If Yogen was the type to tease because she liked you, then Megami was the type to tease because she disliked you.

While she never had a smug look on her face, her serious demeanour combined with her biting sarcasm made Megami come off as extremely haughty.

Not as haughty as Shigaisohi-sama of course, but she did look down on you with a certain scorn that you couldn't look away from either. It's almost ironic how hypnotising she was while insulting you with her silver tongue.

To say our relationship was tumultuous was putting it nicely.

While she never outright rejected a conversation with me whenever we ran into each other, she doesn't go out of her way to act like she's pleased to see me either.

The same can be said right now, as even though she helped us escape the rain, Megami seemed more happy that she helped Shimizu than me.

"They really did choose an awful day to hold a challenge outside."

Megami got up from beside me to peek out of the cave. The rain had only gotten worse as we sat in the cave, to the point it was now bordering on becoming a rainstorm. Going outside would be impossible unless you were willing to get soaked.

"I-it also rained during yesterday's challenge..."

"Knowing the school, they also probably did this on purpose."

"By the way, Megami-san..."

"Yes?"

"T-thank you so much for helping me and Takanori-san!"

Shimizu bowed deeply towards her. I nodded in agreement, lowering my head as a sign of respect.

"Yeah... I don't know why you helped us, but I appreciate it as well."

"To be honest, I only wanted to help Shimizu-san. Helping you was completely by accident, since I didn't even notice you were there. You have no presence whatsoever."

"...I figured as much."

For a high class girl like her, there was absolutely no reason for her to concern herself with a low class guy like me. At least with Shimizu, it was slightly understandable since they were both girls. But me? We had no connection whatsoever.

"In any case, you're both welcome. Running into you two might end up being a good for me too, actually."

"W-what do you mean by that, Megami-san?"

"I've been seeking by myself this entire time. Yumi-san thought it'd be a good idea for everyone to go our own separate ways to try and cover more ground, but I've barely made any progress... plus, it was getting a bit lonely too."

Megami sighed.

"Which group are you from?" I said.

"Kai-san's group."

"I'm not familiar with it."

"I would hope you're not. You're on the boy's side, after all."

Ouch. Was that really necessary?

"M-Megami-san, t-there's no need for that..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean it in a rude way. It'd be a bit strange if you knew the details of the girl's side, that's all."

Little does she know that Yukina has been keeping me updated on what's going on their side during dinnertime.

"It's fine. I know some details, like who's on Shimizu-san's group, but I don't know about yours."

"I see. Well, simply put, our group was made on Tamaki-san's whims. She wanted to help E Class out in this special exam, since her brother is in there, so we ended up making a group with Ishima-kun's friend, Kai-san. Obviously it has us three, as well as Yumi-san from A Class, Tsuji-san and Tachibana-san from E Class, and Fukahori-san from B Class."

So their group had a 2x multiplier bonus, huh? It wasn't as strong as Ichinose's 3x multiplier, but it was still pretty good considering they had an even split of A Class and E Class students. Obviously, this meant her group was useless to me though, since there wasn't any D Class students in it.

While I would say I felt bad for B Class, since they only have one member, I couldn't because Ichinose's group was in first place. If they won, B Class would earn a massive 300 class points. If A Class didn't earn anything in this special exam, B Class would overtake them with that huge sum alone.

"What about you, Takanori-san? What's your group like?"

"...that's a good question. Not even I know how to describe them."

I could describe them, but it'd be a mundane task. Shimada is crazy, Nakajima is crazier, Yamamoto is a gopher, Kishida doesn't speak, and Kouji somehow managed to survive being in this group for six days...

"You don't have to give a longwinded backstory like I did. Just who's on your group is more than enough for me to get a sense of what you're dealing with."

"You know that many boys?"

"You do know that boys and girls can be friends without it being sexual, right? Though, I guess you wouldn't know since you don't have any friends at all."

Megami giggled. Note to self, don't try biting back at her, or else she'll bite back ten times harder...

"N-no, I don't mean it that way, I just meant..."

I sighed. Why was I going through the effort of trying to clarify what I meant to her?

"T-this is the first time I've seen Takanori-san get flustered..." Shimizu said.

"I'm not that stoic, I swear."

Just what kind of impression did Shimizu have of me anyways...?

After some more light prodding from Megami, I explained to her my situation. There was no point trying to lie about it, since the truth could be obtained by asking someone on Ryouta's group.

That being said, I omitted my betrayal, mainly because I wanted to work together with Shimizu still. I think she'd trust me less if she knew about what I did to the group Zyriot was in.

"Hmm, I see. It sure sounds like you had it rough, being traded out of a strong group into one where you're at constant risk of suddenly dying in your sleep."

Megami was right on the mark, but just wrong about which person. She had Shimada in her mind when she said that, but really it was Nakajima who was the real threat.

"I'm starting to think you were born unlucky, Takanori-san."

"I am too."

"W-when you hit rock bottom, the only place left to go is up!"

I perked my head over to Shimizu, who suddenly said that phrase to try and cheer me up. My mind was cast back to the time when I resolved myself to bring my class from the bottom to the top after the caste system had been revealed. I thought of the same thing back then too.

"...I agree."

"Well, I suppose you're right."

Megami nodded before glancing at me.

"What should we do now, then?"

"I guess wait for this rain to pass before going out."

It was the most logical answer. The other options we could take were very limited.

"Also, why are you talking like you're working together with us?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Not to me..."

"Oh."

Megami stepped in front of me, crossing her arms and smiling a little. She leaned forward, making me step back.

"You have to take responsibility, Takanori-san."

"...huh?"

I was caught so off guard by her statement, when I stepped back to put some space between us, I missed my footing and fell on the ground, landing on my butt.

"T-Takanori-san! A-are you okay?!"

After seeing me fall, Shimizu rushed over to help me get up. Megami pulled back and stifled a laugh.

"...yeah, I'm fine."

I took her hand and stood, rubbing my sore spot. I looked back at Megami, who had an innocent enough expression on her face.

"What do you mean by "taking responsibility" anyways...?"

"I helped you and Shimizu-san escape the rain, didn't I? It's only fair that you also help me in return."

It was a good thing that Shimizu was the only other person here. Her innocence meant that she wouldn't think of anything else when Megami said that. Any other person would've assumed she meant something completely different...

"Hang on, but we didn't ask for your help."

"But you still accepted it nonetheless. You could've easily refused and walked the other way."

If I refused, I'd still be standing outside in the rain, becoming a human sponge. Not even the thickest of trees could shelter me from how awful this weather was.

"I thought you were doing this out of the kindness from your heart..."

"For Shimizu-san, yes. Us girls have to look out for each other, you know? Especially in an environment like this, when the guys are even more pent up than usual."

The mental image of Mitsuba whacking it in the bushes popped up in my mind. I regretted thinking of it immediately, and quickly banished the thought.

"So you only want help from me as an exchange?"

"More or less. To make things more simple though, I think it'd be in everyone's best interest to just work together."

I did want to have more people join this pseudo-group to make seeking easier. Megami seems to be fond of Shimizu for one reason or another, so there was a strong chance I could convince her to let Shimizu find the hiders to give her group points.

"I don't mind either way... the more hands, or I guess eyes, the better. What do you think, Shimizu-san?"

"E-eh? Um, I-I don't mind either..."

"Then it's decided. I hope you take good care of me."

Without hesitation, Megami asserted herself into our group.

"I'll try my best. That being said, the way we're doing things might not be how you expect."

"What do you mean?"

"All the hiders we find are going to Shimizu-san. I won't be taking credit for any of them. That means only her group will be gaining cumulative points from this. Are you fine with that arrangement?"

Megami twirled the ends of her silky green hair as she thought about it. She looked surprisingly cute as she did.

"Oh... I'm not sure if I can agree with that."

That's what I thought she would say. I mean, it makes sense why she'd disagree with it, since it was definitely a strange way of doing things. Regardless, I'm just going to have to sell this idea to her.

"How come? Shimizu-san's group is winning right now, and it has a 3x multiplier, so your class would get at least 90 Cl from it."

"That's exactly the issue, Takanori-san. We only have one A Class member, whereas D Class and E Class have two members each. It's a worse trade off for me since you both will be earning double what I am. The more pressing issue is the fact Ichinose-san is the leader. If her group wins, then B Class will earn the most in that group by a wide margin. If you account for the bonus Senzaki-san gets, we're still at a deficit of 130 Cl, meaning we'd have to rely on the other groups with A Class leaders or 3x multipliers to make up the difference. In that scenario, we'd need Minamoto-san's group, which has both, to achieve 2nd place, since her group has two A Class students. I sincerely doubt you can somehow remedy this situation."

Megami argued her point smoothly, elegantly outlining her point without missing a beat. It was very impressive. With such a refined and cool way of speaking, it's no wonder she's so skilled at scorning others.

"While I understand your worries, I think you're forgetting that the boy's side also exists. For A Class led groups, we have a total of four of them. Statistically speaking, there's a higher chance one of those groups will end up in a podium position over a B Class led group, simply because there's more of you compared to them. Not to mention, out of the B Class led groups, only two of them are real threats: Ichinose-san's group and Koishi-san's group."

The other two groups, Kirishima's and Amanda's group, had vastly different strategies. I know for a fact that Kirishima's group is a survival orientated group meant to help protect weaker students, so they had no intention of winning from the very start.

I'm not sure what Amanda's group was like, but from what I heard from Yukina, they weren't that strong to begin with, so they probably won't be making any huge comebacks this late into the special exam either.

"I'll acknowledge that the majority of the A Class led groups are highly competitive. Ryouta-san's, Minamoto-san's, and Yahagi-san's groups all sound like they have a good shot of fighting for a podium placement. But I don't have the same confidence in Tamaki-san's group, and especially Shimada-san's group. Shimada-san in particular seems like the type to sabotage you at the very last minute just because he felt like it. I can't trust that guy."

"Yeah, I get you... I get you a lot, actually. Shimada-san's slipperiness is what makes me so unwilling to earn points for my group. It'd be an absolute waste since Shimada-san can undo all that progress in a snap, so I'd rather invest what cumulative points are left in the exam into a group that I actually want to see win."

If you read between the lines, I was basically admitting that I wanted Ichinose's group to win for class points. I'm sure Megami recognised that too, but she didn't laugh at me or tease me for it. Instead, she seemed strangely understanding of it.

"Frankly speaking, the way the special exam is going right now, Ichinose-san's group will probably win on the girl's side, and by quite a wide margin too. I don't think you need to concern yourself with helping Shimizu-san find hiders."

Shimizu looked away, rubbing her arm. Megami noticed this and cleared her throat.

"Ahem... however, I think we can compromise in this scenario. For every three hiders we find, we'll divvy up the rewards in a two to one ratio, since that's the number of people who support each group accordingly. I think this is the most fair way to go about it."

Honestly, losing one hider for every three people we find isn't bad at all. It'd keep Megami happy while reaping most of the rewards for Shimizu.

"I'm fine with that. Shimizu-san, what do you think?"

"Um, I'm fine with anything."

"Then it's settled. We'll handle the hiders like that then."

And with that, our pseudo group expanded by one. Hopefully things would work out, but... I'm still feeling a bit on edge, especially since I have to leave them halfway through this challenge.