Monthly Quiz

As the month quickly drew to a close, Chabashira Sae walked up to the lectern early that morning with a stack of exam papers.

The students in the class were still doing as they pleased, showing no regard for their teacher. It only made her angrier.

Every year was the same... They were hopeless.

But she had clearly cursed them too soon. This year's Class D was, in fact, even more hopeless than she had imagined.

Ike even whistled at her, his tone full of flippancy:

"Hey, Little Sasukie, judging by your expression, are you on your period?"

The classroom fell deathly silent. No one had expected the guy to have the nerve to harass their homeroom teacher.

Apparently, Chabashira Sae hadn't expected it either.

But after years of cultivating her composure, she could keep a straight face. In a few days, these idiots would realize what kind of hell they were in and look regretful and disgruntled.

And by then, she wouldn't have to put up with them anymore. She could openly mock them instead.

"We're having a pop quiz this period. Keep your mouths shut. Cheating of any kind is strictly forbidden during the exam. If you're caught, the school will punish you severely!"

"Wait, sensei! You never said anything about a quiz!"

Chabashira Sae gave an annoyed snort.

"What, did you never take exams at your old school? Or have you forgotten you're students now that you've come here?!"

"Uh, well..."

Hirata still wanted to say something, but he knew he didn't really have a leg to stand on. He could only sit quietly and wait for the exam to begin. Besides, his grades were usually quite good.

Shintō Katsuya stared at the exam paper in his hands, his mind in a whirl as he debated what score he should aim for.

The questions weren't very difficult. If he wanted, he could probably get around 90, but that wouldn't be worth it.

After all, a high score would raise the class average. That would be like making the students who weren't good at studying carry extra weight as they moved forward.

It sounded a little strange, but in Shintō's view, if someone in the class had to be dragged along by others, why couldn't that person be him?

He'd get a low score that wouldn't raise any suspicions. Then, if there were ever an exam competition or something like that, no one would think to recruit him.

So that was that. He'd aim for around 60 this time.

He began answering the questions in one smooth flow. Once he had enough points on the page to get around 60, he tossed his pen aside, propped his chin on his hand, and waited quietly for the test to end.

Naturally, this caught Chabashira Sae's attention. She had kept an eye on the students during class, and a few of them had stood out: Hirata, Horikita, Kushida, Shintō, and a student named Yukimura.

At least from their eyes, she could tell they actually understood the lessons.

She had already used special means to check the grades and backgrounds of all the students. Shintō's exam scores were mediocre, but it was obvious he was deliberately refusing to answer now, rather than being unable to.

[Had he figured something out...? No, if that were the case, deliberately handing in a blank paper would be the safest thing to do. So why is he doing this?]

Shintō Katsuya had noticed the person on the lectern watching him, but he didn't think much of it. After all, his behavior was a little strange.

Horikita Suzune, sitting nearby, glanced at him in disdain. She'd thought Shintō was a master at hiding his abilities, but... had she just been overthinking it?

He was just an idiot with poor academic skills who'd given up!

Shintō handled the next few subjects exactly as he had the first. Once he'd earned around 60 points, or a little more, he put down his pen and stopped writing.

If he was going to pretend to be an ordinary person, he had to make it convincing!

So he put a little more effort into English, deliberately keeping his score around 75, while lowering his social studies score to around 50.

Even if the king of heaven himself came down here, he couldn't say there was anything wrong with me!

The bell rang, signaling the end of the last exam.

As Chabashira Sae collected the papers, she "accidentally" dropped something on his desk, then left as if nothing had happened.

[Meet me on the roof.]

To be honest, Shintō Katsuya wanted to ignore her invitation. He had a vague feeling this probably wasn't going to be anything good.

But she was his homeroom teacher, and he'd have to see her every day. He could avoid her today, but not forever.

So he deliberately waited a while, until most of the other students had left. Then he slung his backpack over his shoulder and went alone to the rooftop.

Chabashira Sae was still wearing her black-stockinged office outfit, a long, slender cigarette between her lips. As if sensing someone's arrival, she slowly blew out a smoke ring.

"Tell me, why did you go easy on the test today?"

"I thought the teachers at this school didn't care about their students' attitudes toward studying."

Shintō Katsuya didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he made a sarcastic remark about the school's teaching environment.

"I'm the one asking you a question."

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't figure it out. I didn't know how to answer or what to write. Does that satisfy you?"

Chabashira Sae gave a cold laugh. She clearly wasn't satisfied, but there wasn't much she could do about it. One thing was certain, though: the student in front of her knew something.

And because of that, Shintō Katsuya—the student she had overlooked all this time—had finally caught her attention.

"Lying is a bad habit. Every teacher wants their students to get good grades."

"Really? Well, sorry about that, Chabashira-sensei. Lying may be a bad habit, but I don't think saying one thing while hiding another is a good habit either."

A glint flashed in Chabashira Sae's eyes, but she answered without changing her expression. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Playing dumb... You may be a teacher, but when it comes to this, I'm the professional.

"Oh, wasn't it because you gave extra lessons to Horikita and the others? I suppose our talent gap is just too great, so they seem to have done pretty well. Sorry for misunderstanding you, sensei."

They stared at each other for three minutes. In the end, Chabashira Sae was the first to give in. She sighed and said:

"Fine, I give up. Tell me, what did you find out?"

"Find out what? Oh? Did you really give someone extra lessons? That would be a bit of a violation of professional ethics, wouldn't it~"