Inside the Make-Up Work Club classroom, I sat on the podium, looking at Hanako and Azusa's test papers, and couldn't help falling into deep silence.
First of all, the second year exam paper, when compared horizontally, was similar in difficulty to the first year one. In other words, for students of their current grade level, as long as they usually paid attention in class, passing steadily should not have been a problem.
Secondly, Trinity's exams use a one hundred point scale. Scoring sixty counts as a pass, and the same standard applies to the make-up exams.
Which brings us to the question.
How could anyone possibly score this disastrously on such a simple test?
Hanako's score was in the single digits, in fact, it was only a mere one point.
Even if someone chose the same option for every multiple choice question, it should not have been this horrifyingly low.
And what was most interesting was that Hanako hadn't handed in a blank paper. On the contrary, the entire test was filled out completely, yet she had perfectly avoided almost every correct answer, only symbolically getting a single multiple choice question right.
Combined with the ambiguous information Sakurako had provided at first glance, there seemed to be only one possible explanation left.
I looked down at the girl below, who was wearing a calm smile as she patiently answered Azusa's questions, and a deeper confusion rose in my heart.
Why would Hanako deliberately fail?
And was breaking school rules really her hobby?
Or perhaps.
Was she doing this in order to be expelled?
But why?
Sensing my gaze, Hanako looked up. Our eyes met, and she exclaimed in surprise,
"Sensei? What's wrong? Looking at me with those eyes like you want to see right through me… Ah~ could it be that you want to teach me that kind of topic? But that's not part of the make-up exam scope, you know?"
As she spoke, the girl's cheeks flushed red. She looked at me with pitiful eyes, yet licked her lips, making herself appear even more alluring.
…I take that back. Hanako definitely does have that kind of interest.
Before I could figure out how to respond to being teased, someone else beat me to it.
"Le… lewd things are not allowed! Pervert! Death penalty!"
Koharu shouted, both embarrassed and angry.
"Oh my, what is Koharu chan talking about?" Hanako said with a smile. "Do you also want to learn?"
"I-I don't! Stop talking nonsense, okay!"
Azusa, who clearly did not understand what the two of them were talking about at all, tilted her head and asked her own question. "I don't really understand, but why would you need to study topics outside the make-up exam scope? Is it because you are both already sure you will pass the make-up exam?"
"Of course!"
Koharu answered instinctively, then quickly realized what she had said and flushed red. "No, that's not it! I already told you! I don't want to learn that kind of thing!"
Hanako only smiled meaningfully and replied ambiguously, "Well now~ who knows~?"
Watching the noisy scene among the members of the Make-Up Work Club, Hifumi, as the club president, let out a small sigh of relief and showed a reassured expression.
I felt it was better not to tell her Hanako and Azusa's real test scores for now, so as not to affect her own studying.
Unlike Hanako, Azusa's test paper, although her accuracy rate was also extremely low, at least showed clear traces of serious effort. She had barely reached double digits.
However, just as obvious was Azusa's extremely weak foundation.
Aside from the ancient language section, which was passable, nearly everything else was a complete mess. Even the points she earned on multiple choice questions came from making earnest attempts before ultimately leaving it to fate.
It made one wonder what exactly her previous school had been teaching, and how Azusa had managed to successfully transfer into Trinity.
Even for transfer students, Trinity's regulations still required an entrance examination, did they not?
Thinking about it carefully, Azusa's personal circumstances were also filled with various unknown mysteries.
In short, if she wanted to reach the level needed to handle the make-up exam, she would have to undergo some serious cramming.
Even with the learning enthusiasm she was currently showing, it was still somewhat unrealistic to expect her to pass the first make-up exam smoothly in less than a week.
All I could do was help her create a more reasonable study plan and try to make time to give her extra tutoring sessions whenever possible.
Before that, however, I still had to uncover Hanako's knot in her heart, ask her clearly why she was deliberately failing, and find a way to resolve it.
Just thinking about this made the burden on my shoulders feel even heavier.
Fortunately, there was Hifumi. Not only did I not need to worry about her, but her gentle and kind personality even had a healing effect on me. She was practically an angel.
As long as she did not miss the make-up exam again, that would be enough.
As for the last one, Koharu…
Although I had not completely believed her, since she claimed to have hidden her true strength, had indeed taken a second year exam previously, and said there was nothing she did not understand, she probably would not have too big of a problem.
Even if Koharu was still putting on a brave front until now, with the way she was burying herself in her studies and the academic foundation that allowed her to successfully enroll in Trinity, as long as she wasn't truly foolish, she should be able to achieve a decent score. Otherwise, it would not live up to the bold claims she made yesterday.
Of course, just to be safe, I would have her redo a first year exam later as well, so that I could have a clearer understanding of her situation.
After thinking through strategies for dealing with the different members of the Make-Up Work Club, I first called Azusa up individually and began analyzing her mistakes in the science section.
After all, I could not expect myself, an amnesiac outsider, to still find time amid my busy work schedule to study Kivotos history, geography, and ancient languages to the level of being able to teach the locals.
However, subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry, which were retained as common knowledge and at least showed no obvious differences within Trinity's exam scope, were not difficult for me.
What surprised me was that Azusa learned remarkably quickly. Although her foundation was practically zero, as long as I explained things clearly to her, she would grasp them almost immediately.
Even though there were still many gaps to fill, her outstanding aptitude, combined with her proper attitude, filled me with confidence that Azusa could pass the make-up exam within the three available attempts.
So…
The key really was Hanako.
Time passed quickly. After marking the key points for Azusa and instructing her to complete the example problems, telling her to ask me on momotalk if she did not understand anything, I noticed the sky had already begun to darken, and announced the end of today's activities.
After briefly discussing the situation with Hifumi, who stayed behind, I returned to Schale.
After dinner, however, I received an unexpected message.
Hanako: "Good evening, Sensei."
Hanako: "This is Hanako. This is my first time messaging you, after all."
Hanako: "Please take care of me from now on as well."
Staring at this greeting that had arrived a day late, I once again fell into deep thought.