Special Exam, Day 6, morning.
Today's morning class was to walk and run the full 18 km round-trip course for the relay race scheduled on the final exam day, then make it back before afternoon lessons.
Honami Ichinose checked on her group members' conditions and adjusted her running pace accordingly.
She liked physical activity but didn't exactly excel at it. Still, she had plenty of energy left, so she helped out the ones who struggled more than she did.
"Haa… haa… fuck, what the hell is wrong with these hills?"
Shiho Manabe panted hard, spitting venom with every breath.
Her negative attitude usually dragged group morale down, but everyone could see how desperately she was pushing herself, so it barely affected them. If anything, it would've been weirder for someone to run and hike through these brutal ups and downs without a single complaint. Manabe's words accidentally spoke for all of them.
"M-Manabe-san, you good on pace? This feels way faster than last class…"
"Yeah. If you collapse, it's all pointless."
Nanami Yabu and Saki Yamashita—same group, always hanging around Manabe—called out in worry.
"…I'm fine. I'm the leader, so I just want to raise the average score even a little. I'm not forcing it."
Manabe wiped sweat from her face and answered in a cold tone. She was nearing her physical limit, so she had zero room left for chit-chat. Yet the second she caught her breath, she exploded forward again at full sprint.
"Hey—Manabe-san, wait up!"
The two girls who always followed her chased after, refusing to be left behind.
Honami Ichinose watched them and felt something off. She'd heard the rumors—arrogant, nasty personality—but right now Manabe looked like nothing more than a student throwing everything she had at the exam. Like she was desperately trying to fix the rotten parts of herself. The sight hit Honami hard, almost blindingly bright.
"What's up, Ichinose-san?"
Two students from Class D caught up from behind.
Originally this group had been leftovers from Classes A and C, but they'd picked up the two D-Class girls who didn't mind Manabe. Their names were Haruka Hasebe and Airi Sakura.
Haruka still looked fresh and was the one who spoke; Airi was the one gasping like she was about to die.
"Nah, just… Manabe-san feels a little different from before."
"Ahh~ yeah, totally. Used to be full-on nasty yankee vibe, now she's like a delinquent mid-reform."
"Hey, isn't that a bit too blunt?"
Honami flinched at Haruka's zero-filter words. The cold tone and stare made it obvious—even though they were in the same group, Haruka really didn't like Manabe.
"Whatever, it's true, right? Airi thinks so too, yeah?"
But the only answer was heavy, ragged breathing. Couldn't even tell if it was yes or no.
"I… I see it that way too, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I mean, Manabe-san is desperately trying to change the old, awful version of herself, right? That's seriously hard. Just putting in that kind of effort is… amazing."
Airi finally caught her breath and spoke slowly.
Her words made Honami's heart waver again.
Changing yourself on a big scale is difficult.
Honami understood all too well how hard it is to fix the negative parts—the lazy parts, the parts that committed sins. She knew the urge to run away during that process. It's so much easier to escape to the comfortable path and never face yourself.
The opposite—actually confronting it—is painful. It's "hard."
That's exactly why Manabe, who refused to run and was trying to change, was incredible.
Honami made that judgment and let her gaze drop to the ground with a cool stare.
"I don't think so."
Haruka shot Airi's opinion down head-on.
"I get that changing yourself is tough, and challenging it is impressive, yeah. But Manabe-san obviously hurt people. No matter how hard someone like that tries to reform, they'll just go back to normal eventually. It's not the same effort as people who never hurt anyone and just lived normally. From the perspective of the people she hurt, it's gotta feel like 'don't fuck with me,' right?"
"Th-that's…"
Honami's walking pace slowed at those words.
She instantly understood where Haruka's dislike of Manabe came from. No matter how desperately someone who hurt others tries, regaining trust from the people they wounded is nearly impossible.
No… it's impossible. The dark part of her heart corrected her sharply.
A sin once committed destroys everything. You can never go back.
Like a prop patched with tape—usable for a moment, but the seams show right away.
"A-are you okay, Ichinose-san?"
Airi leaned in, peering at Honami's face.
A beautiful, charming face. Honami had accidentally learned Airi's secret as a gravure idol, and seeing her now made her think again—this girl really does make people smile. She was genuinely in awe of that talent.
Still, she didn't want to worry anyone, so she fixed her expression.
"Nyahaha, I'm fine! I guess I was a little tired, but spacing out for a second fixed me right up!"
"R-really? But please don't push yourself, okay?"
Honami accepted Airi's concern with a peace sign and shifted back to a jogging pace.
To check on Manabe and the A-Class students who'd gone ahead. That's the reason she gave herself.
"…I'm fine. I won't repeat it."
She shook off the darkness lurking inside and picked up her pace a little.
The shadows appearing and disappearing with every step felt disturbingly ominous.
…
By dinner time on Day 6, information gathering had already become routine.
So far there had been no contact from Miyabi Nagumo.
He probably knew I was collecting intel from the girls in my own class, but that wasn't strange in itself.
He was just leaving me alone, fully aware.
"Oh?"
I checked the surroundings and spotted Ayanokouji-kun.
He was facing a group of second-year girls and hadn't noticed me watching yet.
When one of the girls left the group, Ayanokouji-kun moved in like he'd been waiting for exactly that moment.
The girl was someone I knew too—Nazuna Asahina.
Looked like he was doing his job properly.
"…Oi, Kamukura."
I felt a hostile stare and turned around. Tokito-kun and Kaneda-kun from my class were standing there.
"Unusual combo. What do you need?"
"We've got some things to confirm about C-Class from here on. Come with us."
I had no particular ties with either of them, and the conversation sounded like it could kill time, so I followed in silence.
We moved to a quiet table. The two sat facing me.
"Sorry for taking your valuable time, Kamukura-san. I called out because I figured your information gathering was done."
They must have been watching me.
I'd already finished everything I needed, so using the rest of my time on them was no problem.
"Let's get straight to it. Kamukura, will you keep being C-Class's leader from now on?"
Tokito-kun dropped it without any pointless preamble.
"You know I hate Ryuuen. His methods piss me off.
I followed him because he got results, but this time I finally understand crystal clear why he managed to produce them."
"And why is that?"
I asked even though I already knew the answer.
"Your existence. We saw it at the sports festival and Paper Shuffle, but your teaching ability and leadership are on a whole different level from Ryuuen's.
He only got this far because you were backing him."
"If you really think that, I recommend you leave right now?"
I answered without stopping my meal.
He must have realized the barbed words had soured my mood. He made a bitter face and spoke again.
"…I know. I know that bastard's good. Not everything was your doing—C-Class won a lot thanks to his scheming too.
But even so, I believe you becoming leader would bring C-Class the biggest benefit. This exam made me feel it for real."
Tokito-kun honestly spilled his true feelings.
He had the strength to state his own opinions firmly and the judgment to set that ego aside when needed—both qualities too good to waste on a mere pawn.
On top of that, he could think about the class as a whole. A rare presence.
People like him, who don't just leave the special exams to me or Ryuuen-kun but actually think and voice opinions, are exactly the talent C-Class needs.
"I agree, Kamukura-san. Up until now Ryuuen-san has led C-Class to victory with methods no one could predict.
But when it comes to pure overall class strength like the sports festival or Paper Shuffle, your presence is huge.
Plus, in this exam you pulled some behind-the-scenes moves just like Ryuuen-san. In other words, you can use unpredictable methods too."
Kaneda-kun, like Tokito-kun, was another student who could think about the class.
But because they could see things broadly, they had arrived at the most boring conclusion.
"Kaneda-kun, were you dissatisfied with Ryuuen-kun as your strategist?"
"…No. Even now, I still believe Ryuuen-san would be fine as the leader. His methods may be forceful, but it's precisely because of that that he's left major accomplishments for the class.
However, having Kamukura-san as leader would get us to Class A far more reliably. That's the judgment I reached."
"For the class's sake, huh? At least you're seeing your surroundings correctly. I'll give you credit for that much.
But I have no intention of becoming the leader."
Kaneda-kun floated a bitter smile, looking disappointed yet resigned.
He didn't show any discouragement at my answer. Having watched me up close beside Ryuuen-kun this whole time, he already knew it was the obvious response.
"…Why? If it's you, you should be able to make the class far better than Ryuuen. If we follow you, reaching Class A shouldn't even be a dream for us anymore.
You've got the talent for it… the ability, right?"
In sharp contrast, Tokito-kun refused to give up.
Becoming Class A. Every student at this school shares that dream, and he was trying to persuade me to get closer to it.
"Yeah, I have so much talent it could rot away."
"Then why won't you become the leader? No motivation? Or because you wouldn't be able to see those unknowns anymore?"
Even though the logic was something his own head couldn't process, he asked it with clear pain in his voice.
"Yeah. Even if I lead the group, there'd be zero interest in the future ahead."
"Interest?"
"You said that if I became leader, reaching Class A wouldn't even be a dream. But that's wrong.
If I stand at the front of the group, Class A would just be a checkpoint. I'd give the people who follow me a literal elite education. I'd reshape them into indispensable talents who never drag anyone down once they enter society and become the kind of people everyone around them relies on.
But there would be no unknowns there."
He stared at me like he was looking at something incomprehensible.
This development was exactly what I had predicted.
"Just like how I wouldn't bother taking a test I know I'll score perfectly on a hundred times out of a hundred, perfect domination is the most boring thing imaginable for me."
After all, the moment I step forward, every other person gets completely overshadowed.
Suzune Horikita, Kakeru Ryuuen, Honami Ichinose, Arisu Sakayanagi, Miyabi Nagumo, Manabu Horikita, and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.
No matter how much talent they have, none of them can compare to me.
"…Just one question. Don't you have any desires at all?"
He asked suddenly.
"I do have the desire to witness the unknown."
"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about things like the desire to dominate, the need for approval, wanting more points, refusing to lose to anyone—those simpler, more basic cravings."
"I don't have any. I was born after all those unnecessary things were stripped away."
Tokito-kun's face twisted.
He couldn't understand why someone with real power wouldn't take the lead of the group.
So he searched for the reason.
Yet the mystery only seemed to deepen.
"…I finally get it. You're not human. You're a monster pretending to be one."
He said it slowly.
Those words hadn't been thrown at me in a while, but I was already long used to hearing them.
"You're right. But rest easy. As promised, I'll definitely make sure we win this exam. So you all focus on your own matters."
"…I know. It's not like I want the class to lose. I'll give the exam everything I've got."
It was getting late, so the three of us disbanded.
…
While Kamukura was speaking with his own classmates, Ayanokouji was making contact with Nazuna Asahina.
The goal was exactly as Kamukura had requested: to uncover Nagumo's true intentions and gather all the surrounding information, while naturally advancing his own future plans as well.
Spotting Asahina leave her seat alone during dinner, Ayanokouji followed right after her.
After confirming she had finished in the restroom, he engineered a casual passing encounter.
"Huh?"
He muttered it in a way that could sound like he was talking to himself or calling out to her.
Asahina instinctively stopped and lightly turned her head.
"Ah, sorry. I thought it looked like a charm I'd seen before. Don't mind me."
Ayanokouji said that and started to walk away.
The charm was red, worn fashionably around Asahina's left wrist like an accessory.
"This charm isn't even stocked at school anymore, you know."
"Really? Did you happen to drop this charm somewhere before?"
"Wait… are you the one who picked up my charm?"
"Probably. I delivered something similar a while back. Sorry, but could I check it?"
Asahina showed him the charm once more.
"No mistake. This is the one I found before winter break."
"Before winter break… Ahaha, so you were the boy who saw me fall that time."
"…Yeah. Sorry about that."
The two confirmed their accidental previous encounter.
The trigger had truly been coincidence. Asahina had tripped and dropped her charm; considering the rainy weather, Ayanokouji had delivered it to her dorm.
And now it had returned to her hand.
Of course, only Asahina believed this meeting was pure chance.
Ayanokouji never forgets a face he has seen once.
"Thanks for picking it up. Ever since then I've hated the idea of losing it again, so I've been wearing it like this most of the time."
"It seems very important to you."
"Not really any deep attachment or anything~. It's more like… a mental pillar? Just having it with me gives me a huge sense of relief."
"I see. Either way, I'm glad I delivered it."
Ayanokouji spoke in an utterly harmless tone.
"Yeah, seriously thank you. And I never would've guessed the person who found it was you of all people."
"You know about me?"
"Yeah. You got a lot of attention during that relay with Horikita-senpai. And recently too—you probably don't remember, but you were talking with Nagumo, the student council president, right?"
"Maybe you were there at the time?"
"Well, yeah."
To keep up the act that this meeting was pure coincidence, Ayanokouji played dumb.
The time when Nagumo had called out to him was during winter break, when he'd been hanging out with Karuizawa, Hirata, and Satou.
"I was pretty confident in my running speed, but honestly, I'm complete garbage at everything else. I think Nagumo-senpai got the wrong idea and started paying attention to me because of that."
When Ayanokouji said it with a troubled expression, Asahina nodded repeatedly, showing she understood perfectly.
"That guy respects Horikita-senpai—or more like, he sees him as a goal. During that relay, he got jealous because Horikita-senpai chose you instead of him."
"How can I stop Nagumo-senpai from focusing on me?"
"Hmm~ Well, if you just leave it alone it should be fine, right? Looks like he's set his sights on another first-year now."
Asahina said it in a half-joking tone.
Another first-year that Nagumo would target—only one name came to Ayanokouji's mind.
"Another first-year? You mean… Kamukura?"
Asahina's eyes widened for a split second, but she quickly laughed it off like nothing had happened.
"You caught on quick. Nagumo was really pissed about losing at the sports festival and getting humiliated, yet no one blamed him. Everyone just comforted him by saying 'the opponent was too strong.' It looks like that left quite a scar.
So once Horikita-senpai graduates, he's planning to take full revenge on him."
Ayanokouji recalled the event.
Back then, he had competed against Manabu Horikita while injured and lost due to an unexpected accident.
However, his final placement ended up being 4th.
With Kamukura, Nagumo, and Horikita ahead of him, he had overtaken all the other students who were in front.
And Kamukura had finished in an overwhelming first place.
"I was so focused on running that I didn't notice what was happening around me, but against someone like Kamukura, I guess it really can't be helped."
"Ahaha, the difference really was insane. Well, that's just like Nagumo not to break from something like that."
"Nagumo-senpai really hates losing, huh."
"He's got such a childish personality… Anyway, if he's going to target you, it'll probably be after he settles his revenge first."
Noticing the conversation had gone off track, Asahina brought it back on topic.
Ayanokouji judged this was a good point to strike.
"...─Then it looks like I can live peacefully from now on."
When Ayanokouji answered flatly, Asahina's face went blank for a moment.
Then her bright expression flipped completely into something deadly serious.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. The day he sets his eyes on me will never come."
"You mean Nagumo can't beat Kamukura-kun?"
"Yeah… Is it really that surprising? That Nagumo-senpai would lose?"
Ayanokouji continued in a cold tone.
"Or would it trouble you if he keeps getting defeated?"
"You don't sound like you're joking. Is that okay? Talking to me like that even though you know I'm close to Nagumo."
"Wouldn't that just be what happens? Nagumo-senpai would probably be happy to have one more cheeky underclassman, right?"
"He probably would be happy, but… I don't think you're someone who can do anything about him."
"Who knows. Either way, I already understand that this isn't my stage to step onto."
At those words, Asahina let out a resigned sigh.
"Man, this year's first-years are seriously full of attitude. Saying it's not your stage means you already know how this exam is going to end, right?"
"…The ending? Honestly, I'm not so sure about that."
"Eh? Why the sudden lack of confidence~?"
The previously confident Ayanokouji crossed his arms and looked like he was thinking hard.
Asahina found the sudden change funny and relaxed a bit.
"So even you can't say for sure whether Nagumo or Horikita-senpai will win."
"No, in this exam, Horikita-senpai will win. What I can't figure out is Kamukura's goal."
"Kamukura-kun's goal? Isn't it obviously to help Horikita-senpai win? That's why he's using the girls in his class to work behind the scenes."
What Asahina said made sense to Ayanokouji as well.
There was no contradiction in the reason for his secret maneuvers or why he would help Manabu Horikita.
But was that really all?
(This exam, he's using several students with Manabe at the center, but why isn't he making better use of Asahina or the third-years? Wouldn't that be necessary to reliably stop Nagumo?)
It was a slight sense of discomfort and pure intuition, but for some reason, he couldn't believe Kamukura's goal was simply to save Tachibana.
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry for saying something weird. It's getting late, so I'll head out."
With those final words, Ayanokouji turned and left Asahina.
He had approached her to learn Nagumo's true intentions, but realized it had been a waste of effort.
Just making the connection was enough.
All that remained was to report back to Kamukura.
That would conclude his role in this exam.
"No… not to stop him… it couldn't be…"
He tried to deduce Kamukura's true objective from all available information.
However, the full picture still eluded him.
Continuing his speculation, Ayanokouji headed back to the shared room.
***
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