Midterm Exams

" Sudo, come outside with me for a moment." Horikita walked straight over to Sudo and spoke.

"Huh? What is it, Horikita? Can't you see I'm studying?" Sudo looked a little annoyed and continued flipping through the papers in his hands.

"Horikita, maybe you should leave him alone," Kushida advised when she saw this.

"Sudo, I'll say it again. Come outside with me. It's about the upcoming English exam. I have a way to keep you from failing."

"What are you talking about, Horikita? The answers are all right here. What other way could there be?" Ike answered before Sudo could, clearly unconvinced.

"Yeah. He'd be better off spending this time memorizing more answers to the multiple-choice questions," Yamauchi added, sounding a little dissatisfied.

When Sudo heard Horikita say it was about the upcoming English exam, he paused. "You really have a way to keep me from failing?"

"Come outside with me." Horikita ignored Ike and Yamauchi and headed out of the classroom.

Sudo hesitated for a few seconds, then set down what he was holding and followed her.

"Sudo, do you really believe she has a way to keep you from failing?" Kushida asked, still looking unconvinced, as she watched him go.

"I'll give it a try. There's no guarantee I can memorize the answers in such a short time anyway." Sudo replied to Kushida and left the classroom.

Once outside, he saw Horikita standing at the corner of the hallway. He went over to her. "All right, Horikita. Let's hear it."

Horikita glanced around. This spot was in a blind spot for the hallway's security cameras, but she couldn't rule out other possibilities.

After confirming that the area was safe, Horikita spoke. "Go cheat."

"What kind of joke is that? I actually thought you'd come up with a good idea. I shouldn't have wasted my time!"

When Sudo heard this, he slammed his fist against the nearby wall and turned to leave.

"Wait, Sudo. Even if you hurry back and start memorizing answers now, it'll already be too late."

"So you did this on purpose? What good would it do you if I got expelled?" Sudo turned around, looking even angrier.

"What are you talking about? I'm trying to help you. Listen to me. The school may not take this exam as seriously as you think. These Past Exam Papers are a good example."

"If they did, why wouldn't they even bother to change the order of the questions?"

Horikita was right. Sudo had noticed the same thing during the earlier exams. Still, because of the exam rules Teacher Chazhu had explained before, he didn't really believe he could get away with cheating during an exam.

He had cheated plenty of times in middle school, and he was good at it. But this place was different. The rules said he'd be expelled if he was caught. He didn't want to take that risk.

"Even if what you say is true, I'd still be expelled if I got caught cheating. The rules make that perfectly clear."

"The rules?" Horikita smiled. "You know your situation perfectly well. No matter what you do, you'll be expelled. You might as well take a chance."

"This is all your fault!" Sudo got angry again when he heard that, but Horikita was right: he had no other options.

Sudo fell silent for a moment, then spoke as if he'd made up his mind. "Tell me what I have to do."

"Let me ask you: is your eyesight good?"

"Obviously. I'm in the Basketball Club, and I'm about to be promoted to a regular member."

"That's not what I asked." Horikita looked exasperated. "If your eyesight is good, copy the answers from the students around you. Remember, don't use things like notes. They'd leave evidence."

"I know that. It's not like I've never done it before. But aren't there cameras in the classroom?"

It seemed Sudo had noticed the camera in the classroom. But if he'd noticed it, why had he kept fooling around in class before...?

"Don't worry about that. The school won't investigate this exam that closely."

"What about Teacher Chazhu? I can tell she's stricter when she invigilates than any of my previous teachers. I don't think I can cheat right under her nose."

Sudo was right. Teacher Chazhu was a strict invigilator. She had been a big part of why he'd done so poorly on the last quiz.

Her gaze seemed able to see right through people. When she looked at you, you hardly dared to try anything.

"You don't need to worry about Teacher Chazhu. Even if she catches you, it'll be fine. I'll handle it."

"Is that true, Horikita? Thank you so much." Sudo had been most worried about Teacher Chazhu. Hearing Horikita say that finally put him at ease about cheating.

"It's true." Horikita gave him a firm answer. Though she hadn't interacted with that man much, for some reason she felt she could trust him.

"It's getting late. Let's go back, Sudo. Remember, don't tell anyone about this."

"Of course I won't." Sudo patted his chest as he spoke.

"One last thing. Cheating doesn't reflect your actual ability. You may avoid expulsion this time, but that doesn't mean you'll be so lucky next time. You still need to study seriously." Horikita spoke sternly.

"I understand. If I can avoid expulsion this time, I'll do my best to study hard. And thanks for doing all this for me, Horikita."

As Sudo watched Horikita walk away, his heart began to race for some reason, even though he'd been angry with her just moments ago.

Could it be... that I've fallen for her?!

When the bell rang for the final English exam, Sudo returned to his seat.

He still couldn't understand a thing on the English test paper they handed out, but he had to at least look the part. As time ticked by, he began putting his plan into action.

Sudo had excellent eyesight. All he had to do was raise his head a little to see the answers on the desk in front of him clearly, and he copied them without any trouble.

But the moment he lifted his head, Teacher Chazhu's gaze turned in his direction.

However, she only glanced at him before looking elsewhere again.

So there's no way to get this past Teacher Chazhu. She caught me after all.

But since she didn't call me out, that means she's allowing it. Did Horikita do something...

Still, Sudo couldn't be too obvious. Drawing on his past experience with cheating, he copied all the answers, and before long, the exam came to an end...

"Sudo, did the exam just now go okay?"

"Yeah, you were gone for so long before the exam. I was really worried."

As soon as the English exam ended, Kushida and Ike hurried over to Sudo's seat.

"It's fine. I did pretty well. I really have Horikita to thank."

"Horikita? What did she call you outside to do?" Kushida asked curiously.

"N-nothing." Sudo replied, his face turning slightly red...