"Kiyotaka..."
I glanced at Kei who was scrolling through videos on her phone, "Yes?"
"What subjects do I do? I got no clue if I'm being honest," Kei grumbled as she let her phone fall to her side on the bed.
"I guess you'll have to find out, won't you?" I mumbled while taking a bite of the dinner I prepared.
Kei stood up straight and looked at me with a pout, "Come onnnn, just gimme a recommendation. Easy, right?" she whined.
I sighed.
"If I give you a recommendation, aren't you just going to do that without giving it a second thought?"
"Hey, you're smart. If you said it, it's probably true, right?" Kei praised.
"Then do Chemistry and Accounting."
Kei's mouth grew wide open, "E-eh?!"
"If I said it, it's probably true, right? Then do those two subjects," I replied nonchalantly.
Kei stood up and cutely stomped over to me as she put a firm grasp on my shoulder, "You suck."
"You'll live."
"Will I, Kiyotaka? Maybe I was never alive in the first place? Maybe I was a figment of your creeping dementia? Maybe you're in a psych ward, huh? You ever think about that?" she rambled.
"At least I don't have to think about subject selections in a psych ward. Three meals a day, no special exams, a nice comfy jacket, sounds nice."
"That's an asylum, moron. Ooh! On that note, let's watch shutter island!" Kei happily said as she went to grab the remote.
I put my plate away and sat down next to her to watch the movie.
Kei has a habit of keeping the TV on no matter what. Every time she comes over, we always watch a movie of some sort. It could be Japanese or Western, she had no qualms.
"Where do you find out so many movies from?" I mumbled as I sat on the couch.
Kei cocked her head to the side and looked at me as if to say 'you don't know shutter island?'.
"My Mom and Dad never wanted to watch anything, they never had time. So I was pretty much raised by TV," Kei shrugged.
"Hmm, the opposite for me," I muttered as I rested my cheek on the palm of my hand.
"What was the first movie you watched, then?"
"A New Hope."
Kei's expression turned twisted, "Star Wars sucks!"
Now that was just uncalled for.
"You've watched Star Wars?"
"Yeah, I've seen the new three. They were garbage! Well, the one called force awakens wasn't that bad, but the other two made me fall asleep. The older ones were probably trash, too."
Ah, I see why she thinks that.
"Kei, the new ones don't count."
"Huh?!" Kei exclaimed as she turned her body to face me.
"Okay, let's say your friend was holding trash and another friend wasn't holding trash. Who would you rather hang out with?"
Kei tilted her head in confusion, "Obviously the second one."
"Exactly."
Kei pointed her finger and looked to be beginning to say something, but she stopped herself as the gears began to turn.
"Wait, wait, wait. So because the new ones suck, you ignore them?"
"Exactly. Now you're getting it."
Kei put her hands on my shirt and began to shake me back and forth, "So you're telling me it's been good this whole time?! Then let's watch it, 6 movie marathon, come on!"
"What about shutter island?"
"Screw shutter island, everyone knows the twist anyway."
Sometimes I feel like going to the White Room just means living under a rock for the rest of your life.
"I don't know what it is. Also, stop shaking me."
Kei immediately let go, "Oops, sorry! Fine, after the exam ends, 6 movie marathon."
"Also, there's something I want you to do for me tomorrow."
Kei grumbled and plopped to her side in frustration, "What is it? I swear it feels like Groundhog Day sometimes."
Once again, I don't get the reference, but hopefully, the movie is about helping out your boyfriend.
* * *
I walked into class the next day and it seems like most students are bogged down in studies.
"Ayanokouji, how have your studies been going?" Horikita asked me casually as I sat down.
"Oh, you know, they've been going."
In reality, I wasn't doing anything.
"I see. What about a partner?"
"Do you want a good-cop bad-cop scenario or a variation when it comes to a partner?"
Horikita looked at me with an unamused expression, "Very funny. Somehow you become a comedian around me."
"It's easier when there's someone who makes it so," I shrugged.
Horikita's eyes moved toward the front of the class as a girl with blonde hair made her way to Horikita with a puzzled expression.
"Horikita, can we talk outside?" Kei asked her.
Horikita looked confused at Kei's sudden desire to talk, but she soon expected that it probably had to do with the exam.
"Ayanokouji can come too if he wants, I don't really have a problem with that," Kei added.
Horikita nodded, motioning for me to come along with her outside.
* * *
We were out in the hallway a little further away from the classroom, and Horikita was the first to speak.
"What is it?"
Kei took a deep breath and then exhaled, beginning to possess a calm expression, "So, all the girls are just really worried right now. But also, some of the girls are getting offers for partnerships."
Horikita raised a brow, "Is that so? As for the former, I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about that. Many people are worried about this exam."
Kei nodded, "What about the offers, though?"
"I don't know about those. I feel as though you should hold off on making any concrete partnerships yet."
Kei glanced at her with a puzzled expression, "But shouldn't they do it? They're not exactly guys like Sudo or Ike, they'll be good to partner up with."
Horikita sighed, "If possible, can you tell them to postpone the acceptance? Currently, I aim to partner with class 1-D."
"Because they suck just as much as us?"
"Precisely."
Kei sighed, "But, and don't take this the wrong way, if you fail, everyone will be kinda screwed, right?"
Horikita softly nodded, "That's why I think keeping them as a backup would be the best course to take."
Kei leaned on the wall and crossed her arms under her chest, "Hmm, like, I get it. But at the same time, they're gonna ask questions. So, how long do you think it'll take to get with class 1-D?"
"I'm having... troubles, right now."
Horikita couldn't help but admit that, I suppose it was good that she was being so open about it.
"I get it, that Hosen dude seemed like a prick. 'Kay, I'll tell them to hold off on it, cool," Kei nonchalantly remarked as she walked back to the classroom.
Horikita and I were left alone in the hallway.
"124 left, huh?" I pointed out.
"Yes, it's a good thing. Not one full class's members has been filled out, not even class 1-D's. In fact, not a single student from that class has paired up with anyone," Horikita summarised.
We began to slowly walk back to class, side by side.
"Have you contacted Hosen since yesterday?"
"No, that's what I aim to do soon. Do you reckon he'll even agree, though?"
"Well, it depends. He's a de-facto leader right now from what I can tell, the fact that no first-year class D students have made any partnerships yet is proof of that. However, I can't help but wonder if he cares about the success of the ones around him."
Horikita nodded.
"But perhaps he's looking at this long-term. Eventually, his class will turn on him if he doesn't produce results, just like they did for Ryuuen."
In reality, Ryuuen's class never turned on him. However, it gets my point across better.
"I see. The only thing we can do is try, right?" Horikita muttered.
"Guess so."
* * *
I went to the vending machine and typed in the number 63, put my card up to the scanner and the drink I owed fell down.
"I don't get why you like this stuff," I muttered as I handed the drink to Kei.
"It's iced tea, leave me alone," Kei retorted playfully as she opened the plastic bottle.
'Iced tea'? It's barely tea, it's also at room temperature.
"Now my debt's been paid, I assume?"
Kei nodded after taking a long sip of her drink, leaning against the wall.
"It's really funny to look at those offers the girls got. Just some random guys who tried to flirt in some creepy way."
Yesterday, I asked Kei how the girls in the class were feeling and whether they had gotten any offers. In the span of 5 minutes, Kei showed me that 3 girls got an offer. Maezono, Matsushita and Onodera all had various invites, but they were all made by people with abilities of C- to D-. In other words, it'd be a struggle to survive.
The guys were all from class 1-C, though, which was interesting.
To observe how Horikita would react in response to people in her class getting 'helpful' offers, according to Kei, that's what I wanted, and that's what I got.
"You basically made me say they were kinda important and stuff though, it's a bit risky if she asked to see them," Kei muttered.
I shrugged, "Making up a believable lie is your best skill, isn't it?"
Kei glanced at me with a warm look, a slight pink enveloping her cheeks, "Yeah, yeah."
All of a sudden, a lone first-year turned the corner and began to walk through the halls. There were still around 10 minutes until the first bell rang, and since they were a first-year, perhaps they made a mistake. Luckily there were no classrooms on this side of the floor, therefore being the only place Kei and I could chat.
But how do you make a mistake about going up a staircase? It's usually going down the wrong hallway.
The person meekly walked through the halls, until his gaze fell on us.
He had hair of a red hue, a little like Sudo's, he was around Ike's height and it didn't look like he had much muscle.
"Are you guys second-years?" he asked awkwardly as he approached us.
I nodded.
"Which class you guys in?" he asked.
"2-D," Kei answered.
Of course, it was a common scenario. Even if you hadn't experienced it, it was seen constantly. If a student asks another student for their class, they look them up on the OAA, and depending on that result, they ask to partner up.
"Your ability is rank C, huh? I'm also a rank C, do you wanna partner up?" he asked me.
I came to the conclusion recently that the academic abilities of C are the dead average. In other words, if 2 people on the level of a C partnered up, it'd be likely they'd pass the exam with a buffer of 40-50 marks without studying. However, I don't have that luxury.
At this point in time, I want to put off partnering up for as long as possible. Alternatively, I don't want to be left to the end. That 5% buffer would be the least of my worries because it's entirely possible for Tsukishiro to randomly assign me to the White Room student. Of course, the word random is a moniker.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," I politely refused.
His face sank in frustration as he walked past, looking down at the ground.
"Rude, he didn't even ask me," Kei muttered.
I looked at her annoyed expression, "Really?"
She sighed crossing her arms, "Yeah, I know, I suck at it. But in my defense, History made as much sense as Inception. I mean, come on, the 'league of nations'? Which stupid, do-gooder, kindergarten comic book writer thought of that?!"
"Kindergarten comic book writer?"
"I just throw words around sometimes and I hope they, you know, make some sense," she shrugged.
Fair enough.
"Why didn't you agree, though?"
I shrugged, "Admittedly, I want to hold off on partnering up for as long as possible. There's something I want to test before I make any partners. If my test succeeds, I should be fine."
Kei nodded, closing her eyes, deep in thought at the words I just said.
"I've got no idea what you mean, but you're you, so it'll be fine," Kei stated with a bright grin.
I hope that's true.
* * *
Mine and Ichika's fists collided.
"Tell me why you did it!"
"Nah."
Ichika swiftly closed in on me, dodging my initial jab and sent a low kick aimed at my left thigh. I leapt into the air, using the momentum to move behind her, trying to grab her waist so I could swing her down onto her skull so she would be stunned.
However, Ichika blocked the attack with ease and strafed back, then dashed forward with no wasted time to land a flurry of punches on me.
"You're such a pain," Ichika grumbled.
"I'm probably supposed to dodge," I chuckled.
I stood there and blocked the onslaught of attacks, waiting until Ichika ran out of energy and stepped back. However, I left no time for recovery as I dashed forward and jumped, choosing a high kick for my finishing move.
"Good idea, little slow, though," Ichika smugly grinned as she pressed a button and her hands began to focus energy into a single point.
"I agree."
Moving the stick down and pressing the dash button, I was immediately on the ground while Ichika was stuck in place letting out a charged beam to the spot I previously was.
"Wait... What?"
Ichika's complaints were drowned out by the electronic noises, signifying that she was dead.
"Guess that's that," I chuckled, "Learn your lesson?"
Ichika sighed as she stood up from her side of the machine and walked over to me, "Yes..."
Ichika had come to me 30 minutes ago at 4:30 p.m. asking me why I barged in on her yesterday with Horikita-senpai's class. I told her that I felt like it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer, so she proposed that we make a deal.
If I beat her in a one-on-one fight in the arcade game, I could give her one order, no matter how humiliating. If she won, I'd spill the beans. As for the choice of the arcade game, it's because that's where Ichika walked out of when she saw me.
At least, that's how the proposal began. When I won the first game, she offered double or nothing, which doesn't make sense since I can't offer one secret that was doubled. So I made the deal that we could keep going as long as she was satisfied, one order for each of my wins and if she won, I'd tell her why I intervened with her scheme yesterday.
"Wow, 10 losses in a row. Do you think there's a chance we can get these back in the White Room? It'd be a nice addition to how many wins I have over you," I chuckled.
Ichika looked at me with an annoyed expression, waiting for me to get it over with.
"Okay, okay, now... An order," I began, but I couldn't think of anything.
"I'm struggling here, you know? I mean, I stripped you of all your points, your lunch, your dinner, got all the information I wanted on why you wanted to make a deal with the redhead... Hmm, give me some ideas."
"You found it in your heart to let this one go and my order is to just keep living life as I am?"
What?
"That's a garbage idea, how did you come up with that? Weren't you good at creative writing?"
"Yeah, better than you... One time when we were 5..." Ichika grumbled.
I rested my cheek on my knuckles as I began to think.
"Okay, how about you... God, this is tough. I dunno, I'll just hold onto that one, keep it as a little card I can play in the future, you know?"
Ichika punched me in the arm with a little bit of force, but not enough to actually hurt me, "I hope you get run over."
"Aww, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. I'm touched."
I stood up and began to walk out of the arcade, Ichika following behind me.
Ah, I got what I was looking for, might as well use what she wants to my advantage even more.
"I'll tell you why I did it, but there is something I want," I told her as I exited through the glass sliding doors.
"And that is?"
"To help me out with my plan."
"Depends on what it is. If it's interesting enough, I'll consider helping you out, 'kay~?" Ichika grinned.
I approached the exit to Keyaki Mall and after a few minutes reached the dorm once again.
Of course, this was to steal all the food Ichika had for myself. Not only is she out of points for the month, but all the food she already bought is now gone, leaving her with no other option to eat the garbage-free meals provided.
"C'mon, open it up."
Sighing, she swiped her ID card and I went and pulled out some of the trash bags she had under the sink, emptying the cupboards of all the food.
"At least you didn't take any of the toiletries, that stuff gets weirdly expensive in this place," Ichika sighed.
I stopped bagging and looked at her in confusion, "You had toiletries? I just saw from your general appearance that you never heard of the term."
Ichika looked at me with a repulsed expression, "Somehow I wonder why I didn't murder you in your sleep."
"I think the same every day, Ichika. I think about it every day."
Finishing bagging all her food, she opened the door for me and I slowly began to bring it back to my room a few floors down.
"Can you tell me now?"
"Woman, give it time."
"Oh, I'm a woman now, huh?" she smugly grinned.
I walked into my dorm and set the bags down in the kitchen.
"Could I at least eat something?" Ichika sighed.
I grinned, "Sure thing. Want me to prepare something?"
Ichika's expression immediately grew repulsed, "No! Your cooking is... It's like something the W.H.O would classify as nuclear warfare to feed to another person."
"Rude."
"You can't cook for squat, here, tell me where the knives are," Ichika asked.
I hesitated for a moment.
"What? You think I can't be trusted with a few sharp objects? Is that it, huh?" she said with a smug grin as she leaned in closer.
Yes, that was entirely the problem. But, though I hate to admit it, she was right, my cooking skills leave things to be desired.
I pointed to the drawer and sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing my arms as Ichika sauntered over to the drawer and began to go through the bags of food I had stolen from her, slowly pulling out a tray of chicken thighs, some vegetables and a bag of rice.
"That oddly looks like an amount for only one person."
She gave me a small side eye, "You want some, too? If you ask nicely, maybe I'll consider it~"
"Please make some for me."
The magenta-haired girl nodded, pulling out some extra materials like the bag was a magician's hat.
"I'll tell you soon," I told her nonchalantly.
She stopped chopping the thighs and glanced at me with a skeptical expression.
"Only after you finish making the meal, though," I proposed as I began to exit the kitchen.
Ichika raised the kitchen knife slowly, smiling softly, "You see the knife in my hand, yeah?"
"Yep, didn't forget," I told her nonchalantly as I walked away and to the table.
* * *
"Here," Ichika placed the two bowls down.
I began to take a few bites of it, and I admit, it was delicious.
"So, explain. And if you want to periodically compliment my cooking that'd be nice," she giggled.
I sighed, putting the spoon down and rested my cheek on my knuckles as I locked eyes with her.
"You concocted a scheme to make Ayanokouji cook for you, and in return, you'd be able to frame him. You did this because you wanted to test him. That's what you told me, right? Now, I had a much better idea than that, and your scheme would mess my own plan up," I began.
Ichika looked at me with an annoyed expression, "So let me get this straight," she started, "Originally, you had no idea what I was planning, but you still stepped in no matter what just because of the idea that I would be plotting something, correct?"
I nodded.
"How'd you find out my location? I didn't know you had a stalking streak in you," she asked with a teasing smile.
But on the inside, I knew that she was curious.
"Tsukishiro gave you the same info on every student just like he did to me. Meaning Horikita-senpai would probably be going around looking for smart people to help out her garbage students, the two lowest being Ike Kanji and Sudo Ken. Out of the two, Ike Kanji's more worthless, but I found out from some of my classmates that his year is a real pain during training."
She listened attentively, not knowing where I was going with this.
"On the day Ichinose-senpai set up that meet and greet, I noticed Horikita-senpai tagging along with one Sudo-senpai and Ayanokouji-senpai. So, I began to track them the very next day, and that eventually led me to Hosen arguing with Horikita-senpai in a random hallway. I made a little show of breaking them apart and got Kushida-senpai's phone number."
Admittedly, I didn't really do much tracking considering they were in the cafeteria for most of the breaks.
I always intended to go for Kushida because she's incredibly useful, however, it was made easier by Hosen's intervening.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that, some guys in my class are practically in love," Ichika laughed, knowing the truth.
Tsukishiro gave us what happened in Kushida's past and through that, I was able to use her.
"But I really needed that show between Kushida-senpai and me for two reasons, one, it was for plausibility. Secondly, she's like a social hub for this place, it's handy to have her around."
Ichika rolled her eyes, "Yeah, plausibility, huh?"
I nodded, "Now, I knew that you'd probably try something, but I didn't know when and where, so I used a little feature the school's phone gives us. It's hidden behind some menus, so you probably didn't know it since you actually need friends."
"You're really hammering home the insults today, huh?"
"Just trying to fill a quota."
"Right... Anyway, continue."
"The school has this little feature where you can see your contact's location. Second-years pretty much all have this off, so I couldn't get Sudo's number and track him that way, and if I used yours, you'd find out I was tracking you. So, I had Kushida-senpai ask to help out with Horikita-senpai's situation, and she turned her tracker on, so I always knew where they were."
I took a final bite of my meal before finishing my explanation, mainly to annoy her.
"Then it was just a matter of waiting until you acted. Kushida would tell me, I'd see her location and in a few minutes I'd be there."
Ichika raised a brow, "That so, huh? The Acting Director didn't tell us that."
"Either he didn't know, or he knew and thought it was meaningless to mention," I shrugged.
Ichika shook her head, "The first option is odd. Sure, he doesn't have a student's phone, but if he was sent in here he should've been capable enough to research those things. And something like location tracking being meaningless to mention?"
"It wouldn't really help with Ayanokouji-senpai, Kushida-senpai said he had it turned off."
Ichika softly nodded, "But still, the rest of these guys in our year would be good to track."
I shrugged.
But there was a reason for that, a specific reason Tsukishiro didn't tell her about the location tracking feature. He knew. And he thought it was helpful for us, he's not an idiot.
"I can't read his mind."
"Guess so, huh?"
Both of us knew about the nature of the school long before the rest, however, we were separated when we got the knowledge. The reasoning for this is that I requested that to be the case, and Tsukishiro obliged without hesitation. In terms of priority, I had outranked Ichika, meaning I got the information first.
So one day, I was called to see Tsukishiro and he told me lots of things, along with make sure I had memorised the information he gave me on every student. He handed me the phone there, I couldn't keep it because the school hands it out themselves, but he told me what it does.
Including the location tracking feature.
I had made one more request from him, and that was to not tell Ichika about the feature. He looked entirely unphased.
'Is there a reason for that?'
That was all he asked.
I had told him the simple reason was that it'd help get Ayanokouji-senpai out faster. At that point in time, getting Ichika's entrance terminated wasn't possible, and even when we were selected, I had no place to refuse, so I couldn't get rid of her.
I wasn't planning on deterring her initially, but I was forced into this position.
There was something much more important to deal with.
No matter what happens at the end of this exam, there's one thing set in stone. And not me, nor Ichika, and not even Ayanokouji-senpai, has the ability to change that.
'I see. If that's what you say, who am I to refuse?'
"So... You waited for me to move, and you would have the two-faced girl tag along with those 3 for as long as possible."
"Yep."
Ichika began to clap lightly, "You stalked 5 people all at once, a new record for you, Takuya! I'm proud."
"Thank you, thank you. I'm honoured," I spoke like I was accepting an award.
Ichika stopped clapping and stood up, taking both of our bowls and approached the sink.
"You know..." I began.
She turned to look at me with a blank expression.
"Your plan isn't all bad, but your priorities are all wrong. But if you want, I'll help you with this little test you're giving him."
Though I didn't want to test him, per se, the end result I want is certainly going to test how he'll survive. I could try and do my best to expel him myself, then give him the tools to reverse his expulsion such as 20 million points, thus stopping external intervention from Tsukishiro, however, that's not what how I want to do it.
If I were to plunge him into hell and bring him out myself, I'd stop Tsukishiro's actions for now, but nothing is stopping him from just doing the same thing again the next exam.
Struggle and endure, endure and struggle, he'd continue to put harsh conditions and one would eventually work. It's too hard for me to get my battle, in fact, it's entirely possible I'd never get it.
So, I have to either wait until his term is over, which doesn't have a definite ending.
Or...
"That so, huh~?" Ichika grinned.
She gently placed the bowls down and approached me, sitting next to me, eager to listen in for what I had in mind.
"So, to begin with..."
I began to tell her what I intended to do, beginning with what happened between Ichinose and me yesterday.
* * *
Leaving the table of Horikita Suzune, Sudo Ken and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Yagami began his journey outside Keyaki Mall.
Making his way through the crowds, and the illuminated stores, he exited through the sliding doors, going forward as he sauntered to the student council.
At this point in time, the student council won't have anyone left and it'd usually be locked by 5:00 p.m., but you could always book out the key. It's a case many students have gone through before when they needed extra help from teachers, or to finish off more hands-on projects.
That is the exact case that happened here. Yagami soon stood in front of the oak door and lightly knocked, the sound reverberating inside the room.
In a few moments, the door opened and Yagami was face to face with a beautiful girl possessing strawberry blonde hair, she happily let Yagami inside.
"Come in!" Ichinose exclaimed with a delighted tone.
"Thank you, senpai," Yagami gratefully remarked as he entered the council.
Ichinose approached the desk that's usually held by Nagumo Miyabi, but since it's unoccupied she had no problems filling that vacant spot.
"Do me a favour and not tell Nagumo-senpai, please?" Ichinose said as she sat down, making a praying symbol with her hands.
Yagami chuckled in amusement as he sat in front of her, "Promise, senpai. What kind of person is Nagumo-senpai anyway?"
Ichinose smiled, "Well, he's crazy smart. And he's got this way of speaking that'd make anyone listen to him. You're joining the council, right?"
Yagami nodded.
"Great~! Well, you'll see what I mean when you join."
"He seems like a great guy from what you described. Becoming the student council president in his second year, huh? Usually, that happens at the beginning of their third year. I also heard the guy before became the president in his first year."
Ichinose nodded, "Well, I didn't know much about the one before Nagumo-senpai, but Nagumo-senpai thought he was pretty capable."
"I see. Anyway, what did you want me to talk about, senpai?"
Ichinose nodded, leaning forward and interlacing her fingers, giving off an aura of calmness.
"We're both currently in class B and our class is on similar levels. I believe that if we partner up in this exam, we'd be able to cover each class's weaker classmates. Though, we wouldn't get any high-ranking placements, reducing expulsions is the main target here."
Yagami nodded, "I get it. Both first years and second years are equally at risk for expulsions, and any expulsions result in a loss of class points for both classes. I agree, reducing expulsions is the key here. Losing a person at the beginning of the year would be quite problematic."
Ichinose warmly smiled, glad that they were on the same page, "I see that you've made a partnership with Sudo Ken of class 2-D."
"Ah, yes. I had a few reasons for that, but the main one is really just as a favour to Kushida-senpai."
Ichinose nodded, "Not a problem. We can just leave the most capable student from my class because they'll have no problems partnering with a student from another one."
Yagami noticed where the conversation was going, and let out a small sigh, "Ah, Ichinose-senpai, you understand that I haven't exactly accepted yet, correct?"
Ichinose stopped, softly nodding, "Ah, right! I was getting ahead of myself, hehe. Are there any small conditions?"
Yagami shook his head, "Not exactly. Ichinose-senpai, this is the second day of the exam, correct? Meaning that there is a little under 2 weeks for the exam, and thus a little under 2 weeks until a partner must be made."
Ichinose nodded.
"Through the nature of this exam, the first-year students and second-years both face the same level of threat when it comes to expulsion. However, there is a key difference between the two, unity. If a random person from one of the first-year classes got expelled, of course people would care, but only because of the class point demerit. And even with that, throughout this entire exam, I haven't seen any first-year help out a weaker first-year."
"I suppose that's true. The first-years are much more individualistic than us," Ichinose agreed.
It wasn't out of choice, but rather necessity. You were thrust into a position where you had to sell yourself.
"Exactly. Now, my goal is to unite the class, and to do that I've already asked them all to not form any partnerships. The number of partnerships so far is 41 in total, barely a full class. I had made the deal that I'd get them through the exam with no expulsions, and naturally, they were all hesitant to agree."
Ichinose thinly smiled, "Yeah, that happens a lot at the beginning. Class 2-D was completely different before."
Yagami nodded, "So, I had to go through each person. There were 3 of them that were struggling in the basketball club, so I made a partnership with Sudo-senpai. There were around 20 who were worried about getting expelled, so they followed without choice. Thus leaving 16 people, around 13 of them were already fine with listening to me, granted I do some small favours like putting in a good word with some people, leaving 3."
Out of those 13 who wanted small favours, they had realised that Yagami was already getting quite popular. So, some of them were like the three students struggling in the basketball club and asked Yagami if he could connect them with some seniors in their clubs, forming a good rapport. Others wanted a favour such as buying a few items from the stores, or setting a guy up with someone he liked.
But those 3 were different, they weren't interested in anything trivial like that, nor were they afraid of expulsion.
"Impressive."
"Not really. I'm sure you'd be able to do the same with ease," Yagami praised.
A slight pink filled Ichinose's cheeks at the compliment, "A-ah, no not really. I wasn't trying to be a leader or anything at the beginning."
"I see. Anyway, with those 3, they were all extremely capable. All of them wanted points and they'd be completely fine going to the exam alone. No amount of reasoning could get through to them, so I told them I'd give 500,000 points each if they followed."
Ichinose arched a brow, realising where this was going, "Huh, I see. So you're saying that for 1.5 million points, you'd be willing to partner up with us?"
Yagami didn't answer that question, breezing past it, "Once again, there are 12 days left. The first rule of business is supply and demand, right? As of now, the supply is incredibly high but the demand is low. I'm sure the last 40 second-year students who see our class, some would be willing to part with 500,000 points after getting it from their class."
Three days into he exam, class A is most likely not interested, class D and even Ichinose's class B would be hesitant.
"I see. So you're opting to hold out until closer to the end so more people are willing to give points away to capable students. And once you get through this exam with no expulsions, you'll have gained the trust of your class," Ichinose surmised in a somber tone.
"Yes, precisely."
"Although, what if all the weaker people in the second-year end up pairing up with people?"
"Thus leaving only those from at least an ability of C or above, right? I have to say that it's probably not likely. As of now Sakayanagi-senpai's class is practically set for this exam, poaching most of the talented students. With the lack of supply of talented students, the weaker students from the second-year would all be fighting over the same people."
"The talented people in your class..."
Yagami nodded.
However, though Yagami did want the trust of his class, he also didn't want to partner up with Ichinose's class for separate reasons.
"If you're willing to depart with those points right now, there's a possibility I'd consider partnering up right here and now."
Yagami had the data from the past exams given to him by Tsukishiro. At the end of the first year, they had no points. The class poll was on the first of March, the final exam was in the middle, and their holidays began near the end, giving them a few weeks for holidays.
With their 550 class points, they'd be around 2.2 million points in total, more than enough. But that's not the case, in its current state, it's more like 1.2 - 1.4 million points. There are 40 students, in those few weeks of holidays and a little more for the beginning of the school year, even if an absolute minimum of 10,000 points were used per week for each student, that'd be 800,000 points gone for just 2 weeks.
In other words, Ichinose had no way of making up the request.
However, at the end of it all, it never mattered.
Yagami was indeed asked to get points for those 3 students, but the number wasn't 500,000 each, it was 100,000.
"I see. I suppose we can't do that. I apologise, Yagami," Ichinose muttered in a low voice.
Under the table, her fists were clenched in frustration as they rested on her lap.
Yagami nodded, "It's alright, it's not your fault those guys are unreasonable."
Standing up, he left Ichinose sitting at the table as he departed the council.
* * *
"Wow, I almost feel bad for my cute senpai~," Ichika giggled in amusement.
I shrugged, "Anyway, it's not like she'll be struggling entirely. Her wish of no expulsions is probably going to come true, granted there's no screwups in the partners I intend for her."
Ichika glanced at me in a thrilled way, "That so, huh? Alright, tell me where I start."
Ichika's mission was rather simple, but simple doesn't mean easy, necessarily.
"You remember Hosen?"
Ichika grabbed my shoulders and began to shake me back and forth, "C'mon, Takuya, gimme something fun to do!"
"It'll be fun... Maybe."
"How?"
"Is it fun to watch a pig chase after a carrot and then finally get it?"
"What? No. It's fun if the pig ends up getting mauled by the wolf afterward though."
"Also, can you stop shaking me?"
Ichika stopped shaking me and just sighed, "Ah, fine. Tell me, what do I have to do?"
Alright then, things are finally getting into motion.