Playing With Fire

To think the training was a sham; another day wasted.

"Everyone, listen up. The test paper I have in my hand right now is very likely the actual exam paper for the upcoming midterm."

During the morning homeroom, Kanzaki Ryuji stood beside Hoshinomiya and held up the papers.

"Are you serious?!"

"Does such a thing as an actual exam paper even exist?"

"If that's the case, this school is way more complicated than I thought."

"As expected of Kanzaki!"

The crowd made no effort to hide their astonishment.

Would a proper school actually have something like this? If it were all like this, what would be the point of the exams? To see who is better at memorizing answers?

"There is one more thing." Kanzaki Ryuji smiled slightly. As soon as he finished speaking, the class fell silent, all waiting for his next words. However, Makoto sensed a hint of malice in that smile.

"This exam paper didn't come from me. To be honest, I didn't expect such a maneuver to exist in this school either. Right, Miyano?"

Following Kanzaki Ryuji's direct call-out, the eyes of every student in the class turned toward Makoto in an instant.

"Uh... that's correct."

The gazes of the crowd felt heavy, and Makoto felt a surge of pressure.

Couldn't Kanzaki Ryuji have shown some consideration for his predicament?

QAQ

Because Makoto's sharp remarks on the first day of school were still remembered by his classmates, not a single person expressed any doubt.

"I see."

"That makes sense."

Some students nodded in sudden realization.

"As expected of Miyano!"

Hey, hey, hey, he heard that. That phrase sounded very familiar.

Makoto snuck a glance at the person who said "As expected of [Name]." If he remembered correctly, her name was Amikura Mako, the very person who had previously questioned the authenticity of his childhood friendship with a beautiful girl.

"If that's the case, why did Miyano let Kanzaki come up to announce this? If he had done it himself, wouldn't everyone trust him more in the future?"

A student pointed out the crux of the matter.

"Yeah, yeah. At the start of the term, I thought Miyano wanted to be our class representative or something, but then he just stayed silent and turned into a background character. He barely shows up for class, and Hoshinomiya actually approved all his leave requests. It's absurd."

A student said this long string of words, clearly having accumulated quite a bit of curiosity about Makoto during this time.

"Also, since Miyano doesn't want that role anymore, why did Kanzaki bring him up? I want to know the reason for that."

Some students turned their eyes toward Kanzaki Ryuji on the podium.

"Regarding that, it's because I believe Class B cannot climb to Class A without Miyano's help, so I want to seek his strength as much as possible."

Kanzaki Ryuji explained; if possible, he still wanted to give it a try.

"Uh... if I remember correctly, doesn't Miyano have a girlfriend in Class A?"

Thank you!

Makoto looked gratefully at the student who said this—Shibata Sou. Good brother, friend for life, he thought to himself.

Thank you for saying what he wanted to say.

"That's exactly it, so I'm also feeling a bit troubled by this."

Makoto gave a bitter smile, though, of course, it was faked.

If he wanted to leave, the path was right beneath his feet.

The 20 million private points paved that road, but the timing wasn't right yet.

He still had things he had to accomplish, and his status in Class B would help him a great deal.

"Regardless, Miyano provided us with these papers, so we should still thank him for his contribution."

Hamaguchi Tetsuya hit the nail on the head, however...

"Actually, it's not just Class B. Class A and Class D have these papers too."

Kanzaki Ryuji wore a strange expression; he had been just as confused when he first heard it.

So, it's basically an open-book exam now, is it?

"..."

"Are we the last ones to know?"

Beppu Ryota asked weakly, which was a concern for many students.

"That's not quite it. To ensure everyone in the class studies properly during this period, revealing the existence of the actual exam papers too early would do more harm than good. Therefore, every class likely announced it within these last two days."

Kanzaki Ryuji already understood a great deal, and as the heir to a conglomerate himself, eloquence was a necessary skill.

Standing at the podium and speaking with ease, he carried the air of someone from a prominent family.

"...Did you not mention Class C just now?"

Another student had spotted the crux of the matter.

"You're right, he didn't."

Upon hearing this, more and more students realized the same thing, and everyone couldn't help but reveal uncontrollable smiles.

When only one class knew, they would collectively keep it a secret from the outside; now that three classes knew and only one was left in the dark, they shared a tacit understanding to hide the existence of the actual test papers from that class.

It was just like The Truman Show, and Class C was cast in the role of Truman.

I really want to see the expressions on the faces of those Class C students when the exam results come out~

This was what everyone was thinking at that moment.

Makoto was no exception.

"In short, Miyano-kun, please keep up the good work in the future!"

Kanzaki Ryuji walked down from the podium and returned to his seat, meeting Makoto's resentful gaze.

Hoshinomiya-sensei cast a playful glance at Makoto, as if to say, "What's going on, little brother?"

"Hmm~ I also came today to inform you about the midterm exams this Friday. It seems I don't need to say much more; you students are all doing great!"

Hoshinomiya-sensei blinked, flashed a cute smile, waved at everyone, and left the classroom.

She could go back to the infirmary and happily slack off again.

"You really ruined me."

Taking advantage of the time before the next class, Makoto complained to Kanzaki Ryuji.

How many times had he told him he didn't want this! But he just wouldn't listen!

"I did help you out before, so just agree to this one time!"

Kanzaki Ryuji smiled; he was referring to the time he acted as Makoto's friend.

Of course, he truly did consider Makoto a friend, and seeing the resentful expression on his face, it was amusing to tease him a little.

He was actually quite cute.

"Fine, but you said it yourself."

Makoto decided he would take a little revenge on Kanzaki Ryuji in the future.

"You aren't thinking about anything bad, are you?"

As if he had spider-sense, Kanzaki Ryuji cast a suspicious look toward Makoto.

"No, absolutely not."

Kanzaki Ryuji withdrew his gaze, half-doubting; after all, it was just a baseless feeling he had, and he had no evidence whatsoever.

"We will continue from yesterday's progress today."

As Mashima-sensei stepped into the classroom, Makoto felt a slight sense of relief in his heart.