"Amasawa... why the hell are you here?"

"Hehe! Why do you think~?"

"Quit playing dumb and answer already!"

Well...

Not just Hōsen-kun, the other three besides Kiyotaka-senpai probably share the same question too.

"Come on, Hōsen-kun~! That’s not good! You stabbed yourself but tried to make it look like Kiyotaka-senpai did it~!"

While saying that, I showed everyone my phone screen, which was in recording mode.

"W-what... Amasawa! What the hell are you trying to do!?"

"What do you mean what am I trying to do? From Ichika-chan’s perspective—someone who already has 20 million points in Class A—it’s way more efficient to expel you instead of risking everything to expel Kiyotaka-senpai. That way I can reduce your class’s points and deal psychological damage to your classmates at the same time."

If Hōsen-kun gets expelled...

Class 1-D would lose 100 cp, and their Private Points distribution in May would also drop to zero.

If one of the rival classes in the battle for Class A weakens, that works perfectly for me.

"From the way you call him Ayanokōji-senpai, it seems like you two are quite close."

"We’re just a senpai and kōhai from the same middle school!"

"What did you say?"

When I answered Tsubasa-chan’s simple question, the one who reacted wasn’t her—

It was Hōsen-kun.

"Amasawa and Ayanokōji! You two were working together from the start! You tricked me!"

"If that’s the case... it also explains why Ichika-san warned us not to participate in this special exam."

While Hōsen-kun exploded with anger, Tsubasa-chan showed no sign of anger.

Instead, she calmly analyzed my actions up until now.

"That’s correct. Amasawa and I made contact about four days ago while we were searching for a partner for Sudō. At that time we already learned everything about the secret exam organized by Nagumo and Acting Director Tsukishiro, including the participants."

"Ayanokōji..."

Hōsen-kun glared with even greater anger as Kiyotaka-senpai calmly revealed the truth.

But honestly, this is just him holding a grudge.

"Amasawa-san, may I ask something? What exactly is this secret exam you and Ayanokōji-kun are talking about?"

"Curious~? Well, it’s simple. If someone manages to expel Kiyotaka-senpai before the second semester, they receive 20 million points. That’s the whole rule."

"What!? Such an inhumane exam... how could something like that be allowed!?"

"Are they insane!? Why would they put 20 million points on expelling Ayanokōji!?"

After hearing the full explanation of the exam from me, Horikita-senpai and Sudō-senpai looked shocked.

"So that’s the situation, Hōsen. We now have grounds to punish you instead. What are you going to do?"

"Tch..."

Completely cornered, Hōsen-kun clicked his tongue and glared at Kiyotaka-senpai and me with fury.

'At this point... even Hōsen-kun should give up.'

That’s what I thought optimistically.

But I was wrong.

"Amasawa! Damn you!"

Suddenly, Hōsen-kun charged straight at me.

He wasn’t acting irrationally.

Most likely, he intended to steal my phone—the piece of evidence.

Surprisingly, he still had some rationality left.

"Amasawa-san! Run!"

"Ichika-san!"

Horikita-senpai and Tsubasa-chan shouted desperately at me.

Meanwhile, as I watched Hōsen-kun rushing at me with his fist raised—

I thought this.

'Seriously... he’s way too weak. I might start yawning from boredom...'

His current level isn’t even close to Kiyotaka-kun.

Not to mention the White Room instructors or Takuya.

Back when I first enrolled in the original world, maybe there was a tiny chance I could have lost to him.

But the current Ichika-chan in this world is stronger.

There’s absolutely no way I’d lose to Hōsen-kun.

"Here we go!"

I easily caught Hōsen-kun’s punch—

Then threw him straight toward Kiyotaka-senpai.

"Gah... Ayanokōji..."

"Stay still."

As if understanding my intention, Kiyotaka-senpai caught the flying Hōsen-kun and slammed him to the ground, restraining him so he couldn’t move.

"Tch... so I’m completely out of options now..."

Judging from his words, attacking me must have been a desperate gamble.

Of course, it was never going to work against me.

"Hōsen... if you accept the three conditions I’m about to state, we won’t report this incident."

"Just say them already... It’s not like I have the right to refuse in this situation anyway."

Hōsen-kun finally admitted defeat and reluctantly agreed to negotiate with Kiyotaka-senpai.

Kiyotaka-senpai presented three conditions.

① Class 1-D and Class 2-D must form pairs through negotiations based on an equal cooperative relationship.

② Hōsen-kun must form a pair with Kiyotaka-senpai.

③ Hōsen-kun must not tell Acting Director Tsukishiro or his homeroom teacher Shiba Katsunori that Ichika-chan and Kiyotaka-senpai are cooperating.

The third condition was unexpected.

Kiyotaka-senpai probably just thought of it as preserving a useful pawn for as long as possible.

But still—

'It almost feels like Kiyotaka-senpai is protecting me!'

Maybe...

I’m earning Kiyotaka-senpai’s trust faster than in the original world.

* * *

After Hōsen-kun and Tsubasa-chan left—

"Amasawa, I’m grateful for what you did today..."

"Of course you should be~! You owe me one!"

That’s what Kiyotaka-senpai and I were talking about.

"Fine... what do you want? Just make sure it’s something I can do personally. I don’t want to involve my class."

Hehe...

Even without him saying that, I already knew what I wanted.

"Kiyotaka-senpai! Next time... please go on a date with me!"

"..."

"Eh?"

"Whaaaat!? A date with Ayanokōji!?"

At my unexpected request—

Kiyotaka-senpai and Horikita-senpai froze in shock.

And Sudō-senpai shouted out loud.