"Sensei... sorry to be so rude about this, but this has to be some kind of mistake."

After hearing about his fate, instead of freaking out about it like the others, Masamoto calmly stepped towards Hiden-sensei and questioned the validity of the results.

"I've been keeping track of the flow of blame and praise votes in our group, and by far Ayano-san of D Class has the most blame votes. It should be him being sent to E Class, not me."

Hiden-sensei chuckled, nodding his head.

"Yes, of course. If you only look at how it's like on the surface, then it would appear that Kishi-kun has more blame votes than you. However... do you know how many blame votes you ended on, Shinhon-kun?"

"Between ten to fourteen."

"Wrong."

Hiden-sensei shook his head, frowning.

"As much as it pains me to say this, especially as you are one of my students... you ended up gathering 30 blame votes. In comparison, Kishi-kun only received 28."

"...what?"

Masamoto's shoulders slumped.

"That can't be... the math doesn't add up. In total, there can only be 49 blame votes spread out amongst all the members of a group, yet the numbers you're presenting add up to 58, far exceeding the total. How can this be, sensei?"

"Think about it carefully, Shinhon-kun. Was there any point in the special exam where your group could've earned more blame votes?"

Masamoto stared at him in disbelief, like it was obvious there was no such way. However, when Ryouta heard that major hint, his eyes widened in shock.

"There... shouldn't be..."

"Oh. But there is."

Shigeru laughed as he pivoted away from me and towards Masamoto, who looked at him over his shoulder.

It seems that he used his disdain towards me as a smokescreen for his real intentions of this special exam.

All I can say is Masamoto sealed his fate the moment he didn't realise what Shigeru's crafty trick was on the fourth day.

"What do you mean, Shigeru-san?"

"Huh. You're an A Class student, aren't you? You were even good enough to make it on the student council. Surely a genius like you can figure it out, right?"

Suddenly, the air around them became dark and twisted. His taunts pulled Masamoto and everyone else into a cold atmosphere.

"Do what your homeroom teacher says and think about it, Masamoto-san. Use that superior A Class brain of yours to explain to everyone here why you have more blame votes than Ayano-san. Or do you need me, a filthy E Class student on the verge of dropping out, to spell it out for you?"

Shigeru grinned as Masamoto's usually calm face contorted in agony. He was trying his hardest to decipher the situation, but the longer he took, the more humiliating the situation became.

"Come on, Masamoto-san. Imagine how disappointed Kishou-sama must feel, knowing that one of the people he hand picked for the student council can't even figure out a simple riddle like this. It's so painfully obvious..."

A bead of sweat ran down Masamoto's face.

"Look at the faces of Ryouta-san or Senzaki-san, or Ichinose-san or Takanori-san. It's clear they've all already figured it out. So why can't you? You're the only 1st Year A Class student to make it into the student council. That must mean you're more impressive than your peers, right? Come on man. Are you really going to lose to these people who are ranked lower than you? Or even worse..."

Shigeru stuck out his tongue and threw up both of his middle fingers at Masamoto.

"Are you going to let me, the bottom of the barrel trash of this school, get one over you?"

"Zenkichi-san, that's enough."

Zyriot finally intervened, putting a hand on Shigeru's shoulder.

"You don't have to say anymore hurtful things anymore. Everyone gets the point."

Shigeru shrugged him off and shook his head.

"Sorry, Zyriot-san. I can't stop now. Not when everyone in the lower classes have been waiting for a moment like this ever since the true nature of this school was revealed to us. Even you have too, right? The day we take these stuck up assholes down a peg."

Zyriot opened his mouth, like he was about to push back against Shigeru's statement. However, he closed his eyes and stepped back.

"...while I disavow the method you are using, I understand the sentiment of your... no, everyone's feeling on the matter. Don't make any more trouble than you already have though. These people will be under my care starting from next semester."

Shigeru's eyes relaxed as he smiled sincerely at him.

"Thank you, Zyriot-san."

He then turned his attention back to Masamoto, who was still trying to wrangle his head for an answer. However, Ryouta stepped forward, getting in between Shigeru and Masamoto.

"Ryouta-san... while I appreciate you trying to help, please stay out of this. This is my battle to fight. I don't want you getting caught up in it."

Ryouta shook his head at Masamoto's pleas.

"It's alright, Masamoto-san. It's precisely because you're in this situation that I feel a need to get myself involved. Both as your friend, your classmate, as well as your leader."

"Ain't it a bit late to spout your crappy power of friendship slop now, Ryouta-san? Masamoto-san's getting pissed down the drain into E Class and there's nothing you can do about it."

Ryouta turned his gaze towards Shigeru, and smiled. Shigeru raised an eyebrow, but his cocksure grin remained.

"Private points."

"Oh wow, what an obvious answer. Of course rich people like you will make all your problems go away with money. It's all you guys ever know how to do. Seriously though, are you actually gonna waste your points just to prevent this from happening? Seems like a bad investment if you ask me."

"No, I'm answering your question from earlier. The reason Masamoto-san has 30 blame votes is because you bought them with private points."

Shigeru's cocksure grin evolved to a wide smile.

"Ho? So you finally figured it out, eh? As expected of the leader of A Class. Masamoto-san could learn a thing or two from you."

Ryouta continued smiling, even in the face of insults being hurled at his friends. Masamoto's eyes widened.

"Huh...? But there shouldn't be any way for him to do that either! Our phones were banned for this special exam... unless... no way..."

Masamoto covered his mouth upon realising where the trick lied. Shigeru laughed.

"It's exactly what you think. I used the private points our group was given on the second day for the cooking challenge to buy those blame votes on you. From the very start, my goal was to bring you into my group, make us lose on purpose, and drag you down to E Class. To make sure you wouldn't suspect anything, I had everyone else in the group vote on Ayano-san, making it look like he was going to be the one sent to E Class instead."

This obfuscation was strengthened by the fact that it was realistic for the group to hate Ayano because of his behaviour, and that Shigeru was acting as a neutral party due to his leader position, making it seem like he wasn't in cahoots with the others.

"So your real target of this special exam was A Class, huh...?"

"Huh? Are you stupid? If my real target was A Class, I wouldn't have gone after you. I would've gone after Ryouta-san, the strongest 1st Year. Imagine how stupid our class would become if we had both him and Zyriot-san working together? The tides would turn instantly in our favour if you guys lost him and our class gained him."

Indeed, the thought of Ryouta and Zyriot, the two strongest leaders in our year, teaming up together even scared me a little. Their combined prowess would easily form the foundation of the strongest class in our year.

"No... when I said that I wanted to drag you down to E Class, I really did mean you in specific, Masamoto-san."

"What? But we haven't even ever interacted with each other before until this week. Why are you going after me of all people?"

Shigeru scoffed.

"...of course you wouldn't remember."

Masamoto raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's as you say, we've never interacted with each other directly in the past. However, we were both there when we applied to join the student council at the start of this semester."

When Shigeru said that, Masamoto remembered.

"...and unlike you, I didn't make it in. Ever since that day, I've resented you. I kept asking myself, "why did he make it in and I didn't?". I wanted to change myself by coming to this school, and I wanted to start by joining the student council so I could finally do some good in this world. To make up for all the bad things I did in the past. But then I got denied. And my path forward was blocked off. And suddenly, I found myself reverting back to my old habits of being a delinquent. Everyday, I would think about the reasons why things ended up this way... but the answer became painfully obvious on that rainy May day."

Shigeru laughed self-deprecatingly, pulling at the Drachma red tie that hung loosely around his throat.

"It's all because I'm a stupid bottom feeder. Because I was in D Class, I was deemed unfit by the school to take the responsibilities of such a prestigious role. And so... as a stupid bottom feeder, this is my vengeance. And my proof to Kishou-sama and everyone else on the council that they lost someone special by not choosing me that day."

Shigeru stepped forward, grinning maliciously.

"If I can't have it... then you can't either. E Class students are strictly forbidden from being in the student council. Well, guess what you're about to become next semester? It's your loss, idiot. And even if you manage to crawl your way out of our class, there's no way Kishou-sama would want someone who was duped by an E Class dropout like me on the student council anymore. Your career is finished, Masamoto-san."

Masamoto crossed his arms, looking down at Shigeru with eyes of disgust.

"Your reasoning is ridiculous. You didn't make it in because the school had a vendetta against you... you didn't make it in because you had absolutely no merits for the student council to begin with. Spots on the council are highly competitive. You have to show off you're going to be of value before making it in. And that's exactly what me and Ichinose-san, who is a B Class student by the way, did. It's obvious your class or standing in the school has nothing to do with this. If you really wanted to change yourself, you would've focused on improving yourself for the better and stop being a delinquent, rather than revert to old habits and chase petty revenge against someone like me, who didn't even know you existed until now. That's how unremarkable you are. But I hope you're happy with yourself, Shigeru-san."

"Heh. Don't worry, I very much am. Not only did I get my revenge and kick you out of the student council, but I also hurt A Class and strengthened E Class in the process. I look forward to being in the same class as you next semester, Masamoto-san."

"I don't share the same sentiment whatsoever."

Masamoto sighed, unfolding his arms and turning towards Ryouta.

"Ryouta-san... I'm sorry. I failed our class by letting this delinquent get the better of me."

"It's alright, Masamoto-san... please don't apologise for things you have no fault in. I should've also done better to protect you from entering such a shady group..."

"No... I'll take full responsibility for this and go to E Class. It's the only just punishment for my foolishness. All I wanted to do was help A Class by joining a group with a 3x multiplier, but I should've been more cautious about who my teammates were... no, I should've also recognised what was going on under the surface sooner and transferred out on day four while I still could. This is my mistake to bear, and my mistake to bear alone."

Ironically, if Masamoto had went along with Yahagi's idea of A Class solidarity, then it was possible that all of this could've been avoided. He then turned to Ichinose, who had been watching all of this from afar.

"Ichinose-san, the next time you see Kishou-sama, please ask him to forgive me. I failed to meet his expectations by losing here."

"Nya... Masamoto-kun..."

Ichinose sniffled, making Masamoto chuckle.

"Don't make such a sad face. Even if this means you're the only 1st Year on the student council now, that just makes you even more valuable of a member for Kishou-sama and the others. Please continue to do your best, especially on my behalf as well."

"Of course! I'll definitely continue working the hardest I can for everybody in our year! And... I'm also going to miss working with you lots too, Masamoto-kun!"

Ichinose nodded resolutely, before giving Masamoto a farewell hug. Masamoto smiled slightly, hugging her back.

If Masamoto was impressive enough to be acknowledged by Kishou of all people when he applied, then Zyriot's class should enjoy his presence and use his abilities while they still can, because it's clear his time in E Class won't last very long.

And personally, I would've liked if Masamoto moved up to D Class too, as he would make for another powerful student we could add to our ever growing roster.

"And that concludes the results of the Mixed Outdoors Bootcamp special exam! Thank you everyone for listening, as well as your participation and patience over the course of this long week! But now, finally, after all this time, summer is here, and your vacation can truly begin! Details for departure will be delivered later this evening and in the morning, so please, kick back, relax, and get some well earned rest tonight! You all deserve it!"

The moment Hiden-sensei dismissed us, relief flooded the atmosphere, breaking apart the leftover tension. Wanting to get out of the hall as soon as possible, everyone began making their way to the exit, creating a large crowd that congested access to the door.

What a pain... I guess I'll fallback and hover around for now until there's some more space available to squeeze through.

"Wake up, Kouji-san. It's all over now."

Yukina gently shook Kouji, forcing him awake.

"Huh... it is...? Did we win...?"

Yukina giggled.

"Yes, Kouji-san. Our class won."

"Ah... yatta... good job you two... you guys are the best..."

Kouji yawned, rubbing his eyes. Yukina laughed as she supported him.

"Yuu, I'm going to go direct this sleepyhead back to his room before going to bed myself. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. I guess that means I'll see you tomorrow morning, Yukina?"

"Yeah, that sounds good! See you during breakfast then, Yuu!"

I nodded, waving goodbye as Yukina and Kouji went on ahead to return to their rooms.

While waiting for the crowd to thin out, I used this time to calculate the net amount of class points each class gained or lost from this special exam, as none of the teachers actually told us.

After a quick mental calculation, these were the results that I came to.

A Class: +830 Cl (+435 on the boy's side, +395 on the girl's side)
B Class: +425 Cl (+125 on the boy's side, +300 on the girl's side)
C Class: +130 Cl (+80 on the boy's side, +50 on the girl's side)
D Class: +495 Cl (+200 on the boy's side, +295 on the girl's side)
E Class: +410 Cl (+110 on the boy's side, +300 on the girl's side)

It was safe to say that A Class won this special exam by a landslide. They got about just double what everyone else earned. We managed to scrape second place in terms of gain, barely beating out B Class by 70 Cl.

C Class, having the most group leaders at the bottom, performed the worst and had most of their payout negated. However, despite the huge margin in earning between our class and C Class, the amount we gained still wasn't enough to surpass them.

This was because they were currently sitting at a comfortable 650 Cl thanks to their performance in the Test Shuffle, which was just enough to cushion them from demotion, as even after this special exam, they would be ahead of us by around 100 points.

However, it was clear they were hanging on by a thread. Things were looking dire for them as they had lost four class members and were a hair's breadth away from losing their position to us.

Hopefully the results of this special exam will serve as a wakeup call for their class as a whole to start organising themselves properly, otherwise Suzune and Ikeda are going to be the ones who'll suffer most from this.

Well, I won't complain if they keep going down this route either. It just means it'll be easier for our class to overtake them and become C Class.

The real challenge after that is taking down B Class. Even if Machida is stripped of his faction, he would still be a major roadblock in our path to the top. He's the type to stop at nothing to crush the competition, even if it means playing dirty.

Then of course, there was the true leader of B Class, Ichinose. She and her defensive front of tight knit classmates will be a huge wall to overcome. If Kirishima is any indication of their power level, our class will struggle like hell to get over them.

And if we manage to get past them...

I looked up, staring at Ryouta, who was talking to Suzune and Ikeda.

...he's next.

"Oi, Takanori. Looks like this is farewell for me too. You gonna miss me?"

Approaching me from behind was Yamaguchi, talking in a mocking tone. I turned around, looking up at him and his twisted smile.

"Not particularly."

"Good. Because I wanted to leave this class of dumbasses the moment a loser like you became leader."

"...you disagree with my methods that badly?"

"Nah. I just don't like you."

Yamaguchi laughed, shoving me in the chest. I stumbled back slightly.

"...were you working with Shigeru-san from the very beginning?"

"Of course. I was helping him reach his goal, and he was helping me reach my goal. That guy is crazy though. He wanted me to push him off that cliff just so he could make his group's downfall look believable and make himself get retired so I could become leader."

This was also another reason why Ayano was used as a patsy. When Yamaguchi became leader, he began ordering his group to throw all his challenges on purpose, making it look like he was trying to get revenge on his own classmate by losing.

"And then you lost everything on purpose so you could have a free ticket out of being in my class, right?"

"You forgot the part where I'm transferring to a class led by someone competent, rather than an impotent cuck like you."

Yamaguchi laughed, throwing up his middle finger at me.

"Zyriot-san's a thousand times stronger than you, you know? Your class is gonna get whooped next month, and the rankings will be reversed. When the dust settles, his class will be the victor in this, not your lame ass cuck squad. See you losers on the other side."

"You're talking really big right now, but if you were ever actually important to my class, then I would've done something to try and prevent Shigeru-san from taking you away from us. From my point of view, the two of you are actually doing me a favour."

"Huh? Yeah right. Come on now, don't start with these cope ass excuses like "I didn't stop you because I wanted this to happen". All I hear is "wah wah wah, I'm so dumb". Face the truth, Takanori. You just weren't able to."

"I knew about your plan since the second day. I could've used the private points my group had to buy praise votes and put them on you, nullifying you being sent to E Class."

"You weren't even group leader. How would you convince Shimada to that, huh?"

"Funny you say that. Did you know that he's the one who found out about the fact you guys spent those private points on blame votes?"

"What? How did he do that?"

"He simply asked the teacher you guys bought them from— Anjou-sensei. It's surprising what kind of information you can find out without spending a single penny just by being kind to someone. Anyways, it's how me and Shimada-san figured out your group's plan from that early on. We could've easily done something to stop it from happening, me especially as D Class's leader... but we didn't. Because we deemed the people being sent to E Class as assets not valuable enough to be worth saving."

"Ha ha ha... I'm not even surprised you think I'm trash. You really do hate my guts, don't you?"

"Hate is a very strong emotion. Holding it towards you would devalue it's meaning. Simply put, I don't care whether you're in my class or not. You were a bad influence from the very start. Ever since she stopped hanging around you, Shouko-san's bitchiness has dropped drastically, to the point it's now nearly disappeared completely. The same goes for Suzuki-san, who is surprisingly chill once you get to know her. You brought out the worst from these two and ditched them the moment they tried bettering themselves. You're the real loser here, Yamaguchi-san."

"Why don't you prove that by beating me in a fight outside? This special exam is over now. The rule of no violence is gone."

"No thanks."

"Ha ha, you scared I'll beat you to a pulp?"

"Does it look like I'm shaking?"

"You will be the moment I try laying my hands on someone you give two craps about."

"Go ahead and try. I'll stop you without stooping down to your level as well."

"God, you're dry."

As I turned around to ignore him, Yamaguchi smacked me in the back of my head before leaving with his delinquent friends.

"Yuu-yuu, are you okay?!"

Rushing over to me was Shouko, who gently placed her hands near the spot I was hit and checked it.

"Shouko-san...? What are you still doing here?"

"Ah... umm, I wanted to talk to you, but I saw you were talking to Yamaguchi-san, and got a little bit nosy..."

"...how much did you hear?"

"Most of it... sorry."

"It's fine. Thank you for checking."

Shouko removed her hands from my head, breathing a sigh of relief that everything looked okay.

"To be honest, I'm not surprised Yamaguchi-san went so far to get out of our class this badly... all of his friends are in E Class. And, aside from me and Mayuri-chan, he hated everyone else in our class."

"He thought that lowly of us, huh?"

"Yeah... he once said that it was like being part of a group of wimps."

"...well, he's not exactly wrong, but by the school's measure, he was determined to be just as bad as the rest of us."

"Actually, that's one thing I never understood about Yamaguchi-san. I know our class was meant to be made up of defectives and failures, but he seems like a way better fit for Zyriot-san's class considering he's just like... well, like all the other delinquents."

"My best guess is that, like Kawaguchi-san, something happened in his past that made him qualify for being an E Class student... if you don't mind telling me, did he ever say you anything about what his life was like before coming here?"

"No, not really... come to think of it, I don't think he ever talked much about his personal life at all."

"That's probably the answer then."

While I could stand around and speculate what Yamaguchi did in the past to end up in E Class originally, there was no good reason to do so anymore since he was going to leave our class.

"Anyways, sorry for the detour. What did you want to talk to me about, Shouko-san?"

"Ah... um..."

Shouko looked away, fidgeting with her hands. She bit her bottom lip, squeezed her eyes shut, and bowed deeply in front of me.

"I-I'm sorry, Yuu-yuu... because my group came seventh, our class lost Cl... and it's my fault. Please forgive me..."

Even though I was expecting this due to how guilty she looked when the results got announced, it was still jarring to see Shouko, a usually stubborn and obstinate person, take responsibility for what happened, let alone apologise profusely over it as well.

"Thank you for the apology, but it's alright. I forgive you. Even if your group placed higher than seventh, things wouldn't have changed much."

"Really...?"

"Really. The difference in the amount of Cl each class gained in this special exam is larger than the amount we forfeited from your group's placement, so it's not a huge loss for us. I would've been more concerned if your group ranked eighth or lower, because then we would be losing another person. And to be honest, I'd rather that you stay in our class."

Shouko raised her head in surprise at my words.

"You... want me in your class? Even though I'm not good at anything in particular...?"

"Who said that? You're good at being yourself, Shouko-san. And that's more than enough for me."

Her eyes widened, before she smiled lightly with a giggle.

"Thank you, Yuu-yuu. You can be surprisingly gentle, you know that?"

"I am...?"

"Yeah! It's like, you're super down to earth, despite being a genius and stuff."

"It's nothing that impressive though... I just think there's more to people than just what skills they offer."

"Not many people can think the same way, unfortunately."

"...I guess so, yeah."

"Shouko-chan, you coming or what?"

Interrupting our conversation was Suzuki, who was shouting from the crowd together with Alice and Katsumi.

"Ah, sorry! I'll be there in a sec!"

Shouko turned to me, waving goodbye.

"Sorry Yuu-yuu, I've gotta bounce now! Ah, just in case I don't see you tomorrow morning, I hope you have a nice summer holiday! If you go anywhere interesting, take some pictures for me, kay?"

"Sure... and the same to you too, Shouko-san. See you next semester."

I waved goodbye, watching her run off to join her friends.

Summer break, huh...?

Starting from tomorrow, our vacation would truly begin.

...I wonder what will await me on the other side of the boundary line.

I sighed, dispelling the thought.