Points of Achievement

May 31st, Wednesday.

Tomorrow is Children's Day, which everyone has long since stopped celebrating, and also the day class points are updated. But before the points update, the midterm exam results came out early.

Class meeting started right on time, and Hoshinomiya Chie stepped into the classroom at the bell.

Seeing Hoshinomiya Chie not in her usual drunken state, the Class A students couldn't help but feel a flicker of panic.

Although everyone understood they could control their scores to lower the average, ensuring no classmate would be expelled in the midterms, Ichinose had even suggested this in a brief pre-exam meeting. But the loudest opposition came from the students with middling to low grades.

"We've been studying hard this month too; we can't hold everyone back because of us."

"That's right, it's just about barely passing the line; it won't stump us."

Since the formula for the passing line wouldn't change, the goal for the weaker students was clear: score above 50 points. Even if everyone else got a perfect 100, the class average divided by two wouldn't exceed 50, and the real passing line would hover around 40 points.

Nearly two months had passed since the start of the semester, and even the students with shaky foundations had already developed regular study habits. With frequent group study sessions, everyone had caught up to the school's pace.

When the results were posted, everyone's eyes immediately went to the bottom of the list.

To their delight, even the worst-performing student scored 68 points, safely above the line, and the class's overall performance was much higher than the last quiz.

"That's how it is, everyone, keep up the good work. As for class points, you'll find out tomorrow morning." Hearing the bell signaling the end of class meeting, Hoshinomiya Chie hummed a little tune and left the office.

On the other side, Class D.

Because Chabashira Sae liked to keep information to herself, and the Class D students weren't in the habit of asking, no one in Class D knew that the passing line shifted with the class average. As a result, many students were devastated the moment they saw their scores.

"The following students have failed this exam. Your life at this school ends here." Chabashira Sae drew a line, boxing in the failing students.

That line actually turned some students' grief into joy, because unlike their expectation of a dozen or so classmates being expelled, only three students failed this time.

Under Chabashira Sae's explanation, they finally understood that the passing line was determined by the class average. And because Chabashira Sae hadn't notified them of the test venue change on the first week's Friday, the entire class had only four evenings to review, so most students' scores were generally very low.

On top of that, there were two score-controllers in the class: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune. Their scores were 33 per subject and 50 per subject, respectively.

With high-scorers suppressing their grades and low-scorers clustering together, Class D's passing line this time hit a terrifying 21 points. In other words, the class average was only 42 points.

But even so, The Idiot Trio still failed—and failed all five subjects.

"Please submit your withdrawal forms to me after school today. I'll contact your guardians shortly; they'll come to pick you up this afternoon." Chabashira Sae conveyed the expulsion requirements with a calm expression.

"Teacher, couldn't the papers have been graded wrong?" Hirata Yosuke stood up, his face showing reluctance.

He was the one in Class D who least wanted to see anyone expelled, but his reluctance was utterly useless.

"Sorry, that's impossible. Of course, if you want to check, feel free—I've prepared them in advance." Chabashira Sae pulled the three students' exam papers from her bag and handed them to Hirata Yosuke.

"You noticed it too, didn't you? Their strange behavior on exam morning. They spent all their time memorizing past test questions instead of actually reviewing the material. When the test changed, they naturally couldn't pass." Watching Hirata Yosuke carefully checking, Chabashira Sae kept pouring cold water.

Hirata Yosuke paused as he examined the papers, but continued checking each question's grading.

Though there were fifteen papers, checking just one subject per person was enough, since failing any single subject below the average met the expulsion criteria. And the verification didn't take much time, because aside from the multiple-choice questions that needed checking, the fill-in-the-blanks and long-answer questions were either left blank or scribbled randomly.

Hirata Yosuke's expression grew heavier and heavier; the result was beyond doubt.

"It seems you've finished confirming. Then class meeting ends here."

As Chabashira Sae packed up her things, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly tapped Horikita Suzune's arm with his fingertip.

Horikita turned her head, her eyes filled with confusion and questioning.

"Are you just going to give up like this?" Ayanokoji said something puzzling.

Those words would be normal coming from someone else, but from the usually aloof and indifferent Ayanokoji, they were strange.

"Failing the exam means expulsion according to school rules. It's not that I'm giving up; the outcome is already decided."

On exam day, Horikita Suzune had already mentally prepared herself for Sudo and the other two being expelled. She chose to control her score only to ensure no other classmates would be expelled.

"Is that really so?" Watching Chabashira Sae leave the classroom, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up and followed her.

"What are you doing?" Sensing something off, Horikita Suzune tried to ask, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already quickly left the classroom.

The resignation she had accepted wavered instantly. As she replayed Ayanokoji's words in her mind, she followed after him.

The two walked out of the classroom one after the other, only to find Chabashira Sae standing in the hallway, staring out the window, as if waiting for someone.

Chabashira Sae seemed to hear the footsteps in the corridor and slowly turned her head, her expression unchanged: "So it's Ayanokoji and Horikita. Class starts in a few minutes; where are you off to?"

"Teacher, I'd like to ask a question." Noticing Horikita Suzune had followed, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka cut straight to the point without wasting time.

"Does the school maintain fairness on the surface?"

"That's quite an abrupt topic. Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"Because you said on exam day that, to maintain fairness, the school changed the test papers for this exam and all future exams."

"So?"

"Then, do you think the exam our Class D experienced this time was fair?"

Horikita Suzune stood behind Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, somewhat confused. Was he accusing the school? Would that even work?

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Ayanokoji."