Part 1
Lessons passed by without trouble, but the unanimous special exam was still present in Class B's mind. They had not discussed anything about the exam since Chabashira explained the premise. That was why when it was time for lunch, Hirata immediately left his seat and walked up to the podium, gaining the attention of every Class B student.
"Hey, before we all go for our lunch break, I would like to hear everyones opinion on this special exam. I think doing it now rather than later will be best for everyone. What do you all think?"
"I agree, Hirata-kun."
"Good idea, let's discuss it now."
"Yeah yeah."
"Oh ho ho. I'm the perfect human being. I do not need to be here for your discussion. But I shall humour you all and stay."
Swathes of support for Hirata's suggestion rang throughout the classroom. Surprisingly, even Kouenji agreed to the idea and stayed in his seat.
"Thanks everyone. Now, does anyone have any thoughts they want to share on the special exam?"
The first person to raise her hand to answer was none other than Kushida.
"Um, this special exam means that there are going to be separate opinions on things that could be presented as part of a vote. And that's going to cause trouble, right?"
"Yes, unfortunately. I don't think it would be a special exam if there wouldn't be even a little bit of trouble."
Nodding her head in understanding, Kushida continued with her idea.
"Then I think it would be better to have a clear leader in case there's a situation where our choices don't match each others. I think if we follow the options that the leader eventually decides on, we can pass this special exam without any problems."
If there were more options in one of the voting questions, it was likely that opinions would be more divided than if there were only a "for" and "against". This in turn would cause more debates over why certain people didn't support one option.
What Kushida was proposing was a way to mitigate that risk by having someone politically take charge. Like a communist leader who would force people to choose one option if arguments occurred.
"That is a good idea. I agree with you, Kushida-san. But it's going to be a big responsibility for the leader. Unless someone here is willing to nominate themselves for that position, do you have any idea who that person should be?"
However, while Kushida's idea was a welcoming plan, who the person that was going to take charge was a little difficult to decide on. The position of leader for this special exam would need not only someone who was capable of organising the entire class but someone who was really ready to take such a huge responsibility.
Some of the students, including Hirata, were asking themselves if there really was someone like that.
"Well... If you don't mind, could I suggest it be you... Horikita-san?"
"Me?"
Slightly surprised to hear her name be thrown at the suggestion by Kushida, Horikita raised her eyebrows as she looked at Kushida. The girl under such a gaze only nodded with a smile as she replied.
"Yes. You've been our leader many times in many special exams before. And more importantly, I thought you would be the best person who could bring everyone together so that there would be no unfairness. Of course, it's a big responsibility, as Hirata-kun said, and if Horikita-san says it's okay, then..."
Horikita had taken many leadership roles for the class and almost every time they were under her leadership, things had gone pretty well. From that, the class had been putting their trust in her more times than they could count. It was not a surprise that Kushida had proposed Horikita as the leader for this special exam based on that.
Realising this fact, Horikita gave a thoughtful look before nodding and responding with her answer.
"Yeah... Kushida-san is right. It's possible that other classes will have similar strategies too. I shall take on the role as leader for this special exam then. If you don't feel comfortable following my instructions when the time comes, you can let me know now."
No one objected to the idea. And so, Kushida's proposal was easily accepted and passed through. Horikita would be the leader to make decisions in case of any uncalled for situations.
When that was over, Kouenji immediately left the classroom to go who knew where, prompting other students to begin to head out for lunch. Kiyotaka stood up and was immediately greeted by Kei, the Ayanokouji group and his new set of friends in the new friend group.
"Kiyotaka! Cafe. Lunch. Let's go."
"Kei-chan. Wait. Wait for us. We're all going together."
"Kiyopon. We're all going too. Don't forget us."
Kei, Mori and Haruka raised their intentions as soon as they got close. Whether Kiyotaka wanted to actually go or not, he wasn't given much of a choice as the girls completely surrounded him. Akito and Yukimura, who were watching nearby, simply gave amusing smiles to Kiyotaka as they somehow found enjoyment in seeing Kiyotaka in this situation.
Without much of a word of refusal, the larger group left the classroom and began making their way towards pallet cafe. Upon arrival, they ordered their food and sat down at the same table they had previously sat at when they discussed the maid cafe cultural festival idea.
"Oh man... This special exam sounds easy and difficult at the same time..."
Once they sat down with their meals, Mori started up the conversation with a complaint over the unanimous vote special exam. She garnered support from Shinohara, Satou, Maezono, Matsushita and Kei, who were nodding their heads at Mori's statement.
"Yeah yeah. If the questions are like the ones Sensei showed off, then it's going to be difficult to get everybody on board. Luckily, we got Horikita-san. She'll get us through this no problem."
Shinohara gave her view of the situation, which prompted Akito to point out something that caught his interest for whatever reason.
"But Shinohara-san, on the note of the questions Sensei showed us, there's something I've been wondering. Isn't Ike your boyfriend? How come you didn't vote to give him a protection point?"
"Yeah. Come to think, everyone voted no to him, even you. Is there something you're not telling us Shinohara-san?"
Maezono pitched in questioning her friend, resulting in said friend giving a slight blush as the realisation probably hit her. She gave a reply, although rather embarrassed.
"Well... As much as I l-like K-Kanji, I can't justify giving him of all people a protection point. How should I say this... I don't think he would be able to use that protection point effectively? It's best to give it to someone who could use it best... I guess."
Shinohara rubbed her shoulders a bit with a blush. Matsushita, Mori, Maezono and even Haruka gave knowing smirks - the kind that only girls who knew everything would. Kiyotaka, who had his girlfriend Kei around his side 90% of the time, and Akito, who had gained a certain ability to understand Haruka and some of her expressions, understood what the girls were thinking. But it was a different story for the last boy in their group.
"I will never understand lovestruck people..." he muttered quietly. But that part was still heard by Haruka as she immediately retorted.
"It's because you don't have a girlfriend, Yukimuu. Get yourself one and you can understand everything... You definitely need one to stop yourself from focusing on exams and studying ninety nine percent of the time..."
"I don't study ninety nine percent of the time... Most of the time... Ah you know what... forget it."
Haruka wore a smug smile as Yukimura realised he couldn't come up with a comeback to shut her down. He sighed before focusing on what Shinohara had more importantly mentioned earlier.
"But I do agree with Shinohara-san that Horikita-san can likely get us through all this. She's managed to get us through those other exams after all."
Everyone else nodded at Yukimura's point. However, there was a certain someone that hadn't spoken a word since they got together in pallet cafe. Realising this fact, Satou turned to this person.
"Ayanokouji-kun. What do you think about this special exam?"
As the discussion ended there, everyone around the table turned to face Kiyotaka like Satou had done.
"Ah. That's right. Ayanokouji-kun has been around Horikita-san a lot since we first started here and a lot of the times being part of her plans. You two seem pretty close. Plus, you destroyed everyone in the maths exam by getting a hundred. And you've managed to handle our... idea pretty well too."
As Matsushita mentioned that Kiyotaka and Horikita appeared to be close, Kei's eyebrows twitched a little bit. She tried to not make it noticeable but everyone saw it happen. It was likely Matsushita said that part intentionally to tease Kei, but that wasn't important.
"Kiyopon. What do you think? And don't even try to dodge the question like you would usually try to. I know that's what you're thinking."
Haruka immediately shut down Kiyotaka's escape route, leaving him only with the option of just answering honestly. Kiyotaka sighed before giving his answer.
"Horikita has done a lot for the class as a leader, so I do agree that putting her in charge would be for the best since she should be able to keep us all in check. However..."
Kiyotaka became silent and he narrowed his eyes a little. He didn't even attempt to finish what appeared to be his comparative answer. The group around him all wore confused expressions as he didn't continue his answer.
"Kiyotaka?"
"Kiyopon?"
"Kiyotaka-kun?"
"Ayanokouji-kun?"
Sensing something wrong, Kei, Haruka, Airi and Satou tried to question him. Kiyotaka shook his head and spoke again.
"No... It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Horikita should be able to lead us through the exam."
He shook his head again and eased the worry the group had. Although not fully satisfied with his answer, the group decided to honour Kiyotaka's wishes and dropped the subject. They continued their conversation throughout lunchtime.
A/N:
Kiyotaka is suspicious. What exactly is he suspicious of though? And will it be enough to convince him to act? Ah what am I saying... whatever... Again, another similar V5 part but tweaked a bit and added some extra content. Also, are you ready for next chapter? I had fun with the next one and I hope you like it too. See you then.
- rainy26541 (G-String)
P.S. How'd you like the cute Kiyotaka face at the top? I don't care what anyone says, that is his cutest expression I have seen yet.