When we left C Class, me and Yukina went to the canteen to eat lunch. Well, she did at least, since she brought a bento to school like usual.

I would've gotten the free veggie meal the school offers, but since lunch time was ending soon, I didn't want to waste my time waiting in line.

"Another kid's bento today, huh?"

"Yep!"

Like usual, Yukina happily munched away at her rolled eggs and octo-sausages.

"Nee, Yuu."

"Hm?"

"I don't really get it..."

"Get what?"

"Why you made that deal with C Class. I mean... isn't this too much work for us?"

"I'm more surprised they accepted it."

"You're a convincing salesman. If you didn't tell them about Nora-chan taking 7th place, I doubt they would've agreed."

"He's probably our saving grace in this entire exam..."

"In any case, I don't really understand still. It's conflicting with what you want to do."

"You're right, it doesn't make much sense on the surface. To be honest, I made that deal with C Class as part of my back-up plan."

"Oh... but what if you don't have to do your back-up plan? Aren't we in a big pinch then?"

"Not at all. If that's the case, then I'll just give Su... Kinoshita-san the same questions E Class handed in."

"Su...?"

While speaking, I was careless with my words and nearly called Suzune by her first name.

"Nothing."

"You're acting flustered, Yuu."

"I'm not."

"You are! When you get flustered, you pause, look away, and get defensive."

Yukina giggled as she acutely observed my actions. She wasn't wrong... I guess I do become like that.

"You know me too well."

"I'm just used to your mannerisms. In any case, is that really okay? That would mean A Class and D Class are taking the same exams."

"There's nothing in the rules that state we can't do that. Besides, I don't think that will happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to have to go with my back-up plan after all..."

"Eh? Did something go wrong with your main plan?"

"Sort of. Do you know about the competition in A Class?"

Yukina nodded.

"Ryouta-san and Shimada-san are fighting each other in the finals, aren't they?"

"Yeah. That's thrown a whole wrench into the situation."

"Come to think of it... if Alice-chan and Matsushita-san accept it, we wouldn't be working on the exam for D Class. We would have time to work on the exam for C Class."

"Precisely. Originally, I wasn't planning to make this sort of deal, but rather building a partnership with C Class so we could have direct input in their attack on D Class. But since that's come up, alongside their war against B Class, I decided to capitalise on this chance."

I got the idea while talking to Suzune. While I could've asked her about it in private, I wanted to do it when there were others around, to make sure she got approval from multiple people to help strengthen C Class's unity.

"Wow, we got really lucky..."

"I'd like to call it being resourceful, but you're right. It is luck."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Some of the greatest strategies happen because everything manages to line up perfectly! You just have to be flexible about it. And if there's one thing you're amazing at Yuu, it's doing things on the fly."

"You think so?"

"Of course. It's just like when you play Vanguard. Even if you have horrible luck, you always make the best out of your situation and adapt to it. Through that, you always find a path to win!"

Hearing Yukina compliment me this much warmed my heart.

"You're right. Even now, I'm adapting our plan."

"What's next on the agenda?"

"To find out how Sakigamiya-san fits in all this."

"Eh...? You need information on Alice-chan?"

"Yeah."

"But Matsushita-san was the one who pushed Kouji-san off the ledge? She wasn't involved aside from helping Matsushita-san calm down."

"She isn't involved in that incident, but there's still things I'd like to know. Mainly, how everything got up to that point."

"Ah... that's true, Ginga-san only told us about what happened. She never told us why Matsushita-san was beating up Kouji-san in the first place."

"I'd rather not pester Ginga-san again, since she seemed reluctant to tell us in the first place."

"Yeah, it's better if we let her forget what happened. It must be traumatising... seeing someone nearly die before your eyes."

Yukina frowned. I wondered why she looked so sad in this moment.

"It seems like she wasn't that close to Matsushita-san or Kouji-san either. They shared the same class, but that's about it."

"Let me guess, you want to ask Alice-chan because she was close to Matsushita-san at this time?"

"Yeah. She probably knows the situation better than Ginga-san. Alternatively, we could ask Kouji-san, but I doubt he'd be willing to talk about such a sensitive part of his past to a couple of strangers."

"If you want, I can try asking her. I think she'd be willing to tell me."

"That would be great. I'm not close to her at all, so..."

"It's fine, I'll ask her on the weekend. We're meeting up for Fujimura-san's party."

"Ah... have fun."

I kind of regret turning down Shouko's invitation now.

"I'm going to ask Keisaki-san if he knows anything. They might've been in different classes, but they both seem to hang out with the riajuu type."

"Alright. I guess Kouji-san is a last resort?"

"Pretty much."

Yukina nodded and went back to eating. After a brief silence between us, she spoke up again.

"Nee, Yuu..."

"Hm?"

"I've been wondering something else as well."

"What is it?"

"It's about Matsushita-san."

"Oh?"

"Earlier, when you told Ginga-san about what Matsushita-san told you about his past... he told me the same things."

So my hunch was correct. Matsushita falsely spread these lies in the hopes of making himself look better.

"I knew he wasn't a good person after what how he treated you last month... but hearing all this made me wonder just how deep Matsushita-san's darkness was. I thought he was making an honest mistake when he lied to save himself and throw you under the bus, but... now I'm starting to think he did that on purpose."

Yukina shook her head. For her, this revelation must have been a great surprise. Compared to me, who had already experienced Matsushita's dark side before, this was Yukina's first time experiencing it directly.

While I didn't really care that Matsushita betrayed me once, that was because I wasn't close to him at all. But for Yukina, these two shared the same circle of friends since April. She was probably feeling confused and hurt by the whole thing.

"It makes me wonder... just who is Matsushita-san anyways? It feels like all the preconceived notions I had about him have been shattered. It's like I don't recognise him anyone."

With a heavy sigh, Yukina looked down.

"It's like I've realised... everything I've known about that person... was a lie."

I put a hand on her shoulder to show my support.

"I understand. I was also fooled by his charms when I first came to school. He's good at making people like him, so don't feel bad falling for it."

I looked at Yukina deep in the eyes.

"I'm glad you're able to see through all of that now."

Yukina's eyes widened and she smiled.

"Yuu..."

"I refuse to let someone like him lead E Class. It's just given me another reason to take him down. We can't trust the class's future in his irresponsible hands. That's why it has to be us, for sure."

If it's me and Yukina, then we can achieve anything. That's what I truly believed.