Appreciation, Liking, and a Bet

I see...

"Looks like next month's exam has already begun."

His words made the students from the three classes who were eavesdropping tense up.

He paid no mind to what they might be thinking and continued.

"Next month, there'll probably be a Special Exam, and it'll likely be a written test covering several subjects that'll be extremely difficult for us."

At that, Kamuro Masumi and Karuizawa Kei froze. Some of the D Class students nearby were stunned, while the C Class students diagonally across from them furrowed their brows.

There was no other reason: they were all poor students, and they couldn't stand the thought of a written exam.

"And because it's a Special Exam, there'll definitely be some sort of reward and penalty system. For example, they might set a passing rate based on the cutoff score, with the students who score higher earning Class Points. Anyone who fails... might be expelled outright."

Expelled outright!!

That heavy blow struck all the poor students.

Not only did this school cover all sorts of expenses, it also gave them Private Points worth real money every month. They had no desire to leave!

Besides, with their academic abilities, they'd probably have a hard time getting into any other high school if they were expelled.

"Of course, given how this school operates, they might pair students who did well on this quiz with students who did poorly, then set a really high passing cutoff. If one person fails, both members of the pair get expelled."

Now everyone was tense. No one could confidently say that both they and their assigned partner would definitely pass.

But Hoshino En hadn't been hanging around just to make everyone anxious. He quickly offered a solution.

"But there's no need to worry too much. There's a way around it. The test will probably use old questions from previous years, so the second-years should have copies of past papers. Just get one from them and memorize it, and you'll breeze through next month's exam... Kamuro, flip it over! The meat's burning!"

At that, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Kamuro Masumi also saved a piece of pork belly from burning thanks to his reminder.

Seeing her fumble—especially with Karuizawa Kei beside her, whose hands and feet remained nimble even when her brain had frozen—Sakayanagi Arisu reflected even more on her own mistake.

Looks like I'll have to put Kamuro through her paces from now on.

"Wait. About the exam... what proof do you have?"

Suddenly, Katsuragi Kohei stood up from the booth beside Hoshino En and turned around.

His gaze passed over the booth's sofa and settled on Hoshino En.

Seeing the light reflecting off his bald head, Hoshino En froze for a moment.

"How strange. I thought A-Sho would be the first to speak up. I didn't expect you to be even more impatient than him, Katsuragi."

"Impatience is a major taboo in decision-making, Katsuragi."

"Sakayanagi..."

As Katsuragi Kohei watched Sakayanagi Arisu jump in, he called her name as if trying to hold something back, apparently angry.

"Hey, Gloomy Starry Eyes, and the little girl from Class A! Take back those awful nicknames!"

Just then, Ryuen Kakeru, the one being called out, joined the fray and protested the "awful" nicknames Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu had given him earlier.

Though he'd given them nasty nicknames too, it didn't bother Hoshino En.

"Huh? A-Sho, do you want me to call you by your first name? Sorry, that'll have to wait. We're not that close yet."

Hoshino En's "instant rejection" made Sakayanagi Arisu stop short before she could argue with Ryuen Kakeru over his "little girl" remark.

She looked at Hoshino En with an incredulous, grave expression.

"Hoshino-kun, this might be an inappropriate question right now, and perhaps I'm a little late in asking it, but I still want to know. Please answer seriously."

"Oh?"

Sakayanagi Arisu's unusual seriousness actually put Hoshino En at ease.

If she was being so serious, it probably wasn't going to be a problem for him. He could relax.

But her next words left him dumbfounded.

"Hoshino-kun, are you straight?"

"...Huh?"

Not only Hoshino En, but also Katsuragi Kohei, who was waiting for an explanation, and Ryuen Kakeru, who had been taunting them, were stunned.

Karuizawa Kei, sitting across from them, looked surprised.

The eight students from D Class completely forgot the original purpose of their gathering and all turned to look, eager for the gossip.

"Wait, what did you mean just now? I don't quite understand."

"I mean, Hoshino-kun, do you happen to like men?"

"Of course not!!!"

After confirming he hadn't misheard, Hoshino En immediately protested.

"I'm a guy who likes girls. I'm completely normal and perfectly healthy. What on earth gave you that idea?"

"But you'd only just met Dragon Boy, yet you called him by his first name. With girls, though—Ichinose, Shiina, and me—you always use our surnames. Why?"

"Well... calling girls by their first names can easily lead to misunderstandings, can't it? You and I aren't that kind of relationship..."

"I don't mind, Hoshino-kun! You can call me En-kun!"

The one who interrupted Hoshino En's explanation was Karuizawa Kei, sitting across from him. She'd even unilaterally changed how she addressed him.

Sakayanagi Arisu had started the whole dispute, but Karuizawa Kei had swooped in and stolen the prize.

The four members of the Empress Group were thrilled. "That's our girl! Karuizawa's openly challenging the official girlfriend!"

Kamuro Masumi, caught between the two sides, was speechless. "Sakayanagi, this is what you get for showing off. Now someone's using you as a stepping stone, huh?"

Sakayanagi Arisu was furious. She'd thought the little blonde was pretty good, but who'd have guessed she'd turn out to be a traitor, ready to "kill her master"!

As for Hoshino En, the person at the center of it all... he immediately sensed something was off and tried to change the subject.

"Uh, Karuizawa... Kei, let's talk about that another time. We should discuss the exam first, okay?"

"You don't want to be driven to distraction by some ridiculous exam, do you? Your grades aren't very good..."

"So why, exactly?"

Kamuro Masumi stepped in.

Before Karuizawa Kei could answer, she snatched the chance to speak and changed the subject.

She could watch Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu's "horrible couple skit" anytime, but this was her only chance to get ahead on the exam. If she failed, she might get expelled!

If Hoshino En was willing to lay everything out in front of students from other classes, he must be planning something. She had to find out what!

Kamuro, I owe you one!

Hearing Kamuro Masumi speak, Hoshino En cheered inwardly too. He didn't want to go through another strange conversation like that.

She'd actually suspected he was gay. What on earth was going through Sakayanagi's head?

"What exactly is the reason? Kamuro, you've been following me for almost a month. You should know which books I borrowed from the library, right? You should be able to work it out. You're an A Class elite, in the same class as Katsuragi!"

But Hoshino En didn't simply tell Katsuragi Kohei and Ryuen Kakeru the answer. They were still on opposing sides. No matter how reasonable his explanation was, they'd distort it through their prejudice. It'd be much more effective to let someone from their own class figure it out.

Sakayanagi would've been the best person to ask, but who knew what had gotten into her? She'd started questioning his sexual orientation.

With her abilities, she could easily steer the conversation back to that strange mood from earlier. He couldn't let her have the floor for now.

So Kamuro was the only option. Except...

"You borrowed some classic literature, educational journals, magazines about fashion and styling, some popular science books on swimming training, and a few old textbooks. What can you tell from that?"

Aaaaaah! As expected, she couldn't figure it out. She couldn't even manage the basic task of sorting useful information from useless information!

"Hey, what's with that look? I didn't get anything wrong!"

Seeing Hoshino En's exasperated expression, Kamuro Masumi asked him.

"Yes, yes, you got the details right. But you still didn't see what they meant. Have you never learned anything from Sakayanagi?"

"I shouldn't have expected much from your intelligence or judgment in the first place," he muttered.

Hoshino En then turned to Katsuragi Kohei, who was still waiting for an explanation, and asked, "What about you, Katsuragi?"

"The reason I reached that conclusion is in what Kamuro just said. You pride yourself on being an A Class elite and look down on students from the other classes, thinking you're above them. So can you figure it out?"

"Just so you know, Sakayanagi figured it out when she first ran into me this afternoon. You're competing with her for the position of class leader, so surely you can see it too?"

Hoshino En provoked Katsuragi Kohei, and it hit home.

"Aren't you just afraid I'll lead you to the wrong conclusion? Then figure it out for yourself! You too, A-Sho."

Hoshino En provoked Ryuen Kakeru as well, and it worked like a charm.

"You want to get useful information without paying anything? Where's the fun in that?"

"Tch."

Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue, looked away, and started thinking.

For this sort of thing, Ishizaki Ibuki and the others were no use. He'd have to figure it out himself.

But how could he understand something involving written exams? His academic ability was shockingly poor.

And the person in C Class who could help with this was...

He glanced at Shiina Hiyori, sitting beside Hoshino En.

Tch, Shiina was staring at that blonde girl, completely absorbed. She was no use either.

Damn it, why were there so many idiots in C Class? And why was their luck so awful?!

To be honest, he was feeling a little overwhelmed. It wasn't just because a man who might be gay had taken an interest in him; it was also because of what he'd just heard about being "isolated."

He hadn't even started harassing D Class yet. How had D Class managed to lead the charge in isolating him? That was so unfair!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 45: Chapter 042: Appreciation, Liking, and a Bet

However, the first person to figure it out wasn't Katsuragi Kohei or Ryuen Kakeru. It was Hirata Yosuke, who'd been listening quietly the whole time.

"Hoshino-kun, do you mean that those three big questions weren't beyond the scope of the old textbooks, and that the quiz hadn't been newly written but was made up of old questions left over from previous years?"

"Oh, Hirata, you're pretty sharp!"

This didn't surprise Hoshino En. Hirata Yosuke had an unhealthy obsession with "class unity," but his intelligence and judgment were at least on par with B Class, maybe even A Class. It was only natural that he'd figure it out before the others.

"The results of this end-of-month quiz don't count toward our report cards, and the earlier questions were so easy that the quiz wasn't even useful as a measure of our academic ability. But the school wouldn't hold a meaningless exam. They made this strange quiz to make us realize what sets this school apart from other schools."

Hoshino En took another sip of sparkling water and looked playfully at Katsuragi Kohei, whose expression had turned grave.

"Katsuragi, now that I've explained the exam, do you believe me?"

Believe him? Of course he didn't. Who would believe that an enemy was kindly giving them useful information?

But Katsuragi's loyal follower, his right-hand man Totsuka Yahiko, believed him.

"You D Class idiots, why would you give the enemy that information? Have you lost your minds?"

Not only did he believe it, he immediately began taunting the person who'd provided the information.

Since Kushida Kikyo had only said there would be an exam and hadn't mentioned anything else, Hirata Yosuke still didn't know about the class competition.

He looked at Totsuka Yahiko, who was taunting him, bewildered.

But the Friend Group and the Empress Group behind him were furious.

He'd attacked all of D Class outright? That guy had no manners!

"Hirata-kun was kindly explaining it to you. How can you treat him like that?!"

"Exactly. You really don't know how to behave."

"Do you think you're great just because you're in A Class?"

"..."

Aside from Kushida Kikyo, who was keeping up appearances, the other six all started yelling at Totsuka Yahiko.

Totsuka Yahiko wasn't intimidated or ashamed. He fired right back.

"Hmph. Katsuragi-san just didn't want to reveal any information, so he kept quiet. Who'd be as stupid as you D Class trash?"