However, Akihiro's victory was short lived.

That was because I had severely mismanaged one of the most basic aspects of this war.

The time.

It was now 5pm.

The siren wailed, signalling the end of the war.

Akihiro might have killed Zyriot, but we weren't able to reap the benefits from it at all.

And now, in just a moment's notice, we were about to learn who won and who lost.

A sinking feeling, similar to the nightmare I woke up to today, weighed down on my body.

From the tannoy, a woman's voice made a single announcement in both the mall and the school.

"All students, war time is over. The winner of this war is 1st Year D Class Zoa Green."

I slumped in my seat.

"Please cease all fighting immediately and evacuate the premises."

Taking off my visor, I chucked it on the table.

"I repeat. All students, war time is over. The winner of this war is 1st Year D Class Zoa Green. Please cease all fighting immediately and evacuate the premises."

My chest felt numb.

"Takanori-san, Mitsuba-san, you two can leave now."

Chabashira-sensei dismissed us.

Mitsuba got up, uncharacteristically silent, and left the war preparation room. I guess he wasn't in a talking mood either.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Before leaving, I looked at Chabashira-sensei, who was switching off the equipment.

There was no change in expression on her indefinitely robotic face. Either she was used to losing, or she had no faith in us from the very beginning. I hoped it was the latter, because if it was the former, then I'd have given her false hope for nothing.

To try and get her on my side, I talked big about how I was different from past leaders of E Class and how I'd be able to climb our class up the ranks. In order to prove that, I told her I'd win the war against D Class, but in the end, I failed.

The only thing I managed to do was show Chabashira-sensei how pathetically weak and overconfident I was.

Kaido was right... I am stupid.

I was in way over my head doing this. I overestimated myself, and this is the price I'm paying for it. Letting my ego swell my head, I truly thought I was qualified to be Commander.

As I passed Chabashira-sensei to leave, I apologised for my incompetence.

"Sorry."

She glanced at me over my shoulder.

"Don't be."

Like a donut, a hole opened up in the centre of my chest.

Filling that hole was guilt. A horrible, heavy, sinking guilt.

As I left the war preparation room, a thought - or a memory, I couldn't quite tell - resurfaced.

"This is all your fault."

I couldn't disagree. In fact, I agreed with it wholeheartedly.

I had to shoulder the responsibility for my selfish actions.

As leader of the Takanori group, I wanted to be the only one blamed for our class's failure.

They didn't deserve it. Not after how all their hard work and struggle ended in vain.

When I entered the classroom, it was empty.

Mitsuba had took his stuff and left for the day. Everyone else was being driven back to school on the bus. I was the only E Class student left on school premises.

I sat down at my desk and waited for everyone else to come back.

I had a premonition that Matsushita and Sakigamiya would want to have a long talk with me because of what I did, so it'd be easier if I got it out of the way here, rather than delay it for next week.

I took out my phone and went on the school app, checking the 1st Year Class Points.

A Class - 950
B Class - 630
C Class - 480
D Class - 220
E Class - 0

It seems the rewards had been wired already. As the winner of the war, D Class was awarded 100 class points, making them jump from 120 Cl to 220 Cl.

As the losers, we received nothing. There was no consolation or participation prize. The only way you could earn rewards was through hard work and victory.

Just as I was about to put my phone back into my pocket, I received a notification telling me I was sent a new message.

I checked, and it was from Yogen. Instead of messaging her back, I phoned her.

"Boya-san! You surprised me with that sudden call!"

"Sorry."

"Did you want hear my voice that badly?"

"I just didn't feel like texting."

"Ahh, that makes sense~. E Class lost the war, didn't they? You must be exhausted."

"Yeah. D Class killed more than half of our class. In comparison, we barely made a dent in their numbers."

"The score is quite intriguing, nineteen to eleven... oh, the MVP in this war was Zyriot-kun, huh?"

Yogen was referring to the public results of the war published by the school only moments ago. They were easily accessible on the school app for anyone to see, so I downloaded a copy to check it out myself.

"Wow! Even though he died, Zyriot-kun managed to wrack up seven kills, how impressive."

Considering four of those kills happened at once, I had to agree. Skimming through it, it was like reading an article of the war. The results were highly detailed, but also very easy to digest.

"It's no wonder he got chosen. He performed the best out of everyone today."

At the bottom, it showed the bonuses everyone got from their achievements. I was surprised by how large the payout sums for private points were - Akihiro had received 373,000 Pr for his achievement. But the one that really caught my attention was Zyriot's bonus as MVP.

In addition to 700,000 Pr, he got 7 Cl for D Class, which would bump them up to 227 Cl. That meant they'd receive 22,700 Pr next month rather than 22,000. While it seemed small, collectively, it meant that each person in their class of twenty six would earn an additional 700 Pr, totalling to a staggering 18,200 Pr overall. This would give D Class an advantage if they were ever in a pinch, as at this school, every last private point counted.

"You can say that again. Why didn't you go out and fight, Boya-san? The war would've been way more fun to watch if you were killing D Class students!"

"You were watching?"

"Eh, kinda. I had it on the background while studying math. These graphs are... yuck."

Yogen fake gagged to express her disgust.

"You study?"

"How do you think I'm in A Class?"

"Well... you just didn't exactly strike me as the type to care about academics."

"I'm surprisingly smart, I'll have you know."

"Smart people don't say that kind of stuff... but I digress. Looking back on things, it might've been better if I was out there fighting alongside everyone else rather than acting as Commander."

"If I saw you were fighting, I would've dropped my homework immediately and paid full attention while cheering you on!"

"Wait, homework? I thought you were revising."

"Geh! I meant practice question, practice question!"

"...you're not that smart, are you? When's it due in?"

"Yesterday."

"...eh?"

"I got lazy and forgot about it. Thankfully, Akusa-sensei's usually lenient when it comes to this stuff~."

"You A Class guys have it real nice, don't you..."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"We don't have that sort of luxury in E Class. You actually have to hand it in before the deadline, like you're supposed to."

"Ah, so the teachers really are more strict with you guys, I see, I see."

"Need any help?"

"Can you do calculus?"

"Let's see the question."

Yogen forwarded me an image of what she was working on.

"What the hell..."

"I know right?! This question is stupid!"

"If Nora-san was here, he could probably solve it no problem... or maybe even Tadokoro-san for that matter."

"Well, thanks for trying anyways. I'm gonna go back to slaving away at this dumb problem, if you don't mind."

"Ah... uh... wait."

Even though I usually hated talking to Yogen, there was something strangely comforting in talking to her right now.

Maybe it was because I had time to kill. Maybe it was because she was distracting me. Maybe it was because we were talking about something completely unrelated to the war, which had preoccupied my mind this entire week. Maybe it was because she was filling the hole in my chest opened by our devastating loss. Maybe it was because she was unknowingly easing my anxiety for my next confrontation with Matsushita. Maybe it was because, for once, we were talking to each other like normal students.

Maybe, it was all of those reasons.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I... uh..."

"Do you want to continue talking?"

As if reading my mind, Yogen guessed correctly on her first try. She really is perceptive.

"Sort of..."

"Aww, you poor thing. That loss really must've scrambled your brain."

"...what do you mean by that?"

"By this point, you'd usually be telling me to buzz off. But for once, you want me to stay, even though I've given you a perfect out. I really won't ever understand how you think, Boya-san."

Yogen sighed, but I'm pretty sure she perfectly understood the reason (that not even I knew) why I was acting so weirdly right now.

"Well... uh, we haven't really got to talk about what you originally messaged me about..."

"Oh yeah! Ah, I nearly forgot, how embarrassing. Since the war's over, we can talk about our sweet shop date this weekend!"

"Don't call it a date."

"It's definitely a date."

"I'll make it not a date then."

"How?"

"I'll bring someone along. Hmm, Mitsuba-san is free this weekend..."

"If you think name dropping Jun-kun is gonna scare me, think again! Me and him are great friends! That guy's super funny!"

"I suddenly regret giving him your number."

"How about you bring Kazuraba-san along? I'd love to see her get jealous again."

While subtle, Yogen name dropping Yukina changed the atmosphere of our conversation ever so slightly. It was like she was going on the attack by planting a bomb hidden in the ground.

"Forget it. You two mix like water and oil."

"But it'd make you happy, right? Going out on a date with two beautiful girls~... that's the dream of every guy, isn't it?"

"Not mine."

"I smell a lie!"

"And I smell peer pressure. Besides, the last time you two met, it devolved into a bonk fight over who got to rub ointment on my arm. I don't need that sort of second hand cringe to happen in public."

"I swear it won't happen again!"

"You're really adamant about bringing her along... are you sure you actually don't want to go eat sweets with Yukina?"

"What if I wanted to eat sweets with both of you?"

"You can't have your cake and eat it too."

"We're going to a sweet shop, of course I can."

It was amusing how well we bounced off each other's wordplay.

"In that case, we'd better decide on a day and time then. Is Saturday fine with you?"

"Ah, tomorrow? How eager."

"I like to use Sunday for reading."

"I have no objections, since it's also convenient for me. I go out shoppings on Saturday."

"Grocery shopping?"

"What? No, shopping with friends, silly."

"You really do live a lax lifestyle..."

"Isn't it normal, to hang out with your friends in your spare time? Besides, it's mostly window shopping, I don't like to spend my points willy-nilly."

"I could infer that from when I looked at your private points. Thanks for buying that footage for me, by the way."

"You're welcome, but you still owe me one~. That was an expensive investment."

"Isn't going out and eating sweets together good enough?"

"Not by a mile."

"I'll pay for your portion too."

"Still no! I like to split the bill."

"Huh, how benevolent. That's the first time I've ever seen anyone turn down what's basically free money."

"You need it more than I do."

"Ouch."

Harsh, but true.

"Besides, do you take me for a cheapskate?"

"Your integrity's questionable, so... yeah."

"I'm offended."

"My uncle is too, don't worry."

I won't lie, it felt good getting back at Yogen a little bit by teasing her.

"Okay, so how about time? I'm free whenever."

"How flexible. I thought you were going out with friends on Saturday."

"We don't really plan these things beforehand. It's super spur of the moment."

"Sounds troublesome."

"Not really. It's only a pain when they want to do something while I'm preoccupied with other stuff."

"What if they want to shop while we're eating sweets?"

"You won't mind three or four girls joining us, then?"

"I think they'd sooner kick me off the table than join us for a snack."

"You know what - you're absolutely right."

"Thank you, it's reassuring to know I'm hated by the girls in A Class."

"Still not over the time Megami-chan roasted you in Yuzu?"

"...how do you know about that?"

"She told me about it, duh."

"Well then."

"Don't worry, she doesn't hate your guts or anything."

"It sure sounded like she did back then."

I wanted to move on from this topic quickly before Yogen could poke fun at me over that incident, so I suggested a random time to meet up that popped into my head.

"How does 12pm sound to you? I don't like waking up early."

"Hmm, nah. The cafe gets crowded during lunch hours, which it makes it hard to enjoy the delectables."

"Then... 1pm?"

"1:30pm."

"I mean... sure, that works too."

"Great! I can't wait for tomorrow! Hmm, I wonder, which dress should I wear...?"

"I was going to come in my school uniform."

"Lame! Don't you have any casual clothes, or are you too poor for that?"

"Well, my casual clothes are rather plain."

"If all you have is an old top and some sweatpants, just wear it. You'll look less dorky in that than wearing the uniform on a weekend."

"I mainly wanted to wear the uniform to embarrass you, though."

"Gosh, aren't you getting cheeky? In that case, I'll wear my uniform too, and we can be matching!"

"On second thought, I'll wear my regular clothes."

"Now that's what I like to hear~."

I could practically imagine Yogen grinning from ear to ear on the other side of the phone.

"Where should we meet up?"

"Ah, hmm, good question. Do you want me to pick you up from the train station?"

"If it's not too much trouble, sure."

"Great! Just text me when you arrive and I'll be there."

"I'll try to be punctual then."

"Good, I hate guys who are whimsical and late."

"So, just to confirm... tomorrow at 1:30pm, you'll pick me up from the station?"

"Yep, that sounds right."

"Cool. I'll make a note on my calendar then."

"Same here. I can't wait!"

And I couldn't wait to get this over with.

"So, Boya-san, what's next?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're still trying to rise to A Class, aren't you?"

"Well, I guess."

"I'm asking you what's the next step you're going to take."

"Now why would I tell an enemy that?"

"You think of me as an enemy? Boohoo, I'm sad you think of me that way!"

"We're in different classes, it can't be helped. If that stings too much, then... is the term "acquaintance" better?"

"You know, I was joking earlier, but calling me an acquaintance after all we've been through actually hurts a little."

"Go visit Shigaisoshi-sama then, she probably knows the cure to your sickness."

"I'll make the pain go away by drowning in her narcissistic ramblings for over an hour."

"I'd probably fall asleep listening to that."

"I think you'd get nightmares instead."

"I get plenty of those already. Actually, just this morning—"

The door of E Class was slammed open with fury.

"Eh? Boya-san, are you okay? What was that noise?"

"Isogai-kun, please, calm down!"

"Sorry, Natsumi-san, but I've made up my mind."

"...sorry, Yogen-san. I'm going to have to cut our conversation short."

"Eh? Why? What's happening? Boya-san—"

I ended the call and put my phone away.

"So this is where you were hiding..."

"I figured you wanted to come speak to me, so here I am."

Standing in front of me was Matsushita. Behind him were Sakigamiya, Yamaguchi, and Ichinose, but she came round to my side and stood in front of me while flinging her arms wide open.

"Isogai-kun, stop! I already said this is my fault, so you don't need to hound poor Takanori-kun over this!"

"Natsumi-san, please move."

"No!"

"This is between me and Takanori. Stay out of it."

"No it isn't! It's between me and you! I was the one who gave him permission to be Commander, so be mad at me, and not him!"

Even though I was thrown headfirst into the situation, I could faintly grasp at what was happening. Matsushita, and by extension his group (which was represented by Sakigamiya and Yamaguchi), wanted to confront me about my selfish behaviour during the war. However, Ichinose was trying to stop him by shifting the blame to herself in order to protect me.

"I know that he asked you. Yesterday, Takanori basically confirmed to me he wanted to be Commander solely because it would make him look like the superior leader if we won the war."

Matsushita wasn't even looking at Ichinose when he said that. He was looking straight at me with cold, piercing eyes.

"Well, that plan backfired huge time." Sakigamiya snorted.

"But if I didn't agree, then he wouldn't have been Commander!"

"The issue isn't about what you've done, Natsumi-san. The issue here is Takanori's intentions. Because of him and his selfish actions, he flushed the entire class's chance of winning this war down the toilet! Instead of having you, someone qualified to coordinate our class, we got a selfish idiot - whose half-baked attempt at leading the class left half his men dying on the front line - as Commander!"

"At least Takanori-kun was communicating with his group and telling them where the enemy was so they'd be able to fight them! Isogai-kun, your group barely made any major moves in that war! You were like sitting ducks!"

"That was part of our group's strategy, not that you guys in B Class or Takanori's group would know. We came to the conclusion early on that we didn't stand a chance against D Class, so our group decided that our best play was a defensive limit strategy."

As if to back up his statement, Sakigamiya and Yamaguchi nodded.

"Instead of giving D Class openings to win, we held back, spread out on different floors to hide, and kept fighting to a bare minimum until the last half an hour. During that time, we'd siege them and try to squeeze more wins than D Class out in that remaining time, since theoretically our scores would be about the same. Of course, that plan fell apart once Zyriot-san found my platoon and wiped us out, but this strategy would've been far more effective if the entire class was in on it. However, because Takanori decided to make his own splinter faction and aggressively blitz D Class, our strategy had far less people to work with and couldn't be fulfilled since half of us, unfortunately, died."

In all honesty, I could see the merits in Matsushita's strategy. One of the reasons D Class got so many kills on us was because I sent my group actively looking for fights. In comparison, Matsushita was trying to limit the chances D Class got to get wins and sneak around until the last minute, where they'd battle in a multitude of fights and hinge on the timer running out while they had more wins to scrape a victory.

However, because Zyriot found their hiding place on the top floor and eliminated his platoon, Matsushita was unable to execute that second half of his plan, meaning my group was left free to continue our strategy of trying to fight D Class on equal footing, essentially handing them win after win since we were at a disadvantage. In that aspect, I had failed.

"The gap between us and D Class is now wider than ever, and it's his fault! There was absolutely no reason for him to be Commander, yet he managed to weasel his way into becoming one, half-assing the job and ruining our chances of winning, all for a stupid convoluted plan to somehow become leader that hinged entirely on an outcome that wasn't even guaranteed! From the very start, Takanori's interests have always been for himself and everything he does is for his own benefit!"

Piling onto Matsushita's frustrations was Sakigamiya, her biting tongue not hesitating from cutting deep into the flaws of my plan.

"I understand you want to be empathetic to Takanori's situation too, Natsumi-san, but I can't allow you interfere between our business any longer. If you won't move, I'll have to ask Yamaguchi-san to forcibly get you out of the way."

Hearing that he got to be rough with Ichinose if she didn't move, the brute like Yamaguchi smirked, showing his crooked teeth.

"Yamaguchi-kun can shove and kick me all he wants then, because I'm not letting this situation spill over any further!"

In some ways, Ichinose was adamantly defending me because she wanted to prevent our class from devolving to the same level of internal conflict as her class. As B Class and E Class were allies, it's no wonder she wanted to intervene in our situation to stop anything else bad from happening.

However, I felt incredibly guilty that Ichinose was trying to shoulder all the burden of what happened by herself, because I was the person who was at fault here. I didn't want her to shift the blame away from the person who deserved it most: me. Instead, I wanted to bear it all and properly face consequences so no one else has to.

"Ichinose-san."

I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. She looked over to me with a concerned face.

"That's enough. You've done all you can."

From her blind spot, Yamaguchi swung. In one fluid motion, I pulled Ichinose back, switching our positions, and caught Yamaguchi's wrist, holding his arm in place.

"I'll handle things from here."

"T-Takanori-kun?!"

Ichinose was shocked by my swift reaction time. I gently pushed her back to keep her out of harms way and slowly increased my grip on Yamaguchi's arm as a warning for him to back down, lest things get uglier.

"Ho? You're pretty strong for a shrimp."

"It was bold of you to try and hit her while she wasn't looking."

"Whatever draws you out from your hiding spot."

Abruptly, the classroom door rattled open. Rushing inside with urgent faces were Yukina and Akihiro.

"Yuu! We finally found... you..."

Yukina's voice trailed off as she saw the situation I was in right now.

"Oi, Yamaguchi, what the hell were you gonna do to Takanori?"

Akihiro snarled, raising his fists and taking a step forward, but I raised my hand, signalling to him to not do anything rash.

"You two, stay back."

I warned them to keep their distance as I was still holding onto Yamaguchi's wrist.

"Heh... I was gonna drive it in."

Without hesitating, Yamaguchi bluntly told Akihiro the truth of what he was going to do, before snatching his arm from my grip with a low chuckle.

"Huh? Are you insane?"

"It's fine, he deserves it."

"No he doesn't, now piss off!"

"Nah, I was here first."

"I don't care, get out of my sight."

"You wanna go?"

As the tension between Yamaguchi and Akihiro grew, Matsushita swiftly intervened.

"Yamaguchi-san, stop."

"Ah, what?"

"The only person we're here for is Takanori. Leave Ishima-san alone."

Matsushita sharply warned him to back down.

"How boring."

Yamaguchi sneered and shrugged, pulling back while staring at me tauntingly.

"Takanori, we should fight some time. I've been curious in your strength since you mauled Ritaka's face."

"I'll decline that offer."

As Yukina and Akihiro drew closer, Matsushita looked at them over his shoulder.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to support Yuu, of course!"

Yukina boldly replied. Bitterly, Matsushita then looked back at me.

"When did you tell them to come here?"

"He didn't. We came on our own accord since everyone in the group was worried about him."

Even though the question was directed at me, Akihiro didn't hesitate to answer.

"Well, as long as you two don't interfere between me and Takanori, then I don't mind your presence."

"Too bad for you, that's exactly what we're here to do. Come on Yuu, let's get out of here! You don't have to endure any of this!"

Before Yukina could continue further, I cut in and shook my head.

"It's fine. I wanted this as well. After all, I've been waiting here the entire time for Matsushita-san."

"That'd explain why he wasn't in his dorm when we checked..." Akihiro said to Yukina.

"Huh, you two had the same idea as us. We also checked the dorms first because we thought he went home." Sakigamiya said.

"Sorry for wasting your time then."

I apologised to both parties. Matsushita sighed.

"Whatever, at least we got here in the end. So, who were you on the phone with earlier?"

"That's a bit of a strong question to start off with, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't find it suspicious. You were acting awfully lax even though we lost the war."

"Who I talk to is none of your business."

"Let me guess, someone from another class giving you instructions on how to undermine our class next?"

It seems Matsushita was still adamant on painting me as a traitor who sold out E Class to D Class.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop insinuating I betrayed the class."

"And I'd appreciate if you'd stop lying."

"Like I said on Wednesday, all the evidence for why I haven't done anything wrong is in front of you, but I digress. This is a pointless argument to have since nothing I do will convince you I'm on E Class's side."

"I'm glad you get the memo. It's like yesterday, when the only way you'd agree to a truce is if you got to be Commander. Nothing I said or did could convince you to back down from that condition either."

Annoyingly, Matsushita used my own logic against me to justify his unyielding belief I was a traitor. I couldn't call him out on this because I was guilty of adamantly wanting to be Commander no matter what, which would make me look like a hypocrite if I did.

"In that case, we're equal."

"For that much, sure. But we're definitely not equal for what you did in the war. The gall you have to go behind the class's back and become Commander by exploiting Natsumi-san's kindness sickens me... you really are the lowest of the low scum, Takanori."

At this point, I had two choices. I could either continue fighting back, or I could end everything right here and now.

I had to make my decision within a split-second.

After weighing the merit of my options, I came to one conclusion.

"You're right."

I chose the latter option.

"Huh?"

"I'm agreeing with you. I'm scum, and always have been."

Instead of dragging out this argument and increasing the tension between me and Matsushita, I decided it was best to cut my losses here. There was no point in continuing a losing battle.

"Don't screw around! You won't save face by playing the victim card now."

"That's not what I'm trying to do. I don't need someone else's pity. Rather, I'm taking responsibility for my mistakes."

"If you want to take "responsibility", then do it properly! Don't half-ass it by just agreeing with me that you're scum! Everyone is aware of that! You won't get away scot-free just by embracing how much of a terrible person are and wearing it on your sleeve!"

Before I said anything else, I looked around the room.

Good.

All the main parties - people from my group, people from Matsushita's group, and people from B Class - were present to act as witnesses to my announcement.

"I know that. That's why I surrender."

Silence filled the room.

"What?" Sakigamiya was the first to react.

"You're joking! You can't surrender!" Akihiro exclaimed.

"Takanori-kun, you're acting rash!" Ichinose tugged on my sleeve.

"Huh?" Yamaguchi grunted.

"Yuu...?" Yukina covered her mouth in shock.

A perplexed expression grew on Matsushita's darkened face as he raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. He lifted his right hand up ever so slightly before bringing it back down. The movement was so subtle, I don't think anyone but me noticed it.

"Stop messing around. Your sarcasm's getting on my nerves."

"If it comes off that way, I'm sorry, but I do sincerely mean it. My selfish decision to become Commander is the reason why we lost the war. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of my poor behaviour. That's why I'm going to take full responsibility for what I've done and concede to you. I'll stop competing with you for being the leader of E Class and disband the Takanori group, since it doesn't have a reason to exist anymore. In other words, I'm returning complete control of the class back to you, Matsushita-san."

Matsushita's initial hostility started to dissipate and be replaced with a bewildered suspicion. However, after analysing the situation we were in and confirming I was being genuine and truthful with my statement, he cracked a light smile at my announcement.

"So you understand you've lost completely."

"That's right. I'll go back to being an insignificant shadow in the class. On Monday, I'll even make a public announcement of my surrender to the rest of the class, if that will satisfy you."

"No, this is fine enough. There's no need to embarrass yourself further. I'll just explain to everyone in the group chat that we came to an agreement in private to return everything back to the status quo."

"If that's what you want. That resolves almost all of our problems, doesn't it?"

"I believe it should. However, I'm still not convinced that you're not a traitor."

"That's fine. I can earn your trust back by helping E Class in the future. What you think of me is the least of my concerns right now."

"Oh. To be honest, I'm just surprised you were so willing to surrender."

"There's no point fighting a losing battle. I messed up, and this is the price I have to pay for it."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with you... who would've thought you could be so reasonable deep down? Maybe something good did come out of losing this war after all."

Laughing with satisfaction, Matsushita turned his back on me and headed to the door.

"I'm looking forward to your cooperation moving forward, Takanori... san. Let's go, Alice-chan, Yamaguchi-san. See you later, Yukina-san, Akihiro-kun. Thank you for B Class's help today, Natsumi-san. Sorry for threatening you so harshly."

Seamlessly switching back to being a cool ikemen, Matsushita acknowledged me by reluctantly reattaching the "san" honorific to my name. I guess that was a step forward. This common courtesy was only possible again because I returned to being lower than him on the class hierarchy. There was no reason to antagonise me if I wasn't threatening his position as top dog anymore.

"You did a good thing today, Takanori-san."

As she passed me, Sakigamiya praised me for being submissive to Matsushita while also reattaching a honorific to my name. Earning back their respect was much easier than I thought. All I had to do was suck up to them.

"The offer to fight is still on."

Yamaguchi said that to me as he followed Matsushita and Sakigamiya in exiting the classroom.

"Thanks for earlier, when you stopped Yamaguchi-kun from shoving me."

Once Yamaguchi was out of earshot, Ichinose thanked me with a sigh of relief.

"No problem. I can't believe he was seriously going to do that to you."

"Yamaguchi was going after Ichinose and not you, Takanori? That asshole."

Akihiro slammed his fists together angrily.

"Yeah. Ichinose-san was trying to stop Matsushita-san from arguing with me, but she wouldn't back down, so Yamaguchi-san decided to be forceful."

"That's horrible..." Yukina said.

"I was prepared to go down fighting, nya ha ha!"

Ichinose casually laughed off the incident.

"But Takanori-kun, are you sure about your decision? Even if you failed here, you shouldn't feel obligated to abandon your group completely to "take responsibility". It's like you've given up... but on the yacht, you seemed so determined! What happened?"

"Ichinose-san's right, that was such an extreme decision! You're acting like the sole reason why we lost, when that's not true! We lost as a class, so we should spread the blame equally! You shouldn't try to bear it all alone... you don't deserve that! We're partners, so let me take some of the responsibility too!"

"Did ya even consider how everyone else will feel about this decision? Cuz, if I'm gonna be honest, I'd rather have you as a leader than Matsushita. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found the courage to change decks and find my true avatar. That's why I'll follow you 'til the bitter end, Commander."

Hearing all of their kind words warmed my heart, but I didn't regret my decision. This was for the best.

"Realistically, there was no way I was ever going to become leader. What I did was a giant waste of time and a headache for everyone else. That's why it's best to return everything to how it was and bring the two groups back together again, since we'll never surpass D Class without working as one. I don't mind burdening the pain, since it gives everyone in the class a common enemy to spite and unite together over. It makes me an easy scapegoat to point to and prevents blame going to others who don't deserve it. As for how everyone will feel about it... I don't think a big deal will be made out of it since we're just going back to how things were. But I appreciate your concerns, everyone."

Yukina's ahoge drooped over.

"Isn't that... the same as sacrificing yourself?"

"If it's for the sake of the class, then it's worth it."

The atmosphere in the class had become strangely tranquil. I might have lost a lot of things today, but I felt like I had also gained something in return.

"Uwa, is it just me, or does Takanori-kun seem cooler than before?"

Ichinose grinned while slapping my back. Akihiro laughed.

"I dunno, he kinda does. D'ya think a big deal will be made out of this, then?"

"I don't think so. I'd hope not, at least."

"If no one cares, then I'll make it a big deal."

Yukina huffed, crossing her arms.

"Please don't... I want to go back to a peaceful school life."

"I don't think that's possible at GEN, Yuu."

Yukina, Ichinose, and Akihiro all laughed. That once dim atmosphere grew a little brighter.

"Nya ha ha, how do you still have a straight face?!"

"What a stick in the mud."

"He's always been like this since middle school."

"I am laughing... on the inside."

I wasn't, but they'd keep asking me weird questions if I didn't say that.

"Ooh, I want to hear you laugh, Takanori-kun!"

"Ha ha ha."

I robotically said three "ha" to satisfy Ichinose's curiosity.

"Lame..."

"Yeah, it's not very exciting."

Akihiro checked the time on his phone.

"Crap, it's getting late. We should go home."

"Yeah, the next train is leaving soon, if we don't hurry, we'll miss it!"

Since me and Yukina were taking the train home, this piece of information was actually worrying.

"Yikes, good thing I'm taking the bus. How about you, Ichinose?" Akihiro said.

"Oh, I was gonna stay at school to do some student council stuff. You guys can go on ahead."

Naturally, being a proactive and popular student, Ichinose's schedule for today was filled to the brim.

"Aight, good luck on that. I'll see y'all later then, Takanori, Kazuraba, Ichinose."

Akihiro left the class. I turned to Yukina.

"Shall we go too, then?"

"Yup!"

"Later, Ichinose-san. Thanks for the hard work today."

"Bye, Natsumi-san! Thank you for helping us!"

"Bye bye, Takanori-kun, Yukina-chan!"

Together, me and Yukina left the class.