Kakeru's manipulation had clearly affected Honami.
What she said wasn't wrong, though. After several failed attempts at evasion, Houtarou finally gave in.
"Pretty much. Initially, thirty-six students from Ryūen's class joined my shop plan — though Ibuki wasn't among them. The fact that he could terminate all contracts at once, which involved substantial points, showed me he had complete control over his class.
When Ibuki and the others made that dramatic show of opposing Ryūen's violence on the deck, it seemed suspicious. Their class's forfeit and their decision to stay behind on the island convinced me they were actually planted as spies.
I had to act once I saw my classmates taking Ibuki in."
Honami: "..."
So that was the truth.
"Still, leaving them in my class was too harsh." She complained.
If Mio hadn't betrayed them by revealing the leader's identity, she wouldn't have felt so distressed or gone to reflect in the rain.
But...
"Could you really have abandoned them on the island, even knowing they were spies?" Houtarou challenged.
Honami had no response — even if they'd known about the spies then, she couldn't have left them stranded.
Even now, she likely considers it too cruel to treat fellow schoolmates that way. That's probably why they'll continue sheltering Mio and Satoru.
Houtarou was certain of it — despite showing Class B a guaranteed path to victory in the library today: refuse to work with Kakeru and allow over a dozen of his students to face expulsion.
But Honami and the others probably couldn't go through with such a plan.
"That's your class's greatest strength and your fatal weakness. Sometimes, even when you know something's wrong, you still go through with it." Houtarou said, "For instance, if there were an exam where someone had to be expelled, you'd do everything possible to prevent it — even if it meant the whole class paying a heavy price."
"That..." Honami couldn't argue with that point.
"Besides, we're in different classes. I'm just doing what's best for mine, even if it means opposing yours. That's only natural — we're coming from different perspectives." Houtarou said, "So regarding Ibuki, you can't blame me."
"Ugh..." Honami was completely disarmed by that.
With that, the issue of whether he'd tricked Class B was resolved.
"By the way, what made you suddenly grab my hand and act cute just now?" Houtarou asked, curious.
He didn't see her as someone who'd hold a boy's hand casually. Even during the confession test in the library, she'd clearly been uncomfortable — saying it was something she'd only ever do once in her life. She obviously hadn't confessed to anyone before.
"Well... how should I put this..."
The "archangel" Honami's cheeks turned a little red.
"While we were walking together, Oreki-kun kept looking at the area between my collarbone and stomach, so I thought you might be a bit of a pervert. I wanted to test you." She said sheepishly.
Eh!?
That simple explanation hit Houtarou hard. Was he really looking at girls that way?
Perhaps he'd spent so much time around Kikyō that he'd developed the habit unconsciously. He made a mental note to be more mindful of where he looked.
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That night, Kikyō thought Houtarou had gone crazy.
He kept asking her to confess her feelings to him and made her walk back and forth in front of him.
What kind of new torture was this?
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The next morning.
After second period, during lunch break.
Houtarou was sitting at his desk. This month's special exam involved writing questions for each other, with Class A challenging Class C. The job of writing the questions was given to Kōhei.
Houtarou sat at his desk, wiping down his phone with a tissue.
Last night, after Kakeru's brainwashing session, he'd pulled Honami aside and left his phone recording. Unfortunately, he hadn't captured anything useful.
What was clear, though, was that Class D genuinely wanted to study this time. They'd assigned their best students to lead two hours of daily study sessions, starting with elementary school basics.
It seemed extreme, but when it came to academic ability, starting from fundamentals was the only way to catch up.
"By the way, it seems Class B has gotten in touch with Class D."
While Houtarou continued wiping his phone, his neighbor, Arisu, spoke up.
The "contact" referred to a plan between Class B and D for the pairing exam. Ultimately, Honami and her class had agreed to exchange test papers with Class D.
"I was surprised to hear Ichinose and the others would use psychological pressure." Arisu said, "Apparently, before class, they sent all the different versions of third-year middle school textbooks from the library to first-year Class D. Within ten minutes, they'd reached an agreement with Ryūen's class."
Oh. She really was well-informed.
But this had been Houtarou's suggestion. Since Class B couldn't bring themselves to be ruthless, exchanging test papers for maximum benefit was their only option.
First, the resource agreement between Class D and Class B for the island was terminated. Second, Class D now owed them 3,000,000 Points or equivalent value. Since Kakeru's class lacked the funds, they could only write an IOU.
"But what did Oreki-kun get out of this?" Arisu asked, clearly convinced of his involvement.
So what did he get?
He'd terminated the shop agreement with the fifteen students from Honami's class. Houtarou had refunded their payments, and he wouldn't have to pay any more interest. The contract was effectively ended.
Being in the fifth month, if he'd let the contract run its course, he would've owed nearly a million in interest — so he'd actually saved money.
"But that's all just on the surface." Houtarou said, "Sakayanagi-san, among the four classes — A, B, C, D — which one do you think could graduate as Class A if neither we nor the school interfered?"
"Which class, huh?" Arisu pondered before turning the question back to him, "How about you, Oreki-kun — what do you think?"
"Let's do this." Houtarou said, "Let's both write down our answers at the same time, then reveal them together."
"That sounds fun." Arisu said, looking interested.
Houtarou looked straight ahead and wrote the class name in his notebook. Arisu did the same.
"So... let's show them together."
Houtarou raised his notebook, and Arisu followed suit.
Behind them, Masumi looked like she'd seen a ghost. Though she hadn't been included in their conversation and stayed quiet, she'd been listening intently.
What was up with these two?
The answer both of them wrote — the class they believed would graduate as Class A without their or the school's interference — was... Class D.
Not Suzune's class, mind you — Kakeru's class.
While their "hardware" was severely lacking, they possessed one crucial trait: they followed orders.
Take the Sports Festival, where twenty boys unquestioningly followed Kakeru's orders to target Ken. Or Minori, a talented athlete who went along with the plan despite knowing she'd get injured.
That level of execution was impressive. If properly harnessed, it could become a tremendous asset.
The school evaluated students on three main criteria: thinking ability, test-taking skills, and athletic talent.
Class C wasn't lacking in athletic ability — with their many "gyaru" and delinquents, their physical fitness was actually quite good. Their academics were weak, but if they could improve those enough to pass regular written exams, they'd manage.
As for Honami's class, while they had excellent "hardware" and unity, their reluctance to harm others would be their downfall at this school.
Consider their handling of the test paper exchange. Even though it was Houtarou's idea, it revealed their fundamental weakness: they lacked the decisiveness to take decisive action when needed. Wanting to protect their own while refusing to eliminate threats wasn't realistic.
Regarding Class A... both Arisu and Houtarou knew that relying on Kōhei alone wouldn't suffice. The Class A position was toxic — a few failures could shatter student morale.
But Arisu was truly frightening. The premise was "if neither you nor I interfere..."
Was she seriously planning to drop out next year? Or perhaps that was already her intention.
Having uncovered this troubling revelation, Houtarou forced himself to focus on class.
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On the fourth day after the exam rules were announced — the same day Kakeru's class began studying at an elementary school level — Houtarou was contacted by Suzune.
This month's special exam had Class A facing Class C, and Class B facing Class D.
While Class B and D had already reached an agreement, what about A and C?
"It's been a while." Houtarou said.
"Yeah." Suzune nodded, "So, is there anything you want to say about this exam?"
They met at their usual spot, with Kikyō sitting quietly to the side. From the circumstances, it was clear Suzune had sought this meeting — and her purpose was obvious.
"It's about this special exam. You haven't started collecting points yet, right?"
"My Class A challenged your class directly for that reason." Houtarou said, "Our classes have a contract for island resources. We can give you the test questions we're preparing, but that agreement needs to end. We're missing a mediator though, so you could handle that role. And this time..."
Houtarou glanced at his account.
『Personal Account: ¤ 48,371,501 Pts』
Having refunded the points to the fifteen Class B students, his balance had dropped below fifty million.
"This time I only want 1.7 million points." Houtarou said, "You can take whatever you want as a mediation fee and divide the rest however you like."
"Actually, we're here representing our class. We've already collected three million points." Suzune said, "Our classmates are really worried about this written exam. Even our stronger students, like Yukimura, are anxious about getting dragged down."
It made sense — this was a pairing exam. The kindhearted Yōsuke wanted to pair top students with struggling ones, but if Class A students made things difficult, even the top students would be under pressure.
They'd also heard about Class B bringing various junior high textbooks to Kakeru's class. Since the school hadn't specified which version of the third-year textbooks to use, writing questions would be challenging.
Reading through all those textbooks would be practically impossible.
Given all this, even Class C's top students like Teruhiko must be feeling the pressure. They feared being dragged down by weaker students and risking expulsion.
Before Houtarou could even try collecting money, Class C's students had offered up a "peace offering" themselves.
Your class is really something else. After getting used to paying for protection during the Sports Festival, it's become a habit, huh?
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