Back in class, Koro-sensei clapped his tentacles together.
"Now then, everyone. The results of the school festival revenue ranking have been announced. Our class took first place."
The room exploded.
"We did it!"
"We beat Class A!"
"We can even put this on our resumes!"
Koro-sensei waited for the noise to die down, then dropped the second piece of news.
"One more thing. Akira-kun's concert video has gone viral too."
That started a second wave.
"Yeah. Last I saw, it had fifteen million views."
"What? In a single day? Seriously?"
"I just checked. It's sixteen million now."
"It was fifteen million like two hours ago."
"It's climbing so fast."
"The comments are more English than Japanese now."
"Well. The song is in English, after all."
Nagisa looked over.
"Why do you think it's so popular?"
Maehara shrugged.
"The song. And Ritsu's special effects are good too."
Nakamura smirked.
"I think it's mostly because of Akira-kun's looks."
Maehara didn't argue.
"Well. I can't deny that."
Nagisa turned.
"What do you think, Akira-kun? Why do you think it's a hit?"
Akira had already abandoned his own seat. He was squeezed into Erika's, glued to her side like the chair had been built for two.
He looked humble.
"Well. That's why I wanted to stay humble. It can't be helped. That's just nature running its course."
The class stared at him.
That was humble?
Nakamura waved her phone.
"Anyway, did you guys read the comments?"
Fuwa nodded.
"Yeah. Most of them are from girls."
Yada unlocked her screen.
"Let's see. 'Who is he? He is so handsome.' 'Does anyone know his number? I want him.' 'I heard he is a junior high student.' 'Doesn't matter. I can wait.'"
A sharp crack cut through the room.
Everyone turned.
Erika's hand was locked around Akira's arm.
Akira struggled.
"Wait… Erika… I am innocent."
Erika muttered without looking up.
"Maybe I should turn off the comments."
The class politely ignored that and moved on.
Maehara stretched.
"Anyway. We won against Class A again."
Isogai smiled.
"Yes. After our loss in the midterm exam, this is good."
Koro-sensei's tone shifted.
"That's true. But remember, students. The end-of-term exams are coming soon. Next up is the classwork battle. Are you all prepared to take the top spot?"
The mood snapped serious.
Erika pushed Akira back into his own seat.
A 50 appeared on Koro-sensei's face as he continued.
"For your first-term midterms, I gave everyone the goal of making the top fifty. I apologize for that. I was too impatient for results, and I didn't count on your opponents being so strong. But things are different now. You've matured in brain and spirit. You should be able to meet your goals in the face of any plot or setback. With heads held high, you will all come in top fif— Akira-kun, what are you doing while I'm giving a cool speech?"
Everyone turned.
Akira was staring at his phone like the world depended on it.
"Sorry, Koro-sensei. Something important is going on."
Koro-sensei looked indignant.
"What could be more important than Sensei's speech?"
Akira said without looking away,
"Drama. More like live drama. A father-son confrontation."
Koro-sensei appeared at his shoulder, looked down, and froze.
"Live? Wait. Isn't that the principal's office? And that's the principal and the Big Five?"
Akira nodded seriously.
"Yeah. It's live."
The class piled in around him.
Koro-sensei remembered that he was a teacher.
"Akira-kun. Hacking is illegal—"
He leaned closer.
"Ooh. That looks intense. What are they saying?"
Akira didn't look away.
"Wait a minute… Ritsu, can you project it?"
Ritsu smiled.
"Sure."
Light cut from her eyes and hit the blackboard.
The feed came up with the sound.
The scene opened on the board.
Principal Asano sat in his chair. The Big Five stood in front of him.
Asano Gakushu spoke first.
"We put forth all our efforts, but we still lost despite that."
"So," the principal said. "Do you know why you lost?"
Gakushu did not hesitate.
"Class E had a better battle plan than expected. They turned the forest path that was supposed to be their weakness into their strength. They used Hoshino Akira to increase their publicity and as a core asset. Everyone did the jobs they were assigned without much trouble, even against that size of crowd. And when they ran out of ingredients, they turned the restaurant into a concert to make last-minute money. We underestimated the organizer. Sendo Erika."
Akira nodded at the board.
"Of course she is better than you. Who do you think she is?"
Erika clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Stop embarrassing me."
He mumbled into her palm.
The class glanced at them, decided this was normal, and looked back at the screen.
The principal's voice remained calm.
"Incorrect. They were running a restaurant. It's easy enough to spread nasty rumors, and a case of food poisoning would have ruined them. You neglected the more… harmful endeavors."
The classroom went still.
"Wow. He is actually willing to do all that."
"He is evil."
"He is ruthless, all right."
Akira's smile was already gone.
"Yeah. I can't stand it. Let me have a word with him."
The class turned on him.
"What?"
He already had the number up.
On the board, the principal's phone rang. He frowned at the screen, then took the call anyway.
"Who is this?"
Akira did not waste time with a greeting.
"It wouldn't work."
The principal's frown deepened.
"What?"
Akira explained seriously.
"The rumors. The food poisoning. If they had tried it, it would have been exposed easily. Even if you planted someone, all I need is his face, and I'll know everything I need to know. And not just that. I'll put everything on the internet. 'Principal's son sabotages other students because he is too afraid he would lose.' Yeah. How's that for a title?"
The class stared.
What the hell was he doing now?
On screen, the principal smiled.
"Hoshino Akira-kun, is it? Hacking the surveillance camera is illegal, you know."
Akira said with righteous indignation,
"Who said I hacked? Don't slander an innocent person."
Judgmental eyes hit him from every desk.
The principal's voice stayed polite.
"Then how do you know what we are talking about?"
Akira looked smug.
"The universe informed me of your evildoings."
The principal smiled at the surveillance camera.
"You have been acting a bit too arrogantly recently. What if I expelled you over this?"
Akira answered with one word.
"If."
The principal's smile widened.
"What? You don't believe I will?"
Akira also smiled.
"You can certainly try. But just so you know, as Newton said, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So think a bit before you take that action. The reaction might not be equal this time."
Silence filled both rooms.
Then the principal asked, almost mildly,
"So why did you call me anyway?"
Akira looked uninterested.
"I'm bored. And you are wrong. That's all."
Even the principal needed a second.
"By the way, Hoshino-kun. Are you preparing for your end-of-term exam?"
Akira answered seriously.
"Well. I already finished. Oh, Principal, can you make the questions challenging? The previous ones were too easy."
The smile came back.
"Sure. I will make it as challenging as possible. So, Hoshino-kun, I have something important to talk to my students about. Can you give us some privacy?"
Akira nodded.
"Sure. I'll leave you to it."
Akira hung up.
On the board, the principal typed. The feed died.
Koro-sensei blinked.
"What happened?"
Akira put away his phone.
"He switched off his surveillance camera. I can switch it back on, but he asked for privacy anyway. Seems like this exam will be fun."
Then the classroom exploded.
"Akira, you idiot!"
"Why did you ask him to make the questions tougher?"
"That guy's normal is already challenging for us! What if he makes it really challenging?"
Akira smiled like this was a team-building exercise.
"It's fine, guys. We can do it with the power of friendship."
The class screamed as one.
"The hell is power of friendship?!"
Koro-sensei finally stopped it before someone actually committed a crime.
"Don't worry, everyone. No matter how tough his questions are, as long as we prepare ourselves well, we can still get into the top fifty."
Akira, who had taken refuge by squeezing into Erika's seat again, pointed at him.
"Yeah. Exactly. You tell them, Sensei."
The class looked at him with murder written all over their faces.
He clung tighter.
"Erika. They are so mean."
She sighed.
"Akira. Next time you act cool, think about the collateral damage, okay?"
Akira looked away.
"I will try."
Koro-sensei lifted a tentacle.
"Don't worry. Just remember, Class A is getting the same questions as you. It will still be a fair match."
Karma leaned back.
"That's true. But I'm sure the principal will personally teach them if it comes to it."
Akira's hand was already moving toward his phone.
"He might do that… Let me call him and ask—"
The class screamed as one.
"NOOOOO!"
Another tragedy was averted.
Koro-sensei clapped his tentacles together.
"Anyway. Let's start our review."
Speed clones bloomed across the classroom and started teaching everyone at once.
Akira drifted back to his own seat.
He didn't really have anything left to learn. He also didn't want to disturb anyone, especially Erika.
He was still trying to figure out how to pass the time when a clone appeared in front of him.
"Akira-kun. Sensei has something specifically designed for you."
He looked up.
"What is it, Sensei?"
Five test packets landed in a neat stack.
"These are the highest-difficulty papers for the five main subjects. I made them specially for you. You wanted to push your limits, right? Here is a challenge. Finish all of them in ten minutes."
The students looked at the stack in horror.
Was that even humanly possible?
Akira smiled.
"Sure. Let me do it."
He spread the papers out and worked on all of them at once.
Ten minutes later, he raised his hand.
"Koro-sensei. I finished."
Heads turned.
"You what?"
Koro-sensei graded them at Mach speed.
"Akira-kun. Full marks on all the subjects."
Akira grinned.
"Now, Koro-sensei, can you make more difficult papers? I need to push my limits even further."
Koro-sensei held out more papers.
"Don't worry. I already made a few."
The next five landed.
Akira finished those faster than the first set.
Koro-sensei kept feeding him papers.
Akira kept getting quicker.
Ten minutes became five.
Then the stack was gone.
Akira looked up, still bright.
"Koro-sensei. Is there more?"
The clones around the room wobbled.
"Akira-kun. Maybe you should get some rest. Sensei is worried about you."
The class had the same thought at the same time.
Are you sure YOU aren't the one who needs rest?
Akira smiled anyway.
"Koro-sensei, but I have nothing else to do."
Koro-sensei produced a light novel and set it on the desk like a peace offering.
"Here. Read this and rest."
Akira turned it over.
"Ohh. A Gundam light novel."
He opened it and started reading at a normal human speed.
The class stared.
"You're reading that normally?!"
Akira didn't hear them.
He was already gone, somewhere between a mobile suit and the next page.