Asagiri-san had put me in charge of these sheep here. I had never led anyone before as I usually controlled people from the sidelines.
"Everyone." Yonamine called. "Ishigami-chan has something to say."
Well, that's one way to get everyone's attention.
I looked at the whole group. There was Kawahara, Ikeda and Yanagizawa-san, although there weren't many people I still couldn't think of how to speak to people on their level.
"Well I don't really have a plan but I believe we can do this." I announced. "We can reach the Great Hall because Nakamoto-san and the others have created an opening for us."
They looked at me as they listened to what I had to say. I didn't prepare a motivational speech but I'm sure that it was enough for them to light a fire in their hearts.
We all started to run towards the Great Hall before we stopped to catch our breaths and started to run again. None of us was particularly fast probably except Yonamine-san but the rest of us weren't as athletic.
Yonamine is extremely fast and the fastest speed she had ever reached was 13m/s.
* * * * * *
I had Akito on my back however he wasn't as heavy as I thought. He had also lost his ankle weights so he didn't have any additional weight on him making it extremely easy for me.
"Why don't we run?" Kaori suggested.
"We can't." Ryoko instantly replied. "Tadashi may be strong but he can't run quickly and especially with Akito with him."
They both looked at me. The atmosphere was awkward because they both knew that I can run fast, however, to avoid me getting exposed they are lying to each other.
"Almost forgot about him." Kaori sighed. "Oh yeah, Tadashi wasn't your combat level 7.8?"
"I almost forgot about the student profile." I said. "It was 4.6."
"That's still a lot." Ryoko said.
"They're not always accurate you know." I said.
Ryoko and Kaori both looked at me the same way. They both looked at me almost as if they were saying 'Do you think we would believe that?'.
"Well that is true." Ryoko said. She then started to explain how her combat level was actually higher than it actually is.
"Ryoko-san, a combat level of 5.1 is still extremely high." Kaori complimented Ryoko however Ryoko still seem to think she was overestimated. "Do you know what would be fun? If the school made their own type of profile and it had other categories."
"Like stats in a game?" I asked. It was a good idea and I would want to see how it would work in this school or perhaps it might be implemented in other schools as well.
"Yeah. The way combat levels are we should have the same type of thing but with others." Kaori said.
"That would be fun." Ryoko sighed. "So what do we do about the whole thing?"
"Didn't we already come up with a plan?" Ryoko asked.
"Yeah but we should have some backups; One plan wouldn't be enough."
Kaori was right and fortunately, I was multiple steps ahead of her. I wasn't walking and listening to Ryoko and Kaori and speaking at some points, I was planning.
I have thought of multiple outcomes of what we had discussed and they all didn't seem to be bad outcomes.
I could use Akito to lay low for some time and with all the attention Akito will get it will be more than enough for me to plan more.
"Leave that to me." I reassured Ryoko and Kaori.
It's not like I was going to try to hide because why would I? I have nothing to fear.
I could try to get Akito to train and then I'm sure someday he will become extremely strong and with his intelligence and charisma he would become the perfect student council president. I'm sure the others in the group could also use some training.
* * * * * *
"I wonder where they are." Tomiko muttered.
It sounded clear to me however probably not to the others and I was certain she wanted me to hear her.
Currently, there were only five people with me: Tomiko, Yuuta, Uehara-san, Kitamura-san and Yoshizawa-san.
Yoshizawa-san was only with us because of Kitamura. Tomiko, Yuuta and I were having lunch at a restaurant I had bought until Uehara found us who was also with Kitamura-san. After some time Kitamura saw Yoshizawa-san outside the restaurant and then invited her. Yoshizawa was part of our group and Kitamura had tried to befriend her the moment they met. I had some suspicions about why he wanted to spend time with her so badly but it wasn't anything that piqued my interest.
Kitamura, Yuuta and Yoshizawa talked idly as we walked through the dark streets while Uehara, Tomiko and I remained silent with only our thoughts accompanying us.
"Uehara-san." Tomiko suddenly broke the silence which startled Uehara-san. "What will you do if someone suddenly attacked us?"
"Huh? Oh…I'm pretty fast so I'd run and leave you two to deal with them." Uehara replied hesitantly. "Why?"
"Well the school says nothing about violence between students and in this darkness, we could be ambushed." Tomiko explained.
"Well I choose flight over fight any day." Uehara said.
How cowardly of a man however I don't blame him. If I was in him I would have done the same.
"You're always with Kitamura-san, were you guys friends before?" Tomiko asked.
It was surprising how Tomiko somehow remembers her social skills when she wants something and in this case, she might be trying to get closer to Uehara.
"We weren't friends when we were in middle school, we were actually the opposite." Uehara explained how he and Kitamura became friends. "We usually argued or fought whenever we saw each other but it was never serious and then one day we got into a serious fight."
"A fight? Why?" Tomiko asked.
"Well…" Uehara laughed nervously before speaking. "He sat in my seat…"
"You guys fought for a seat?"
"You seem to have misunderstood, Shimoda-san, it was my seat." Uehara tried to justify his reason for fighting but he stopped as he realised there was no way of persuading anyone that he was in the right. "So we argued for a bit until we actually fought however Akito-kun came in between us and pulled us apart."
"Kishimoto-san did?"
"Yeah, we then both tried to resist Akito-san but we couldn't and we both woke up in the school hospital after that. We both then tried to fight again after we recovered but we then ran into some people who tried to kill us."
"Kill you?" Tomiko gasped and acted as if she was surprised.
"Yeah. We would've died that day if it wasn't for Akito-san."
"Kishimoto-san sounds extremely strong." I said.
"He was a real demon back in middle school." Uehara added.
"What do you mean?" Tomiko asked.
"Well, in his first year, he won against the Rank 1 student in the school." Uehara explained how Kishimoto Akito was in middle school. "We used to call him the "One Man Army" because of the amount of schools he took out on his own."
"On his own?"
"In middle school, he was the devil who ran the place and I thought he'd do the same in this school but he had somehow changed."
"Wasn't Kishimoto-san a level 4.8?" I asked Uehara-san. I was certain that Kishimoto was a level 4.8 because the last time I saw his files it said he was just an ordinary student.
"I don't know where you got that information from but I know Akito-san is beyond that level."
I stared at Uehara from the corner of my eye. I wondered if Kishimoto was as strong as Uehara said. If he was then why was he hiding it?
He must've wanted a peaceful life after fighting for most of his life but if he did want that then wouldn't he change his name and try to enrol into a school where no one from his middle school knew him?
"Oh now I remember." Tomiko suddenly said. "There was someone on par with Ochiyama Kazuo who was only fourteen years old."
"Ochiyama? You mean the Ogre's older brother?" I asked.
"It's hard to believe that someone is on his level but they're just rumours."
I pondered for a moment before looking at Tomiko. We both looked at each other as we realised something.
"Uehara-san." Tomiko called. "Kishimoto-san has gotten weaker hasn't he?"
"W-Well yeah."
Gorillas have around the same strength as twenty average men combined and Ochiyama Kazuo is stronger than the average gorilla meaning his strength would be in the high level 8 range. In terms of physical strength, I have yet to meet a person stronger than Ochiyama Kazuo however in a fight there are only a few that could defeat him.
"Do you mean in terms of strength or technique?" I asked Tomiko. She looked at me and pondered for a second before answering.
"Physical strength."
An average gorilla can lift around 400kg and if Kishimoto is on par with Ochiyama in terms of physical strength then he should be able to lift 280kg without any difficulty however he did seem to struggle that one time meaning he has lost a significant amount of strength. That amount of physical strength cannot be lost that easily meaning there's something else behind it. He cannot have been acting because he really did seem to be struggling.
"What is it, Yamada-san?"
I looked at Uehara as Uehara and Tomiko both looked at me.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking of how to get to the Great Hall." I replied. They didn't seem to buy it and continued to stare at me for a few seconds before looking straight ahead.
"We can get there fine so you shouldn't worry, Yoshio." Tomiko said.
I was certain that she knew exactly what I was thinking however it still didn't fool Uehara who I seemed to have underestimated his perception skills.
I looked around us. For some reason, I felt that something would happen. I have been feeling like this for some time and I have been waiting for that moment to come and now would be a perfect time but why has nothing happened?
"We're near the Great Hall." Uehara announced.
We all turned our heads to the building on our far left. It was extremely large although it was only three floors.
Each floor was for each year group. The ground floor is for the first year and the first floor is for the second year and the second floor is for the third year.
Usually, announcements would be given out to our phones however in rare cases or important cases, we would be called to the Great Hall.
"Let's all race to the Great Hall!" Yoshizawa suggested.
We all got into a line. Yoshizawa decided to not take part in the race and Tomiko seemed to join her so it was only Uehara-san, Kitamura-san, Yuuta and me.
"3…2…1…GO!!" Yoshizawa counted down and when she said "Go!" We all sprinted towards the Great Hall. I was in the first place while Uehara was in second place and Yuuta was in third place.
I knew Uehara-san was fast but I didn't expect him to be faster than Yuuta. I seemed to have underestimated him.
How fast are you, Kishimoto-san?
In a few seconds, we all reached the Great Hall. Tomiko and Yoshizawa also had their own race and soon we were all at the Great Hall.
There were around four first-years, eight second-years and seven third-years.
It has been some time so I figured there would be more but it seems I was wrong.
* * * * * *
It's been some time and our hard work had paid off because now the Great Hall was in sight.
I almost smiled at the sight of the Great Hall but I stopped myself and looked back at the group.
"We're close." I said. Yonamine walked over to me and smiled.
"You're a good leader, Ishigami-chan."
We then walked faster towards the Hall. In the window, you could see that there was light meaning it was the end of this eternal darkness.
We all started to run. I couldn't see anything except the Great Hall and it was then that I realised how much I longed for it. I wanted this exam to end so I could rest.
It must be hard for the others because they sacrificed themselves for us. Although they might have not died I had a feeling that someone will be hospitalised.
I suddenly felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, then a notification alert could be heard. We stopped running and took our phones out of our pockets.
"Time limit?" Kawahara muttered in confusion.
"We have five minutes to reach the Great Hall." Ikeda spoke as she stared at her phone before it turned off. We all then put our phones back into our pockets and ran as fast as we could towards the Great Hall.
"They won't be able to reach it in time!" Yonamine reminded us of the others.
Just what are you doing, Tsukamoto-san?
* * * * * *
"Oh, we have five minutes to reach the Great Hall." Kaori said as she read off the announcement on her phone. Ryoko and I didn't have our phones as Ryoko's fell out of her pocket and broke and I broke mine.
"Would we be able to reach it in time?" Ryoko mumbled to herself.
"We'll be fine." Kaori said in reassurance although she knew deep down that we wouldn't be able to.
"If I am correct then it will take around seven to eight minutes to reach the Great Hall from here if we run." I explained. "In short we won't be able to reach the Great Hall."
"So we'll be expelled?" Kaori asked.
"Yeah."
"We can't be expelled!" Ryoko yelled in disbelief. "Not after everything we've achieved!"
I looked at Kaori and she looked at me. We both then sighed as we both turned our heads in Ryoko's direction.
"Kaori, leave your phone here." I said. Ryoko and Kaori both looked at me in confusion but Kaori then quickly realised what I was planning.
"Our phones have been tracking us this whole time to see where we are and which students are likely to be expelled in this exam." Kaori explained to Ryoko what I was planning. "Since both of your phones are already broken then the school cannot track you."
"Couldn't they be tracking us with anything else?" Ryoko asked. She had doubts that the school are tracking us by other methods.
"No, because I have already checked everything on us." Kaori replied. She then crouched down and placed her phone on the ground and left it there.
"Then why are you leaving your phone there?" Ryoko asked.
"They are still tracking her phone but they aren't tracking her." I replied. Ryoko then turned her head to me as she realised.
"You have Kishimoto on you though?" Ryoko said.
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"What about you, Kaori-san?" Ryoko asked Kaori. Kaori nervously smiled before answering Ryoko.
"We're not leaving you behind!"
"Relax, Ryoko-san." I took Akito off of my back and placed him on the ground. I then flicked his head.
Akito sat up instantly. He then turned his head and looked at all of us.
"What the hell is going on?" Akito said, staring blankly at all of us.
"You're going to carry Kaori and run to the Great Hall."
"Why me?!" Akito cried. I crouched down to be at Akito's level.
"I can't carry all three of you." I whispered to Akito. Akito looked at me confused.
"Alright fine but you take Kaori." Akito whispered back.
"Alright." I whispered back. I then stood back up and Akito did the same. "It's only a few kilometres away."
"Only a few?" Ryoko exclaimed. "We can't get there in time!"
We didn't waste any time. I quickly grabbed Kaori and Akito grabbed Ryoko and we both ran as fast as we could.
Akito has become faster than before and can run at a speed of 60 or more meters per second meaning it would take around a minute to reach the Great Hall.
I had to maintain my speed to Akito's level which was somewhat hard however I managed.
In only a minute or two we reached the Great Hall. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone around to see two people holding a person and running to the Great Hall.
Akito stopped near the doors of the Great Hall and collapsed. Ryoko fell out of Akito's arms and landed on the floor. I then dropped Kaori and grabbed Akito.
"What the hell, Tadashi!" Kaori yelled.
Ryoko then pulled open the doors of the Great Hall and ran towards the teachers who were waiting outside the first-years' hall.
Soon the hospital was alerted and we told the teachers what had happened. After Akito was taken by the hospital we entered the hall of the first-years. There were around 70 students in the Great Hall. Yamada and the others ran towards us after they saw us.
"Ryoko!" Shimoda ran towards Ryoko. She looked worried which was to be expected after seeing the wounds on Ryoko. "What happened?"
"Well a lot happened but luckily Kishimoto-kun and Tadashi-kun were with us." She laughed nervously as she explained what had happened.
Of course, she didn't say exactly what happened but I knew she didn't like the feeling of lying to her best friend.
"Are you okay?" Shimoda asked.
"I'm fine."
"So Kishimoto-san protected you?" Yamada asked. He seemed to be interested in what happened and almost seemed to not believe Ryoko.
"Yeah. You don't seem to be worried about me, Yoshio-kun!" Ryoko cried.
"I knew you wouldn't get hurt." Yamada said.
We spoke about what happened in the exam for the remaining time before we heard a voice.
"Everyone who is not at the Great Hall is expelled." The voice announced. It was the Headmaster.
I quickly counted the number of first-years there were. If I had counted correctly then it would mean 29 students were expelled.
Twent-nine students? From the first years alone?
Suddenly an announcement appeared on everyone's phones…well those that had theirs.
"It's the names of everyone who passed and everyone who is expelled." Yamada said.
"Our student profiles have been updated as well." Yanagizawa added. He then showed all of us his screen.
It showed his name, student ID, group, date of birth, age, year group, class, and combat level and underneath the description, a radar chart showing his combat level.
Name: Yanagizawa Yosuke
Student ID: B031200481502
DOB: 1736/04/20
Age: 16 years old
Sex: Male
Year Group: First Year
Group: Group 815
Class: Class 1-B
Combat Level: 3.4
Academics: B-
"You're already sixteen?"
"Not that, Asagiri-san." Yanagizawa said in disappointment. "The group name, it changed."
"It's true." Harumi said as she then showed everyone her screen.
Name: Ikeda Harumi
Student ID: A020181280402
DOB: 1736/12/18
Age: 15 years old
Sex: Female
Year Group: First Year
Group: Group 815
Class: Class 1-A
Combat Level: 2.1
Academics: B+
"The groups are supposed to show the group names instead of these numbers." Ryoko said.
"Our group names must have been assigned to each group at the start of the exam." Yamada explained. "When the exam is ending it returns to its original name and then a new group name is assigned to each group every exam."
There was then an announcement which explained why the groups were named as they were. It was exactly as Yamada had said. Names will be given to each group every exam and the numbers are the group's true names.
My group is the 815th group in the school's history meaning more than 5,000 students have attended this school.
"828 groups." Kaori sighed. "That's a lot."
We were all returning to our houses. The lights have come back and everyone who lost or broke their phones was given new ones.
Akito and Kaori's brother is in the hospital and Ochiyama Kazuo is being interrogated by the school. The whole situation has been private but it's not long until everyone knows about it.
I took my phone out of my pocket and clicked on the school app. I then clicked on my student profile to see if anything changed.
Name: Tsukamoto Tadashi
Student ID: A001260478401
DOB: 1736/04/26
Age: 16 years old
Sex: Male
Year Group: First Year
Group: Group 815
Class: Class 1-A
Combat Level: 4.8*
Academics: A+