After buying the exam papers from that senior, Onizuka turned and headed for the rooftop of a nearby school building, where he had arranged to meet someone earlier.
"Yo, Ryuen, and his little lackeys."
The person who had arrived was Ryuen Kakeru, the leader of Class C, who had used violence to bring the entire class under his control during the first month of school.
In a sense, his name was known to just about everyone in the entire first year.
Hearing Onizuka's taunt, Albert charged at him with his fist raised, without a moment's hesitation, as if they had rehearsed it.
Ryuen, standing beside him, clearly had no intention of stopping him. It seemed he wanted to give Onizuka a show of force.
But the result was obvious: they had picked the wrong person.
Onizuka calmly met Albert's attack, caught the arm he swung at him, and held it firmly in front of himself without any effort.
Albert's dark, muscular frame contrasted sharply with Onizuka's seemingly ordinary appearance, making the scene look extremely incongruous.
Albert's face twisted with anger, and he seemed ready to swing with his other hand.
"That's enough, Albert. Looks like our guest doesn't care for our way of welcoming people, huh?"
After releasing Albert's hand, Onizuka remained where he was, wearing a faint smile.
"Not at all. I thought the welcome was a little lacking in strength."
Ryuen narrowed his eyes slightly. A tense atmosphere hung in the air as he silently seemed to assess his side's strength and the possible outcome.
"Well, never mind, then. Next time we meet, I'll give you a proper 'welcome,' Onizuka."
"Mm-hmm. I hope you won't disappoint me then."
The atmosphere between the two eased slightly, no longer as hostile as before.
Ryuen got up from the rooftop's ventilation unit and walked over to Onizuka, looking him straight in the eye.
"So, what's this method you mentioned that can get the whole class through the midterm exam without breaking a sweat?"
Their gazes met in midair, and neither gave way.
"Once I tell you, it won't be a secret anymore. I'm sure you understand that, Ryuen."
"Hmph!" Ryuen snorted, a trace of disdain on his face. "In that case, tell me what you want."
Twenty thousand points a month.
Hearing Onizuka say that, Ryuen Kakeru cursed.
"Are you kidding me? There's no way I'd agree to those terms! If you want twenty thousand points in one lump sum, I might consider it."
"One hundred thousand points!"
"Fifty thousand!"
"Deal! By the way, do you want the methods for passing nearly all the exams after this, too? I can bundle them together and sell them to you."
As if he had thought of something, Ryuen clicked his tongue.
"Let the first exam slide, but if you still need to think for them during the upcoming tests, you'd better get lost sooner rather than later!"
Onizuka smiled. "Ryuen really is a kind person."
"Hmph, think whatever you like. All right, I've transferred the points. Now can you tell me your method?"
Onizuka glanced at his student card and confirmed the points had arrived as agreed. Then he took an exam paper out of his schoolbag.
"Here. This is the answer."
Ryuen took it and casually flipped through it in his hands.
"Past exam papers? This is your answer? Heh, you must've made a pretty penny this time."
He glared through clenched teeth at Onizuka, who had already packed up his schoolbag and was preparing to leave.
Onizuka pointed to his head.
"Ryuen, sometimes using your head is more effective than using your fists. Bye-bye!"
Albert stepped forward.
"Boss, should we take him on now?"
"Forget it. Ibuki and the others aren't here right now, and we can't beat him. We'll deal with him next time."
As soon as Onizuka left the school building, he found himself with nothing to do.
The exam papers in his hands could only be useful to this extent.
Classes A and B wouldn't need something like this to pass the midterm exam, and he had just taken care of Class C.
That left only his own Class D in his sights.
The next afternoon, it was the day Ayanokoji and Horikita were holding their study session.
Apparently, Ayanokoji had run all over the place to organize this study session. That was completely different from the person Onizuka remembered.
But that was all beside the point. Before long, Onizuka arrived at the school café.
Sudo, Yamauchi, and even Sato and Shinohara, whom Onizuka was responsible for, were there too.
But the atmosphere among them was far from pleasant. It was downright awful!
"Yo, everyone's here. What's wrong? Is the study session not going well?"
"Going well? It's going way too well! This woman lured us here and let us vent to our hearts' content! I'm done!"
With that, Sudo shook off Kushida, who was holding on to him, and turned to leave.
The others followed him out. Even Kikyo Kushida's repeated attempts to hold them back did nothing.
"Looks like I got here a little late." Onizuka smiled, regretting that he had missed a good show.
"This isn't the time to gloat, Onizuka."
Onizuka looked at Kikyo Kushida beside him. "I'm not here to laugh at you, Kushida."
With that, he took an exam paper out of his backpack.
"This is the cheat code for 'up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.'"
Kushida reached out to take it, but Onizuka unexpectedly drew his hand back, and she grabbed at empty air.
"Onizuka, what are you-"
Looking at Kikyo Kushida, who couldn't understand what he was doing, Onizuka raised the exam paper in his hand.
"Past exam questions. Since this school has used the same question bank for years, having this paper guarantees you'll pass the exam. What kind of price can you offer for it?"
Onizuka looked over the three people present: Horikita Suzune, who watched coldly; Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was practically invisible; and Kikyo Kushida, who looked anxious.
"Can't you just contribute it, Onizuka?"
"Of course I can! Kushida, I paid quite a lot of points to buy this paper from a senior. You can't expect me to cover the entire cost, can you?"
"But... but Sato and the others already paid points, didn't they?"
Onizuka had no doubt that Kushida knew this was true. With her abilities, finding out would be easy.
"Sato and the others are one thing, but you wouldn't want Sudo and the others to get something for nothing, would you? Wouldn't that be unfair to them?"
"Couldn't the seven of us split the cost of buying this paper?"
"No. I think my mental effort has value too. I deserve points for coming up with this method."
"But weren't you going to give Sato this paper eventually? Then everyone will find out sooner or later!"
"That's why I'm giving it to them two days before the exam. Two days is nowhere near enough time for those few, right?"
Although she looked down on her classmates a little, Kikyo Kushida knew very well that this was indeed true.
"Then why didn't you just bring those few along from the start?"
Onizuka waved his hand. "Ayanokoji probably understands just how hopeless those few are. I don't think Chabashira-sensei could persuade them, and I don't think they have any points left to pay with, either."
Looking at Kikyo Kushida, who had fallen silent, Onizuka smiled faintly.
"So, how about covering the cost for your classmates first, kind Kushida and Horikita, who's eager to get into Class A?"
He also glanced at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was sitting in his seat.
I should thank you, too, silent Ayanokoji.
[Student card credited: 20,000 points]