Because of Karuizawa Kei's words, Kaoru spent the entire next day pondering her meaning.
Even though today was exam day, he couldn't help but imagine what the so-called surprise might be, especially since she had specifically forbidden him from doing anything naughty.
"What disgusting things are you thinking about?"
Kamuro Masumi shot him a particularly disdainful look from nearby, as if regarding non-recyclable trash.
"I'm secretly watching Morishita-san. Don't disturb me."
Kaoru had long given up on salvaging his image.
After all, in their eyes, he was just a pervert.
In front, Morishita Ai suddenly straightened her posture.
Having been dozing off, she lifted her head, pressed her legs together, and smoothed down her skirt.
However, she didn't maintain this for long.
Perhaps thinking that Kaoru peeked at her every day anyway, she might as well ignore him, so she went back to sleep.
"Don't say things like that while staring at people. Starting off with sexual harassment just makes you seem disgusting."
Kamuro Masumi was exasperated.
Morishita Ai's seat was very close, only two seats away, so she could definitely hear their conversation.
"I'd peek at you too."
Kaoru glanced at her thighs.
One of the benefits of attending high school in Japan was probably getting to see high school girls' thighs.
Kamuro Masumi glared at him.
Even after all they'd been through, he was still the same as always—every time, she looked at him like he was trash.
After a while, Mashima slowly entered the classroom, stepping in right as the class bell rang.
"I assume you're all prepared. The final exam of this school year will officially begin today."
Mashima handed the materials in his hand to the students in the front row.
"This Special Exam will reflect everything you've learned over the past year—knowledge, physical ability, teamwork, luck, and so on. In short, it's a test of your comprehensive abilities, not just those of the entire class."
Kaoru received the materials passed down from the front row and saw a line written at the top: Selection Item Exam.
"Before you look at the materials, let me explain a few points."
Mashima said, "The nature of this exam is quite similar to the previous Partner Exam and Sports Festival. You will determine your opponents according to the rules."
'Another exam where we compete against each other,' Kaoru thought, having already seen the rules on the materials.
"First, you must decide the content of the exam yourselves. Each class has 10 exam items. These blanks are for you to fill in. For example, if someone wants to play soccer, you can list soccer as an exam item and compete against the opposing class. The specific rules are also up to you to decide."
In other words, each class has 10 exam items they can decide on their own.
The exam content consists of these items, and the specific rules, or victory conditions, are also determined by the students, giving them a great deal of freedom.
"Excuse me, will all 20 exam items be conducted simultaneously?"
Someone raised their hand. "Wouldn't that be too troublesome?"
Even in a one-on-one competition, with each side having 10 exam items, that adds up to 20.
It easily brings to mind the Sports Festival, or even something worse.
"No. At that time, you will need to select the actual exam items from your 10 proposed items, and the opposing class will do the same."
Mashima added, "Also, your exam items cannot be repeated. If there are duplicate items, only one of them can be used."
Kaoru looked over the materials.
The school had given considerable freedom in choosing exam items but had also imposed many restrictions.
For instance, if someone intentionally proposed obscure, extremely rare items known only to themselves, such items would be canceled by the school.
Similarly, items with no time limit or those with excessively long competition times would also be disqualified.
"The rules for the exam items must be simple, easy to understand, fair, and impartial. Otherwise, the school will not accept them."
Mashima turned and wrote the exam dates on the blackboard.
"After you submit the actual exam items, the school will randomly select 7 from them. These will be your final competition items."
March 8th - Special Exam announcement day, with competing classes determined on the same day;
March 15th - Finalization of 10 exam items, competing classes announce their respective 10 exam items and rules;
March 22nd - Selection Item Exam day.
In addition to the exam dates, Mashima thoughtfully wrote out the subsequent schedule.
The holiday would begin the day after the exam ended, followed by the graduation ceremony on March 24th, with the final closing ceremony on the 25th.
"So you're saying our items might not all be selected?" Katsuragi Kohei pondered thoughtfully.
"About half of them are smoke screens then?"
He understood why Mashima had brought up the sports festival - this format was indeed somewhat similar, where the key had been the participation roster.
"If you fail to decide on your exam items by the 15th, the school will supplement them for you. However, I don't think you'll make such a basic mistake."
Mashima scanned the classroom.
This class was probably the most outstanding one he had encountered so far.
To reach the pinnacle of two thousand points before the end of first year - if they could maintain this, they would be the best Class A, even surpassing Nagumo Miyabi.
Second-year Class A was already declining, while third-year Class A was locked in fierce competition with third-year Class B, not yet guaranteed victory.
Kaoru continued reading the materials in hand.
Besides the exam items, he noticed the documents mentioned a specific term.
[On Special Exam day, the Command Tower will conduct exam items in the multipurpose classroom. Additionally, school facilities including the gymnasium, playground, music room, and science classrooms can basically be used, though there are some exceptions.]
[The required number of participants for exam items, excluding substitutes, must be completely different across all ten applied items.]
[Including substitutes, a class can register a maximum of two items with over ten participants.]
[The minimum number is one person, maximum is twenty people (including substitutes, not to exceed twenty).]
[Each student can participate in one exam item and cannot join two or more items; however, only when all classmates have participated in exam items can students participate in multiple items.]
[The Command Tower has authority to intervene in seven items. How to intervene will be determined by the class that decides the items, and interventions will only be adopted after school approval.]
Just as Kaoru Kaoru was pondering what this meant, someone else noticed the term and quickly raised their hand.
"Mashima-sensei, what does Command Tower mean?"
"To coordinate the large number of students, this Special Exam requires a Command Tower. The student serving as Command Tower cannot directly participate in exam items."
"If they can't take the exam, what about this intervention?"
"For each exam item, the Command Tower has one opportunity to intervene, such as substituting players. What specific intervention to use is also for you to decide."
Most people generally understood - this Command Tower could intervene in seven exam items, providing emergency response capability.
If used well, it could catch opponents off guard.
"However, if we lose the exam, the student serving as the Command Tower will be expelled."
Mashima's words immediately dampened most people's enthusiasm for the Command Tower position, as Class A of the first year couldn't produce another twenty million Personal points at the moment.
At this moment, only Sakayanagi Arisu possessed the ability to avoid expulsion—Protection Points.
Thus, everyone's gaze focused on her.
Sakayanagi Arisu naturally asked, "How will the opposing class be determined this time?"
It seemed she also believed that only she was suited to be the Command Tower, whether considering the consequences of losing or the responsibilities of the Command Tower itself, both tailored for her.
Kaoru suddenly felt a mischievous urge—what would Sakayanagi Arisu's reaction be if he snatched the Command Tower position away?