“Then that concludes today’s class. It’s lunch break, so everyone enjoy your meal.”

With the fourth period over and lunch break beginning, Class D was filled with the same liveliness and cheer as at the start of the semester. Among them, Sudō, who had narrowly avoided expulsion, looked to be in a better mood than anyone else.

If it hadn’t been for Horikita, this ending would never have happened.

Thanks to her attacking me without even knowing her place, I was given the justification to magnanimously forgive and accept her and for the cheap price of just 100,000 points, I was able to completely crush her pride.

Ever since the moment she received my forgiveness, Horikita showed no expression at all. During class she merely listened to the lecture and during breaks she simply sat quietly. Because of my declaration of forgiveness and Sudō’s watchful eye, no one criticized Horikita anymore.

Though plenty of people still called her by the ridiculous nickname “Incompetent-kita” behind her back.

Thinking that I had finally found a peaceful school life, I stood up from my seat to go meet Hiyori.

“Ayanokoji, you damn bitch, where are you?! Get out here right now!”

Oops. Looks like there’s still a gate to pass before reaching a peaceful school life.

The one who appeared while raising his voice in the normally peaceful Class D was Totsuka Yahiko of the Katsuragi faction. Behind him, several students who looked like they were from Class A entered, glaring at me with hostile eyes. The reason they came was obvious.

Looking highly agitated, Totsuka stormed into Class D the moment he spotted me and tried to grab me by the collar. But I immediately grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

“Trying to casually grab a woman by the chest area. You really have no manners.”

“What kind of cowardly trick did you pull?! What? All subjects with perfect scores? And all five of them? What kind of despicable scheme did you use?!”

From anyone’s perspective, it was a suspicious situation. From a group of incompetents full of failing grades, five randomly selected students all getting perfect scores in every subject was unbelievable. Anyone who didn’t doubt it would be an idiot.

But I committed no cheating whatsoever. I strictly followed the school’s rules, uncovered the secret of the exam, obtained the test papers and made them study hard. I never instructed them to cheat. The teachers also knew about the bet between me and Class A and they closely supervised the students involved during the exam. They must have already heard from the teachers that there was no cheating.

I calmly rebutted Totsuka.

“I didn’t use any scheme. I just made them study hard with a focus on memorization.”

“Don’t lie! We requested the CCTV footage and confirmed that during the exam period you took those five to a karaoke place every day! You were plotting something there, weren’t you?!”

“It’s exactly as I said. We studied hard at the karaoke place.”

“Studying at a karaoke place? At least make your lies believable.”

“The soundproofing there is excellent and during exam season no one would be dumb enough to sing at a karaoke place. I just thought it was the perfect place for memorization.”

“No matter what, all subjects with perfect scores is impossible!”

“Then I guess that just means I taught better than Katsuragi. Think about it simply.”

At those words, even the other Class A students began shouting in agitation.

“Don’t make me laugh! A despicable bitch like you dares to insult Katsuragi-san?!”

“You’re just Class D trash, so stop getting cocky!”

“You won with dirty tricks and now you’re acting all high and mighty?!”

Did these idiots lose their ability to judge the situation because of their anger? With a dry laugh, I spoke to Totsuka and all of Class A.

“Yeah, I get why you’re angry. I understand. You proud Class A students were completely defeated by Class D, the school’s so-called trash. But I committed no cheating in this bet. You lost because of your own lack of ability. It’s simply your defeat for failing to get perfect scores. I’m sure the students from the other classes watching from outside think the same.”

At those words, Class A seemed to slowly grasp reality. They were already being pitied and mocked by Class D on my home ground and even passing students from other classes were watching the situation with various looks.

Standing on a perfect stage, I openly shouted at them.

“As everyone can see, Class A’s Katsuragi faction was utterly defeated in a grade bet against me, a Class D student! By the school’s trash, the last stronghold, Class D! Seeing people who lost miserably to trash swagger in as a group and try to throw their weight around as Class A is laughable. I ask everyone here, does anyone think these guys are worthy of being Class A?”

The first to agree were, of course, Class D.

“Worthy, my ass! We wouldn’t even take you in Class D!”

“Acted all high and mighty as Class A and look at you now!”

“I wonder how it feels to lose to trash!”

“You’re worse than trash, garbage that can’t even be recycled!”

“Even if you get Class A’s benefits, you’ll just blow them all away soon enough!”

The students from other classes didn’t openly show malice like Class D, but they all looked wary of D and contemptuous of A.

“What, those guys are Class A? I’m in Class B, maybe it’ll be easy to move up?”

“More importantly, Class A losing to Class D. Weren’t they assigned to the wrong class?”

“That girl Ayanokoji from Class D… we definitely need to be careful around her.”

“Heh heh, those idiots don’t even know what kind of bitch Ayanokoji is and they still pick a fight.”

“Whew, it’s such a relief that Shiina is Ayanokoji’s close friend.”

“We could’ve been the ones in their place. Thank god.”

Overall, Class B was wary and Class C looked relieved. Facing collective execution by three classes, the Katsuragi faction, who had charged into Class D so confidently, began trembling. I delivered the final blow.

“More importantly, for Class A, who should be setting an example, to storm into another class and try to take revenge on an innocent me is the worst kind of behavior. I don’t think I can let this slide. With this many witnesses, I should go to the staff room right now and ask for their opinion.”

At those words, fear appeared on Class A’s faces. If they were disciplined here, Katsuragi would completely lose his position in Class A and might even be retaliated against by Sakayanagi and fall into ruin. I was momentarily curious what kind of reaction mentioning Katsuragi here would bring.

“Well, if your leader Katsuragi comes in person and apologizes, I might let it go.”

That was the moment their last shred of pride was about to be shattered.

“Fine. I’ll apologize.”

Katsuragi appeared through the back door. With a dark expression, he walked up to me, bowed his head and formally asked for forgiveness.

“This incident is my responsibility for failing to control these people. Ayanokoji, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness for their rudeness toward you.”

“K-Katsuragi-san! Please stop!”

“It’s not Katsuragi-san’s fault…”

“Katsuragi-san is apologizing because of us…”

At least he had the leadership to acknowledge responsibility. Well, I don’t like unnecessary trouble either. I decided to let it go.

“If you go that far, I’ll at least preserve your dignity. Take them and leave. And don’t forget that since I won the bet, you and Totsuka have to pay half your monthly points as tribute.”

“Understood… but before that, let me ask you one thing.”

It was probably about the bet. Even for him, it must have been an incomprehensible result.

“No matter how I think about it, the five people you chose weren’t at a level where they could suddenly get perfect scores in all subjects. It was so strange that I asked the supervising teacher to reconfirm, but there was no evidence of cheating. If it wasn’t cheating, then how did you produce such an unbelievable result?”

He looked genuinely curious. So I told him only the plain facts.

“I made them study thoroughly with a focus on memorization. That’s all.”

Yes. That really is all. The important point is that I made them study the answer sheets. I never lied.

“…We did our best to win this bet. Everyone here worked together and studied harder than ever before. We were satisfied with our scores. In the end, we lost and since there’s no evidence of cheating, I won’t say anything. But if… if by any chance… you really did use some despicable trick behind the scenes… then you trampled on the efforts of everyone in Class A here. You must remember that.”

What nonsense. Coming from a loser.

But I can’t deny that Class A made an effort. The average of the five Class A participants was 94.3 points. In a normal school, that would be a score worthy of praise. The cause of that effort was undoubtedly Katsuragi. Unlike me, he entered the match with fair and honest effort.

My judgment was wrong. Katsuragi isn’t just another Hirata. He’s someone with Hirata’s disposition… like Horikita. In other words, a superior version of Horikita.

That’s why you couldn’t beat me. People like Horikita and you, who follow rules and pursue fairness, can never defeat people like me and Sakayanagi, who break rules and trample incompetents as the situation demands.

That’s just how the system of the world works.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Whether it has any meaning or not.”

“……”

And so Class A disappeared from Class D. Leaving behind the cheers and Ayanokoji calls celebrating Class D’s perfect victory, I stepped back into the hallway to go meet Hiyori.

Katsuragi Kohei. That man is an outstanding talent with considerable ability. Unfortunately, he was assigned to the wrong class. He doesn’t belong with Sakayanagi. I don’t know if there’s a way, but if you want to become a threat to me, you’ll need to go somewhere that suits you, meet a leader who shares your ideals and build up your power.

I look forward to seeing what choice you ultimately make at this school.

* * *

After school, since it was a club day for Hiyori, she headed back to the dorm alone. Seeing how light everyone’s steps were, it seemed no other class had any expulsions.

According to Hiyori, after obtaining the answer sheets she distributed, Class C also achieved fairly high scores, though not as high as ours and didn’t have a single expulsion. Because of this, Hiyori became the person with the greatest merit in Class C and at the same time an indispensable figure.

However, she said that when that guy called Ryūen received the answer sheets, he wore a meaningful smile, which bothered me…

See? I can feel someone following behind me.

Sensing their gaze, I checked that no one else was around and spoke toward my back.

“I was just about to go meet your leader anyway. Stop with the pointless tailing and tell him to decide on a meeting place and send it to me. He can ask Hiyori for my number.”

After saying that and walking a little further, the presence disappeared.

They’re definitely from Class C. If there’s anyone who would see me, someone close to Hiyori and who’s made a huge contribution to Class D, as someone to be wary of, it would be Class C, right above us. Well, it was about time they made a move anyway.

On my way back, while stopping by the bookstore in Keyaki Mall to buy a few books, I received a message on my phone. It was from a number I didn’t recognize.

[I’m in karaoke room 110. Let’s meet there.]

The only people who have exchanged numbers with me are Hiyori, Sakayanagi and her group, Hirata and my five disciples. The fact that this was sent to my email address means it must be Class C who got it from Hiyori. And judging by the feeling…

It must be Class C’s leader, Ryūen Kakeru.

I bought the books I was holding and headed straight to the karaoke place.

As expected, it seemed to be a post-midterm party, with several students inside having a good time. The place I was going to was the biggest room among them. I remembered it being large enough for almost an entire class to hang out in. There might be others there.

Knock knock.

“Ah, Ryūen-san! Ayanokoji has arrived.”

A huge black man I had seen in the cafeteria opened the door and Ishizaki, standing beside him, informed Ryūen of my arrival.

More importantly, wow… what an atmosphere.

The guys who looked like they were from Class C had ordered carbonated drinks like alcohol and all kinds of snacks like party food, enjoying themselves. Boys and girls sitting close together looked like a wealthy party in an entertainment district. Fortunately, it seemed Hiyori wasn’t there because of club activities. Given her personality, she would have declined this kind of gathering anyway.

I already felt this when I saw Ishizaki’s group in the cafeteria, but this class really doesn’t suit Hiyori at all.

When I entered, the guys who had been having fun until just now looked at me warily with tense expressions.

“That’s her… the rumored Ayanokoji?”