"Sa… Sakura? Do we even have someone like that in our class?"
"Shh! That's seriously rude. She's the girl in the very back row—the one who's always got her head down and looks kind of frumpy. That's Sakura."
Sakura was completely invisible in Class D. She'd long since gotten used to being alone—walking alone, eating alone, living with her head lowered no matter where she went.
After more than a year in Class D, she still hadn't made a single friend.
And that was exactly why Horikita had chosen her as the expulsion candidate.
Because Sakura had no friends, no one would vote "Oppose" for her. And in this expulsion branch, the selected person didn't even have voting rights.
That was why the total vote count in the previous rounds had only been 36.
If Sakura got selected now… there was a very real chance they'd succeed in expelling her.
Even Yukio—watching from the back door—couldn't help feeling a flicker of surprise.
Had Horikita noticed Sakura had been leaking Class D's secrets all along?
Or was this purely a cold decision made to clear the Unanimous Vote exam?
Thinking it through, it had to be the latter.
Horikita hadn't discovered Sakura's mole role—otherwise, she wouldn't have openly shared the class's culture-festival theme with her not long ago, something that was supposed to stay secret.
Sakura herself jolted like she'd been slapped.
But she still couldn't lift her head—she could only stare blankly at her desk as her heart pounded so fast it felt like it might burst. Panic clogged her throat until she couldn't squeeze out a single word.
W-why…?
Horikita asked me just a few days ago to help with the maid café for the culture festival…
So why am I the one she picked to be expelled?
Am I… getting expelled today?
I won't be able to stay here… I won't be able to keep helping Yukio…
No.
She didn't want that.
She was terrified.
Someone… someone please save me…
Matsushita stared at Horikita, stunned. "Y-you're sure?"
Because the culture festival project still needed to stay confidential, Matsushita didn't say it outright.
Instead, she tried to warn Horikita with the kind of look and careful tone only Horikita would understand—Don't forget Sakura can be useful for the maid café.
"I'm sure." Horikita's face didn't change. She shot Matsushita a firm look back.
The culture festival mattered—but it didn't matter more than three hundred class points and the class's future.
Besides, they'd only asked Sakura to be one maid. Class D wasn't short on cute girls. Losing Sakura wouldn't make the whole theme collapse.
They could quietly ask another girl to fill the spot.
But if they failed this Unanimous Vote exam and ate the -300, it could do more than crush their class points—it could fracture the class beyond repair.
And if the class fell apart for good… then it was over.
So if she had to choose the lesser evil, Horikita wouldn't hesitate: stability and points first.
And Horikita remembered clearly—Sakura's academics were weak, and she didn't seem to be the type who made up for it with hard work. Her physical ability was even worse.
Whether it was the island exam or the sports festival, Sakura was pure dead weight.
She fit Horikita's conditions perfectly: low overall ability, and no popularity, no friends.
In all of Class D… Sakura really was the only one who matched both.
Horikita's gaze shifted to Sakura's seat. She stared at the girl who never raised her head.
Her voice carried a heavy apology.
"Sakura-san… I'm sorry."
"You can hate me. That's fine. I was the one who proposed expelling you."
"It's for the class—no… it's for me."
"For getting to Class A."
"For my promise to my brother."
"For my selfish desire… to catch up to Yukio."
"If you can understand that, then…" Horikita's words faltered. She couldn't finish.
She might be cold, but she wasn't heartless.
The more she spoke, the more the guilt swelled like a black hole, chewing at her chest until she could barely breathe.
Her expression twisted.
Say it. Say it already.
If you miss this chance, it's minus three hundred. You won't keep your promise to your brother. You'll never—
She bit down hard, clenched her fist, and forced herself through the guilt like breaking through a wall.
"I-if you can understand… then that would be best."
"And from your perspective…" Her throat tightened, but she pushed on anyway. "That should be true too, shouldn't it?"
"You're the one who contributes the least. You're… someone the class can do without."
"I'm sorry. What I'm saying is cruel."
"But I have to say it. I have to make everyone understand."
Her voice came out broken and uneven. When she finally finished, Horikita looked like she'd been stabbed. She squeezed her eyes shut—just like Chabashira had earlier.
Everyone could hear what Horikita meant. And they could hear the pressure and guilt strangling her words.
The room fell silent.
Up on the podium, Chabashira stared at the scene, memories from eleven years ago surging back.
Back then, too, someone had singled out a target… and tried to persuade them to accept being expelled.
And it had ended in a disaster that shattered everything.
That disaster had been born from Chabashira's hands.
So what about now?
Would fate finally change?
Chabashira's amber eyes hovered half-open, half-closed—impossible to read.
But she was watching.
Because she wanted to see if this third generation of Class D could overturn that damned destiny.
Sakura was terrified.
She tried to force words out—anything—but nothing came. Her mind and soul were in full panic.
She didn't know what to do.
Should she beg?
Beg who?
She couldn't even speak to anyone in the class to begin with.
Should she plead with Horikita to spare her?
But Horikita looked like someone who'd already made peace with being hated. Even if Sakura begged, Horikita probably wouldn't stop.
And Sakura had no friends.
If they really voted… She'd be the selected person, unable to vote, and all 36 of them would probably approve.
The world went dark.
At the edge of her collapsing mind, the only remaining safe place was one image—Yukio.
Please… save me. I'm scared…
Tears gathered behind her pink-framed glasses, swelling until they spilled free.
A thick drop slid down her cheek, leaving a helpless, trembling trail.
Then…
Click.
The back door of the classroom slammed open.
Yukio couldn't stand it anymore.
He shoved the door wide and stepped in without the slightest concern for not interfering with the exam.
Sakura jerked her head toward the sound.
And when she saw him—the person she'd been pleading for in her head—her emotions snapped.
She broke like a dam.
"Yukio-kun!!"
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.