Lunch time.

After sorting out the deal with A Class, I decided to tie up one other loose end when it came to the other classes. While I had a pretty good grasp on the strategies A, B, and C Class were deploying, there was one class I had yet to pick up on— D Class.

They've been strangely quiet for the past two weeks. Aside from Kawaguchi's birthday and my skirmish with Nakajima, I've had no contact with any D Class students whatsoever.

I could've asked Akihiro and Akari how things were going back then, but I didn't want to ruin the mood by bringing up the special exam. Plus, with so many of my classmates there, they might unintentionally talk about our strategies, giving D Class information in return. I wanted to limit the possibility of that from happening.

Another reason I held back was to keep myself conspicuous. If I started showing interest in other class's affairs, it'd make E Class seem desperate for hints on how to defend against D Class's attack.

It'd be a bad look for us, since if you read between the lines, it meant we lacked confidence in overcoming their exams. After all, the difference in our academic abilities weren't that large. We shouldn't be having any trouble.

Not to mention, we had a trump card in the form of Nora, since he's the smartest non-A Class student, so really we should be progressing even smoother than they are.

That's why, if there was a crack in our defence, there's no doubt in my mind that D Class would leap at the chance to exploit it. They have people that cunning and underhanded in their class to execute such a strategy.

I also purposefully avoided D Class because I wanted to put some distance between me and Nakajima. Of course, the reason why I'm avoiding him obvious.

Besides, since Alice and Matsushita prioritised survival over victory at the start of the exam, it'd be pointless for me to dig into how the other classes were doing. On the surface, E Class's strategy was putting up a poker face and pretending we could handle their threat.

I didn't want to wreck what we'd built over the past two weeks by acting recklessly, so I just adapted to the situation accordingly. Ultimately, that was the main reason why I left D Class alone for so long.

Well, there was one other reason... something that only me and Yukina noticed.

"I guess it's time."

We only had four days left until finals began. I think I've let him had more than enough fun now.

I exited the class, turned the corner, and grabbed the person loitering outside our classroom by the arm.

"Eek!"

It was D Class's invisible man, Imaishi Reo.

This is why it seemed like D Class had done nothing in the past two weeks. No one had noticed his presence as he spied on us.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

I asked him that to seem clueless, but I already knew the reason why he was snooping around our class.

In fact, this has been Imaishi's job for the past two weeks. Due to his unique ability to blend into the background, Zyriot ordered him to investigate the other classes and find out what they were up to.

Ironically, because Machida trashed our classroom, Imaishi held off from scouting us until last, since our class had become the furthest away. He wouldn't have a convenient escape route in the form of D Class if he were to be caught, such as now.

That's why he started off scouting C Class. Then he moved onto B Class. Then he moved onto A Class. I know this because I've seen him observe C Class and A Class in two different instances.

The first was back when I made the deal with Suzune as thanks for Ginga's cooperation in telling us about the Minanohara incident. Imaishi was watching us from outside the classroom, blending in with the people walking up and down the corridor.

The second was on the day A Class's exam was "leaked". He was one of the people present when I was probing Machida. It was a good cover for him to investigate, since there were plenty of others like me who came to see what was going on.

After going through those three classes, Imaishi decided it was finally time to move onto us, E Class. For the past three days, he's been watching us closely during break, lunch, and after school.

I wasn't particularly worried that he's seen me liaising with C Class and A Class students. It was impossible for him to overhear our conversations, so he had no clue why I was with them.

All he had to go off was me making these connections with important people in those classes. If he were to report it, I think it'd shake up D Class quite a bit. The very prospect of us teaming up with either A or C Class would be enough to put them on guard.

In any case, I still need to deal with him. I can't let Imaishi freely spy on us anymore, especially as I was about to move onto the final stage of my plan.

"Uh, well..."

I let go of his arm, making him relax a little. It looks like he's forgotten his excuse or doesn't have a good answer ready. I know a man as cautious as Zyriot would've prepared him for that much. He's not cruel enough leave his classmate to swim on his own.

"Ha ha, uh... I wanted to see, um..."

Imaishi took a quick peek into our classroom again.

"J-John-san!"

"...John-san?"

"Yeah! You know, we were buddies back when he was in D Class. I was, uh, gonna ask him if he wanted to hit up the cafeteria, since, uh, they're selling fried chicken today."

A believable excuse hampered by his nervous behaviour. It was obvious he was guilty of spying on our class from his stutters alone.

"You were acting awfully suspicious outside though. If you just wanted to meet John-san, you didn't have to act like such a stranger."

"Ha ha, I guess... as you can tell, I get nervous easily."

For a guy who wanted to take the spotlight after years of being invisible, I doubted that. If anything, Imaishi probably loves being the centre of attention.

"That so?"

Imaishi nodded repeatedly.

"Mind if I join then? I was heading to the cafeteria anyways."

"S-sure thing! The more the merrier."

"Alright. Let me grab John-san."

The moment I turned my back on Imaishi, he breathed a sigh of relief. I wonder how much he knows. It's going to be difficult to ascertain while John's there.

"Hey, John-san."

I reentered the classroom and greeted John, who was chilling in the back listening to grime music.

"Wagwan G, how you mans doing? Pop pop!"

"I'm doing fine."

"Peng ting, safe fam."

John reached out for a fist bump.

"Can I ask a favour of you?"

"Depends on what mans needs bruv."

"Imaishi-san is outside and he wants to eat lunch with you. Could you decline his offer?"

John stared at me blankly.

"Who dis man, ah?"

It seems not even John remembered who Imaishi was.

"Uh... Imaishi Reo-san. You know, one of your former classmates in D Class?"

"Mans dunno no E-my-shee Rey-oh. Mans only tight wid da mandem like bossman Zy-san, sweet one Hoshi-san, and da rest uv dem lot-san, but mans got notting on dis fruity don, kakakap!"

That made my life a whole lot easier then.

"...I see, sorry to waste your time."

"Nah bruv, allow it. Jus make sure to protectected manself from dis E-my-shee wasteman innit. Dis man sounds bare sketch, like da stink uv poom poom when dey bare crusty fam. Dey need to learn sum hygiene and dat, Lynx effect."

"...right?"

Even my roadman vocabulary didn't expand that far. What the hell was a poom poom? Whatever, I need to go tell Imaishi that I couldn't bring John.

"Seriously..."

As if it wasn't obvious enough already... when I went back outside, Imaishi wasn't there anymore. It seems he used my absence as a chance to dash.

Well, at least this gives me a reason to visit D Class now. Hopefully this time I won't be greeted with a fist to the face. I still have nightmares over Albert telling me "the best has yet to come". That means he wasn't even using his full strength back then...

When I arrived at D Class, I stopped. Standing outside the door of their classroom was the person I wanted to see... Nakajima Rokurou.

It seems this was D Class's precaution to any would be spies. They had one of the delinquents act as bodyguard during their free time.

It was the perfect job for Nakajima though, since it let him utilise his delinquent cover in a way that limited his contact with his classmates, meaning there was less chance they'd find out about his true self.

I have to say though, Nakajima's appearance at school is a lot different to how I saw him at night. He was wearing glasses, with fake lenses most likely, and had the back of his hair smoothly pulled back into a samurai's ponytail. It gave him both a studious and intimidating look.

Since I came this far however, I couldn't back off now. Nakajima's already seen me approach D Class. If I suddenly left, he'd get the impression that I was scared of him. That wouldn't be favourable either.

I guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and bare with this.

"Hey."

As I greeted him, Nakajima looked at me like I was a stranger.

"You are?"

It seems he was being thorough with his cover, which I understand. I'm not like Shimada to be careless about this kind of thing, so I played along since it was beneficial for me too.

"Takanori, from E Class. You must've heard about me by now, surely?"

I could've cut past the act by being blunt about the night of the attack, but since we were in a public corridor, I didn't want to risk that information being overheard by someone else.

"Oh, you're the guy Mikitaka-san and the others beat up. Come to think of it, I kicked you in the head during that time."

Looking back, Nakajima was indeed part of the mob of delinquents lynching me. Did he know about my past during then as well? Or did he only find out about it recently?

"Sorry about that."

An insincere apology that showed he had no remorse trying to take my life either. What a wicked man...

"It's fine. Your class more than made up for it by clearing my name."

"Zyriot-san's just that good of a guy."

Even though he had mastered the delinquent's way of speaking, there was a sophistication behind his words that set him apart from the rest. It reminded me of Shigeru, who was also a delinquent but more cunning than his peers. Perhaps, Nakajima was the same.

"Anyways, what business do you have here?"

"I'm here to see Imaishi-san."

"He left ages ago."

"He's not in class?"

I peered through the classroom windows to see that Imaishi wasn't there. It was mainly the girls gossiping and some boys eating lunch, including Zyriot. What a peaceful scene...

By how relaxed everyone looked, it was as if they'd already conquered the finals and were now days away from the summer holiday. It didn't even look like they were stressed about the upcoming exams.

It was so idyllic, you'd think this was a scene straight out of a slice-of-life anime or something.

"No. He went to the cardfight room with Rikuto-san and the others."

Akari's friend group, huh? I couldn't see her or Akihiro in the room either, so it was possible Imaishi escaped to them after he blew his cover.

"Do you think he's coming back?"

"Not until class starts, probably."

Well, that's annoying. I can't exactly confront Imaishi about this if he'll just run away and hide when I try. Changing my strategy of attack, I decided to go straight to the source behind all of these orders.

"I see, that's fine. Mind if I speak to Zyriot-san instead then?"

"Sorry, but I can't let you."

Nakajima bluntly refused me.

"Why not?"

"I'm under strict orders to not let anyone from the other classes inside."

So Zyriot wasn't risking anything, huh? Just what kind of devious strategy is he planning if he's being this tight on security?

"Could you ask him to see if I can get permission? I'm a friend of his."

Nakajima snorted a little, raising his fists in a boxing stance.

"You, a friend? Sorry, but everyone not in D Class is Zyriot-san's enemy in this special exam."

He thrusted his fist forward, stopping centimetres from hitting my face. It felt like a gust of wind had rushed past me. That level of self-control behind a punch that powerful was impressive... Nakajima had technique, that's for sure.

"Now scram, before I get serious myself."

"If that means using one of your beloved weapons, go ahead."

Nakajima narrowed his eyes at me as I brought that up. I kept my hands in my pockets, but curled them into fists just in case.

"I'm giving you a chance to walk away without bruises. Why don't you take it?"

"Because I want to talk to Zyriot-san."

"Too bad. He doesn't want to."

In that moment, Nakajima went on the offensive, swinging his fist. However, just before he could punch me, someone suddenly pulled me away.

"Huh?"

"Takanori-san, let's go have lunch!"

Grabbing me by the arm was Shinomiya, hurriedly dragging me away from D Class. Nakajima looked baffled, putting down his fists awkwardly.

"S-Shinomiya-senpai? Wait, what are you...?"

"The queue is only going to get longer, we don't have time to waste!"

Sighing, Nakajima closed his eyes and leaned against the door. Since I was gone, he had no reason to be hostile anymore.

"What in the..."

Even I was confused at what Shinomiya was doing here. I wouldn't imagine a 2nd Year to be on the same floor as the 1st Year classrooms. Did she have some type of business with another underclassman?

In any case, she saved me from having to fight Nakajima in the hallway. Things would've gone messy if we both went all out against each other.

"Are you alright?"

Once we were outside the corridor and in the stairwell, Shinomiya put her hands on my face and checked for any bruises. It was a little embarrassing to see her act so overprotective of me.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"Thank goodness, I made it in time..."

Shinomiya breathed a sigh of relief, patting my shoulders.

"I'm more surprised that you came so suddenly out of nowhere... what were you doing on the first floor?"

"Ah, I was making my way downstairs from 2-E when I saw you and that D Class boy in the corridor. The next thing I knew, he was getting into a fighting stance and tried punching you in the face, so I rushed over as soon as I could to get you out of that situation."

"Eh? Why though? I could've handled it just fine..."

"What? Don't be ridiculous Takanori-san! Fighting is bad. What would happen if you got injured?"

"Well... I guess I'd shrug it off?"

Shinomiya sighed, shaking her head.

"Boys, I swear..."

Considering she was friends with a former king of delinquents, Asukai, I guess she was used to this.

"Don't get cocky just because you put on some muscle. Even if you were the strongest person in the world, there's absolutely no way I'd leave you in harm's way."

"You... wouldn't let me get hurt?"

"Of course not. You're my precious kouhai after all. No matter the danger, I'll protect you from it."

Shinomiya bent down slightly, meeting me eye to eye. I looked away, scratching my cheek.

"Uh... um... thanks, Shinomiya-senpai."

Shinomiya smiled, ruffling my hair.

I wanted to tell her I would protect her too... but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to say those words. Why was it so difficult? It's such a simple phrase, yet...

"Seriously though, what happened back there?"

"Oh... uh, it's complicated. I can explain it over lunch... if you want."

"Yeah, sure! I was actually going to the cafeteria myself to pick up some food. Suzui said they're selling kaarage today."

Come to think of it, Imaishi did mention they were selling fried chicken earlier.

"Sounds good."

Together, me and Shinomiya went to the cafeteria together to eat lunch.

I can't lie, I was excited. It was the first time I would be eating together with an upperclassman. I'm glad it was with someone more my pace too, like Shinomiya.

In the end, I didn't get to learn much about D Class's strategy. Judging by how lax everyone looked inside the classroom, it looks like things have been going well for them. Even so, Zyriot still put precautions in place to protect his class from any outsiders.

At the very least, I know they're actively seeking information on all the other classes through Imaishi. What they're planning to do with that information, I don't know yet.

Whatever Zyriot's planning, I'll find out sooner or later.