After school.
The atmosphere in the student council room was somewhat subtle.
Mainly, a small student council gathered the leaders of three classes from the second year.
The exam had just ended.
The content of the conversation could easily offend the other party if not careful.
"Phew..."
Nanase Tsubasa finished brewing the tea, saying with some admiration:
"Thanks to Senior Kushida, handling disputes has become much smoother recently. That's why there's this kind of free time."
"Hmph..."
Kushida Kikyo held her tea, saying with some disdain:
"Just a bunch of hypocritical people. What is there to care about."
Anyway, the whole school already understood her true nature.
No more pretending, cards on the table.
But.
None of the people present refuted it; Kushida Kikyo's contribution was indeed very large.
To put it simply.
Kushida Kikyo just had to go up and show a playful smile, and most people would click their tongues and disperse.
After all, no one knew what leverage Kushida actually held, and no one wanted to perish together with someone like her.
It was just that Hikigaya was a bit concerned.
He didn't know why.
Nanase Tsubasa seemed to have some intention of getting close to Kushida Kikyo.
"Speaking of which..."
Hikigaya asked with some concern: "Tsubasa, it seems you first-years were also scheduled for a special exam. How did it go?"
"Yes."
Nanase Tsubasa couldn't help but show a smile.
"Thanks to the student council's new system, we are already Class C."
"Hmm? Then wouldn't Tsubaki and her Class C be..."
"They've already risen to Class B. I heard that this time for the first-years, it was a special exam for the entire grade."
Ichinose responded with a smile.
The first-year Class B, having lost Yagami Takuya, was completely no match for the other classes.
It seemed that after only two exams, they had dropped directly from Class B to Class D.
"Speaking of which..."
Nanase Tsubasa also asked curiously:
"The seniors also held a special exam, didn't you? How did it go?"
"Uh..."
The room suddenly fell into some silence.
Hikigaya and the others couldn't help but look at Katsuragi.
After all, such words were not easy to answer; the winner would seem a bit proud, and the loser would surely feel uncomfortable.
Although there was no need to be overly concerned about these things, making the atmosphere too stiff wouldn't benefit anyone.
Fortunately.
Katsuragi didn't mind.
"Our Class A lost to Class B, and Ryuen lost to Class D."
"Senior Katsuragi... how should I say it, you really are calm."
"After all, it was an upright defeat after hard work. There's no need to care."
Katsuragi let out a light laugh from the corner of his mouth, as if he were convinced by the defeat.
He completely gave off a feeling of being unperturbed.
Mainly because he held a large amount of personal points; even with the defeat, Class A had not panicked in the slightest.
More importantly.
During the Unanimous Special Exam.
Only A's Katsuragi originally possessed protection points and chose not to require protection points again.
Instead, he chose to have the personal points of the bottom five in written test results become zero.
Clearly, it was a punishment that could be easily avoided.
Since Ichinose took office.
Every month, Class A received the full amount of double personal points.
Even if a portion had to be handed over to the school as a storage fee, conservatively, five to six million personal points could be saved every month.
Currently, Class A possessed at least sixty million.
It wouldn't even be surprising if there were more personal points.
Possessing such a vast amount of personal points.
The closer it got to graduation.
The efficacy of personal points would become stronger for obtaining the qualification to rise to Class A. Katsuragi naturally had the right to this calmness.
"Truly frank..."
At this moment, Horikita Suzune watched Katsuragi and said in a cold voice:
"Katsuragi, since Class A's loss to Class B in this special exam was unavoidable, shouldn't you be even more persistent in pursuing victory?"
"Is it because you still maintain the status of Class A that you're lacking a sense of tension?"
Although she didn't know the details, Horikita Suzune could also roughly guess that Class A might possess a large amount of personal points.
But even so.
Horikita Suzune still felt.
The act of frankly accepting defeat was truly a bit loose and too lukewarm.
"Of course."
Hearing this, Katsuragi gave a short silence before nodding.
"I will take lessons from this to apply to the next exam, but I also have my own way of doing things. Since it was an upright defeat, it's nothing."
The two eventually had different ideas.
Horikita Suzune still felt that a defeat was a defeat; even if it was accepted, it shouldn't be so frank.
"Can others in Class A accept it like you?"
"There should be some who can't."
Katsuragi said in a deep voice: "As the leader of Class A, I will naturally strive as much as possible to graduate from Class A. If I fail in the end, there should also be people who won't be able to accept it. But enduring everyone's questioning is also the leader's responsibility."
"Instead of that, shouldn't you think of every possible way to achieve victory?"
"Correct, but there are also some things that cannot be done. If I am forced to use the same methods as Ryuen and the others, I would rather fail."
"Even if you can accept it, others might not."
Horikita Suzune was truly somewhat puzzled: "Knowing this, why do you, Katsuragi, still insist on your own views?"
"This isn't just my view."
Katsuragi shook his head.
He had thought about many things since being rebutted by Sakayanagi Arisu last time.
"Since everyone recognized me becoming the class leader, then it also counts as defaulting to my way of doing things. When the time for failure comes, the leader naturally has to take the greatest responsibility, but everyone in the class should also have their corresponding responsibility."
Upon hearing this.
Horikita Suzune was suddenly a bit silent.
This set of logic probably wouldn't work in Class D; the people of Class D weren't as friendly as those in Class A and B.
Seeing that the atmosphere seemed not quite right, Nanase Tsubasa quickly changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, do the seniors know? Six more people seem to have been expelled in the third year."
"Eh? Why so many? Tsubasa, where did this information come from?"
"I just occasionally heard from the seniors in higher grades. I'm not entirely sure either. There should be an announcement in a few days, right?"
"Then the OAA should also show it."
After speaking.
Everyone pulled out their phones and opened the OAA with some curiosity.
Opening the third-year list.
The eyes of Ichinose, Nanase Tsubasa, and the others suddenly became somewhat complex; Hikigaya also understood the reason.
Third Year.
Originally there were over 20 expulsions; the uninhabited island exam saw another 15 expulsions; now there were 6 fewer...
Only fewer than 120 people remained in the third year...
It formed a sharp contrast with the other grades.
The quantity was nearly one class fewer...
And 90% of this was almost entirely Nagumo Miyabi's credit.
There might be many reasons in between.
But only by seeing the list before one's eyes can one understand how cruel the third-year environment is.
Soon.
Hikigaya sorted out the six people expelled this time.
1 person from Class B, 4 from Class C, 1 from Class D.
One didn't even need to guess to know that this was the result of Nagumo Miyabi's powerful suppression.
Although only one semester remained.
But the new system allowed the higher grades to see hope of rising to Class A again.
Someone would surely have new ideas.
However.
Nagumo Miyabi would not indulge them; they were all eliminated by him.
However.
This was clearly not all of it.
It was just that there wasn't enough time or the environment for this exam; Nagumo Miyabi could only clear these six people first as a show of force.
The reason being.
Takashiro was expelled...
Seeing this.
Hikigaya felt somewhat emotional; this guy and the senior named Nishigishi feared Nagumo Miyabi to the extreme.
They had backstabbed him several times just to curry favor with Nagumo Miyabi.
Pity.
Nagumo Miyabi lacked the magnanimity to tolerate others.
Given the chance, he would clear out everyone who had ever offended him.
Nishigishi hadn't been expelled yet.
It was likely only because the environment wasn't right.
"In that case, Senior Nagumo might integrate the third-year group again. Senior Hikigaya, it's better to be careful."
"Yeah, I know..."
Hikigaya rubbed his temples.
He originally thought the new system, along with Nishigishi and Takashiro, would surely stall Nagumo Miyabi's time.
Fact was indeed so.
He just hadn't expected Nagumo Miyabi to be so ruthless; he could already imagine Nagumo Miyabi's exasperated look as he reintegrated the third years.
With such a domineering attitude.
Reintegrating the third years was perhaps only a matter of time; he would probably come looking for trouble again before graduation.
Forget it.
Hikigaya didn't have any "strong person's pride."
As long as cross-year exams didn't appear, it was fine. Even if they did, he would definitely use his Student Council power to minimize the impact.
He really hoped Nagumo Miyabi would stay quiet.