The Exam Begins / Oh No, I'm Surrounded by Guys Who Love Men

"If no one has any objections..."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to end the arrangement, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly raised his hand to interrupt him:

"We should both run the same route."

As he spoke, he pointed to the 3.6-kilometer stretch of road near the round-trip point that Kitagawa Ryo had set for himself, and said succinctly:

"This comparison is unfair."

Then, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka picked up a pen from the side and marked the section of the road before the starting line, which was also the finish line:

"I'll run the first leg, and you'll run the last leg. The distance will be the same, and the road conditions will be the same. That's the best way."

"Okay, I promise you."

Because they were responsible for the most tiring 3.6 kilometers, the other students didn't mind the sudden change in route and quickly readjusted their positions to finalize the plan.

"Well then, good luck on your exam tomorrow."

Kitagawa Ryo was the first to extend his palm forward, and the others followed suit, stacking their palms one by one, before finally raising and lowering their hands in a loud shout.

Twenty-four hours later, they will become absolute rivals again.

Or perhaps, twenty-four hours are not needed at all.

Chapter 247: The Exam Begins

The afternoon and evening of this rest day passed uneventfully, just as Kitagawa Ryo had predicted. The second-year students seemed to be in considerable chaos. Even though they were separated by dormitories, Kitagawa Ryo and his friends could hear various arguments coming from the dormitories where the second-year students lived whenever they went out.

However, all of this was temporarily irrelevant to the First Year Third Group, who only wanted to end this Special Exam with a victory. After finishing their meal and taking a shower without any major incident, the Third Group's lights-out time was earlier than in the past few days, hoping to reach their best individual state tomorrow.

Around midnight, most of the students in the Third Group had already fallen asleep, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was still awake amidst the deafening snores of some of the boys. However, his target for the night was not Kitagawa Ryo the lower bunk, but someone sleeping opposite him.

After noticing that Hashimoto Masayoshi sneaked out of bed and left without even taking the flashlight from the shelf next to the door, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka followed him quietly and soon witnessed his meeting with Ryuen Kakeru.

Thanks to Yamamura Miki's bathroom surveillance, Hashimoto Masayoshi had a complete grasp of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's actions during this Special Exam, including tonight's meeting.

"Hi, Ryuen."

Unlike Hashimoto Masayoshi, who still maintained a nonchalant and indifferent Hashimoto Masayoshi, Ryuen Kakeru's face was noticeably more serious, with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"What's wrong with you? Final Exam are tomorrow, and I was planning to go to bed early."

"It's precisely because of the Final Exam tomorrow that I chose to call you out on this last night. After all, this is the time when everyone else is sound asleep."

"... I see, that makes sense."

Few Student Council deliberately stay up all night the night before an exam, so from that perspective, Hashimoto Masayoshi's choice of timing is indeed reasonable.

What are your thoughts on the suggestion I made a few days ago?

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Hashimoto Masayoshi got straight to the point and asked the question.

He was never a fool. As early as the end of last year, after Totsuka Yahiko was expelled, he keenly sensed the changes in the class situation. Unlike Katsuragi Kohei, Hashimoto Masayoshi was not kept in the dark about Totsuka's expulsion. He was almost 100% certain that it was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's doing. And as Ayanokoji himself took the initiative to show his talent in the class, he became more and more certain of his guess.

As a staunch believer in the principle that "if I betray others first, I will not be betrayed by them," Hashimoto Masayoshi was determined to leave himself a way out the moment he realized that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was about to take over. However, due to the influence of the two previous attempts to use his charm, Class A and Class B were unlikely to accept him, so he could only set his sights on Class D.

Moreover, in Hashimoto Masayoshi's eyes, Class D really needed a student like him who was good in all aspects. After all, Ryuen Kakeru couldn't carry the team alone, Shiina Hiyori had already been proven to lack leadership skills in that area. It should have been a win-win situation no matter how you looked at it.

Of course, another very real reason why Hashimoto Masayoshi was so seriously considering going to Class D was that Ryuen Kakeru was the only student in the three classes who could come up with another 20 million transfer points. Even without mentioning the tens of millions of debt contracts he held, the sheer audacity of him daring to gamble recklessly at last year's Sports Festival, treating hundreds of thousands or millions of Private Points as nothing, was enough for Hashimoto Masayoshi bet and believe in him.

Of course, Hashimoto Masayoshi didn't intend to stay in Class D forever. What he really wanted was to accumulate Twenty Million Personal Points and transfer to Class A at the last moment to become the winner. This was the most stable way to win without ever losing. Class D was just his temporary escape route from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"If you want me to transfer you to another class, you'd better at least show some sincerity. After all, 20 million Private Points isn't cheap."

"If you can provide me with guarantees, then all kinds of intelligence about Class C will be no problem. After Ryuen, as you know, I'm practically a student in the decision-making body of Class C. If I didn't really think highly of your class, I wouldn't have thought of contacting you privately like this."

"Oh."

Ryuen Kakeru simply yawned in boredom at Hashimoto Masayoshi's attempt to elevate his own status.

"Then tell me, what do you see in our class that makes you want to leave your original Class A and join us?"

"There's no point in bringing up Class A now; that was over half a year ago. Looking at the current situation, the difference in Private Points between Class C and Class D is only a few dozen points. Besides, compared to someone as old-fashioned as Katsuragi, I still think Ryuen's personality and the environment of Class D would be more suitable for me to perform well."

"Okay, even if I really let you join our class, and then use your inside help to defeat Class C and become the new Class C, how would you evaluate our next opponent, Class 1-B?"

Just like an interviewer, Ryuen Kakeru continued to ask questions.

Faced with this somewhat tricky question, Hashimoto Masayoshi shook his head:

"To be honest, I estimate that by the time Class D becomes the new Class C, Class B will have already become the new Class A. With Kitagawa leading the way, they might even have a chance to overtake the Class Points after this Special Exam."

Seemingly having finally heard the answer he wanted, Ryuen Kakeru smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You're right, so if I really had those Twenty Million Personal Points, why wouldn't I just transfer Beichuan to my class?"

Realizing he had been tricked, Hashimoto Masayoshi didn't get angry. Instead, he shook his head and asked in return:

"Ryuen, are you really sure Kitagawa will put in his best effort after you transfer him to Class D? Don't bring up the example of Class B now. Akito should be able to see that this is actually a charade put on by Kitagawa, Ichinose, Karuizawa, and the others. And even if he really does transfer, what will happen to the leadership between the two of you?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Shiina is still there; that's her concern. As for leadership, I don't care. As long as he's willing to come, we can discuss anything."

Rebuffed by Ryuen Kakeru's unequivocal answer, even with his usually patient nature, Hashimoto Masayoshi was somewhat annoyed after being repeatedly met with indifference. However, he still didn't want to give up, as the challenges from Class A and Class B were significantly greater than those from Ryuen Kakeru. For now, he could only continue to persevere. But before he could say much more, Ryuen Kakeru impatiently waved his hand, interrupting him.

"Alright, alright, I'll say it again: if you really want me to help you transfer classes, then show some sincerity and demonstrate your commitment. I need to head back now."

After saying that, Ryuen Kakeru turned around gracefully and walked away from Hashimoto Masayoshi without looking back, leaving him standing alone at the end of the corridor for a while before silently returning to the dormitory of the Third Group with his eyes downcast a few minutes later.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had witnessed the entire conversation, had already returned to his bed and, with his eyes closed, began to process the numerous pieces of information from the exchange.

If Ryuen Kakeru wasn't lying, then Kitagawa Ryo might really transfer to Class D at some point in the future. In that case, First Year classes, the only class the other party hadn't been to was his own Class C.

Will such an opportunity ever arise?

With this thought in mind, whether it was confusion or doubt, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka quietly drifted off to sleep.

As the sun rose again, the final day of this Mixed Training Camp Special Exam finally arrived. After a week of preparation, nearly forty groups from all grades, both boys and girls, were finally facing their ultimate test.

A week is neither a long nor a short time. During this period, compared to the school's original intention of improving relationships and cooperation, most groups were pushed to the brink of collapse. Those who remained relatively peaceful, like Kitagawa Ryo, were rare exceptions.

However, in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, although all sorts of things had happened during the week-long training camp, the relationships within Third Group had at least not collapsed. Occasional cold wars did occur, and there wasn't a single meal together in the cafeteria, but the memories of chatting and playing cards together could not be erased. If they could really end up in victory, it would be an unforgettable time to look back on in the future.

To be honest, before Ayanokoji Kiyotaka launched his full-scale offensive, he was actually quite satisfied with the atmosphere within the group. It was already quite good that the hastily assembled group had come this far, especially considering that Ayanokoji himself chose to back down on the last day of his rest and did not continue.

"In short, everything that needed to be done was done. Regardless of the outcome, I am very satisfied with everyone's performance."

Before leaving the dormitory, Kitagawa Ryo spoke sincerely once again.

"I think so too. Thank you for being our group's temporary leader this week."

"Although some regrettable things have happened, today we are definitely partners who will stand together through thick and thin."

"Whatever the outcome, give it your all."

"It's a pity the school provided breakfast this morning; I was hoping to have another meal of your cooking, Kitagawa."

After a brief moment to build team spirit, the students in the Third Group headed to the Student Cafeteria. After finishing the breakfast prepared by the school within the allotted time, they rushed off to their assigned classrooms.

The second and third-year students in the same group seemed to have already arrived. After the First Year students took their seats, the teacher waiting on the podium immediately began explaining the exam content.

Although it's described as a large group encompassing all grades, the exams themselves are still held by group and academic year; the large group only affects the final ranking.

Even though the Forest School has a vast area, doing the same thing at the same time will still make the space too crowded, just like during the training a few days ago, where students from each grade were staggered.

First Year will start with a meditation test, followed by Written Exam in the classroom, then Road Relay Race, and finally a speech test.

On the other hand, second-year students are tested on a difficult start, beginning with Road Relay Race, while third-year students seem to be tested on a speech.

After listening to the teacher's explanation, students from each grade left the classroom in an orderly manner according to their respective arrangements and began to head to the examination location one after another.

Upon arriving at the meditation room, which they had visited the previous day, they found, unlike usual, all the First Year boys gathered there. After a headcount, a school official began explaining the specific rules of the meditation exam to them:

"Now, let's begin the meditation test. There are two scoring criteria: first, the etiquette and movements upon entering the meditation hall; and second, the specific posture during meditation, such as whether the body moves erratically."

"After the meditation session, please remain in your respective classrooms until you receive instructions for the next exam. Students who are called now will line up in order, and the exam will begin in that order."

"Class A, Katsuragi Kohei."

"Class D, Ishizaki Daichi"

After explaining the rules clearly and concisely, the staff member began calling out names without any hesitation. However, instead of following the students' expected group order from previous practice sessions, the order was completely randomized.

Kitagawa Ryo could sense that the atmosphere around him had suddenly become somewhat chaotic, so he stepped forward and nudged Ishizaki Daichi, who seemed a little lost, signaling him to hurry up and avoid leaving a bad impression on the teacher.

Not only Ishizaki Daichi, but many other students also seemed to become nervous. After all, for the past week, they had been practicing meditation twice a day in small groups, with familiar students from their groups sitting next to each other. But this time, it seemed that the school had randomly assigned them.

Accepting unfamiliar students in one's own field, even if it seems like a minor difference, can still be a burden for a considerable number of students who are not mentally prepared on the day of the exam.

Whether it was a special arrangement or not, Kitagawa Ryo was left until the very end of the First Year and was assigned to the seat closest to the door of the meditation room and the proctor. Sitting behind him was Ken Sudō, who seemed to want to greet him, but since the meditation exam had already started after entering the meditation room, he had to give up.

Throughout the dojo, you can see more than ten teachers standing around with boards and pens, while several cameras covering the entire area from multiple angles are positioned nearby.

"The exam is officially starting."

Chapter 248: I'm doomed, I'm surrounded by men who prefer men (4k5)

The meditation exam was rather uneventful. After all, this wasn't some magical duel scene from the Chechi Kingdom, so naturally no one would transform into a stink bug and stick to someone's neck to interfere. Kitagawa Ryo, whose mind remained unmoved despite the wind and the flags, felt that an hour had passed quickly. It wasn't until the bell, signaling the end of the exam, rang that he opened his eyes again, somewhat dazed.

Because the exam was still in progress before they officially left the meditation room, even when Kitagawa Ryo got up from the futon at the teacher's instruction, he remained tense, walking silently and without looking to the side. The students behind him followed in turn, but many of them couldn't hold back and leaned against the wall of the corridor the moment they stepped out, groaning and massaging their numb calves.

It's fortunate that the next round of exams for First Year is Written Exam. If they were to immediately participate in Road Relay Race, they would probably suffer quite a bit.

Because time was indeed tight and the task was heavy, once all the First Year students came out of the meditation room, the school staff who had been waiting at the door immediately began to lead them to the next location, while the meditation room here would be used by students from other grades.

For Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, or rather, for ordinary high school students, the Written Exam portion of today's Final Exam was definitely their most familiar area. After all, who hasn't done hundreds or thousands of practice tests in their life? Moreover, the questions on this test were only covered within this week's classes. Therefore, even Ishizaki Daichi and Komiya Yogo from Class D, who had the worst grades in their group, seemed to be answering the questions quite smoothly after cramming a few times using the notes shared by Yukimura Teruhiko. The sound of them flipping through the test papers was so loud that even Kitagawa Ryo himself took a second look.

According to his own assessment, the difficulty of this test paper is not that great. He and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka should be able to easily get full marks, and that's only because the upper limit of this test paper is full marks.

Considering that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself also has no problem with meditation, the real test between him and his opponent in this Final Exam should be the latter two events: the Road Relay Race and the speech.

Since Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't choose to practice his speech yesterday, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't sure of his true level. However, considering the White Room's educational philosophy over the years and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's personality, this was definitely a weakness compared to the Road Relay Race. After all, he couldn't deliver a short essay like "My Former Chairman Father" or "After Arriving at the ANHS, Founded by My Grandfather" like Arisu. In terms of pure ability, Kitagawa Ryo Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was any better than him, a professionally trained theatrical Actor, at least not in terms of eloquence.

As for why the other person didn't attend yesterday, Kitagawa Ryo is more inclined to believe that he probably hadn't finished writing the final draft of his speech at that time. Since he and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were bunkmates during this Special Exam for the Mixed Training Camp, their monitoring of each other's activities was basically the same. At least in Kitagawa Ryo's observation, the other person didn't seem to have much time to write the speech.

Of course, if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chooses to take paper and pen and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night to write, then Kitagawa Ryo can't do anything about it.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that students weren't allowed to sit in on the final speech exam and only a few judges were responsible for scoring it, Kitagawa Ryo would really have liked to hear Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's speech and the content of his script.

After finishing the test a dozen minutes early and checking it several times, Kitagawa Ryo listlessly drifted off into daydreams until the exam was over.

Theoretically, it should be close to lunchtime, but considering that the First Year students' next test is a Road Relay Race, the school deliberately delayed their lunch time, letting them grab some energy bars or chocolate to tide them over before using vans to take each group of students out of the Forest School.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was responsible for the first leg, was dropped off near the starting line at the entrance, followed by Hirata Yosuke, who was responsible for the second leg... According to the route assigned at the beginning, the boys of the Third Group were dropped off one by one. After reaching the turnaround point, the bus turned back again. Kitagawa Ryo, who was the last leg, got off the bus 3.6 kilometers away from the finish line, which was also the starting line.

Because he and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Hirata Yosuke the exact same route, only in different directions, they were actually standing together. However, one of them was the second runner in the first half of the race, running towards the turnaround point, while the other was the last runner in the second half, running towards the Forest School.

There were quite a few students gathered here, but unlike the Third Group, most groups were responsible for the first 3.6 kilometers by two or three people. Those waiting here were mostly the third and fourth runners. There were also students that Kitagawa Ryo knew, such as Ken Sudō from Class 1-A.

After a brief exchange, Kitagawa Ryo learned that the other man, like him, had chosen to run the final 3.6 kilometers in one go. As a well-known athlete in his grade, 3.6 kilometers was nothing to Ken Sudō; rather, the Written Exam that had just ended was his biggest worry, and he had even started comparing answers with Kitagawa Ryo on the spot.

Of course, not every student was enthusiastic about checking answers immediately after the exam. Most of the boys either did some simple warm-up preparations or watched the girls waiting at another location a few hundred meters away.

Unlike previous outdoor training sessions, the difficulty level for the girls in today's Final Exam was different from that for the boys. The distance and pace requirements were lower, so the baton exchange locations and turnaround points were also different for the girls. However, since there was only one route, they still ran together.

Since this place wasn't particularly far from the starting line, after about ten minutes, the boys waiting here stopped chatting and laughing. They started to stretch their bodies seriously and began to glance intentionally or unintentionally at the end of the road they had come from, hoping to see their group members soon.

Soon, the first person appeared in everyone's sight, and revealed his full form to them with extremely rapid speed. It was none other than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who showed no mercy.

To be fair, although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had achieved a fairly high ranking in the solo team during last year's Uninhabited Island Special Exam, he was only vaguely remembered as someone who seemed to run quite fast because Kitagawa Ryo completely stole the spotlight at the subsequent Sports Festival. But today, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who truly unleashed the Masterpiece level of his White Room, has finally left an indelible impression on every student waiting here with his most forceful and uncompromising attitude.

After all, this wasn't a 3.6-kilometer race shared by two or even three people, but a 3.6-kilometer race entirely by him alone. Even so, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still left everyone behind him far behind, handing the baton to Hirata Yosuke, the second runner in the Third Group, with an absolute lead. He then lingered a few steps forward before gradually slowing down and stopping.

Students who had finished their journey were not allowed to stay at the testing site according to regulations, so staff members quickly came over and helped Ayanokoji Kiyotaka into a car to take him directly back to the Forest School. Before getting into the car, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded slightly to Kitagawa Ryo, indicating that he would wait for him at the entrance of the Forest School near the finish line.

"That's too fast..."

"Could it be that Ayanokoji running?"

"Possibly. I remember he lost to Kitagawa in a sprint event during the Sports Festival."

As soon as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka left, the boys nearby erupted in a heated discussion. Ken Sudō wanted to say a few words in support of Kitagawa Ryo, telling them that even in terms of endurance, Kitagawa Ryo had defeated Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in the Open Water Swimming event of last year's Uninhabited Island Special Exam. However, Kitagawa Ryo shook his head at him first. After all, it was better to wait a while and prove it with his own results than to talk about it. In any case, his distance and road conditions were exactly the same as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's, so it was a fair competition.

And so, the topic of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued for a few more minutes. As the rest of the group arrived, the students who had been waiting there took turns passing the baton and starting to run. Before long, about half of the students were gone, and the rest were running the return leg.

Seeing that there were fewer people around, Ken Sudō approached Kitagawa Ryo again and whispered to him about the current situation of Class A.

Although Kitagawa Ryo could find out about Class A through Horikita Suzune or Amasawa Ichika, the perspectives of boys and girls are always different. Rather, he was tricked in the first place during this Special Exam, and that's how he was fooled by Sakayanagi Arisu.

After Kitagawa Ryo transferred to another class and left, Ken Sudō took over Kitagawa Ryo's place, or rather, temporarily took over part of his niche. In addition to his obvious growth over the past year, he was also promoted because some students felt guilty, regretful, and sorry for Kitagawa Ryo, which naturally led them to extend their affection to Kitagawa Ryo Ken Sudō.

"Regarding that rumor, the boys are actually playing dumb, or rather, many who don't believe it are pretending to believe it... How should I put it, everyone's feelings are quite complicated. Although they might be more supportive of Horikita's side right now, who opposes Sakayanagi's approach, if Kitagawa really leads Class B to become the new Class A after this Special Exam, then the tide will definitely turn again."

As one of the few friends in Class A who had been taught by Kitagawa Ryo for almost a year, Ken Sudō could be said to have already accepted his ANHS Theory. Compared to his position in Class A, he was now pursuing personal growth, academics, club activities, and even the cultivation of his character.

However, Ken Sudō also knew that his thoughts did not represent the thoughts of all the students in Class A. The position of Class A was the most deadly poison. Even the most indifferent students in Class B, after briefly holding this position, still have many students who still miss it. How much more so for the current Class A, which originated from Class D.