There were some unexpected selections for Sakayanagi’s class and Ryuuen’s class.
“What is the meaning of this?” muttered Horikita.
First of all, more than anything else, Horikita was astonished not by Katsuragi being there, but by who his fellow class representative was. This surprised Yousuke standing next to her too, not to mention myself. That was because you could tell that Nishino Takeko was clearly a mismatch for this special exam, which would likely require a high level of overall ability. The person in question, perhaps fully aware herself that she was out of place here, had her arms crossed and looked somewhat uncomfortable. There was a rule that at least one male and one female must be selected to appear among the three representatives, but even so, I didn’t expect that it would be Nishino.
“I see they’ve made a deliberate display of their originality,” Horikita remarked dryly.
“I didn’t think that they would appoint Nishino-san to the role either. Ayanokouji-kun, do you know what their game might be?” asked Yousuke.
“Nope. Maybe they’re trying to catch their opponent by surprise by doing something unexpected. Even so, this is too much,” I replied.
It wasn’t that Nishino was a bad student. Even if she didn’t leave much of an impression on us, she was probably relatively prominent in Ryuuen’s class. The courage she displayed with her strong, confident attitude in standing up to Ryuuen was admirable. However, she’d been somehow hand-picked from a group of students who excelled in terms of overall ability.
“Maybe it’s possible that they had an absence due to illness or something like that?” wondered Yousuke.
“I see… So you’re saying that someone else was slated to be their representative, but she had to fill in? Even in that case, I have to wonder, would they really choose Nishino-san for the job…?” replied Horikita.
Indeed, it was questionable that she’d even be selected to fill in as a substitute. However, there was still some doubt as to whether there were any other girls in Ryuuen’s class who would be worthy of being entrusted with the task in the first place.
“I had thought that Shiina-san would have been chosen to satisfy the girl quota. Is she absent?” asked Horikita.
Apparently, Horikita’s expectation was that Hiyori would have been selected. If Hiyori were unable to participate as a representative due to illness, that would be a reasonable explanation. However, I considered another possibility.
“To be perfectly honest, there aren’t many worthy candidates among the girls in Ryuuen’s class. This special exam appears to be focused solely on the representatives, but the school says that the rest of our classmates will also be given a big role to play. It’s quite possible that they deliberately chose to leave Hiyori on that side of the fence,” I reasoned.
“I see… You’ve got a point there; they may have made their choice with the intent of dispersing their forces…” said Horikita.
Our class had several candidates who could have been representatives, which meant that we had the leeway to have students like Kushida and Matsushita as alternates. The same couldn’t be said for Ryuuen’s class.
“Besides, whether Hiyori would excel in a situation where representatives fight each other is another matter,” I added.
Unless we heard a definite answer from Ryuuen’s side, all of this was simply speculation. Nevertheless, even if there was some deeper intention behind this, choosing Nishino as a representative was a gamble. Ryuuen might end up shouldering one disadvantage in this scenario. Or perhaps…
He might’ve been expressing his belief that, so long as he himself participated as a representative, then it didn’t matter who else from his class was at his side. If so, it would certainly make a strong statement to his opponent. But his opponent was none other than the tricky, stubborn Sakayanagi, who was more than she seemed.
Sakayanagi’s choice of representatives didn’t have the same impact as Nishino, but it was similarly surprising. Namely, her selection of Kitou Hayato. Kitou was part of Sakayanagi’s inner circle and, looking at it from the standpoint of his position, it wasn’t surprising that he was chosen. However, there was the question of whether it made sense to purposefully choose Kitou, who excelled in athletics, to be a representative when the abilities required of us were not likely to be physical. Maybe there was some hint of Sakayanagi’s thinking in her choice of representative as well.
If I could, I would have liked to ask each of the class leaders about the logic behind their selections, but that sadly wasn’t possible. All of the representatives were here, but there wasn’t any sign of the school officials making a move yet.
“Phew…”
Horikita exhaled beside me. A tense situation might make one feel a heavy pressure, but that was a little excessive. Yousuke was also examining the situation with concern. If the exam started with things as they were, things could go sour for Horikita. On the other hand, a poorly worded comment ran the risk of heightening the tension.
Among several possible solutions, one came to mind that seemed like it would be the most effective right now. I steeled myself, ready for death. Let’s see what happens, shall we? Then I stealthily reached out with my right hand and grabbed hold of Horikita’s left flank as hard as I could.
“Hyah?!”
Horikita jumped out of her seat with a start. At the same time, a girl’s voice echoed throughout the oppressively quiet classroom. Many of the representatives, who had been facing forward until that moment, turned around to see what had made such a noise. Horikita, flustered, shook her head, telling them that it was nothing before casting her eyes downward in an attempt to escape from their suspicious looks.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Horikita hissed at me.
“I was just trying to relieve your anxiety. Did it make you feel a little better?” I asked her.
“But I’m asking you, was it necessary for you to do it in that way?!” she retorted, punctuating her grumbling whisper to me with a serious look on her face.
“I thought I’d throw some nostalgia into the mix, to spice things up. It’s my own way of showing consideration,” I replied.
“I don’t need that kind of consideration!”
The other representatives were no longer looking in our direction, but Yousuke seemed pleased—relieved, even—to see Horikita complaining and me being complained at. At that moment, there was movement in the room. As if to announce the start of the special exam, Mashima-sensei and Chabashira-sensei entered the room.
“Come on now, you should probably be quiet,” I teased.
“You’d better not forget about this,” grumbled Horikita.
I had incurred Horikita’s bitter resentment, but for the time being, I could concentrate and listen to the explanation now that all of the homeroom teachers in charge of the second-year classes had arrived. One of them, the homeroom teacher for Class 2-A, stepped forward.
“I am Mashima, and I will be filling the role of explaining this End-of-Year Special Exam to you. This may seem rather sudden, but as time is of the essence, I would like to get you prepared for the start of the special exam as soon as possible. Accordingly, I will also provide you with the detailed rules of the special exam, which have not yet been disclosed to you.”