The excitement of passing the exam still lingered in the classroom during the break. Natsukawa walked over to Sakura Airi's seat and looked at her, noting that while her head was still slightly bowed, her demeanor was much better than before.
"How did the exam go, Sakura?" he asked casually, his tone calm.
Hearing someone speak to her, Sakura flinched slightly as if startled. She immediately looked up, and upon realizing it was Natsukawa, the bright blue eyes behind her glasses shone with uncontrollable light. Her cheeks were faintly flushed with excitement, and though her voice was still soft, it carried an unprecedented clarity and a hint of pride:
"Mhm! Th-thanks to Natsukawa-kun and Ichinose-san's tutoring... and that set of past exam questions... I... I scored above 85 points in all subjects this time!"
For someone who always lacked confidence in her studies, this was undoubtedly a huge breakthrough.
Natsukawa looked at her, trying hard to straighten her back as if waiting for praise, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile flashed in his eyes. He reached out and gently and naturally ruffled her red hair, the action conveying encouragement.
"Well done."
"Ugh..." Sakura's face immediately turned even redder, like a ripe tomato. She instinctively drew her neck in, but this time, she didn't panic and pull away as she usually would. She simply allowed the warm hand to rest on her head for a moment, savoring the reassuring touch, her heart pounding as if trying to escape her chest.
After a moment of shyness, Sakura seemed to remember something, looking up with pure confusion and asking, "Natsukawa-kun... what was Chabashira-sensei trying to achieve by giving us the wrong exam scope?"
Natsukawa continued stroking the girl's head, his tone placid: "Little Sae has many tricks up her sleeve. You probably heard us discussing it in the Library with Ichinose before. Her goal was to filter out capable individuals who could find methods like the past exam questions."
"But... what if no one had discovered it?" Sakura widened her eyes, her voice tinged with fear. "Wouldn't... wouldn't a lot of students have been expelled then?"
"Chabashira wouldn't care about that." Natsukawa's lips curled into a cold, sharp arc. "What she wants has never been for everyone to be safe. She is merely filtering, selecting the'seeds' who possess information gathering skills, initiative, and adaptability—those who can truly rise to Class A. As for the rest, in her eyes, it doesn't matter what happens to them."
His words were cold and realistic, causing Sakura to shiver involuntarily.
This conversation was heard, word for word, by Horikita Suzune, who was organizing her notes nearby. The fingers holding her pen suddenly tightened, her knuckles turning white.
Natsukawa's words exploded in her mind like thunder.
She had previously been suspicious of the discrepancy in the exam scope, but she had been so busy dealing with Sudo and the others' tutoring that it consumed most of her energy. Consequently, she merely attributed it to Chabashira's oversight or some school mechanism, without deep thought. Only now, with Natsukawa pointing it out, did she suddenly realize—this was Chabashira Sae's meticulously designed test!
A surge of anger at being overlooked and fooled, mixed with frustration, immediately rushed to Horikita's head.
She abruptly stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a harsh sound that drew glances from those nearby. But she paid no attention, walking straight out of the classroom with a frosty aura, heading quickly toward the Teachers' Office.
Inside the Teachers' Office.
Chabashira Sae was sitting alone at her desk, holding an exam paper. Her fingertip lightly tapped the answer area of one major question, and she made an almost inaudible "tsk tsk" sound. Her stern face actually held a rare expression of amusement, as if she had discovered an interesting toy.
Just then, a knock sounded, and after she responded, the door was pushed open somewhat roughly.
Horikita Suzune stood in the doorway, radiating coldness.
"Chabashira-sensei!" Her voice was somewhat stiff. "Please explain why you deliberately gave us the wrong exam scope? Do you distrust the class's ability so much that you assumed we could only pass by finding past exam questions?"
Chabashira looked up at the student before her, who was like a hissing cat. The trace of amusement quickly vanished from her face, replaced by her usual indifference. She gently placed the exam paper down and folded her hands on the desk.
"What are you talking about? Deliberately giving the wrong scope? I don't know." Her tone was flat, revealing no emotion.
However, Horikita keenly noticed that as she said, "I don't know," the corner of Chabashira's mouth twitched upward almost imperceptibly—an expression that was certainly not denial, but rather a hint of... hidden pleasure after a plan succeeded.
Chabashira ignored Horikita's almost fiery gaze and instead counter-questioned with interest, "The past exam questions... did you find them?"
Horikita took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and replied coldly, "No comment."
"Heh." Chabashira chuckled, the sound carrying an indescribable implication. "If you truly want to advance to Class A, Horikita, let me give you a piece of advice. Fighting alone is far from enough. You need your own core group, companions you can trust and rely on."
Her gaze seemed pointed as it swept over Horikita: "Remember to hold onto those two people sitting next to you."
Horikita's heart jolted, and she almost blurted out, "Ayanokoji and Natsukawa? Is there anything special about them?" She didn't understand why Chabashira would specifically mention these two, especially Natsukawa, whom she viewed as merely relying on petty cleverness.
The smile on Chabashira's face deepened slightly: "I hadn't explicitly named anyone, yet you identified them yourself? It seems you haven't been completely oblivious." She paused, her gaze returning to the exam paper on the desk. "That's right, originally, my impression of Natsukawa Sosuke was merely that of 'average talent.' However..."
She gently pushed the exam paper she had been looking at toward Horikita.
"Take a look at this."
Horikita took the paper with confusion and a hint of disdain. It was Natsukawa Sosuke's midterm Sociology exam.
She quickly scanned it. At first, she expected to see content highly identical to the standard answers from the past exam questions. However, the further she read, the tighter her brow furrowed. Her disdain was gradually replaced by surprise, eventually turning into profound shock.
The answers on this paper, especially the essay questions, were absolutely not copied from the past exam answers! The arguments were rigorously logical, citing classic texts, and even presenting unique insights on certain points that differed from the standard answers but possessed greater depth! This was something impossible to achieve by merely rote memorizing past questions; it required genuine understanding, digestion, and thorough integration of textbook knowledge to form one's own system of thought.
She abruptly looked up at Chabashira, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Can I see his exam papers for other subjects?" Horikita's voice held a trace of urgency she hadn't even noticed herself.
Chabashira seemed to have anticipated this. Unhurriedly, she took out four more exam papers from her drawer and pushed them across to her.
Horikita snatched them up and instantly refined them (not).
On the Math paper, the solution for the final major question was clear and ingenious, using a different, simpler construction method than the standard answer. For the Modern Literature and English comprehension... aside from the objective questions with unique answers, Natsukawa's steps and approach for almost all subjective questions and complex calculations were vastly different from the reference answers provided by the past exam papers! Furthermore, the level of knowledge mastery and problem-solving demonstrated far exceeded the ordinary passing standard.
Horikita knew she herself could achieve this, but it was based on her long history of diligent study. But Natsukawa? She clearly remembered that during the class quiz a month ago, Natsukawa's Sociology and National Language scores were barely clinging to the passing line, and his apparent struggle and scratching his head over the questions didn't seem faked at all.
What exactly happened during this past month?
He hadn't attended any study groups! Moreover, she had personally seen him in the Library mostly reading miscellaneous books unrelated to the textbooks! So how exactly did he manage such a drastic, transformative change in just one month?
Was he hiding his talent before? Horikita wondered. But was there a need to pretend to barely scrape a passing grade? Furthermore, the genuine distress he showed when facing the questions didn't seem acted. Could it be... that his grades really did skyrocket in this one month? How was that possible?!
Countless questions and intense shock assaulted Horikita's understanding. Her previous contemptuous impression of Natsukawa as someone who "relied on petty cleverness and past exam questions" was utterly shattered by these exam papers and by Natsukawa's easy disclosure of Chabashira-sensei's true objective.
An unprecedented feeling—a mixture of confusion, surprise, and... a trace of conviction regarding Natsukawa that she was unwilling to admit—quietly began to grow in her heart. She suddenly felt that Natsukawa's previous action of forcing her to apologize to Kushida no longer seemed so unacceptable. If he possessed this level of ability and foresight, then perhaps his actions truly had a reason behind them.
Horikita Suzune silently handed the exam papers back to Chabashira, said nothing more, and turned to leave the office. Her steps were no longer aggressive as they had been upon arrival, but instead carried a sense of heaviness and contemplation.