"The answer's obvious. We're saving Nene," Kikuchi's decisiveness made everyone gasp for air.
"Hey, Kikuchi! You can't just decide that!" barked Yamauchi.
"Hah? Of course, I can. Do you think this class won't choose Nene over a traitor?" he sighed.
"Let's do a vote to settle this once and for all," Horikita finally broke her silence. "Would that be alright with everyone?"
"That's more like it," said Kikuchi.
Horikita rode Kikuchi's momentous pace and immediately got to work. The two of them took the lead in moving this situation forward... while Hirata's gaze stayed down.
"Those who want to save Miyamoto-kun, please raise your hands."
Only four hands were raised, including Miyamoto. Just from this, the results were already obvious. Their group can't help but gnash their teeth in frustration.
"Those who want to save Mori-san, please raise your hands."
"Sorry... Miyamoto," said Onizuka.
"I'm so sorry, Soshi-kun..." Kikyou muttered.
As expected, most of the class voted for this decision, including me. However, someone didn't cast their vote at all. Everyone was surprised by this.
"Hirata-kun..."
Saying that Hirata didn't look well would be an understatement, making him a cause for concern in our class. It's not that he didn't vote. It was more like he wasn't in the condition to vote at all. We weren't even sure if he was listening.
"Let's finish this up." Kikuchi's voice brought everyone back to the problem at hand. "Sensei, we'll save Nene for 20 million points."
"Does everyone agree on this?" Horikita rallied the class along with Kikuchi.
"Yes, save her."
"Save Nene-chan."
"I'd rather save Mori than Miyamoto."
Because of a majority vote, it was decided that Mori's expulsion would be reversed.
"The school hasn't finalized its decision yet, so wait until tomorrow. We'll settle everything after the exam," Chabashira-sensei opened the door and walked away.
"I'll report everything that's happened here. Miyamoto, prepare your things and get ready. You can depart as early as tomorrow noon," Sakagami-sensei left those parting words before following Chabashira-sensei out of the room.
Miyamoto's eyes were distant. His dry, raspy voice was evident ever since he came here, and the red marks around his eyes were slowly starting to become more apparent. I can only imagine how much he tried to struggle-- how much he tried to plead for his innocence.
"I understand, Sensei..."
However, he'd stopped clinging to hope.
But after looking at his eyes, it doesn't seem like he wants to give up in a normal fashion.
"Now then, I'd like to remind everyone that the final exam isn't over yet." Horikita raised her voice with a pair of claps. "It's extremely unfortunate, but we can't do anything about Miyamoto-kun's situation now..."
He wants to light a fire and burn this class down.
"Of course, because someone like me is just an afterthought, right?" Miyamoto scoffed.
"You know that's not what I'm trying to say, Miyamoto-kun."
"I know, I know. It's because I'm a traitor. You all agree, right? That's why you voted to save Mori!" His voice intensified as he addressed everyone inside the classroom.
"Yeah, that's right." Akito's chair made a noise after he shifted its position to face Miyamoto. "What? Tryna make us feel guilty for it? You have to remember, Miyamoto, you brought this upon yourself."
"Oh, did I, now? Are you sure about that?"
"Well, if you didn't, then who did?"
Miyamoto glanced at Horikita.
"Say, Horikita-san. You should have an idea of how well we're going to do in this exam thanks to that mock test. You'd told us that we did great-- that we've improved... But do you think it's enough to beat Class B and Class C in this exam?"
It was a genuinely good question. Our classmates were most likely curious about that, as well.
"No, it's not. We're still lagging behind them in academics," Horikita answered without hesitation.
This earned a few murmurs among our classmates.
"So you're saying that we'll lose, right? How much would that cost us? A hundred class points? Since Sakayanagi-san's class will probably take the top, we would've been demoted back to Class B even if I didn't get expelled."
"You're not wrong," she replied.
"Heh, that's what I thought."
"What are you trying to pull here, Miyamoto-kun...?" asked Matsushita.
*Bam*
Miyamoto slammed his fist against the lockers beside him, making an extremely loud banging noise.
"What am I trying to pull here?! Are you all blind?! Can't you all fucking see?! This class is going downhill!"
His voice reverberated inside the entire classroom.
"That's why I decided to become a traitor! I needed money! If I had enough money, then I could buy a seat in the class that becomes Class A by the end of graduation! If it weren't for this class being shitty, and its leaders not being on the same level as the other leaders, I wouldn't have made that deal with Ryuuen!"
"Soshi..." Even his friends couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Just so you know, I wanted to save enough money to get you three a seat, too..." Miyamoto smiled melancholically as he looked at Ike and the others. "But that's all for nothing now... Someone got me, and I don't even know who it is..."
Miyamoto turned to me with a condemning look.
"Do you care about this class, Ayanokouji?" he asked.
"Will my answer make any difference?" I replied with a question.
"Keh, you can't even answer me straight. That's already telling of what you feel."
"What I feel, huh?" A small sigh escaped my lips.
I didn't want to continue talking-- there was no need to. And besides, whatever I say would probably result in something troublesome, anyway.
"Tch, you're a fucking weirdo, Ayanokouji. I can't believe this class trusts your bullshit when you don't even care about them."
"Did Ryuuen tell you that?" I asked.
"Well, is he wrong?"
"What do you think? It's strange for you to believe what he said when you're the one who's a member of this class, not him. Are you incapable of making your own judgment?"
"Are you hearing yourself? The fact that I chose to do something on my own-- betraying this class, not following Horikita-san like a sheep, and trying to secure a spot in Class A-- I'm more than capable of making my own judgment!"
I gave Karuizawa a quick glance. I wasn't interested in continuing this conversation. If anyone can help me right now, it was her.
"I see now. So you're blaming Horikita-san and Yousuke-kun for losing to the other leaders, and you're blaming Ayanokouji-kun for stepping down." Karuizawa crossed her arms and gave him a scornful look.
"That's right. You may all think I'm being an absolute prick for all of this, but you'll eventually realize that I'm right. This class will keep on losing and losing. It won't take long before you guys are back in Class D, and more students will be expelled," Miyamoto sneered. "Hahaha, I mean look at us. We were all labeled as defects in the beginning. We were just lucky to have Ayanokouji on our side. Now that he's not doing things like he did before, the difference between us and the other classes is starting to show!"
"And so? Does that make it okay for you to betray the class? Like, the entirety of this mess was your fault, to begin with."
"That's why I kept things hidden in the first place," he shrugged. "I know I'm just reaping what I sowed, but you idiots should open your eyes. This class doesn't deserve to be in Class A."
Even Karuizawa couldn't help but falter after hearing Miyamoto's words.
After I stepped down, he was led to believe that our class would eventually lose its position. The facts were right in front of everyone, and Miyamoto made them face the harsh truth. We lost the sports festival, and we're bound to lose the Paper Shuffle Exam, too. They can't really deny what they can see with their own eyes. They were starting to doubt themselves, and they were starting to doubt Horikita.
And after doubt... comes distrust.
Author's Notes:
They let Miyamoto cook, so he started spittin'.
Kiyotaka just wants to sleep.