"Shinjo, tell me: if this school is going to expel students with poor academic ability after the midterms, why did it approve Sudō and the others' admission in the first place? Isn't that a little strange?"
While everyone else was concentrating on Horikita Suzune's lesson, he poked the listless Shinjo beside him.
Since neither of them had to worry about their academic ability at all, Horikita couldn't be bothered to worry about them. As long as they didn't hold back the academic slackers, they could do whatever they wanted.
"Hm? Are you saying the school's just pissing with its pants down?"
"Uh..."
"Well, you're not entirely wrong. Rather than recruiting students they're just going to expel anyway, they'd be better off recruiting a few unpredictable oddballs—guinea pigs who might shake things up. Even if they were only there for entertainment, they'd be a better choice."
Ayanokōji nodded along. This was what puzzled him most. Since the school had approved Sudō and the others' admission, there had to be a way to get through the exam perfectly.
But what was it?
"Don't overthink it. I don't mind telling you. Actually, the first midterm exam is the same for every year's incoming students, and I happen to have the answers I got from a senior~~"
To keep this guy from suddenly figuring out a solution himself and ruining Karuizawa's efforts to win over the whole class, Shinjo promptly spilled the beans to Ayanokōji.
"Oh? I see... Then why not share the answers with everyone? That way, they wouldn't have to be forced to study."
Ayanokōji clearly understood why, but he still asked.
As far as he was concerned, if there were clever people around him, it was better to act like an idiot. That way, he could maintain what he thought was a perfect disguise.
"That's a great idea, Ayanokōji. But if we give them the answers now, they won't improve academically. They might even develop a bad habit of relying on underhanded shortcuts. What will they do on the next exam?"
"Uh, all right. You're right."
As the two of them chatted away, time kept ticking by.
The three slackers made remarkable progress during that time.
To boost their enthusiasm for studying, Kushida suggested making use of people's instinct to enjoy teaching others.
When parents tried to teach a child to put away their toys, ordering them around harshly could make them rebellious and less likely to put the toys away properly.
But asking, "Where should this toy go? Could you tell me?" tended to work better.
"Let's see if everyone knows this one. Who came up with the inductive method?"
"Uh... I think it was that guy we just studied..."
Ike and Yamauchi racked their brains, but neither could remember. Sudō seemed to have a better memory, but only slightly.
"Francis Galileo! That's gotta be it, right?"
"It was Francis Bacon! I remember now!"
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Ike, and he got the answer right.
"Correct!"
"Yeah! Now we can get a perfect score!"
Shinjo couldn't understand what it was like to be an idiot. But he'd long known that if he could understand idiots, he'd be an idiot himself.
Just as everyone was cheering each other on for the rest of their studying, an obnoxious voice came from nearby.
"Hey, keep it down! You're making a racket!"
Ike, who'd gotten carried away with excitement, suddenly remembered that they were in the library. The memory of being kicked out by the librarian last time was still fresh, so he quickly stood and apologized.
"Sorry, sorry. I got too excited. I finally got a question right. The guy who came up with the inductive method was Francis Bacon! We should write that down."
Then he scratched the back of his head and sat there, grinning foolishly.
"You guys... aren't you students from Class D?"
"Huh? What about Class D?! Got a problem with us?!"
"No, no, no, I wouldn't dare. I'm Yamawaki from Class 1-C. You people are at the very bottom, after all. Who knows what you might do out of nowhere?"
"What did you say?!"
Sudō, the most hot-tempered of them all, immediately stood up. He didn't want to keep losing his temper, but he couldn't understand why people were always picking on him.
When Shinjo heard that the other guy was from Class 1-C, he first glanced around. Once he was sure there didn't seem to be anyone he knew, he didn't do anything.
Unlike the loosely organized Class D, Class 1-C had clearly formed a massive organization.
And its leader was Ryuen.
Some people might not have liked him—Ibuki, for example. She clearly didn't like Ryuen much, but still followed along whenever he made a move.
So even the movements of some minor Class 1-C student needed to be watched closely. He could very well be an operative sent by Ryuen.
"I'm just telling the truth. There's no need to get so worked up, is there? If you do something violent on school grounds, who knows how many points you'll lose... Oh! Right, you don't have any points to lose, do you? So what'll happen then? Maybe they'll expel you on the spot! Hahahahaha!"
Yamawaki really had come to provoke them. He was desperate for Sudō to hit him first.
That way, even if he was the one who got hurt, Class D would surely receive a harsher punishment.
"Hmph. I don't see anything about you Class 1-C students worth bragging about, either."
"The gap between Class 1-C and Class A is so small it might as well not exist! Only you Class D trash belong in another dimension!"
"Is that so? From where I'm standing, the three classes besides Class A are fundamentally no different from each other."
Horikita Suzune wasn't timid or afraid of confrontation. She didn't take a provocation at this level seriously at all.
"You Class D don't even have any points left! What gives you the right to say that?! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a cute woman!"
"I find it extremely unpleasant to have my appearance complimented by someone like you."
"Say that again?!"
Yamawaki angrily slapped the table and stood up. His classmate beside him jumped in fright and hurriedly tugged at his arm.
Shinjo, who'd been watching from the sidelines, couldn't help feeling a little dumbfounded. He'd thought Ryuen's operative would be impressive, but this guy was useless too.
If that was the case, I don't have to keep acting!
"Hey, you do know that anyone who fails this exam will be expelled, right? What's the point of cramming at the last minute? You're just patting yourselves on the back because you got the name of the guy who came up with the inductive method. Hey, hey, don't tell me you don't know that part isn't even on the exam?"
"So what?! Even if we get expelled, it's none of your business!"
Sudō said as he drew his arm back, ready to beat the hell out of Yamawaki. But Shinjo grabbed him and pulled him behind him.
"Stop!"
Before you continue