The classroom still buzzed with the excitement of passing the exam during the break. Natsukawa walked over to Sakura Airi's seat and looked at her slightly bowed head. She seemed to be doing much better than before.
"How did you do, Sakura?" he asked casually, his tone calm.
At the sound of someone speaking to her, Sakura gave a slight start, as if startled, then lifted her head. When she saw it was Natsukawa, her blue eyes, hidden behind her glasses, shone with barely contained excitement. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and though her voice was still soft, it was clearer than ever and carried a hint of pride.
"Y-yeah! Thanks to you and Ichinose for tutoring me... and for those old exam papers... I... I got over 85 in every subject this time!"
For someone who had always lacked confidence in her academic abilities, this was an enormous breakthrough.
Natsukawa watched her try to straighten her back, as if waiting for praise, and a barely perceptible smile flickered in his eyes. He reached out and gently ruffled the top of her red hair, the gesture full of encouragement.
"Nice work."
"Eep..." Sakura's face turned even redder, like a ripe tomato. She instinctively tucked her chin in, but this time she didn't flusteredly pull away as she usually did. She simply let his warm hand rest on her head for a moment, savoring the reassuring touch as her heart pounded as if it might burst from her chest.
After a brief moment of shyness, Sakura seemed to suddenly remember something. She tilted her face up and asked with sincere confusion, "Natsukawa... what was Chabashira-sensei trying to achieve by giving us the wrong exam scope?"
Natsukawa continued stroking the girl's head, his tone indifferent. "Sae has a lot of little schemes. You probably heard when I discussed it with Ichinose in the library before. The point was to see who had the ability to find methods like those old exam papers."
"But... what if no one found them?" Sakura's eyes widened, her voice tinged with lingering fear. "W-wouldn't a lot of students get expelled?"
"Chabashira doesn't care about that." Natsukawa's lips curled into a chilly smile. "She's never wanted everyone to come through unscathed. She's screening us, looking for 'seeds' with the information-gathering skills, initiative, and adaptability to truly make it into Class A. The rest don't matter to her, no matter what happens to them."
His words were cold and realistic, and Sakura couldn't help shivering.
Every word of their conversation reached Horikita Suzune, who was organizing her notes nearby. Her fingers tightened around her pen, her knuckles turning white.
Natsukawa's words exploded in her mind like a thunderclap.
She had also wondered about the discrepancy in the exam scope. But helping Sudo and the others study had consumed so much of her energy that she'd dismissed it as an oversight by Chabashira or some kind of school policy, and hadn't given it much thought. Now that Natsukawa had pointed it out, she finally realized—this had been a test carefully devised by Chabashira Sae!
Anger at being underestimated and deceived, mixed with regret, surged through Horikita in an instant.
She sprang to her feet. The legs of her chair scraped against the floor with a harsh screech, drawing glances from several people nearby. She paid them no mind and strode out of the classroom, a frigid air surrounding her as she headed for the teachers' office.
Inside the teachers' office.
Chabashira Sae sat alone at her desk, holding an exam paper. She lightly tapped her fingertip against the answer section of one of the long-response questions, making a barely audible "tsk, tsk." Her stern face bore a rare, amused expression, as if she'd found an interesting new toy.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. After she responded, the door was pushed open rather roughly.
Horikita Suzune stood in the doorway, radiating cold fury.
"Chabashira-sensei!" Her voice was stiff. "Explain why you deliberately gave us the wrong exam scope. Do you distrust our class so much that you think the only way we can pass is by finding old exam papers?"
Chabashira looked at the student before her, who bristled like a hissing cat. The amusement on her face quickly vanished, replaced by her usual cold expression. She set down the exam paper and folded her hands on the desk.
"What are you talking about? Giving you the wrong scope on purpose? I don't know anything about that." Her voice was flat, without a hint of emotion.
But Horikita keenly noticed that when Chabashira said, "I don't know anything about that," the corner of her mouth twitched upward almost imperceptibly. It wasn't the expression of someone denying it. It looked more like the subtle satisfaction of someone whose plan had succeeded.
Ignoring Horikita's near-incandescent glare, Chabashira asked with interest, "Those old exam papers... did you find them?"
Horikita took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "No comment."
"Heh." Chabashira gave a quiet laugh, its meaning hard to pin down. "If you really want to make it into Class A, Horikita, let me give you some advice. You'll never get there by fighting alone. You need people of your own, companions you can trust and rely on."
Her gaze swept meaningfully over Horikita. "Remember, keep a close eye on the two people sitting next to you."
Horikita's heart jolted. The question slipped out before she could stop herself. "Ayanokoji and Natsukawa? Is there something special about them?" She didn't understand why Chabashira would single those two out, especially Natsukawa, who in her eyes was nothing but a petty schemer.
Chabashira's smile deepened a little. "I haven't even said who I meant, and you've already picked them yourself? Looks like you haven't been completely oblivious." She paused, then glanced down at the exam paper on her desk. "That's right. At first, my impression of Natsukawa Sosuke was simply that he was 'fairly average.' But..."
She gently pushed the exam paper she'd been looking at toward Horikita.
"Take a look at this."
Puzzled and faintly skeptical, Horikita took the paper. It was Natsukawa Sosuke's midterm social studies exam.
She skimmed it quickly. At first, she expected to find answers that closely matched those on the old exam papers. But the farther she read, the more tightly her brows drew together. The skepticism in her eyes gradually gave way to surprise, then turned into utter astonishment.
The answers on the paper—especially the long-response questions—weren't copied from the old exam's answer key at all! The arguments were logically rigorous and supported by relevant sources. Some even offered interpretations that differed from the standard answers but showed greater depth and originality! No one could produce work like this simply by memorizing old exam answers. It took a genuine understanding of the textbook, the ability to absorb and connect the material, and a personal framework for thinking it through.
She jerked her head up and looked at Chabashira, disbelief in her eyes.
"Could I see his exams in the other subjects?" Horikita's voice held a hint of urgency that she didn't even notice herself.
As if she'd expected this, Chabashira calmly took four more exam papers from her drawer and pushed them toward Horikita.
Horikita snatched them up and promptly perused them.
The math paper's final problem had a clear, clever solution that used a simpler auxiliary-line construction, entirely different from the standard answer; the reading comprehension sections in modern Japanese and English...
Apart from objective questions with only one correct answer, almost every subjective question and complex calculation was solved in a way that differed greatly from the answer key in the old exam papers! Moreover, the depth of knowledge and problem-solving skills he demonstrated far exceeded what was needed merely to pass.
Horikita knew she could do this too, but only because of the solid foundation she'd built through years of study. What about Natsukawa? She clearly remembered that a month ago, in a classroom quiz, his social studies and Japanese scores had barely scraped by. The way he'd struggled over the questions had looked completely genuine.
What had happened over the past month?
He hadn't attended any study sessions! And she'd seen with her own eyes in the library that he spent most of his time reading books unrelated to their textbooks! So how had he managed such a complete transformation in just one short month?
Had he been hiding his abilities all along? Horikita wondered. But would he really have pretended he could barely pass? And the way he'd struggled with the questions had seemed too real to fake. Could he actually have improved so dramatically in the past month? How was that possible?!
Countless questions and the shock of it all upended Horikita's understanding. Her dismissive impression of Natsukawa as someone who relied on petty tricks and old exam papers crumbled completely in the face of these papers—and the way he'd so easily seen through Chabashira-sensei's intentions.
For the first time, something unfamiliar took root in her: a mix of bewilderment, surprise, and... a trace of trust in Natsukawa that she herself was unwilling to admit. She suddenly found his earlier insistence that she humble herself before Kushida a little easier to accept. If he had this much ability and foresight, perhaps there really had been a good reason for what he'd done.
Horikita Suzune silently handed the exam papers back to Chabashira and left the office without another word. Her steps were no longer as aggressive as they'd been on the way in. Instead, she walked with a heavy, thoughtful air.
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