Within Class A that same morning, everyone was patiently waiting for the results to be announced.
The outcome had already been decided ever since the supplemental exam was first announced, and there were no objections to it either.
As the bell rang, Mashima entered the classroom to announce the outcome.
He was as calm as always. He didn't have very much of an opinion about what was about to take place.
No, rather, it was more like he was simply trying not to think about it very much.
It had been four years since he became a teacher at Advanced Nurturing High School, and he had seen many students get expelled in that time.
"I'll now be announcing the results of the supplementary special exam. To start things out, the student who received the most praise votes… would be you, Sakayanagi, with a total of thirty-six votes."
"I didn't expect that all of you would vote for me. I really must thank everyone."
She responded with empty words of gratitude. Nearly everyone in the class had voted for her.
"Next… I'll announce the student who received the most censure votes. I'm sure you're all aware of this by now, but the person whose name is called will be expelled. After this, they'll have to pack their bags and come along with me to the staff room."
The classroom was dead silent.
Every single student was quiet as they waited for the name to be called.
"In last place, with thirty-six censure votes…"
He paused for a split-second, and then…
"Yahiko Totsuka."
He spoke.
The name resounded throughout the silent classroom.
"How absurd! What's going on!?"
Katsuragi stood up from his seat, raising his voice after the results had sunken in.
"K-Katsuragi-san… Why? Wha…?"
Totsuka looked at Katsuragi with an expression of disbelief on his face as well.
He had received an overwhelming majority, thirty-six, of the classes censure votes, ensuring his expulsion.
Then, Mashima revealed the total number of votes that every student in the class had gotten.
Katsuragi had placed just behind Totsuka with a total of thirty censure votes.
"What's going on here, sensei? The one being expelled should be me-"
"There haven't been any mistakes."
Mashima cut Katsuragi off, answering his question calmly.
A young girl began to speak, as if to shed light on such an inexplicable situation.
"Katsuragi-kun, it seems you've been given some praise votes. How wonderful."
Hearing that, Katsuragi finally understood.
This hadn't happened due to some kind of mistake. Rather, this was the outcome of one of Sakayanagi's schemes.
"Wait, Sakayanagi! The one who should've been expelled was me!"
"Expulsion? You? You weren't the target in the first place."
She responded decisively.
"Stop joking with me. You definitely said you were going to get rid of me!"
"Come to think of it, you're right, aren't you? I did say I was going to get rid of you, but… that was just a lie."
Without an ounce of apprehension, Sakayanagi smiled gently.
"Why… Why!?"
"It's simple. Totsuka-kun doesn't bring any benefits to Class A. On the other hand, you're sharp, and your reflexes aren't anything to scoff at either. This, combined with your calm head, makes you useful in your own way. This exam is perfect for disposing of somebody unnecessary, so only an idiot would get rid of someone who still has use left in them."
Katsuragi winced, unable to refute her point.
Although, that wasn't the only reason why Sakayanagi had done this.
Originally, Totsuka wasn't the only one who sided with Katsuragi. Even though she intended to mercilessly make an example out of Katsuragi for going against her, Totsuka's expulsion would have an even larger impact on Class A.
It would instill the idea that, if you sided with Katsuragi, you would be the next to see yourself in Totsuka's shoes.
"Why would you do this in such an indirect way…?"
"Isn't it only natural for someone to do their best to avoid expulsion? There are a lot of praise votes floating around from other classes in this exam. If Totsuka-kun had gone and gathered them from the other classes in order to save himself, I don't believe we could've gotten him expelled."
She couldn't know for sure that another class wouldn't just whimsically decide to save Totsuka.
However, if she singled out Katsuragi from the very beginning, nobody would bother to use their praise votes on Totsuka.
"Thank you for your hard work, Totsuka-kun. Be sure to take care of yourself after you've left the school."
"D-damn…! Dammit! Dammit…!"
Totsuka curled over as if he was about to collapse. Katsuragi couldn't find the right words to comfort him.
Totsuka would have normally been overjoyed to find out Katsuragi wasn't going to be expelled.
But now that he was being expelled himself, that didn't matter anymore.
Instead, he could only feel resentment as he wondered why it had to be him instead of his friend.
If Katsuragi had gotten expelled, Totsuka Yahiko would've been able to stay in Class A. And while he would've been displeased with it, he would've followed Sakayanagi all the way until graduation. And then, he would've become successful in life.
Even though he felt guilty for it, he had already vaguely begun to imagine his wonderful future as a graduate from Class A.
But because of this sudden twist of fate, he had lost everything.
"Saving him with twenty million points… is probably impossible."
"Correct. Unfortunately, even if we added up all of our points, we still wouldn't have enough."
"Totsuka, there's… no way to overturn this decision."
The homeroom teacher, Mashima, spoke definitively as he buried the pain within his heart.
"...…"
Totsuka was at a loss for words, unable to do anything but nod in response.
"Totsuka, please come with me to the staff room for the time being. I'll let you collect your things later."
In consideration of the young man's feelings, Mashima asked for Totsuka to leave the room.
His expulsion had been set in stone, so staying in the classroom would only serve to hurt him more.
"By the way, Mashima-sensei… Might I ask you something?"
"What is it, Sakayanagi?"
As Mashima began to leave the classroom with Totsuka, Sakayanagi's voice brought him to a halt.
He instructed for Totsuka to wait in the hallway before turning to hear her out.
"While it's a shame that Totsuka-kun had to be sacrificed… It has already been decided who's going to be expelled in the other classes, right?"
"Tentatively. As soon as the results have been finalized, they'll be posted on the first-floor bulletin board."
"Then, depending on the results, is it possible that there will be consequences for Katsuragi-kun?"
"What are you talking about, Sakayanagi?"
Katsuragi questioned her, unsure of what she was getting at.
"I'm just asking for future reference."
For a moment, Mashima, just like Katsuragi, didn't seem to understand the meaning behind Sakayanagi's words.
He hadn't considered the possibility that she was asking about 'that'.
However, upon seeing Sakayanagi's fearless smile, Mashima changed his mind.
"…No matter who gets expelled, there won't be any consequences. 'That' doesn't work like that. If, for some reason, there were consequences, even you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it very easily."
"That's certainly true. Thank you very much for answering."
After Mashima left the classroom, Katsuragi calmly approached Sakayanagi.
In response, Hashimoto and Kitō hurriedly got up to obstruct his path in the off chance he resorted to violence.
However, before Katsuragi could say a word, Sakayanagi spoke up.
"There's no reason for you to bear a grudge against me, Katsuragi-kun. Somebody had to be expelled during this exam. Whether it be you or Totsuka-kun, the results must be taken seriously. The fact of the matter is that there was a vote. One in which every student in Class A participated."
"…I understand."
Katsuragi hadn't planned on getting violent from the start. He had only intended to vent his dissatisfaction to her.
And yet, Sakayanagi had put a stop to even that.
"That's fine then. After all, I don't want you to hold back our class moving forward because you become consumed by self-despair. However… If by chance you were to go against Class A in the future…"
"I told you I understood. You don't have to drag anyone else into this."
"I'm glad to see you're so sensible."
If Katsuragi were to bare his fangs at Sakayanagi out of resentment because of Totsuka's expulsion, Sakayanagi was threatening that she would have someone else expelled next time. Sakayanagi was well aware that, as long as Katsuragi was obedient, he'd be able to contribute greatly to the future success of Class A.
Like this, Katsuragi had given in entirely. Without any means of going against her, he had no choice but to raise the white flag and surrender to Sakayanagi.
"Well then… I wonder how the other classes are doing right now?"
Of course, as far as Sakayanagi was concerned, Class B and Class D weren't even worth thinking about.
The only thing she cared about was what had happened within Class C, the class that Ayanokōji was in. She couldn't help but look forward to hearing about it.