Sudo Facing Expulsion

"Nagumo, I still don't quite understand. Are you currying favor with that Odd Jobs Agency just to give Senior Horikita some face?"

Hayato Kojima didn't really get it. He felt like a fly being toyed with by a junior for several rounds, and he couldn't grasp the ultimate purpose behind doing so.

"Heh, let's just say that's the case. But there is one thing that Odd Jobs Agency said that wasn't wrong: even if we sold the midterm answers to others, we'd only end up with a pittance of points in our hands. Besides, if some senior from the third year decided to sell them first, we wouldn't even be able to earn that much."

"Giving that side a little sweetness can be considered me giving face to Senior Horikita. Regardless of whether that Odd Jobs Agency is a smokescreen pushed out by him or not, establishing a connection is never a bad thing."

Hayato Kojima nodded thoughtfully. In just one more year, the era belonging to their second-year class would arrive. By then, some Odd Jobs Agency... would be an existence not even worth mentioning.

"Then... about that junior girl from before, you..."

"Hmm? Ah! You mean her? Heh, I just don't like Senior Horikita's rigid mindset. He is a very capable person, but just like the old stubborn fools in the school administration, he simply doesn't understand that only the youth can create a better future for this school. And I, as it happens, am willing to do just that."

Meanwhile, in Class D of the first year.

"Teacher, didn't you say you were going to announce the exam results today? May I ask when that will be?"

A cold smirk played on the lips of Sae Chabashira:

"There's no need for you to be so impatient, is there? An exam of that level should have been a piece of cake for you all, right?"

"But..."

Chabashira waved her hand, signaling that she wasn't finished:

"Fine, I'll announce them now. After all, if I wait until after school, I'm afraid we might miss the deadline for many of the procedures."

Shinjo glanced calmly at the visibly nervous Sudo. If he wasn't mistaken, there must have been an accident.

With that, Chabashira used magnets to fix the white paper in her hand to the blackboard just like last time, a rare smile appearing on her face:

"I really am impressed by you all. There are over twenty people who scored full marks in Math, Japanese, and Sociology! And the other subjects were clearly done quite well, too."

The data was very intuitive; the rows of one-hundred-point scores made the students cheer and jump for joy.

However, that wasn't the point. The key was that in the last row, Sudo had scored around 60 in four of his five subjects, but his English score was 39.

"Yes!"

Sudo immediately stood up and shouted. 39 points was far higher than the 14 he got last time, but clearly, he hadn't calculated the minimum passing threshold.

Sae Chabashira picked up the red pen at her side and drew a red line through Sudo's name.

"What a pity, Sudo. You were just that little bit short."

In truth, she was quite puzzled herself. Why would someone score so low when they had received the answers a full week in advance?

Was it because he felt confident, and therefore, even after getting the actual test questions early, he still procrastinated until the day before the exam to start reviewing?

"Huh?! Wait! What is going on?!"

"Did you forget? I reminded you all this time that anyone scoring below half of the average would also be considered failing. The average for this exam was 79.6, so the passing threshold is 79.6 divided by 2, which is 39.8."

"In other words, you were 0.8 points below the threshold. You were just that little bit short..."

Sudo looked as if he had eaten something foul. His features twitched, beads of cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and his body trembled as he struggled to believe his own ears.

"Which means, you are expelled, Sudo!"

"Wait! Teacher!"

Hirata, sitting to the side, couldn't sit still any longer. He hurriedly stood up and called out to Teacher Chabashira.

"Hirata. Is there something you wish to say?"

"I! What I want to say is that Sudo has already worked so hard, and everyone can see that he really wants to stay here. So, could you... please give him another chance?!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Sae Chabashira's expression suddenly changed, and she slammed her hand down on the podium in front of her:

"These are the school rules! Since they are school rules, they cannot be defied! What do you think Sudo is? Do you think the school will make a special exception for him just because he worked hard?! I'm telling you, in this school, there are plenty of people who work harder than you! But reality never gives them a chance to regret!"

"But..."

"Besides... Sudo, did you really work that hard? If that were true, why did you still fail even after getting the answers a week in advance?!"

Now even Hirata didn't know what else to say. This time, he was completely in the wrong, but he still couldn't accept the expulsion of a classmate! Even knowing he was being unreasonable, he couldn't accept it!

"Liar... I... am I being expelled?"

Sudo was stunned; the cruel reality had finally shattered him completely.

"Although the time is short, you still have time to say goodbye to your friends. Please submit your withdrawal application after school. It will require a guardian's presence, and I will make the arrangements."

Sae Chabashira pronounced Sudo's fate as if it were nothing.

"Wait a moment!"

"What do you want now, Hirata?"

"I, can I take a look at Sudo's exam paper?"

This was the best solution he could think of, praying that a miracle might happen.

"It won't do you any good to look at it; I guarantee there are no grading errors. However, it doesn't matter. Feel free to look if you want."

To make Hirata give up, Chabashira tossed the only test paper she had on hand toward him, as if she had been mentally prepared for this moment all along.

After taking the paper, he carefully examined every single question, confirming time and again that there were truly no points of contention or grading errors to be found, before collapsing powerlessly into his chair.

"It seems you understand now. The class meeting is adjourned."

In reality, only a small number of people felt sad about Sudo's impending expulsion, such as the idiot duo, for whom Sudo was one of their few friends.

Or Hirata, who genuinely viewed everyone as his companions.

But the majority of the class actually wished for Sudo to be expelled as soon as possible.

Just imagine: someone with a rude personality who constantly caused trouble for the class, wasn't very bright, and frequently hung around with the most bottom-tier people—how could such a person not be disliked by others?

Chabashira watched the students below the podium with cold eyes, but the one she was truly concerned about was Shinjo, who had shown no change in expression from the very beginning and had no intention of saying anything.

[You put in the effort of an average student, which is to say, at a critical juncture like this, you have no intention of saving the world? If it were Yamauchi facing expulsion this time, I would do it without hesitation, but Sudo...]

"Shinjo."