
"If we're to turn our situation around, we'll need to take as many points as we can away from the higher classes." Kaneda replied as he adjusted is glasses and had a crafty smile which Ayanokouji took notice. "That being said, we'd like to avoid fighting Class A."
"Naruhoto. I wish you the best of luck." She replied back as Ayanokouji had this thought in his mind.
This result is natural. I had already made arrangements with Ichinose and Ishizaki before. That is, to let us handle Class A
A flashback is played out revealing Ayanokouji making private phone calls with them respectively and they got the clear message.
The next day...
A heavy downpour is ongoing outside and class just ended. Unhappy with the turn of events from before, Yousuke immediately packed up and prepared to leave the class when, "Hirata-kun! Aren't you gonna stay and discuss with the class on the upcoming special exam?" Mii-chan asked.
"Will you just leave me alone already..."
"But-"
"YOU'RE BOTHERING ME YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BITCH!"
Those near him gasped at his behaviour and Mii-chan was speechless at his words as she looked down. "That's...I was just...worried about you..."
"There is no damn reason for you to worry about me...SO BEAT IT!"
"Chotto Yousuke-kun! Don't you think what you're saying is going too far! Your behaviour and disrespect is also starting to get worse!" Karuizawa stated firmly.
"Can you please not call me by my first name and act like we're close? You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT HOW I BEHAVE!" He replied and shouted coldly.
"Then Hirata-kun, you're being way too harsh on Mii-chan." Karuizawa stated in a different way.
"It's not different from how you usually treat everyone." He replied and she gasped. "I-I was just doing it for the class-"
"SHUT UP ALREADY OR I'LL BEAT YOU UP!" Now that is a literal threat as a displeased Karuizawa looked away and a disgusted Yousuke kicked her desk hard and stormed off. Mii-chan still wanted to go after him but Karuizawa raised her arm out. "It's not worth it Mii-chan. This is really not Yousuke-kun now..."
She felt bad about this and returned to her seat. Sighing at this commotion. Horikita stood up and began the class discussion. "There's nothing we can do about Hirata-kun right now. Let's concentrate on the discussion at hand."
"And I'm surprised Kouenji is staying in." Sudou brought up.
"Heh, Heh. Horikita-girl strongly urged me to stay and just listen. That's all." He replied. "However, I hope we can finish our discussion in this one meeting if possible. For I'm very busy, you know."
"Then, I'll be brief." Horikita declared and she's now standing before the class. "If you have an event that you are really sure can secure a win, please submit it before the next event."
"Naruhoto. So once we participate in the discussion, are you expected to complete the task?"
"You have at least one event with a perfect victory right?" Horikita asked.
"That depends. Continue on." Kouenji ordered and she briefed on without any interruption.
Later on that night...
It's still raining and Karuizawa just arrived outside Ayanokouji's dorm and rang the doorbell. He answered it and let her in as inside, "It's very unusual for you to invite me to your room. Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Wait first." Ayanokouji went to his drawer and opened it. He took out a small gift and presented it to her. "It's your birthday today isn't it?"
She gasped from this and, "So you knew it...can I open it now?"
"Go ahead." He replied and she opened it. "Woah! A necklace with my first letter of my name?" Karuizawa did not expect an expensive gift like this. The letter 'K' is made out of gold connected to a gold chain and has 4 diamonds on each end of the letter.
"This birthday gift was meant to me as a friend right?" She asked cautiously. "And wasn't this expensive?"
"Yeah. Around 20,000 private points or so." He replied.
"I knew it!" She exclaimed as he continued on. "It was written, "The No.1 gift for high school girls" on a shopping site. So I chose it."
"Even though you're smart, you're also kind of dumb about some things..." Karuizawa pointed out sarcastically.
"Is that so?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Accessories are something that girls would want to pick out for themselves." She explained. "To be frank, this gets a rating of like 10 out of 100."
"So you prefer a box of sweets or a stuffed animal?" He asked.
"That'd probably bump up your score to 15." She replied and looked left and right, "Do you have a mirror?"
Soon enough, she's looking at her reflection with the necklace worn around her neck. "I sure look pretty and I can make anything good." She twirled around once and admired herself in the mirror for a few seconds. She then faced Ayanokouji with a smile. "Thanks for the gift. Now promise me one thing."
"What is it?"
"You better get something nice and pretty for Ichinose-san like the necklace you gifted me when her birthday comes."
"Noted." He replied and thought of it. "In fact, I already got one for her."
And the next day...
At a zebra crossing, Manabu and Tachibana are waiting to cross the road when Ayanokouji walked by and stood beside them as they waited for the green man.
"You're early today." Manabu spoke first.
"I have some business to attend to at the library." Ayanokouji spoke back.
"Souka. How's your special exam going?" He asked.
"Your sister's putting up a good fight making preparations and planning on the events to be utilized." He replied.
"Naruhoto." Manabu can understand it as, "And there, I've been waiting to ask you something for a long time." Ayanokouji then brought this up. "On that one night, why did you try to assault your sister in deep shadow on the first time I met you?"
"I was disappointed in Suzune. Not for her grades but for her character growth." He answered him.
"Character growth?" Ayanokouji asked.
"You see, she was the kind of child who would smile a lot. But now, she's dependent on me and tries to mimic me." He explained.
"So you're saying she's pretending to be a cool person because of your influence?" Ayanokouji asked.
"It's not just her attitude, but also her taste in food, drink, favourite colours and clothes. She's really gotten close to my taste. That, is not growing up." Manabu explained to him.
"So you, who seemed completely flawless, have failed to set up proper communication with your sister." He stated.
"No one is perfect." Manabu stated. "Am I wrong?"
"That's right. But now, she's making some changes in her growth." He brought up and the green man appeared and the 3 students crossed the road.
"If Suzune could stop chasing after my illusions, break her dependence on me, and confront herself honestly, she would probably surpass me and become someone you can't even ignore." said Manabu. "That is only if she can make the change herself, though." And now, they reached the other side of the street.
"She will change." Ayanokouji told him but then, thought of something else. "No, let me rephrase that. I'm going to try and change her. Not just like, I've been doing so far, but taking this seriously."
Manabu did not expect this as, "I never thought you'd say something like that."
"Can I also ask you one more thing?" Ayanokouji asked him. "How is your relationship with Tachibana-senpai?" Upon hearing her mention, she looked up surprised as, "Stable." Manabu answered. "We often go out on date nights and spent some quality time together. Just the 2 of us."
"How lovely and interesting." He replied.
"In fact, you were behind it aren't you? During the training camp, you worked in the shadows to save my girlfriend from expulsion did you?" Manabu asked.
"About time you realized it." Ayanokouji replied. "Yeah, I simply left a small clue which is enough to expose Nagumo's scheme and foil it big time."
"W-WAIT!" Tachibana suddenly stood between them with her hands on their arms each leaving them startled. "Akane, what are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious Manabu? We shouldn't talk about him!" Tachibana then faced Ayanokouji. "You really must be careful when he's around. There were some schemes that he planned for this term but all were foiled and he's extremely furious. Especially when they revolve around...her."
"I know what you're talking about. Don't worry about it, I've been ensuring her safety from his influence." Ayanokouji assured to her.
"I hope so. He is not going to take it lightly and if ever he founds out about your interferences, he's gonna be so merciless." Tachibana warned him.
"Good to know." He replied.
Later on...
On the whiteboard, a list of events are written out. There's Chess, Flash Mental Arithmetic, Go, Modern Japanese Test, Dodgeball, Long Rope Jump, English Test, Math Test, Social Science Test and Volleyball.
"These are the events that Class A has submitted." Horikita explained to the class.
"Isn't it going to be tough to cover all of these events?" A very angst Ike asked.
"Yes it is. It should be the same for Class A." Horikita answered. "Now it's just a matter of narrowing down which one event is the real deal."
"Is there anyone in our class who has experience in playing chess?" Sudou asked.
"Chess..." Ayanokouji is pondering about it while reading some details on his phone. "In chess, the Commander can use the time to give orders to the players. So in other words, a battle between commanders is possible."
The scene then shifts to the library as Sakayanagi is alone practicing her chess moves and strategies. She really takes this seriously as she executed a checkmate.
The Event Selection Exam is an interesting exam to command the participants and conquer the opponents for the Commanders. And yes, Tsukihiro is introduced as one of the major antagonists in the story. Just like Kikyou.
I forgot to mention this in the last chapter. Yeah, I turned Yousuke into a dark version of himself so dark and negative that he could care less about anything. I also edited the meeting between Ayanokouji and Karuizawa and his conversation with Manabu and Tachibana. A lot and yes, I better remember to do a birthday chapter for Honami if there's a new season of COTE to be confirmed.
Private Point List (The punishment Nagumo inflicted on Class A regarding Honami and the rumours begin here for only this month)
Class 1-A
1. Arisu Sakayanagi-943,205
2. Kohei Katsuragi-2,009,734
3. Masumi Kamuro-791,379
4. Masayoshi Hashimoto-713,869
5. Hayato Kito-789,432
6. Takuro Morishige-1,264,862
7. Koji Machida-1,398,060
8. Shigeru Takomoto-1,326,849
9. Miki Yamamura-876,218
Class 1-B
1. Honami Ichinose-3,380,300
2. Ryuji Kanzaki-994,365
3. Chihiro Shiranami-613,286
4. Yume Kobashi-1,026,692
5. Mako Amikura-541,820
6. Sou Shibata-549,337
7. Tetsuya Hamaguchi-982,803
8. Ryouta Beppu-1,019,816
9. Sayo Andou-1,039,269
10. Norihito Watanabe-560,116
11. Makoto Sumida-672,640
12. Susumu Moriyama-654,286
Class 1-C
1. Soshi Miyamoto-250,412
2. Satsuki Shinohara-251,880
3. Kokoro Inogashira-227,903
4. Nene Mori-250,793
5. Teruhiko Yukimura-552,485
6. Yosuke Hirata-574,203
7. Kei Karuizawa-458,774
8. Kayano Onodera-263,155
9. Kikyou Kushida-1,050,249
10. Ryotarou Hondou-237,737
11. Hideo Sotomura-493,628
12. Chiaki Matsushita-242,699
13. Rokusuke Kouenji-285,412
14. Haruka Hasabe-209,688
15. Akito Miyake-239,678
16. Wang Mei Yu-234,685
17. Kyousuke Okitani-205,645
18. Maya Satou-159,312
19. Kanji Ike-401,607
20. Kiyotaka Ayanokouji-549,850
21. Suzune Horikita-729,611
22. Wataru Ijuin-250,885
23. Airi Sakura-175,408
24. Ken Sudou-211,667
Class 1-D
1. Kakeru Ryuuen-791,393
2. Mio Ibuki-728,642
3. Hiyori Shiina-410,405
4. Albert Yamada-239,400
5. Daichi Ishizaki-243,562
6. Kyogo Komiya-260,180
7. Reo Kondou-259,108
8. Satoru Kaneda-300,770
9. Shiho Manabe-749,675
10. Nanami Yabu-778,990
11. Saki Yamashita-763,088
12. Rika Morofuji-302,561
13. Minori Kinoshita-261,504
Class Points
A-924
B-803
C-495
D-392
Okay...I have seen all of Season 3 and got a good lead on what to plan for the remaining episodes in this story. See you then!