Kiyo POV

Today is Tuesday April 9th. The second day of our two weeks of preparations for the Partnering special exam.

The meet and greet ended in a huge success for our class, covering more than half of the students in a single day. Honami would have loved to hold some more. However, the school didn't seem to be tolerative of such an idea , so our only option is to pick up the partners manually

While I have secured Amasawa as my own partner, we still haven't finalized our partnership yet, so I'm still technically in the unclaimed batch. I haven't found a suitable partner for Kouenji too, meaning that we are still on the hunt.

Honami doesn't really need a partner since she already has her protection point, meaning that if a white room student was dumb enough to partner up with her and flung the exam, they would be the only ones leaving the school. This also helps me focus more on finding them, rather than worrying about their attacks.

Hmm.... This is quite...... Trash

I thought to myself as I deleted one of the Mangas and added it to the list of no-purpose. It's pretty self-explanatory, they are basically Mangas who doesn't serve any purpose even the most essential one which is entertainment, they are simply just a waste of pages.

I mean who in their right mind would want to read about a man either raping or getting raped ? This is just absurd

I emitted a small reaction of disgust as I deleted it and went to search for more respectful stuff. Honami who seemingly noticed this gave me a small curious look with an amused smile plastered on her face, we are currently learning the conditional types which I have already covered with her, so her attention span seems to be extremely short.

You feel my pain now ?

I stared back at her with a challenging look as she slightly widened her eyes, with her mesmerizing blue pupils she stared back at my golden orbs for a while, ignoring Mashima-sensei's boring talks as we both drowned on each other's eyes. Just when I thought it was over, she immediately blinked

Ha ! not even close

I gave her a victorious look as she responded with a big cute pout, as she has just lost the staring contest. I immediately shifted my eyes back towards the podium, to not act conspicuous on our little antics, before dropping it back towards my tablet.

While our Class has made significant progress, Sakayanagi did pretty much the same if not better. She was seemingly uncontested in the money game and bought a lot of partners for her Class. However, what wonders me is Ryuuen, since he has only managed to attain 2 partners for his Class.

Ironically, Class 1-D has also managed to get only 2 of their students partnered up. However, I can assure you that it is not with Ryuuen, since our class was the one who scouted them.

" That's it for today's lesson. Refer to Page 28 for more details " Just when the bell rang, Mashima-sensei said his final words before taking his leave.

Crack 

Instantly after he left, some of my Classmates stood up and pushed their tables against each other, while the rest crouched towards their bags and pulled out some boxes. Honami got up from her bag and handed me two bento boxes, with a small hint of displeasure on her face.

Currently, it was lunch break. Honami thought that dining with your partner would help bring us and the first-years closer. So that means...

" Senpaiiiiii~ " Sigh

Standing right beside the frame's doorway, was the scarlet haired devil known as Amasawa who was the first person to arrive in record time. With her trademark grin plastered broadly on her face, she immediately monopolized Kanzaki's seat in front of me and sat, facing me with her yellow gradient orbs.

" Hello Amasawa " I blandly greeted her, before starting to open my bento box.

" Is that a way to greet your partner Senpai~? Can't you gimme a smiiiiilee~ or at least show me that you're happy to see me~? " She put both fingers on the corners of her mouth and pulled them up, giving me a smile on top of her content expression.

" I'm happy to see you Amasawa " Her hands immediately flopped down on the desk as she gave me a tiny pout towards my deadpan. I promptly took off the lid of my box and started eating my food.

" Hehe~ " On my peripheral, I spotted Honami amusingly staring at Amasawa with a smugly expression plastered on her face. When I turned to look at her, her face instantly morphed into a bright and cheerful smile as she reciprocated my look

She would have definitely loved to sit with us and enjoy her lunch break to keep Amasawa in check. However, she has to play the organizer role since a lot of the first-years are coming.

Much like the first-years, our counterparts has also left the Class in order to join their partners somewhere else. Not everyone was comfortable with joining us here, so our Class had to stretch a little.

" Waw~ Thich ich cho gooood~ " Amasawa expressed her pleasure by slightly touching her cheek with her left hand, as she was munching down on a bento box similar to mine. " Honami-chan is so good at cooking~ do you eat like this everyday Senpai~? "

" I do. "

" Grrr~ Lucky you~ " Amasawa slightly growled with a hint of jealously in her eyes, before continuing on munching down her food. 

Slowly, the class has been progressively filling with greetings as the first-years has arrived, Honami took it upon herself to organize their seating arrangements , I watched her as I was progressing on my own food as well.

I noticed Shiranami and Kobashi sitting alone at their tables, seemingly waiting for somebody. It seems that their partners haven't arrived yet..

" Anyways Senpai~ why don't we finalize our partnership already ? " When Amasawa gulped down her bite, she immediately blurted out drawing my attention back at her. " I've been receiving a lot of invites  lately~ and it's getting pretty annoying, can't we quicken up the process already~? "

She grumbled about the random second-years who were pestering her, most probably Sakayanagi's henchmen. It was to be expected since she holds a pretty high academical rating, making her short in stock

In fact, I have been dealing with similar types of problems too, so I can clearly see where she's coming from. Finalizing our partnership does indeed sound like the best option, to resolve them. However..

" I cannot do that yet " I emitted before taking a bite off my sandwich.

" Senpai~ are you perhaps afraid that I might get injured ? " Right after the brief moment of silence, she immediately thought up, causing me to stop chewing and dart my eyes back at her. " I have thought about this for a while~ If you don't want your partner to get targeted, then you'd have to delay the partnership processes much as possible

" That way when you partner up, it would already be too late since you're already partaking the exam. The acting director cannot hurt the student to replace them during the exam time and you'll safely live for another day~

" Is that why you've been rejecting me Senpai~? "

I listened closely to her as she kept explaining her theory, when she was done I simply gave up and gave her a nod.

" Yes. That is exactly why I'm delaying it, in order to protect you and to protect myself " I decided to be honest, since I've been busted already.

" Fufu~ It seems that I have figured out Senpai's thoughts heh~? " She grinned mischievously with a small victorious hint, almost as if she has busted out my whole plan. " However, you don't have to worry about me Senpai~ "

" Hmm ? " I gave her a small confused hum.

" I am almost certain that they aren't aware of my motives of siding with you as of yet~ so be at ease " Amasawa happily obliged and started elaborating, talking her minds out right in front of me. " Even if they happen to be aware, I highly doubt that they can manage to hurt me. Even if it's the other white room student "

" I see... " I grabbed a handkerchief on the box and started wiping my lips off. " That means there is only one white room student ? "

" Yes~ As far as I'm aware of, there is only one more white room student aside from me Senpai~ "

This is a crucial piece of information that Amasawa has blurted out of her mouth, and she is completely aware of it. By the time she has revealed herself to me, I was already aware of the presence of more white room students, knowing that there is only one more puts a great amount of ease on my mind.

" I see " I muttered. " Do you mind telling me their identity ? "

" No~ I cannot do that Senpai~ " Amasawa gave me an apologetic look, after refusing to answer for probably the first time.

" Why ? " I tried to test the boundaries once again. However, it was through a subtle approach.

" I will simply be getting in their way~ " Amasawa sighed before continuing, while seemingly choosing her words carefully. " They have been eager to challenge you for a pretty long time now Senpai~ Now that they have gotten the chance, I refuse to interfere in your battle and be the reason of their loss. "

It seems that Amasawa wants to respect her white room companion's wishes by simply not interfering with their moves. By the looks of it, I have one shadow to purge who's lurking on the background.

" So that means you're only siding with me against Tsukishiro ? " I inquired.

" Yes~ I am only helping you with Tsukishiro's matter for you to focus more on your battle with the white room student~ On that regard, I'm neither with nor against you Senpai~ Completely neutral~ " She crossed both fingers of her hands, forming an X 

In simpler terms, Amasawa wants to stay on the sidelines while watching the battle unfold between me and the white room student without siding with anyone whatsoever. It is also safe to assume that she would give them the same response, if they were going to ask her.

" So you want us to perform a match for you ? " 

" Yes~ I want to see you guys spar off and provide me with some entertainment~ " She excitedly exclaimed, sipping down her juice. 

" Does that mean you're manipulating the both of us ? " I added. To which she almost spat it off

" Fufufu~ I guess you could say that~ " Amasawa started giggling. However, she immediately stood still as she felt a shadow creep on her.

" Hey, what were you guys whispering about just now ? " Honami crept behind Amasawa and stood right behind her chair. She instantly put both of her hands on Amasawa's shoulders and bent down, putting her face close to hers and staring at her, with a smile that didn't hit the usual spot. She started massaging Amasawa's shoulders while anticipating a response from her, with an enormous ominous aura emitting out of her.

I won't lie if I said that she looked like a huge menace, with her ominous aura and a small smile hiding her ulterior motives. She looked ready to strangle her at any time.

Amasawa However....

" How scary~ are you perhaps that jealous Ichinose-senpai~? " She was completely unfazed.

Honami's eye irked in annoyance as she immediately twisted Amasawa's shoulders. However, she was completely unresponsive which caused Honami to slightly widen her eyes.

Amasawa taunted her with a wide mischievous grin before starting to tease her, Honami responded to her just like how she does to Amikura. However, Amasawa wasn't Amikura

While Amasawa was teasing the flustered Honami. My gaze subconsciously landed towards the front door, where an abnormal thing caught my attention.

" Chihiro-chan ? Are you okay ? " Shiranami who was content a moment ago suddenly morphed into fear as she kept staring in a direction of the hallway. Kobashi curiously walked towards her and checked, for her expression to fall as well.

" The fuck You lookin' at ?! "

The class instantly fell silent as they immediately hung up whatever they were doing and drew their attention towards the backdoor in a matter of an instant after the loud exclamation was heard, the sound of a loud angry man started reverberating through the empty hallways, repeating the content of the words multiple times.

The voice was unrecognizable for the most of us. However, some first-years's expressions turned dim and serious, seemingly as they recognized the owner of the voice.

Honami shortly after snapped out and looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and seriousness, before she started approaching the backdoor. I immediately stood up and followed behind her as well, to be greeted by a total of 4 Students standing in the hallway, as soon as I crossed the line of the door

2 of them were the missing partners of Kobashi and Shiranami who seemingly arrived late. However, the other two were the two missing students of Class 1-D

Hosen Kazuomi and Nanase Tsubasa

( Credits to whoever colored the Hosen and Nanase Illust. )

Since it was my bday, I was planning to extend this chapter and fuse it with the next chapter, it has been successful so far until I started getting tired, so I decided to cut it here.

I would have completed it by tomorrow. However, I decided to make a birthday upload ;)

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter ;=)

Cya in the next one !