"Yuki…?"
"Yes?"
"Can you stay here for just tonight…?"
"Uh… Sure…"
"Urgh, fuck me… Now I'm not only robbed of a date with Master but also cuddling him whome he's asleep… How can people genuinely enjoy being nice for no reason?! Look what even pretended empathy got me! I hate everything!"
"I know I'm asking so much of you, but it means so much to me… Thank you, Yuki…"
"Ah, it's no trouble at all. Don't even worry about it. I will stay for as long as you need me to."
"Damn right you ask much of me and I hope you drown in worrying about me! But at least you know how selfish your request is."
Despite her internal opposition to the idea of sleeping next to anyone but Yaamto, it seemed to be necessary for the sake of Arina's mental and physical wellbeing, so Yuki, selfless as she was, sacrificed herself. Arina, despite saying that she had trouble falling asleep, ended up being asleep fairly quickly. Yuki's presence must have really calmed her down. Even though Yuki was contemplating just leaving once she was sure Arina would not notice, she eventually decided that since she did not know when Arina woke up it would be too risky for her to leave as Arina might become instable again once realizing Yuki's absence. Besides! She had prepared for situations such as this, the emergency Yamato withdrawal kit! A box stored in her pocket dimension, contains a sample of his blood, hair, school uniform, and casual clothing, which she all gained with his full consent and knowledge, of course. He would not mind anyway, she was certain. For this low point, she took the jacket from his school uniform, he was actually just wearing a perfect copy she had created herself to cover up the missing one, and put the jacket onto a pillow which she proceeded to cuddle up to as if it were Yamato. Thanks to the smell, it was somewhat similar. It obviously could not compare to one infinith of how happy the real Yamato would have made her, but it would suffice for a single night. (Infinith, a term made up by Yuki to express the gap between her infinite love for Yamato and her not so infinite compassion for everything else, it can be compared to one tenth, just with infinity instead of a finite number, making it technically zero or a nonexistent amount, infinitely small.)
Surviving the night until the next day, she was finally going to see Yamato again as she went to school together with Arina today. She put her emergency jacket away before Arina woke up, as it would have looked quite weird if she got caught with it even though she most likely could have talked her way out of it with ease.
"I really can't thank you enough, Yuki… I'm sure you would have much rather spent your day with Yamato… You are dating after all, right?"
"Ah, sometimes you have to put your own desires aside to help out a friend. I'm sure you'd do the same for me, so there is no need to apologize."
"If you say so… I will still make it up to you somehow!"
"I'll let you know if I need anything."
She said in a warm voice, which was far from fitting the things she considered asking for, which were borderline abusive. Though maybe she would find an opportunity where she could somehow score points with Yamato with Arina's help. Not that she needed her help though.
Arriving in the class room, once everyone was seated, everyone, as usual, was teleported to the training field, where class 2 and 3 were waiting as well. Professor Reed's voice was the one bringing order into the resulting commotion.
"Dear students, I hope your vacation has been relaxing and educational, because we will now begin with the first competitive exam of the year!"
Confetti shot from behind him, though it seemed he had overestimated the enthusiasm of the students, so he just moved on.
"Anyway, ahem… I'm sure you all have been wondering what the Class Shuffle Exam is all about! And who ever came up with that clever and mysterious name, that was me by the way! So, I will now explain the rules of the exam, so listen closely, because they will not be repeated.
For the first stage, I'm going to need you to form groups of whatever size you see fit. Buuut, there's a catch! The groups must consist of members of at least two different classes. And for every member you want of your own class, you need two members of a opposing class. For example, if a student from class 1 wants to form a group with another person from class 1, he is required to have at least two students from class 2 or 3 in that group, making it a total of four members. So there can only ever be 50% of your group be part of your own class at max, you are welcome to have less though. Once you have done that, we will be moving onto the next stage. You have as much time to discuss as you need. The group forming time begins now."
Yamato stepped forward out of the bubble his class had created around him, now addressing professor Reed directly which everyone seemed to listen to as well.
"Excuse me, but I have a question."
"Please, ask anything."
"According to your description of the group forming limitations… A single group consisting of every single student would be possible, yes?"
"Ah, perceptive as always… Yes, that is correct. In theory, you can all form a single group. And as I am sure you have noticed, class 3, formerly 1 has 15 students again instead of 14. This emergency enrollment was done specially for this exam, but of course our new student stays after that as well. She is a bit shy, but please welcome her with open arms!"
Yamato did notice that. Class 3 had received a new student. She must be very gifted, for her to enter into the second year directly, or they just took anyone to fill up the slot. This exam would tell.
"Yes, I've noticed… But that is not my point. If we can all form a single group, does that mean we won't compete against each other in this exam?"
"Ooh, yes, very good conclusion! I won't say anything regarding that though until the groups have formed and registered by me~"
"Of course you won't… I have another question. The way I understand it, there is one person starting a group and the rest enters that person's group, and the class restriction rules only apply to the student starting the group. Is that correct?"
"Where did you get that idea from?"
"Because you said a group can only consist to 50% of your own class at max, which however is only the case when the goup has four members total. Which was your given example, however in said example, the person starting the group is not counted and does not require two opposing classes students. Because otherwise the smallest group possible containing two students of the same class, would be six, as the first student would require two opposing students, total 3, and then again the same with a new student total 6. But you said four, so the rule has to exclude the first student."
"Where are you going with this…?"
"I'm getting there. You also said we are welcome to have a lower percentage of people from our class in our team, which implies we can add as many opposing students as we won't without any restrictions, right?"
"Yes, the restriction only goes for students your own class, or rather the one who started the group, as you put it."
"In that caee, I could have a opposing student start a group, and my entire class could join that group, correct?"
"…Sure, if you find an opposing student that sacrifices themselve for your classes sake."
"I see… In that case I don't have any other questions for now."
"Phew… Great! Does anyone else have questions?"
No one semeed to have another question after that, as Yamato pretty much covered everything and more. Discussions inside each class formed and Yamato excluded himself from the one happening in his, which Yuki noticed immediately of course. So she walked up to him so they could talk without anyone else hearing what they were saying.
"And what now, Master?"
"Would you… Do me a fovor?"
"Of course, anything!"
"I need you to…"
Meanwhile Arina and Elara were fighting over the best strategy they could use. Arina was arguing for everyone forming one group, since it was obvious by professor Reed's reaction and the option of even being able to do it, that this exam was not about fighting each other, or at least that it will be optional. However Elara was not convinced at all, arguing that if that were the case, there would be no clear way to rank up or down with your class, defeating the point of a competitive exam, so she wanted to bribe another student to open a group where only their class would join. The class seemed split on the ideas and was divided pretty evenly, which was when something completely unexpected happened.
"Oh, it looks like the first group has been found already!"
Everyone seemed confused that someone had already picked a group, since it was quite the difficult choice for everyone. Once they realized who the group consisted of, they were even more surprised. Andrew, Lily and Yamato.
Arina looked for Yuki, who surprisingly just stood next to her with a not so surprised face.
"Yuki, what the hell?!"
"Hm? What?"
"Why isn't Yamato with us?!"
"Because they are just children, and he's looking out for them. The last two exams were quite difficult for them, so even though they are competition, he wanted to help them."
"Oh… That's… Actually really nice of him…"
"Right? My boyfriend by the way~"
"But why aren't you in his team as well? Now you might have to compete with him…"
"And who would look out for you then? I wouldn't leave you hanging like that. Like I said, sometimes you need to put aside your desires for a friend in need."
"Oh my god, Yuki… You're the best friend I could ever ask for!"
Arina hugged her tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Yuki somewhat hugged her back, though she did not return the passion on Arina's side.
"Ahem, now then… Where are you on the decision of groups?"
"We are a little at an impasse right now…"
"I see. Let me take care of that."
Yuki walked towards class 2 and seemed to talk to Maruyama, then over to class 3 talking to Shin, then she went back to talk the the rest of her own class.
"Alright, is everyone here alright with forming a group consisting of everyone remaining, meaning the entirety of class 2 and 3?"
"You too, Yuki? No, I'm not alright with it!"
Elara replied, clearly still against the idea for the previously mentioned reasons.
"I'm in the picture of your plan, Elara… But let me ask you this, who do you think you can bribe here?"
"I'm sure someone's gonna be willing to do it for the right price!"
"Well, I've talked to each class just now and it seems they all had the same thought. Do you think they could have bribed on of us?"
"Obviously not!"
"Right? Because we are a class and we hold together. And so will they. Even if you do find someone, could we really trust them if their whole loyalty is based on money? Maybe there will be a rule regarding the group creator that influences the winning condition, we would take a risk with that, would we not? I've managed to make the other classes agree to join our group, meaning we'd be together and the group creator. It seems to be the safest option, wouldn't you agree?"
"All together except Yamato apparently…"
"Do you agree or not?"
"…Argh, fine! Yes, I agree… We will team up as one group with everyone else remaining."
And so they registered their group by professor Reed. There were now two groups in total, Yamato, Lily and Andrew against everyone else. If it ends up being group against group, that is. However either way, group two seems to have a clear advantage.