The next day, at the end of lunch break, the situation took a sharp turn. Everyone was waiting patiently in the classroom for our afternoon lessons to begin after having finished up with their meals.
"H-hey, some first-years seem to be headed over here!"
The one who called this out was my classmate, Miyamoto.
The special exam would only be possible with the cooperation of the first and second-year students.
"Ahh!! You're kidding right? The special exam has started already?" Ike wallowed in dismay. Most of the Class-D students groaned at the very thought as well.
"Cooperate with... first years?" Hamaguchi uttered.
"Is it like the mixed training camp exam?" Shibata said.
"Hmm, since when was this a thing? We always had surprise tests and midterms in the first month." A third year said.
All the students started hypothesising different possibilities on what kind of a test we'd be having.
Ibuki scoffed. "Talk about favouritism. Do the third years have no special exam?"
"My, my, of course not. Since they are my dear schoolmates who have poured sweat and blood alongside me for the last two years, I'll personally make sure they're well accounted for." Nagumo-senpai wore a twisted expression beaming at the others' schadenfreude.
The third years simply shivered in trepidation having been at the brunt of 13 expulsions in their school year because of one person - Nagumo Miyabi.
"It appears that you're the front and centre of this experiment again, Ayanokouji." Kanzaki posed an innocent question. I wondered whether he was simply curious about my situation. Having observed the person Kanzaki Ryuji over the last one year, he was probably one of more cautious and level headed figureheads in his class.
A stray from a pack.
Class-B's approach of being conservative and benign towards others won't work in this harsh and testing environment. Kanzaki probably realised this and was willing to adapt and win at any cost.
Whether he decides to change the dynamics of how the class works or rolls over, compliantly accepting their situation is up to him.
Nonetheless, he has his work cut out for him.
"Are we gonna see Suzune's strategies for the special exam?" Sudou appeared a little excited at that prospect.
"Did the government skip the special exam explanation or something? Ne, Miyabi, aren't you the president? Do you know the rules?" Asahina-senpai queried.
Nagumo-senpai smirked. "I'll tell you if you say please, Nazuna!"
"Fuck off."
He appeared to be rather rattled which further amused the sunflower hair-pinned girl.
Tachibana-senpai smirked. 'Serves him right. I always wondered why Horikita-kun hired that rude kouhai into the student council in the first place. Disrespectful little bastard!'
"Nagumo-senpai, please tell us the rules of the special exam. I'm sure everyone will be thankful and have an easier time with the videos." Ichinose expressed her opinion.
Nagumo-senpai sent a smirk towards Asahina-senpai to which the girl simply rolled her eyes.
"Very well, listen up everyone. The motif of this exam is your test-taking and communication skills. The former needs no explanation but the latter as per school's data and instructions has fallen wayward."
Ike rudely interrupted. "Huh? Aren't we having like a gazillion special exams every year? Something's sus..."
"Shut up." The blonde-haired boy glared with his full intensity at Ike. "This world is slowly shifting into a meritocracy and if there is still someone here who's uncomfortable to interact with upper or underclassmen, I suggest you consider your strategies.
Anyway, coincidentally this exam is similar to the Paper Shuffle. I'm sure the first years are familiar with it." Various nods of agreement resonated throughout the hall.
"The rules are simple; Partner up with any first year and score a combined score of at least 501 points to clear. Each subject will have a max of 100 points. If the duo fails to overcome this hurdle, then only the second year will get expelled. Simple." He finished off the explanation with a grin.
The gravitas was understood quite clearly by everyone. Class-D gulped in anticipated breaths hoping none of their classmates and friends would get expelled.
With Nagumo Miyabi seeing me as the person of interest coinciding with Horikita-senpai, it wouldn't be unlikely for him to join hands with Tsukishiro and try to take me out.
"There's no way that one of the first-years is gonna wanna pair up with me! Is an idiot like me really supposed to rely on communication skills in order to get through this!?" Ike's lament was understandable.
That was why, given the circumstances, I didn't think we needed to be so surprised by this, but apparently the rest of the class didn't feel the same.
"They must have an awful lot of courage to come to their upperclassman's classroom."
As I pondered about it, Yōsuke spoke up to explain it to me.
"Imagine if we went to visit the third-year students. We'd probably be much more careful about it, right?"
"That's true..."
It'd be a different story if we were on close terms with a lot of the upperclassmen, but that wasn't the case for the first-years.
Yōsuke went out to the hallway to take a look, so I tagged along with him. Horikita and Sudō followed close behind us as well. The first person that I noticed was a young man with a large build. There were several reasons he stood out.
The first being that he was about the same height as Sudō. But even more than that, the confident, brazen way he walked down the dead-centre of the second-year hallway was profoundly impressive.
"He looks like Ryuen-kun but just uglier." Himeno said.
"Oof! Yuki-chan, that's rude! I feel bad for the poor kouhai. Maybe he's acting tough towards the upperclassmen, you know, like an intimidation tactic." Yume giggled.
"Kukuku, he reminds me of a character from the movie 'Planet of the Apes'"
Ishizaki pondered. "Who is it, Ryuen-san? Do you mean that Mark Walburg guy?"
"Idiot! Kukuku, he resembles one of those ugly gorillas that died from experiments."
Ibuki snorted whilst the others that heard him struggled to contain their laughter. Most of the Class-B members gasped in shock.
Hiyori chopped the air with her hand. "That's a bad thing to say, Ryuen-kun. The next time you see him, you have to apologise, okay?"
Ryuen continued laughing as if he didn't hear her.
The second-year students shrunk back and avoided him as he walked by instead of the other way around. A female student walked just a little behind him.
Having noticed that this wasn't some simple act done for the sake of looking for a partner, Horikita went out and stood in front of the male student, blocking his path. Sudō followed suit shortly after.
For some reason, as the confrontation with the two first-year students began, the first person they looked at was me, even though I had been watching from a distance. Not long after that, they looked away, shifting their focus over to Horikita.
I thought back on the information I memorised on the OAA app yesterday.
"Memorise? Why would you memorise something as useless as OAA stats if you check them anytime you want in your phone. Plus they change every month right. What a waste!" Kikuchi said.
Matsushita answered. "I think Ayanokouji-kun is talking about the names of the first year students from the OAA app. It's not humanly possible to remember each and every metric of all 160 students."
"Well, since the videos skipped a lot of the explanations and planning, I think Horikita-san assigned him a role of remembering the names of new students!" Azuma jovially said.
"Ahh, that makes sense." Shinohara easily agreed.
From the look of it, Horikita would be coming in contact with that class earlier than expected.
"Who's this chick?"
"Please wait just a moment... Ah, found it." The girl fiddled around on her phone for a moment before showing the boy her screen.
"Class 2-D, Horikita Suzune. Academic Ability A-, eh?"
The girl spoke much more politely compared to the boy, so the two of them came across as an odd pairing.
"Woow!! The girl is pretty cute." Ike unconsciously let out his thoughts. Noticing Shinohara's ire, he said. "Er, I mean the girl sitting beside me is pretty cute."
Nice save considering Shinohara's flustered face. Ike should learn how not to compliment every girl he comes across otherwise his probably only chance at a girlfriend is lost.
"It's like beauty and the beast." Sato commented on the odd pair of individuals, gazing at the screen.
"More like the beast and the beast." Sudou said while looking at the lovey-dovey couple of Ike and Shinohara.
Sato, looking perplexed, tilted her head at Sudou. "What do' ya mean? The girl's pretty cute."
Sudou's eyes widened in realisation and bobbed his head in agreement.
"The boy then turned and looked at Sudō, who was standing next to Horikita. Once again, the girl fiddled around with her phone and showed him the screen, just like she had done with Horikita.
"Sudō Ken? ...Hah!"
After seeing Sudō's ratings, the young man scoffed demeaningly.
"I am known as Nanase, a student from Class 1-D. And this here is my classmate H─"
"Hōsen."
"That name...?" Ryuen wore an inexplicable face.
*munch "Do you know that person, Ryuen-san?" Ishizaki asked while eating a sandwich.
"Kuku, he was pretty infamous in my neighbourhood. His ugly mug of a face makes me wanna puke though."
"So you finally reunited with your childhood friend, Dragon-boy! Using the very same movie you said earlier for reference, 'Apes together, strong!'. Now you have a fellow gorilla to play tag along with."
"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, Little girl!"
It was like watching two immature children trying to one up each other in petty insults. Sakayanagi sneered while Ryuen cackled akin to a maniac.
"I wonder who'd win between the two, Sakayanagi-chan or Ryuen-kun? They never duked it out against each other, did they?" Ike stirred the pot with more fuel.
"BOSS!" Albert yelled instantly.
"Huh?! Of course Ryuen-san would win!" Class-C rallied behind the tyrant.
"Oh, please. Sakayanagi-san has never lost before. Wasn't your so-called leader about to be expelled in the Class Poll exam." A Class-A student pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah, weren't there rumours that he got his ass handed to him by X?"
"Shut up, there was never an X in the end!"
"Of course there was! How on earth will you believe that Ishizaki," the class-A student pointed toward the green-haired boy, piling his plate with food on the snacks table. "Beat up Ryuen in fist fight. He's one sandwich away from fat!"
Ishizaki calmly placed his plate on his seat before roaring. "Huh? What'd ya say, wanna go at it?"
"C'mon everyone, let's play nice. Let's accept that both Ryuen-kun and Sakayanagi-san are tough and impressive leaders to face against." Ichinose tried to calm down the two classes.
"Kukuku, as if that loli would stand a chance against me. Worst case, I'd simply kick her cane away and make her drown in the kiddie pool. And Ichinose? Her little group of girl scouts is like playing on easy difficulty."
"Ara, accepting that you can't defeat me and that you would resort to violent measures shows our superiority, no?"
"Violence is a means to an end. Who cares about shit like that if you're licking my feet at the end. Kuku, I don't mind playing with you once the next school year starts."
"Fufu, very well, we'll settle it then." It seems like the two classes are going to clash against each other very soon.
Mashima-sensei sighed before proceeding to play the tape. He was probably having a hard time trying to control his class and manage the entire event which was turning out to be more and more raucous.
The duo introduced themselves by last name only. To supplement, the bulky male student's full name was Hōsen Kazuomi, while the girl's was Nanase Tsubasa.
Both of them were genuine Class 1-D students, just like she said they were.
Students from the very class we hadn't been able to meet yesterday. Although their sudden appearance here was definitely unexpected, for Horikita, it was both a blessing and a curse. The reason being that, it wasn't exactly a good idea to start negotiations with them right now, given the presence of students from the other classes.
"For a couple of new students, the two of you have gone and done something pretty drastic. I admire your courage."
"Hah? You admire what now? Damn full of yourself aren't ya bitch?"
"You reckon she's the one full of herself? Fuck off with that cheeky attitude, first-year punk."
"What the hell is that guy's attitude? Why is he treating Suzune like that? He should respect his senpais more." Sudou grumbled.
I wonder whether he realised how hypocritical that sounded. I was promptly reminded of the first day of school where Sudou trash talked his senpais outside the convenience store.
"He's acting all tough and mighty for a Class-D student." Machida scorned.
Hōsen flared up at Horikita, prompting Sudō to flare up as well and cut into the conversation. Even though they were about the same height, Hōsen's build was a size larger, so Sudō looked small in comparison.
"An E+ in Academic Ability? Seems you're just as retarded as ya look."
"Wanna say that again!?" Sudō got angrier, but Hōsen just ignored him and continued talking.
"Well, fuck it. Seems like there's only a buncha Class D twerps here anyway. Works for me."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"You guys are the shit at the bottom of the barrel. You wouldn't even be able to find partners without beggin' our class for it. So I'll lend you incompetent retards a hand, aight? You get what I'm sayin'?"
"The fuck is he saying? Calling us retards when he's in class-D as well. Suzune, do you have any idea why we'd pair up with these assholes?" Sudou, irritatedly said.
"I can make a few guesses. Hosen-kun is implying about class-D's poor academic scores and how no one would want to team up with us. If what Nagumo-senpai said is true, then the stakes lie mainly for the second year students with expulsion on the line. He is likely asking for some sort of payment, per se Private Points, in order to find partners with our class." Horikita calmly said.
"Guess that makes sense. I mean who'd want to team with Sudou-kun. He has one of the lowest Academic abilities in our school year. What I don't get is how the new first years are able to understand the S-System this quickly." Keisei put his two cents worth.
Nagumo laughed. "I can explain that. In order to implement the special exams quicker, we decided to give them the full explanation of the S-System on the first day itself. Naturally, for compensation all classes will start at 800 Class Points."
"H-Huh? That's so unfair." Hondou muttered.
"If the school implemented that last year, we might even be Class-A by now..." Ike yearned.
Hōsen responded to Horikita's question and posed her one of his own, almost as if he was testing her.
"So, you're essentially saying you want to partner up with us? And yet you're asking with an arrogant attitude like this?"
"No shit I am. You should be the ones begging us to partner with you. I did you idiots a favour by dragging myself over here." Hōsen challenged her, brushing aside her viewpoint and asserting his own.
"So hurry the fuck up, get your heads on the fuckin' floor and beg."
"W-Wha- H-How can the rude kouhai speak such an insolent and disrespectful language. Why did they even admit a troublemaker into this prestigious school in the first place?"
"It's really like dealing with another Ryuen-kun." Horikita sighed.
Horikita was probably reminiscing about the time she almost bowed before Ryuen during the sports festival.
What's with delinquents and them wanting Horikita on her knees?
As she held Sudō back from letting his temper get to him, Horikita spoke up once again.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. Our positions are equal." She spoke with even more conviction than before, paying no mind to the physical disparity between Hōsen and herself.
"Equal? Could you let that retarded friend of yours be the only one spewing bullshit?"
"You're in Class D just like we are. You're no different from us."
"You just don't get it. If we felt like it, we could do all sorts of things to trash like you. You don't want shit getting outta hand, right? If so, then know your place and start waggin' your tail for me."
Apparently, this Hōsen guy had already noticed the special advantage the first-years had against us.
"And just what are these 'things' you could do to us?" Horikita should've been well aware of what the answer was, but she still dared to question him, wanting Hōsen to be the one to say it.
"You get it, don'tcha? We've got the means to intentionally tank our scores on the exams."
"PAUSE... Why would he tank his own scores? Someone explain!" Shibata exclaimed.
Kanzaki calmly said. "This special exam caters advantageously towards the first years. With no expulsions on the line for them and everything to lose for us, their demands would have to be met. Of course, I'm not sure what would happen if someone intentionally fails on purpose and makes their partner get expelled. Plus there are only 157 students in our school year, so we also don't know how the school will compensate for the three first years without a teammate."
"In other words, the government's a bitch for skipping shit..." Himeno said while blowing a bubble.
Upon hearing his words, Horikita bit down on her lip a little.
"Huh? The hell are you sayin', you first-year bastard! Cuttin' corners on the exam will get you thrown outta school!"
"Stop it, Sudō-kun. Losing your temper all of a sudden like this is a bad habit of yours."
"But..." I could understand why Hōsen's excessively aggressive way of speaking made Sudō want to lose his temper. However, what Hōsen was saying wasn't untrue.
"Sure, the rules say you'll get expelled if you get caught throwing the exam. But the penalty that comes with not findin' a partner by exam day is different. That's only a problem for you second-years, yeah?"
If you ran out of time, a random partner would be chosen for you. Furthermore, you'd receive a 5% penalty on your total overall score. Since the second-year students had to face the danger of expulsion, they'd feel the effects of this penalty more than the first-years.
"It won't be as much of a pain in the ass for us as it will for you second-years though. Right?" Hōsen sought confirmation from Nanase, who was standing just behind him.
"Yes. It is said that we wouldn't receive private points for 3 months, but at most, that would only be 240,000 points. I don't believe it would be a fatal problem."
Having understood the nuances of the revamped Paper Shuffle exam, I realise that this special exam would also be particularly challenging for me as well.
The reason it was going to be so difficult was the rule where, if my partner and I didn't score over 500 points, I'd be expelled from the school. Put another way, this meant that my partner absolutely had to score at least 1 point in order to clear the special exam. Even if I were to get full marks in each of the five subjects, if my partner scored a 0, my expulsion would be set in stone.
Hosen said that any teammate caught throwing away an exam would be expelled. It made it impossible to blatantly misbehave during the exam. In a sense, it meant that the average student would be more robustly protected by the rules.
However, this was a different story for a white room student.
The White Room student was setting up on the premise of being expelled later anyway, so this rule wasn't a deterrent to them at all.
If they successfully managed to pair up with me, they'd most likely end up taking a 0 without even the slightest hesitation.
In other words, if I chose the White Room student as my partner, I'd be done for. I had no doubt in my mind that Tsukishiro was the one who concocted these rules.
"You get it now, Horikita-senpai?"
Hōsen stood before Horikita, an upperclassman, as if he was the one with higher standing.
Having seen that, Sudō couldn't hold himself back anymore. However, he still had enough willpower to prevent himself from throwing a punch, choosing instead to take up an imposing, aggressive stance in front of Horikita.
"Don't lose your composure, Sudō-kun. You're well aware of how it is at this school, right?"
It wasn't surprising that the first-years didn't know about this, but the hallways here were constantly under school surveillance. As the surveillance cameras were always running, if something were to happen, the school would dig up the footage to use as evidence.
"I know..."
Having been repeatedly admonished by Horikita, Sudō stood down despite his irritation. His short fuse was definitely one of his faults, but at the very least he was willing to listen to Horikita.
Sudō turned and looked away from Hōsen, but as he did, Hōsen raised his hand and shoved him in the chest.
"Woah!?" At that moment, Sudō lost his balance and fell backwards onto the floor, catching himself with his hands.
"What the fuck?" Sudou gasped.
Looking at the others' reactions in my class, most of them ranged from flabbergasted to anticipating.
Kei was nervously chewing off her fingernails while a few others were muttering curses at Hosen in retaliation. Hirata was awfully quiet, looking displeased at the blonde haired boy's antics. Kushida was laying the nice girl act a little too thick by crying and shedding a few tears at the glimpses of violence witnessed. Her friends were comforting her in sympathy.
Airi covered her eyes mostly during the intense scenes citing, in her own words 'T-That H-Hosen-kun has a scary face'.
Kouenji was rubbing some sort of wax all over his hair with his two hands, unbothered about the current predicament. How I wish our positions had switched and the government decided to show his POV.
If that truly happened, then the content of videos would mostly be Kouenji tending to his skin care routines and raving praise about himself. Even the Kouenji reacting to himself would get a little unbearable.
Horikita was busily taking notes of all the minuscule details and intricacies of the exams. Now that the government is openly revealing the upcoming special exams, I doubt Nagumo-senpai would simply relay the same format without mixing it up.
"Are you just some tall-ass bitch? I barely touched ya!" Even the second-years who had been watching the situation unfold couldn't hide their shock at Hōsen's excessively reckless behaviour. Considering how immensely audacious it was, it wouldn't be surprising if this was considered an act of violence.
If he understood the difficulty and risk that came with exercising violence at this school, he never would've done this. This new batch of first-years were apparently more familiar with the school's inner-workings than those of previous years.
If they really did know more about the school like Ryūen claimed yesterday, then I had no choice but to say that Hōsen's conduct here had been straight-up reckless.
Do they not actually know as much about the school as I thought they did? No, that didn't seem to be the case here. If that were the case...
"You son of a bitch!" Despite having almost regained his composure earlier, Sudō realised what Hōsen had done to him, and was seconds away from exploding with all of the fury he had kept bottled up inside.
However, before that could happen, a young man who had been watching the situation from a distance jumped in between them.
"The hell are you doin'!?"
It was Class 2-C's Ishizaki Daichi. While he was normally categorised as a delinquent who was quick to lose his temper, he was also a guy with a lot of heart. It seemed like he wasn't able to hold himself back any longer upon seeing how cruelly Sudō, one of his peers, was being treated.
"A lot of heart... Thank you, Ayanokouji-san." Ishizaki sent his gratitude.
Kanzaki narrowed his eyes. "You seem to be well acquainted with Ayanokouji, Ishizaki."
"E-Ehh, A-Aha, it was during the winter exam right? Same group and all... Ayanokouji-san earned my respect after he revealed his massive d- *Hmmph." Albert promptly placed his palm over Ishizaki's mouth to prevent any further loss to my humility. I thanked him profusely in my head.
"Oh, do you mean the introduction of the T-Rex?" Hashimoto filled in, to which most of the boys chuckled amusedly.
"Kiyotaka? What does he mean by T-Rex?" Kei inquisitively asked.
"Hmm, we were comparing our toy dinosaur collection..."
Kei raised her eyebrows as if saying 'You really expect me to believe that'.
"Fufu, Hashimoto-kun? I expect you to relay to me all the details of the so-called T-Rex, down to the absolute details.
"Eh, H-Hime? I don't think this is such a big deal... It's just playful banter by all the boys."
Sakayanagi continued laughing as if her decision was irrefutable.
"Ha, ha, ha. Ayanokouji-boy's T-Rex may have beaten me in size that night but the true winner lies in the number of prey it's devoured. I simply excel in that regard."
Although Kouenji was laying on hints a little too thick. Most of the girls pondered and asked the boys for further explanation. Although one of them, a platinum-blonde haired, if I remember her name correctly; Kiryuin Fuka was smirking smugly like a megalomaniac.
My neighbour Horikita widened her eyes in realisation and shot me a disgusted expression.
"After that night, Ayanokouji is an inspiration for all us boys." Shibata chuckled.
"These second-year guys just keep poppin' up like cockroaches." Hōsen showed an amused expression, while the girl who introduced herself as Nanase very tactfully brought him back under control.
"Didn't you come here to have a discussion, Hōsen-kun? If you came here because you wanted to get violent, I'll be taking my leave."
"Violent? I just touched him just like I was petting a cat. My bad, Sudō." He addressed the second-year student in front of him without using honorifics, almost as if he was spitting on him.
"Oi! Being an asshole has its limits, got it!?" Ishizaki reached out his arm, looking to grab Hōsen by the collar of his shirt. The moment he saw the arm moving toward him, the corners of Hōsen's mouth just barely crept up into a smile.
"Give it up unless you wanna die, Ishizaki." Ishizaki's arm stopped mid-air, only moments away from taking hold of Hōsen's shirt. The warning had come from none other than Ryūen, who had apparently been watching the situation from the sidelines as well.
"Wh-why are you stopping me!?" Ishizaki was visibly confused by the fact that Ryūen had stopped him.
Ryūen didn't hate these kinds of confrontations, far from it. He usually welcomed them with open arms. If the moment called for it, he wouldn't hesitate to throw down, regardless of whether surveillance cameras were present or not.
Which was exactly why the fact that he had stopped the fight from happening was so unexpected. Ryūen sent Ishizaki back, and then proceeded to approach Hōsen himself.
"So you're my opponent now? You look piss weak compared to that retard Sudō over there." Given that Ryūen's physique didn't seem all that large or impressive, Hōsen spoke his mind.
"I've heard a lot about you. A guy named 'Hōsen' was a bit of a local celebrity back where I'm from. I certainly never thought you'd have such a retarded lookin' face, though."
"Hosen-kun is probably a guy who would peep at old grandmas in the showers." Himeno languidly said.
Ando whispered to Yume. "Yuki-chan doesn't like Hosen-kun that much, does she?"
"I doubt anyone other than his momma likes him." One of the brusque Class-C students said.
Ryūen insulted Hōsen with the exact same word that Hōsen had used to repeatedly insult Sudō. It was truly the typical Ryūen behaviour. Normally, Ryūen was our class's enemy, but seeing him take a stand in a confrontation like this was reassuring. In fact, Sudō had even managed to successfully get a hold of himself thanks to the change in atmosphere.
"Y-you know this guy, Ryūen-san?"
"You just say Ryūen?"
Hōsen's facial expression changed upon hearing Ryūen's name, his slight smile turning into a wide, toothy grin.
"Now kiss!"
Amikura interrupted the intense moment with a weird remark.
"Ew, gross!", "Mako-chan!" ,"Disgusting!" The Class-B students exclaimed in horror.
"Now I have to bleach my eyes after picturing it in my head." Minamikata bemoaned.
"Ehm, is that one of her weird fetishes again?" Shibata asked Kanzaki.
"I've got no idea anymore."
"Ufufu, thanks to Amikura-dono, BL fanfiction authors are frothing at the goldmine of content."
I was starting to wonder whether Sotomura is weirder than Kouenji, which is not a praise by any means.
"Oi oi, seriously? This must be fate or somethin'. I've heard so many rumours about you that it pissed me off, Ryūen."
"Looks like you've got enough brain cells to at least remember someone's name." The two of them had apparently known each other for quite some time now. It seemed like Hōsen was from somewhere relatively close to Ryūen's hometown.
In any case, judging from the interactions between Ryūen, and his classmates Ishizaki and Ibuki, it seemed safe to say that he had made a complete revival. Although he had stepped down for a short while, he had taken command of Class 2-C all over again.
"Fufu, I wonder who's responsible for his revival..." Sakayanagi left the remaining words unsaid.
"However, for Ryūen to have such a scrawny-lookin' body... What a let down."
"And I guess you're as much of a muscle-head as I imagined."
"I've gone, lookin' to pay you a visit a buncha times to beat the shit out of you, but we never met. You were being a lil' bitch and hiding from me back then, weren't you? You ran away and left all the work to your underlings, or am I wrong?"
"Kuku, fate was on your side, Hōsen. If you had crossed paths with me back then, you wouldn't be nearly as full of yourself as you are now. Seems you've gotten lucky since you don't know what it's like to experience defeat yet."
"I was sure you were just runnin' away with your tail between your legs. But if you're sayin' that's not the case, how 'bout we set the record straight right here, right now."
Hōsen clenched his large hand into a fist,
displaying his confidence.
Katsuragi said, "Surely you didn't fall for his bait, Ryuen."
"Kuku, you think too little of me, Katsuragi."
"Gang members are pretty stupid after all. Hosen-shii probably expected Ryuen-shii to be a musclehead." Kaneda analysed.
If Hōsen really knew Ryūen from back during his middle school days, his impression shouldn't be that different from our own impressions of him. Perhaps he didn't see Ryūen as someone you wouldn't want to make an enemy of?
"Chill out. I'm not gonna exchange blows with a gorilla when there's nothing in it for me." Despite having been offered a fight, Ryūen ignored his provocation and refused.
Of course, it was because there was no way he could fight in a place like this, but...
Ishizaki and the others probably thought Ryūen would accept the offer, even if they had to change places to do so.
"Is this guy really all that scary? He's bigger than Sudō and all, but..."
"Who knows."
Hmm, that sounds familiar...
It didn't seem like Ryūen had any intention of giving an answer right now. He just let out a slight smile before giving his next directions to his classmates.
"Let's call it a day."
"Are you really gonna just let a first-year look down on you like this?"
"Eager, are we, Ibuki? I'll let your leash out after this video so you can relieve some stress."
"Screw you!" Ibuki knew Ryuen well enough to understand that he'd never shy away from a fight.
Ibuki was well aware that Ryūen was the type of person who'd exchange blows with anyone, no matter who it was, so she couldn't help but ask him this.
"Hah! We can settle this any time we want. It doesn't have to be now." Ryūen responded to Ibuki with a completely calm, collected attitude. While it would've been best for it to end with that, Hōsen walked forward, closing the distance between himself and Ryūen.
"Is that chick also one of your underlings?" He posed this question to Ryūen, having been watching as they talked with each other just moments earlier.
"Well, somethin' like that."
"Huh? Who? Who died and made you the boss of me?"
"What, you even have chicks doin' your dirty work?"
"Kuku, I'm an advocate of true gender equality."
"I could say the same to you. You're the one who brought along that pretty lil' doll of yours, aren't you?" In a similar fashion, Hōsen had the girl named Nanase standing right next to him.
"She ain't my underling. Well, I don't really give a fuck either way. Let's take this outside, Ryūen."
"I told you I ain't doin' that." No matter how many times Hōsen provoked him, Ryūen still wouldn't get caught up in it. And, as if to symbolise that, he turned his back on Hōsen, illustrating his intention to withdraw.
"That so? Well then─" Ryūen wasn't biting, and Hōsen didn't seem to find that very funny. All of a sudden, he casually extended his arm out toward Ibuki. She tried to brush his arm away as he did so, but...
Just before she could knock his arm away, Hōsen's movements accelerated, and he latched his hand around her neck and raised her up in the air.
"!?"
"Holy shit!!!" Everyone was startled as Ibuki was lifted so easily into the air, struggling for breath.
Horikita widened her eyes at the ease at which Hosen overpowered Ibuki. Even though the two girls were constantly at each other's throats, they acknowledged one another's abilities.
"Are you okay, Ibuki-san?" Ishizaki asked in worry to which he received an axe kick from the blue-haired girl.
"That asshole! I'm gonna tear him a new one!" Ibuki clenched his fists, looked enraged.
Ibuki frantically tried to rip his arm away as the fight or flight response flooded her brain. However, Hōsen smiled fearlessly, his arm unyielding as if it had been cast from steel.
Ryūen turned back around, taking notice of what was happening to Ibuki.
She did whatever she could with her hands and legs to try and get away, but Hōsen didn't budge in the slightest.
"Haha! Just you try to escape, girl. That, or I don't mind if all of you pussy-ass onlookers come at me as well."
"Can the school reject applications or something? I don't wanna be anywhere near that psycho." Komiya said.
Kondou nodded. "Yeah, Hosen looks like a guy who'd commit murder for the fun of it."
Tokito grumbled. "And you guys let one lead our class... talk about pot calling the kettle black."
Instead of fearlessness, his expression exuded an aura of absolute self-confidence.
That being said, getting involved in the situation certainly wasn't an easy choice to make either. If you were to cause a commotion in a place like this, the school would naturally end up catching wind of it. Given that the school would inevitably get involved, nobody did anything. Nobody, that is, except for Ryūen, who stepped forward despite the surprise. He put himself right up in Hōsen's face, not so much to strike a blow on Hōsen as it was to save Ibuki. Ryūen kicked at Hōsen repeatedly, but Hōsen just casually shrugged it off even though his movement was restricted with one of his hands around Ibuki's neck.
"You bastard!"
At that point, Ishizaki, who Ryūen had previously told to stop, joined in as well. It was turning into the type of commotion that made it hard to imagine that we were in the hallway of a school.
"I never thought I would ever say this in my life but BEAT HIS ASS, RYUEN!" Sudou, even though conflicted, cheered on Ryuen. An odd sight to say the least.
"Are we gonna see a brawl in the school corridors?" A second year murmured.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!..."
The hall was getting chaotic as multiple students started drumming and pounding their seats rhythmically, further consuming everyone's spirits.
"What are the teachers doing at a time like this?" Yousuke asked.
I could understand Yousuke's frantic need to calm down the situation but one rule of thumb that this school follows is that teachers and staff don't involve themselves in student matters. Even if a scuffle escalated, the student council president is at the forefront in such dealing matters.
"Yes... yes! It was worth comin' all the way out to this school after all!" A full-blown fight could start at any second. However, Nanase, who had been watching in silence the entire time, opened her mouth to speak.
"Please stop, Hōsen-kun." Hōsen was making a show out of going up against two opponents despite being handicapped by his hold on Ibuki, but when his classmate Nanase called out to him, the show stopped.
"What did you just say?" Rather than just obediently following her request, he made full display of his irritation over the fact that she interfered.
"The upperclassmen have been worried about the surveillance cameras for a while now. Based on the circumstances, I've determined that there's nothing to be gained by lashing out here."
"No shit. I know that already. That's why I'm fuckin' around with 'em, aight?" He admitted he was aware that our actions were limited due to the surveillance cameras. In which case, the series of actions Hōsen had taken here were still incomprehensible.
Hōsen proceeded to ignore Nanase's request and refocused his attention on the fight unfolding before him. At that point, however, Nanase became even more forceful with her words.
"If you know what you're doing, then that's all the more reason to stop. If you continue to waste time with this pointless quarrelling, I'll take matters into my own hands. You have me considering whether or not to tell everyone about 'that', right here, right now."
Upon hearing her mention the abstract term 'that', Hōsen stopped for a second time.
"Stop it with the mysteries you piece of shit!" Ibuki, vexed at the hidden implications Hosen and Nanase were talking about.
"Yo, Notice-me-senpai, since you seem to know everything, you mind telling us what 'that' is supposed to mean?" Ryuen asked the question floating above everyone's heads. The blonde-headed senpai in response started snickering, enjoying everyone's cluelessness.
"No, I don't think I will."
Then, with a dull, tedious look on his face, he released his grip, dropping Ibuki down to the floor, coughing violently as she did.
"Aight then, Nanase. But, just know that if you betray my expectations, I won't show any mercy, even to a girl like you."
"I'll gladly take you up on that when the time comes." No matter how much Hōsen intimidated her, Nanase still spoke confidently.
She seemed so calm and composed that the fact that she was in front of the second-year classrooms didn't even seem to matter to her.
Nevertheless, this Hōsen guy was no ordinary person. Amongst all of the second-year students, there were a fair number who were proud of their fighting abilities. There were guys like Ryūen, Sudō, and Albert. However, despite being a first-year student, I could tell from just a glimpse that Hōsen was the real deal. Even if I were to confront him, I probably wouldn't be able to keep him in check. Since I had only seen a glimpse of what he was capable of, I couldn't even predict what would happen if he went all-out. The reason why Ryūen tried to stop Ishizaki from acting carelessly was probably because he judged that engaging in a simple fist-fight would put them at a disadvantage. An outrageous first-year had arrived.
"C-Confront him? No offence but Hosen-kun would slap away Ayanokouji-kun like a bug." Shinohara said.
"Quite cocky of your physical skills, huh, Ayanokouji?" Hondou laughed.
"C'mon man, why would he lie in his own thoughts."
"Ayanokouji-kun can fight? He always looks so harmless though..." Okitani brushed it aside, presuming that I was lying in my own thoughts.
"Kiyotaka, you know how to fight?" Keisei curiously asked.
I wondered whether I could cheese my way out of an explanation by saying piano and calligraphy but that would be even more troublesome when the future revealed my abilities.
Despite his academic prowess, Keisei has always had trust issues because of his past.
He revealed to the four of us(Ayanokouji group) about how his mother abandoned him and left his father to take care of him for the majority of his life.
During critical times he'd always let his anger overcome his rationality.
Considering my options I decided to tell the half truth. Prolonging the inevitable was pointless.
The best I could do now was damage control.
"Yes, I've practised a few martial arts when I was in middle school."
"Hoh, look here Airi, another bad boy has arrived in town." Haruka nudged the pink haired girl.
"Y-Yeah, although I hope Kiyotaka never has to fight someone like Hosen-kun. "H-He's super scary, huh?" That seemed to be Airi's initial impression of Hosen.
"Ayanokouji, you speak too much in your thoughts. Doesn't your brain hurt from all that thinking..." Ike sighed.
"I'll stop. We did what we came for. Let's get outta here, Nanase."
"Yes. That's a wise choice." Seemingly satisfied with everything except the fight, Hōsen turned and looked at Ryūen one last time.
"If you prostrate yourself to me, I suppose I could let you pair up with me, Ryūen-paisen."
"Sorry, but I only work with humans. I have no intention of being with a wild gorilla."
"What a shame." However, this unexpected turn of events didn't end with that. Because, besides Hōsen and Nanase, there was one other first-year student who had been watching as the situation unfolded the entire time. This student had probably gotten on Hōsen's nerves, as he turned his attention to them at the end.
"You just gonna slink around and watch, Fucker?"
"A wise man keeps away from danger. Perhaps you've never heard the proverb?" With that, the first-year boy eloquently fended off the scowling Hōsen's question.
"A friendly conversation is one thing, but it's not a very good idea for you to cause any more trouble here, Hōsen-kun. I think you should be the one to withdraw first. Do you disagree?"
"Aww, isn't he a cutie!" Exclaimed one of the third year girls. "Makes me wanna gobble him up all by myself."
"And a gentleman to boot!" Raved her friend.
Hirata chuckled nervously. "We have a few interesting kouhais, huh? How do I say this... their Class-D seems a lot more assertive. They're quick to adapt into class battles and form strategies. Looking back, everyone in our class has come a long way."
"Hehe, I know right! All we did during the first month was burn through our Private Points and sleep through class." Kei chipped in.
Matsushita said. "That's because the way Hosen-kun operates is similar to that of Ryuen-kun. Controlling his class with an iron fist and the belief that violence is the strongest weapon. The only difference is that girl; Nanase Tsubasa. Maybe she's the brains of their class."
As the boy spoke those words of advice, an adult finally arrived in the hallway.
"What are you doing here, Hōsen?" A lone man donned in a suit had come in order to break up the turmoil of the students. And, when the man spoke, many of the second-year students who had been watching from the sidelines fled to their classrooms.
"Hōsen, I understand that you feel restless, but I'm sure you've been hounded by the school's rules to the point where your ears hurt."
"Yeah yeah, I get it."
"If you really get it, then go on and disperse. You shouldn't fight in the hallways."
"This shit wasn't even a fight." With a scornful laugh, Hōsen put his hands into his pockets and turned away. He had backed down unexpectedly easily, giving off an order for Nanase to retreat as well.
Haruka looked exasperated. "It sure feels like there's a buncha troublemakers like Sudou-kun and Ryuen-kun in this new batch of first-years, huh?"
Akito who was seated next to her was motionlessly staring at the screen, almost transfixed at what he saw.
"Miyachi, are you okay? What's wrong"
"That Hosen, he's one hell of a guy. This school is about to get stormy moving forward. He's so strong that even Ryuen and Sudou won't be able to match him."
"Hmm, do you know about him, Miyachi?"
"Not really. I've never met Hosen in person or anything. But the place I'm from, Ryuen and Hosen are pretty notorious."
It appears that Akito's middle school was close enough to Ryuen and Hosen's.
"To put it simply, one of the gang leaders in my middle school was confident in his fighting skills but one day the guy disappeared all of a sudden. Then the rumours started floating around about how someone called Hosen had beaten him to pulp and sent to the hospital despite being two years younger."
"G-gang leader? This is like something straight outta one of those delinquent manga! It's like, kinda spooky."
"The place I'm from is famous for how it's always attracting all sorts of delinquents."
"Say, were you a delinquent too, Miyachi?"
"I... I've stopped doing that sorta stuff. I'm a proper student these days."
"So you were a delinquent after all."
"...I had a bad temper until my second year of middle school. Ever since then I channelled all of it into archery."
"So, in other words, you're saying you were a delinquent, right?"
Akito scratched his head uncomfortably as Haruka constantly hounded him with strange questions.
"Don't sweat it. It's kinda super cool. Maybe you could challenge Hosen to a 1v1 and show him what you got" Haruka giggled.
"No way, no way." Akito furiously shook head. "Stop joking around. I'm one to choose my opponent before I fight with someone, and there's no way that I'd choose to fight Hōsen."
"I'll see ya later, Horikita." Housen expressly dropped Horikita's name before he left... no, rather, it was more like he was saying this to Class 2-D as a whole.
"I'm sorry for the disturbance." With that, Nanase bowed her head in a final apology, successfully drawing an end to the situation.
And then, when she raised her head, she looked at me once more before she left. It was the same look as the one she gave me when she first arrived here. That is, an inquisitive look that seemed as though she was probing for something.
But, as soon as I noticed she was looking at me, she immediately looked away and ran after Hōsen.
"Is there something between that Nanase chick and Ayanokouji-kun I'm missing out on." Hashimoto scratched his head.
Machida said. "It's like a movie scene where they leave behind hints and clues before the crazy backstory happens..."
"Eh? Aren't you reading too much into this? Maybe it's a simple high school crush." Rokkaku Momoe scoffed.
"A crush on Ayanokouji?" One of her girl-friends seemed to be in disbelief.
*Clack Sakayanagi stomped her walking stick onto the ground, ensuing everyone's attention.
"I have to agree with Machida-kun. There's more to this Nanase Tsubasa-san than we know of."
'Fufu, her behaviour and attention towards Ayanokouji-kun may suggest she's one of the white room affiliates sent to expel him. When the next school year starts, I should send Masumi-san to spy on her. She's been slacking a lot off late.'
"I must apologise to all of you. The students of my class have caused you trouble."
The teacher apologised to Horikita, who had been watching the situation unfold from nearby.
"No..."
"While I'm at it, please allow me to introduce myself. I'm the one who's been put in charge of Class 1-D, Shiba Katsunori. Although I've only just arrived at this school, I'm looking forward to getting to know you moving forward."
After a brief self-introduction, Shiba-sensei turned around to follow Hōsen and Nanase.
The foreboding left us all curious about how the special exam will turn out. It may have been subtle but I noticed a lot of Class-B using their phones during the tape airing. Due to the relative closeness of the seating arrangement, I could only presume that they didn't want anyone eavesdropping on their conversations. Nonetheless, their class will have an easier time compared to others due to impressive grades and their largest asset; Ichinose Honami.
Her biggest strength is her communication skills and her ability to make anyone feel at ease when talking to. She'd become an immediate fan favourite among the first years and an excellent class to form a cooperative alliance with.
She may not have realised this but with her repertoire and expertise, she could make for a first-rate manipulator.
⥬⦽⧬⥨
A/N: For anyone having doubts over the timeline, this takes place after Manabu's graduation(Matsushita's introduction, Tsukishiro's challenge of finding the WRs and the confession haven't happened yet).
Feel free to leave a review about this chapter and fic in general. Always helps out a ton!
Let me know if you want an Amasawa chapter(The shopping trip or Ayanokouji cooking for her or even interrupting Kei and Kiyotaka's date) or skip straight to the karaoke/fight scene.
Word count: 7976 words
Date of release: 21-09-2022