“Yes, it’s finished, Mom. We’ve gathered the captives at the designated point as planned. We’re also collecting all firearms that were used.”

“You are in the middle of an operation. Do not call me Mom. Address me as Commander Tachibana Makina.”

“Y-Yes! My apologies, Commander Tachibana Makina…”

Even though the person on the other end of the call couldn’t see me, I kept bowing my head repeatedly with the radio in hand.

It was almost like an instinct of being Tachibana Tomoki and I ended up apologizing like a salaryman from my previous life.

And only now did I finally learn my mom’s given name.

There was no way I could ask her directly, so this was a lifesaver.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Since we’re both Tachibana, using full names during an operation would prevent confusion.

“It seems the automated sniping system using the tracking system functioned properly even with a remote electric trigger. This was a good opportunity for practical field testing.”

“I-I’m honored, Commander…”

“I was praising the equipment. Not you. Don’t get conceited.”

“Yes! My apologies!”

Hey, you know, writing the program for that automated sniping system and doing the on-site surveying was insanely hard!

In my previous life, I never studied ballistics or sniping techniques, but for some reason, once the equipment was in front of me, my hands just moved properly.

Is this what people mean by having a skill set?

“Submit the on-site report later. You may disengage from the area.”

“Yes! Understood!”

I was bowing again while reaching to switch off the radio when—

“Ah, one more thing.”

There’s more!?

“We’ll take care of clearing the way. Make sure you make the Nemuro family fully understand who the Tachibana family is.”

“…Roger.”

With that, the transmission from Mom finally cut off.

‘Phew… For now, it’s over…’

Honestly, reporting back to Mom was more nerve-wracking than the mission itself.

Still, Mom must be pretty high-ranking within the organization.

No idea what kind of organization it even is, though.

‘Alright. Since it’s Mom’s order, let’s clean things up properly.’

Saying that, I put back on my uniform jacket that I’d taken off during the operation and started walking toward the light.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

[Class 3 Class Representative Arasaki Mai — POV]

With the class replacement match between Class 2 and Class 3 scheduled for tomorrow, preparations were proceeding in a flurry of activity.

While workers busily moved about on the grassy plaza setting up the main stage, I—the Class 3 class representative, who should have been the busiest of all—was instead sitting absentmindedly on the grass, watching everyone work.

“Well well. Looks like hard work all around.”

Sitting beside me was Toramine, one of the protagonists of this class replacement match and a precious male in this world, speaking to me with a lecherous grin.

In a world where the gender ratio is 1:99 and boys are rare, my current situation—sitting side by side with a boy on the grass under a blue sky—would surely be the object of envy for other girls.

But I didn’t feel happy at all.

Born as the daughter of a wealthy distinguished family, engaged to a boy from another distinguished family.

If the other girls knew that someone in a situation straight out of a fairy tale or novel was lamenting that very environment, they’d probably punch me.

‘No… but even so…’

The trust within the class had already been broken.

The relationship between me, the class representative and the girls of Class 3.

The relationship between Toramine and the girls of the class.

“Tomorrow, all this preparation will go to waste. What a lot of effort for nothing.”

And then there was the relationship between Toramine beside me, wearing that vulgar grin and myself…

‘Everything is broken.’

By venting complaints with Ayami, the class representative of Class 1, my heart had felt just a little lighter.

It was the first time I’d ever felt such a connection from our very first meeting.

But even so…

I couldn’t tell her everything.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow. The looks of despair on the girls of Class 2 who’ve lost their class’s boy and the vacant expressions of the girls of Class 3 who betrayed me to challenge Class 2 only to get no prize.”

The darkness of a distinguished family that wins using despicable methods.

Its ugliness and myself for standing by and being forced to go along with it.

I’d finally found someone I could call a close friend in Ayami…

Yet I could do nothing but watch as the boy who brought us together was destroyed…

Bearing that guilt, would I really be able to keep facing Ayami from now on?

Lost in such thoughts, I failed to notice.

“Alright, heave-ho!”

“Wha—!?”

Right before my eyes, a boy suddenly appeared, lunged low at Toramine’s legs with a crawling tackle and then lifted him up in one motion.

For an instant, our eyes met—just before Toramine was thrown into the air and began to fall.

His face was frozen in shock.

“Kah—!”

Obeying the laws of physics, Toramine crashed down on his back.

If it had been hard asphalt, he might have been seriously injured, but since it was soft grass, it didn’t look life-threatening.

Still, taking the full impact of his own body weight on his back, Toramine couldn’t breathe and was writhing on the ground in agony.

“Toramine!”

“Don’t move. If you do, I’ll crush his reproductive organs.”

Just as I rushed toward Toramine, I was stopped.

The boy sat casually on Toramine’s stomach, as if settling down on a picnic sheet.

His right foot was positioned squarely over Toramine’s groin.

“Guh… hah…”

Unable to breathe properly after the heavy impact to his back, Toramine could barely struggle, making escape on his own impossible.

“What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Tachibana?”

With Toramine completely taken hostage, all I could do was question the other key figure of tomorrow.

The boy who smiled fearlessly back at me—Class 2’s only boy, Tachibana Tomoki.