Light Novel 2nd Year Volume 1/Summary

Below is the long summary of the first 2nd Year volume of the You-Zitsu light novel series.

Prologue
The prologue starts two months before the new school year begins, inside a conference room of a certain facility located in Tokyo. Tsukishiro was explaining the details of the students studying in the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School to a 15-year-old person, who was from the White Room. Tsukishiro explains that the person's job is to expel Kiyotaka Ayanokōji from the school before April ends and to bring him back to the White Room. He also warns the person to not be too obvious in his actions so that this secret movement won't reach the ears of the higher-ups, which may damage the reputation of Kiyotaka's father. However, the White Room person was not very satisfied with this job given to him/her, which Tsukishiro picked up and explained further. He said how it's humiliating towards the other White Room people that Kiyotaka has basically forced its operations to halt further due to him escaping, despite being the most outstanding person among the White Room people. Tsukishiro's intent in explaining so was to draw out the White Room person's competitiveness. He told his only listener to surpass Kiyotaka, and that his team has already prepared the necessary means for his plan to succeed. The listener turned on his heels coldly to leave after the explanation ended, which sent a chill down Tsukishiro's spine. Before the White Room person left, Tsukishiro asked one more question: They didn't hide anything, did they? This was so that the White Room person wouldn't disobey his instructions. The person nodded and continued on his path. After they left, Tsukishiro once again looked at the image of Kiyotaka displayed on a screen, to which he thought that he was a monster, even though he doesn't like using that word casually. Kiyotaka's abilities are way superior compared to his peers, including his academic and physical abilities. If he were to fight an adult head-on, there is a higher chance that Kiyotaka would win. Tsukishiro had another thought: What would happen in a battle between artificially nurtured humans from the White Room and natural-born geniuses. To hunt, or to be hunted, he still thought of it as a game between children.

Chapter 1
The chapter begins with the author explaining how society has become familiar with the term 'ability'. He states that Japan was at a turning point as it faced numerous problems: declining birth rate, old population, environmental problems, and a declining sense of nationalism. So, in order to rebuild the country from the ground up, the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School was born. Its purpose was to attract and train world-class students from all over Japan in order to lead the future. The school's biggest selling point is how it evaluates its students; not by grade alone, but also many different aspects, thus making this school different from normal high schools. The purpose of doing so is to teach the students how to live in society and cooperate. Each year is divided into 4 classes - class A to class D - which many different people with different strengths and weaknesses will compete to reach the top. At the same time, the students aren't allowed to venture outside the school. However, many facilities have been prepared to suit the student's needs, whether it is studying, sports, or even leisure. Other than that, the school operates on a different currency system, which in turn teaches the students to manage their money properly. To gain wealth, students must cooperate with their own class to compete with other classes in special exams; the ones victorious will gain points, and the ones below will lose them. The biggest selling point, however, is that a job or higher education is practically guaranteed if a student manages to graduate while being in class A. Then, the narrating shifts to Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, a student from class D who will be starting his second year at this school as a sophomore. The class points of each class state their position at the start of the school term: Even though the point difference is huge, the author claims that there are still a lot of chances for class D to rise to the top.
 * Class A: 1119 class points
 * Class B: 542 class points
 * Class C: 540 class points
 * Class D: 275 class points

Chapter 2
The class receives their seating plan and Kiyotaka ends up at the back near the hallway. The class is surprised to see Horikita's new haircut (this is from volume 11.5), Kushida is internally mad that Horikita has practically the same haircut as her. They were ordered by Chabashira to take out their phone and the announcement was made to download an app called Overall Ability (OAA). This shows the abilities of their peers with numerical values. Horikita and Hirata are at the top of the class in terms of academics, while Sudо̄ is at the top of the grade for 'physical ability' with a grade of A+. They are introduced to the newest activity which is an activity of brains and one has to pick a partner, with either a classmate or a 1st year. If a student can't find a partner, they will lose 5% and if you score below a certain score, the consequence would be expulsion. Kiyotaka reason for not finding a partner is because Tsukishiro has installed a student from the white room to have him expelled. Thus, Kiyotaka suspects the partner will join him and purposely fail. Tsukishiro proposes a deal that if Kiyotaka finds the white room student, he would then leave him alone.

Chapter 3
Multiple first and second-year students (primarily Class B) gather in the gymnasium for the exchange meeting conducted by Honami Ichinose. Kiyotaka, Suzune Horikita and Sudо̄ were present as well, observing the situation. Only one person from Class A was in attendance, being Hashimoto; while no Class C students were around. Suzune notes that most of the first years here were either bad at communicating or are concerned about their academic ability. There wouldn't be many benefits in pairing up with any of them. She also didn't want to target high academic ability students either as those who can pass with certainty are enough. She also notices that none of the Class 1-D students was around, so she concluded that class must already have a leader controlling their movements. Using that to their advantage, they thought of contacting the leader of Class 1-D in order to bargain, instead of using the inconvenient method of communicating with the students one by one. Without much happening, the trio left the gymnasium, only to be stopped by Hashimoto. He commented on how the exchange gathering being frivolous, and Honami has thrown away the game by only pairing up with lower capability students. After Hashimoto left, they continued their journey to the classroom of 1-D.

Kiyotaka, Suzune and Sudou went to the first-year classrooms corridor, where the first-years looked at them curiously. While making their journey, they bumped into Kakeru Ryūen, who was already present a good twenty or so minutes earlier. Suzune talked warily, getting information from Ryuuen, but he implies that he's not moving yet. He revealed that he will be using a bit of violence to threaten the first-years to cooperate with him, but to Suzune it seemed immoral. However, the rules do not state anything about violence being illegal, so Ryuuen's plan is considered perfectly fine. He also notes that the first-year students have settled down in this school rather quickly as if someone had already informed them about this school's policies. In Kiyotaka's thoughts, he compared themselves back then with the new freshmen. The new students seem to be much more capable than their past selves. Such a special exam is not easy to get expelled from unless someone is caught cheating or intentionally lowering their score. For that manner, he thinks that going for the top 30% in the test results should give them a better advantage than just shooting for first place. After Ryuuen left, they went to check up on Class 1-D, which Kiyotaka noticed that no one has entered nor exited during this whole time. Turns out, there wasn't a single person in Class D. They called it a day after that. Kiyotaka returned to his room, and attempted to memorized every new student in the OAA. On the day the exam started, 22 pairs were already formed.

At the end of the lunch break the next day, two first-year students appeared in the corridor outside their classroom. One of them being a rather tall boy, while the other being a shorter girl. Suzune initiated contact with them, and it turns out they were from Class 1-D. The boy is called Kazuomi Hōsen while the girl is called Tsubasa Nanase. They came here to force cooperation with Class 2-D. Kazuomi's attitude is quite bullish, evident from the constant provocations he throws at Sudou for his stupidity. Before Sudou and Kazuomi could fight, Tsubasa stopped them by threatening to reveal "that." Kazuomi stopped and resorted to provoking Sudou again, and another fight was about to break out before Daichi Ishizaki interrupted. Ryuuen and Mio Ibuki have appeared as well. Kazuomi recognized Ryuuen from where he lives, as a little celebrity. Daichi didn't like Kazuomi's provocations and launched himself at him, but the latter easily took the former by the neck. He also fended off Mio without much trouble. When the heat of the fight was at its peak, another first-year student, who had been watching from behind, chose to interject in the fight. He had called the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, a man named Shiba Katsunori. The teacher stopped the fight and told everyone to leave, apologizing to Suzune for the trouble his students caused. The first-year boy, named Takuya Yagami, also apologized. Just as he was about to leave, Kushida and her friends appeared from the stairs. Yagami recognized Kushida as his senpai back in his old school, but the latter took a little bit of time to recognize him. He offered to partner up with Kushida but she chose to ponder about it for now. After they left, Akito Miyake commented on Kazuomi, telling the Ayanokōji Group about a story regarding Kazuomi plummeting his whole junior high school. Mio was dissatisfied that she couldn't fight against Kazuomi despite her speed.

After school, Kiyotaka, Suzune and Sudou went to Keyaki Mall to scout out for first years. They went to talk to a group of first-year Class D boys, named Kakaga, Mikami and Shiratori, who had academic abilities of B or higher. Suzune offered 50,000 points to partner up with Sudou, but Shiratori wanted 500,000 instead. They didn't have the amount of money for such an offer, and it'd be a big loss if they accepted. Suzune thought it was a bluff and asked if they've been approached by someone else, to which Shiratori says that Hashimoto has already approached them. The boys gave them a week to conjure the money and will cooperate with Sudou if that's possible. Kiyotaka, Suzune and Sudou left, talking about how the first-years weren't looking ahead. Suzune explains that they plan to scam the money of those who are desperate to find pairs. With enough of that, they'll be able to buy their way to higher classes. Suzune then decided to set three goals for this exam: don't drop out, aim for third place or higher, and don't involve money in their negotiations. To achieve that goal, Suzune still aims to scout out for Class D students. Just then, someone approached them by the stairs. The person calls herself Ichika Amasawa from Class A of the first years, with an academic ability of A. Ichika offered to partner up with Horikita, but the latter wants her to partner up with Sudou instead. She claims that she will agree to partner up with him as long as he's a strong person, and will pit his strength with someone else in the school. Her other criteria without to partner up with Sudo without needing to test one's physical strength is for them to find someone who can cook and satisfy her tastes. Suzune attempted to bluff by saying that Kiyotaka is good at cooking, with the latter played along. Ichika seems satisfied by that comment and asked to see his skills as soon as possible. However, that will be a problem since Kiyotaka isn't actually an amazing cook. After a bit of bantering, they decided to have Ichika taste Kiyotaka's cooking the next day after school, in his dormitory. Before that, Ichika wants to bring Kiyotaka along with a shopping trip to gather the required ingredients, as she will be requesting a secret item to be cooked.

Chapter 4
On the third day of the special exam, 34 more pairs were created. Among them, only Class 1-D hasn't made any partnerships yet. Kiyotaka thinks that his choices are slowly dwindling and that the chance of partnering up with the White Room student will only increase if he does not act soon. He goes over some points that might rule out possible White Room candidates, such as who he can remember from the first-years he memorised, but he couldn't get any hints. Same goes for body physique and grades as those can be easily manipulated. In order to find out the White Room student, Kiyotaka resorts to going around the school and observing them personally.

While walking to school, Kiyotaka encounters two first-year girls by the name of Kasuga Kurihara and Tetsuko Konishi. He wanted to talk to them under the pretext of partnering up, but he hesitated as it might look suspicious. Just then, Tsubasa approached him from behind. They initiated a conversation, and talked about partnering up. However, Kiyotaka intends to prod into her background beforehand. When she didn't give direct answers, Kiyotaka decides to come from another angle. He asks about the situation of Class 1-D, and Tsubasa confirms that Kazuomi is indeed leading Class 1-D. Kiyotaka asks why Tsubasa didn't seem to be under Kazuomi, and she claims that she doesn't succumb to violence. In turn, Tsubasa asks Kiyotaka whether he thinks violence is good or bad. Kiyotaka answers that it is an advantageous thing, to which Tsubasa agrees. Ending off, Kiyotaka offers to set up a meeting between their classes, and Tsubasa agrees, sharing contacts.

Kiyotaka met with Suzune at the front of their class. He mentions the meeting proposal with Tsubasa, to which Suzune comments how unlikely it was for him to do such a thing. They shift to talking about Class 1-D's partnerless situation, which is problematic with the leadership of Kazuomi. Even so, with Class 2-A and 2-C competing in money games for the smarter first-years, they would have a better chance to partner up with Class 1-D students. Suzune thinks that Kazuomi doesn't only want points, evident to that day when he went to the second-year corridors and declared to cooperate with Class 2-D and that he may want something else. Tsubasa's mention of "that" was also suspicious. Then, Kiyotaka remembers the Yagami student being from the same school as Suzune and Kushida. Suzune might not be able to remember him, but she thinks that using Kushida as a link to Class 1-B may prove useful to their class, however hard it might be to have that request agreed.

Yousuke later approaches Suzune, which Kiyotaka eavesdropped. He says that a junior in his soccer club has been reached out by Class 2-A, even though their academic ability is only C. However, that student's other OAA evaluations are relatively high. This prods them to think that Class 2-A is thinking of long-term benefits instead of just this exam. What's even weirder is that Class 2-C is also copying Class 2-A's strategy. After Yousuke left, Suzune turns to Kiyotaka, who she noticed was eavesdropping. They lamented about the fact that being branded as class D is a huge handicap. Suzune then agrees to be present in the meeting with Tsubasa, and requests for an immediate answer from the latter.

After school ended, no response came from Tsubasa. Kiyotaka can't do much about it since he promised Ichika to go shopping later. When Ichika arrived, she was satisfied by the fact that Kiyotaka didn't do unnecessary things while waiting, such as fiddling with his phone. They first went to a utensil store, buying knives, a bowl, a whisk, a pot and a ladle. Kiyotaka says he already has some of them, but Ichika retorted by saying it's for her own use. Then, she also placed a fruit knife in her basket, which is starting to pile up. Kiyotaka asks about the payment, and Ichika says he will be paying for all of it. Kiyotaka thought about discarding his old ones and using these instead, however, Ichika said it's her property, so he mustn't wear them out. Kiyotaka cursed, to which Ichika threatened to not cooperate with Sudou any longer. Kiyotaka had no choice but to apologize.

After buying the ingredients, the total point expenditure totalled to 20,000. Kiyotaka tries to guess what sort of dish he'll be making, but he speculates that Ichika had placed a few spurious ingredients to throw him off. While walking back to Kiyotaka's dorm, he asks Ichika why she's not concerned about a stranger like him making her a dish, to which she compared it to a restaurant, where you don't know who cooks your meal. When they reached Kiyotaka's dorm, he asked Ichika to settle herself and watch TV while he brews her some coffee. The sound from the TV will be useful in regards to his plans. However, Ichika saw through Kiyotaka and told him to not use his phone while cooking, so as to not look up any recipes. She reveals her secret dish to be. Kiyotaka didn't know the recipe as he merely studied basic cooking knowledge. Before this, Suzune thought up a plan: she'll teach Kiyotaka how to use a knife properly, and also to tell him the recipe of the dish in real-time. This was possible due to Kiyotaka using Sudou's phone in his bag, which he placed strategically near the counter, where he could call Horikita and ask her the recipe in real-time. Kiyotaka asks Ichika why she bought a whisk and a fruit knife, which didn't need to be used in the recipe for tom yam kong, and she claims that she wants Kiyotaka to peel an apple with the knife, while the whisk will be useful for her own cooking later on.

After Kiyotaka finished the dish and served it to Ichika, he went to clean the kitchen but the latter told him to sit and wait. As she ate, Kiyotaka noted how she did so without hesitation, despite being watched by someone else. After she finished eating, she commented that is was nothing special, but was good enough for another bite. As Ichika washed the dishes (much to Kiyotaka's distaste), he prods her about the result of his cooking. While thinking about her evaluation, she readjusted her hair ribbon. Her say on Kiyotaka's performance was that it wasn't as good as she expected, but he at least showed he could cook. She agrees to partner up with Sudou, showing evidence by immediately sending him a partner request. Before Ichika left, Kiyotaka asked her to be their intermediary for Class 1-A; however, Ichika apologises for not being able to as she doesn't get along well with her classmates. After she left, Suzune calls Kiyotaka on his phone, thanking him for his efforts; she also asks why he went out of his way to ask Ichika to be their intermediary for Class 1-A since they're aiming for Class 1-D and 1-B. Kiyotaka claims it is for extra insurance, and Suzune confesses that she sees a bit of why her brother is so interested in Kiyotaka now. Later that night, Kiyotaka receives a message from Tsubasa, telling him she can meet up after school tomorrow.

In a cafe in Keyaki Mall on the same day as Kiyotaka's cooking game with Ichika, Class 2-A students Arisu Sakayanagi, Masumi Kamuro and Masayoshi Hashimoto have gathered to talk. Masumi reports that Ryuuen has offered 100,000 points to a first-year that they've set their sights on, and that he will increase the offer to 200,000 if the number of pairs exceeds a certain amount. Masumi wants to fight Ryuuen's proposal, but Arisu says it is not wise to play such financial games. She comments that Ryuuen might have changed strategies: instead of buying his way to the top class using a million points, he has now decided to rise by increasing his class points. Arisu then counters with a strategy where they will offer the same amount of points, but would not be partnering up with the students nor give them any points in the end. This way, Ryuuen will be forced to offer more points, and lose the money game while class A isn't involved at all. Kamuro still doesn’t grasp her logic so Arisu further explains that Ryuuen is trying to force Class A into a financial game, and targeting the same pupils as Class A. However, by using her strategy of pretend-money, Ryuuen'll have to offer more money. In the end, they'll be able to reel in students with their Class A reputation anyway. Kamuro still doesn't fully understand, but Arisu told her to just follow instructions. Arisu secretly prays that her opponent will be a worthy one and not lose hope after being defeated.

Two hours after the meeting of the Class A students, Ryuuen, Daichi and Mio gather in a karaoke room. Daichi reports that the same student they've targeted has asked for more points after hearing that Class A is offering the same amount to them, which is 200,000 points. Ryuuen says to pay 100,000 in advance and 200,000 after the exam. Daichi expresses his concern about the excessive expenditure of points, but Ryuuen simply counteracts by saying they won't pay the 200,000 points later. He claims his goal this time isn't to reel in students but to examine the new first-years. He plans to collapse Class A in a future exam and crush the first-year's trust in Arisu. His true goal is to find students that intuitively know which class is better, and not the types to be easily swayed by points. By gathering highly proficient students, Ryuuen hopes that he will be able to drag down Arisu's class in a future exam.

Chapter 5
On Thursday, Ayanokoji and Suzune arranged a meeting with Nanase for a talk. They made their way to the library where Hiyori greets them as she was there to talk to some first years. After taking their seats, they started talking about the challenge between them. After sometime, Nanase showed up in the library and they started discussing forming a relationship based on cooperation between their classes. She replies that they will cooperate if they pay the required amount of private points. Horikita proposes that they should form pairs of 15 students, in regards to academic ability with no points for helping each other. Nanase replies that it won't be that easy as Hosen won't allow that. After some discussion, Nanase called Hosen on her phone. Horikita demanded a meeting with him but he ends the call immediately. Nanase leaves the library to meet with Hosen. Soon after, Ayanokoji and Suzune also left the library. Later on, after listening to her, he invited her to his room to study.

On the fifth day of exam, Horikita asks Koenji for his help to which he refuses. They then head out towards the library, where Hiyori seems to have reserved seats for them. After Nanase shows up, she says that Class 1-D is going to suffer because of Hosen, and so, she proposed that they should negotiate in secret with Hosen during the upcoming Sunday. Nanase suddenly asks Ayanokoji the type of person he is. He then spun the question around by asking what she thinks of him. She then replies that he seems like an ordinary person. Before leaving, Ayanokoji tells her about the protection point.

In his room, he meets Kei to study together. He then provided her questions to solve to gauge her academic ability. He tells her to attend the study group after marking her tests. She then curiously asks if he could score better then what he’s gotten so far and the reason for hiding his true talents. He replies by saying that he could easily score 400 or higher because there hasn't been a problem he couldn't solve since attending the school. After awhile of studying in his room, Kei saw a strand of red hair on the floor. She became furious and asked whose hair it was, deducing that it could only be from a girl. Suddenly, his doorbell rang at that exact moment. Kei saw a girl with the exact same hair colour on her hand. Before Kiyotaka could answer the machine, Kei got to it before him and shouted for the identity of the person. Kiyotaka decides to let Ichika enter the room, after figuring that it wouldn't do any good to prolong it. Ichika said that she came here to pick her hair tie and cheekily asks Kiyotaka if Kei was his girlfriend. Kei and Ichika then greeted each other. Kei immediately questions Ichika on her relationship with Kiyotaka, to which she answers that he is her personal chef. She attempted to make Kei more angry and jealous by acting kiddish, which works. After finding her hair tie, she apologise for interrupting their intimate moment and promptly leaves the room.

On Saturday, the number of pairs had increased to 105. Later that evening, Ayanokoji ran into Sakayanagi. She asks if he was having a problem finding a partner, and that she can help him if he needs it. He answers by saying that he will rely on his own abilities. On his way back to Keyaki mall, he met two first years Sakurako Tsubaki and Riku Utomiya. They ask him about whether he was interested in partnering up with Tsubaki. They then went to Keyaki mall to discuss. Ayanokoji finally gave his reply by saying that he already has a candidate in mind. After giving him their contact information, both of the first years left.

Later that day, Karuizawa Kei and Satou Maya were planning to go to Keyaki mall to hang out. Satou suddenly dragged Kei aside and asks Kei if she was dating Ayanokoji, with her reply being that she already started thinking of him as a member of the opposite sex even before their double date happened. Satou then slaps Kei and tearfully shouted at her for taking advantage of her even though she knew of her feelings for Kiyotaka. Understanding that she was in the wrong, Kei offered her other cheek as well, but Satou refused. Kei then pulled her into a hug and apologised for falling for the same person. They then decide to rekindle their old friendship and go for tea at Keyaki mall.

Chapter 6
On Sunday evening, Ayanokoji was heading out towards Keyaki mall to discuss something with Hosen. In the dorm lobby, he encountered Sudo. They then started heading out together. Sudo asks Kiyotaka that if he were to improve his scores, would he be more useful to the class. They soon met up with Suzune. Sudo questions whether Hosen will listen to them, to which Suzune reply that because all academically strong students were taken away by Sakayanagi and Ryuuen, he is forced to listen to them and they have to think about his demands as he will not hesitate to choose an outcome that will lead his class to suffer.

They reach the karaoke after sometime. After Nanase and Hosen arrived, they started talking about the possibility of cooperation between both of their classes. Suzune tells Hosen that there will come a time where he will need the help of his peers. However, Hosen doesn't listen to them and demanded that they have to give him points if they need his help. Hosen says that their offer isn't compensating enough. He then demands one million points as collateral and if he ever comes for their help.

Suddenly, Hosen grabbed Horikita's collar but before Sudo could intervene, he was told to sit down by her. After seeing that Hosen is not going to comply with Horikita, he said that the negotiations was over. Hosen releases Horikita's collar and soon splashed water on her face. This caused Sudo to start charging at Hosen but was soon stopped by Horikita. After that, they left the karaoke. Outside, Hosen stopped and ponders that he come to their class knowing that Class D is the weakest of them all and working with them would be appropriate. He said that he would tell his classmates to team up with Class 2-D for 2 Million points. Horikita refuses. To intimidate her, Hosen show her his clinched fist but Horikita remained undaunted in her decision. Hosen again stops her to talk and agrees to cooperate and enter a relation with equal status. He then continued on by saying that there are too many people around so they should talk somewhere else.

Hosen takes them behind the first years dorm and demands three million points. However, Suzune refused his offer. After hearing the rejection, Hosen charged at her and attempted to punch her but Sudo saves her in the nick of time by pulling her back. However, he got hit by Hosen's punch in her stead. Nanase informs Suzune that the school has changed from last year and President Nagumo has given prior explanation about the current system, which is in order to make this school a meritocracy. Some freedom would be allowed and certain amount of infighting would also be allowed. The fight between Hosen and Sudo continues with Hosen grabbing Sudo by his collar and lifting him up. Sudo attacked with his knees causing Hosen to lose his grip. Hosen then started punching Sudo. Horikita shouted for them to stop but Hosen ignores her pleas. He grabbed Sudo again and punch his cheek which finally put Sudo down.

After that, he switched his sights to Horikita but she attacked him first. He was able to grab her wrist and slammed her to the ground. He then raise his demands to five million points. She yells for Ayanokoji to call the teachers but Hosen says that even if he gets suspended, they too will also be facing serious repercussion as Sudo also punched him.

Ayanokoji was trying to figure out what Hosen was truly after. Hosen suddenly pulls a knife out of his pocket and tells Horikita that he will stab Ayanokoji if she turn him down again. He started walking towards Ayanokoji but Nanase put herself between them and says that she will not approve of his method. She then spread her arms to halt Hosen. She tells Horikita that even if they choose to pay Hosen the points, their fate will be the same. After Hosen swept Nanase aside, he charged towards Ayanokoji but instead of dodging, Kiyotaka rushed towards Hosen. It turns out that Hosen's goal was not to injure Ayanokoji but to turn the blade on himself.

Ayanokoji used his left hand to prevent Hosen from achieving his plan, injuring himself in the process. Those present were shocked at what just unfolded. (https://imgur.com/a/hIpwBNz). After seeing Hosen's confusion, Ayanokoji told that that this petty knife was the one he bought and explains that Hosen was about to stab his thigh. He also reveals his plan that he wanted to make a commotion and use this as evidence to expel him. Hosen then question him as to why he let himself get stabbed. With Ayanokoji reply being that it was the best way to block him. Afterward, Hosen asks how he knew that it was his knife. He explains that he has done some prior investigation and up till yesterday he is the only one who bought this knife, therefore, he put the pieces together when he pulled out the same knife. Ayanokoji tells Hosen that if he can't talk his way out of this he is going to be expelled. After Horikita and Sudo recovered, they worryingly asked if he was alright. Hosen then set his sights on Nanase, and asked if she told them his plans in advance. She then denied his statement.

Ayanokoji explains that he knows that it was Hosen who came up with the strategy but Ichika was the one who perfected it. Hearing Ichika's name, Horikita was surprised. Ayanokoji noticed the fact that even though Ichika has gone to the Keyaki mall for the first time, she somehow knew where the knife was. Hosen asks Ayanokoji on his next plan of action. Ayanokoji then orders Horikita and Sudo to keep quiet about it.

Hosen asks if he is going to throw the only chance for him to be expelled to which Ayanokoji answers that if he accepts the two conditions he sets, he will overlook this scene. - First, form an equal cooperative partnership. Second, he is going to partner up with him in the next special exam. Ayanokoji explains that Hosen has just enrolled here and there are plenty of things he would have wanted to do and he can't do them If he got expelled. There are also rumours that he is equal match for Ryueen, but he can't take on Ryueen as he is now. Ayanokoji wants to partner up with Hosen as he doesn't mind attracting attention and someone from the white room will try not to attract attention. Hence, the chance of him being from white room should be relatively low. Hosen decides to leave but Nanase chose to stay behind. Nanase decides to tell them that the first years were tasked with a mission. Whoever successfully expels Ayanokoji will receive twenty million points. Furthermore, this special exam is only given a select few first years.

Epilogue
On Monday, all 157 pairs were finalized. On May 1st, the result was announced. Everyone was relaxed to see that nobody was expelled. On a more important note, everyone was surprised to see the bandages on Ayanokoji's hand. At the same time, many were just as shocked to see that one particular student has gotten a perfect score in Mathematics, it being Ayanokoji. After class, Horikita talks to Ayanokoji regarding their bet and concede that she lost. They were soon interrupted by Chabashira. She tell him that director Tsukishiro has called him to his office. Tsukishiro asks Ayanokoji if he was able to determine the identity of the white room child to which he answers that he is still unaware of who it was. Tsukishiro only called him to hear his answer and soon allowed him to leave. However, Ayanokoji soon asks him for the reason as to why the white room enforcer didn't make his move during the special exam. In response, Tsukishiro said that there there is no need to rush things. Ayanokoji shared his thoughts that perhaps the white room child disobeyed his orders to expel him. Tsukishiro admits that the white room child did indeed disobey his orders, however, he advise Ayanokoji that if he continues to go against his father's intentions, it would be better to expel himself, otherwise, even he doesn’t know the repercussions that awaits him. That being said, Ayanokoji soon leaves the director's office.

Special Exam ・ Overall Ranking

1st Place ・ Class 2-A ・ Average Score: 725

2nd Place ・ Class 2-C ・ Average Score: 673

3rd Place ・ Class 2-D ・ Average Score: 640

4th Place ・ Class 2-B ・ Average Score: 621

Class points as of May 1:

Class 2-A, led by Sakayanagi - 1169 points

Class 2-B, led by Ryueen - 565 points

Class 2-C, led by Ichinose - 539 points

Class 2-D, led by Horikita - 283 points

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