Volume 10, Epilogue: The Dropouts Part 5

At just past ten on the night before the exam, my phone rang.

[Its me. Ive gotten all of Ryens private points.]

Ibuki spoke, stating the bare minimum and nothing else.

Its a good thing you figured out my contact information, isnt it?

I tried questioning her, but Ibuki remained completely silent.

I remembered that I had given Shiina my number, so she had probably gotten ahold of it through her.

Hmm. So, youve gotten ahold of the points?

Although I had expected her to make a move, this was pushing it until the last minute.

Can you grab Ishizaki and come to my room right now?

[Eh? Right now?]

Is that a problem? I have something to discuss with you about the points youve gotten your hands on.

[Not exactly, its just No, Ill be there.]

With those few short words of consent, Ibuki said she would get in contact with Ishizaki right away and then ended the call.

The two of them showed up at my door less than ten minutes later. Did they have some sort of premonition that something important was about to happen?

Just like that, Ishizaki and Ibuki immediately stepped into my room.

How many points did Ryen have?

A little more than five million.

Thats plenty. If there werent enough, Id have to do some last-minute preparations to make up for the rest.

As I expected, there wasnt any evidence that Ryen had used them for himself.

What are you talking about? What are you doing?

Ishizaki didnt seem to have any clue where I was going with this.

On the other hand, Ibuki had already resolved herself, so she wasnt lagging behind as much.

Youre going to use these to do something, arent you?

Correct.

Hes gonna use them?

These private points will be used for one thing and one thing only. Saving Ryen.

N-no wait a second. Dont we need twenty million points in order to do that?

No matter how Ishizaki looked at it, there simply werent enough points to do that.

Before I get into that, I have something to ask you. Ishizaki. Are you prepared to take responsibility for this?

W-whatre you getting at all of a sudden? Prepared to take responsibility for what?

Saving Ryen means that you have to abandon someone else. I told you this before, didnt I?

Yeah.

Despite being a bit flustered, Ishizaki nodded in agreement.

Ive resolved myself.

Is that so? Its nice to see youve made up your mind. So who will it be?

Who

It seemed that Ishizaki hadnt decided on who would be taking Ryens place yet.

If you havent decided, I can decide for you if you want. Itd be easier to get rid of any feelings of guilt that way. Of course, if you think that Id carelessly get rid of an important member of your class, you dont have to listen to me at all.

P-please hold on. Let me think about it for a bit

Theres no time.

I-Ill make the decision quickly.

Despite saying that, if he could make the decision quickly, he wouldnt be having such a hard time in the first place.

Hold up. I dont care who we get rid of, but whats the plan here? You said you were gonna save him with the points, but arent we short by like fifteen million?

Ibuki cut in, and her irritation was understandable.

Be that as it may, I had my own circumstances to consider as well.

If you want to prevent Ryens expulsion, you need to decide on who will take the fall instead.

We would talk about the plan in detail afterward.

For example, how about the troublemakers in your class?

While I felt bad that Ibuki was dissatisfied with not getting an answer from me, I moved the conversation forward.

Troublemakers Well, I guess theres me and Komiya, and out of the girls, theres Nishino and Manabe.

Honestly Ishizaki, as far as Ryens safety is concerned, I dont think its a very good idea to get rid of somebody like you who understands the importance of Ryens presence in your class. If theres another exam similar to this one in the future, theres no guarantee Ryen will be able to make it through that one either.

Ishizaki seemed to agree with my logic.

So either Nishino or Manabe

Ishizaki listed two names, both of whom I was familiar with. Manabe, in particular, was the student I had been thinking of expelling.

Either way, he was the one who had to make the final call.

I intended to respect his decision, regardless of who he ended up choosing.

Whether its one of them, or someone else, the decision is entirely up to you.

Ishizaki was also aware of what had taken place between Manabe and Kei during the Cruise Ship Special Exam. If that incident had even the slightest influence on his considerations, in all probability, he would choose to get rid of Manabe.

He was searching for flaws. Searching for some sort of justification where he could throw up his hands and say she had brought this upon herself. Manabe had put her hands on Kei, and by doing so, had brought unnecessary trouble upon her class.

Gradually, Ishizaki would begin to think that expelling Manabe wouldnt be too unreasonable.

As far as Kei was concerned, even though she had already put the incident behind her, Manabes presence would always be a constant source of uneasiness. Resolving this issue would be enough to allow Kei to relax a little more. Additionally, if I were to have Kei presume that I had been responsible for the expulsion, her confidence in me would also increase yet again.

However, Ibuki unexpectedly spoke up just as Ishizaki was finalizing his decision.

Is it fine if I make the choice?

Eh? You want to?

Yeah. Theres someone I want gone.

Who?

I asked without waiting for Ishizakis response.

Manabe. Its just my personal preference though.

And is it alright to make the decision based on that alone?

I dont have any problems with it. Are you saying I should?

With a single look at Ibukis eyes, I understood immediately. She didnt have even the slightest bit of hesitation.

If Ishizaki has no objection to it, then its settled. That said, there are no guarantees that everything will work out. By preventing Ryens expulsion, the person who ends up with the second most censure votes will be expelled. Now, the overall goal is to reduce the possibility that that person will end up being one of you two. There isnt very much time left.

I get it Ill tell the guys that thereve been some changes and that they should use one of their votes on Manabe. I think theyll agree to it if I tell them that the plan is to scare her by giving her the second most censure votes.

Thats not a bad idea.

I approved of Ishizakis idea.

As long as they were under the impression that Ryens expulsion was set in stone, the rest of his classmates wouldnt particularly care about who they used the other censure votes on.

Well, I might be in trouble here though.

Hmm? What do you mean, Ibuki?

Manabe and her friends will probably vote for me along with Ryen. It really doesnt look very good for me.

W-wait. Are you being serious?

Even you should know that Manabe and I dont get along very well, right?

Thats, well, thats true but

Ishizaki trailed off, shaken from his inability to wrap his head around the conversation.

It sounds like youve already steeled your resolve, Ibuki.

Of course, if Manabe didnt get expelled, Ibuki wouldnt have any other option but to resign herself to her fate.

It might be a good idea to consult with Hiyori about it.

With Shiina?

She might be able to help you with this. I think itd be fine for you to contact her and tell her you want to concentrate the censure votes on Manabe in order to save Ryen.

Fine.

With a nod, Ibuki promptly sent a text message to Hiyori.

Youre in touch with Shiina, Ayanokji? I dont think shed be on board with the plan to expel Manabe.

She just happened to tell me her thoughts about this exam.

While Hiyori may be a pacifist, she also has a strong desire to respect the wishes of her class.

She told me shed cooperate as long as it was for the sake of the class; since she thinks that Ryen is important for Class D, Im sure shell choose to lend a hand.

We would control their classmates votes as much as possible, reducing the praise votes and increasing the censure votes for Manabe.

Conversely, wed increase the praise votes and decrease the censure votes for Ibuki.

That way, the disparity between Ibuki and Manabe would be closed in one fell swoop.

Well then, tell us your plan. How are we saving him with only five million points?

Ibuki stared at me, the look in her eyes telling me to speed things up.

I took out my phone and sent a text message to a certain someone.

It was marked as read almost immediately, with the person responding shortly thereafter, saying they would come to my room.

There were less than two hours remaining until the time limit.

It was fortunate that this person had the patience to wait until now.

What are you doing?

Somebodys going to pay us a visit soon. Theyll be the secret weapon thatll stop Ryens expulsion.

The secret weapon thatll stop the expulsion?

It didnt seem like they would believe me with words alone.

A few minutes later, my doorbell rang, increasing Ibuki and Ishizakis skepticism even more.

Is it alright for this person to see us with you?

Dont worry about it. Provided that you get your stories straight right now.

In the brief period before the visitor came in, I instructed them on what exactly they needed to say.

(Part 5 End)