"Your teacher couldn't have given you the wrong exam topics, could they?"
Kamuro wore a strange expression. What kind of teacher would do something like that?!
(⊙o⊙)...
Seeing Ike and Yamauchi exchange helpless looks, Kamuro pursed her lips and said:
"Forget it. I'll go ask someone from Class B. I just hope our Class A homeroom teacher didn't get it wrong."
As she spoke, Kamuro got up and walked over to Makoto.
He was the only person she knew in Class B.
"Hey, the exam topics don't include anything about bacon, do they?"
Makoto: "?"
Makoto didn't know what to make of such an abstract question at first.
But he soon remembered the amazing stunt Class D's homeroom teacher had pulled, so he nodded and said:
"Class D got the exam topics wrong."
"?"
Now it was Kamuro's turn to be bewildered.
Seriously, I only said one thing, and you just exposed everything about me? What, are you psychic?
"Anything else? I'm busy right now."
Makoto waved her away. Whenever he had to interact with someone, his energy drained faster than usual.
Kamuro returned to her seat, thoroughly annoyed. She clicked her tongue and said:
"Confirmed. Your Class D is the one with the problem!"
She took out her frustration on the innocent people there—namely, Ike and Yamauchi.
As a result, she spoke a little louder.
But the two of them clearly didn't notice. They just kept complaining about Chabashira-sensei's irresponsibility.
"Honestly, she was so smug yesterday. What was she even showing off for? She can't even get the exam topics straight."
"Exactly! I've been annoyed by the way she acted yesterday for ages. Does she really think she's worth anything just because she's the Class D homeroom teacher?"
The two of them didn't hold back as they criticized their own teacher behind her back. Kamuro was left speechless.
Since the teacher in charge of Class D really had made a mistake, Kamuro didn't know what to say.
"Hey, what are you all yammering about? You're annoying. You know that?!"
A boy sitting nearby spoke up.
"Sorry, sorry. We were just complaining about our irresponsible homeroom teacher. She even got the exam topics wrong."
"You guys... You wouldn't happen to be students from Class D, would you?"
As soon as he said that, the students sitting near him all looked up and turned their gazes toward them.
"So what if we are? What's it to you? Got a problem with us being in Class D?"
Sudo couldn't stand that kind of disdainful look. He immediately stood up and shot back.
"N-no, of course I don't have a problem with it. I'm Yamawaki from Class C. Nice to meet you."
Yamawaki spoke with a malicious smile, oblivious to the changing expressions of the students around him.
"My, my. It's wonderful that this school sorts us into classes based on ability. I couldn't stand being in the same class as people like you~"
"?"
At that, Sudo calmed down. He looked at Yamawaki with a puzzled expression, staring at him until Yamawaki began to feel uneasy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Do you realize that there are students from Classes A and B here with us, not just students from Class D?"
"What?"
Yamawaki froze. Just then, a boy beside him tugged on his sleeve and whispered in his ear:
"He's right. I've already spotted the leaders of Classes A and B near him."
The distance between the three classes was clearly unusual. Their students were all mixed together, making Class C look completely out of place.
"?"
"What on earth is going on here?"
Yamawaki really wanted to know the answer.
"Take a guess."
Sudo got his own back, letting out all his pent-up frustration. It felt great.
"We'd better hurry up and tell Boss Ryuen about this."
The boy lowered his voice. Ryuen wasn't attending the Class C study session, so they needed to pass the information along to him as soon as possible.
"R-right. That's what we should do."
Yamawaki slunk away, not daring to shoot Sudo so much as a glance.
If he somehow antagonized students from the other three classes here, Boss Ryuen might beat him to death on the spot when he got back!
"How ugly~"
Sakayanagi looked away.
As expected, only that man could bring her any amusement at this school.
The rest were nothing but a motley assortment of nobodies.
As for Ayanokoji...
Sakayanagi thought of what had inspired her to learn chess.
I'll ask Makoto tonight.
She believed he would give her a satisfactory answer. It wasn't a big deal, after all, was it?
"Let's get back to studying."
Kamuro sighed and rubbed her forehead, while Kushida smiled awkwardly.
For someone determined to befriend everyone, the scene just now hadn't been the right time for her to step in.
The other person's hostility had been written all over his face. She wasn't about to force a friendly smile and suck up to him like she did with Horikita.
If she did that, she might not only fail to become his friend—she might become the next person to plunge Gotham into panic.
"Right, right. Let's all cheer up! We still have plenty of time, don't we?"
It was only the first day of May. Even if the exam topics were wrong, they still had plenty of time to correct them.
"Kushida's right. We have to do our best. We can't let the students from the other classes look down on us!"
With Kushida's encouragement, Ike rallied.
He wanted to earn Kushida's favor more than anything, so he had to make a good impression on her!
"Exactly."
Following Kushida's words, the group focused on their studies once more.
Kamuro had already given them the correct exam topics.
If there were a progress bar above their heads, the numbers should be starting to tick up now.
0.01%, 0.02%, 0.03%...
At some point, Ayanokoji came over to stand beside Kushida. Ignoring the murderous glares from Ike and Yamauchi, he spoke softly:
"Did you forget something?"
"Did I?"
Kushida tilted her head, looking confused.
Even so, she was still incredibly cute.
Ike and Yamauchi were already entranced.
Not only that, they were jealous of Ayanokoji for getting to whisper with Kushida.
They wanted to get that close to Kushida too!!!
Ayanokoji, you've betrayed the organization!
The two of them gritted their teeth.
"I'm the one who'll suffer. Horikita's definitely going to kill me tomorrow."
Ignoring their terrifying glares, Ayanokoji continued.
Unlike the empty threats of these two, Horikita's secret weapon—a compass—could cause him actual physical harm.
He couldn't keep living like this every day.
"It's fine. I'll talk to Horikita. All we have to do is make sure everyone in the class passes, right?"
As if she had finally understood what Ayanokoji meant, Kushida gave him a sweet smile.
Before you continue