Epilogue 1 : “The Dropouts”

Saturday morning, the very day of the exam, had finally arrived.

It seemed that nearly every single class had managed to come to a decision.

Class A had chosen to expel Katsuragi and Class D had chosen to expel Ryuuen.

Class B was moving forward believing nobody would have to be expelled.

Of course, there was a possibility that none of that would turn out as planned. Everyone had a chance to face expulsion.

No one would know for sure until the results were revealed.

Even if a class were to work together to get rid of someone, it wouldn't matter much if they managed to gather enough praise vote from the other classes.

What was important now, was what you did with the little time we had left.

Even I wasn't one hundred percent safe.

There were no absolute guarantees like that in this exam.

Even though we were expected to be in the classroom at the same time as always, the exam was going to start a bit later, at nine.

It was currently just half-past eight.

Should this short time-extension be taken as the school showing us some sort of consideration… or was there another reason?

Perhaps it was a trick to keep us on our toes until the very end.

"You really didn't do anything?"

"What?"

"I'm asking if you really just stayed on the sidelines and didn't involve yourself in any of this, even though you were in danger?"

"Does it look like I've done something?"

"…Not on the surface."

"There's your answer. I didn't do anything this time. Rather, you're the one who saved me."

"Then it wouldn't be funny if you got expelled because of that."

"Even more so if I got expelled after fighting back like you did."

This might just be the last conversation we would have as neighbors.

"I suppose."

Horikita responded dismissively.

Just like this, the class welcomed the exam in silence.

At least, that's what I thought… At the last moment, something happened once again.

"Please listen up, everyone."

The one to break the silence was none other than Hirata. Yesterday, he had engaged in an argument with Horikita, but he hadn't actually done anything more than that.

He had only spoken aimlessly about voting for Horikita.

Of course, it's possible that some of the students who admire Hirata may vote against her.

However, that would be too weak for a finishing blow.

Within Class C, Horikita's evaluation was relatively high.

Even though her frank, in-your-face way of speaking is sharp and prickly, it also gave off an impression of reliability.

"After listening to what Horikita-san and everyone else had to say yesterday, I've come to a conclusion. The primary focus of this exam… is who we should cast our censure votes for, right?"

Hirata was calm and composed as he spoke.

"Is… Is he still going to say something?"

"Looks like it."

If he wasn't, he wouldn't be trying to say something at the last minute like this.

"What a waste. He doesn't have a plan. This is just him trying to delay the inevitable."

No, It's hard to say for sure…

I could see traces of new-found determination in Hirata's eyes.

"First of all, I'd like to apologise for what happened yesterday, when I said that I'd vote against Horikita-san."

Just as I thought, Hirata bowed his head to Horikita to apologize for his rude behavior.

"There isn't anything you need to apologize for. What in the world are you doing?"

"I decided that you are necessary for the success of our class."

"If that's the case, have you thought about who is unnecessary?"

"Yeah. I did."

Hirata spoke definitively, causing Horikita to falter for a moment.

"…Could you tell us who?"

"I'll tell you right now."

Hirata slowly got up from his seat and stood behind the teaching podium, just like Horikita had the day before.

"I love this class. I think that each and every one of you are necessary. No matter what anyone says, or what any of you do, that won't change. But, I already know that won't solve anything."

After all his struggling, this was the answer Hirata had arrived at.

It seemed like nothing had changed from what he had told me yesterday.

"I want everyone to cast a censure vote for me."

Hirata said what I thought he would say.

"H-how could any of us do something like that!?"

Mii-chan exclaimed, with other girls voicing similar thoughts in quick succession.

"It'll be fine if I'm expelled. I'm prepared to do at least that much."

"Think about what you're saying… Have you gone insane?"

Horikita unconsciously raised her voice, even though, given the situation, it would've been fine to let Hirata say whatever he wanted.

"You're gonna sacrifice yourself just because you can't decide who to expel?"

"You said it yourself right, Horikita-san? That if a student wants to be expelled, there wouldn't be anything else we need to talk about?"

"That's-"

"So I'm volunteering."

"Nobody in this class actually wants to see you expelled. You act as a mediator to settle the class's conflicts. This is far too ridiculous."

"Either way, I don't care."

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Class C was on the brink of chaos.

At this point, there were no surprises about who people would be voting against. The key question had changed from 'Who would get the censure votes?' to 'Who would get the praise votes?'.

Without Hirata, the future special exams would probably be far more difficult.

That's the risk of losing one of the class's central figures.

"There's absolutely, totally, no way I'm using a censure vote on Hirata-kun!"

Shinohara and the rest of the girls collectively begun to speak up to defend Hirata.

Hirata's heart probably felt that much worse every time they spoke up for him.

"There's no reason for you guys to stick up for me. I've already come to hate all of you."

His tone was the same as usual, but the words he spoke were cold.

"So please let me make this easier on all of us."

"I… I'll vote for Hirata!"

Yamauchi shouted.

"If it's for Hirata, I think everyone else should vote for him too!"

He then continued to yell things like that.

"I see. This is Yamauchi-kun's last stand…"

Yamauchi had probably contacted Hirata yesterday and pleaded about how he didn't want to be expelled, begging Hirata to help.

That may have been one of the reasons why Hirata had hardened his resolve to get expelled.

Then, after a long silence, Chabashira entered the classroom.

"Well then, the class vote will now begin. Once your name has been called, please make your way to the voting room."

It didn't seem like we were going to be voting all at the same time in the classroom.

There was no guarantee that we wouldn't be able to see each other's votes. It seemed that the school was doing what it could to ensure the votes remained anonymous.

Now, how would it turn out from here…?

Part 1

Within Class A that same morning, everyone was patiently waiting for the results to be announced.

The outcome had already been decided ever since the supplemental exam was first announced, and there were no objections to it either.

As the bell rang, Mashima entered the classroom to announce the outcome.

He was as calm as always. He didn't have very much of an opinion about what was about to take place.

No, rather, it was more like he was simply trying not to think about it very much.

It had been four years since he became a teacher at Advanced Nurturing High School, and he had seen many students get expelled in that time.

"I'll now be announcing the results of the supplementary special exam. To start things out, the student who received the most praise votes… would be you, Sakayanagi, with a total of thirty-six votes."

"I didn't expect that all of you would vote for me. I really must thank everyone."

She responded with empty words of gratitude. Nearly everyone in the class had voted for her.

"Next… I'll announce the student who received the most censure votes. I'm sure you're all aware of this by now, but the person whose name is called will be expelled. After this, they'll have to pack their bags and come along with me to the staff room."

The classroom was dead silent.

Every single student was quiet as they waited for the name to be called.

"In last place, with thirty-six censure votes…"

He paused for a split-second, and then… 

"Yahiko Totsuka."

He spoke.

The name resounded throughout the silent classroom.

"How absurd! What's going on!?"

Katsuragi stood up from his seat, raising his voice after the results had sunken in.

"K-Katsuragi-san… Why? Wha…?"

Totsuka looked at Katsuragi with an expression of disbelief on his face as well.

He had received an overwhelming majority, thirty-six, of the classes censure votes, ensuring his expulsion.

Then, Mashima revealed the total number of votes that every student in the class had gotten.

Katsuragi had placed just behind Totsuka with a total of thirty censure votes.

"What's going on here, sensei? The one being expelled should be me-"

"There haven't been any mistakes."

Mashima cut Katsuragi off, answering his question calmly.

A young girl began to speak, as if to shed light on such an inexplicable situation.

"Katsuragi-kun, it seems you've been given some praise votes. How wonderful."

Hearing that, Katsuragi finally understood.

This hadn't happened due to some kind of mistake. Rather, this was the outcome of one of Sakayanagi's schemes.

"Wait, Sakayanagi! The one who should've been expelled was me!"

"Expulsion? You? You weren't the target in the first place."

She responded decisively.

"Stop joking with me. You definitely said you were going to get rid of me!"

"Come to think of it, you're right, aren't you? I did say I was going to get rid of you, but… that was just a lie."

Without an ounce of apprehension, Sakayanagi smiled gently.

"Why… Why!?"

"It's simple. Totsuka-kun doesn't bring any benefits to Class A. On the other hand, you're sharp, and your reflexes aren't anything to scoff at either. This, combined with your calm head, makes you useful in your own way. This exam is perfect for disposing of somebody unnecessary, so only an idiot would get rid of someone who still has use left in them."

Katsuragi winced, unable to refute her point.

Although, that wasn't the only reason why Sakayanagi had done this.

Originally, Totsuka wasn't the only one who sided with Katsuragi. Even though she intended to mercilessly make an example out of Katsuragi for going against her, Totsuka's expulsion would have an even larger impact on Class A.

It would instill the idea that, if you sided with Katsuragi, you would be the next to see yourself in Totsuka's shoes.

"Why would you do this in such an indirect way…?"

"Isn't it only natural for someone to do their best to avoid expulsion? There are a lot of praise votes floating around from other classes in this exam. If Totsuka-kun had gone and gathered them from the other classes in order to save himself, I don't believe we could've gotten him expelled."

She couldn't know for sure that another class wouldn't just whimsically decide to save Totsuka.

However, if she singled out Katsuragi from the very beginning, nobody would bother to use their praise votes on Totsuka.

"Thank you for your hard work, Totsuka-kun. Be sure to take care of yourself after you've left the school."

"D-damn…! Dammit! Dammit…!"

Totsuka curled over as if he was about to collapse. Katsuragi couldn't find the right words to comfort him.

Totsuka would have normally been overjoyed to find out Katsuragi wasn't going to be expelled.

But now that he was being expelled himself, that didn't matter anymore.

Instead, he could only feel resentment as he wondered why it had to be him instead of his friend.

If Katsuragi had gotten expelled, Totsuka Yahiko would've been able to stay in Class A. And while he would've been displeased with it, he would've followed Sakayanagi all the way until graduation. And then, he would've become successful in life.

Even though he felt guilty for it, he had already vaguely begun to imagine his wonderful future as a graduate from Class A.

But because of this sudden twist of fate, he had lost everything.

"Saving him with twenty million points… is probably impossible."

"Correct. Unfortunately, even if we added up all of our points, we still wouldn't have enough."

"Totsuka, there's… no way to overturn this decision."

The homeroom teacher, Mashima, spoke definitively as he buried the pain within his heart.

"...…"

Totsuka was at a loss for words, unable to do anything but nod in response.

"Totsuka, please come with me to the staff room for the time being. I'll let you collect your things later."

In consideration of the young man's feelings, Mashima asked for Totsuka to leave the room.

His expulsion had been set in stone, so staying in the classroom would only serve to hurt him more.

"By the way, Mashima-sensei… Might I ask you something?"

"What is it, Sakayanagi?"

As Mashima began to leave the classroom with Totsuka, Sakayanagi's voice brought him to a halt.

He instructed for Totsuka to wait in the hallway before turning to hear her out.

"While it's a shame that Totsuka-kun had to be sacrificed… It has already been decided who's going to be expelled in the other classes, right?"

"Tentatively. As soon as the results have been finalized, they'll be posted on the first-floor bulletin board."

"Then, depending on the results, is it possible that there will be consequences for Katsuragi-kun?"

"What are you talking about, Sakayanagi?"

Katsuragi questioned her, unsure of what she was getting at.

"I'm just asking for future reference."

For a moment, Mashima, just like Katsuragi, didn't seem to understand the meaning behind Sakayanagi's words.

He hadn't considered the possibility that she was asking about 'that'.

However, upon seeing Sakayanagi's fearless smile, Mashima changed his mind.

"…No matter who gets expelled, there won't be any consequences. 'That' doesn't work like that. If, for some reason, there were consequences, even you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it very easily."

"That's certainly true. Thank you very much for answering."

After Mashima left the classroom, Katsuragi calmly approached Sakayanagi.

In response, Hashimoto and Kitō hurriedly got up to obstruct his path in the off chance he resorted to violence.

However, before Katsuragi could say a word, Sakayanagi spoke up.

"There's no reason for you to bear a grudge against me, Katsuragi-kun. Somebody had to be expelled during this exam. Whether it be you or Totsuka-kun, the results must be taken seriously. The fact of the matter is that there was a vote. One in which every student in Class A participated."

"…I understand."

Katsuragi hadn't planned on getting violent from the start. He had only intended to vent his dissatisfaction to her.

And yet, Sakayanagi had put a stop to even that.

"That's fine then. After all, I don't want you to hold back our class moving forward because you become consumed by self-despair. However… If by chance you were to go against Class A in the future…"

"I told you I understood. You don't have to drag anyone else into this."

"I'm glad to see you're so sensible."

If Katsuragi were to bare his fangs at Sakayanagi out of resentment because of Totsuka's expulsion, Sakayanagi was threatening that she would have someone else expelled next time. Sakayanagi was well aware that, as long as Katsuragi was obedient, he'd be able to contribute greatly to the future success of Class A. 

Like this, Katsuragi had given in entirely. Without any means of going against her, he had no choice but to raise the white flag and surrender to Sakayanagi.

"Well then… I wonder how the other classes are doing right now?"

Of course, as far as Sakayanagi was concerned, Class B and Class D weren't even worth thinking about.

The only thing she cared about was what had happened within Class C, the class that Ayanokōji was in. She couldn't help but look forward to hearing about it.

Part 2

Back within Class C, the sound of Yamauchi restlessly tapping his foot was extremely distracting.

"Yo, Haruki… Try and quiet down a bit."

Ike quietly whispered a warning to him.

"S-shut up. I know."

"Fufufu. At any rate, it seems your defeat is close at hand, wouldn't you say?"

"Huh? What are you getting at, Kōenji? I'm not gonna be expelled, considering the other options."

Yamauchi turned and looked at Kōenji with an eerie smile on his face.

"I think it's fair to say that, out of everyone in the class, a considerable number of students have voted against you."

Ike and Sudō sat quietly, unable to help Yamauchi as Kōenji fanned the flames. Hirata, however, interjected.

"That's not how this will turn out. The one being expelled will be me."

"You're still going on about that? You aren't aware of it yet, are you?"

"…What are you talking about?"

Kōenji took out his cell phone with a fearless smile on his face.

"This message was sent to me by one of the girls in our class. It reads: 'I believe Hirata-kun intends to sacrifice himself and volunteer to be expelled tomorrow. He might end up saying something hurtful about everyone or make himself out to be a bad guy, but those won't be his true feelings. Please, have faith in him and don't vote against him for it.' It seems to me like it was sent to everyone other than you and Yamauchi-kun."

Hirata approached Kōenji and read the message on the phone for himself.

"Most students would sympathize with you after seeing a message like this. After all, it's not untrue that you've spent this past year taking action for the sake of the class. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to get more praise votes because of this, instead?"

"No way…"

Hirata's plan to get the most censure votes had failed. 

Of course, this negatively affected the students most at risk of being expelled. 

Horikita quietly turned to me and spoke.

"You're awfully composed. It's almost as if you've already foreseen what will happen."

"You probably know what will happen too."

"Even if I did, I wouldn't sit back and watch so complacently. As long as there's room for uncertainty, there's still reason to worry."

Kōenji cut in, as if responding to Horikita.

"The only one who should be worried is him."

Almost everyone in the class shifted their gaze toward Yamauchi, wondering how he would respond after hearing something like that.

Yamauchi slowly stood up and turned around to look at Kōenji.

His expression was one of confidence, one that said he was certain of his chances of coming out on top.

"…Hah."

Yamauchi laughed at Kōenji contemptuously.

"Go ahead, say whatever you want… The person getting expelled isn't gonna be me."

"Oh? And will you tell us why?"

"Fine. I will."

It seemed Yamauchi couldn't stand to let Kōenji say whatever he wanted any longer.

"How many of you voted against me? Twenty of you? Thirty? I didn't specifically betray any of you, yet you guys treat me like this? It's unreasonable! But that's fine. I'll forgive you."

With a thoughtless smile, Yamauchi approached Ike and patted his hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry Kanji. For making you worry about me so much."

"Y-yeah."

Completely unaware of what his friend was getting at, Ike could do nothing but nod.

"There are several people here who might get expelled other than me, right? There's Kanji, Sudō, Kōenji, and Ayanokōji, but I wonder how many praise votes they'll get? I'm just so worried!"

"From what you're saying, it sounds as if you're expecting to get a large number of praise votes."

"Yep, that's right. I will."

"Even if your friends felt sorry enough to vote for you, you'd only get around four or five votes, at best. Are you saying that's enough to put you in the safe zone?"

"That's fine. That much would be plenty. Hahaha… Yes, no matter who you voted for, it's all pointless!"

Yamauchi showily raised his arms up into the air.

"Sakayanagi-chan promised that she would give me twenty praise votes! In other words, even if most of the class voted against me, I still won't be the one who gets expelled!"

Having realized that there was no point in hiding it any longer, Yamauchi decided to show his cards.

"That's why it doesn't matter how many of you voted against me… I'm protected by Class A!"

The votes had already been cast.

It was probably true that Yamauchi had made a promise like that with Sakayanagi.

Assuming he got five praise votes from Class C and twenty votes from Class A, even in the worst-case scenario, he would only end up with a maximum of nine censure votes.

If he was telling the truth, he could hardly be considered at risk of expulsion.

The danger would then shift toward Kōenji and I. Even Ike and Sudō could be in trouble.

"If that's the case, then why do you look so anxious?"

Yamauchi didn't seem calm at all. He was trembling nonstop.

It was proof that, mentally, he was under an incredible amount of stress.

"That's…"

"Since you made a promise with the enemy, you made sure to sign a contract, yes? It's one of the basic fundamentals of doing negotiations."

"N-no, but that's…"

"A simple verbal promise doesn't count for anything. Miss little girl isn't that merciful."

"Of course I know that! It's fine!"

Kōenji's words simply weren't able to make it through to him.

Yamauchi could only believe that Sakayanagi wouldn't go back on her word. There was nothing else he could do.

He must have reached out to Sakayanagi many times last night to ensure everything would still go as he expected it to.

"My my, you must be so reassured, then. It seems that the censure vote I cast for you was meaningless."

"That's right, it was meaningless! Meaningless!"

"Be quiet, Yamauchi. I could hear your shouting from out in the hallway."

Just then, Chabashira arrived.

"I've kept all of you waiting. I'll get along with announcing the results for Class C. Please find your seats."

The time of judgment had finally come.

Very soon, one student would be expelled from this class.

Would it be Yamauchi, who was telling himself that everything would be okay?

Would it be Sudō or Ike, one of the secondary candidates for expulsion?

Would it be Hirata, who was patiently waiting for the results to be announced?

Would it be Kōenji, who was as inattentive as always?

Would it be Horikita or me, as we quietly watched over the classroom?

Or, would it end up being someone else entirely?

"To start out, I'll announce the three of you who ended up with the most praise votes. In third place is… Kushida Kikyō."

Kushida sighed with relief when she heard her name being called.

Even though Yamauchi had targeted her yesterday, she ended up earning quite a lot of praise votes.

If you take into account the fact that she's adored by her classmates, an outcome like this makes sense.

"Next, in second place…"

Chabashira began reading a little slower.

Even I couldn't fully predict whose name she would say.

"It's you, Hirata Yōsuke."

"!"

The moment his name was called, Hirata shut his eyes and looked up toward the sky.

The disgraceful behavior he showed yesterday hadn't had any significant consequences.

Hirata worked hard this past year, going through thick and thin for the sake of the class.

He had earned a tremendous amount of trust, especially from the girls in the class.

Even if I hadn't arranged for Kei to spread that text message around yesterday, his ranking would've hardly changed.

"B-but, if Hirata placed second… who placed first?"

Since the beginning, everyone had expected for Hirata and Kushida to get most of the praise votes.

It wasn't unreasonable for them to place second and third, it was just that this outcome meant there was somebody who had surpassed them both.

"…As for first place…"

Chabashira let show a slight smile before she read the name.

I shut my eyes.

"Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."

Everything turned out as I expected.

"W-what!?"

Yamauchi, the one I was supposed to be competing with for last place, was the first to react.

"Aren't you mistaking him with first place for the censure vote!? Sensei!?"

"No. There's no doubt about it. He took first place with a splendid total of forty-two votes."

My classmates all seemed to be surprised. After all, I had gotten more praise votes than there were students in our class.

"You. What did you do…?"

Horikita also couldn't hide her surprise.

"Like I said, I didn't do anything."

Sakayanagi had done all of this by herself.

"And finally, the student who ended up with the most censure votes, with a grand total of thirty-three votes. I'm sorry to say that it's you, Yamauchi Haruki."

Now, Yamauchi took yet another heavy blow.

Before he could even make sense of the situation, he was being told he had to leave the school.

"T-thirty-three votes!?"

It pretty much confirmed that he hadn't gotten any praise votes from Class A.

Second to last was Sudō with twenty-one votes. And coming in right behind him was Ike with twenty.

It was clear that his friends were by no means in the safe zone either.

"No! Why!? Why do I have to be expelled!?"

Chabashira approached Yamauchi and put her arm on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

"…Haruki…"

As his friends, Ike and Sudō could only look away.

They had been hoping that, somehow, Yamauchi would make it through the exam, but the only thing they could do is wait for the results.

And now that the results had come out, they probably realized the sad truth behind all of this.

If Yamauchi hadn't placed last, what would have happened to them?

"Why, why, why! Why me!! This is such a stupid exam! A complete joke!"

"While you're free to think whatever you want, the decision has already been made, Yamauchi."

"SHUT UP!!!"

Yamauchi shouted with every ounce of his being.

He howled, unable to accept the reality of his situation.

"That's right. Sakayanagi, go ask Sakayanagi! She said she'd have Class A use their praise votes on me! She didn't keep her promise! Is she just gonna be allowed to get away with that!?" 

"Do you have something that clearly proves that she made such a promise?"

Chabashira asked.

"She promised! At the karaoke parlor! I heard her!!!"

"While I want to believe you, words alone aren't enough to prove anything."

"Oh my god, why is this happening…!?"

"It's time to leave the classroom, Yamauchi."

Despite her instructions, Yamauchi didn't move an inch.

"Get out of here quickly. Your existence here has already been deleted."

"I haven't accepted it yet!"

"So you plan to be irredeemably defective, pitiable, and ugly until the very end?"

After Kōenji's persistent provocations, Yamauchi finally snapped.

"Grahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

He picked up the chair to his desk and charged at Kōenji.

He then lifted the chair up into the air and swung it down, aiming at Kōenji's head.

If the attack had hit him directly, the resulting injury would've been inexcusable, however, Kōenji wasn't naive enough to be hit by such a sloppy attack.

Kōenji casually grabbed the leg of the chair as it swung down at him and forcibly pulled the chair out of Yamauchi's hands.

"You intended to kill me. You won't have any complaints if I return the favor, yes?"

Yamauchi's face stiffened immediately.

"That's enough."

Chabashira intervened, having sensed the danger behind Kōenji's words.

Following her instructions, Kōenji promptly let go of the chair.

"Don't do any more than this, Yamauchi. For your own sake."

From around the room, Yamauchi noticed the heartbreaking gazes of his classmates, their gazes filled with pity.

And within him, something broke.

"U-uwaaaahhhh!"

Crumbling on the spot, he raised his voice and began to bawl.

"…Leave."

Hearing Chabashira's words for a second time, Yamauchi lost his will to resist.

Part 3

One person was missing from the classroom.

It was the same classroom, but nonetheless, it was distinctly different.

The atmosphere was heavy and everyone was disheartened.

No matter who ended up getting expelled, the situation would've probably still turned out like this.

Even so, considering that someone had to disappear, it's only natural that the decision was made after considering all the potential pros and cons.

To ensure the future success of the class as a whole, who is necessary? Who is unnecessary?

These questions had to be answered.

One person finally stood up from their seat and left the room.

With that, everyone else began to follow suit without anyone saying very much.

After a day off, once Monday came around, everyone would come back to the classroom once again.

And when that time comes, Yamauchi wouldn't be there.

"He's crazier than I thought."

The 'he' Horikita was referring to was, of course, none other than Hirata.

He was sitting motionless at his desk, as if in a daze.

He had been like this ever since Yamauchi left the classroom.

"Hirata-kun… Uhm…"

Mii-chan timidly called out to him, concerned about his well-being.

However, Hirata only slightly shifted his gaze to look at her and didn't say anything.

How did Hirata feel about this class now?

The answer to that was something only he knew. In any case, there was no other choice for him but to keep moving forward.

The students who couldn't bear to see Hirata in such a state slowly left and headed home.

Sudō and Ike quietly left the classroom as well.

『Let's just go home individually for today.』

Everyone in the group quickly agreed to Haruka's text.

With my bag in hand, I excused myself and started walking to the door.

On my way out, I stopped in front of Kōenji for a moment as he was still in the classroom.

"What is it, Ayanokōji-boy?"

"I didn't think you'd take action for the sake of the class."

"Of course. Even I would cooperate with Horikita-girl in order to avoid expulsion."

"That's not what I'm talking about. Seeing how you were constantly provoking Yamauchi, it seemed to me that you were trying to focus his hatred on you, and you alone."

It's obvious that Yamauchi would come to hate his classmates after he's gotten expelled.

However, since even before the results came out, Kōenji persistently incited Yamauchi more than anyone else in the class, diverting Yamauchi's hatred solely towards him.

Kōenji had personally dealt with Yamauchi once he had lost all sense of reason after his expulsion was confirmed.

Although, from the perspective of the rest of the class, Kōenji's actions may have just come across as bullying.

"Well now, I have no memory of that. I just wanted to see his ugly figure disappear from as close up as possible."

"Is that so? Then I'll just drop it."

As soon as I was out of the classroom, Horikita quickly followed after me and grabbed me by the arm.

<Illustration >

"Ayanokōji-kun. You… How much of this did you anticipate ahead of time?"

Back when Sakayanagi proposed a temporary truce, I was a little more than ninety-percent certain that I didn't have to worry about being expelled. It's obvious that, to her, beating me with a surprise attack would be meaningless. If she had lied about the truce in order to force me out of the school, she wouldn't have been happy about it.

But at the same time, she manipulated Yamauchi and tried to have him get me expelled.

In other words, she had made a clear violation of our truce. That is to say, her actions were contradictory.

To compensate for this contradiction, she would have to do whatever she could to invalidate any censure votes I may get because of Yamauchi.

Namely, to have Class A cast a majority of their praise votes for me.

That way, even if I ended up with twenty to thirty of Class C's censure votes, I'd still end up with a positive number of votes in the end. My safety would be guaranteed. In which case, why would she go through all this trouble? She had probably done so in order to get Yamauchi Haruki expelled. By making him out to be a villain, she had managed to lower his standing within Class C. Of course, I had no way of being absolutely certain of any of this. I couldn't discount the off-chance that Sakayanagi was trying to have me expelled with a surprise attack.

So, I instigated Horikita, using her as a means to ruin Yamauchi. In addition, by letting the class find out that Yamauchi was targeting someone harmless like me, I'd be able to get additional praise votes due to sympathy or protection. Although, ending up in first place was a little bit too much.

"Didn't I say it before? I didn't explicitly take part in this exam."

"…But…"

"I'm heading home."

"Ayanokōji-kun!!"

As if her feet were frozen to the ground, Horikita shouted after me as I walked away.

"It was you, wasn't it…? You're the one who told my brother about the connection between Sakayanagi-san and Yamauchi-kun, aren't you?"

I simply continued walking without giving her an answer and descended the stairway.

On the first floor, I approached the bulletin board.

There was a statement posted that listed the results of the exam for each of the classes.

Class Vote Results:

Expulsions:

Class A: Totsuka Yahiko

Class B: None

Class C: Yamauchi Haruki

Class D: Manabe Shiho

These are the only expulsions.

There will be no changes to the number of Class Points because of these results.

"Yahiko, huh…? I guess she really was lying when she said she'd expel Katsuragi after all."

Along with who had been expelled, the names of those who had gotten the most praise votes were listed. In Class A it was Sakayanagi, in Class B it was Ichinose, and in Class D it was Kaneda. Kaneda had gotten the fewest, with a total of twenty-seven votes, whereas Ichinose had ended up with a stunning total of ninety-eight. Considering that most of Class A had used their praise votes on me, it was clear just how much everyone valued Ichinose.

Behind me, another student appeared, likely to check the results of the exam for himself.

It was Katsuragi, and at almost the same time, Ryūen showed up as well.

"So you didn't get expelled either, Katsuragi."

"…I could say the same to you. Out of everyone, I thought you'd be the one to go."

"Kuku. It seems like the Grim Reaper has taken pity on me."

"The Grim Reaper, is it?"

"Don't worry about it. It's not like you'd be able to see it anyway."

With a grin, Ryūen went and looked at the results.

"Though, it seems that Sakayanagi girl did something interesting too, wouldn't you say? Seeing as that she went and cut down your only supporter."

While Ryūen spoke cheerfully, Katsuragi's expression turned into one of remorse.

"You've completely lost your fighting spirit, haven't you?"

"I have nothing to gain by acting out any more than I already have."

"So you plan to be Sakayanagi's obedient dog until graduation? What a joke."

"...…"

There was a moment of silence.

However, there was a ghastly expression on Katsuragi's face.

Yahiko, who had followed Katsuragi through thick and thin, had been expelled.

At the same time, Katsuragi had lost his status as a person who people were willing to protect.

"Hoh? So you can make a face like that too, huh Katsuragi?"

After seeing Katsuragi's expression, perhaps Ryūen had the same impression as me.

"As you are now, you could easily deceive Sakayanagi."

"…Don't joke with me. Putting that aside, what does a bastard like you plan on doing now? Your future at this school was saved by the Grim Reaper. Do you plan on challenging Sakayanagi, Ichinose, and Horikita once again?"

"I'm not interested in something like that."

Ryūen coldly responded without missing a beat.

"The contract I made with you and the rest of Class A is still valid. To put it simply, I plan on sitting back and squeezing you dry as I casually enjoy myself for a little while. I just thought I'd meet you here today to kiss your ass for that."

Apparently, that was the reason why Ryūen had come here in the first place.

After all, from Ryūen's perspective, Katsuragi's expulsion would've also caused the contract to be annulled.

With that, Katsuragi left first and headed back home, leaving Ryūen and me behind.

"Do yourself a favor and come with me for a bit."

Without refusing, I let Ryūen lead the way as we walked around to the backside of the school building.

"Since when were you such a good person, Ayanokōji?"

"I didn't do anything, but it doesn't seem like you're very willing to believe that."

Ryūen should already be well aware of what I did.

"It's not so much that I did anything, it's more like the people who care about you did. They're the ones that did everything."

I looked up at the sky as I recalled the events that had taken place a few days earlier.