The Paper Shuffle Exam officially began on Monday, December 4.
Horikita Suzune of Class D was very patient. She waited until the deadline for submitting the test questions—5 p.m. on November 1—before bringing the questions she had prepared to the teachers' office.
"Before that, let me ask you something. You haven't accepted any other questions, have you, Chabashira-sensei?" Horikita Suzune felt vaguely uneasy, though she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong.
"What are you worried about? Are you suspicious of your classmates?" Chabashira took the test papers from Horikita Suzune. Her expression was as cold as ever, but her fingers curled slightly, betraying the unease she felt. Every so often, her eyes flicked toward the student counseling room at the back of the office.
"I haven't accepted any other questions. You can rest assured. As a teacher, I wouldn't lie about something like this." Chabashira closed her eyes for a moment, as if steeling herself to make some kind of decision.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid." Horikita Suzune breathed a sigh of relief. She was confident in the questions she had prepared. Class B wasn't very strong academically, so she doubted they'd get a good score.
She wasn't exactly satisfied that Class A had provided only 170 questions, but at least this would ensure that no one in her class got expelled because of this exam.
As long as they could beat Class B, the final outcome would simply be no change in their class points...
As she watched Horikita Suzune leave, Chabashira's expression held a trace of complexity and pity.
"Are you feeling sorry for her, Chabashira-sensei? Or do you regret it?" After hearing that Horikita Suzune had left, Sawahara went straight to Chabashira's desk. He looked over the questions and answers Horikita Suzune had submitted and