In Sakayanagi's class, after Majima finished explaining the rules of the Project Selection special exam, he let Sakayanagi lead the class discussion. When everyone looked to her, Sakayanagi was at her ease, as if she didn't take this exam to heart at all.
She let the class chat among themselves, since once the rules were announced, there were no more classes—this counted as free time for students.
So Sakayanagi wasn't worried about being penalized by surveillance cameras either. She very casually took out her phone and sent a message to Yukio: "Yukio-kun, for this exam, would you keep me company and play?"
On Yukio's side, he received the message and replied with some curiosity: "Why~?"
Of course he understood what she meant—she wanted to face Yukio's class in this Project Selection exam.
They had just finished cooperating in the voting exam the day before yesterday and had gotten along very well. Why was Sakayanagi suddenly picking a fight now?
Sakayanagi's reply was even more interesting: "For fun. If we faced Ichinose-san, or Matsushita-san from Class D, that would be far too boring."
Looking at this latest message, Yukio couldn't help but smile. Sakayanagi really was… proud.
Don't be fooled by how she usually wore an elegant, gentle smile and seemed well-mannered and easy to get along with—at her core, she was even prouder than girls like Horikita, who were cold and aloof on the surface.
You could say that aside from a small handful of people, Sakayanagi basically didn't put anyone else in her eyes. That innate pride, as natural to her as eating and drinking, made her feel that only playing against Yukio would be interesting.
Whereas facing Ichinose, Matsushita, and the like would be hard to please her.
Faced with a Sakayanagi like that, how could Yukio say no? He quickly replied with agreement, allowing Sakayanagi to put away her phone and face the class. "Our opponent for this one will be Yukio's Class."
The students of Sakayanagi's class were taken aback. They were going to be enemies with that Yukio? Although on the surface everyone had some pride, the moment they thought of Yukio's enormous hoard of private points, they felt a bit uneasy inside.
But with Sakayanagi smiling so serenely at them, no one dared raise an objection. Under her influence, no one refused; they all nodded silently in agreement.
…
On the other side, Ichinose's class was lively as well. After Hoshinomiya-sensei left, Ichinose took the lectern on her own. "Everyone, let's think together about the project contents that give our class the most advantage!"
Kanzaki, however, had a different view. "Project contents can wait. We should decide on our opponent first."
"If we're facing Yukio's Class, we should avoid physical events; if we're facing Sakayanagi's class, avoid academic ones."
"If it's Class D, avoid solo events and push for team events."
"Oh, that's so true!" Ichinose agreed readily, then smiled at the class. "So, what do you all think? Who should we face?"
They were an active bunch and quickly split into two camps—one wanted to challenge upward, to try surpassing Sakayanagi's class and improve their ranking; the other wanted to challenge downward, to squeeze out class points while still having a chance to change the standings.
Notably, almost no one suggested facing Yukio's Class. Perhaps they were too friendly to go for the jugular—or perhaps, deep down, they felt they couldn't win.
"Okay~" As the leader, Ichinose set the direction. "Let's try surpassing Sakayanagi's class!
"We'll build our strength step by step, raise our overall ability, and one day surpass even Yukio's Class and reach Class A."
"Then we should challenge Sakayanagi's class!"
…
In Class D, Chabashira explained the rules with unusual thoroughness, then asked, "Any questions?"
Matsushita blinked. Something was off today. Chabashira usually finished in a few sentences and left. Why was she being so proactive—and so detailed—this time? Was she… okay?
Horikita also sensed the difference, but didn't dwell on it. She wasn't the doting type. She simply figured Chabashira must have recognized Class D's potential—and felt a little proud.
Kushida offered, like a considerate kid sister, "Sensei, are you feeling unwell? I have some calming flower tea in my room."
"Thanks, but no." Chabashira shook her head, full of complicated feelings. She had indeed failed the previous two cohorts; even if she'd only just realized it now, was there still time to make amends? Could she atone?
She wasn't sure; after being confronted by Yukio, her thoughts were still a mess.
Seeing no more hands raised, Chabashira weakly waved. "If you have questions, come to the office. I'll be there until I get off work."
"?" Matsushita's eyes went even wider. Normally you could never find Chabashira in her office, and now she was saying she'd stay there until closing to wait for questions? Had Chabashira-sensei been hit with some kind of shock?
Why was she suddenly so dutiful and responsible? The students of Class D weren't used to it at all!
But after Chabashira left the room, everyone turned to Matsushita. During the voting exam, because of Matsushita's contract with Yukio, the vast majority of their protection points had been unconditionally transferred to Yukio.
They were salty about it, sure—but at least they understood that Matsushita was smarter than they were. When it came to special exams, they still had to rely on Matsushita. And even if they wouldn't admit it out loud, they silently acknowledged that Horikita probably had to be added to the list of people they relied on.
"Matsushita, this time we actually get to pick our opponent—not another giant free-for-all. Who do we pick?"
"Yeah, Matsushita, you decide. I feel like you'll pick the opponent that suits us best."
"Please—help us win again this time. At least get us some class points!"
"…" Matsushita swept her gaze around the room and felt, well, MMP. It looked like she wielded a lot of influence, with everyone letting her decide—but if they lost the exam, she'd be stuck holding the biggest bag for choosing the opponent.
"Then let's pick Ichinose's class. They should be the closest to us in overall strength." Matsushita rubbed her brow. After all, Class D didn't have the luxury of picking soft persimmons—they themselves were the softest persimmon.
The other students of Class D were quite satisfied to hear that. Facing Ichinose's class, they felt they had at least some chance of winning, and they all agreed.
...
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