28 Classroom of the Elite Volume 11 Chapter 5 Introduction

Chapter 5: "A Trap, A Home-Cooked Meal, and A Favor"

Later that day, a somewhat unusual incident took place.

It happened at the start of the lunch break, just as the Ayanokōji Group was making their way to the cafe to eat together.

"Hey Ichinose. We should go get back at 'em! Even the score!"

As we were walking, we heard a harsh voice from up ahead of us. This voice belonged to none other than Shibata, a first-year student in Class B. He was accompanied by two other students who were also from Class B, Ichinose and Kanzaki.

"It's like, totally unusual, right guys? For Shibata-kun to get angry like that?"

"It's certainly unexpected."

It was understandable why Haruka and Akito were surprised.

"You think so?"

Airi, on the other hand, didn't quite seem to understand, since she usually never involves herself with people from the other classes.

Shibata was a member of the soccer club just like Hirata. He was a bright, energetic, and popular person, although a bit different from how Hirata usually was.

As far as I knew, he wasn't the type of person to raise his voice like this.

"But couldn't it just be a coincidence?"

Ichinose used a persuasive tone to try and calm Shibata from his rage.

However, Shibata seemed to believe he had solid evidence and immediately refuted her.

"I don't think so. You do know it's the third time today, right? They're definitely trying to pick a fight."

Kanzaki noticed our presence and lightly motioned to Shibata. He looked at us with a somewhat embarrassed expression and calmed himself down, but it was already too late. An awkward silence filled the air.

"Heya, were you guys on your way to lunch?"

Just like that, Ichinose called out to us.

She wasn't asking just one of us, but rather addressing the group of us as a whole.

My friends hadn't interacted with Class B's leader very much, so they were at a loss as to how to respond.

Haruka nudged me in the side with her elbow, so I reluctantly decided to speak for the group.

"…Yeah. We're headed to the cafe. Did you need something?"

"Wow, what a coincidence. We were just headed there ourselves."

As she spoke, Ichinose happily clapped her hands. But then, I noticed something that seemed out of place. Normally, Ichinose would always make eye contact with the person she was talking to, but this time, she didn't meet my eyes at all.

"If you guys don't mind, would you like to join us for lunch?"

Taken aback at her unexpected invitation, we all exchanged confused glances with each other.

"Ichinose, what are you doing?"

Kanzaki hurriedly interjected, most likely because he wasn't expecting her to propose something like this.

"What am I doing…? We're not competing against Class C, so what's the problem?"

"That's true, it's just…"

Kanzaki didn't seem very open to the idea of all of us going together.

However, if Ichinose had already made up her mind about it, there was no way he could refuse.

We, on the other hand, were a bit stuck. Unsure of what we should do or how we should answer…

"Time is of the essence. Let's get going~!"

But with a smile like hers, none of us were able to refuse.

1

We pushed together two tables in the corner of the cafe and sat down to have a meal together.

It was not only a group composed of both Class B and C, but a highly unusual group at that.

"Sorry for inviting you all so suddenly like this. It's my treat, so don't hold back!"

Ichinose spoke, presenting us with an apology.

"Are you really sure about that? Ichinose?"

Kanzaki's reaction to her offer was somewhat excessive.

Just before the last special exam, Ichinose made a deal with Class D to prevent Ryūen's expulsion by promising that Class B would cast their praise votes for him.

In order to save their classmate, Class B should've had to cough up every last private point they could get their hands on.

While I'm sure they had found some way to break even, they probably didn't have the luxury to be eating out like this, much less paying for others.

"We were already on our way to eat here anyway, so we'll pay for ourselves."

After I spoke, everyone else in the group nodded along in agreement.

"I kinda forced this on you, so you don't have to be so considerate…"

"It's fine. This way, we can eat what we want without feeling guilty about it."

Under the pretense of sharing a peaceful meal together as equals, I once again turned down Ichinose's offer.

"So… Why did you invite us?"

Keisei broached the subject, unable to hold himself back from asking about it.

"It's because y'all seemed kinda surprised with Shibata-kun's behavior earlier. I thought it'd be better if I was just upfront with you about it instead of letting you guys speculate too much."

In a sense, Ichinose's judgment may be correct. If she hadn't called out to us, we would've probably ended up talking about what we saw for a while. Asking ourselves why he had gotten so riled up. And depending on the situation, it was also possible that a third-party might inadvertently overhear us, causing rumors to spread.

Kanzaki, however, wasn't so sure.

"Are you sure you can tell them?"

"Do you really think this is something we need to keep quiet about?"

"We can't rule out the possibility that somebody in Class C is involved."

"Even if there is, it wouldn't make any difference, would it?"

"Ichinose is right, it just sounds like we were whining at this point."

As soon as Shibata cut in, Kanzaki glared at him with a sharp look in his eyes.

"W-what is it Kanzaki?"

"Nothing…"

Shibata didn't seem to understand Kanzaki's true intentions, but if I had to guess…

Kanzaki probably thought that Shibata's words weren't very appropriate, but nobody else seemed to catch onto this, so it wasn't a particularly big problem.

"In any case, now that they've already heard this much, wouldn't it be best to just tell them?"

"…I guess."

Shibata's careless remark had been the deciding factor, forcing Kanzaki to back down.

"Simply put, you could kinda say Class D has recently been harassing us a little bit."

"A little bit?"

Shibata cut in, his voice filled with conviction.

"For some reason, me, Nakanishi, and even Beppu have all had to deal with the same crap from them. I dunno what to tell you, they're pestering us constantly and following us around for no reason. My man Beppu was pretty scared when Albert went and just silently cornered him up against a wall earlier."

Just after Shibata finished, Kanzaki joined in on the complaining, probably deciding that it wouldn't make much of a difference at this point now that most everything had been put out into the open.

"I've spoken to those two about it myself, and pretty much everything checks out."

In other words, Class D had been targeting some of the students in Class B ever since the special exam started.

"It hasn't gotten physical or anything, has it?"

"For now."

For the time being, it didn't appear that they've resorted to anything more than stalking and intimidation.

Of course, if Class D really became violent, the problem would get several times larger.

"It's probably their way of putting pressure on us. We're thinking they're looking to wear us down by keeping this up until the exam starts."

"Gimme a break. Class D is scary enough as it is. You do know that even Class C's been swallowed up in the trouble they've caused, right?"

Shibata was probably referring to the time when Sudō fought with Ishizaki and Komiya earlier this year.

Keisei had been quietly listening to their exchange, but at this point, he spoke up himself.

"I know it's kind of strange to get advice from another class, but I don't think their behavior is all that surprising. Class D certainly has a bad image, but a certain amount of external pressure is understandable. In fact, we've been seeing signs that Class A might be spying on our class."

"Is that true?"

With a nod, Keisei proceeded to tell them about the Class A students we had seen eavesdropping nearby our classroom.

"Class D is also kinda desperate, so maybe they're looking to pick up any information they can get their hands on?"

Despite having only listened to Keisei's explanation for a short time, Shibata appeared to be convinced by what he was saying.

Be that as it may, it certainly seemed like Class B would be the one to sustain the most damage.

"At the most basic level, this exam plays out in our favor, so it's not unreasonable that they'd do something like that. We should probably expect them to continue their harassment right up until the limit of what the school rules allow them to."

This was Kanzaki's analysis of the situation. That said, the part he hadn't considered was that Class D was only targeting a small fraction of Class B's students.

Did they decide that it was too risky to challenge Ichinose or Kanzaki…?

Or did they have their sights set on something else entirely?

"I don't really think this is the kind of thing Kaneda-kun would be behind. Maybe it's Ishizaki-kun?"

"Yeah probably."

"I know it's concerning, but we just have to do what we can. We just have to continue working together, choose the right events, and do our very best on the day of the exam. Right?"

The two boys from Class B nodded along with Ichinose's hope-filled words.

"Are you saying you aren't gonna take any measures against Class D? Not even basic investigation?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. We're gonna focus our efforts on preparing for the ten events Class D come up with next week."

In other words, no matter what Class D would throw at them, they were planning to rely on the strength of their own class to make it through.

They would come face-to-face with the truth, without being deceived by false information. It was a safe, reliable strategy.

"What can I say, Class B is really something else."

Keisei spoke, his voice filled with wonder, before continuing.

"Wouldn't you normally do whatever it takes to beat a class that's above you? If stuff like spying and intimidation get results, it only makes sense that they'd make use of it. Honestly, your choice to take the high road and place your full confidence in your own capabilities is something that Class C would never be able to do."

Even though on the surface it didn't seem we were taking action against Class A, many of us were racking our brains for some way to find out information about them.

"Who knows? Maybe we're just not clever enough to do stuff like that?"

Saying this, Ichinose let show a small smile, to which Keisei spoke up again.

"Well, I think I get what you wanted to say to us. If rumors began to spread because we carelessly talked about Shibata's outburst back there, it would just end up broadcasting to Class D that their strategy is working."

Keisei had discovered the reason why Ichinose had invited us to eat lunch together.

If Class D were to find out that their harassment had done damage to Class B, it would only end up adding fuel to the fire.

In which case, Class B would have even more to deal with than they did now. They were looking to maintain their resolve and emphasize that Class D's tactics hadn't had any effect on them.

"Indeed. That's why I'd like to ask that you all do your best to keep this from spreading further."

"Spreading it around wouldn't do us any good, and it's not like we want to make an enemy out of Class B either."

Keisei agreed, with Haruka, Akito, and Airi nodding along shortly after without the slightest bit of hesitation.

"Thank you so much everyone. Really."

As Ichinose thanked us, her eyes met mine for the first and only time.

At that moment, she casually brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

And then, as if carried on by the wind, a faint scent of citrus tickled my nose.

She quickly looked away, returning her gaze back to the group as a whole, and I found myself thinking that she was acting a little strange today.

Regardless, that wasn't something I was going to point out right now.

2

After lunch, we parted ways with Ichinose's group. Once they were out of earshot, Haruka finally said what's on her mind.

"Man, Ichinose-san sure is cute isn't she? That smile of hers at the end there was pretty much cheating. Dontcha think?"

"Me? Not really…"

"Ah, Yukimuu, your face is turning red just thinking about it."

"No it isn't."

"You don't have to deny it. Like, I'm a girl and even I think she's totally adorable, so I'm sure boys are completely floored with her."

Airi seemed to agree with her, as she was nodding along fervently as Haruka spoke.

"Miyatchi and Ayanokōji-kun think so too right?"

Since Akito and I didn't want to be targeted like Keisei, we both reluctantly forced a smile to avoid being questioned further. Oddly enough, Airi asked the next question.

"I may just be imagining things, but… has Ichinose-san ever used perfume before?"

"Ah, I've been wondering about that too. She was using some kind of citrusy perfume wasn't she?"

"Yeah. That may have been what surprised me the most. Maybe she's had a change of heart or something?"

"Huh, what do you three think?"

The two girls had begun talking about something that us boys couldn't possibly know anything about, so Haruka's question put us on the spot again.

"Was she wearing perfume? Either way, she might've just felt like wearing some today or something, right?"

Keisei's uninterested response prompted Haruka to let out a blatantly disappointed sigh.

"Boys really don't notice the small stuff, do they?"

"… Moving on… We're not the only ones in a tough spot. From the looks of it, the other matchup has their own fair share of problems to get through."

Not wanting to deal with any more of Haruka's teasing, Akito changed the subject.

"In order to win against Class B, Class D probably can't afford to care about appearances anymore. It's totally possible that Class D might get even more serious with their harassment moving forward."

Taking the chance to escape, Keisei quickly got on board with Akito's new conversation topic. His prediction was probably right on the mark.

There were only three victims so far, but it wouldn't be surprising if that number went up a bit.

"Ryūen isn't taking the lead for them anymore, either. They probably don't stand much of a chance if they don't do something like this."

"Even so, it seems to me like they're going about it the same way Ryūen-kun would."

Akito was right. Applying pressure like this felt like a strategy Ryūen would employ.

"But it's pointless. It won't be enough to break through Class B's stronghold. After talking to them today, I'm starting to think it may be a good thing that our opponent is Class A. I simply don't wanna go against Class B."

"Eh? Why do you think that Yukimuu?"

"Compared to everyone else, their unshakable unity and the way they tackle their problems head-on without overestimating their own abilities is just on another level. They'll produce consistent results no matter what event it is. I don't feel like we'd be able to win."

Keisei seemed to be afraid of the idea that Class B would perform above average at everything they put their minds to.

"But like, even if they're above average at everything, that doesn't mean anything if they lose, ya know?"

Even if they got eighty or ninety percent in all seven events, they'd still lose if their opponent gets a full score.

"Do you get what our chances are like when we don't know which events will get chosen on exam day? There might be some specialized events that the lower classes can win at, but at the same time, if those events don't get chosen, we'd face a crushing defeat. The results would be disastrous."

"I see… You might be right."

Airi seemed to understand Keisei's explanation, as she nodded her head several times in agreement.

"Hey, hey, Stop!"

As we walked around a hallway corner with Keisei in the lead, Haruka abruptly grabbed his arm and called him to a stop.

"Wha-"

Keisei tried to ask what was going on, but Haruka covered his mouth with her hand and pointed just in front of us.

She was pointing at Ike and Shinohara, who were walking together just a short bit ahead of us.

"S-say, Shinohara."

"What?"

"Well… Uhhh."

"Cat got your tongue? What is it?"

We all became silent and carefully listened to what we could hear of the conversation taking place before us.

"…A-are you free on Sunday… or, something?"

"Sunday? I don't have anything planned at the moment, but… Wait, what?"

"I mean, uhm, wanna hang out a bit, or something? Only if you want to, that is."

We could hear what they were talking about, albeit just barely. Haruka and Airi looked at each other with expressions that seemed to be filled with excitement, while Keisei and Akito, in stark contrast, shared a mutual expression of utter disbelief.

"White day is on Sunday, isn't it? Do you think Shinohara-san gave Ike-kun chocolates on Valentine's?"

"Maybe!"

Although Shinohara at first seemed skeptical about Ike's invitation, she gradually seemed to pick up on what was happening.

"Well, it's just, you gave me chocolate and all… So I thought I'd like, return the favour, ya know."

"You're so sincere even though it was just obligatory chocolate. Do you even have any money?"

"I've been saving up a bit… N-nevermind, it's fine if you don't want to."

"…I never said I didn't want to."

"D-does that mean…"

"D-don't get the wrong idea, kay? The special exam is coming up soon, so this is just my last chance to relax. And since you're saying you'll pay and everything, how could I say no?"

For some reason, seeing this reminded me of the conversation I had with Hoshinomiya-sensei this morning about room-sharing.

The small seeds of romance might be starting to bud in places I wasn't even aware of.

"Let's go."

"Huh? Wait. We just got to the good part."

"Don't stick your neck into other people's love affairs."

Akito grabbed Haruka by the collar of her shirt and began walking away in the opposite direction.

"Come on, what's wrong with listening for just a bit longer? My heart's starting to flutter."

"Mine's not."

"Ugh. What was I expecting from a clueless guy like you… right, Airi?"

"Y-yeah. My heart's beating pretty fast too… But, they'd be embarrassed if they saw us, wouldn't they?"

"That's true, but like, it's their fault for doing this in public in the first place."

If they were to notice us in this situation, it very well might interfere with their slowly budding relationship.

3

Class C was still at the point where we were gathering information about what events everyone specialized in.

The after-school discussions were becoming less and less frequent, but the classwide group chat was becoming more and more active as time went on. While Kōenji and Hirata still hadn't participated, anyone in the class could now join the conversation whenever they wanted to.

In fact, based on the activity in the group chat, this type of discussion just might be better for Class C as a whole compared to face-to-face discussions where people might not be brave enough to share their opinions. However, this was simply what someone could see from an outsider's perspective.

In reality, I was simply waiting for Horikita to finish everything I had entrusted her with.

Ironing out the details about the role I would play would come later.

Even so, there were still several things to be wary of. Namely, Kōenji and Hirata.

Hirata in particular. Horikita probably had no way of fixing him in his current state.

Since both of them still hadn't participated in the group chat, it was clear that neither of them were looking forward to the special exam.

While Kōenji's behavior was nothing new, Hirata's absence was a great loss for the class.

Hirata had changed drastically. It was as if he had become a different person entirely.

While it may be a harsh way to put it, he was no different than a swollen abscess at this point. A complete thorn in our side. Even though it was painful, nobody would dare touch it. The only thing we could do is pray that the swelling would go down on its own. It was truly a shame. If he went back to normal, he'd be a versatile card that could be played in any event.

Besides, there were still a few other things to be wary of as well.

"…Hirata-kun!"

As Hirata left to head home for the day, Mii-chan ran out after him.

I found myself wondering how many times this had happened already.

While one person after another had already given up, Mii-chan still hadn't lost heart.

Was this a testament to the power of love? No… even if it's love, the question still remains.

She was most likely still afraid that he would come to hate her for her incessant behavior.

So then, why does she keep trying to reach out to him?

"Like, it's super hard to see Hirata-kun act like this…"

Kei quietly spoke to her group of friends who were still in the classroom.

"Yeah. Is it really alright to leave him alone like this, Karuizawa-san?"

"It'll be useless no matter what I say. He might hold a grudge against me."

Hirata's steadfast rejection from back when Kei reached out to him just the other day was still fresh in everyone's memory.

"Yeah. First he got dumped by Karuizawa-san, then Yamauchi-kun got expelled and…"

I cast a cursory glance toward the girls as they were having their discussion before leaving the classroom.

My sights weren't set on Hirata today. I was going to look into yet another problem that needed to be dealt with.

I had business with a particular student who had left the classroom shortly after Mii-chan.

"Hey, you got a minute?"

I called out to the girl, who turned and looked behind her after pausing for a moment.

"What is it, Ayanokōji-kun?"

The girl was none other than Kushida, someone who hadn't been very involved in the special exam so far.

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She hadn't done or said anything to help our classmates, nor interfered with them.

Instead, the days had gone by without her saying very much.

In the past, Kushida would've taken on a more prominent role and worked to support the class.

However, there was no sign of her doing that this time, and there were probably two reasons behind that.

The first was that her position within the class had become unstable due to the outcome of the vote in the previous exam.

Although she was being used by Yamauchi, the fact that she had conspired with him to get me expelled had been exposed to everyone.

Even though many students had decided that there was room to sympathize with Kushida, it was still a slight problem for her.

The whole affair had left a stain on what she was most proud of: her guise of a good, virtuous person.

The second reason was that Horikita was the one taking the lead this time.

Looking at it from Kushida's point of view, this was probably the real reason behind her lack of action.

Kushida has hated Horikita from the beginning for knowing the secrets of her past.

On top of that, Horikita had given her quite the scolding just before the end of The Class Vote exam.

Whatever her reasons may have been, it was her punishment for trying to expel someone who didn't deserve to be expelled.

The damage to her pride should've been nearly fatal.

"You don't seem to be supporting Horikita this time."

While I was already fully aware of this, I daringly brought it up anyway.

After all, I wanted to find out what actions Kushida was planning to take in this special exam.

No matter how closely you look at her smiling, cheerful mask, you wouldn't be able to discern her true feelings.

If you didn't know about the real Kushida laying dormant beneath the mask, you wouldn't think anything was amiss.

"Shall we take a walk as we talk?"

"That's fine."

Not wanting our conversation to be carelessly overheard by others, she urged for us to walk somewhere else together.

"Do you have any plans after this?"

"Yup. I'm going to hang out with some girls from Class B for a bit. Do you think it's wrong for me to be playing around during such an important time or something?"

"No, it's important to take some time for yourself sometimes. I think pretty much everyone would agree with that."

It'd be foolish to spend your time obsessing over the exam twenty-four hours a day.

When it's time to be serious, you should be serious. But when it's time to relax, you should relax.

"You understand it, don't you? The reason why I'm not doing anything? I thought it'd be fine to support Yamauchi-kun and get you expelled. But now that everyone knows what I've done, what kind of right do I have to lead the class?"

Kushida intentionally left out the fact that Horikita had become the leader, the real reason behind her lack of action.

"You don't look very convinced."

"Well, I guess."

"Just to be clear, the reason I'm not lending a hand isn't because Horikita-san is the one leading the class, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really really."

She nodded several times for emphasis, but even so, she was still lying about it.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

Of course I didn't believe her. But even though my suspicions didn't show on my face, she was bound to think so either way.

She had already decided that I'd be suspicious of her a long time ago.

"How do I look to you right now, Ayanokōji-kun? Be honest with me."

"Well…"

Outwardly, she seemed like a classmate with a lovely smile on her face.

However…

I tried to imagine Kushida's true personality hidden underneath her mask.

"I'm definitely gonna fuck up that bitch! She dared to make a fool of me in front of the entire class? I'll never forgive her! I'll kill her! Kill her kill her kill her! I'll definitely kill her!!"

With a vein popping out of the side of her head, she ranted about Horikita, prattling off a list of profanities that were unbearable to listen to.

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"…"

I couldn't find the words to express what I had just imagined.

"You just thought something incredibly rude, didn't you?"

"No… Not at all."

The image I had imagined had been a bit too extreme, so I was just at a slight loss for words.

I pushed it out of my mind and decided to cut to the chase.

"Since you said you won't get involved this time, I plan to respect your decision."

"But in return, you want information about the class… Don't you?"

Kushida had a good understanding of the meaning behind this special exam.

"Correct."

"Isn't there someone else in the class you can rely on now, Ayanokōji-kun?"

Despite her constantly smiling face, she wasn't going to agree to cooperate with me immediately.

Even though we had a contractual relationship, Kushida was once again beginning to put up her guard.

We seemed to be approaching the final turning point that would determine whether I would be an enemy, or an ally.

"Nobody can compare to you."

"I'm happy to hear you say that, but I've got all sorts of things on my plate right now."

"All sorts of things?"

"You're so mean, Ayanokōji-kun."

The fact that her reputation had been stained had been a huge drawback for her.

The image of the character she had built up over the past year had been distorted.

There's no doubt that she still had a lot of support from her classmates, but they didn't seem to be completely honest about that. It was a perfect example of how it's hard to gain trust, but only takes a moment to lose it.

"Then let me try asking you the opposite. How can I get you to cooperate with me?"

"I suppose you'll have to give up on that this time. I plan on laying low until I can be myself and have peace of mind in class. Does that bother you?"

In other words, this meant that she wouldn't cooperate with me, but she wouldn't get in the way either.

However, this also implied that she would only perform at the bare minimum if she were to be selected for an event.

"Is it fine to do that? Not just for me, but Horikita as well?"

"Yeah. You could interpret it that way. Because recently, I've come to realize that this school is much more comfortable for me than I thought."

The way she presented me with a favorable option seemed to be another one of her skills.

For the time being, she would don her mask of lies and continue her performance.

It was unfortunate that I hadn't been able to get her to cooperate, but it was probably better to just accept it for now.

"I understand. I'm sorry for asking something unreasonable."

"Not at all. Honestly, I'm really happy you wanted to rely on me."

Once we reached the school entryway, I decided to part ways with her.

Kushida left, walking toward the Keyaki Mall without stopping to look back even once.

4

The weekend came and went, and just like that, it was Sunday, March 14th. White Day had arrived.

To be honest, I was grateful it had come on a Sunday.

There were several gifts prepared on my desk.

If today had been a weekday, I'd have had a hard time figuring out when to hand them over.

Should it be in the morning, before class? Or should I wait until after school?

There would be a lot of other things to think about too. What order would I hand them out in? How would I handle the gifts for people in other classes?

More than anything, it wouldn't be good for my reputation if people around me saw what I was doing.

I knew that if it came down to it, it would be best to hand them over without worrying about how other people saw me, but that would be impossible.

However, with today being a day off, I could just put them in their respective mailboxes.

In order to make sure I didn't run into anyone, I left my room early in the morning and made my way to the dormitory mailboxes.

"Let's see…"

I placed a gift in the mailboxes of each student who had given me Valentine's Day chocolates.

I was about to head back to my room after finishing with the last gift when I came across Ichinose.

She reacted as if she had seen something she shouldn't have.

"G-good morning, Ayanokōji-kun."

"Ah… Yeah, good morning."

Even though it was still before seven, I had come across a pretty unexpected encounter.

And just like in our last meeting, Ichinose still seemed to avoid making eye contact with me.

"I happened to wake up a bit early today, so I just got back from a morning walk."

It seemed like she was looking at me as she spoke, but she was really staring at something just behind me.

She was probably looking to check her mail before heading back to her room.

"Oh… uhm, pardon me."

I moved out of the way so she could check her mailbox, and she thanked me with a slight nod. Of course, once she looked inside… the gift I had given her was naturally the first thing to come out.

"I'm sure you already know, but that's, you know, my return gift for Valentine's."

Holding the box in her hands, Ichinose stood unmoving, as if she had frozen over for a moment.

"A gift like this… You, like, you didn't have to…"

Ichinose responded, having only just come to her senses.

"No, it's only right."

"…T-thank you. Uhm, I'm sorry. I'm not used to this kind of thing, so I'm kinda nervous."

I felt the same way. I hadn't wanted to run into anyone in this situation, so I was pretty uncertain myself.

Since things were getting a bit awkward, I opted to change the subject.

"…Come to think of it, has anything new happened with that problem we talked about last Thursday?"

"Ah, eh, that, you're still worried about that?"

"A little."

Ichinose seemed to have an easier time talking with the subject changed, as the awkward atmosphere quickly subsided.

"I went and questioned everyone immediately after we parted ways, but the only victims were the three people Shibata-kun had told us about. But…"

"But?"

"On Friday, it was like the number of victims tripled all of a sudden. Yesterday I got reports saying that three more boys and three more girls were being followed around or harassed just like the others."

In other words, a total of nine people had been affected by Class D's harassment. However, in the first three days after the exam started, they had only focused on three. But on Friday, all of a sudden, that number had increased by six.

"Do you have any idea which students have been doing the stalking?"

Ichinose nodded and began to list off their names.

"As far as I know, there was Ishizaki-kun, Komiya-kun, Yamada-kun, Kondō-kun, Ibuki-san, and Kishita-san."

Six people in total.

They were all people who were willing to get their hands dirty, at least to a certain extent.

They didn't seem to have any intention of hiding their identities, given that she had managed to identify each of them already.

"I wonder if the six of them plan on following whoever they end up crossing paths with?"

It was a natural question to ask since most of Class D was made up of average, ordinary students.

"I'll be investigating further on Monday."

"What are you going to do if the problem is bigger than you thought?"

There was a possibility that even Ichinose and Kanzaki would be affected at some point.

"Hmm. Well, I'm not sure there's anything we can do, you know? It's not like they've been violent or anything… so we've decided to just put up with it until they cause some real damage. We'll just do our best to provide the victims with emotional support."

From the looks of it, they were ready to take action at a moment's notice, but only if Class D actually got physical.

"I see."

Class D was behaving strangely.

I couldn't help but wonder if they were really going to go after every student in Class B.

With only six people doing the harassment, they weren't exactly exerting very much pressure.

Even if they continue to do this over and over again, it wouldn't amount to anything more than just simple harassment.

It was possible that Ishizaki didn't think that far ahead when he thought of the strategy.

Or perhaps they'd be satisfied as long as they could do a bit of psychological damage?

"Am I doing something wrong?"

Having noticed that I was lost in thought, Ichinose looked up at me with a slightly uneasy expression.

"No… What you're doing now should be fine. In fact, Class D wouldn't get punished even if you made a complaint to the school. Plus, if you went and complained to them directly you'd be doing exactly what they want you to do."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

However, it was important for her to make sure that Class D's objective really was what she thought it was. That being said, it doesn't look like Ichinose was interested in taking action, so it'd be unnecessary for me to say this to her.

With her policy that primarily focuses on non-aggressive defense, it'd be out of line for me to say anything more.

"Have you decided on the ten events you'll be submitting?"

"Yup. We had a solid grasp of everyone's strengths and weaknesses from pretty early on. We finalized everything yesterday after mixing in some events that we think Class D might not be good at. How about you, Ayanokōji-kun?"

"I haven't been involved in any of it this time. I'm leaving everything to Horikita."

"But what are you going to do about your duties as the commander?"

"I've left that to her as well."

Ichinose showed a look of surprise. She didn't seem to think I'd take the role so casually.

"It sounds like you've got a lot of faith in Horikita-san. Or… Maybe you're saying you think you can handle everything, no matter what events or rules she ends up choosing?"

"It's definitely the former. Unlike you, I'm only close to a few of my classmates, so I honestly don't know anything about them. I only became the commander to prevent anyone from being expelled."

"But then, why did you want to go up against Class A?"

"That was also Horikita's idea. Maybe she thought it would give us the best chances of winning or something."

"I see."

Ichinose didn't investigate any further.

Having reached the end of the conversation, the two of us stood waiting for the elevator.

"Ah… I totally didn't prepare for this…"

Ichinose spoke as if she had just remembered something. I looked at her as she stood beside me, continuously twirling a strand of her hair with her index finger.

"Prepare?"

"N-no, it's nothing you need to worry about."

Not long afterward, the two of us boarded the elevator, which promptly arrived on the fourth floor, where my room was located.

"See you later, then."

As I stepped out of the elevator, I turned around and locked eyes with Ichinose for a brief moment, catching her off guard.

"W-wha-!! Uh, I, uh… S-see you!"

In a sudden panic, Ichinose began to mash the close button several times over, and after a moment, she disappeared from view as the elevator doors closed between us. While it was a strange way to part ways with someone, it was nice that I had managed to make it through this troublesome White Day ordeal.

"Come to think of it, she didn't smell like citrus today."

Although, it was early in the morning on the weekend, so there was no particular reason for her to go out while wearing perfume.

5

Monday morning soon came around, the day that our opponent's ten events would be announced.

What events and rules had Class A come up with, and how exactly would the commander be involved?

On my way to the school, I happened to run into Horikita's older brother and Tachibana.

It didn't seem like they had been waiting for me. Rather, it really appeared to be just a coincidence.

Tachibana discreetly distanced herself without saying anything in particular.

Perhaps this was her way of being considerate so she wouldn't get in the way of the impending conversation.

There was no doubt that her tendency to make quick, thoughtful reactions like this had been an ongoing source of support for the elder Horikita back when they were on the student council.

"Is the special exam going well?"

There was something special about Horikita's older brother. Even though he hadn't gotten an in-depth explanation, he already had a firm grasp of my situation.

"That's supposed to be my line. Are you sure you can graduate as a member of Class A?"

"Well, that'll probably depend on next week's results."

Whether he was worried or perfectly fine, there was no way to tell exactly how he was feeling by the look on his face.

"On my end of things, your sister has been working hard. Apparently, you've had more of an influence on her than I would've thought."

"Is that so?"

Currently, Horikita was practically bursting with energy, as if she had been touched by magic.

She had taken the initiative to bring the class together in Hirata's absence.

Recently, she had also been spending her time refining the class's strategy for each and every single one of the ten events.

"Shouldn't the third-years already be on break at this point?"

"Well, I was also surprised to find out that wasn't the case back when I first enrolled here. After all, third-year students at most other high schools would already be on break at this time of year. Of course, we're just as focused as any other third-year student would be when it comes to stuff like moving on to higher education or finding a job. You just wouldn't be aware of that yet."

It sounded like the third-years had a variety of troublesome things to deal with right now.

"Higher Education? Finding a job? Even though it hasn't been decided if you'll be graduating as a member of Class A yet?"

"You'll understand eventually."

The elder Horikita left it at that, without even trying to give me a detailed explanation.

I guess there are some things he just can't say to the first and second-year students.

At the end of the day, figuring out whether or not you can rise up to Class A would have to wait until you reached your third year.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll tell you anything as long as it's within the scope of what I'm allowed to say."

"That scope seems rather narrow in my eyes."

At my unexpected response, the corners of his mouth raised into a smile, albeit only slightly.

"Maybe so. You can think of it as an obligation I have as a former student council president."

This probably meant he had to be careful when answering questions about the school as a whole.

"Well, this is a good opportunity. There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

I decided to make use of this casual encounter and ask the elder Horikita a question.

"It's about Horikita… that is, your little sister. I think she's an excellent person. In both a physical and academic sense, she doesn't fall short in the slightest. I don't know if I'd say she's topping the charts, but she had the talent to place second or third from the first day she stepped foot in this school. While she may not be on the same level as you, a former student council president, I don't think she's bad enough for you to denounce her and try to drive her out of the school entirely."

And then, there was the strangest part of all.

"Either way, you and your sister are two years apart, that is, you haven't seen her last two years worth of growth. With the system this school has in place, you shouldn't have been able to tell at first glance just how much she's grown up."

After all, as he was now, the elder Horikita hadn't been able to meet with her since she began her second year of middle school, not even once.

Even if he had been disappointed with her results on the entry exam, that shouldn't have been enough to make him this disappointed in her.

Back then, when I saw them meet outside the dorm, Manabu's attitude toward his sister was anything but calm.

"I see. Certainly, having seen what you did back then, it's only natural you'd be curious about this."

At that, I was reminded of the first time I came into contact with the elder Horikita.

"I wasn't disappointed with Suzune because of something superficial like her grades or the class she was placed in. It had to do with maturity."

"Maturity?"

"Suzune has changed dramatically from the way she used to be. She was the type of child who would always have a smile on her face."

She, that girl, used to smile all the time?

…No, I honestly couldn't imagine that at all.

"In other words, you're saying this calm, collected personality she puts forward is because of your influence?"

"She has been trying to imitate me for a long time now. It's a bad habit that started to rear its head ever since the upper grades of elementary school. But thinking back on it now, it's my mistake for letting it happen for so long. I tried for many years to get her to improve by treating her cold and indifferently, but it actually ended up having the opposite effect on her, backfiring entirely."

As a result, Horikita continued to chase after her brother's shadow and became the kind of person she is today.

"So even though you seem to be completely perfect, you've failed to communicate properly with your sister?"

"There is no such thing as a perfect human. Am I wrong?"

"Fair enough."

I couldn't possibly refute him on that.

"In short, after reuniting with her once again, all it took was a single conversation for you to reach your conclusion?"

Although, back then, it didn't exactly seem like they had been talking to each other for very long.

"I realized it before I even talked to her. From the first moment I saw her again, I knew that in the past two years, she hadn't changed at all."

As I wondered if he had seen something in her only an older brother could understand, he continued to explain.

"That girl has always been completely hung up on my every word. Study harder, exercise more, don't do one thing, don't do something else. It would've been fine if that was as far as it went. But, she'd imitate my favorite foods and beverages, even going as far as my copying my favorite colors and the type of clothes I'd wear. She's shown just how strongly she's depended on me every step of the way."

The fact that she had gone that far was already a little alarming.

However, if you look at Horikita's behavior since she first came to this school, it made sense.

"So, after reuniting with your sister at this school, you felt like this dependency problem still hadn't changed?"

Unless he could read minds, there just wasn't enough information to tell what she had been through in the past two years.

"That's right. Anyone who knows what she was like as a child would be able to tell. That girl…"

He cut off mid-sentence, choking up on his words.

"…Nevermind. This is probably something I should keep secret, even from you. I'd like it to be the perfect metric to determine whether or not Suzune has really changed."

"I guess that means your sister still hasn't changed yet."

The elder Horikita nodded. While Horikita had shown a great deal of progress compared to how she was at the start of the year, according to her older brother, that didn't seem to be enough.

"She's been trying her best to break away from her past, but she's only halfway there."

I found myself wondering if she'd be able to satisfy her brother's so-called 'perfect metric' before he graduates.

There weren't very many days left until the graduation ceremony.

"But, if…"

The elder Horikita stopped walking for a moment and fixed his eyes on me.

For some reason, I found myself getting caught up in his powerful gaze and stopped walking as well.

"If Suzune could stop chasing after my shadow, break away from her dependency, and become honest with herself…"

A Spring breeze blew through the air.

"She would surpass me altogether, and probably become someone you wouldn't be able to ignore."

He wasn't saying this just because he was doting on her as an older brother. He truly meant it.

In a lot of ways, I also admired Horikita's high potential.

Why was that, though? Was it because of what he just said?

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. What was I supposed to be doing here, at this school?

No, what did I want to be doing? I felt like I had suddenly found the answer to that question.

"But in the end, it all depends on whether she can make the change at all."

"She will change."

I responded to him confidently.

"Or, no, let me rephrase that."

But then, I chose to correct myself.

"I'm going to make her change. Not in the same way I've gone about it so far, but for real this time."

"…Oh? I never thought you'd say such a thing."

It felt like this chance encounter with the elder Horikita would leave a large impact on my life.

It would be a very long time before I knew whether that premonition proved to be true or not.

"Say, can I ask you one more thing before you graduate? It's a completely personal question."

I didn't know if I'd ever have another chance to talk to him after this.

"What?"

"Are you going out with Tachibana?"

I was well aware that it was a silly question, but I asked anyway.

Despite having moved on from the student council, the two of them were still often off doing things together.

"No. Nothing of the sort."

A flat denial. It didn't seem like he was trying to hide anything either.

However, a quick glance at Tachibana's face told me it was somewhat more complicated than that.

At the very least, there was no doubt that Tachibana had some sort of feelings for him.

"I've spent these last three years thinking about nothing but school, for better or for worse."

"Is that so?"

"But I didn't think something like this would come out of your mouth. Could it be that you're just a regular high school student?"

Perhaps I had been influenced by that talk I had with Hoshinomiya-sensei.

"I think I'm about as regular as you can get."

"Ah. That's right. So, have you gotten yourself a girlfriend, Mr. Regular High School Student?"

Even though I had been the one to bring up the topic, I hadn't expected him to turn it back on me.

"Not at all right now. But if someone suitable comes along, I'm accepting applications."

"I feel like I could rest assured if I left Suzune to you, but I get the sense that that isn't going to happen."

"Of course not."

There was no way that would happen.

"T-that's no good. You do know saying something like that can become a flag, right?"

Tachibana suddenly interrupted the conversation she had been attentively listening to for a while now.

"Flag?"

When the elder Horikita questioned her word choice, Tachibana hurriedly provided an explanation.

"No, uh, I guess it's like, situational irony or something…? Y'know, the type of thing that happens from time to time where two people who never thought they'd get together end up going out? It's a common scenario."

The elder Horikita and I looked at each other, neither of us having understood Tachibana's explanation very well.

"N-no, nevermind."

Tachibana seemed to think she wouldn't be able to get us to understand what she was trying to say, as she ended the conversation with that.

6

Back within the classroom, our morning homeroom had come to an end.

And, at the same time, the ten events Class A had chosen were announced.

Horikita read through all of the documents that had been left behind for us.

Mentally, I summarized everything, putting it all together based on the number of people required for each event.

『Chess』 Required Participants: 1 ・ Initial Time Allotted Per Person: 1 Hour (Running out of time will result in a loss)

Rules: Standard chess rules apply. However, your allotted time will not increase before each move, even after the 40th turn.

Commander Intervention: At any given time, the commander may give instructions to the participating player for a maximum of 30 minutes. Any time spent giving instructions will also use the corresponding participant's allotted time.

『Flash Mental Arithmetic』 Required Participants: 2 ・ Time: 30 Minutes

Rules: Victory will be decided by the student who takes first place in terms of both speed and accuracy using abacus-style mental arithmetic.

Commander Intervention: The commander can change the answer to a single question of their choice.

『Go』 Required Participants: 3 ・ Time: 1 Hour (Running out of time will result in a loss)

Rules: Three one-on-one games will be played simultaneously. Standard Go rules apply.

Commander Intervention: At any given time, the commander is allowed to advise a move.

『Modern Literature Test』 Required Participants: 4 ・ Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: The test will be within the scope of the first-year literature curriculum. Victory will be decided based on the class with the higher overall score.

Commander Intervention: The commander can answer a single question on behalf of the participant.

『Social Studies Test』 Required Participants: 5 ・ Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: The test will be within the scope of the first-year geography, history, and civics curriculum. Victory will be decided based on the class with the higher overall score.

Commander Intervention: The commander can answer a single question on behalf of the participant.

『Volleyball』 Required Participants: 6 ・ Time Restriction: First to 10 Points, Best of 3 Sets

Rules: Standard volleyball rules apply.

Commander Intervention: At any given time, the commander is allowed to perform 3 substitutions.

『Math Test』 Required Participants: 7 ・ Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: The test will be within the scope of the first-year math curriculum. Victory will be decided based on the class with the higher overall score.

Commander Intervention: The commander can answer a single question on behalf of the participant.

『English Test』 Required Participants: 8 ・ Time: 50 Minutes

Rules: The test will be within the scope of the first-year English curriculum. Victory will be decided based on the class with the higher overall score.

Commander Intervention: The commander can answer a single question on behalf of the participant.

『Long Rope Jumping』 Required Participants: 20 ・ Time: 30 Minutes

Rules: The class with the higher number of successful jumps wins.

Commander Intervention: The commander may change the order of the opposing team's lineup in any way they want one single time.

『Dodgeball』 Required Participants: 18 ・ Time Restriction: 10 Minutes Per Set Over 2 Sets

Rules: Standard dodgeball rules apply. In the event of a tie, a sudden death round will commence.

Commander Intervention: At any given time, the commander can return one disqualified player to the court.

"It's unexpected that they've chosen multiple sporting events. I thought they'd double down on events that require you to use your head like written exams. Although, there's a good chance they're just meant as distractions."

That was Horikita's first impression, and Keisei, speaking up right after her, shared similar thoughts as well.

"Chess and Go are both major, widely-known games, but it feels like they're putting us in a tough spot because only a few students have ever actually played them. Team coordination plays a large part in all of the sports they chose, too."

There shouldn't be anyone in our class who has never heard of chess or go, but most students probably hadn't actually played or even touched them before.

"Overall, I wasn't expecting them to keep commander intervention to a minimum in most of the events. Especially when it comes to academic events, where the interventions they've come up with would hardly affect the outcome."

"I guess it just goes to show how much they trust their own classmates. Class A has a significant advantage in academic events, and not only did they choose four academic tests, but the number of people required for them is pretty dang high. This is looking really difficult…"

In every test so far, Class A had always gotten the highest average score out of all of the classes.

That was probably why they had chosen to use such a large number of participants in their testing events.

These tests were essentially their way of forcing us to have a purely academic competition since the commander wouldn't be able to do very much.

The fact that they hadn't solely chosen written exams was also a good decision on their part.

If they had thrown in seven or eight written exams, we would've been able to focus our efforts on studying for them.

They were probably trying to limit the options we had available while forcing us to study subjects that wouldn't be relevant later.

"Volleyball requires 6 people, 9 if you include the substitutes, dodgeball requires 18, and long rope jumping requires the most at 20. They require such a large number of people that, if even one of them end up getting chosen, there'll be a high possibility that we'll be required to participate more than once."

Since there was no way to tell which of the ten events would be used on the day of the exam, we wouldn't be able to cut corners with any of them.

Furthermore, since many of their athletic events call for a large number of people, we'd have to spend a huge amount of time and effort on participant selection and practice. If we were bold enough to reserve a place like the school gymnasium to practice, Class A would probably end up catching wind of it. In other words, we had to conceal our activities and practice in secret.

However, there was no way for us to tell which events would be used on the day of the exam. If we spend a lot of time practicing for one event, our efforts would be short-lived if it doesn't end up getting chosen. That is, we would be wasting our time. On the other hand, if we decide that an event is just a distraction and choose not to practice for it, our lack of preparation would be painfully obvious if the event really does end up getting chosen. We had hardly any chance of winning.

It would be important for us to keep an eye on Class A's movements for the next week, but it's easier said than done. It wouldn't be easy to find them if they're practicing early in the morning or late at night. They could also split up and practice in smaller groups.

We couldn't overlook any of the events. No matter which ones end up getting picked, they were all troublesome.

Of course, we weren't lucky enough to be faced with events that we actually wanted to participate in.

"Does anyone have any particular experience with chess or go?"

Horikita prompted the class for a show of hands, to which only Miyamoto responded.

"I've played Go a few times with my family, but I'm not good enough to be familiar with the rules."

There was no doubt that, as a starting point, these two events made the situation look rather bleak.

Although it was a bit late, I also raised my hand.

"I can play chess, more or less, but I don't understand Go at all. I've never even touched it before."

Despite being the commander, I figured that I should let everyone know I could play the game. Later on, I could teach other people.

"I guess it's a relief that we have at least somebody with experience. But again, it's truly a challenging exam, so we can't make light of these events whether we like it or not."

I wonder just how much someone could increase their proficiency in chess or Go in less than a week. In the worst-case scenario, only two of our events would make it through, while the other five would be from Class A.

For at least part of the exam, we had no choice but to rely on the baseline potential of our classmates.

However, why…?

"What's wrong, Ayanokōji-kun?"

Horikita looked at me with a curious look on her face.

"…No, it's nothing."

For the chess event, the commander involvement was simply far too impactful. It was almost like a battle between the commanders.

It gave me the impression that Sakayanagi wanted to use the event to compete against me.

"Hey, Horikita. Shouldn't we also start seriously collecting intel at this point?"

Feeling a sense of urgency, Keisei prompted Horikita for an answer.

"Are you saying you want us to find out which of the ten events Class A plan on choosing in the end…?"

"Yeah. Honestly, it'll be pretty tough for us to prepare for all ten of these events in the time we have left. If we don't somehow get our hands on information, our chance of winning will be a lot smaller."

"But Class A prolly won't give out information very easily."

One of the boys responded, saying something that everyone was already well aware of.

"Even so, we still have to try."

"I understand your concerns, but I can't make a decision on that just yet. Let me get a grasp of how much experience we have with each of these events first."

Horikita pushed aside the topic of intelligence gathering and began focusing her attention on understanding the class's position with respect to all ten of Class A's events.