I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

Sato directly targeted Kikyo Kushida, who now had the worst reputation in the class. This would obviously be much less of a hindrance than getting Horikita and Amane to break up. However... this was not quite in line with her plan. Oh well, at this point, it shouldn't matter whether there was a plan or not.

To Sato's surprise, when the condition was that Kushida, whose reputation was already ruined, be expelled from school, not a single person agreed.

Instead, the way everyone was looking at her seemed... a little off.

Kushida giggled and snuggled into Amane's arms under everyone's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Sato-kun, but I'm not like some people who are unloved."

Chapter 240: Only I am worthy of her

Just as Class A's special exam reached a stalemate, the special exams of the other classes went surprisingly smoothly.

Class D was the first to complete the special exam, followed by Class C, while Class B, like Class A, was struggling due to some minor incidents.

In the corridor of the teaching building, Himeno and Ayanokoji walked side by side. As the two leaders of Class D, the class that finished the special exam the fastest and whose class points continued to increase, there was not a trace of joy on their faces. The two, who had the same attribute, walked towards the stairs with expressionless faces.

In the end, it was Himeya who broke the silence first.

"Hey Ayanokouji, is it really okay for us to just abandon Tokito like this? Even though his overall abilities are definitely the worst, he's still quite popular and gets along well with his classmates..."

Hime's voice was somewhat confused and lazy. She really didn't want to say much about this kind of thing. However, Tokito was a very lively person who was also quite righteous. But even such a person was called upon by Ayanokoji to vote for his expulsion from school for a reason that no one could defend.

"But his overall evaluation on the OAA is the last in Class D. A student who has spent half his time on campus has a lower evaluation than when he first came to school. I don't think he has the value to show two hundred class points in the future. Or... Hime, do you think Toki-kun has any special advantages?"

Ayanokoji patiently explained to Himeno the reasons for eliminating Tokito. As a newcomer, he shouldn't have had any say, but because of Amane's words, "I'm giving you the second strongest person in our class, after me. How you use him is up to you," Ayanokoji instantly became a hot and important figure in Class 2-D.

At first, they, including Hime, did not believe that Ayanokoji's strength was that outstanding, but everyone believed in Amane's judgment. Someone who could turn a bad hand into the top of the grade, even if her king could beat all the single cards, still had a part of the victory to come from the efforts of the other people in her class.

During the time Hirata was in charge of the classes, these people had only one name – defective products.

Whether it's Koenji, Ayanokouji, or Matsushita who excelled in the student council, these highly individualistic or previously unknown talents all shone brightly under Amane's leadership after she became a class leader, which is enough to demonstrate Amane's ruthless judgment.

Although they didn't understand why Amane would want Kanzaki, whom they considered useless, they were willing to believe Amane's assessment of Ayanokouji.

As a result, Ayanokouji was put in charge of the male students in the class, and together with Himeno, he fulfilled the duties of the class leader.

Everyone knows the saying, "A new broom sweeps clean," so everyone was prepared for Ayanokouji to set fire to some people.

However, many people had reservations about Ayanokouji's overly extreme approach to combat. After all, Ayanokouji and they were in opposing classes not long ago, and they had no classmate relationship. This time it was Toki who dropped out, but who knew that they might be the ones dropping out next time? Therefore, no matter how reasonable Ayanokouji's words were, he could not convince everyone of his decision and judgment.

So after the special exam, everyone privately asked Hime to find out more about Ayanoji and see if his extreme measures were to establish his authority or if this was really Ayanoji's fighting style.

"He doesn't have any particularly outstanding qualities. His performance at the time wasn't particularly remarkable. If I had to give him an evaluation, I would only say that he's a good person."

Hime didn't really think much of a student like Tokito, nor did she care much about his dropping out of school. However, she also wanted to get some information from Ayanokoji about his values, beliefs, and way of doing things, so as to facilitate future cooperation.

"A good person? Hime-kun, the purpose of this school was never to cultivate 'good people'. The law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, is extremely cruel to ordinary people, but there is no way around it unless... we give up the competition. If you feel that the ranking of Class D is satisfactory enough, Hime-kun, I can also face the special exam in the way that everyone likes. Anyway, our class points won't have too much of an impact on our lives, right?"

Ayanokoji stopped in her tracks, turned her head slightly, and stared calmly into Himeno's eyes.

"Give up the competition? We can't do that."

Hime answered quite decisively. Even though they had fallen to Class D, even though Class A had a lineup that was despair-inducing and Miyako Amane who stood in front of them like an insurmountable mountain, Class D never thought of giving up.

Whether you can win is one thing, whether you dare to do it is another.

"Since we can't give up, then the only path we have is to move forward, right? Rather than dwelling on the past, I hope you, Himeno, can see the future. First, I have some good news for you. Class C only received 50 class points as a reward because they refused to let anyone drop out, while we received 250 points, which significantly narrowed the gap between us and Class C. Now we are less than 100 points away from becoming Class C in the second year. As long as we work hard in the sports festival and the cultural festival... Himeno, we might still have a chance to become Class C before December."

Ayanokoji's words echoed in Himeno's ears like a spell.

"Less than 100 points..."

……

"The results of this vote are as follows: 19 votes accepted and 19 votes rejected. Since no unanimous agreement was reached, we will now take a break."

Majima Tomoya looked at the students of Class B and sighed heavily in his heart.

The first four questions were child's play to Class B, and they passed them all in just over an hour, even faster than Tianyin's team. But when it came to the crucial final question, the supporters and opponents voted for eight rounds without a clear winner.

The most bizarre thing was that the number of votes for both sides was the same! Moreover, after each vote, Hashimoto and Fukuyama Shisho took turns lobbying from two different perspectives, yet the supporters of both sides did not waver at all. This bizarre scene truly showed Majima, a teacher with many years of experience, just how well one person could control a class.

Unfortunately, that silly boy Hashimoto still doesn't realize that he's become a plaything to satisfy others' perverse tastes. How pathetic...

Although he felt sorry for Hashimoto being made a fool of, his professional ethics as a teacher led him to remain silent.

According to the rules of the special exam, his job as the teacher is to stand here and announce the start of the exam, count the votes, and announce the next steps.

In addition, no interference is allowed in any way that could affect the exam results.

So even though Majima had already noticed something was wrong in the second round of voting, she could only watch helplessly as a group of people acted alongside one person.

"What's going on here? I'm sick of voting. Can't you two just come up with a consensus?"

Kamuro casually tossed the tablet he was holding onto the table, put his hands on his hips, and asked Fukuyama and Hashi, who were locked in a standoff, "What do you mean?"

"Do you think I want to keep arguing with this guy? I've said so many times that there's no penalty for this question. Isn't it enough if we just honestly get 50 class points? Besides, who knows if Class A will be willing to abandon a classmate we've known for a year and a half, as Hashimoto said? In order not to fall behind Class A, we have to have one of us drop out? What kind of logic is that?"

Fukuyama no longer cared about maintaining her usual dignified and intellectual image. She was already furious with Hashimoto. She had voted for the option of not accepting the dropout in exchange for class points, as Sakayanagi had told her, but she didn't know what had gotten into Hashimoto, who insisted on having someone drop out.

After several rounds of voting, Fukuyama also noticed the problem with the vote count, but she had no idea what went wrong. More than the coincidental vote count, Fukuyama wanted to know what was wrong with her comrade-in-arms, Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had always shared the same goal.

Hashimoto hasn't shown any obvious hostility towards Sakayanagi since yesterday. Everything was fine until this last question. Why did Hashimoto suddenly go crazy and insist on making someone drop out of school?

Was Hashimoto acting to achieve some kind of goal, or was he acting under someone's orders, such as Sakayanagi?

However, Sakayanagi has voted against all of them in these rounds of voting. The overwhelming amount of information has left Fukuyama's mind in a state of chaos. Right now, she just hopes that Sakayanagi can step forward as soon as possible to deal with Hashimoto or directly integrate the opinions of Class B. Otherwise, if this drags on and the special exam goes overtime, then everything will be over.

"I don't want to waste time with you here, Fukuyama-kun. I've said my opinion many times before: the difference in points between the top performers in the upcoming sports festival and cultural festival is not that big, and it's even more likely that they will get the same number of points."

If we're content to just stay behind Class A, then it's hard to say we'll ever have another chance like this to overtake or pull ourselves into Class A before graduation! Besides, I've already investigated the special exams in third grade; they're basically minor competition, and the rivalry isn't nearly as intense as in first and second grade, let alone the generous class points rewards we're getting now. We only need one person! One person can get two hundred class points—doesn't everyone want to get back into Class A?

If the previous words only slightly tempted everyone, Hashimoto's final question, asking if everyone wanted to return to Class A, made many people's hearts flutter.

However, as former Class A students, they naturally wouldn't act impulsively and support Hashimoto.

Because the true master of this class never uttered a single word from beginning to end.

"I admit that your suggestion, Hashimoto-kun, is very tempting. I even dream of going back to Class A. But the problem is that these 200 class points don't just fall from the sky. They require sacrificing a classmate who has been with us since the beginning of the school year. I think if you want these 200 class points so much, why don't you just drop out of school yourself? Use your withdrawal to get 200 class points so that everyone can have the opportunity to keep up with Class A. Isn't that exactly what you want, Hashimoto-kun?"

As soon as Hashimoto finished speaking, Fukuyama immediately retorted.

Hashimoto supports exchanging one student's withdrawal for 200 class points, yet he himself is unwilling to withdraw. Fukuyama sees this as utterly selfish. What she truly cannot understand is why anyone would support Hashimoto, given that everyone should be able to see it's driven by personal gain. Aren't they afraid Hashimoto will force them to withdraw? Or... has Hashimoto already set his sights on something?

"This rule doesn't say that whoever votes to accept will be the one expelled. As things stand, I've contributed the most to Class B. If you can just sacrifice the person who has contributed the most to the class, who will be willing to risk their life for Class B in the future?"

Hashimoto's words sounded somewhat cowardly and unreasonable, but actually, there wasn't much of a problem with his explanation. Since becoming the student council president, Sakayanagi had been busy with the student council's development and had no time to pay attention to the class's exams. In addition, there were special exams that relied on physical strength, such as the forest exam and the survival special exam, which Sakayanagi couldn't participate in. Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, Hashimoto was indeed the most active student in Class B and also the student with the highest win rate in Class B's external operations. For Class B, Hashimoto was equivalent to half a class leader, and it was impossible for Hashimoto to be the one to be expelled.

However, these kinds of things are best kept private; almost no one dares to say them out loud like Hashimoto.

"What?! Even if you led us to victory in many special exams, weren't most of your strategies guided by Sakayanagi-san? Without Sakayanagi-san's guidance, I don't believe you could stand out against other classes on your own."

The mere mention of Sakayanagi sparked a wave of opposition against Hashimoto in the class. Faced with the indignant supporters of Sakayanagi, Hashimoto remained remarkably calm, as he had long anticipated such a day. In fact, the current situation was far better than during the simulations, as Hashimoto never imagined he would have supporters capable of rivaling Sakayanagi.

"Princess Sakayanagi Arisu did offer a lot of helpful advice to our class, but our princess has already spoiled Miyako rotten. Surely none of you really think she'll lead you to challenge Miyako to a duel?"

As soon as Hashimoto finished speaking, a delicate figure slowly stood up from her seat.

"I've finally heard you say that, Hashimoto-kun. It's such a shame I still had illusions about you at the last minute. Before I watch your ridiculous performance, I'll answer your question first. Of course, I will lead everyone to fight against Amane. Only I have the strength to challenge Amane, only I have the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with her, and only I am worthy of her... such an opponent."

Chapter 241: Desperate Counterattack

"So that's why Your Highness has been sitting silently watching the vote reach a stalemate. It turns out you had already received information and wanted to see me make a fool of myself. But Your Highness, are you really so confident that I will be the one who loses face here today, instead of you?"

Faced with Sakayanagi personally taking charge, Hashimoto did not panic. Compared to those who would panic at the first sign of trouble, Hashimoto's mental fortitude was definitely top-notch. He was completely different from those who, in a moment of impulsiveness, would try to seize power and think they could do a better job than the current class leader.

Since last year's sports festival, Hashimoto had judged that Amane's class was bound to rise, and there was only one way to stop her: the entire grade had to work together to completely hinder Amane's progress. So he began to contact various people in private. As Hashimoto had predicted, by uniting with the students who were then in Class A, they successfully slowed Amane's progress with their excellent personnel, causing Amane's class to slow down its class points growth.

However, many things are beyond the control of Hashimoto Masayoshi, who has no say. Sakayanagi, who is very close to Amane, has an ambiguous attitude towards Amane and even shifts his focus to the thankless task of building the student council. Ichinose also broke his promise to Amane because the class lacked points.

Although Ninomiya successfully drove Ichinose away with Hashimoto's intervention, Ichinose ended up in Amane's class. Not only that, Sakayanagi didn't heed Hashimoto's advice to keep Katsuragi, causing Katsuragi to transfer to Amane's class as well. The consequence of this was that Amane's fighting strength became ridiculously strong. Moreover, the perfect and stable defensive lineup formed by Hirata, Katsuragi, and Ichinose left Hashimoto helpless. In the end, they were indeed defeated by Amane, and even their Class A title was taken away.

Fortunately, although they suffered a defeat, it was not a big deal for them, given their deep foundation. As long as they devised a more comprehensive strategy, even if they couldn't win against Tianyin's Class A, minimizing their losses would still be manageable.

However, the problem with Class B now lies with its leader, Arisu Sakayanagi.

She showed absolutely no desire to reclaim Class A, nor did she display even the slightest inclination to fight against Amane. Finally, Hashimoto realized something.

Rather than entrusting your fate to others, it's better to take a gamble based on your own abilities. If you were to ask Hashimoto whether becoming the class leader would allow him to defeat Amane, Hashimoto would definitely ask you if you were still half asleep.

Hashimoto had no confidence in defeating Amane, and he knew that Amane from Class B, who had lost Sakayanagi, would definitely not show him any mercy. So what was Hashimoto's reason for doing this?

Hashimoto didn't want to be a pathetic loser. He wanted to lead everyone to graduate from Class A. Even if they failed, it should be a fight against Class A with all their might, only to be defeated and ultimately become losers, instead of completely avoiding fighting Amane and watching Amane take all the victory as they are now.

This was something Hashimoto could not accept, so he was determined to change Class B. The first thing he did was to expel Sakayanagi Arisu. If it were a normal expulsion, Amane would definitely take rescue measures, which would make everyone afraid to make trouble for Sakayanagi, fearing that Sakayanagi would retaliate against them after being rescued.

Knowing everyone's concerns, Hashimoto could only patiently wait for his opportunity. Finally, the opportunity presented itself to him. After the start of the semester, Hashimoto learned about the special exam that everyone agreed on and that personal points were not allowed to be used for rescue during this special exam. This made Hashimoto overjoyed.

Because the rule against rescue ensures that those classmates who want Sakayanagi to drop out of school but are afraid of being retaliated against by Sakayanagi will stand up and fight alongside him, Hashimoto uses a third-year senior who works in the student council but whose relationship with Sakayanagi and Amane has deteriorated to an extreme degree to obtain access to student council documents from her, thus learning in advance the specific questions of the unanimous special exam.

The student council had been preparing for this special exam since the survival exam, but it was not made public to the teachers and students, which is why this special exam seemed so sudden. However, for those who did not participate in the special exam but remained in the student council, this special exam was no secret.

Therefore, Hashimoto was very certain that Sakayanagi also knew about this special exam. He had noticed something amiss from the actions of some people long before the operation began. Those neutral students who had previously been on good terms with him or who had been recruited to his side suddenly started to distance themselves from him one by one.

Upon discovering this phenomenon, Hashimoto immediately realized that things had been exposed. He accurately judged that Sakayanagi, who, like Amane, enjoyed manipulating people's hearts, would definitely try to use the trap he had set to kill Hashimoto. Only in this way could the whole thing become full of wicked fun and drama. So Hashimoto began to make preparations.

It can be said that the reason why the votes of both sides were able to remain deadlocked for eight rounds was due to the joint efforts of Sakayanagi and Hashimoto. Both sides were waiting for the other to break through the barrier first. Finally, after judging that if the time was delayed until the end, Class B would be severely weakened and would no longer have the strength to compete with Class A, they had no choice but to break through the barrier first. Then, as expected, Sakayanagi appeared and prepared to start her performance.

but……

The real struggle has only just begun.

"Oh? Your little tricks are no match for me. I'm curious what other tricks you have up your sleeve."

Sakayanagi tapped the ground a few times with his palm, and Kito consciously came to stand behind Sakayanagi.

Seeing that Kito, whom he had just successfully persuaded, was now standing behind Sakayanagi, Hashimoto frowned slightly. However, he did not expect that Kito, a die-hard Sakayanagi supporter, would choose to side with him.

"I knew it! Where did Princess get her courage? So you're planning to use Kito-kun's 'violence' to break the deadlock? Possessing the class's best weaponry, yet using it to protect your personal safety—our princess is far too cowardly."

"That's because the brain is more useful than the hands and feet. What? Are you still waiting for Tsukaji to kidnap me?"

As soon as Sakayanagi finished speaking, Tsukaji, who was sitting not far from Sakayanagi, suddenly jumped onto the table and lunged at Sakayanagi, trying to take her hostage. Just then, Tsukaji's body suddenly stopped in mid-air and then fell backward heavily at an even faster speed. Before Tsukaji could react, he was punched in the stomach and curled up like a lobster, unable to move.

"Tsk, they dare to show their face with such mediocre skills, they really don't take us seriously."

Fukuyama Shinobu stretched his body and then kicked Tsukaji in the head again.

Faced with Fukuyama's punches and kicks, Tsukaji could only desperately protect his head, powerless to fight back.

Seeing the two sides start fighting in the blink of an eye, the students in Class B looked at each other in disbelief. They never expected that Hashimoto would actually dare to attack Sakayanagi in such a situation, especially with both the homeroom teacher and the proctor present! Even if he succeeded in taking Sakayanagi hostage, Hashimoto would probably be expelled, right? So where did Hashimoto get the confidence to choose this moment to launch an attack?

"Wait!! Shinobu, stop right now! Damn it! Why did this happen? Arisu, you knew all along that Hashimoto was planning this, didn't you?"

Seeing his younger sister rush up and beat up Tsukaji, fearing she would be punished by the proctor, Fukuyama Shisho loudly tried to stop Fukuyama Shinobu while simultaneously stepping past Kito and standing in front of Sakayanagi, loudly questioning him.

"Fukuyama-kun, the situation has come to this... can't you guess the answer yet?"

"Then why didn't you tell me before you took action, Arisu? If I had been able to prepare in advance, maybe..."

"Maybe this conflict wouldn't have happened? Fukuyama Shishou, your learning ability and way of thinking are not that different from mine. Moreover, you have a gentle personality and can get along with everyone. If you were in another class, you would be the next Ichinose Honami. But do you know why this class pushed me to be the class leader?"

Sakayanagi first straightened his school uniform, then slowly circled around Fukuyama, finally stopping beside him and looking with interest at Fukuyama Shisho, who was frowning in thought.

"Of course, my abilities are not as good as yours, Arisu."

"No, it's not a matter of whether you're good or not, it's that you're too naive. Perhaps you don't know this, but just a few days ago, Fukuyama Shinobu participated in the plan to ambush me. According to Hashimoto-kun's script, Fukuyama Shinobu's mission was to help Tsukaji kidnap me and then control another important figure in the Sakayanagi faction, namely you, Fukuyama-kun."

In front of everyone, Sakayanagi loudly revealed Hashimoto's plan. When Fukuyama Shisho heard that his younger sister had actually participated in the rebellion against Sakayanagi and even planned to kidnap her, he showed a shocked expression.

"Impossible! Shinobu would never do such a thing! Shinobu! Tell me, Sakayanagi, she's lying, right?"

When Fukuyama Shishou looked anxiously at Fukuyama Shinobu, Fukuyama Shinobu lowered his head in shame, unable to meet her gaze.

Upon witnessing this scene, Fukuyama Shishō took two steps back and then collapsed weakly to the ground.

Staring at Shinobu Fukuyama, she opened her mouth as if to say something, but found that it was as if a fishbone was stuck in her throat. Shinobu Fukuyama closed her eyes tightly in pain for a long time before slowly opening them, and then raised her head to look at Sakayanagi.

"Then why is she on your side now?"

"Because Gui Tou had a good talk with her, it turns out your sister isn't as tough as she seems. Alright, that's the end of your matter. I have more important things to take care of. You two can do as you please."

After finishing speaking, Sakayanagi turned his attention back to Hashimoto.

Even after the first and second plans were thwarted, Hashimoto remained remarkably calm. Even Sakayanagi was starting to admire Hashimoto's composure. However, Hashimoto was simply trying to buy time for the third plan, using the vote to create public pressure. Seeing Sakayanagi use Kito and Fukuyama Shinobu to violently suppress his classmates, many neutral students would likely choose to support Hashimoto's side. This is because most of these students knew about Hashimoto's plan but hadn't agreed or explicitly stated their intention to participate.

However, no one can guarantee that those who jump back to Sakayanagi's side won't also report the names of the people they've had contact with to Sakayanagi. The thought of being purged afterward will surely tempt some to preemptively try to use a vote to force Sakayanagi to drop out of school. Even if they can't drop out, they hope to use delaying tactics to push Class B to the brink, thus giving Hashimoto the right to negotiate with Sakayanagi.

In general, the strategy involves using the power of those who oppose Sakayanagi to collectively pressure him into abandoning the purge or compromising.

"Break time is over, voting begins."

Ms. Majima calmly watched the farce unfold before her and announced that the voting would continue. Under her watchful gaze, everyone returned to their seats to begin the ninth round of voting.

The voting for Class B ended in just three seconds after it began.

Ms. Majima hesitated for a moment after looking at the voting results before announcing the results of the ninth vote.