We spent an hour cleaning up the class before deciding to go home for the day.

Fortunately, we managed to get nearly everything done thanks to everyone's efforts. However, we still had to wait for the graffiti to be cleaned off, the window and door to be replaced, and new desks to come before we could return to class properly.

As I was grabbing my shoes from my cubbyhole, a familiar voice called out to me.

"Boya-san!"

By the way she addressed me, I knew immediately who it was. I looked over my shoulder, coming face to face with Yogen.

"Too close..."

I pulled away as our faces nearly pressed against each other.

"Ara, did your club activities finish as well?"

"I wasn't at any club."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I was helping out cleaning up E Class."

"Sounds troublesome... did Machida-san's attack do that much damage?"

"Unfortunately."

I put away my slippers into the cubbyhole.

"So, what do you want?"

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

"You came to talk to me, so obviously you want something from me."

"Ah, I actually came across you by chance and wanted to say hi. I genuinely didn't expect you to be here."

Considering I usually go straight to home after school on a Monday, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe her.

"I see..."

"Mou, you don't have to act so cold towards me just because I made a little bet with your doll. It hurts, you know?"

"I'm sure it does."

I replied sarcastically, but Yogen laughed.

"Speaking of the bet, how's that coming along?"

"Oh, so that's why you wanted to talk to me... you wanted information about that."

"As if! I already know the outcome."

"Is that so?"

I continued my sarcastic replies in an attempt to get her to back down.

"Yep. I'm going to win!"

"Don't you sound confident..."

I closed my cubbyhole and put on my shoes.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Sure, it is."

After all, it means when she loses, she's going to feel a thousand times worser.

"On the flip side, you sound completely unconfident. Have you already given up on the special exam?"

"It's better to cut our losses rather than dig ourselves deeper in trouble."

"Ara? But you don't strike me as the type who'd give up that easily. Especially after how hard you worked in the war."

I got up and exited the school to try and shake off Yogen. Annoyingly however, she followed me while continuing to talk innocently.

"I never said anything about giving up on the exam."

"But cutting your losses is the same as admitting defeat, isn't it?"

"You're smart with wordplay. Why don't you figure it out yourself?"

"That just sounds like you don't have a proper answer for me."

"I could answer it, but I'm choosing not to. You're an enemy, after all."

"And here I thought you didn't know the difference. Meanie~"

Yogen stuck her tongue out cutely. I looked over to the sky, where the red sun began to set.

"Nee, are you hungry by any chance?"

Seamlessly switching topics, Yogen began to walk by my side. My stomach growled slightly.

"A little."

"Perfect. Ta da!"

She took out a heart shaped box from her schoolbag.

"What is that...?"

"I attend the cooking club, you know." She pouted.

Come to think of it, Misogi also attended the cooking club. I heard from Akihiro that she baked cookies and shared some with him once. Since she was helping us clean up the classroom, I guess she skipped club today.

"Oh... so you made sweets?"

"Of course! I made chocolates."

"It's not February."

"Who says you need to enjoy chocolate during valentines? Any day will do."

I guess she wasn't wrong.

"Nee, want one?"

"You're being scarily nice right now."

Like Fujimura, I thought it was weird whenever Yogen acted nice to me.

"I'm always nice to you, Boya-san!"

"Are you sure you're not trying to poison me?"

"Now why would I do that?"

A dark memory from my middle school days resurfaced. A guy in my class offered me a piece of chocolate, but when I ate it, he told me he took it from the floor. I spat it out and was made a laughing stock in front of the class.

"...never mind. Did you lace these with anything suspicious?"

"If I did, then why would I already be eating them?"

True. She wouldn't willingly hurt herself.

"Fine then..."

Just as I was about to reach out and take a chocolate, a loud voice boomed over in our direction.

"Oi, Yogen-san!"

"Oh dear..."

Yogen's good mood dampened as she muttered that under her breath. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a group of boys from A Class start approaching us.

"Who are they?"

"Just some classmates. And is that... Machida-san's cronies?"

Upon closer inspection, I could see Ritaka and Ukishima from Machida's faction mixed in. Yogen looked surprised by their appearance, so this strange combination of A Class boys and Machida's faction must be new.

From the A Class boys, I recognised all three of them. They were Yahagi Kyoji, Kurase Takuya, and Keisaki Shinpei. If I remembered correctly, all three of them were involved in Yukimura's trial. This was because Yukimura had attacked Kurase, and Yahagi brought it up to the school.

However, I better knew them from other places. Kurase was the basketball club's ace, and was one of the people who pushed Ikesugi out of the club. Yahagi was on the football club, but he was also one of the worst at English in A Class. I've actually met Keisaki before, since he worked as a waiter at my aunt's restaurant.

"What do they want with you?"

"I wonder."

Yogen put on a cheeky smile and waved brightly at the five boys.

"Ara, Yahagi-san? What are you doing here? Did you also finish club activities? Was Yukimura-san a handful to deal with again?"

Yahagi ignored her questions and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Don't screw around. You know I've been looking for you. Stop avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you! If I was, I'd do a better job at it."

Yogen tilted her head slightly, giving him a smug smile. Yahagi clicked his tongue and pulled her away from me.

"Ah, Boya-san, help me~"

Even though she was stuck in Yahagi's grip, Yogen joked around and giggled like it was nothing.

"Yahagi, no fair! Stop hogging Yogen-chan all to yourself!"

Ritaka started to whine as he didn't get a chance to touch her.

"Ahh, what's that loser Takanori-san doing here though?"

Kurase, who noticed my presence, shot a half glare my way. I instinctively took a step back as all five boys began to close in on me.

"I was walking home with him. Do you have a problem with that?"

Yogen finally shook off Yahagi and ran over to my side, clinging to my body.

"Yes, I do. It's the whole reason why we need to talk in the first place!"

Getting angry when she stuck by my side, Yahagi raised his voice at her.

"What's there to talk about? I've done nothing wrong."

"You're hanging around with a Drachma dropout! Don't you see the problem, Yogen-san?"

"Ehh~? I thought that's not a bad thing, though? You know that Ryouta-kun says that we should to be respectful to those in the lower classes. Even Tamaki-chan's brother was also in E Class. What's the big deal?"

"Aki-san's not in E Class anymore, and while I agree with Ryouta-san, it doesn't mean you should be buddy-buddy with them. Have some better standards, that dude's an idiot and a loner! If you spend time with a waste of oxygen like him, you're gonna drag the rest of us down!"

Even though Yahagi said he agreed with respecting those in the lower classes, he was clearly disrespecting me by insulting me in front of my face.

Their argument reminded me of the conversation I heard this morning between Ishima, Yamamoto, and Megami. Despite thinking he looked cool, Yamamoto refused the idea of dating Matsushita, since she would get looked down upon for associating herself with someone from E Class.

In this case, Yahagi was looking down on Yogen because she was hanging out with me.

"I don't see the issue here. If I prefer to spend time with him over guys like you, why can't I?"

"Yahagi, you jealous that sexy body's rubbing all over that loser? It just makes me wanna cuck that guy even more!"

Ritaka chimed in, cracking a distasteful joke. Ukishima added onto it afterwards.

"It also pisses me off that a wimp like him is close with that bombshell Kazuraba."

"I know right? What the hell did he do to gain their attention?"

Keisaki sighed hearing the B Class boy's comments. Kurase remained indifferent on the matter, as he laughed along occasionally.

"Letting these two tag along was a mistake, Yahagi-san."

However, Yahagi ignored Keisaki's comments as he focused on Yogen.

"Yogen-san, if you continue to hang out with Takanori-san, then your association with him will negatively impact our Cl."

"Ara? Where's your proof?"

"It's clear that something is holding A Class back from getting more Cl. It's obvious we're the best class in the 1st Year, but for some reason, we've only gained 50 Cl this month, despite all of our achievements and dominance. If something as minor as the way we wear our uniform can affect our rating on the S System, then you hanging out with someone from the dumping class is sure to hurt us."

"I'd argue that Shimada-san's the biggest reason why we're losing out on Cl."

Yogen, rather than pick apart the flaws in Yahagi's theoretical argument, chose to instead redirect the issue to the biggest troublemaker in A Class.

"I agree, he is. However, you're also contributing to the problem by hanging out with this guy. The Yamamoto twins are cutting it close by hanging out with that D Class girl, Shimizu-san, but they only do it occasionally. But with you, it's almost like I always see you spend time with him outside of lessons. Just stop already!"

I know for a fact that I actively try to avoid talking to Yogen, so I'm not sure where Yahagi got this idea that she spends a lot of time with me from. In fact, I think I've spent more time talking with Rinbayashi than I have with her...

"Gosh, I'd really hate to be in a relationship with you, Yahagi-san. You're so controlling."

"Stop trying to change the subject just because you know I'm right."

"I'm changing subjects because the current one is boring me to tears. I don't want to waste energy talking about false allegations."

"How about you just take what I'm saying on board already instead of blatantly ignoring it? I'm doing this for the benefit of the class. Stop hanging out with this E Class nerd so our evaluation can improve!"

"If you were right, then I would've walked away with you lot a long time ago. But clearly, I haven't."

As if to rub it in his face more, Yogen put her head against my chest.

"What about this do you not understand?"

"No, I understand your concerns completely, Yahagi-san. And to be honest, I think you're right. I think fooling around Boya-san has lost us some class points."

While she was speaking, Yogen looked up at me with a teasing smile.

"However, why should I sacrifice my own happiness for the whole class? If I enjoy being around him, then I shouldn't let something intangible like class points stop me from doing that. If I lived my entire student life doing things for the sake of gaining Cl, I'd have a very miserable three years here."

Yogen finally let go of me and stood firmly face to face against Yahagi.

"We already have 1000 Cl, so I'm not worried about things like private points. However, if you're going broke, then you should manage your money better rather than telling me to stop being friends with someone I like."

"This isn't about the money and it's never been about the money."

"Ara? Then it means securing your place in A Class is your top priority. In that case, I'd suggest you take a long hard look in the mirror and take some time to re-evaluate yourself on what's important right now. It's still early days, Yahagi-san. Things are going to change regardless, so try to enjoy the luxury we have now, rather than try to preserve it."

I didn't expect such a deep response from a whimsical girl like her. For the most part, I agreed with Yogen. If I was in A Class, I wouldn't stress myself out on staying at the top. They were in a very comfortable situation compared to the rest of us. However, her response must've angered Yahagi, as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"...that's it, huh? You just saw it as fooling around?"

"Told you it was a waste of time trying to change that psycho bitch's mind." Kurase said.

"She never takes anything seriously." Keisaki said.

"Damn it, I should've believed the rumours. They really are true..." Yahagi muttered.

"Ara? There's rumours about me? Please, do tell me more."

"If I told you, you'd probably start crying on the spot."

"Do you take me as fragile?"

"If you want to know so badly, ask Ritaka-san."

Yogen looked over Yahagi's broad shoulders to Ritaka, who was smiling creepily.

"Ritaka-san, what rumours are there about me?"

The way Yogen asked him sounded like she already knew what Ritaka's response was going to be.

"Oh, you know... that you're a virginity stealing bitch who loves to deflower boys!"

Ritaka dramatically pointed at her. Yogen burst out laughing hysterically. Like me, she couldn't take this guy seriously for a second.

"Ara? Ara ara? Here I thought you'd say I was easy, but this... now this is something I've never heard before! What makes you think I go around trying to take boy's virginities on purpose?"

"Isn't it obvious?! You've totally screwed that woman beater Takanori! That dude looked like a complete virgin when he came to this school, but after talking to you, he looks like a guy who screws girls on the daily!"

I'd facepalm right now, but I was wearing my sunglasses. I didn't want to dirty them with my fingerprints.

"While it's true that virgins like Boya-san have cute reactions, I've never had sex with him before. I think I'd rather die than let him have the pleasure of doing it with me."

I felt the same way.

"Plus, isn't doing it forbidden in the dormitories? I don't know about Boya-san, but I still live in a dorm."

"Same." I said.

"Haven't you heard of outside sex? Besides, I don't believe that for a second! Stop trying to cover your ass! You've definitely taken his virginity! Not just his, but Suna's, and Imaishi's, and Kouji's, and Tanaka's, and Mitsuba's too!"

I knew for a fact none of this was true, since Suna has a girlfriend, Imaishi recently tried to ask out Akari, Kouji was a loner, Tanaka wants to marry his body pillow, and Mitsuba has his favourite gravure model. Ritaka simply listed names of boys in our year with personalities typically associated with virgins.

"Oi, hang on Ritaka. Doesn't that imply that loser Takanori gets more girls than us?"

Ukishima, finally noticing the flaw in Ritaka's messed up logic, pointed that out.

"Ahhh, damn it! That's true! But there's no other explanation! I mean, he's surrounded by hot chicks all the time, that guy! Yogen-chan, Kazuraba-chan, Katsumi-chan, Demiza-chan, the list goes on and on!"

Those last three were just my classmates...

"If Boya-san really was such a sex machine like you guys say he is, wouldn't that make him not a loser?"

Ritaka and Ukishima looked at each other, dumbfounded by Yogen's soundless logic. Then, Ukishima laughed while Ritaka shook his head, wagging his finger.

"No way, no way, no way. This guy's a loser because he's so easy for girls to screw! Meanwhile for guys like us, we actually pick and choose who we want to have our first time with! That loser is a pathetic little desperate horny puppy who takes whatever first chance comes flying at him, no matter how hot or ugly the bitch offering sex is! That includes you, you virginity stealing bitch!"

I looked over to the A Class students to see their reaction to all this. Yahagi had his eyes closed, trying to keep a serious face as Ritaka spewed nonsense. Kurase was laughing, not with them, but at them. Keisaki just facepalmed and shook his head.

"Ahhhh, I can't take this anymore! Yahagi, can I get handsy with Yogen-chan already?! I seriously can't hold it in any loner! Touching that angel Sakigamiya-chan's slender body and feeling her pudding tongue this morning has driven me crazy! I need to relieve, relieve!"

Ritaka started screaming like a sex offender. Yogen cringed, clearly uncomfortable with his behaviour. Yahagi looked at Ritaka and sighed.

"Yogen-san, are you going to stop hanging out with Takanori then?"

"Nope. I'm going to continue playing with him whenever I want."

Yogen stuck out her tongue at him. With that, Yahagi turned around.

"Suit yourself. You're gonna regret it."

"I don't regret anything I do, Yahagi-san."

Yahagi walked away, with Kurase and Keisaki in tow.

"Hey, Yahagi-san, is it really okay? To leave the rest to those two? Knowing them... they'd, you know..."

An overly cautious Keisaki tried to convince Yahagi to at least take Yogen with them, but Yahagi shook his head.

"They know what the consequences are of doing such a thing to another student. Let them do what they want. We're not involved anymore."

"But walking away when Ritaka-san clearly wants to do lewd things to her is wrong! We should at least help her!"

"She'll be fine. Have you seen who's with her?"

Kurase glanced at me over his shoulder.

"Ritaka would be a dumbass trying to act out his fantasies when that monster is there."

Hearing him call me a monster stung a little, but he wasn't wrong.

"Ara, what are you two doing here still? Aren't you going to join your friends?"

Yogen asked innocently, acting as if she didn't know what Ritaka and Ukishima were about to do to her next.

"Ukishima, you get the woman beater! Force him to watch me violate his stupidly erotic chick!"

Ritaka barked the order and things immediately kicked off.

"Ha ha ha, you got it!"

Ritaka pounced at Yogen, curling his hands in anticipation of groping her. Meanwhile, Ukishima tried to tackle me to the floor by charging at me.

In that split second, a memory between me and Yogen resurfaced. Her words back when I saved Shimizu from Hashimoto echoed in my head.

"Nee, if I'm ever in trouble, you'll save me, right?"

I don't know why, but it was enough to make me tighten my fists and get into action. I lunged forward, pulling back my fist.

Just as I was about to drive my fist into Ukishima's stomach, Yogen suddenly came between us while getting into a fighting stance.

"Huh?! But I thought Ritaka was—"

Just as Ukishima took his eyes off her for a second, Yogen didn't waste any time in chopping down his back with a swift straight kick.

"You bitch!"

Ukishima screamed as he toppled to the floor, trying to grab hold of Yogen's smooth legs in a last ditch attempt to drag her down. However, she saw through this, and jumped past him to dodge his slimy hands.

"Are you okay, Boya-san?"

Yogen coolly saved me, pushing me back to keep me out of danger. However, Ritaka emerged from behind the fallen Ukishima like a zombie, growling like an animal in heat.

"I'm fine... Yogen-san, look out!"

Ritaka grabbed Yogen from behind, his hands mercilessly grabbing onto her boobs and squeezing them like they were a stress ball.

"Ahhhh, I don't care anymore! I can't hold it in any longer! All of the girls in this school dress and act like sluts! They're practically begging for this to happen to them! Their bodies are so erotic, all I can ever think about is having sex with them!"

"Hyannnn~"

As he tightly kneaded her flesh like a desperate animal, Yogen moaned cutely. Ritaka's breathing became heavier as he started to grind himself against her.

"If you keep making sounds like that, then I really am gonna screw you silly! Since you're a slutty virgin stealing bitch, you won't mind if you take mine, right?! I'm a virgin too, you dumb whore!"

"Ritaka-san, let go her!"

I warned him by raising my fist, but he didn't pay any attention to me. He was too busy lost in the sensation of feeling Yogen's body for the first time.

Just as I was about to take further action, Yogen shook her head at me and somehow managed to smirk through the pain of Ritaka fondling her.

"Is that all you have... Ritaka-san? You're just as disgusting as the girls say you are!"

Despite the terrifying situation she was in right now, Yogen still had the confidence to laugh at him. She was trying to gain control of the situation by provoking him, but I wasn't sure if it'd work.

"Shut up, you erotic bitch! Stay quiet while I dump everything I've pent up inside of you! I can't wait to get you pregnant from this! Oi, you Drachma dropout, pay attention! I want you to watch every moment of your woman getting screwed by me! Ha ha ha ha!"

Ritaka had completely lost it as he tried actually doing it with Yogen. As he tried to unbuckle his belt, Yogen thrashed around to try and get him off. Seeing that he was serious about this, I had no choice but to get involved.

However, just as I was about to hit him, Yogen managed to find an opening to escape. By using her elbow, she knocked him in the solar plexus to set him off balance, before kicking him away.

"Argh! No fair, no fair!"

Ritaka groaned as Yogen broke free with that one move. Once she turned around, she hit Ritaka across the face with a backhand slap and held him by the throat.

"Wanna have a go, Boya-san?"

Yogen laughed, enjoying watching Ritaka writhe in her hands while keeping him at arm's length away from her. Ritaka gargled as her hand firmly choked him.

"You bitch... you bitch, you bitch, you bitch! I was supposed to get you pregnant! I was supposed to cuck that loser! Damn it!"

Ritaka struggled for breath as Yogen tightened her grip around his neck.

"Oh, quit it already."

With an extremely cold tone, Yogen dropped Ritaka to the floor and stomped him in the balls.

"Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Ritaka screamed in agony while clutching onto his groin.

"It'd be a waste if a guy like you had children, so I'm doing the world a favour, alright?"

"I hate you...! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you...!"

Ritaka muttered again and again, crying on the floor while curling in pain.

"Boya-san!"

Yogen took me by the hand and whisked me away.

After running away from them, we ended up in a park somewhere in the neutral area.

When we reached there, Yogen was laughing at how ridiculous our situation was.

"Did you hear all the things he said back there? He was so desperate!"

"How did a guy like him end up in B Class...? Even Mitsuba-san shows more restraint."

Actually, thinking about it, if Mitsuba and Ritaka were to ever meet, they would probably become good friends because their personalities were so similar.

"I have no clue. He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever."

Yogen patted down her shirt and leaned against a tree.

"Are you okay, by the way?"

"Ara? Boya-san is showing concern for me?"

"After what he did and tried doing to you, who wouldn't?"

Seeing my sincerity, Yogen smiled properly.

"I'm just surprised. I didn't expect that sort of sympathy from you."

"I might not like you, but even you don't deserve that."

"Aww, I guess even Boya-san can be sensitive sometimes."

"Since you're joking around so much, I'm just going to assume you're doing fine."

"I am, I am. I mean to be honest, I've been through worse, so this isn't any skin off my back."

Yogen shrugged off the experience off like it was nothing.

"That's even more concerning..."

"Don't worry about it."

I wondered what she was referring to.

"How about you?"

"I didn't even get touched, thanks to you."

"You're welcome."

"I could've handled the situation myself, though. Ukishima-san doesn't seem that strong."

"Are you kidding me? He's the next strongest after Koishi-san."

"Is he?"

"Yes! Though I guess for you, it doesn't matter."

"I'm not that strong."

"And I don't have big boobs."

"But you do?"

"Boya-san, it's a joke... although, I'm flattered that you think that."

Yogen giggled at my straight laced response. Since I'd rather not linger on this sort of perverted topic, especially after what had just happened, I quickly switched what we were talking about.

"So, why did those guys confront you?"

"You mean Yahagi-san and the rest of them?"

"Yeah. You guys are in the same class, aren't you? I thought A Class didn't have any internal issues."

"We don't, but not everyone in that class likes me. But it's fine, I don't like them or their greed either."

"Their greed?"

"Hmm. Simply put, I don't like the rich."

That was really surprising to hear, considering what she wanted from winning her bet with Yukina.

"Oh. I'm guessing Yahagi-san falls into that group then. He seemed pretty adamant about gaining class points."

"Surprisingly, no. His motivation for keeping Cl isn't one out of greed."

"But he wants you to stop hanging out with me because it's making your class lose points?"

"While that's true, what Yahagi-san wants is to protect A Class's position at the top. The only way to secure that is through having more Cl than all the other classes. I guess he's what you'd call a conservative? He likes tradition, so seeing me be around you annoys him."

"That explains a lot... although, I kind of agree with him. I'm from E Class, while you're from A Class. You really shouldn't be hanging out with me. Our social status is too different."

"Boya-san... why should I let something like that stop me? That's stupid."

"I mean, we're also enemies, technically speaking. Especially now, since E Class and A Class are facing off against each other in this special exam. If we get seen together, it might create mistrust in our respective classes."

"I think most people in your class don't really trust you after what happened in the war."

"...that's true."

"And at the same time, most people in A Class don't trust me because of my wild personality."

"I thought you were popular."

"I am, but great popularity also comes with haters. Some people don't like me, such as Yahagi-san and company."

"Can't relate... probably because I've never been popular before. It sounds harsh."

"You get used to it. Point being, since we're already mistrusted by others, it shouldn't be a problem if we're seen together."

"I suppose."

Yogen raised an eyebrow and laughed a little.

"You say that, but the look on your face says differently. You really want me to stop bugging you, huh?"

"It's always a mental exercise talking with you. It hurts my brain."

"You've always been like this around me... I should've seen it coming."

I could hear a dejected tone in Yogen's voice.

"I'm a very disappointing person. I think you should've figured that out by now."

"Ara, but that's what makes you so charming, Boya-san."

"What are you, a sadist? Do you like people who are helpless?"

"Nope. But I do enjoy our conversations because you're so calm."

Yogen smiled brightly as I was caught off guard by her honest reply.

This was the first time someone told me they enjoyed talking to me because I was emotionless. It was ironic, since I could tell that she genuinely meant it.

"...I feel like I should thank you for the compliment, but at the same time, I feel like I shouldn't."

"He he. That's such a Boya-san reply."

"What else am I supposed to say?"

"You don't have to say anything."

Yogen put a finger against my lips.

"Let's just enjoy the moment we have together now, before it disappears."

For some reason, there was a hidden loneliness behind her words that made me want to console her.

However, I knew she wasn't that type of girl. So instead, I quietly nodded my head.

"Alright."

We spent the rest of that late afternoon together playing in the park, before parting ways as evening fell.