"Ahh!! You're kidding right? The special exam has started already?" Ike wallowed in dismay. Most of the Class-D students groaned at the very thought as well.

"Cooperate with... first years?" Hamaguchi uttered.

"Is it like the mixed training camp exam?" Shibata said.

"Hmm, since when was this a thing? We always had surprise tests and midterms in the first month." A third year said.

All the students started hypothesising different possibilities on what kind of a test we'd be having.

Ibuki scoffed. "Talk about favouritism. Do the third years have no special exam?"

"My, my, of course not. Since they are my dear schoolmates who have poured sweat and blood alongside me for the last two years, I'll personally make sure they're well accounted for." Nagumo-senpai wore a twisted expression beaming at the others' schadenfreude.

The third years simply shivered in trepidation having been at the brunt of 13 expulsions in their school year because of one person - Nagumo Miyabi.

"It appears that you're the front and centre of this experiment again, Ayanokouji." Kanzaki posed an innocent question. I wondered whether he was simply curious about my situation. Having observed the person Kanzaki Ryuji over the last one year, he was probably one of more cautious and level headed figureheads in his class.

A stray from a pack.

Class-B's approach of being conservative and benign towards others won't work in this harsh and testing environment. Kanzaki probably realised this and was willing to adapt and win at any cost.

Whether he decides to change the dynamics of how the class works or rolls over, compliantly accepting their situation is up to him.

Nonetheless, he has his work cut out for him.

"Are we gonna see Suzune's strategies for the special exam?" Sudou appeared a little excited at that prospect.

"Did the government skip the special exam explanation or something? Ne, Miyabi, aren't you the president? Do you know the rules?" Asahina-senpai queried.

Nagumo-senpai smirked. "I'll tell you if you say please, Nazuna!"

"Fuck off."

He appeared to be rather rattled which further amused the sunflower hair-pinned girl.

Tachibana-senpai smirked. 'Serves him right. I always wondered why Horikita-kun hired that rude kouhai into the student council in the first place. Disrespectful little bastard!'

"Nagumo-senpai, please tell us the rules of the special exam. I'm sure everyone will be thankful and have an easier time with the videos." Ichinose expressed her opinion.

Nagumo-senpai sent a smirk towards Asahina-senpai to which the girl simply rolled her eyes.

"Very well, listen up everyone. The motif of this exam is your test-taking and communication skills. The former needs no explanation but the latter as per school's data and instructions has fallen wayward."

Ike rudely interrupted. "Huh? Aren't we having like a gazillion special exams every year? Something's sus..."

"Shut up." The blonde-haired boy glared with his full intensity at Ike. "This world is slowly shifting into a meritocracy and if there is still someone here who's uncomfortable to interact with upper or underclassmen, I suggest you consider your strategies.

Anyway, coincidentally this exam is similar to the Paper Shuffle. I'm sure the first years are familiar with it." Various nods of agreement resonated throughout the hall.

"The rules are simple; Partner up with any first year and score a combined score of at least 501 points to clear. Each subject will have a max of 100 points. If the duo fails to overcome this hurdle, then only the second year will get expelled. Simple." He finished off the explanation with a grin.

The gravitas was understood quite clearly by everyone. Class-D gulped in anticipated breaths hoping none of their classmates and friends would get expelled.

With Nagumo Miyabi seeing me as the person of interest coinciding with Horikita-senpai, it wouldn't be unlikely for him to join hands with Tsukishiro and try to take me out.

"There's no way that one of the first-years is gonna wanna pair up with me! Is an idiot like me really supposed to rely on communication skills in order to get through this!?" Ike's lament was understandable.

"He looks like Ryuen-kun but just uglier." Himeno said.

"Oof! Yuki-chan, that's rude! I feel bad for the poor kouhai. Maybe he's acting tough towards the upperclassmen, you know, like an intimidation tactic." Yume giggled.

"Kukuku, he reminds me of a character from the movie 'Planet of the Apes'"

Ishizaki pondered. "Who is it, Ryuen-san? Do you mean that Mark Walburg guy?"

"Idiot! Kukuku, he resembles one of those ugly gorillas that died from experiments."

Ibuki snorted whilst the others that heard him struggled to contain their laughter. Most of the Class-B members gasped in shock.

Hiyori chopped the air with her hand. "That's a bad thing to say, Ryuen-kun. The next time you see him, you have to apologise, okay?"

Ryuen continued laughing as if he didn't hear her.

"Memorise? Why would you memorise something as useless as OAA stats if you check them anytime you want in your phone. Plus they change every month right. What a waste!" Kikuchi said.

Matsushita answered. "I think Ayanokouji-kun is talking about the names of the first year students from the OAA app. It's not humanly possible to remember each and every metric of all 160 students."

"Well, since the videos skipped a lot of the explanations and planning, I think Horikita-san assigned him a role of remembering the names of new students!" Azuma jovially said.

"Ahh, that makes sense." Shinohara easily agreed.

"Woow!! The girl is pretty cute." Ike unconsciously let out his thoughts. Noticing Shinohara's ire, he said. "Er, I mean the girl sitting beside me is pretty cute."

Nice save considering Shinohara's flustered face. Ike should learn how not to compliment every girl he comes across otherwise his probably only chance at a girlfriend is lost.

"It's like beauty and the beast." Sato commented on the odd pair of individuals, gazing at the screen.

"More like the beast and the beast." Sudou said while looking at the lovey-dovey couple of Ike and Shinohara.

Sato, looking perplexed, tilted her head at Sudou. "What do' ya mean? The girl's pretty cute."

Sudou's eyes widened in realisation and bobbed his head in agreement.

"

"That name...?" Ryuen wore an inexplicable face.

*munch "Do you know that person, Ryuen-san?" Ishizaki asked while eating a sandwich.

"Kuku, he was pretty infamous in my neighbourhood. His ugly mug of a face makes me wanna puke though."

"So you finally reunited with your childhood friend, Dragon-boy! Using the very same movie you said earlier for reference, 'Apes together, strong!'. Now you have a fellow gorilla to play tag along with."

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, Little girl!"

It was like watching two immature children trying to one up each other in petty insults. Sakayanagi sneered while Ryuen cackled akin to a maniac.

"I wonder who'd win between the two, Sakayanagi-chan or Ryuen-kun? They never duked it out against each other, did they?" Ike stirred the pot with more fuel.

"BOSS!" Albert yelled instantly.

"Huh?! Of course Ryuen-san would win!" Class-C rallied behind the tyrant.

"Oh, please. Sakayanagi-san has never lost before. Wasn't your so-called leader about to be expelled in the Class Poll exam." A Class-A student pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, weren't there rumours that he got his ass handed to him by X?"

"Shut up, there was never an X in the end!"

"Of course there was! How on earth will you believe that Ishizaki," the class-A student pointed toward the green-haired boy, piling his plate with food on the snacks table. "Beat up Ryuen in fist fight. He's one sandwich away from fat!"

Ishizaki calmly placed his plate on his seat before roaring. "Huh? What'd ya say, wanna go at it?"

"C'mon everyone, let's play nice. Let's accept that both Ryuen-kun and Sakayanagi-san are tough and impressive leaders to face against." Ichinose tried to calm down the two classes.

"Kukuku, as if that loli would stand a chance against me. Worst case, I'd simply kick her cane away and make her drown in the kiddie pool. And Ichinose? Her little group of girl scouts is like playing on easy difficulty."

"Ara, accepting that you can't defeat me and that you would resort to violent measures shows our superiority, no?"

"Violence is a means to an end. Who cares about shit like that if you're licking my feet at the end. Kuku, I don't mind playing with you once the next school year starts."

"Fufu, very well, we'll settle it then." It seems like the two classes are going to clash against each other very soon.

Mashima-sensei sighed before proceeding to play the tape. He was probably having a hard time trying to control his class and manage the entire event which was turning out to be more and more raucous.

"What the hell is that guy's attitude? Why is he treating Suzune like that? He should respect his senpais more." Sudou grumbled.

I wonder whether he realised how hypocritical that sounded. I was promptly reminded of the first day of school where Sudou trash talked his senpais outside the convenience store.

"He's acting all tough and mighty for a Class-D student." Machida scorned.

"The fuck is he saying? Calling us retards when he's in class-D as well. Suzune, do you have any idea why we'd pair up with these assholes?" Sudou, irritatedly said.

"I can make a few guesses. Hosen-kun is implying about class-D's poor academic scores and how no one would want to team up with us. If what Nagumo-senpai said is true, then the stakes lie mainly for the second year students with expulsion on the line. He is likely asking for some sort of payment, per se Private Points, in order to find partners with our class." Horikita calmly said.

"Guess that makes sense. I mean who'd want to team with Sudou-kun. He has one of the lowest Academic abilities in our school year. What I don't get is how the new first years are able to understand the S-System this quickly." Keisei put his two cents worth.

Nagumo laughed. "I can explain that. In order to implement the special exams quicker, we decided to give them the full explanation of the S-System on the first day itself. Naturally, for compensation all classes will start at 800 Class Points."

"H-Huh? That's so unfair." Hondou muttered.

"If the school implemented that last year, we might even be Class-A by now..." Ike yearned.

"W-Wha- H-How can the rude kouhai speak such an insolent and disrespectful language. Why did they even admit a troublemaker into this prestigious school in the first place?"

"It's really like dealing with another Ryuen-kun." Horikita sighed.

Horikita was probably reminiscing about the time she almost bowed before Ryuen during the sports festival.

What's with delinquents and them wanting Horikita on her knees?

"PAUSE... Why would he tank his own scores? Someone explain!" Shibata exclaimed.

Kanzaki calmly said. "This special exam caters advantageously towards the first years. With no expulsions on the line for them and everything to lose for us, their demands would have to be met. Of course, I'm not sure what would happen if someone intentionally fails on purpose and makes their partner get expelled. Plus there are only 157 students in our school year, so we also don't know how the school will compensate for the three first years without a teammate."

"In other words, the government's a bitch for skipping shit..." Himeno said while blowing a bubble.