Saiki Kusuo's Classroom of the Elite

'Yare yare, I ended up winning without even trying…'

Saiki lowered his head and looked at his right hand, which had just won the rock-paper-scissors game, feeling a bit helpless.

Fortunately, no one knew about Saiki's past as the "Rock-Paper-Scissors King," so winning one round shouldn't raise any suspicions.

However… now he had to choose a group.

This exam required the entire school to be divided into six large groups, meaning he would also have to team up with second and third-year students.

He needed to choose one group from the second years and one from the third years.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were on Saiki, waiting for his decision.

'Yare yare, which group should I choose…'

Saiki pondered in his heart. After all, he hardly knew any of the upperclassmen.

'I'll just pick one at random…'

Just as Saiki was about to randomly select a group, he heard the thoughts of the people around him—

[Saiki will definitely choose Horikita-senpai's group.]

[The first choice will almost certainly be Horikita-senpai's group, right?]

[If we can be in the same group as Horikita-senpai, our exam results will be guaranteed!]

'Yare yare, it seems I don't really have a choice, do I?'

Saiki sighed inwardly. If it were anyone else, they would undoubtedly choose Horikita Manabu's group without hesitation.

'If I don't choose Horikita-senpai, I'll definitely be questioned by others… Thinking about it, if Horikita is in the group, even though he's not the leader, he'll probably take charge of managing the group. That way, I won't have to do much.'

With that in mind, Saiki pointed to Horikita Manabu's group, which mostly consisted of third-year Class A students.

"Alright."

Horikita Manabu seemed quite satisfied with this answer and nodded approvingly.

Nagumo Miyabi, on the other hand, tilted his head slightly, carefully observing Horikita Manabu's movements, a meaningful smile on his face.

The other first-year leaders began selecting the remaining upperclassmen groups one after another. The first round of selections had ended, and now it was time for the second round.

'If I win first place twice in a row, even though I can explain it away as luck, it'll definitely raise suspicions… So, to balance things out, I'll take last place this time.'

With that thought, Saiki activated his powers and happily secured last place in this round of rock-paper-scissors.

'If I'm in last place, I don't have to worry about choosing a group. I'll just take whatever group is left…'

Saiki thought to himself. This was probably the best option at the moment.

The other first-year leaders had already finished selecting their groups, and now it was Saiki's turn. However, only one group remained.

And in that group stood a familiar figure.

"Looks like we're in the same group!"

Nagumo Miyabi said with a smile.

'Why is Nagumo Miyabi's group the one left?!'

Saiki was utterly baffled. He hadn't expected Nagumo Miyabi's group to be the last one remaining.

Meanwhile, Saiki could hear Yukimura Teruhiko's excited thoughts:

[This is great! I didn't expect us to luck out and get Nagumo-senpai's group—Nagumo-senpai is the student council president, and he's a pretty nice guy. This should be a great choice!]

'You couldn't be more wrong…'

Saiki sighed inwardly. He was one of the few people in the school who knew Nagumo Miyabi's true nature.

Although Nagumo Miyabi appeared friendly, his true self was nothing short of a psychopath.

This situation was completely unexpected. Nagumo Miyabi, as the student council president, hadn't been chosen by any of the first-year leaders…

Was it because there weren't many second-year Class A students in his group?

'Yare yare, this is going to be a bit troublesome…'

Saiki turned his head and looked at the upperclassmen in the distance—Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi had actually been placed in the same group… This was bound to cause trouble.

"What a coincidence! I remember you. You're from Class D—sorry, Class B now, right? Your name is Saiki, isn't it?"

Nagumo Miyabi said with a smile, patting Saiki on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"I remember you. During the relay race, you and I were both the final runners, right? Although we didn't get to compete directly, I heard you're pretty fast!"

"I was just fast at the start. I ran out of stamina later, so I slowed down."

Saiki replied expressionlessly.

At such close proximity, Nagumo Miyabi's thoughts became very clear.

[Saiki… I noticed him during the sports festival. I did a bit of research on him. It seems he bought exam papers from upperclassmen before, and his performance during the sports festival was better than expected. Other than that, there's nothing particularly special about him… But why does Horikita-senpai seem a bit interested in him?]

'What a perceptive guy.'

Saiki looked at him expressionlessly.

However, Nagumo Miyabi quickly lost interest in Saiki and turned his attention to Horikita Manabu.

"Horikita-senpai, what a coincidence! We're in the same group~ It seems it won't be so easy to settle our rivalry… But maybe we can compete in other ways~"

Nagumo Miyabi said with a meaningful smile, looking at Horikita Manabu.

But at that moment, another tall male student stepped forward, blocking Nagumo Miyabi.

"Nagumo, how many times is this? Cut it out."

'This guy… I remember him. He was the one who hosted the sports festival, right?'

Saiki recalled. After all, there were too many minor characters in this story.

'I think his name is Fujimaki?'

"What do you mean, 'how many times,' Fujimaki-senpai?"

"I've never interfered with your challenges to Horikita before, but this is a large-scale special exam involving first-year students. I absolutely won't allow you to treat this exam as your personal playground."

Fujimaki's voice was firm, exuding a strong sense of authority.

However, Nagumo Miyabi didn't seem to care.

"Why not? In this school, whether you're a first-year or a third-year, it's not strange for anyone to challenge anyone. The exam rules don't say it's forbidden."

Nagumo Miyabi said with a smile, clearly not taking Fujimaki seriously.

"I'm talking about basic morals. Even if it's not written, there are things you can do and things you can't. That's common sense!"

"I don't see it that way. In fact, competition between different grades is exactly what helps first-year students grow!"

As he spoke, Nagumo Miyabi glanced in the direction of the first-year students.

"Even if you're the student council president, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. What you're trying to do is overstepping!"

"If that's how you feel, then please find a way to make me realize that~ Otherwise, I'll consider you my opponent too, Fujimaki-senpai. You're technically the No. 2 in Class 3-A, right?"

Nagumo Miyabi's tone was flippant, his hands in his pockets, showing no respect for the third-year senior.

[Damn Nagumo!]

[Kill him!]

[Does this guy have no sense of boundaries? Just because he's the student council president, he thinks he can act so arrogantly!]

Saiki could hear the anger in the hearts of many third-year Class A students, as if they wanted to tear Nagumo Miyabi apart…

But it was only the third-year Class A students.

Most students from the other three third-year classes didn't seem to oppose Nagumo Miyabi's words. In fact, some even seemed… admiring?

'It seems the third-year students are gradually being influenced by Nagumo too. Is this guy also a psychic?'

Saiki thought to himself.

At this moment, the third-year Class A students were seething with anger. Many wanted to rush forward and punch Nagumo Miyabi, but Horikita Manabu stopped them.

"I've refused your requests all along. Do you know why?"

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses and looked at Nagumo Miyabi.

"Let me think… Is it because you're afraid you might lose to me? Though I doubt that's the case. Horikita-senpai, you're the most outstanding person I've ever met. You're not afraid of losing, and you don't even think you'll lose."

Nagumo Miyabi said with a smile.

Although he had just blatantly disrespected the third-year students, Saiki knew that Nagumo Miyabi's words were sincere.

"You're just like Fujimaki-senpai. You don't want pointless conflicts, right?"

Nagumo Miyabi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The conflicts you enjoy will only drag others down."

Horikita Manabu said slowly.

"I think that's actually the purpose of this school… But that's just a difference in perspective. Anyway, I originally thought the relay race during the sports festival would be the perfect opportunity for an unavoidable showdown with you, senpai. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. My desire for a challenge remains unfulfilled~"

"I don't think a competition between second and third-year students would be a meaningful exam."

"I thought so too, senpai. That's just the kind of person you are. But I just wanted a one-on-one match between the former student council president and the current one. You're about to graduate, and I wanted to test myself to see if I could surpass you before that. Besides, this exam…"

Nagumo Miyabi's smile remained.

"A one-on-one match? How do you want to do it?"

"Let's see who can get more students expelled. How about that?"

Although Nagumo Miyabi's tone was joking, there was no hint of jest in his words.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I think it's fun, but let's put that aside for now. If I were to make a serious proposal, let's see which group can achieve a higher average score—even though we're in the same large group, the overall ranking is based on the large group's performance. However, the scores of individual groups are independent. Let's compete based on the average scores of our respective groups."

"I see. If that's the case, I can accept."

Horikita Manabu nodded.

[If it's just a one-on-one competition, I can accept it. And since I'm in the same group as Nagumo, he probably won't risk sabotaging the group just to target me. Besides, Nagumo has been quite trustworthy so far.]

"Thank you. I knew you'd agree, senpai."

Nagumo Miyabi responded with a smile.

"But don't forget, this is only a personal competition between you and me. Don't drag others into it."

"Of course."

Nagumo Miyabi looked at Horikita Manabu, his gaze carrying a hint of something deeper.

Almost no one knew what Nagumo Miyabi was thinking, not even Horikita Manabu.

But Saiki could clearly hear Nagumo Miyabi's thoughts.

[Horikita-senpai, you must think I'll keep my promise and compete with you one-on-one, right? If so, you're completely mistaken!]

[I've spent two years earning your 'trust,' making you believe I'm a man of my word. Even if you don't trust me 100%, you won't be the first to 'betray' that trust, right? That means the initiative is in my hands.]

[In terms of a one-on-one match, I might not be able to surpass Horikita-senpai this time… But he'll never guess that my real target this time isn't him—it's Tachibana Akane. By using the 'accomplice' rule, I can easily drag her down with me. It seems like the girls formed their groups based on friendships, but it's all under my control.]

In this exam, if a group's performance falls below the passing line, not only will the leader be expelled—the leader can also choose one person to take down with them as the 'culprit responsible for the group's failure.'

And Nagumo Miyabi's goal in this exam was to expel the people around Horikita Manabu.

[What kind of expression will Horikita-senpai have when the people around him are expelled?]

[Tachibana-senpai has been the student council secretary for three years and is a member of Class 3-A. What kind of mindset will she have when she faces the threat of expulsion just before graduation?]

[Let me have some fun with you, senpai, just before you graduate.]