"What the hell was that exam..."

Yukimura grumbled besides me as we left the exam hall together. We had just finished the second exam of today, English.

"...so that's what D Class is playing at, huh?"

After taking this exam, I finally realised what their strategy was. I felt like an idiot for not realising it sooner.

"Damn it, I've failed!"

"You don't know that for certain. Don't give up just yet, Yukimura-san."

I can't lie though, after that brutal assault from D Class, I wasn't surprised if all our classmates felt the same way. The Japanese exam lulled us into a sense of security, so the sudden spike in difficulty for the English one was like a wake up slap for us.

"Kuh... I know, but this crappy exam's gotten me pissed off. English is my worst subject already, so why the hell did D Class make something that bad for us?!"

"Isn't it obvious? They're looking to fail us in our weakest area, which just so happens to be their strongest subject."

No wonder Zyriot put the class on such tight guard. They weren't hiding because they lacked a strategy, they were hiding because their strategy hinged on the element of surprise, meaning any leak regarding it would be detrimental to it's success in the exam.

"I don't get it. Wanna explain in simpler terms so even a dumbass like me can understand?"

"You're not that stupid..."

"I feel like I'm that stupid after that exam. Do you know what a "funambulist" is, Takanori? Do you, huh?!"

"...I'm surprised you even remembered that word. I'm a native speaker, and even I don't know what that is."

"Argh, damn it! You're like the God of English in our year, so if you don't know, then we're all doomed!"

I think this was the first time someone other than Toujou-sensei complimented me on my English...

"It's fine, let's just forget about it. As for D Class's strategy... do you remember the rules of the special exam when it came to failing?"

"Huh? Yeah. If you fail an exam, you lose your class 50 Cl and give the opposing class 30 Cl."

"That's right, but more importantly, you can only fail once."

"So? I don't get it."

"D Class put all their eggs into one basket and made the strongest possible English exam they could come up with to try and fail as many people as possible. Like you said, English is your worst subject, and it's a lot of people's worst subjects too. Learning another language is hard, and they're taking full advantage of that weakness."

"No way... are you saying that's why their Japanese paper this morning was piss easy?"

"Yeah. It's clear that this paper's been treated differently than the rest. The difficulty of the questions and the vocabulary in the text they used is on the level of something you'd expect A Class to make. By pouring everything they have into the two English papers, they don't necessarily need to make complicated exams for the other subjects, saving them resources."

It was more efficient for D Class to try and fail lots of us at once rather than a handful over multiple exams. They simply didn't have the reach to do that. Rather than a rapid strike strategy, they've concentrated their efforts into a single strike strategy.

"It doesn't help that we're the worst class, so they can afford to be more lenient with the difficulty of their exams. However, D Class is closer to our level when it comes to academics at the end of the day."

"So you're saying there's still hope we can close the gap between us?"

"Pretty much. It's that same limitation which forced them into this strategy in the first place too. Like us, they don't have the luxury of spreading out their resources thinly. They have to get the most mileage out of what they have available to them to get the most impactful results. The way they'll deal the most damage to us is through planting a cluster of highly explosive bombs in one subject rather than cast a wide net of traps in multiple subjects. That way, they can securely fail multiple of us at once through one paper."

Yukimura looked stunned I had seen this far into their strategy after taking only two of their final exams.

"D-dude... simple language please, that explanation flew over my brain..."

"Sorry. Basically, they've made their English exams super hard to try and fail lots of us in our weakest subject."

"What a bunch of crafty bastards... I bet it was that smart ass Shirogane who came up with that idea."

"Actually, I don't think it's Shirogane-san who made this exam. He specialises in science, so I doubt his skillset was suited to making something of this calibre. Instead, there are two pretty obvious candidates for who's behind this exam."

"Who are you referring to if it ain't that nerd then?"

"Zyriot-san and Albert-san, the two native English speakers in their class."

Yukimura stopped and facepalmed as the obvious realisation hit him.

"Crap... you're right, those two know English as well as you do, don't they?"

"They are from America, so..."

It was a unique weapon only D Class had, and they took full advantage of it. While E Class also had two native English speakers, me and John, English was my secondary language and John's English was far from grammatically correct, so they actually had one up on us here.

"Isn't it a bad idea to have put everything into English, though? Putting aside the fact you only need to fail someone once to reap the rewards, guys like you and John would pass it easily."

"Two of us being good at English isn't enough of a deterrent when the other twenty-three struggle at it, unfortunately. We might be saving the class 100 Cl, but the potential gain from failing everyone else far outweighs the negatives of us being in the class."

It didn't matter if me and John didn't fail, since they could bank on failing everyone instead to massively overcompensate.

"I don't know whether I feel more or less pissed off knowing this now..."

Yukimura sighed.

"As long as you make the passing mark, you'll be fine."

"I hope so... at least I can feel less bad about sucking at that exam now. It's not my fault I'm bad at English, D Class just made a crazy hard stupid exam."

"Yeah. Their other exams shouldn't be too difficult if this trend continues, so just brush up on your English revision this week."

"You're right. I can still prepare for the English exam on Thursday... so that's three days to revise, huh?"

"If you need help, you can always message me."

"I'll definitely take you up on that offer. Actually, you wanna make a head start and help me now? Demiza's study session ain't until 6pm, so I've got time to kill."

"Sorry, but I've got some stuff to take care of right now. If you don't mind waiting... maybe in an hour or so, I can join you then."

"Eh, that sounds fine. I'll play some footy during then. Meet you at the dorm lobby?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Aight, see ya then."

"See you."

I waved goodbye to Yukimura and headed to the student council room, where an emergency trial was being held against Oozora following what happened on Sunday.

Rather than be one of the testimonial speakers, I was going to be part of the panel, since my body cam recorded the best footage of Oozora being the stalker since I had my fight early on with him.

While going up the stairs, I caught a glimpse of Oozora and Momiji-sensei walking ahead of me. Keeping my distance, I quietly followed them, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Honestly, Oozora-kun, what am I going to do with you?"

"Sorry, sensei. All the responsibility lays with me. You don't have to bother sticking your neck out for me in this trial."

"You're so adamant on fighting this alone, you've rejected everybody who's offered to help you out. Even if you're guilty, we can still fight to lessen your sentence."

"I appreciate that you're doing your best to help me out, but I don't need it. You don't need to smear your name for my sake."

"Idiot."

Momiji-sensei smacked him on the back of the head with her clipboard.

"Ow... what was that for?"

"You're still my student at the end of the day. It's my job to look after you. What you've done is messed up, but it wasn't out of a place of malice."

"...even if I tell them that, they won't buy it."

"Just tell them your feelings earnestly. It might look pointless, but it'll help Shinomiya-san understand why you chose to do this."

"Forget it. There's no use."

"Don't act so defeatist now! Where's that fearless hero who helped others when they were having a bad day, eh? If you lose hope now, then there's no way you can bounce back from this."

"There is no bouncing back for me. Practically everyone in the 2nd Year knows about this... and soon the 3rd Years and 1st Years will know too. I won't have a place to go back to after this."

"Even if everyone ends up deserting you, you can still fight, can't you? If you've hit rock bottom, the only place left to go is up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm telling you to focus on improving yourself after this. Ignore everything else and work towards making up for what you did. By changing for the better, you can prove to everyone else you're not some creepy stalker anymore. It'd be a shame for you to throw away your life this early when you still have so much potential."

Oozora stopped at the stairwell leading to the fourth floor, sighing.

"The way I see it, you can go down on two paths. You can either continue as you are now and follow a bleak future, or you can fight to turn things around and go back to being the upstanding young man you once were. Which is it going to be, Oozora-kun?"

"...I wonder."

Oozora and Momiji-sensei entered the fourth floor. Once they were out of sight, I got out of my hiding spot and also entered the fourth floor, heading straight to the student council room.

Come to think of it, this would be the first time I was going to be part of a trial. Somehow, I was a little nervous. Knocking on the door, Kurosaki let me inside.

"Yo, Takanori. Welcome."

"...hey, Kurosaki-senpai."

Immediately, I was hit by the tense atmosphere between 2-A and 2-E, who sat across from each other on different sides of the room. At one table was Shinomiya, Nibiiro, and Hiryuu-sensei, and on the other was just Oozora and Momiji-sensei.

Sitting between them on a separate table was the judge of this trial, Ichinose. Since no other student council member was present, it was most likely Kurosaki who was going to support her.

"Nyahallo, Takanori-kun."

It felt weird hearing Ichinose greet me so seriously. I guess even she understood the severity of the situation. Still though, I can't help but think making a 1st Year the judge of a heavy case like this was a little cruel. What was Kishou thinking with this decision?

I made my way over to Shinomiya and the others, sitting down next to her.

"Hey, Takanori-san... thanks for coming."

"No problem. I hope I can help."

Even though she looked calm and steady, Shinomiya's hands were shaking under the table. Meanwhile, Nibiiro and Oozora were intensely glaring at each other. You could tell just how much they hated each other from that alone.

"Since everyone's here, let's begin, shall we?"

Kurosaki announced, sitting next to Ichinose.

"Before we do, I'd like to raise a concern."

"What is it, Hiryuu-sensei?"

"Isn't it unfair that you're one of the judges residing over this case, Kurosaki-san? You and Oozora-san are in the same class, so you could be biased in towards making your decision. Even if you're not the arbiter of the punishment, you could influence Ichinose-san to pick something that'd hurt your class less."

Something similar happened in Yukimura's trial. The judge, Masamoto, was in the same class the plaintiff, Yahagi. Despite that, the trial still went on ahead, even after that had been called out.

"The job of the student council is to remain unbiased and fair towards all parties involved. I won't give Oozora-san any special treatment just because we share a class. If it'll make you feel better, I'll let Ichinose-san handle everything herself. I'm merely here to observe, fu fu."

Kurosaki fearlessly spoke back against the intimidating Hiryuu-sensei.

"Then I'll entrust this case in your capable hands, Ichinose-san."

"You can count on me."

Ichinose patted her chest and took a deep breath.

"The emergency trial between the plaintiff Shinomiya Mai-san and the defendant Oozora Yuudai-san shall now commence! All the facts, evidence, and opinions from both parties shall be considered in order to decide a suitable outcome and resolution. I am the judge, Ichinose Natsumi, and overseeing this discussion is Kurosaki Ginko-san. Plaintiffs, may you please present your case?"

Passing the baton to us, Ichinose wanted us to outline our argument first.

"Ever since the start of the school year, or potentially even before that, Mai started being stalked by someone. As her friends, me and many others wanted to uncover the identity of this person so Mai could feel safe again. After nearly three months of investigating, we finally caught the stalker last Sunday, when we set up a sting operation to capture them. During that hunt, we wore hidden body cams to record footage of what happened, and here on this film captured by Takanori-san's camera, you can clearly see that her stalker is Oozora."

On the projector, a video of me fighting Oozora played with sound. While our visual evidence was good, our audio evidence was even better, as during that fight, he openly declared to me that he was the stalker.

"You hate me for stalking your precious senpai, don't you?"

Ichinose's eyes widened as she watched the footage. Momiji-sensei sighed, looking disappointed in Oozora.

Oozora didn't seem to have any reaction to it at all. He watched it just like the rest of us.

"I see... is there anything else, Nibiiro-san?"

"Yes. During that operation, Oozora assaulted four of us in various fights. I would explain, but I think it's better for our testimonial speakers to handle this part instead, since they lived through the experience."

"Alright. E Class, please bring on your first testimonial speaker."

Walking through the door first was Jouji, his face still swollen with the bruise from yesterday. He bowed to Ichinose.

"Hello, I'm Monma Jouji, and I'll be speaking on behalf of Mai-san and the others. As you can see on my face, Oozora brutally punched me when I discovered his identity."

Playing on the screen was footage of Jouji getting knocked down in one blow by Oozora.

"I didn't even get a chance to fight back. After knocking me out, he stole my transceiver, and used it to taunt the rest of us. I don't remember much after that, but Suzui and Mai-san found me stunned on the floor and woke me up. Afterwards, we headed to the forest where everyone else was to capture Oozora-san."

"Thank you, Monma-san."

After finishing his testimony, Jouji bowed, and stood behind our panel.

"Like Jouji said, Oozora used his transceiver to taunt us on the other side. Fortunately, only Itsuki was tricked into responding, and the two agreed to meet up in front of the forest for a fight. However, instead of honouring that challenge, Oozora dipped, and attacked Takanori-san instead."

Nibiiro played back a recording of their conversation, before switching to footage of Oozora finding me in the forest.

"This led to a fight between Takanori-san and Oozora, upon where he confessed to being the stalker to try and rile him up."

The same clip from earlier played, along with extended footage of me fighting back.

"As you can see, Takanori-san engaged in combat for self-defence. Oozora even went as far as to choke him by the throat in revenge after Takanori-san managed to knock him down. Thankfully, since we were all wearing GPS trackers, Itsuki and the others found Takanori-san and saved him from being killed by Oozora."

I guess Oozora was serious about those death threats he sent out to us. Even though I didn't get the impression he was trying to kill me back then, if he continued to asphyxiate me like he did, I could've very well died.

"Afterwards, Oozora changed his targets to our next testimonial speaker. I'd like for them to attest to their experience."

"E Class's second testimonial speaker, please come forward."

Walking through the doors was Nozomi, who shot a nasty glare at Oozora's way.

"My name is Sanou Nozomi, and I'll be testifying on Mai's behalf. Like Jouji-san and Takanori-san, Oozora also hit me during his rampage. When we arrived, I went to help Yuuto-san up from the ground when Oozora suddenly punched me in the stomach. I was caught completely off guard and couldn't defend myself."

As Nozomi recounted her experience, footage of Oozora assaulting her played.

"Looking back, it was a sad and cowardly attack. Oozora said he could take all five of us on at once, but instead he tried picking us off one by one. Even though Itsuki-san was raring to go, he avoided close combat with him, and instead went after me."

"Thank you, Sanou-san."

After finishing her explanation, Nozomi bowed before standing behind our panel like Jouji did.

"May we bring on our final testimonial speaker?"

"Of course. E Class's third testimonial speaker, please come out."

Walking through the doors was Asukai, who looked surprisingly sharp today. It looks like he wore his uniform properly and even slicked back his hair. If I didn't know his personality, I might've mistaken him for a lawyer.

"Good afternoon, ladies. I am Asukai Itsuki, here to bear witness on behalf of Mai-san and the others. Like my peers have said, I was the one who wanted to fight Oozora the most because I'm the strongest fighter in our group. However, Oozora kept avoiding me, and we only fought after he punched Nozomi-san."

Footage of Asukai grappling with Oozora played next. We watched as the two of them slapped each other, punched each other, and kicked each other fiercely. It was on a different level from just a petty street fight.

"I have to say, we were evenly matched, so it was a good fistfight. But as you can see from all the marks, plasters, and bruises on my face, it was also quite the bloody experience."

By the end of it, Asukai was bleeding from the nose and lips. It wasn't as bad as Oozora though, as his face was smeared in blood from sustaining a combination of both mine and Asukai's blows.

"Our fight lasted about ten minutes before Oozora grew bored of it and ran away from me. Instead, he turned around and went after Takanori-san again, but Suzui bravely tackled him into the ground before he could do that. Afterwards, me and Takanori-san kept Oozora restrained on the ground until help could arrive."

"Thank you Asukai-san."

"No problem!"

Asukai gave finger guns before standing behind our panel. Ichinose looked a bit overwhelmed after seeing all of the solid evidence presented to her thus far. She probably wasn't expecting us to be so thorough, considering we're E Class.

"And to top it all off, not only did Oozora stalk Mai, assault Nozomi, Jouji, Itsuki, and Takanori-san, but he also sent death threats to everyone that was close to her as well. For the past month, everyone present here, plus Masaoka-san and Miura-san, all received these letters in the mail."

The screen switched to showing various pictures of all the different death threats we received.

"As you can see, I received eight, Takanori-san received seven, Nozomi received six, Jouji and Itsuki received four, and Masaoka-san and Miura-san received three. If this isn't sufficient enough evidence, we've also provided all the letters and footage the seven of us recorded in its entirety to the student council. You'll find Oozora either indirectly confessing to or being caught as Mai's stalker on all the tapes. That's all."

Nibiiro sat down, looking confident. Honestly, after that expert presentation, I would be too. Nibiiro put our best foot forward and started with the strongest evidence possible to stamp out any possibility of Oozora rebutting our claims.

Like he warned him yesterday, Nibiiro was aiming to expel Oozora from this school. He was hoping to achieve that through this trial's decided punishment.

"Defendants, what do you have to say to all this?"

It was now Oozora's turn to present a case. He looked at Shinomiya for an uncomfortably long amount of time before turning to Ichinose.

"...no comment."

Unsurprisingly, Oozora had nothing to defend himself with. He was exposed out in the open. The best he could do now was fight for a lesser punishment.

"Hang on, before you move on!"

Momiji-sensei raised her hand, catching everyone's attention. Then, she nudged Oozora in the ribs.

"Oozora-kun, say the thing you were going to say. Don't just sit there and mutter."

"Sensei, I told you already, it's pointless. There's no reason to do this."

"In that case, if you won't do it, I will."

"Suit yourself... it won't matter either way."

Oozora sighed, before Momiji-sensei forced his head down in a bow. Likewise, she also bowed her head deeply towards us.

"I would like to apologise deeply to everyone, especially Shinomiya-san, on behalf of my student, Oozora-kun. What he did was wrong and I will reprimand him personally for his awful and excessive actions. We're both very, very sorry for what's been done."

"I-it's fine... you don't have to bow your heads like that, really."

Shinomiya gently responded. Momiji-sensei raised her head and let go of Oozora's.

"While I agree that Oozora-kun's in the wrong here, I would like you all to hear his side of the story. Someone doesn't become a stalker overnight, you know? He had his own issues that led him towards this unsavoury path."

"Momiji-sensei, with all due respect, I don't want to hear Oozora's excuses for why he stalked Mai. In the first place, how can you even trust what he told you? He's a full on psychopath, that guy."

"I trust Oozora-kun because he's my student. While you may not want to hear the reason why, I'm sure the other people in this jury would."

"What? We already know he stalked her because he liked her, we don't need any other—"

"Suzui-kun... hang on."

Shinomiya spoke up, stopping Nibiiro from going any further. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What is it?"

"I... I would like to know."

For the first time in this trial, Oozora showed a shred of emotion. He was surprised at Shinomiya's response.

"I'd also like to know what the leader of A Class is doing stalking one of my students." Hiryuu-sensei said.

"Me too. For the case." Ichinose said.

Nibiiro's mouth was agape. He turned to Shinomiya.

"Are you sure about this, Mai...?"

"Yeah... it might hurt a little, but... I think I'd regret not knowing."

"...alright, if that's what you want. I won't fight back then."

"Thank you, Suzui-kun."

The room went quiet as we all turned to Momiji-sensei for an explanation.

"Like Nibiiro-kun already said, Oozora-kun decided to go after Shinomiya-san because he liked her. However, the reason he began stalking her is different. He didn't do it because he was scared to confess... rather, Oozora-kun did it because he was stressed."

"Stressed...?"

Shinomiya repeated under her breath. She looked dizzy processing this information.

I couldn't believe it too. The reason Oozora stalked her was to let out stress? I didn't understand how doing something that risky relaxed him. It should've added more stress, not reduce it.

"Don't give me that crap!"

Likewise, Nibiiro lost all his composure upon hearing that and slammed his fist on the table.

"You're kidding me... stalking her because he was stressed? Is this some kind of joke, huh?!"

"Suzui, calm down...!"

Asukai tried to reel Nibiiro back to prevent him from making a scene.

"If you keep shouting like that, you're gonna end up having a heart attack." Oozora snickered.

"Oozora-kun!"

Momiji-sensei smacked him lightly on the back of the head with her clipboard for his off-colour comment.

"I'm sorry Mai, but you're hearing how ridiculous this is too, right? I won't stand for this stupid excuse being the reason why you were hurt so badly!"

"I don't know what to tell you Nibiiro, but Momiji-sensei's being real with you. That's the honest truth."

"You're an awful person with even more awful lies..."

"Cry about it."

Oozora laughed brazenly at Nibiiro's face.

"Nyaaa~kay, can both parties please calm down? Fighting like this amongst ourselves won't get us anywhere. I'd like for Momiji-sensei to continue her explanation."

Upon Ichinose's intervention, both boys backed down.

"Oozora-kun, stop feeding the fire. You're on thin ice as it is, don't make things worse for yourself."

"Sure, sure. You're right. Sorry, sensei."

Oozora didn't look sorry at all, though. He seemed to find pleasure in pissing off Nibiiro.

"As I was saying... ever since Oozora-kun became the new male class representative after Shinsei-sama was promoted to Dust Purple, he felt pressured to live up to this role, as it made him an important figurehead for A Class and the other 2nd Years. To him, that meant he couldn't lose in anything, whether it'd be in academics, sports, appearance, or even Vanguard, otherwise he'd be humiliated. As a result, he began stalking Shinomiya-san for the thrill of it, as it helped him ease his stress."

What a creepy way to relax in your free time. If I wanted to relax, I'd listen to ASMR, not stalk the girl I like... there was something seriously wrong with this guy.

"Oozora-san, is this true?" Ichinose asked.

"More or less."

Nibiiro, angry and frustrated, looked like he wanted to say something, but refrained. After hearing all that, a melancholy sigh escaped Shinomiya's cold lips.

"After reviewing the evidence and opinions on both sides, I think I've made my decision."

Ichinose made no mention of there being any testimonial speakers for 2-A during their defence. It seems Oozora really did come by himself today, huh. Was he prepared to lose from the start? It was the only way I could explain his overly calm behaviour.

At the very least, it seems even Ichinose recognised how simple this case was to understand. There was no reason to drag this long process out when the other side basically admitted to being guilty.

"Oozora Yuudai-san of 2nd Year A Class! I, Ichinose Natsumi, find you guilty of stalking Shinomiya Mai-san of 2nd Year E Class! As such, your punishment shall be—!"

Everyone held their breath as Ichinose announced the result.

"—immediate expulsion from the school!"

Oozora closed his eyes in defeat.

"...is that so? Fine then."

Surprisingly, Oozora took the punishment lying down. I guess he knew this was the end of the line for him. If anything, this might've been the best option for him to take.

There was no benefit to staying here if everyone knew he was a stalker. Everyone would go out of their way to make his life a living hell. Plus, it'd be incredibly hard to survive in a school like this if you had no reputation, respect, or allies.

Sooner or later, Oozora would've been expelled, either by his own mistake, or by somebody else's hands. To save his own time, it was better to take it now rather than later.

"In that case, I'll prepare the documents."

Everyone erupted into a huge sigh of relief. It was immensely satisfying hearing that Shinomiya's stalker would no longer get to stay on the island. For us, this was a massive victory.

"Alright, we did it!"

"We got justice for Mai-san!"

Everyone started cheering in celebration. Even the stern Hiryuu-sensei smiled at the outcome. However, despite our victory, Shinomiya still looked anxious. She was happy that we'd won, but something seemed to bug her.

"Shinomiya-senpai, is something wrong?"

"Oh... no, it's nothing."

She gently shook her head and smiled at me. It was a sad smile.

"I was just thinking... isn't this trial going a little too smoothly?"

The trial did go by very quickly. I thought I'd have to sit here and argue on her behalf, but I didn't even get to do that.

"Doesn't that just mean our evidence was that strong?"

But on the flip side, Nibiiro presented a bulletproof case and Oozora didn't bother fighting back. It was clear as day who was in the right and who was in the wrong.

"I... I suppose."

After Ichinose, Kurosaki, Oozora and Momiji-sensei signed the document outlining this case, it was passed onto us.

Hiryuu-sensei signed it first, followed by Nibiiro, Shinomiya, and me. Nozomi, Jouji, and Asukai didn't need to sign since they were testimonial speakers.

However, after I got up and handed the papers back to Ichinose, Oozora smiled.

"Perfect. This was the best possible outcome I could've asked for..."

Shinomiya was right. Something was off.

"Momiji-sensei. I'd like to buy an overturn of my expulsion."

Everyone in the student council room went silent.

"...huh?"

The joy on Nibiiro's face vanished as he slammed his hands down on the table in unbridled anger.

"You bastard! This was your plan all along...!"

"Oi, did you seriously forget that private points existed? Your plan to get rid of me was really short sighted!"

Oozora laughed, taking his phone out of his pocket and waving it at us tauntingly.

"I-is he allowed to do that?"

Ichinose asked, turning to Kurosaki frantically. She nodded.

"Yeah. You can use private points to buy anything at this school. Even preventing expulsion."

"No way..."

Ichinose's shoulders slumped. She felt so confident in her decision, yet Oozora invalidated it by using the wealth he gained from being in A Class to protect himself.

"So, how much is it?"

"If you want to buy the overturn of your expulsion... it's going to cost you 20 million points."

"Only 20? This school sure is generous! I'll take it."

As if to brag, Oozora showed off his phone screen to the rest of us. Loaded on his account was 25 million points.

"Alright. Confirming transaction..."

We watched in horror as Oozora's private points dropped down to 5 million.

Not only would Oozora avoid expulsion, but he'd still have enough points leftover to live comfortably on this island, even if he was sent down to E Class.

In fact, that was an even worse outcome, as it would let Oozora be in the same class as Shinomiya. It'd make stalking her even easier.

Ichinose couldn't change his punishment to something else either, since we had already signed the paperwork stating this was the desired outcome of the trial.

In other words, we had fell right into Oozora's trap. He didn't care what the punishment was. He had more than enough private points ready to pay it off.

Damn it... this guy turned his hefty punishment into a mere fine. This could barely be called fair, let alone justice.

"Looks like I get to stick around a little bit longer, eh?"

"Shut up! You don't have the right to act high and mighty when you were just on the verge of expulsion, you bastard!"

"Suzui, calm down...!"

Once again, Asukai had to hold Nibiiro back from going any further.

"Oh dear, it looks like someone's lost their fuse. I'll never understand why someone as defective as you was ever put into A Class in the first place."

"Oozora-kun, that's enough. You just escaped expulsion by the skin of your teeth, don't tempt fate again."

"You sound disappointed in me, sensei."

"...that's because I am."

Momiji-sensei, who hoped for better from Oozora, walked away seeing that he had no intentions of changing or improving himself. He would continue acting arrogantly as he's always done, with zero remorse for his actions.

With Momiji-sensei gone, Oozora was the only person left on his side. His back was hunched as he sat solemnly, staring at his feet. Like how he wanted it to be from the beginning, he was now alone.

Shinomiya sighed, lowering her head to hide her empty expression. Nozomi noticed this and hugged her tightly.

"Mai... even if that guy's still on the island, we'll still protect you. I promise."

Shinomiya stared at Nozomi for a few seconds before nodding. She buried her face into Nozomi's chest, shaking. Nozomi stroked her head gently and led her outside.

"...what an awful conclusion."

Hiryuu-sensei muttered, getting up from his seat and leaving.

"Oozora, I swear to god, I'm going to expel you, no matter what it takes!"

Nibiiro, still heated from the outcome, continued to shout at Oozora.

"Alright Suzui, that's enough malding from you for one day... let's go, before you get a heart attack for real...!"

Asukai groaned, struggling to hold Nibiiro back for much longer.

"Need a hand, Itsuki?"

"Yes, please!"

Jouji joined in, and the two of them carried Nibiiro out of the student council room for his own good.

"Did I mess up, Kurosaki-senpai...?"

"No, of course not. You didn't do anything wrong, Ichinose."

"I feel like I did..."

"It can't be helped. People paying off their punishment happens all the time."

"Isn't it unfair though...?"

"It's just how the world works. As long as you have money, you can bail yourself out of even the worst situations."

"That's..."

Ichinose frowned, looking away. Kurosaki put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. For now, go home and get some rest. You still have the finals to focus on tomorrow."

"Yeah... I guess you're right... um, good work today. I'll see you tomorrow, senpai."

"Good work today as well. See you."

Kurosaki sighed as she watched Ichinose leave with downturned eyes. Aside from her, it was just me and Oozora left in the student council room.

"Oozora-senpai. Before I go, may I ask you a question?"

Lifting his head, Oozora looked at me and smirked.

"What is it?"

"Remember the photo of me and Shinomiya-senpai you showed me on Friday?"

"How could I forget, you were full on groping her."

"You're the one who took that photo, weren't you?"

Oozora's smirk faded into a nasty scowl.

"Yeah... I did."

"That means you're the one who bumped into my shoulder too that day."

"I only did it because you were ruining my view of Shinomiya-san. How could I appreciate her beauty if an ugly pervert like you was in frame?"

"I see. Does that mean you're the one who stole her schedule too?"

The corners of Oozora's lips turned upwards.

"That's right... I took it from her bag when she wasn't looking."

"So not only are you a stalker and assaulter, but a thief too? You sure are one nasty criminal..."

"You're one to talk, woman beating pervert."

"Give it back."

"Give what back?"

"Shinomiya-senpai's schedule."

"What a ridiculous demand. Why should I?"

"Now that you've been exposed, there's no reason for you to keep it anymore, right? You only took it to make stalking her easier. Unless... you're still planning on stalking her?"

"Do you think I'm dumb enough to make the same mistake twice? I'm happy to give back the schedule, but not to you. I'll only pass it back to Shinomiya-san."

"There's no way you'll be able to contact her now though. Her friends, especially Nibiiro-senpai, will never let you get anywhere near her ever again."

"What a pain... hey, Kurosaki-san."

Oozora called out to Kurosaki, who was filing away the papers from this trial.

"What's up?"

"Give this back to Shinomiya-san, will you?"

Oozora took Shinomiya's schedule out from his bag and handed it to Kurosaki. She stared at the notebook, flipping through it in awe.

"Wow, you really are one hardcore stalker..."

"Shut up."

"Fu fu... oh how the mighty have fallen. I'll make sure to get this cute schedule back to her."

Kurosaki laughed strangely, before putting the schedule away into her own bag.

"That good enough for you?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

I trusted Kurosaki to deliver it back to Shinomiya. Better her than him, even if she was carefree.

"If that's all, I'm leaving now."

"Wait. I still have one more question."

Just before he got up, I stopped him. Oozora stared at me in contempt.

"What is it now?"

"On Friday, you showed me a chat log between you and Nibiiro-senpai where he sent you a photo of me and Shinomiya-senpai. However, on his phone, no such log existed. What was that about?"

"You're seriously asking me about that? Are you dumb? It's obvious I faked that conversation and showed it to you to try and trick you."

"How though? You can't tamper with people's account names on the school app."

"But you can assign names to people on your phone if you have their number. I have two phones with two different numbers. On my main phone, I added my second phone's number, and named it Nibiiro. Then, I used my second phone to send that photo I took to my main phone. Hence, it looked like a conversation played out between us when it really didn't."

"I see. Why go through the trouble of faking it, though?"

Oozora closed his eyes and sighed.

"...because I was planning to frame Nibiiro as the stalker."

Suddenly, everything made sense now...

"Too bad they caught me. Now that I've been exposed, this plan is meaningless now... oh well, I guess it doesn't matter now. I guess this stupid tattoo gave me away."

Oozora laughed at himself, slapping the black tattoo on his neck.

No wonder he was so sloppy in his stalking. He did it on purpose to make Shinomiya and others aware that a stalker existed so he could eventually frame Nibiiro as the culprit. It'd be easy to do since they were doppelgängers.

If Oozora really wanted to, he could've stalked her without giving any clues away about his existence. For example, he could've concealed his presence by not sending any death threats, but he did it anyways.

It was almost like he wanted to be caught. If he did, then he could just claim that person was Nibiiro, and not him. Obviously, it didn't work in practice because we had footage of them both in the same space, but in theory, it was a really powerful defence.

Plus, with his upper class status and popularity, more people would side with him than Nibiiro. He could easily trick everyone into thinking the stalker is Nibiiro and avoid any of the consequences.

"While what Momiji-sensei said was true, I also had a secondary motive in stalking Shinomiya-san. I wanted to ruin Nibiiro's life."

Or, that.

"...that sure is a jump in logic. Were you jealous of him, or something?"

"Please, I'd never envy someone in his position. Nibiiro is weak and frail. I could show him a bad decklist and he would have a heart attack."

"Then why target him? Aside from the fact you two are doppelgängers, I didn't realise you had a vendetta for each other."

"We go way back. When we first joined GEN, we were both put into A Class. Since we looked the same, people used to compare us all the time. I guess you could say we developed a sort of little rivalry between us. However, despite being in one of the best and most privileged positions in the school, Nibiiro made the conscious decision to move down to E Class after meeting her... Shinomiya-san."

As Oozora recalled the story, his eyes trailed off into the distance with a hollow gaze.

"I can't forgive that. He ran away. He betrayed our class to be with a girl. He turned his back on us to join a class full of trash. He had everything, but gave it all up like a fool. I don't know how someone as defective as him ended up in A Class in the first place."

For some reason, this reminded me of someone.

"And you've been holding this grudge for two years?"

"More or less. Hatred is a strong emotion."

A shadow swayed in my mind.

I know about hatred more than anybody else.

"...yeah, I guess it is."

"I'm glad you understand. You must secretly hate Nibiiro too, don't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Jealousy. You must hate seeing how close those two are with each other. You're Shinomiya-san's special kouhai, yet she gives him more attention you. It's a shame really... since she loves her underclassmen so much."

"Their relationship is none of my business. As long as I get to spend time with Shinomiya-senpai, I'm happy."

"Keep lying to yourself. Wouldn't you kill to live with Shinomiya-san? Too bad Nibiiro's already there, probably doing her while he's at it."

The shadow grew heavier in my head. My fists tighten under the table.

"...I don't have anything else to say to you, so you can go now."

"Aw, but our conversation was just getting good. Was the mental image of Nibiiro jizzing in Shinomiya-san's insides too much for you to handle?"

Oozora laughed at me. The shadow swayed harder, faster.

"Come on Takanori-san, think. Think about what that bastard must be doing to your precious senpai behind closed doors. Imagine how wild they must get underneath her sheets. It pisses you off, doesn't it?"

For a moment, the shadow freezes. Then, it resumes violently.

"Oozora, don't you think you've taken it too far?"

Before it can consume my mind, a sweet voice pierces it away.

"Huh? I don't think I've taken it far enough."

"You're making Takanori uncomfortable. If you've got nothing of worth to say, scram."

"It's unusual for you to stick your neck out for someone else. Guess he really is someone special to you huh, Kurosaki-san?"

I looked over my shoulder, and saw Kurosaki standing behind me.

"I just find him interesting, that's all. Fu fu."

"They're practically the same thing."

Oozora laughed, getting up.

"I have to say though, Takanori-san... you sure are one lucky bastard. Even if you can't have Shinomiya-san, at least Kurosaki-san's willing to jerk you off."

"There's a difference between being interested and being in love. Not like you'd know though, fu fu."

Kurosaki slung back at Oozora's cheap insult, making fun out of him for being a stalker.

"Being interested in someone usually leads to love. I'm just warning you."

"Sure, but you don't have to worry about me. Right now, you should be worrying about yourself."

Oozora's cheeky smile vanished.

"I'm not worried. They can laugh at me all they want, but as long as I graduate from A Class, I'll have the last laugh."

With an arrogant tone, Oozora left the student council room mysteriously.

"What a creep."

Kurosaki sighed, crossing her arms. Then, she turned to me.

"You okay?"

"...huh?"

She pulled up a seat and sat down next to me.

"You had a sad look on your face. It's the first time I've ever seen it."

"...I did?"

I didn't even realise. I was too focused on their conversation to notice it.

"Did what Oozora say bother you?"

"...a little bit."

"Don't pay any mind to what he said. You know it's not true."

"Yeah... I know those two aren't a couple, but... I don't know. The way he arrogantly spoke like he knew my feelings about Shinomiya-senpai better than I did got on my nerves."

"You seem really close to her. I'm surprised."

"...we only met recently, so we're not that close. I just like spending time with her."

"Fu fu fu..."

For some reason, Kurosaki laughed strangely.

"What?"

"Sorry... it's nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing..."

"If I tell you what I laughed at, I think it might upset you."

"You're not the type to consider other people's feelings."

"But I'm also not the type to beat someone while their down."

"You could've done a better job at it then and not laugh."

"Sorry. If you want, I'll tell you."

"...go on."

"I was reminded of earlier, when Oozora said you groped her. I was just thinking... didn't you try to do the same with me once?"

I suddenly regret asking. My face felt hot in embarrassment.

"...t-that was when I was sleeping, it doesn't count."

"It's funny that it happened twice. Tell me, did you successfully manage to grab Shinomiya's breasts?"

"I'm not telling..."

"I'll take it as a yes then."

"Oi..."

"Fu fu fu, I'm only messing with you. You must really like Shinomiya though, huh?"

"Y-yeah... I do."

"I'm guessing you're just as unsatisfied as the others with this trial's result then."

"Of course I am... who wouldn't be? Aren't you unsatisfied with the result too, Kurosaki-senpai?"

"I shouldn't be giving my opinion as a judge, but... to be honest with you, I am."

My eyes widened in surprise. Kurosaki laughed, seeing my reaction.

"Fu fu. Didn't expect that, did you?"

"...you just seem so carefree about everything, I didn't think you cared."

"I just don't show it. I was just as frustrated as you were seeing how things turned out."

"Yeah... but the trial's over now. There's nothing more we can do."

"There is one thing."

"What?"

"Let's override the result."

"...huh?"

I looked up at Kurosaki, who smiled confidently.

"You heard me. We're going to take things into our own hands."

"Wait... what? But how?"

"We're going to expel Oozora."

"Hang on, neither of us have nearly enough private points to purchase such a thing... there's no way we can buy that."

"We might not, but I know someone who can. Come with me."

Kurosaki grabbed me by the hand and dragged me out of the student council room.

"Let me guess... Kishou-sama?"

"While he would probably help me out if I bugged him enough, it'd be a bad idea to ask him."

"Oh, right... he's the King. If the King paid for someone's expulsion, they'd look like a tyrant."

"Yup. That's one part of it, at least. The other is, if he found out I tampered with a case I worked on, I'd lose my job on the council on the spot."

"...are you seriously risking your position in the school for this case?"

"Eh, it doesn't matter to me. It's for a good cause. Plus, I can always just gain it back later."

I forgot how confident Kurosaki was in her own abilities. I really admired that part about her.

"For this, we'll have to go more underground. Or should I say... more on the sea?"

"Wait, don't tell me..."

"That's right. We'll be paying a visit to Kaido, the school's private point billionaire."