After eating breakfast, we had two hours of free time to kill before the start of our next challenge at 10am. Like yesterday, I spent that time in the library, reading books.

With only five minutes remaining, I packed up and went to the hall, where our next challenge would be distributed. On my way there, I ran into Ryouta.

"Good morning, Takanori-san..."

He yawned slightly, running a hand through his messy bed hair. I nodded at him.

"Yo."

"Are you excited for today's challenge?"

"I'd say more... anxious than excited. I hope it won't be as extreme as the scavenger hunt."

"Same here. If they ask us to do more embarrassing things like that, I think I'll die of cringe..."

The two of us entered the hall and met up with the rest of our group. The only person not yet present was Machida.

"What's taking him so long? The challenge is about to start soon..." Ikeda said.

"In some ways, it might be better if he's not here." Satou said.

"True... as much as I admire how he thinks outside the box, I can't agree with how he does things."

"It's a very forceful approach. I'm not exactly opposed to it, but you have to draw a line somewhere." Zyriot said.

"I think trading eggs were harmless enough." Matsushita said.

"Too bad Shimada-san ruined it." Ikeda sighed.

"If he tries sabotaging us again, I'll kill him."

Approaching us from behind was Machida, who overheard the last part of our conversation.

"N-now now Machida-san, we don't have to go so far..." Ryouta said.

"Violence only heeds to violence. When facing a guy like him, you have to go all out."

"Talking from experience?" Matsushita said.

"How else did you think I got those idiots to follow me? People are attracted to the strong."

Machida glanced over at his former faction before looking back at us. Ikeda grinned and slapped his back.

"Aww, miss your old buddies?"

"Piss off. They're not my buddies, not even when they were in B Class."

"Sounds like someone's got a God complex..."

"Having confidence doesn't mean you have a God complex. Get your facts right."

"Oh, so you just have a bloated ego?"

Machida glared at Ikeda as he kept poking fun at him.

"Hey, lighten up! We're friends now, I'm just joking around."

"What? You think we're friends? I didn't know you were that braindead."

"Ah...?"

"I've known you for about a day, but I already loathe your guts. All you're good for is looking good. You did absolutely nothing in the last challenge except sit there and watch us do the work. And when you had the chance to prove yourself, you managed to screw that up by slipping on water. I was secretly hoping you cracked your ribs so I wouldn't have to work with such a useless person for the rest of the week."

Ikeda's eyes widened as Machida ruthlessly tore into him. Satou narrowed his eyes at him. Ryouta, sensing the situation was about to escalate, got in between the C Class students and Machida.

"Machida-san, you shouldn't talk like that to your fellow group members. We've only done one challenge so far, it's not a fair assessment of what Ikeda-san can do."

"It's more than enough to make me understand he's worthless, both as a member of this group, but also as a person and a representative of C Class."

That much was enough to push Satou over the edge. He clenched his fists and stepped up at Machida.

"...apologise."

"Huh? Wanna say it louder, emo?"

"Apologise... to Ikeda-san."

"Satou-san..." Ikeda said.

Machida snorted, lurching over Satou, making him stumble back.

"Piss off. I'm just telling things as it is. If you can't handle the truth, cover your ears. Or do you want me to expose how useless you are too?"

Ryouta glared sternly at Machida.

"Machida-san, stop. Satou-san is right, you should apologise to Ikeda-san. Not only that, but Satou-san also deserves an apology."

"What do you want me to apologise for, being right?"

"We should've blame voted Machida-san after all..." Satou muttered.

"I want you to apologise for saying senseless words and hurting their feelings. Show some mutual respect for them, would you?"

"My facts don't care about that. If you can't handle the harsh truth, you shouldn't be at a school like GEN in the first place. It's also rich that you're asking me to show them respect when it was Ikeda-san who was poking fun at me in the first place."

"He wasn't serious about that though. If anything, you're the one who shouldn't be at GEN Academy if you're getting so defensive over a joke."

"It's different. I'm not upset by what Ikeda-san said, I'm just sticking up for myself. It pisses me off when people make assumptions about who I am when they barely know me."

"But it's not unreasonable for someone to think that way when all you do is act so belligerently. You want people to judge you based on the real you? Then don't insult them or push them away. In fact, Ikeda-san was trying to be friendly with you. This whole situation is your fault."

Machida grabbed Ryouta by the collar and pulled him up.

"Oi, just because you're leader doesn't make you moral arbiter in this group. You came in here trying to present yourself as a fair and neutral party, yet you decided everything is my fault. Isn't it Ikeda's for saying that crap in the first place? I hate inconsistent, contradictory, virtuous pricks like you the most."

"I thought this argument was about you, Ikeda-san, and Satou-san... why drag me into this?"

"I didn't drag you into this. You got involved yourself, trying to play judge."

Already, the cracks in our group was beginning to form. Even though the six of us could get along reasonably well, when it came to Machida, he refused to be civil. If this discourse continues, he might end up being traded off on the fourth day.

"Can you two cut it out? Everyone's looking at us."

Eventually, it was Zyriot who felt brave enough to intervene. Machida sighed, letting go of Ryouta and tossing him away.

"What a pain..."

And here I thought Machida would react badly, especially since an E Class student was telling him to stand down.

"Thank you, Zyriot-san..."

"No problem. I hope you're okay."

Maybe it was because Zyriot was so used to dealing with the delinquent types, he knew exactly what to say to stop them. I can't imagine those words would be enough though...

"Alright, it looks like everyone's here! Let's get on with today's challenge, shall we?"

Echoing through the hall was Hiden-sensei's voice, amplified by the microphone he was speaking into.

"I hope you're all hungry, because we'll be testing your group's culinary skills in a Cook Off challenge!"

Immediately, the sound of groans and horror filled the air. I too was filled with a similar sense of dread. Considering this was the boy's side, only a handful of us could actually cook for ourselves.

"The theme of this cook off is "burgers"! You'll have three hours to prepare an exquisite meal for five highly esteemed judges, including yours truly!"

Burgers, huh? At the very least, the school was throwing us a bone by giving us guidance on what to make, as well as giving us an item that was very simple to assemble.

At its most basic form, the most amount of cooking required for a burger is frying a patty. As much as the boys may collectively suck at cooking, we could do that much... right?

"Don't worry if you can't cook or are lacking ideas, however! During this period, the computer room will be open, allowing you to research recipes, techniques, and whatever else you may need to make the ultimate burger! The school recommends an hour for research and two hours for cooking time."

I had no idea there was a computer room. Judging by the other's reactions, they didn't either. I guess the school must've kept it closed off, since regular usage of technology wasn't allowed in this special exam.

"Finally, there's one more element to this challenge you must consider. That is, "the requirement of ingredients"! You see, each group has been assigned a "monetary budget" based two factors: the students in their group and their placement in the last challenge! You'll be using this budget to buy ingredients from our lovely home economics teacher, Hirose-sensei, who's in charge of the distribution!"

Considering the mess our group made yesterday trying to monopolise eggs, I can understand why the school wanted to control how groups got their ingredients, or else someone might try to do what Machida did yesterday.

"Students from A Class are worth 5,000 private points! Students from B Class are worth 3,000 private points! Students from C Class are worth 2,000 private points! Students from D Class are worth 1,500 private points! Students from E Class are worth 1,000 private points!"

We had a student from each class, and an additional one from C and D Class, bringing our monetary budget to 16,000 Pr. For Yahagi's group, which had six A Class students, their budget was a terrifying 31,000 Pr, nearly double ours.

"Furthermore, groups which placed highly in the last challenge will receive an additional 10,000 to 6,000 private points, while groups which placed lowly will receive an additional 5,000 to 2,000 private points!"

Even though there wasn't a stated punishment in the scavenger hunt, it seems like we were beginning to feel the effects of the results straightaway in this challenge. Good thing I secured Mitsuba's group third place, otherwise their budget would be a measly 10,000 points.

"For more details, please check your envelopes! Otherwise, let the great GEN cook off... begin!"

Ryouta shared with everyone the contents of the letter he received moments earlier from Hiryuu-sensei.

Super intense cook off! Make a meal based on burgers!
Rules!
● The time limit is three hours!
● You must make one same dish for each judge!
● Follow all basic hygiene guidelines!
● You can increase or decrease your budget as you like!
● Passing food others cooked as your own is prohibited!
● Sabotaging other group's food or cooking stations is prohibited!
● Violence between groups is prohibited!
● The group that comes first will get the remaining budget from all groups transferred to them!
● The bottom three groups will all get -1 cumulative points!
Monetary Budget - Ryouta Group
● Group value: 16,000 Pr
● Placement value: 9,000 Pr
● Total value: 25,000 Pr

Inside the envelope was also a small device that tracked our money. It functioned similarly to the school app, allowing us to spend the private points preloaded on it however we liked.

"Talk about a jump... we went from no punishments to possibly losing a cumulative point and having the results of the last challenge directly affect our budget this challenge." Ryouta said.

"Good thing we got seven of them yesterday, huh?" Ikeda said.

"Let's not make the same mistake as we did yesterday and head straight to the kitchen. We need to buy good ingredients before the others do." Machida said.

"I agree... by the way, can you cook, Machida-san?"

"Hell no. I just don't want someone to beat us to the punch again."

It seems Shigeru's swift action from yesterday was still on his mind. However, it looked like a lot of groups had the same idea as us, as they also began to head to the kitchen as soon as they could, rather than hang around in the hall to wrap their head around this challenge. I guess everyone is starting to realise that having an early start compared to the others makes a huge difference.

Entering the kitchen, it was completely devoid of the mess our group and Shimada's group caused yesterday. At the front was Hirose-sensei, manning all the ingredients we were meant to "buy" off him.

It seems everything had a price tag, with the higher quality ingredients costing more than their regular versions. Each cooking station was assigned to a group through a nameplate, and our one was at the back.

Before we could get ready to cook, we had to first sort out two things: how we would spend the budget, and who would be our head chef.

"So... if I may ask, is anyone in our group capable of cooking?" Ryouta said.

We all looked at each other, hoping that at least one of us had some experience in cooking. Ikeda was the first brave soul to come forward.

"To be honest... ever since coming to this school, I haven't cooked myself once at all. The girls end up giving me so much of their handmade food at lunch, I end up just eating what I didn't finish for dinner..."

I can't tell if that was a casual flex or a problem only ikemen experienced.

"At the very least, I can make rice."

"But everyone can make rice..."

For some reason, Machida looked away. Could he not use a rice cooker...?

"Personally, I don't cook. I survive off energy drinks, tortilla chips, and occasionally cup ramen." Satou said.

"I can't cook. I just order food from takeaways." Machida said.

Well, he was in B Class, so he could afford to do that much.

"I mainly just buy ready meals." Matsushita said.

"I can cook a little, but I don't know how much it'll help..." Ryouta said.

Then, he turned to me and Zyriot.

"How about you two? Can you guys cook?"

"...does being a master at instant ramen count?"

"My condolences."

Hey, why are you treating it like it's a bad thing? Ramen burgers are trendy these days, I could've been useful.

"I'm kind of surprised you guys didn't immediately look at me when this challenge got announced." Zyriot said.

"Eh? Why's that?"

"I'm American. We specialise in burgers."

Zyriot exuded an air of confidence as he dramatically declared in English that he would singlehandedly carry the rest of us to victory in this challenge. However, the significance of this crucial information was lost in translation.

"...I didn't understand a word he said." Matsushita said.

"He said he's American." Machida said.

"But even more importantly, he can cook! Zyriot-san is our saviour!" Ikeda said.

"That's right. You guys can leave it to me... I've got the perfect mouthwatering recipe that will make us stand out in this cooking competition."

Zyriot smirked, washing his hands, putting on an apron, and snapping back some rubber gloves. I couldn't tell you if he was a professional chef or mafia member, especially when he was casually tossing a sharpened knife up and down.

"So cool..." Satou said.

"If there's anything we can do to help, tell us please!" Ryouta said.

"Yeah. I might not be able to cook, but I can gather ingredients!" Ikeda said.

"I'll help by not getting your way." Matsushita said.

Is that really helping, though...?

"If you aren't going to get involved, you might as well leave." Machida said.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"You're just taking up space in the kitchen. It gets busy and hectic cooking multiple things at once, so it's better if you're out of the way completely."

"But... aren't we supposed to work as a group? We can't exactly leave this kitchen if we're all meant to work together."

"There's no rule stating we have to stay in the kitchen. Since the computer room is open for us during the challenge, you can just head over there and kill time on the internet until the three hours are up. That's what I was planning to do anyways."

As usual, it was Machida who was out of sync with the rest of us. Even if most of us were useless in the kitchen, we all still wanted to help Zyriot in any way we could. However, he selfishly didn't want to, instead choosing to leave under a flimsy excuse.

In reality, he was just trying to get out from contributing to this challenge, since it'd make him look like a hypocrite if he didn't. Earlier, he was criticising Ikeda for being useless in the scavenger hunt, but in this challenge, he was just as bad as the rest of us.

"Machida-san, you were going to leave straightaway?!" Ryouta said.

"You have a problem with that? The other groups are doing the same."

He gestured over to Akihiro's and Koishi's group, which were leaving their cooks in the kitchen and having the unnecessary members move to the computer room. Before Ryouta could respond however, Zyriot spoke up.

"Sorry Matsushita-san and Ryouta-san, but I agree with Machida-san on this one. Too many cooks spoil the broth. It's an English saying meaning that, if too many people get involved, the end product will be worse. As harsh as it is to say it, you're contributing less by staying here and taking up precious space."

Indeed, having all of seven of us standing around in one cooking station made it really cramped. Even if we moved to the outskirts, there would still only be limited space to move between the countertops, stove, and oven.

I suppose the reason we didn't feel it yesterday was because we had the entire space for ourselves. Things were different now that we were secluded to one area, and couldn't spread out since other groups were also using the kitchen.

"I do truly appreciate everyone's offer to help, but I only need two people at most to assist me. The rest of you can go and do whatever you want, I don't mind."

"Zyriot-san... are you sure? It feels unfair if we make you do all the work... and if half of us leave, we won't be completing the challenge as a team."

"I understand your worries, but it's for the best. Most of people here are novices anyways. It'd be more troublesome if they messed up doing a task I'd assigned them, since it'd waste both time and ingredients. In case we come first, I'd like to preserve as much of the budget as possible to earn those remains."

It made me wonder how each group would spend their budget. Would the groups who have no chance of winning spend all their budget so they wouldn't give any excess to the winner? Or would everyone try to stay on a strict budget to maximise the excess payout?

It was a tricky balance to strike, but it was perfectly clear those who could cook had a huge advantage in this challenge, since they could save their budget by elevating cheap ingredients to be on the same level as expensive ones through their skills. In some ways, E Class and D Class might have an edge here too, since we were used to cooking on a budget daily.

"In that case, I'm going. Call me when they announce the results."

Machida didn't waste any time, leaving without hesitation. Ryouta frowned seeing him go, but understood Zyriot didn't mind this.

"Ishigami-san, Ryouta-san, would you two stay with me? You two seem to be most helpful in this challenge, with Ishigami-san's ability to budget, and Ryouta-san's experience in cooking."

"...me? Sure thing."

Satou seemed surprised, but I kind of expected this since he was Zyriot's right hand man back when they were in D Class.

"Please don't put too much expectation on me, I said I could only do it a little...."

"Takanori-san, Matsushita-san, shall we go?" Ikeda said.

"...yeah. I guess there's no point staying here." Matsushita said.

Ikeda went to go to the computer room. Matsushita was about to follow him, but he looked at me.

"Takanori-san, aren't you coming?"

"I'll join you guys later. I want to check something out first."

"Alright then."

Matsushita waved goodbye to the three cooks, and I left our cooking station to go strategically scope out the other groups.

The first group I decided to check out was Mitsuba's group. Considering we helped each other in the last challenge, I thought they'd be open to telling me what their plan was, but when I visited them...

"What endz are you mans from bruv?"

"...I'm sorry?"

John stepped forward, getting up into my face and confronting me.

"Bruv, dun make mans say it twice. Which endz are you mans from cous? Postcodes and dat, zzzraplt!"

John whipped out a plastic spoon from his jacket before snapping it in half and pointing it's sharp end at me.

"Why would I tell you where I live...?"

"You mans fookin' dumb blud? Mans asking which donny you mans working for, not where you mans ressy in!"

I stared at John blankly.

"You know that I'm from Ryouta-san's group."

"So you mans working for da opps! Ah, mandem, did you lot hear dat?! Dis wastemans not from our endz bruv! Wasteman's an impostor, bare pasta ting!"

Suddenly, Yukimura, Mitsuba, Tanaka, and Albert all looked my way. They joined John in confronting me, forming a human wall between me and their cooking station. What the heck is going on...?

"Hang on, I'm just here to talk to you guys since we're in the same class..."

"Dat dun matter blud. If you mans not part uv dis group, da mandem can't truss you bruv. Iss noting personal, popop, but you mans an opp, and you mans kno what da mandem do wid da opps?"

John crossed his neck with his homemade shank.

"We dispose uv dem. But since mans likes you, no homo, mans gonna be bare generous and let you mans Audi like you mans making luv to a baddie or you mans bird before you mans get proper cheffed by us lot, shink shink!"

Seeing as talking to him would go nowhere, I decided to switch my conversation targets.

"Mitsuba-san, what are you guys—"

"You have been blocked!"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Mitsuba shoved his hand in my face and looked away like I was filth.

"...what?"

"I said you have been blocked! Virtually blocked!"

"I just wanted to see how you're doing..."

Mitsuba refused to respond, instead flicking his chin away from me. At that moment, Yukimura stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, staring down at me with a menacing scowl. It honestly looked like he was going to murder me.

"You won't be able to see anything once I'm done ripping your eyeballs out, Takanori!"

"Yukimura-san, not you too..."

Seriously, what's up this suddenly hostile air? I helped their group come third last challenge and this is how I'm treated? I seriously need better classmates...

"It's not just Yukimura-dono de gozaru! If you want to see how Nora-himechan is doing, you must get through me, Lord Tanaka-sama of the Six Heavenly Devil Chainmail Seals first, de gozaru!"

Wouldn't a "heavenly devil" just be a fallen angel? Actually, why am I even entertaining his chuunibyou delusions...

"When I eat this special blend of crystals, my latent power gets released, de gozaru! You don't want to see me when the power of Zerog flows through my veins, de go ha ha ha zaru!"

Tanaka shoved in my face a bag of sugar and a bag of salt. I think it was more concerning that their group spent part of their budget on purchasing those items just for the sake of a joke.

...it's a joke, right?

"It's as Tanaka-sama says. If you wish to meet the princess, you'll have to get through all of us." Albert said.

"H-hang on, did you just say "princess"...?"

"Didn't you know de gozaru?! Nora-himechan is the descendant of the royal Yukihira bloodline, known for their deep spiritual connection to the God of food and taste, Ambrosia-kamisama de gozaru! Once he has tapped into his inner godly powers, like yours truly, he will be the one who will lead us to this victory de gozaru!"

I'm starting to feel like I'm missing a lot of context here... in the first place, why are they calling him a princess when he's a guy? Shouldn't he be the prince? Also, the name "Yukihira" is from a popular anime about cooking, not a legendary royal family...

Not to mention, Ambrosia isn't even a God in any culture, but rather the food and drink Greek gods and goddesses consumed. I thought Tanaka was into this stuff, how did he get so much wrong...?

"Tsk tsk tsk. I guess the mighty Takanori-kun isn't so mighty after all, o ho ho ho! In this challenge, we're not gonna lose! Our team will win, because we have Nora-chan on our side, the strongest chef!"

Mitsuba threw back his head and cackled smugly, flipping me off with an evil grin. So this was their strategy, huh...? Since Nora was the only one who could cook in their group, they were going to make him carry the rest of them in this challenge.

However, as not to seem useless, as well to protect their most important member from any harm, the rest of them were acting as his personal bodyguards, shielding him from any potential threats. He was truly the princess in this group...

"S-stop it Mitsuba-san, I'm not that good..."

I looked over Mitsuba's shoulder, seeing Nora for the first time today. He was pouting, turning red from how much the boys were complimenting him. However, my heart started racing seeing him in an apron.

In that moment, I truly thought Nora was wife material. While everyone else was wearing basic white ones, he was wearing a frilly pink apron. I have no idea where they found this or how they managed to pull it off, but it was breathtaking.

His adorable form and beautiful figure while chopping those onions was nearly enough to bring me to tears. It fit him so perfectly, I had to stop and reconsider my own sexuality for a second.

"I see you too have been entranced by Takayuki-san's beauty, my brother."

Mikitaka sniffled, throwing an arm around me and nodding in understanding.

"...I'm starting to understand his appeal, yeah."

Crap, this is dangerous. I thought I was immune to the feminine charms of girls, but with Nora, I can't seem to resist...

"T-Takanori-kun, please don't stare at me so much..."

Nora, noticing my transfixed gaze, pleaded for me to stop while tears formed in the corner of his round eyes. To be honest, it only made him look more cute seeing him get embarrassed like that, but...

"I-if you continue... I-I'll have no choice but to gouge your eye out... ♥︎"

Shivers ran down my spine as Nora raised his knife, smiling sweetly at me.

Ah... maybe the most dangerous one here is him after all... I think I should leave.

The next group I decided to check out was Shimada's group, if only to talk to Kouji and Kawaguchi. However, when I arrived at their station, I was surprised to find that Shimada was the only one there.

"...what happened to the rest of your group?"

"Don't need them."

Shimada replied bluntly, continuing to cook even in my presence. I suppose with a memory like his, learning how to make a burger in seconds would be dead easy. Reading a recipe or watching a tutorial once would be more than enough.

"You have some pretty high quality ingredients too..."

Not only was he hand grinding the meat, but he was using a special blend of both beef and pork. The cheese wasn't your typical American cheese either, but rather a premium sharp cheddar imported from Europe.

"I have the budget to indulge a little."

Indeed, because they came in first place yesterday, they received an additional 10,000 Pr. That meant, in total, Shimada's group had 29,000 Pr to spend. Even with these fancy ingredients, he could still easily have around 15,000 leftover to contribute to the winner's bonus.

"I'm honestly a little surprised you're handling everything yourself. I thought you'd at least make Yamamoto-san or Nakajima-san help you out."

"Nah. This isn't much of a group challenge anyways."

Shimada began forming balls of meat by slapping the ground beef and pork together.

"You're right about that. Though I suppose there's still an element of cooperation in..."

"Compromise."

Before I could even finish, Shimada correctly guessed what I was going to say. It seems we both came to the same conclusion on what the true core of this challenge is.

"...yeah."

It was testing our ability to negotiate between members and still function as a group afterwards.

The premise for this is the amount of people in a group versus the amount of people necessary to actually cook a meal. In theory, you could complete this challenge with only one person, which is what Ryouta's, Mitsuba's, and Shimada's groups are all doing.

This is because you don't need seven people in the kitchen at once to make a meal for five people. While you could involve everyone in the group to contribute to the dish, it'd only really be for a massive project that requires a lot of hands, but at our current skill level, no one in our year was capable of executing such a thing.

Also, while it may make sense to have multiple people working together to cook, since that's how many chefs operate in restaurants, this system only works there because they have to timely feed multiple people. Since we're in a judging scenario, we don't have the same restrictions, and thus can get away with a smaller team.

Naturally, due to this division, the group would be split between the "cooks" and the "non-cooks". This is where the "compromise" aspect of the challenge comes in - there's an inherent unfairness in how the "cooks" do all the work in this challenge, whereas the "non-cooks", who will contribute nothing, are essentially allowed to skip this challenge because they are useless.

No matter how you look at it, it's strange. Those without talent are rewarded, while those with talent are burdened. This, coupled with the fact the "non-cooks" also have access to using the computer room (a luxury not available to us normally), it would naturally spark jealousy and tension between members of the group.

After all, it's like solo working on a group project and having to share credit with the people on your group despite them not contributing anything. They got to mess around while you had to carry the team. That inherit unfairness may be enough to split a group, so in order to prevent that from happening, "compromises" have to made in exchange so things feel "fair" again.

An example of this would be Mitsuba's group, where, despite Nora is handling everything, the rest of the group stays with him anyways to show that they don't want him to be the only one burdened. It ensures a level of fairness that actually reinforces the group's bond, rather than strain it though unfair labour distribution.

Shimada used this in an opposite way. Knowing that he could solo carry this challenge by himself, he used this challenge as an opportunity to increase his group's faith in him by essentially giving them the day off. After what he made them go through yesterday, especially Kawaguchi, this small gesture might be enough to relieve some tension between him and them.

"By the way, I'd appreciate it if you don't roundhouse kick Kawaguchi-san again."

"It's not like you to care about your classmates."

"You really didn't hold back though yesterday... he was completely passed out when Ryouta-san and the others brought him to the infirmary."

"He's awake today. Isn't that enough?"

Shimada started chopping sweet potatoes into matchstick shapes.

"If you kicked him any harder, he would've had good reason to retire from this exam. If that happened..."

He stabbed the knife into the chopping board, grinning eerily.

"I get it, you don't need to explain. I'll hold back next time."

"...thanks. I'd prefer not to use Kouji-san anyways."

"Me too. He's quite the obedient fellow. Easy to control. It'd be a shame if we lost him."

I left, having nothing else to say to Shimada. The next group I went to scout out was Shigeru's, as they were the most likely to employ sneaky tricks in this challenge. However, when I went over to their station, their leader was nowhere to be found.

Instead, it was just Ayano and Masamoto, both working together to create a pub style burger. Masamoto was in charge of the actual burger meat, whereas Ayano was in charge of frying the bacon and onion rings.

"Ayano-san, how are your injuries from yesterday?"

As I greeted them, Masamoto gave me the stink eye. It seems he didn't welcome my presence, but since I was here to have a chat with a classmate, he didn't say a word against it.

"...about the same. I guess they hurt a little more than before."

"Damn... to be honest, I'm surprised you're here cooking. I thought your group would give you a break, especially after what happened."

"Since I make meals for Hana from time to time, I'm one of the few people on our group who knows how to cook. If we want to win... well, I don't have a choice."

Considering the rest of them were delinquents, it's no wonder Ayano and Masamoto were left in charge to make the food. Ayano leaned forward, whispering into my ear.

"To be honest... if Masamoto-san wasn't with me, I would purposely sabotage them after what they did to me yesterday."

Hearing that scared me a little. I never thought Ayano was the type to take revenge. A large fracture was about to be formed in Shigeru's group due to Yamaguchi's actions. I wouldn't be surprised if Shigeru traded Ayano out after realising he was a ticking time bomb.

"How'd you end up joining Shigeru-san's group anyways...?"

"It was just for convenience's sake. I was desperate to join a group since time was running out and I didn't want to be part of a group full of leftovers. However, actually finding one was harder than I imagined because I don't have any friends aside from Hana. Most people from the other classes don't know me, and most of our class hates me for what I said back in June."

"Do you still think that?"

"Of course. You magically becoming leader doesn't make me suddenly care for the class anymore than I did before. My priority is Hana, first and foremost."

I'll admit, I was a little jealous of Ayano's conviction to protect Kita. I used to be like that when I was little... completely obsessed with protecting the one I loved. However, unlike Ayano, I was a coward who was powerless to do anything.

Even now, I'm still like that. I'm unable to keep my precious things safe, because I know that one day, they could vanish overnight if I'm not careful... he was someone who was able to achieve was my pipe dream.

The dream that I could be strong enough to protect the person I cared about most.

"...if I can ask, why are you so attached to Kita-san?"

"We're friends from middle school, like you and Kazuraba-san."

"How did you two meet? You two don't seem like the type to be friends."

Ayano began chopping up onions. It's raw, pungent smell stung my nose.

"...I could say the same about you."

"Yukina only became as popular as she was in our 3rd Year of middle school. She was actually a loner like me back then."

"I guess we're not too dissimilar after all."

"What do you mean?"

"...I guess you could call me the reverse of Kazuraba-san? I was once super popular, but during my 3rd Year, that stopped."

"Really? I would've never imagined you being like that..."

"It's true, unfortunately. I don't know why, but a lot of people looked up to me. It was kind of exciting at first, but soon it got really annoying... really, really annoying. Everything I'd do, they'd copy me. Everything I'd do, they'd follow me. As someone who valued my own independence and preferred keeping to myself, dealing with their personal questions was such a hassle..."

I think this was the first time I heard someone resent the fact they were popular. As someone who's been a loner my entire life, I had no clue that this was the kind of trouble that came from being well liked by so many people.

"I'd gotten sick of it, so at the end of my 2nd Year, I decided to do something about it. I'd decided to do everything in my power to become as unpopular as possible. And there was one clear route to that..."

Ayano put down his knife and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand.

"...befriend Hana, who was the most hated person in our class."

"She was the most hated person...?"

"That's... the best way I can put it, since no one liked her. She was a loner. She was seen as a loser. She was treated like a weirdo. She was seen as... beneath everybody else. However, I never understood why that was the case. I don't think Hana ever did anything wrong or hurt anybody. Sure, she was anti-social and difficult to communicate with, but she was always quiet, polite, and kept to herself. Regardless of the reason, our class treated her like she was sub-human. Like she was an alien from another planet. And for that reason, anyone who dared to associate with her was also treated the same way."

Hearing that brought back some dark memories of my own. I could painfully relate to how Kita was treated in middle school since I was the exact same... like her, everyone in class isolated me and pretended like I didn't exist.

"I'll admit that I used Hana at first for my own selfish reasons. In fact, when I first tried being friends with her, I hated the fact she could barely hold a conversation and always stuttered through her words. But... everything changed when I saw the beautiful art she'd doodle in her notebooks."

Just a little, Ayano smiled.

"No one knows this, but Hana is an amazing artist. Her drawing skills are incredible... genuinely. She's full of talent, yet no one saw it because everyone pushed her away. And I always hated that she never got the acknowledgement she deserved as a result. If anything, she should've been the popular one... not me. I thought it'd be such a waste if her talent was never seen, so I proposed we should make a manga together. I would handle the scripts while she would handle the art. And ever since... I suppose you can say we were joined by the hip."

Thinking back, I do remember Ayano sketching out a neimu back in May, just before the midterms. So this was the reason why... I would've never imagined he and Kita were secretly a manga making duo in their spare time.

"Hana gets embarrassed whenever someone brings it up, so don't suddenly ask her to draw something for you. If you're curious, I can show you some drafts we've done in the past someday."

"Yeah, that'd be cool."

Slowly, I'm starting to understand why Ayano was popular in middle school. Beneath his cold exterior was a genuinely passionate and solicitous person.

Afterwards, I left to examine Yahagi's group, as they were the other main threat in my mind. Since I knew they wouldn't welcome my presence, I decided to watch them from a distance for my own safety.

It looks like Keisaki was taking the lead, which made sense since he worked in my aunt's restaurant. Aside from Hayashi (the E Class student) and Maehara, most of their group stayed to assist him. I guess there's nothing to worry about then.

"Takanori-san, you're still here?"

Ryouta, noticing me wandering around the kitchen, greeted me with a small smile.

"Just checking on my classmates."

"Ah... are you concerned for them?"

I looked over my shoulder at Mitsuba's group, who was making good progress thanks to Nora.

"A little bit, yeah. But I think they'll be fine now."

"I'm glad to hear. If anything does end up troubling you though... if you want, please don't hesitate to come talk to me. I may not be the best at giving advice, but... I can be all ears."

"...thanks."

After that strange encounter with Ryouta, I headed to the computer room to see what it was like there.