On the last Monday of June, Advanced Nurturing High School entered its final week before summer vacation amid the cicadas' chorus. Final exams had ended, and the final assessment for the special exam had been announced a week earlier. Class D's class points had risen by a net eighty-seven, climbing from the bottom at the start of the term to within just eleven points of Class B. The activation progress of the Old System's freeze clauses had also been updated on everyone's terminals—Shared Pool Allocation, Intra-group Trust Weighting, and Statement-of-Fact Mode for Silent Offense and Defense. These three clauses, sealed away since the school's fourth year, were now marked green in the system: "Activated." But the clauses were not what the students cared about. Summer vacation was almost here.
"Can't we really go home for summer vacation?" Ike Kanji slumped over his desk, flipping to the school calendar in his student handbook and reading it three times. His expression shifted from anticipation to despair. "Free activities on campus for the entire month of August? What kind of summer vacation is this—"
"It's not like you only found out today that this school is completely closed off." Sudo Ken set his sports drink on the windowsill, unusually without shouting. "Karaoke, movie theaters, swimming pools, gyms—they're all open for free. Way better than lying around at home." After saying that, he secretly glanced toward the back row at Ishizaki Daichi. Ishizaki was sketching basketball plays in his notebook. He looked up at the words, and their eyes met for a beat before they both looked away. It was not awkwardness, but the kind of tacit understanding that had yet to turn into an invitation.
Kanzaki Toru sat in his usual seat by the rear window, watching the rare air of relaxation in