Picking on the Same Sheep

If you support my plan, you'll keep earning the trust of your Class B classmates and go on happily being friends with them.

If you oppose my plan, you'll be betraying the interests of everyone in Class B for the sake of students from other classes, but you can still be friends with them.

But if Class B doesn't graduate from Class A in the end, will your conscience be able to bear it?

Support me, and I can strike at the other classes. Oppose me, and the reputation you've worked so hard to build will collapse.

Either way, I have nothing to lose.

Will you support me, or...

"No. I don't agree with this plan."

Ichinose's voice rang throughout the classroom. She suddenly raised her head, which had been lowered all this time, and looked straight at Uesugi Gen with a determined gaze.

Uesugi Gen calmly met Ichinose's blue eyes and asked softly,

"Ichinose, you should know that if we don't strike first, the other classes will target our classmates, right?"

"I know." Ichinose replied firmly.

"You know that every second-year class has students who've dropped out, right? Even if you stop me now, some of them will still drop out one day."

"I know." Ichinose's tone didn't change.

"You know this school is a place where ability comes first, right? If someone really does drop out, it can only be blamed on their own lack of ability."

"I know." Ichinose didn't waver.

Uesugi Gen couldn't help raising his voice.

"If you know all that, why are you opposing this plan? Tell me!"

"Graduating from Class A means eligibility for further education and employment—a bright future."

"As Class B's class representative, they chose you because they believe you can lead them to Class A."

"And now, you're leading the opposition to a plan that could get them into Class A in one fell swoop."

Uesugi Gen gazed quietly into Ichinose's calm eyes, then pointed at the students in Class B, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"Look around you. There are thirty-nine classmates here. Shiranami, Amikura, Kobashi—who among them didn't cast their vote for you?"

"I know that making more than ten people drop out all at once is an incredibly difficult decision."

"But you're carrying the futures of all thirty-nine of them."

"If they don't graduate from Class A one day..."

"If the punishment of expulsion falls on one of your Class B classmates someday..."

"Ichinose, you'll regret it!"

Uesugi Gen's voice echoed through the classroom, leaving the students of Class B unsettled for a long time.

Facing Uesugi Gen's challenge,

Ichinose rose from her seat and walked straight up to him, then spoke softly.

"What about you, Uesugi-kun?"

"What about me—"

"Didn't you cast that vote for me, too?"

Uesugi Gen's whole body shuddered.

"I'm carrying the futures of thirty-eight people. Yours is the only future I'm not carrying."

"Personally expelling someone would be a difficult choice for anyone. Wouldn't it be even harder for you, the one who came up with this plan?"

"I know, Uesugi-kun. You want to lead our class to Class A."

"But if we really put this plan into action..."

"Against a Class A that hasn't been completely defeated, Classes C and D that are already at the end of their rope, and the resentment of the friends and classmates of those more than ten people..."

"Uesugi-kun, as the one who proposed this plan, you'll become the target of everyone's attacks during the Special Exam."

"How will you live at this school for the next three years? Will you keep playing games in your dorm?"

"They might team up against you during some Special Exam and force you to drop out."

"If that day really comes, I might never see you again."

"Uesugi Gen, I'll regret it!"

Ichinose's earnest, resolute voice rang through Class B.

Uesugi Gen fell silent for a while, then said,

"Then we'll drag Class A into it, too, and spread the pressure around. Classes C and D are the main targets of this exam anyway. We can deal with Class A next time."

Uesugi Gen played his last card, hoping he could fool Ichinose with it.

Uesugi Gen had known from the start that this plan carried risks—not for Class B, but for himself.

He didn't care about those risks, but that didn't mean the others in Class B didn't.

When Ichinose gave that reason, Uesugi Gen knew he'd already lost.

After all, if they didn't make it to Class A, it wouldn't matter how many points the lower-ranking classes lost. It would only benefit Class A, which hadn't done a thing.

More importantly, once the Class B students learned about the risks involved, they would never agree to it.

Looking at the silent Uesugi Gen, Ichinose spoke up.

"I know you're incredibly clever, Uesugi-kun. You have extraordinary talent and can easily think of plans that never would've occurred to me."

"But don't underestimate me, Uesugi-kun!"

"You're not the only one in Class B. If anyone has to make a sacrifice, I'll be the first."

Ichinose declared in an unequivocal tone that his plan had failed.

The entire classroom fell silent.

Shibata hurriedly stood up.

"I-I don't agree! Uesugi, I absolutely won't agree to this plan!"

Kanzaki sighed.

"I never thought about that side of it. I oppose this plan, too. Sacrificing my friends to succeed just isn't my style."

Himeno Yuki gritted her teeth and raised her hand, glaring fiercely at Uesugi Gen.

"I take back my support from earlier. I'll oppose that bastard's plan to the very end."

Then,

Shiranami Chihiro: "Um... Uesugi-kun, maybe we should call off this operation after all."

Hamaguchi Tetsuya: "Uesugi, let's drop it this time. We'll have plenty of chances to beat the other classes."

Ninomiya Yui: "Uesugi-kun, I know I shouldn't say this, but let's call it off."

Beppu, Sumida, Watanabe, Tokito, and the other Class B students stood up one after another to try to talk him out of it.

"You could've gotten everything you wanted by putting just one person at risk, and yet you're choosing to give it all up."

Standing at the lectern and looking at all his Class B classmates on their feet, Uesugi Gen let out a helpless sigh.

"You're the ones who made this decision, okay? If you can't graduate from Class A, don't blame me. Blame yourselves."

"I understand."

"We still have Uesugi-kun, don't we?"

"We'll work twice as hard over the next three years."

"Do whatever you want."

Uesugi Gen tossed out a parting remark and turned to leave the classroom.

What a bunch of naïve fools. No wonder they ended up in the same class.

Looking at Hoshinomiya leaning against the classroom door, Uesugi Gen lowered his voice apologetically.

"Sorry, Hoshinomiya-sensei. My plan to deal with Class D failed this time. I'll help you beat them next time."

Hoshinomiya stepped forward and hugged Uesugi Gen, then said softly,

"It's all right, it's all right. I know Gen-chan did his best."

"I'm the one who should apologize. I'm your teacher, but I didn't even notice what my student was planning."

"There'll be plenty of chances to beat Class D, but I only have one student I love most."

"And I believe that Gen-chan will lead our class to graduate from Class A."

I really can't write romance. I was stuck all night and still couldn't get it down.

Chapter 27: Picking on the Same Sheep

"So you came here to give me a hard time?"

Sakayanagi Narimori rubbed his temples and looked at the student before him, who was calmly sipping tea.

That was right. After his plan had been rejected, Uesugi Gen had been left with a bellyful of anger and nowhere to vent it.

So he'd decided to put his plan to use one last time and give the school a hard time.

That's right, the school had to be at fault for his plan getting rejected.

If the school hadn't made this kind of Special Exam, he wouldn't have come up with this plan in the first place.

If he hadn't come up with it, he wouldn't have proposed it and been rejected by Ichinose.

Therefore, the school had to take responsibility.

"This isn't my fault. The school's exam question was just terrible. So, Chairman, you don't want more than ten first-years dropping out all at once, do you? That wouldn't be good for the school."

Indeed, if more than ten first-years dropped out at once, the entire Kōiku development program would be ruined. With only Classes A and B left, healthy competition would be impossible, let alone cultivating talented people.

In the past, when the school had arranged for students to drop out, it had essentially been to weed out the weaker students in each class while also spurring the others on. The exams hadn't specifically targeted students.

Not to mention, many students who dropped out were talented athletes. After all, Kōiku wouldn't admit a student who served no purpose whatsoever.

But the problem was that nobody else had ever come up with a plan like yours.

"Tell me, what do you want in exchange this time?"

Sakayanagi Narimori let out a helpless sigh. He didn't have any good way to deal with a student like this.

At its core, this situation had arisen because of the school's exam question.

The person who'd designed it clearly hadn't expected to encounter a student like this.

Faced with this situation, even Sakayanagi Narimori couldn't decide whether he should be relieved or unlucky.

Since the situation had already come about, if he couldn't solve the problem, he could only deal with the person who'd raised it first.

"Well, right now, I don't think there's anything in particular I want."

Uesugi Gen raised a hand to rub his chin, then had an idea.

"Oh, right. Write me a statement saying, 'Uesugi Gen won't have Class Points deducted for sleeping in class.' Ever since those guys learned the truth about the S System, they've been looking at me funny. And remember to stamp it with the school seal."

"Then you might as well take my job as chairman, too."

Sakayanagi Narimori's face darkened. How could he even think of asking for an official statement with the school seal?

"Can't you ask for something else? If I really gave you a note like that, it would seriously damage Kōiku's credibility."

"Then let's settle for less. I'll persuade the Class B students, and you won't deduct any points from me. That way, the other classes won't find out."

Uesugi Gen immediately took a step back, deftly making use of the door-in-the-face technique.

"If it's just a promise not to deduct Class Points for your everyday behavior, the school can accept that."

After all, no matter what a student did, they couldn't lose that many Class Points. Besides, based on the investigation he'd conducted over the past month, the most Uesugi Gen did was doze off at school, then go back to his dorm to play games.