Chapter 138: Junior, Want Some Exam Papers?
Yuto now had three girlfriends: Sakura Airi, Karuizawa Kei, and Kushida Kikyo.
Each relationship gave him a completely different experience.
When Yuto was with Kei, they felt most like a young couple in love—shy and sweet.
His relationship with Airi resembled that of a married couple, warm and considerate.
When he was with Kikyo, their relationship was more passionate and impulsive.
His three girlfriends allowed him to experience three entirely different kinds of affection.
"Kei, I have something to handle. You should return to the classroom first," Yuto said softly.
"Mm."
Kei nodded, squeezed his hand tightly, and only then reluctantly left him to return to class alone.
After she departed, Yuto remained inside the cafeteria, rubbing his fingertips thoughtfully.
Since he intended to counterattack Nagumo, he took out his phone and called the stone-faced upperclassman.
"Good afternoon, senpai," Yuto greeted cheerfully.
"Good afternoon. Do you need something?" Manabu asked steadily.
"There's something I'd like your help with. Is it convenient for you to speak right now?"
Manabu glanced at Nagumo, who was sitting in the vice president's seat. He stood and voluntarily left the student council office.
"It's convenient now. Tell me what you need."
"It concerns the upcoming midterm."
"I wanted to ask whether it's legal for students to purchase previous midterm papers from upperclassmen, or for upperclassmen to privately sell those papers to other students."
A sharp light flashed through Manabu's eyes.
"It isn't legal, but the school does not prohibit it particularly strictly."
"Since you're asking this question, I assume you've already learned one of the school's patterns."
"The midterm papers have remained unchanged for several years. Are you planning to purchase them from an upperclassman?"
"I have no such intention. I merely wanted to confirm whether privately trading exam papers was permitted," Yuto answered.
"Is that so?"
Manabu did not completely believe him.
He knew that Class D had zero class points and that many of its students had poor academic results. They were unlikely to perform well enough on the midterm to earn a significant number of points.
To maximize Class D's gains, Manabu believed Yuto might genuinely purchase the old papers for his classmates.
Otherwise, why would he suddenly ask whether private exam-paper transactions were legal?
Unless someone had deliberately offered to sell him papers, causing Yuto to suspect that he was being deceived.
But who would do something so underhanded?
"That was everything I wanted to ask. Thank you for answering, senpai," Yuto said.
"Mm. However, Shimizu, I should tell you some bad news."
"What bad news?" Yuto asked in surprise.
"Ryuen Kakeru of Class C received forgiveness from the principal and chairman yesterday."
"The student council has therefore granted him permission to take the midterm despite his suspension," Manabu explained.
Yuto immediately frowned.
"That truly is bad news. Ryuen is remarkably troublesome."
He had somehow survived what should have been a hopeless situation.
"Did he pay no price at all?"
"He was originally required to spend personal points."
"However, Nagumo privately accepted Ryuen's application without informing me and stamped it with the student council's seal. Ryuen therefore paid nothing," Manabu answered.
"Tch. Nagumo is going surprisingly far to help Ryuen. Those two must be incredibly close," Yuto said with a cold laugh.
They were anything but close.
Nagumo currently wanted to strangle Ryuen.
Had he not feared that the delinquent would drag him down as well, he would never have bothered helping him.
"Hehehe. Still, Nagumo's actions have given me the perfect reason to make that old man cooperate," Yuto said, narrowing his eyes with a dangerous smile.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Nothing important. Just wait and enjoy the show, senpai."
"If my plan succeeds, the source of your troubles inside the student council may disappear completely."
"I need to handle the matter now, so I'll end the call."
"All right."
Manabu stared at the ended call.
'The source of my troubles inside the student council may disappear...'
Yuto knew that Nagumo was Manabu's greatest problem within the student council.
In other words...
"Shimizu intends to deal with Nagumo."
Then Manabu would wait and see exactly how he accomplished it.
...
After ending the call, Yuto immediately contacted the old man who cheated whenever they played shogi.
"Trouble has come looking for me..." Chairman Sakayanagi muttered with a headache after seeing Yuto's name on the screen.
He reluctantly answered.
"Good afternoon, old man."
"Ahem. Good afternoon, Shimizu. Why are you suddenly calling me?" Chairman Sakayanagi asked solemnly.
"Naturally, I wanted to ask you something."
Yuto was even addressing him respectfully.
It seemed the boy had indeed learned what happened with Ryuen.
"You should know that a first-year student recently plotted to frame an innocent student and have him expelled, correct?" Yuto asked pleasantly.
"Of course. The incident caused considerable trouble. How could I remain unaware as chairman?" Sakayanagi answered helplessly.
He was now even more certain that Yuto had called to complain.
The boy must have learned that the school and student council permitted Ryuen to take the midterm.
"I heard the school is allowing that suspended delinquent to sit the examination."
As expected, he knew.
"...Ryuen-kun was suspended, not expelled. After considering several circumstances, the administration decided to permit him to take the midterm."
"Heh."
"Stop speaking so sarcastically, Shimizu."
"I know you intended to return Ryuen's scheme against him and have him expelled for missing the midterm," Chairman Sakayanagi said irritably.
"Do you know how he earned forgiveness from the principal and me? He knelt and performed a full dogeza while begging for mercy."
"What else could we do? We had to forgive him."
Dogeza was a formal kneeling posture in which someone lowered themselves completely to the floor.
Historically, it demonstrated extreme respect toward someone of higher status. In modern times, it represented the deepest apology or most sincere request.
"I don't accept that. Ryuen didn't perform dogeza before me!" Yuto protested.
"I know you're dissatisfied. I was already considering contacting you and offering compensation when you happened to call. What a coincidence."
Yuto pursed his lips.
What coincidence?
Even a child would not believe such an excuse.
Still, Yuto understood Sakayanagi's decision. He was the chairman of the school, not Yuto's father.
He could not deliberately favor Yuto and force another student to be expelled.
"Old man, I don't want compensation. I want fairness," Yuto said.
"What kind of fairness? Do you want Ryuen to perform dogeza before you?"
"I have no interest in making him kneel. I need you to help me with something."
"Explain what you intend to do first!" Sakayanagi asked cautiously.
The troublesome boy was filled with wicked ideas. He needed to understand the request before agreeing.
"The situation is like this..."
Yuto explained what had happened and described his entire plan.
After listening, Sakayanagi considered it briefly before answering readily.
"No problem. I'll assist you, so let us consider the matter with Ryuen settled."
"Agreed. I'm beginning now, so cooperate with me."
"Fine. Your plan could also help the school remove a pest, so I'll assist."
"Thanks, old man." A small smile appeared on Yuto's face. "We'll continue through a video call shortly."
"All right," Sakayanagi agreed.
Yuto started a video call between their phones and left the cafeteria while holding his device.
Shiraki Ryuichi, who had been waiting for some time, immediately approached him.
"Shimizu-kun, why did you take so long? How could saying goodbye to your girlfriend require that much time?"
"My girlfriend is rather attached to me. I needed to comfort her, so it took a little longer," Yuto answered with a shrug.
Shiraki's face twitched as resentment flashed through his eyes.
He still did not have a girlfriend.
He hated watching other people boast about theirs, so he became even more determined to deceive Yuto thoroughly.
"Let's go this way. There are fewer people."
"Okay."
Shiraki led Yuto toward a quieter area and lowered his voice.
"The secret transaction I mentioned concerns the midterm examination."
"Oh?" Yuto deliberately appeared interested. "Please explain, senpai."
"The midterm is approaching, correct? I possess the complete set of examination papers."
"If you purchase all of them, earning perfect scores will be effortless!"
Shiraki's voice was filled with temptation.
Unfortunately, his suspicious appearance made him resemble someone selling illegal discs on a street corner.
Yuto knew everything but pretended to be surprised.
"Did you steal this year's midterm papers from the school?"
"Of course not. The papers I possess are last year's first-year midterms. They're past examination papers," Shiraki explained.
Past examination papers were simply papers previously used by the school.
"Why would anyone purchase last year's first-year midterms? Wouldn't that be pointless?" Yuto asked irritably.
"You don't understand, Shimizu-kun. This school's examination system is strange."
"The midterm papers often remain unchanged for several years, so students frequently trade them privately."
"I see. In that case, buying your papers really could allow someone to earn perfect scores." Yuto nodded.
Shiraki immediately showed an ecstatic expression.
"You only need to pay me two hundred thousand points, and I'll sell you the entire set!"
Yuto glanced at the delighted boy.
Did this person think he was an idiot who could be easily overcharged?
"Two hundred thousand is too expensive," Yuto answered leisurely.
Shiraki's face twitched.
Everyone knew Yuto had won more than ten million points through wagers.
How could he complain about a mere two hundred thousand?
"You think it's expensive, while I think it's too cheap! Fine, I'll lower it to a fixed price of one hundred eighty thousand."
"That's still too expensive. More importantly, why would I need to purchase these papers? I'm perfectly capable of earning full marks myself," Yuto said with a smile.
Nagumo had already prepared Shiraki for that objection.
He answered confidently, "You might not need these papers, but your classmates certainly do!"
"Can all of them earn perfect scores like you?"
"I know Class D currently has zero class points. If every student performs well on the midterm, the school will award your class a large number of points!"
"You make a reasonable argument." Yuto rubbed his chin as though persuaded.
"Then it's settled at one hundred eighty thousand—"
"But I still refuse."
Shiraki, who believed the transaction was complete, nearly choked.
Suppressing the desire to punch his infuriating junior, he asked, "Why?"
"From what I understand, you're effectively the leader of Class D and intend to reach Class A. Why would you reject this opportunity?"
"Because how do I know those papers will actually be used for this year's first-year midterm?"
"If the school uses different questions, I'll have wasted one hundred eighty thousand points."
"You don't need to worry about that," Shiraki said, patting his chest confidently.
"I have many friends, and one of them belongs to the student council. He happened to see this year's midterm questions while visiting the administration."
"Is that so? Then I suppose there's no problem."
Yuto paused.
"No, I still have one more question."
Shiraki's face twitched again as he forced himself to maintain a smile.
"What else would you like to ask, Shimizu-kun?"
…
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