Thursday, 18th June. Break time.

In a separate classroom in the special wing, I was with Alice and Matsushita, waiting for a certain group of people to arrive.

After what I did to them yesterday, these two have been obediently following my every instruction. They knew that if they'd act out, I would tell everyone about their past and how they nearly killed Kouji over a test score.

"Alice-chan, what's up with you today?"

Seeing her unusually worn out expression, Matsushita asked her that.

Because this was the first time they'd seen each other since yesterday, Matsushita was unaware that she had also been blackmailed. As such, he kept up his ikemen facade, making sure not to tip her off that something bad happened.

Alice glanced up at Matsushita, forcing a wry smile. Likewise, she didn't know about his situation either, so she was also trying to act like her usual bijin self as well. Unfortunately, she wasn't as good at hiding her emotions as he was.

"Oh... it's nothing."

"Are you sure? You came into school today looking rather gloomy."

It was weird seeing Matsushita act so friendly towards Alice knowing he hated her deep down. His commitment to the act was commendable.

"Eh? No, no I didn't."

"If you say so... anyways, how was your guys karaoke session last night? Good, I take it?"

Matsushita's suspicions towards me could be felt clearly in this seemingly innocuous question.

"It was... fun."

Alice replied, trying to put on an excited voice. However, her words came out flat, making Matsushita laugh slightly.

"Let me guess, it was really awkward."

"Ah... eh, I mean..."

I fully expect them to find out about each other's circumstances in the future, but it's best if I leave them in the dark for now. Divide and conquer, I say.

"I mean, something good happened... right? It's unlike you to follow someone else's requests, especially considering it's Takanori-san."

Trying to confirm if something happened between us, Matsushita began speaking more passive aggressively.

"Or maybe, something bad?"

Matsushita smiled, but it was more malicious than it was happy. Alice looked like she wanted to reply, but was too scared to say anything. Instead, she ended up looking to me for help. I sighed, turning to Matsushita.

"You can read the room, can't you?"

I was telling him to surmise the situation with his own intuition. It was obvious which path of thinking he'd go down on, but I didn't mind that.

"Is that so..."

After thinking about it to himself, Matsushita chuckled derisively.

"You're awful, Takanori-san."

"Guess that makes all three of us then, huh?"

After I said those hinting words, Alice started to catch on as well. She leaned forward, looking at Matsushita with wide eyes.

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

In her own clumsy way, Alice was also trying to tease out an answer without revealing she'd been blackmailed. Matsushita shrugged.

"Who knows. If I say it, I might end up being punished in retribution."

Matsushita was trying to indirectly convey to Alice his situation. She'd only understand what he was saying if she had also been blackmailed.

"That... no way, Yuuto-san, did you...?"

I kept silent, letting their imagination run wild and fill in the gaps of what they didn't know. Even if they arrive at the right conclusion, they'll never be able to verify their suspicions without my confirmation or spilling the truth to each other.

It was unlikely either of them would risk being the first to tell to the other, since admitting to being blackmailed would be hugely humiliating for them. Their fractured relationship with each other would also make things difficult.

However, the main reason neither of them would chance it was my presence as a threat looming over them. If they did something I disapproved of, I could immediately ruin their lives.

"Ah, whatever. Guess it doesn't matter."

Matsushita sighed.

It seems he was satisfied with the conclusion he came to, whereas Alice was still desperate to know whether or not she'd was alone. In fact, the possibility that she wasn't the only one probably terrified her. It meant there were more people like her under my control.

"Right..."

Alice went quiet, unable to speak up anymore. It was completely different to her usual lively self. In comparison, Matsushita was brave enough to act cheeky, but even he was being careful with how far he went with it.

It was clear that he was trying to regain some of his lost power by talking back to me. He seemed to get some satisfaction out of doing it, but he still looked unhappy with how things ended up.

On the other hand, Alice had accepted her fate and would do anything to please me. To her, I was like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any second.

However, the situation was the same for both of them. Unless they could find a way to disarm me, I could blow up in their face at any moment. They had to treat me like royalty, essentially.

This was certainly an interesting position of power to be in. I could feel their hatred towards me shroud them like a smog. Alice had been completely broken by the events of last night, while Matsushita sat with his arms crossed begrudgingly.

Between the two of them though, he was handling things far better. Even though she presented herself as tougher than Matsushita, Alice was actually the more fragile one. When it came to what happened at Minanohara, the past tormented her more.

There was a knock on the door. It looks like our guests had finally arrived.

"Come in."

Stepping through the door were Senzaki, Ryouta, and Shimada. Immediately, Shimada pulled a face as he noticed the dynamic shift in our seating position.

Usually, it was Alice who sat in the middle, with me and Matsushita on either side. Today however, me and Alice had switched places. After glossing over the table, Shimada looked at me with a toothy grin.

"This is certainly unusual."

Senzaki hummed, also noticing the change. She sat across from me, while Ryouta and Shimada sat across from Matsushita and Alice respectively.

Alice shivered a little as she came face to face with Shimada. Ryouta looked over and abruptly got up.

"Mind if we swap?"

Alice looked up at Ryouta. Shimada glanced at him and snorted.

"Dunno, I'm pretty comfortable where I am."

"Please, Shimada-san?"

"What's wrong with that seat, huh?"

"I don't really want to sit there."

"You're not usually this whimsical."

"If you can skip class on a whim, then I can change seats on a whim too."

"Fair enough."

Laughing, Shimada got up and switched seats with Ryouta. I thought he wouldn't budge an inch...

"Thank you, Shimada-san."

"You owe me a cola for that one, Hane."

Now that Ryouta was sitting in front of her, Alice seemed to calm down a bit. She bowed her head in thanks, but Ryouta shook his hands as if to say it was nothing.

"Everything about this feels off... wouldn't you guys agree?"

Senzaki said, turning to her classmates for confirmation. Ryouta nodded while Shimada shrugged.

"Who cares. Just hurry up and get this deal over with. I wanna take a piss and you guys are wasting my time."

"Maybe you shouldn't have drank all that cola then, Shimada-san."

"Bitch, I'll drink cola for breakfast if I want. Don't tell me what to do."

Matsushita gave Shimada a weird look.

"You got a problem with that too, goat?"

Shimada noticed, and insulted Matsushita with the same degrading nickname he used last time we met.

"...I don't care what you have for breakfast. That's none of my business."

"Damn right. You guys better get this over with quick before I start pissing on the table."

Shimada yawned, casually kicking up his feet on the table. He closed his eyes and began to tune out of the conversation.

"We're sorry about Shimada-san... he's always like this."

"Don't worry about it. We're used to it by now."

I could see why A Class wanted to get rid of him so badly. Even in this final meeting, Shimada was messing around and not taking things seriously.

"I get what Senzaki-san is saying though. This is the first time we've held discussions about the deal in another room. Not to mention, Takanori-san is the one sitting in the middle this time... I guess you're the one taking the lead today?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't it a bit late though? Matsushita-san and Sakigamiya-san agreed to our deal. We just had to bring Shimada-san here to satisfy your request of everyone being present at the negotiation table before signing."

Senzaki promptly took out the same contract they'd prepared from yesterday and put them in front of me.

"There should be no problems, right?"

I took the contract and flicked through the fine print one more time. They really haven't changed it at all, huh?

"...well, there is one more thing."

Judging by her calm reaction, Senzaki had expected this. However, Ryouta seemed surprised. Shimada didn't care at all.

"And that would be?"

Senzaki laced her fingers together, smiling.

"There's no clause in the contract stating you won't share the exams with your fellow A Class students."

This was the discrepancy I saw yesterday. If A Class were to betray us and Senzaki shared the exams with everyone, there'd be no way for us to argue it was illegal because this clause was missing from the contract.

Since the rule wasn't clearly defined in writing, the school would see A Class as doing nothing wrong. After all, we were the one who signed off on giving them the right to make their own exams for the finals. It would be our fault.

With the contract currently as it is, all they'd have to uphold is giving us 100 class points and who makes the exam. There was no obligation for Senzaki to keep the exams to herself.

That's why, if we did suspect foul play had been committed, it'd be very hard to prove it. All the evidence on our side would be verbal, making it impossible to verify. Like everything else we had discussed in our meetings, it needed to be written down for it to be legally binding.

"Do you honestly think we're dumb enough to cheat against your class full of idiots? You're giving yourself too much credit, Yuuto."

Shimada scoffed at me with a laugh. Senzaki shook her head in disagreement.

"No, no, Takanori-san has a point. Technically speaking, if they did sign off on this as it is, there's nothing stopping me from showing the exams I made to everyone else, including you two. Looks like I forgot to write something preventing that, he he."

"Paperwork has never been your strong suit, Senzaki-san..." Ryouta sighed.

Was this an honest mistake or an underhanded play? I couldn't see someone like Ryouta agreeing to this, but I could see someone like Shimada encourage the idea. As for Senzaki, I think she could swing either way due to the grim impression she gave off.

"If I add that to the contract, will you guys sign it then?"

She was willing to edit it at the last second to gain our cooperation. However, I didn't think this deal was a good idea from the start. I only played along so I could twist it in my favour at the very end.

"Hmm... nah. How about you sign my contract instead?"

Taking out a completely different contract from my bag, I slammed it down on the table without hesitation. Everyone's eyes, except for Shimada's, widened in surprise.

"Hey, what's the meaning of this...?"

Picking up the contract I made, Senzaki's eyes widened as she and Ryouta read through it.

"You needed the deal to be signed off today so you could make the questions, right? So I thought I'd save you the trouble and typed one up myself."

"Wait, but here the conditions are slightly different..."

As he read through it, Ryouta picked up on the vital changes I made to the contract.

"It says you'll be the one solely responsible for making the exams!"

"That's right. Instead of Senzaki-san, I'll be the one making them."

Alice and Matsushita stared at me like I was insane. Shimada put his feet down and slammed his fist on the table, cackling.

"Oi, are you for real?"

He leaned forward, staring at me with a cruel smirk. The lollipop he's always chewing on rolled between his thin lips excitedly.

"Yeah."

Shimada snatched the contract out of Senzaki's hand and bit down on his thumb until it was bleeding. Dipping the stick of his lollipop into his blood, Shimada used it as a pen to sign his name on the contract without a second thought.

"There. Signed in blood, so you know I'm serious."

What a hardcore way of doing things... it was like he was signing a deal with the devil. I didn't expect Shimada to be so on board about this.

"Shimada-san, what are you doing? We shouldn't be so hasty—"

"Shut up, Kanami. If Yuuto's the one making these exams, then I don't care about the rest of the details. You and Hane better sign off on this too. If you need ink, I have some here."

Shimada waved his bleeding thumb around in front of Senzaki's exasperated face. Ryouta took the contract and read through it one more time. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Shimada-san, can I ask you something?"

"What? If it's a stupid question, I'll kill you."

"Why did you sign the contract without reading it?"

Shimada looked like he was about to murder Ryouta, but instead slammed his feet back on the table.

"Cuz I don't have to? What a stupid question."

"But why? That's what I don't understand."

"Then you're an idiot."

"I'd also like to know too, Shimada-san. You were way too eager with your decision."

Senzaki chimed in. Shimada laughed at her.

"I don't know what you two are babbling on about. I made the right call."

"No, you didn't. This contract is an exact copy of the one Senzaki-san made, but with two significant changes. The first being the addition of the clause, and the second being Takanori-san taking Senzaki-san's role in making the exams."

"Stop with the word foreplay and get to the damn point, Hane."

"They've kept in the 100 Cl payment. If Takanori-san's the one handling the exam, then we have no reason to pay them anymore... yet you just signed off on it."

In actuality, I made two contracts based on the picture of Senzaki's contract I took on my phone. They both contained the two edits Ryouta mentioned, but one kept the 100 Cl clause while the other had omitted it. I had brought both of them with me today.

I did this because I fully expected them to dispute the transfer of class points with these changes, meaning I'd need a contract without the clause ready so we could sign off today. However, I still wanted to see if I could still somehow swipe 100 Cl from under their noses, so I presented this one that kept it in first.

Thankfully, due to Shimada's eagerness to sign off, he had essentially forced Ryouta and Senzaki to join in signing this copy. All I had to do now was keep quiet about the second contract I had in my bag, since they currently believed this was the only copy I had.

"So? 100 Cl is nothing."

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm being serious, believe it or not."

"But that's equal to 10,000 Pr per person... in total, A Class would be losing out on 250,000 Pr altogether."

"That's more than E Class would get in a single year, stop being greedy. We still get 90,000 Pr per month, which is 2,250,000 Pr altogether. This number'll only grow after we win the special exam and get our monthly evaluation."

Shimada laughed like he was joking, but he wasn't wrong. In our current state, at most we could only get 50,000 Pr altogether. That wasn't even half of what A Class was getting monthly.

"It's not about greed, it's about defence. We'd only be helping out B Class surpass us if we lose 100 Cl. We'd be in a worse position than we were in at the beginning of May."

"What, you're scared those dysfunctional idiots in B Class will catch up to us? They lost 20 Cl this month, stop being so paranoid. If you think your position as A Class is that fragile, why don't you leave already?"

Shimada spat the bloodstained stick of his lollipop at Ryouta. He stared down at the stick before sharply looking at Shimada.

"I didn't come here to run away. Not when I still have to beat you in this challenge!"

"God, you're one sappy bitch... if you're that worried about losing those class points, then just force Yuuto to change it. Personally, I couldn't give a rat's ass. I'll spend it all either way."

Shimada snickered, taking a new lollipop from his pocket and popping it into his mouth. Ryouta turned to me.

"Takanori-san, can you type up a new contract that omits this clause? If you're going to handle making the exams, we won't need to compensate you with Cl anymore."

I had two options here. I could continue bluffing and somehow try to make an excuse as to why they owe us 100 Cl, or I could just reveal I had the edited copy with me all along.

Thinking about it, that 100 Cl would really benefit us. It'd bring us one huge step closer to becoming D Class, which would also in turn help contribute towards winning Yukina's bet.

It might be risky, but... what's the harm in trying, I guess.

"I don't know. Shimada-san's already signed this contract, with his own blood even. It's his fault for not reading it properly and accepting the deal immediately. We shouldn't have to change our terms just because one of you disagree with it. Ultimately, it's a group decision, and I feel like you're not giving Shimada-san's opinion enough credit, especially as he's one of the competitors of your challenge."

"Between the three of us, his opinion is the least popular one. Democratically, me and Senzaki-san outnumber him two to one, and we want to get rid of that clause. It's unfair if we have to sign off on a contract we disagree with just because one of our parties rushed in to sign it straightaway."

"Why should Senzaki-san get an equal say as you two? This isn't her competition. She's just a mediator for you two. Her opinion was only weighted because she was planned to be the one who made the exams, but she's out of the picture now. If Shimada-san is fine with it, there shouldn't be any problems."

"I have a problem with it. I won't be willing to sign off on something I disagree with, much like you did yesterday. It's also nonsensical to give you 100 Cl when we don't have a good reason to anymore."

"Paying us 100 Cl would be good compensation for wasting our time, leaving things until the last minute, and keeping this deal a secret from everyone else."

"It was Matsushita-san and Sakigamiya-san who left their decision to the very last minute. If they had decided quicker, we'd have more time than we do now. Hell, we even sacrificed our chance at gaining more Cl through failing B Class by leaking our exam. That's more than enough compensation for such minor inconveniences."

"We didn't ask for that though. We would've preferred more Cl if you wanted to sweeten the deal and get us to choose quicker. If you were willing to give up 100 Cl back then, why are you being so stingy now? Don't you like charity and giving to the less fortunate?"

"This isn't a discussion about morality. This is a discussion of logic. There's no good reason to give you 100 Cl as compensation for something that doesn't exist. If you cross out that clause in the contract, then I'll consider signing it. Otherwise, it's better if we let Senzaki-san handle it since she's the best at academics after me and Shimada-san."

It makes sense why he'd think that. In terms of academic ability, Senzaki was smarter than I am. If they wanted a fair competition, it was theoretically better to let her handle making the questions, not me.

"There's plenty of good reasons why we deserve 100 Cl as compensation."

"You've listed them already, and I don't think any of them are worth that 100 Cl."

"There is one that I've yet to mention."

"And that is?"

"I only have three days to make these exams."

Ryouta raised his eyebrows.

"I doubt that. You wouldn't switch Senzaki-san with yourself if you hadn't already prepared the exams."

"I haven't. I've been spending my free time studying and making the history and English exams. It's a last minute decision I made after discussing it with Matsushita-san and Alice-san. We felt that it wasn't safe to give Senzaki-san so much power, so we wanted to replace her with someone from our class. Originally, we were going to pick Nora-san, but we decided it was better to keep this deal between the six of us, so I offered myself up."

Of course, I was just rattling off lies to try and convince Ryouta the situation was worse than it actually was to try and play on his emotional side. Pity can really get you far.

"Again, Sakigamiya-san ranked better than you on the midterms. Wouldn't she be the better choice?"

While me and Matsushita were about on par in terms of academic ability, Alice was way ahead of us, getting the second best rank in E Class just after Nora.

"Actually... we really haven't made anything to prepare for this. We only let Yuuto-san handle it because he's the only one with free time left. Me and Isogai-san have our hands full on the weekend with leading the final burst of study sessions."

To my surprise, Alice corroborated my lies with half-truths. I guess even she saw the value of preserving the 100 Cl clause of the contract.

"Yeah. There's no way we could've prepared anything in advance on such short notice. We're just doing the best with what we have."

Similarly, Matsushita also chimed in to further the lie. In some ways, I'm glad they were on my side right now. Their ability to lie naturally was coming in extremely useful today.

"If that's the case, fine. What I'm worried about now is if Takanori-san can even make exams that will be challenging enough for me and Shimada-san. If I remember correctly, you came 60th in the midterms. That's just above average. The integrity of our competition might be ruined if you don't properly make them."

"Hane, are you mentally disabled or something? Shut up and sign it. You're acting like such a bitch today, it's pissing me off."

Shimada growled at Ryouta, hitting the table with his feet. He was beginning to grow extremely impatient.

"I just want our challenge to be properly executed. Don't you feel the same?"

"Of course. It'd be pointless if it was piss easy. But I'm not worried about that since Yuuto's the one making the exams."

"What makes you so confident he'll do a job as good as Senzaki-san then?"

"He's smarter than Kanami. That's all there is to it."

Upon hearing Shimada's nonchalant reply, Ryouta stared at him blankly. Even Senzaki couldn't fathom what he said. Matsushita and Alice looked surprised to see him speak so highly of me.

"...I think you have the wrong impression of me, Shimada-san."

"Stop being so humble. Just own up your strength already, won't ya? I'm starving for a serious battle with someone on my level."

Ryouta sighed, crossing his arms.

"Senzaki-san, what do you make of all this?"

"I think it there's some truth to it if Shimada-san is the one saying it. As flippant as he is, it's hard to get him to recognise anyone. The fact he speaks of highly of Takanori-san has to mean something, right?"

"See, Kanami gets the memo."

Shimada snickered. Ryouta looked at me sincerely.

"You and Shimada-san know each other from the past, right?"

I nodded.

"Are you sure that's not clouding your judgment, Shimada-san?"

"Nope. Not at all."

That was a blatant lie. The whole reason he thinks I'm smarter than her is because of <that>.

"I see. What am I missing then, huh?"

Ryouta sighed as he looked at me up and down.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I've heard a lot of rumours about you, Takanori-san. All of them ranging from how brilliant you are to how awful you are as a person. There's a whole range of good and bad to pick from. One moment, you're a woman beater. The next, a leader of a rebellion. After that, a mothercon. Sometimes, you're even a selfless hero."

I knew exactly where all these rumours stemmed from. The first was from the D Class delinquents. The second was the civil war. The third was from Akari. The fourth was me saving Yukina by punching Ritaka. I was more infamous than I thought...

"Even my own classmates have strong opinions on you. Emica-san thinks you're worth keeping an eye on. Mizuki-san thinks you're a lowlife pervert. Yami-san thinks you're cold but vigilant. Yahagi-san thinks you're a nuisance better off expelled. Senzaki-san has taken a liking to you. Even Shimada-san seems to respect you on some level. Do you know how difficult it is to do that?"

Interestingly, their impressions of me fit with how I've interacted with them in the past. Those with high evaluations have gotten to know me, while those with low evaluations only know me on the surface level.

"Even so, despite all this talk about you, I still don't see what makes you unique. To me, you're nothing special."

Ryouta looked at me in the eyes while declaring that.

"Ah sorry, that came off a bit strong. I don't mean to be rude, but that's what I honestly think."

"It's fine. Your assessment of me is right anyways. I'm the definition of average."

"If that was true, then so many people wouldn't be speaking so highly of you. That's what confuses me."

"Who knows. Whatever praise you've heard about me, I don't deserve it."

"I see..."

Ryouta's gaze continued to linger on me. He really thought there was something more behind me, huh?

"For what it's worth, I think E Class has a point. Making three exams over the long weekend at a high enough standard by one person would be difficult, even for me. The deadline is tight too."

Getting the conversation back on track, Senzaki offered her opinion on my reasoning.

"Yeah. I'll be dedicating the rest of my time making these exams, essentially. I won't be able to revise for the finals myself. I think 100 Cl would be fine enough compensation, since if I fail on an exam, we'd lose half of that."

"If it makes things easier for you to decide, it's probably better if someone from their class handled it anyways. Now I won't know what questions are coming up nor will I have to tank my score on purpose."

As Senzaki added that, Shimada kicked the table abruptly.

"For crying out loud Hane, stop being a picky bitch and sign the damn thing already, my bladder hurts. Forget the table, I'll piss on you instead."

"Alright, alright, I get it. Calm down."

Seeing how impatient Shimada was getting, Ryouta gave up arguing against the 100 Cl clause and took out a pen from his pocket.

"There we go, good man."

Shimada cackled. Putting the nib to paper, Ryouta looked up at me.

"Before I sign, I want to ask one more thing. Take off your sunglasses too."

I took off my shades and put them on the table.

"Will you really make exams that are better than what Senzaki-san can produce?"

Ryouta looked into the window of my very soul.

"Yes."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you, Takanori-san. That's all I needed to know."

Then, he signed his name on the contract. I put back on my sunglasses.

"Oi, Kanami! It's all on you now. If you refuse to sign, I'll kill you then piss on your corpse!"

Shimada laughed gleefully.

"Senzaki-san, let's get this deal over with."

Ryouta gently encouraged her, pushing over the contract.

"Are you sure, Ryouta-san? You don't seem fully on board."

"If it's about the 100 Cl, don't worry about it. After hearing that answer from Takanori-san... something in my gut is saying he's telling the truth."

"A gut feeling? Now this is really unlike you."

Ryouta gently laughed at Senzaki's unusually worried tone.

"I mean, it's fine, isn't it? In the end, this is between me and Shimada-san. If he believes Takanori-san is capable of making the exams, then I will too."

"Trust me, you made the right decision, Hane."

"I see, I see."

With an understanding nod, Senzaki took out a pen and signed her name on the contract.

"Here you go, Takanori-san."

After finishing, she handed it back to me. I looked through it once more and put it away into my bag.

"I'll give it to Chabashira-sensei, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing! I'll talk to Hiden-sensei about the class points transfer. We'll aim to get your class the first 50 Cl by tomorrow."

"That's fine with us. Thank you for making this offer, A Class."

"No, no, the pleasure's ours. Thank you for accepting, E Class!"

Me and Senzaki shook hands to seal the deal. Ryouta and Shimada got up, ready to exit.

"Three days remain until our competition, Shimada-san. May the best man win."

"Ha, shut up with that chivalry crap, Hane. I can't wait to crush you to pieces... it's so exciting!"

Ryouta and Shimada... the loser of their competition would leave A Class.

I wondered who was going to win in the end.