And the winner is…?

There were a few reasons for Ayano's actions.

First, unlike Masachika, Ayano was focused on the score, so she was quick to realize

that the questions' difficulty didn't match what she felt would be the general percentage of

correct answers. In addition, unlike most of the students there, Ayano had never watched a

trivia show before, so she never had the preconception that the general percentage usually

came from the game show surveying random people in advance before the show aired. Last

but not least, Ayano was both Yuki's and Masachika's maid, and she excelled at predicting

what they would do next.

"Lady Yuki…? Why did you choose me to be your running partner in the election?"

Ayano had asked Yuki this question after the student council gave their speeches at the

first semester's closing ceremony. It was a question she was even expecting would remove

her from the position, since she was well aware that her talents were mediocre compared to

the other candidates.

"You could easily find someone far more talented and popular than me. Wouldn't you

prefer that?"

She wasn't being modest. She was genuinely inquiring after carefully evaluating her

qualities. But in spite of the great courage and determination it took for Ayano to say that,

Yuki nonchalantly replied:

"Hmm? Yeah, I guessfrom a popularity standpoint, I could get more votes with someone

else as my partner…but that still wouldn't help me defeat my brother, would it?"

Her grin was fierce.

"There are only two people in this world who can easily read what my brother is

thinking: you and me. Nobody else even comes close, and that's why you would be not only

my perfect right-hand woman but also the greatest weapon against him."

That answer carved itself deep into Ayano's heart, and with those words, Ayano

immediately began to put everything she had into reading Masachika's mannerisms and

predicting his every movement the instant the trivia show began. She used the data she had

on hand to predict what Masachika would think and do, and she also used that information to

predict what conclusion he would come to as well. It was the same skill Ayano usually used

to help her master Masachika, which allowed her to be two steps ahead of him and stop him

in his tracks. As a result, she managed to successfully stop Masachika from contacting his

friends, thus preventing those friendsfrom manipulating the number of points Yuki could get.

"I just need to pick Yuki Suou first… Oh, it worked. Now, I just need to keep copying

Alisa Kujou's answers?"

"Yes, please."

"You got it! I told my classmates about the plan, and I think they're all going to help."

"Sorry, Kuze. It's nothing personal."

"Of course, a member of the student council would never use force on weak little girls

like us, right?"

The three female students wore fake smiles as they closed in on Masachika from each

side while Ayano continued to hold on tightly to his right arm.

"I do not want to hurt you, so please slide your phone back into your pocket."

"Hurt me…? What exactly do you plan on doing?"

He turned his frustration with himself into a vacant smile.

Even if it's four against one…do they really think they have a chance against me?

When Masachika coldly observed the girls surrounding him, his threatening gaze wiped

the smiles right off the faces of everyone but Ayano.

"If you do not do as I say…"

Ayano's expression did not change while she continued to stare him right in the eye.

"…I will kiss you."

"All right, all right. You win. My phone's going into my pocket."

He immediately slid his phone back into his pocket, then raised both hands in defeat.

Ayano then forced him to turn back around and face the stage.

"Please do not try anything funny."

"Yes, ma'am," Masachika obediently agreed, his hands still in the air. Of course, he

wasn't really planning on giving up. In fact, he was already coming up with a scheme to

counter their attack based on an idea he got from their exchange a moment ago.

All right, that should do it… I hope. Now, the question is: How am I going to relay this

information to Alya?

He organized his thoughts while staring hard at Alisa on the stage, but of course, she

didn't notice.

At that time…

"That does it for round four. Now, let's check our contestants' scores. First, we have

Ms. Suou with 570 points! And we have Ms. Kujou somewhat behind with 492 points! Ms.

Suou is still in the lead!"

The gap's not getting any smaller…and there are only eleven questions left…

If their scores last round were actually compared, Alisa outperformed Yuki by one

correct answer, but it didn't close the gap in their score at all.

At this rate, I'm going to need to answer three (?) questions correctly if I want to take

the lead…but that's not going to help me if she gets every answer right, too…

Panic was slowly twisting Alisa's stomach.

…! What am I doing?! I can't waste my time thinking about this! I need to focus on the

problems in front of me first!

She tried to devote her full attention to the questions before her after that, but each one

was so difficult that mental fatigue was starting to take its toll.

"Now, the time has come…for round five! Your next topic will be…riddles!"

Riddles…? That sounds exhausting…

A series of numbers suddenly appeared on the screen. It was almost eerie how often your

gut was right when it was something negative.

"Find the missing number in the sequence: 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, __, 2, 2, 2, 1. Is it 1, 2,

3, or 4? Timer starts now!"

Uh… First, you need to count all the numbers with puzzles like this! One, two… There

are twelve numbers total! Is it something that there's twelve of? Like twelve months? That's

it! Is it the old lunar calendar?! Mutsuki, Kisaragi… No! That's not it! Then does it have to

do with English? No, it has to be simpler than that. It's something there are twelve of… The

zodiacs! It's the syllables of the Japanese names for the zodiacs!

She began to name the Japanese zodiacs in her head.

Horse is uma… Sheep is hitsuji… It's three syllables, so the answer is three!

At the very last second, Alisa punched in her number and was almost immediately

informed that she got the answer correct…but so did Yuki, meaning that nothing had

changed. The panic was only getting worse.

I can't do this… Focus… I have to focus.

An image of the word failure was almost crystal clear in her mind, so she shook her head

and squeezed her eyes shut to erase the thought. However, the moment she opened her eyes,

the next question was already displayed on her tablet.

"Question number two! How many stars are on the sign near the entrance—?"

"Help."

All thought froze the instant she heard that voice coming from her side, but when she

shifted her gaze in the direction of the voice, she saw Yuki faintly smirking while raising

her right hand.

"The timer starts now!"

Right as the host's voice dragged Alisa back to reality, she returned her gaze to the

question…

"What?" she grunted in a daze before lifting her head and peering into the distance. Near

the entrance of the venue was a sign describing this attraction, but Alisa had no idea how

many stars were on the board. There was no way she would, since you could only see the

back side of the sign from the stage.

"Time's up!"

The merciless voice of the host sent her eyes back to the tablet in a fluster, but all the

answers were already grayed out, unable to be selected.

"Giggle. Only one person may phone a friend per question, yes?"

Although overcome with mute astonishment, Alisa could still hear her rival's laughter,

and when she turned to her side, Yuki was smiling at her as if she had already won the game.

"The moment I heard this rule, I knew there was going to be at least one question where

you had to phone a friend."

She relentlessly rubbed salt into Alisa's wound. Her smile—her eyes were conveying a

single fact, prompting Alisa to think back to what she had said a few minutes ago.

"Perhaps you only plan on phoning a friend if I do so first?"

That question she asked me during the break… She was trying to bait me into telling her

when I planned on phoning a friend…

In her naïveté, Alisa answered her honestly, oblivious to Yuki's true intentions, and told

her that she wasn't planning to phone a friend.

She's had me in the palm of her hand ever since then…

Suddenly, she felt a sting in her eyes.

"Now, Ms. Suou, are you ready for your ten seconds?"

"Yes."

Out of the corner of Alisa's blurry vision, she saw the host pick up Yuki's smartphone,

tap the screen, then put Ayano on speaker.

"There are seven stars, Lady Yuki. The answer is number three."

"Thank you, Ayano."

There was no way Yuki got the answer wrong, because Ayano was standing right in

front of the sign while on the phone. After sweetly thanking her partner, Yuki quietly tapped

her answer on the tablet, and of course, the result was unsurprising.

"Correct! Furthermore, only twenty-six percent of people got the answer right, which

gives you a total of seventy-four points!"

"What…?"

That would put her at a 152-point lead…?

The numbers dragged Alisa into despair, and her vision blurred. There was no way to

win now. There was no way to make a comeback with only nine questionsleft. Besides, Alisa

had been nothing more than a pawn on a board being manipulated by Yuki every step of the

way. Struggling now wouldn't change that…

"On to question three!"

The host read the next question aloud, but Alisa couldn't hear him. Her brain couldn't

process the question on the screen that her eyes were supposedly locked on, either. Her

thoughts were plagued with hopelessness and resignation, which completely prevented her

brain from functioning. All she could do was wait for the timer to run out. That is, until a

certain word tickled her ear.

"Help!"

It was the loud declaration from her partner in the distance.

Great… Everyone's staring at me. Then again, who wouldn't after that?

Every eye in the venue speedily gathered around Masachika the instant he raised his

right hand high into the air and yelled. Not only the students standing but also the ones sitting

in their metal folding chair turned to look at him. Even the girls standing around him seemed

startled…but it made sense when you considered they weren't expecting him to just randomly

scream like that.

Regardless, this isn't against the rules.

Masachika got the idea from listening to Yuki talk about the phone-a-friend rule. In

addition, he clearly remembered the host saying:

"Each candidate pair is allowed to 'phone a friend' one time. One pair being Ms. Suou

and Ayano Kimishima, with the other pair being Ms. Kujou and Masachika Kuze. I know it's

self-explanatory, but 'phoning a friend' means they are allowed to ask their partner for help.

Therefore, if you ever want to phone a friend, you need to raise your hand and say, 'Help.'

After that, you are allowed to talk to your partner on the phone for ten seconds tops."

He never said anything about the contestant being the one who has to make the call!

His eyes, which were quietly locked on the host, made his intentions clear, and although

the host needed a few moments to gather his thoughts, he eventually replied:

"Well, uh… It sounds like Ms. Kujou's partner would like to phone a friend. Of course,

there is no rule stating that the contestant must be the one who makes the announcement, so

it's absolutely no problem at all. Now, uh… It appears that Ms. Suou has finished answering,

so let us begin. Mr. Kuze, please call Ms. Kujou's smartphone for us, will you?"

Masachika waved back at the host while he whispered to Ayano to let him go.

"You heard him. This isn't against the game's rules. Obviously, you wouldn't want to

do anything to make Yuki look bad in front of all these students, right? You'd ruin the game

and hurt Yuki's reputation along with it."

Ayano shuddered, and her gaze wavered with bewilderment. The other three seemed to

be unsure of what to do as well as they waited for their leader to reply. But before Ayano

could even answer, Masachika quickly called Alisa on his phone.

"There he is! Ms. Kujou, are you ready? You only have ten seconds once I answer this

phone," mentioned the host with Alisa's phone in hand, but she was sluggish to react, as if

she were mentally not all there. Masachika could feel her puzzled gaze, so he confidently

looked straight back into her eyes.

Don't worry. You didn't mess up. Your pride and your stubbornness weren't all for

nothing. We would have never had this opportunity if you had used your phone-a-friend

lifeline earlier.

And that was why Masachika already knew exactly what he was going to say. He wasn't

going to do anything that would hurt his proud partner's drive for greatness, and he wasn't

going to use these ten seconds to give her a hint to answer the trivia question before her.

"Your ten seconds start…now!"

The host tapped the answer button on Alisa's phone, connecting them. What Masachika

needed to give her in these ten seconds was…

"Alya! From this question on, wait until the last second before you punch your answer

in!"

…a strategy to overcome the enemy's scheme…and the encouragement she needed to

go on!

"You deserve to become the student council president, Alya! I promise you that! And

that's why you can't give up!"

The ten seconds were over. Other than a select few, most of the audience exchanged

bewildered glances, as if they couldn't comprehend how that was supposed to help Alisa

answer the question, but their questions would almost immediately be answered.

"Interesting…"

The voice came from the stage. It was Alisa's…rival's voice.

"I thought something was strange after the previous question…but it all makes sense

now."

After her long introductory remark, all eyes shifted from Masachika to Yuki, who

surveyed the audience briefly, then asked in a deciding voice:

"Can everyone in the audience see our answers?"

The commotion that erupted in the audience was all the proof she needed. She calmly

smiled and added:

"The general percentage of correct answers is being calculated from your answers in real

time. That would explain why the percentage is given after the correct answer is announced,

and it would also explain how the previous question had so many wrong answers.

Furthermore, it probably goes without saying that the previous question would have not even

worked unless you were here with us at this venue." Yuki giggled and explained the hidden

rule of this game while a great deal of people in the audience who hadn't realized it listened

attentively to her in astonishment and excitement.

"In other words, each member of this audience has the power to manipulate the outcome

and decide how many points each of us deserves. I can now see what the host meant when he

said there would be elementsrelated to the election. What an interesting rule," she exclaimed,

glancing at the host. She then stood out of her chair, placed a hand on her chest, and suggested

with the utmost sincerity:

"However, I want to beat Alya fair and square. Therefore, while I really appreciate that

some of you may try to manipulate the scores in order to help me, I ask that you please stop.

I do not need any help. All I ask is that you believe in me and quietly watch over our match."

Yuki's wish to fight one-on-one evoked a gasp of admiration among the crowd.

Countless people at that moment were spellbound by what appeared to be a noble-minded

gesture…but Masachika scowled.

Tsk! She's good. She's real good. Anyone who was planning on manipulating the score

to hurt Alya lost their chance the moment I called her and gave her that advice, so what does

Yuki do? She exposes the entire system and needlessly tells people to not cheat, which makes

her seem both confidently capable of winning and noble-minded. Looks like she was trying

to win back those who were charmed by Alya's passionate speech during their break.

Her scheme seemed to work perfectly. Those who were hoping to see Alisa make a

comeback now seemed to be only excited to see the best woman win.

"I would like to ask everyone who is playing to not look at our answers and only answer

based on what you think. Would that be possible?"

Yuki's innocent, adorable request had everyone nodding before covering part of their

smartphone's screen with their finger, a handkerchief, or anything else they could get their

hands on. It was a clear display of neutrality. In the span of one minute, Yuki had managed

to convince an entire crowd to follow her and change the rules.

"Ngh…! Uh… Do you think we could continue?"

"Yes, of course. I apologize for the interruption," replied Yuki with a bow to the host

before gracefully settling herself back into her seat. The host forced himself to smile back

and replied:

"It is no problem at all. Now, Ms. Kujou, are you ready to answer? Your ten seconds

starts now!"

Alisa was given another ten seconds to answer after her call had ended, and even though

Masachika didn't give her a single clue that she could use to answer this question…she was

confident in her answer nonetheless. After taking two seconds to choose her answer, she

calmly said:

"Thank you, Masachika."

Her gratefulness could be heard throughout the entire venue while the radiant sparkles

returned to her azure eyes. Masachika knew the moment she gazed into his eyes that she had

awakened from her trance.

"I would like to thank you as well, Yuki, for wanting to do the right thing. Now I can

beat you fair and square."

"Giggle. You took the words right out of my mouth."

Their competitive gazes locked, which excited the crowd even more.

"The correct answer was…number four! Good job, contestants! You both got it right!"

Their aggressiveness and unwillingness to back down had the audience cheering even

more loudly. Everyone had completely forgotten that the host had warned them to be silent

during the show, but being quiet had already lost all meaning, regardless.

"Relax, Ayano. I'm not scheming anything anymore." Masachika shrugged and glanced

to his side at Ayano, who seemed shaken.

"The rest is in Alya's hands. And you just need to believe in Yuki."

He looked away from his unsure childhood friend and focused on what was happening

onstage. After all, he wasn't lying, so there was no need for him to do anything else. He had

already done everything he could and said everything he needed to say.

Even now, people Ayano had contacted to help Yuki win were gathering at the venue, but

nothing they did would benefit Yuki anymore. If anything, Masachika was ready to welcome

them.

"That does it for round five! We have six questions left, but before we continue, let's

look at the scores. Ms. Suou has…776 points! And for Ms. Kujou…680 points! Although

Ms. Suou is still in the lead by almost a hundred points, the following questions are the most

difficult ones yet, so they will most likely be worth a lot of points. In other words, Ms. Kujou

still has a chance to make a comeback! Anyway, is everyone ready for round six? Your final

topic is…brain teasers!"

The host ended up being right. Multiple questions were worth sixty or more points, but

after a while, both Yuki and Alisa started making mistakes. Nevertheless, Alisa still didn't

give up and succeeded in getting three of the questions right, as opposed to Yuki, who only

got two, bringing Alisa one step closer to taking the lead.

"Incredible! What a close game thisisturning out to be! Now that round six is over, there

is only one more question left in this thrilling battle! The current scores are…Ms. Suou, 904

points! Ms. Kujou, 880 points! There is only a measly twenty-four-point difference between

them now!"

The audience was on the edge of their seats, attentively watching the extremely close

game, but in the midst of their peak excitement was Masachika, breathing a sigh of relief.

"That's Alya for you. Incredible."

Ayano watched him quizzically as he put his phone away and clapped softly.

"Isn't it a little too early to start celebrating? Lady Yuki is still in the lead."

It was a reasonable question, but Masachika replied with the utmost confidence:

"No, it's over. Alya already won."

Masachika glanced to his side, noticing that Ayano had returned his conviction with a

baffled stare, so he added:

"You've never seen one of these trivia shows before, right? On one hand, that was how

you managed to realize before anyone else that the percentage of correct answers was being

calculated from the audience's answers in real time. On the other hand…it's also why you

aren't familiar with the cliché showdowns in the end."

"Cliché showdowns?"

"Yeah, most of the older, well-known ones always make the last showdown a question

that's worth enough points so that the losing contestant can make a big comeback."

Ayano briefly wavered, but she immediately looked straight back into Masachika's eyes

and replied, undaunted:

"A comeback won't be possible when Lady Yuki answers the last question correctly.

I believe in her."

"Believing in her isn't going to help because with all these friends you invited, the last

question is going to be worth over twenty-four points."

"…? How does that change what I said?"

But Masachika didn't reply as his eyes shifted back to the stage, prompting Ayano to

face forward to look at the stage as well. Originally, the scoring system greatly benefited

whoever had the most people in the audience on their side. All you had to do was figure

out how the system worked, then you could abuse it. Put simply, it wasn't fair. Therefore,

it would only be right for the person who had fewer people on their side to get a chance to

score a ton of points. But what if that one opportunity was the last question of the game? And

what would that question even be? A hint to what it could be was already out there and had

been there before the trivia show even began.

"Who do you think is a better fit for student council president?"

Yuki probably would have been able to figure it out if she knew this question existed.

But it was too late for her. Their approval rating had already been set in stone.

"Now, let us move on to the final question! Ta-daa!"

The host held out his hand toward the monitor in an exaggerated manner as the final

question was displayed on the screen.

"Do you believe you have what it takes to become student council president?! Yes or

no?! Your timer starts…now!"

It was such a bizarre final question that it created a commotion among the crowd, but

when Alisa swiftly looked up in surprise, Masachika peered right into her eyes, then faintly

yet firmly nodded.

To victory, Alya

"К Победе, Аля!"

But obviously, there was no way she could hear those soft words of his. Alisa smiled

in a somewhat troubled manner but seemed genuinely happy as she placed a finger on the

tablet's screen.

"Time's up! Both of our contestants have answered! But first, let's discuss how the final

question is scored!"

Everyone's eyes were locked on the host while he spread his arms out wide to the

audience.

"As you all know, each one of you in the audience was asked in the very beginning

who they thought was better suited to become the next student council president: Ms. Suou

or Ms. Kujou. Put simply, the survey's answers' percentages—your approval ratings—will

influence your scores! In other words, the number of points for a correct answer differs

between contestants!"

The moment Yuki heard that, her lips curled into a wry smirk like she had figured it all

out. She then shot her brother a meaningful glance as if to say, "You little punk."

"Sorry, Yuki," muttered Masachika, grinning right back at her.

"The correct answer for the final question is obviously yes. Someone who isn't confident

that they can be student council president doesn't have any right to claim any points! And

whichever contestant got the answer right will receive their points using the formula one

hundred minus approval rating equals points!"

In other words, this was essentially an act of charity to help out the contestant with

fewer supporters. It was a special rule to make a major comeback possible, since the fewer

supporters you had, the more points you got. After the host revealed the truth behind the

entire project, he moved on to announce the contestants' scores.

"Both of our contestants answered yes! So after calculating their approval rating, our

contestants' scores come out to be—"