"Thanks for your hard work. Have something to eat."
With less than three days left until the midterm exams, Class C students didn't slack off just because Kitagawa Ryo had managed to secure the answers. Ryo had made it clear that there wouldn't be an answer key for every exam moving forward. Class C's foundation was still weak, and if they didn't work hard to catch up, it was only a matter of time before someone failed and got expelled.
Now that Class C, under Kitagawa Ryo's leadership, seemed to be on the verge of overtaking Class B, even though it had only been less than two months since enrollment, the students were full of motivation. If things continued at this pace, Class C might really become Class A someday. With such a hopeful prospect in mind, everyone gave their best.
The study sessions led by Kaneda Satoru and Shiina Hiyori were progressing well under Kitagawa Ryo's supervision. If the students of Class C took another quiz now, it was unlikely that seven of them would still fail.
It was already 5 PM. Although classes had ended, many students remained in the classroom to study. Even Ishizaki Daichi, who was part of a club, had temporarily suspended his club activities to focus on reviewing. Kitagawa Ryo was quite satisfied with this enthusiastic atmosphere and decided to make some desserts to share with everyone.
"Whoa, did you make this yourself, boss? It looks good enough to sell!"
Ishizaki Daichi, who sat near the door, was the first to receive a cup.
"It looks fancy, but it's just iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream. Super simple and cheap."
As Kitagawa Ryo handed a cup to each classmate, he explained with a smile:
"Just top off the iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream, pour 15 ml of coffee cream on top, and draw a pattern with chocolate syrup."
Though Ryo made it sound easy, the desserts looked excellent. Each cup even had a different smiley face drawn on top. As Ibuki Mio sipped hers, she shot a curious glance at the unusually friendly Kitagawa Ryo.
Of course, no one in Class C refused free sweets. It was a nice way to relax after long study sessions. Some students stretched, others moved around a bit, and casual conversations sparked laughter. After more than a month of shared school life, a sense of camaraderie had begun to form within Class C.
"You two have worked even harder."
Ryo approached Kaneda Satoru and Shiina Hiyori, offering them each a different dessert from the tray:
"Kaneda, I remember you said you liked sweet-and-sour flavors when we had lunch before, so I made a lemon cheesecake mousse just for you."
Kaneda Satoru was the top-performing male student in Class C, aside from Kitagawa Ryo. He wore glasses and always looked composed and studious. As the one responsible for tutoring the boys, especially abstract thinkers like Ishizaki Daichi and Yamada Albert, Kaneda's patience was commendable.
"Thanks."
Unlike the rough-and-tumble types who called Ryo "boss," Kaneda quietly took his dessert and left. After all, rumors had been flying about Ryo and Hiyori, and a certain girl's gaze was practically burning into his back. Kaneda quickly gave the two their space.
"Alright then, this one is just for you."
Ryo leaned against the windowsill next to Shiina Hiyori and handed her the last slice of blueberry pie.
"No one else will get to fight you for it."
As he watched her nibble on the pie like a little hamster, Ryo took a sip of his own iced coffee, feeling relaxed.
"Is it good?"
Hiyori seemed curious about his drink and, with a bit of whipped cream still at the corner of her mouth, leaned forward and asked with sparkling eyes.
"It's alright. At the end of the day, it's just coffee."
Ryo replied casually:
"But you shouldn't drink it, Hiyori. It's too cold. That's why I gave all the girls the refrigerated version instead of the frozen one."
It was just an excuse. Glancing at Hiyori subtly, Ryo noted that unlike most girls, she always wore long white stockings—fitting her image perfectly, and the contrast of skin and fabric looked great.
But the real reason he didn't give her iced coffee? He already knew Hiyori was on her period.
Trying to steer away from the awkward topic, Ryo cleared his throat and changed the subject:
"A few days ago, I had you and Kaneda fabricate a fake answer key based on last year's exams. That must've been a lot of work."
"Not really."
As expected, Hiyori's attention shifted. She had always wanted to help Ryo more directly, and this chance to create a fake answer key was a rare opportunity she approached with full seriousness:
"With last year's questions and answers as reference, it wasn't hard to generate a believable fake based on the exam scope you gave me."
Hiyori happily explained their efforts:
"Kaneda and I even tweaked a few real questions from last year just as you suggested. We changed some numbers, so the steps look correct but the final answer is wrong. If someone just blindly trusts the key without checking, they'll definitely get tricked."
"You were a huge help this time, Hiyori. D Class is going to take a serious hit in this midterm."
Ryo smiled. He hadn't just laid a trap for Horikita Suzune with the exam scope. After seeing through one layer of deception, people tend to trust what follows more. He had created two layers of "puzzles" for her to unravel.
"Mhm."
Hiyori nodded with a smile, clearly pleased by the praise. She didn't care about D Class. In fact, the sooner they fell, the better.
Why such a thought? A few days ago, the ever-smiling Kushida Kikyou had called her out of the blue for a twenty-minute chat about nothing. As a result, she missed an important call from Ryo.
Though everything still worked out, Hiyori felt a tiny grudge. Missing an important call because of some trivial thing—that's how tragic plotlines begin. She didn't want to be the girl who missed a life-changing call from Kitagawa Ryo.
Of course, Ryo would probably just chuckle at her for being overly imaginative.
"Girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice."
With that whimsical thought, Kitagawa Ryo quietly watched Shiina Hiyori finish her little blueberry pie.
-------------------------------------
"Horikita."
Four days before the midterm exam, Chabashira Sae called Horikita Suzune into the office. Gazing at the current leader of Class D, she asked:
"Have you found a way to pass the midterm exam?"
Just as Kitagawa Ryo had suspected, Chabashira hadn't disclosed the correct test scope to Class D in order to test them. If the class hadn't figured it out in time, she would've subtly hinted at alternative ways to pass the exam.
Now, with less than four days remaining, and no student having yet reported any concerns about the test scope, even the typically nonchalant Chabashira was growing uneasy. She decided to ask Horikita directly.
"Yes."
Without hesitation, Horikita nodded confidently, exuding an air of cool assurance.
"I've already obtained the correct answers."
"Is that so? Well done."
Chabashira smiled with surprise. She hadn't expected Horikita to independently discover the method of "purchasing answers" and raised her internal evaluation of her student.
Confidently, Horikita returned to the classroom.
She had no doubt about the authenticity of the answers in her hand. After all, she had stolen them from Kitagawa Ryo, who had hidden them. That level of risk only served to further confirm their validity in her eyes.
Everything was going according to plan. On the day before the midterms, Horikita distributed the printed answers to her classmates. Amid Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji's grateful thanks and the joyful cheers of the others, she returned to her seat. If all went well, this exam would solidify her position as the leader of Class D.
"Um, Horikita-san?"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who sat beside her, suddenly spoke up. A quiet and unremarkable presence in Class D, Ayanokouji had interacted only occasionally with Horikita. Thanks to a 10,000 point debt she had covered for him, he had become something of her underling.
"What is it, Ayanokouji-kun?"
Horikita looked at him with mild curiosity. She saw him as a quiet, somewhat awkward student. Still, he was efficient—his role in the plan to deceive Kitagawa Ryo had been executed flawlessly. After all, not just anyone in Class D could lie so smoothly to someone like Ryo.
"It's about this answer sheet..."
Ayanokouji held up the freshly distributed answers and stammered with uncertainty:
"It feels... a bit off."
"It's identical to the focus points you highlighted and the questions you predicted. I'm not doubting your ability, but it's just a little too perfect. There's something unsettling about it."
He sighed. In just over a month, Class D had gone through one mess after another. All he'd wanted was to enjoy a normal high school life. Now, he barely had anyone to talk to besides Horikita. But the way things were going, someone in Class D was bound to get expelled eventually.
Even if, for now, Sudou, Yamauchi, and Ike were more likely to be voted out than him.
Still, if Class D continued to spiral, he too would be affected.
He just wanted to survive peacefully for three years.
With that thought, Ayanokouji began to make the bare minimum effort.
"Is that so?"
Prompted by Ayanokouji's words, Horikita reviewed the answer sheet again. This time, she stopped focusing on the accuracy of the scope and instead examined the questions themselves. She began to notice what Ayanokouji meant—the test looked like it had been crafted based directly on her own study notes. While confident in her academic skills, she knew there was no way she could predict that much of the exam.
Realizing something was wrong, Horikita rushed to the teacher's office.
Thankfully, Chabashira was still there.
"Sensei, I need to ask something important."
She pointed to a printed question about induction and Bacon:
"Is this topic within our exam scope?"
"Hmm?"
Chabashira frowned, caught off guard by the question. She had assumed Horikita had the real answers and thus hadn't bothered to update her.
"That question is indeed outside the exam scope. The test range was revised last Friday. I thought you had the correct answers, so I didn't inform you."
Horikita almost coughed up blood from the shock. Chabashira's irresponsibility stunned her, but she had no time to scold the teacher—she needed to think of a way out.
[Wait a minute...]
"Sensei, please give me the updated test scope."
After receiving the paper Chabashira wrote out, Horikita rushed back to class. Chabashira, still a bit dazed, began to piece things together.
Could someone really fake the answers to a midterm? That had never happened before. But then it hit her:
Creating a fake test sheet was entirely possible, especially if someone knew the class was studying the wrong material. Someone had clearly collected intel on Class D's review sessions and exploited the information gap.
Chabashira finally understood why Sakagami Kazuma had smiled so kindly at her before leaving work.
[Think about Kitagawa Ryo's behavioral pattern.]
[He wouldn't aim to defeat me outright. He'd want to see the look of despair on my face when I realized I misplayed my hand.]
Horikita, having interacted with Ryo for over a month, believed she understood his personality. Contrary to his reputation as a tyrant ruling Class C with violence, his attitude toward her had been more like a mischievous boy teasing a girl he liked. He'd even spent 10,000 points just to get her to cook him a meal.
[So from the start, he gave me the real answers, then lured me into discarding them in favor of fakes.]
[Because that kind of defeat would sting even more.]
Calming herself, Horikita felt thankful she hadn't thrown away the original answers. The other students were still celebrating the arrival of the fake answers, some already beginning to memorize them.
"This... this is the real scope."
She compared Chabashira's updated exam scope with the original answer sheet Ryo had given her.
To her surprise, they matched perfectly. The school's test logic aligned exactly with Ryo's answers, while the fakes were full of flaws—after all, they were student-made forgeries by Kaneda Satoru and Shiina Hiyori.
"Everyone, wait!"
Horikita had no time to lose. She had to admit, Kitagawa Ryo's scheme was ingenious. By leveraging her trust and information gaps, he had almost deceived her. He must have assumed she would fall for it and relish in her supposed success, only to be blindsided later.
As her classmates turned their attention to her, Horikita took a deep breath and spoke loudly:
"The answers I handed out earlier are fakes made by Class C. Don't memorize them! I have the correct ones here, and I'll print them out right away."
She summarized the situation with pride. Her classmates, hearing she had seen through Class C's ploy, cheered up:
"So Class C isn't all that great, huh?"
"All they do is play dirty."
"Their tricks are lame. I probably wouldn't have fallen for it anyway."
"Honestly, I could ace the exam without real answers, but since Horikita found the right ones, I'll take a copy."
Even Hirata Yosuke joined in to rally the class:
"This just proves Class D is just as capable as the other classes. As long as we work together, we can surpass Class C."
His words ignited another round of cheers. It was the most vibrant energy the class had shown since May.
Horikita nodded with satisfaction. With the midterms approaching, she was ready to lead a reformed Class D in a head-on charge against Class C.
"Kitagawa Ryo."
She lowered her gaze and whispered his name.
Even Horikita herself hadn't realized that somewhere along the way, the person she had been striving to surpass had quietly changed.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Read Advanced Chapters, and support this novel, please join me on [email protected]/geats2000