"After we went into the shop, I'd planned to relax with you for a while, but then I suddenly saw Miyabi Nagumo, so I started recording right away," Nakano Yuu said. "Just like he said, this written exam is the same for the second-years and us. We're both being tested on old questions."
"And all you have to do to pass is buy the test papers from upperclassmen."
"But only underclassmen can approach upperclassmen about it, and the school has ordered the upperclassmen to keep quiet. They aren't allowed to approach first-years or even tell them about this information on their own," Nakano said.
I see.
Horikita understood completely.
That explained why the conversation between Nakano Yuu, her, and Nagumo had sounded so strange. Nakano Yuu had deliberately blurred the idea of buying the papers, even using the phrase "study materials" instead.
But...
In his conversation with Nagumo, the upperclassman had used words like "test papers," "old questions," and "I'll give you the test papers."
He'd deliberately acted like he knew less than he did, leading Nagumo to think they knew everything. Then, by asking him about it, he'd given the upperclassman a chance to let something slip.
But the recording showed that Nagumo had simply leaked the answers of his own accord.
In other words, when no one was paying attention, Class 2-A's Miyabi Nagumo had already broken the school's order to keep quiet.
If they reported the recording, Nagumo would face the very consequences he'd described himself: "Usually, the school doesn't allow upperclassmen to voluntarily share this information with you." And, "If you break the rules, the punishment can range from having your Private Points confiscated to losing class evaluation points in serious cases."
"..."
"..."
Once Horikita Suzune put it all together, her expression turned incredulous.
Had Nakano really set the trap from the moment he arrived here with her and spotted Nagumo?
Or had he actually managed to bait him successfully? This was the class representative of Class 2-A, possibly even the top student in the entire second year, and Nakano had still managed to trick him.
"Are you really that surprised?"
"This is just an unexpected windfall," Nakano said. "He wasn't my real target."
"After all, Nagumo-senpai is taking resources from the entire second year. At most, this recording could be exchanged for 500,000 to a million points, or get him a few class evaluation points deducted."
"I want more points," Nakano Yuu said.
"Then..."
Horikita began thinking it through. "Your idea is..."
Nakano just smiled.
He was already a handsome guy, and when he smiled like that, he had a way of making people feel at ease.
But the only person here was Horikita Suzune. Until she understood what romance and having a crush felt like, she wouldn't be affected by that.
Even when he'd just put his hand on her shoulder, her heart had remained calm.
So Horikita showed no reaction.
Nakano had no intention of using his good looks to win over this block of wood, either. It wouldn't work. He continued explaining,
"The only bargaining chip we have right now is this exam's test paper. The students in Classes A and B don't really need it. They don't have to worry about failing, so selling it to Ryuuen in Class C is our best option."
"But even that would only bring in a little money," Nakano Yuu said.
He'd already gotten 800,000 points from the first-years. Was that still only a little money?
Horikita felt that she still had a serious misunderstanding about the value of points.
But if that counted as a little, then Nakano must have another target.
So she listened.
"My target is the second year."
"The second-years are taking the same kind of exam as us, with questions from old tests. Underclassmen can get the papers from upperclassmen, but upperclassmen aren't allowed to give information to underclassmen on their own."
"That's a kind of mutually beneficial arrangement the school tacitly allows."
"So for the second-years, the midterm written exam in the first term is basically a freebie."
"So you think they'll still study hard once they've gotten the test papers?" Nakano Yuu asked.
Would they study hard?
Take Class D, for example. Its students hadn't studied hard even before they got the papers.
And if they did get them, they'd probably spend the last three days cramming the answers before the exam.
"That makes this a bargaining chip," Nakano Yuu said. "If, with only one week left before the exam, the second-years' test papers get leaked and the whole school finds out about them, the school will have no choice but to make a new test. Otherwise, it'll lose face."
"And if that happens, the academic ability of the students in Classes 2-A and 2-B will still be enough to get them through. There might be one or two failures here and there, but for Classes 2-C and 2-D, it would be a catastrophe," Nakano Yuu said. "There'd probably be a lot of expulsions."
Ah.
So...
Nakano, were you actually planning to flip the table?
Horikita understood what he meant.
The second-year upperclassmen were confident about the exam. They'd already prepared for it, and all they had to do was study the test papers. But Nakano would flip the table. Once everyone knew about the test papers, the school wouldn't be able to go ahead with the same exam. The papers would become useless, and the students would have to rely on their own academic ability. Classes C and D really would be doomed.
They hadn't prepared properly at all. They hadn't studied.
"But Nagumo-senpai is in Class 2-A..." Horikita still seemed a little unsure.
She thought an arrangement like this wouldn't affect Nagumo.
"Right. Even if the school makes a new test, it won't have much effect on the academically strong Classes A and B. But Classes C and D will suffer. And don't forget, Miyabi Nagumo currently rules over the entire second year. He's also demanding points from every second-year student. If something this serious happens to Classes C and D under his rule, he'll be held responsible. And if a lot of students get expelled, how will he keep collecting points? The students who keep giving him money will be gone," Nakano Yuu said.
At last, Horikita understood.
He wasn't trying to flip the table. He wanted the points Nagumo had collected.
With that settled, they only needed to contact Nagumo one week before the exam.
For now, all they had to do was carry on as usual.
Over the next three days, Hirata finally began organizing the study sessions. He compared everyone's entrance exam scores.
Then he picked the twenty students with the lowest rankings for extra lessons.
Each top student was assigned four or five students.
As the class's top student, with scores above 95 in every subject, Nakano was sought out by Yukimura, whose scores were above 87 in every subject. Naturally, it was the attention of one top student toward another.
Yukimura had probably started seeing him as a rival.
Yukimura also took part in the plan to tutor the students who were struggling.
It was clear that Yukimura was only a little selfish, but he was still willing to help when asked.
Nakano's own group was simple enough. There were five students in all.
Two girls and three boys.
The girls were Sakura Airi and Matsushita Chiaki. The boys were Sudo, Kanji Ike, and Sotomura Hideo.
Nakano had even specifically messaged Hirata to make sure Sudo was assigned to his group.
Nakano had no objections to the arrangement.
He knew it was still only the first week since the exam had been announced. Even though their grades were poor, Sudo and Ike wouldn't show up. And Sotomura, who usually hung out with Ike, wouldn't feel comfortable staying behind to study, either.
So Nakano's real goal was probably just to help the poor girl Sakura.
As for Matsushita Chiaki, there was even less to worry about.
Matsushita's grades were around 50, which made her look average.
But there was no need to worry about her grades. She was a bit of a hidden talent in Class D. She'd concealed her ability during the interview, so she'd been placed in Class D, even though her overall ability should have been on par with a student in Class A or B.
So there was no need to worry about tutoring her. He could just leave her to her own devices.
She was probably keeping her grades around average so she'd fit in with the friends she'd made: Karuizawa, Shinohara Satsuki, and Sato Maya.
After all, the three of them were on the list of students who needed to study and attend extra lessons, and they'd been assigned to Horikita's group.
Still...
"By comparison, the shogunate system was more rigorous..."
"What were its defining characteristics?"
"We covered this ten minutes ago. Karuizawa Kei, why don't you answer?"
They were in history class, and the female teacher's voice came from behind him.
A mature-looking female teacher was standing behind his seat.
This wasn't the first time, either. It had happened three times already today. During her lessons, Chabashira had abandoned the podium she usually liked and started walking between the students' desks. The students felt pressured with the teacher so close by.
Sakura, the classmate sitting next to Nakano's desk partner, was already trembling with nerves.
Chabashira had also changed since the first month. She was actually calling on students in class now, so there weren't many students still playing on their phones or reading novels during lessons like they had last month.
When the bell rang, Chabashira announced that class was over.
But she didn't leave right away. She shifted her textbook to her right hand, then suddenly placed her left hand on Nakano's right shoulder. Her fingers tapped lightly three times in quick succession.
Then she strode out of the classroom in her high heels.
"..."
Nakano Yuu didn't move.
Because...
Chabashira-sensei was up to something.
Chabashira-sensei had already left the classroom in her high heels. Only then did the students around them breathe a sigh of relief.
Some of them started talking.
"Chabashira-sensei's been taking things way too seriously these past few days."
"When she called on Karuizawa just now, it scared me half to death. I'm sitting right after her on the attendance list. If I'd been called on, I'd have been done for. I'd been spacing out the whole time."
"Right, right. I was so nervous just now, too."
"Last month was the Behavioral Norms Exam, or whatever it was called, so the teachers couldn't give us hints and didn't put much effort into teaching. But now that the exam is over, of course they're back to teaching as usual."
"It's not just Chabashira-sensei. The math teacher's changed, too. She actually assigned homework. I worked on it until ten last night! It was so hard."
No, wait.
It was perfectly normal for teachers to give students homework. Or rather, what kind of school was this if there was no homework?
And did they even need to do last night's homework?
There was no Behavioral Norms Exam, so they could just turn in blank assignments.
Nakano-kun, however, stayed quietly in his seat.
He wasn't surprised by Chabashira-sensei's behavior over the past few days.
Whether it was her deliberately going to the back of the classroom to read from the textbook, or calling on students, or even touching his shoulder as she'd just done on her way out...
It all meant one thing: Chabashira-sensei hadn't given up on the class.
The fact that she'd made the students retake the entrance exam proved that Chabashira had her eye on him.
Her goal was probably to get him to help the class rise to the top, just like the protagonist in the original story.
But this class was too much. Nakano didn't want to.
Besides...
There was nothing in it for him, either.
Before you continue