Chapter 074: The Written Exam Begins! Hell for the Poor Students! Fail and Get Expelled!
Hikigaya returned to the classroom.
It was already after school, and the students in the class had left.
By now, everyone knew the true nature of this school. At 7 a.m., everyone received 45,000 private points.
The transfer came from the school.
So, as expected, the school distributed the monthly living allowance based on class evaluation scores.
Indeed, compared to the initial 100,000 points, now there were less than half remaining, but these 40,000-plus points were enough for a month's living expenses, as long as there weren't any big expenditures.
Naturally, the students received the money and immediately threw all their self-discipline aside to spend it.
However, there was one girl still in the classroom.
Even if someone passed by, they couldn't help but take a second glance because she was very beautiful.
She had waist-length black hair that cascaded down her back and shoulders, with a small white ribbon on the right side tied into a delicate bow and a long, thin braid.
Her jet-black hair flowed like a waterfall, with a faint lily-like fragrance, probably from her shampoo.
Her sitting posture was graceful and elegant.
Long lashes, amber eyes with a fox-like charm, and a delicate face.
However, the cold expression on her face seemed to constantly radiate an aura of rejection.
Like an ice queen, although this allowed her to dismiss many weak people, it only made others more intrigued by her.
At this moment, she was reading a book.
But if one looked carefully, they would notice that she was not calm at all, and in fact, seemed a little flustered.
The reason was that although she was reading, Hikigaya had been looking at her for two minutes, and she hadn't turned a single page.
Hmm.
Hikigaya realized that he had become somewhat familiar with Horikita.
But still, every day it was the same. On days when he wasn't invited by Sakayanagi Arisu for a meal, he spent his lunch break in the classroom eating bread, while Horikita made her own lunch but still ignored him.
Of course, it wasn't that he really wanted to eat something.
He just wanted to experience the joy of food sharing.
And now.
Horikita's younger sister probably wasn't at ease.
"I'm back," Hikigaya said. "The student council president didn't say anything important. She just praised our class."
Speaking of the class, although their classroom hadn't changed, the class plaque had been changed to First Year Class C.
They were Class C students.
At the same time, it was probably the fastest rising class in the school's history, so receiving praise was only natural.
"However," Hikigaya continued. "Class A's class evaluation score is really something."
"Their class score is 988 points, which is excessively excellent."
"..." Horikita Suzune.
Over the past month, she had been aware of the situation in her own class.
And despite the fact that they were Class D… oh no, now they were Class C, even though Class C had publicly revealed their class evaluation score on the sixth day after enrollment, back then their class score had dropped to 480 points.
Now, more than half a month later, they still had 450 points, which was quite surprising.
But she understood that it was all a result of everyone working hard for their own interests, holding on.
However, today marked the beginning of a new month, and with no behavior regulation exam, their true nature began to show. This morning, 22 students were already caught using their phones in class.
So compared to the students in Class A, who excelled in every aspect, the gap was huge.
"But now, what we need to pay attention to is that this is a new month," Hikigaya said. "We need to see what the true nature of this school really is."
"In other words…"
Horikita Suzune murmured.
Yes.
The special monthly exams exclusive to this school officially began.
...
The next day.
All the students arrived at the classroom.
Dong dong dong—
At that moment, the sound of heels echoed as their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, entered the room, holding a rolled-up paper that resembled a poster.
Her face showed little emotion.
She looked somewhat serious.
At the same time,
"It's time for the class meeting. Get back to your seats," she said as she glanced at the class, which had become messy after just one day. Her voice was very harsh.
Noticing this, Hikigaya exchanged a glance with Horikita.
Both of them wore solemn expressions.
Because Chabashira's expression indicated that the exam for this month, which had finally arrived, was going to be extremely stressful for this class.
Indeed, it was a lot of pressure.
"On the 6th of last month, I told you the true nature of this school," Chabashira said.
"And the fact that you can still maintain 450 points in your class evaluation score as of the 1st, frankly, surprises me. Because based on your previous performance, it would have been an exaggeration if you hadn't lost all points in just 10 days."
This comment was a bit too much.
However, the classmates accepted it without complaint.
Because they had already set the record for losing 500 points in just 6 days.
So, they couldn't say much about not being trusted.
Moreover.
The most important thing was that after a whole month, they had survived, they had held on!
Hikigaya noticed that the students' backs seemed to straighten a little.
Meanwhile, Chabashira wrote the class evaluation scores for the four classes on the blackboard.
________________________________________
First Year Class A - 988 points
First Year Class B - 751 points
First Year Class C - 450 points
First Year Class D - 0 points
________________________________________
As for Hikigaya's class, they were now Class C with 450 points, which was already a surprising score for this class.
Because without intervention, they would probably have ended the last month with 0 points.
And it seemed that Chabashira was implying that.
"Then, on the 1st of every month, the school is supposed to deposit living expenses into your accounts based on your class evaluation score multiplied by 100, and announce the special exam for the month."
"And I intentionally gave you a one-day buffer."
"However…"
Chabashira-sensei continued, "Unfortunately, your sweet dream ends here."
Saying this, she pasted the paper she had brought onto the blackboard and fixed it in place with magnets.
"We are about to begin the school's specialty, the special exam that happens every month."
"And this month's special exam is a written exam."
"However, don't think it's unfair. This time, the exam will be the same for the entire grade. It's a written exam for all."
Then…
Chabashira-sensei explained the reason for her serious expression.
She displayed a math test score sheet.
The top students in the class were listed first.
And there was a decent number of students.
The most outstanding score was by Koenji Rokusuke with 100 points.
The second was Horikita Suzune with 94 points.
Followed by Yukimura Teruhiko with 91 points.
After that, Kushida Kikyo with 83 points and Hirata Yousuke with 78 points, all of which were considered middle to upper-level scores.
Hikigaya glanced at his own score: 60 points.
It was average.
But further down, some of the students' scores were dreadful.
"These are the results of the previous quiz. You can see for yourselves what kind of horrible scores you all got. But considering that you're all defective products, it's not surprising to see such scores."
"Additionally,"
As Chabashira Sae spoke, she turned around and shot a cold and sharp look at everyone. "From now on, anyone who fails in the midterm or final exams…"
"Will be expelled immediately."
"Failing an exam means getting expelled?!" A student questioned.
Hikigaya looked over and saw that it was Ike Kanji, who often hung out with Yamauchi and Sudo.
He wasn't very tall, and a bit thin.
However, his face instantly turned ugly, even screaming out loud.
"Just failing the written exam leads to expulsion? Isn't the special exam supposed to be something different?"
It wasn't just Ike Kanji. Sudo also raised his voice.
He had become famous after the fight incident with Sudo last month.
And it was later proven that he had been framed by Ryuen.
Moreover, he had athletic abilities that surpassed those of ordinary people, almost like a cheat.
But…
Clearly,
His academic performance was not good.
Though it was a bit rude,
As a keen observer, Hikigaya could tell that Ike Kanji, Sudo Ken, and Yamauchi Haruki were the most useless group in the class.
And their scores were also the lowest.
Sudo Ken had the most exaggerated score of only 16 points, and Ike Kanji wasn't much better with 24 points.
As for Yamauchi Haruki, his score was slightly better, but still only 27 points!
The passing score was generally considered to be half of the class average.
However…
From the exam results that Chabashira-sensei had displayed, it was clear that:
The class average score was 55 points, and half of that would be 27.5 points, so the passing threshold was rounded to 27 points!
And in Class D, there were as many as seven students who scored below 27 points!
This meant that, according to the expulsion rule for failing, those students would be expelled!
Additionally, those scoring in the 30-40 range and not putting in enough effort might also end up failing.
It could be said that, at this point, there were fewer than 20 students in the class who could be considered absolutely safe.
"You should all understand by now," Chabashira-sensei continued, "You've been given free tuition, allowances, and no upper limit on living expenses."
"Although the school advertises competitive graduation and employment rates…"
"As long as you can reach Class A, you'll receive this kind of treatment."
Chabashira-sensei said.
"Now, these are the rules for this midterm exam."
"The exam will cover five subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, and Mathematics."
"The exam dates will be the 24th and 25th of this month."
"And if you stand out in this exam, you can earn up to 100 points in class evaluation, which translates to an additional 10,000 points in your monthly living allowance."
In other words,
Almost as soon as Horikita heard this news, she turned to look at Hikigaya.
Because when he was trying to accumulate points for their class last month, he had said something like this—worried that the class point earned in exams could be low, so it was important to accumulate points from the start.
And now it seemed that this was indeed the case.
Aside from the first month after enrollment, when the school was generous, the points from the special exams in subsequent months wouldn't be very high. This month's midterm exam would even only provide a 100-point class evaluation score.
"Then, what makes up the 100 points? Or rather, how can one achieve the full 100 points?" Horikita Suzune suddenly asked.
"Hey, Horikita," other students looked at her.
During the previous Sudo incident, Horikita had played an important role.
According to Hachiman, Horikita was a witness to the Sudo fight incident, but the reason she didn't testify directly was because the Ryuen class was too overbearing, and she was worried that they would target the students of their class again, so she delayed her testimony until the trial.
As a result, Ryuen's class had 400 points deducted, and they fell behind.
Everyone mysteriously became students of Class C.
However, it must be said that, while Horikita was once seen as cold and distant, now she had gained some popularity.
But for some of the underperforming students, wasn't this the time to think about how to avoid failing?
Why focus on the points?
"If no one fails the exam, and the average score for each subject is above 80, then they can earn the maximum class evaluation score of 100 points."
"If no one fails the exam, and the average score for each subject is between 50 and 80, they will earn 70 points for the class evaluation score."
"Then, if no one fails the exam, and the average score for each subject is below 50, they will earn 30 points for the class evaluation score."
"However, if anyone fails the exam and is expelled, they won't earn any points for this exam," Chabashira-sensei answered Horikita Suzune.
"Eh… so if we fail, we won't get any points at all?" A student quickly responded.
Hachiman looked over.
It was the cute girl with the beautiful golden ponytail.
It was once again Karuizawa.
By the way, Karuizawa really likes to pick up others' lines.
Does that mean she has a strong desire to perform?
However, in Hachiman's perception, people who like to show off tend to have some deficiencies in certain aspects. So, did Karuizawa have something like that?
Of course, there are also those who just like showing off for no particular reason, like Yamauchi.
But Yamauchi's grades were probably terrible, and now he was keeping quiet, feeling anxious.
"As for this point, the students of Class B will support us."
"They have students who are good at studying, and they'll hold study sessions for us."
At that moment, Hirata looked at his phone and, after asking for permission from Chabashira-sensei, stood up and said, "That means someone will guide our studies."
That was somewhat reassuring.
...
Chabashira-sensei had only announced the subjects of the exam and how the points could be earned, which indeed shattered everyone's dreams.
After all, most of the class consisted of students who weren't good at studying.
Then, based on Chabashira-sensei's breakdown of the three scoring tiers for the 100 points, even if the entire class passed the study session and managed to pass the exam...
The class's average score would certainly not be very high.
So, perhaps the best they could hope for would be to earn the 30-point class evaluation score tier.
But there was nothing they could do.
The foundation of the class was weak.
Then, during lunch break:
"Although the midterm exams were announced this morning, the students just happily went to eat and even wanted to eat well, completely ignoring the exam. They're so carefree," Horikita Suzune said.
"That's just the habit, I guess."
Hachiman felt like he had heard this from his brother, and now this younger sister was the same.
However, his brother was talking about Class D, the Ryuen class.
And now, Horikita was talking about Class C, the current class.
But let's not forget, Hachiman was only trying to set up his class for a one-time rise to Class A, not to directly advance to Class A. In other words, he didn't think the students in his class could maintain or even endure the position of Class A.
Moreover,
Based on the information he obtained from Chabashira-sensei, along with the school's arrangements for upper and lower classes, even if a lower-class level were to rise, the school would manipulate it to fall back down.
So, a one-time rise was enough.
Otherwise, if Yamauchi were to represent Class A and graduate, facing society, the school's reputation would be badly damaged.
"But what are you thinking about?"
Horikita noticed that after Hachiman finished his rice ball, he placed both hands on the table, looking like he was thinking.
"Still thinking about the evaluation scores for this time across the four classes."
"Except for Class A being exceptionally outstanding, Class D has 0 points," Hachiman said.
"Class D, that's Ryuen's class, right?"
Horikita Suzune said. "They made false accusations. Their class only has 210 points, and now, a month later, they've dropped to 0. Isn't that unreasonable?"
"…" Hachiman.
Even though she was Horikita's sister, she didn't quite meet the expectations he had.
"It's the change in the score values," Hachiman said.
He wrote down a few numbers in his notebook.
Perhaps wanting to see what he had written, Horikita Suzune left her seat and approached Hachiman.
Hmm.
It seemed like he could feel the soft, long hair of the girl brushing against his face.
However, Hachiman kept his focus on writing.
He had written two sets of numbers.
610 points and 210 points.
"You recognize these two scores, right?" Hachiman said. "These are the scores for Ryuen's class. Initially, because I destroyed the camera and the scores were revealed, Ryuen's class had 610 points. But then, after a week, following the Sudo incident, Ryuen's class score..."
"According to Horikita's deductions, Ryuen's class lost 400 points after the Sudo incident," Hachiman said.
"In other words," Horikita Suzune finally took interest.
"Yes."
Hachiman nodded. "Ryuen's class is indeed a scary class. The students in Class A are very self-disciplined, and they might lose a few points here and there."
"But Ryuen's class can go an entire week without losing any points."
"Does that mean their students are more disciplined?"
"I don't think so. I think it's more about Ryuen's control over the class," Hachiman replied. "And that control is very strong."
"But now they have zero points, right?" Horikita Suzune said next.
"Zero points is actually the dangerous part," Hachiman said. "Because we can't be sure if having zero points means they might end up with negative points."
"So what's the point? What happens if they don't turn into negative points?" Horikita Suzune quickly asked. She felt Hachiman was considering something she hadn't thought of.
"I was thinking, if they have zero points, maybe continuing to break school rules wouldn't cause them to lose any more points. And if they don't lose points, they could start extorting other classes for protection money. For example, they could set up a situation where two classes each have to take fifty slaps or both classes have to serve a one- or two-week suspension. This way, they could sabotage other classes that actually want to study. And if students fail the exams and get expelled, the entire class would be penalized with point deductions, which would be even better. Other classes definitely wouldn't dare to oppose them, so they would have no choice but to pay protection money."
"..."
That was shameless.
"So, Ryuen's class did all this, maintained a week without losing any points, and now directly lost all their points, just for this shameless purpose?" Horikita Suzune said.
However, Hachiman shook his head.
"I don't think Ryuen thought that much," Hachiman said. "If he did, he wouldn't have caused the Sudo incident."
"So, Ryuen's class turning into zero points was probably because he deducted too many points, leaving only about two hundred points. Then, when he had to restrict his students, it might have caused opposition, so it was easier to just give up."
From this perspective, Ryuen might be a straightforward person in his own class.
"Anyway, let's contact Class B's Ichinose this evening," Hachiman said.
"You mean..."
"Let's borrow their top students," Hachiman said. "Remember the agreement we made with the students in our class? If we have 400 points left in the class evaluation, everyone wins."
"Also, because we have more than 400 points in the class evaluation, the next time we face an exam that might expel students, we need to protect those students from being expelled."
"And now we have accumulated all these points, and the students in our class aren't the type who'll seek to repay a favor," Hachiman said.
"Aren't you thinking too poorly of the students in our class... hmm... well, let's go meet Ichinose," Horikita Suzune originally wanted to deny it but suddenly recalled how Yamauchi, a friend of Sudo, had directly said that Sudo might have actually hit someone during the Sudo incident.
Indeed.
Some students couldn't be trusted.
However.
"I still don't understand," Horikita Suzune said. "It's just a simple exam, and an exam is a test of everyday learning. If you pay attention in class from the start, how could anyone fail?"
Alright.
So, this was why Hachiman wanted to form an alliance with Class B.
He didn't trust the top students in his own class.
With that, he took out his phone and contacted Kushida.
He didn't have Ichinose's contact information, so he needed Kushida.
Evening.
A café.
Ding dong—
Two first-year students from Class B entered.
A boy and a girl.
The boy had slightly curly purple hair, and the girl was quite eye-catching with her beautiful long pinkish-golden hair.
These were Kanzaki Ryuji and Ichinose Honami, whom they had seen before.
According to the information Kushida had gathered, Ichinose had ranked first in the entrance exam.
Of course.
Having seen the intelligence and talent of Sakanagi Arisu before.
Hachiman thought that Arisu was probably the one who took first place.
Comparing a normal person to a genius was quite a cruel thing to do.
However.
"So, does it mean that 70% of the students in your class have more than 70 points?" Horikita Suzune asked.
"Ah... yeah. How about your grades, Horikita-san?" Ichinose sat down and started asking.
"Usually in the nineties," Horikita Suzune replied.
"Oh," Ichinose nodded.
Seeing Horikita's surprised expression earlier made her think that the other person might be a slacker, but now that she knew Horikita was a top student, there was no problem.
Ichinose then turned her gaze to Hachiman.
She had already noticed that, although Horikita, Kushida, and Hachiman were all together, the one who was in charge was clearly Hachiman.
It seemed that Horikita was following Hachiman's lead, and Kushida, rather than being an ally, seemed more like a liaison for Hachiman's connections.
Of course.
Thinking this way was a bit rude.
"Actually, here's the situation," Hachiman explained his purpose. "For this written exam, I would like to ask for help from your class."
In other words, he was hoping to borrow some top students from their class to tutor Class C.
"I see..."
It seemed Kanzaki and Ichinose considered the request for a moment, but they quickly agreed.
"We're allied classes, so of course we'll help each other," Kanzaki said.
"And also, by helping with the tutoring, we can reinforce our own knowledge," Ichinose added. "I think the students in our class would be very willing."
After all, your classmates are little angels, right?
Hachiman thought to himself.
This was the information Kushida had given him.
"And also, we appreciate your class's help with the Ryuen situation," Ichinose said, seemingly still uneasy about it.
Kanzaki nodded in agreement.
At first, they thought that forming an alliance with Hachiman's class wouldn't bring them much benefit.
But then, Ryuen directly made his move, and now they realized that if they could break through Hachiman's class, the next target might be their Class B.
There were also some more pragmatic thoughts.
Among the current evaluation scores of the four classes, Ryuen's class had already dropped to zero.
And while Hachiman's class still had 450 points, there was still a gap compared to Class B. Moreover, Hachiman's class as a whole wasn't performing well.
It was clear that they needed assistance now.
So, with Ryuen's class out of the way and Hachiman's class struggling to catch up, it was a relief for Class B.
It was as if they had already defeated one class, which was a good result for them since they were hoping to rise to Class A.
Therefore, lending a few students for tutoring was something they could easily do.
But.
When the request for help was successfully made, Ichinose suddenly looked at Hachiman.
"Hachiman-kun, let's exchange phone numbers."
Huh?
Was this the first time a girl had actively given him her phone number?
For Hachiman, it was a novel experience.
So, Komachi, wouldn't high school be awesome?
You should come soon too!
...
"Ichinose and the others are really nice people, huh. Right, Horikita-san?"
After Ichinose left, busy with after-school activities, Kushida said softly to Hachiman.
Her presence hadn't been strong today.
But now that they had reached an agreement with Class B, and Class B had agreed to lend their top students for tutoring, the students in Hachiman's class would probably feel quite good about it.
And now, with only three weeks left until the exam on the 24th and 25th, if they put in enough effort, it was still possible for everyone to pass safely.
At this moment, Kushida was trying to make contact with Horikita Suzune.
"..." Horikita. "Oh."
But Horikita's attitude seemed a bit cold.
Kushida just maintained a polite smile, as she was used to it.
However.
As Horikita Suzune, who showed no interest in Kushida's questions, looked over at Hachiman, she asked, "Do you have any thoughts?"
"I'm thinking about something," Hachiman said. "Chabashira-sensei mentioned that this special exam, the midterm written exam, will be conducted for the entire grade."
"It seems similar to last month's behavior norms exam; it looks like it's the standard assessment for new students after they enter."
"So, do you think there's any other solution?" Horikita Suzune understood.
If it were the behavior norms exam, then knowing the content of the behavior exam would allow one to be self-disciplined and lose fewer points.
Class A had done this very well.
"But," Horikita Suzune shook her head. "For a written exam, aside from studying, there's no other way to pass, right?"
Because behavior norms could still be influenced by self-discipline and even pretending to be serious.
But a written exam tested real knowledge.
However, Hachiman didn't agree with that.
Because.
If this school evaluated written exam scores in the same way as schools outside, they shouldn't have accepted so many students from Class C or D in the first place.
Because if you fail an exam, you'd be expelled.
So, doesn't that mean a large number of students would have been eliminated from the start?
Then why would they have been specifically recruited?
What is the point of that?
So, he believed there was some kind of solution or loophole.
"Therefore," Hachiman turned to the cute Kushida. "Kushida-san, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Eh-heh?" Kushida, the little angel, blinked cutely.
"I hope you can try to approach the senior students," Hachiman said. "See how they deal with the exams."
"Eeeeh..."
Kushida elongated her voice.
Although her social circle was quite broad, she was still working on solidifying her connections within the first-year group. As for the senior students, she hadn't had the chance to infiltrate them yet—
After all, thinking about it, the senior students had already formed relatively independent small groups after a year of bonding. Plus, the classes were divided and in competition, so it was incredibly difficult to break into those groups.
So, she hadn't managed to infiltrate them yet.
And now, Hachiman was giving her such an important task?
"Although, Hirata-san obtained the number of senior students through his sacrifice."
Hachiman continued, "But from the situation in our class, if the senior C and D classes are also going through these mandatory written exams every year, just like us..."
"If they haven't taken any shortcuts, it's impossible for them to still have so many students remaining."
I see.
Kushida gently nodded.
Hachiman was asking her to gather intelligence.
Yes.
Logically, the senior C and D classes' evaluation scores were poor, which meant they couldn't compete with the upper classes.
So, in the case of being equally 'inferior,' how did they manage to avoid expulsion?
It was definitely worth investigating.
"And if you gather the solution," Hachiman said, "then you can tell the solution to our classmates and Class B under your own name."
In other words, the idea was made by Hachiman, but the benefits would go to Kushida?
Eh!
Kushida looked at Hachiman.
Because.
It seemed that Hachiman understood her very well.
Indeed.
If she was praised by everyone, that would be a good thing.
So then.
On one hand, the plan was to have the top students from Class B come to tutor the slacker students in their class.
On the other hand, Kushida was tasked with infiltrating the senior students.
The tutoring would take place every day after school for one hour.
Anyone scoring below 60 would have to stay behind and study.
There was nothing to discuss about this.
Because right now, everyone was enjoying the benefit of free tuition, and the school even provided a living allowance.
It was almost an unimaginable life.
Moreover.
Last month, they had suddenly been placed into Class C, and in a few months, it was possible they could be moved into Class A as well?
So, there were some relatively optimistic students in their class.
However.
"The issue with chemistry..."
Hachiman's score in Japanese was high, but it wouldn't be tested in this midterm exam.
And among the students who were required to stay behind for studying due to scoring below 60, Hachiman had fallen behind in chemistry.
So, he also had to study.
And the person responsible for him was Hirata.
But Hirata didn't seem to have the time to teach him.
Hachiman had noticed that Hirata had been able to speak only twice in front of him.
After all.
It seemed that this was to be expected from former Class D students.
"So, you're saying I'm both ignorant and incompetent!?" Sudo slammed the table and stood up, confronting Kanzaki Ryuji, one of the top students sent over from Class B.
"I didn't mean that," Kanzaki replied, "I'm just saying that simultaneous equations are the basics. At least you should learn how to solve them."
"And Sudo-san, you must have goals for the future, right? I believe studying is a way out," Kanzaki continued.
Class B had sent over 10 top students: 5 boys and 5 girls.
Among them, Ichinose wasn't present. According to Ichinose, she needed to tutor some of the students in her own class.
After all, even in Class B, some students might want to aim for higher grades.
So, this batch of top students was being led by Kanzaki.
As a result, Kanzaki was responsible for the groups of Yamauchi, Ike, and Sudo, but Sudo had already snapped.
"Hah? What's the point of studying? My future goal is to be a basketball player, so what does it matter if I don't study?"
Sudo looked quite intimidating, with his red short hair and tall stature. His strong arms made the entire table shake when he slammed his hand down. It wasn't hard to imagine that if a girl had come to teach instead, the entire table would probably be shaking even more.
At this point, it must have been quite frightening.
However, Kanzaki was also a sporty type of guy.
Although he seemed somewhat introverted, he wasn't the type to be intimidated by others.
"I'm just stating my point of view," Kanzaki said. "I believe studying is a way out, and if you fail this written exam, you'll be expelled."
"Sudo-san!" Kanzaki said calmly.
On the other side.
Horikita Suzune's side.
"Why do we have to do this, Horikita-san?"
"I don't understand at all. How could I understand if you don't tell me?"
"By the way, my grades were pretty good in elementary school."
As expected, Horikita was responsible for teaching Karuizawa and Sato.
Sato was often seen with Karuizawa, having orange, slightly curly hair, but with delicate features.
Although she dressed like a "gyaru" (a style of fashion), she didn't wear any makeup.
She was a girl with above-average looks.
In Class C, a class full of beautiful girls, she stood out.
However, her academic performance, along with Karuizawa's, didn't seem to be great.
She started to defend herself, saying she wasn't stupid, claiming that she could get a perfect score in elementary school or something like that.
This was natural, as Horikita was a super straightforward girl who couldn't even understand why others failed.
So having her teach was quite a challenge.
As for the top student in their class, Koenji, he said, "I don't know how to teach. I can't even understand your way of thinking. I'm a genius," so he didn't fit into the category of someone who teaches others.
It seemed like the learning situation in first-year Class C still needed improvement.
Watching all this unfold, Hirata showed an expression of concern.
He glanced at Hachiman awkwardly and quickly rushed to mediate the situation.
It was a good thing that Class B students were willing to help, but it would be terrible if his own classmates scared them off.
Moreover, there weren't many top students in their class. If it were divided, probably one person would have to be responsible for seven or eight students, so now that top students from Class B were coming over, it would be one-on-one or at most one-on-three, which would increase efficiency.
However, progress was still slow.
After all, an hour of study time finally passed.
Hachiman had gone through 19 reaction equations again.
His memory could only be described as average, so he had to take it slow.
At this point, he couldn't help but feel a bit envious of Sakayanagi Arisu, that annoying little loli, who had a great memory and a sharp mind—how lucky she was.
However.
"Hachiman."
After today's self-study session, Hirata called out to Hachiman.
"Hm?"
Hachiman had intended to find Horikita and try to ease her mood. Although she didn't have any issues with her academic ability, she needed to understand that there were such things as "academically weak" students in this world.
Just like there were people who scored high, there would definitely be those who failed.
Alternatively, if she wasn't good at teaching, she should just stop teaching for now.
Otherwise, one side would be upset, and the other would feel like they weren't learning anything, which would go against the purpose of the study group.
But instead, Hirata called out to him.
"Could you spend some time with me?" Hirata asked.
"..." Hachiman.
Hey.
Hirata, your request sounds kind of strange.
What do you mean by "spend time with me"?
Still, Hachiman felt that Hirata seemed off today, so he agreed.
The two of them walked together to Horikita's "social death" spot, the vending machines without cameras.
"Clink!"
Hirata bought two bottles of drinks from the vending machine.
He handed one bottle of coconut juice to Hachiman.
Actually, Hachiman would have preferred a coffee.
However, even if it was something received without effort, it was accepted.
"Actually..."
After Hirata sat down, it seemed like he was gathering his thoughts.
Hachiman probably guessed what he wanted to say.
Because in the study group, Hirata had always been worried. It was true, wasn't it? Let's not even talk about the fact that the academically weaker students in their class weren't very cooperative and didn't have much motivation.
At the same time.
There were some students whose basic academic performance was simply too poor.
Like Kanzaki, who mentioned that Sudo couldn't even solve a system of linear equations.
This was something that was taught from elementary school.
So.
Even with a normal study group like this, three weeks wouldn't be enough for Sudo to pass.
Rather, looking at the math scores announced by Chabashira-sensei, it was possible that Sudo just guessed the answers to the fill-in-the-blank questions in the written exam during the interview.
So, was Hirata asking if there was another solution?
Yes, there was.
And this task had already been assigned to Kushida.
Didn't she skip the study group tonight?
However.
"Actually, there's something I've been hesitating to say," Hirata said.
Hmm.
It was something that could be said.
Hachiman felt that.
After all, it was related to the class.
Then.
"I want to tell you the truth, Hachiman," Hirata Yosuke said.
"..." Hachiman.
???
"The truth?" Hachiman looked over.
"You might look down on me," Hirata said. "But I can't accept my classmates being expelled. That's my bottom line. It's also my form of redemption."
Eh.
Hachiman thought he really should've had some coffee tonight instead of coconut juice.
Because he didn't believe in absolute goodness.
And Hirata had always been trying hard for the class, trying to be the glue, which seemed strange to him.
Moreover, Hirata was excellent in many areas.
But he was assigned to Class D, which probably meant that… the school had identified certain shortcomings and deemed him unfit.
So, what exactly was Hirata lacking?
Thinking about this.
Hachiman began to listen more carefully.
"For me, I have high expectations for my classmates, and I yearn for a peaceful campus life. I don't want anyone to fall behind. So, I've always been trying to mediate," Hirata said.
And this was something everyone knew, so Hirata was always busy.
Because both boys and girls would come to him with all sorts of problems—conflicts between people, issues with this person or that person, etc.
Hachiman himself had received Hirata's help on the first day from his mother.
However.
Hachiman felt like the main event was about to begin.
And sure enough.
Hirata said, "When I was in middle school, my close friend was bullied, and I was afraid to reach out to him."
"And when he asked for help, I ignored him. That type of person is the one I hate the most. But I did exactly that, and because no one helped, my friend committed suicide."
"Uh—" Hachiman thought Hirata might drop a big bomb.
But this bomb was terrifying.
Upon hearing this, Hachiman felt a weight in his heart. "How did the topic suddenly become so heavy—"
"It's not that bad. That friend didn't actually die," Hirata said. "But because of that, we completely drifted apart."
"Anyway, I feel that coming to this school is my redemption," Hirata said. "And I can't do it alone, so I hope you, Hachiman, can help."
"And for this exam, I hope no one in the class will be expelled."
"I don't want to ignore others' helplessness anymore."
In other words, Hirata, due to his past experiences, had developed this obsession.
And his form of assistance still had one bottom line... no one from the class could be expelled.
Because once someone was expelled, it would be like abandoning a companion again for him.
Now, even though he revealed his past, the core concern was still that he was worried about his classmates' academic performance and feared they would fail and be expelled.
But.
"So, after your friend's suicide attempt, Hirata... what did you do?"
Hachiman still had some doubts.
Because if it was just that his friend was bullied and ignored, and then committed suicide, the school wouldn't have used this incident as a judgment and sent Hirata to Class D.
"My friend attempted suicide, and I found that the people who bullied him didn't stop; instead, they started bullying someone else."
"And then?"
"I used violence to control the class and beat everyone up."
"..."
He beat everyone up?
Really?
Turns out, you're just like Sudo 2.0.
It was completely unnoticeable that Hirata Yosuke, who seemed harmless, gentle, like a little sun with responsibility, helping others, was actually a violent guy at heart.
But this also showed the deep emotional damage that came from not helping that friend.
Because of the accumulated guilt, it turned into a somewhat unhealthy obsession to help others.
However, after using violence to control the class, it left a heavy mark on his record, which led him to be sent to Class D.
Well, this "bomb" seems manageable.
Hachiman thought that Hirata wasn't inherently bad, and even with this revelation, it wouldn't cause too many issues.
In fact, Hirata was so mild-mannered that no one would believe it.
"Actually, there's a solution for this exam," Hachiman said.
Since Hirata had revealed his dark history, Hachiman also provided a corresponding solution.
"I have a plan to safely get through the exam. As long as the school doesn't interfere, it can be used repeatedly."
"That's controlling the scores," Hachiman said.
"The judgment of failing is the class average score divided by 2. For example, if the class average is 50 points, the failing threshold would be 25 points."
"As long as the exam score is above 25 points, it's a pass," Hirata began murmuring. "And this score value is something most people can pass. Then, if we let some of the better students slack off a little, the class average will drop. After that, the failing score will drop too—say, to 10 points. Then, everyone can pass."
"Even Sudo could pass with that score."
"This plan works," Hirata's eyes immediately brightened.
It seemed he was excited because this plan could be implemented, and once it was, all the students in the class would pass smoothly.
"This information was gathered by analyzing the data on the maximum score for the class evaluation for this exam provided by Chabashira-sensei."
"But."
However, Hachiman shook his head. "If we go with this plan, we're testing the mutual trust and collaboration between the classmates."
"Uh." Hirata understood at this point. "But, there's a problem. Because some people might intentionally avoid doing problems in order to suppress the average score. But if they skip too many questions and get too many wrong answers, they might end up failing."
In other words, controlling the scores wasn't something everyone could manage.
If it failed, the ones who tried would end up failing and being expelled.
It was very scary.
So, it meant that all the classmates had to trust each other and cooperate.
But as the class's central figure, Hirata, who acted like the glue, knew that the class was still a pile of scattered sand, and getting them to come together at all was already quite an accomplishment.
So, Hirata's expression became serious.
Because if this wasn't handled well, a lot of students might get expelled.
This was a high-risk situation.
"But I'm waiting for another solution," Hachiman said. "Hirata, you've asked the seniors and learned the number of students in the higher grades, right?"
"Aside from the third-year Class A, there are students being expelled from all the other higher-grade classes."
"But how many academic underachievers do you think there are in our class, and how many in the higher grades?"
"So, if there are really so many written exams, the C and D class students from the higher grades won't have many left," Hachiman said.
"So you mean..."
"I'm looking for the solution that the seniors have been using to safely get through the exams," Hachiman said. "And then we can use it."
"I see."
Realizing that Hachiman was truly thinking about the class and this exam, Hirata sighed in relief.
"But I also have a troubling issue," Hachiman said. "Do you remember when we went to the student council yesterday?"
"Mm." Hirata nodded, "You're talking about the disciplinary committee position you got from President Horikita, right? Still no candidates?"
Currently, there were no candidates.
Hirata was too busy.
And Kushida was focused on her personal relationships, while Horikita Suzune, the student council president's sister, couldn't have this information exposed just yet.
So.
There was no candidate on their side.
"If there really is no candidate, I can recommend someone," Hirata said.
So Hachiman looked over.
Hirata and Kushida had good relationships with the others in the class, so he knew more about other classmates.
So, who would he recommend?
"You seem to have gotten along with Sakura before," Hirata said. "And now..."
"I think you should try to get in touch with Karuizawa."
"..." Hachiman.
Karuizawa?
Was this referring to the girl who had been on his blacklist and was showing strong desire for attention in class?
Then.
Karuizawa Kei, with blonde hair and a single ponytail, slim but lively.
He had heard her talk to a boy, for example, Ike, when she noticed he was blocking her way, and scolded him in a tone full of rejection, saying, "You're blocking me... you're disgusting." Ike then retorted back at her.
It could be said that although she was cute, she wasn't popular among the boys.
She also looked like a "gyaru" and had formed a little group with Sato, Shinohara Satsuki, and Matsushita Chiaki.
It seemed she had become the leader of that group.
As a result...
Hirata, what I need is a disciplinary committee member, yet you're recommending someone with a poor reputation?
...
"So, is that the reason why you were staring at her during P.E. class?"
The next day, they had physical education class.
After talking with Hirata yesterday, Hachiman began to observe the target person.
But it seemed he was misunderstood by Horikita.
Although Hachiman wanted to complain about how poorly Horikita performed during the study session yesterday.
He might as well gather information from Horikita Suzune.
She was in charge of tutoring Karuizawa and Sato during the study session.
"What do you think of Karuizawa?" Hachiman asked.
"At least you shouldn't keep staring at someone's swimsuit," Horikita Suzune replied.
"..." Hachiman.
That was too much. His gaze had just accidentally wandered.
Since it was physical education class, everyone was swimming.
And Koenji was really showing off, swimming faster than Sudo could keep up, while Sudo was frustrated and sulking.
He probably couldn't understand why Koenji was so good at swimming.
Hachiman's attention was rather ordinary, focusing on the girls.
Karuizawa was currently playing ball with Sato and the others.
Sakura, the other classmate that Hachiman knew, had stayed out of the water, not even changing into the school's old-fashioned swimsuit. She was sitting on a chair pretending to be absent.
Hachiman understood.
She probably had a great figure, and if she wore a swimsuit, people would stare at her.
Aside from her, Hachiman noticed that Hasebe was there as well.
Probably for the same reason.
However, Hachiman noticed that Hasebe seemed to be trying to talk to Sakura.
Many friendships begin with mutual understanding in similar circumstances, so good luck, Sakura.
Hachiman hoped Sakura could make some friends.
But for now, he decided to focus on someone else.
Horikita didn't know that Hachiman was thinking about other people and contributed the information she had.
"Her grades are terrible," Horikita Suzune said.
Hmm.
As expected of her.
So, did that mean Hachiman needed to seek information from Kushida?
As he thought this...
"However, there's something strange about Karuizawa," Horikita Suzune said. "Before the swimming class, she put her swimsuit on under her clothes."
Oh.
So, that's how it is?
But there are people like that, who are excited to play in the water, so like little kids, they put their swimsuits on first, then put their clothes on top.
"That's not really strange, is it?" Hachiman said.
"But after swimming class, she kept wearing the swimsuit," Horikita Suzune said. "…It's like she didn't want to change with everyone else."
Really?
If that's the case, then it's indeed something worth paying attention to.
Is there a reason she doesn't want to expose her body in front of others? Even though they are all the same gender.
"Whoa—"
At that moment.
A splash of water appeared in front of Hachiman.
It was Kushida, who had just been playing in the water. "I couldn't swim when I was in middle school, but I practiced hard and finally learned."
What a cute girl.
However...
Kushida, we're not talking bad about you, so you don't have to keep butting in.
This wasn't the first time during P.E. class that Hachiman was talking to Horikita and was interrupted by Kushida.
And up until today, Kushida still hadn't won over Horikita Suzune, or rather, it had been over a month, and she was still waiting every day outside Horikita Suzune's dorm for her to go to school together.
However...
Such actions only made people dislike her.
It even made him feel a little frustrated.
Sometimes, it was hard to tell whether Kushida wanted to get along with Horikita Suzune or not.
By noon, Hachiman received the message that lunch had been prepared for him, so he chose to skip lunch with Horikita Suzune in class and instead went for a free big meal.