Monthly Quiz

The month was quickly drawing to a close. Early that morning, Sae Chabashira walked up to the podium with a stack of exam papers.

The students in class were still doing as they pleased, paying no mind to their teacher. That only made her angrier.

Every year was the same... You just couldn't make anything of these good-for-nothings.

But she had clearly started cursing them too soon. This year's Class D was, in fact, even more hopeless than she'd imagined. A bigger pile of mud. Even less capable of being shaped.

Ike even whistled at her, his tone full of flippancy:

"Yo, little Miss Sasuke. Judging by your face, are you on your period?"

The classroom fell into a deathly silence. No one had expected this guy to have the gall to harass their homeroom teacher.

Clearly, Sae Chabashira hadn't expected it either.

But years of cultivating her composure had taught her to keep a straight face. In a few days, these idiots would learn exactly what kind of hell they were in and look back with regret and complaints.

And by then, she wouldn't have to put up with them anymore. She could openly make fun of them instead.

"This period will be a pop quiz. Keep your mouths shut. Cheating of any kind is strictly forbidden during the exam. If you're caught, the school will punish you severely!"

"Wait, Teacher! You never said anything about a quiz!"

Sae Chabashira snorted in annoyance.

"What, did you never take tests at school before? Or have you forgotten you're students now that you've come here?!"

"Uh, well..."

Hirata had wanted to say something more, but he knew he didn't have much of a case. He could only sit down obediently and wait for the test to begin. Besides, his grades were usually quite good.

Katsuya Shinjo stared at the test paper in his hands, caught in a storm of thought. He was debating what score would be most appropriate this time.

The questions weren't very difficult. If he wanted to, he could get at least around 90 points, but that wouldn't be worth it.

After all, a high score would raise the class average, which would be like making him carry the students who weren't good at studying on his back.

It sounded a little strange, but as far as Shinjo was concerned, if someone in the class had to be dragged along by someone else, why couldn't he be the one being dragged?

He'd get a low score that couldn't be criticized. That way, if there were any exams or competitions, no one would set their sights on him.

And so, it was decided. This time, he'd get around 60 points.

He began answering the questions in a smooth, unhurried manner. Once he'd earned about the right number of points, he tossed his pen aside, propped his chin on his hand, and quietly waited to turn in his paper.

Naturally, this caught Sae Chabashira's attention. She'd been keeping an eye on the students during class, and some of them—Hirata, Horikita, Kushida, Shinjo, and a student named Yukimura—had seemed to be doing quite well.

At the very least, she could tell from their eyes that they understood what she was teaching.

She'd already used special means to check every student's grades and background. Shinjo's test scores were utterly ordinary, but it was obvious that he was deliberately refusing to answer now, rather than being unable to.

[Did he discover something...? No, if that were the case, deliberately turning in a blank paper would be the safest thing to do. So why is he doing this?]

Katsuya Shinjo had noticed the person at the podium watching him, of course, but he didn't think much of it. His behavior was a little strange, after all.

Horikita Suzune, sitting nearby, shot him a disdainful glance. She'd thought Shinjo was a master who kept a low profile, but... had she been overthinking it?

He was just an idiot with poor academic skills who'd given up!

In the remaining subjects, Shinjo did exactly the same thing as he had on the first test. As soon as he had enough points for around 60—or a little more—he stopped writing.

If he was going to pretend to be an ordinary person, he had to make it convincing!

So he put a little more effort into English, deliberately keeping his score around 75, while bringing his social studies score down to around 50.

Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, he wouldn't be able to say there was anything wrong with me!

The bell rang, announcing the end of the final exam.

As Sae Chabashira collected the papers, she "accidentally" dropped something on his desk, then left as if nothing had happened.

[Meet me on the rooftop.]

To be honest, Katsuya Shinjo really wanted to ignore her invitation. He had a vague feeling this wasn't going to be anything good.

But she was his homeroom teacher, and he had to see her every day. He could avoid her today, but not forever.

So he deliberately waited a while, until most of the students had left the classroom, then slung his backpack over his shoulder and went to the rooftop alone.

Sae Chabashira was still wearing her black-stockinged office outfit, a long, thin cigarette dangling from her lips. Seeming to sense someone approaching, she slowly blew out a smoke ring.

"Tell me. Why did you hold back on the test today?"

"I thought the teachers at this school didn't care about their students' attitudes toward studying."

Katsuya Shinjo didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he made a sarcastic remark about the school's educational environment.

"I'm asking you a question."

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't figure it out. I didn't know how to answer, or what to write. Are you satisfied with that answer?"

Sae Chabashira gave a cold laugh. She was clearly dissatisfied, but there wasn't much she could do about it. One thing was certain, though: the student standing before her knew something.

And precisely because of that, Katsuya Shinjo—a student she'd always overlooked—had finally caught her attention.

"Lying is a bad habit. Every teacher wants their students to get good grades."

"Oh? Is that so? Well, I'm sorry, Teacher Chabashira. Lying may be a bad habit, but I don't think saying one thing while hiding another is any better."

A glint flashed in Sae Chabashira's eyes, but she replied without betraying her thoughts. "I don't understand what you mean."

Playing dumb... You may be a teacher, but I'm an expert at this.

"Ah, wasn't it because you gave Horikita and the others extra lessons? I see. Their talent must be so far beyond ours that they did pretty well on the test. Sorry for misunderstanding you, Teacher."

The two of them stared at each other for three minutes. In the end, Sae Chabashira was the one to back down. She sighed and said:

"Fine, you win. Tell me, what have you found out?"

"Found out what? Huh? Did you really give someone extra lessons? That would be a little unprofessional of you~"