"Bang! Bang!"
Tennoji Kaede was pounding hard on the equipment room door, utterly panicked.
"Ibuki, can you tell me how this door managed to close and lock itself?" Kaede asked, his face dark with worry.
Ibuki stood off in a corner, keeping her distance from him.
"Why are you asking me? How would I know...? Unless there's a ghost or something?"
Why am I asking you? Ibuki, do you have no idea what's going on?
["Cause": Ibuki Mio was alone in a room with you for the first time. Beneath her calm exterior, she was utterly terrified. After all, she couldn't beat you.]
["Effect": Charisma +5, Leg Development +5, Causality Lock Door +30]
Look at that. Causality Lock Door was already up by 40. At this rate, he might even end up locking himself inside his own house someday...
Tennoji Kaede wanted to cry. How had Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's special treatment ended up happening to him?
And Ibuki, how long had they known each other by now? Why was she still scared of him?
Besides, that thought of hers was seriously rude. He and Little Hiyori... were Pure Love, okay?
Tennoji Kaede still hadn't confessed to angel Hiyori...
But not confessed = pure, and confess = love!
Therefore, not confessed = Pure Love!
The Pure Kaede Inequality won by a landslide! Nothing wrong with that, right?
Sighing, Tennoji Kaede stopped wasting his strength on the door.
He took out his terminal and sent an SOS to a second-year senior from the Boxing Club.
He hoped the senior was still at the club...
"Hey, Tennoji!" Ibuki suddenly called out to him. Tennoji Kaede turned to look at her.
"What...? It can't be that hot in here yet, can it?" Tennoji Kaede had a feeling that Ibuki getting serious was a bad sign, so he made a joke.
Ibuki paused at that, then said, "I wanted to ask you something. Whether it's the School's Hidden Rule, the old exam papers you got your hands on, or that monster-level strength of yours..."
"Tennoji, you're so strong. Why do you take orders from that guy Ryuen? Doesn't it piss you off?"
Ibuki Mio said seriously, "I can't accept Ryuen's tyrannical way of doing things."
Tennoji Kaede fell silent.
What Ibuki didn't know was that without Tennoji Kaede's presence, even if she resisted Ryuen right now, she was bound to end up badly hurt.
It was only after she learned about Ryuen's 800 Million Point Strategy that she acknowledged his position and tried every way she could to save him after Ayanokoji beat him so badly he gave up.
Whose view of Class C was better, Ibuki Mio's or Ryuen Kakeru's?
Even Tennoji Kaede found it hard to judge.
But at least after Ibuki fully understood the truth, she chose to make peace with herself...
"I wonder if I should tell the truth or lie," Tennoji Kaede murmured. But the equipment room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"If you don't want to die, tell me the truth!"
Ibuki stepped closer, looking ready to kick him in the face.
That would be a disaster. He could already imagine the classic 2D scenario that would follow:
He'd block her kick and fall, end up on top of her, then a senior would open the door and get the wrong idea...
Tennoji Kaede hurriedly raised both hands in surrender. "Wait, let's talk this out instead of kicking each other. I'll tell you the truth..."
"Actually, the reason is that our Class C's overall strength is too weak. That's all."
Ibuki Mio narrowed her eyes, seeming to weigh whether Tennoji Kaede was telling the truth.
But Ibuki had to admit that her academic ability probably was holding the class back... No, wait. Weren't the others even worse?
Besides, there was Class D, which had managed to slash its points down to 1 in its very first month. Ibuki was certain she wasn't the worst first-year student, and Class C had to be quite a bit stronger than Class D, right?
"You definitely still haven't told me the truth, Tennoji!"
"I know you're in a hurry, Ibuki, but don't get worked up just yet. Let me ask you something. At that six-person gathering in the Cafe last time, what did you think of the three people from Class D?"
Ibuki wanted him to explain his reasoning, just like Horikita had tried to get Ayanokoji to talk about his past. As if he'd give her a straight answer.
So Tennoji Kaede chose to answer her question with a question.
"Horikita and the others? Oh, right, what was the name of that boy with brown hair again...?"
As expected, the question distracted Ibuki. Kaede immediately replied, "His name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. I can tell you a shocking, earth-shattering secret about him."
"Ayanokoji? What secret could an ordinary guy like him possibly have? At the last gathering with Class D, I couldn't even be bothered to ask why he was allowed to come."
"Listen carefully, Ibuki. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is the strongest person in Class D, and the one who's hidden himself the deepest! Remember that, and don't tell anyone I told you~"
Ibuki Mio looked at Kaede with disbelief, but he wore a solemn expression.
No way. Absolutely no way!
Aside from being pretty handsome, what could that poker-faced guy possibly be capable of?
Ibuki had heard that Hirata Yousuke was the current leader of Class D.
She'd seen Hirata with her own eyes and had even wondered what someone like him had done to end up in Class D.
Now Kaede was claiming that there was someone in Class D even stronger than Hirata?
"...Whether what you said is true or not, I'll find out for myself!"
Tennoji Kaede smiled sincerely. Ayanokoji, you and Ibuki can go lock yourselves in a Black House together from now on. He was done getting involved!
"Hey! What exactly is going on between you two?" At last, the equipment room door opened. The senior looked at them with an uncertain expression. "I really don't know if I should've come in, Tennoji."
"Don't say that, senpai. I'm grateful to you for all sorts of reasons today!"
It was getting close to mid-May, and the first official Midterm Exam would begin the Friday after next.
The school library had become very lively over the past week.
First, the tyrant of Class C, Ryuen Kakeru, had recently turned his full attention to Classes A and B.
His main focus was Class B!
Recently, quite a few Class B students had noticed that people from Class C were sneaking around and following them. Other than that, though, they hadn't done anything unusual.
Class B was practically a regular at the library. They held Study Sessions there nearly every day, and plenty of students showed up. More than half the class attended each time, making them a model class.
With Ibuki's help, Tennoji Kaede had held several Class C Study Sessions, but not many people came each time.
That was because, as soon as he got his hands on the old Archaeological Questions, he'd asked Kaneda Satoru to distribute the papers to everyone on his behalf, explaining that this year's Midterm Exam would very likely draw from old exams.
The students of Class C were delighted, and none of them wondered where Kaneda, who had excellent grades, had gotten the papers.
Unlike Class D, Class C might have been even weaker academically. Tennoji Kaede had no intention of playing some trick where he waited until the last day to hand out the old exam papers.
If they already had the answers, wouldn't it be better to start memorizing them a day earlier?
If the students really had the ability to study on their own, they had a long life ahead of them. One little detour wouldn't hurt...
Interestingly enough, before long, Tennoji Kaede really did witness a classic scene from the original story: Horikita tearing into the Class D Three Idiots in the library.
It had to be said that among the Class D Three Idiots, Kanji Ike was at least somewhat tolerable personality-wise. He was just a little sleazy.
During the future Deserted Island Exam, Ike's performance in Class D was decent enough to earn him Ayanokoji's assessment that he was "someone who understood his place."
The other two were the truly top-tier ones. One was Ken Sudō, the Fiery Monkey, who had grown up in a tragic home environment and developed into a complete delinquent. He couldn't even solve a system of equations;
The other was the supreme god of the Black House, an unparalleled masterpiece. Judging by the major events that happened later, that really was poetry in motion.
In the library, the course of events quietly shifted...
Before you continue