Komiya Kaho wrote Amasawa Ichika's name in her notebook.
If anyone were to see her notebook, they'd find it filled with dense handwriting, with certain names particularly standing out:
Ichinose Honami - Class 2-B girl, very gentle personality, well-liked.
Slightly dangerous (crossed out).
No additional information for now.
She spends every day being affectionate with the Producer in the Student Council. Afternoons are her dating time with the Producer.
Suspected of not taking safety precautions (crossed out). The Producer's first girlfriend.
Karuizawa Kei - Class 2-C girl, somewhat strong-willed personality, holds high status in class.
Previously had one boyfriend but broke up after one semester.
Still a virgin (information provided by Kushida senpai, not yet confirmed with the Producer).
Hostile toward me. One of the Producer's girlfriends.
Kushida Kikyo - Class 2-C girl, gives a good first impression, comfortable to be around.
Discovered she has another side during subsequent interactions.
Currently working to uncover more.
Karuizawa senpai shows little hostility toward me, seems to be trying to pull me to her side.
Has asked me several times if I'd be willing to join her in doing naughty things with the Producer (she's a good person) (crossed out).
One of the Producer's girlfriends.
Horikita Suzune - Class 2-C girl, sometimes seen in the Producer's room.
Master chef. Suspected of trying to win over the Producer, but the two are very close, likely have crossed the final line.
The Producer once asked her [where's the ring?].
Due to her cold personality, still trying to gather information.
Suspected to be the Producer's girlfriend.
Sakayanagi Arisu - Class 2-A girl, same class as the Producer.
Clearly has feelings for the Producer, often interacts with him. Doesn't mind the Producer's teasing and even teases him back (crossed out).
Heard she has the Producer's ring. Requires special attention.
Kamuro Masumi - Class 2-A girl, same class as the Producer.
Superficially treats the Producer very poorly, but similar to Madoka senpai, suspected to have strong feelings for the Producer.
Sakura Airi - Class 2-C girl.
Danger! Danger!! Danger!!!
...
Not only these names, Komiya Kaho had also recorded Morishita Ai, Shiina Hiyori, and Yamamura Miki—all subjects of gossip rumors—in her notebook.
Now, there was another noteworthy target: Amasawa Ichika.
"White Room? Expulsion?"
Komiya Kaho hid downstairs, quietly listening to the conversation above.
Though puzzled, she didn't make a sound.
Until the sound of Amasawa Ichika descending the stairs reached her, Komiya Kaho hid around the corridor corner, her heartbeat slightly quickening.
Soon, all sounds faded away.
Clutching her notebook, Komiya Kaho felt terrible.
Though she didn't understand what Amasawa Ichika was talking about, she knew Amasawa Ichika would eventually fall into the producer's clutches.
Because she herself had been through it.
"What should I do, senpais? There are too many enemies here. Kaho can't handle it."
The girl murmured to herself, feeling the weight of the notebook almost matching the weight of the agency.
With so many girls around, the producer definitely wouldn't want to return.
Komiya Kaho recalled the recent troubles: during the day, Sakayanagi Arisu, Kamuro Masumi, and Sakura Airi would take turns occupying the producer's lunch breaks.
After school in the afternoon, Ichinose Honami often sneaked snacks in the Student Council.
Komiya Kaho had discovered their secret rendezvous more than once.
Even when the producer wasn't in the Student Council, he'd either be in the library or his dorm—only during these times could Komiya Kaho make her move stealthily.
But it was useless.
Because the producer would return to his dorm. Once dusk approached, it became Karuizawa Kei and Kushida Kikyo's turn—they practically treated the producer's dorm as their own home.
Several times when Komiya Kaho visited, either Karuizawa Kei or Kushida Kikyo would answer the door.
If not them, then it would be Ichinose Honami.
In short, Komiya Kaho couldn't find the producer alone at all.
Fortunately, it was Komiya Kaho who came.
Anyone else might have gone mad—who could bear watching their producer in others' arms every day?
Yet, having persisted this long, Komiya Kaho was starting to break.
She felt the producer would never return with her, at least not anytime soon.
Komiya Kaho's mission was to steal the producer away. She carried the hopes of her seniors, who even refrained from intervening directly for fear of making the producer run away again.
Even Komiya Kaho didn't want the producer to have a bad impression of her or the 283 Agency.
But...
This couldn't go on. She had to resort to underhanded methods.
"I'm sorry, Producer-san."
Komiya Kaho gently flipped to a different section of her small notebook.
"I... I can't betray everyone's hopes."
What appeared was the producer's expulsion plan!
...
Aside from Amasawa Ichika's sudden attack, Kaoru encountered no other surprises this week.
Shiina Hiyori and Tsubasa Nanase had joined the Student Council, where Kaoru also met two other first-year applicants.
One was Riku Utsunomiya from Class 1-C, who had quite high ratings on the OAA.
The reason he took notice of this person was because Kamuro Masumi had mentioned him before, and he also had desires, albeit fragmented ones.
However, before they could join the Student Council, another student seemed to have encountered some conflict and was forced to drop out on the day of the exam, becoming the second dropout in the first year.
Due to this sudden incident, Riku Utsunomiya was visibly shaken.
The dropout was his friend, and the two had planned to join the Student Council together.
In the end, his friend unfortunately dropped out.
Kaoru was equally surprised.
Having someone drop out just one month after the start of the school year was far more intense than their previous year.
Regardless, Kaoru kept Riku Utsunomiya in mind, as he was the only first-year student genuinely willing to join the Student Council.
Others like Komiya Kaho and Tsubasa Nanase had ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, everyone found their partners during that week.
Perhaps due to Tsubasa Nanase's persuasion or Hosen Kazuo loosening class restrictions, Class 1-D quickly formed an alliance with Class 2-C.
Initially, Ryuen Kakeru could still compete with Sakayanagi Arisu for students, but later, he dropped all pretenses.
He would drag the freshmen he targeted to corners without surveillance and have Albert, Daichi Ishizaki, and Mio Ibuki surround them.
At this point, relying on delinquent intimidation, these freshmen would quickly yield, and Ryuen Kakeru only needed to symbolically offer a few Personal Points.
If anyone witnessed it, Ryuen Kakeru would put on a smiling face, claiming they weren't bullying or forcing their classmates—they were just joking around. If the other party refused, they would keep following them.
This behavior, skirting the school's bottom line, was dangerously borderline.
One misstep could lead to suspension or expulsion.
Ryuen Kakeru didn't care.
Or rather, this was one of his usual tactics.
As long as nothing went wrong, it was usable.
Compared to Ryuen Kakeru's underhanded methods, Ichinose Honami managed to attract a group of mid-to-lower-tier freshmen simply through her exchange meetings. Her popularity also drew some top students.
However, because Ichinose Honami never turned anyone away, she attracted the most underperforming students, earning her the title of "savior of the struggling students."
She even tried to help those without partners pair up with others.
Anyone could see that Class 2-B would inevitably fall behind in this exam.
Even her classmates knew these struggling students would drag them down, yet they still followed Ichinose Honami.
In fact, on the eve of the exam, some were already attempting to predict the results.
With the OAA system, it was possible to roughly determine which class excelled in written exams.
On the morning of May 1st, the final results were announced.
First Place—Class 2-A, 728 points.
Second Place—Class 2-D, 670 points.
Third Place—Class 2-C, 635 points.
Fourth Place—Class 2-B, 620 points.
...
Class 2-A: 2296.
Class 2-B: 922.
Class 2-C: 331.
Class 2-D: 294.
According to the exam rules, classes from first to fourth place would receive 50, 30, 10, and 0 Class Points, respectively, based on their average scores.
It was evident that Class 2-A's written exam performance completely outstripped the other classes.
On one hand, Sakayanagi Arisu's strategy resolved the issue of underperforming students in the class.
Though there were only a few such students, they still represented a burden for Class 2-A.
Once they were dealt with, the remaining problems became much easier to handle.
By refusing to accept first-year underachievers, Sakayanagi Arisu fully leveraged Class 2-A's academic testing capabilities.
Originally, Class 2-B could have approached the 700-point range, but unfortunately, Ichinose Honami's strategy wasn't as aggressive as Sakayanagi Arisu and Ryuen Kakeru's.
She felt that having no one drop out from their class and only a few first-year students receiving penalties was already a great outcome.
Thus, Ryuen Kakeru secured second place, while Class 2-C had a weaker foundation—their top students were exceptionally strong, but their weaker students were equally poor, with six or seven requiring assistance.
Even so, this Special Exam itself didn't have any noteworthy aspects, much like the initial Partner Exam, where even the rewards were meager.
Many speculated that the school might be setting the stage for the next exam.
After all, there was still a long time until summer break, plenty enough for another Special Exam.