Part 1
Kiyotaka had eaten lunch with Kei and the rest of the KiyoKei group. While he himself just acted normal, the girls had been slightly on edge. Even though they were sure that Horikita and, to a similar extent even though they knew he wouldn't do much, Kiyotaka would get them through the exam no problem, that didn't stop them from feeling a little afraid of what would likely happen over the next couple of hours.
But there was nothing they could do about it. Soon, the time for the special exam to start arrived and the KiyoKei group entered the classroom 5 minutes before it would start to see both Chabashira at the front of the classroom already and another adult at the back of the room. Kiyotaka noted that this extra adult was probably an invigilator who was going to enforce the strict rules for this exam.
"You're early. Find your seats and sit down. You will all be in different spots today for the exam. Your seat will have your name on it," Chabashira gave the group a nod and spoke to them.
The group split as they tried to find their own seats. Interestingly enough, Kiyotaka's seat appeared to be at the very back of the class, near the window. This was the seat that he had sat in for the whole of his first year. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or not that this was his seat for the special exam.
The other students had been spread across the classroom in random seats, though Satou happened to have a seat directly next to him, the seat that was once taken by Horikita in their first year.
"Hey, hey, hey... if we clear it in an hour or two, let's go to the Keyaki Mall."
"Yeah, I'd love to, but I'm pretty sure I have to study in the dorm. So can we go in the evening?"
As more students entered the classroom and traversed their way to their allocated seats, some decided to pick up conversations for the last 2 minutes. Ike and Shinohara, who were now currently known as Class B's second famous couple, were one of the loudest as they discussed their plans for after school activities.
Looking from the outside, it appeared that the students of Class B were not that concerned about the exam. But the fact was that every student was. It was a special exam after all. The students were doing their best to focus on the positives before the difficulty of the exam would change that.
But soon, the clock reached the end of lunch time and the start of lessons, or in this case the special exam. Seeing that, the invigilator gave a glance to Chabashira and beckoned her to begin.
"Well... It's about time."
Reluctantly, Chabashira stood up and clapped her hands to grab the attention of every student in the class.
"We will now begin the special exam. Since the exam will be quite long, we will have up to four-bathroom breaks. We can only take a break once we make an unanimous decision and get some time before moving onto the next question. There will be no time in the middle of questions to take a break. Each break is a maximum of 10 minutes, but the test time continues to be counted. It will be important to skip breaks if you deem them unnecessary."
Luckily for Class B, those that needed the toilet had already gone and those who hadn't didn't require it so far. For now, it appeared that there would be no problems for a while. As long as there wasn't anyone who would have stomach aches or other unexpected health problems, they would be fine.
Now it was time for the special exam to begin.
At least that was the plan, but Chabashira just stood there and stared at the Class B students absentmindedly. At first, they didn't pay too much mind to it. It was normal for teachers to watch their students for a short time to ensure they were okay and paying attention. But then they started to look at each other, noticing something was off. The invigilator at the back of the classroom also seemed to have noticed something strange.
"Chabashira-sensei. It's time to begin the exam. You need to start."
"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm sorry. We will now begin the unanimous special examination. From here on out, we will proceed according to the rules, so if you leave your seats outside of the interval, or if you chat during forbidden times, you will be strictly warned. Be mindful of this."
Kiyotaka noted that Chabashira probably felt a little down because she remembered her in this situation 10 years ago. Despite partly moving on thanks to the conversation, a person would always still feel haunted by their past. For example, Kei had moved on from the bullying, but part of her still felt afraid of it happening again, despite having reassurances that it wouldn't.
But that wasn't important. What was important was that a huge countdown appeared on the digital display board at the front of the classroom, indicating that the exam was about to begin shortly. The countdown started at twenty-six seconds, probably due to a slight delay in the start signal from Chabashira.
Seeing some time before the official start, Kiyotaka decided to look at the equipment in front of him. The usual school tablet was attached to a stand on the desk and there were a few blockers to prevent onlookers from seeing what one student voted for. Combined with the no standing up rule, the school appeared to really be going all out to ensure total anonymity.
Soon, the timer reached zero and a small bell sounded from the speakers of the blackboard. The special exam was now about to begin. Would Class B flawlessly get through this exam with ease? Or were they going to experience hardships that would determine their fate? They were soon going to find out as the text arrived on the main screen of the front blackboard.
QUESTION ONE:
Choose which class you want to face in the final exam in the third semester. Even if there is a change in class rank, this choice will take precedence. The numbers in parentheses indicate the additional class points you can earn by winning the match.
Class A (50)
Class C (0)
Class D (0)
"This is for the last semester of your second year, and the choices are used to determine the opponents for that end of school year special exam. As mentioned in the question, if you unanimously choose Class A, your opponent will be them and you will get additional class points at the time of this choice. Even if the current Class A falls to Class B by the end of the school year, they will still be your opponent."
To put it simply, this was a choice of who would Class B, and in further simplified terms, Horikita, rather fight; Sakayanagi, Ryuuen, or Ichinose. The opponent chosen here will not be changed.
"Also, just a side note, if the end vote of every class is not the desired option, for example, every class chooses the same class and there isn't a consensus, then the school will decide the choices for you. It's important to figure out which class you can fight and win. Of course, you won't necessarily be able to fight the class you want, but..."
If Horikita and Class B nominated Sakayanagi's class, and Ichinose also nominated Sakayanagi's class at the same time, the question was whether Sakayanagi's class would be left to choose between Horikita and Ichinose? And if Sakayanagi's class chose Ryuuen's class and not either of them, then it would be left to Ryuuen to confirm their choice. If Class D avoided Class A, then the result would be a random combination and the school would end up deciding the end factor.
In general circumstances, the most optimal decision would be to choose a lower class with lower strength. However, due to the rewards being on offer, the treatment of the higher classes seemed to be a little different. If Class B was able to defeat Sakayanagi's Class A, they would be rewarded with extra class points. On the other hand, fighting Ichinose's Class C or Ryuuen's Class D would not give them any additional rewards.
"We'll move on to the first round of voting. Remember, the time limit is sixty seconds. If you do not vote on time, a penalty will occur and if the penalty reaches a certain time, you will be expelled."
As the buttons to vote on the question appeared on everyone's tablets, a 60 second timer appeared on the front digital screen. Either make one decision or the other. "Take your time to decide but not too long that you incur penalty time." This was what Horikita had informed the class beforehand so that they wouldn't have to deal with that kind of trouble the first time around.
Kiyotaka remembered that he had made an agreement with Horikita that no matter what he would always vote for the first choice. So without hesitation, he chose Class A, the first choice. He didn't know what choice Horikita would make, but his guess was either Sakayanagi's Class A or Ichinose's Class C. He didn't know what the rest of the class would think.
"Now that everyone has voted, I will now announce the results of the voting."
Results of the first round of voting:
Class A: 12 votes
Class C: 16 votes
Class D: 11 votes
The results displayed a mix of votes though it appeared more of the votes were focused on Ichinose's Class C, with Sakayanagi's Class A next and Ryuuen's Class D last.
"Since the vote was not unanimous, we will now set an interval."
From this point on until the ten minute time limit ended, students in Class B were allowed to leave their seats freely to discuss the results and come to a concession. It didn't matter how as long as they came to a decision that would help reach an unanimous vote.
"So that we don't waste time from the first question, let me make a suggestion first."
Taking upon her role as the "leader" for this special exam, Horikita raised her hand and gained the attention of every student. Her position at the front of the classroom allowed her to stand tall as the leader as she stood up, turned around and gave a deep breath.
"We've all voted similarly, but please listen to my own opinion here. The only opponent that will allow us to gain bonus class points is Class A, in other words Sakayanagi-san. We really should be taking any chance we can to increase our chances in reaching Class A, so generally we should take on Class A for the bonus points. But Sakayanagi-san is a difficult opponent to face against. We were close last year but she's still difficult. It's best to avoid her for the time being."
Fighting against the top dogs when your team wasn't developed was never a good idea. Class B unluckily (or luckily?) fought against Class A in the end of year 1 exam. Both classes had fought well and were on the stretch of either winning at the final event. However, Sakayanagi prevailed after showing her top tier skills, though Kiyotaka kept to himself that he only lost to Sakayanagi because Tsukishiro interfered in the battle.
"So that leaves Ryuuen-kun's Class D and Ichinose-san's Class C. While choosing Ryuuen-kun would be the better option because he's in Class D, I would actually be against the idea. Ryuuen-kun would do anything to win. He'll use any and all underhanded tactics. It's just not worth it for us."
As she kept talking, the rest of Class B's expressions began to show some understanding. It seemed Horikita was doing a good job at her role as the leader for the exam.
"That leaves the last option. In my opinion, the ideal opponent for us would be Class C, Ichinose's class. Unlike Sakayanagi, who is a little more powerful than us, and Ryuuen, who will use underhanded tactics, Ichinose's class will be a fair fight. We'll have an even chance at winning. Though there aren't any extra class points for grabs, we can at least gain the ones in the actual exam should we win. Plus, they are currently Class C right now, which means if they continue to do well, they'll catch up to us. Fighting them and winning can limit their chance at overtaking us."
She spoke rather quickly, perhaps because she was concerned about time, but her reasoning was clear, and it seemed to have resonated with many of the students.
"If anyone has any objections, I would like you to voice your opinions here and now. If, on the other hand, you think that Class C is okay, then you can vote for Class C as soon as possible and we can move onto the next question."
No one raised their hands in objection immediately, but one student stood up in response to Horikita's statement.
"I agree with you, Horikita-san. The additional reward for defeating Sakayanagi-san and the rest of Class A is big, but there's no doubt that they are the stronger enemies. Of course, the strong bonds and solid fighting style of Ichinose-san and Class C won't be easy to overcome, but I think they are the best opponents."
"I think I'll go with Ichinose-san and Class C too. I don't think it's fair that we don't get any additional rewards for fighting her's or Ryuuen-kun's class, but she is still a far better opponent than Ryuuen-kun. And it wouldn't be funny if we lost to Sakayanagi-san's class a second time."
Before any opposition could be raised, Hirata and Kei quickly solidified and supported Horikita's opinion of voting for Class C. The two of them followed Kiyotaka's plan, whether they supported Horikita's decision or not. As two surrounding leaders in the class, no one could disagree with their opinion either.
The fact that Class C received the most votes in the first round of voting was a clear indication that most of the students thought similar. No one else objected to the opinion, all nodding their heads in agreement except for a certain blonde narcissist. Due to that, the remaining time in the 10 minute interval passed in silence. Chabashira resumed the proceedings that had been halted.
"The 10 minute interval has ended. We will now move onto the second vote. Just as you have done so beforehand and as I have explained, as soon as the tablet screen changes, you have 60 seconds to cast your vote. if you go past 60 seconds, the penalty time will accumulate. Be careful."
Though she warned her students of the rules, it turned out to be unnecessary caution as in less than ten seconds, everyone had casted their vote. The results were immediately displayed on the monitor.
Results of the second round of voting:
Class A: 0 votes
Class C: 39 votes
Class D: 0 votes
There were some, including Kiyotaka, who thought that Kouenji would do his own thing and vote against the rest of the class. Luckily, it seemed he probably understood the implications of this special exam and just decided to go along with the class.
"By an unanimous vote, the first question shall be finalised with the choice of Class C. I will inform you of the class you will face in the final exam as soon as it is officially decided, but that will be after tomorrow."
In the space of between ten and twenty minutes, Class B had completed one of the five questions. They had 5 hours to complete 5 questions and the first was handled smoothly. The student's hopeful faces displayed their expectations that the exam would go smoothly and be finished soon.
However, Kiyotaka did not hold that hope. He still had his suspicions, though he did not let it show. He continued to show his calm, expressionless face while looking to the right towards a certain person.
4 hours and 45 minutes remained until the end of the exam.
A/N:
I have no words today, other than who is this certain person? So instead, I'll just let you know that Volume 2 is in the works as of now and is reaching about 50% complete. Should have some more news when we get to the Endnotes at the end of this volume.
- rainy26541 (G-String)