On the other side.
Watching Ike Kanji throw a tantrum, Matsushita Chiaki furrowed her brows.
Attributing mistakes entirely to others in this manner is truly disgusting.
Ayanokouji could not help but look toward Ike Kanji's direction.
He truly did not expect.
That Ike Kanji would seek his own destruction like this.
This display of incompetent rage would only make people feel repulsed.
"Kanji, don't be like this, calm down a bit."
Sudo hurriedly tried to soothe his brother's emotions.
He really did not want to see this pathetic side of his brother.
"Bang!"
A dull thud sounded.
Ike Kanji's hands slammed violently onto the table as he roared.
"Shut up! You guys sure are happy, with your good grades and athletic skills."
Ike Kanji's face was gloomy, his expression twisted and squeezed together.
"You don't have to worry about expulsion at all, it's so nice... it's truly enviable."
"That's because..."
"Noisy..."
Before Horikita Suzune could finish, Ike Kanji loudly interrupted again.
"Aren't you just trying to say they are indispensable existences for the class? So what?"
"..."
This time.
Horikita Suzune did not respond; Matsushita Chiaki and the others also watched the scene helplessly, feeling as though Ike Kanji had gone mad.
Despicable.
Ugly.
Losing rationality.
Completely impossible to talk to.
This was Ike Kanji's current performance.
However.
In fact, he had not.
Ike Kanji was merely engaging in a frantic self-rescue, but such behavior appeared no different from madness in the eyes of Yukimura and the others.
"Everyone must think so too, right?"
Ike Kanji turned to look at Sotamura and Hondou, his gaze filled with hatred mixed with a trace of pity.
"It's originally like this. We all agreed to make the guy who always voted in favor get expelled, so why go back on it and use some OAA rankings? Isn't that very strange?"
"All of this... all of it, is Horikita and Ayanokouji's fault."
"Everyone must think so too, right?"
Ike Kanji sought everyone's opinion.
Think about it carefully.
His words actually weren't entirely without reason.
They had originally agreed to expel Kushida Kikyo, but in the end, they were suddenly backstabbed to expel Sakura Airi.
Only.
Ike Kanji ignored one thing.
He himself was also one of those who did not want Kushida Kikyo to be expelled at the time.
But that is not important.
What is important is.
Having to suffer the disdainful looks of those around him every day, and being unscrupulously mocked in the cafeteria.
While it wasn't impossible to survive.
One just had to stay within the class and avoid going out as much as possible.
But the mental fortitude of Ike Kanji and the others was far inferior to that of Horikita Suzune and her group.
To put it simply.
They originally thought that if Sakura Airi was expelled, she was expelled, and after a while, the class would return to normal.
Unfortunately.
It did not.
The price they had to pay far exceeded the expectations of Ike Kanji and the others.
If expelling Sakura Airi required no price, Ike Kanji and the others would naturally have no complaints.
After all.
They weren't very close to Sakura Airi to begin with.
The bit of guilt in their hearts would naturally fade with time.
But if there is a price, and that price far exceeds expectations.
Ike Kanji and the others naturally would not be willing.
They began to look for reasons.
Clearly...
"Yeah..."
Seeing someone take the lead, Hondou also quickly stood up, feeling somewhat angry.
"I clearly opposed it at the time, why did Sakura have to be the one to be expelled?"
"That's right, we clearly opposed it back then, wasn't it all just Horikita and Ayanokouji acting willfully?"
"That things have turned out like this is entirely the fault of Horikita and Ayanokouji."
"If someone has to be expelled, it should be Horikita, you get expelled!"
Sotamura and the others also erupted with dissatisfaction.
Think about it carefully.
Everyone had voiced opposition at the time, but Horikita Suzune, firmly believing she was right, acted willfully and ignored everyone's objections.
Thinking about it this way.
Clearly it was Horikita Suzune's decision, yet they have to be ostracized by the school along with her.
How unjust and unfair this is.
However.
The ones who voted in favor were them, and the ones who opposed were also them.
Now, they attribute all the blame to Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji.
Mean, shameless, cunning, and ugly.
Ike Kanji and the others' current performance gives off exactly that impression.
But.
This is also not important.
What is important is that the price far exceeds everyone's expectations.
Except for a few like Horikita Suzune, Ike Kanji and the others cannot bear this price, and they are unwilling to bear it.
It's never a case of someone being the leader just because they are the boss; rather, she is the leader because everyone is willing to listen to her.
Clearly.
Ike Kanji and the others are the ones with the upper hand.
Whether it was Yamauchi Haruki or Ike Kanji, whether it was during the expulsion exam or now.
Both can rally more people than Ayanokouji and Horikita Suzune.
Neither Yukimura nor Sudo need to worry about expulsion.
Whether it is academic grades or physical ability.
They are the top performers in the class, the truly indispensable members of the class.
However.
Ike Kanji and Sotamura and the others cannot...
Implementing the bottom-tier elimination system.
It can indeed greatly increase the enthusiasm of the students.
But it leaves those in the lower ranks, like Sotamura and the others, in the constant pain of possible expulsion at any moment.
Presumably, Yukimura would say this is the result of incompetence, and Horikita Suzune would say she understands their pain.
However.
This is merely the "they should be very pained" derived from rational thinking.
Exactly how painful it is.
Ayanokouji and Horikita Suzune do not actually know; they only judge from a rational perspective that it must be painful.
Struggling with studying every day, yet grades never improve.
Staying in the classroom.
One must always watch one's words and deeds, for fear that if their evaluation drops, the next person to be expelled will be themselves.
Those who do not grow are quickly eliminated.
Such pain, Horikita Suzune cannot understand.
In the world moving toward rationality.
Ayanokouji, Horikita Suzune, Yukimura, Sudo, and the others have long lost the ability to empathize with the weak.
This.
Is not the White Room!
In the White Room, those who cannot keep up with the curriculum are naturally eliminated.
But here!
Ike Kanji and the others have the right to choose!
"What..."
Just then.
As Horikita Suzune was about to say something, Chabashira Sae suddenly spoke.
"Ten minutes are up. Return to your seats and select the candidate student you think should be expelled."
With no other choice.
Everyone returned to their seats.
Ike Kanji gave a cold laugh as he returned to his seat, picked up the tablet, and chose Horikita Suzune's name without hesitation.
Long before the exam.
Horikita Suzune had naturally made preparations in advance.
As the person most likely to be expelled, Ike Kanji naturally also had preparations and had contacted some of his friends.
Of course.
These friends did not include Sudo Ken.
Sudo Ken, who had no need to worry about the risk of expulsion, had long been excluded; this was just a victim's alliance.
The process was very simple.
The group easily reached a consensus.
Those dissatisfied with their surroundings had long harbored deep resentment.
Clearly, they had already opposed it, yet it was Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji who made the decision—why should they have to bear the price together?
People with such self-centered thoughts.
Are many!