"So, that's the situation. I was hoping to invite you to come along, Ichinose-san — would that be alright?"
Inside the Class B classroom.
Facing Kushida Kikyo's earnest expression, Ichinose Honami thought it over for a moment — and before Amikura Mako or Kobashi Yume beside her could get a word in to object, gave a quiet nod.
"Sure. I'd be glad to."
"I think Kushida-san's idea has real merit. I'll be there."
"Really?! Oh, thank goodness!"
Kushida Kikyo let out a visible breath of relief, her smile blooming bright and warm.
"Then I won't keep you any longer! I'll go confirm the time with Shiina-san from Class C right now!"
With that, she gave a cheerful wave and slipped out of the classroom, her steps light.
Amikura Mako watched her go, a small frown creasing her brow. She reached over and rested a hand on Ichinose's shoulder — which felt, as always, a little too thin beneath her fingers.
"Honami... are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Mako."
Ichinose Honami shook her head.
"Right now, I'm everyone's hope. And I have a mission — to bring Chihiro back. Until I've gathered enough points to revive her... nothing can happen to me. I won't let it."
Amikura Mako let out a silent sigh.
"That's not what I meant..."
It had never been Ichinose's ability she was worried about. It was her heart.
Pressure that goes unreleased doesn't quietly dissolve — it doesn't seep into the ground like morning dew, silent and invisible, gone before you notice.
It smolders. It hides in the deep places, quietly fermenting, swelling and growing, until the moment it finally breaches the dam of reason and tears everything apart without warning.
The very face Ichinose was wearing right now — that I have to be strong look — was the most dangerous one of all.
But before Amikura could voice any of that, Kobashi Yume leaned in from beside them, dropping her voice low:
"Mako, Honami... look over by the doorway."
"That guy hovering around out there — isn't that Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class A? What's he doing all the way over here?"
Amikura Mako glanced up.
Sure enough — by the window in the corridor outside, a boy was peering into the Class B classroom with barely concealed interest, as though searching for something, or confirming it.
Lately, because of what had happened to Shiranami Chihiro, a fair number of students from other classes had been drifting over to Class B. But their behavior was mostly the ordinary kind — curiosity, sympathy, the idle rubbernecking of bystanders.
What Hashimoto Masayoshi was wearing right now was something else entirely. There was a purpose to it, sharp and deliberate, that set it apart completely.
Something's off.
Amikura Mako's instincts prickled. She moved to go confront him — but she was a step too late.
As if he'd confirmed whatever he'd come to confirm, Hashimoto caught her eye — and in the same motion, tucked his hands into his pockets, began whistling casually, and melted back into the foot traffic in the corridor.
What was left in Amikura Mako's line of sight was a blue-haired girl, crouched in the corner of the hallway, head bowed, quietly examining the potted plant by the wall.
The girl flinched slightly, as if startled.
"Ah... sorry, did I scare you?"
Amikura Mako quickly apologized — then caught herself, and tried a more careful approach:
"Unless I'm mistaken — are you Morishita-san from Class A?"
"Do you happen to know... why Hashimoto-san from your class was just over here at our door?"
By then, Ichinose Honami and Kobashi Yume had picked up on the commotion and come over as well.
Faced with the attention of all three of them, Morishita Ai showed no sign of being flustered.
She tilted her head slightly, blinking her large eyes, her tone carrying the quiet, detached lilt of someone reciting a passage aloud:
"As to the reason — that is a point Morishita Ai is also quite curious about."
"Which is precisely why I followed behind Hashimoto-san, and came over to observe."
She continued without any particular change in expression:
"Please do not misunderstand. I have no intention of interfering in another class's internal affairs. I am simply acting as Morishita Ai — conducting necessary recording and observation of this current anomalous situation."
With that, she pressed a finger to her chin, falling into the look of someone assembling the scattered fragments of a deduction in their mind — and without waiting for any of the three to respond, turned and walked away at her own pace.
Out in the corridor.
Kobashi Yume and Ichinose Honami exchanged a glance.
"Honami..." Amikura Mako stared after the retreating figure, completely at a loss. "Did you understand a single thing she just said?"
Ichinose Honami opened her mouth. Closed it. Her expression was faintly complicated.
I... kind of did...? Maybe?
What an odd person.
——
Time slipped by, and soon enough the weekend afternoon arrived.
Keyaki Mall. The seating area in front of RING Café.
Ichinose Honami stared at the message on her phone screen, momentarily lost in thought.
"A transfer student?"
Amikura Mako leaned over to read the email from Hoshimiya Chie on Ichinose's screen, her voice jumping slightly with surprise.
"Transferring in at a time like this?"
She pulled back, her mind jumping to the earlier incident.
"Wait — so when Hashimoto Masayoshi was lurking outside our classroom... he was actually there to confirm something? He was trying to figure out which class the transfer student would be placed in?"
"But how would he have access to that kind of internal information? Does Class A have some kind of special privilege, or have they already opened a direct line to the school's higher-ups...?"
Ichinose Honami tucked her phone away and unconsciously tightened her grip on the heavy bag in her hands.
She shook her head.
"From what an upperclassman told me, Class A's privileges only become visible after graduation. I'd imagine they spent some of their points buying the intel from a teacher."
"An upperclassman?"
Amikura Mako caught the word. "Is this the student council vice president you mentioned before — the one who led Class B all the way to Class A?"
"Yeah."
Ichinose gave a small nod.
"I've gotten a lot of information from Nagumo Miyabi-senpai."
"Though when it comes to the Black Sphere exams... their situation seems to be different from ours."
Ichinose paused, and under Amikura Mako's puzzled gaze, her expression grew more serious.
"For us first-years, the selection is me, Chris-kun, Ryuuen, and Sakayanagi-san as the four fixed participants — plus one randomly chosen person from each class."
"But for the second and third years, it's a cross-year mixed format — one designated person from each class."
Amikura Mako blinked. "So... we're the special ones?"
"Or maybe... rookie protection?"
Ichinose ran her fingers over the bag, feeling through the fabric for the cool metal ring inside — the one that meant the combat suit was with her. That small confirmation was enough to settle some of the unease in her chest.
"I'm not entirely sure which version is the 'normal' one."
"But whether it's us or the upperclassmen, everyone is already scrambling to keep up with these exams that came out of nowhere."
"That's exactly why I said yes to Kushida-san's invitation. Even if it's only cooperation within the same year — bringing everyone together is still better than every class fighting alone. At the very least, it should cut down on a lot of unnecessary casualties."
Amikura Mako thought it over for a moment. Then she looked at Ichinose's profile — steady, certain — and smiled.
"Honami, just do what feels right to you. I'll always be behind you."
She shifted her gaze toward the front of the café.
"Looks like some people are already here."
Ichinose turned to look.
In the warm afternoon sunlight, Shiina Hiyori sat alone with a book open in her hands, reading in quiet contentment. Nearby, Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane, speaking to Kamuro Masumi — who was standing beside her wearing an expression of barely concealed reluctance.
And on the other side, Chris and Kushida Kikyo were approaching together, side by side.
"Let's go."
Ichinose settled her nerves, adjusted her expression, and started forward.
But just as Chris and Kushida Kikyo's figures came into clear view ahead of her —
Something changed.
The busy, noisy street around them went strange. Quiet. The kind of quiet that didn't belong there.
Ichinose's head snapped around on instinct.
The pedestrians who had been walking just a moment before. The students who had been laughing and shoving each other around. They were vanishing — visibly, at a speed the naked eye could track.
Not scattering in a panic. Not running.
One second they were there. The next — like the signal cutting out on an old television — they flickered twice, and simply ceased to exist. Erased from the air without a sound.
The entire world felt as if someone had pressed the delete key.
Ichinose Honami realized what was happening. She spun around sharply.
"Mako — grab my hand!"
The words weren't even finished.
"Ichinose?!"
Amikura Mako's voice came from beside her — laced with open panic.
"What are you saying?! Your hand — why are you disappearing?!"
"Is the Black Sphere exam starting again?! We didn't get any notification!"
Ichinose stopped short and looked down.
The skin at her fingertips — even the arm holding the bag with the combat suit inside — was breaking apart into tiny, dense particles of blue light, drifting upward and dissolving.
"I...?"
She wheeled around again.
Ahead of her: Sakayanagi Arisu, still seated — and Kushida Kikyo, still walking toward them — both showing the exact same phenomenon happening to them.
Wait. No—
Ichinose Honami forced herself to think clearly. She looked around. Only certain people were disappearing. Amikura Mako and the others were completely unaffected.
The answer hit her all at once.
"This isn't our exam."
"Mako — this must be an upperclassman's Black Sphere exam activating in this area. The sphere is clearing the zone. People like me and Sakayanagi-san are being judged as unrelated parties and forcibly sent back."
"But you, Shiina-san, Kamuro-san —"
She sucked in a breath.
"— and Chris-kun. You've all just been drafted into someone else's exam as uninvited guests!"
"What?!" Amikura Mako went white.
Ichinose stared at her own body, already translucent past the chest. Her expression tightened. Her voice came faster now, urgent:
"All I can hope right now is that Chris-kun didn't forget to bring his combat suit when he left the dorms..."
"Whatever happens — Mako, be careful! Stay close to Shiina-san and the others and find Chris-kun! Stick to him no matter what! His experience is more than—"
Her voice cut off.
Gone.
"Ichinose..."
Amikura Mako bit down on her lip, fighting the urge to scream.
She turned toward the café entrance. Shiina Hiyori had just looked up — she'd been close enough to catch Ichinose's final words.
"An upperclassmen's exam..."
Amikura Mako gave a stiff nod, then immediately turned, scanning the area for the one person she needed to find.
When she finally spotted Chris — standing there with empty hands.
Cold sweat broke out across her skin. The bottom dropped out of her stomach.
Chris, for his part, took a single casual look around at the mall — now as still and silent as a ghost town.
He savored for a moment the delicious expression Ichinose had been wearing in her final seconds before vanishing.
Then he opened his mouth.
"You got here early, so you should have a feel for the layout. Do you remember if there's a mall directory map anywhere nearby?"
"I'm not really a shopping person."
____
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