I Came, I Saw, I Lost!

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With the Rabbit group's exam concluded, Ichinose had successfully achieved Outcome Three. That alone would grant her and Class B fifty Class Points.

It wasn't an immediate victory. And in a way, it wasn't even about the points.

What she gained was something else, something less tangible but far more important.

Conviction.

Even if the word sounded grand, it wasn't supposed to be anything lofty. It was something all humans were meant to have naturally. Ichinose was no exception. But she'd simply been lacking in that aspect until now.

She wasn't ignorant. She understood right from wrong, gain from loss, honesty from dishonesty. She wasn't blind to how things worked. But her kindness, and her naïve way of thinking often got in the way, along with the inability to clearly separate her priorities. In the end, no other word described it better than naïve.

Her belief in being a good person while also being a good leader sounded noble on the surface. But without knowing when to draw the line, without knowing what to protect and when to let go, it was all just a misguided ideal. A contradiction she hadn't yet come to terms with.

Thankfully, something changed. Even if only a little.

No human can change their nature overnight. That kind of transformation doesn't happen in a blink of an eye.

Even a "Impartial non-human" like Anshin'in-san, who had lived through billions of years, still couldn't change her suicidal tendencies until recently.

『Well, I didn't think it'd happen this soon, but I expected no less from you. Just what I'd expect from someone enrolled in an elite school. But yeah... life never really goes the way you want it to, huh?』

His tone was vague. Whether it was praise, sarcasm, or something else entirely—it was impossible to tell.

"What do you mean Kumagawa-kun?"

Ichinose asked with a puzzled look. But instead of giving her a proper answer, Kumagawa slowly stood up from his seat.

『I won't have to stay too long here then. Sorry for disturbing you. It was nice talking to you after such a long time.』

Without waiting for a reply, Kumagawa turned and walked away.

Ayanokouji watched silently as Kumagawa and Kushida exited the room.

Throughout this exam, they had been unusually close. Especially Kushida—her behavior had been striking. He hadn't expected her to be that compatible around someone like Kumagawa. It reminded him a little of his own relationship with Horikita. Though they were rarely on the same wavelength, they still worked together, somehow.

Did Kushida and Kumagawa have something similar?

Normally, personalities that far apart should repel each other as people with such conflicting natures shouldn't get along. But maybe because they were twisted in their own way that they managed to get along.

Just like how two negatives in mathematics could cancel each other out. Minus times minus equals plus.

But even so, the word "compatible" felt fundamentally incompatible with Kumagawa Misogi. What could ever be considered "compatible" for someone like him?

"...He really is a unique person, isn't he?" Said Ichinose.

Rather than using stronger words like unpleasant, horrible, or disgusting, Ichinose had chosen to say "unique." It was vague enough to go either way, positive or negative, depending on who she was talking to. Ayanokouji understood why. There was no simple word to describe Kumagawa in a positive way.