Ayanokoji Makes His Move

Three days before the exam.

The sky had only just begun to lighten. Dew slid from the tips of the grass, glittering in the faint light of dawn.

Early in the morning, Kushida Kikyo and Hirata Yosuke paced anxiously outside the classroom.

"This is terrible!"

At last, Zhuge Linghao showed up. Kushida spoke first. "Zhuge, last night we met with Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei from Class A, Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji from Class B, and Ryuen Kakeru and Ibuki Mio from Class C to discuss strategies for the Midterm Exam."

Hirata looked just as troubled. He said gravely, "Then we told them about the plan you proposed in the karaoke room, but they all refused to cooperate with us!"

Zhuge Linghao's face turned deathly pale. He wailed, "How could this happen? I racked my brains to come up with a flawless plan, and it still failed? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Watching Zhuge Linghao lose his composure, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sighed softly. He decided it was time to step in!

Horikita watched the scene from inside the classroom and felt a little disappointed in Zhuge Linghao too. So he's just an ordinary person who likes to show off?

At lunchtime, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was taking the utterly dejected Zhuge Linghao to the cafeteria when they suddenly came across a redhead arguing with Ryuen and his crew at an inconspicuous corner of one of the school buildings.

"Come on, all of you!" Ken Sudō roared.

The short-haired, green-haired student from Class 1-C kept one hand in his pocket and sneered, "You look just like some street punk from the last century!"

Ryuen chimed in with a taunt. "What a pitiful, ugly creature."

Sudō, worked up into a rage, reached out his right hand, ready to fight. But the two underlings behind Ryuen moved faster, stepping forward to restrain him.

Sudō struggled and cursed. "Let go of me! What are you doing?"

Ryuen strode forward arrogantly and pointed right at Sudō's eye. "I'm looking forward to seeing how many of you get expelled after the Midterm Exam. The first one will be..."

Sudō instinctively shut his eyes and shouted furiously, "Are you ready to get beaten up?"

Then he suddenly burst into action, broke free of the two boys' grip, and clenched his fist, ready to strike.

"Both of you, that's enough!"

Ichinose Honami stood tall and composed a short distance away, her arms crossed. "As a student at this school, I can't tolerate any kind of violence! If you insist on fighting, I'll have to call security!"

Ryuen narrowed his eyes and replied with a cocky air, "There's no violence here. We're just playing with him."

Ichinose Honami spoke with the authority she'd had as her middle school's student council president. "Is that so? From where I'm standing, you were the ones who started this, Ryuen. If you insist on fighting, I'll report you to the school."

Ryuen gave a cold laugh and left with his two underlings.

As he went, Ryuen tossed out one last arrogant threat. "Hey, red-haired monkey. You might turn out to be a pretty interesting toy."

Sudō was still shouting angrily. "You bastard, stop! Are you running away with your tail between your legs?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka put a hand on Sudō's shoulder, stopping him from charging after them.

Ayanokoji said calmly, "Sudō, don't fall for it."

Ichinose Honami came over too and kindly warned them, "Listen, you should be careful as well. Don't let Ryuen and the others provoke you so easily! And please don't cause trouble for everyone else. That's all!"

Then Ichinose Honami gently reassured everyone nearby that there was no longer any danger and they could go about their business.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Linghao had fallen behind. His eyes were vacant, his steps unsteady, and he ran right into Ryuen and his group a little later.

Ryuen spoke disdainfully. "Zhuge Linghao, I heard that piece of crap plan yesterday was your idea. That was incredibly stupid!"

"Here's a warning in advance: after the Midterm Exam, I'm coming after Class D. You can all struggle in despair."

Zhuge Linghao, already in poor shape, looked even more terrified when he heard that!

Damn it, why does one crappy thing keep happening after another?!

A short while after Ayanokoji and Zhuge Linghao sat down in the cafeteria, a third person joined them.

Kushida Kikyo said sweetly, "Ayanokoji, this is the first time you've invited me to eat with you. I'm so happy! What did you want to talk about?"

Ayanokoji asked, "Can you two promise not to tell anyone?"

Kushida Kikyo gave her solemn promise.

Zhuge Linghao listlessly chewed his food, resigned to his fate. "No problem. I won't tell anyone either."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up. "Come with me."

"Excuse me, are you a third-year student?"

"I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from Class 1-D. I'm guessing you're in Class D too?"

"This mountain vegetable set meal is free, but it doesn't taste very good, does it?"

The three of them sat down around an upperclassman.

The upperclassman asked, "What do you want?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you still have your first-semester Midterm Exam papers from two years ago. I'd like you to give them to me. I'll pay you plenty of points in return."

The upperclassman looked displeased. "Why did you come to me?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied calmly, "It's simple. I thought I'd have a better chance of success asking someone who doesn't have many points."

The upperclassman thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "How many points can you pay?"

Zhuge Linghao answered before anyone else could. "Ten thousand points. Not a point more!"

The upperclassman retorted, "I'm taking a huge risk too. Thirty thousand points!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said, "That's way too much."

The upperclassman snorted. "Then we have nothing to discuss."

At that, Kushida Kikyo sprang to her feet, slapped both hands on the table, and leaned forward. "Please wait, senpai! My classmate could get expelled. I'm begging you!"

Sure enough, unable to resist her ample charms, the upperclassman shut his eyes and said, "Fifteen thousand!"

"Understood. Deal. But you also have to include the first-semester pop quiz papers!"

At a drink shop, the three of them each ordered a cup of milk tea.

Zhuge Linghao seemed to have turned to stone. He was still doubting himself over his failure.

Kushida Kikyo asked worriedly, "Are you sure this is okay? Using old exam papers feels a little like cheating!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied, "I don't think so. This is one of the school's rules too."

"Did you see how the upperclassman reacted just now? He wasn't surprised that we wanted to buy the exam papers."

"That confirmed one thing for me: students buying and selling exam papers is quite common."

Kushida Kikyo still wasn't reassured. "But old exam papers have no direct connection to this year's test, do they?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Kushida Kikyo and replied calmly, "I checked just now. The pop quiz the upperclassman sent us is exactly the same as this year's. Don't worry. This is our last safety net to keep Sudō and the others from getting expelled."

"That's great! So the old Midterm Exam papers will be the same as this year's too? Then we can give them to Sudō and the others, and share them with the whole class!"

"We can, but it'd be best to give them the papers the day before the exam, to prevent a leak."

"Also, could I ask you to do something for me?"

"If anyone else asks, could you say you got the exam papers yourself?"

Kushida Kikyo readily agreed. "Sure!"

Kushida Kikyo was delighted. I can win everyone over all over again.

One day before the exam.

After school, Kushida Kikyo handed out printed exam papers to everyone in class.

"Sorry, everyone! I've got something for you before you leave~"

Karuizawa Kei took a copy and flipped through a few pages. "Exam questions? Did you put these together, Kushida?"

Kushida Kikyo savored the moment and spoke gently. "Actually, I got these old exam papers from a third-year student. I noticed that the exams from two years ago and last year were almost identical, so I thought they might come in handy while we study!"

Soon, many of the students crowded around Kushida Kikyo, showering her with praise!

The whole class was caught up in a cheerful mood, and their image of Kikyo as an angel grew even stronger.

Horikita, on the outskirts of the crowd, wanted to go over and ask something, but she couldn't squeeze her way in, so she gave up.

Still, two students turned down Kushida's offer.

One of them, Meili-ge, slung his bag over his right shoulder and said haughtily, "Sorry, I don't need anything like this! I have a date, so I'll be off~"

The other was Zhuge Linghao...

As for why he turned it down...