D-Class in Chaos

"You were late or absent a total of seventy-two times. You chatted privately during class or used your phones 289 times. You managed all that in just one month, even though you'd been given the rules more than half a month in advance."

"But you were lucky." Chabashira Sae smiled, though there was no warmth in it.

"If Horikita hadn't told you the correct rules ahead of time, and you hadn't shown some restraint during the latter half of the month..."

"Perhaps you really would have become the first D Class in history to lose all its Class Points in the very first month."

"You're so lucky, you defective products."

As Chabashira spoke, she deliberately began clapping, hard enough for the entire class to hear.

"But then again, it's no surprise. That's how the classes were divided in the first place."

"D Class exists for the school to gather most of its defective products."

"The only thing you can be proud of is probably your luck, right?" Chabashira glanced at the grade sheet in her hand, then at the students below. Her high heels clicked against the floor as she walked.

"If we treated the last quiz as a formal exam, then seven of you..."

"Will be expelled!" Chie Hoshinomiya said seriously. "The school rules say that if you fail even one subject in the midterms or finals, you'll be expelled."

"But our class... Hehe, everyone's grades are great! As long as you do your best, there shouldn't be any problems." Chie Hoshinomiya smiled.

"Still, based on your midterm results, you can earn up to 100 Class Points, so give it your all."

"Let's try to surpass Class A!"

After Chie Hoshinomiya finished speaking, she waved and encouraged everyone before leaving with her lesson plans.

What was going on with Hoshinomiya-sensei? Why had she been smiling so much today? It was as if the smile had been welded onto her face.

As An Xiao wondered about this, Soh Shibata reached around from behind and grabbed An Xiao's shoulders, shaking him frantically.

"What do I do, what do I do, An Xiao? I only barely passed math on the last quiz. What am I going to do this time?"

"You... let... go!" An Xiao couldn't take the shaking anymore. He smacked the hand on his shoulder and said irritably, "This is what happens when you never study and spend all your free time playing soccer."

Shibata gave an awkward laugh. "Soccer's more fun, after all. And the science courses at this school are really difficult. It's not like I'm as good at math as you are."

"On the last math quiz, I only wrote down answers for the final three questions before I handed it in."

Hearing Shibata say that, An Xiao didn't know what to say.

Maybe the questions were a little... probably... possibly... difficult?

An Xiao, who had studied in China and competed in academic contests from a young age, had already finished learning high school math. He wasn't entirely sure.

Although An Xiao thought the math was manageable, he found Japanese really difficult.

After all, he'd taught himself Japanese and had never even taken a proficiency test.

But judging by the people who had gone over to complain to Ichinose about the exam's difficulty earlier...

The questions might have been a little difficult.

"An Xiao, you have to save me!" Shibata said as he threw his arms around him.

"Let go, let go! Don't get so close!" An Xiao pushed at him several times, only to discover, to his dismay, that they weren't even close in strength. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't get Shibata off him.

Watching the two of them fool around, a smile appeared at the corner of Honami Ichinose's mouth. "How about we hold a study session?"

"Right!" Shibata exclaimed, suddenly realizing it. He clapped his hands together. "We can have a study session!"

He turned to look at An Xiao, his eyes shining like those of a big Shiba Inu.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it, okay? Just stop looking at me like that, will you? I'm begging you." An Xiao felt a chill under that stare, and even got goosebumps, so he quickly gave in.

"Then I'll divide everyone into groups. First, I'll ask the others if they want to join, then I'll assign everyone to a group," Ichinose said, bringing her hands together. "The groups might not work as well if they're too big."

"Please, make sure An Xiao and I are in the same group. We're inseparable!"

"Knock it off! Talk properly!"

"Hehe, you two are really close."

Back in D Class, Chabashira Sae had said much the same thing as Chie Hoshinomiya before leaving. She didn't care in the slightest what happened to the students.

"This is pretty bad, isn't it, Horikita?" Kiyotaka Ayanokoji suddenly said from the seat beside Horikita Suzune.

"Mm. They brought it on themselves."

"By the way, are you pretty close with An Xiao from Class B? During swimming class, you..."

"Why are you asking?" Horikita Suzune said coldly, holding up a pair of compasses.

"Well, everyone around us is talking about something. It'd be a little strange if I just sat here without doing anything." Kiyotaka Ayanokoji showed no expression. He simply raised both hands in surrender, then continued, "Besides, I thought he was pretty interesting when I met him last time, so I wondered if I could make friends with him or something."

"Ask him yourself." After saying that, Horikita Suzune lowered her compasses and ignored Kiyotaka, getting her books ready for the next lesson.

"Okay." Kiyotaka quietly turned back around, but something seemed to cross his mind, and a rare flicker of emotion passed through his usually placid eyes.