Epilogue : The People Behind The Scenes

FINALLY, 4:00 P.M arrived, and the hectic cultural festival finally came to an end.

As explained in advance, the accounting application was forcibly shut down, and sales cannot be recorded thereafter.

The results could be checked via cell phone starting 6 pm, two hours later.

Even though the event was over, we were still expected to not take it for granted until the end of the day.

The guests who had stayed until the end began to leave their seats as the café was closing, and gave their impressions of the maid café to the students.

All of them had positive comments such as, "it was interesting," and, "it was fun." The students who had worked so hard at the event were deeply touched by those warm words, and their fatigue seemed to fade away.

Incidentally, Chabashira-sensei ran out of the classroom like a rabbit as soon as 4 o'clock came. Running around in that outfit would've been conspicuous, but let's leave it at that. It was around 5:30 when all the customers left and all the classmates (except Kōenji) gathered at the maid cafe.

"Good work, everyone. A lot happened, but at least we were able to end the festival in an ideal way. I don't think the sales could have been any better."

Ike and the others gathered in the classroom having just finished taking down the outdoor stalls. In the maid café, some guests stayed eating until late, so there were still some areas to clean up, but Horikita stepped up to sum up the cultural festival.

"The results will be announced later, but there is something I want to talk to you about before that."

Yes, there were 37 students in the classroom. Akito and Haruka also remained behind.

Although not prompted by Horikita, Haruka, who was the star of the show, stepped forward.

"I would like to be the first to tell you. I have not forgiven everyone here."

Haruka mumbled in the silence of the classroom as she opened her speech.

Some of the students, expecting her to start with an apology, looked at each other, feeling more bewilderment than anger.

They didn't seem to blame her. Everyone understood. They had grown up to be able to feel the pain of losing a friend, a best friend.

"But the person I can't forgive the most is myself. I assumed that everyone

who left the school would be unhappy. Yamauchi-kun, who disappeared last year, and Airi."

At the mention of Yamauchi's name, Sudō, Ike, and the others seemed to be thinking back.

"I had assumed that it was best for Airi to stay at this school. I assumed that was the happiest thing to do. That's why I hated all of them ... and wanted to take revenge."

Haruka clutched the skirt of her school uniform tightly as she expressed her frustration.

"After this festival ended, I was going to leave school."

It was a fact that she didn't have to tell, but she didn't want to hide it, so she confessed. I think some of the students had foreseen this, but the majority of them were tight-lipped.

"I was going to go along with Haruka too."

At this point, Akito, too, could not remain silent and told the truth with Haruka.

"If we had dropped out, our class would not have reached Class A. It's the easiest and most powerful way to get revenge."

No tricks would be needed. Just leaving school was enough to make us lose a large number of class points.

"But if you give me a chance, please let me stay in this class."

"You've had a change of heart, haven't you?"

"That girl is trying to spread her wings in the outside world. Kushida-san told me about it."

At this point, Kushida's name was mentioned, and everyone's eyes were drawn to her. The majority of them didn't understand what was going on, so Kushida opened her mouth as if to add something.

"Sakura-san, she seems to be working hard to become an idol; you can find her on SNS, so maybe you can ask Hasebe-san to show you later."

Some students were surprised, others thought it was a good idea. But the common perception that emerged was the fact that Airi had taken a new step forward.

"Airi will grow a lot. Probably more than I thought she would. So I want to be able to graduate in Class A and go see her. I want to be able to show myself without embarrassment."

The class learned that this was why she chose to stay at this school.

"You made a good decision, Hasebe-san."

"I'm going to accept punishment for the trouble I caused."

"I'm just as guilty. I didn't help with most of the festival and caused trouble

for the class."

Horikita steped forward before the other students could say anything else.

"Skipping the festival is a problematic behavior, but fortunately it doesn't violate any rules. Kouenji-kun hasn't shown up once since this morning, so it's the same thing."

Horikita approached Haruka with a look of dismay and relief on her face.

"If you are going to be punished, it will only be by remaining classmates with me. Can you face that reality?"

I wonder what Haruka thought of the reflection in Horikita's eyes.

"I'm going to try my best. Yes. From now on, you can think of me as your regular Hasebe-san, okay?"

"Don't worry. I won't bother you." That was enough, Horikita nodded and declared. "Miyake-kun is the same as before as well. Is that okay?"

"Of course."

"That's all for today then. Let's all finish the rest of the cleanup quickly."

Keisei walked up to Haruka and Akito, somewhat hesitantly. Starting with Akito's apology, Keisei's eyes reddened a bit and he spoke with relief. Haruka's apology brought the three of them together for the first time while, and they smiled slightly at each other. Akito and Keisei turned their attention to Haruka as if they had made up their minds. The two of them signaled to Haruka as well, and the eyes of those three turned to me in confusion.

If I were to approach them here and now, the group might be resumed. That was no longer necessary. I turned my back and went to send words of thanks to Sato and the others.

The group of five was now three, but I hoped that the bond between them would be stronger than before. That place doesn't need me.

The three of them could sense my actions as a sign of farewell. They didn't approach me or call out to me.

It was quick after that. The cleanup that was left to be done would soon be back on track with 37 people.

All the cleanup was done before 6:00 PM. Then the results of the festival were announced.

• 1st place, 2nd year B class (+ 100 class points)

• 2nd place, 2nd year C class (+ 100 class points)

• 3rd place, 3rd year B class (+ 100 class points)

• 4th place, 2nd year A class (+ 100 class points)

• 5th place, 1st year A class (+ 50 class points)

• 6th place, 3rd year C class (+ 50 class points)

• 7th place, 2nd year D class (+ 50 class points)

• 8th place, 1st year C class (+ 50 class points)

• 9th place, 3rd year D class

• 10th place, 1st year B class

• 11th place, 3rd year A class

• 12th place, 1st year D class

"We're in first place! We did it!"

"I guess Chabashira-sensei's cosplay really struck!"

Each was pleased and praised each other for a good fight.

"But Ryūen's place is also in second place, and Sakayanagi's class is in fourth place, which is quintessential."

"Ayanokōji-kun."

"Yeah, everything is going according to plan."

It was a certainty that Horikita's class would take the top place, and it was assumed from the beginning that Ryūen's class would also be in the top position.

"I wondered how the one-liners would fare, but you've managed to outsmart them."

"But there was also something unexpected: Sakayanagi came in fourth."

"Yes. Did you see their performance?

"No, I didn't go to the third floor of the special wing today. Did you see them?"

"Class A was selling brochures and stuff about the school for a low price.

They didn't have any other food, drink, or other offerings. I wonder what kind of tricks they used ...."

"The clue is probably at the bottom of the list."

"First year Class D, Housen-kun's class, right? What about it?"

"If they were the bottom of the class as a result of a struggle, fine. But that's unthinkable. The class's entertainment, which was mainly a reenactment of the festival, was quite successful. I thought it was one of the top classes. Did you think that was lower than the third-year A class?"

"The 11th-ranked class is third-year Class A. They were priced out of the competition from the start. It was only about entertaining to please the guests, right?"

It was confirmed that the haunted house and other activities could be played for 100 points. On the other hand, the shooting and other stalls that Hosen had set

up were priced appropriately.

"The top class got 100 points for this festival. It means that behind the scenes, Hosen might have gotten something else."

"Conceivably, you mean private points?"

"Doesn't this remind you of last year's desert island test?"

There was an agreement between Ryūen and Katsuragi to receive private points in exchange for letting them earn class points. It would not surprise me if something similar happened between Sakayanagi and Hōsen.

"It's not impossible. Or maybe they signed a similar contract to replace it."

The accounting was done through a cell phone. It would be a viable enough strategy if Hōsen and his friends had received cell phones from the second-year A class for accounting purposes and donated all sales. If they were also providing funds to Hōsen's class for the festival, it would make sense for the size of the festival to grow.

"But she did," he said.

"Because if you notice, she's taking the choice to win."

Either way, it meant that Sakayanagi won't be easily satisfied. It was clear that they were steadily producing results, even though they appeared to have abandoned the game.

1

The meeting was then dismissed, but Horikita called some members of the group to the Class B classroom. They were the three maid cafe planners, with the exception of Matsushita, who was absent due to illness.

"Actually, I have something I have to apologize to you guys for."

"What? Apologize for what? What is it?"

It had been a tough day, but there had been no particular occasion in which Horikita had shown any fault.

Since Satō and the others had absolutely nothing in mind, they tilted their heads curiously.

"You remember how Ryūen-kun leaked the maid cafe and how it spread throughout the school, don't you?"

"Yeah. That was a bit of a panic, wasn't it?"

"Actually, it was already decided from the beginning that he would leak the

maid café."

The story stemmed from my suggestion to somehow join hands in order to cooperate with each other and win the top positions at the festival.

"What do you mean, the leak was set in stone? What do you mean?"

"It was all planned. Ryūen-kun and I would work together, he would betray us and make the maid cafe's performance known."

"What? No way!"

Of course they would be surprised. Horikita and I were the only ones in the class who knew about this.

"So you also had a bet where the winner gets private points?"

"That was Ryūen-kun's idea. I was a little nervous when he suddenly said it.

Hashimoto and the others, who had been looking forward to the result of the bet, must have been decisive in the betting."

"Yes, Sakayanagi-san heard a lot of information from third parties. I'm sure that Hashimoto-kun and other spies must've told her about this as well. The two classes were supposed to cooperate with each other, but they got into a dispute, and Ryūen-kun unilaterally betrayed them."

"Then what about the one million points you'd get if you won first place?"

"I'm sorry, but we've also confirmed that in fact, no matter who won, no points will be handed over to either of them. He was willing to do it himself, but I think he's a bit chilled by now. I kept this fact a secret from our classmates, including Kei, with the exception of Horikita. And no one in Ryūen's class, except Ryūen and Katsuragi, had heard about it."

Even close associates such as Ishizaki and Albert were no exception.

That was why I could only take it as a sign that Ryūen was serious about keeping the agreement.

"One of their strategies was to put up a Japanese-style concept café as a rival. Besides appealing to the public that we were enemies, it was also to keep other rivals out."

Rivalry. The higher the excitement, the more responsibility and money down the drain for the adults.

If they knew that there was a battle they couldn't lose, it would be natural to want to let the ones who have the better shoulder win. On the other hand, other classes and grades were not in a fight to the death. Of course, many classes wanted class points, but the heat was a notch or two lower than the Horikita vs. Ryūen battle.

"I'm really sorry. I even kept quiet to you guys, even though I was trying to win."

Horikita was always feeling guilty because she wanted to reveal the plan as soon as possible.

I'm sure the three of them could tell that she was sincerely sorry.

"It's okay. We were first in the results, hey?"

Not particularly blaming us, Satō happily confirmed to Mii-chan and Maezono.

"Well, you know. If you do well, I guess I don't mind so much."

"Yes. If I had been told beforehand, it might have shown on my face."

Mii-chan replied honestly, "I'm not even sure I'm confident enough to act."

"Good for you, Horikita."

"Yes, it's a weight off my shoulders. You guys can tell Matsushita-san about this. And as soon as the private points are transferred to us, we'll pay you all."

"We did it!"

The three of them high-fived each other.

"Was Chabashira-sensei becoming a maid also discussed from the beginning? That was probably the biggest surprise."

"That was amazing… we were on top of the scores within an hour."

"I know you have a lot to talk about, but we're going to end today off. Thank you so much."

The class found a strategy in the suggestion of a maid cafe and was able to win first place. I was grateful that other uncalculated factors also worked positively.

After seeing the three of them off, only Horikita and I were left in the classroom. A slightly stronger wind came through the open window and shook the curtains.

"Are you sure you're okay with it? Most of the plan was your own idea. You could've claimed more credit, you know? Staging the confrontation and making Chabashira-sensei the maid, it was undeniably your ability that contributed to the first place."

"It was only possible because of Horikita's stand as leader."

"If it had been you in the past, you wouldn't have included me in this scheme, would you?"

In the empty classroom, Horikita muttered without looking at me.

"I guess so."

"You don't deny it, do you?"

"It's a fact, so it can't be helped. You knew it too, that's why you asked me, right?"

"Well, yeah, that's probably true."

It's not that I, Ryūen, and Katsuragi couldn't have forced the issue by

ourselves. But when I made this proposal, I told Horikita at the same time without hesitation.

I wasn't sure if she could play the role or not, but it was not something that could be done without the leader.

If the proposal had been completely rejected, I would've been fine with it.

"I wouldn't hesitate to consider deceiving my colleagues if it's an effective means to win. When it's time to proceed, I will proceed, even if it's at a risk. Do you understand?"

The idea of creating strategies herself became more ingrained in Horikita's body.

"Maybe now I can understand. I think I'm starting to see it, little by little."

It may not be a very strong feeling yet, but she was definitely getting a feel for it.

"That's enough for today. The sun will be setting soon."

"Wait. Ayanokōji-kun, I really need to ask you something right now."

I had a hunch that Horikita would refuse to leave when I tried to encourage her to do so.

I had a feeling that Horikita and Ibuki's presence in the student council room was not a mere coincidence. It must be because they had arrived at that place by following some sort of thread.

"What is it?"

"Today's cultural festival. The serious incident that was happening behind the scenes. Are you..."

Just in time or not, my cell phone rang.

"Sorry, hold on a second."

"Yeah, yeah."

I looked at the screen and saw that it was an incoming call from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Are you still in school? I'd like to talk to you for a minute if you'd like."

The voice sounded familiar: It was Tsubaki Sakurako, a student in first year Class C.

I didn't care how she got my number, as there were so many different ways to get it, but she was an unexpected person.

I'm not surprised as to why she made contact today.

"Are you alone now?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Then why don't we meet up?"

"Where are you?"

"I just left the front door. You're still on campus, right?

"Give me five minutes."

"Okay."

After a short call, I told Horikita, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to step out for a bit…I'll be back in about 10 or 20 minutes. Then we'll continue our conversation."

"Okay, I'll wait here."

I promised to come back here and left the classroom. Once I was alone, I decided to call the person who had helped me the most today.

"The third-year's information network is top-notch; whether it was Kushida Kikyo or Hasebe Haruka, you're able to find them immediately. I've once again realized the power of Student Council President Nagumo."

"Did you call me to say that?"

"I just wanted to thank you in advance. You were very helpful in today's search."

The number of eyes and the leadership among the third-year students who quickly located Haruka and Kushida were magnificent.

"I never thought you'd use the strategy I used on you for your own benefit."

"It was helpful that you were able to tell me what was going on in the student council room. Thanks to you, I was able to respond quickly."

"At first, I thought it was Yagami's crazy delusion, but was there actually a trick to that letter?"

"It seems to be a love letter to Student Council President Nagumo, but as Yagami complained, it had a somewhat complicated anagram in it. If someone deciphers it, they arrive at the sentence, 'I have an important meeting in the student council room after 3:00 p.m.' I also mixed in a few other words that I thought would be interesting. If he had a strong interest, he would naturally take me up on the offer."

In addition to the anagram, the love letter had a few other little touches.

The envelope used for the letter and the stickers that held it together were made available to anyone at any time at the Keyaki Mall. If they had been custom-made and bought on the Internet, Yagami might've hesitated, fearing that the contents might be seen and evidence would be left behind. However, if you inspect the Keyaki Mall, you'd notice that all but the handwritten letterhead could be substituted.

That's why he could check the contents without hesitation.

Furthermore, by writing directly, I could give Yagami information about the handwriting. White room students were thoroughly trained in calligraphy, so their handwriting were sure to be professional. The love letter prepared in this way was

passed to Horikita through another girl using Kei. Then, she was led to hand it to Yagami, giving him time to examine it. Since there was a possibility that Horikita would hand it directly to Nagumo, I had him act like he was in a bad mood that day so that she couldn't hand it over immediately.

"I didn't think he was the guy who went rogue on the island. How much did you know about him?"

"I don't know anything. Yagami just confessed on his own."

"What kind of a trick was used for Komiya and the others to name Yagami?

Was it a coincidence that the teacher showed up?"

"I just told them that the person at the center of the trouble might be lured out. They couldn't identify the culprit, and Ryuen's side wanted a hint. I asked them to take the suggestion knowing the risk that no one would come to the student council. Or even if they did, nothing would happen."

"I see? Well, I wonder how much you're telling the truth."

I left it to his imagination. What I did was really nothing but trivial. Nothing of note.

"Oh well. Now you're ready to make good on your promise, aren't you?"

"Of course. I'm looking forward to it, President Nagumo."

As I approached the front door, I ended my call and reached for my shoe box.

2

"Is Tsubaki alone at the meeting place?"

I thought so for a moment, but it seemed that Utomiya was talking to someone a little farther away. He was only looking at us.

"Is there something you're having trouble communicating over the phone?"

"Well, the first-year students are in a bit of a mess right now. There was an unexpected expulsion at the school festival."

"Expelled? That's a very disturbing story."

Someone else was involved in this school expulsion fiasco. That was Tsubaki Sakurako, who was in front of me then.

"I'm satisfied with the result, which is more than I imagined…Ayanokōji-senpai."

Tsubaki made a circle with her finger as if to say, "you passed."

"It seems you've successfully extracted information from Satō-senpai and drove Yagami-kun out of school. I am very grateful."

"I didn't extract the information. You contacted Satō repeatedly and gradually drove her into a corner. And then, when she couldn't take it anymore, you coordinated and threatened her, pushing her to spit everything out and confide in someone."

Tsubaki, right here in front of me, was the person who approached Satō

without my knowledge.

"I don't know what that means. What a surprise."

Satō was apparently approached by Tsubaki near the women's restroom at Keyaki Mall. There, she flashed some bait that would turn things around for her, including a turnaround between my relationship with Kei, which tickled her curiosity.

"It seems you called Satō to your room and made cheap threats, but it wasn't a serious attempt to manipulate her into ruining our relationship. It was because you wanted to push her to act, or deal with the threat of Kei's relationship, by indirectly letting her know that we were getting close."

Tsubaki listened silently, staring at me without denial.

"When I asked her about the details, the abnormality of the situation was immediately brought to light. As soon as you saw that Satō wouldn't accept your invitation, you contacted her again as if to follow up and made similar comments and provoked her. When you saw that Satō didn't seem to have consulted anyone, you gradually intensified your threats and hounded her. This was due to the fact that she would eventually come to consult someone, and that would be me."

The goal was not to cage Satō, but to wait for her to ask me for help.

"Then, you most likely told Satō that it was Yagami who was behind the threats, not you."

The mentally exhausted Satō probably didn't have time to think about whether that was true or not. I came up with the idea of using this one incident for personal use and decided to call up Kei during my discussion with Satō and had her confide in her about the abuse and almost everything that had led up to this point in her past. The fact that Satō didn't choose Tsubaki's side afterwards convinced me that she would be on my side. As a result, the two of them elevated their relationship from friends to best friends in the truest sense of the word. That was on November 1.

"Yagami-kun is a bad guy, isn't he?"

"You don't need cheap theatrics. Yagami had nothing to do with this. He's not involved."

"You don't think it was actually Yagami-kun's order?"

"If Yagami was using Tsubaki to contact Satō, there's no need to bother naming names."

The only people who know about Karuizawa's past are those who are connected with the White Room. Others can't easily imitate him in a way that wouldn't have made it difficult for me to see through their disguise.

"Then isn't it the other way around, you found out that I was trying to frame Yagami-kun, didn't you? And yet you did nothing against me and even expelled Yagami-kun, who might be innocent. Isn't that contradictory? There was no indication that Ayanokōji-senpai was looking into it in detail."

"Ah. I didn't investigate Tsubaki or Yagami. No need for that."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking any more."

I was convinced that I had said enough. It wasn't even Tsubaki who was manipulating everything. Furthermore, the person lurking in the background was the one who painted this picture.

"Utomiya-kun, can you come here for a minute?"

Tsubaki beckoned to Utomiya, who was on the phone, and instructed him to hand his cell phone to me.

"Go ahead..." Wary, Utomiya handed me the phone while it was still connected.

"Yagami had some of Tsubaki's and Utomiya's classmates expelled. That's why those two worked together with me."

I'm pretty sure that was the voice of the man I spoke to last year on the phone and in front of my room.

"You left him alone because you knew you could take him down at any time if you moved directly on him. But as a result, there were expulsions from the first year. It wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for his nuisance."

"I don't deny it."

"The only way to avoid further unnecessary sacrifices was to have him expelled. But even if you knew that, it isn't easy to defeat Yagami. I know he is no ordinary high school student."

"That's why you wanted to use me."

He made this decision because he understood the white room student's purpose and obsession.

"I guess you got my message," he said.

"Eventually, you'll get in touch with someone close to me. And when that happens, there will be expulsions, right?"

"That's right. But to drive Yagami into a corner and expel him all at once?

That was a little out of the calculations. Did you not take into account the possibility that Yagami was unrelated?"

"It was up to Yagami's choice whether or not he wanted to be expelled. It wasn't me who decided whether it was black or white. He was playing with fire here and there, just like he expelled a student from 1st year C. He contacted Kushida Kikyo, pretending to be her former junior, and he used the information he was given to control and manipulate her. He provoked unrelated students on a deserted island by inflicting serious injuries to them. He also checked the contents of a love letter for another person, thinking it was a trap. I don't know why Horikita and Ibuki were there, but I think it was also because he was playing with fire."

Normally, people don't steal other people's love letters. And even if they did, they wouldn't notice the anagrams that were sprinkled throughout.

"So it was all connected."

"Even if there was no clear evidence left behind, the more tricks you play, the more traces you will always leave behind. That guy didn't realize he was strangling himself with cotton wool."

"Surely if Yagami hadn't done anything, he wouldn't have been expelled at this stage."

"I agree."

The accumulated fire and games had led to this outcome.

If Yagami hadn't offended the man on the phone, I wouldn't have messed with him, and if he hadn't contacted Kushida or seriously injured those guys on the deserted island, he wouldn't have faced the penalty of expulsion.

If he hadn't seen the contents of the love letter, he would not have been put in a situation where he could be questioned.

"The only reason he was expelled was because Yagami admitted to himself that he was black."

I merely set up the stage for a test. If he was completely white, there would've been no fuss in the first place. He only went to the student council room because he knew me and because he was smart.

"You seem to be as good as the rumors say you are."

"By the way, just to confirm, remember what you told me before? You told me that if I didn't get rid of the people who were in my way, I wouldn't expect peace and quiet to return. That was a bluff, wasn't it? You wanted to create a sense of urgency that if I didn't take care of the problem soon, it would become even more difficult."

In order to make me move, he had made a move to get Yagami expelled from the school from that stage.

"Ayanokōji-sensei was right, you were right to choose this school."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just as you believe, I'm going to enjoy my school life, and as long as we don't bump into each other during the first and second years squabbles, I'll let our relationship end here."

He said what I wanted to say and the call was unilaterally hung up. A sneak peek at the cell phone screen revealed that the call was deliberately blocked.

This was done because they didn't want Utomiya to realize from their address or phone number that they were registered to an address.

"Have you figured it out?"

"Yeah."

"When my classmate was expelled from school, at first I thought Hōsen-kun was involved, but recently I was told that it was Yagami-kun."

Yagami's potential may be impeccably high, but he'd been caught flat-footed by his own conceit. He was only concerned about me and didn't see his rivals standing on the same stage. It seemed that Yagami was not a welcome presence in the first-year students' battle.

"Don't quit just because you've defeated your enemy, Tsubaki."

"I know. To be honest, I wasn't attached to this school at first, but that's changed a bit. This school is surprisingly fun."

Looking at the exchange just now, it was clear that there were a lot of mixed feelings other than simply taking revenge on an enemy.

"So, we're leaving."

"Senpai." Utomiya, who was forcing himself to pull out the honorific, returned to the dormitory with Tsubaki.

"I should get back to class too."

3

After finishing my conversation with Tsubaki and Utomiya, I ran into an exhausted Chabashira-sensei on her way back to class.

"Thanks for your hard work today. You were very active."

"What's with the compliment?"

Chabashira-sensei was clearly angry as she turned her childlike glare on me without hiding it.

"Did you really hate it so much that we made you wear a maid's uniform?"

I asked knowingly, and she shook her head and looked down.

"When I went back to the staff room, my pictures were on the desks of

teachers everywhere. That's not all. I wonder how many teachers I've been accosted by in the short time I've been there, how many stories about my maid's uniform, how many embarrassments I've suffered. For the time being, I sincerely wish to be a shellfish."

It must have been a really hard time for her, because she felt the pressure so intensely.

"That's not for me to know. It must be symbolic of the teacher's popularity."

"I am definitely not popular. You've gone the extra mile."

If you really believe there was such a thing as no popularity, you were going to have a hard time in the future. There must've been many adults who appreciated Chabashira-sensei as a member of the opposite sex, even if they hadn't surfaced until now.

"That's it. The class won first place, so that's good."

"Not good at all. If anything, the top sales amount was a sure thing even if I didn't do anything."

"I see. Well, first place looks better than second and third place, doesn't it?

"That's not like you to say."

She swallowed hard and held back, as if she thought there was no point in blaming me any more.

"Even so, I didn't think you were cooperating with Ryūen's class under the guise of being hostile to them."

"If one class fights alone, the maximum strength is about 40 people. But if two classes join hands, nearly twice that number of people will join hands though, not foolproof."

Propaganda doesn't necessarily have to go hand in hand on the surface. If you get a lot of people together, albeit in different forms, you can make a big show without spending a lot of money.

"Even the staff room was surprised. Everyone thought it was a real showdown."

Chabashira-sensei only mentioned the festival's success, but not Yagami's withdrawal.

Even first-year students who were not directly involved in the event should know about it as well as teachers, but none have spoken about it with me, who they think was uninvolved. As a teacher at this school, she was making the right decision.

"By the way, aren't you going home?"

"I have Horikita waiting in the classroom. Are you still working overtime?"

"I'm making the rounds of the school. There have been several reports of

forgotten items filed by guests."

So even when the festival was over, the teachers were still busy cleaning up afterwards.

4

When I returned to the classroom with Chabashira-sensei, Horikita was lying on her desk with her upper body on top.

Chabashira-sensei and I looked at each other and decided not to talk to her. I went closer to check and found that she seemed to be asleep. A strong breeze was coming in through the opened window.

For a moment, I wondered if I should cover her with her uniform jacket, but decided against it. I decided not to because I knew Horikita wouldn't be pleased if she knew I had approached her later.

"Nn..."

Hmm? For a moment I thought she was awake, but apparently not.

"No…"

She was talking in her sleep. I was a little surprised because it was a bit of a startling statement. Horikita must've been tired today. I closed the window quietly so she wouldn't catch a cold before heading back to the corridor.

"I'm going to let her sleep a little longer."

"Are you waiting for her to wake up?"

"Well, we did manage to get first place at the school festival. She deserves this much."

She'll be up soon anyway.

"You can leave. I'll take over here."

"Are you sure?"

"As the man behind the scenes, you deserve that much."

"Then I'll take you up on your offer."

"But Ayanokōji, don't ever think of a plan to humiliate me again, okay?"

"You still care?"

"This is a day I will never forget in my life."

"Well, Chabashira-sensei, thank you for your efforts. Someday that will be a good memory too."

"Don't get cocky, student."

Glaring at me, Chabashira-sensei sighed and leaned against the classroom door.

Well then, I'm going home now.

[Class points at the end of the November festival]

• Class A led by Sakayanagi: 1201

• Class B led by Horikita: 966

• Class C led by Ryūen: 740

• Class D led by Ichinose: 675