Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Classroom of the Elite, Episode 2, "A Man is a Wolf to Another Man," now available to stream on Crunchyroll.

After the last episode of the Classroom of the Elite series, fans saw Ayanokoji and many others set up foundations to win the mixed training camp or, at least, leave without getting expelled. The new Classroom of the Elite episode begins with Ayanokoji’s group practicing in the woods, and as usual, Koenji does what suits him.

As Koenji’s athleticism and Yukimura’s poor physical ability affect the group in diverse troubling ways, other members of the group begin to chastise them both. However, to prevent any member from getting expelled, the group would have to embrace each other’s strengths and weaknesses to succeed, and a bond must be formed between the gathering of outcasts.

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Ayanokoji Seeks Out Information On Miyabi Nagumo

As Ayanokoji’s group practices in the woods, Koenji runs off ahead, leaving the remaining members of the group behind. Meanwhile, Ayanokoji goes after Koenji, and Yukimura sprains his ankle, causing other members of the team to gloat that he’s dragging them down. When Ayanokoji confronts Koenji, something interesting happens. To rein in Koenji, Ayanokoji grabs him, and Koenji immediately deduces that Ayanokoji is the one behind getting Ryuen to back down. Koenji's ability to easily deduce Ayanokoji’s true identity shows his incredible intuition. Moreover, Koenji is not someone who appears powerless, and with his capabilities, he might become one of Class C’s biggest assets; however, his unwillingness to be controlled by anybody makes that unlikely.

Later at night, Ayanokoji confronts a second-year student and asks for information on Nagumo and what happened when the girls were divided into groups. Interestingly, the second year mentions that Nagumo has his eye on Ayanokoji. As Ayanokoji and Nagumo haven’t come into direct contact with one another, Nagumo being on the lookout for Ayanokoji raises some questions, as the latter isn’t someone to stand out. For Nagumo to already have information on Ayanokoji, there may be someone feeding him information, either from Manabu, Sakayanagi, Ryuen, or even Ayanokoji’s classmates. As Nagumo is stated to have most of the second years in the palm of his hand, it is highly possible, as his information network is not restricted to a single class like most people.

An Unusual Gathering

The night before the marathon, Hashimoto, Sakayanagi’s right-hand man, leaves the room and meets up with Ryuen. As fans had been waiting for Hashimoto to make a move, his movements were particularly intriguing but not at all unexpected. What Hashimoto, the right-hand man of Class A’s leader, could be talking about to Ryuen, the defeated Class C leader whose class has now hit rock bottom, intrigues many. Moreover, mid-conversation, Horikita Manabu and the current vice chairman of the student council appear. The gathering between these people is unusual indeed, as Horikita Manabu is not in the same year as them.

The Marathon

A few nights before the marathon race, members of Ayanokoji’s group indulged themselves in a midnight talk about their insecurities. Yukimura was particularly downtrodden, as he felt he was only dragging the group down, even though he was supposed to be the leader. While his little talk ended in tears, from the next day on, his group members' attitudes towards him and one another improved considerably. Perhaps a night spent talking about one’s insecurities helps a group of men bond.

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Thankfully, because of their midnight talk and newfound respect for one another, Yukimura was able to come up with a plan for the marathon, taking into account everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. To make up for the less athletic members of the group, the more athletic ones ran farther distances in the marathon, and Yukimura's plan proved to be effective.

A Prelude To Disaster

The end of the training camp came swifter than expected; however, the swift conclusion was not the only surprising occurrence. The battle between the past and present student council presidents left Manabu winning the battle but starting a war.

At the start of the competition, Manabu had Nagumo promise that other students wouldn’t be involved in their battle, and he was so sure that Nagumo would keep his word; however, Ayanokoji’s intuition ended up being right. Nagumo not only included other students, but Tachibana Akane, the secretary of the Student Council and Manabu’s classmate, was his goal all along. While Manabu’s group had the overall highest score, he won the bet with Nagumo based on the rules set; however, with Tachibana to be expelled, Manabu would consider it a pyrrhic victory at best. By gathering girls loyal to his faction into one group, Tachibana was included in said group, and her expulsion was planned from the start. Although she wasn’t the leader of the group, by having the leader designate her as the cause of the group’s failure, there would be more than enough reason for Tachibana to be expelled.

Interestingly, rather than have Tachibana get expelled, Manabu decides to spend a large number of points to prevent that from happening. That was also Nagumo’s plan to prevent his minion from getting expelled; however, as he can easily gather many points from the entirety of the second years, it’s an option available to him. Manabu, on the other hand, would only be able to gather points from one class, making the strain on them harder.

From the conclusion of this battle, fans learn that Nagumo Miyabi is not someone to be trusted, as he would even sacrifice a member of his faction for his goals, which in truth are like the likes of Ayanokoji and Ryuen. However, what makes him different is his wit. From the beginning, the so-called honorable duel he agreed to was nothing more than a trap to distract Manabu. Moreover, with Manabu spending a lot of points to prevent Tachibana from getting expelled, he effectively willingly hands over his class’ standing as Class A, although he claims he will take the title back. However, would it be so easy with limited time?

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