Classroom of the Elite Fanfiction: The Snow Queen's 1st Year

V3 C7 - A Very Close Margin

“Create compelling spectacles. A spectacle will draw people in. If you can create an event that's grandiose and over-the-top, it will enthrall people. As a result, you'll be able to control their attention and get them to do what you want.”
- 37th Law of Power from the book “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene.

...

“The lowest class is Class A, with 0 points.” Mashima-sensei announced with indifference.

‘What?” Katsuragi reacted shockingly. Mashima-sensei continued the announcements.

“In third place is Class C, with 90 points.”

A commotion broke out from both classes as both did not expect this outcome to happen.

“Coming in second place is…”

For an instant, Mashima-sensei’s movement stiffened. He then resumed speaking.

“Class D with 225 points.”

All of the students, except for our class, Kiyotaka, and Hirata were more confused than anyone else.

“What's the meaning of this, Katsuragi?!” One of the Class A students exclaimed.

“Something is strange. What does this mean?” Katsuragi muttered as Hirata then said to himself.

“If we got second with 225 points, then how much did Class B get?” Hirata asked as I smirked at the expected results.

“That's right! Didn't Class B give out 100 points to sell it to us?!” Shinohara exclaimed, which got Katsuragi’s attention from his thoughts towards myself with an inquisitive look.

“Class B has come in first place with 226 points. With that, this concludes the announcement.”

Mashima-sensei announced as everyone else went quiet for a few moments before a commotion even bigger than the one earlier had erupted.

“Eh?!?!” Karuizawa reacted.

“We were so close!” Ike exclaimed.

“We're just one point from first place, goddamn it!” Sudou said with frustration.

“Oi, Sudou-kun, we need two points to pass over them or we would tie with them!” Yamauchi commented, which made Sudou exclaim profanity once again.

“Damn!”

As Class D can't believe in not just getting a high score, but also how close they were to us with that 1-point difference.

“Nakaizumi-san! What a fair game!” Ichinose approached our class.

“My apologies if I have to guess your leader correctly, Honami-san.” I said to Ichinose with an apologetic tone.

“Hahaha, you don't have to be sorry, Nakaizumi-san. It's a fair game, after all. Our plan isn't quite as well-defended as we had thought.” Ichinose said with a frustrated tone.

“It's alright. There would be more chances to make a comeback next time.” I patted Ichinose’s shoulders, which brought Ichinose back up from her somber tone.

“Congratulations on becoming the new Class A, Shirayuki-chan.” Ichinose said with a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Honami-san. While I had the brains to do that, I couldn't do it alone without my classmates, after all.” I boasted in front of Ichinose as she chuckled from my tone as a result of that.

…

After our 15-person group went back to the ship Speranza using a boat, we were greeted by our classmates who were retired during the special test in high spirits.