The day finally came to an end.

I was with Yukina and Kouji, getting our shoes out of our cubbyholes. We were going to head home together.

"The sunset sure is pretty."

Yukina hummed to herself as she looked out of the window.

"It feels strangely peaceful even though the special exam is just around the corner."

Kouji sighed, putting one earphone in. He was listening to music through one ear while talking to us.

"There's nothing to worry about right? I'm a bit nervous myself, but I feel confident everyone will pass."

"Huh... I guess."

Kouji didn't look completely convinced, but I agreed with Yukina. Once I finish making the exams for A Class, there was nothing else to worry about.

Ultimately, this special exam was about the class working together to achieve the best possible results. Even though E Class had a few stragglers like Kita and Ikesugi, Alice and Matsushita and had set up a good foundation by splitting everyone into study groups.

While it means I couldn't do much about our defence against D Class, it did give me leeway to be more aggressive in our attack against A Class. I had to put my faith that everyone in E Class was doing their role and studying as expected.

If we were to incur any losses, hopefully our spoils from winning will offset them. It was another way to soften the impact of a worst case scenario.

However, there was one bigger reason why a single loss would be devastating in our situation, though.

I looked over to Yukina, who continued to chat casually with Kouji.

Then, I looked over to the person slowly approaching us with a foxy smile on her face.

"Yukina, Kouji-san, you guys can go on ahead without me."

"Eh? Is there something you still need to do, Yuu?"

"...kind of, yeah."

As that person approached closer, I hurried to get these two out of here.

"What is it? We don't mind waiting. Right, Kouji-san?"

Kouji blinked and scratched the back of his head, yawning.

"Uh... yeah, I don't mind."

Judging by his sleepy face, he probably just wanted to go home and have a nap.

"Don't worry about it. I'll message you when I'm done."

Yukina frowned slightly.

"Alright..."

For some reason, she looked disappointed.

"Hey, it's Takanori-san's choice. Let's just go."

Encouraging her to leave, Kouji shrugged in the direction of the exit.

"Ah, yeah... see you soon, Yuu—"

However, before Yukina could finish her sentence, she tensed up.

I looked behind me and sighed. Guess I was too late.

"Heya, Boya-san, Doll-chan, and... ara, whose this? A new friend?"

Yogen giggled, waving at the three of us innocuously.

"Yogen-san..."

Yukina narrowed her eyes at her. Kouji stared at Yogen with raised eyebrows.

"...so, who is she exactly?"

"My bad, I should introduce myself. I'm Yogen Emica, from A Class."

"I could tell that much by your tie... I'm Kouji."

"So you're Kouji-san, hmm? How interesting. Aren't you one of the big 3 loners, alongside Ikesugi-san and Boya-san?"

"I don't think that really applies to us anymore... also, what's up with the weird nicknames?"

Yogen laughed at Kouji's dry way of speaking.

"What, do you want one as well?"

"I'll pass."

"I think they're perfectly suitable for these two. Boya-san and Doll-chan. Wouldn't you agree?"

Kouji glanced at me and Yukina before looking back at Yogen.

"...not really."

"Ara?"

Sensing tension beginning to rise between her and Kouji, I decided to cut in.

"Kouji-san, ignore her. Let's go home."

Kouji sighed and nodded. As we began to move, Yogen frowned.

"Nee, what's the hurry? We were just having a nice little chat."

Me and Kouji didn't say anything back. He gleaned that talking with her was just asking for trouble.

However, Yukina didn't move from her spot. She simply stood there motionless, staring at her feet.

"At least you didn't leave me, Doll-chan! Unlike those two rude boys."

Yogen giggled, closing the space between her and Yukina.

"What's the deal with those two...?"

Unfamiliar about their relationship, Kouji whispered to me curiously.

"...various things happened that led to a bet between them."

And that bet is the reason why E Class couldn't afford to lose this special exam.

"A bet?"

"Sorry, but I can't elaborate further."

I couldn't tell Kouji since the three of us agreed to keep it between ourselves. I had to honour that much.

"It's a secret, huh? No wonder you wanted me and Kazuraba-san to leave."

"I didn't expect her to show up. Yogen-san's always been an unpredictable one."

Slowly, Yukina lifted her head and met eye to eye with Yogen.

"...what do you want?"

"I'm here to talk to Boya-san."

She could have just called me... I guess she wanted to also pressure Yukina by doing it in person.

"Yuu is busy. He can't talk right now."

"He doesn't look very busy. In fact, he's watching us very closely."

"We were about to go home before you showed up. You're getting in his way."

"Ara, I'm getting in his way? Impossible. Isn't this bet of ours being more of a burden to him than it is on us?"

Yukina flinched.

"I've noticed everything he's done to ensure E Class will win this special exam. I'll admit, I'm impressed."

Yogen looked at Kouji, signalling to us that she was aware that I used him to remove Matsushita and Alice from power.

"How is it being a burden on him? You're jumping to conclusions without knowing the full picture."

"I don't need to. I've picked out everything I needed to over the past two weeks."

In other words, Yogen's been carefully watching me from afar and using her perceptiveness to discover what's been going on behind the scenes.

No wonder she hasn't been confrontational at all during the special exam. She wanted to see me play my plan out.

"If you think about it, everything that's happened so far has been Boya-san's doing. However, he's only going so far to ensure you win the bet. Otherwise, you'll be the one who's suffering. Your partnership with him is making him go out of his way and doing unnecessary actions."

"That's not true... from the very beginning, Yuu was aiming for this! It's for that reason I could make that bet with you!"

"It doesn't change the fact you're still using him."

"Aren't you doing the same thing? You're going to burden your class if you lose."

"Nope, I'm completely solo. My class doesn't like me and I have no influence on Ryouta-san whatsoever. I told him to keep an eye on Boya-san ages ago, but he ignored my advice. The only thing I can do is sit back and watch."

Come to think of it, Ryouta did mention something like that when we finalised the deal between our classes this morning. To think she even told him about me... just how highly does Yogen see me?

"So you've done nothing to protect yourself in this special exam?"

"I've done my homework, if that counts? In more ways than one."

Yogen seemed to wink at me.

"I refuse to believe that. You're not that carefree. You must've done something to ensure your safety."

"Ara, what did you say earlier about me jumping to conclusions without seeing the full picture? Aren't you doing the same to me right now?"

Yogen giggled, making Yukina squeeze her fists.

"I can't stand you..."

"Really? I actually quite like you."

Interrupting them, Kouji coughed loudly.

"Can you two... I don't know, hurry this up? I have no idea what's going on and I want to go home."

Kouji gave Yukina the perfect excuse to get out of this situation. However, Yukina shook her head.

"You guys can on go ahead... I still have unfinished business with her."

Kouji sighed.

"Kazuraba-san, I don't know what your deal is with her, but you're not acting like your usual self right now. If she's being a bother to you, just plug in your earphones and walk away."

"I can't... I can't do that, Kouji-san."

"Why?"

"Because she's jealous."

Before Yukina could answer, Yogen cut in.

"I'm not!"

"Aww, don't hide it. Remember what you said at the sweet shop? That you can't stand it when other girls are flirting with Boya-san?"

"That's... don't misconstrue my words! I said I can't stand it when you're being a nuisance to him!"

"Honey, that's double-talk of what I just said. Platonic friendship doesn't go as far as how you two treat each other."

"Yes it does. When you've been friends for as long as me and Yuu, of course I'd care for him like that!"

"I don't know. To me, it sounds like you have a crush on the poor thing."

"I..."

Kouji audibly groaned, cutting in between the two again.

"Damn, my head hurts... Kazuraba-san, let's just get outta here."

"Yeah, we shouldn't be entertaining her any longer."

I chimed in, looking over to Yogen.

"You wanted to talk with me, right? There's no reason to drag Yukina into this."

Yogen sighed disappointedly.

"And here I thought you'd be more protective of your doll..."

"Yukina can stand up for herself if she wants to."

"But when she's doing such a poor job at it, doesn't it make you feel bad and want to step in?"

"It'd be insulting to Yukina if I intervened on her behalf all the time. It's the same as not trusting her."

"Ara? I didn't think you were the type to have that kind of mindset."

"You can only care for so few people."

The more reliable that person was, the more faith I had in them to do things without needing my help.

"Good to know you care for me then."

Yogen giggled, clearly referring to the time I was about to fight on her behalf against Ritaka and Ukishima.

"If you still want to talk to me, I don't mind. However, you have to let these two go."

"They can go whenever they want. I'm not holding them hostage or anything."

Kouji, taking the hint, nudged Yukina.

"You heard the woman. Let's leave these two be."

Yukina sighed, crossing her arms. She coldly looked at Yogen.

"Make your conversation with him quick."

"It won't take longer than five minutes. Seeing you was just a bonus."

Yogen smiled. Yukina turned to me.

"Me and Kouji-san will wait for you outside."

"Alright."

With hesitance, Yukina left the building with Kouji. Kouji looked at me over his shoulder as he left.

"See you two tomorrow!"

Yogen waved goodbye nonchalantly. She then ran up and hugged my arm.

"Boya-san! We're finally alone!"

Why was she so clingy...? I had admittedly become quite familiar with the feeling of her pillowy breasts pressing up against my arm by now.

"...you seriously choose the worst times to talk to me."

"Oops?"

Yogen smiled cutely, feigning innocence. It's obvious she purposefully chose to talk with me now so she could incite anger in Yukina.

"Whatever. Did something happen?"

I can't imagine Yogen talking to me unless she had something at least half-serious to talk about.

"Not particularly. I was just checking in to see how my favourite Boya-san was doing."

"If it was just that, you could've called me..."

"It's been weeks since we talked face to face though... I missed you."

"I really, really doubt that."

"No, I honestly did! I enjoyed our time together after school on Monday. It was strangely relaxing. Didn't you enjoy it too?"

"I was only able to enjoy it because the special exam hadn't truly started yet."

Yogen frowned, letting go of my arm with a pout.

"You don't have to be so on guard around me. Actually, speaking of the special exam..."

So this is what she wanted to talk to me about.

"Who do you think is going to win?"

Weirdly, she wanted my opinion on this. I guess there's no harm in telling her. I thought about it for a second.

"...D Class, probably."

"Ara, it's so like you to underestimate your own plans. Do you have that little faith in your class?"

"All the classes aside from D Class have an exposed weakness or flaw in this special exam. A Class's exam was leaked, B Class have Ichinose-san and Machida-san doing two radically different things, C Class just came out of a losing war, and we have the academically weakest students. D Class has no flaws and can launch a brutal attack on us thanks to Shirogane-san."

"Couldn't you argue their defence is weak because of the delinquents?"

"Not all of them are thick... Mikitaka-san encouraged them to study last month for the midterms and the war showed that Shigeru-san is far more cunning than he let's off."

Nakajima was also probably more smart than he lets on too.

"True. As they say, the best defence is a strong offence."

Even if your class had a failure, you could recoup your losses by failing two students in another class. D Class was probably banking on the fact we had the weakest students academically to get ahead in this exam.

"That's just what I think though. Second place will probably your class. Third to fifth place are a toss up between everyone else."

"I'm starting to think you've already prepared a lump sum of private points for when Doll-chan loses. You're talking really negatively, you know?"

Well, that's one of my backup plans. It's an easy one to figure out though, since I could easily get the necessary points from either Matsushita and Alice.

"By the sounds of it, you don't seem that confident either if you think I'm severely underestimating myself. Was the exam leak that detrimental to you?"

"Not really. If anything, I would've preferred if C Class's exams were leaked so everyone in D Class could pass. That way, there's no way you guys could ascend to D Class by the end of this month."

The irony that me and Nora were the ones who made the C Class exams wasn't lost on me.

"What do you think is going to happen in this special exam, then?"

"I wonder... I can already tell its going to be a massive upset, though."

"In what way?"

"That's a secret~."

Yogen winked at me. She then leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"Though, because I like you... I'll tell you who I think will win."

"...go on."

"E Class."

She has way too much faith in me.

The scary part was, she means it. Yogen isn't the type to hide her true intentions. She puts everything out there, good and bad.

"...so you think you're going to lose this bet?"

"Is it really a loss if I get to be in the same class as you, Boya-san?"

Just as Yukina theorised, Yogen only accepted this bet because she knew she'd come out winning regardless of the outcome. 

"I don't know. Going from A to D Class sounds like a bad deal to me."

"Hmm, objectively, sure. But between you and Ryouta-san... I think I like you more."

"...is that so?"

"Yep! Aren't you glad?"

"I barely know the guy. I have no basis of him to compare me on."

But from what I've seen, he's a formidable opponent. The plan executed to "leak" A Class's exams was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was scarily impressive.

"I'd keep an eye on him if I were you."

She doesn't need to tell me that. He's the A Class representative, of course I'd be wary of him.

"Well, it seems that's all I've got time for. Doll-chan looks su~per impatient."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Yukina staring at us through the glass doors. Kouji was trying to pry her away, but with no luck.

"...when did she get there?"

"Just a couple moments ago. Anyways, I'll see you later, Boya-san!"

And as she left, Yogen hugged me once more. This time, it was a normal hug, thankfully.

"Right..."

As she left the school building, I watched as she casually strolled past Yukina and Kouji, not even batting an eye at them. Yukina stuck her tongue out at her childishly before huffing.

"Dude... what even is your relationship with her?"

Surprisingly, it was Kouji who was first to question my connection with Yogen. Yukina gave me a cold stare.

"Yeah, Yuu. What's between you and her, hmm?"

"...I swear, it's one sided."

On the train ride back, I had to convince these two that Yogen wasn't some kind of secret concubine.