The final day of the camp special exam, inside the classroom where the class had spent the past seven days, Yukio almost burst out laughing.
It was Ryuen who beat those students, it was Ryuen who caused the food-safety trouble—
yet Hoshinomiya working overtime and all the other classes actually thought he had ordered it.
Guess I screwed them so hard before that I'm everyone's first suspect.
When the exam ends, he decided, Ryuen definitely owes him a celebratory meal.
While he pondered, an unfamiliar teacher walked in—clearly one of the upper-grade instructors. Without a word of nonsense he began handing out test papers and answer sheets.
Such efficiency felt odd to classmates used to homeroom teacher Sakagami cracking jokes; still, they hadn't planned any tricks, so the teacher's brisk style didn't make them nervous. But once the test paper and the densely printed answer sheet landed on each desk, the students were stunned.
"A–all multiple-choice? Man, I should've brought a pair of dice."
"Hehe, you're too naive. See? A four-sided 'ABCD' rolling pen—each face is one option. Give it a spin and you've got an answer. Way better than a plain round pen."
"Nice, bro. Lend me one?"
"Ahem." The upper-grade teacher on the platform cleared his throat; the class fell quiet, no longer joking about the test.
Even so, he did not omit the necessary instructions.
"As you've surely noticed, over these seven days we covered every subject in class. Therefore, to test your class's study ability, we must examine each subject once. Because today's special-exam schedule gives students only one daylight period, this written test lasts just two hours."
"Within two hours, to cover so many subjects, we combined several multiple-choice questions from every field onto one paper, and you will mark them on the card. Remember—time is precious. If you bubble the wrong line and throw off the rest, the school will not grant extra time; the papers will be collected the moment time is up."
"One extra note: if you damage the card while bubbling, you'll have to pay 100 private points for a replacement. Because it's all machine-scored, results will be out very quickly. The average score for your class will be sent to your phones shortly, and that average will stand as your result for this study event."
"All right—the exam begins now."
With that, the students of Yukio's class bent over their sheets, thinking hard and carefully shading bubbles.
Those few partners who had snuck out with Yukio on Night 2 to do mischief were now shaking with silent laughter: Yukio-san is amazing!
The teachers' lectures had been rushed, but for Yukio the test was no pressure. He finished everything easily, but early submissions weren't allowed—leaving the room would disturb classes next door—so he stared out the window day-dreaming until collection time.
When the papers were taken, Yukio quietly told a few people to slip out and do bad things again. The remaining classmates crowded around Kaneda and Shiina, eagerly matching answers.
"Kaneda, Kaneda! Question two in physics—was it A?"
"Hah?" Kaneda pushed his glasses, displeased. "I remember that one. Definitely C."
"Eh? Then—I'm dead…"
"Haha! I picked C. You blew it, Sonoda! Buy me a drink later and I'll forgive you."
"Get lost!"
"Shiina-san, Shiina-san, what did you mark for the very last one?"
"A."
"Great—I picked A too!"
The once-quiet corridor erupted. All four first-year classes were on this floor, so the hall filled with complaints about an all-multiple-choice test and moans from the academically challenged.
Half an hour later, the school's text blast stoked an even bigger racket:
"AVERAGE SCORES ARE OUT!"
Yukio pulled out his phone—the message showed a single bare number: 70.
Pretty on-brand for our class, he thought. Even with two study monsters tutoring, their average would never soar.
He'd heard that in regular midterms Sakayanagi's and Ichinose's classes never fell below the high-80s. But this time was different.
Sakayanagi's class—every student's face went blank, staring at the 30-something on their screens.
"How—how can that be? Our class could never score like this! Re-scan! The machine must be broken!"
"Right—only a machine glitch. These were basic questions; how could our average be under forty?!"
Ichinose's class was just as shocked: their average was also only in the 30s.
"Makes no sense. Even if we lost to Sakayanagi's class, we wouldn't be this low."
"I remember most of those questions—no way we all answered wrong. Something's off."
Class D actually reacted the most normally; their average too was in the 30-range, but they weren't incredulous—just embarrassed.
"Sigh… We all paid attention this week, but we still bombed."
"It's lousy, yeah, but sorta our floor. Against the other classes we just can't compete in academics."
"Hold up, look—Sakayanagi's and Ichinose's people are heading toward Yukio's class."
"N-not only them! Upperclassmen from upstairs are coming down too! What's happening?"
With cries of surprise, they saw Sakayanagi and Ichinose each leading groups toward Yukio's Class. From the stairwell poured a crowd of seniors.
Curiosity pulled Class D along; soon the hallway outside Yukio's room was packed tight.
"Yukio. This is your doing again, isn't it?" Horikita Manabu reached the front first, stepping into the doorway.
"Every class's average is in the thirties."
"I don't know how you managed it, but it clearly traces back to you."
Second- and third-years alike nodded, backing Horikita's presence—right now it felt as if only the former president could speak for them.
The first-years, too, suddenly understood: it wasn't their own poor scores, nor a scan error—that guy Yukio had hosed them again.
This time Yukio simply nodded.
"The personal-ability fiasco was all Ryuen's work—nothing to do with me."
"But the low averages in this study exam? Sorry—this time it really was me."
...
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