Horikita, Who Was Tricked

After Chabashira Sae stepped into the classroom, she swept her cold gaze over the students. Everyone in the class held their breath as they awaited the Midterm Exam results, and an unusual tension filled the room.

Hirata hurriedly stood up and asked expectantly, "Teacher, how did the exam results turn out?"

"Don't rush. I'll announce them now. After all, if I told you After School, you wouldn't have time to complete the necessary procedures."

"Hm? What does that mean?"

Ignoring Hirata's confusion, Chabashira Sae pinned a sheet listing the students' names and scores to the blackboard.

"I truly Did Not Expect that more than ten people would get perfect scores in mathematics, Japanese, and social studies, but..."

Chabashira Sae took out a red pen and drew a red line over Sotomura Hideo's name. He was the class's resident tech geek, jokingly called Doctor by the Boys. He possessed astonishing skill with typing and computers, but his academic performance was far from ideal.

Below him were Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudo Ken.

Bang!

Chabashira Sae suddenly slammed her right hand against the blackboard and said coolly, "In an exam where dozens of people were able to get perfect scores, four people actually failed. Just how did you manage that?"

"W-What... what is going on?"

"I-I-I... I failed?"

"How is that possible? How could I have failed?"

Sotomura Hideo, Ike Kanji, and Yamauchi Haruki turned pale with fright. After all, failing meant expulsion.

Sudo glared fiercely at Chabashira Sae, then slammed his hand on the Tabletop and stood up.

"What the hell? Stop talking nonsense! The passing score was thirty-two, right? I should've passed! Why did I fail?!"

The Four People's scores were all quite close. Sudo got 39 in English, Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki both got 40, and Sotomura Hideo got 39.

Hirata and the others also continued voicing their doubts. The passing score for the previous Pop Quiz had been thirty-two; Sotomura Hideo should have been the only one who failed.

"How could this be...?"

Horikita Suzune could hardly believe it. Although there had been some twists and turns, she had clearly handed them the answers half a month in advance.

Yet so many people had still failed. No matter what, it was something Horikita Suzune could not imagine.

Only Yeyue and Ayanokoji remained completely calm.

After all, the result had been expected long ago.

Yeyue understood it very clearly.

Giving Sudo and others the answers in advance was not a good thing. They would only cling to Wishful Thinking and put off the simple task of memorizing the answers until the final day.

Then—

They would be crushed by the pressure brought on by half a month of idle time, and with the regret of Why didn't I memorize them properly back then? I clearly had so much time, it would affect the quality of their memorization.

It was like putting off Summer Vacation homework until the very last day. Even if they regretted it so much they wanted to cry, they would still scribble down a pile of useless work.

Such Summer Vacation homework was just like this exam—it had no value whatsoever.

Ayanokoji understood this perfectly as well.

That was why he had intended for Kushida to hand the answers to Sudo and others on the final day. Unfortunately, Horikita Suzune had disrupted his plan.

"Since that's the case, I'll tell you the criteria for determining it."

Chabashira wrote a simple equation on the blackboard.

That was quite different from the score in the Original Work. It seemed the Butterfly Effect he had caused had also raised the passing score.

Still, it remained within his expectations.

After all, he was among those who had earned perfect scores this time. Consistently ranking in the top five of the class would inevitably raise the score threshold.

Chabashira Sae tapped the blackboard with the back of her finger.

"After rounding, the passing score is 41. That proves that the four of you have failed. That is all."

"Teacher, this has to be a lie, right? So that means... I... I'm going to be expelled? These Rules are way too strange, right? Ike, Sotomura!"

Yamauchi Haruki looked utterly devastated, his face crumpling as if he were about to cry. He then turned to Sudo beside him for support. "Hey, Sudo, this is definitely strange, right?"

Sudo and the others erupted in dissatisfaction and questioned the School Authority's Rules, but Chabashira Sae paid them no attention whatsoever.

Yamauchi and others' pathetic appearance was truly ugly.

The exam answers had been right in front of them, yet they had ended up like this because of their own laziness, and still they put on such an attitude.

As expected, they didn't end up in D Class for nothing, Yeyue thought silently.

To change Sudo and others, he would have to draw out their internal motivation. Normally, that required a catalyst such as love, friendship, or setbacks.

However.

Yeyue knew he could not do that.

The school was a microcosm of society's class hierarchy.

Since he had chosen to associate with outstanding students like Matsushita Chiaki and Hirata, it was naturally difficult for him to have any dealings with Sudo.

Sudo and the others understood this very well. They instinctively disliked Hirata and boys like him who were popular with girls.

Just as the top students in the class would not associate with students who liked fighting.

While it was not difficult to greet each other and address one another by name when they met, there truly was an invisible wall between people.

But there were alternatives as well. There was never a shortage of people in this world who liked to play the fool and hide their strength.

Hirata was just as anxious as Sudo and the others.

"Teacher, will Sudo and the others really be expelled? Is there no way to remedy this?"

"As long as their scores are insufficient, this is as far as Sudo and the others will go."

After giving that answer, Chabashira Sae left the classroom as well.

As she departed, Yuyuki could sense the complicated look in Chabashira's eyes. It was probably unwillingness and expectation.

Chabashira Sae likely had not expected that Four People would fail at the same time.

During this period when the class had Yuyuki and Ayanokoji, it was probably her best chance to Promote to A Class. She must have felt extremely unwilling to accept it.

Chabashira's words could be considered a huge hint, yet no one in the class Perceived it.

Probably.

Chabashira's complicated gaze had also fallen upon Ayanokoji. After waiting a moment, he pushed back his chair and walked outside.

Seeing this, Horikita Suzune slowly loosened her clenched fist and followed after him.

After waiting for a moment, Yuyuki did not make a move. Instead, he stepped forward to comfort Sudo and the others.

"Sudo-kun, are you okay?"

Already on the verge of exploding with rage, Sudo was like a powder keg at that moment. Pointing at Yuyuki, he said, "How could I be okay? You're not the one getting expelled, so stop standing there talking like it's someone else's problem."

Couldn't he even control his emotions properly? No, Sudo had never been able to control his emotions in the first place.

Watching Sudo vent his fury so freely, no one In the class dared to step forward. After all, it was pointless; he was about to be expelled.

Thus, Matsushita Chiaki and the others merely stepped forward to comfort Yuyuki, hinting that he should stop trying to console Sudo.

However, Kushida's actions caught everyone by surprise. Somewhat displeased, she said, "Sudo-kun, Yuyuki was only trying to comfort you. Isn't it a little inappropriate for you to say that?"

Her choice of words did not arouse anyone's suspicion. Reason was on Yuyuki's side to begin with, and only someone very close to Kushida could Perceive the unusual change in her.

She was not a girl who would offend anyone.

Perhaps because it was Kushida, Sudo's anger eased slightly, but he still did not apologize for yelling at Yuyuki.

Giving Matsushita a smile to show that he did not mind, Yuyuki looked at Sudo again and reassured him, "Sudo-kun, you actually don't need to be angry. If you truly want to play basketball, I can recommend you to join the Tokyo Team in the name of the Tenmyouin Zaibatsu."

It would have been better if he had said nothing. The moment he spoke, Sudo's anger was ignited once more.

"You bastard, stop joking around." Sudo fiercely slapped his chest with his right hand and said with utmost conviction, "I do like basketball, and my dream is to become a professional player. But even if I have to live in poverty, I'll fight for it with my own ability. Are you giving me charity? Don't fucking look down on me."

The Man named Sudo, although he had poor grades, a violent temper, and Not Any merits, had indeed relied on his own efforts to move step by step toward his dream.

It did not matter if countless people doubted or looked down on him, but Sudo would never allow anyone to mock his dream, nor did he need to explain himself to anyone.

"Sudo, that was too harsh."

"Yeah. Yuyuki only wanted to help you. I don't like seeing Sudo act like this."

Kushida stepped forward and spoke somewhat timidly, and many people also stood by Tenyo's side.

Sudo seemed to understand that this was not his home ground. His standing in the class was unequal to Yuyuki's, and aside from Hirata and his two close friends, no one would help him.

"Stop fucking meddling in my business."

Hugging the basketball beside his desk and not even taking his school bag, Sudo slammed the door open with a bang and left the classroom.

"Um..." Yamauchi Haruki seemed to have found his direction in life. Patting his chest, he offered a Self-Recommendation. "Yuyuki, I was the ace and cleanup hitter of the Baseball Club back in Middle School. Can you recommend me to a professional baseball team too~?"

"Ding..."

Just then, his phone rang. Seeing that it was a signal from Horikita Suzune, Yuyuki said apologetically, "Wait a moment!"

[Could you come to the Rooftop?]

[Did Suzune send the wrong Text Message?]

[Tenyo Yuyuki, could you come to the Rooftop?]

[That's a rather distant form of address. I have no reason to respond to someone who isn't even a friend, do I?]

After waiting for a moment, Yuyuki finally received another Text Message from Horikita Suzune.

[Yuyuki, could you come to the Rooftop?]

[Suzune, do you need me to teach you the proper attitude for asking someone a favor?]

The Text Message exchange ended there, and soon Yuyuki's phone began to ring.

After answering, Horikita Suzune's cool voice came from the other end. "Are you coming or not?"

"Don't worry, I'll be right there." If he kept teasing her, she might really get angry, Yuyuki thought with a smile.

"Sorry, I have something to do, so I'll head out first. Yamauchi, don't worry either. If you really are expelled, I'll do my best to recommend suitable jobs for all of you."

Leaving those words behind, Yuyuki left the classroom.