All in all, this whole ordeal had taken about an hour and a half to clear up. By my estimates, the time was now 6:30pm, which was just enough leeway for me to return to the outdoors school safely without others seeing me and Shimada in this state.

When I arrived at the outdoors school, I surveyed the area first to make sure either Chabashira-sensei or Mikazuchi-sensei was there. In my first stroke of good luck in this challenge, Chabashira-sensei was standing by at the front of the school entrance.

I came out of hiding and approached her, carrying the still unconscious Shimada in my arms.

"...Chabashira-sensei."

When I called out her name, she turned around. Upon seeing me, her eyes widened, and she rushed over.

"Takanori-san... are you alright?"

I gave a light nod.

"A lot has happened. I'll explain more inside, but... first comes this."

I presented Shimada to her.

"Our group leader, Shimada-san, has fallen unconscious. On his behalf, our group would like to request for him to drop out of the special exam, since he's no longer fit to participate or lead us."

Chabashira-sensei took Shimada from my arms.

"Are you sure? You won't be able to undo this decision later, even if Shimada-san wakes up."

"Yes. In all likelihood, he would be forced to retire anyways due to his current state. I'm just speeding up the process."

"I understand... since it's your leader that's dropping out, we'll have your group decide on a new one before the next challenge tomorrow. Please inform the rest of them about this as soon as you can."

"I will. As for me, I'd like to retire from this challenge as a seeker."

"Considering the state you're in, I would've forced you to stop regardless. I'm glad you still have some common sense left if you."

Somehow, Chabashira-sensei looked relieved that I wanted to quit this challenge.

"Let me take Shimada-san to the paramedics, and I'll treat you in the infirmary room. Please wait for me there."

I nodded and headed straight to the infirmary. Thankfully, it was empty, so it would be safe to divulge the details of what happened to Chabashira-sensei here. I took a seat on one of the beds and sighed.

Today was exhausting... I wasn't expecting to get into two fights, let alone nearly die in one of them. As much as I am bitter about who saved me, I had to take it in stride and just be glad that I was still living.

My heart was pounding though. I don't know whether it was due to the blood loss or the adrenaline wearing off, but it was hurting more than before. Maybe I pushed myself too far in that final punch I dealt to Shimada...

"I'm coming in."

Chabashira-sensei announced her arrival, entering the room while holding a screwdriver. She noticed me sitting at the back of the infirmary and walked over, taking a seat on the chair next to the bed.

"What's up with that...?"

I pointed at the screwdriver she was holding.

"Hm? This?"

Chabashira-sensei tried to suppress her laugh to stay professional, but some of it leaked out.

"It's to take off your watch, silly."

"Oh..."

"Come on, give it here. I bet it's tiring having it on all day."

"Actually, about that..."

I presented both of my wrists to her, showing that they were naked.

"...I broke my watch. Or rather, I took it off."

"You took it off?"

Since she knew about my superhuman strength, she wasn't confused about how I managed to do it. Rather, Chabashira-sensei was confused on the reason why I did it instead.

"I guess I should start explaining... otherwise, none of this will make any sense."

"It would be appreciated. I don't know what you kids were doing out there, but after seeing the injuries you, Shimada-san, and Oshita-san have received... I can't help but feel uneasy about all this."

"You know about what happened to Oshita-san?"

"Yes... Mikazuchi-sensei told me about it when I returned from my shift."

"I see..."

"But first, we need to get you cleaned up."

Chabashira-sensei put down the screwdriver and took out a long hair clip, handing it to me.

"...what's this for?"

"It's to hold your bangs back."

"...eh?"

Before I could ask what she meant by that, Chabashira-sensei had already gotten up to go fill up a tub with warm water. From the cupboard, she grabbed a face towel and washed it under the tap, before squeezing it dry and putting it into the tub.

"You still haven't done it yet?"

As she returned, Chabashira-sensei noticed I was still holding onto the hair clip like a bumbling idiot. She put the tub of water onto the bedside table.

"I... I have no idea what you meant when you said that."

Chabashira-sensei sighed, but smiled a little.

"Honestly... you're such a child."

"W-what's that supposed to mean...?"

She took the hair clip out of my hands and pulled my bangs back, clipping it into place.

"I can't clean your face properly if your hair is getting in the way."

"...you know I can do that myself, right?"

"Oh, just be quiet and let me take care of you. It's the least I can do."

"Still, it's a little embarrassing to have you do this..."

"Don't worry, no one else is watching. It's just you and me in this room."

"There's a mirror over there, so I'll—"

Chabashira-sensei pressed the wet towel against my cheek, wiping it softly.

"—ahh, s-sensei..."

She giggled, pulling it away.

"Now, didn't that feel nice?"

I sighed, looking away.

"...since you're being so persistent, I guess maybe I could... let you do a little..."

"That's more like it. Raise your head for me then."

I did as she instructed, and Chabashira-sensei began cleaning the blood off my face. I can't help but feel like I've been in this situation before with her...

"If it hurts when I'm wiping, please tell me. I don't want you to be in more pain."

"It feels fine so far..."

"Then I'm glad."

Chabashira-sensei smiled, changing the water on the towel before going back to wipe my face. Even though her face didn't show it, I could tell from her lingering touch that she was worried about me.

"Is it alright if I tell you about it now while you're doing this?"

"Go ahead. I'll be listening."

"Thanks... it started back on the very first day of the special exam, or rather, just shortly after the explanation that was given to us on the bus. At that time, Shimada-san called me. On that phone call, he proposed a plan to me. It was to kill Nakajima Rokurou-san from E Class."

Chabashira-sensei's hand stopped briefly before continuing.

"That's... not what I expected to hear, but somehow I'm not surprised by it either... why Nakajima-san though? It seems like an unusual target."

"...it's complicated, but to be honest, it's not all that relevant to what happened."

Since she didn't know about Nakajima's connection to us as an assassin, I avoided giving her a direct answer.

"I see. Considering Nakajima-san is still participating in the challenge, I assume that means Shimada-san failed to kill him?"

"That's right. In this special exam, my plan was to intercept Shimada-san and stop him from killing Nakajima-san. That's why I agreed to work with him."

Chabashira-sensei's eyes widened a little before she smiled at me.

"I know I should be telling you off for being so reckless, but to be honest... I feel more proud of you than anything else."

"Thanks... I think? I don't think it's that impressive..."

"You stopped someone from dying. That's very admirable, Takanori-san."

"I guess... but the road getting there was a really bumpy one. Shimada-san first got the idea after seeing what challenges the school had prepared for us in this special exam. In particular, he wanted to do it on the sixth day, since it would give him sufficient time to trick Nakajima-san into not suspecting anything, and because it was a challenge where the staff weren't directly monitoring the students. These conditions made it the perfect opportunity to commit the murder without being caught."

He could only come up with this because of the preferential treatment A Class receives from the school. In particular, for this special exam, they were given a list of upcoming challenges and their descriptions as an advantage.

Since no other class received it, it became a big deal on the girl's side when rumours about it started popping up. Under Ryouta's orders, they were supposed to keep this hidden amongst themselves.

I learnt all of this from Shimada, who agreed to tell me about this information if I worked together with him. This also gave me an edge in the special exam since I knew what was coming up beforehand and could plan ahead. Of course, since I was a D Class student, I kept the fact I knew this to myself in order to hide the fact Shimada told me all this.

"The plan was to bury Nakajima-san's body after killing him and turn it into a missing persons case. That would shift any suspicion away from Shimada-san being the one behind it, and put the burden of responsibility on the school, since the most logical reason for Nakajima-san's disappearance would be him getting lost while navigating the mountain range."

Chabashira-sensei grimaced, pressing the towel against my face a bit harder than before. It was almost like she was cupping my face.

"How Shimada-san would actually get there... first, he wanted to lure Nakajima-san into a false sense of security by forming an alliance with him. They made a deal that included making a group together to work towards getting first place, building up his trust. Then, when his guard was down around him, Shimada-san would backstab Nakajima-san and kill him with my assistance. Helping him kill Nakajima-san was supposed to be my role in all of this."

Of course, the actual deal they made was about working together in order to kill me. That was the real reason why Nakajima agreed to team up with Shimada, and why they formed a group together.

"In order to divert any suspicion that me and Shimada-san were working together, I would start out in a separate group, and join their group later on the fourth day through the trading window."

This was the other reason why I sabotaged Ryouta's group so much during my time with them. It was to give them a good reason to kick me out of their group, allowing Shimada to naturally let me join his group.

From Nakajima's point of view, having me join them was always part of their plan to kill me, since me being on their group allowed them to use violence on me without breaking the rules.

"However, since I was trying to stop them, I asked Kouji-san to join their group to monitor the situation from afar, acting as a second pair of eyes for me. As for who I'd be traded with, me and Shimada-san agreed in advance that I would swap places with Kawaguchi-san, so I asked him to join that group too."

This was also why Kawaguchi was hurt so much by Shimada at the beginning, since it would push him towards wanting to leave the group, giving me an opening to join.

"For Shimada-san, me being on his group was essential since it would act as insurance if Nakajima-san didn't die. In the case he reported us trying to kill him to the school, the two of us could outnumber his claim and say it was just an act of in-group violence, forcing the school to have no reason to punish us or investigate further."

Chabashira-sensei's eyebrows furrowed. She seemed really disapproving about everything I was saying, but continued to listen earnestly regardless to find out its resolution.

"That was more or less the entirety of Shimada-san's plan. When he came to me with this, I realised that the only way I could stop him was by letting things play out and sabotaging him at the very last moment. If I refused to join, or tried to talk him out of it, he would just ditch me and go through with it solo."

I explained to Chabashira-sensei about what happened on the mountainside, including why I broke my watch. She seemed surprised when I mentioned Ryouta and Zyriot were also involved as well.

"Back on day four of the special exam, just before the Trade Window, I told Ryouta-san about what was happening and asked him to do a favour for me. I wanted him and Zyriot-san to help me stop Shimada-san and let Nakajima-san escape. As for why I chose those two... they were the class leaders of Shimada-san and Nakajima-san respectively. Zyriot-san helped Nakajima-san escape, like I hoped. But for Ryouta-san, he was unsuccessful at convincing Shimada-san to drop the plan, so I had no other choice but to resort carrying out the rest of my plan as I intended."

The real reasons why I chose those two were slightly more complex than what I explained to Chabashira-sensei.

For Zyriot, I wanted him mainly for his presence, since it would stop Nakajima from using his true powers as he can't show it off to anyone but those in the underworld.

The other reason was to limit Nakajima's movement in the future. By exposing this situation to Zyriot, someone who cared deeply about his classmates, he would naturally keep a closer eye on him to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

It's not a full proof way to stop Nakajima from attacking us in the future, but bringing him under Zyriot's surveillance was enough to at least hinder the number of opportunities he had strike.

As for Ryouta, even though I was unable to predict the schemes he used to try and stop Shimada, it was precisely because he would try to take the situation into his own hands that I asked him to help me.

While I didn't need Ryouta to be successful, I just needed him to be meddling in this situation. And just as expected, he threw multiple wrenches in the work to try and mess up Shimada's plan, one of which very nearly hit bullseye.

If he was anymore self-righteous or less selfless, he would've gone through and expelled Shimada on his own accord. If that happened, things would've turned out much worse, in my opinion.

"The only way to put a halt to Shimada-san was to beat him at his own game. It wasn't a pretty solution, but it was a simple one. I had to change his target from Nakajima-san... to me."

OST: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Main Theme 2

Everything I did, from betraying Shimada, to teaming up with Nakajima, to bringing Ryouta and Zyriot to our location, to having Ryouta participate in the sabotaging, it was all to incite frustration Shimada's heart and push him into having a death match with me.

Whether Ryouta realised it or not, his presence was just another means to manipulate the situation into where I wanted it. His interference was a psychological attack on Shimada's subconsciousness, dragging him closer and closer into the palm of my hand.

By preventing him from achieving his goals and dragging outsiders into the conflict, I had cut Shimada off from both the satisfaction of murdering someone and drove him into a corner where he was in checkmate.

However, I know that he wouldn't give up that easily. If he wanted to, he would just go berserk and attack everyone present, so I had to funnel his anger and frustration into a singular target— me.

This way, I would be protecting everyone from getting hurt, and Shimada would fight only me, the sole person capable of standing up to him.

To shift all his bloodlust towards me, I used his own obsession of me against him.

Back during the first time we met, Shimada made it clear he wanted revenge for what I did to him on the past. Knowing this, I figured that what he wanted from me was another death match— a chance to redeem himself and prove his superiority.

Because he was yearning for a serious fight with me at my full power, I baited him with the opportunity of having one.

And just as expected, Shimada took it hook, line, and sinker.

"Shimada-san initiated a fight against me, trying to kill me. During the fight, I let him attack me as much as he wanted without fighting back. Of course, to create the illusion I was giving it my all, I counterattacked a few times, but in general, I stayed passive as much as possible. When he pinned me to the ground, I stopped defending entirely, and let him beat me up as much as he wanted. I even encouraged him to hit me."

"So that's why you're so badly hurt... but why would you let him hit you like that though?"

"It was necessary if I wanted to stop him from trying something like this in the future. Despite how he may come across, Shimada-san is a surprisingly adamant person, so I don't think he'd give up that easily on killing Nakajima-san. Even though I prevented it from happening today, there's still the possibility he'll go after him in the future. As such, I had to crush him thoroughly so that he won't ever think of pulling the same trick twice. I had to destroy every inch of his confidence to the point he wouldn't dare try this again. And the easiest way of doing that was by intentionally letting him win the fight. I would exploit Shimada-san's weakness by feeding into his ego and building up his hubris to make him think he had an advantage over me."

I also did this to deprive him from letting him see me fight at my full power, which was the other thing he wanted from me in this death match.

Humans are full of desire. If you give someone one thing they want, their greed will naturally replace it with something else. By throwing him a bone with this fight, Shimada wanted more out of me.

The fact I wasn't giving him everything he wanted made him more frustrated, which in turn made Shimada more focused on beating me to try and draw that strength out. If he was on the verge of killing me, I'd have choice but to fight back.

Shimada thinking that way would be key to making him fall.

"Once he confirmed that he was stronger than me, I decided it was the perfect time to build up his ego the highest it could be by handing him the victory to this fight... or so he thought. Like a fool consumed by his own grandiose, the moment I gave him an opening to hit me, he struck down with everything he had in one powerful blow. If this punch launched, it would have the strength necessary to sink me to the bottom of hell."

I made a catching motion with my right hand.

"But at the very last moment... I stopped it. Then, giving him time to process what just happened, I overturned everything with a single punch— one at my own full strength. That way, Shimada-san would recognise there was a world of difference that stood between us. I wanted him to learn just how far apart we were in terms of abilities. This was why I built up his psyche so much. It was so I could force it all to come crashing down in one fell swoop, destroying all previous notions about not only us, but himself too, in his own head."

The punch I aimed at Shimada wasn't just to destroy him physically, but mentally too. I wanted to shatter Shimada's sense of self-worth, reducing him to nothing but a shell of his former self and make him taste the bitter dregs of defeat.

"He could try as hard as he wanted, he could be in a winning position against me, he could go all out... but in the end, everything he did was nothing but a futile attempt. I gave him everything he needed to be in an advantageous position, yet I didn't even have to fight back seriously to beat him. All it took was a normal punch from me to knock him out cold."

Chabashira-sensei removed the towel from my face, wringing it in the tub. The water turned misty red from my blood mixing into it.

"Not only has everything he's done today and the past week become absolutely meaningless, but he's also failed to achieve any of his goals and lost to the one person he didn't want to lose to in the most embarrassing way possible. In every single way, I had beat him. Shimada-san's pride won't ever recover from this. All of this was to prove that, no matter what he did, no matter what he tried, no matter what moves he makes... it'd all be useless if I was there. Regardless of what nasty plots he comes up, I would come in to stop him, just like this time. Whether it be through tactics, or whether it be through fights, I would match his schemes toe to toe and crush them alongside with him with even less effort than he puts in. That was the sort of message I wanted to convey... no, that I wanted to engrave into Shimada-san's heart today. With this, he won't ever be tempted to try something like this again in the future. I'm sure of it."

Placing her hands on my shoulders, Chabashira-sensei squeezed them gently.

"...to be honest, after listening to all that, I'm even more glad that you're okay. I have goosebumps all over from hearing all of this... and from thinking about just how much worse this could've ended up too. Not just for you, but for everyone else that got involved too. We got very lucky today..."

I noticed a slight frown on her face, making me feel a little guilty.

"...I'm sorry for making you worry this much. But trust me, I wouldn't do something this risky unless I felt confident in my own abilities to pull it off. Even if the road towards my goal wasn't exactly how I envisioned it, I still managed to achieve my desired outcome. And that's all that matters, right?"

"Well... if you've made it this far, it must mean you're doing something right. I can't scald you too harshly. I'm still sceptical though... are you sure this is going to be enough?"

"I think it is. And even if it isn't, the one Shimada-san will be holding a grudge against is me, not Nakajima-san. Between the two of us, I'd rather be the one targeted by him, especially since I actually have the capacity to take on Shimada-san."

"As your homeroom teacher, I sincerely hope that doesn't happen."

"...me too."

"To be honest, what puzzles me the most is why Shimada-san chose now of all times to attack Nakajima-san. He could do it any time, so why choose the middle of a special exam where the adults are watching? Summer vacation is just around the corner too."

"Sensei... I think that's the most ominous thing I've heard you ever said..."

Chabashira-sensei blinked before chuckling.

"You're right... I really do sound like some sort of seasoned serial killer saying that, huh?"

"To be honest, I don't know the exact reason why he chose now out of all times to strike, but if I had to make a guess... I think it's because it'd be a good opportunity to catch Nakajima-san off guard. After all, Shimada-san had tricked him into thinking they were allies for five whole days, so he probably wasn't suspecting any betrayal at all. Though, I suppose with everything now in the open, Shimada-san won't be able to try something like this again in the future as well."

"I hope no students ever try something like this in the future again. I know you kids are full of youthful energy, but expressing it this way is the worst way to go about it..."

Chabashira-sensei got up from her seat and picked up the tub of water.

"Alright, I'm done cleaning your face. There's still a lot of swelling and bruising, so I'll apply some ointment after to try and soothe it."

"Thanks. It's appreciated."

She gave a light smile before walking back towards the sink to pour out the bloodied water. I relaxed my exhausted body, laying on the bed and closing my eyes.

I really am glad that Chabashira-sensei is my homeroom teacher... I can't imagine anyone else but her going out of their way to do all this for me.

"Yo, Takanori-san! How you holding up?"

Barging through the front door was Mikazuchi-sensei, carrying a plastic bag. He glanced over to his left, seeing Chabashira-sensei, and waved at her casually.

"I heard you came here after dropping out, so I came to check up on you, but it looks like someone else is already taking care of that."

"Next time, knock before entering... that was just plain rude."

"Hey, don't have such a stick up your ass, Shizu— I mean, Chabashira-san! We're all friends here, it's all good!"

"The last thing Takanori-san needs to hear is your rowdy voice, so cut it down. He's tired, let him rest."

Mikazuchi-sensei glanced over to me, noticing I was laying on the bed.

"Ah... ha ha ha, yeah, you're right. Sorry about that one, Takanori-san."

He made his way over to me and dropped the plastic bag he was holding onto the table.

"Anyways, I came all the way here to give this to you. Congrats on making it out in one piece!"

I sat upright, peering at the bag.

"...what's in that?"

"Don't you remember what I said earlier? If you managed to make it out of this challenge alive, I said I'd give you something real special. Well, I'm a man of my word, so here it is!"

Mikazuchi-sensei looked real chuffed at what he got me. Seeing me stare at the bag so sceptically, he pushed me to open it.

"Hey, there's no need to be shy while I'm here. Go on, check what's inside! I promise you'll like it!"

I sighed and grabbed the bag off the table. It was surprisingly light. Opening it, I peered at what was inside. It seemed to be mostly snacks, like potato chips and soda... but then I noticed something glimmering at the bottom of the bag.

Upon closer inspection, I rubbed my bleary eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things out of dizziness. However, after confirming that it was indeed real, I looked up at Mikazuchi-sensei with a confused expression.

"...I'm sorry, what is this?"

"Why don't you take it out and see for yourself?"

"I've seen what it is, but I can't imagine this is what you had in mind..."

I rubbed my eyes again, taking another cursory look. No matter how many times I checked, the item inside remained the same.

"Oh come on, I thought this was a pretty cool present! Don't tell me you're disappointed by it."

"No, it's not that... it's just, I didn't expect you to give me something this luxurious... are you sure it's okay to give it to me?"

"Takanori-san. This costs less than a fraction of what Kaido's yacht cost. To me, this is pocket money."

"...fair enough. In that case, I'll accept it with gratitude."

"Attaboy. I hope you enjoy using it! You're going to need it for this summer."

"...this summer?"

"Heh, you'll see. Well, I'm gonna go back to work. Take good care of him for me on my behalf, Chabashira-san!"

"I will. And more importantly, you stay safe out there. It's getting dark."

"Don't worry, I may be an old man, but my back hasn't broken just yet! And if it does, I expect the same amount of care from you!"

"Hey, don't treat me like some kind of nurse— Mikazuchi-san? Mikazuchi-san! Hey!"

Mikazuchi-sensei laughed as he skedaddled out of the infirmary room, waving goodbye to the two of us. Chabashira-sensei sighed with a small smile.

"Honestly, that man can be such a handful as well..."

"Tell me about it..."

She returned back to my bedside, holding a small bottle of ointment. Taking a seat, she gestured to the plastic bag sitting in my lap.

"So, what did he get you?"

I put my hand into the bag, pulling out the item that was sitting underneath all the snacks at the bottom.

"This."

Car keys.