THE NIGHT OF the first day of the exchange meeting.
This was probably the biggest difference from last year's camp:
The rooms assigned to each student were grouped together. In other words, the first and second-year students slept in the same room.
Depending on their personalities, this time of the day could be the most stressful time for both first and second-year students.
That was why Hashimoto hastily created an environment where they could break the ice.
It seemed to be working, as the first-year students had already gotten close enough to Hashimoto to be able to talk to him with a smile. Among the eight people in this room, I was the one who was the most reserved with everyone else.
"You did great winning all your matches on the first day, Hashimoto-senpai."
"We didn't know who our opponents would be, so we honestly had no idea what would happen."
Toyohashi and Yanagi happily said so.
Each of them had a turn at table tennis in today's third and fourth rounds, which probably influenced their mood.
Shintoku and Obokata also seemed to agree, nodding several times, but they seemed a bit shy.
"I'm sorry. We haven't participated even once yet..."
"Don't worry about it. From what I saw today, about half of the students haven't participated. Honestly, the gaming aspect is really just a bonus. For those who haven't participated, their role is just to experience the games."
The experiential learning format, where students collect stamps on a point card, was initially met with skepticism, but the system seemed to be more used than expected. It provided a good opportunity to deepen friendships by inviting friends, senpais, and kōhais.
As far as I could see, there wasn't a single group that was eagerly aiming for a win in the five games played today. Maybe that freedom had contributed.
However, that didn't mean it was easy to reach first place.
Considering today's game progress, a tough battle was expected from tomorrow onwards.
There were four groups, including ours, that won all five matches. Three groups won four out of five matches. There were also four groups that lost all five. The distribution of wins and losses showed the polarizing approaches to the exchange meeting.
Among groups that won one or two matches, there might've been some that were seriously engaged, but it was uncertain what would happen if they couldn't break into the top ranks from tomorrow onwards.
From the second day on, it seemed that we would be competing for first place with about half of the groups.
"Nagumo-senpai's group is a first-place contender, aren't they?"
Takumi Oda, from Class 2-C, muttered, reflecting on the five matches.
"I thought so too. They seem to have won all their matches as well."
Many students in that group were serious—that was their group's strength.
There wasn't a single student who thought it was okay to slack off. It was safe to say that it directly contributed to their win rate.
It was easy to imagine that they had been exposed to various experiences, gaining valuable lessons along the way.
Because it wasn't a battle of academic ability, we were able to compete equally in that aspect. Though, it could also be said that a gap was created because many of the students were inexperienced in multiple games.
"By the way, Hashimoto-senpai, about my class—"
The conversation wasn't just about the exchange meeting, but also included trivial personal topics.
I watched the seven-people conversation, feeling somewhat detached.
Even though the group had only been together for a few hours, the first-year students already seemed to admire Hashimoto, and the conversation was naturally lively with him at the center.
As expected of someone who prided himself on his ability, there was no other way to put it.
He was beginning to build relationships as if they had been acquaintances or even friends for a long time.
Yōsuke and others who were good at blending in with their surroundings are also similar, but he was a different type.
What was a little disconcerting was that Oda had also managed to fit in quite well...
"But, it was a surprising day in many ways."
Hashimoto groaned, holding a memo in his hand that recorded the wins and losses of each group announced by the school.
"Ryūen's group lost twice, and Sakayanagi's group even lost three times. They might drop out of the race to the top tomorrow."
Today, we didn't have a match with either of those two groups, so the details were unknown.
If Hashimoto hadn't taken on the role of organizing the first-year students, he might have gathered more information, but it seemed that he couldn't manage that.
"It's surprising. I've always had the impression that Sakayanagi-senpai was strong. I wonder if it's different because a third-year student is in command."
According to the OAA, a third-year Class D student named Iki had generally poor grades, especially in terms of academic ability. His grade was D+, which was quite unsatisfactory. From this, it seemed unlikely that he was participating as part of the college-bound group.
"If Sakayanagi wanted to win, it would be normal for her to take command, regardless of whether it's a third-year or whatever. She wouldn't back down even if her opponents were Nagumo-senpai or Kiryūin-senpai. Especially Iki-senpai, right? No matter how you think about it, she would quickly seize control... No, even before that, she's the type who would want to leave everything to competent comrades."
It seemed that Hashimoto knew a little bit about what kind of person Iki was.
"So, is it simply a lack of ability?"
Kosumi, who had been quiet until now, muttered that, but Toyohashi immediately denied it.
"At least the first-years are quite good. The second-years are probably the same, right?"
As Toyohashi said, the group Sakayanagi was assigned to was not that bad.
Iki also seemed to have chosen reasonably competent members from both years and considered the possibility of winning.
So it was only natural that Hashimoto questioned why she had lost to an opponent she considered inferior in today's match.
"Whether it's a special exam or an exchange meeting, Sakayanagi always aims to win."
Hashimoto, who had been by her side all along, knew this better than anyone.
Looking at the results of the three losses, Hashimoto must have had doubts in his mind.
"I think so too. I wonder if she's up to something."
Oda also seemed to be troubled by Sakayanagi's three losses and was deep in thought.
However, thinking about it here wouldn't yield any answers.
Eventually, the seven of them started to get excited about a completely unrelated topic.
After a while, Hashimoto distanced himself from the first-year students and walked over to me, who had been watching from afar. On his way, he picked up the TV remote and deliberately turned on a variety show to make the room noisy.
"Could it be that the damage she took from losing Kamuro was significant?"
Hashimoto, who wanted to confirm the reason for the three losses, asked me this.
"Maybe."
It was difficult to judge based on the current results alone, but there was no evidence to the contrary.
"If she's really getting weaker, it's a good thing for me. If we go into the end-of-year exams like this, I might have a chance to win."
As he said, Hashimoto wasn't simple enough to take these results at face value.
"Can you find out what the real situation is with Sakayanagi, Ayanokōji?"
"That's your specialty, not mine."
I tried to immediately refuse, but Hashimoto whispered in my ear just in case.
"Please spare me this time. I'm Class A's most wanted man right now. Especially Kitō—he seems to be really angry. It's okay for now because Sakayanagi hasn't said anything, but who knows what will happen when my betrayal becomes clear."
He muttered as he imagined it and hugged himself.
But his expression remained faintly amused.
"You don't seem to be scared, do you?"
"If I can't even bluff, I wouldn't have the right to betray the class."
That made sense too.
"Besides, I've moved on thanks to you. I'm grateful for that too."
Hashimoto, who had visited my room on the day of the two-person meeting, had laid himself bare.
Now he can face forward thanks to the benefits of that conversation, but the effect was probably temporary.
Once the impact of his betrayal began to take effect, it would no longer be the case.
Hashimoto's time was running out.
"You can contact Sakayanagi directly, right?"
It was fine to feel a little better, but that was one thing, this was another.
"You are free to wish for whatever you want, but when did I become your ally? I don't intend to stick my neck into any trouble."
"I'm thinking about it separately from that. But at least in this exchange meeting, we're on the same team. Even if she's lost three times, as long as Sakayanagi is there, she's a first-place candidate that we should be wary of. Considering that we might face each other tomorrow, it's not a bad idea to scout her out now."
The man who didn't care much about group battles was brave in his public appearance.
"That's reasonable. But as long as you and I are in the same group, Sakayanagi will be more wary than usual. I don't want you to expect useful information."
"I understand. I'll just consider it as a bonus, okay?"
"...Alright. I'll just do as much as I can for now."
"I'm counting on you."
I also wanted to know the reason for the three losses.
But whether or not I would pass on the information I gained to Hashimoto was another matter.