Chabashira's Empty Promises and the Midterm Exams

A week passed by in the blink of an eye, and the midterm exams had finally arrived!

Because they had obtained the answer key, everyone's face was plastered with a confident smile.

"Ha! This time, I'm going to show those snobbish people in Class 1-C what it means to make a stunning debut!!"

Ike, in particular, was shouting and hollering with excitement.

"We have Karuizawa and Shinjo to thank for this."

Even the eternal ice queen Horikita was uncharacteristically offering praise to others.

"This... actually, it's all thanks to Katsuya!"

Karuizawa giggled foolishly. Matsushita, standing nearby, couldn't help but palm her forehead as she watched her best friend; she was usually such a sharp girl, but the moment Shinjo was mentioned, she immediately turned into this dazed, silly mess.

Could this be what it's like to be head-over-heels in love?!

Chabashira Sae looked at her students and revealed a fearless smile:

"For you all, this exam is undoubtedly the first major hurdle. If you have anything to say, I'll give you the time now."

"Chabashira-sensei! Everyone has done their absolute best over these past few weeks! I believe that in this midterm exam, it's impossible for anyone in our class to fail!"

Chabashira laughed while organizing the test papers; no one could see through what she was thinking:

"Hahahaha! You really are confident, Hirata. But that's fine. It's best if you all think that way. If no one fails this exam, or the final exam in July... I'll take you all on a vacation during summer break."

"A vacation?!"

"That's right... I'll let you live a dream-like life on an island surrounded by a blue sea~"

The mere mention of a vacation sent the already high-spirited group into a frenzy, especially the boys. After all, when thinking of the beach in summer, the first thing that comes to mind is the girls in their swimsuits, right?

Plus, with so many cute girls in the class, this... this was a world that only existed in dreams!!!

However!

The more Shinjo listened to Chabashira, the stranger it felt. He was well aware of the true nature of this school, but it was clear that everyone else had already forgotten the pain once the wound had healed.

Would the school give you any benefits for no reason?

Just wait! There would be a time when he'd have to pay the final bill!

Before school started, they talked about free career choices and a monthly allowance of 100,000 yen, but after a month, hadn't they all been beaten black and blue by the cruel reality?

Therefore, Shinjo firmly believed that this so-called vacation was definitely not a good thing for most people!

[An island surrounded by a blue sea... hey, they wouldn't just dump us on a deserted island to survive, would they? No way...]

Without realizing it, Shinjo had already imagined the worst possible outcome.

But the others weren't thinking in that direction; perhaps they were still immersed in thoughts of girls in swimsuits?

Even more outrageously, under the encouragement of a few ringleaders, the boys actually started cheering:

"Everyone! For the sake of swimsuits, let's give it our all!"

"Oh!!!"

It wasn't just the boys who were egging each other on; the girls were equally yearning for the seaside.

But that was a story for another time; for now, they had to get past the hurdle of the midterm exams.

After receiving his test paper, Shinjo gave it a cursory glance. When he discovered it was identical to the past exam papers he had purchased, the last weight in his heart finally settled.

He then observed the expressions of those around him. As he did, he once again locked eyes with Ayanokōji.

Because the other boy was also observing humanity.

Who says history doesn't repeat itself?

This time, Shinjo decisively turned his head away the moment their eyes met; he was afraid that those unpleasant thoughts would surface in his mind again.

However, it was clear that the entire class appeared composed, which seemed like a good omen.

In the time that followed, one subject after another was completed, but the good times didn't last.

In order to confirm how everyone had done, Kushida Kikyo had basically greeted everyone one by one, but when she reached Sudō, she found his expression gloomy and somewhat sluggish.

"Um, Sudō-kun? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Ah! Sorry! I... I'm a bit busy right now..."

As Sudō spoke, he stared fixedly at the answers to the English test in his hand, but the beads of sweat on his forehead proved that he wasn't at ease.

With just that one look, Shinjo guessed what kind of situation this guy was in.

"That... you didn't memorize the answers, did you?"

!!!!!

Seeing the shocked expressions of the crowd, Sudō was momentarily at a loss for what to do:

"I, other than English, I've looked over everything else, but I just couldn't memorize the English... Damn it!"

There were less than ten minutes left before the exam started. If he hadn't been able to memorize it in seven days, these few minutes certainly wouldn't be enough.

Fortunately, Horikita recalled the score-control strategy that Shinjo had proposed not long ago.

"Sudō, you should start by memorizing the ones that are easy to remember and carry high point values."

"Right! I got it."

Following this, Horikita hurriedly stood up and addressed the entire class:

"Everyone, since Sudō hasn't memorized the answers for the English exam yet, could I please ask you all to try and control your scores for this subject? Even if it's just a little, we need to lower the class average as much as possible!"

"Huh?! You've got to be kidding me, right?"

Clearly, this situation was something no one had anticipated, but there was no room for them to argue now.

After understanding the situation, Hirata also took the initiative to persuade the other students to suppress their scores as much as possible to pull down the final average.

Although Kōenji remained his usual self-centered self, as long as everyone else pitched in, it should still be achievable.

However, reality proved that everyone's efforts were ultimately in vain.

Sudō had indeed tried his best to memorize the answers, but English was different from Japanese; to him, those 26 letters were as obscure and incomprehensible as alien runes.

Even though he had forced himself to memorize some before the exam, his mind went completely blank the moment he saw the empty test paper.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing?

Every now and then, Sudō would stop his pen and slam his head against the desk!

But right now, there was truly no one left who could lend him a hand.

The long English exam finally ended, and Ike and Yamauchi were the first to approach Sudō to express their concern:

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I... I don't know..."

At a time like this, Ike didn't know what to say either, so he could only try to offer some comforting words:

"I think it'll be fine, right? Even if you didn't memorize the answers, we've been studying for so long, and I made sure to keep my score around fifty points. So, it'll definitely be fine!"

Sudō couldn't even force a smile at his friend's concern; his mind was filled with nothing but regret. If only he had known English was this difficult, he should have prioritized studying it!

"Sudō."

Horikita walked over.

"What do you want? If you're here to lecture me, save it..."

Horikita shook her head:

"Failing to memorize the practice test is your own fault. But I saw your effort and your sweat. If you have truly given it your all, I think you can be proud of yourself."

"Huh? Are you trying to comfort me?"

"No, I'm just stating the facts. I can see that studying is very difficult for you. Therefore, I apologize once again for disrespecting your basketball dreams last time. I've taken some remedial lessons and realized that my past self was wrong; becoming a basketball player is by no means an easy path. So, I believe that if you apply the same effort you've put into studying during this time to your basketball, you will definitely become a great basketball player."

Having said that, Horikita bowed to Sudō and walked out of the classroom.

The others were astonished by the fact that Horikita would take the initiative to apologize and even encourage someone, but as for Sudō...

[Oh no, I think I'm in love...]