Collaborating on the Exam Questions

Horikita raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, but she did not press the matter further. Her attention was focused more on the test paper itself.

"If you truly want to reach Class A, you must learn to utilize resources and cooperate," Kong continued, his tone guiding. "Break down the question types on this paper and integrate them into different practice sheets. Let Sudo and the others encounter and practice them in advance. This way, you can ensure they master the knowledge points while leaving nothing to chance. However, if you have to create all these adapted practice questions by yourself, I'm afraid you won't have enough time."

He took out a second test paper. "I will give this second one to Hirata and his group. Let them help create questions as well to share the burden. I believe that for the sake of the class, Hirata will be very happy to cooperate. Make sure you find him when the time comes."

Horikita's brow furrowed, a hint of petulance appearing on her face, but she did not argue. Her attitude was one of tacit agreement, though she immediately thought of something else, and her expression quickly returned to its previous haughty demeanor.

"However, is this what you are relying on? What a petty, clever trick." Horikita spoke as if she had finally found Kong's weak point, mocking him as if to retaliate for the incident a few days ago where he forced her to lower her head in front of Kushida.

"Well~ who knows." Kong did not offer any explanation for Horikita's mockery; instead, he looked at her with a smile. This caused Horikita's punch to land as if on cotton, failing to extract even a shred of information.

When Kushida returned after putting the remaining test papers back in her locker, she happened to hear Kong's arrangements for Horikita. Although her face still retained a pallor from the earlier blow, and she even pouted slightly at Kong's remark that "Kushida bought them," revealing a small, resentful expression that seemed to say, "How could you be so mean to me just now?", she couldn't help but feel convinced by Kong's plan in her heart. Such a consideration for the entire class was something she had truly not thought of.

As class time approached and students began to arrive one after another, Kong stood up, took the test paper, and walked toward Hirata Yosuke's seat.

Hirata, who was whispering to Karuizawa Kei, looked visibly surprised when Kong approached him.

Kong called Hirata out of the classroom. Once they reached the hallway, Kong handed the test paper to him.

"This paper contains the original questions for the upcoming midterm. Kushida bought them from a senior student. Horikita doesn't intend to distribute the original questions immediately; instead, she plans to break these questions down into different sheets so everyone can be aware of them in advance without disrupting the current study atmosphere in the class."

"However, Horikita cannot produce so many practice papers on her own, so she asked me to cooperate with you."

After listening, a sincere smile instantly bloomed on Hirata's face, as if the previous exhaustion had been swept away. "That's great! Kong! This test paper is so timely! Thank you and Horikita!" he said excitedly, casting a look of gratitude toward Kushida inside the classroom as well. "Please thank Kushida for me too! Don't worry, we will definitely arrange everything as soon as possible. We will all work together to ensure everyone passes the exam!"

Watching Hirata return to the classroom full of energy, Kushida stood by her desk with complex and indescribable feelings. She looked at the instigator who had already returned to his seat as if none of this had anything to do with him, and the emotions of wanting to win him over, rely on him, and yet vaguely fearing him, became even more profound and tangled.

Kushida's actions were naturally the result of Kong's guidance. After all, Kushida's little brain really couldn't come up with particularly far-reaching schemes; one could see clues of this from her attempt to leave fingerprints on the fabric.

From the moment he caught Kushida having a meltdown in the stairwell, he began planning how to tame this ticking time bomb for his own use. By exploiting Kushida's desire for validation, he hinted that she should distribute the test papers during this time of panic to win people over. Then, through a series of suppressions, he planted the seeds of self-doubt in her, causing her to start seeking Kong's advice. The strategy was already showing initial results, though he still needed to think carefully about how to completely subdue her.

In the days that followed, the Class D classroom seemed to have been hit by some kind of switch. The atmosphere of laziness and despair that had permeated the room was replaced by a slightly awkward but genuinely existing study environment.

Horikita and Hirata began collaborating on creating exam questions. Horikita produced three papers each for Japanese and English, while the rest were left to Hirata, Yukimura Teruhiko, and others. Then, after the week passed, they were distributed under the guise of "testing periodic learning outcomes." The class's study atmosphere got on the right track, and even Sudo requested leave from the basketball club under the pressure of the exams.

Kong was also happy to be idle. After "entrusting" Sakura Airi to Ichinose, the four-hour daily study task required by the system was completed with exceptional efficiency in the quiet environment of the library. For the remaining time, he no longer delved into exam-related content but strolled between the tall bookshelves, randomly pulling out books that interested him—hardboiled mysteries, natural sciences, and even some casual travelogues. Without the pressure of exams, reading purely to satisfy curiosity and expand his cognition gave him a long-lost sense of pleasure and relaxation, as if he had returned to the time in his previous life when he explored knowledge freely in the gaps of his high school years.

However, this tranquility was occasionally interrupted by a subtle sense of incongruity. He could often feel a faint gaze, like a soft spiderweb brushing against the back of his neck, but when he looked around calmly, he could not find a clear source. At first, he was a bit alert, but thinking of Kushida Kikyo, who had been appearing around him frequently lately, he attributed it to her passing by and observing him.

Thinking of Kushida, a faint, imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Kong's mouth.

This energetic angel, who always maintained an impeccable image in front of others, seemed like a different person when she appeared by his side in the library. She no longer deliberately maintained that cloyingly sweet tone, her footsteps became casual, and sometimes she would even walk straight to the empty seat opposite him with a hint of exhaustion after completing a social task, tossing her bag aside and letting out a soft sigh that carried genuine emotion.

"Ah—I'm exhausted..." she might start like this, rubbing her cheeks, which were stiff from smiling, and then collapse onto the table without any regard for her image, her brown hair spreading out. "Those people are really... they ask the same question over and over again, and I have to keep answering with a smile..."

In front of Kong, she would complain without restraint about the people and things in the class she considered "stupid" or "troublesome," her tone carrying a irritability and disdain she would never reveal otherwise. The bright luster she deliberately cultivated in her large eyes would fade, replaced by laziness, anger, or sometimes a genuine look of annoyance and curiosity after one of Kong's sharp, insightful comments.

She seemed to have designated the area around Kong as a "safe zone" where she could temporarily shed all her disguises. Here, she didn't have to be the well-loved Kushida Kikyo; she could reveal her exhausted, dark, and even mean side. This special "trust" was less about closeness and more about a kind of... letting go based on shared secrets and the acknowledgment of each other's true nature. She relied on this relaxation that required no pretense, and she also relied on the sense of security Kong provided, which often allowed her to see things from a different perspective.

Kong usually just listened quietly, occasionally looking up at her with a calm gaze, neither comforting nor criticizing, as if she were merely performing a necessary emotional release. This attitude actually made Kushida even more relaxed.

Sometimes, after she had complained enough, she would sit up straight again, comb her hair with her fingers, and slowly put that perfect mask back on her face, though a trace of genuine emotion would still linger in her eyes. She would look at the books on Kong's desk that had nothing to do with his studies and ask curiously, "What's the point of reading these?"

Kong would usually just reply indifferently, "Reading is about building your own thoughts with the help of others' ideas."

Kushida didn't quite understand, but she didn't press further. In her heart, Kong's mystery and unfathomability had already become an established fact. She enjoyed the strange freedom of being her true self for a moment by his side, while at the same time, she became increasingly determined to tie this man firmly to her chariot.