Midterm Exam

During lunch break, Shiraishi Makoto arrived at the Student Council office.

"So, you discovered that these Class D students bought Archived Exam Questions from upperclassmen, and you came to the Student Council to file a report?" Tachibana Akane accepted the photographs Shiraishi Makoto handed over.

"Yes. I believe this behavior violates the most basic principles of fairness, so I hope the school will take appropriate countermeasures."

Since he was also a member of the Student Council, reporting it was much simpler for him than for others. He only needed to submit the materials directly to the secretary or president.

Horikita Manabu watched Shiraishi Makoto and spoke calmly. "We will report this matter to the school, but the final outcome will probably only be a change in the exam questions. Shiraishi, you have no objections to that arrangement, correct?"

"Mm, no objections." Shiraishi Makoto nodded slightly.

"Then I'll trouble Secretary Tachibana to handle it first. Shiraishi and I have something to discuss." Horikita Manabu spoke, and though Tachibana Akane looked somewhat puzzled, she took the materials and left the office.

"Is this the first step of your plan?" Horikita Manabu asked.

"Yes. Does the president think I went too far?" Shiraishi Makoto asked in return.

"No. I simply don't understand your purpose in doing this." Horikita Manabu shook his head. Making students from competing classes drop out was a conventional means of attack, because unless under special circumstances, expulsions would deduct a certain number of Class Points.

But Class D had no Class Points to begin with. Aside from intimidating Horikita Suzune a little, he could not think of any other purpose.

"Horikita Suzune had clearly already been consciously saving money, yet she still hadn't noticed the true use of Private Points. This exam should teach her a proper lesson." Shiraishi Makoto explained.

"I see." Horikita Manabu, who did not know the specifics of Class D's situation, truly had not considered that.

External pressure could indeed help people grow. Hopefully, Suzune would come to understand that properly. With his doubts cleared, Horikita Manabu stopped probing into the matter and began discussing Student Council work.

This week, he would be learning with Horikita Manabu how to handle disputes within the school, while Ichinose would be accompanying Tachibana Akane to visit the clubs.

Friday arrived, the day of the Midterm Exam.

Chabashira Sae came to the front of the classroom carrying the test papers, her expression somewhat unpleasant.

"Everyone is here. It seems you all remembered what day it is today."

The students below were all somewhat nervous. They had learned the exam scope had changed only four days ago, and most of them had no idea what kind of scores they would get.

By comparison, The Three Idiots of Class D were not nearly as nervous. They had had a full week to memorize the Archived Exam Questions, and they believed passing would be easy.

"Before the exam begins, I have an announcement to make." Chabashira Sae placed the papers on the podium and said, "A student submitted evidence to the Student Council that first-year students had purchased Archived Exam Questions from upperclassmen. Because this behavior seriously affected fairness, the questions for this exam will be entirely new, and the same will apply to future exams."

"At the same time, since the exam is now fairer, the school has established separate rewards for this Midterm Exam. The class with the highest average score will receive 100 Class Points, second place will receive 75, third place will receive 50, and fourth place will receive nothing."

"I don't know how many of you privately memorized Archived Exam Questions, but I hope you can pray for yourselves."

After reading the announcement, Chabashira Sae began handing out the test papers.

"What?" Yamauchi Haruki's startled cry drew the attention of the entire class.

Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji did not look much better either.

Horikita Suzune instinctively looked toward Kushida Kikyo, only to find her wearing the same shocked and bewildered expression.

"What is going on..." Horikita Suzune mechanically passed along the test papers, then suddenly thought of someone.

"The Student Council... it was Shiraishi Makoto..." Horikita Suzune identified the culprit.

It was not that Horikita Suzune had suddenly become perceptive. From her perspective, every clue pointed to that one answer.

The first subject was social studies, relatively one of the easier subjects among the five.

When the exam ended, Ike Kanji suddenly shouted.

"Who was it? Why did they report it?!" His hands had been shaking as he answered the questions. Though he had studied properly during the first two weeks, the exam scope was different after all, and he felt like he was going to fail again.

Bang! Sudo Ken slammed his fist onto the desk in fury.

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do..." Yamauchi Haruki pulled out his textbook, seemingly trying to cram a few more facts into his head during the ten-minute break.

Seeing the three of them, along with Chabashira Sae's earlier explanation, the other students immediately understood that they had not revised at all and had instead gone to memorize Archived Exam Questions. Their previously gloomy moods suddenly lightened, and some even failed to hold back their laughter.

"Who's laughing? Stand up!" Sudo Ken rose to his feet and glared furiously around the room.

But no one answered him, so he could only continue venting his rage on his desk.

Horikita Suzune had no mind to concern herself with Sudo Ken's disciplinary issues either. After realizing that all of this had been a trap Shiraishi Makoto set for her, she could not help but feel despair.

The expulsion of Sudo and the other two seemed to have become inevitable. She had not noticed a single problem throughout the process. Would Shiraishi Makoto's next target be her?

She had yet to prove her abilities to her brother. Was she going to be expelled because of this?

What should I do...

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita Suzune, then at Kushida Kikyo, but said nothing as well.

"This is all your fault!" Yamauchi Haruki suddenly stood up, pointed at Kushida Kikyo, and shouted, "If you hadn't said there were Archived Exam Questions, how could things have turned out like this?"

"I..." Faced with Yamauchi Haruki's accusation, Kushida Kikyo could not refute him. She could only clench her teeth, then bow. "I'm sorry..."

"What good is apologizing? I'm going to get expelled!" Yamauchi Haruki angrily waved his fists.

"That's enough." Horikita Suzune, who had remained silent until now, spoke up.

"Although the exam scope was changed, everything on the test was still covered in class. Anyone who listened seriously and revised properly could pass." Horikita Suzune looked coldly at Yamauchi Haruki. "You were the ones who pinned your hopes on taking shortcuts. Now that there are no shortcuts, ending up like this is nothing more than reaping what you sowed."

That was right. Shiraishi Makoto had only been able to devise such a trap because he found their weakness. As long as I had no weakness... he would not be able to get me expelled!

"That's right. Kushida's grades have always been excellent. She only went looking for Archived Exam Questions for your sake. Not only are you ungrateful, you have the nerve to blame her?" Shinohara Satsuki, with her short blue hair, stood up as well to defend Kushida Kikyo.

"Kushida Kikyo even borrowed money from me. It looks like it was to help you buy the questions. Do you really have the nerve to say such things?" More and more classmates spoke up.

Faced with the condemnation of his classmates, Yamauchi Haruki could only sit back down in his seat and clutch his head in misery.

Horikita Suzune withdrew her gaze as well and no longer cared whether the three of them lived or died.