Everyone Passes

The second day of May.

Chabashira Sae entered the classroom as usual.

The only difference was that a faint smile had unexpectedly appeared on her eternally icy face.

She swept her slightly approving gaze across the class, then turned and wrote several figures on the blackboard.

"You really managed to pull it off."

Her tone was unusually calm, as though she were talking to herself.

"In this exam, Class D's first-years... every single student passed!"

"Woooah—!!"

Cheers instantly exploded throughout the classroom, wiping away all the negative emotions from before.

Sudo, Ike Kanji, and the others were so excited they practically danced with joy.

This was incredible!

They would not be expelled!

Suzuki Tsubame watched their excited reactions.

Sigh... poor Yamauchi, falling at the very last moment before dawn.

Don't worry, Yamauchi. We'll carry your efforts with us as we climb higher!

Chabashira raised a hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"Also, your results surpassed Class A this time, placing you first in the entire grade."

Chabashira pointed at the figures on the blackboard.

Class A: 1010

Class B: 650

Class C: 430

Class D: 100

"The school has also awarded an additional 100 Class Points. This is your class's point total for the month."

"This means that next month, you'll receive 10,000 points."

Bzzzt—!

The dead silence lasted only an instant.

Then... cheers even fiercer than before erupted!

"Woo! Woo! Woo!!!"

"This is awesome! I'm getting a huge pork trotter rice bowl!"

"Finally, I don't have to eat grass anymore! Sob sob sob..."

"I want ramen! With ten extra servings of char siu!"

The dawn of hope had finally shone into this class that had long been trapped in darkness.

Everyone turned grateful gazes toward the class's greatest contributor.

"Little Kikyo, you're practically my goddess!"

"I'll never be able to repay Kushida's kindness!"

Faced with everyone's praise, Kushida wore her usual perfect smile and handled their flattery with ease.

Yet for some reason, she found everyone's voices strangely noisy.

Almost instinctively, she looked toward the person in the corner.

Suzuki Tsubame looked as composed as ever. Like everyone else, he had fixed his gaze on Kushida.

Their eyes met...

[Ding! Long-Term Task: Kind Mask. Completion: 20%. Reward: Opposite Sex Affinity. When interacting with the opposite sex, they will subconsciously trust you. (Note: This is not unconditional trust. Do not take the path of crime.)]

Huh?

Suzuki Tsubame tilted his head in confusion. How had the task been completed just by taking one look?

Kushida's pretty face flushed hot, and she hurriedly looked away.

All that remained for Suzuki Tsubame was her retreating back. Only the redness at the tips of her ears still spoke of the turmoil in the girl's heart.

Class A.

Katsuragi Kohei stared at the figures on the blackboard, his brows tightly furrowed.

His parents were both dead, and he still had a younger sister to care for.

He was not like Sakayanagi. He had no way out and had to graduate from Class A!

Class C's indiscriminate attacks had left only Class D, whose Class Points were already zero, able to stay out of it.

The other two classes both found themselves in a highly passive position.

To deal with Class C's targeting,

Katsuragi Kohei sought out Sakayanagi, hoping to receive her help.

"Sakayanagi, you can see it too, can't you?"

Katsuragi's tone was heavy.

"Class C is highly ambitious, and someone capable acted in Class D's favor during this exam. The class needs your strength!"

Sakayanagi sat in her chair, idly playing with an exquisite silver cane.

She had long since stopped needing it, but... looking at it occasionally still reminded her of where she had come from.

She raised her head, revealing a pair of pale violet eyes.

"Katsuragi, if you're finding it beyond your ability..."

The girl gave a soft laugh.

"You can leave the class to me... if you like."

Katsuragi's face turned livid.

Hand the class over to that spoiled second-generation heir?

What a joke. In her eyes, the class was probably nothing more than a toy.

He had come with hope and left with disappointment. Katsuragi could only look elsewhere for a solution.

Unlike the frustrated Katsuragi,

she was now very curious about how Class D had surpassed Class A in this exam.

Turning to Kamuro, Sakayanagi asked calmly,

"How did the matter I asked you to investigate go?"

Kamuro looked impatient.

Couldn't she just find someone and ask? They told everyone everything anyway.

"Two days before Class D's exam, someone suddenly discovered that the questions on previous years' midterm papers had never changed."

"So she found an upperclassman, spent points to buy last year's midterm paper, distributed it to everyone, and they passed easily."

Kamuro made it sound simple, but Sakayanagi found it baffling.

She probably could not have imagined even in her dreams that Class D's success had all come from Chabashira's outrageous maneuver.

"Oh, right. That person seemed to be named Kushida Kikyo."

Kamuro suddenly remembered.

"Kushida Kikyo?"

Sakayanagi fell silent. Her memory was far better than Kamuro's.

Wasn't she Class D's social butterfly? It seemed that was merely a smokescreen.

"Kamuro, keep watching Suzuki. I have a feeling that Class D's performance in this exam had something to do with him."

"Yes, yes, I got it."

Kamuro agreed readily. Suzuki Tsubame's daily routine was extremely monotonous.

Other than going to class, he stayed holed up in his dorm room. He rarely even went to the mall.

That directly reduced her workload by ninety percent.

Meanwhile...

The faculty office.

"Phew~"

"Suzuki Tsubame, you did well this time."

Chabashira crossed her legs and casually blew out a ring of smoke. Her behavior did not suit her profession at all.

Suzuki Tsubame frowned at the sight. Making students breathe her secondhand smoke—she really had some nerve.

"It was just mutual help."

Suzuki Tsubame spoke calmly, with no intention of claiming credit.

A few days earlier, Chabashira had provided Suzuki Tsubame with a private account free of charge.

Suzuki Tsubame's repayment was naturally this first-place result in the grade.

"Chabashira-sensei, I hope you understand... respect goes both ways."

He raised a hand and fanned away the smoke. Suzuki Tsubame hated the smell of cigarettes.

"Oh?"

Chabashira raised an eyebrow and stubbed out the cigarette in her hand.

"Have I not respected you enough?"

There was a trace of hostility in her voice.

"During class, no matter what you did, I never interfered. When you wanted a private account, I even provided one for free."

"And you're still dissatisfied with me?"

Chabashira abruptly stood up.

Since they were currently in the break room, and since the break room had been converted from an office partition, it was somewhat cramped.

That meant the moment Chabashira stood, the two of them were practically pressed together.

The scent of a mature woman immediately washed over him.

Suzuki Tsubame felt a little lightheaded, mainly because the fluorescent lights made him dizzy.

"Chabashira-sensei, there's no need to get so worked up, is there?"

Suzuki Tsubame looked somewhat awkward. He noticed that Little Suzuki Tsubame seemed to be showing signs of waking up as well.

Mainly because... Chabashira was exactly his type.

Horikita was still somewhat immature, and her allure was nowhere near Chabashira's.