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Chapter 48: A Different Path
In the days leading up to the exam, Sudo completely set aside basketball, dedicating all his time to studying.
Through their interactions, he realized that, despite her strict demeanor, the girl in front of him had some touching qualities.
Sudo's transformation naturally earned Horikita's approval. After all, he was the one closest to the danger zone for failing. Even Yamauchi and Ike, as long as the plan went smoothly, would have no issues. But Sudo, even with his assigned sections, wasn't guaranteed to pass.
If one person failed, the overall score would need to be lowered further. In short, he was still in a very precarious position. Fortunately, his attitude had changed others' views of him, and they were happy to help.
[Sudo: "I'm like this in the video? No matter how many times I see it, it's still captivating."]
[Ike: "Speaking of which, didn't you cause some big trouble before, Sudo? Why hasn't it happened this time? Is it because your personality's milder?"]
[Sudo shook his head. Back then, he'd had a conflict with Ryūen, and Class C accused him in the meeting room. If not for Ayanokouji, Horikita, and Sakura, he'd have been in big trouble. But… with his temper softened in the video, he didn't clash directly with Ryūen. So… would the events that followed change?]
[Even he wasn't sure, since in his eyes, Class C's Ryūen was always a lunatic.]
["Still, this time Kushida didn't get the reference questions from the upperclassmen. Otherwise, we'd have passed even more securely."]
[Sudo's words instantly drew the class's attention to Kushida Kikyo. Indeed… in everyone's memory, the study group back then wasn't successful, and there was no grand plan like Hikigaya's. It was only the day before the exam, with the test questions Kushida provided, that they barely passed.]
[But this time… Kushida hadn't made a single move…]
[Ike: "Kushida, were you influenced by Hikigaya and started believing in his plan?"]
[Kushida gave Ayanokouji a meaningful glance, then flashed an angelic smile: "Probably. Besides, it's not the last day yet. Maybe I'll find that blind spot by then."]
[Kushida's words were undoubtedly deceptive. Days before the exam, she and Ayanokouji had already obtained those test questions. But… per Ayanokouji's plan, they were to be given to the class only the day before. Now, with Ayanokouji gone and Hikigaya's appearance, the plan had changed.]
[Fortunately, no one focused on this. Instead, they praised Hikigaya with some admiration…]
[Yukimura: "This guy's incredible. Relying on past test questions to pass is clever, but compared to that, this method of one person changing the class's trajectory, with such a massive calculation load—I can't imagine how he did it."]
[Wang Mei-Yui: "And… even though he doesn't interact much with us, he understands us so well, like… he's seen through our entire past."]
[Hearing Wang Mei-Yui's words, most of the class fell silent. Before coming to this school, many of them had secrets they couldn't share. Whether it was Yosuke Hirata or Kushida Kikyo, it was the same. If Wang Mei-Yui was right and he could see through their pasts, did that mean Hikigaya had already uncovered everything about them?]
[Of course, these were just their speculations. Hikigaya wasn't that capable. Guessing someone's past like that would be akin to mind-reading.]
[But that silver-haired fairy might be able to.]
The exam day arrived quickly, and Hikigaya's plan was about to be tested to see if it would succeed.
Kushida Kikyo didn't truly want to follow Hikigaya's plan, but she had no choice. Everyone's assigned sections were already fixed. Getting everything right wouldn't raise the class's total score enough to lower the average, but deliberately scoring low would risk her own expulsion. And if she filled in other sections intentionally, a quick look at the scores would reveal who was sabotaging, instantly exposing the class's traitor.
This exam left even a class traitor with no options. Being exposed so early would plunge her three years into endless darkness.
For Kushida Kikyo, this was entirely harmful with no benefit.
Besides, her target now was only Horikita Suzune. As for Hikigaya Hachiman, she wanted to claim him for herself.
With everyone performing as expected, the exam results were soon posted on the class blackboard.
Kōenji: 100
Wang Mei-Yui: 65
Yukimura Teruhiko: 65
Takeru Akito: 60
Horikita Suzune: 60
Kushida Kikyo: 50
Hikigaya Hachiman: 37
…
Ike Kanji: 28
Sudo Ken: 24
The classmates looked at their scores with some unease, especially Sudo, who was at the bottom.
Though everyone had seen his efforts during this time, even so… this was as far as he could go.
His foundation was like that of an elementary schooler. Scoring 24 was entirely due to Horikita's tutoring and Hikigaya's section system, which allowed him to improve in such a short time.
Otherwise… it would've been even lower.
[Ike: "Looks like Kushida didn't get the past test papers from the upperclassmen."]
[Yamauchi: "Yeah, seeing these scores makes me kinda nervous… I hope Chabashira-sensei doesn't want to kill us when she sees them."]
[Sudo: "I'm just praying I don't miss by one point again."]
[Kushida Kikyo: "It'll be fine. We all followed Hikigaya's plan, and we've seen how capable he is, right?"]
[Sudo clasped his hands, praying like he was worshipping Buddha: "I hope so, I hope so, I hope so!"]
(End of this chapter)