"Come in, Kushida-senpai."
A few hours ago.
After finishing school, Kushida visited Takuya Yagami's room in the freshman dormitory. The evening sun was faintly shining through the closed curtains.
Gazing at the steam from the freshly brewed tea on the table, Kushida did not reach out to touch it.
"There's no medicine or anything in it, is there?"
"I don't care about that, can we just get on with it?"
Without trying to hide her frustration, Kushida pulled out her cell phone with a grim look on her face.
"I beg your pardon. Then let me ask you without reservation."
After pressing the play button they hear the voice of chabashira sensei explaining the outline of the unanimous special exam announced to the second-year students, though it is only halfway through the explanation. And after silently listening to everything in the class, including the examples, Yagami returned the phone to Kushida.
"Kushida-senpai wants to crush Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Isn't that what you meant?"
Not needing to answer now, Kushida kept silent.
"I had been briefed by my seniors beforehand, but it was still a very simple special exam. From the multiple choices, the voting is repeated and adjusted to be unanimous. There are five tasks in total, and we have five hours to complete them. What did you think when you heard this?"
"............ Easy, right?"
"Yes, it is. It is considered to be very easy for being called a special exam. However, only the punishment for running out of time is severe. This must be because the school is making the assumption that it is clear. A consideration that will inevitably bring us closer to unanimity as the time nears its end. Whether it's a choice you don't like or not, we all want to avoid heavy penalties."
Yagami reaches for the tea that continues to steam in front of Kushida and picks up the cup.
"Well, here's the thing. I'm already in the middle of my second year. But while I've been wanting to expel those two, I haven't been able to get the perfect opportunity to do so up until this point."
"As far as I'm concerned, you're partly to blame, but not right now."
There is nothing to be gained by lashing out at Yagami here, Kushida thought as she held her ground.
"Did you tell Horikita about this?"
"Yeah, ....... You know, the one where you're supposed to be the leader? Sort of. Well, I'm sure she'd have done it on her own without me telling her."
"It's not good to leave things ambiguous. It's important for Kushida-senpai that Horikita-senpai was entrusted with that role after getting a firm word from her."
"So what? You think you can get Horikita expelled on the next special exam?"
When Kushida asked him back, Yagami laughed and sipped from his cup.
"That's right. I had to listen to the recording just to make sure I didn't miss anything or misinterpret anything, but now it's clear. Next special exam: ........ That's a good possibility."
"...... How could you possibly know that? The only condition for expulsion is to let the accumulated penalty time accumulate in the individual's voting time. Do you think Horikita would make a mistake like that? Not just Horikita. No one makes that kind of mistake."
"Of course, it's unlikely that anyone would be stupid enough to get expelled for a cumulative penalty. But from what I've read, there are other ways to get expelled."
"Huh?"
"Expel Horikita-senpai, or Ayanokouji-senpai, depending on the situation. There may be a possibility that we can crush the one we want to crush.At that point, you shouldn't hesitate to guide the conversation so that we can target both."
Yagami mentioned the task that was supposed to be given in this special exam, an example of what he was talking about.
"——Are you sure about that?"
"Of course, I don't think it's the same word for word. But. But I think there is a good chance that there will be assignments like the one I just mentioned."
Yagami hadn't been told about this special exam by Tsukishiro, but after listening to the teacher's explanation, he had an idea of what kind of task he would be given.
"There is only one way for Kushida-senpai to take on a task like the one I just mentioned."
He then explains how she can corner Horikita and Ayanokoji on the subject.
"What do you think? Doesn't this make you look like you're about to be expelled? Of course, you'll have the whole class crying, but that's a small thing to you, isn't it?"
"You think I can do that ・・・・・・?"
"I think Kushida has the ability to do that, am I wrong?"
"You've been buying a lot of stuff."
"I had to test my senior when I first met her to see if she was someone I could use."
"・・・・・・ What does that mean?"
"It's me. Don't you remember? Do you remember when I said that to you?"
"I was in a hurry at the time. So what?"
"So what? Normally, you would have questions. You and I are complete strangers who have never even met each other. And yet, he was able to match the conversation immediately and improvise his way through the situation. That's how I knew he was capable enough."
"But what if I'd said, "Who are you? I might have simply forgotten."
"I don't think so. As long as we don't know where we met, maybe we were enrolled in the same junior high school. If that's the case, there's a possibility that I know about your past. If I were to say, 'I knew about that incident,' it would be a disaster."
To deny such a possibility, Kushida immediately went to talk to him.
"If they don't go to the same junior high school, they can go to a cram school, for example. Or if you find out later that it was a junior who lived in your neighbourhood, that greatly reduces the risk of it being someone you know from the past. We could just laugh it off as a misunderstanding. The first priority was to find out if they were from the same junior high school, right? And if you bring up any topic related to the past, it will be easier to divert the conversation."
After drinking about a quarter of the tea, he put the cup on the table.
"Who the hell are you? How do you know my past when we didn't even go to the same middle school? ............"
"I know you're wary, but consider me a guest in a unique position. However, yes. My purpose is to play with Ayanokoji-senpai."
"What do you mean? To play with him?"
"Yeah, well, I don't think he knows me at all. Right now, my plan is to try things without Ayanokoji-senpai noticing."
"What if I get upset when we first meet, or I don't give you the answer you think I should?"
Kushida was curious about what Yagami had said at that moment.
"I thought that would be interesting. I'm sure Ayanokoji-senpai noticed the discomfort and cast a suspicious eye at me. I probably would have been able to greet him earlier."
"・・・・・・ You mean you went to middle school with Ayanokoji by any chance?"
"Well, what do you think? It's a trivial matter for Kushida-senpai. Shall we turn our attention to the special exam now?"
"I know. If I get the assignment you're after, ...... I'll set it up then."
"I'll set it up. .... .......... That's weak."
"...Weak? What do you mean, weak?"
Yagami stood up and brought himself closer and grabbed Kushida by the shoulders, who reflexively tried to run away.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
She tried to escape from it, but the power of Yagami, who looked so slender, was much stronger than she imagined and she couldn't move.
"Listen carefully. Kushida-senpai is in a tighter spot than she thinks. In addition to Ayanokoji-senpai and Horikita-senpai surrounding you, people who seem to be a cause for concern, such as me and Amasawa-san's existence, continue to threaten your daily safety and life. ......... Isn't that right?"
"It's ........ Yes, but it's ......."
Kushida glares at Yagami, who stares straight into her eyes, without fear.
"As a matter of course, it's not easy to kick out your fellow classmates in this school. It takes a lot of effort to push them out of school in their personal lives. If there was an opportunity to expel him through a special exam like this one, it would be an undeniable chance of a lifetime."
"I know that. But if you go too far, you'll put me in danger."
"So you need to be prepared for that. Expel or be expelled."
We are under intense pressure to fight one out of two.
"Of course, it's Kushida-senpai who will make the decision. If I were to say something like, 'If you don't want your past of class disruptions to be exposed, make sure to expel either Horikita or Ayanokoji,' that would be nothing more than blackmail that violates the rules of the exam."
"That's what I call a threat. ・・・・・"
"I'm sorry. I really don't mean to scare you. I just think it's true that Kushida-senpai is not prepared enough. Eliminate them at any cost. If you don't do that much, you won't be able to force them to leave school. Not for long."
Removing his hands from her shoulders, Yagami returned to his sitting position and sat down again.
"Let me ask you again. Kushida senpai wants to expel those two students. Isn't that right?"
When Yagami looked her in the eye again, Kushida lashed out with a mixture of strong anger and frustration. That is something that does not need to be confirmed. It's what Kushida has been wishing for every day for the past year and a half.
"..... Yes. I want to expel Horikita, Ayanokoji. I'm definitely going to get them expelled. ......!"
"I can feel it. I can finally confirm that Kushida's beliefs are genuine."
Kushida makes up her mind. In order to prevent the wound from spreading any further, she must expel Horikita and Ayanokoji as soon as possible, and she must also expel Yagami in front of her who is talking about whatever he wants.
A/N: Chapter 2 complete.