1.1

When I arrived at the classroom, I immediately noticed that the atmosphere was different from the one before the special exam.

First of all, there were a few students looking at me. These are a high percentage of students that I don't get to know very well on a daily basis, but I guess it's not surprising. Considering the fact that I've been on the sidelines, or on the side of the silent spectators, I'm not surprised that they've taken this new approach to me. There are a lot of things they don't understand about my relationship with Kushida, given how I used to act in public. There aren't many students who can come and talk to me directly, even though they care about what happened.

"Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun!" In the midst of all this, Matsushita happily approached me.

"Good morning."

The stares from the students turned to surprise at my unexpected behavior. I've only had Matsushita wave at me from a distance before, but this may be the first time she's approached me during school.

Is she concerned about what happened the other day, or does she have another goal in mind? Matsushita has a high opinion of my abilities. The fact that I tried to get Kushida expelled and the way I handled it may have raised her expectation rather than lowered it. Even in the process of expelling Airi, Matsushita was one of the students who vocally agreed that it was inevitable.

"So, it's like we're finally moving towards the ascension into Class A?"

"I can't say for sure."

I dodged her light jab and backed off, she looked away as if she didn't need to take it any further.

"There may be a lot going on for now, but I don't think you need to worry about it." After saying that, she added, "It's Ayanokōji, so I'm sure you don't even care about it." She lets her true thoughts of me come out. "The way the class feels is outside of Ayanokōji-kun and Horikita-san's hands right?"

I'm not sure how I feel about that result, but it seems that Matsushita understands my feelings better than Horikita, or at least interprets them more accurately.

The problem is that Shinohara, Haruka, Mii-chan and Kushida can't relate to my line of thinking. The students I just named are the ones who were particularly damaged by the unanimous special exam.

Shinohara occasionally stared daggers at us, but it wasn't directed at me, more so at Matsushita. She seems to be unconcerned, though.

"Over the weekend, I tried to make something work out, but she canceled on me." She mumbles in a whisper, perhaps noticing Shinohara's gaze on her. "Girls tend to take a long time in these situations."

"That's tough."

"Well, it's us who are at fault."

It originally started when Kei, Matsushita and the others made fun of Shinohara and Ike as a couple. They had been badmouthing them behind their backs about their looks, so it was only natural for Shinohara to be angry.

"This is just an everyday thing. There have been times when it's been more difficult."

The relationship between the girls is something that the boys, who only have a superficial relationship with them, cannot know. I wanted to know, but it's probably better if I don't.

After that, no other student made an effort to come talk to me, and time passed by. Horikita also came to school late, but there was no sign of Kushida. Sudō and some of the other students tried to talk to Horikita, but since they arrived at school at the last minute, the chime rang and they had to take their seats.

Kushida, who hadn't appeared in front of Horikita over the weekend, continued to stay hidden. The morning homeroom starts with many other empty seats. Chabashira-sensei came to the classroom and immediately noticed the empty seats.

"Kushida, Hasebe, and Wang are absent. That's unusual." We didn't know the details of their absences, but Chabashira-sensei did. "Hasebe and Wang have notified me that they're sick, so that's acceptable. As for Kushida, I haven't heard from her, so I'll call her later to confirm. We'll soon be able to determine if she simply overslept or if she's too sick to get up."

Although she used a somewhat exaggerated expression, it was probably based on the assumption that they were faking illness. It's not unusual for someone to be absent for long periods of time, but this was the first time in the past year and a half that three students were absent at the same time. Up until now, Chabashira-sensei hadn't made any comments when someone was absent.

This was different from the past, where teachers just went about their business. If this were a normal school, consequences for missing classes would come back to you. If you were to skip a week, it would affect your internal evaluation score, and might even result in you being left behind in class. However, in this school, one person's responsibility is also everyone's responsibility. They may not all say it, but I'm sure Chabashira-sensei understands what they're worried about.

"Don't look so anxious, a day or two of absence won't affect your class points. It's even possible for all three of them to be sick at the same time by pure coincidence."

At this moment, she assures us that there will be no impact on the class. Her students must have felt a sense of relief at her clear words.

"That said, if this break lasts longer, it won't be limited to that. And if it turns out to be a temporary illness, problems will gradually come to the surface." She replied, staring at Kushida's seat since she hadn't heard from her. "Well, perhaps 'temporary illness' was a bit of an exaggeration, but there's a limit to how much you can do when you're sick without knowing the specific name of the illness. I'm hoping for a quick recovery if possible."

The students eyes were drawn to Horikita. In the unanimous special exam, she declared that she would put her own ideas first and leave Kushida behind. Naturally, most of the blame was directed at Horikita. Even though she was receiving the brunt of the gaze, Horikita did not move an inch.

We can't tell what she's thinking, but there's no point for her to expose herself without purpose and risk showing weakness. After looking at the situation, Chabashira-sensei coughed once, forcibly pulling the students' attention away from Horikita.

"I'm concerned about the absentees, but we can't afford to dwell on that. The unanimous special exam is over, and you must now turn your attention to the next battle." She lightly placed her palm on the monitor behind her and brought up the screen. "I would like to explain the details of the gymnastics competition and the special rules that will apply this year. Please listen carefully."

All the students assumed that the sports festival would be the same as last year

"Special rules... does that mean we're going to have a different sports festival than last year, sensei?"

Chabashira-sensei nodded once in response to the question from Sudō, who was more enthusiastic about the sports festival than anyone else.

"It means that the new way this school should be, as proposed by the student council president, is being accepted, such as the island exam. It will be an attempt that strongly incorporates the idea of emphasizing individual ability, and the sports festival will be the embodiment of that."

In the deserted island exam, Kōenji, with his high academic ability and above all his outstanding physical ability, performed very well, and in addition to receiving class points, he also received a huge amount of private points. It was a true representation of a meritocratic school. On the other hand, students who were not good enough were in danger of being expelled. This was a sports festival where the same emphasis was placed on individual abilities as at that time. If we were to accept only those words, it could be a tough test for students like Keisei, whose academic strength is their strong point, but who are worried about their physical abilities.

"I'm sure many students will be worried, but this sports festival has been adjusted so that no individual will be expelled for lack of individual ability, nor will any individual be the only one to suffer damage. Because not everyone is able to perfectly embody both academic ability and athleticism."

Chabashira-sensei explained gently, perhaps to avoid a mild panic. Some of the students looked at each other in surprise at her softer tone that was different from how she was last week. Cutting the chatter, the outline and rules of the sports festival were displayed on the monitor.

[Outline and Rules of the Sports Festival:]

OUTLINE:

• A sports festival for all grades, consisting of a variety of events.

• Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (with a break between noon and 1:00 p.m.)

• Students are free to participate in any event of their choice to earn points, compete against other students, and work for the class to get the highest score.

RULES:

• Each student will be given 5 points at the start.

• Each must participate in 5 different events.

• Additional points will be given to the winners according to their events.

• Each time a student pays 1 point, he or she can participate in the 6th and subsequent events.

• The maximum number of events that can be entered is 10 per person.

• If a student does not participate or abstains from an entered event except for unavoidable reasons, he/she will lose 2 points.

• Students who have finished the events they are participating in should cheer at designated areas.

Just by reading this outline and rules, one can see that it is completely different from last year.

"This will be this year's Sports Festival, and these are the outlines and general rules. Unlike the usual one where the whole school watches one competition, we will have parallel competitions at various locations at the same time."

"Nah, it sounds like we're going to be pretty busy." Sudō was baffled by the rough image of the day in his mind.

"Participating in the competitions and aiming for high rankings is your top priority, for which you'll need to make a meticulous schedule. It will be a busy gym day if you plan to participate in numerous competitions to win.

There are two main types of competitions; The first one is called the basic competition, which is a competition that can be participated in by one person, and all the basic competitions have a fixed reward of five points for first place, three points for second place, one point for third place, and one point for participation. The other type of competition is called the special competition, where two or more people can participate. The rewards are higher in the team competition, and all participating teams receive equal points. While the rewards are attractive, they also have drawbacks such as the need for cooperation and longer time constraints."

There is a clear distinction between individual and team competitions, in relativity of points. It's a nice consideration for students who aren't good at sports to not be at risk when they drop to the bottom of the standings.

"The rewards for team competitions vary depending on the competition, so be sure to check them out separately."

The rules are simple enough once you understand them, but there's a surprisingly large number of things you have to do. The initial five points and the five points for participation, a total of ten points, can be obtained by participating in the sports festival and completing the competition regardless of the grade. If any student fails to meet the minimum requirement due to some accident, the number of points will be reduced by 10 for each student.

If we assume that all the students will participate, Ichinose, a class of 40 students, currently has 400 points, and our class, with two students missing, has 38 students and 380 points. This means that we will be fighting with a handicap of 20 points. The reward for the individual competition is 5 points for taking first place, which means you need to take 4 more first places. It may not seem like much, but each person can participate in up to ten events.

In other words, it's impossible to get Sudō to work at full capacity and participate in 15 or 20 events to make a lot of points due to the risk of burnout. This may be a heavier burden than we think.

"It's up to the individual and the class to decide whether to pay the points and participate in the sixth and subsequent events. And the overall score at the end of the competition will determine the ranking by grade."

The monitor switches to show the rewards by grade level.

[Point Distribution:]

• 1st: +150 class points

• 2nd: +50 class points

• 3rd: 0 class points

• 4th: -150 class points

From the perspective of a normal exam, I feel that the fluctuations in class points are somewhat large. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that it is a big overall event, and the fact that the currently announced Cultural Festival has relatively slow fluctuations in class points.

"These are the rewards for each class. From here, we will announce the rewards for individuals."

The rewards by class alone are motivating enough, but it doesn't stop there. As this was an athletic festival that was meant to test individual abilities, it was inevitable that individual rewards would also be prepared. This is the event of the year where you can shine, and you know your abilities better than anyone.

[Individual competition rewards - by grade and gender]

• 1st: 2 million private points or class transfer ticket (limited)

• 2nd: 1,000,000 Private Points

• 3rd: 500,000 private points

Sudō shows his surprise at the reward of high private points. In addition to that, there was a new reward which I had never seen before.

"Class transfer ticket, no way..."

The class buzzed with surprise at something that was completely new to us.

"The school was quite cautious about introducing this new system. The introduction of protection points was also unprecedented, and this system is being introduced not too long after that. However, it is the natural right of the students who have shown their individual abilities to move up."

The only winners in this school are those students who were able to graduate from Class A.

It's no wonder that if you're the number one student in your grade in a physical education exam that requires a great deal of physical ability, you're considered worthy of having the right to change classes. It seems that the sports festival does not fall under the category of a special exam. Originally, the number of private points needed to move classes was 20 million. In other words, there is one digit missing. Nevertheless, the right to move classes is given. The answer to this disproportionality may lie in the limited text of the class transfer ticket.

"Does limited mean I have to move and come back sometime later?" Sudō seems to be confused by the word "limited"

"No, it doesn't, does it? That doesn't make any sense." Ike yelled out from his seat.

"We'll give you the right to change classes. But that said, it's also true that you can't finalize that ability forever. Therefore, the term "limited" refers to the period of use. The right can only be exercised during the second semester. So if you don't exercise it before the start of the third semester, it will be invalid."

Limited means a class transfer ticket with a period of use, so to speak. This makes a certain amount of sense when it is said to be equal to 2 million points.

If you can hold on to it until after graduation, it's practically a Class A ticket, but since it has an expiration date, you need to have an eye to determine which class you will eventually win or stay in. If you move from your current class to another class but your previous class ends up graduating from Class A, you would realize the ticket has gone to waste. Even if you didn't suffer such a worst-case scenario, it takes a certain amount of courage to use it. It's not easy to abandon your own class that you've been used to for over a year and a half. Even if Sudō won the right to do so, when he objectively thought about whether he would leave Horikita and his friends and transfer to Class A, he couldn't imagine moving classes.

Even though it's a high-profile sports festival, it doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to go to Class A with just one success.

We need to keep that in mind.

However, this is only for second-year students. If you're a freshman, you're still not that close with your classmates.

Some freshmen may abandon their current class, which they are not so close to yet, and move to a class where they feel they have a better chance of winning, or simply to Class A.

On the other hand, for the third-year students, it's the strongest idea to move to Nagumo's class. This is because it's the same as graduating with Class A. It's a big deal to be given the right to move classes in any grade, and to have that very limited choice.

It will be interesting to see how this will affect the students in the future. I'm sure the school will see the reaction and decide whether or not to offer similar tickets again. Overall, I think it's an interesting reward with an interesting balance.

"The students who come in first place for each gender will be asked to choose one of the two. Sudō, if you plan on making it to the top of the individual competition, you'd better think twice." I could see Sudō's back stiffen. Rather than being paranoid about putting his friends first and jumping to two million private points, he should look beyond that.

Does he want to stay in Horikita's class, or does he want to move to Sakayanagi's class, which has never given up the lead since we started school? He'll need to face the future and consider it carefully.

"Now, let's move on to a more detailed explanation. There are two types of competitions: those that are open to the public in advance and those that are not open to the public until the day of the competition. In other words, there will be a certain number of events that you will have to take on the spot."

pot." In addition to the basic events such as the 100-meter run and steeplechase, several interesting and unusual events are displayed: penalty kicks, basketball shootout, tennis singles, and mixed doubles or mixed gender doubles. It's a lot of stuff you don't normally see in a sports festival.

"You may not always be able to participate in all the events you want due to the limited number of participants or the time of the event. If you force yourself to make a schedule that doesn't fit the time schedule, you may not be able to participate in time and may be treated as an abstention. Don't forget that you also run the risk of losing your points."

For those students whose physical abilities are superior to the rest of the school, it is necessary to have them participate in many events where they can gain points efficiently. In this sense, there is an aspect of using one's head, and luck or the ability to read who can participate in which events are required. However, if the sports festival were to be held in its current state, the students would probably panic. If all the students were to rush to a particular event on the day of the event, they would not be able to compete. Of course, there is no way the school wouldn't prepare for that dilemma.

"Reservations for participation in the open events will be released today at 10 p.m. on a special app. The earlier the better for all grades. Cancellations will be accepted up to one week before the actual event, but cancellations can only be used three times. The last reservation deadline is two days before the actual event, and if you haven't registered for the maximum of five events by then, you will automatically be assigned to an open spot." With that, a timetable that appeared to be an app screen was displayed. "Let's say you want to participate in the 100 meter run for a test."

The screen changes. This is an event for up to seven participants of the same grade and gender. Four races in total. You can register for any race, or join on the day if there are seats available. Participants must arrive 5 minutes before the start of their race to complete their entry. No need to wait until after the race. Scheduled start time of the first race: 10:15 a.m.

This means that the maximum number of men and women who can participate in the 100-meter run is 56. No matter how many races you participate in, you need to arrive at least five minutes before the competition starts at 10:15.

From the explanation that there is no need to wait after the competition, if you participate in the first race, you can start moving on to the next one in a short time. On the other hand, if you participate in the fourth race, you will be detained for a long time. Same competition, same reward, but you lose some time.

"Also, it is important to note that any student who is currently enrolled or has been enrolled as a club member at least once in the past while in school will not be allowed to participate in the relevant event.

Take Hirata for example, he isn't allowed to participate in soccer, and Sudō, he isn't allowed to participate in basketball-related events."

To make sure students who are involved in club activities don't have an advantage, they've added constraints. Surely, they don't want to have a showdown between students who have experience in club activities, since it's unlikely that any student can beat an experienced athlete like Yōsuke or Sudō.

If Sudō plays soccer and Yōsuke plays basketball, the other students will have a good chance to win. There may be a few students who devoted themselves to club activities in junior high school but did not choose to participate in them in high school.

"Anyway, it's like reserving seats in a movie." The words leaked out from Sudō, who was taking the explanation seriously, were right on target.

"I guess you could say the system is similar. It's also made to reflect in real time who held which event and time slot."

"So that means there will be people who don't want to fight me and cancel, right?" Sudō muttered, sniffling and crossing his arms proudly.

"Yes, but those students will hit the cancellation wall sooner or later." Because of the number of people who can participate in each event and

the time limit, we want to hold our strongest events and specific races as soon as possible in order to plan our schedule. However, if you do so quickly, the risk of being targeted by strong opponents also increases. But if the number of times you can escape is fixed, you will hesitate to even make a reservation.

There is also a battle of checks and balances and probing.

It's as if the competition is held online before the festival even starts.

"In addition, if there are students who are ranked the same in the results of the individual competition, their private points will be divided equally and they will not get class transfer tickets."

In the event that students collude to create a large number of ties for first place and win a large number of class transfer tickets, the system will fail. I think it's a measure to avoid that. In any case, if you play well and get all the rewards by yourself, you will get a lot of private points or a class transfer ticket.

It's a reward worthy of the name of your individual ability.

Even if you don't plan on moving classes, you can use the 2 million points for a variety of purposes, such as accumulating a dream of 20 million points to set the stage for Class A.

On the other hand, students who are not confident in their athletic ability should try to stay in the compulsory five events. If they use their precious points to participate in the sixth and later events and do not win, they will lose a point. This is a big disadvantage in the class competition. However, it also depends on how you fight.

When Chabashira-sensei finished her explanations and left the room, the classroom started buzzing all over again with chatter about the upcoming festival.

"Okay, Suzune, let's get started with the meeting!"

The first person to shout out loud was Sudō. After hearing the rules, he suddenly became more motivated.

Yōsuke, and I naturally sat up and started walking towards Horikita. Up to this point, it was the same as usual. However, some of the students were beginning to look at her coldly. Doubts swirled around them, wondering if they could really trust Horikita to take charge, or if they would be okay with Horikita taking the lead.

"First of all, before we discuss this sports festival, there's one thing I should tell you."

She moved before the students could make the first move. She stood up from her seat and turned around so that everyone could see her face.

"During the special exam held last weekend, I forced Kushida-san to choose not to withdraw from the school, in a way that violated my promise to everyone. First of all, I want you to let me apologize for that." With that, Horikita bowed her head. But there was also a strong will in her eyes as she looked up. "But as it turns out, I think I made the right choice. She's someone who can help the class."

"I don't think so." Shinohara was the first to deny Horikita's words. She was one of those affected by Kushida's revelation. "Now that I know that Kushida-san is a questionable person, no one will trust her. Right now, I don't get the feeling that anyone is talking to the rest of the classes about Kushida-san but I'm sure that's just a matter of time."

Shinohara cut to an important factor that should be put on the shelf, whether you like her or not. The fact that Kushida will continue to exist as a classmate cannot be changed, and if things are to proceed on that basis, it is better to keep the inconvenient "truth" to oneself as much as possible.

In other words, going around telling the enemy class that Kushida is guilty in nature and has a dangerous ideology can lead to strangling yourself. It's a simple story of the benefits of keeping quiet, but it's surprisingly difficult to carry out.

In particular, Shinohara, who is protesting now, has been directly hurt by Kushida. It would not be surprising if her anger had already exploded, but for the moment she seems to be suppressing her feelings. It doesn't look like Shinohara understands the benefits of keeping Kushida. So it would not be surprising if someone smart enough to understand this, someone like Yōsuke, would have urged her not to talk about it beforehand.

However, it is doubtful that this will last forever.

When the doubts and insecurities about Kushida reached their limit, they would break down at once.

"Hey, Horikita-san. Can you really say that you were right to stop us from leaving Kushida-san behind? Answer me."

Shinohara's words made Horikita, who had only been looking at her, snap out of her thoughts and give an answer.

"It's not something that can be answered at this moment. It's the same for me, Shinohara-san, and the rest of my classmates. We need to make our presence felt for the rest of our school life."

"What the hell? I want an answer now. No matter how you look at it, Kushida-san is a distraction to the class."

"Indeed, the unanimous special exam may have hurt you. It may have hurt Wang-san, who is currently absent, and Hasebe-san. But that doesn't erase the fact that Kushida-san has been contributing to this class for a year and a half. Or do you think you've contributed more than she has?"

Causing major problems doesn't make past achievements go away. She had brought the class together, taken care of their concerns, and helped raise their academic and physical averages. At least Shinohara personally hasn't done as much as Kushida.

"I can't blame you if you don't take kindly to my deception and Kushida-san's continued insistence on expelling certain students. But if I had expelled Kushida-san just like that, can you say that it would have been the right decision immediately? Can you be okay with the class average dropping and losing the special exam?"

"That's... you don't know until you try something like that."

"Right. Then when I'm about to do something, no matter what it is, we won't know until we try it."

Either way, it's still an uncertain future. It wouldn't be easy to argue against Horikita with Shinohara's ability.

"Can I have a word?" As Horikita and Shinohara stared at each other, Yōsuke stood up, raising his hand. "I'm a little stuck on something. If we're going to get the most out of Kushida-san's skills, we need to keep her secret within the class. That's why I've been asking everyone in class to keep quiet about it."

"I'm sure you have. If someone hadn't given the instructions behind the scenes, the truth would have been leaked by now."

Horikita was wondering the same thing, given that there were no rumors circulating about Kushida on Monday.

"But you never asked me to keep quiet, Horikita-san. Why is that?"

"Because it doesn't matter how many gag orders you put in place against people who want to bring her down. It won't makes a difference if the school finds out about it sooner or later."

Regardless of the process, the students would now have a decision to make. Do they let their emotions get the better of them, make her true nature known, and get back at Kushida, or do they keep it a secret for the good of the class?

"I wouldn't leak anything even if Hirata-kun didn't ask me to. There was a chance for us to get together on our day off. We kind of had a discussion about how it wouldn't do any good to leak this out. Of course, it would be a lie to say that I don't have any feelings for the current Kushida-san."

As expected, Matsushita was a smart girl. She was one of those who were affected by Kushida's revelation, but she understands the disadvantages of spreading the word. They were exposed, so they expose her back. There is only a temporary sense of accomplishment to be gained by doing so.

"We will bring her back. And if I can't, I'm going to take whatever responsibility I can."

Take responsibility.

Even the students who had bared their fangs at his strong determination cleared their throats and gasped. It was no exception for Shinohara.

"Are you really going to take responsibility?"

"I chose to leave Kushida-san with that resolve. If something happens, you people will judge me."

Akito and Keisei look on in silence at this. It's not hard to imagine how they must be feeling as they listen to this story. Anyway, with a few strong words from Horikita, the conversation came to an end, and free time arrived. Horikita's eyes were not on me, but on someone else.

That person also looked back at Horikita, and eventually Horikita left the classroom. At the same time, Kōenji, who was sitting across from Horikita, stood up and walked out of the classroom as well.

I was curious to see what was going on, so I decided to open the door a little bit and check.

"You acted like you wanted to talk to me about something, please dispense with the pleasantries."

"There's something I'd like to confirm regarding the upcoming sports festival."

"I don't suppose you're going to ask me to participate with whatever plan you have in mind?"

"Of course not. I just want to confirm your intentions. You can at least let me hear those, right?"

To include or not to include Kōenji's activities in the calculations. Depending on that, the strategy could change. When asked, Kōenji grinned and put his hand on Horikita's shoulder. She tried to brush off his hand, but Kōenji's arm didn't budge.

"You seem like a very lucky girl, don't you?"

I questioned back the truth of his words, somewhat grimly, as he kept his hand on her shoulder.

"Does that mean you're motivated to finally help?"

"I've made some money from the deserted island test and the treasure hunt, but why would I ever omit a chance to make some more? As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason not to participate."

Kōenji, who had shown overwhelming power in the desert island test, was not expected to help in the future, but if it was a special test that would bring in a huge amount of money for an individual, he would be enthusiastic. For Horikita, it was icing on the cake. As long as she can get as many points as possible, she has nothing to complain about. And with Kōenji, there is a good chance that she could easily earn 10 or 20 points.

However, there would be some things to worry about in this reward. Horikita seemed to hesitate for a moment at that, but then stepped forward.

"If you get the right to change classes, what will you do?"

Kōenji is without a doubt the most troubled student in the school year, or rather a free spirit. He would never hesitate to abandon his current class if he decided he wanted to do so. Whether Kōenji would be good for the class in the future was another matter, but at least Horikita wouldn't consider the loss of students from the class as a positive thing. Besides, he may take future special exams seriously, such as the deserted island exam and the sports festival, where a lot of money is at stake.

If that happens, he stands as a strong opponent.

"There is no problem on that matter. I don't think the other classes are attractive enough at the moment for me to abandon my personal contract with Horikita Girl, so have no fear."

"For now..."

In other words, depending on the conditions, a class transfer is always a possibility.

"As of today, you're safe, so don't fret."

I'm not sure I would consider Kōenji's words a conformation of safety, but I'm skeptical as to how many classes would want to bring in Kōenji. I'm sure it has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages.

"Okay, I'll agree with you on that. I just don't trust you either if you're swayed by whims. You'll get enough points to take the top spot, is that correct in your calculations?"

"You can take it that way. I don't have to team up with anyone, though."

He was only going to earn points in the competitions that he could participate in individually. I wouldn't be surprised if Kōenji got first place in all the competitions. It means he's likely to get a maximum of 55 points.

"Are you sure you're not interested in moving up to Class A?" Kōenji answered the question with a laugh and walked back to the classroom.

"I guess eavesdropping is your hobby?" Kōenji, who had stopped behind me, asked.

Perhaps he had guessed from the slightly open door, or perhaps he had known all along.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about what's going on for the sports festival."

"Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

"Can I ask you a question, Kōenji?"

"I'm in a good mood right now, I'm simply exhilarated thinking about the points from the sports festival. You may have an answer."

"You and Horikita have made a promise. But it's not an absolute guarantee. There was a possibility that you might be cut off, just as you let Kushida stay to face the opposition of the class. Do you have any thoughts on that?"

I enquired into whether he was anxious about his promise, about if it would've been kept or not. Kōenji was in a position to be bullheaded and agree to expel fellow students, even though he had the purpose of extracting private points behind his back.

"It's all a matter of calculation, you know. If there was a situation waiting for me to be narrowed down to a final candidate for expulsion, I would vote against it before it happened. The talk about trusting Horikita Girl is also based on that basic premise."

"I see. So, you didn't fully trust Horikita."

"I would never entrust myself to another person. You wouldn't either, would you?"

"Maybe."

Kōenji seems to be free and careless, but behind that there is also calculated thinking. And even though it's calculated, he still maintains his freedom. No matter how many times I deconstruct each student and understand what I need to know about them, this man is the only one I can't read.