In the girls' dormitory, Horikita and Ichinose sneezed at the same time, both feeling as if they'd somehow been caught in the crossfire.
They both wore resentful expressions.
Horikita was worried that her midterm results would affect her chances of moving up a class and become an obstacle to following in her brother's footsteps.
Ichinose, meanwhile, was troubled by her inability to join the Student Council and earn recognition. On top of that, she had a close friend who wanted to turn her gay.
Both of them had bright futures ahead.
As for our boy Ayanokoji, he didn't have a care in the world.
After seeing Sakura Airi home, he headed alone to a little bar. He wanted to experience Ryuen's feeling of being surrounded by women, too!
Tonight, he wanted to let loose!
He still had 100,000 points in hand. What kind of service couldn't he afford?
Heh heh heh.
Of course, all he really wanted was someone to drink with, and a chance to reminisce about his first love. He was a scumbag on the outside, but sentimental on the inside.
When he arrived at a private room, he was just about to order two plates of peanuts when he heard a hushed conversation from next door.
"Hey, Katsuragi. I heard you've disliked Sakayanagi for a long time. So, what do you say? Want to work with me?"
"Don't use such childish language, Ryuen."
"Sakayanagi and I simply have different ideas. We're not at the point of being irreconcilable."
?
A split within the class? Now that was juicy.
Ayanokoji's eyebrow twitched, and he grew a little interested.
"Heh, you really are naive."
"Believe me, Katsuragi. Before long, you'll realize that Sakayanagi will never tolerate you, and you'll never be able to beat her!"
Ryuen spoke with a smile, his eyes seeming to see right through everything.
"..."
"At the very least, I won't do anything to split the class right now. Give it up."
The bald man said firmly. He stood up and started to leave the private room.
"Hey, hey, don't rush off."
"Believe me, Katsuragi. Before long, you'll come to me of your own accord. The two of us are bound to work together. I'm certainly looking forward to it~"
At Ryuen's words, the bald man paused for a moment but didn't reply. Then he quietly left.
After watching his guest leave, Ryuen picked up the empty wineglass on the table and examined it with amusement for a couple of seconds. Then he said to himself, "How interesting. He leaves himself plenty of room to maneuver with every sentence~"
"'Not right now' doesn't mean 'never,' does it, Katsuragi?" Ryuen said with a sneer.
In the private room next door, a Class D student who had eavesdropped on the whole conversation wore a calm expression.
His eyes, which had glimmered faintly with excitement at the thrill of sneaking a listen, had now gone dull.
What a drag!
That was Ayanokoji's verdict.
The conversation had been utterly meaningless, nothing but word games. Neither of them would speak plainly. They both clearly wanted to work together, yet they kept pretending otherwise.
They'd maintained their dignity, sure, but they'd wasted fifteen minutes of Ayanokoji's life.
If he could choose again, he'd rather sing a couple of songs than eavesdrop.
At least the peanuts went well with his drink.
"Waiter, bring me some more peanuts!"
He cheerfully ordered two more plates.
The next day, almost every class had entered exam-prep mode.
Or, more accurately, last-minute cramming mode.
There were only today and tomorrow left before the midterm exams that would determine whether they stayed or were expelled.
Ayanokoji sat in his usual seat, looking completely unconcerned.
After Chabashira, their homeroom teacher, finished class meeting, he glanced at Kushida Kikyo, who was sitting in front of him.
But she didn't notice.
Ayanokoji sighed, pinched off a tiny piece of eraser, and tossed it at her.
The eraser crumb gained momentum and traced a graceful arc through the air, before landing perfectly on Kushida's...
neighbor, Wang Meiyu's head.
Apparently, Ayanokoji wasn't much of a sharpshooter.
But he'd thrown it with plenty of force!
"Ah!" Wang Meiyu cried out after a brief one-second delay.
Everyone immediately turned to look at her with concern, giving Ayanokoji the perfect chance to catch Kushida's eye.
What could he say? Everything had gone according to plan.
"Midterm Exam Papers Presented to Everyone"
"Received"
After a brief exchange of glances, Kushida understood what Ayanokoji meant.
Ayanokoji was pleased.
What he didn't know was that Kushida hadn't understood his meaning at all. Or rather, to her, Ayanokoji had worn the same expression from beginning to end. She'd figured out what to do thanks to her own quick thinking and read of the situation.
In short, it was no different from guessing.
A few minutes later, she walked up to the podium with a stack of exam papers in her hands.
No one knew what she was planning to do, and they all looked at her curiously.
Some of the boys even worried that Kushida might repeat Hirata Yosuke's opening-week stunt and announce in front of the whole class that she was in a relationship.
If that happened, they'd all be heartbroken.
Before long, Kushida straightened the papers in her hands and addressed the class. "Everyone, listen up. These are the midterm exam papers from previous years and the earlier quizzes. After carefully comparing them, I found that the questions on the quizzes from the last two years are exactly the same."
"And based on information I got from some of the upperclassmen, the midterm exam questions should be the same as last year's, too. So as long as we work through these papers properly over the next two days, there's a good chance everyone will pass the midterms!"
Kushida put it tactfully. In plain terms, she was telling them to memorize the answers.
She didn't spell it out, but everyone understood.
The class erupted, its earlier quiet and tension swept away.
"Seriously? So we can just memorize the answers?"
"Huh?! It's really that easy?"
"Wouldn't that count as cheating? Or is this part of the rules..."
"Man, if only we'd gotten these sooner. I wouldn't have had to struggle with them for so long."
"Kushida-chan is an angel!"
Ayanokoji watched everyone indifferently, as if taking in all the different sides of human nature.
Ike, Sudo, Yamauchi, and Professor were the sort who couldn't control themselves. The moment they found a shortcut, they'd let their guard down and bet everything on one option.
Karuizawa, Sakura, Sato, and Miyake, on the other hand, would give some thought to whether the information was true and consider whether they should rely on these papers.
As for the remaining honor students—Yukimura, Matsushita, Wang Meiyu, and Hirata—whether they had the papers or not made little difference.
Horikita and Koenji went without saying. They could pretty much choose how many points they wanted to get.
As for Ayanokoji, he'd decide based on the situation.
Whether he lay low or made a move depended on both his opponent's strength and his own mood.
After Kushida shared the information, everyone cheerfully discussed how to memorize the answers on the papers more efficiently.
Horikita and Koenji were the only ones who refused to take a copy. Even Ayanokoji couldn't help thinking to himself:
You two really can't even be bothered to pretend.
He looked indifferently at the exam paper in his hands, unaware that Horikita had turned a doubtful gaze on him at some point.
Before you continue