Chapter 3: Suspicions and Dates?
Intro
The next day arrived quickly and the students of Class B frolicked their way into the classrooms, ready to begin their first lesson of the day. Although they all weren't eager, the students showed an intention to study and listen during classes. They looked confident and ready to begin the day.
...At least that was the plan.
As soon as Chabashira entered the classroom, every student turned towards her only to see an expression not as familiar to them as her previous cold nature or her recent smiling attorney. Instead, plastered on her face was an expression that showed unease, or even fear.
This unease transferred to the students as only one reason came to their mind for their uneasy teacher - a new special exam. Despite this, however, a few students felt that a special exam wasn't the exact reason. This was likely due to the schedule for the next couple of weeks. Coming up in a few weeks was the sports festival which, if following how it was handled last year, was likely going to be close to a special exam. And then, after that, the cultural festival which they had already been planning and prepping for.
They were soon in for a surprise.
"Good morning, everyone. I have an announcement to make before we begin registration. Before the sports festival in October, you will have to undergo a new special exam," Chabashira started, destroying some of the students' confidence and making them upset.
Around this time in their previous year, everybody was preparing for the sports festival. No special exams were in the way of this. They focused all their attention setting up a training regime and partaking in such. But it appeared that this year was different. The sports festival was announced nearly 3 weeks ago, and yet they haven't begun planning a training regime, nor have they heard the little "twist" for the sports festival.
"Huh!? I just got through the gruelling deserted island exam and now I've got to take another special exam...!?"
Understandably, and something that appeared to become the norm, Ike projected his frustration way before anyone else could respond to Chabashira's announcement. His girlfriend, Shinohara Satsuki, had barely overcome the fear of being expelled in the uninhabited island thanks to following a plan laid by Kiyotaka. They were able to begin their relationship due to that.
However, even though they just started their relationship, another special exam was around the corner, one which likely involved expulsions either sudden or normal. Their chance at diving deeper into their newfound relationship was now at risk due to this upcoming special exam.
It wasn't just Ike and Shinohara who were at risk though. Students who held low overall OAA performances were undoubtedly at particular risk of expulsion in this upcoming special exam.
"What the hell guys!? We'll just have to get through a few extra exams before we get to the sports festival."
Sudou, who had absolute confidence in his athleticism, pumped his fist. He seemed to not enjoy the uneasy atmosphere and tried to fire the students up.
"Please don't get carried away, Sudou-kun."
"Oh..."
Immediately, Sudou was shut down by Horikita's warning. He became a little sullen, and fell silent.
"In the last few years of this school, there have been few cases of special exams at this time of year. In fact, to be brutally honest with you all, there is no special exam for the first-year or third-year students."
"Does that mean that only us second years will have to face a special exam before the sports festival?" Satou asked, leaning back in her chair. Chabashira nodded without objection.
"The school is giving you the recognition you deserve. You second years have performed very well."
"Isn't that a bit strange? You're giving us a special exam because you've evaluated us positively?"
"It's true that special exams come with risks that you need to be wary of. Some students may lose class points, private points, or even be expelled. However, on the other hand, they also provide you many opportunities to live a more fulfilling school life. The more special exams you undergo, the more chances you have of being promoted to Class A, which we believe is the most important thing."
The students were in the right to be a little suspicious. In the recent uninhabited island exam, and in the recent Talent Show, two second year classes (three if you factor in the uninhabited island special exam which allowed cross class teams) had come out on top. It appeared that the school was paying close attention to that and providing more special exam experiences for the second year students. Whether that was a good thing or not, the students weren't exactly sure.
However, such a feat actually provided the second year classes, particularly those below Class A with an opportunity to ascend higher. When no special exams were being held, class points would not rise. In fact, depending on student and class behaviour, it was possible for them to be lowered. Class B knew that all too well.
But there was one student who wasn't paying as much attention to that as the rest of the class. Kiyotaka, who had been silently listening to the announcement and his classmates' whisperings, narrowed his eyes as he watched Chabashira and listened to discussion.
He had been paying particular attention to Chabashira's body language, as well as her expressions. She had entered the room looking uneasy and scared, something which he hadn't seen since a particular day on a cruise ship not too long ago. And to add another fact, just yesterday Chabashira had requested to speak with him when she was ready.
[Could all these be linked? Chabashira's sadness, hesitation and fearfulness back on the cruise ship, her seriousness just yesterday, and now her unease... Does it have to do with this new special exam?] He thought as he silently continued listening with his suspicions growing.
"Happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin. So the risk is the benefit, right?"
Horikita, who listened from beside Chabashira-sensei at the front of the classroom, calmly accepted the situation.
"Yes. You are right, Horikita. That's how it is."
"There's nothing to be afraid of. We're definitely closing in on Class A now. We've managed to escape from the three-way battle and attain Class B status. If we keep going, we can definitely reach Class A."
"That's true... And I guess complaining isn't going to stop the special exams."
The more opportunities there were, the better. That was what it meant to rise above the rest of the masses, both in ANHS and in the outside world. Horikita's words were met with approval by Satou and the rest of the class.
As one of the two main leaders of the class, Horikita had been growing her pillar of support, which had left a positive impact on her classmates. Probably realising this fact, Chabashira wore a happy smile that only Kiyotaka noticed since she hadn't actually projected it on her face. He could only tell because the air around her slightly changed.
But that air immediately changed back to its uneasy nature, her serious expression adorning her mature yet cute face. She turned on the monitor and began her explanation.
"For this special exam, you'll be taking part in what's known as the 'Unanimous Voting Exam'. I will be taking questions from you if you have any concerns at any time, but this special exam is very simple and will be held the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow? That's quite sudden."
Horikita's concerns were quite minimal. There appeared to be barely any time for preparation, something which most of the students were used to for special exams that take place in the school. They couldn't grab an advantage, but at the same time, they weren't at a disadvantage either since every class shared equal conditions.
"There is no need to spend a lot of time discussing it beforehand. As I said before, this test is simple. And the school sees no problem in doing it the day after tomorrow. If anything, I think you all should consider yourselves lucky because this special exam could have been held tomorrow instead."
Some of the students visibly shivered as they thought of the possibility of doing a special exam literally the day after it was announced. Partaking in one just 2 days after it was announced wasn't all that much better, but they did at least have a little more time to ascertain their confidence, preparation and ability to do well.
"Now, for the exam itself, like I said, it's straightforward if you just consider the name. The exam will consist of a series of multiple-choice questions which you will have to vote on and repeat until you reach a unanimous decision as a class."
The screen changed and showed exactly what Chabashira explained. Repeat the vote in class until it is unanimous. As she said, it sounded very straightforward.
"Will we be competing against another class?"
Seeking a little more clarification, Hirata raised his hand and asked said question.
"No. You will not be competing against students from other classes this time, as this is a special exam that will only be conducted within each class. On the day of the exam, the school will give you five questions to complete. The questions are the same for all classes, so there is no imbalance."
Receiving the answer he wanted, Hirata nodded and lowered his hand. Chabashira looked around the room for a few seconds before deeming it okay to continue as no one else raised their hand to ask a question.
"Let me provide you with a practical example to help you all understand this a little better."
Chabashira messed around with her tablet and after a few seconds, the screen at the front of the classroom changed to show:
Example Vote
You lose 5 class points, but all your classmates gain 10,000 private points. You can vote for or against.
"Eh? What is this? We'll lose 5 class points, but gain 10,000 private points instead... What kind of question is this? Is it a gain? Is it a loss?" Shinohara said aloud, folding her arms trying to calculate the gain and loss in her head.
The content was simple and looked straightforward. All they needed to do now was come to a decision.
"In response to this question, all thirty-nine of you will vote from the options presented in full anonymity. A hundred questions are as good as one answer, so let's give this a go without any discussion. We can ask questions after this taster. You can vote for or against from your tablets."
While the rest of the students began making their choices, Kiyotaka threw his suspicions to the back of his mind for the time being and took the decision a little more seriously, despite it being an example.
One class point equated to 100 private points, which meant that the value of 5 class points equaled 500 private points and 10 class points equaled 10,000. While the 10,000 private points looked far more valuable, class points themselves had great value. In one month, 5 class points are only worth 500 private points, but over the course of a year, just 5 class points become 6,000 private points.
[The option to gain 10,000 is slightly more profitable in terms of private points alone. But if we chose to lose five class points here, and missed out on Class A at the end of the race by that margin, we would have made the worst possible choice here, and would look back on it that way. This isn't a simple choice.] He thought.
Kiyotaka then looked at everyone else to see what they were doing. It appeared that most of them had already voted, probably not thinking about the choice too much. Seeing that, Kiyotaka decided to just wing the choice and choose "for" to see what would happen. This was a taster choice after all.
Results of the first round of voting:
3 in favour
36 opposed.
A few seconds after Kiyotaka made his vote, the results of the vote displayed themselves on the monitor at the front of the classroom. It seemed that almost every student opposed the idea of losing even just 5 class points for 10,000 private points.
"Huh, what? We'd get more for 10,000 private points than we'd get for 5 class points, right? Did I do the math wrong? Why did so many people vote for the other option?" Ike asked the others curiously. It seemed he voted in favour of the proposal compared to the rest.
"It's true that the 10,000 private points are more valuable than the 5 class points. However, class points are essential to achieve Class A. If the difference is only 1,000 points, why bother to reduce your precious class points? In the unlikely event that a difference of five class points makes the difference between winning and losing, you wouldn't be able to stop regretting it."
Horikita, who voted against losing 5 class points to gain 10,000 private points, gave an explanation to her choice.
Many of the Class B students were worried about the "just in case" risk. It was also important to remember that three other classes will be taking on the same challenge. While Class B was already ahead of Class C and Class D by 50-100 points, if they were unanimous in their choice of class points, this class would likely take a step backwards if some of the other choices went against theirs.
"Each of you has your own opinion, but let's hold them off for now. There are 36 votes against this question, which is a huge margin, but it's not unanimous, so we'll have to do this vote again. In the actual exam, there will be a fixed 10-minute interval before the next vote. During this interval, you will be allowed to talk freely, as you are now, and sometimes leave your seats and exchange views. To save time, we will skip this and commence the second voting."
[To pass this question, the votes needed to be unanimous. If not, it becomes invalid, and a 10-minute interval between that vote and the next will be enforced. Depending on how the discussions go and how many of our classmates vote for one option or the other, a great amount of time could be lost.]
Kiyotaka noted that there will probably be a time limit. If the disagreement continued, there would be a possibility that the time would run out and consequences would occur. Keeping this in mind, Kiyotaka decided to vote "for" again just like he had the first time.
It would be smart to just vote "against" the option without even thinking about it since everyone agreed that it was better to just keep class points. But there could be certain aspects that still prevent certain students from voting unanimously like the rest. He needed the rest of his classmates to realise these things. By voting "for" again, Class B would get a better understanding of this special exam.
Result of the second round of voting:
2 in favour
37 opposed.
"Oi! Who's still voting yes after what you just said, Suzune?"
"I'm sorry. One of them is me, Sudou-kun. I tried to avoid being unanimous for the sake of getting us to understand what happens if we continue to do so. It seems that there is someone else who had the same idea as me, but..."
Although she didn't directly say who the person was, Kiyotaka was sure she knew he was the one who voted with her. A few other students, who appeared to be Kei, Hirata, Matsushita and even Sudou himself, also seemed to come to that conclusion.
"Well, the vote for the second round was almost completely against, but there were still two votes in favour. In this situation, there will be a further 10 minute interval before voting resumes. Remember, you must reach a final unanimous vote of 39 in favour or 39 against. Whichever is chosen will not matter. In this case, if the vote is 39 in favour, you will all receive 10,000 private points, but you will lose 5 class points. On the other hand, if 39 votes are cast against the proposal, then nothing will happen as there is no other option available."
Students nodded in understanding, finally wrapping their heads around the whole premise of this Unanimous Vote special exam.
"The vote is not unanimous, but to save even more time we'll move on to the next example."
The screen changed to show a new example.
Example Vote:
1 million private points will be given to one person in the class. (In the event of a unanimous vote in favour, the pupil who will be awarded points will be voted on.) You can vote for or against.
"Just to let you all know, in the real exam, we forbid private conversations before the first vote. You all have to genuinely face the question and vote first anonymously. You can discuss who voted what during the 10 minute interval as we have been earlier."
This made sense. Chabashira had mentioned earlier that everyone was voting with anonymity, so discussion of who was going to vote what in the first round would break that rule. Everyone nodded and quietly voted on this new example vote.
Results of the first round of voting:
39 in favour
0 opposed
An unanimous vote for being in favour of awarding 1 million private points to someone in the class was made. If only one of the 39 students gets private points, there was almost no reason to choose the latter. This was the thought on everyone's minds making this decision. Even if one would be disappointed that they weren't chosen as the one to get them, it would be difficult to achieve unanimity in opposition.
"So we've achieved unanimity. Now, if the question is to select a particular individual, the first step is the same as in the first example: to get a unanimous vote in favour or against. If the vote is unanimously against, the question ends, but if the vote is unanimous in favour, the question will move onto the next step. After an interval, you will be asked to discuss who you would nominate. The tablet will show the names of all your classmates except yourself."
The students switched to their tablets, opened up the school and special exam app. As soon as they did, sure enough all names other than their own were laid out in a list. Kiyotaka noted that they were not in alphabetical order. Rather, they were randomised.
"To ensure anonymity, the position of each student's name on each student's tablet will be changed each time a vote is taken. This includes options such as yes or no, for or against, you get the idea. They will be randomised for everyone to prevent people from spying on the students next to them and guessing which one they voted for from the position of where their finger tapped the screen."
With the students nodding their heads in understanding, Chabashira then raised her own tablet and gestured at everyone.
"Once the discussion is underway, each student can vote at their own pace, simply by tapping on the student they wish to nominate. At the end of the 10 minutes, the student who has received the majority of the votes will be considered as the 'specific student'. Suppose Ike is chosen by a majority of votes-"
"Huh? Me? Yes!"
"...The right to vote will be temporarily removed from Ike, the person in question, and the vote will be casted by the other 38 people. Let's try out that example now."
Example Vote:
Ike Kanji is awarded 1 million private points. You can vote for or against.
The example question that Chabashira gave appeared on both the front screen and the students' tablets, minus Ike's. Said students began their vote and just after 10 seconds, the results revealed themselves.
Results of the 2nd round of voting:
0 in favour
38 opposed
"What? Wait, why hasn't anyone voted in favour of this!? Not even one person!?"
"No ones gonna give you a million private points, dude."
Surprisingly, it was Ike's own closest friend, Sudou, who spoke for everyone in the class. Also surprisingly, although it probably wasn't, what he said was what they all were thinking.
"In the event of a unanimous vote against awarding the points to Ike, it will be passed that 'no points will be awarded to Ike', but that only removes Ike from the list of options and still leaves the one million points up in the air. So, from the remaining 38 students, we will select another student to continue the question. However, if you are unable to reach a unanimous decision on who to award the points to before time runs out, you will fail the exam. Furthermore, note that the one million points will not be awarded to anyone in that situation."
"What? Does that mean my chances of getting them are now zero?"
"Unfortunately for you, yes. You wouldn't have been removed from the list if there had been even one vote in favour, though," Chabashira explained, pausing for a moment before continuing. "We also invite candidates to nominate themselves. If they do so during the interval, they will be accepted as the 'specific student' on a first come, first served basis. Keep in mind that only one candidate can be allowed per voting round."
"So what happens if we don't get a majority of nomination votes for a particular student in 10 minutes, or if there are no candidates? I'm sure those cases could be considered."
"In that case, they will be randomly selected from within the class."
Horikita's question was answered with a simple answer. She gave a nod, looking deep in thought with a frown on her face. She then turned her head to the rest of the class and spoke.
"Let's all keep our heads up. This special exam may turn out to be harder than we thought..."
As she said that, Kiyotaka brought his suspicions back to his mind. He just noted that while explaining Chabashira was trying her best to not look suspicious. She was doing well with the other students, but Kiyotaka still noticed it. Based on that, and based on the explanation and practical experience they had all gotten during this time, Kiyotaka realised that there was likely a good chance that they would be forced to make decisions on stuff that they would never compromise on.
It was especially the case if one considered the consequences of many special exams, which were...
"I think you all get the idea now, but I'll give you one more example just in case. This time, I'll have you do it based on a real-life format to its completion."
Example:
It has been decided to build an additional facility in the Keyaki Mall. Which of the following would you prefer?
Restaurants
General shops
Recreational facilities
Medical facilities
"Now, there may be questions that will affect the school like in this example. In such a case, the unanimous choice is simply the one chosen by the class, but keep in mind that option may not fully be granted by the school even if it's chosen by you all. To give an example, if this class is unanimous on the restaurant option, but the other three classes are unanimous on the recreational option, then the recreational option with three votes will be chosen."
In other words, even if Class B spent some time to unanimously decide on one option that came to improving the school or school related facilities or activities, if the other classes didn't agree, that meant nothing.
To conclude, there were two types of voting questions: those that take immediate effect like ones related to giving private points and those that are presented as a class vote like a petition to build a new facility. Both would need to be carefully discussed and unanimously agreed upon.
Results of the first round of voting:
20 for restaurants.
4 for general shops.
15 for recreational facilities.
0 for medical facilities.
"As this was not an unanimous vote, we would have a 10-minute interval. For time constraints, we'll only have a 2 minute interval. In the actual exam, you can get out of your seats and discuss your options with the rest of your classmates. However, just before the end of the interval, you will be asked to return to your seat and prepare to vote. You will be given a maximum of 60 seconds to vote. If everyone votes quickly, we can move on to announcing the results without waiting for the time limit."
Chabashira stopped explaining, intending to let the 2 minutes pass quietly. However, upon realising something else, she continued speaking again.
"Students who do not complete their vote within 60 seconds will be penalised with an overtime penalty. Any student who allows 90 seconds of overtime in total to elapse before completing the five questions will be expelled."
This rule was to ensure every student voted. If there is a student who refuses to vote, they will be forced to leave the school. Alongside that, if one delayed their vote every time, they would lose valuable time if they didn't finish their vote within 59 seconds, so it was unlikely that any student would bother to do so - including Kouenji.
Soon, two minutes passed without anyone giving any particular instructions, just waiting for the time to pass. The voting appeared on everyone's tablets and everyone took their vote within the 60 second time limit.
Results of the second round of voting:
23 for restaurants
2 for general shops
14 votes for recreational facilities
0 votes for medical facilities
Since there was no discussion over the options, the result remained similar to the first one. Unless the vote was an obvious decision, it is not easy to bring it to unanimity on the first vote. Furthermore, it is not so difficult to get 39 votes for a particular option once the students reach an agreement after a discussion. But that was only if the questions were predictable. There would be some things that would require a considerable and lengthy discussion.
"I won't repeat this again since you get the gist. This concludes the practical example. In order to pass this special exam, you must unanimously complete five questions within five hours. If you fail to do so, you will be penalised heavily. The penalty loss for failure is 300 class points."
"Three hundred?!"
The class erupted in terror. For them, that would be terrible. Of course, it would be terrible for any class, but for a class that managed to raise their status from Class D at the start of the year to Class B, this would be a huge loss for them. Their ticket towards Class A for the rest of the year likely depended on this special exam.
"But if you can finish it in time, you get 50 class points."
The rewards and penalties were unbalanced, but if one considered the difficulty of the special exam, they seemed reasonable. What they needed to get out of this was that this special exam needed to be cleared as soon as possible and as carefully as possible.
"There's no need to panic. We don't have to fight with anyone this time, we just have to be united in our views. We can rerun the vote as many times as time permits, with an interval in between."
Horikita spoke up for the rest in order to waver the concern being portrayed in many of the students. It seemed to have worked as most calmed down just a bit. Seeing that, Chabashira continued explaining, holding and tapping on her own tablet as she spoke.
"I am sending you all a rough outline of this special exam to your tablets. You will see a summary of the rules we just discussed and the process of how it works like we just partook in the practical. Those of you who feel the need to save it may take a screenshot to use as reference."
Overview of the Unanimous Voting exam
Rules explanation:
All classmates have to vote on a set of options in response to a question posed by the school. (There are a total of five questions with a maximum of four options.)
Unless one of the choices is unanimous, the same question will be repeated.
If you run out of time in the middle of a question, it will not be approved at all, regardless of the progress of the question.
Unanimously approved proposals are actually adopted, regardless of whether the class passes or fails the special examination.
Earn 50 class points for completing all questions.
If you do not complete all questions within 5 hours you will lose 300 class points.
Special examination process:
You will be presented with a challenge and you will cast your first vote (within 60 seconds).
If there is unanimous agreement, move on to the next question (1). If it is not unanimous, go to (3).
10-minute interval, during which time students are free to move about and discuss within the classroom.
60 seconds voting time (you can't discuss, only vote.) (Students who do not complete their vote within 60 seconds will receive an overtime penalty.) (If the accumulated penalty exceeds 90 seconds, the student will be expelled.)
If the results are unanimous, proceed to the next question and go to (1). If unanimous agreement is not reached, return to (3).
"We teachers do not know what kind of questions will be asked of you. Some of you may be optimistic, but I would advise you not to be complacent. In addition, it is strictly forbidden to make any agreements with other students that bind them to vote for a particular option in this exam. It is also forbidden to exchange money with other students to bind them to a particular choice. This applies equally to your own class as it does to other classes."
In other words, no contracts were allowed to be made. This was likely a good thing as contracts targeted specifically for this special exam would make it possible to carry out vicious attacks against other classes. For example, if there was a contract that says a person could only vote for option 1, and one person signed such a contract, that could make the exam dysfunctional.
"Thorough monitoring of the rules will be carried out by the school. If it is found that a third party outside the class has been involved and is able to continue to make unilateral choices, there will be no mercy and expulsion for anyone involved. Please be prepared for this. I also assure you that if anyone is approached about any wrongdoing, they should report it immediately to the school and we will do our best to resolve it."
That meant if time ran out in the special exam, the school would undoubtedly carry out an investigation. The mere mention of a contract would probably incur a heavy penalty, so even people like Ryuuen would be unlikely to make any overt moves. Until the end of the special exam, it is advisable to refrain from getting involved with students from other classes.
"In addition, during this special exam, the use of protection points will be temporarily disabled. The reason for this is that it is impossible to have a fair exam if only one student is protected. If the holder of a protection point is expelled in any way, the protection point cannot be used to reverse the expulsion. However, the expulsion can be avoided if the individual or the class as a whole pays 20 million private points."
Unfortunately, there was currently no sum of private points within this class that could do that. Even if the entire class grounded up all the private points at their disposal, the total probably wouldn't even reach 5 million, which was a quarter of the total needed to save someone. This meant that students who were expelled were certain to be expelled.
Furthermore, in any other special exam, temporarily disabling the use of protection points would lead to complaints. However, in this case, the action was likely more reasonable. That didn't, however, exactly mean that complaints would not arise in this case. The only one with a protection point in Class B was Kouenji and he did not seem concerned or even bothered in the slightest.
"Finally, during the special exam, all communication devices such as mobile phones will be collected. This is because of the possibility of interference from external sources. In the unlikely event that you are found to be carrying a concealed device... well you can already assume what would happen. That's everything you need to know. If you have any further questions, you can come talk to me before the day after tomorrow and I'll try to answer them as best I can."
By the time Chabashira finished, the time had reached the beginning of the lesson, so she conducted a quick register and began the history lesson. In the middle of her registration, she gave a slight glance to Kiyotaka, as if giving him a message. He received it and noted that she probably wanted to talk to him at some point today.
He could probably try to confirm his suspicions that way too, as this entire homeroom session had only increased it. But that was for later. He needed to stick around to hear what the entire class thought before doing anything else. After all... this special exam was going to be a large rollercoaster ride to win.
A/N:
If you've read Volume 5, then this is just a retell of the exam... sigh... I had to do this to continue with the story. Expect more copied but slightly tweaked V5 scenes coming as we go on. Anyways, moving on...
- rainy26541 (G-String)