Before 3:00 PM, the optional project exams for Class B and Class C ended early.
After all, the main projects designed by both classes were relatively short matches; ending early was perfectly normal.
In First-Year Class B, Ichinose returned to the classroom in a panic.
"Hikigaya-kun, everyone!"
Ichinose quickly walked to Hikigaya's side and looked at the pale-faced Hamaguchi and the others.
"Are you all okay?"
"No, it's just some superficial injuries."
"Me too, I feel a bit better than yesterday."
Hamaguchi and the others forced smiles, looking as if they were on the verge of collapse, which made Hikigaya feel some sympathy.
He truly had superficial injuries, but Hamaguchi and the others were genuinely in a bad state.
However, it had been almost two days.
Resting for a few more days should be enough, and spring break was coming up soon anyway.
"That's good then."
Ichinose couldn't help but sigh in relief and bowed guiltily.
"I'm sorry, everyone. It's because I, as the leader, wasn't good enough that we lost the exam."
Undoubtedly, Class B had lost the match with a score of three to four.
The only silver lining was that they had won one round in Class C's main project, so the exam ended with only a 30-point deduction in class points.
However, by the second year, they would fall to Class C with a gap of about twenty points.
Under Ichinose's leadership, they hadn't grown at all this year; instead, they had dropped directly to Class C.
Thinking of this, Ichinose felt even more ashamed.
"That's not it at all!"
Kobashi Yume said with a slightly angry face, "Honami-chan worked very hard. It's all because Ryuuen and the others were too despicable."
"Yeah, their methods were way too low-handed..."
The pale-faced students nodded in agreement.
They originally thought Class C was just occasionally causing trouble to pressure them. While that was also contemptible, it was an exam, so it wasn't completely incomprehensible.
If they just put up with it, it would pass.
But to actually give them laxatives was simply going too far.
"Exactly."
Amikura Mako nodded. "If anything, for Honami-chan to get these results is already impressive."
"No, it's not."
Ichinose said bitterly, "This is all thanks to Hikigaya-kun and Shibata-kun. I couldn't do anything up there."
"It couldn't be helped."
Kanzaki's expression was solemn. "We never expected Ryuuen to become Class C's Commander. That was our mistake."
Someone without protection points actually risked expulsion to become the Commander.
It caught everyone off guard.
One didn't even need to guess to know that Ichinose must have fought a difficult battle up there. And under such difficult circumstances, losing by only one point provided a sufficient excuse for defeat.
It wasn't that they didn't work hard; Ryuuen's move was just too unexpected.
Who would blame them?
However, Hikigaya looked at the small hand resting on his shoulder. He didn't know why Ichinose had put her hand there.
But if she wanted to, so be it.
Where there are winners, there are losers. Even if you are a winner one moment, you might lose the next. Anyone in this world can fail.
Besides, failure is the mother of success.
There was nothing shameful about defeat.
The only issue was that while there were as many excuses as one wanted, the important thing was whether they could learn a lesson from this exam.
"Alright."
Feeling the encouraging gazes of everyone, Ichinose smiled with pursed lips and looked toward Hamaguchi and the others.
"Hamaguchi-kun, what do you think we should do? Should we appeal to the school?"
After all, Hamaguchi and the others were the victims who were given laxatives.
They naturally had the most right to speak.
Hikigaya glanced at Kobashi Yume and the others; it seemed he was the only one who felt something was off.
"Well..."
Hamaguchi and the others looked at each other, and one said hesitantly:
"I think we should just let it be. For the projects Class C designed this time, even if we had been fully healthy, it would have been hard to win."
"Only losing by one match is a relatively lucky outcome. Plus, we found out that Ryuuen has become Class C's leader again."
"It's better not to cause more trouble."
Class C's strategy this time was indeed clever.
It fully utilized Class C's strengths.
Furthermore, among the seven projects, four of Class C's were randomly selected, while Class B only got three. Luck was also on Class C's side.
In a normal competition, if Class C hadn't used underhanded tactics, Hikigaya would have likely just waited quietly for the Japanese language test.
The result would have been hard to change.
"Ichinose, what do you think?"
"Yeah."
Ichinose also nodded in relief. "We were indeed caught off guard by Ryuuen. This is probably the best result we could have achieved."
"Rather than appealing to the school, I'd rather take this as a lesson."
"I agree too."
Hamaguchi and the others, still pale, nodded. It was just diarrhea; this result was already quite good.
Since the victims themselves said so, the others naturally had nothing more to say.
To the side, Hikigaya stared down at the textbook on his desk.
To be honest, Ryuuen used dirty tricks by giving them laxatives.
But Hikigaya didn't care whether they appealed to the school; he just thought Ryuuen's method was a bit stupid.
Whether Ichinose wanted to grow from this lesson or appeal to the school as a way to restrict Ryuuen, Hikigaya thought either was fine.
After all, if they couldn't find evidence, it wouldn't change any results. Doing so had no practical meaning.
To tell the truth, his contact with Ichinose wasn't extensive.
Aside from being partners in the three-legged race during the sports festival, learning about her past during the rumors, and then her confession to him, they didn't have much interaction.
He could only see on the surface that Ichinose was beautiful, kind-hearted, had excellent grades, and had a past involving theft for which she was very guilty.
Hikigaya's understanding of Ichinose was far too shallow.
How did Ichinose understand the identity of a leader?
How did she understand a leader's responsibilities, powers, and her own position?
Hikigaya didn't know at all.
He could only see that Ichinose was very remorseful, very hardworking, and very much wanted to lead everyone to Class A.
Compared to that, Hikigaya was more concerned with the essence of the matter.
And that was: why did Kanzaki participate in the Chemistry test?!
Exactly.
Whether Hamaguchi and the others appealed to the school, or whether Ichinose arranged for him to face Albert, Hikigaya didn't take it much to heart.
Whether she treated him as a sacrificial pawn or had mysterious expectations of him—
Any reason was fine.
Hikigaya didn't care.
The only thing he cared about was why Ichinose arranged for Kanzaki to take the Chemistry test.
The main players like Hamaguchi couldn't compete, and the others were generally mediocre, yet Kanzaki was Class B's all-around second-in-command.
Mixing these people together to deal with a Chemistry test was simply ridiculous.
Either way would have been fine.
But this kind of "neither here nor there" half-baked arrangement was simply not like a qualified leader; it wasn't even as good as Kaneda's.
Others might not have minded, but Hikigaya was truly bothered by it.
What exactly was Ichinose thinking earlier to make such a foolish arrangement?