Sudo Expelled, but the Curtain Has Yet to Fall

Sae Chabashira looked at him coldly, her gaze like that of someone observing a petulant clown.

She began to explain in a measured, unhurried tone, "The passing grade for this academy is not a fixed 60 points."

Her voice was like a cold, mechanical recording, "It is determined by fifty percent of the grade level's average for that subject, rounded to the nearest whole number."

She pointed to the numbers on the classroom whiteboard: "For this midterm exam, the grade level average was 79.6 points.

Divided by two, that is 39.8 points. After rounding, the passing line is—40 points."

Her gaze returned to the pale face of Ken Sudo, each word falling like a judge delivering a sentence:

"And your total score is 39 points. Exactly one point below the passing line."

"39 points... 40 points..." Ken Sudo seemed unable to grasp the meaning of these numbers, repeating them mechanically.

The panic and anger on his face were quickly swallowed by a massive wave of terror; his limbs began to tremble uncontrollably, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"How could this be... I memorized the answers... how could I be off by one point... impossible... this is impossible..."

He rambled incoherently, as if his entire world were collapsing before his eyes.

Sae Chabashira's tone remained devoid of any ripples, carrying a hint of detached indifference:

"Although I haven't spent much time with you, thank you for your hard work.

After school, I will be in the office with your expulsion notice."

"Ex... expulsion notice?" Ken Sudo's mind went blank, with only those two words echoing frantically.

Expelled? Because of a single point? Even after he had memorized the answers, he was still one point short?

A sense of immense absurdity and despair completely submerged him; he opened his mouth, but could not make a sound.

He simply stood there with a deathly gray complexion, like an empty shell from which the soul had been extracted.

"Teacher!"

Yosuke Hirata, sitting in the front row, could no longer sit still. He stood up immediately, his face etched with urgency and disbelief.

He bowed deeply to Sae Chabashira, his voice trembling with agitation: "Teacher! Please... is there really no way to remedy this?

Sudo-kun... perhaps it was just a momentary lapse, or... could there be an error in the grading?

Could you... could you give him another chance? Even a make-up exam would do!"

He always upheld the belief of uniting the class and never giving up on anyone.

Seeing Ken Sudo in such a devastated state, his heart was filled with unbearable anxiety.

"If you fail the exam, there is nothing more to discuss."

Sae Chabashira's tone was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation, "Rules are rules. There are no make-up exams, and no second chances."

"But, Teacher!"

Kikyo Kushida stood up as well. Her eyes were already slightly red, her hands pressed against the desk, her voice filled with reluctance and pleading.

"Just because of this 0.2-point difference, the one point after rounding... is Sudo-kun really going to be expelled?

This... this is too cruel! Can't we think of another way? Or..."

"School rules are school rules, and they must be followed."

Sae Chabashira cut her off, her icy gaze sweeping over Kikyo Kushida.

It also swept over the other students in the room who wore expressions of hesitation or pity, "Give up the struggle. The homeroom meeting ends here."

Her gaze finally drifted, almost imperceptibly, toward the back of the classroom, lingering for a fleeting, barely detectable moment on a figure leaning by the window.

Then, she withdrew her gaze, looked at no one else, and turned around. The sound of her high heels clicking against the floor was crisp and decisive.

She walked toward the classroom door step by step, pulled it open, and left without looking back.

"Click."

The door was pulled shut, temporarily sealing the suffocating atmosphere of despair inside the classroom.

After Sae Chabashira left, the classroom fell into a deathly silence.

It was heavier and more oppressive than the silence while waiting for the results just moments ago.

One could only hear the heavy, ragged breathing of Ken Sudo, and the faint, distant sounds of the outside world—the bustle of other classes—drifting in through the window.

Kikyo Kushida stood where she was, looking at the direction in which Sae Chabashira had left, then turned back to look at the stunned Ken Sudo.

She looked at the surrounding students, who remained silent, most of them lowering their heads to avoid her gaze.

She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from trembling, and with a final shred of urgency and pleading, she broke the unsettling silence:

"Everyone... do you really think... this is acceptable?"

Her voice sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet classroom, almost jarring.

"If things go on like this... Sudo-kun... he is really going to be expelled!

Are we just... going to watch it happen? We are a class!"

Her gaze swept over Yosuke Hirata, over Kei Karuizawa, over Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi, over Suzune Horikita and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, and finally even toward Lin Mu, who seemed unconcerned in the back row.

However, the only response she received was an even deeper silence.

The students of Class D looked at one another, their faces filled with complex emotions.

There was sympathy, helplessness, relief, as well as confusion and bewilderment.

Of course, they did not want to see a classmate expelled, especially over such an "unjust" single point.

But... Sae Chabashira's attitude was so resolute, and the school's rules were written in black and white; what could they do? Protest?

They didn't even have any class points; what leverage did they have to protest? Plead? Did Sae Chabashira look like someone who would soften her heart?

Yosuke Hirata's brows were tightly locked, his hands clenched into fists on his knees; he was clearly thinking desperately, but he had no leads for the moment.

Suzune Horikita kept a cold face, her eyes even carrying a hint of indifference that suggested "you brought this on yourself."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable. Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi hunched their shoulders, not daring to make a sound.

No one spoke. No one knew what to do.

They could only remain silent.

They let the cold shadow known as "expulsion," like a rising tide, slowly submerge Ken Sudo as he stood dazed beside his desk.

It also permeated every corner of the classroom, causing the fire of hope that had just been ignited by their "decent exam results" to be completely extinguished in a cold pool of despair.

Lin Mu leaned back in his seat, biting down on the hard core of the last piece of lollipop in his mouth, feeling the sweetness vanish completely from the tip of his tongue.

He watched the tragedy unfold before him calmly, observing everyone's reactions, feeling no ripples in his heart, even finding it a bit boring.

As expected.

He had "seen" this outcome long ago, or rather, that "answer key" was less of a life-saving straw and more of a sieve for weeding people out.

Someone who could fall below the passing line even while copying from an answer key perhaps shouldn't have been part of the plan for this "meritocracy-first" academy from the very beginning.

Ken Sudo's expulsion seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

However... was it really?

Lin Mu's gaze swept, seemingly unintentionally, over the boy not far away who was still keeping his head down and lacked any sense of presence—Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

He remembered that in the fragments of his precognition, regarding the turmoil of this midterm exam, there seemed to be some... small aftershocks?

Forget it, it had nothing to do with him anyway.

He only needed to ensure his own score remained far above the grade average.

As for the rest, he would just wait and see.

After all, the good show might not have fully reached its finale yet.