The Seventh Day of the New Year

"Have any of you seen Kagami?"

Kushida asked one person after another. She had planned to get her revenge on Nagami at the bonfire party, but now she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Oh, Kiyotaka, what are you doing here? The bonfire party's only halfway over. Will you dance with me?"

"Wait, Karuizawa. I have something to say."

"Everyone, hold on. I have an announcement."

When they returned to the campsite, Ayanokoji was standing in the middle of the bonfire party. Everyone gathered around him. What was going on, Ayanokoji?

"Could it be...?"

"Could it be...?"

"Ayanokoji's going to confess to Karuizawa!"

The Karuizawa clique had just seen the couple together, and couldn't help jumping to that conclusion.

"Everyone, I have some unfortunate news. Nagami has fled in disgrace, planning to use all his points to buy a Class Transfer Ticket."

Ayanokoji wanted to put on a sorrowful expression, but couldn't manage it.

Where had Nagami gone? Only now did many people realize that he was missing.

"Ah, half my points are gone."

"Mine too."

The students who had handed Nagami their Trust Cards checked their points on their phones and spoke up.

"Ayanokoji, isn't there some misunderstanding here?"

Hirata still had complete faith in his classmates.

Frame him. First, destroy the loudspeakers nearby.

Then make it look as though Nagami had fled with the points. Everyone would assume he was responsible, and with no time to think, they would ultimately use Water Ghost to take all the traitor's points back.

Prejudice was a mountain that was hard to move. No matter how much Nagami had contributed before, he was now just a traitor.

"He fled in disgrace, planning to use all his points to buy a Class Transfer Ticket!"

"What? That guy... I never thought he was that kind of person!"

"Bakayarou!"

"He's the worst!"

The boys grew furious.

"Wait, there must be some misunderstanding. Ayanokoji, can you explain in detail what happened?"

Kushida loudly objected. Ayanokoji explained honestly that he'd invited Nagami to go earn points at a checkpoint, but when he turned around, Nagami had vanished. He couldn't find him anywhere at the campsite, either.

"Mori Nene, when you went with us to Class A, didn't you notice how warmly they welcomed him?"

Ayanokoji turned to Mori Nene, who was standing off to the side.

If Nagami had contacted Sakayanagi on Line to arrange a transfer, they would have welcomed him just as warmly.

"Wait, Ayanokoji. You have Nagami's Trust Card, don't you? You could Devour his card and take our points all the same."

Kushida had spotted the flaw.

"Trust me, Kushida. I would never do something like that. Do you want each of us to have our points Devoured by Nagami?"

"Hold on. Something's wrong. This makes no sense. Why would Kagami suddenly betray the class? It's impossible. He isn't replying to my messages, either. The only explanation is that Ayanokoji Devoured his Trust Card."

Kushida thought it over, but still sounded suspicious. She insisted that Ayanokoji show them the points on his phone.

"Kushida-chan has a point. Ayanokoji, it won't hurt you to show us your phone."

"Yeah, I think so too."...

Kushida and Nagami had plenty of supporters, and everyone stared at Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji sighed, slowly unlocked his phone, opened the points page, and scrolled up and down to show that it wasn't a screenshot.

Before coming over, Ayanokoji had already arranged everything with Sotomura to cover their tracks. Sotomura had also swapped phones with Ayanokoji.

Everyone murmured among themselves. The cheerful atmosphere from just moments ago had plummeted, and for the time being, they couldn't accept what had happened.

"What do we do? We've lost too many points."

"We can use Water Ghost to take the points back."

Someone suggested it.

"Right, Ayanokoji."

"Not only can we get our points back, we can also eliminate a powerful opponent."

Yamauchi and several others agreed.

"But that would get Nagami expelled. Isn't it too hasty before we know what really happened?"

Kushida argued heatedly.

"Then, activate Devour."

Ayanokoji had Karuizawa's Trust Card. Without hesitation, he initiated Devour—but this was part of Sotomura's cooperation, and Ayanokoji's phone was with Sotomura.

Karuizawa's Water Ghost skill activated at the same time.

The loudspeaker's connector had already been plugged in.

"Karuizawa, your Special Exam is over. After using Water Ghost, you have thirty minutes to go to the homeroom teacher's office and withdraw. Anyone who fails to do so in time will be expelled."

The outpost's mechanical female voice came through the loudspeaker.

"Go on, D-Class Chang Shui Jing."

Ayanokoji urged her.

"Wait, Karuizawa. It's wrong to get a classmate expelled."

Hirata gripped Karuizawa's arm and shook his head.

"If Nagami transfers to Class A, will you still think that way, Hirata?"

Those words silenced the entire class. That was right. If Nagami had betrayed the class, it would be too late by then.

"Kagami would never do that!" Kushida kept arguing with all her might.

"I... I..."

The minutes ticked by. Karuizawa hesitated, unable to speak.

"D-Class Chang Shui Jing."

Karuizawa didn't answer. As everyone looked on in confusion, they suddenly turned their attention to Ayanokoji's phone.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had prepared a recording of Karuizawa in advance, without her knowing.

When had he done that? It was when a girl from Class C had come over to ask who Nagami was. Ayanokoji had recorded Karuizawa saying, "D-Class Chang Shui Jing."

At that point, even Sudo, the dumbest guy in the class, realized something was off. Ayanokoji, you were acting really strange today.

"No student named Chang Shui Jing is in Class D. Skill activation failed."

"What?" A wave of commotion broke out.

Wasn't Chang Shui Jing in Class D? The students had been thrown into confusion by one twist after another. They had no idea what was happening.

Some of the quicker students put the pieces together. He'd succeeded. He'd transferred to Class A, so Karuizawa's Water Ghost skill had failed.

"We failed. Nagami has already transferred to Class A."

Too much had happened in that one hour.

At exactly midnight, the clear, melodious New Year's bells set for the bonfire party rang out!

The bells heralded the departure of the old year and the arrival of the new. But unlike the joyous, peaceful mood of the celebration, Class D was plunged into unprecedented sorrow.

The seventh day marked a new beginning.

"Happy New Year! Welcome, Kagami. Starting today, you're a member of Class B."

Hoshinomiya-sensei said.

"Kagami, you're finally here. What happened?"

Ichinose anxiously asked Nagami at the homeroom teacher's office.

"Ha...nami, quick... use the 4 million points to buy a Class Transfer Ticket. There's no time to explain."

After running at full speed for ten minutes to reach his destination, Nagami was gasping for breath.

"Kagami? All right. Hoshinomiya-sensei..."

Following Nagami's earlier warning, Ichinose's Trust Card had accumulated 4 million points, ready to buy either a Class Transfer Ticket or a Revival Ticket.

"Finally, the day has come."

A blissful smile spread across Ichinose's face before she could stop it.

"Aren't you going to ask which class I want to transfer to?"

Nagami couldn't resist teasing her.

"Kagami's opinion doesn't matter right now, because I have the Class Transfer Ticket."

Ichinose smiled, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Bonds like these were such a hassle... But maybe that was exactly what made them so strong.