Hirata Yousuke's Confession, Midterm Exam Ends

Today is Friday, and the midterm exams are about to officially begin.

The archaeological questions that Ayanokōji had originally entrusted to Kushida for distribution were ultimately handed over to Horikita Suzune, who was not significantly affected by the recent incident, for early distribution.

This allowed Horikita, who was already gaining popularity among some boys during the study session, to shine even brighter.

Compared to the gender segregation caused by the previous shouting match with the Class D girls, Horikita Suzune, who had never spoken a word after the class meeting that day, was now closer to the Class D boys.

Horikita remained oblivious to this change.

This was all within Ayanokōji's calculations.

Afterward, Kushida Kikyo, who had newly joined the student council, finally emerged from her dorm after taking three consecutive days off, encouraged by her female classmates.

Upon her return to class, the vast majority of Class D boys no longer dared to interact with Kushida, instinctively avoiding even simple eye contact.

However, although Kushida Kikyo no longer possessed her former Angel Face, she was actively working to mend the divisions between the boys and girls in the class.

Despite her frosty demeanor, she had brief exchanges with every boy and girl in Class D.

In simple terms, the content of these exchanges was forgiveness.

She offered unconditional tolerance, forgiving all her classmates, even though they were completely unrelated to the perpetrator, Yamauchi.

This moved the Class D girls even more and shamed the boys.

The colder Kushida's words became, the more they felt her inner warmth and admirable strength!

Kushida Kikyo's status in Class D skyrocketed, even surpassing the long-silent former leader of Class D, Hirata Yousuke.

And on this Friday, the day of the midterm exams, the "former" leader of Class D, Hirata Yousuke, stood bravely on the podium and spoke under the seemingly encouraging gaze of a certain man:

"Regarding the recent events in our class, I, as the leader you trusted, bear full responsibility. Kushida-san, I am truly sorry that you had to endure such a tragic situation."

Hirata Yousuke bowed deeply to Kushida.

"I'm fine, thank you, Hirata-kun."

A flat, emotionless reply. This was Kushida's current persona, and also her true self, but no one was surprised by it anymore.

"Thank you for your understanding, Kushida-san." Hirata looked up and continued to express his feelings. "Today is the midterm exam, and I also want to thank Horikita-san for her recent contributions to the class."

"I believe this midterm exam is also a new starting point for Class D!"

"Therefore, I hope everyone can focus on the upcoming exam and that we won't have any more students dropping out."

He bowed again after finishing his speech.

"And I, Hirata Yousuke, after this exam... no, starting from now, will be stepping down from my position as class leader."

A murmur of voices rose from below, but Hirata remained composed.

"It was my negligence that caused my classmates to suffer unparalleled harm. Please give me a chance to start over as an ordinary member of the class!"

Hirata's confession today was, naturally, a result of Ayanokōji's prior encouragement for him to bravely step out of his past shadows.

Hirata had once been a perfect student.

But after witnessing his good friend from middle school being bullied to the point of suicide, he vowed to protect everyone around him in the future.

He even resorted to violence to rule his entire middle school class, becoming the sole Tyrant!

Yes, Hirata Yousuke was once a more perfect Tyrant than Ryuen!

His past experiences meant he was not suited for Class AB, which might be why he ended up in Class D instead of C.

Because kings do not meet kings!

After Hirata's moving confession, as expected, he was met with strong pleas to stay from the now deeply moved and unusually united Class D.

As if! If Class D's girls were to abandon the perfect Hirata again, would there be any normal boys left in this class?

In the end, Hirata remained the leader in the girls' hearts;

While Horikita unexpectedly became the more favored leader among the Class D boys.

The class, which seemed fractured, was tightly bound together by Kushida's new Charisma.

In truth, Class D had genuinely come to see the kind Kushida as their leader recently, a leader recognized by everyone, both boys and girls.

But in the end, Kushida declined, using the perfect excuse of being too busy with her student council secretary duties, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

In reality, they found it difficult to face Kushida with their usual attitude now. Fortunately, although she had become a bit colder, she was still the kind angel of Class D.

"Tennoji Kaede: Kikyo-san, your life now must be much easier than before, right?"

Kushida Kikyo lowered her head, repeatedly rubbing the message from that man on her Student Terminal with her Jade Finger.

She curled the corners of her mouth, her expression unreadable.

The midterm exams concluded perfectly amidst the aftermath of the Yamauchi incident.

In early June, it was time to announce the results of the May midterm exams.

First Year Class C.

Sakagami posted the grade report on the blackboard. He scanned the room and nodded with satisfaction.

"Class C's performance on this midterm exam was excellent. Undeniably, there were zero dropouts."

Everyone cheered.

This midterm exam, it was said, could increase class points by up to 100, depending on each class's results.

Given Class C's strong showing, they expected their class points, updated on June 1st, to increase significantly.

Tennoji Kaede silently calculated in his mind...

In May, Class C was 60 points behind Class B.

Even with Class C's archaeological questions, their scores wouldn't significantly outpace Class B, and might not even be as effective as Class D copying answers.

Furthermore, they had to account for the points deducted for daily violations in May. Therefore, in June, Class C's new class points likely wouldn't catch up to Class B.

As expected, the class rankings hadn't changed at all.

Currently, the June update for the first-year class points table was:

Class A: 940 → 935

Class B: 650 → 699

Class C: 590 → 633

Class D: 1 → 0 (Yamauchi Haruki dropped out at the end of May)

The factional struggle within Class A seemed to be intensifying.

The points they lost due to violations in May were actually more than the points they gained from the midterm exam!

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to be starting to exert her influence.

Meanwhile, the gap between Class B and Class C widened from 60 points to 66, with the difference actually increasing.

As expected, Class B was not an opponent that Class C could easily surpass just by relying on copying answers during a midterm exam.

It had to be said, the archaeological questions were only useful this time. Class C could only barely keep pace with Class B by resorting to underhanded tactics.

By the final exam at the end of July, they wouldn't be able to cheat anymore.

At that time, the gap in class points between Class B and Class C might widen again due to the difference in academic ability.

As for Class D, they were truly in dire straits.

Due to the points deducted for Yamauchi's dropout, the midterm exam was essentially in vain.

Moreover, in the original work, on July 1st of the following month, the school would have rewarded each class that passed the midterm exam without any dropouts with 100 class points.

Would the current Class D still receive this reward?

Tennoji Kaede wasn't entirely sure.

Theoretically, Yamauchi had dropped out two days before the midterm exam, so Class D would have had a solid 0 points for June. However, July was uncertain.

On the original worldline, the class points on July 1st were:

Class A: 1004

Class B: 663

Class C: 492

Class D: 87

These 87 class points were the 100 points Class D had passively received as a reward from the school, with 13 deducted for general rule violations in June.

It was clear that due to their "debauchery" in April, Class D had a steady 0 points in May and June.

Even if Yamauchi hadn't dropped out, Class D would have, like Class A, lost more points due to violations than they gained from the midterm exam in June.

But if, on the current worldline, Class D were to lose this 100-point reward from the school due to Yamauchi's dropout at the end of May...

That would mean Class D would experience three consecutive months of 0 points in May, June, and July.

Truly the most exemplary class of flawed individuals in history!