Chapter 345 Seven Exam Events
[Ayanokouji Kiyotaka: Hirata, as the commander, it is inconvenient for me to act personally. I'll leave what happens next to you.]
Even though there were no traces of an ambush from Class C students in the vicinity, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, whose caution was engraved into his instincts, still had no intention of entering the field himself.
[Hirata Yosuke: I understand.]
Hirata Yosuke arrived as requested, his footsteps sounding exceptionally clear in the remote alley of the dark night.
"Are you finally here!?"
Upon hearing the movement, a look of pleasant surprise instantly broke out on Ishizaki Daichi's face, and he whipped his head around. But the moment he saw clearly who had arrived, his expression darkened completely.
"Why is it you? What are you doing in a remote place like this in the middle of the night?"
Ishizaki was full of hostility, his eyes constantly searching the surroundings, trying to find the girl who had written the love letter to ask him out.
"Stop looking, Ishizaki." Hirata's voice lacked even a fraction of its usual warmth. He spoke with cold eyes: "I wrote that letter."
"What!?" Ishizaki froze for a moment, then his entire face flushed red as rage instantly rushed to his head: "You bastard! You tricked me!?
Hirata Yosuke! I didn't expect you to be such a despicable man!!
Since you dare to play me, don't even think about walking out of here on your own two feet today!"
Enraged to the extreme, Ishizaki violently rolled up his sleeves and charged toward Hirata with a roar, slamming a solid straight punch directly into his face.
Thump! A dull sound of impact rang out. Hirata staggered back a few steps, but he forced his body to stabilize without falling.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this?" Ishizaki hadn't expected the other party to neither dodge nor block, simply standing there and taking the full force of his punch.
"Consider this punch my punishment for deceiving you." Hirata reached out to wipe the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes turning sharp and fierce: "But next, I am going to completely crush you!"
"What did you say?" Ishizaki frowned, somewhat confused. Hirata had always had an excellent reputation in the school year as a bright, top-tier student—gentle with others and
extremely popular. Although there had been scattered rumors lately about him using violence, Ishizaki hadn't witnessed it personally. His impression of Hirata remained stuck on "the good guy with no temper," and he never expected him to show such a terrifying expression.
Hirata didn't waste words. He exerted sudden force with his feet and closed the distance to Ishizaki in a single stride. His fist, carrying the force of the wind, went straight for Ishizaki's head!
"!!!" Caught off guard, Ishizaki instinctively raised both arms to protect his head.
Thump! The heavy fist made his arms throb with pain. Then, before he could recover, Hirata's punches arrived like a rainstorm—seventeen punches thrown in six seconds. Every strike carried full power, leaving Ishizaki's arms limp and sore, completely unable to muster the strength to resist.
Seizing the moment when the opponent's defense faltered, Hirata delivered a fierce kick, precisely hitting him in the abdomen!
"...!" Ishizaki's eyes widened, and a muffled groan escaped his throat. He clutched his stomach and fell heavily to his knees. His stomach churned; he felt like he was about to vomit everything he had eaten tonight.
"This is the retaliation for Class C's scheme against Sudo." Hirata's voice was chillingly cold. His attacks didn't pause for a second, giving Ishizaki no room to breathe. "Don't think you're the only ones who know how to use violence!"
With a knee strike to the head, Ishizaki was instantly dazed. His head buzzed, and even his vision began to blur.
"Go back and tell Ryuen." Hirata pinned Ishizaki's wrist with one hand and slammed his head against the rough ground with the other, grinding his face against the pavement. "If your Class C wants to play dirty, I'll take you on until the end!"
"...!" Ishizaki's eyes were nearly bursting, and his face stung with fiery pain, yet he still roared through gritted teeth, "Just you wait... don't let me catch an opportunity... or I'll kill you..."
"Save the threats until you can actually stand up."
"It hurts... stop it!" Ishizaki winced, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat. "My arm is going to break! You bastard!"
"What's wrong?" Hirata's lips curled into a cold, mocking sneer. "Does a thug who only knows how to play tricks in the shadows actually know what pain feels like?"
"...!" Ishizaki's heart was full of frustration, but since his skills were inferior, he could only grit his teeth and yield. "This time... I admit defeat this time! Let me go!"
"That won't do. Your Class C caused us to lose a major general; today, I'm going to disable one of yours as well!" Hirata's eyes grew ruthless as he gave a violent yank.
Crack~ "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ishizaki let out a shrill scream, clutching his limp right arm in agony.
"Don't worry, I only dislocated your right arm.
Go to the infirmary and find Hoshinomiya-sensei to reset it. It'll be fine after a few weeks of rest."
Hirata's goal was to strip Ishizaki of his combat capability so that he couldn't participate in the special exam a week later. Having finished his task, Hirata turned and left the scene.
"Hard work, Hirata." From the shadows of the alley corner, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka slowly walked out, his face wearing a calculated look of concern. "Is your face okay?"
"It's no hindrance. More than the physical pain, my heart hurts more." Hirata looked down, red marks from the punch still on his face. His expression was full of unresolvable pain, and his hands were clenched tightly into fists. "In the end, I still went down the old path of fighting violence with violence."
"Yes, this is all your fault, Hirata." Ayanokouji remained expressionless; he did not offer comfort in the conventional way. He utilized the psychological methods he learned in the White Room to gradually erode Hirata's already fragile mental defenses. "It is precisely because you lack the ability to solve the problem that you must use violence to solve the person who created the problem."
Every word pierced the heart! Hirata's face instantly turned as pale as paper. Tears fell uncontrollably as he murmured to himself: "It's all my fault..."
"The facts prove that you are just a shallow, incompetent student who talks about things he cannot achieve.
This is who you are, Hirata Yosuke."
The heartless words were like blades, crushing Hirata's spirit.
"Is this your true nature?" Hirata slumped to the ground, drained of energy. "You really are a terrifyingly relentless and cold man."
Ayanokouji took a step forward, looking down at him from a height.
"What wishes you hold is your freedom, but if you want to protect the people in the class, you must continue to use violence. It's fine if you can't think of a strategy."
He reached out his hand to Hirata, his voice carrying a soul-enticing calm.
"As the only friend who understands you, I will guide you along the way."
"Ayanokouji-kun..." Looking at the hand before him, Hirata felt like a drowning person seeing the only life-saving straw.
Trembling, he reached out and grabbed it.
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Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Oops!" As they walked out of the yakiniku restaurant, Shiranami Chihiro accidentally tripped and fell forward.
"A flat-ground trip? That's quite rare." Hachiman was quick-eyed and quick-handed, instinctively catching her hand.
"T-That..." Chihiro hurriedly explained, "I-I'm just too full!"
Beside her, Ichinose Honami reminded her softly, "Chihiro-chan, saying you're too full feels even more embarrassing."
"Uuu~" Only then did Chihiro realize it, her small face turning beet red.
"Wow~ Shiranami-san is so cute~~" Kobashi Yumeko showed a gentle "auntie smile."
Amikura Mako giggled and covered her mouth, whispering: "Though she can't be the main wife, she's quite good as a starter dish for the Great Demon King."
"You guys are the starter dishes!" Chihiro was exasperated and couldn't help but rush forward to play-fight with the two.
"Honami, the girls in your class get along so well." Hachiman's face was full of emotion. By contrast, the girls in Class D—though they had recently formed a strange group chat called the "United Front Command" and maintained a highly consistent stance toward outsiders—only collaborated to deal with other classes. Most of the time, when there was no external conflict, the Class D girls would tear into each other.
"Isn't that a matter of course?" Honami said softly, "Everyone gets to stay in the same classroom and spend three years of high school together. That is a very rare fate! We definitely have to get along well~~~"
"True. Being able to know all of you is my greatest luck as well." Hachiman thought back to his former self, who didn't have a single female friend. Who would have thought that after entering this school, he would get to know so many outstanding girls?
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Sixth day, one day before the start of the special exam. The out-of-bounds match between Class D and Class C reached its peak! During this period, the two classes played dirty against each other, and both sides lost many students; it could be described as a mutual defeat.
"That guy Ryuen is truly too despicable!"
"Wait, brother? Talk to me!"
"Why did you come to our class?"
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" An exceptionally thin boy reached out to adjust non-existent glasses. "I am Yukimura Teruhiko!"
"Yukimura?"
"Yukimura without glasses... his eyes are so small...!"
Though the Class D crowd was a bit surprised, there was no need for a big fuss.
"Hey, aren't you going to ask for the reason?" Yukimura's mouth twitched, his face full of speechlessness. Previously, when Hachiman wore glasses, almost the entire school year, including the teachers, was discussing him. How come when it was his turn to change his image, everyone's reaction was so mediocre?
"Tch, tell us if you want, or don't!" The Class D crowd rolled their eyes, expressing zero interest.
"Yukimura, I remember your nearsightedness is quite severe. Is it really okay not to wear glasses on the day of the exam?" Ayanokouji approached, seemingly very concerned about him.
"Hmph! It's all because of those Class C people. They purposely knocked off and broke my glasses!" Yukimura's face was full of gloom. For someone with high myopia, losing glasses meant being unable to distinguish humans from animals beyond three meters!
"Can you go get a new pair?" Hirata tried to suggest a solution. "Don't worry about the cost; the class will allocate a portion of points."
"No, for a new pair of glasses, the earliest I can get them is three days from now." Yukimura rubbed his eyes, deep helplessness showing in his brow. "I'm afraid I won't make it in time for this exam."
"It's not that bad. It just means my vision is affected to a certain degree; the reading time might take a bit longer."
"Is that so, Yukimura-kun?" Ayanokouji inquired.
"Yes. I'll have to lean over the desk to read the questions. Although it's a bit troublesome, it won't affect my answers." Yukimura responded in a deep voice.
"In that case, we can start by setting the rules." Horikita Suzune proposed a seemingly good idea: "For example, setting no time limit for the exam and only looking at the final score." Setting the rules for self-designed exam items was also an important mechanism for this special exam.
"Horikita-san, you've been a big help.
Could I ask you to be responsible for the detailed rule setting?" Ayanokouji shamelessly pushed the work onto Horikita. Though she was very repulsed by him, out of the common interest of moving up classes, she still chose to take over the task.
After a series of planning... the day of the exam finally arrived.
The five "real" exam items Class D eventually submitted were: Swimming Sprint, English Test, Classical Japanese Reading Comprehension, Mathematics Problem Solving, and Free Sparring.
Class C's real exam items: 100m Sprint, Arm Wrestling, Speed Memorization, Chemical Formula Writing, and Go.
The school randomly selected seven items from them. The final confirmed exam items were: Class D (3 items): English Test, Classical Japanese Reading Comprehension, Free Sparring. Class C (4 items): 100m Sprint, Arm Wrestling, Speed Memorization, Go.
"Damn it, how can our luck be so bad?" Class D's morale was low. According to the exam rules, as long as one side won four events, they would win the overall match. Having drawn four items from their side, Class C had undoubtedly already seized the initiative.
"Haha! It seems the Goddess of Fate is on our side." Ryuen Kakeru couldn't help but laugh out loud, his arrogant face being extremely mocking.
Ayanokouji looked thoughtfully at Acting Chairman Tsukishiro, who was personally operating the computer to select the exam items. Tsukishiro seemed to notice his gaze and returned a kind smile.
He really wasn't even pretending anymore... for a Chairman to manipulate the exam items, this was way too "random"!
However, Hachiman also noticed a clue at this moment. Among the seven exam items, excluding the three physical types, the remaining four were academic types—the latter were very suitable for the commander to intervene remotely.
This made Hachiman seriously doubt: does Chairman Tsukishiro really want to force Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to drop out? Could this guy actually be an insider?
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