After explaining what I needed him to do for me, Ryouta and I rejoined everyone else in our group, and together we proceeded to head to the hall, which is where the Trade Window would take place.

As expected, everyone in Ryouta's group was now keeping their distance away from me. However, more interestingly, this was the first time Shigeru's... no, Yamaguchi's group, showed up publicly with their missing member.

At first, no one thought much of it, but the missing presence of their original leader, Shigeru, began to simmer everyone's mind. It seems no one was aware of his retirement... not yet, at least. As usual, overseeing us was Hiden-sensei.

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to the highly coveted Trade Window of the special exam! This is your chance to switch to a different group or get rid of someone who isn't contributing in your group! I hope you've all thought long and hard about what you're going to do, because you have one shot at doing this, and one shot only!"

The groups began murmuring between each other. All things considered, I think only half of the groups here would be up for trading. Everyone else looked comfortable in their current groups, especially Mitsuba's one.

"As a refresher, let me explain the rules of the Trade Window! Firstly, only the leaders of the group are allowed to make a trade! Secondly, each group can only trade up to two members at most! And thirdly, you can only execute a trade if both group leaders consent to it!"

I remember this from when Chabashira-sensei explained it to us on the bus ride here. They were simple yet effective restrictions, leaving no room to cheat at all.

"Now, as for how the process of how this will work exactly, each leader will submit any members that are up for trade into the trade pool, and any leader who wants anyone from that trade pool may nominate one of their members as a trade. For example, if Torisu-kun submits Adokenai-kun as up for trade, Koukaya-kun can then nominate Ahoten-kun as a trade offer! If both of them accept, then the trade will process, and Adokenai-kun will now belong to Koukaya-kun's group, and Ahoten-kun will now belong to Torisu-kun's group. You will only have this single hour to make your trades! Is that clear to everybody?"

Everyone nodded their heads collectively.

"Good, good. One more thing to note is that trading your members is completely optional! If you'd like, your group can leave the hall at any time if you're happy with your current group or after making your trades. However, do note that if you leave, everyone in the group must go, and you're not allowed to return afterwards, so pick wisely!"

Already, a few groups were gearing to leave. Particularly, Mitsuba's group and Yamaguchi's group.

"And with that, let the trades... begin!"

Yamaguchi merely gave a look to the rest of his group, and they all got up to leave. Following them were Mitsuba's group and Handa's group.

It seems like Handa and Igarashi, the two C Class students, were just following the E Class student's lead, as it didn't look like they wanted to leave.

If anything, the two of them probably wanted to stay so they could try and switch to another group before it was too late, especially for Handa, the leader. This was his only chance to escape the death sentence practically hanging over his head, after all.

However, the two of them didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, since they were outnumbered by the E Class students in a four to two ratio. That meant, if the majority left, due to the rules, they would be forced to leave as well.

"I'm assuming everyone else here wants to trade, then?" Ryouta said.

"That's right." Yahagi said.

"You bet." Akihiro said.

"I suppose we should play our cards, eh? From my group, I'm putting Hachiman-san up for trade, since he said so!" Kirishima said.

"What a lame reason. I'm getting rid of Masaru since he's more worthless than a fruit fly." Shimada said.

With a push from Shimada, Kawaguchi stumbled forward and into the middle of the trade ring, joining Hachiman from A Class.

"Kurase-san, you're up." Koishi said.

To my surprise, Koishi was getting rid of the only A Class student from his roster. Does this mean they were getting rid of the 3x bonus? Or were they trying to get a stronger A Class student?

"We're putting up Maehara-san and Mitsumori-san."

Yahagi smirked, offering two students instead of one like everyone else. It looked like he was going all out.

"To be honest, we're willing to give up anyone on our group. It depends on what you guys are offering." Akihiro said.

"Hane, who are you feeding to the wolves?"

"Let me guess, it's Matsushita-san?" Kirishima said.

Ryouta took a deep breath. Just as he was about to answer, Machida kicked me in the back, causing me to tumble forward.

"This loser's going."

"Machida-san...! Takanori-san, are you okay?!"

Just as Ryouta was about to help me up, I held up my hand and stopped him. I got up, brushing the dirt off my back, and joined everyone else inside the ring.

"That isn't your choice to make I'm afraid, Machida-san." Yahagi said.

"Oh yeah? You think so? Come on Ryouta-san, tell them all who you were gonna trade from our group."

"...it was Takanori-san."

Yahagi raised an eyebrow but smiled thinly.

"I see, I see. So he finally got on your nerves too, Ryouta-san?"

"Well, not exactly... I guess you could say he did for everyone else, though?"

Ryouta laughed and scratched his cheek.

"It's something we all decided as a group. Yuuto-san has to go." Zyriot said.

"Jeez, what did he do to make you guys want to get rid of him so badly?" Akihiro said.

"Something unforgivable, obviously." Machida said.

"Something unforgivable...?"

"Never mind that. So, who wants him?"

The hall went silent. No one seemed to want me to join their group, especially after how Machida and Zyriot presented the reason why they wanted to get rid of me.

"To be honest, I was hoping you would put yourself up for trade, Ryouta-san." Yahagi said.

"Eh? Me?"

"Yeah. I'd love for you to join our group. It'd be the firepower we need to shoot up to 1st place and maintain that lead."

"That's a pipe dream. Shimada-san's group is at 40 points right now." Koishi said.

"That's what you think."

It looks like the information the A Class students received has given them a strange leverage in this section of the special exam. They could switch the students useful in the first half of the exam for ones that would be more useful in the second half.

Plus, it also gave them confidence that, even though one group was further ahead than everyone else, there was still a chance on the seventh day for things to turn around. Even I was aware of just how game changing that day would be.

"In some ways, I'm kind of glad that I'm being traded out..."

Kawaguchi sighed, making light conversation with me. His cheeks were still lightly bruised from when Shimada hit him.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this. I didn't expect Shimada-san to be so harsh to his own teammates."

"I'm more pissed off the school even allows it... the reasoning for it so stupid. What are we, in the year 1945? My whole body has been killing me after what that guy did to me..."

"It seems like he was targeting you a lot."

"Tell me about it. The only person who got hurt more than me was Yukada-san, and that's saying something. He's barely touched Nakajima-san, and Kouji-san has basically gotten away without so much as even a scratch."

"That's strange... what about Yamamoto-san and Kishida-san?"

"He kicks them around, but it's nowhere the level he treats me. Either way, I'm glad to finally leave this group... if I spent even a single day more with that psychopath, I think I'd snap like Yukada-san."

And in retaliation, Shimada would've snapped Kawaguchi back. Literally.

"Any group you'd like to join particularly?"

"Eh... whichever one has the highest standing, probably. As much as I don't want to, Koishi-san's group is probably a safe bet."

"Yeah. They're clear after today's challenge. I had no clue they were so good at business."

"Apparently Koishi-san's a master at it. Rumour is, his father's some kind of loan shark, so he's good at choking money out of people."

"...what a scary thought."

"What about you? Which group would you like to join?"

"I would've liked to join Mitsuba-san's group, but they left already, so... I guess Akihiro-san's group?"

"Fair. His group was my next choice, but their odds of winning aren't that great compared to everybody else."

"Unfortunately."

"So... how did you end up in this position? I thought Matsushita-san would be the one getting traded out, especially after Machida-san went berserk on him earlier this evening."

"He's a very convincing liar. He managed to weasel his way out of the situation by convincing everyone else that I was the one behind it."

"Eh? What?!"

"Yeah... I'm taking the fall for his actions, pretty much."

"But, you're the class leader... how did Matsushita-san get one up on you like that?"

"Communicating with others isn't exactly my forte. You remember, don't you? Just how charming and mesmerising Matsushita-san was whenever he spoke to the class... he drew the eyes and attention of everyone around him.

"Talk about putting his sweet talk to good use..."

"Pity goes a long way. They all felt bad for him."

"Even Machida-san?"

"Yeah. That guy is surprisingly nice, from time to time..."

"I can't see it..."

While me and Kawaguchi were talking, one trade had been decided already. It was between Yahagi's group and Koishi's group.

"Thanks for doing business." Yahagi said.

"You're welcome. This mutually benefits the both of us, after all." Koishi said.

They had traded Kurase and Maehara with each other, two very powerful A Class students. This meant Koishi's group continued to have the 3x multiplier, while Yahagi's group would gain someone invaluable for the next challenge.

This left me, Kawaguchi, Hachiman, and all of Akihiro's group in the trade pile. Yahagi's group left, removing Mitsumori from the trade pile, and Koishi's group followed soon after. Shimada smirked.

"Oi, Hane. Let's trade."

...so it's already begun, huh?

"Shimada-san... you want Takanori-san?"

Even in the face of danger, Ryouta kept calm.

"Of course."

Just as Ryouta was about to agree, he stopped himself.

"Sorry... give me a moment. I want to confer about this decision with my group."

"Do as you like. I can wait the whole hour."

"Thank you very much!"

He bowed in gratitude before turning to the rest of our group. I guess Ryouta couldn't let go of his democratic tendencies up until the very end...

"So guys... what do you think of this?"

There was a layer of scepticism in the air. Zyriot scanned the room and nodded.

"Considering who's left, Kawaguchi-san should be fine."

"Get real. After getting rid of a traitor, the last thing we need is an arsonist to join our group." Machida said.

"Yeah... I'm not sure about this either. We could use this to get someone from another class, after all." Ikeda said.

"If you look at the choices though, they aren't exactly good..." Satou said.

"There's Hachiman-san, I guess?"

"Hell no. Not only is he an awful team player, but we shouldn't be adding another A Class student to the mix." Machida said.

"Who do you think we should add then? Because I think Kawaguchi-san is a perfectly fine choice. If anything, he's the best one here for our group. He's a hard worker and one of the most strongest willed people in D Class." Matsushita said.

"That's the issue here. He's from your class. You D Class dirtbags don't deserve anything after what you and Takanori-san did. If we take him in, we'd just be rewarding your dumbass class when it's been the root of all our troubles."

"All I'm hearing right now is you want a B Class student to join..." Satou said.

"Huh? Yeah right, the only B Class students left here are from that Ichinose's faction, and there's no way I want them on the same group as me. I suggest you cut the sass, emo."

"Then how about you stop calling me that ridiculous nickname first?"

"Guys... Machida-san is right, you don't have to be so passive aggressive towards him Satou-san. At the same time, you shouldn't be calling Satou-san derogatory names either, Machida-san. We just got over one hill, we don't need to make another one." Ryouta said.

"Sorry." Satou said.

"Tch." Machida said.

"I guess there's always the C Class students from Ishima-san's group. Do you know any of them that well, Ikeda-san?" Zyriot said.

"Yeah, I'm good friends with Eguchi-san and Kajiyama-san. Although, Fujita-san is probably the best one out of those four, but he's a bit mysterious and aloof... I'm pretty sure the only reason he joined that group was because he didn't want to end up like Handa-san and Igarashi-san."

"How about Mitarai-san?"

"He's a bit of a troublemaker... I wouldn't recommend him."

"To be honest, I don't really like Kajiyama-san that much. He's been rude to me in the past before, so I'd rather not have to live with him for the next three days." Satou said.

"I guess we could also try for Fujita-san or Eguchi-san then. What are they good at, Ikeda-san?" Zyriot said.

"Hang on, since when did we decide we were going to recruit a C Class student? This is a stupid idea." Machida said.

"Well, you rejected Kawaguchi-san and Hachiman-san. They're the only ones left we have to pick from."

"Yeah, but we already have two C Class students in our group. There's no way I'm allowing a third to join. If we win, they'll get the biggest payout, and it'll be my class who's most in danger from it."

"That is true... our class would be put at a major disadvantage too if C Class jumped ahead." Matsushita said.

"What do you want us to do then? That's four classes now that you've said you don't want joining. The only one you haven't rejected yet is E Class, but we all know you hate them the most."

"Huh, funny you say that Zyriot-san. I've realised something these past couple of days... I don't hate "E Class" in specific. It's actually Takanori-san's class I hate most of all. When I think about your E Class, Zyriot-san, I can at least muster up some shred of respect because originally, you guys were D Class. But when I think of Takanori-san's D Class... it just makes my blood boil. All the worst idiots and scum in our school fester in that dumping ground classroom, wasting precious oxygen with every disgusting breath they make. Worst between them all is that insufferable cry baby bitch Nora, who thinks looking like a girl is a personality trait and doesn't understand his own place in the hierarchy like everyone else."

The air turned twisted and cruel as Machida ranted about how repulsed he was about my class. Even Matsushita seemed taken back by how strongly Machida felt about us in specific.

"Even if they're now D Class, I'll never recognise them as that. They didn't earn it, they didn't work hard for it. They all got carried up the hierarchy on that scheming traitor's back. That's why I'm fine if one of your guys joins our group, Zyriot-san. In fact, I'd even welcome it. They're our best pick for replacing Takanori-san. Ultimately, it doesn't concern me if your class wins or loses anything from this special exam. You're only sitting on 40 class points anyways. That's nowhere near enough to catch up to us in B Class."

"I can't tell if that's meant to be insulting or not..." Zyriot said.

"If you want an E Class student to join, we could always trade Takanori-san for Nakajima-san." Ryouta said.

"Sorry, but that's no can do."

It was Nakajima himself who stepped forward to squash Ryouta's idea.

"I'm riding with Shimada-san until the very end. Out of our group, we're the only ones who aren't leaving. You're free to choose from anyone else, though."

"Is that so...? I see. Sorry, Machida-san, but we're tough out of luck."

"What a pain..." Machida sighed.

"Well, we still have some options. There's always the three E Class boys from Aki-san's group. I highly recommend Tetsuya-san, since he's a very flexible and intelligent member of my class." Zyriot said.

"Forget it. The last thing we need in this group is another nerd. I want someone with speed and muscle to join."

"Reo-san isn't exactly muscle, but he's pretty fast."

"Who?"

"Never mind..."

It was pointless trying to convince Machida to trade me for Imaishi. In the first place, he didn't even know Imaishi existed.

"Well, we've ruled out all the options. The only person left is Aki-san, and well..."

"Sorry, but I can't abandon this group. It was me who proposed to make an alliance between E Class and C Class, so I have to see it through to the end."

It seems C Class and E Class made an agreement behind the scenes to make a group compromised solely of members from their class. If I had to guess, they probably they teamed up together with the intention of defeating us D Class.

"Even if Machida-san doesn't agree, the rest of us are fine with Kawaguchi-san, so I think the trade should still go through." Matsushita said.

"Yeah. Our police is majority rule, after all. There's no point in trying to appease just one person." Ikeda said.

"Exactly. Let's stop wasting time and accept the trade." Zyriot said.

"Sigh, have it your way then. Don't say I didn't warn you though. You guys are gonna regret this."

Machida seemed bitter about the conclusion they reached, but since he rejected every alternative they brought up, there wasn't much he could do now. It was smart of Matsushita to remind everyone about the big picture to rein them in though.

In fact, throughout that discussion, Ryouta was the only one still aware the majority was fine with this trade deal. He simply let the discussion play out to make sure no one would challenge his decision later, as they would've already talked through it.

Ryouta nodded and turned to Shimada's group.

"Shimada-san."

He extended his right hand.

"I accept your trade offer."

Shimada smirked, shaking Ryouta's hand with an ominous smile.

"I'm glad to hear it, Hane."

"Looks like we're getting swapped, Kawaguchi-san."

"Yeah... sorry about this."

"Why are you apologising?"

"Because you're now gonna be the one dealing with Shimada-san... I guess I just feel bad for you."

"Don't be. I was the one who told you to join their group to begin with anyways. I'm just paying my dues."

"Well, good luck. You're gonna need it. I'll try my best to work alongside everyone in Ryouta-san's group."

"Same here to you too. Thanks."

Kawaguchi nodded, and we shared a fist bump. After Ryouta and Shimada confirmed the trade with Hiden-sensei, I went over to join Shimada's group.

"Welcome to my group, Yuuto. Just do as I say, and I'll make sure we end up in first place."

"Well, isn't it nice of you to join us?" Kouji said.

"Hello, Takanori-san." Kishida said.

"...yo." Yamamoto said.

"Welcome. I hope we'll get along for the next three days." Nakajima said.

I hope so too.