On a certain October lunchtime after the sports festival ended, I was getting excited witnessing a certain event.
"Hey, Ayanokōji-kun."
Kiyotaka-kun was being spoken to right in front of me. The person wasn't Suzune-chan or Sudō-kun. It was probably the first time Kiyotaka-kun was talking to this person.
"You free right now?"
The person was Satō-san, one of the leading "gyaru" girls in Class D—now Class C—along with Karuizawa-san. She was pretty friendly with both guys and girls, and I talked to her a lot, but I had never seen her talk to Kiyotaka-kun.
"Is something up?"
"Yeah, well. A few things."
There was probably only one reason why Satō-san would talk to Kiyotaka-kun.
Kiyotaka-kun was probably confused by Satō-san's hesitant words, but given her personality, there could only be one reason for her to talk to him.
"So, like, can you come with me for a bit? I want to talk."
Whoa, Kiyotaka-kun's on his guard. That's hilarious.
I told him he'd be popular after the sports festival, but he's totally forgotten. It's so cute and naive.
"This isn't the right place, so is that okay?"
Kiyotaka-kun follows Satō-san as she tries to change locations. The fact that he's so easy to trick is just killing me.
"Ah..."
Sakura-san looks at them with an uneasy expression. Oh, she made eye contact with me. I'll just give her a gesture that means "good luck."
"Ugh..."
She blushes and looks down. She's so cute.
Well, it must be tough to fall for Kiyotaka-kun, who's going straight down the path of a dense protagonist, but I really like this pairing, so I'm rooting for them.
A few minutes later, Kiyotaka-kun comes back. Satō-san isn't with him.
"...Why are you smirking?"
"Oh, come on. You're a dark horse, Kiyotaka-kun."
Kiyotaka-kun sighs and sits down at his desk, not hiding his curiosity. He then turns around and sits with his chest against the back of the chair. It's funny how surreal that looks when you do it. It's a nice, classic high school boy vibe.
"Just so you know, it wasn't what you're hoping for."
"Oh, so you didn't get confessed to."
"Seriously..."
Kiyotaka-kun mutters, looking exasperated by my casual remark.
Well, I kind of figured he wouldn't get confessed to. I mean, when a gyaru like Satō-san confesses, her friends usually egg her on, but there was none of that.
"So, what'd she say?"
"She said she wanted to be friends. We exchanged numbers."
Ooh. Nice, Kiyotaka-kun. Looks like your popular phase has finally arrived.
"But you took a while. Satō-san came back about five minutes ago."
"I ran into Katsuragi on the way. We chatted for a bit."
Huh, he had a connection with Katsuragi-kun. That's a surprise. So you actually have friends outside of my knowledge, Kiyotaka-kun.
"What do you take me for?"
"Then tell me how many friends you have. Outside of Class D, of course."
"Don't be ridiculous. First there's Ichinose and Kanzaki, right? And Katsuragi, who I just mentioned... "
Kiyotaka-kun proudly spreads both of his hands, but I predict he'll only need one.
And sure enough, all his initial momentum is gone.
"...And... Sakayanagi, too."
"Hmm, this is a serious case."
The fact that he chose her is so like Kiyotaka-kun. But Arisu-chan might be happy if she heard that.
"C-Come on, you don't have to put it like that."
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just kidding, don't get down. Besides, you can make friends from now on. With the way you are now, you'll definitely find people you get along with."
Kiyotaka-kun is visibly dejected. Still, this guy is truly a miracle. Despite growing up in such a terrible environment, he's become such an honest, good person.
That's why I want Kiyotaka-kun to deepen his interactions with others. I want him to not be satisfied with his current relationships and build his own, better friendships.
"...Right."
"That's something to be happy about, you know? ...What's with that reaction?"
Kiyotaka-kun has a surprisingly weird sense of humor.
----------
A few days later, the classroom was filled with a heavy atmosphere. Even Ike-kun and Sudō-kun, who were usually making a racket, were sitting quietly at their desks.
That's because today was the day the mid-term test results would be announced. It was good that there was a sense of tension.
"Take your seats... You all seem well-prepared."
As soon as Chabashira-sensei entered the room, the invisible air became even heavier and solidified. The classroom's true form, its normal appearance. The teacher couldn't hide her surprise at the sensible atmosphere.
After a few questions and answers, the test results were posted.
"The scores I'm about to announce also reflect your performance in the sports festival. Some who did well have scores exceeding 100 points, but they will be treated as a perfect score."
It had been decided that the bottom 10 students in the recent sports festival would have 10 points deducted from their mid-term test scores. Yukimura-kun—or "Hakase" as he was called—who I'd been playing games with recently, was one of the worst performers in the grade and had to earn 10 extra points in every subject.
Even students without the penalty looked tense. Well, it couldn't be helped. A failing grade means expulsion.
"Are you worried about your score?"
Kiyotaka-kun suddenly turned around and asked me that. Hey, you know my grades, right? I'm at the top of the grade.
"If you studied for it, it's a score you can get. If I got a failing grade, the class would get a penalty, so I made sure to do it right."
I looked at the paper on the wall... Oh, perfect scores in every subject. Yes!
Arisu-chan probably got 10 points deducted as a penalty, so this is my undisputed victory. I get to decide what we have for dinner tonight.
"...You were having such a pointless competition."
"It's not pointless. Arisu-chan is surprisingly picky, so if I don't decide the menu, her nutrition will suffer. She's already got a weak body."
If she gets a cold, it'd be a big hassle since I'd have to take care of her.
But Arisu-chan when she has a fever and is all weak is super cute. She sticks to me the whole time, and we sleep in the same bed on those days.
I tell her to stop because she'll get me sick, and her rude retort, "You have a needlessly sturdy body, so what are you talking about?", is a running gag. By the way, in this life, I've never had a cold. I can't talk back to that...
"Well, either way, we got through this one too."
"Why don't you try for real soon? After the sports festival, I don't think anyone would mind."
Compared to my perfect 100 in every subject, Kiyotaka-kun's scores are all in the mid-60s. A little above average. I wonder what he's thinking when he takes these tests. It makes me a little curious.
While I was thinking about something so pointless, Chabashira-sensei spoke to the students, who were getting a little rowdy since no one was expelled.
"To think that a class that started with zero points would climb this high. You came in first in the uninhabited island exam, the special exam for the privileged, and the sports festival, and you overcame a point difference of nearly 400 to become Class C. I'm honestly surprised."
"It feels a little weird to be praised like this."
"It's a fair evaluation. In the history of this school since its establishment, a class has never gained 500 points in such a short period of time. You have every right to be proud."
Ike-kun scratched his head bashfully, but Chabashira-sensei didn't stop talking.
She then got down from the podium and slowly walked through the aisles between the students' desks.
When she got to the side of Ike-kun's desk, she stopped and said, "Now that you've safely overcome one test, what do you think of this school? I'd like to hear your evaluation."
"It's... a good school. Lately, I've been getting a lot of allowance, the food is delicious everywhere, and the rooms are clean."
He then added, counting on his fingers.
"They sell games, there's a movie theater and karaoke, and the girls are cute, too..."
That's so true. I wonder if Arisu-chan's dad hired based on looks.
"Um... Did I say something wrong?"
"No. To a student, this is undoubtedly a wonderful environment. Even for me, a teacher, this school is too blessed. You're given treatment that is unthinkable by normal standards."
Chabashira-sensei slowly completed her lap of the classroom and returned to the podium.
It was a rather theatrical exchange, but what was its purpose? She had maintained an outwardly indifferent attitude toward the students until now, but her extraordinary obsession with Class A was well known.
That being the case, I could somewhat guess her intention.
"As I'm sure you all know, there will be a mini-test next week with eight subjects to prepare for the second-semester final exams. I'm sure some of you have already started studying, but I'll remind you again."
A test right after the mid-terms. Well, we were told about it in advance, but the timing is a bit of a pain.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought so, as everyone looked displeased, though they didn't make a fuss.
"I understand your disappointment, but rest assured, this test has a total of 100 questions and is worth 100 points, but the content is at a junior high school level. Furthermore, just like in the first semester, it will have no effect on your grades. It's simply to gauge your current abilities."
"O-Oh, for real! Alright!"
"However... I'll tell you in advance that the results of this mini-test are not meaningless. That's because the results of this mini-test will greatly affect the next final exam."
Hmm, I knew it.
I'm getting a serious sense of déjà vu. I figured it out the moment she said it wouldn't affect our "grades."
"What's that effect? Tell us more clearly."
Sudō-kun demanded an explanation from Chabashira-sensei, who had deliberately stoked their dissatisfaction.
The contents of what Chabashira-sensei said next were an explanation of the upcoming final exam. To summarize, it was as follows:
Based on the mini-test scores next week, students will form pairs with someone in their class.The pairs will then take a test with a total of 400 points across eight subjects, 50 points per subject.Unlike a regular test, there are two types of failing grades.One is when the pair's combined score for a subject is below 60 points. The other is when the pair's total score is below a certain amount (about 700 points in previous years).
"Forming pairs based on the mini-test, huh."
"It's safe to assume there's some kind of rule. If they paired students with poor grades, it would be almost certain expulsion."
Kiyotaka-kun and Suzune-chan were talking in the front row. I agree with them. It could be said that's what the mini-test is for.
Then, Chabashira-sensei continued her explanation to the students who had digested the information.
"And one more thing, you'll be tackling another challenge in the final exam. First, you yourselves will think of and create the questions for the final exam. Those questions will be assigned to one of the three other classes. This means you will "attack" another class. The class that receives the questions will "defend." The class that wins by comparing their total score to their opponent's total score will gain points from the losing class. 50 class points."
Not only do we have to take a test in pairs, but we also have to create the questions ourselves. This is going to be a tough exam.
"We think of the questions and give them to other students... I've never heard of such a thing. But would that work? If we made questions that students couldn't answer, the test would become incredibly difficult..."
"Yeah, yeah. Like stuff we haven't learned or insane trick questions! No way!"
Hearing Yōsuke-kun's statement, Ike-kun threw his hands up in the air.
Indeed, you could create any number of unsolvable problems if you just looked them up. That wouldn't make for a valid test.
"Of course, it would turn out that way if we left it entirely up to the students. That's why we teachers will strictly and fairly check the questions you create. If a question goes beyond the scope of instruction or can't be answered from the content, we'll have you revise it. We'll repeat this check until the questions and answers are complete. The situation you're worried about won't happen."
Well, this is a school with a decent amount of history. They're prepared, probably because it's a test they do every year.
"Still, 400 questions... The school could've told us a little earlier."
The exam is about a month away. Considering the teachers' checks, we have to start creating them now.
"The method of creating the questions is up to you. The content won't be questioned as long as it's within the school's acceptable range. The attacking class will be reported to the teacher by the students. If multiple classes choose the same target, the representatives will draw lots... That concludes the preliminary explanation for the mini-test and final exam. Now, you can talk among yourselves."
With that, Chabashira-sensei concluded and the day's class ended.
"...Well, let's go home—"
"Strategy meeting. I've already talked to Hirata-kun. You're staying too."
"...Yes."
She caught me trying to leave. Suzune-chan grabbed me by the collar and made me sit back down.
"And, I don't mean every day, but stop eating dinner at Sakayanagi-san's until the test is over. We don't know when the test contents might be leaked."
"Don't be so cruel."
"There's nothing cruel about it. You should also consider how I feel when she boasts to me about how delicious your cooking is."
You're kidding. When did you two get to know each other?
"No, I don't mind, but... when did you two get to know each other—"
"Got it?"
"...Yes."
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