Classroom of the elite second year volume 5 (volume 16)

After I became a teacher... No, even before I became a teacher, I've had this matter that I couldn't tell anyone.

It was a certain nightmare that kept on repeating itself.

The unforgettable events of that day repeatedly played out in my dreams.

These unpredictable nightmares distort every time they hit me. My perspective, other people's perspectives, dialogue, and actions.

All of these aspects change every time. But there was always one thing that stayed the same. No matter how many times it played out, the ending was always the same.

...During that time, our Class B had no fear. Our momentum overwhelmed the other classes, and Class A was well within our reach.

But of course, the path was not a smooth one. Before we became 3rd years, the number of students in our class decreased by 6.

Nevertheless, after becoming 3rd years, we continued to accumulate class points without losing anybody.

I was convinced that we would not lose anybody else and graduate together in Class A. Until that day, that time-.

It was the end of the third semester, with final exams approaching. This was the last chance for us to overtake Class A. Our homeroom teacher showed up with a serious expression, announcing that a new special exam was coming.

We did not fear this special exam in the slightest. The rules were simple and straightforward, and we predicted that we could easily pass.

However, that optimistic attitude lasted only until that motion was raised.

The scene switches, and I am currently screaming at the top of my lungs in my class. My best friend, Chie, approaches me with an angry expression on her face, grabbing me by my collar.

A miserable wail.

The class, which had been united as one, fell apart instantly.

"Forget it," he mumbled this with an expression of abandonment and resignation.

But I could not make up my mind. I could never come to that understanding.

For 3 years, he was a friend with whom I shared both sorrow and joy, someone who wasn't an insignificant presence to me. An irreplaceable classmate, an irreplaceable friend. Irreplaceable- Someone of the opposite sex, someone important to me.

Although he was somewhat frivolous, he was earnest and gentle, more reliable than anybody else. He showed me an expression that I had never seen before.

As if a bit shy, he extended his hand towards me underneath the evening sky.

I held back my tears that were about to flow and said.

"Please take care of me..."

The relationship between the two of us came to an end at the same time as it began.

-------------------

Intro

The summer break has ended, and the second semester of our 2nd year started today. Considering the 3 years of school we will have in total, this was undoubtedly a time of transition. I tied my tie and slipped my arm through my sleeve. I looked in the mirror, fixed my hair, and ensured my appearance was fine before leaving. On my way out, I bumped into Sudou, yawning heavily, and greeted him as we walked out of the dormitory together.

"Suzune warned me that the 2nd-semester exams might come earlier, so I ended up pulling an all-nighter."

"Were you seriously studying on the last day of summer?"

"Thank god she's already helped me work out an academic program for my needs. Even I can obtain high scores on the exams and maintain a B or higher in my Academic ability in the OAA."

A B or higher in Academic ability was a bit far. But that being said, maybe it wasn't that far from reality.

I wouldn't be surprised if his academics improved even more if he really had been studying hard during the summer. He had developed into a person who was in tune with the idiom, "Brains and brawn".

The minor behavioral issues, like tardiness and sleeping in class had also been decreasing drastically.

Although there were still times where he showed his hot-headedness, it was just one of Sudou's characteristics.

"This is a strange question, but do you think Ike and Shinohara have kissed yet?"

"Eh?"

"I'll give him props for getting a girlfriend. But if he's too much ahead of me, I can't say I'm too pleased. I feel like there's a sort of barrier between us lately because of this."

"Can't you just ask him yourself? It's Ike; he'll definitely tell you."

"...How can I ask him something like that. If they haven't held hands yet, then that's fine, but if I hear from him that they've gone further than that... Let's just say that my right hand will get a bit restless."

So that was the situation. That itch might cause big problems.

"If something that makes him happy happens to Ike, he'll blurt it out at the first opportunity. Since that didn't happen yet, doesn't that mean they haven't progressed to that stage yet?"

"True. But you never know, he's a man in love. I don't know myself, because I don't have any experience. By the way, have you ever had a girlfriend before, Ayanokouji? ...What does it feel like?"

Shifting from Ike, the subject of the conversation changed into something I didn't expect.

As if asking, "what does it feel like", Sudou's intense, trusting eyes were impossible to ignore.

"There's no point in lying, so I'll tell you. I've had a girlfriend, my first, for some time now."

"...Really? Are you serious?"

Even if I avoided the question here, the news would soon spread from Kei's side, so hiding it wasn't the best idea.

After answering honestly, Sudou held his head and sighed.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders urgently.

"Is, is it is it is it is it is it her!?"

"Calm down. It's not who you think it is."

"Really!? I, I can trust that it isn't Suzune, right?"

"Yeah. It's not her."

"I, I see. It's all good then... I thought for a moment there, my heart almost stopped..."

As if he was sweating, Sudou wiped his forehead roughly with his left hand.

To express his anxiety, he showed me the sweat on his palm.

"Who is it then?"

"It's-"

"Ah! Found you!"

Sudou had just regained his composure, as the sound of footsteps came up from behind him. After those footsteps caught up with us, an angry face looked up at me.

"I wanted to ask you to walk with me to class, but I didn't know you left already!"

Kei puffed out her cheeks to show her displeasure.

"No, I didn't know we were going together."

"That's... Well, it's because I was too nervous..."

Sudou looked at us with a surprised expression as we suddenly started to talk to each other strangely.

"Stop squeezing in, Karuizawa. We're having a very important conversation between men, so don't interrupt."

He didn't seem to notice anything off about the contents of our conversation.

He just seemed to be puzzled by her sudden appearance here.

Come to think of it, these two people didn't interact much in the past.

Their relationship was neither good nor bad... No, if I had to say, it was bad.

"Kei, are you planning to reveal our relationship today?"

"Eh? Yeah, yeah. I was considering the timing... It feels wrong to announce as soon as school starts... It's actually unexpectedly hard to reveal it. Announcing with 'Hey everyone, listen up~' doesn't feel quite right either."

"You announced it quickly with Yosuke, though."

"That, that's one thing. The situation is completely different."

"Hey, hey, what are you guys... On... About... Eh!?"

Sudou was a bit slow, but considering I referred to her by her first name, and with him keeping up with our conversation, he stopped walking with a stunned look on his face.

"What... Eh, hey, what's going on here, Ayanokouji?"

Nonetheless, it was still uncertain whether that combination of clues was enough for him to establish a connection. But in a sense, it might be a good thing that Sudou was the first person in our class to learn about our relationship.

"We're dating."

Kei smiled and elbowed me a few times.

She was probably happy that I said it aloud.

"Ha...ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!? You, you're kidding!?"

Surprised, Sudou reacted even more exaggeratedly than I would have guessed, as he loudly yelled.

Although there weren't any students in our class around us, other students who didn't know the situation turned their faces to see what was going on."

"Too loud."

"So, sorry. But, no, eh!? Wh, why is it Karuizawa?"

"What do you mean? Is there anything wrong with me?"

"No, it's... it's not nothing, but... Eh...?"

Sudou, who was expressing his confusion due to this surprise, shook his head, as if he couldn't accept it.

"What's wrong? Would you rather me go out with Horikita?"

"I would never agree with that! ... No, it's not that... Wait."

Sudou grabbed my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

"It's not nice but... Karuizawa's dated Hirata, and also fooled around during her middle school years or something, right? Don't you feel dissatisfied, or uncomfortable? Your first girlfriend being like that, isn't that too high of a difficulty?"

That was the impression of Karuizawa Kei that my classmates had.

In fact, that was exactly what I thought of her before I found out about her past.

"What are you guys whispering about?"

"No, nothing."

Sudou slinked away under her glare. I guess he felt bad for basically bad-mouthing her.

"Ayanokouji and Karuizawa dating...? Nah, I can't wrap my head around it. My head's all cleared from the drowsiness now. What an unbelievable start to the 2nd semester..." I heard him say.

---

We arrived at school, passing by other 3rd years coming to school from their dormitories, but Sudou didn't seem to notice any of them, even though they were still staring at me, just like on the cruise.

Although these stares have followed me throughout the summer whenever I went out, I still hadn't completely gotten used to them yet. Being watched brought such a strong sense of oppression and suppression. As long as these stares continued, this feeling would subsist.

Kei soon got into a big conversation with the girls about the summer, and Sudou started gossiping with Ike and Hondou, his close friends. I, too, chatted casually with the members of the Ayanokouji group as we waited for the bell.

Chabashira arrived soon after, and said something similar to what she said in the 1st semester.

"In this 2nd semester, there will be several large events awaiting you. The first of these will be the sports festival, like the one that was held last year. That'll probably act as October's physical ability exam. Though the rules will be different from last year's, the skills required will stay the same."

This strong emphasis on physical abilities mentioned by Chabashira meant that this upcoming challenge could be a source of anxiety for the students who were only good with academics. Such students, like my close friends Keisei and Airi, listened to these words with a worried expression, naturally. These new rules would also be of great concern.

"In November, we'll hold our first cultural festival ever at Advanced Nurturing High School. The details of this will be announced at another time as with the sports festival, but planning will start in September."

The month of September would primarily be spent preparing for the sports festival. PE class time will increase by a few hours every week.

There would also be an hour a week to discuss the cultural festival. It seemed that official preparation would start after the sports festival ended in October, and then it would officially start in November.

In addition, although it wasn't clear whether it would be a special exam or not, our school trip would also start soon.

"In addition to this, midterms and finals will also occur in between these events."

Basically, this 2nd semester would inevitably be busy.

"I'll explain the sports festival in more depth later, and start with the cultural festival."

Even though the sports festival came first, Chabashira started to detail the cultural festival first.

"There'll be a lot of guests at the cultural festival. You'll have to compete with all the other classes in all years for total sales at the festival. You can hold however many events you want, but there's a budget. Please refer to the screen for more details."

Cultural Festival Summary

-The number of private points that each 2nd year class can use to prepare for the festival is 5,000 points per person. These funds can be used freely.

(5500 points for 1st years, 4500 points for 3rd years)

-Additional funds are available in exchange for social contributions through voluntary work in student councils, etc., and contributions from active participation in club activities, etc.

(Details will be reiterated in each class when they are finalized)

-Unused funds will be taken away in order to prevent initial costs and additional funds from being reflected in final sales.

-Classes in 1st-4th place will receive 100 class points

-Classes in 5th-8th place will receive 50 class points

-Classes in 9th through 12th place will not have a change in class points.

This meant that many classes would be rewarded, with no penalty for classes that finish in the lower ranks. 8th or above would be a good result. As for the rules, they seemed straightforward, with nothing confusing. It was also simple and clear now why the details of the cultural festival were made public ahead of the sports festival. If you didn't know the rules beforehand, preparation was impossible. As for the sports festival, you could develop a strategy simply by improving your physical ability.

"It, it seems like your typical cultural festival."

Shinohara seemed to be kind of relieved, but I could understand why she felt that way.

There was no risk of losing class points, or expulsion. However, we were so deeply affected by how this school worked that we would subconsciously wonder if there might be more to it.

"In addition, it's important that you make sure you occupy the right area in the event space. For example, if you want to set up a store near the main entrance, where visitors are sure to pass, you're going to have to pay the school for the area."

Receiving new information, all the students, myself included, watched the screen.

The screen showed a map and list of "places where you could set up a stall" marked with a code combining the place name and numbers. The location closest to the main gate, mentioned by Chabashira, was marked with "Main Gate 1," and the venue fee was 10,000 points. Some places far from the main gate, where guests wouldn't often pass, seemed to be free. The budget was about 200,000 points, without considering additional funds. 10,000 points were definitely not cheap.

But there was no doubt that this was a first-class location that would expect to see a lot of customers.

"Your choice of location may overlap with other classes and grades, but each location can only be used by one class. If there's an overlap, there will be an auctioning process, where the class with the highest bid will get the right to use that space."

In other words, if you were forced to pay a large number of points to secure a good location, your budget for the event would be drastically reduced. From now on, there were about 2 months to consider how best to use the limited budget to maximize efficiency.

"What events each class puts on, and where they will set up stalls will not be made public until the day of the cultural festival. There will be no leaks from the school, but you'll still have to be careful of potential leaks from students. Be prepared to be attacked mercilessly if information is leaked."

Even the perfect event was planned, there was a possibility that the other classes would copy, or target you.

"During the planning process, the need for something might pop up at any time. If you need something that isn't available at the event site, you may apply to gain permission to bring it from the outside. You are free to use the budget in any way you like, as long as it is within the bounds of the rules."

Some aspects seemed to need a more detailed investigation, including this one.

"Above is the description and rules for the cultural festival. Preparation and setup will occur after the sports festival, but from today onwards, please use your own time to negotiate what events you want to hold, and how you will allocate your budget.

The more time allocated to planning the cultural festival, the more meticulous the plan would be.

----

After classes ended, most students stayed in the classroom, with the rest going to club activities.

This was, of course, for the first discussions for the cultural festival in November.

Some of my classmates should have had experience with cultural festivals during their middle school years.

I didn't have much information to share, so I'll just listen along, as usual.

"First off, let's make a quick list of what events we can hold."

Yousuke, who gained permission to use the classroom's display, began typing things in.

"Speaking of cultural festivals, it's usually all about food, haunted houses, and that sort of thing."

Food, haunted houses, mazes, cafes, live performances, plays, etc. These obvious choices were listed one after another.

"The event will be held from 10:00am to 3:00pm. If we do something related to food, I bet the adult guests will visit it more. However, our competition in this area would also increase..."

"And we've got to juggle a budget. It's going to be more expensive than something like a haunted house or a maze with just a one time controlled cost."

Apparently, musical equipment and other things like that could be rented for a fee, but that type of equipment was limited so it was first come, first served. And there was also the question of how many students had profit-making skills.

"We have 39 students in our class. That means our current budget at the moment is 195,000 points. That's not a very large amount. Even with all this talk about doing something related to food, we can't easily confirm that decision now."

"I have a proposal. May I?"

"I'm very open to suggestions, Horikita-san."

"As Hirata-kun said, we have quite a limited budget for this cultural festival. But there are a lot of things that can't be fully understood just by theorizing about them. Suppose we open a takoyaki stall; what ingredients, skills, and other things are necessary? In that case, shouldn't we decide on a plan first and then experiment a little more using our private points?"

Many students agreed and understood this proposal.

Indeed, it was important to try out what we wanted to do, whether it was food-related or something else like a theatre performance.

Of course, there was a risk for us to pay out of our pockets, but if we could earn those points back later as class points, that could be considered a necessary investment.

"But... Well, I'm not saying that this is a bad proposal, but there will be some people who will just be passive and refuse to contribute if they have to pay out of their own pockets, right?"

Matsushita was afraid that there would be students who wouldn't contribute to the cultural festival preparation at all.

"Ignore them. I don't want to waste time that could be used for proposals and planning. Though, we can't let those who want to contribute down. If you think it's a good idea, you can actively vouch for it. And if the idea is chosen, those people will be rewarded. How is that?"

"Well, that's a good idea. It's a good idea to give back to those people who contribute."

"We can discuss the details of the rewards later, but let's say we get 100 class points from the cultural festival. The class will gain 390,000 extra points each month in total. We'll distribute these to the proposers as rewards. Everyone should be fine with this format."

Suppose that we held 5 events. That would be 78,000 points per person. If the number of proposers and collaborators were so much that there would be no profit after dividing up the amount, we could divide up the points from the next couple months as well. This way, students who actively participated in the cultural festival could benefit, and students who didn't would eventually gain from this as well. Most importantly, with the potential increase in class points, nobody would argue against this plan.

"Moreover, to prevent our ideas from being stolen by other classes, we have to shield our information completely. Please keep in mind to be very careful in what you say around school, your dorms, and at Keyaki mall."

Keep everything completely secret. This was extremely important during these next two months of preparation.

Discussions continued on, starting with a proposal to Horikita or Yousuke to conduct an event.

Then, if there was a possibility of formally adopting the proposal, we moved to conduct further discussions.

--

For about 2 weeks after that, our school life went on as usual.

Preparations for the cultural festival and sports festival occurred simultaneously, while also refining our academics. I can safely say that every day was valuable time spent, no different from a regular school. Surprisingly, our relationship didn't seem to spread from Sudou, and there was no sign of any new people knowing about this.

Then in mid-September, after school on the Wednesday of the 3rd week. Sitting in the back row, I caught sight of an unexpected someone who approached Horikita, who was sitting in the center of the front row.

"Hey, Horikita-san. Can I take up some of your time later, if you're available?"

That person who just spoke to Horikita with a little hesitation was Satou. One of those girls who hadn't really crossed paths with her.

"I have to go to the student council in an hour, but as long as I don't miss that, it's alright. What's wrong?"

Although she didn't show any surprise, I didn't think that Satou had initiated many conversations with Horikita. After getting a surprise reply, Satou's voice lowered a little, and she continued to speak.

"I've been thinking a lot about events for the cultural festival... You said that we can tell you if we've got any ideas, right?"

"Yes. I'd very much welcome any suggestions..."

"Well, let me explain. I have an idea for an event that will allow us to win this cultural festival."

Although Satou appeared confident, Horikita wasn't easily impressed.

This was natural; after all, in these past 10 days, many students have already approached Horikita with suggestions.

If your ideas were adopted, you would be rewarded. As such, both male and female students have repeatedly approached Horikita with suggestions.

The suggestions ranged from the typical, to some novel ones. However, the common denominator was that Horikita did not accept event suggestions that were merely just a name. On the day she made it clear that the proposers would be rewarded, Hondou immediately suggested selling fried chicken as they were delicious. But Horikita rejected it, on the grounds that it needed an actual plan, so she did not consider the plan at all. Hondou didn't give up, and the next day, submitted a plan for making fried chicken, but it was only a recipe from the internet on how to make it, and a lot of talk about how well it would sell, and how delicious it would be.

After reading that low-quality plan, Horikita once again emphasized the importance of the plan proposal. If you wanted to set up a fried chicken store, you needed to consider the location, the manpower required, the prices, the number of potential customers and the justification for it. Horikita said that she would only accept proposals that addressed all those areas.

After that, I thought that the number of people who would make hasty proposals to Horikita would decrease. To my surprise, even more came with increasingly sophisticated plans to present.

A few proposals even made it onto Horikita's shortlist for further discussion.

However, those proposals all lacked something conclusive, so they weren't ready to be officially adopted.

"So, have you prepared a proposal?"

"Ah, yeah. 'Course I'm prepared... But it's a little inconvenient here. Can you give me a little time later, if that's okay?"

"Really? So be it then. Where shall we meet?"

"Let's see, let's meet at the empty classroom in the special building in 30 minutes. I've already gotten permission from the teacher."

"Empty classroom?"

Satou whispered "thanks, see you then" to Horikita, who was a bit surprised, and then turned around, meeting my watchful eyes, and quickly came over.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun. Do you have time later as well?"

"Me? I've got nothing special going on."

"You heard what I just said, right? Can you come with Horikita-san in 30 minutes as well?"

"Why do I have to come too?"

"It's a secret for now. You'll find out when you come over."

Satou's face was just as confident as her tone towards Horikita earlier.

"Then I'll be waiting for you two!"

Satou, who had taken out her phone to check the time, rushed out of the classroom.

"What's up with her? She looks confident, though."

"Maybe she did come up with a big idea for an event."

"Even so, did she need to call us out like this?"

I didn't know what her real intentions were, but that would be revealed in 30 minutes.

Horikita and I spent some time in the classroom, and then left for the special building.

Since we were going to the same place anyway, I walked with Horikita to the special building.

When we arrived at the door of the classroom, I saw Maezono there for some reason.

"Oh, I was in charge of guarding the place. I didn't think anyone would come to the special building after school, but better safe than sorry."

"Guarding? ... You're more secretive than I would expect."

Although the idea was to keep any ideas of the events secret until the day of the cultural festival, Horikita was still a little surprised to see a guard.

I was the same. Not only did they request the teacher to make use of a classroom in the special building, but they also arranged for someone to stand guard to prevent a 3rd party's intervention. To prevent anybody from looking inside, they even covered up the window cracks.

"So, can I take a look inside?"

"Ah, wait a minute. We're in simulation mode from now on, so Horikita-san, Ayankouji-kun; Please experience this from the perspective of a customer."

"I see. Alright, compared to reading a low-quality proposal, this way certainly makes it easier."

Seeing such a rigorous procedure, Horikita's expectations had to be raised.

Whether or not this would actually be adopted is another question, but at least it was clear that they were making a serious effort to win this cultural festival. So, from Horikita's perspective, this was already something to be happy about.

Horikita and I slowly opened the door, after reconfirming that nobody was around us.

The first thing that came into view was an unexpected array of bright colors.

The classroom, originally bland and monotonous, had been transformed, and brightened up with decorations.

"This is..."

"Welcome～. This is Maimai, the maid cafe!"

The three girls greeted us at once, each dressed in their own unique costumes.

Satou, who called us out here, and Matsushita, who was by her side, were both wearing maid outfits.

Mii-chan, who seemed embarrassed, her eyes darting all over the place, was wearing a Chinese-style outfit.

By the way, although classrooms usually used monitors, it seemed that the special building, which was used less frequently, still had a blackboard. The name of the cafe was written on it.

After being directed to a seat, I was handed a handwritten menu.

"What would you like? Master."

"Wait. Can I ask you a question before I place an order?"

"Hmm? What?"

"This took a lot of time and money to prepare, right?"

Indeed, if you were asked if all this could be prepared within a day, it would be pretty difficult. You might be able to get the decorations done, but there were also the costumes to consider.

"Matsushita-san, how much time did you spend on this?"

"It took around 4 days to prepare. The cost was surprisingly reasonable, I'd say. We used a total of 13,200 points. Us three in here, and Maezono-san split the cost, which came out to be 3,300 points per person. We rented out 3 sets of outfits, and bought origami paper and pens for decorations at the store. It's our tableware, so we didn't use any points on that."

So that was the reason for the mismatched tableware. Though, since we were still in the proposal review stage, this wasn't a problem against them. In fact, it was impressive, seeing the amount of effort that went into preparation, all the while keeping cost to a minimum.

"In terms of impact, it's perfect. It's better than any proposal for an event I've seen so far. But-"

Horikita praised the project, calling it impeccable in terms of appeal. She, however, wasn't someone who would make a rash decision to approve of the proposal just because of that.

"The most crucial component, the budget. Is it done? I'd like to see the process in detail."

In response, Satou turned her eyes to Mii-chan, unpanicked.

"I've put together as much of the plan as possible."

Mii-chan took out a transparent folder from her bag, and gave it to Horikita. She probably wrote it out herself, with 3 detailed sheets of paper covered in beautiful script. Although the costumes were rented, they were chosen from 3 different companies at different price points. Comparisons were made separately for price and quality, as well as the variety for each category. The differences in cost between cheaper and more expensive tableware to be used on the day had also been examined. The minimum number of manpower, as well as how many visitors that would bring, etc, had all been considered.

"It's a cut above anything I've seen yet. This is great."

As Horikita showered them with praise, Satou and Matsushita poked Mii-chan in the side, as if to tell her that she had been complimented. But Mii-chan, shy as ever, lowered her head, as if she was nodding gently.

So far, I would give Satou's proposal a perfect score.

But-.

"It's an interesting event. It may not be unique, but I can see its potential if done well. But there are some issues. The rental fee is 4,000 points per costume set. If you rent 10 sets, as planned, you'll need 40,000 points. In addition, the cost of preparing the food and drinks is around 50,000. That alone adds up to 90,000 points... The decorations will cost 5,000 points, and adding the venue fee onto that... This definitely isn't an event we can be stingy about."

Even if we didn't have to pay wages to secure staffing, we would still have to spend nearly half of the entire class's budget on this one event.

"Well, that's true... But I think we can afford to raise prices, though!"

On the menu that Satou and the girls have created, a cup of black tea was 800 points. This pricing was higher than that of the cafe at Keyaki mall. Of course, this price could be lowered depending on the situation in the future, but they seemed to think that it would still sell at this price.

Horikita looked serious, as she flipped back and forth through the 3 page proposal.

But the outfits of Satou and the others was something out of a fairy tale, so there was a sort of unrealistic and incongruous, yet wonderful, atmosphere about it.

Soon, Horikita seemed to have reached a conclusion, and raised her head.

"Let me confirm once more. This project... Nobody else has seen it, I presume?"

"Yes, there's no doubt about it."

Matsushita said confidently. Satou and Mii-chan echoed her words.

"That's good. I'll handle this maid cafe proposal accordingly. Could you please refine the plan more, and include a cost-cutting section?"

"Really? That's great!"

The three of them high-fived each other excitedly.

"It's a bit early to celebrate. Don't forget, this has just made the future discussion stage."

Even though she said that, it would be a big reward to get a promise from Horikita saying that she'd handle it accordingly.

As Horikita and I stepped out into the hallway, Maezono, who was in charge of guarding the place, waved at us happily.

She probably heard what had been said in the classroom.

"You actually bought into the idea. I didn't expect you to say that you'd handle it accordingly."

"If I didn't think it could win, I just wouldn't have endorsed it. You know, most proposals brought to me I rejected on the spot. At best, I've set aside one or two. That's how powerful their idea is."

A maid cafe project wasn't that unusual.

But, it seemed like Horikita went out of her way to help them because she found a way to best utilize the strengths of our class to appeal to potential customers.

"You mean we have an advantage, even if the other classes do the same thing with maid cafes?"

"Yeah. You don't agree?"

"No, I do."

Even if we opened a lousy food stall, we would still have to compete with several others. On the other hand, even if there were one or two other maid cafes, we might have the upper hand with our strengths as a class. Even apart from those 3 girls in the costumes from just now, there were even more powerful talents hidden in our class.

"So. To make sure their plan is carried out accordingly, you'll have to help out."

"Help out? You mean, you want me to cosplay?"

"What are you talking about? If we're going to do it, we need to give it our all. So it's necessary to assign you to something that would maximize your talents, right? That's something I think you should do, as a guy."

"No... Well, I understand where you are coming from... But there are more suitable candidates."

"Yes. I think Ike-kun and Hondou-kun might be more discerning with this sort of thing. But if I tell them, they might leak it. Their mouths aren't tight enough."

"...That I can't deny."

Those students wouldn't intentionally reveal information, but they could do it by accident.

"I don't hope to have more people in the know about this. You understand, right?"

"So that's the case."

I was called here by Satou because I was unlucky, and this was now my fate.

"So first of all, I'll leave you to recruit people. Of course, you can tell them what it's about, but don't forget that you have to strictly maintain this secret. If this ever leaks out, the plan will be cancelled."

So this was how important it was to protect our secrets.

"By the way... adding onto this, I want the number of people that you tell to be kept to a minimum. Can I leave it all to you? We'll determine the official budget later, so I'm counting on you for everything, from recruitment, management and total expenditure."

"Wait, wait wait. You're really throwing all this at me all at once. You're seriously going to leave it all to me alone?"

"We're not going to do only one event for this festival. We will open up several stalls, to balance up the genders, as well as talents. Trying to increase sales with a lower budget is also pretty hard, so I'd rather focus on that."

As much as I wanted her to focus her attention on that, I still wondered why she handed this all to me.

"I will assume that you accepted this position, yes?"

Although I didn't recall showing any signs of acceptance, she still came to a decision without a word.

"I can't believe you really got me to agree to this..."

Getting me to run the perfect maid cafe. Was that even possible? I wasn't confident.

Satou, Matsushita, and Mii-chan were already decided upon... But how many others should I get to be servers?

Although there was still a lot of time, it seemed to be necessary to decide on this soon.

"Then I'll go to the student council room now. See you later."

"Ah, alright..."

I saw Chabashira as I was walking across the special building on my way back after taking this headache-inducing responsibility. It didn't seem like this was a coincidence, since we were here.

"Did you go see Satou and the others? I heard about the event proposal. They probably wanted to show you something. It sounds like a good idea."

"That's true. Satou and the others will have to confirm that the event meets the application requirements before they can start preparing."

It would be bad if they didn't get permission for this after seriously preparing for it.

"I'm also curious about it, so I'm going to check it out. What's the situation?"

"Horikita is positive about the idea. She probably thinks that it's got a chance. They're consolidating the details now."

"Really? If so, I don't think there's a need for me to check it out."

"I'm getting involved in it though, so it's a bit of a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Horikita ordered me to become the manager for that event."

"You? That's really..."

Chabashira, who was looking at me with both sympathetic, and pitying eyes, laughed as though something was funny.

"It's a good thing. Horikita has made a very interesting move."

"Though, I feel as if someone like Ike or the Professor would be much more suitable for the role."

Although I was going to run a maid cafe, I didn't know anything about it.

"That may be true, in terms of the understanding of Otaku culture. But sales are more important in a cultural festival. Even if those two can improve the quality of the event itself, they wouldn't be able to do thorough calculations on those benefits. That's why it makes sense to ask you to manage. If it's necessary, ask them for their opinions, and that may be able to solve your problems."

Easy for her to say. In order to be able to learn from other people's advice, I had to have a bare minimum of understanding myself. If I didn't know anything, I couldn't guarantee that I would arrive at the right answer, even with other people's advice. Besides, it would be hard for me to point out any areas of concern.

"You better come to an understanding that you now have the opportunity to learn other things besides schoolwork. Mr. Maid Cafe Manager."

"...Sure."

I was about to go back, but Chabashira called me from behind.

"Ayanokouji... Can I have a bit of your time later?"

"Later? When is that?"

"I'll send you a message soon. Is that fine?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll clear my schedule out, if I have anything planned."

I could have refused, but after sensing the seriousness in Chabashira's eyes, I agreed.

The next morning I was appointed as the manager of a maid cafe.

Seeing the stiff expression on the face of chabashira sensei as she entered the classroom, many of the students immediately noticed something strange.

However, this time, unlike usual, the word "special exam" probably didn't come to mind first. I think the main reason for this was that I thought the next exam was the sports festival. And after that, there will be a cultural festival.

"Before the sports festival in October, you will have to take a new special exam." The students seemed a little upset. Last year at this time, they were already working on the sports festival and there were no other special exams, but this year was different.

"Just when we've gotten through the tough desert island exam, the next special exam is already here..."

This is also becoming a regular occurrence, but I can hear Ike's frustration coming out as he opened his mouth before anyone else.

For Ike, who overcame the test on a deserted island and became lovers with Shinohara, it must have been a difficult time ahead. No matter how much you get to know each other and grow closer, depending on the special

exam, sudden expulsion could happen.

There is no doubt that students with low overall performance by OAA are especially at risk. "Heck, that's what I want. Let's get through the special exam safely before we go all out at the Sports festival."

Sudo, who has absolute confidence in his athleticism, fists said excitedly.

"We shouldn't be getting carried away."

"....Oh." Instantly, Horikita's advice made Sudo shut up.

What a good master-servant relationship is developing, or rather, a friendship.

"If I admit it honestly, there are few cases of special exams being held at this time of year. In fact, there are no special exams for freshmen or seniors."

"Does that mean we second-year students are the only ones who have to take a special exam before the sports festival?"

Sato, who was leaning her back against the chair, asks as she leans forward.

Chabashira sensei nodded without any denial.

"It's because you second-year students are so good that the school is giving you the recognition you deserve."

"What? Isn't... a special exam because they're evaluating us? Isn't that crazy?"

"Indeed, special exams come with risks that you should be wary of. Some students may lose class points, private points, or even be expelled. However, on the other hand, I can say that it has given me many opportunities to have a more fulfilling school life. The more special exams you take, the more chances you have to get promoted to Class A, which I consider the most important."

It is true that if you want to earn large class points, it is extremely difficult to earn them in your normal daily life. If anything, it's more about how to keep your class points during periods when special exams are not being held. Whether it is a desert island exam or something else, only when a special exam is held will you have a chance to move up to a higher class.

"Happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. The risk is the benefit, isn't it?"

Horikita Imly takes the position, close to Chabashira sensei.

"That's what I'm talking about."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. We're definitely closing in on Class A now. We have a chance to break out of the three-way tie for B class and below, and we're already there."

The more opportunities you have once, the better. That is the common understanding of all of us as we work our way up.

"That's true, And complaining isn't going to get rid of the special exams."

Horikita's words made Sato and the rest of her classmates look convinced.

Even though it is still a work in progress, Horikita's growth to become a pillar of support seems to be having a definite positive effect on her classmates. Inwardly, I think Chabashira sensei is also happy, but she doesn't show it on her face. She's never been one to show her sweet side, but this time I feel like she is showing it more than ever.

"You'll be taking what we call the 'unanimous special exam'."

The monitor lights up and the explanation begins with the video that is becoming a tradition.

"This special exam is very simple, hence I will be taking questions from you if you are curious about anything at any time. The special exam will be held tomorrow, and as you can probably guess from the name, it will consist of a series of multiple-choice polls that you will have to repeat in class until you reach a unanimous decision."

"Tomorrow?... That's very sudden."

There was no time to prepare. Of course, there is no advantage or disadvantage because it is an equal competition, but the class, which had almost settled down, started to buzz again.

"As I said before, this special exam is simple, there's no need to spend a lot of time discussing it beforehand, and the school doesn't see any problem in holding it tomorrow."

Repeat the vote in class until it is unanimous.

Listening to that alone, I certainly don't see the complexity of the content.

"So you're not fighting another class this time, are you?"

Most importantly, Yosuke demanded an immediate answer on that point.

"Yes. This is a special exam that is completed only within this class, so you will not be competing with rival classes. On the day of the exam, the school will give you five 'tasks' to complete. The content of the tasks is the same for all classes, so there is no differentiation."

If the content of the task is different, the difficulty level will change for each class, so it is natural.

"I'm going to give you an example to help you understand."

Example: You lose 5 class points, but all your classmates gain 10,000 private points.

You can choose to oppose it or accept this.

The task was displayed on the monitor. The content was simple and easy to understand as shown.

"Hmm? What is this? Let's see. You lose 5 class points, but you get 10,000 private points instead. This is a challenge? Is this a gain? Is it a loss?"

Shinohara said aloud, folding her fingers and trying to calculate the loss in her head.

It was no wonder that many unexpected questions came to mind.

Even though it was an example, I was expecting it to be more of a choice that I had to worry about.

You get 100 private points for each class point.

So the value of 5 class points is 500 private points.

If you think about it in an instant, the latter private point is by far the more.

However, the class points themselves will continue to have value.

In a month, five class points is only 500 private points, but over the course of a year, even just five class points can be worth 6,000 private points.

Considering the remaining time until graduation, there are only 18 opportunities left to receive private points, from October of sophomore year to March of junior year. In other words, the value of a class point can be thought of as 9000 private points.

You can either get 10,000 Private Points immediately or you can carve your way to graduation and get a total of 9,000 Private Points. The former is slightly more profitable in terms of private points alone.

But it's not that simple.

If I had lost five class points here and lost A class by that margin, I would have made the worst possible choice, and I would look back on the past that way.

Of course, the odds of five points being the difference between winning and losing would not be that high. If this is the case, it may well be better to get 10,000 private points.

Whichever point of view you take, there are ultimately advantages and disadvantages.

"In response to this challenge, thirty-nine people, completely anonymous, will choose from the options presented to them and vote. So let's give it a try. I'm sure there are many students who have questions, but I'd like them to try it out without any discussion time first. Vote yes or no on your tablets."

When Chabashira sensei started operating the tablet, the screens of the students in the class, including me, switched.

The tablet showed the content of the assignment, and we could push for or against it. It was the most unusual special exam ever. I'll give it some serious thought first.

Private points that have no direct effect on class points. It is simply an advantage that if you vote yes, all your classmates will get 10,000 points. However, if you vote yes, you lose only 5 class points, but still 5 points.

In this case, we need to think about how we think in terms of human nature.

It's not a question of whether it's better to gain 10,000 private points or not lose 5 class points, but the other way around. It's about which choice will save you from regret.

I decided to press "yes" to see what the result would be.

I decided that it was not a good idea to be unanimous the first time.

Soon after, the voting was complete, and Chabashira sensei looked up from the tablet in her hand.

"Okay, now that everyone has voted, I'd like to display the

With that said, the results are displayed on the monitor.

results as soon as possible."

• Results of the first round of voting: 3 in favor, 36 opposed.

I knew that there would be more opposition, but by a larger margin than I imagined.

"Oh, you know what? You'll get more with 10,000 private points than you would with 5 class points, right? Did I do the math wrong? Why is it so much the other way around?"

Ike, who seems to have voted yes, asks curiously, looking around at his classmates.

"Surely speaking only of the size of private points, it is better to get 10,000 points. However, class points are essential to achieve A class.If the difference is only a thousand points, then why bother reducing those precious class points?"

Here is a theoretical explanation of why Horikita, who seems to have voted against it, voted for it.

"In the unlikely event that a difference of five class points separates the winner from the loser, I won't be able to stop regretting it."

As I thought, many students are naturally worried about the "just in case" risk.

It would also be important to remember that another three classes would be taking on the same challenge. If the three classes choose class points and make them unanimous in their opposition, then only this class will be one step backward.

Of course, it would be a different story if I could make use of the 10,000 private points I gained.

"I know you all have your own opinions, but let's hear them out. The vote was overwhelmingly against, with 36 votes, but it was not unanimous, so this would have to be redone. There will be a fixed ten-minute interval before the next vote. During this time, we are allowed to talk freely, sometimes leaving our seats and exchanging opinions as we do now, but for now we will skip this. Let the voting begin again."

The purpose of this test is to make it unanimous.

If the vote is not unanimous, it will be invalidated and a 10-minute interval will be enforced.

Even if the opinions are quickly agreed upon, that's a lot of time lost.

It is safe to assume that due to the way this special exam is structured, there will probably be a time limit set.

If the disagreement continues, there is a possibility that the time is up...

So, the second vote, the action to be taken is to vote no, not to think too hard.

If we pitch it the other way, we can bring it to unanimity.

That's why I decided to vote for "yes" even in the second

vote.

I thought this would give my classmates a better understanding of this special exam.

Results of the second round of voting: 2 in favor, 37 opposed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."

"Sorry, that's me, Sudo-kun. I tried to avoid being unanimous. It seems that there were others who had the same idea as me, but..."

He didn't look at me, but I think he might have been referring to me.

"Here are the results of the second round of voting. We're almost deadlocked on opposition, but there are still two more votes in favor. In this case, there will be another interval and voting will resume in 10 minutes. The test is to get a unanimous vote of 39 in favor or 39 against. Of course, whatever is selected in this choice will actually be passed. In this case, if the vote is 39 in favor, you will all receive 10,000 private points, but you will lose 5 class points. On the other hand, if there are 39 votes against, the issue will be null and will have no effect whatsoever."

This means that the challenge will end without anyone gaining or losing

any points.

"It's not unanimous, but to save time we'll move on to the next example."

Example - (Text Shown on Screen) -

• Give 1,000,000 private points to one person in the class.

• (If the vote is unanimous in favor, identify and vote on the student who will receive the point.)

• For and Against

"I know you're probably thinking of the example, but in the exam, private conversations before the first vote are forbidden. That means we need to genuinely face the assignment first and then vote."

So it is before the second vote that we can read the assignment and discuss what we thought about it.

Results of the first round of voting: 39 in favor, 0 opposed.

Even if only one out of 39 people gets private points, there is almost no reason to choose the latter. Even if you are disappointed that you don't get it, it will be difficult to achieve unanimity in opposition.

"The first step is to get a unanimous vote of approval and disapproval, as in the first example.If the vote is against, the issue is closed, but if the vote is unanimous in favor, the issue is not closed but moved one step further. After an interval, You can discuss who you would like to recommend. The tablet will display the names of all the classmates except you."

The tablet's screen was forcibly switched, and sure enough, names other than my own were lined up. However, the order is not even in alphabetical order, but rather in an irregular sequence that includes both boys and girls.

"To ensure anonymity, the student's name will be switched each time they vote, as are the choices for and against, which are also randomly switched. This is to prevent people from snooping on the students next to them and guessing which one they voted for based on the position of their fingers."

Chabashira sensei continues to explain the rules further, telling us that we will never be able to see what others are voting.

"Once the discussion is underway, each of you can vote at your leisure, simply by tapping on the student you wish to nominate. During the interval, you can repeatedly change the student you want to nominate. At the end of the 10 minutes, the student with the majority of votes in this class will be recognized as the specific student. Let's say Ike was chosen by a large number of nominations."

"Oh, me? Yeah." "

"Ike will temporarily lose his right to vote, and the other 38 will cast their votes."

A student with a majority is naturally close to unanimous. I guess that's how recommendations work.

A new vote on the issue is taken one step further, and we vote.

Example: Give 1 million private points to Kanji Ike.

• For and Against

Results of the second round of voting: 0 in favor, 38 opposed.

"What? Why didn't anyone vote for me?"

"No, I'm not gonna give you a million private points."

Sudo spoke for everyone in the class when he said what they were probably thinking.

"If the vote is unanimous in favor of not giving the points to ike, it is passed that 'no points will be awarded to ike,' but that only removes ike from the list of challenges, leaving the whereabouts of the one million points up in the air. However, this only means that Ike is removed from the list and the whereabouts of the one million points are up in the air. So, the remaining 38 students are selected again and the assignment is continued. However, if no one could be unanimously selected by the time the time isup, the test would fail. In addition, the one million points will not be given to anyone, so be careful."

"What! Does this mean that my chances of getting one are now zero?"

"That's what I'm talking about, although I wouldn't have been crossed off the list if there had been even one yes vote left. You can also ask for candidates. If you can get votes during the interval, you will be accepted as a specific student on a first-come, first-served basis. However, only one candidate per assignment will be accepted."

"So what happens if we don't get a majority of the votes for a particular student in ten or if there are no candidates? I'm sure you can think of a few cases like that."

minutes,

"In that case, you will be randomly selected from within your class to cast your vote."

They don't wait for time or an assignment, they seem to be forced to start voting on someone.

"If we have to choose between individuals, we might as well waste our time."

That's right. It's like having more options for the number of people in your class.

However, I don't think it would be easy to decide on a randomly selected student.

"Let's keep our heads up, people. This special exam may turn out to be harder than we thought..."

It is not always the case that the problems will be solved if we discuss them. There is a good chance that you will be forced to make a choice that you will never be able to compromise on.

No, otherwise it wouldn't make sense as a special exam.

"I'll give you one more example at the end. This time, we'll have you work through it in a real-world setting."

Example: A decision has been made to build an additional facility in a Keyaki mall. Which of the following would you prefer?

• (The facility with the most votes will be adopted based on the results of the four classes' voting)

Restaurants Grocery stores Entertainment places Medical facilities

Unlike the previous examples, the method will be changed to choose from four options instead of for and against. I thought it would just be a yes or no vote, but apparently that's not the case.

It seems that the choices made here will actually be carried out, but if this were not an example, would it really mean that the facility will be built?

"When an issue is approved, it is actually approved. However, there is a special way to do this for assignments that affect the whole. When an assignment is presented in this way, the unanimous choice is simply the one chosen by the class. If this class is unanimous in choosing a restaurant, but the other three classes are unanimous in choosing an entertainment facility, then the entertainment facility that received three votes is added to the list and the decision is made."

Perhaps they all understood what Chabashira sensei meant. There are two types of challenges: those that are immediately actionable and those that are presented only as a class vote. Either way, it seems that careful discussion will be required to lead to unanimity.

Since private conversations are not allowed before the first vote, I choose my options intuitively.

• Results of the first round of voting •Restaurants 20 votes

• Grocery stores 4 votes Entertainment facilities 15 votes

• Medical facilities 0 votes .

"Since the vote was not unanimous, we will have a ten-minute interval."

Here comes the first interval time.

A ten-minute countdown began on the monitor behind the podium. This would continue until the time ran out and the next voting time would come forcibly.

The students were free to leave their seats and formulate their opinions as they wished, whether they spoke loudly or whispered to someone in particular. I observed my surroundings and waited to see how things went. Ten minutes passed with no one giving any particular instructions, just chatting as they pleased.

"Just before the end of the interval, you will return to your seats and prepare to vote. The maximum time allowed for voting is 60 seconds. If everyone finishes voting promptly, we will move on to announcing the results without waiting for the time limit." "

Unlike the mandatory 10-minute interval, it seems that voting time can be shortened with some ingenuity.

"Students who do not complete their votes within 60 seconds will be penalized for overtime. Individuals will have 90 seconds throughout the exam, and any student who allows a total of 90 seconds to elapse before completing the five tasks will have their time reduced to zero and will be expelled."

This is the school's way of tying you up in order to make sure you vote. If there is a student who does not want to vote, he or she will be expelled from the school.

Even if you did the delay action every time you voted, no student would bother to do that because if you don't finish the vote in 58 or 59 seconds, you will lose precious time that you have.

Here comes the results of the second voting

. Second round of voting results: Restaurants 23 votes Grocery stores 2 votes Entertainment facilities 14 votes Medical facilities 0 votes.

Since there was no talk of a consensus of opinion, the result was the same as the first time.

Unless it's a blatant issue, it's not easy to bring it to unanimity on the first vote.

And after unifying the opinions, it is not so difficult to get 39 votes for a particular option. But that's only if they are all expected issues.

Depending on the content, there will be some things that will require considerable discussion.

"This is the end of the example, but you get the idea. In order to pass this special exam, you must unanimously complete five assignments in five hours. If you are unable to complete all of the tasks within the five hours, a very heavy penalty awaits you. The penalty is minus 300 class points."

"Well, three hundred!"

So it's a special test that's an absolute requirement to clear.

"But if you can finish it in time, you get 50 class points."

The rewards and penalties may seem unbalanced, but they are reasonable in terms of the difficulty of the exam.

"There's no need to panic, we don't have to fight with anyone this time, we just have to be unified in our opinions. We can do the voting over and over again, with an interval, if time permits."

"You should now have a general idea of what this special test is about. This is a summary of the rules. Those of you who feel the need to save it can capture the screen yourself and leave it behind."

Outline of the Special Examination

Rule Description

All classmates vote on the choices provided in response to an assignment given by the school.

• (There are a total of 5 tasks and a maximum of 4 choices to be repeated.

• Unless one of the choices is unanimous, the same issue will

• If the time runs out in the middle of an assignment, it will not be approved at all, regardless of the progress of the assignment.

• Unanimously cleared assignments are actually approved, regardless of the success or failure of the special exam.

• If you complete all the tasks, you will get 50 class points.

• If you fail to complete all tasks within 5 hours, you will lose 300 class points.

.

Special Exam Working -

(1) You will be given an assignment and you will cast your first vote (within 60 seconds).

(2) If there is unanimous agreement, move on to the next task and go to (1). If not, go to (3). (3) 10-minute interval (During this interval, students can move and discuss freely within the classroom only)

(4) 60-second voting time (Cannot discuss, can only vote)

(Students who do not complete their voting within 60 seconds will receive a cumulative penalty.)

(If the accumulated penalty exceeds 90 seconds, the student will be expelled at that stage.)

(5)If the results are unanimous, proceed to the next task and go to .

If unanimous agreement is not reached, return to (3).

Repeat the process, and the special exam will be cleared when you have completed the five questions. If you fail by any chance, you will be penalized. Losing 300 class points here could mean losing your ticket to Class A. I don't think this is an exaggeration.

If three classes were to clear, that would open up

a 350-point gap to all classes.

We can talk about it as many times as we want, but I think the point is that it's a completely anonymous vote where you can't know who voted for whom.

You could vote yes, but claim to have voted no.

"We teachers don't even know what kind of assignments will be given. Some of you may be optimistic, but I advise you to stay alert.In addition, it is strictly forbidden to make any agreements with other students to bind them to vote for a particular option. In addition to that, exchanging money to bind someone's choice is also out of the question. This will have the same effect not only on your class but also on other classes."

Does that mean that forcing people to bind their choices is not acceptable?

Although it is permissible to unite to some extent and consolidate the votes, but the guarantee cannot be backed up.

If there is a contract that says you can only vote for option 1, there is a risk that the test will not be valid because there is only one person who has signed a contract to only vote for option 1.

That alone would allow for a vicious attack against other classes.

"The school will monitor the rules thoroughly. If it is found that a third party outside of the class was involved, and that they are able to continue to make one-sided choices, all parties involved may be expelled without mercy. Be prepared for this. I also promise that if anyone is approached about any wrongdoing, they should immediately report it to the school and we will do our best to resolve it."

If time runs out on the special exam, which is a prerequisite for clearing the exam, then the school will definitely conduct an investigation.

Even if you bring up a made up story, you will probably take a strong penalty, so even Ryuen and the others will not show any clear movement.

Until the start of the special exam, it would be best to refrain from getting involved with students from other classes.

"In addition, this special test will temporarily disable the effectiveness of Protection Points. -

Continuation

"In addition, in this special exam, the protection points will be temporarily disabled. The reason for this is that it will be impossible to have a fair special exam if there is only one student who is protected. If a student with a Protection Point is pelled in any way, the Protection Point cannot be used to reverse the expulsion. However, the expulsion can be avoided only if the individual or the entire class pays 20 million Private Points."

This class does not have that many private points at the moment.

Which means that any student who is expelled will certainly be Expelled.

Does this mean that the protection points that can override expulsion once are sometimes restricted?

If it was a special test against another class, the temporary invalidation of the protection points could cause dissatisfaction. But in this case, it's only an in-class issue.

In that sense, it's not surprising that this special rule applies.

It was inevitable that there would be some grumbling, but Koenji didn't seem to mind.

"In addition, all communication devices such as cell phones will be collected during the special test. This is because in this exam you are not allowed to talk to anyone outside of class. In the unlikely event that you are found to be carrying a concealed device, we will no longer need to discuss the details."

This also means that expulsion is involved, just like any other rule to follow.

When the lunch break came, Yosuke quickly got out of his seat and headed for the podium.

"Before lunch. I think I'd like to hear what everyone has to say. What do you think?"

When he asked this question to all classmates, Kushida raised her hand to answer.

"You know, this special exam means that there will be conflicts over the different options, right?"

"Of course. There's no need to go through the trouble of a special exam if we can come to an agreement without any trouble."

"Well, then, wouldn't it be better to have a clear leader in place in case we can't come to a consensus on our options? I'm sure that if we follow the choices that the leader eventually makes, we'll pass the special exam without any problems."

"That's right. I agree with your opinion, Kushida-san, but the responsibility of the leader becomes more important. W

The more options there are, the more criticism there will be from students who support the option that was not chosen. It will take a leader who can organize well.

"If you don't mind, IIIII ..., could it be Horikita-san?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You have been a leader many times in the past, and I thought that you could organize everyone well so that there would be no unfairness. Of course, as Hirata-kun said, it's a big responsibility, and if Horikita-san says it's okay, it will be good ...

"....I agree. It's possible that other classes will prepare similar strategies, and it's a measure that will be necessary when there is a difference of opinion. If you're not comfortable following my instructions when the time comes, you can tell me now."

Not many students would run for leader or say anything negative when they heard that they would be responsible. Kushida's proposal was easily approved, and it was agreed that Horikita would be the leader of the group in case of emergency.

For a while after that, we exchanged a lot of opinions, but did not decide on any particular major elements. It was getting somewhat late and it was time for lunch.

"Let's go to lunch. Yukimu and Miyachi are coming, right?"

The two agreed and stood up as Haruka turned around to confirm.

Members of the Ayanokoji group. A small group of five, including me.

Just as the five of us began to gather, a student came running up to us.

As soon as I looked at her, the student shouted.

"Kiyotaka. Let's go have lunch."

Without a pause, but with a nervous look in her eyes, she called out to me.

No one was paying attention to the fact that Kei was coming towards me, nor was anyone intending to listen to the conversation. However, all thirty-six of them, except Koenji, looked at us at once.

"Sorry guys, I think I'll eat with Kei today."

Before anyone else could figure out what was going on, I pulled my chair and stood up.

"... I want to go to a cafe. Okay?"

"Wait... What...? Wait, wait, wait. Why are you interrupting us all of a sudden? Karuizawa-san."

"It's not really a rule to not interrupt, is it? Did you hear Kiyotaka's refusal?"

"I heard you. What do you mean? But, you were coming with us? What, 'Kei'?"

A little later, Haruka begins to understand that we call each other by our first names.

No, she still might not have understood most of it.

"I'm sorry, but I'm his girlfriend and I'm his priority. You know?"

"What?"

"She ......? ....?"

Haruka and Airi muttered at the same time, though their reactions were completely different.

"That's why, I may not be able to attend our group meetings as often as I'd like."

"Come on, let's go," kei said, tugging on my arm as we left the classroom.

The fact that her face was starting to turn bright red showed that she was feeling quite embarrassed. I didn't expected her to confide like this either...

Haruka, Airi, and the rest of the students were too stunned to follow us.

----

By Kei's bold action, our relationship, which few people knew about until now, became known to the whole class. It will probably spread to the entire school year by the end of the day.

Well, I'm skeptical about how many students would be interested in the relationship between me and kei.

The pair of Ike and Shinohara, who became a couple during the summer vacation, didn't make as much noise as I expected in terms of buzz. Rather, it was a combination that had been expected.

Although some of the boys were defensive and honestly jealous of some of their friends, the fact that they were blessed by so many made no difference, and they are slowly but surely developing a relationship as lovers.

The frequency of seeing them together, going home together, going on dates together, etc., was rapidly increasing.

And the scenes that were fresh at first will someday become commonplace.

I'm sure it's the same for me and kei, but we'll probably be making more noise than the lke Shinohara pair for a long time. I'm not sure how many of the students could have predicted our relationship.

Anyway, the first day after school lunch arrives and the whole class knows about the relationship.

As They've known since the afternoon class, one girl has been around since noon but She never turned her eyes to me once since lunch.

"Hey, Kiyopon, you wanna come home with me?"

Haruka, a good friend and mentor of Airi, comes up to me and calls out.

I was expecting kei to suggest that we go home together after school, but when I looked at her saw that she was still surrounded by girls asking her questions.

"Are you sure?"

, I

With Haruka, I was sure she would do something to help or watch over Airi.

Airi silently and quietly prepares to leave.

"I know, but there's nothing I can say to her now. Well? If there is a reason why Kiyopon can't go home alone with me, that's a different story."

As she said this, Haruka's expression hardened for a moment.

"All right."

Now that our relationship has become more open, the opportunities to get together with the Ayanokoji group will inevitably decrease.

Then the two of us grabbed our bags and headed for the rear exit to the front door.

On the way, Haruka walked along without saying a word.

I stole glimpses of her from time to time, and she looked angry, sad, or something like that.

As I put on my shoes and leave the school, she finally looks at me.

"It's no use asking in a roundabout way, so I'm going to ask you straight out, is it true that you and Karuizawa-san started dating? I still can't believe it."

"As you saw, it's true."

When I told her that, Haruka's lips twitched and then she quickly nodded.

"... I'm sorry. But I was so shocked. It's not that I don't care who Kiyopon goes out with, it's just that I didn't expect it to be Karuizawa-san, of all people. You don't think?"

Kei Karuizawa's reputation from the other side is not very high. Most of them probably have the impression that she was a selfish woman who got together with the popular Yosuke too early and dumped him for her own reasons.

"So this is what you were talking about in the pool before, getting a little mental shock. You know, it's not a little shock at all, right? She was trying her best to hold it together in the classroom, but she was crying all through lunch break."

"Is that so?"

"It's not "okay." And you guys started dating over spring break, for real?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just that I have a lot going on. I had circumstances"

"Circumstances, huh? Well, there are a lot of rumors about Karuizawa-san, so I guess I can understand that, but .....

She had been dating Yosuke for the time being since she entered the school, and she herself had fabricated her past.

It is inevitable that they would have such a perception.

"This is real, isn't it? It's not like it's a joke or anything."

"It is."

"Ha... I see. That's right. I'm so confused too... No, no, I had it in my imagination that Kiyopon was seeing someone, or that he was in love with someone who wasn't Airi. No, no, 1 couldn't guess it would be Karuizawa-san."

She lamented as she held her head in her hands that all her predictions were wrong.

"I talked to Yukimu and Miyachi for a bit, and they felt the same way I did. I haven't heard directly from them, but I think Airi's shock was more than ours."

I guess so. I can easily imagine that.

"I mean, what's the story? You didn't seem like you had a lot of connections at all."

It's no wonder.

"I was in the same group as Megumi in last year's zodiac exam. From there, we gradually had more and more opportunities to talk, and when Yosuke and Kei decided to split up, our relationship started to take off."

In February of this year, the fact that their relationship had ended reached the ears students.

of some

"So you've known each other for a long time? You didn't seem to talk to her much."

"We were mostly communicating on our phones."

"I'm going to ask you a lot of questions, but which one of you confessed?"

As Airi's guardian and spokesperson, She wanted to know more about it.

"It's me."

H So. If it was at least from Karuizawa, I thought I might still be right, but I didn't expect it to be from Kiyopon. I'm overwhelmed."

She slaps her forehead and raises her hands in surrender.

"It's time. There's so much information, I'm going to lose track of what's going on. I'm sorry, but can I stop by the convenience store?"

Just as we were approaching the convenience store, Haruka suggested that.

"Yeah, I'll wait outside."

Apologizing lightly, Haruka rushed off into the convenience store.

In the meantime, I took out my phone, which had been shaking in my pocket several times.

[I'll meet you at the mall after this. I had a hard time telling the answers.]

There was a message left behind from kei inviting me to join her.

[All right. I'll call you before we get there.]

I replied and put my phone back in my pocket after confirming that it had been readed

After a minute or so Haruka came back with a croquette in hand

"This afternoon Airi and I were talking so much that we couldn't have lunch"

"It's a nuisance." "

"I'm not trying to be annoying or anything, but ...."

"I'm not sure if this is the right time to ask you out, but there's actually something I'd like to ask Haruka and, if possible, Airi to help me with. I need your cooperation."

"Cooperation?"

"It's not public information yet, but we've decided on one of the acts for the festival."

"Oh, really?"

"To keep the information from leaking out, only me, Horikita, and the planners know the information. We're going to have a maid cafe as part of the festival."

"Maid cafe? Something like that... I'm not that surprised, but a little surprised. I don't think Horikita-san would approve of a maid cafe."

"In this case, I guess they allowed it because they thought they could compete purely as a maid cafe without any prejudice."

"I see. And why did you make me listen to it?"

"In fact, the way I found out about this project, I

had to take care of a lot of things."

When I said that, Haruka nodded in understanding.

"Even if the situation was like that, Horikita-san who entrusted it to Kiyopon is also a master."

"So I'm thinking of askin

Haruka and Airi to be the waitresses."

Not being surprised, Haruka listens to it with an indescribable look on her face.

Well, I guess she could have guessed something from the way I was talking.

"If it hadn't been for the incident with Karuizawa-san, I might have agreed to it right now and here, though I have my doubts. I don't like to dress up like a cosplayer in front of a lot of people, but I don't think I could have said no if my important group of friends had asked me to. But it's bad timing."

On the day she found out about her best friend's heartbreak, it would certainly be out of character for me to ask for this.

"The only problem is that I can't blame Kiyopon. I've said similar things before, but you are free to go out with whomever you want, and I don't understand why you can't tell me.Airi is free to fall in love with Kiyopon, and she is also free to reject him. 11

It's as if they are convinced literally, but their emotions don't accept it.

"I can't make any promises. But when things settle down a bit, I'll talk to Airi."

"Are you sure?"

"Sooner or later, she's going to have to accept the reality. Besides, I don't know how Kiyopon feels about it, but if it's with Karuizawa-san, she might not have to give up. I mean, even if Kiyopon is single-minded, there's always the possibility that he'll be rejected, right?"

"Well, I think there's a great possibility of being affable."

"When that time comes, it means Airi will get another chance. She's a gem that hasn't really stood out yet. Kiyopon's feelings might change as well." IIIII.

It's true that if Airi were to put on that kind of costume and give it her all, she would be as good as those three. No, if you include her physical characteristics, she might even be able to beat them.

Furthermore, although unrelated to the guests of honor, the school staff would be surprised to see Airi.

If this happened, rumors would quickly circulate around the school and could reach the ears of the gue

"No, that's true, but I'm sure Airi will change her mind after this incident."

When the person you are in love with has a girlfriend, it is natural to look for the next love.

I thought I had said the obvious, but she gave me the angriest look of the day.

"Aren't you taking Airi's feelings too lightly? I've been watching her for a long time, so I know exactly what you mean. Her feelings for Kiyopon aren't so light that she can change her mind about who she like because of something like this."

It is strongly denied.

"I'm sure you'll have more dates with Karuizawa-san, but make sure you show up at our group gatherings. I don't want us to drift apart because of this."

"Yeah. I understand. This group has become a part of my life here at school."

"Okay, I feel a little better. I'm going back."

She said this as she finished her croquette lightly.

She didn't say much, but it was clear that she was going to see Airi.

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

I watched her go back to the dormitory, and then I turned to go back to the Keyaki Mall.