Let's Go to Tokyo / No Need (4k5)

Thinking about this, Kitagawa Ryo himself felt a complex mix of emotions. After all, just as he had told Nanase Tsubasa before, he didn't dislike Ayanokoji Kiyotaka at all, and their relationship wasn't that of enemies, but rather closer to that of friends.

However, precisely because of this, he had no reason to criticize or even stop Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's actions and plans in any way.

This isn't a question of whether to wish him peace or success. Kitagawa Ryo knew very well that what the other person wanted most at this moment was the same thing that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had done to him for a long time: simply to observe quietly.

Or rather, to witness.

When the other person realizes that the pure white of the White Room is essentially colorless nothingness, and wants to leave their own color on that sketchbook, all Kitagawa Ryo needs to do is witness the other person's existence, regardless of the outcome.

Although the two have only known each other for a little over a year, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka has already written a long section on his "Complete Guide to Love" and added his pages to his own book.

But it wasn't treated as part of my own story.

I only used it as a bookmark.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka used it to mark his favorite page in life.

Therefore, all that's needed is to witness it.

Like words of self-comfort, Kitagawa Ryo kept repeating these thoughts in his mind.

But perhaps he is also hoping that the other party can truly turn a new page.

[Tokyo]

Kitagawa Ryo checked the option to confirm and officially submitted.

While Class 2-A had already begun tackling the fourth task of this Special Exam, the other three classes were still stuck on the third task related to Protection Point, including Class 2-C, where Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was.

Class 2-C has never been a very united class. Whether you say it lacks a class spirit or that Head of the Family, although the class has interpersonal skills like Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo, the atmosphere of the whole class is just subtly uncoordinated. It can only be said that last year's widely publicized spy incident had a profound impact, directly destroying the foundation of trust between them at the most basic level.

However, compared to Class C, which was fighting its own battles a few months ago, Class C now at least has a nominal class Leader, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. However, the good momentum he brought in the Mixed Training Camp Special Exam was quickly dealt a blow in the End-of-Year Special Exam.

Fortunately, thanks to his outstanding academic performance in the First- and Second-Year Partner Special Exam in April, he returned to Class C, which boosted the class's morale. As long as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka can continue to play a leading role as he did at the beginning of the year, the class still has a future.

It can only be said that until the start of this Special Exam, many students in Class C, including Katsuragi Kohei, held this view.

But that's not the case.

Just like his sudden disappearance on the day of the End-of-Year Special Exam three months ago, class Leader Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's behavior today was still like that of a machine, giving people a sense of returning to the days more than a year ago when he and Totsuka Yahiko were still Katsuragi Kohei's sidekicks.

Katsuragi Kohei, of course, had no idea that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was no longer thinking about the ANHS or any Special Exam. Therefore, after the third topic came out, he and Kanzaki Ryuji began to encourage the class to choose option two and give the Protection Point to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka no longer needs these things. After all, dropping out of school is not a dead end for him now. On the contrary, it is precisely because he is in ANHS that there are some things that are inconvenient for him to do.

And so, right after Katsuragi Kohei spoke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka calmly stated that he did not need the Protection Point.

Undoubtedly, in the eyes of the other students in Class C, this was the most superficial, obvious, and boring act of double act, easily giving the impression that the other party was taking advantage of them while pretending to be innocent.

So Class C was stuck in this limbo, neither here nor there, until later when Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took the initiative to show the students next to him the Matoba he had chosen option three. Only then did the other students in Class C belatedly realize that the other party seemed to really not intend to take the Protection Point.

But that's the strange thing about human nature. After Ayanokoji Kiyotaka clearly showed his indifference, the students in Class C suddenly changed their tune and said that it wouldn't do. The Protection Point had to be given to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

After all, compared to Katsuragi Kohei, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's abilities are obvious to everyone, and Class C will have to rely on you in the future.

Although it's not quite cold enough to need an extra yellow layer yet, this Protection Point definitely belongs to you.

Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was looking at the various characters in the class with a bit of helplessness, the homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae was originally supervising from the podium, had already said goodbye to another staff member appointed by the school and was sitting at the end of the class, and left temporarily.

Her destination was Class 2-A.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at the homeroom teacher walking past the window, then looked away.

There are indeed no standard answers in life.

But there will always be a moment like that.

Trying to find a so-called standard answer that you won't regret.

P. S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter 59: Let's Go to Tokyo

[Tokyo: 23 votes, Uninhabited Island: 6 votes, School Campus: 12 votes]

This is the first round of selection results for Class 2-A on the fourth topic.

The proportion of students who wanted to take the exam on campus was slightly higher than Kitagawa Ryo had anticipated. However, considering that many students in Class A were indeed more inclined to pass the exam steadily and without falling behind than to take a tense and exciting Special Exam, it was not entirely incomprehensible.

"Tokyo... I'd also like to go to Kyoto or Okinawa."

"Indeed, going to a place like that would feel more like a school trip? I really can't think of a way to conduct Special Exam in Tokyo."

"Is it going to end up being just a disguised version of an Uninhabited Island, with the school just renting some random venue in Tokyo for us to take the exam...?"

Although Tokyo seemed to score the highest in the first round of voting, it was clear from the discussion among the Class A students during the break that Tokyo was more like the tallest of the short, not something they actually wanted to go to. It was just that it seemed more plausible than the Uninhabited Island they had already experienced Unforgettable.

"But if it's the same as last year, at least after enduring the hardships of Uninhabited Island for fourteen days, you can still enjoy a week-long Luxury Cruise Ship."

"Luxury Cruise Ship are indeed nice, but I feel like I already went once last year, so there's no need to go again this year just to experience wilderness survival again..."

"And last summer, when I came back from the Luxury Cruise Ship and checked my bill, I found that my spending that week had exceeded all my usual expenses for two months at school."

"Perhaps the school changed the exam content for the Uninhabited Island this year? After all, last year was full of accidents."

"Then I'd say if Uninhabited Island are renovated, Luxury Cruise Ship might disappear along with them. No matter how you renovate Uninhabited Island, it can never become a golden beach resort."

"Does Tokyo really make sense?"

"Stop, stop, stop... This is, after all, Special Exam during the summer vacation, not a real vacation or school trip for you."

Seeing that the topic was getting more and more off track, Hoshinomiya Chie teacher who was standing behind the podium and supervising the normal conduct of the exam, also spoke up to intervene. The school only stipulated that homeroom teachers could not guide students to choose or not choose a certain option, and this level of persuasion was allowed, so the school staff member who was supervising the homeroom teachers at the back of the classroom did not say anything.

"Yeah, so there's no point in considering Tokyo or the Uninhabited Island. We might as well just choose the campus. I don't believe the school can come up with anything particularly torturous here."

Hoshinomiya Chie said this, the students who hoped to hold this Summer Special Exam 'on campus' also began to express their thoughts:

"Of the three options, ANHS's campus is the one we're most familiar with. It's better than going to Tokyo, where we're completely unfamiliar with the place, or to some Uninhabited Island."

"But it would be so boring not to go out and see the world during such a big Special Exam. We go to school here, and we stay here during summer vacation. Don't we get tired of it?"

"Wanting to go out and see the world doesn't mean wanting to go out and suffer, right?"

"Special Exam don't necessarily mean suffering, and even if they are suffering, I'd rather have them somewhere off-campus, at least it'll be something new and exciting."

Seeing that the students in the class were arguing back and forth, Karuizawa Kei, as the class monitor, had no choice but to step in and mediate the situation, outlining the three options for the topic:

"Actually, the topic itself is quite clear. The format of this Summer Special Exam will be location-dependent. Therefore, rather than focusing on the location, you should use the location to determine the specific content and format of this Special Exam, and then make a choice that is acceptable to everyone based on your own and your class's style."

"Firstly, there's the issue of the school's internal arrangements. Considering that the Summer Special Exam falls under the category of large-scale Special Exam, which typically last for two weeks or fourteen days, if it's conducted on campus, it becomes completely impossible to predict what kind of Special Exam the school intends to conduct."

"Academic ability, sports, clubs, or some other combination? How can the school conduct a large-scale Special Exam lasting fourteen days in a place we are all so familiar with? And considering that this is likely to be a cross-grade competition and cooperation among three grades, it is easy to be confused."

After discussing the option of being on campus, Karuizawa Kei moved on to the option of being on Uninhabited Island.

"In contrast to the school grounds, there are naturally Uninhabited Island. After all, everyone went there once last year. Although ANHS has two Uninhabited Island, one large and one small, used for Special Exam, the scale of our exam this time is even larger than last time. So if we are to hold the Special Exam on Uninhabited Island, we should use the large Uninhabited Island that we visited last year. In fact, it can indeed support students from three grades to take the Special Exam together."

"If the venue is limited to Uninhabited Island, the content and format of the exam will undoubtedly become much clearer. In fact, last year's Special Exam rules, with some minor modifications and redesign of many topics, can be directly reused this year."

"But in any case, since the Special Exam is being held on Uninhabited Island, the theme of wilderness survival seems unavoidable. So if you want to choose this option, you must be mentally prepared for it."

Finally, Karuizawa Kei mentioned 'Tokyo,' which was also the city she had chosen in the first round of voting.

"Tokyo feels more like a middle ground between Uninhabited Island and a school campus. It seems like it can fit into either the Special Exam format held on campus or the Special Exam format held on Uninhabited Island. It's a compromise. It's better to think of it as a fresher version of a school campus or a more comfortable version of Uninhabited Island."

"If I were to point out any differences between this exam location and the other two, I think it might be in interpersonal skills, or rather, social interaction with the outside world."

"Because both the campus and the Uninhabited Island are essentially completely enclosed environments for us, and since the university chose Tokyo, it must have its own considerations. I don't really believe it will turn Tokyo into another form of Uninhabited Island."

"Moreover, everyone should be able to clearly feel that ANHS is paying more and more attention to communication with the outside world. The Club Special Exam half a month ago was a good example, so I think the Tokyo option in this Summer Special Exam is also like that."

Without showing any obvious bias, Karuizawa Kei explained her views and thoughts on all three options in one go before sitting back down. She gestured with her eyes to Ichinose Honami and Kitagawa Ryo, as if asking them if they wanted to add anything.

"Hui's thinking is actually quite similar to mine."

Kitagawa Ryo took over the conversation, but he quickly revealed his stance and bias:

"Because I chose Tokyo, I have more thoughts on this option. Just like Hui said, Tokyo should test our students' adaptability to the outside world and their social skills, which is exactly where our class excels. As for why I think this way... let me just give you an example."

"To use the Uninhabited Island Special Exam that everyone has experienced as an analogy, first of all, we can be sure that, unlike those conducted on campus, both the Uninhabited Island and Tokyo exams are essentially Special Exam conducted off-campus, and they last for fourteen days. This means that we will definitely face the most basic survival issues."

"That's right. Tokyo isn't another Uninhabited Island in the same sense, but there are still commonalities in this regard. That is, there are Special Exam held off-campus. The Private Points system, which is only used within ANHS University, is very likely to be abolished. At most, it can be used to establish a certain degree of advantage before the exam begins."

"So how did we manage our food, clothing, shelter, and transportation on the Uninhabited Island last year? We obtained food and tents from the school by completing our research projects. If we apply this to the context of Tokyo, the answer becomes quite obvious."

"... Isn't this just working a job?"

Ichinose Honami was the first to understand Kitagawa Ryo's explanation and follow his lead. After all, she had extensive experience in this area during junior high school. The other students in Class A also quickly realized what was going on. After all, it was quite common for high school students to work part-time in places like Japan. They had encountered similar Matoba when they were in junior high school, but they hadn't experienced it firsthand since entering Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, a place completely different from the outside world.

"Working is one thing, but don't forget, this Special Exam is being taken by students from all three years. For the graduating third-year students, it's very likely that this Special Exam in Tokyo will also include a social internship component."

After Kitagawa Ryo finished speaking, the students of Class 2-A all fell into a thoughtful state. After all, compared to their previous argument, which was almost entirely based on emotions, Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei's analysis had indeed unveiled the mystery surrounding this Summer Special Exam for everyone.

After his well-reasoned explanation, most of the students in Class A began to unconsciously lean towards Tokyo as their choice. After all, as the two of them said, if the Special Exam included interpersonal skills and social internships, then Class A really had no reason not to choose Tokyo.

Ichinose Honami then seized the opportunity to add a comment:

"Most of the students in the class are from Tokyo, right? I feel like if we have fourteen days, we might have a chance to meet up with our families?"

The Drama Club is an isolated case at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. Most of the second-year students have not been able to contact their families even once since they enrolled. Therefore, Ichinose Honami said this, many students in Class A showed their interest.

As expected, in the second round of voting, Tokyo achieved Unanimous Vote, and Class 2-A advanced to the final question of this Special Exam.

Just as homeroom Hoshinomiya Chie was about to enjoy yet another easy victory for her class, she caught a glimpse of a figure pacing outside the classroom window, seemingly lost in thought.

Subconsciously clicking her tongue in disgust, Hoshinomiya Chie immediately raised her hand to the staff in the back row of the classroom to signal that she needed to go outside. Then, she stomped out in her high heels, barely suppressing the urge to grab Chabashira Sae in the hallway, and asked her fiercely in a low voice:

What are you doing here?

"Do you want to ruin another one of my victories, just like you did eleven years ago?"

Chabashira Sae didn't answer her immediately, but instead quietly looked at the tablet in the hand of a student near the window.

What was displayed on the screen was the very subject that she and Hoshinomiya Chie had faced years ago, a subject that had rewritten the Fate of the entire class:

[Topic 5: A student in the dropout class earns 100 Class Points]

[For/Oppose?]

At the time, the gap between her and Hoshinomiya Chie's Class 3-B and Class 3-A was actually quite small, and the 100 Class Points from this assignment were very likely the key to the final reversal.

Like the prisoner's dilemma, they dared not gamble that Class A would all choose to oppose, and that no one would take the 100 Class Points, leaving the suspense until the final graduation exam. Therefore, the struggle from beginning to end was not actually about whether to agree or disagree, but rather about who in the class would have to drop out at this crucial moment before graduation if they agreed.

It was at this moment that Chabashira Sae, the class Leader, made a choice to sacrifice herself. However, Chabashira Sae herself did not accept this result and stubbornly chose to oppose it. In the end, the five-hour exam time was used up and Class 3-B, which failed the Special Exam, was penalized with a deduction of 300 Class Points, thus completely burying their last hope of advancing to Class A.

"Stop looking, our class is completely different from Class B back then."

Hoshinomiya Chie sneered from the side:

"Whether it's the situation or the class atmosphere, even if they weren't in Class A but Class D with zero Class Points, not a single student would choose to support this topic."

"... You're exactly the same as me."

"What?"

"They're all just like me, they don't care about the class at all."

Chabashira Sae turned to look at Hoshinomiya Chie, her tone equally cold:

"We are all incompetent teachers. You see, you yourself feel that it is very difficult for this class to get to where it is today, because you and I both know that a class that holds such naive ideas will only be defeated by this weakness in one Special Exam after another, and then fall to the bottom. Then someone will be dissatisfied and want to change it. In the end, it will either be reborn from the ashes or be completely destroyed."

"But your class is now undoubtedly Class A."

"Actually, it's all because of one person."

"He gave your class an answer."

"Naturally, it can be given to me as well."

P. S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter Sixty: Unnecessary (4k5)

[First vote results: one vote in favor, forty votes against]

Just as the students of Class 2-A were preparing to pass this Special Exam, which was almost too easy for them, with an incredibly relaxed attitude, they suddenly discovered that the first vote had not reached Unanimous Vote.

"Huh? Did someone accidentally tap the wrong option on the tablet?"

One student casually turned around and asked, since it was impossible for any student in Class 2-A to agree with the topic.

After all, apart from Yagami Takuya who was expelled in the first month of school last year, Class 2-A's strategy for more than a year has been to not give up on any student in the class, and they have successfully implemented this philosophy to this day. Since then, no student has dropped out of the class, and it has become the class with the largest number of students in the entire second year.