Flashback, 5th march(one day before the vote)
Honami POV
School is over and I'm currently scrolling my phone.
I don't know what to do..
I want to save my friend but...
I don't want to date Nagumo senpai either.
I mean, that's given. Who would want to date a guy they don't even love.
Even someone like me wouldn't do that.
But....
What should I do...
I opened my line chat with Nagumo senpai.
Nagumo: [So, how is it Honami. How about our deal? you have until midnight to decide. So think it over.]
I looked at the time on my phone that showed its already 16.41.
My time is short....
The skies are already started darkening too.
The only thing I have to do is send 'yes' and it will be over.
???: "you're hesitating."
I turned back at the person who spoke to me.
It was Shiba Tatsuya kun.
Honami: "Shiba kun...what brings you here?"
Tatsuya: "Why I'm here doesn't matter. What matters is you hesitated. I wonder why is that..."
Honami: "!"
Tatsuya: "You didn't reply to him because you don't want to become his girlfriend no?"
H-how...
Tatsuya: "Nagumo Miyabi offered you a deal. And you don't want to accept it. But at the same time, that's the only way to save your class."
Honami: "H-how did you..."
Tatsuya: "Don't underestimate me. I have a lot of networks around me you know."
Honami: "I see...it seems you're not the vice president for nothing..
Shiba kun decides to turn back.
Tatsuya: "Follow your heart. Its okay to be selfish sometimes. You don't have to feel guilty."
Honami: "Guilty? I-I'm not-"
Tatsuya: "You're feeling guilty because you already received a lot of help didn't you?"
Lot of help? does he means...
Tatsuya: "That's why you didn't ask either me or Kiyotaka. You don't want to bother us. You know we can help you, but you don't want to show weakness to us. That's why you didn't ask us."
This cracked my composure...
H-how...
Tatsuya: "Follow your heart. I have no intention of making you rely on me. But I just wanted to tell you, think thoroughly."
He figured out my intention.
But, they already done a lot for me.
I wonder if they'll actually help me.
They already helped me before, I don't want to burden them anymore...But...what should I do....
Tatsuya: "Crave that into your mind. And I don't mind helping you, to be honest." Said Shiba kun who begins to walk away..
Honami: "Wait..." I said weakly.
Tatsuya: "what is it?"
Honami: "I...I need you...I..want to be saved...I can't do this on my own..." I said weakly while looking down.
Tatsuya: "Is that so? then I'll message you later."
Honami: "Later, when?" I said as I looked at him again.
But Shiba kun already dissapeared.
How is that even possible?
Tatsuya POV
I was under a tree, and on a spot that's rarely visited by anyone.
I've sent my message to her.
The only thing left to do is connecting the last piece.
And honestly, why did I even bother to help a person from other classes?
I'm pretty weird huh...
I started walking towards the dormitories.
Timeskip, 21.00
Honami POV
I was currently on my way to room 420, Shiba kun's room.
He just called me recently.
To be honest, I'm actually quite anxious, if he didn't actually help me.
But turns out in the end he called me after all.
I guess I really am pathetic.
I need someone else's help to overcome this exam, let alone from another class.
I arrived at 420 and ring the knocked the door.
Honami: "Shiba kun, its me."
Shiba kun opened the door and got out of his room.
Tatsuya: "Lets go."
Honami: "Eh? we're not going inside?"
Shiba kun stared at me.
Tatsuya: "The way you phrase it is kinda weird not gonna lie."
What does he mean??
Not going inside??
Wait..
WHAT!
I can feel my face heating up.
Tatsuya: "Forget it. Lets go."
Honami: "Y-yes..."
We proceed to walk through the hallway.
Honami: "Uh, where are we going?"
Tatsuya: "We're here."
Room 401.
If I remember correctly, this is...
Tatsuya: "Kiyotaka, I'm here"
Ah, Ayanokoji kun's room.
Kiyo: "Get in. Its not locked."
Shiba kun opened the door and it revealed Ayanokoji kun who's sitting with Ibuki san and Ishizaki kun.
Honami: "Pardon the intrusion~"
Ibuki: "Seriously...?"
Ishizaki: "Woah."
Honami: "Oh! I definitely thought there might've been someone else here too... Good evening."
Ishizaki: "Good evening."
Ibuki: "We've got matching interests, don't we Ichinose?"
What does she mean?
Ishizaki: "Huh? What do you mean, Ibuki?"
Kiyo: "Ishizaki. Nobody's crazy enough to actually want to save Ryūen. Even if, hypothetically speaking, someone were to show up and say they'd help vote for him, there's no way to know whether they'd really stick to their word or not. Although... There are exceptions to that..."
Ishizaki: "I-Is that so... Then, does that mean Ichinose and everyone in Class B are gonna...!?"
Tatsuya: "Precisely. You guys will give her 3 million points while Ichinose will make her class cast praise vote on Ryuuen. A pretty good deal right?"
Ah, so that's what their plan is.
They're trying to kill 2 birds with one stone.
Saving Ryuuen kun and my class at the same time.
Well, its something that can only be done by them after all.
Honami: "Yup. I'll appeal to everyone in Class B and ask them to cast every single one of our forty praise votes for Ryūen-kun. In return, Ibuki-san will cover the private points we're missing."
I played along so they will thought I also know the plan.
Kiyo: "If you two joined forces, no one will be expelled from Class B and Ryūen won't have to leave Class C."
Tatsuya: "So what will you do, Ichinose? will you accept it? the salvation that's infront of your eyes?"
I inhaled a deep breath before continuing.
Honami: "I've made up my mind. As long as Ibuki-san and Ishizaki-kun are alright with it, I'm willing to do what I can."
Ishizaki: "Are you really fine with that?"
Honami: "Yes. I've been able to make sure that their sincerity is real."
Ibuki: "You're an idiot, aren't you Ichinose?"
Honami: "Eh!? Ibuki-san!?"
Ibuki: "Even though all sorts of cruel rumors were going around about you, you still chose to save up all those points. I can't believe you're gonna throw 'em all away for something like this."
Honami: "Well, I can just save up the points all over again. It's clearly not impossible to accumulate close to twenty million points in just a year. Besides, I don't think you're in any position to say that, Ibuki-san. You could just pocket those five million points for yourself right now, but you've decided to use them for Ryuuen-kun's sake instead."
ibuki san quietly looked away without giving her a direct answer to that.
Ibuki: "You and I are different. Besides, someone else's gonna end up bawling their eyes out as they pack their bags in Ryūen's place. In fact, that person could just as well end up being me."
Honami: "But you're still saving Ryūen kun, aren't you?"
Ibuki: "It... It just pisses me off that he's running away like this just after a loss."
Ishizaki: "Oi Ibuki!"
Ibuki: "Shut it, Ishizaki."
Just after a loss huh?
I looked at Shiba kun and Ayanokoji kun for a while before I immediately looked at Ibuki san again.
Could it be?
I just find it hard to believe Ishizaki kun dethroned Ryuuen kun. Its too unrealistic.
Ibuki: "Confirm everything on your end."
Honami: "Will do."
I immediately took a look at my points, checking to make sure if I had received the points.
Honami: "Thank you. It arrived beautifully."
I showed the number on mu phone, proving to them that I had exactly twenty million points in my account.
Tatsuya: "I'll be acting as a witness to this negotiation. I'll have you all know now that I've also been recording the contents of this conversation."
Shiba kun puts out a phone that's recording for around 3 minutes.
Tatsuya: "If either of you breaks the agreement here, I will settle it myself as the vice president."
Ibuki: "Ichinose aren't the type to breach an agreement like that."
Tatsuya: "Its just for caution. You're fine by it, Ichinose?"
Honami: "Perfectly fine. If I breach this agreement and Ryuuen kun got expelled, I will take any punishment you give to me."
Tatsuya: "I see. And by the way, Ibuki. Who do you decide to kick in Ryuuen's place?"
Ibuki: "Manabe. Its from your friend's reccomendation too."
Tatsuya: "Is it for that?"
Kiyo: "It is."
I don't know what they're talking about, but it seems Ayanokoji kun has reasons to get rid of Manabe san. Which is a perfect opportunity now that Ibuki san and Ishizaki kun are in a desperate situation to save Ryuuen kun.
Tatsuya: "Then the deal is complete."
Flashback end
Tatsuya POV
Ryuuen: "I see. What an annoying gift they give to me."
Kiyo: "you should be grateful you know."
Ryuuen: "Is that so? then I'll try. Kukuku..."
My phone began to ring. I took a look at the caller ID to find that it was none other than Ichinose.
Tatsuya: "sorry. Phone call. You guys can continue."
I get farther from them and answered the call.
Tatsuya: "It seems Class B made it through the exam without losing anyone."
Honami: "Yup. Kanzaki-kun volunteered himself to be the one everyone voted against. Once we did, it was announced that he'd be expelled once the results came back. After that, I paid the full twenty million points and negated his expulsion. There were some difficulties, but everyone in Class B managed to get through the exam safely."
Tatsuya: "Is that so? The price you paid wasn't exactly cheap."
Although it was only for the time being, Class B was now poorer than Class D.
Points would be redistributed again in April, but daily life was going to be quite tough for them until then.
Honami: "We've lost our private points, but we can always make them back again. But, if we had lost even a single person, there would've been no way to get them back."
Ichinose spoke without any indecision in her voice. It seemed as though I had said something unnecessary.
It was clear that she had set her mind on graduating together with every single one of her precious classmates.
Its going to hold her back.
Honami: "Ryuuen-kun might not be satisfied with this, though. It seems that Manabe-san ended up being expelled in his place."
Tatsuya: "Well, his look when he failed to get expelled was so funny. So bad you weren't there to see it."
Honami: "Hahahaha, you're mean, Shiba kun."
Tatsuya: "I guess that's just who I am."
Honami: "...Thank you so much, Shiba kun. If you and Ayanokoji kun weren't here, I..."
Tatsuya: "Would've started dating Nagumo?"
Honami: "...Yeah."
Ichinose responded, affirming my answer.
Honami: "I know it's stupid of me, it's just... I kept trying to convince myself that it would've been a small price to pay as long as I saved my classmates. But... once I realized that I didn't have to go through with it, I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart."
She seemed to let out a deep sigh of relief as I could hear the sound of it from the other end of the phone.
Honami: "I think I definitely would have regretted it at some point."
Nobody would regret their decision of rejecting Nagumo to be honest.
Tatsuya: "If neither Nagumo or us were here, what would you have done instead?"
Honami: "...Do you have to ask that?"
Tatsuya: "I'm curious. There's no way you haven't thought about it, right?"
Honami: "Yeah, I had two plans. The first was that I would leave the school myself."
Tatsuya: "And the other?"
Honami: "The other plan was to... hold a lottery."
Tatsuya: "I see..."
It was a simple enough plan that anybody could've thought of, but it would never work unless everyone agreed to it.
Tatsuya: "Was everyone in Class B prepared to draw lots like that?"
Honami: "Yup, we had already discussed it. If we hadn't come up with a way to avoid the expulsion by the day of the vote, we would've drawn three random names in a lottery. We didn't bother talking about who the praise votes would go to and just decided the rest would play out on its own."
Tatsuya: "That would've been about as fair as you could've made it, but it would've never happened in the other classes."
Honami: "Well, that's true... Alrighty, well, I'll talk to you later. Thank you once again, Shiba kun. And don't forget to deliver my thank to Ayanokoji kun too!"
Tatsuya: "You're welcome and yeah. I'll deliver it."
I closed my phone and head over to buy a milk tea.
Kiyotaka POV
Sakayanagi again. This girl sure love to call me into the special building huh...
She wants me and Tatsuya to come and meet her on the special annex.
But Tatsuya is nowhere to found so I just messaged him.
Kiyo: [Meet me at the special annex. Sakayanagi wants to meet us.]
I closed my phone and went to the special annex's direction.
But as I was walking, I felt someone watching me.
I looked at the direction and...
It was a woman who's drinking a tea. And she immediately looked at my direction and smiled warmly.
She looked like she was on her early 20's. I assume she's either 23/24 just from her looks.
She's very beautiful, not gonna lie. And the light of the broad daylight sun makes her even more beautiful and makes her skin very white.
But isn't that too much of an accecory? she wear 4 rings on her left hand, a leather watch on her left wrist, and nail polish. Not to mention the amulet on her chest.
She just stared at me for a while while smiling.
The atmosphere become really awkward for some reason...
And suddenly, her warm smile turned into a grin, and she immediately puts her tea down then positioned her left hand so her wristwatch reflects the sun light directly into my eyes.
I looked away for a while to dodge the sun light that's directly reflected to my eyes, and when I tried to see her again, she's gone.
Am I just hallucinating? is she not real?
Nah, lets just leave it be.
I walked to the special annex.
Timeskip, special annex.
I arrived at the special annex and met with Sakayanagi.
Kiyo: "yo."
Arisu: "you came."
Kiyo: "so, what do you want?"
Arisu: "nothing. I just wanted to thank you for letting me to participate on your strategy, Ayanokoji kun. Fufufu..."
Kiyo: "That's the reason you called me here? you're joking right?"
Arisu: "then I'll tell you the real reason. I just wanted to tell you something. This provisional exam is undoubtedly something that a certain someone prepared in order to have you expelled from the school. In fact, I already received a message to get you out of this school."
Kiyo: "I see. 'that man' has already makes his move huh?"
Arisu: "Precisely, Ayanokoji kun."
Kiyo: "Thanks for letting me know."
Arisu: "You're welcome, Ayanokoji kun. And by the way, I already thought of a plan to mess up with you to be honest, but you already beat me into that. So, I have no choice but to play with your strategy, fufufu."
Kiyo: "You're saying you're going to give similar situation to Yamauchi like me?"
Arisu: "Precisely. But at my strategy, I will be the only one to know it. But it seems you already targeted Yamauchi for yourself."
Kiyo: "Well, its a good thing I don't have to deal with your little schemes."
Arisu: "Fufufu, precisely. Anyways, where is Shiba kun?"
Kiyo: "I don't know. But I already messaged him."
Arisu: "Is that so? can we wait for him?"
Kiyo: "I don't mind. But this room is really hot, you sure you wanted to wait here?"
I can already feel myself drenched in sweat.
Arisu: "Well, we don't have any other meeting place after all."
Kiyo: "Fine..."
Me and Sakayanagi just stayed silent.
Its been 15 minutes since we started waiting. Until suddenly, within the empty special building, someone new had arrived.
???: "Hello, hello."
It was the woman I saw before. From the head to the leg, its all the same. No changes. I thought she's just my hallucination but turns out she's real.
???: "This is my first time at this school. Do either of you know where the staff room is?"
Arisu: "If you're looking for the staff room, then you've come to the wrong place. That said, please excuse my lack of manners, but may I know who's asking?"
Akemi: "My name is Akemi. I'll be working as the acting director of the school for the time being."
Wait, she's still on her early 20's and already got a position of acting director? how can someone's career be so good like that.
She waved his hand politely and gave the two of us a seemingly gentle smile.
Arisu: "Fufu, is that so? It seems that Ms. Acting Director has quite the poor sense of direction, seeing as how you just so happened to wander your way here. Or, perhaps... you had decided to pay us a visit after seeing the two of us meet on the security camera last time? This is the same place Ayanokōji-kun and I had used to meet secretly at the beginning of the exam. It wouldn't be very hard for you to come here if you had always been keeping an eye on it."
She got a point. Nobody will get lost all the way here. She's lying.
The acting director simply smiled and ignored what she had been implying.
Akemi: "You say very interesting things. Though, I suppose I've heard that this is quite the amusing school. I wonder if all the students here are like you? Either way, please, pardon me."
The woman proceeded to walk forward, as if he was attempting to walk between the two of us.
Akemi: "Since you're looking for the staff room, I suggest you go back the way you came. You're in the wrong building."
With the same smile as always, Akemi kicked Sakayangi's cane out from under her as she attempted to give her directions.
Naturally, there was no way for her to react to something so unexpected, so she began to fall over.
With an exclamation of surprise, I quickly reached out and grabbed ahold of her to stop her from falling.
Unable to take evasive measures while holding onto Sakayanagi, I was forced to take the blow. I resisted the impact to the best of my ability and let Sakayanagi down to the floor. She came at me again in quick succession, seizing me by the neck and pinning me against the wall with bewildering, superhuman strength.
Akemi: "You're not as good as rumors say, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka-kun."
She increased her grip on my neck.
Kiyo: "ugh.."
How can someone so strong has a very calming voice like her? its like she's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
But as I tried to release myself, I saw a security camera aiming directly at me.
Tch, no use huh..
If I make a move against a director, she can use it to expel me instantly. With her influence, its not that hard to edit a security footage.
Akemi: "Can't offer any resistance? then I'll make you resist!" She said with a voice that's full of malice and the gentle tone she used before is literally gone.
She used her free left hand and placed it on my neck. Now she's using both of her hands to strangle me.
I can't do anything infront of this security camera, so I just hold her hand and tried to release her hands from my neck.
Akemi: "Why are you not using your full strength? are you afraid of hurting me? I don't need you to hold back! show me the power of the masterpiece!"
Suddenly, Sakayanagi wakes up again and immediately spoke.
Arisu: "Do you believe your violent behavior against students will go unnoticed, Ms. Acting Director?"
Akemi: "There's no need for me to worry about it. The surveillance cameras in this area have been doctored to show dummy footage. That's why, resist with all of your power, Ayanokoji!"
But I choose to just hold her hand without offering a single resistance. I know that's a bluff. If I fought her here, she'll immediately use it to expel me.
Akemi: "So you will continue to stay silent huh. Fine. Now then, Ayanokōji, I have a message from your father. He has no interest in playing this childish game anymore, and wants you to come home immediately. How about you blink twice if you understand?"
I was unable to speak a single word, and furthermore, wasn't even given an option to refuse.
This was really something 'that man' would do.
Akemi: "So you have no intention of making this easy for yourself?"
In response to my complete, unresponsive silence, the acting director began to mumble as she got bored.
Akemi: "Why don't you show a little bit of resistance? Show me something a normal kid couldn't."
Her hold on my throat became even stronger. Not to mention she's using 2 hands at once.
She was a thoroughly trained, skilled opponent that an ordinary student wouldn't be able to deal with. Even someone like Ryuuen and Albert would get demolished by her completely.
Akemi: "There's more to you than just observation skills, right? Why don't you show me what else you're capable of?"
She provoked me once again, but I still didn't show a single shred of resistance.
Akemi: "What a boring masterpiece."
She tightened her grip on my throat again.
Its...geting hard to breath...
She's really serious. She wanted to make me resist so she can use it to expel me.
Her grip on my neck become harder and harder..
Until eventually....
*glass shattering sound*
I can see the CCTV gets shattered by a...pebble that has been thrown.
Because the CCTV was behind Akemi, she must look back to see what happened.
At the same time as she looked back, I used more power to push her hand off me. She was not focusing now so getting out of her choke was not hard at all. Atleast for me. Normal student still wouldn't be able to get out.
Akemi: "tch."
And suddenly, a kick aiming straight to her head comes from her left side.
Bam!
But before the kick connects, she blocked the strike with her left arm.
She immediately moves backwards.
Akemi: "you.....you're familiar. That man said to be careful about you....Shiba Tatsuya."
Tatsuya: "That man? I assume you're talking proffesor Ayanokoji?"
Akemi: "Heh, as he said. You were there when he appeared on this school right."
Sakayanagi immediately widens her eyes and started laughing.
Arisu: "fufufu, so I assume you know about that place, Shiba kun?"
Tatsuya: "I just happen to overheard their conversation. Anyways.."
Tatsuya readied his stance against Akemi.
Tatsuya: "What are you going to do now, you're surrounded by me and Kiyotaka. And I already destroyed the CCTV with a pebble. And relax, I throwed it from a blind spot, so nobody saw its me."
Akemi looked at her watch before looking at Tatsuya again.
Akemi: "Unfortunately I don't have time to play with you, Shiba. I'll deal with you later. And careful where you're kicking. You almost shattered my watch."
Tatsuya: "Its your fault for wearing it during a fight."
Akemi: "heh, I'm free to wear it wether I like it or no. Anyways, Ayanokoji. I will officially take office at this school in April. Please do look forward to it."
Akemi said as she wiped herself before getting outside the building.
Tatsuya: "She got you real good. But there is nothing you can do, right?"
Kiyo: "You're right. She's the acting director. Had I chosen to retaliate, I don't know how he would've used it against me."
Tatsuya: "And why didn't you record them, Sakayanagi?"
Arisu: "I would love to, but it seems when she kicked me my phone fell out and hit the ground too hard. I must bring it to the electronic store."
Kiyo: "I see. Its understandable then. Although being strangled by her was not the most pleasant experience."
Tatsuya: "I thought you enjoyed it. You were holding her hand for quite a long time you know."
Kiyo: "Don't be stupid. Her skin is super soft, I can't deny that. But it still hurts."
Tatsuya: "Hahaha, its just a joke."
Kiyo: "Whatever. More importantly, Sakayanagi..."
Arisu: "Yes? What is it?"
Kiyo: "Let's officially have our match in the next exam."
As I spoke, Sakayanagi's eyes seemed to widen in surprise.
Arisu: "I never expected that you would say that sort of thing to me face-to-face."
Kiyo: "If my father is going to be involved starting in April, I don't think I can afford to compete with you for very long. I'll make it obvious to you where things stand and leave it with that."
Arisu: "That's fine with me. I won't need a second or third time. I will gladly accept the privilege of being your opponent."
Tatsuya: "Then I'll make sure the acting director didn't interrupt you guys. There is no telling she might sabotage Kiyotaka on the exam."
Arisu: "I'm grateful, Shiba kun."
Kiyo: "Thanks."
Tatsuya: "Don't forget to win."
Kiyo: "I will."
Arisu: "We'll see about that, fufufu."
With that, Me, Tatsuya, and Sakayanagi went to our seperate ways.
Timeskip, 8th March
Monday.
Amongst the students, at least some of them were probably wondering if Yamauchi would still be here.
Wondering if the expulsion had been nothing more than a bluff.
However, reality was not so merciful.
Since the events of the weekend, the number of desks in the classroom had decreased by one.
Yamauchi Haruki's place was already long gone.
The smile on Hirata's face had faded.
The smile on Kushida's face had too. But I'll doubt that's her true feelings. She must be cheering inside knowing Yamauchi is gone.
Neither Sudō nor Ike looked particularly energetic.
But I don't care. As long as I win in the end, that's all that matters. Yamauchi's future getting destroyed means nothing to me.
Chabs: "-Without any further ado, I will now announce the final special exam."
Just like that, the first year's Class D advanced toward their final special examination.
To Be Continued
Hi BigFrog Here, I Hope you enjoy the chapter xD
A/N
Next part will be volume 11. The last exam for the first year.
Yep, full of flashbacks.
I changed replaced Tsukishiro into a beautiful woman cause why not?
And Akemi's ability, I would say she's above Yagami but still below Kiyo and Tatsu. Which means she's more powerful than Tsukishiro.
Class points at March
Class A-1470(Arisu)
Class B-1210(Honami)
Class C-790(Ryuuen)
Class D-770(Suzune)
Sorry if it had an uncomfortable pace and boring
Feel free to critisize the chapter!
Published date: 10-11-2021