Unlocking the Library and the Study Session

The next morning, Class A classroom.

Once all the students of Class A had arrived, Katsuragi Kohei had Totsuka Yahiko guard the classroom door to ensure that no passing students could eavesdrop.

Katsuragi then announced the answers and relevant intelligence regarding the upcoming midterm exam to the class.

As a man of integrity, Katsuragi naturally wouldn't steal credit from Kamuro, clearly pointing out that this discovery had been made by her.

For a moment, the praise from those around her actually made Kamuro Masumi feel uncomfortable.

The many students of Class A, however, were left stunned and speechless by this intelligence.

So they had been working hard at their studies every day, only to find out that they could just buy the exam answers from upperclassmen?!

This was somewhat demoralizing for the students who had been studying honestly and diligently.

Katsuragi Kohei's subsequent actions unfolded exactly as Chihaya Rei had anticipated.

Katsuragi proposed that the students of Class A maintain their normal study habits, using these answers only as a backup to memorize slightly.

He also demanded that everyone keep this information confidential, ensuring the other three classes—especially Class C and Class D—would not find out.

The students of Class A naturally had no objections and supported this idea.

Katsuragi Kohei successfully leveraged this opportunity to gain the trust of many classmates, further boosting his support within Class A.

The students of Class A who supported Katsuragi as the class leader believed:

Katsuragi's capabilities were as reliable as his appearance; choosing him as the class leader was far more correct than choosing Sakayanagi.

Katsuragi Kohei was the one who truly lived up to expectations.

Just look at what Sakayanagi Arisu had done this past month—absolutely nothing.

Hearing these murmurs, Sakayanagi Arisu felt quite displeased, viewing them as nothing more than a group of people who judged others solely by their appearance.

Yes, due to Sakayanagi Arisu's petite frame and her mobility issues, a portion of Class A students deemed her unfit to be the class leader.

However, there was also a faction that deeply recognized Sakayanagi Arisu's intellect and chose to support her.

Yet, Katsuragi Kohei's actions today were truly beyond Sakayanagi Arisu's expectations.

She had also discovered that one could purchase exam answers from upperclassmen, but whether or not they had the answers was of no consequence to Class A.

Therefore, Sakayanagi Arisu's initial plan was to ignore the matter, as she couldn't be bothered to get involved.

However, she had intended to mention it at the right time to show off her own capability.

She wanted to avoid a situation where the entire class leaned toward Katsuragi, as having no one to utilize when the time came would be troublesome.

As an excellent leader, Sakayanagi Arisu would ensure she always had pieces at her disposal.

It was just unexpected that this information would be snatched up and announced by that bald-headed Katsuragi before she could...

And according to Katsuragi, the intelligence was discovered by Kamuro Masumi, whom she had intended to recruit as her own errand runner...

Was Kamuro Masumi that clever?

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head.

It wasn't that she looked down on Kamuro Masumi, but she genuinely felt that with Kamuro Masumi's reasoning ability, she wasn't attentive enough to discover such a thing.

Moreover, why would Kamuro choose to tell Katsuragi instead of her?

Interesting.

So, if it wasn't discovered by Kamuro, then who in Kamuro's circle had the ability to do so?

Sakayanagi Arisu briefly analyzed it in her mind.

Since enrolling, Kamuro Masumi had always acted alone, made no friends, and the people she could actually speak to were few and far between.

There was only herself and Chihaya Rei.

She naturally excluded herself, so there could only be one truth.

Chihaya Rei's handsome face, wearing that provocative smile from yesterday, surfaced in Sakayanagi Arisu's mind.

Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head, eyeing Kamuro Masumi, who sat a few rows away, and plotted to test her once they were dismissed.

However, even without getting an answer from Kamuro Masumi's own lips, Sakayanagi Arisu had already unilaterally "assumed" that this matter was the work of Chihaya Rei.

She pondered for a moment and concluded that Chihaya Rei wanted to bolster Katsuragi Kohei to suppress her rule over Class A.

Well, well. He didn't say it out loud, but judging by his actual actions, didn't Chihaya-kun value her quite a bit? This was a recognition of her, Sakayanagi Arisu's, strength!

With that, Sakayanagi Arisu revealed a delighted smile, interpreting this as a declaration of war from Chihaya Rei.

In that case, she would be sure to retaliate twofold!

Over the next few days, all four classes of the first year were ostensibly holding study sessions.

Even Class C, which already had the answers in hand, went through the motions under Ryuen Kakeru's orders to put on a show for the other classes.

And the only places in the school suitable for studying were the classrooms, the café, and the library.

The library had become quite lively.

The four classes had reached a tacit agreement, carving out four separate study zones with enough distance between them to ensure no one disturbed the others.

After school today, Chihaya Rei also strolled into the library at a leisurely pace.

Upon entering, his first impression was that the air conditioning was truly intense—perhaps even a bit too powerful.

Hm... this fit his stereotypical image of a library perfectly.

Even with the air conditioning running in both places, he felt the average temperature in the library was several degrees lower than in the classroom.

It was no wonder the students who came here to study or read were all wearing jackets; otherwise, they really might catch a cold.

He wondered if a bunny girl in a Christmas outfit would spawn here, too.

Chihaya Rei let his mind wander as he arrived at a four-person table where the students from Class D were seated.

In truth, he hadn't planned on joining a study group at first; given his actual ability, passing the midterms and achieving a high score wasn't difficult.

He was someone who had already been tempered by three years of the "7 AM to 10 PM" grind.

Therefore, handling the curriculum at Advanced Nurturing High School was a piece of cake.

However, Chihaya Rei realized that tormenting the "idiots" who couldn't grasp the material during study sessions was also a way to harvest Torture Points.

Thus, he had to attend this study session, and he had to come to this library.

He had been assigned to a group with Matsushita Chiaki, Karuizawa Kei, and Sato Maya.

He figured Hirata Yousuke must have noticed him and Karuizawa Kei spending time together after school and arranged it this way on purpose.

Hirata, oh Hirata, you really are quite the busybody.

Still, for Chihaya Rei, facing three fake gyarus wasn't a bad thing; at the very least, all three of them were very easy on the eyes.

On the surface, this group was led by Matsushita Chiaki, who was tutoring the other three.

Although Matsushita Chiaki had been hiding her true ability, her grades were still the best among them.

Additionally, Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyo were nearby tutoring others, so they could ask for help directly if they encountered a problem they couldn't solve.

However, Chihaya Rei had already decided to reveal his true academic prowess in a moment and torment the three fake gyarus.

So, the scenario of going to ask Hirata or Kushida for help would not happen.

Chihaya Rei was already familiar with the gyaru trio, so the study session officially began quickly.

After waiting for a little while, Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya began to encounter problems they couldn't solve.

Since Matsushita Chiaki couldn't explain things to two people at once, Chihaya Rei stepped up to help.

At first, Karuizawa Kei and the others thought it was just a coincidence that Chihaya Rei happened to know the answers.

But as time passed, they gradually discovered something was off; there didn't seem to be a single problem that could stump Chihaya Rei.

Matsushita Chiaki's duties were also shifted onto Chihaya Rei's shoulders without anyone noticing.

It turned into Chihaya Rei explaining problems to Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya, while Matsushita Chiaki was left on the sidelines, watching with a look of shock and suspicion.

Soon, the dynamic gradually evolved into this—

"For such a simple problem, there's no need to trouble Matsushita."

"Are you two seriously unable to solve such a simple question?"

"I recall having explained this more than once already."

"You are the worst batch I have ever taught."

After answering questions for Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya multiple times, Chihaya Rei stopped hiding his cards and dropped the act entirely, adopting a tone of disappointment as if they were failing to live up to their potential.

He applied pressure while providing the solutions.

[Tormented Karuizawa Kei, Torture Points +1352]

[Tormented Sato Maya, Torture Points +1352]...

"Um, I recall that Chihaya-kun's test scores weren't that high, so why now?"

Finally, taking advantage of a brief pause, Matsushita Chiaki spoke up to express her confusion.

She had even intentionally picked out a difficult problem, only for Chihaya Rei to answer it with ease.

She even felt that Chihaya Rei's problem-solving logic was several levels above her own.

One had to know that Matsushita Chiaki believed that if she performed at full capacity, her test scores could rank in the top 20 of Class A.

"I'd like to ask that too. Weren't you receiving tutoring along with us... so why do you know everything?"

"Could it be that your grades are actually really good?"

Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya also put down their pens and looked at him with confusion.

"Because I used to be in a band and didn't have time to study. Now that I have the time, the concepts just clicked into place, naturally."

Chihaya Rei gave his explanation as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He had thought of the reason long ago; being in a band really was a universal excuse.

Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya listened, their faces filled with envy as they couldn't help but chime in:

"I want a brain like that too."

"Give me your brain!"

Only Matsushita Chiaki spoke up thoughtfully, "As expected, Chihaya-kun is a very smart person."

"Just keep practicing problems. Once you've done enough, you'll naturally get the hang of it," Chihaya Rei encouraged with a serious expression. "And this English, you really need to study it well."

Karuizawa Kei and Sato Maya let out heavy sighs.

What a pair of star-crossed lovers.

After a while, taking advantage of the moment they were buried in their practice problems, Chihaya Rei cast his gaze toward Matsushita Chiaki beside him.