An hour earlier, in Class D.
"Ry'en, looks like our school days are coming to an end."
Mashima Tomonari smirked at Ryūen Kakeru, sitting in the corner.
Normally, such provocation would've incurred Ryūen's wrath. But today, he merely smiled back.
"Indeed, our time together is almost over."
Tomonari, mistaking this for submission, smirked again.
*He's finally broken. But that calm demeanor... is it an act? I expected more desperation.*
Their teacher entered, silencing the class, and began announcing the exam results.
"The student with the most criticism votes is..."
Tomonari smugly glanced at Ryūen and Ibuki Mio. But Mio was smiling.
"Mashima Tomonari."
"What?! That's impossible! It must be a mistake!" Tomonari screamed, pointing at Ryūen.
"Why isn't it Ryūen?!"
"After tallying praise and criticism votes, Ryūen has more praise votes. Tomonari, you have over twenty criticism votes—undoubtedly last place."
Tomonari's world went dark. His desperate cries were in vain.
"What did you do?!"
"Looks like you were right, our school days are over." Ryūen smirked.
Tomonari was escorted out. Ryūen asked Mio to join him outside.
"Mio, what did you do?"
Ryūen sensed Mio's involvement but was unsure of the details.
Mio explained their plan, leaving Ryūen surprised.
"So, when you asked for personal points earlier, it was for this?"
"And I didn't expect Shiina to act on her own."
Ryūen hadn't anticipated Shiina Hiyori sacrificing Tomonari to protect him.
"Shiina believed you were crucial for the class's future. Tomonari's criticism votes were largely due to her actions."
"So, these plans... were all Shiina's?"
"Yes... but she said it wasn't entirely her doing. It was... Saiki's arrangement. The coincidence of meeting Ichinose when we needed points was too perfect."
"Indeed." Ryūen narrowed his eyes.
*Saiki saved me to use me against other classes?*
He smirked.
"Keeping me like a caged beast? Typical Saiki."
In Class B, Haruki's seat was empty.
Hirata Yōsuke sat dejectedly as students left. Saiki Kusuo was among the first to pack up, eager to avoid questions about his sudden top rank.
"Saiki, wait."
Horikita Suzune approached.
*Ugh.*
"Yes?"
"When did you... plan all this?"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"You're class leader, with votes from other classes. What did you do?"
Suzune was baffled.
"I did nothing."
Saiki wasn't lying—objectively, he'd done nothing.
But Suzune didn't believe him.
Saiki tried to leave, but Ryūen appeared.
"Got a moment?"
Saiki sighed and followed Ryūen to a secluded area.
"When did you become a hero, Saiki?"
Ryūen's voice trembled slightly.
*Does he think I was a villain? To him, maybe I was... His fear hasn't lessened.*
"I don't understand."
"You used Ichinose and Ibuki to save me from expulsion. To exploit me?"
"It was a coincidence."
"I don't believe that lie."
*Why doesn't anyone believe me?*
"Tomonari's expulsion... your doing too?"
"Hmm?" Saiki paused. He didn't know about Class D's expulsion.
"Tomonari and I are on different sides. You manipulated Ibuki and Shiina to target him. And Karuizawa's past stays buried. A two-pronged strategy—only you could devise that."
"..."
Saiki was speechless.
His phone rang. Ryūen smiled and left.
"Saiki, thank you."
"Huh?"
"No one from Class C was expelled, thanks to you."
"Don't thank me..."
"We concentrated votes on Kanzaki, then paid 20 million points to cancel the expulsion. Class B is safe!"
Ichinose Honami paused, then continued.
"Saiki... if not for you... I might've..."
She almost revealed her forced relationship with Nagumo Miyabi but stopped.
Saiki already knew.
"Uh... well, thank you so much, Saiki!"
"Yeah..."
Saiki could only respond like this to Ichinose Honami's rapid-fire thanks.
After a while, Ichinose's call ended, and Saiki prepared to return to his dorm.
But just then, an anonymous message popped up on his phone.
Unknown: Saiki, can you come to the Special Education Building now?
"Ugh, this never ends."
Saiki sighed.
---
Meanwhile, in the Special Education Building, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka faced Sakayanagi Arisu:
"Did you call Saiki here?"
"Yeah, at this point, I want to understand him better. After all, I've noticed he's one of the few students you actually care about."
"What's your goal this time?"
Ayanokoji asked slowly.
"We planned to team up against Saiki before, but this time, your motives are different, right? And you seem to want to postpone our showdown."
"True, but I have a reason for wanting to delay the outcome of this test. I said something similar earlier, but this extra exam is clearly set up to get you expelled. Someone actually sent me a letter asking me to make sure you fail."
"A letter?"
Ayanokoji wasn't surprised. It was all expected.
"Yeah, probably someone from the school board who forced my dad to resign. Originally, the exam was supposed to be about criticizing other classes, not praising them. It's ridiculous, right?"
"If this rule passes, anyone could be expelled just by colluding with others."
"Yeah, thanks to the staff's strong opposition, that didn't happen. I don't want you expelled—it'd be boring. But I shifted my focus to Saiki."
"You want to expose Saiki to the public eye. If he's under scrutiny, can he still manipulate things like before? I admit, his disguise is impressive. Even I didn't notice him at first."
"Maybe everything you're doing is exactly what Saiki expects. You might achieve your goal, but he'll still come out on top."
Sakayanagi paused, then smiled.
"That's possible, but I'm okay with it."
"Why Yamauchi, though? Was he just a pawn?"
"Remember when he bumped into me during the retreat and was rude? This is payback!"
Sakayanagi smirked.
"I just created the opportunity. He was already a useless student, so he got targeted."
"True."
Ayanokoji nodded.
*Even without Sakayanagi's interference, Yamauchi would've been expelled. He was the least valuable student. But Sakayanagi called me here for another reason. I felt someone following me.*
"That's why I avoided this exam. And if my dad gets reinstated soon, things will return to normal—"
"Hey there!"
A man in a suit appeared.
"First time here. Do you know where the staff office is?"
"Wrong building. And who are you?"
Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes.
"I'm Tsukishiro, the acting chairman."
Tsukishiro smiled politely.
"You got lost? Or did you track us through the cameras? This is my secret meeting spot with Ayanokoji during exams. If you were watching, finding us was easy."
Sakayanagi knew why he was here.