At Kiyotaka-kun’s call, the entire class fell silent.

It was about tomorrow’s vote.

Everyone had been thinking about it and had already made their decision.

Gather votes for Horikita.

Most of the class had agreed to that.

And then, Kiyotaka-kun—who had remained silent until now—moved.

The one trembling in fear was Yamauchi-kun.

“H-hey, what do you mean, Ayanokōji? Talking about tomorrow’s vote… you’re not trying to gather votes against me just because I messed with you the other day, right!?”

“As far as discussing who we should vote for goes, you’re right.”

“Ayanokōji-kun, that’s—!”

“Hirata. I understand how you feel. But since you couldn’t gather the remaining nine million, it’s already decided that someone will be expelled. In that case, we need to minimize the damage to the class.”

“No matter who gets expelled, it’ll hurt the same.”

“That’s not true. For example, what if I were expelled in this test? It might not be something I should say myself, but I’ve contributed quite a bit to the class this past year. If we leave it to everyone’s votes and I get expelled, do you think we can catch up to Class A?”

It was an extremely arrogant statement.

But Kiyotaka-kun had the results to back it up, enough that no one could refute him.

“…That’s not fair. There’s no way someone like you would get expelled…”

“I used myself as an example, but this applies to the whole class. Those with ability and those without. People like you who hold the class together, and those who drag it down. Unless we think about who causes the least damage if expelled, we won’t be able to pass this test.”

Hirata-kun sank weakly into his chair.

It was a reluctant acceptance of Kiyotaka-kun’s stance.

After pushing Hirata aside, Kiyotaka-kun stood at the podium and looked around.

“First, let me ask everyone something. Most of this class is probably planning to vote for Horikita, right?”

Several students either looked at him as if he’d hit the mark or awkwardly looked away.

Hirata seemed deeply shocked by that reaction.

As for Horikita herself… she tightly gripped her folded arms.

Was she sad, frustrated or something else entirely.

“You don’t have to answer and I’m not blaming you. If anything, considering Horikita’s attitude at the start, it’s a natural result.”

“Yes. I’ll accept that quietly.”

“Then why not just go with Horikita?”

Yamauchi-kun, thinking he might be next, was desperate.

“No, that’s not it. Horikita has her issues, but she’s not someone who should be expelled right now.”

“Why not!? Just because she’s good at studying!?”

“That’s part of it. But the biggest reason is that there’s someone else who should be expelled.”

“…W-what do you mean?”

The classroom erupted in murmurs.

Everyone was shaken.

No one wanted to expel someone.

They were only choosing because the school forced them to.

But now, being told there was someone who “should be expelled” overturned everything.

Still, someone objected.

She stood up and faced him.

“Wait, Ayanokōji-kun. There’s no one in this class who deserves to be expelled.”

It was Kushida.

She stood with the same stance as Hirata.

“Even if that person is intentionally harming the class?”

“…There’s no way someone like that exists. That’s awful, Ayanokōji-kun, doubting your classmates.”

That was clever.

By saying “classmates,” she made it sound like he was doubting everyone.

But he didn’t fall for it.

“No. I’m only talking about the traitor in this class. That person has been plotting to expel a certain classmate even before this vote began.”

“Is there really someone like that? Isn’t that just your imagination?”

“Yeah. That person is—”

“Wait! Are you really sure, Ayanokōji-kun? If you’re wrong about something like this, you’ll lose all your credibility.”

Kushida desperately tried to stop him.

But she knew it wouldn’t work.

“Unfortunately, I’m sure. Kushida, thanks for worrying about me.”

“…Stop it, Ayanokōji-kun. There’s no such person…”

She was more shaken than I’d ever seen.

Her face pale, cold sweat forming.

“K-Kushida-chan?”

“You don’t look well, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine… I just… feel scared of Ayanokōji-kun…”

She still didn’t want him to speak.

Of course.

Her life depended on it.

“But it makes sense. You already know, don’t you? …The traitor is you, Kushida.”

The classroom fell completely silent.

“A-Ayanokōji… what did you just say…”

“I said the traitor is Kushida Kikyo.”

As he repeated it, the class erupted.

“That’s impossible!”

“But it’s Ayanokōji-kun saying it…”

“Even he can be wrong sometimes!”

“There’s no way Kushida-san would try to expel someone!”

“Isn’t this a mistake?”

“Why do you think Kushida is harming the class?”

Everyone only knew Kushida’s outward persona.

They couldn’t accept it.

Miyake calmly asked for reasoning.

“There are several reasons, but the main one is that she’s been acting to expel Horikita for selfish reasons.”

The murmurs grew louder.

“You’ve probably noticed, right? Many of you were approached by Kushida to vote for Horikita.”

“Th-that’s…”

Those who had been targeted earlier couldn’t respond.

Because it was true.

“But… why would she want Horikita expelled?”

Yukimura asked.

“Horikita. You and Kushida had something in common, right?”

“…If you mean we went to the same middle school, then yes.”

“Right. Kushida wanted to eliminate Horikita because she might know about what happened back then.”

“…A middle school incident?”

Someone muttered.

“STOP!!!!!”

Kushida screamed.

Her body trembled—not from fear, but anger.

“Stop it, Ayanokōji-kun. Digging up someone’s past is disgusting.”

“Y-yeah! That’s going too far!”

They tried to divert the topic.

But he had no intention of exposing everything.

“I’m not trying to reveal your past. But it’s a fact that you tried to expel Horikita because you didn’t want it known.”

“That’s…”

“You also approached Chiaki, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. She asked me to help get votes against Horikita. And during the camp, weren’t you trying to end up in the same group as her? Since she was the leader, you were planning to sabotage her, right?”

When I took out the voice recorder, her face turned even paler.

More and more students began to realize something was off.

Even if they didn’t fully believe it yet, doubt had taken root.

That alone was enough.

“And there are others she’s harmed. Right, Kushida?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re the one who spread rumors about Chiaki, aren’t you?”

“What!?”

“No way!”

Shock spread across the class.

“You probably targeted Chiaki to hurt me. You can’t deal with me directly, so you aimed at her instead. Either Horikita or Chiaki being expelled would work for you.”

“Wait, Ayanokōji! Did she really do that!?”

Ike still couldn’t believe it.

“Do you remember the very first rumor posted on the board?”

“The one about your girlfriend doing compensated dating, right?”

Even now, Yamauchi said that.

Impressive in a way.

“Kushida said those exact things in front of me before.”

“…I didn’t.”

“Not going to admit it?”

Kiyotaka-kun silently operated his phone.

The recording played.

The classroom froze.

“…That’s enough.”

He stopped it.

No one spoke.

They had just seen Kushida’s true nature.

“The origin of the rumor and Kushida’s statements match perfectly. Considering her past actions, it’s reasonable to conclude she spread it.”

“W-wait! That’s not the point here!”

“What isn’t?”

“That… was that really Kushida-san?”

“The voice was the same…”

“That? That’s nothing unusual. People having two sides isn’t rare. Acting kind in front of some and cruel in front of others is normal. I’m not blaming her for that.”

He made it clear.

That wasn’t the issue.

“But spreading slander about Chiaki is unacceptable. And trying to expel Horikita. We can’t leave someone like that in the class.”

“Why!? You said if I stayed quiet you wouldn’t do anything!!!”

That was practically a confession.

She grabbed his collar.

“I did say that. But you kept acting behind the scenes. And this time, you targeted Horikita and Chiaki. You chose the wrong targets.”

“…Ah… it’s over, huh…”

She staggered out of the classroom.

But there was still life in her eyes.

She was probably thinking she could still survive.

But Kiyotaka-kun wasn’t that lenient.