<h4>Chapter 459: Chapter 8 Part I</h4>


    From here, the story turns back to the day the special exam was first announced.


    Alone, Ishizaki chased after Ryūen as he headed off to eat his lunch. ss D had already decided on making Kaneda theirmander, but they were having problemsing up with what events to choose.


    The reason being that nobody in ss D was capable ofing up with any original ideas.


    Ordinary events, ordinary rules, ordinary fighting styles.


    They were only able toe up with simple, ordinary ideas that anyone would be able to think of.


    If they couldn''te up with anything better, their chances of winning against any of the other sses were effectively non-existent.


    Submitting ten casual, ordinary events was simply the easy way out.


    In ss D, the current opinion was that they should avoid facing off against ss A because their abilities were just too overpowering. Simrly, they came to the conclusion that it might be even more crucial to avoid ss B.


    So, naturally, everyone wanted to go after the up-anding ss C. That is, everyone other than Ishizaki.


    "Uhh─ could ya spare a moment, Ryūen-san?"


    Despite his fear of doing so, Ishizaki checked his surroundings to make sure that there were no other first-year students around before he proceeded to call out to Ryūen.


    "Hm?"


    With just a mere nce from Ryūen''s harsh eyes, Ishizaki froze like a frog that had been seen by a snake.


    But despite his body freezing up on him, his mouth still managed to speak.


    "I beg of you─ please give me some of your time!!"


    "Oh, so you''ve gotten big enough to oppose me now, huh?"


    "N-no, that ain''t it...!"


    "Kuku. Well, whatever. You''re practically the leader of ss D right now."


    Ryūen felt like he was only prolonging the inevitable right now. That this was nothing more than extra time at a school where he was going to get forced out eventually, so he had plenty of time to kill. The two of them began walking outside with Ryūen in the lead.


    Even if someone were to witness the two of them, it''d probably seem like Ishizaki had called Ryūen out or something.


    Once they made their way out of the school building and got to an area where no people were around, Ishizaki promptly got down on his knees.


    "Ryūen-san, please... lend your strength to ss D for this special exam!"


    From the moment Ishizaki called out to him, Ryūen had a solid idea of what Ishizaki wanted. However, he didn''t say a word about it. He just looked down upon Ishizaki prostrated on the ground before him.


    "You''re dribbling out nonsense, Ishizaki. I stepped down. I''ve told you that already. You really think I''ll help you?"


    "That─ I know that. But with how we are now, we hardly stand a chance against the other sses!"


    "Yeah probably."


    Ryūen didn''t deny it either.


    After all, he had already thought about it. When ites to sheerpetitive potential, ss D was overwhelmingly inferior to the other sses.


    "Kaneda stepped up as themander, so even if we lose nobody will get expelled... But, if we lose at this point, our ss points will be all but gone!"


    "Well, that''s what you get if ya lose seven events straight, eh?"


    ss D currently has 318 ss points. If they lost all seven matches, they''d be down to 100 points total. While that was the worst-case scenario, it wasn''t all that unlikely given the current trajectory of the ss.


    "So you want me to be themander? Who would agree to something like that?"


    "That''s─"


    In order to get Ryūen expelled, they''d have to make him themander. And furthermore, they would need to lose.


    However, the ss would have to suffer a huge loss just to get one person expelled, and nobody was very eager to make that tradeoff.


    Should their ss points ever drop to 0, it''d be effectively impossible for them to ever reach ss A.


    Not only that. It''d be nearly impossible to live a stable life at this school anymore.


    ss D''s optimal oue was victory. Second to this would be to lose and force Ryūen''s expulsion.


    But no matter what, they had to avoid getting crushed and losing their only protection point at the same time.


    Ishizaki wanted ss D to win, but he also didn''t want Ryūen to get expelled.


    And, if anyone in the ss could make that happen, it''d be Ryūen himself.


    "...So what should we do? Should we go for ss C after all?"


    Under normal circumstances, Ishizaki would''ve been fully behind choosing ss C, but the problem with that was Ayanokōji.


    Ishizaki''s hesitation stemmed from the fact that he was one of the few students who knew the true nature of that man.


    "Don''t go asking for my opinion all willy-nilly like that. Who told you I''d cooperate?"


    For Ishizaki, this was all or nothing, but Ryūen''s words made it clear he had been too reckless. But even so, he still wasn''t going to stop prostrating himself. He was prepared to keep it up until the moment Ryūen left.


    "You''re right that ss C isn''t very unified. They''ve got a monster like Ayanokōji, but in the end, he''s just one guy. You might even be tempted to think you''d stand a chance because it''s a teampetition... though, you''d be wrong."


    "Wha?"


    Ryūen, the very man Ishizaki thought he had no chance of convincing, unexpectedly decided to share his thoughts.


    "Put me as themander and I''d avoid facing off with ss C. I dunno the whole process of how we choose our opponent, but that ss isn''t one I''d want to be challenging voluntarily."


    "B-but other than Ayanokōji─"


    "That''s got nothing to do with it, blockhead."


    Ishizaki recoiled a bit.


    "Even though ss D is full of ipetent morons like you, we''ve still got the tools to seed in other ways. But, ss C isn''t the best option we''ve got avable. No, there''s only one ss suitable enough to be our opponent."


    "Wh-which one is it!?"


    "ss B."


    Ryūen spoke the name of the ss without even looking at Ishizaki below him.


    "If you''re lookin'' to win this exam, ss B is your only option."


    He proposed ss B, a ss that everyone in ss D had wanted to avoid.


    "Even an idiot can be useful depending on what ya do with ''em."


    With that, Ryūen turned his back on Ishizaki and began to leave.


    "P-please wait! How, how could we possibly beat ss B!?"


    Ishizaki scrambled to his feet and called after him.


    "Ryūen-san! Ryūen-saaan!"


    But Ishizaki''s cries didn''t stop him from walking away.