The situation took an unexpected turn near the end of our lunch break the following day. After finishing our meals, we were
passing the time in the classroom, waiting for the afternoon lessons to begin, when something out of the ordinary happened.
"H-hey! Guys! Some first-years are headed this way!" Miyamoto suddenly shouted.
At first glance, that might not sound like anything worth getting worked up over. After all, this special exam required cooperation between first- and second-year students. Encounters between the two groups shouldn't have been surprising. And yet, judging by the reaction of my classmates, this wasn't normal at all.
"Seriously? They must be gutsy, coming up here to the upperclassmen's floor," said Yousuke, frowning in mild disbelief. "I mean, think about it. If we went up to the third-year floor, we'd have to be extra careful not to make any waves."
He had a point. Unless you had strong ties with your seniors, heading into another year's territory was like walking into enemy ground. For this year's new students, who lacked such connections, the act of showing up here was bold enough to draw attention.
"I'll go check it out," said Yousuke, already rising from his seat.
I decided to follow him. Horikita and Sudou trailed after us, curiosity plain on their faces.
The moment we stepped into the hallway, a figure caught my attention immediately. A tall, broad-shouldered boy walked straight down the middle of the hall as if he owned the place. His sheer presence was enough to make the surrounding second-years instinctively move aside, pressing themselves against the walls to give him space. It was the exact opposite of what you'd normally expect from a first-year student.
Trailing slightly behind him was a girl, her steps measured, her gaze sharp.
Horikita, noticing their purposeful arrival, stepped forward to confront them—realizing this wasn't a casual visit in search of partners.
A male student moved to block their path, with Sudou sticking close at Horikita's side.
When Horikita and Sudou came face-to-face with the newcomers, the first-year boy briefly made eye contact with me, despite the fact that I was standing at a distance. His stare lingered for a moment before he shifted his attention toward Horikita. I recalled the information I'd looked over on the OAA yesterday. It seemed Horikita was about to have an unexpected encounter with that class.
"Who's this chick?" the boy asked bluntly.
"Please wait a moment… I've found it," said the girl beside him.
After tapping at her phone for a short while, she turned the screen toward him.
"Class 2-D. Horikita Suzune. Academic ability A-, huh?" the boy muttered gruffly.
The contrast between the two was striking—the boy's rough demeanor clashing against the girl's polite, almost refined tone. Together, they made for an unusual pair.
Their attention then shifted to Sudou, standing protectively beside Horikita. Just like before, the girl showed the boy her phone.
"Sudou Ken…" he said, letting out a mocking snort after glancing at the data.
"Hello. My name is Nanase, from Class 1-D. He's from the same class. This is—"
"Housen," the boy cut her off flatly.
So, they introduced themselves. The large boy's name was Housen Kazuomi, while the girl was Nanase Tsubasa. Both were indeed students of Class 1-D— the very same group we'd tried and failed to meet with just yesterdayAlthough their sudden arrival was unexpected, it was both a stroke of luck and misfortune for Horikita. On the one hand, this was a chance to finally make contact with Class 1-D. On the other hand, we couldn't exactly negotiate in the middle of the hallway, with other classes watching our every move.
"For first-years, you've done something rather bold. I'll give you credit for that," Horikita said calmly.
"Huh? Credit? Don't act so high and mighty, woman," Housen shot back, his tone dripping with hostility.
"She ain't actin' high and mighty, dumbass! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Sudou barked in response, his temper flaring the moment Housen insulted Horikita.
The two glared at each other. Despite being about the same height, Housen's bulk made Sudou seem just a little smaller in comparison.
"Tch. Your score's an E+. Figures. You look like a moron, and turns out you are one," Housen sneered.
"What was that?!" Sudou roared, fists tightening.
Housen didn't flinch. "Whatever. This place is crawling with Class D rejects anyway. Works out fine for me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Horikita pressed, her voice steady.
"Exactly what I said. You Class D losers are just a bunch of throwaways—leftovers. Can't even form pairs unless someone picks you up. So I figured, hey, I'll do you incompetent, brain-dead morons a favor." His eyes narrowed, almost daring Horikita to react.
It was clear he was testing her.
"So, what you're saying," Horikita replied coolly, "is that you want us to team up with you. And you've chosen to make that request with an unnecessarily condescending attitude."
"Uh, yeah? Obviously. You should be the ones beggin' us to pair with you. Hell, I even dragged myself all the way up here." Housen's lip curled into a smirk as he leaned forward. "Go on then. Beg. Say 'Please, please team up with us,' and start bowin'."
Horikita's hand subtly shot out, holding Sudou back before his rage boiled over.
Horikita didn't back down. She argued back at him, her words sharp despite the difference in size between her and Housen.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. Our positions are equal."
"Equal?" Housen scoffed. "The only one dumb enough to spout crap like that is your idiot friend over there."
"We're both in Class D. There's no difference between us," Horikita pressed.
"You don't get it." Housen's smirk widened, his tone dropping lower. "There are plenty of things we can do to you if we feel like it. You don't want trouble, right? Then you'd better know your place and start beggin'."
It was clear now this Housen had already figured out the hidden advantage first-years possessed.
"And what exactly are these 'things' you could do to us?" Horikita asked, her voice steady. She likely already knew the answer, but she was forcing him to say it outright.
"Come on, you know. Don't play dumb. What I'm sayin' is… we can tank our own test scores. On purpose."
At those words, Horikita bit down on her lip, her expression tightening.
"Wha—?! Don't screw with us, you damn first-year! If you bomb the test on purpose, you'll get expelled!" Sudou roared, his fury spilling over.
"Stop. Don't lose your cool, Sudou-kun. That's a bad habit of yours," Horikita said sharply, holding him back.
"But…" Sudou's fists trembled at his sides, but Horikita's warning kept him from stepping forward.
I could understand his anger. Hearing someone treat Horikita like that was enough to rile anyone up. Still, what Housen said wasn't wrong.
"Yeah, if we fail on purpose, we'd normally get expelled," Housen admitted casually. "But the penalty for not findin' a partner before the deadline? That's a whole different story. And it only hits you second-years, doesn't it?"
According to the rules, if time ran out before you secured a partner, the system would randomly assign one to you. On top of that, a five percent penalty would be deducted from your overall score and the second-year students, who could face expulsion, would take more damage from that penalty.
"-is that really true?!" shouted Sudou, incredulous.
He shot Horikita a plcading look, seeking confirmation on whether what Housen said was true. The only answer she could possibly give him was "yes."
"Wouldn't you be putting a noose around your own neck by doing that,though? Do you really intend on taking a loss immediately after you've started school?" asked Horikita.
If you got hit with a penalty, your chances of getting five hundred and one points or more on the test would naturally plummet.
"Well, compared to you guys, can't say we'd get hurt all that bad.Ain't that right?" sneered Housen. He looked to the girl standing behind him,Nanase, for confirmation.
"Yes, that's correct. We wouldn't have any Private Points depositedinto our account for three months, but that would still only be a maximum of two hundred forty thousand points. I don't think it would be a fatal setback," replied Nanase.
"Get the picture now, Horikita-senpai?"
Housen regarded Horikita as though he
he were superior to her, even though she was I senior. Sudou, seeing him treat her that way, must have lost his patience. He stood in front of Horikita now, exuding intimidation, though he still wasn't throwing any punches.
«You wanna fight?" said Housen, without any hesitation whatsoever.
"Don't get too full of yourself, punk," huffed Sudou.
"Don't lose your r cool,Sudou-kun. You do understand how things work at this school, don't you?" said Horikita.
It wasn't unreasonable for the new students not to know this, but the hallways were supervised quite closely by school officials. The surveillance cameras were constantly monitoring us, so if there was a problem, the school officials could go dig up the footage.
"I know." said Sudou.
After being repeatedly admonished by Horikita, Sudou finally backed down, though his irritation was still written all over his face. His tendency to get riled up so easily was a problem, but the fact that Horikita could calm him with just a few words was, at least, reassuring.
Just then while Sudou's attention was fixed on Horikita Housen suddenly thrust his massive hand forward, shoving him squarely in the chest.
"Wha—?!"
Caught off guard, Sudou staggered backward, crashing down onto his hands.
"Ha! That's all it took? The only thing big about you is your height, loser," Housen sneered.
The reckless display left even the surrounding second-year students visibly unsettled. Considering the sheer weight of what had just happened, it wouldn't have been surprising if someone called it an outright act of violence. At this school, crossing that line was extremely risky. Anyone who understood how strict the rules were would never resort to something so careless.
We'd assumed this year's first-years were more aware of the system than those who came before them. If the intel we'd gotten from Ryuen the other day was reliable, then what Housen had just done was nothing short of audacious.
Maybe they truly didn't understand how this school worked? No—that wasn't it. Housen knew exactly what he was doing.
"You bastard…!"
Having pulled himself together, Sudou realized what had just been done to him, and his fury was about to boil over.
But before he could snap, another student who had been watching from the sidelines jumped in.
"Oi! The hell do you think you're doin'?!"
It was Ishizaki Daiichi from Class 2-C. Hot-headed and quick to anger, he could easily be labeled a delinquent—but beneath that rough exterior was a streak of compassion. And it seemed he'd finally lost his patience after watching Housen treat a fellow second-year with such blatant cruelty.
"Tch. Man, more bitch keep came outta the nowhere Like cockroaches," Housen muttered with a crooked grin,