Yamauchi Haruki Takes Action

Yamauchi Haruki had been hiding for two full days to avoid being cornered by Horikita, Ayanokoji, Hirata, and Kikyo.

At this moment, he was observing his surroundings from beside a vending machine.

After confirming that no one was around, Yamauchi started cursing again.

Class honor? Rising to Class A? Working hard together?

Those people had imposed such rhetoric on him all on their own.

Why on earth should he have to work so hard?

This school didn't charge tuition, provided tens of thousands of points every month, and was full of beautiful girls; who cared about what happened after graduation?

Whatever happens after graduation, happens.

Why work so hard right now?

Do they really think that just because you reach Class A, you're suddenly superior to everyone else?

It's laughable.

Yamauchi just didn't want to get expelled.

But he would absolutely never accept having to study painfully every single day.

The more he reminisced, the more he recalled the scene during the midterm exams, and the more painful he felt.

All day long, it was just memorizing books, attending class, memorizing books, attending class.

Even after classes ended, there were still more classes.

Who could possibly live like this?

Isn't a test something you can just pass by reviewing notes for a few days beforehand?

If it weren't for you guys being so competitive and driving the average score up, would I, Kanji, and Sudo need to work so hard?

Wouldn't it be better if everyone just scored poorly?

Wouldn't it be better to just keep the average score low?

Why does everyone have to get perfect scores?

Huh?

Can someone tell me why?

It was clearly just a matter of memorizing the answers to pass the test.

There were clearly people who scored even worse than me.

Why did they have to single me out?

Why?

Watching Hirata knock on his room door once again.

Having prepared well in advance, Yamauchi quickly bolted from the other person's blind spot toward the stairs.

And that damn Hirata, too.

He'd been following me since the first month.

Everything is aimed at me.

To avoid Hirata's pursuit, Yamauchi chose not to take the elevator and opted for the stairs instead.

To prevent passersby from tipping them off.

Yamauchi even deliberately left messages with people he thought were easy to talk to, telling them not to betray him.

Until Ayanokoji appeared on his pre-planned escape route.

Yamauchi was stunned.

The facts proved that everyone was a traitor.

Yamauchi Haruki held malicious thoughts, cursing everyone who had leaked his whereabouts to those villains.

In the end, Yamauchi was forced to return to the study session organized by the Class D students.

Accompanying Yamauchi were Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji.

As for those responsible for tutoring them, it was the trio he was already sick of seeing: Hirata, Horikita, and Ayanokoji.

What about Kikyo?

Where was Kikyo?

A total of six people were gathered in Ayanokoji's room.

With no other choice, Yamauchi opened his workbook and began to go through the motions alongside his friends.

Just scribble something down, that should be fine, right?

Just get through this boring time as quickly as possible.

"This should be something you learned back in middle school, right?"

Horikita sighed and continued:

"Do you guys not have even the slightest desire to be promoted to Class A?"

Although Horikita had excellent grades and was quite beautiful, there was no issue with her serving as a tutor for the underachievers of Class D.

However, during the tutoring session, Horikita made no effort to hide her despair regarding the low academic aptitude of Yamauchi and the others.

Even a clay figurine has a temper.

Being told in front of everyone that his abilities were lacking.

Yamauchi refused to accept it and spoke directly to Horikita Suzune:

"We might not have grades as good as yours, Horikita, but we have other strengths, right? We aren't as worthless as you make us out to be, are we?"

In reality, Horikita Suzune had never said any such thing.

But Yamauchi claimed she had.

His two buddies believed him.

Sudo, standing nearby, nodded; he was exceptionally skilled at basketball and possessed outstanding athletic nerves.

Within all of Class D, Sudo was one of the top athletes.

Ike Kanji, standing beside them, didn't say anything.

Yamauchi didn't know if he was going to turn traitor, so he nudged him with his elbow.

Ike had clearly learned a thing or two about social tact, as he began to feign focus:

"Ah, I'm still thinking about how to solve this problem."

Yamauchi couldn't stand it anymore, stood up, and said:

"We want to have our own lives too. We don't want to just study, study, study every single day. Don't you guys have your own lives? You don't play games? You don't date? You don't watch TV? Is it really just reading, reading, reading every day?"

Horikita unceremoniously exposed Yamauchi.

After all, during class, Yamauchi always held a notebook and pretended to take notes, but in reality, he was either staring at the girls in the class or planning what to do after school.

Yamauchi felt no guilt about this whatsoever.

Yamauchi then proceeded to bring up how Horikita had been aggressive since they walked through the door, showing no respect for students who were slightly behind in academic ability.

Watching the fired-up Yamauchi, Sudo seemed moved by his words, so he slammed his notebook down and cursed:

"I'm done studying!"

Ike finally caught on as well, joining their trio, and said:

"Horikita, you might be an honor student with high academic ability, but from the very beginning, you've been unilaterally telling us where we're failing and where we're not good enough. How are we supposed to learn like this?"

Seeing the atmosphere in the room becoming increasingly tense, Hirata hurriedly stood up to play the peacemaker.

Horikita still wanted to say something, but the moment she opened her mouth, she reflexively felt a chill down her spine.

Horikita Suzune would not mistake this feeling.

It was precisely because Horikita Suzune valued her academic performance while never neglecting her physical conditioning and martial arts training.

Therefore, she possessed a keen intuition for sudden crises.

Horikita Suzune turned her head to look.

She only saw Ayanokoji sitting behind her with an expressionless face, flipping through a Japanese literature textbook.

Was it just her imagination?

Or rather, aren't you, Ayanokoji, a bit too relaxed?

Horikita was in no mood to continue scolding the three underachievers in front of her, so she turned the focus of the conversation toward the idle Ayanokoji:

"Don't you have anything to say?"

Ayanokoji turned the book around and pointed to the original sentence in the text, as well as the problem Horikita had just been explaining.

Horikita had explained one of the problems incorrectly just now.

Ayanokoji didn't even speak; he simply used gestures to convey this meaning.

It could be said that he gave Horikita Suzune plenty of face.

Horikita frowned.

"Then why didn't you bring it up earlier?"

The reason was simple.

Because the way Horikita was lecturing people just now was very intimidating.

But Horikita clearly did not understand what Ayanokoji was trying to express this time.

Realizing that she might have provided an incorrect explanation, Horikita took Ayanokoji's book and began to carefully check everything she had taught previously.

Although, as a person, Horikita lacked the necessary skills to interact with others.

However, as a student—or rather, as a tutor for the underachievers of Class D—Horikita was undoubtedly a responsible choice.

Considering that for this midterm exam, Horikita Suzune was also responsible for the intensive tutoring of top students like Wang Meiyu and Yukimura Teruhiko, it is no exaggeration to say that in terms of academic ability, her level was definitely above the average of Class A.

Should one say that she is worthy of being the younger sister of that Student Council president?

Seeing Ayanokoji still dazed, Horikita sighed, turned back, and upon realizing her own issue, she apologized to Sudo and the other two.

She had indeed been too impatient just now, to the point where she had even explained such a simple problem incorrectly.

Making a careless mistake on one question was one thing.

But to actually explain it wrong—Horikita could not tolerate herself making such a low-level error.

Therefore, she apologized.

Meanwhile, Sudo and Ike, who were sitting across from Horikita Suzune, were completely bewildered by the sudden apology.

This girl would apologize?

For real?

With their tempers unable to find an outlet, they stopped talking as they watched Horikita Suzune earnestly trying to correct her mistake.

If anything, it would seem like they were pushing their luck if they stayed angry at a time like this.

Sudo clicked his tongue, picked up his notebook from the floor, and sat back in his original seat.

Furthermore, what concerned Sudo the most was that when he had stood up just now, Hirata had matched his speed instantly.

It is no exaggeration to say that if he had really continued to lash out, Hirata would likely have stopped him in an instant.

It seemed that Hirata was not someone to be trifled with.

Although Sudo feared no one, seeing Hirata and Horikita both speaking with his best interests at heart, his heart—which had been scorned and blamed by others since middle school—softened.

If he left this school, he wouldn't even be able to realize his original dream of playing basketball.

After all, before entering this school, no other school had dared to accept him.

With poor grades and no background, he would never have the chance to step into the national basketball team of this country.

Hirata had said something like that during the first month.

And so, under Hirata's encouraging gaze, Sudo turned his head away and spoke to the air:

"No, I was wrong too."

Seeing that Sudo had apologized, Ike followed suit and said:

"Me too."

Everything seemed to have returned to how it was at the very beginning.

Watching all of this from the side, and recalling the whispers between Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji, Yamauchi felt even more unbalanced inside.

Why did they have to obediently study every day?

And yet you, Ayanokoji, are able to become a leader of the class?

To be on such good terms with cute girls like Kushida and Horikita?

Why?

Why?

What do I, Yamauchi, lack compared to you, Ayanokoji?

You're just a guy with a poker face.

Facing the study session that had resumed, Yamauchi deepened his dissatisfaction with Class D once again.

A few days later.

Yamauchi continued to live his school life being chased by others.

But unlike before.

Yamauchi encountered someone who could be described as both cute and mature.

The homeroom teacher of Class B, Hoshinomiya Chie.

"The student is named Yamauchi, right?"

Yamauchi stood at attention.

He recognized her.

She was the homeroom teacher of Class B and also the health teacher.

She was an older woman with a great figure and a cute face.

This woman was also the type that Yamauchi liked.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Teacher Hoshinomiya?!"

Hoshinomiya took the initiative to hook her arm into Yamauchi's, a gesture that instantly broke through the defenses of Yamauchi's heart.

The instincts of a boy were constantly stimulating Yamauchi.

"That's right, there is something I really, really need Yamauchi-kun's help with."

Yamauchi and Hoshinomiya chatted for a very, very long time afterward.

To put it simply.

Class C would soon surpass Class B.

As the teacher of Class B, Hoshinomiya wanted to do her part for her class.

As it happened, she had quite a bit of secret information about the students in Class C on hand.

If Yamauchi could help her spread this information, then Class C would eventually conduct a carpet search of the other classes, revealing their true colors as a class of thugs.

If Class C took action, they would inevitably end up having class points deducted, and there might even be students expelled.

When that time came, not only would Class D be able to rise to Class C, but Class B would also be able to widen the gap between them and Class C.

Wasn't this a win-win strategy for both Class B and Class D?

Yamauchi thought it was brilliant.

This plan was invincible!

He might even become famous overnight!

If he could manage to bring Class C down, wouldn't the people in his class never be able to look down on him, Yamauchi, ever again?

Wouldn't that guy Horikita, and even Kikyo-chan, start looking at him in a new light?

Imagining the scene where the girls in his class would eventually harbor secret feelings for him.

Yamauchi drooled as he agreed to Hoshinomiya's request.

However, Yamauchi wasn't a complete idiot.

Before leaving, Yamauchi asked Hoshinomiya one question:

"Does the school have any technology that can track down anonymous posters?"

Hoshinomiya covered her mouth and giggled.

"Are you worried, Yamauchi-kun? Have you forgotten about the rumors that went around the school during the first month?"

How foolish of him.

That's right.

If the school had such means.

Why would they have allowed students to spread rumors about school rules during the first month?

Yamauchi felt like he was back in the game.