Part 1

After school, the full-fledged discussion was finally just about to begin. Nobody moved from their seats as the bell rang with the exception of Hirata, who stood up immediately.

Hirata-kun!

H-Hirata-kun!

Several of the girls raised their voices and shouted out to him. Among them was Mii-chan.

But Hirata didnt stop. It seemed like he didnt care what would happen to the class anymore.

He was just going to school, attending his classes, and heading back home, as if he was trying to avoid getting involved with the rest of the class.

He was probably just going to repeat this cycle over and over again.

Wait a second, Hirata-kun!

You guys are the ones who should wait.

Mii-chan and the others tried to chase after him, but Horikitas words stopped them in their tracks.

Were about to have a discussion. Do you want even more people to miss out on it?

B-but

Theres nothing any of us can do for him right now. Hurry up and return to your seats.

Horikita suppressed their desire to chase after him and motioned for everyone to return to their seats.

Right now, our top priority was getting everyone on board with establishing the class policy for the exam.

Kenjis still here somehow?

Given that Kenjis participation was entirely unexpected, Suds voice was filled with surprise.

Fufufu. Im part of the class, am I not? Of course Im here.

Kenji spoke shamelessly, as if everything he was saying was completely natural.

However, Id like to wrap up this discussion today. Im quite the busy person myself.

Thatll be difficult. This special exam isnt something that can be decided overnight. Even if we decide on the events today, well have to persistently practice them in order to win.

Horikita, taking a stand behind the teachers podium, completely shut Kenji down.

Kenji didnt object any further and simply sat at his desk with a broad smile on his face.

For the time being, he seemed to be willing to hear her out.

If thats the case, it seems Ill only be participating this one time.

Kenji didnt waver even slightly. It seemed that, class policy aside, he had no intention of working through this together. Sud silently began to stand up, but immediately sat back down after receiving a firm glare from Horikita. After all, if he were to start something here, the conversation would never move forward.

Then, Ill just have to do what I can to try and get you to participate next time too.

Kenji took Horikitas warning with a smile and simply crossed his arms and legs.

This was his way of telling her to continue with the discussion.

Uhm, Horikita. Ive got a simple question about event participation I wanna ask you.

And what is that, Ike-kun?

His hand raised, Ike spoke up.

Well be competing in seven events, right? But, like, we wont have a turn at it, will we?

What do you mean by we wont have a turn at it?

Erm Well, to put it simply, I mean those of us who kinda suck? Like, the students who arent particularly good at physical stuff or studying arent gonna have a turn to participate. Its not like all seven events are gonna need a whole buncha people. If we pick events that only need a few skilled people to participate, a whole bunch of us wont really have anything to do, right?

There are nearly forty students in each class.

Even if we chose a few events that needed a lot of people, the final seven would probably only need twenty to thirty.

In other words, Ike seemed to be trying to say that, depending on the participation requirements of the selected events, nearly half of the class wouldnt end up having to participate.

I dunno about that. What if an event needs like, twenty people or something?

Kei spoke up, slipping in her own opinion after Ike finished.

Youre sooo stupid, Karuizawa. You can play football with like, eleven people on a team. What event could need more than that? I cant think of a single one, can you?

Uhm~ Somethin like baseball?

Baseball only needs ten people, which is even less than football!

Baseball needs nine people.

Horikita immediately cut in, sharply pointing out Ikes inconsistency.

Well, my point still stands either way.

I dunno Kanji. American football needs eleven people like football does, and rugby needs fifteen.

Sud listed off a few events that would require more than ten people.

Yeah, but like, do you want to force people to play rugby or something? I dont even know the rules!

While rugby was by no means a minor sport, it was in completely uncharted territory to people who werent involved with it. Its not something regularly taught in gym class, and Im sure that Class A was no exception to this either.

I could hardly imagine what itd be like for us to start practicing rugby right now.

Besides, even if we submitted it as an event, its doubtful that it would be accepted, and it wouldnt be very beneficial for anyone.

So, thats why I dont think well need to participate.

Whats your point here?

That Well, I just dont think we need to meet up like this or hold practice sessions moving forward or anything.

I understand that you want to take it easy. After all, its mentally taxing to do something you dont want to do. Besides, itd also cut down on your precious break time.

I-I wouldnt go as far as to say that, but you know

Either way, Ive determined that all of us need to work together.

How about you tell us why that is. Ill do my best to support you if you can convince me.

This time, Sud was the one who spoke.

Because how many people well need to participate depends on the rules our opponent comes up with. For example, lets say one of the events they propose is volleyball. Usually, volleyball is a competition between two teams of six, but the rules are allowed to change that to some extent. What if the match had a time limit of thirty minutes, and the rules stated that every ten minutes all of the participants had to change out with somebody new? I wonder what would happen then?

Erm With six people changing out every ten minutes, thats

Eighteen people with that alone. Nearly half of the students in each class would have to participate.

Moreover, because there were only six people needed at any given time, the rule would be simple and easy to follow for pretty much anybody. The school would most likely approve of it as well.

What if theres more than one event like this? Put simply, everyone would be forced to participate in two or possibly even three events. We need to be prepared for something like that.

Of course, this all depended on the events and rules that Class A would come up with.

It was more than possible that they might mix in a few fake events like this, just to make it more difficult for us.

I know this hasnt quite clicked with all of you yet, but this special exam is more complicated than youre making it out to be.

If we were to go over each event one at a time, wed eventually come up with some ideas that seem rather ridiculous.

At this point, it wouldnt be that unusual for there to be strange ideas for events like rock-paper-scissors or poker.

After all, getting those crucial four wins would be far more important than trying to make yourself look good.

Regardless of how impractical the suggestions might seem to be, picking out the right people for events we know they can win is what mattered most in the end.

I dont even plan on taking up too much of your time.

Or rather, it might be better for her to say that keeping everybody stuck here doesnt necessarily mean wed come up with good ideas right away.

So for today, Id like to leave everyone here with some homework. If possible, I want you to come up with ideas for events youre good at and events where you think youd absolutely never lose, and give them to me by after school tomorrow. It doesnt matter if its something you do alone or if its done in a team.

One of the five events that we end up picking needed to be a one-on-one event. Odds are that every single class would put one forward with the unshakable confidence that they wouldnt lose it. However, when looked at from another angle, the damage done if you didnt win would be immeasurable. That being the case, students with special skills or talents that cant be outdone by others were highly desirable in this situation.

But, theres no point unless its something the schoold approve of, right? I dont really understand what their standards are.

Events and rules that are overly obscure would be turned down by the school.

However, the lack of clarity when it comes to that was probably an issue for many students.

Dont worry about that right now. Thats something we can think about after weve heard all of the ideas. For now, just feel free to suggest anything that comes to mind.

Then, youre saying youd even be fine with stuff like video games or karaoke?

Yes. Anything.

Horikita stressed this point once again, telling the class that they didnt have to worry. I had no issues with how she was handling the situation.

It was important for us to start by finding out what everybodys strengths were.

What do we do if theres nothing were really good at?

Haruka chimed in with a question for Horikita.

I dont mind you not having anything if youre not very confident in yourself. Itd be risky to use an event if you lack confidence in your ability to win it.

I wanted them to come up with as many events as possible, but I wasnt sure if we had enough time to be careful with our selection. For the time being, I didnt have any issues with Horikitas plan, so I felt like it would be alright to just wait and see what happens.

With that, the discussion ended for the day and everyone began to gather their things and leave. At this point, Kenji spoke up again.

Youre fine with ending the discussion so early like this?

If its this short, itll be easier for you to participate next time, wont it Kenji-kun?

When I say Ill participate one time, one time is as much as Ill participate.

But, itll be problematic if you dont do the assignment I gave you today. If you dont, it would be rather hard to say you participated, wouldnt it?

Come up with ideas for events Im good at, was it?

He put his hand to his chin and let show an unwavering smile.

Yes. If you want to say youve participated, you at least have to do that.

Horikita was looking to force him to participate a second time if he couldnt.

Kenji elegantly stood up from his desk before proceeding to announce something to Horikita.

Theres simply nothing I cant do. I am a perfect human, after all.

No matter who youre up against or what the event is, youre absolutely certain youll win. Are you sure about that?

Her words were filled with one-part provocation, and one-part intrigue, as if she couldnt help but look forward to how Kenji would respond.

I see. You want me to pledge that Ill win any event I participate in, dont you?

Thats right. If you can do that, youre free to do whatever you want. You wouldnt have to participate in any more discussions, and I wont ask you to give your input on anything.

H-hey Suzune.

Sud spoke up, alarmed by her outrageous proposal, but Horikita just continued.

But keep in mind, if you dont participate or if you lose Ill be suspicious of anything you say, and your classmates distrust of you will skyrocket.

Horikitas idea wasnt bad. With this, she was looking to make full use of Kenji on the day of the exam. Kenji is a top-notch student when it comes to both academics and physical ability. His only problem had to do with his personality. It would be better to bear with him now than have him not show up on the day of the exam or take his event frivolously.

The question was: how exactly would Kenji respond? He stood from his seat and began to walk out of the classroom, but just before he walked through the door, he stopped.

Ill leave you with this. Youd best not think that you can bind me with words like that. While I am indeed an unrivaled genius who wouldnt lose to anyone, its up to me to decide whether or not I use that talent for you.

Put simply, Kenjis response was a no. It didnt matter to him if he was suspected or if the class distrusted him. He was just going to do whatever he wanted.

With that, Kenji turned around and walked out of the classroom.

Ordinary methods arent going to work with him at all, huh.

That guy Hes gotta lotta nerve underestimating us like that. Spouting out nonsense that hes some unrivaled genius who wouldnt lose to anyone. Id kick his ass at basketball if he had me as his opponent.

I could fully understand why Sud was speaking about him like that.

No matter how talented and brilliant a person is, it wouldnt be accurate to call them perfect.

In fact, it raises a question. Would Kenji win if he faced off against Sud at basketball?

If he puts in the effort on exam day he might show results, at least to a certain extent. I dont know how much I was able to get through to him, but I guess well just have to wait and see. Does that make sense?

Yeah, but

It was definitely hard to imagine Kenji losing. After flaunting us with those grandiose words and that self-confidence of his, the thought of him losing, even for a moment, feels like putting the cart before the horse. Sud was probably well aware of this too.

But, do you think hes even gonna show up at all?

Who knows.

While we can win if he takes it seriously, if he doesnt, we wont.