Wednesday, May 31.
Tomorrow was not only the long-outgrown Children's Day, but also the day Class Points would be updated. However, the Midterm Exam results were released ahead of the update.
The homeroom meeting began on time, and Hoshinomiya Chie arrived in the classroom right on the dot.
Seeing that Hoshinomiya Chie was not drunk, the Class A students could not help feeling a trace of panic.
Everyone understood that they could deliberately control their scores to lower the class average and ensure that no one would be expelled during the Midterm Exam. Ichinose had even held a small class meeting before the exam and suggested this, but the strongest opposition had actually come from the students in the lower-middle range academically.
"We've studied hard this month too. We can't hold everyone back because of us."
"That's right. We're only talking about clearing the basic passing line. It won't be too hard for us."
Since the formula for calculating the passing score would not change, the weaker students had a clear goal: score above fifty. Even if everyone else got perfect scores of one hundred, half the class average would not exceed fifty, while the actual passing line should be around forty.
Nearly two months had passed since school began. Even students who had originally been weak academically had already developed regular study habits. Combined with frequent group study sessions, everyone had kept up with the school's pace.
When the results were posted, everyone immediately looked at the lowest scores.
To their delight, even the worst-performing student had scored sixty-eight, safely clearing the line. The class's overall grades were also much higher than during the last quiz.
"That's how it should be. Keep it up, everyone. As for the Class Points, you'll find out tomorrow morning." As the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang, Hoshinomiya Chie hummed a tune and left the classroom.
Meanwhile, in Class D.
Because Chabashira Sae liked to keep things hidden rather than explain them, Class D had never developed the habit of asking questions. As a result, none of them knew that the passing line changed according to the class average, and quite a few students broke down the moment they saw their results.
"For this exam, the following students have failed. Your lives at this school end here." Chabashira Sae drew a horizontal line and boxed in the students who had failed.
That single line turned many students' despair into relief. Unlike the dozen or so expulsions they had expected, only three students would be expelled after this exam.
Only after Chabashira Sae explained did they understand that the passing line was determined by the class average. Furthermore, because Chabashira Sae had not informed them of the changed exam topics on Friday of the first week, every student in the class had only four evenings to review. As a result, most students' scores were generally quite low.
On top of that, there were two people in the class who had deliberately controlled their scores: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune. Their scores were thirty-three in every subject and fifty in every subject, respectively.
With the high scorers suppressing their grades and the low scorers clustered together, Class D's passing line for this exam had reached a terrifying twenty-one points. In other words, the class average was only forty-two points.
Yet even so, The Idiot Trio still failed, and they failed all five subjects.
"After school today, submit your withdrawal applications to me. I will contact your guardians shortly, and they will come to the school this afternoon to take you home." Chabashira Sae conveyed the expulsion requirements with a calm expression.
"Teacher, is it possible the papers were graded incorrectly?" Hirata Yosuke stood up, his face filled with unwillingness.
He was the person in Class D who least wanted to see anyone expelled, but his unwillingness was useless.
"Sorry, that's impossible. Of course, if you want to check them, that's fine. I prepared them long ago." Chabashira Sae took the three students' papers from her bag and handed them to Hirata Yosuke.
"You noticed their abnormal behavior on the morning of the exam too, didn't you? They spent all their time memorizing Archived Exam Questions and never properly reviewed the key material. When the exam papers changed, they naturally had no way to pass." Watching Hirata Yosuke check carefully, Chabashira Sae continued pouring cold water over him.
Hirata Yosuke paused while examining the papers, but he continued checking how every question had been graded.
Although there were fifteen papers, it was enough to check one subject for each person, because scoring below the average in any single subject met the expulsion standard. The verification did not take much time either, because aside from the multiple-choice questions, the fill-in-the-blank and long-answer questions were either left blank or filled with nonsense.
Hirata Yosuke's expression grew increasingly grave. It seemed the result was beyond doubt.
"It seems you've finished confirming it. Then the homeroom meeting is over."
As Chabashira Sae began packing her things, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly tapped Horikita Suzune's arm with his fingertip.
Horikita turned her head slightly, her eyes filled with confusion and a silent demand for an explanation.
"Are you really planning to give up just like this?" Ayanokoji said something difficult to understand.
It would have been normal if someone else had said it, but hearing it from the usually detached and indifferent Ayanokoji was strange.
"If they fail the exam, they must be expelled according to school regulations. That isn't me giving up. The outcome has already been decided."
On the day of the exam, Horikita Suzune had already prepared herself for Sudo and the other two being expelled. She had chosen to control her score only in hopes that the other students would not be expelled.
"Is that really so?" Watching Chabashira Sae leave the classroom, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood and followed her.
"What are you going to do?" Sensing that something was off, Horikita Suzune wanted to ask more, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already quickly left the classroom.
The thought that she had accepted their fate instantly wavered. As she pondered Ayanokoji's words, she followed after him.
The two left the classroom one after the other and found Chabashira Sae standing in the hallway, staring out the window as though she were waiting for someone.
Chabashira Sae seemed to hear their footsteps in the corridor and slowly turned around, her expression unchanged. "So it's Ayanokoji and Horikita. There are only a few minutes until class starts. Where are you going?"
"Teacher, I want to ask a question." Noticing that Horikita Suzune had followed as well, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stopped wasting time and went straight to the point.
"Does the school need to maintain fairness on the surface?"
"That's quite an abrupt topic. Why ask that all of a sudden?"
"Because on the day of the exam, you said that in order to maintain fairness, the school changed the papers for this exam and future exams."
"And?"
"Then do you think the exam Class D experienced this time was fair?"
Standing behind Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Horikita Suzune did not quite understand. Was he accusing the school? Would that really have any effect?
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Ayanokoji."
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