My New Life

Chapter 113: Expelled

I tried not to yawn as I carefully stood up at the podium with Horikita and Hirata that next morning.

It was a long night the previous night, and even Horikita, who usually keeps up appearances, had some eye-bags as well.

"Um, are you three okay?" One of our classmates asked.

"...Yes. We're just tired from scoring everyone the night previous. We wanted to be as fair as possible, we observed everything that we intended to, making sure nothing was taken for granted. We finished marking the scores early this morning, and have come to a clear consensus on who scored the lowest, and will be expelled from the classroom."

There was a bit of nervousness that brewed in the air at my words.

I did notice I wasn't speaking with my usual upbeat tone or charm.

I'm tired.

I do a lot each day, I need my sleep.

"I will say this again. You all put your faith in us to decide on what to do this exam, and we responded by introducing something that will determine who will be expelled while being as fair as possible. That's why we talked and decided on this. We would like to humbly ask you all again for your approval. We would like to know that everyone is truly on board to continue with what we've chosen before going forward. So... would you all like to continue?"

As last time, Koenji was quick to voice his approval, but it took a moment for anyone else to do so.

Seeing these reactions, Horikita spoke up.

"I understand that we're asking a lot of you all. It is certainly much easier to just be let free to do what you think is right. But I want to say this."

She stepped up so she was standing directly next to me, and lifted a hand to put it on my shoulder.

"Hirata-kun, Shizukana-kun and I worked hard to made good on the trust you all gave us, but I will assure you all that if it's your choice to do as you please, we will respect that."

"I don't want you all to feel pressured into continuing just because that's what is easier to do right now. If you want to do your own thing then do it." I finished.

Hirata put a hand up.

"Even if I was at risk of being expelled, I would continue. I believe in your system."

I nodded back at him, and so we turned our attention back to the class.

Some seemed conflicted, but slowly more hands arose as people voiced their approval to continue on.

In the end, everyone agreed.

To leave the fates of the class in the hands of three people.

They trust us.

I glanced back at Horikita, and she nodded to me, reconfirming that she was also ready.

"In that case, here are the results."

Hirata and Horikita put up the results on the whiteboard at the front of the class, making sure everything was written down big enough so that even the back of the class could see.

I noticed some people begin to appear relieved as their name and score was written down.

The same was true for Ike, who had scored an eighty-nine, probably the highest mark he's received this whole year, even if it's not official.

I'm sure that will be a small confidence booster.

Fear seemed to set in for those who had not yet seen their name, but a greater sense of safety followed for some of them.