After explaining the rules, Sakagami left immediately, leaving the class to discuss how to face tomorrow's Unanimous special exam.
Since this time he didn't need anyone to translate the rules for him—because he actually understood everything—Daichi Ishizaki was unusually energetic.
"Hahahaha! Honestly, this exam is stupid simple. Just do the math. If it benefits us, we all vote Agree. If it's a loss, we all vote Disagree. Done!"
Kaneda, however, looked thoughtful.
"It probably won't be that simple. I feel like something's… off. I just can't pinpoint what."
Nomura joined in like he was adding fuel to Ishizaki's confidence.
"Come on, Kaneda, you're overthinking. You're always worrying about everything. Ishizaki's idea is fine—agree if it pays, disagree if it doesn't. And if we can't decide, we just let Yukio-bro choose. Whatever Yukio-bro votes, we vote!"
Yukio almost laughed at getting dragged into it like that.
But he could see farther than the rest of them.
An exam like this—where majority and minority preferences had to be coordinated—wasn't going to be nearly as simple as it looked on paper.
So he decided to clue them in.
He pressed his palm down, signaling Ishizaki, Nomura, and the others to stop getting carried away.
"You'll all listen to me?"
"Then let me ask you something."
"If tomorrow's question is: Until graduation, your staple food can only be noodles. Would you vote Agree or Disagree?"
"The rules clearly say anything unanimously agreed to becomes reality. Anything unanimously rejected becomes invalid."
"So if we all vote Agree… then from then on, our staple food is noodles."
"Let's be clear: I'm on the rice faction. I can go without rice occasionally, but if there's no rice every meal, I'm not accepting it. So if that question comes up, I'm voting Disagree."
The entire class—including Ryuuen—went blank.
They all looked like someone had just rewritten the laws of the universe.
Questions like that were allowed?
Even Ryuuen, if forced to choose, would have to admit he'd feel conflicted.
Nomura, apparently built different, scratched his head.
"Uh… that's… kind of hard. I actually like noodles as a staple. Udon, ramen, soba… I'm fine with any of it."
"The hell?!" Ishizaki snapped instantly. "Obviously it's rice. What do you mean noodles, you idiot?"
They were delinquents—nobody spoke politely, and nobody took it personally either. Nomura had to defend his stomach.
"Personal preference, man. You can't force that."
"See?" Yukio pointed, calmly driving the lesson home. "This is where the exam gets hard."
"If the questions touch everyone's daily life, people will naturally split."
"The majority who likes something and the minority who doesn't—if you need unanimity, you have to negotiate."
"So whether it's our class or the other three classes, tomorrow we're basically guaranteed to trigger the ten-minute discussion period."
"In other words, during the exam, people will deliberately create disagreement. At least the first round will always split—so we can open discussion and make the decision."
"I got it!" Ishizaki lit up again. "Leave it to me, Yukio-bro! No matter what question comes up tomorrow, you guys all vote Agree and I'll vote Disagree. Easy."
"Heh." Yukio actually got interested now.
He raised his eyebrow and locked onto Ishizaki.
"You sure?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Ishizaki pounded his chest like he was swearing an oath. "Everyone knows me. When Daichi Ishizaki says something, he does it!"
Yukio smiled—slow, smug, and mean in the funniest way.
"Alright then."
"What if tomorrow's question is: Until you graduate, you're not allowed to date."
"Would you vote Agree or Disagree?"
"Then obviously I'd vote Dis—dis—dis…" Ishizaki started strong, righteous, like he'd die before he betrayed his own words.
Then the information finally reached his brain.
And his brain finally processed it.
Wait… if he voted Disagree just to trigger discussion…
Would that actually risk making the "no dating" rule become real?
What guy didn't want a sweet high school romance?
If he voted Disagree and it somehow stuck, that would be the stupidest self-inflicted wound imaginable.
"Y-Yukio-bro…" Ishizaki's face collapsed into a miserable, suffering expression as he looked at him, begging for mercy.
Yukio and the whole class burst out laughing.
After the laughter died down, Yukio finally reminded them, serious again.
"Be careful tomorrow."
"It's been over a year. We've taken a ton of special exams."
Not a single one had been simple.
"I've got a bad feeling. The school definitely set traps for this. They're trying to screw us."
The class all nodded, the mood sobering.
Ryuuen, too, looked like he'd finally found the same thread.
"Now it makes sense. A rule set this simple, and they only give us one day before the exam."
"They're probably afraid we'd spend a lot of time today brainstorming 'dilemma questions' and reaching consensus ahead of time."
"So they're not giving us time on purpose—so we can't prepare. They want to catch us off guard."
Ishizaki immediately got pissed off.
"Seriously? That's so damn dirty! They're actually doing a sneak attack?!"
Ryuuen waved it off, not interested in wasting time complaining.
"Whining is useless. If you've got time to be mad, use it to think."
"Come up with questions that would genuinely split people. We can discuss them today."
The moment that topic got thrown out, the class came alive again.
"Me! I've been thinking—what if the school asks: from now on all special exams will heavily prioritize academics and not physical ability? We're strong physically but weak academically. We're studying harder, but we can't catch up that fast."
"That's a good one. I've got one too—what if the school asks: from now on we're not allowed to play video games?"
"Get the hell out. The school would never ask that. If you don't vote Disagree on that, I'll break my own ribs and make you soup."
"Yeah, the point is it has to be something that makes everyone conflicted—like Yukio-bro's rice versus noodles example."
"Stuff that splits the class internally. Like: sweet tofu pudding or savory? That kind of thing."
Little by little, it became clear the class finally understood how nasty this exam could be.
No one dared underestimate it anymore.
Yukio was satisfied.
As long as everyone treated it cautiously—took it seriously tomorrow—then even if there were traps, the damage shouldn't be too big.
...
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