Chapter 30

"Get some rest afterward," I reminded him. At noon, after lunch, I took my tablet to the teachers' office and openly forged an exam paper. It was my first time there. Since I'd already notified Sakagami-sensei, it didn't take long to rent a printer reserved for faculty. I wasn't using one of the public printers as a precaution. It'd be a pain if the shop owner or some passerby ganked me. The teachers' office wasn't somewhere people could just gank me—especially with Sakagami-sensei on my side. But anything could happen. Even so, just as I finished printing, an unwelcome visitor showed up. "⊙▽⊙? And who might you be?" For some reason, the school nurse, Hoshinomiya-sensei, had appeared there. "I'm Kitazawa Minya from Class C, Hoshinomiya-sensei. Why are you over here instead of in the infirmary?" "I'm the homeroom teacher for Class B, too! You didn't know that?" "I really don't know who the homeroom teachers for the other classes are... This is my first time in the teachers' office!" "I see. Are you here to print some study materials? Why are you only printing one copy?" She looked at the few thin sheets in my hand. This old woman sure was nosy. "One of my classmates is an idiot who lost the materials, so I came to print another copy," I replied with a smile. "Oh, I see... But there's a printer for students to rent in the library, too." Hoshinomiya-sensei really was curious about everything. "There were too many people there. Everyone in my class worked hard to put these study materials together, so it wouldn't be good if they got leaked. Sorry, but even as Class B's homeroom teacher, you can't see them." "That's true..." Hoshinomiya-sensei pouted, still lost in thought. "Can I go now? The others in my class are waiting for me..." Hoshinomiya-sensei gave a slight nod, finally letting me pass. Then, out of nowhere, she called after me. "Wait! Didn't you just hand the study materials you put together to Komume from our class without a second thought?" "Don't make such a big deal out of it, Sensei!" I patted my chest. "The exam range changed unexpectedly, so of course our materials changed, too. It's that simple." "I see, I see... But why do I still feel like you're hiding something from me? It's a woman's intuition!" she said, confidently patting her chest. "I'm really not lying... Sakagami-sensei! Help!!" I realized I couldn't handle this woman and started calling for reinforcements. "So you really were messing with your teacher! Hehe, Sakagami-sensei just got a call and went back to the faculty dormitory. Go ahead and yell—no one's coming to save you!" "Come on, Hoshinomiya-sensei! You're no spring chicken. We're not right for each other!" "What did you say? I'm still young! Come clean! What are you up to?" Hoshinomiya-sensei grabbed my arm and shook me back and forth. She seemed less angry than like she was trying to act cute. "Hoshinomiya, what are you doing, getting all touchy-feely with a student!?" A cold voice cut in, rescuing me. "Sae?" "Good afternoon, Chabashira-sensei!" Chabashira-sensei, who'd just returned from lunch, clearly didn't like being called Sae. She flicked Hoshinomiya-sensei hard on the forehead. "Kitazawa from Class C, this is the faculty's break time. Leave at once." "Yes!" I hurried off. "Wait! Sae, don't let him go! I still don't know what he's up to!" "What does that have to do with you? Teachers shouldn't interfere in matters between students." "We're homeroom teachers! How can you be so indifferent to your students? The kids in Class D are so pitiful..." "Shut up! You're too loud for the middle of the day." So Chabashira-sensei was Class D's homeroom teacher? And she was the kind who didn't care what happened to her students? Interesting. But that worked out nicely! She wouldn't be heartbroken when she found out a whole bunch of her students had been expelled. Hehe... Back in the classroom, I answered the questions on the exam paper at random with my left hand. I didn't copy all the correct answers onto it. Instead, I pretended to be a poor student and kept the score just above the passing mark. Then I casually folded the paper a few times to make it look worn. Since it was an exam from three years ago, I also put it on the floor and stepped on it, making it look a little dirty. After checking again and again to make sure there were no flaws, I took a photo of the paper with my phone. That way, the issue of the handwriting on the original exam paper wouldn't be a problem, either. Since I was giving Hirata a photo, there was no need to make it look old. This was convincing enough. After school, I took the photo to the legendary secret hideout: the karaoke place. "Look who's here! Isn't that our honor student?" Ryuen said, holding a girl close while sipping from a glass. Oh, it wasn't alcohol. I picked up the bottle to check and found it was soda water. But... was there any need to drink the stuff from a wineglass? You're something else... "It's nice to come hang out once in a while." I grabbed a bottle and drank straight from it. "Ryuen, is it safe to talk here?" "Of course. Once the music's loud, no one outside can hear anything." "That's good enough... I've got something nice to show you. This is my gift to Class D. If you give Hirata this fake exam paper, Class D will be in for a rough time no matter what." I sent Ryuen a photo of the forged exam paper. "Oh? You can't wait any longer? Hahahaha! Then go have some fun with those monkeys!" Ryuen understood what I was planning and burst out laughing. "Come to think of it, I was planning to make a move against Class D myself! I'd picked out a big macaque, though, not some pretty boy like Hirata." "Hahaha! I'm not targeting Hirata in particular. It's just inconvenient to make a move through Kushida. Have you heard of this woman? She's planning to befriend you! She asked me to arrange a meeting." Remembering the running joke about targeting Hirata, I couldn't help laughing. "Sure! How could I turn down a woman throwing herself at me without meeting her? Once Ishizaki and the others finish this job, I'll meet her." Ryuen, who feared nothing and no one, naturally wasn't afraid to meet anyone. "No problem. Here's her contact information. Well, I've passed along everything I needed to. I won't keep you any longer." "Stay a little longer. It's rare to have some peace and quiet when Ibuki isn't here." Ryuen seemed a little lonely. Having no rivals and spending all day fooling around didn't seem to be what he wanted. "No, I have even less fun when she's not here. Maybe we should trick Shiina and the others into coming to sing with us another day. By the way, who's been paying for all this lately?" I looked at the men and women around us, but no one dared answer. "We've been taking turns paying... Ryuen-san doesn't know about it," Komiya said quietly from the side. "Oh, I'll transfer you 300,000 points. Settle up everyone's bills. From now on, if you're doing something for Class C, come to me for reimbursement." "Thank you! Thank you, Kitazawa-san! We're all part of Class C, so we should be paying our share..." "It's enough that you're willing to pitch in. How about this: we'll set up a class fund and pay for class activities out of it. Every...