16 Youkoso V10C4 Intro

It was the third morning after the supplemental exam was announced.

The vote was to be held on Saturday, the day after tomorrow.

All too soon, one person would be expelled from each class.

Cold air seeped into my body the moment I opened the door to the hallway.

After descending to the first-floor lobby in the elevator, I spotted Sudō walking out of the stairwell.

"You're using the stairs?"

"Sorta. Even if it's just a short one, I thought I'd get a workout in."

From club activities to studying, Sudō was probably trying his best to lead a standard student lifestyle.

Just like that, the two of us headed off for school together.

"I may be stupid and short-tempered, but I've been making huge improvements recently. That's why I absolutely don't wanna be expelled."

Instead of talking to me, it felt like more like he was talking to himself.

"Would it be wrong for me to say that you're fine with being resented as long as you can stay enrolled here?"

"Nah, that sounds about right. The strong-willed are the ones who'll make it through this exam."

"Right."

After arriving at school, I felt a strange sense of discomfort as soon as I walked in the classroom.

Sudō, on the other hand, went to his seat without noticing anything.

The mood had changed.

I was by no means insensitive to things like this either.

The moment I stepped into Class C, I noticed a completely different feel to the classroom compared to the day before.

The usual, everyday classroom scene was playing out right before my eyes.

Everyone was acting as if things were totally normal.

The room was immersed in idle chatter and standard friendly conversation.

It was the physical incarnation of something being out of place.

Just yesterday, everyone had been very cautious of each other, expecting to be kept in check by the people around them.

And yet, today, there was a strange sense of unity.

"Good morning Ayanokōji-kun."

Hirata called out to me.

"Morning."

After a short reply, I took a moment to examine how Hirata was taking in all of this.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

I wondered if he didn't notice anything strange about the room, or if he just pretended not to.

Hirata looked into my eyes with the same expression as always.

"No, it's nothing."

"Really? Well, let's have a good day today as well."

Hirata finished his greeting and made his way to the girls who were calling for him.

The strange feeling that something was out of place gradually faded as more and more students arrived in the classroom.

The conclusion I drew from this was that a large group had probably been formed in preparation for the upcoming exam.

There had probably been a consensus on choosing not only who to protect, but who to kick out as well.

There were eleven people in the classroom. Hirata aside, if the remaining ten combined their censure votes, it'd put whoever they targeted in a dangerous position.

Out of these ten people, there were a handful of boys in a group with Ike and Yamauchi.

There was also a group of girls that usually had little to do with them.

It was possible that everyone in the classroom had united into a large group.

Though, strangely enough, some of the girls were members of the group Kei was in.

What's more, I still hadn't heard anything about this from Kei yet.

"Good morning."

Horikita showed up before long.

Although her attitude was the same as usual, she did a quick look around the classroom.

"…What happened?"

"You feel it too?"

"Yes. It's a little unpleasant. Though, if you're interested, why don't you go and ask them yourself?"

"I'll pass. It's better to let sleeping dogs lie."

At the very least, it wasn't something you could just carelessly look into.

[Has something happened?]

I sent a message to Keisei, who had arrived at school earlier in the morning.

[No idea. But I feel like something's different from yesterday for some reason.]

Keisei didn't seem to have caught on entirely, but he was on the right track.

[Maybe a large group was formed. Our classmates are weirdly calm.]

I sent a message to point him in the right direction.

After he read it, Keisei looked around the room and then at me.

[That's certainly true. The gloomy atmosphere is clearly gone. Good job noticing it.]

[I don't have many friends, so I'm sensitive to changes in my surroundings.]

[Assuming a group of ten or more people has been formed, they've probably decided on who they're going to vote for, right?]

[The person they'll be targeting will be in a pretty tough spot.]

[That makes me wonder who formed the group… Will we be okay?]

I could feel Keisei's anxiety from his message.

As the number of people in a group increases, in order to increase the overall sway, students who aren't very close to the original members would inevitably end up joining. Leading a group like that isn't an easy thing to do.

Since more people had arrived in the classroom, I stopped messaging Keisei for the time being.

The continuation of this would have to wait until lunch or until after school.

1

Lunchtime. I joined up with the Ayanokōji Group for some small talk.

Although it was just small talk, the majority of the conversation had to do with the supplementary exam.

Naturally, the first topic was the unusual atmosphere in the classroom that morning.

Since Keisei had been the one to head to school early today, it started off with him telling the rest of us about how there were signs that a large group had formed.

"…I see. You're right that it did kinda feel more cheerful today than yesterday."

"But… It's still just speculation at this point… Right?"

"Yeah. There's no evidence that a large group has really formed, and it's possible they haven't chosen a specific target for their censure votes either."

In the end, this conjecture was solely based on what had taken place earlier in the morning.

"So, who should we try looking into first?"

"That's a tough question. If we choose the wrong person, the leader of the group might figure out that we're snooping around. If that happens, there's a risk that one of us may be targeted as well."

Keisei mentioned the one thing we wanted to avoid at all costs.

"There's probably a reason why we weren't invited."

When it comes to a large group, it would be fine to invite anyone other than the group's primary target.

It would be ideal for 39 people to corner a single person.

However, this outcome simply isn't realistic.

"What if… one of us is really close with whoever they're targeting?"

Haruka suggested, quietly, mischievously looking between each of us.

"…Or… what if one of us is the target…"

"S-stop it Haruka-chan…!"

Airi's fear aside, Haruka's joke wasn't exactly a laughing matter.

"It's possible that they moved to make a group on the very first day and slowly increased the number of people they could trust from there. Then, today, they probably felt that it was fine to come out of the shadows."

Keisei's deduction was reasonable. The change was quite a lot for a single day. In all likelihood, this group had been taking action ever since the supplemental exam was announced.

"If they still plan on increasing their numbers, then they might get into contact with one of us today."

"What if they intend to target one of us? What are we supposed to do if they threaten to have us expelled if we don't cooperate with them and work against each other…?"

Akito inadvertently asked one of the big questions.

"Isn't it super obvious? We've already decided to prioritize each other."

"Even if… you become their target as a result, Haruka?"

"That's… but… I don't think I want to stay in school so badly that I'd betray my friends. If they did something like that, I'd probably complain."

A little timid, Haruka responded to Akito's question.

"Same here. I'd absolutely never betray any of you."

Despite her anxiety, Airi nodded earnestly.

"How about you Keisei?"

After a short pause, Keisei spoke his honest feelings.

"…I pretty much agree with you two. However, reality is never that simple. In this exam, if you really get targeted, you probably won't be able to avoid it. It may sound better to take an expulsion in place of a friend, but… it would still be really painful."

"That's… Kiyopon, what do you think?"

Everyone turned and looked at me.

I felt as though, to a certain extent, I should attempt to unify everyone's ideas.

"I'm against Haruka's way of doing things here."

"That… Are you saying you'd betray us in order to get along with the large group!?"

"No, cooperating with another group to kick out a friend is completely out of the question. However, it would be better to go along with them on the surface. I don't think it'd be a good idea to be uncooperative or speak out against them."

It's vital to avoid letting your emotions cloud your judgement in these situations.

"By pretending to cooperate with them, we can figure out how many censure votes they already have and who they intend to invite into the group moving forward. This information would be important to get our hands on, right?"

"…Certainly."

Haruka, who had been getting riled up, began to regain her composure.

If you got riled up and turned down the large group's offer, you wouldn't be able to get very much information.

At this point, we had no way of knowing who they were targeting.

"Even if you just pretend to cooperate with them, it's not possible for them to find out who voted for who on the day of the vote since it's anonymous."

In other words, we would be able to obscure what would actually take place.

"I guess that doing things your way really would be best for all of us."

I nodded along in agreement.

"Additionally, the large group has been quietly expanding its influence since day one and have a sizable following already. The mastermind behind it is probably quite sharp in their own way. They've been handling themselves quite carefully, and furthermore, they haven't specified anything about who they're going to expel. It doesn't seem like Hirata and Horikita have noticed them either."

Horikita may have had an idea, but Hirata hadn't seemed to notice anything at all.

I had expected Hirata to take notice, yet surprisingly, it still managed to elude him, even during such a critical moment.

"Hirata probably isn't being held down by a specific group because he views everyone from a neutral position. If they carelessly asked him for support, there's a chance he might try to make the group disband instead."

"In any case, you could say that the person behind all of this really thought everything through."

"You're amazing Kiyotaka-kun. I can't believe you were able to come up with all of this!"

Airi clapped her hands happily, sort of as though she was congratulating herself.

"That's certainly true. I wasn't the one who noticed the strange mood this morning, Kiyotaka was."

"I said it before. When you're by yourself for a long time, you just unintentionally pick up on the small details. Moreover, there's no guarantee that this large group actually exists, it's nothing more than an assumption."

There was no evidence as to whether it actually existed or not. This was just to push the conversation forward.

"Still, I think it's best to be on guard."

"Man, everything we've been talking about has been such a drag. Can't we talk about something a bit more positive?"

With a sigh, Akito spoke up as he fiddled with his cell phone.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Talking about something positive simply isn't possible. The reality is that we're going to lose a classmate soon, so even if we did, it wouldn't be very enjoyable."

These feelings of anxiety would continue to smoulder, regardless of how much we planned things out here.

"When you put it that way, I… I really am pretty worried…"

"You're still saying stuff like that Airi? You'll definitely be fine."

In order to stop her from worrying, Haruka spoke up and gently patted Airi on the head.

"But…"

"Between the two of us, girls hate me, like, way more than they hate you."

"Maybe so…"

When Akito nodded in agreement, Haruka fiercely glared at him. He spoke up to defend himself.

"What? You said it yourself."

"It's fine for me to say it, but don't you think it'd be annoying to hear it from someone else?"

"…I guess."

Faced with such a sound argument, Akito gave in.

Seeing them like this, Airi seemed to lose even more of her self-confidence.

"Haruka-chan… You're cute… You have a good sense of humour… and you're smart…"

"No no… At the very least, you shouldn't be saying that first bit."

Although Haruka was somewhat surprised, she still consoled Airi.

"There's no need for you girls to worry so much. There are far too many better targets among the guys."

Keisei also followed-up with words of reassurance.

"Yeah, the boys are the ones in real danger, so there's no reason to be so serious right now."

"Really, compared to the girls- Hey, isn't that Hirata-kun?"

Haruka's question sounded somewhat doubtful. The rest of us followed her line of sight.

Sure enough, there was Hirata, walking listlessly all by himself.

He was the type of guy who would always hold his head up high and never stopped smiling.

Now, however, it wouldn't be accurate to say he gave off a cheerful impression, not even as flattery.

"What did you expect? He's probably worried about the exam."

"Looks like it. Kinda like he's a totally different person."

The two of them worriedly watched as Hirata disappeared from view.

"He looks so distraught even though he doesn't have to worry about getting expelled. He's placing way too much of a burden on himself."

"Someone's going to be expelled. It's unavoidable."

It felt like, in some respects, they were looking at Hirata with pity in their eyes.

I received a text message as I listened to their conversation.

The sender didn't seem to be someone I'd be able to disregard.

"Sorry, I'm being asked to meet up with someone."

"Who by?"

This seemed to spurn Haruka's interest, as she shifted her gaze toward me with intrigue in her eyes.

Airi looked at me as well, eyes filled with anxiety.

"…Horikita. It's probably about the exam."

"Oh. Cool."

Haruka lost all interest after hearing the details.

She probably recalled Horikita's interaction with Ryūen not too long ago.

After seeing them off, I left the cafe.

2

The meeting spot was a rest area along the pathway to and from school, unsuitable for meeting up during lunch break.

Nobody liked coming out here around this time of year, especially during spring and autumn.

"Sorry for calling you out here."

"It's nothing. Sorry for making you wait in such terrible weather."

"Don't worry about it."

The person I was meeting with was Horikita.

However, it wasn't the younger Suzune, but rather the elder Manabu.

"…Greetings."

Tachibana bowed her head slightly.

Despite both of them having left the student council, Tachibana still continued to stay beside the elder Horikita.

It went without saying that their relationship seemed to go beyond that of a mere boss and subordinate.

Tachibana usually tended to be a little abrasive with me, but today she seemed somewhat reserved.

I wondered if it was because she had previously fallen into Nagumo's trap and had forced Class A to take action to prevent her expulsion.

"I hear a supplemental special exam has begun."

"News travels fast. Well, it'll be over soon enough."

"A few first-years have already come to consult the matter with us third-years. Though, there probably aren't any of us who'll be able to help in any meaningful way."

"As expected, there aren't any upperclassmen willing to lend out their private points?"

"It would be difficult. The same special exams are being carried out every year, but it's effectively on a set three-year rotation. This is in order to prevent currently enrolled students from leaking any exam information."

It was just as I had suspected, although it was fairly obvious.

"The special exam given to the third-years will probably be decided by the number of private points we have. We don't have enough to leave any behind for our underclassmen."

I see. This was probably the reason why Tachibana's complexion didn't look very good.

Because of her mistake, her class was forced to hand over 20 million points.

Her reaction was understandable considering that those points would have been important for overcoming their own special exam.

"I'm so sorry. If only I were more reliable…"

Driven by her guilty conscience, Tachibana proceeded to lower her head to the elder Horikita.

"You're doing something unnecessary."

"Ah, y-yes…"

He proceeded to scold her. I wondered how many times she had already apologized to him.

"Have you heard from your little sister?"

"Suzune isn't going to approach me."

"This special exam has been unprecedented. There needs to be someone willing to advise her."

In reality, Horikita was desperate. This was clear enough given her recent contact with Ryūen.

Instead of getting anything out of him, Ryūen had shut her down completely.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be fine for that someone to be you, Ayanokōji?"

"You're asking for the impossible. Horikita and I are far too different."

"So you're saying that she and I are similar?"

"At least more so than me."

"…"

There was a moment of silence before I spoke up again.

"She's expected to make the tough decisions from now on, whether she wants to or not. You're the only one who can guide her."

"Even if that's true, that's something she'll have to decide on her own."

He wasn't wrong. He shouldn't force his younger sister to come to a decision.

Everything would ultimately have to be judged and decided by Horikita Suzune herself.

"So, what exactly did you call me out here for?"

Having a deep, long conversation in this cold weather wasn't preferable for any of us.

Since he wasn't fond of talking about his younger sister, I thought I'd move on to another topic.

"It's about Nagumo. I wanted to know if you've noticed him make any unusual movements."

"Is that really something we had to talk about in person?"

"Actually, I'm the one who asked for it."

In an unexpected way, I found out the reason why this meeting had been arranged.

"I want to know why you've been acknowledged."

I could see traces of frustration in Tachibana's eyes.

Whatever the reason, the elder Horikita had accepted her request to set up a meeting with me here, so he was probably interested in helping her mature.

"I've been acknowledged? He's probably never thought of me as anything but disrespectful."

"I know that."

Hearing such a clear, decisive answer from her stung my heart a bit.

"Still… I've decided to try broadening my horizons at least a little. You may have potential worth recognizing that I'm just not able to see."

"What's your impression after meeting with Ayanokōji once again?"

"Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea."

"I thought you'd say that."

I found myself perplexed by their conversation.

Perhaps because of the strange, yet somewhat relaxing atmosphere, the elder Horikita let himself show a slight smile.

"It's a shame that we'll only know Ayanokōji's true value after we've already graduated."

"No, nothing will change, even after you two graduate."

"I think so too."

Tachibana gave her thoughts as well, agreeing with me.

They had called me out into such cold weather just for this.

Well, I suppose this was also a testament to how large the wound Tachibana has been carrying actually was.

I spoke up again.

"Nagumo hasn't shown any interest in me because of his obsession with you. If you want him dealt with, you might as well face him head-on, just this once."

This wasn't the type of request I should be making of a man about to graduate from Class A.

It was just that, one way or another, Nagumo would surely make his move.

No, it was entirely possible that he already has.

"…Nagumo-kun has been in close contact with the third-year's Class B recently. I think he's going to offer them his complete support, just like he did at the training camp."

For the sake of defeating his long-term rival, Nagumo may have offered to help demote Horikita Manabu and his class down to Class B.

"There's always something else. I just want to pass the time in peace."

"If you really want to do that moving forward, this problem with Nagumo… You can't afford to neglect it like this."

The elder Horikita was confident that something terrible was going to take place next year.

After Horikita Manabu takes his leave and there's no longer anyone he's obsessed with defeating, Nagumo would start to act violently, doing whatever he pleased.

That is to say, I would suffer greatly if I didn't take the necessary countermeasures by then.

"I'll do what I can."

I gave him this answer for the time being.

3

That evening, after I had gotten out of the shower, I checked my phone only to see that I had several missed calls from Kei.

It seemed to be something urgent, given that she had called nearly every other minute.

Having barely finished drying my hair, I began to dial her number to call her back, but I was met with yet another call from her, so I simply answered that instead.

"Hello?"

"Jeez, finally you pick up…!"

"You seem awfully panicked."

"No duh I'm panicked… Like, something absolutely terrible's happened Kiyotaka."

"Something terrible?"

"I have no idea who's behind it, but Kiyotaka… everyone's gonna vote you out of school."

"Is that so?"

"That… does that mean you already knew?"

"No, this is the first I've heard of it. Though, I was vaguely aware that somebody was being targeted."

The fact that this somebody was me was something I had only just now found out about.

"Why are you still so calm?"

"Do you know how many people are going to vote against me?"

"I dunno exactly… But, from the feel of it, it's prolly already around half the class. They kinda threatened that if anyone told you about it, that person would be the one getting expelled next time."

Since they were trying to drive me into a corner, it was only natural that there'd be a couple of threats getting tossed around.

I wondered if they had already managed to convince the majority of the class.

If they had, even with the praise votes from the Ayanokōji Group and the one I'd get from Kei, it would all still be just a drop in the bucket.

"Are you okay to tell me this, then? You could end up being targeted yourself."

Of course, that would only be if I went around telling everyone I had heard about it from Kei.

I didn't know who was behind it, but they had done a good job. Although the strategy of singling someone out and forcing their expulsion was, in and of itself, simple, gathering the votes needed to actually make it happen was not. After all, somebody who singles out a classmate would be seen as 'evil' by the people around them. If someone with a strong sense of justice or a close friend of the target was to find out about the plan, it'd be possible for the mastermind to be forced out of school instead. While there'd be resistance when it comes to judging a classmate, there'd be far less resistance when it comes to judging 'evil'. This was the exact reason why Haruka and Akito, who are both relatively sharp-tongued students in their own right, wouldn't take the initiative and nominate someone to expel during our group conversations. Ultimately, our entire group discussed the candidates and came to a joint decision about who to vote for moving forward.

The mastermind targeting me wasn't afraid of becoming a target themselves.

"You're gonna do something, right? Like, you can do something about it, right?"

"I wonder. It's troublesome if half the class is against me."

Even if I managed to gather ten praise votes, it wouldn't necessarily mean I'd be able to escape from such a tough situation.

The mastermind's group would obviously distribute their own praise votes amongst their friends.

I was facing a significant risk of being expelled.

"Thanks for letting me know this."

"It's no big deal or anything, but… For real, what're you gonna do?"

"What will I do? I'll have to think about it for a bit."

"You may seem perfect, but even you have flaws okay? If I wasn't here, isn't it totally possible you could've been expelled without noticing anything?"

"That's exactly why you're here."

"Oh. I see…"

It was exactly because I had someone capable of obtaining information out of my reach that I was able to find out about this expulsion crisis.

"I'll contact you again soon."

"Gotcha."

I ended the call.

While I wanted to talk a little bit about March 8th next week, I dropped the matter for now.

Before anything else, I needed to find out why I was being targeted.

"Well then…"

I grasped my phone tightly and slowly started racking my brain.

Who I chose to contact here would greatly influence my strategy moving forward.

Contacting the mastermind or one of their followers was simply not an option.

That being said, the situation wouldn't improve at all if I reached out to someone useless either.

"…In which case."

I promptly dialed a number directly from my contact list.

I decided that, first of all, I should finish what I needed to do.

After a while, the call connected.

"What is it?"

Answering the phone with his ever-unchanging tone of voice was Horikita Manabu.

"I need to talk to you about the supplemental exam. It's fairly important."

"Wait a moment."

I heard the sound of running water from the other end of the call and waited for around ten seconds.

"I was doing the dishes. I didn't want the noise to interfere over the speaker."

"Sorry for interrupting you."

"So, something bad has happened."

The elder Horikita and I had met up earlier in the day.

He probably understood that something bad had happened because I hadn't mentioned anything back then.

"Something happened in my class. A large group was formed and they've decided on who exactly they'll be trying to expel."

"Given the exam, the establishment of a large group is inevitable. Who's being targeted?"

Perhaps the face of his younger sister had come to mind.

"Me."

"That's not a funny joke."

"I'm not joking. More than half of my class has already agreed to vote against me."

"Oh?"

"I'm in a tough spot, so I thought I'd consult with you about it."

"Even you can't do anything about this exam? Is that what you're saying?"

"Put simply, yes."

Though, to be precise, I was talking to him because I was trying to do something.

"What do you want from me? When it comes to this exam of yours, I don't think there's anything I can do to help you."

"Well, there's only one thing I want from you."

I offered him a proposal. My path moving forward would depend on whether he accepted it or not.

"…I see. So that's what you want."

"As far as you're concerned, it shouldn't be a bad offer. You can use it as your reason."

"Indeed. I wouldn't have agreed if that were not the case."

"You also don't need to exert your authority as the former student council president, nor do anything to help me directly."

A capable student like the elder Horikita should be able to understand what I'm getting at, even without me explicitly stating my intentions.

"You were probably going to use this strategy of yours regardless of whether you got targeted or not."

"Yeah. I had planned on getting in touch with you anyway. I would've brought it up earlier today, but…"

"You didn't because Tachibana was there?"

Of course, I knew she wasn't the kind of student to go and let out a secret, but I refrained from saying anything, just in case.

"'I'm in a tough spot' you say. You aren't in a tough spot at all."

"That depends on tomorrow. Without your cooperation, I'd have been forced to change tactics, and you should be well aware that it's not beneficial for me to take center stage."

"…Alright. We'll act tomorrow."

"You've saved me a lot of trouble. I'll get in touch with you when I identify the mastermind."

I cut the call with the elder Horikita and plugged the charging cord into my cell phone.

"Now that I have that out of the way…"

It was a strategy I'd been planning on carrying out for this exam since it was first announced.

A necessary action to remove an unnecessary student.

However, in the case where I ended up becoming the target, it was vital that I raise the accuracy of said strategy. I decided to call Kushida next.

"Good evening, Ayanokōji-kun. I somehow thought I'd be getting a call from you today."

"I assume you have a grasp of the situation, then?"

"Yep. Looks like you're in quite the pinch."

As expected, the news that I had become an expulsion candidate had already reached Kushida's ears.

"Oh don't tell me that you wanted me to clue you in just because of our cooperative relationship, okay? If I leaked any information to you, I'd be the one being targeted next time, after all~"

Of course, this probably wasn't her real reason for not telling me.

"Who did you hear about it from? That you're being targeted."

Kushida's interests lay in finding out who told me I was being targeted.

"They were anonymous."

"Hmph. Then at least tell me one thing. What did this anonymous person tell you?"

What did they say, huh?

I stayed silent since I had no intention of answering that question.

"You're quite the smart one, aren't cha Ayanokōji-kun? You're probably thinking you should be careful to avoid saying anything important."

"Whatever you're getting at is going over my head. What do you want to know?"

"For example, did they tell you who the mastermind is? Or around how many votes there are against you?"

This meant Kushida wanted to know the finer details of what Kei had told me. If she told Kei that half the class had agreed to vote for me and told other students the number was one third, she'd be able to narrow down who had leaked the information.

"It seems we're both trying to read into each other's intentions."

"Could it be that you're the mastermind, Kushida?"

"Oh I wouldn't do something like that. I'll have you know that, in our class, I'm a symbol of complete neutrality and peace."

However, even if she wasn't the mastermind, she had to at least be close to them. I moved on.

"That's true. It wouldn't be surprising for you to target Horikita if you were the one behind all this."

"Ahaha, fair enough. You knew full well that it was risky to reach out to me like this, yet you went ahead and contacted me anyway. I know you're in quite the pickle, but… What do you want from me?"

"I want to know who the mastermind is."

"Even if you knew now, it wouldn't help you, would it?"

Kushida was the type to always adapt to the situation at hand, so it didn't seem hard to win her over to my side.

"Please tell me."

"You're quite upfront, aren't you Ayanokōji-kun? However, I can't just betray my friends… Heh."

Kushida let slip a little devilish laugh from the other end of the phone.

"No, it might be more accurate to say I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to."

"Meaning?"

"I regret to have to inform you this, but I'm the only one who knows who the mastermind is."

"…I see."

"Indeed. You seem to understand what this means."

The mastermind had selected Kushida as their primary confidant.

Then, with her help, they picked out people who had no connection to me and recruited them into the group.

Given the abundant amount of trust she had with the class, it would probably be difficult for them to turn her invitation down.

"If it's you, you'll be able to find out who it is sooner or later, right? So, even if I don't tell you now, it wouldn't make too much of a difference."

"No. It'll probably be difficult if I don't hear it from you. I'm guessing that this person also wants to try and stay hidden. Isn't that why they've gone and entrusted everything to you?"

"You sure do speak your mind, don't you?"

"That's because, knowing you, you'd probably manage to see through any plans I have if I didn't."

I had a hunch that my plan to find out about the mastermind would be a success if I went to Kushida.

Though, at the same time, it had also been a failure.

"I'm surprised you decided to participate in getting someone expelled from school."

"Well, kinda. I've been put into a rather difficult situation too, you know? If I turned them down, they'd think I wasn't willing to help, you know? I'd be troubled if a rumor was spread claiming I was being uncooperative, even though they're the one who reached out to me."

She was definitely in a situation that called for thorough consideration.

"Though, deciding to take action was also difficult. I don't want you to drop out Ayanokōji-kun, but I can't just betray the trust of a student who's asked for help. What's more, I think they've grabbed hold of this weakness of mine a little bit. If they have, it seems like I might get targeted if I do anything to betray them."

Perhaps someone like Kushida would be able to maintain neutrality until the very end.

But even so, I was bothered by the fact that she was deliberately cooperating with them.

One explanation was that she's going along with it to protect herself. If she tactlessly refused the mastermind's offer, there was a real possibility that she wouldn't have been allowed to join the group. Alternatively, there was also the possibility that she would be resented, suffering as a result. That being the case, it was better for her to be in a position of control within the group instead, even if it meant taking a bit of a risk. This explanation was valid enough.

The girl named Kushida personifies pride and self-importance. Despite that, she's worshipped and praised by others, preferring to rule over them. She was the type to feel delighted about people being inferior to her.

"So, do you understand the situation I'm in? I couldn't help you even if I wanted to."

If the mastermind's identity were to be exposed, the blame would end up falling on Kushida.

She was being manipulated brilliantly.

"In that case, I won't try to force anything out of you. Sorry for calling so late at night."

"Really? You're not gonna ask anything?"

"I don't want to trouble you. It doesn't seem like you'll be able to help at all this time."

"Do you really think you can figure out who the mastermind is without me?"

"No idea. I'm not confident I can."

I started backing off and showed a hint of weakness, enticing Kushida to take a few steps forward.

If she didn't take the bait, there was nothing I could do about it. Either way, the identity of the mastermind was completely unrelated to my strategy. The knowledge would simply make the steps I'd have to take a little easier.

"What to do…"

But, rather than backing off, Kushida came to a stop.

She had taken the bait of her own accord.

"Well, Ayanokōji-kun is my comrade. I suppose I'll tell you."

With that, I stopped backing off as well.

"…Why did you change your mind?"

"Because I want to see how you'll handle it, or something like that. That said, if any of this ends up falling back on me, I won't forgive you. Are we on the same page?"

"I'm capable of distinguishing who I should and shouldn't be making an enemy of."

As I said this, I had a feeling that there was a slight smile forming on the edges of her mouth.

"It's Yamauchi-kun."

She gave the tentative name of the mastermind.

It was 'tentative' because there wasn't enough evidence to determine whether he was or not.

"Yamauchi, huh?"

"You don't seem surprised."

"He's a reasonable expulsion candidate. It's not surprising that he'd take the initiative and make a move to protect himself."

"…Are you satisfied now?"

She asked inquisitively.

"Even after hearing this, there's still something I don't quite understand. I don't think you're stupid enough to be manipulated by someone like Yamauchi. I'm sure you could've successfully placated him and refused when he reached out to you. You're putting yourself at a lot of risk by covering up for him and acting as his mediator."

"Then, why didn't I just turn him down, I wonder?"

"Perhaps you found out that the real mastermind isn't Yamauchi, but the student backing him up from behind-the-scenes instead."

Kushida had seemed to be enjoying herself, but now her tone became serious.

"You knew."

"If I'm not mistaken, Sakayanagi approached Yamauchi not too long ago."

Just before the end-of-year exam, she had come and paid Yamauchi a visit. It had been quite the hot topic within Class C at the time.

I presented Kushida with convincing enough reason for why I knew this, my previous direct contact with Sakayanagi aside.

"It's surprising, but, yes, that's exactly what's going on. Sakayanagi-san from Class A seems to be the one supporting Yamauchi-kun. I'd like to avoid making an enemy out of her if at all possible."

"How do you know that Sakayanagi is the one supporting him? Did Yamauchi tell you?"

"No, Yamauchi-kun's been keeping it secret. But, you're aware of the breadth of my information network, right? I found out about it from somebody in Class A. That is, that Sakayanagi-san's manipulating him in order to try and do something to Class C."

Everything was unfolding all too perfectly. Given the situation, the fact that Yamauchi reached out to Kushida first was probably also a part of Sakayanagi's instructions. Within Class A, Hashimoto held suspicions about my relationship with Kei. It wouldn't have been hard for him to warn Sakayanagi if their goal was to establish a group without tipping me off.

In which case, Kei shouldn't have been invited into the group at all. I probably wouldn't have noticed I was being targeted until later on.

"Is it a coincidence that you're being targeted by Sakayanagi? Or is it intentional?"

"Who knows. I haven't interacted with her very much. Maybe she's just targeting someone who doesn't stand out."

"Well, that is possible. After all, other than Horikita-san, Sudō-kun, Satō-san, and your friends in that group of yours, there's probably not anybody willing to take the risk to tell you about your situation."

Despite all of this, it was unusual that the mastermind was Sakayanagi.

Why had she approached me and asked to postpone our face-off until the next special exam?

Did she really want to defeat me so badly that she was willing to break our agreement?

She had to be well aware that I'd refuse to compete against her during the next special exam if she started anything against me. Having Yamauchi gather censure votes against me was, without a doubt, a violation of our agreement. In other words, if I had to force some sort of meaning out of this, it would be that our agreement itself had been nothing but a lie.

Saying that our competition would be postponed until next time had just been a distraction from her trap.

No… From what I knew of Sakayanagi, she wasn't the type of person who'd be satisfied with winning that way.

In which case, what should I make of all this?

"You've been a great help, Kushida."

"Be careful how you conduct yourself and make sure not to get expelled!"

I ended the call and tossed my phone onto my bed.

"No matter what they've got in store for me, what I have to do still hasn't changed."

Now that I knew the identity of the mastermind, all I had to do was relay the information to the elder Horikita and get the ball rolling.