As expected of being on the boy's side of the outdoors school, the only teachers present in the hall were male ones. There was Hiden-sensei, Mikazuchi-sensei, Ike-sensei, Kawaga-sensei, Hiryuu-sensei, and Anjou-sensei among others.

"It's like they've asked all the staff members to come observe us..."

Kouji, who found me sitting in the corner of the hall, joined me in staying away from everyone else. Since we were free to move around in the hall, we weren't ordered by class or anything like that. We watched as everyone mingled and talked with each other.

Doing the same as us but on other sides of the hall was a boy from C Class, Kishida Sui, and to my surprise, Machida from B Class. Even though this was an opportunity to reunite with his friends, he chose not to join in.

Close by him was the members of his former faction, Koishi, Kasai, Ukishima, and Ritaka. There's no doubt that those four will make a group made up of five classes at the very least.

The only class they were missing was A Class, but they could ask one of the boys who helped them like Yahagi, Kurase, or Keisaki. Rather than hurting them, being spread out among classes at the end of the semester inadvertently helped them.

Still though, I couldn't understand why Machida was acting like this. I thought he'd take this opportunity to take control again, but he's acting like he doesn't want anything to do with them anymore.

"Alright, settle down everyone."

Hiden-sensei clapped his hands, making everyone in the hall go quiet. You could hear the squeaking of the doors closing.

"Now that everyone is here, the discussion to form groups will begin! Once you've made a group, come tell me or one of the other staff members about it, and we'll check whether or not it's allowed. After your group has been confirmed and registered, go ahead and sit down. The clock starts now! You only have twenty minutes, so go, go go!"

As the display clock behind the teachers lit up to show how much time we had left, the scramble to find a group was in full throttle.

"...I hate how noisy it suddenly is."

Kouji sighed, getting up and cleaning out his left ear.

"I'm off to find Shimada. See you soon, hopefully."

"Yeah. Good luck, Kouji-san."

"Thanks. But I have a funny feeling you'll need it more than me."

Kouji walked away, going to find Shimada. I continued to watch on the sidelines, trying to figure out what was the best way to go about making a group.

First, I had to identify who was worth allowing into my group. Obviously, all the class representatives would be prime candidates, but issues might arise between us due to unresolved conflict and tension. As such, I'll go to them as a last resort.

Outside of those people, there wasn't much choice aside from A Class. Naturally, being the strongest class, they had a plethora of boys who would be extremely useful in this special exam.

First to come to mind is Masamoto, who I met briefly while on the cruise ship. The main reason why's impressive is because he's the only male 1st Year to be part of the student council. That means his abilities have been recognised by Kishou himself.

Another impressive boy in A Class is Yamamoto Yami, someone who excels in all areas, but is best known for his skills in Vanguard. It might be easy convincing him to join, since we met each other before through Shimizu and Yogen.

Of course, there's also Kurase. We don't have a great relationship, but he's arguably the best athlete in A Class, alongside an archer named Takizawa Shuu. If I needed physical ability, those two were my best bet.

Once you look into the lower classes however, things become less clear. In B Class, there's Kirishima, but that's mainly in his physical ability and Vanguard skill. In C Class, there's Murakawa, one of the smartest students in our year, but he's useless at sports.

Ironically, E Class might have some useful people I could recruit.

It may sound strange, but Imaishi was a serious contender for me. Being able to take advantage of his ability to fade into the background was very tempting, since I could use him to gather information on other groups that way.

There was also Akihiro, an all-rounder who I had a good relationship with, and Albert, someone with powerful muscle who I was relatively acquainted with. In terms of relationships, I'd have the easiest time convincing those guys to join me.

The issue is, I'm aiming to win. If I bring these guys along with me, they'll get a slice of the class points, making them catch up with our class quicker. I wanted to avoid that if possible.

Obviously, since my goal is getting first place, the best case scenario would be loading up my group with four strong people from different classes and two people from D Class, then making myself leader. That way, I'd get maximum payout.

However, things wouldn't be that easy. In the first place, finding two people from D Class to join me would be difficult, as it seems Yukimura, Tanaka, Mitsuba, Nora, Mikitaka, and John had their own plans.

"So, what did Takanori-san say?" Mikitaka asked.

"H-he said he didn't want to join us..." Nora replied.

"Aw, shucks. Me, you, brother, and John-san would've made for an amazing group as well!"

"Bah, wasteman. Mans like Taka ducking, what da hell bruv... when mans sees him, mans gonna shank him up, best believe!"

"I guess splitting up isn't an option anymore?" Mitsuba said.

"Yeah, without Takanori-san and Kawaguchi-san, we can't split up in groups of four like wanted to. It would've been convenient that way though, since we'd have two groups which are mostly D Class..."

"Maybe we should get help from the other D Class boys, de gozaru?"

"M-maybe... we could always consider Matsushita-san... or maybe Ayano-san..."

When Nora uttered Ayano's name, Yukimura growled.

"Don't say stupid things, Nora. There's no way in hell am I letting that damn ikemen or that asshole Ayano join us either!"

"S-sorry... i-it was just a suggestion..."

"Whud about da osser mandem, like Ikesuggy bruv, or Yamagutchy blud, or Ukeyshima not so bruv?"

"Ikesugi's sad, Yamaguchi's dumb, and Ukishima's jerking off his old friends in B Class. We're not letting them in either."

"Oh!"

Suddenly, Mitsuba made a strange noise, like a lightbulb just flashed above his head.

"What is it, Mitsuba-san? You thought of something?" Mikitaka said.

"You know it!"

"Oh god, it's gonna be a terrible idea." Yukimura rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, trust me, this one is actually a good idea! I may not be smart like Nora-chan, but what I am good at is... mental math!"

"Alright, his head is empty, ignore him."

Yukimura sighed, turning to Nora.

"You got any ideas?"

"Hey! At least hear me out before calling me dumb, Fudou-san!"

"How the hell is mental math going to help us in making a group, huh?!"

"I-it's okay Yukimura-kun, p-please calm down..."

Hearing Nora's plea to stop shouting, Yukimura lowered his head.

"...tch, whatever."

"M-Mitsuba-san, could you explain please...? I think I may have arrived to a similar idea as you..."

"Eh, seriously?! I was gonna say we should make one big group rather than two small groups!"

"What does this have to do with mental math... (de gozaru)"

Yukimura, Mikitaka, and Tanaka all repeated at the same time. John was even more confused, probably because he couldn't understand half of what they were saying.

"T-that's exactly what I was going to suggest too, Mitsuba-san. I'm happy you arrived at the same answer as me..."

"Bah!"

As Nora smiled at him, Mitsuba made a strange noise of ecstasy as he fell to the ground.

"Why... why were you born a guy... with such a sweet smile... such an overwhelmingly bright and cute smile... uwaaaaaaaaa!"

Then for some reason, he started crying tears of joy.

"...he's lost it."

Yukimura uttered in half disgust, half shock. Mikitaka laughed, slinging an arm around Nora.

"That's my best friend! You sure have a knack with words!"

"W-wait, b-but I didn't mean t-too... M-Mitsuba-san, are you okay?!"

"...give me a minute, I'm dying from depression because you're not a girl..."

"I mean, does Takayuki-san have to be a girl?"

"Of course! Wait, before I get cancelled, what do you mean by that exactly?"

"I meant, can't you just like Takayuki-san the way he is?"

"What, as a guy? No way, I'm straight!"

"Hmm... that does seem to be a problem. Then, may I offer some wise words of wisdom my older brother Joshu taught me?"

"And that'd be?"

"As long as there's a hole, there's a way."

Mitsuba was shot through the heart once more and went back to dying. Nora buried his red face into his hands in embarrassment, while Mikitaka laughed proudly at his own joke. Yukimura facepalmed while John struggled to do mental maths.

"D-de gozaru!"

"What is it now, Tanaka? We just lost the two people who had any semblance of an idea on them."

"I, I get what Mitsuba-dono and Nora-dono mean now about mental math and making a single group de gozaru!"

"Oh yeah? Care to enlighten us?"

"Look de gozaru! Count at the number of people here de gozaru!"

Yukimura began counting who was present. Then, his eyes widened.

"Oh... crap, I get it too. There's six of us here, meaning..."

"We can form a big group with an overwhelming six people from D Class and one person from a different class, de gozaru!"

"Mitsuba, I'm sorry for what I said earlier, you had the right idea!"

Mitsuba got up from the dead.

"Eh? I did?"

"Everyone, go find a seventh person for our group, now!"

"Skrrrt, dat won't be neccesscessairy bossman. Cos mans found da perfect candidate whiles you lot was mucking about! Meet our seventh mandem..."

Albert Obama stood forward, standing next to John.

"Iss my brudda, big mans Yung White House ting styll!"

"Albert-san! You're here!" Mikitaka said.

"Yo. Long time no see, Mikitaka-san. How you doing?"

The two boys, who both used to belong to Zyriot's class, shook hands familiarly.

"I'm doing great man, it's good to see you! Are you thinking of joining our group?"

"With two of my main homies here, of course I am. I'd be honoured to join you dawg."

"Awesome! Looks like our group is decide then, everyone!"

The seven boys cheered as they went to go confirm their group with Hiden-sensei.

"Ha, we have Obama on our group! Take that, losers!"

Yukimura, immediately getting ahead of himself, started provoking the other boys by flexing that they arguably had the strongest person in our 1st Year on their side.

"With Obama-kun on our team, we'll be invincible!" Mitsuba said.

"T-thank you for finding Albert-san for us, John-san..."

"Iss noting bruv, dun sweat mans. By da way, mans bare can't tell, are you mans a boy or a girl?"

"I-I'm a boy!"

"I dun think mans has da facilities for dat. Bruv, dis entire time mans thought donny was a girl! Aaah!"

John put his hands to his head and screamed when he learnt Nora was actually a boy today. Poor guy...

"Mans dun think you mans have da facilities for dat, big man."

"F-facilities...?"

"Dat's wat mans fought. D'ya mans understand? But big up man."

"Mikitaka-san, I don't understand..."

"Neither do I, but I think he's complimenting your chest."

"Fu ha ha ha, we have formed the strongest group de gozaru! With Jun-dono's sly plots, Yukimura-dono's violent anger, Mikitaka-dono's dirty tricks, John-dono's confusing dialect, Nora-dono's big brain, Obama-dono's huge muscles, and my super secret hidden latent powers, we will win this special exam de gozaru!"

While Tanaka was monologuing to himself, the other boys got approval for their group from Hiden-sensei. One group was formed, another eight to go.

Similarly, the remnants of Machida faction was trying to form a group of their own. It seems they've found someone from A Class who agreed to team up with them, that being Kurase.

"Thanks for letting me join your team, Koishi-san."

"Heh, we should be the one thanking you. With this, our group now has someone from every class."

Indeed, if their group manages to win a spot on the podium, it'd be disastrous for us. Since everyone in that group, except Kurase, supports B Class, they're likely to load the last two slots with B Class students, meaning they'll earn the biggest payout.

"So what do you think, boss? We've proven that we can convince an A Class student to join our side."

Right now, it was Kasai who was trying to persuade the disinterested Machida into joining their group.

"That's great. Now go find another person to join your group."

"What? But you said you'd join if we got someone from A Class!"

"You took too long, so I changed my mind. Now, I want to see who the sixth person for your group is first, before I make any rash decisions."

"Eh... fine. Oi, Koishi-san! Boss wants to see who the sixth member of our group is!"

"But we haven't decided on that yet."

"Then you should better get choosing, shouldn't you?" Machida interjected.

"I've got an idea on who can join. Gimme a moment."

"I'll leave it to you, Ukishima-san."

It was Ukishima who left to go find their sixth member. Since that would take awhile, I thought I'd stop paying attention to them and start focusing on making my own moves in this special exam.

The longer I sat around doing nothing and observing, the less time I'd actually have to convince others to join my group. Only five minutes had passed, yet a clear divide between students was already beginning to form.

As my first priority, I went to find Masamoto to see if he would join my group, but by the time I found him, it seems he was arguing with someone... from his own class?

"Yahagi-san, what are you doing? This isn't what everyone agreed to!"

"I'm doing what's best for A Class. And you should do the same as well, Masamoto-kun."

I had stumbled upon an extraordinary scene. It was Masamoto, by himself, arguing against a group of six A Class boys led by Yahagi.

"This isn't what Ryouta-san wanted. He wanted everyone to form groups that composed of five classes so everyone could enjoy the benefits of the special exam equally. With the way you're doing things, if your group wins, A Class will hog all the rewards!"

"And what's wrong with that? You want A Class to succeed, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but directly going against orders from Ryouta-san... are you insane? He already explained to us the true nature of this special exam. If all the classes cooperate, we all benefit from it. It's that simple. So why are you ruining this, Yahagi-san?"

Even though Masamoto was so calm on the ship when criticising Akihiro's behaviour, when he was faced with a wall of A Class students, even he started to lose some of his composure.

"If I'm ruining it, then why do I have the support of so many lads here? Keisaki-kun, Takizawa-kun, Mitsumori-kun, Nashimoto-kun, and even that vain Maehara-kun can see the flaw in Ryouta-kun's logic. I too support Ryouta-kun from the bottom of my heart, but when it comes to this special exam, I have to disagree with his methods of doing things. Quite frankly... it's too soft."

"So being considerate of others and not being greedy is "too soft"? You do realise they need the points more than we do, right?"

"But that's exactly the problem. We're not a charity, Masamoto-kun. Sure, I don't mind helping out the lower classes here or there, but at the end of the day, we're at war with everyone else. We need to fight in order to win. If we don't, we'll end up slipping down to the bottom ranks. And you don't want to end up there, do you?"

Masamoto looked away, and nodded his head in agreement.

"...if I get sent down to E Class, I'd lose my role on the student council. I don't want that."

"And neither do I. However, the only way we'll be able to secure our position at the top is by earning more points than everyone else. Ryouta-kun is ignoring that in favour of raising the standard of living equally amongst the 1st Years. While it's kind of him, it completely misses the point of why we're at this school, and why we're A Class in the first place. We are the best, so we have to set the example to everyone else on how it's done."

Masamoto sighed, putting his hand out.

"No... I understand. I thoroughly understand what sentiment you're trying to convey to me, Yahagi-san. However, from a purely mathematical standpoint, Ryouta-san's plan is still better. As it stands, your group can only get 250 Cl maximum. However, if we do things Ryouta-san's way, we could earn upwards of 480 Cl. The chance of this happening would also increase assuming everyone from A Class is part of one of these five class groups. Essentially, even if the other classes get extra Cl off it, it won't matter, since we're already miles ahead in the first place."

Yahagi was completely stunned when the seemingly cornered Masamoto fought back with a strong and lengthy argument. It's clear that, from this small exchange alone, Masamoto was the better A Class student between the two of them.

"Even so, it's too risky. Ryouta-kun's strategy is essentially hedge betting. You're putting all your eggs into different baskets and hoping one of those eggs will succeed. If one of those eggs fail... that's a penalty of 60 Cl for each person, Masamoto-kun. If that were to happen, our class could lose up to 180 Cl at once! We'd become B Class in an instant!"

"And what's wrong with hedge betting, huh?"

Suddenly, a new person joined the conversation.

"Long time no see, Masamoto-san."

"Shigeru-san..."

It was Shigeru, this time with only one person in tow, Hayashi Kazuki. Like most boys in E Class, Hayashi was a delinquent, but he was more mild than the others, preferring to play football rather than mess with people.

"There's nothing wrong with the method per se... I just think it's ill advised to build a strategy around it." Yahagi said.

"Oi, what's up with me meeting all these people who don't like taking risks today? First it's Takanori-san, now it's you... whatever. Zyriot-san wanted to take up your offer."

"Let me guess, you'd like to join our group, Shigeru-san?"

"Nah, not me. But my friend over here, Kazuki-san."

Hayashi stepped forward, throwing up a peace sign.

"Hey! Please take care of me!"

"We're glad to have you on our group, Hayashi-san. Someone go get Hiden-sensei to confirm our formation."

Masamoto, surprised at how quickly their group formed, gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Yahagi.

"...what kind of deal did you make with E Class, Yahagi-san?"

"It's less of a deal and more of a promise. See, we were having trouble finding a seventh member who'd join us, since most people are scared of joining a group full of A Class students. That's why we turned our final spot into a "guaranteed safety" spot for anyone that wanted it. In exchange for cooperating with our group, we'd make sure that person would pass this special exam no matter what. In other words, it's an immunity ticket."

"And an E Class student took it...? That doesn't make sense. Their class needs it the least since they're already in E Class. The only punishment they have to worry about is the deduction of class points."

"You're not thinking about it the right way, Masamoto-san. E Class wants this spot the most." Shigeru said.

"But why?"

"Because it blocks other people from getting access to it, meaning the only "immunity ticket" in this special exam has gone to waste on someone who doesn't even need it."

It was a surprisingly cunning plan. Since Yahagi left the offer open to everyone, another class could've snatched up the spot to ensure an important person wouldn't be sent to E Class, since this group was very unlikely to lose.

By wasting it on Hayashi, someone unimportant and from E Class, it essentially negates the original purpose of that free slot and also removes it's power from the special exam entirely. Everyone was on an equal playing field once again.

The thing is, I can't imagine Zyriot coming up with something as underhanded as this. If anything, this feels like something Shigeru would think of. And to be honest, all the signs are pointing to him being the one who came up with the idea, not Zyriot.

For example, Shigeru came on his own with Hayashi, with Zyriot nowhere to be found. In fact, during that conversation, Zyriot was preoccupied with talking to Ikeda and Satou, most likely trying to form a group with them.

It seems like Shigeru made a decision on behalf of E Class and passed it off as an order from Zyriot to prevent rousing Yahagi's suspicions.

After confirming their status, Yahagi's group walked away from Masamoto, leaving him behind with Shigeru. With another group formed, there was only seven more to go.

"How annoying... I wonder what Ryouta-san's going to think of all this." Masamoto sighed.

"Hey. Earlier, you said you wanted to join a five class group, right?" Shigeru said.

"I did."

"Then join my group, Masamoto-san. We need an A Class student, after all."

Emerging behind Shigeru was a B Class student, Shinra Muramasa, two C Class students, Shibata Harutaka and Sugiura Motofumi, and one D Class student, our very own Yamaguchi.

Seeing people from all four classes before him, Masamoto's eyes widened. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, blinking a couple of times before putting them back on. He was in complete awe of what Shigeru was able to do.

"You... how did you gather so many people so quickly?"

"Cuz I'm trying to build the strongest group possible, duh. What I do lack is someone from A Class however... but since we have the same goal, I thought it'd be worth reaching out to you."

"So, does that mean your goal is to win this special exam?"

"That's exactly right. This group is gonna be aiming for 1st place!"

"Is that so..."

Putting a hand to his chin, Masamoto pondered on Shigeru's offer for a minute. Then, he nodded.

"Alright, I've made up my mind. If that's the case, I'll join you guys."

"Seriously? Thanks a lot!"

I couldn't help but find an irony in this union. There was Masamoto, a student council member, and Shigeru, someone who failed to join the student council, working together in order to get first place.

"You're welcome. I would've asked if another A Class student could join us, but... with the way how things are panning out, the guy I had in mind will be taken."

"If you're referring to the seventh person to our group, don't worry. I already have someone in mind."

"And who would that be?"

"Heh. You'll see soon enough."

Shigeru grinned, heading to the other side of the hall to find that person. However, before I could see who he was about to recruit, someone else grabbed my attention.

"Takanori-san, may I have some of your time?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw the leader of A Class, Ryouta Hane, standing behind me completely by himself.

"...sure."

"Great, thank you very much."

Ryouta bowed. Even though I was technically under him in the hierarchy, he still politely expressed his gratitude to me.

"Since we don't have much time, let me to get straight to the point. I want to form a group with all the class representatives. Could you help me achieve this, Takanori-san?"

Well, this was certainly unexpected. I only wanted to group with the other class representatives as a last resort, but here you had Ryouta pushing for its formation.

I did notice earlier that Zyriot and Ikeda were talking with each other, so maybe they were already contacted by Ryouta and part of his group? Either way, I'll have to check for myself.

"Who's agreed to join your group already, then?"

"Right now, both Ikeda-san and Zyriot-san have agreed to join. I've already asked Machida-san, and he said he'd consider it. You're the last one I've yet to ask, Takanori-san."

"Huh... is that so?"

"Ah, please don't take it the wrong way! You were really just the last person I could find out of those four... I'm not trying to discriminate against you or anything by asking you last."

"Don't worry, I wasn't thinking of such a thing. I was actually wondering of something else."

"And what would that be...?"

"Why do you want to gather all the class representatives in one group?"

"I want to make a group full of the best students. If you're a class representative, then you must be the best in the class, or at the very least impressive. Otherwise, how could you be a leader?"

"Fair enough. With such an extravagant idea, you must have a solid plan to support it, right?"

"A plan? Why would I have that?"

"If you're going out of your way to make a group full of class representatives, then you must have something in mind to ensure we take 1st place. Otherwise, why make the class reps come together and form a group? It's pointless. We'd all antagonise each other and spend more time infighting than completing the challenges."

"Um... sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't have anything like that at all."

"...you don't? What?"

"I was just thinking... it'd be nice if we all got to know each other and get along for once, instead of fighting over an intangible thing like "class points". I believe this special exam provides the perfect stage for that."

"I'm aware cooperation and compromise are going to be important when living with the other people in our group, but—"

"That's not what I mean."

I didn't expect to get cut off so quickly mid sentence.

"With how this special exam is set up, it's structured in a way where all the classes can benefit from the rewards, as well as protect everyone from the punishment of being sent to E Class."

Earlier, I heard Masamoto say a very similar thing to Yahagi. It seems like this was Ryouta's true opinion, and not some lie to try and persuade me into joining, or some lie to try and make himself look more virtuous than he actually is.

"If everyone forms a group with five classes, then regardless of which group ends up in 1st to 4th place, all classes will be able to get the triple bonus Cl reward. The fluctuating amount won't matter either, since they'd be made up for by the other placements, meaning everyone would roughly get the same amount. Not only would this increase everyone's quality of life, since we'd have more Pr to spend back at school, but it'd also let us relax more in this special exam, which is the point of being on summer break. It's no coincidence that a "peaceful option" is available in this special exam compared to the Test Shuffle, which was a strict battle between classes. The school wants us to have a good time. Furthermore, no one has to risk being sent to E Class either, since the group can stack all their "praise votes" onto the leader and put the "blame votes" on everyone but the leader, thus fulfilling the condition of having more "praise" than "blame" to reverse the decision."

As expected of the man who cracked the S System before anyone else... Ryouta's observational and analytical skills were incredible. Hearing him fully lay out this explanation brought shivers down my spine. We had barely gotten started on this special exam, yet he perfectly understood what the school actually wanted from us.

This special exam wasn't meant to be a battle. It was meant to be fitting for summer break, a chance to get to know others, and a place to break social boundaries. In fact, the rewards being so extravagant compared to the punishments, which could easily be avoided by manipulating the votes, also pointed to this idea. We had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

"As much as I understand how important the intra-class battles are to the students in lower classes so they can live better lives, I don't want it to get to a point where it crosses the line beyond "rivalry". At the end of the day, these classes are just arbitrary labels the school put on us to segregate each other. We're all equals, both in and outside school."

After hearing him out, my mind changed a little on certain aspects of this special exam. At first, I also saw this as a competition between classes, as like the last special exam, but now I understand that this was just a trick from the school to get us into survival mode. In that sense, we can go beyond cooperation.

We can form "friendships" here.

My question is, however, how long can that "friendship" last? The moment we go back to school, it'll be a war between classes again. Relationships across classes will be difficult to maintain, and may even result in complications or betrayals down the line.

Well, I suppose a temporary friendship is fine... and since Zyriot and Ikeda, two people I'm on good terms with, are already on this group... perhaps it's not a bad idea to join Ryouta after all.

As much as I have my personal doubts on him, everything he's done and said so far has lead me to believe he's not a bad person. In a lot of aspects, he reminds me of Ichinose with his optimism, self-sacrificial mindset, and focus on everyone's wellbeing.

Compared to some of the other guys in A Class, it's rare to find such a selfless person. Everyone who talks about Ryouta values him highly, saying he's honourable and noble. Not even Machida badmouths him. He just badmouths A Class in general.

Even towards me, he's polite and speaks with submission. Despite being in A Class, he treats everyone around like they're better than him, when that's clearly not the case.

The only person to ever come close to disrespecting Ryouta is Shimada, but even he backed down from kicking him out of A Class when he saw just how many people supported him.

But honestly... that just makes me even more suspicious of him.

There's no way one man can be so perfect. I'm almost certain Ryouta is hiding a fatal flaw or dark side of himself somewhere deep down. You can't live your life as a righteous and genuine person all the time. It's impossible.

The more someone tries to live their life doing good for others, the more they're trying to compensate for a sin they've done in the past.

...that's what I believe.

"...you've got an interesting theory."

"E he he, thanks... instead of looking for ways to hurt each other, I thought it would be better to look for ways we can get along, at least for this week."

Ryouta smiled a little and scratched his cheek. His feminine laugh and reserved innocence reminded me of Nora a little.

"Assuming all the representatives join, there's still two slots open for a full group to be formed. Are either of the two slots taken by anybody?"

"Not yet. I actually wanted all five of us to decide together on who we wanted in those last two slots."

"If you were to decide, who would you give them to?"

"Eh? Me? Well... originally, I was going to offer it to you both D Class and E Class, but I thought that'd be unfair for B Class and C Class, so I left it be."

"Why would you offer it to us, rather than choose people from your own class?"

"Because you guys need the class points more than we do. The gap between your class and C Class is at least 400 Cl. Compared to the rest of us, who have gaps less than or a bit over 100, it's ridiculous."

So he was a man of equality too, huh? In a way, all the ideals he stood for went against the whole thesis of GEN Academy.

Equality in a true ability meritocracy can't exist. Even so, he's forcing it to exist in any way he can. Is that blatant hypocrisy? Or a charitable person? Perhaps an idealist's wishful thinking? Maybe, he was just being too naive and kindhearted.

Getting a clear read on Ryouta was harder than I thought...

"In that case, I'll join your group on one condition."

"What would that be, Takanori-san?"

"Reserve one of the remaining two slots for someone of my choice."

Ryouta's eyes widened, and he put his hand to his chin, thinking about it.

"Hmm... is it alright if I get back to you on that? It'll take only five minutes at most."

"I don't mind, as long as you get back to me before the time limit ends."

We only had ten minutes remaining. While me and Ryouta were having that lengthy conversation, two other groups had formed.

"Sure thing. I really hope you do join my group though, Takanori-san."

He bowed once more before going away to think about my proposal. I sighed and turned back round to try and see who Shigeru was referring to from earlier.

However, what I saw instead was a heated confrontation between him and Shimada.

"Masaru, you're kidding me right? You're really going to join Shimada-san's group over mine?"

Kawaguchi looked away, obviously not wanting to talk to Shigeru. Standing beside him was Kouji, who seemed to successfully infiltrate Shimada's group.

"And what if he is?"

Shimada, who was wearing both a jersey and jogging bottoms, walked up to Shigeru and looked down on him. Even though they were the same height, Shigeru looked tiny compared to Shimada.

"Piss off Shimada-san, this has nothing to do with you."

"It's got everything to do with me now. You're the one that's attacking my group."

"I couldn't care less about your group. All I want is to know why Masaru chose you over me!"

"I thought you were smart enough to figure that out on your own."

"I know that he doesn't like me, but—"

"So you did know the reason? Cry somewhere else then, you're in my way."

Shimada leaned forward, pressuring Shigeru to arch back. The air slowly warped around them as Shimada stared straight into Shigeru's soul. However, due to his time from being a delinquent, Shigeru didn't waver.

Instead, he laughed.

"Ha ha... the easiest solution is to just walk around me, you know?"

Despite knowing that taunting Shimada was a bad idea, Shigeru still did it anyways, probably unafraid of his penchant for violence. To Shigeru, confrontations like this was a daily occurrence in the world of delinquents.

After years of fighting countless enemies, being abused as a gopher, and even receiving a stab wound in the abdomen, there was very little that could top the excruciating pain he suffered from all these events. Compared to facing all that, Shimada was nothing.

However, that's also why he underestimated him as well.

Shimada didn't respond. He thinly smiled as his hollow, wine coloured eyes grew darker. Straightening his hand into a flat palm, he raised it slightly, hanging it just below his chest.

Shigeru didn't flinch at this movement. He didn't even stop to look at Shimada's hand, since it would reveal he was distracted by the movement, rather than the current staring contest between the two of them.

The moment he took his eyes off Shimada, it would be the same as admitting defeat. But that's what Shimada wanted.

If I blinked, I would've missed it.

In a split second, Shimada chopped Shigeru's abdomen with his hand, smashing the side of his rigid palm deep into the place he was stabbed in the past.

Shigeru didn't even have time to register what happened to him. He gargled and fell to his knees. Then, to rub salt into the wound, Shimada walked around the limp Shigeru, like he suggested.

"B-bastard..."

Shigeru wheezed out, looking up at Shimada from over his shoulder. Kawaguchi, who saw this kind of scene happen in the past, stepped back uncomfortably.

"That was a bit excessive now wasn't it, Shimada-san?"

Shimada shrugged, now able to see the person Shigeru was blocking him from meeting.

"Speak for yourself. It's not like I killed him, Rokurou."

It was Nakajima Rokurou, a student from E Class and the man who tried killing me in the past. These two teaming up together is bad news...

"Even if he was being annoying, there's no need for such barbaric methods. You might get in trouble for violence."

"Snitching is the same as admitting defeat. If he has a sense of pride, he won't do it."

Nakajima sighed, crossing his arms.

"At the very least, restrain yourself. Otherwise, I'll go make a group with someone else."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Who'd you get?"

"Yukada-san and Kishida-san."

Nakajima gestured to two students behind him. They were Yukada Masahiro from B Class, and Kishida Sui from C Class, who I saw earlier sitting by himself. I guess they were making a group full of anti-social people?

"Hey, it's a pleasure to be on your team!" Kishida said.

"I'm here for the 3x bonus and the 3x bonus only. You guys better not screw up." Yukada said.

Since their group had people from all five classes, they were legible for the 3x multiplier. Luckily, I was able to sneak in two D Class students because of my instructions to Kouji and Kawaguchi.

"You better not be the screw up here, Masahiro."

Shimada shoved Yukada out of the way and walked over to Hiden-sensei.

"Huh? Don't act cocky just because you're in A Class. And don't use my first name so casually either."

"Understood, Masahiro."

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"I don't listen to idiots."

Yukada narrowed his eyes at Shimada. Already, there was discourse in the group because of his personality.

"In the first place, where are you going?"

"To register my group, obviously."

"Wait, "my" group? When did we decide you were leader?"

"I did."

"Since when?!"

"From the very beginning."

Yukada shivered as Shimada stared down at him from over his shoulder.

Kouji, Kawaguchi, and Kishida all looked uncomfortable as the confrontation started to escalate. If Yukada continued to challenge Shimada anymore than he already did, there was a high chance he'd end up like Shigeru.

"Just ignore him, Yukada-san. Shimada-san's always been the my pace type. Words won't get through to him."

Intervening in this situation was the third person with Shimada, Yamamoto Yami. It looks he decided to join Shimada's group... or rather, he was threatened to join. It was annoying for me, since I wanted him on my group.

With Masamoto, Yamamoto, and Kurase taken, the opportunity to form my own group was becoming even slimmer. Even Akihiro seemed to make his own group with other E Class and C Class students, which included Imaishi.

The longer this discussion period went, the more and more tempting Ryouta's offer slowly became.

"But Yamamoto-san, he..."

"He's doing things on his own without discussing it with us, I know. But for your own safety, don't argue with him."

"Why not? If he's doing bad things, someone should call him out for it!"

"While I don't tolerate his behaviour either, there's not much we can do. For better or worse, Shimada-san is more capable than all of us combined."

"And that's reason enough to fold to him? So you'll just obediently listen to anyone stronger than you, is that it?"

"It's not that simple, Yukada-san. Yamamoto-san is right about Shimada-san being better than us. That means his words and decisions are superior to ours. If we go against him, he'll beat us every single time."

This time, it was Nakajima who was trying to reason with Yukada.

"Just be content with your position in this group. Shimada-san can singlehandedly carry everyone to a podium position. As long as we stay quiet and listen to his instructions, we'll be fine."

"Is that why you teamed up with him, Nakajima-san?" Yamamoto asked.

"More or less. And it's why Takanori-san asked you two to join, right?"

Nakajima turned to Kouji and Kawaguchi, immediately seeing through and exposing the reason why they willingly joined Shimada's group despite his horrid reputation.

"Actually, I did find it a bit strange Kouji-san joined his group of all people..." Kawaguchi said.

"You're right about why I joined Shimada-san. But you're wrong about this being Takanori-san's order. I chose it for myself since I wanted an easy week here."

To my surprise, Kouji covered for me and lied that he did this by his own autonomy.

"Huh... is that so?"

"This group is ridiculous. I'm leaving."

A frustrated Yukada sighed and tried to get out of the group before it was confirmed. However, it was too late.

"If you want to leave, come outside with me."

Shimada, who just finished confirming the group with Hiden-sensei, walked back to them.

"I'll be happy to push you off a cliff and give you a real reason not to be part of our group anymore."

"...no way, did you seriously just finish registering us?"

"That's right. You're stuck with us for a week, Ma-sa-hi-ro."

Shimada added stressed emphasis on Yukada's name, knowing it would get on his nerves. Yukada gritted his teeth, struggling to accept the fact this was now his group. He could either take on Yamamoto's advice or try to switch groups on the fourth day.

However, that would be extremely difficult since Shimada was the leader. He had full control over who could leave and join his group. If Yukada wanted to leave that badly, I had no doubt in my mind Shimada would take advantage of it.

What a terrifying man...

As this was going on, it seems Shigeru managed to find a seventh member after learning Kawaguchi joined Shimada. To my surprise, that person from my class, Ayano Kanzaki.

The seven of them registered their group, making it six completed groups in total now. It seems my time to build a group has ran out...

"Takanori-san. Did you find five other people?"

Approaching me was Matsushita, who also hadn't joined any group yet. This was because I sent him a message instructing him to join my group earlier on the bus. As a result, he's just been wandering around declining people. This was the first time we were able to talk properly with each other.

"...it's proving to be a struggle."

In fact, I've found a total of zero people. Every time I was going to ask someone to join, they were already in someone else's group or in mid conversation with another person. With so many of my original candidates gone, I wasn't sure what to do next.

"Can I give my own opinion?"

"Go ahead."

"Ask Machida-san."

I looked over to Machida, who was still sitting by himself. Despite the fact his faction was desperately begging him to join, he refused to budge.

"I don't know why, but he's been ignoring his old friends this entire discussion period. It's almost like he doesn't want to join them."

"Did you see anyone before them offer him a space on their group?"

"Well... yeah, just one."

"Who?"

Though, I could already guess who it was.

"Ryouta Hane, from A Class."

Thought so. Matsushita pointed over to him, and he was listening to Zyriot and Ikeda talking to him. They seemed to be glancing at our direction.

"...as much as I don't want to ask him, we don't have a choice, huh?"

"Let me guess, you'll make me do it?"

I was honestly tempted, since Machida dragged me by the tie once in the past, but it was probably better if I initiated the offer.

"Nah. Just come with me so it looks like our group is bigger than it actually is."

Matsushita rolled his eyes and followed me as we headed towards Machida.

"Machida-san."

As I called out to him, Machida simply raised his head. He didn't say anything back, nor did he glare at me. There was a sense of delayed apathy in his eyes that reminded me of the old Kouji.

"Do you want to join my group?"

Upon hearing that, Koishi, Kasai, Ritaka, and Ukishima all turned their eyes at me. The other two people in their group, Kurase and another B Class student named Nishikori Takauji, didn't really care. Machida sighed, closing his eyes.

It seems he wasn't interested. Just as I was about to leave however, he got up and stretched out his hand.

"Wait."

Everyone was shocked. For the past nearly fifteen minutes, Machida hadn't budged an inch at all, both figuratively and literally. The fact he made even the slightest of interest in my offer was a big deal.

"I'll join."

My eyes widened. Out of nowhere, Machida wanted to cooperate with me. Matsushita seemed to get excited while the Machida faction felt betrayed by his decision.

"What?! But, b-but boss! I thought you were going to join our group!" Kasai said.

"Yeah Machida-san! What's the meaning of this?! Are you seriously teaming up with those Drachma dropouts?!" Ukishima said.

"Our group has people from all classes in it! Their group only has two people! What gives?!" Ritaka said.

Machida ignored them, joining me and Matsushita. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"That went surprisingly smooth..." I muttered.

"Are you sure? I thought you would want to join your friends." Matsushita said.

"Friends? You seem to be mistaken."

For a moment, I thought I could see a glint of the old Machida in his eyes.

"They're not my friends. They were my followers. Now that half of them aren't in B Class anymore, I don't want to associate with lower class garbage like them. Especially Ritaka, the Drachma Red reject."

Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe Machida hasn't changed at all. Even though he seemed different on the outside, he was still the same prejudiced person on the inside. The moment his faction were sent to lower classes was the moment he discarded them.

If the Machida faction overheard this, they'd be devastated. The person they most looked up to had now tossed them to the curb because they weren't B Class anymore. In fact, the only one Machida probably respects now is Koishi, since he was still in B Class.

When I look at things this way, I understand why he didn't want to be in a group with them. However, in that case, why not join Ryouta's group? It'd also give him a reason not to join the Machida faction's group. Was there another reason why he didn't, then?

"How many more people do you need?" Machida asked.

"...four."

"You're that far behind...? Alright, that leaves us with two options then."

Even though he just joined the group as a member, he was starting to act like the leader straightaway. I didn't mind though, since I was already aware of what choices we had left now that most of the good people had been taken.

And one of those options involved taking up Ryouta's original offer.

"We either fill the rest of our slots with the bad students no one wants, or we can fill our slots with those guys."

Machida pointed at Ryouta, Zyriot, Ikeda, and Satou. Noticing this, Ryouta waved at us with a small smile.

"Personally, I don't want to group up with them, but also I don't want to be stuck dealing with idiots for a week. If you're even thinking of trying to win in this exam, the choice is obvious."

"I didn't want to group up with them either, but it looks like we don't have much choice..."

The only boys left, aside from those four, were Zayasu, Handa, Igarashi, Hiraoka, Yoshimatsu, Takemoto, and Terasaka.

The most glaring issue was there were no more A Class students available aside from Ryouta, since the majority went with Yahagi's "mostly A Class" group. Aside from that, the E Class boys seemed to be trying to form their own group, and the Machida faction was pressuring Zayasu to join their group to maximise potential payout to B Class.

Since we are missing four people, joining the E Class boys was an option, but considering Terasaka tried spitting on me earlier, I think I'll pass on them. There were the two C Class boys, Handa and Igarashi, but neither were impressive. They were fine enough picks, but we'd still be restricted to the 2x multiplier.

If I wanted the 3x multiplier, as well as the best chance to win, there was no other choice but to join Ryouta's half to make a group.

"Alright, let's do this."

I walked over to Ryouta, who seemed excited that his plan of forming a group comprised of all the class representatives was coming to fruition.

"I'm guessing both of you want to take up my offer now?"

Me and Machida looked at each other. Machida, still prideful as ever, pushed me to say something first.

"...that's right. If you also let Matsushita-san join, it's a deal."

"Sure thing! He used to be a class representative, so I don't mind at all. I'm looking forward to working with the three of you."

Ryouta gave everyone a left-handed handshake. Machida, flicking his chin in Satou's direction, gestured to him.

"If you wanted to make a group full of class reps, what's that emo doing here?"

"Originally, I didn't let Satou-san in the group because I wanted all five of us to decide together who would take the last two slots. However, since it seemed like you two weren't joining and time was running out, I let Satou-san join under Zyriot-san's suggestion."

"If you don't like me that much, I can leave. But your choices afterwards are slim to none." Satou said.

Now that the Machida faction finalised their group with Zayasu, there were only six other candidates left, none of which were better than Satou.

"I never said I didn't want you in the group. I was just wondering why you were here. You're lucky to have the super kind and super nice Ryouta-san let you in."

I can't help but feel like Machida's last statement was sarcastic. Did he know something about Ryouta's true nature?

"Before we register our group, I think we should decide who the leader is. Firstly, I'd like to know who here is interested in being leader?"

I nudged Matsushita. As everyone raised our hands, me and Matsushita did too. Other than us, there was Machida, Zyriot, and Ryouta himself. Ikeda and Satou didn't seem interested.

"Alright. I suppose we should hold a democratic vote?"

"How many votes do we get?" Machida asked.

"Two, but you can only use it on different people and not on yourself."

"Fine."

I telegraphed to Matsushita that we were going to use one our votes for each other.

"First, who wants Machida-san to be leader?"

No one voted for him. Machida sighed, but he accepted his immediate loss quietly.

"Second, who wants Matsushita-san to be leader?"

I raised my hand. In total, there were three votes from me, Machida, and Ryouta.

"Thirdly, who wants Takanori-san to be leader?"

Matsushita, Zyriot, and Machida raised their hands. To my surprise, I had gotten three votes.

"Fourthly, who wants Zyriot-san to be leader?"

Satou, Ryouta, and Ikeda raised their hands. Three votes too, like me. However, with how everything played out so far, it was obvious who was going to win now.

"Finally, who wants me to be leader?"

I raised my hand. Matsushita, Zyriot, Ikeda, and Satou did as well, giving him a total five votes. Ryouta won, making him the leader of our group.

"Thank you all so much for this opportunity. I promise to do my best so I won't let you all down!"

Ryouta bowed deeply in gratitude to each of us, before going off to inform Hiden-sensei of our group. The other six boys, realising their situation, had no choice but to come together and make a group.

And with that, all nine groups were formed. Hiryuu-sensei, who was in charge of keeping track of the groups, was about to announce all the groups that had been formed.

"Alright, I'll only say this once, so pay attention."

What a grumpy fellow. Hiryuu-sensei looked like he didn't want to be here. It reminded me of Chabashira-sensei, for some reason.

"The first group is led by Mitsuba Jun of D Class. The second group is led by Yahagi Kyoji of A Class. The third group is led by Kirishima Katsu of B Class. The fourth group is led by Ishima Akihiro of E Class. The fifth group is led by Shimada Kuroshi of A Class. The sixth group is led by Shigeru Zenkichi of E Class. The seventh group is led by Koishi Eizan of B Class. The eighth group is led by Ryouta Hane of A Class. The ninth group is led by Handa Kakichi of C Class."

Altogether, there were three leaders from A Class, two leaders from B Class and E Class, and one leader each from C and D Class. Personally, I would've preferred if there were more D Class leaders, but I guess I can just hope the girl's side will pick up our slack.

"Now that your groups are formed, let's jump into the first challenge then, shall we?"

Hiden-sensei grinned ominously as he held up nine envelopes in his hand.