Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 4 [Ryouta Rival]

- Part 2

"Sensei... sorry to be so rude about this, but this has to be some kind of mistake."

After hearing about his fate, instead of freaking out about it like the others, Masamoto calmly stepped towards Hiden-sensei and questioned the validity of the results.

"I've been keeping track of the flow of blame and praise votes in our group, and by far Ayano-san of D Class has the most blame votes. It should be him being sent to E Class, not me."

Hiden-sensei chuckled, nodding his head.

"Yes, of course. If you only look at how it's like on the surface, then it would appear that Kishi-kun has more blame votes than you. However... do you know how many blame votes you ended on, Shinhon-kun?"

"Between ten to fourteen."

"Wrong."

Hiden-sensei shook his head, frowning.

"As much as it pains me to say this, especially as you are one of my students... you ended up gathering 30 blame votes. In comparison, Kishi-kun only received 28."

"...what?"

Masamoto's shoulders slumped.

"That can't be... the math doesn't add up. In total, there can only be 49 blame votes spread out amongst all the members of a group, yet the numbers you're presenting add up to 58, far exceeding the total. How can this be, sensei?"

"Think about it carefully, Shinhon-kun. Was there any point in the special exam where your group could've earned more blame votes?"

Masamoto stared at him in disbelief, like it was obvious there was no such way. However, when Ryouta heard that major hint, his eyes widened in shock.

"There... shouldn't be..."

"Oh. But there is."

Shigeru laughed as he pivoted away from me and towards Masamoto, who looked at him over his shoulder.

It seems that he used his disdain towards me as a smokescreen for his real intentions of this special exam.

All I can say is Masamoto sealed his fate the moment he didn't realise what Shigeru's crafty trick was on the fourth day.

"What do you mean, Shigeru-san?"

"Huh. You're an A Class student, aren't you? You were even good enough to make it on the student council. Surely a genius like you can figure it out, right?"

Suddenly, the air around them became dark and twisted. His taunts pulled Masamoto and everyone else into a cold atmosphere.

"Do what your homeroom teacher says and think about it, Masamoto-san. Use that superior A Class brain of yours to explain to everyone here why you have more blame votes than Ayano-san. Or do you need me, a filthy E Class student on the verge of dropping out, to spell it out for you?"

Shigeru grinned as Masamoto's usually calm face contorted in agony. He was trying his hardest to decipher the situation, but the longer he took, the more humiliating the situation became.

"Come on, Masamoto-san. Imagine how disappointed Kishou-sama must feel, knowing that one of the people he hand picked for the student council can't even figure out a simple riddle like this. It's so painfully obvious..."

A bead of sweat ran down Masamoto's face.

"Look at the faces of Ryouta-san or Senzaki-san, or Ichinose-san or Takanori-san. It's clear they've all already figured it out. So why can't you? You're the only 1st Year A Class student to make it into the student council. That must mean you're more impressive than your peers, right? Come on man. Are you really going to lose to these people who are ranked lower than you? Or even worse..."