"You're here, Kikyo. Have you found someone to team up with? If you don't mind..."
Ike said, preparing to invite Kushida to study with him.
"I've already teamed up with Kagami, Ike."
"Too bad. If only I'd asked sooner."
"It wouldn't have made a difference. I'd decided from the start to team up with Kagami and no one else."
Kushida replied without changing her tone. There was no politeness or pretense in her blunt rejection.
Crack! That was the sound of Kanji Ike's heart breaking. His pride lay scattered across the floor. His usual shamelessness was just a shield protecting his fragile heart.
A lecherous little runt who was always cracking dirty jokes attracting the attention of a goddess? That would probably mean the world was ending.
"But according to Hirata's strategy meeting, wouldn't that waste two spots for students with good grades, which could be used to keep the failing students from getting expelled?"
"How strange, Horikita. You've always acted like you didn't care about your classmates. What changed today?"
Kushida looked at Horikita with her trademark smile.
"I've been through a lot, and my way of thinking has changed. To be honest, I wasn't mature before. We won't reach Class A if we all work alone."
"If anything I did before made you uncomfortable, I can apologize."
"Same here. I think constantly trying to please people is exhausting, so this time I'm going to be selfish. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Just because I accepted your invitation to the study group doesn't mean you can order me around, Horikita."
Kushida's tone shifted. She fixed Horikita with a different look, sending a chill through the room.
Horikita and Kushida were two people with completely opposite personalities. At that moment, their roles had somehow reversed.
"Am I still dreaming?"
Sudo remarked.
"All right, let's get started. Time waits for no one."
It was the same library, but in a quiet corner.
"Questions... questions..."
Shiina carefully looked through her Japanese textbook to find suitable questions.
"Long time no see, Shiina."
"Whoa!"
Shiina gave a startled yelp.
"Long time no see."
She turned to answer Nagami.
"Shiina's a regular NPC in the library. I see her every time I come in."
"I-I'm not. It's just a coincidence."
"Oh, you're reading a Japanese textbook today instead of a mystery novel?"
Nagami glanced at the densely annotated textbook in Shiina's hands.
"If we only set questions on classical Japanese and Chinese, Class D will be completely doomed."
"Hm? Aren't you in Class D, Nagami? Why are you making the questions harder for your classmates?"
Shiina asked, a little puzzled. She'd already assumed Class D would pick Class C for the academic match.
"Oh, it's simple. I'm a 'bitter first, sweet later' kind of guy when it comes to them. We've been too easy on them, so they need a little tough love."
"That kind of makes sense. Oh!"
Shiina seemed to realize something.
"Sorry, Nagami. I can't tell you what topics Class C will be tested on."
"Shiina, don't let our classes come between our friendship. I never even thought of asking."
"Defeating my opponent fair and square—that's how I do things."
Nagami seemed to radiate the light of righteousness.
"I see! Did you need something from me today?"
"No, I just wanted to see a friend I'd been missing."
"Thanks for checking in. You can contact me on Line if you need anything."
They'd known each other for so long, yet still hadn't added each other on Line. Sometimes, pure friendship between a boy and a girl was just that simple.
There was an easy, peaceful way to resolve this exam. Since it was a zero-sum game, they just needed to agree to transfer enough points to Class C before the next Special Exam. If Class C agreed, they could get through this exam without any trouble.
But considering that Ryuen, the king of Lilliput, would never let things go, it wasn't likely. In his mind, if you didn't profit, you lost. Extortion was practically in his blood.
"If you keep hanging around the river, you're bound to get your shoes wet eventually. Better not let the clown fall into the ditch."
He put on his AirPods, switched on noise cancellation, picked up a mystery novel he hadn't finished, and started reading at his leisure.
Meanwhile, after a busy afternoon, Master Hori sank wearily into a chair.
"They're hopeless knowledge black holes. You have to come early tomorrow too. No skipping."
Horikita admonished the Three Idiots at the study group.
"Yes, ma'am~"
Late every night in the student dorms, Horikita stayed up studying and writing questions. Working nonstop day and night had left her exhausted, but for the past few days she'd had no choice but to keep pushing herself and lead her classmates in their revision, hoping to narrow the gap as much as possible.
"Should I find someone to help me?"
Horikita grumbled.
"Boss, should we expose the D Class spy in this exam and create some internal chaos?"
"Not yet. A trump card is only useful if you play it at the most critical moment."
He crossed his arms and stared coldly through the window in the direction of Class D. A sinister plan was still taking shape.
On Saturday, Nagami, who'd been invited to Keyaki Mall, wandered around in casual clothes and picked a nearly empty café called Palette.
"Welcome!"
The staff member at the counter greeted him.
"Do you have coconut latte?"
"Sorry, we don't have that. I recommend an iced Americano."
"Then I'll just have a regular latte. Iced, no sugar, medium."
"That'll be 415 points. Please pay here. Order number 101. We hope to see you again."
Nagami paid with his school phone. His balance was 700,000 points. If he kept at it, he could reach seven figures. It wasn't enough to do anything major, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about points in his day-to-day life.
"You deliberately stepped on my cup. What's that supposed to mean?" Hasebe demanded.
"I thought someone had just tossed out their trash, so I stepped on it. You know how low the D Class students score in every category, including decency."
"Are you picking a fight on purpose? Cut it out." Miyake didn't back down despite being outnumbered.
"That's the tyrant Ryuen from Year One, Class C."
"Are they fighting? Is this about to turn into a brawl?" The onlookers started narrating the scene. Nagami always enjoyed watching the action, so naturally, he was curious too. He went over for a closer look.
"Class D students, this time the trouble's landed right in your laps. You can't just stand by and watch."
"Isn't that the Lilliputian king of Class C, Ryuen? His favorite thing is picking on the weak." Nagami squeezed through the crowd to break things up.
"You punk, how dare you talk to our boss like that! I'll—" Yamazaki started to say he'd kill him, but then he looked up at Nagami, who was a head taller, and immediately came to his senses.
Nagami had taken off his jacket and was wearing only a tank top. At first glance, he resembled Tanktop Boy, the superhero from One-Punch Man.
"Could that student be...?"
"That looks like Nagami from Year One, Class D—the Bloodthirsty Tiger."
"What? Two violent maniacs in the same place? I've got to see what happens."
"I heard he faced ten Class C students by himself and knocked them all down in under two minutes. He didn't even break a sweat, and his hair didn't get messed up."
"Seriously? Is he even human, with strength like that?"
"I heard that right after school started, he beat up several troublemakers in Class D so badly they were stuck in bed for a week. He even hits girls. He's got the whole class under his thumb."
"Wow! He hits girls too? Even Ryuen can't match that record."
Rumors of every kind spread through the crowd.
The spectators all set down their coffee and turned to watch the show.
A fight seemed ready to break out. Even though it was one against three, Nagami wore a look of disdain. His invincible fighting record—taking down a whole gang in two minutes—left no one doubting his strength.
(It's just too cramped in here to move around.)
"Thank goodness, it's Nagami. Ryuen's going to run now."
"Nagami, we're saved," Miyake and Hasebe said.
"Tch. Let's go." Ryuen didn't bother prolonging things. He had no chance against Nagami head-on, so he'd have to resort to underhanded tricks and sneak attacks.
"A wise decision."
Order 101, please pick up your drink.
"Oh, my latte's ready."
Before you continue