Chie Hoshinomiya watched her class with a face full of worry. She couldn't understand why Kanzaki—who'd always supported Ichinose—had suddenly changed like this, and she didn't know whether Ichinose could get through this crisis safely.
Was the Unanimous Vote exam really that brutal? Was it really that hard?
As someone who'd once been a victim of this exam, Hoshinomiya's mind drifted, unmoored and uneasy. Her thoughts kept sliding back to eleven years ago—back to that shattered class, the piled-up resentments, the repeated blowups, and the way everything finally fell apart.
Then, in her flustered haze, she happened to glance toward the back door of the classroom.
Yukio was standing there.
And when she saw the concern in his eyes, warmth spread through her chest.
Right. Ichinose's class had come this far already. Even if Kanzaki suddenly had a different opinion… she should still believe Ichinose could handle it.
Steadier now, Hoshinomiya sent Yukio a grateful look, then refocused on the classroom.
Meanwhile, Ichinose's classmates were still reeling from Kanzaki's second slam of the desk. They couldn't wrap their heads around it no matter how hard they tried—why would Kanzaki do something like this?
"N-no way… You're kidding, right? Kanzaki—hey! Tell everyone you're just messing around because you're bored, okay?!"
"So that one vote… you deliberately voted approve? It wasn't a misclick? Why… why would you do that?! Kanzaki, you're not the kind of person who'd abandon a classmate!"
"For over a year—over a year—you've never abandoned anyone! You've always worked with us, fought with us, made it this far with us! Did you forget all of that?! Kanzaki!"
Ichinose, Shiranami, Amikura, Shibata—everyone stared at Kanzaki in panic. They couldn't accept it.
How could a teammate they'd fought alongside—someone they'd trusted with their back—suddenly start thinking about ditching a classmate for profit?
"Yeah." Kanzaki's face was cold as he stood on the podium, like a traitor general who'd turned his banner alone. "We've fought together. We've worked together. That's true."
"But!" His voice hardened, heavy enough to press on the room. It was a kind of resolve none of them had ever seen from him. "Haven't you reflected at all? Not even a little?! Since we enrolled, our class has been slipping down—little by little! We were Class B, and we fell to Class C!"
"We clawed our way back to Class B only because Sakayanagi's class got careless—then we dropped right back to Class C because of that cross-grade pairing exam where we helped the first-years!"
"At this rate, we'll just get farther and farther from Class A—until graduating from Class A becomes impossible!"
It was so blunt that even the slowest person could understand: seize every opportunity to rise to Class A—even if that means abandoning someone.
But for Ichinose's class, which ran on warmth and trust, those words were poison. No one could accept them.
Even Shibata—Kanzaki's friend—couldn't take it. "What the hell are you talking about, Kanzaki?! Did you seriously lose your mind?!"
"By your logic, we can just throw people away whenever it helps us climb?! Is our friendship really that cheap to you?!"
"Shibata!" Kanzaki shot back with even more pressure than Shibata's anger, forcing the room to shrink around him. "My head is crystal clear! Clearer than it's ever been!"
"Yeah. It's great, isn't it? Our trust, our unity, how kind we are—other classes say they envy it, they call it beautiful. I used to be proud of it too. I was proud to be in this class."
"But!" His tone snapped, sharp and grave. "How long are you going to keep drowning in that pride?!"
"Everyone sinks into it—if something feels 'good,' we do it, even if it hurts our class! We even pat ourselves on the back like we're saints because we helped someone else! But what about you?!"
"Why won't you ever think about your own interests?!"
"Kanzaki…" Ichinose stood up too, her expression serious. "If… if you're angry because we helped the struggling first-years during the cross-grade exam… and that hurt our score and let Sakayanagi's class pass us… then I'll apologize to you."
"I don't need it. And that's not even what I'm saying." Kanzaki's anger surged again—because his classmates still didn't understand him. "So I'll say it again."
"I'm not trying to abandon someone for Class Points! I'm trying to wake you up! I'm trying to make you understand that not every 'good' thing needs to be done! If you love helping people, fine—but you should still think about your own利益 too!"
"Look at the first vote!" He stabbed a finger at the result like it was an indictment. "It's absurd! Thirty-nine votes for oppose! One vote for approve—mine!"
"Use your heads! In a normal class, there are always—always—a few people who at least consider taking the Class Points! But the numbers say there isn't even one! Not a single one!"
"Kanzaki—" Ichinose tried to speak again, but the proctor cleared their throat, signaling the ten minutes were up.
The room fell silent instantly.
Hoshinomiya stepped back onto the podium and started the second-round vote.
Kanzaki slammed his choice without hesitation, then tossed his phone onto the podium like it didn't matter. He didn't even bother looking—he'd already made his decision. Still, after choosing, his eyes were full of hope as he looked down at the class from above.
Even though he'd forced the class into this "unanimous" window to wake them up… he truly didn't know whether he'd succeeded.
So he pinned everything on the vote pattern—waiting to see if anyone had been awakened.
[Second-round vote: Approve—1 vote; Oppose—39 votes.]
Kanzaki swayed, needing the podium just to stay upright.
The result made it painfully clear: his attempt to wake them up had failed.
No one supported his stance—no one at all.
…No.
Something flickered through Kanzaki's head, and his body steadied again.
Maybe a few people had been awakened—maybe they did agree with him—but they couldn't bring themselves to show it in the vote, trapped by the weight of the group and by Ichinose.
Maybe if he kept pushing—kept shaking them—eventually he'd wake some of them for real.
At the back door, Yukio could see it clearly now: Kanzaki was doing this for the class. There was no selfish motive in him.
Someone like that was worth respecting.
Not everyone could fight against the tide like Kanzaki did—willing to take the class's hatred onto himself, willing to sacrifice his own reputation, just to wake everyone up.
...
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