At Chabashira's reminder, Ichinose drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, her right hand coming to rest on the mouse before her.
She moved the cursor over to the right side of the screen, onto the draw button beneath the events, and clicked. The event draw, begin!
At the same moment, the large screen at the very front of the room displayed the state of the draw as well.
The cursor bounced back and forth across the five events before finally coming to a stop on [Math Test].
Ichinose had drawn [Math Test].
This was quite simply the worst possible script. No, she mustn't laugh.
Looking at the [Math Test] event, Ichinose's face twisted into a wry smile.
She had anticipated this scenario, but it was still appallingly unlucky.
"Class A's event has been set as [Math Test]. Please now choose your opponent."
Ichinose thought it over briefly, then chose Class B directly, because Class B had a math test of its own.
If she picked Class C or Class D now, she might well manage to handle them smoothly.
But the moment Class B later drew its own [Math Test], it would inevitably train its sights on Class A, already stripped of much of its math talent.
Because that would narrow the gap with Class A, an unqualified benefit for Class B.
But if she chose Class B as her attacking opponent right now, then when Class B drew its math test later, it would have no path left but to choose Class A in return.
Because once this first match was over, Class B choosing either Class C or Class D would be suicide.
"Ichinose has chosen Class B as her attacking opponent. Class B's commander, what say you? Accept, or refuse?"
"I refuse!"
Kamuro turned down Ichinose's challenge without a moment's thought.
To be clear, this wasn't any careful calculation on her part, it was simply Sakayanagi's advance arrangement.
Ever since all the events had been made public, Sakayanagi had spotted the duplicate event shared by the two classes: [Math Test].
The cleanest solution, of course, would have been for the two classes to fight two straight math tests, first-rate against first-rate, second-rate against second-rate, and leave victory to fate.
That would have been an even match, a course that benefited both classes, but it was not what Sakayanagi wanted.
So she simply told Kamuro: if Class A drew math as its very first event, refuse outright.
And if refusal proved truly impossible, then send a few sacrificial pawns up, hand Class A a victory, and simply take one win back when Class B drew its own math test.
The aim of all this was simple: hold on, and wait for the chess event to appear.
Seeing Kamuro refuse without a second's hesitation, Ichinose gave a wry smile and picked Class D as her opponent instead.
Not choosing Class C, hm? Kamio Tatsuya glanced at Ichinose across from him. Should he have Ayanokouji refuse?
No, it was only the first match; better to watch how things developed. Besides, a Class D victory suited Kamio Tatsuya's interests just fine.
And Ayanokouji, after waiting a short while, chose to accept Ichinose's nomination.
First match: Math Test (Class A).
Required participants: seven.
Rules: answer questions from within this year's coursework; totals are compared.
Commander privileges: may answer one question on a student's behalf.
Upon accepting the nomination, Ayanokouji barely hesitated, naming seven of Class D's top academic performers, Yukimura Teruhiko, Kushida Kikyo, Wang Meiyu, and the others.
Setting Horikita and Hirata aside, these seven were the class's strongest at mathematics.
Right out of the gate, Ayanokouji staked everything, sending out every academically gifted student he had, as for what to do if another written event came up later...
Heh. Refuse, obviously. What else could one do?
In any case, Ayanokouji had never given a thought to winning this exam.
The lineups were soon settled, and Ichinose, naturally, had also selected Class A's strongest math students, though she froze for a moment when she saw Class D's picks.
Going all-out from the very first match?
Thank goodness she hadn't let herself count on luck.
Once the participants were set, the students were ushered by the attending staff into a separate classroom to take the test.
After the draw, both sides' students were gathered into a single classroom to sit the exam, and the school had thoughtfully broadcast the scene onto the big screen in the multipurpose classroom.
Students from both classes bent over their test papers, writing without a flicker of hesitation, unquestionably the academic elite.
Compared with Class A, however, the Class D students all faltered for an instant when they saw the test paper, though they steadied themselves quickly.
This is...
After the exam began, the second match did not start immediately, because the outcome of the first mattered greatly to the other classes too.
It would shape the strategies they adopted afterward, so everyone simply waited quietly for the test to end, not gonna lie, the wait was thoroughly dull.
Fifty minutes passed before long.
"You may now use your commander privileges, either commander may revise one answer." Mashima Tomonari read out the rule, though Ayanokouji clearly had no intention of touching anything.
Ichinose, for her part, revised one student's answer to one question.
"One moment, the results will be out shortly."
Just as Mr. Mashima had said, the results soon arrived: out of a possible total of 700, Class A had scored 647, an excellent result, no denying it.
An average above ninety. Undeniably strong.
And yet, upon seeing Class D's score, Mashima Tomonari sighed inwardly.
"Class D: 700."
A perfect score!
Ichinose's face changed drastically; she stared at Ayanokouji in open disbelief, while Ayanokouji, as if he had known the result all along, remained perfectly calm.
Forget the multipurpose classroom, even the classroom where Class A's students had gathered wore looks of utter bewilderment. What on earth was going on?
A perfect score?
Class D was this strong?
Nor was it just Class A; plenty of students in the other classes found it hard to believe.
One perfect score was explainable. But seven of them!
The Class D students who had won the match, meanwhile, were elated. Whatever else happened, D had won and earned fifty class points, that was enough.
"Kamuro, please begin drawing Class B's event."
At Okabe's prompting, Kamuro started her draw, and the result soon appeared, [Math Test].
Pfft!
Hahahaha!
This was just too damn entertaining.
Two math tests in a row, so who would Masumi choose?
Class C surely wasn't an option, so would it be Class D, or Class A?
In that first math test, both Class A and Class D had gone all out; both were now in a weakened state in mathematics.
If Class B was willing to commit its strongest academics, victory was all but certain, of course, provided Class A or Class D actually accepted Kamuro's challenge.
So who would Kamuro choose?
Or rather, who had Sakayanagi arranged for her to choose?
Class A? Or Class D?
The suspense did not last long before Kamuro made her decision.
"I choose Class A as the opponent for the math test."
"Kamuro has chosen Class A as her attacking opponent. Class A's commander, what say you? Accept, or refuse?"
"I refuse!"
Ichinose's expression was one of helpless resignation. With several of her high scorers already spent, this was clearly not an event she could win.
"Class A refuses. Please choose another opponent."
"Then Class D."
"I refuse as well."
Ayanokouji, copying Ichinose, refused outright. As for Class C, before the teacher or Kamuro could even speak, Kamio Tatsuya beat them to it.
"Don't bother asking. I accept."
He had seen it clearly: if they kept refusing, Kamuro would simply name Class A again, and that way Class B would walk away with an easy victory.
It would cost Class C nothing, but a costless outcome was itself a loss.
Because... if you don't fight, how do you win?
And if you don't win, how do you earn class points?
The final victor of this exam would not be the class that lasted to the end, but the class with the most match wins.
To win, avoiding battle was useless.
One had to fight, and win!
And so far, neither Class A's nor Class B's math events had chosen Class C of their own accord. A chance at a head-to-head like this, Kamio Tatsuya would never pass up.
Second match: Math Test (Class B).
Required participants: five.
Rules: answer questions from within this year's coursework; totals are compared.
Commander privileges: none.
Upon seeing "commander privileges: none", Kamio Tatsuya couldn't help laughing.
Fair enough, at Kamuro's level, a commander privilege would have been a gift to the other side.
"What are you laughing at?"
Kamuro, beside him, had seen his smile, and her expression turned unfriendly.
"No, nothing."
Then Kamio Tatsuya began selecting Class C's participants.
Students with strong academics who weren't slated for any event, Kaneda Satoru, Morofuji Rika, and the like, were picked out directly.
On Kamuro's side, Class B's best academics had been chosen as well, Shinji Matoba, Yamamura Miki, and others. She clearly had no intention of giving the match away.
What a pity, though...
You can't do it, Masumi. Class B's defeat is already set in stone.
The identical procedure began, and once the tests were graded, both classes' scores came out.
Class B totaled 475, even more striking than Class A's result, an average of 95, an absolutely stellar score.
Except that...
"Class C: 500."
There it was again. Perfect scores, five of them, no less.
What was with this sense of wrongness?
Sakayanagi, seated in Class B, frowned, and then an absurd thought took shape in her mind.
Could that Kamio Tatsuya have gotten hold of the answers to every written test in this commander exam beforehand?
It was not an impossible thing.
This school proudly claimed that private points could buy anything, even exam questions were not out of the question.
It would certainly cost a hefty sum of points, though.
And Kamio Tatsuya was hardly short of points.
In truth, Sakayanagi had guessed half right.
The moment every class's events were made public, Kamio Tatsuya had gone straight to the upperclassmen and spent points buying the written test questions for math, chemistry, and Japanese from the first-year final exams of the previous two years.
Before buying, though, he couldn't be certain these were this exam's questions, which was why, in the first match, he hadn't committed directly, instead letting Class D test the waters. Sure enough, D scored seven perfect marks without a hitch.
The school truly didn't disappoint, to save itself the effort, it had simply reused the previous generations' exam questions for this test.
Kamio Tatsuya had guessed right after all.
And even if he hadn't, no great matter, worst case, D loses to A, and then A loses to B.
"Kamio, please begin drawing Class C's event."
Hearing this, Kamio Tatsuya moved his mouse to the draw button, and the event's name soon appeared.
Event: Women's Freestyle Combat (Class C)
Required participants: one.
Rules: no restrictions of any kind.
Commander privileges: may void the match once and have it refought.
Class C's event was simple and brutal: a one-on-one fight, first to KO the opponent wins, and counting the commander rule, it was effectively best two of three.
Seeing the event's name, Kamio Tatsuya looked across at Ichinose.
"I choose... Class A as the opponent."
"I refuse."
Ichinose refused without hesitation, Class A was, at heart, a class of good kids; hardly any of them knew how to fight.
But with Ichinose's refusal, Class B's Kamuro and Class D's Ayanokouji also announced their refusals.
Now Ichinose had no choice but to send someone onto the stage.
She had hoped to avoid this outcome, but now that it had come, Ichinose could hardly run from it.
Ichinose chose her fighter: Amikura Mako, a close friend of hers with solid physical fitness and decent athletic sense.
I'm counting on you, Mako.
Amikura Mako, Kamio Tatsuya remembered her. She had performed well at the sports festival, where she'd crossed paths with Ibuki in the sprint event, the two of them evenly matched.
Kamio Tatsuya looked at Ichinose.
Interesting.
The moment Class A saw the women's freestyle combat event, they had probably pegged Class C's fighter as Ibuki on the spot.
Fair enough, Ibuki was Class C's resident brawler, forever trailing after Ryuen in the old days. That was no secret.
Naturally, then, Ichinose had sought out someone of roughly Ibuki's physical caliber to answer her.
But while the two women's bodies might have been similar, the gap between someone trained in martial arts and someone untrained was the difference between heaven and earth.
Before long, Ibuki and Amikura had put on their protective gear and stepped up onto the ring.
All four in the multipurpose classroom watched the screen at the front of the room.
Watching Amikura on the screen, Ichinose was worried sick. Of course she hoped Amikura would win, but what she wished for even more was that Amikura wouldn't get hurt.
Compared with Ichinose's anxiety, Kamio Tatsuya was utterly relaxed, for he knew perfectly well that Ibuki would win.
And just as he expected, Ibuki seized the upper hand at once: a feint drew an overextension from Amikura, and a kick to her shin sent her sprawling to the floor.
Ibuki then pinned Amikura down outright, leaving her unable to move.
"It seems the outcome is decided."
A smile crept across Kamio Tatsuya's lips.
A short while later, Amikura was declared the loser.
"Ichinose, will you use your commander privilege?"
Gazing at the screen, Ichinose wavered. She wanted nothing more than to concede right there, but looking at the unyielding fighting spirit on Amikura Mako's face, she nodded.
"Ichinose activates her commander privilege. The match will be refought."
But the second bout differed little from the first. Amikura's strength and speed were Ibuki's equal, yet Ibuki had trained in the martial arts since childhood, and to her eyes Amikura's movements were riddled with openings.
And this was no movie, there would be no sudden surge of heroics from someone who'd been beaten down for minutes on end.
Amikura's defeat, then, was already sealed.
"Women's freestyle combat: Class C wins. Next, Class D will begin drawing its event."
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