After swimming class ended,
You En came to the classroom. Hirata had messaged everyone in the group chat, telling them to return to class first because he had something important to discuss.
"Stare—"
After taking his seat, Horikita Suzune kept her eyes fixed on his face.
But You En pretended not to notice her.
"Everyone, listen up. I confirmed something with an upperclassman from the Soccer Club."
Hirata Yosuke said this because You En probably didn't intend to draw attention to himself, so he didn't mention him.
He continued, "If you don't meet the minimum requirement before the end of the month, you'll be expelled."
Shinohara Satsuki frowned. She was one of the central figures in one of the class's larger groups of girls.
"What? Why didn't our homeroom teacher tell us?"
Sato Maya sounded a little incredulous. "No way. We'll be expelled just for failing an exam?!"
"Why?"
Yamauchi shouted.
"Everyone, don't panic,"
Hirata Yosuke continued:
"What I just mentioned was the expulsion threshold, not the passing mark. You need 50 points in a single subject to pass, or 100 points total.
"The expulsion threshold varies from class to class. Since our class's average score is relatively low, ours is half the average. You only need 36 points in each subject to avoid expulsion."
You En realized that Hirata wasn't talking about just one exam, but all the quizzes. So what happened if you'd scored below the expulsion threshold on an earlier test?
Would they have to take a makeup exam?
"We get one free chance to retake previous exams. If you fail this time, you'll have to pay points for a second retake."
Hirata Yosuke continued sharing what he'd learned from the upperclassmen.
You En asked,
"Can people who've already passed retake the exams?"
Hirata Yosuke saw that it was You En asking and immediately replied,
"Of course. They take the average of the two scores, not the higher one, so I wouldn't recommend it for you, You En."
You En had scored full marks, so even if he got full marks again, his score would still be full marks.
But if he scored lower, his average would drop, so there was no point.
"Suzune, want to give it a try?"
You En asked Horikita Suzune, who was still staring at him.
Hearing that they were discussing something important, Horikita Suzune put her little grudge aside.
"Hmm... It's worth a try. I know I can't catch up to you, but at least I can narrow the gap a little."
"I was thinking we could divide the class into several study groups. What do you think?"
Hirata Yosuke laid out his idea:
"Students with good grades could help those who are struggling."
Shinohara Satsuki said uneasily, "Is that really necessary?"
Sato Maya agreed.
"It's only 36 points. I can get that on my own if I study a little."
It wasn't just the students with poor grades who weren't keen on the idea.
Yukimura Teruhiko pushed up his glasses. Even though he was one of the better students, and had heard that students with good grades could retake exams, he didn't want to give up the chance to improve his own scores.
"I have to focus on retaking my exams, too. It sounds like a hassle."
Of course, some people supported the idea—some of the class idiots, for instance.
Kanji Ike spoke his mind, without considering his relationship with the person in question or the situation. "Study groups! I wish Kushida would teach me! Can we study in her room?!"
Yamauchi Haruki and the others got excited, too.
Kushida Kikyo could only grit her teeth in secret while putting on a polite smile.
You En felt that Hirata's intentions were good, but the reality was complicated.
Most students weren't in favor. It was simple: some didn't want to study, while others didn't want to teach.
Did Yukimura really think the students with poor grades were a nuisance? When some of them went to him during breaks with questions, he patiently answered them.
He probably just found certain people annoying, rather than having anything against every student with poor grades.
You En thought about it a little more deeply.
"What are you thinking about now?"
Horikita Suzune looked at him and asked.
"Nothing. I just realized I'm making over a thousand points an hour now. I'm a little proud of myself."
Horikita Suzune first sighed helplessly. He was still such a child. Outside of school, his hourly wage was at least...
Wait. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized You En was reminding her that they charged Class B students points for tutoring.
If they agreed to set up free study groups for their classmates, that wouldn't be fair to Ando Sayo, Tsube Hitomi, and the others.
Besides, looking at their classmates' reactions, most of them didn't seem willing to attend free study sessions. There was no way they'd agree to pay points.
Hirata asked around and managed to find a few classmates willing to form study groups, but there weren't many who could teach others.
"You En, could I ask you to take on a few people, too?"
"No."
You En shook his head and turned him down without explaining why.
Hirata looked a little troubled, but he was worried the other students might resent You En, so he said,
"Oh, I heard from the upperclassmen that joining a club is pretty demanding, and that includes signing up for electives.
"You En, you have to keep your grades up and take part in all kinds of activities. You barely have any free time, so it's only natural you can't help... Sorry, I didn't take your situation into account."
Hearing that,
You En felt like doing something after all. He simply didn't want to make things too hard for someone who was trying to help.
"Suzune and I have notes from our previous classes. You can take them and make copies. They should be useful."
"Oh?! Could I take a look?"
Hirata Yosuke immediately came over. He knew full well what was at stake.
At this rate, some people in the class were bound to fail their retakes, so he couldn't pass up even the smallest chance to help them.
"Sure. Is that all right with you?"
You En asked Horikita Suzune in a conciliatory tone.
"I don't mind."
Horikita Suzune took her notebook from her bag and handed it over.
Hirata Yosuke thanked her as he took it, then quickly flipped through the pages.
He wasn't lacking in intelligence. It was just that class matters and his classmates had taken up his time. The many annotations and notes made the material much easier to understand.
"Thank you."
Hirata Yosuke finally felt a little more at ease. With these notes, students who already had a foundation could score high without much difficulty. Even those starting from scratch should be able to pass if they studied step by step.
"I have another class, so I'll be going."
You En said. Last week's elective classes hadn't been held because the teachers had things come up, so they had to make up all the lessons this week.
They had two consecutive elective classes this afternoon, which meant they'd probably be there until evening.
After You En left, Horikita Suzune planned to study in the library or in her dorm, then have dinner with him after class.
Those willing to join a study group stayed behind.
Ayanokoji had scored exactly 100 points between his two subjects, putting him just over the passing mark, and he was assigned to lead a group.
Hirata posted the group assignments in the chat.
"Kushida Kikyo (leader), Inogashira Kokoro, Shinohara Satsuki, Sato Maya, Ichihashi Ruri"
"Hirata Yosuke (leader), Kei Karuizawa, Sonoda Chiyo, Ishikura Kayoko, Airi Sakura"
"Wang Meiyu (leader), Matsushita Chiaki, Hasebe Haruka, Mori Nene, Onodera Kayano"
"Ayanokoji (leader), Kanji Ike, Yamauchi Haruki, Ken Sudō, Sotoyama Hideo, Hondo Ryotaro"
"Wait, Kushida isn't in our group?"
Yamauchi Haruki was very unhappy with Hirata's arrangements.
"Just let me join her group. One more person won't make a difference."
"Yeah, exactly!"
Kanji Ike chimed in, too.
Hirata Yosuke glanced at the group assignments and reasons You En had sent him, then said,
"These study groups are meant to help classmates who already know each other. You're all pretty close with Ayanokoji, so you shouldn't have any trouble teaching one another."
"That's true, I guess."
Kanji Ike and the others looked regretfully at Kushida Kikyo.
"Boring."
When Ken Sudō saw he hadn't been assigned to Kushida Kikyo's group, he put his device back in his pocket and left the classroom without looking back. A few others made excuses and left, too, leaving only Ayanokoji behind.
Hirata Yosuke was at a loss. "Ayanokoji, I'll have to ask you to put in a little extra effort."
"..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't want to, but he had no choice, so he nodded.
"Meiyu, we're counting on you!"
Haruka draped an arm over Wang Meiyu's shoulders, thinking the group suited her perfectly. For one thing, Wang Meiyu had a great personality. They got along well, and she was patient and never looked down on students with poor grades.
The other three in the group—Matsushita Chiaki, Onodera, and Mori Nene—were all easy to get along with, too.
Wang Meiyu nodded seriously. "I'll do my best! You can ask me anything... If I don't know the answer, I'll ask You En."
"Then we're counting on you."
Matsushita Chiaki replied graciously. She felt Hirata Yosuke probably hadn't come up with these group assignments himself.
Judging by how he'd been looking at his device just now, someone must have sent them to him. It was probably You En.
When they first started school, You En hadn't struck her as particularly impressive.
What was it about him?
At the entrance to another elective classroom,
You En and Ibuki looked at each other. As expected, only the two of them were left.
Teacher Edward walked over. The hale and hearty old man said,
"Sorry about last week. One of the elective teachers made a small mistake and the school called us in for a meeting, so the class was delayed. I'll have to keep you a little longer today to make up for it.
"Sorry, kids. I'll be taking up some of your free time."
You En and Ibuki didn't mind. Wilderness Survival could be dangerous, but what they learned was practical. It might not be much use in modern society, but it was still more interesting than most of their other classes.
"Last class, we mainly covered how to find and prepare food, as well as how to overcome fear.
"But overcoming fear is actually one of the core principles of survival."
Edward began the second lesson. "Once we can keep hunger at bay, we have to consider new dangers. That means enemies, which might be wild animals... or even humans, though teaching you about that isn't part of my course.
"Knowing how to find food and water isn't enough. Only when we can face and overcome these dangers can we truly survive in the wilderness."
You En suddenly had a bad feeling. He remembered the animal's roar from behind the partition curtain last time.
Were they really going to make him and Ibuki...
slide tackle a wild beast together?
Before you continue