Ken Sudō, Failing

The next ten-odd days flew by.

During that time, Chihaya Rei stuck to his usual routine: training Karuizawa Kei, then going to the library to read with Shiina Hiyori. He and Shiina grew closer and closer.

Chihaya felt that if things kept going like this...

They'd probably become lifelong reading buddies?

Then, on the last Friday of May, all three grades at Advanced Nurturing High School sat for their midterm exams.

After the weekend, it was Monday, and the students of Class D were back in their classroom.

Today was the day the results came out.

The first of June was only two days away, and that was when everyone received their personal points for the new month.

So the school would update the class points that month based on the midterm results, to avoid affecting the points distributed to each class the following month.

The classroom was filled with a lighthearted, cheerful atmosphere. No one seemed the least bit nervous or worried.

And why would they be?

This exam had been an open book.

Not only had everyone memorized the answers in advance, but on the day of the exam, they'd discovered that even the order of the questions was exactly the same as on the test paper they'd received beforehand.

There was no way anyone could fail.

"Hey, Sudo, why are you sitting there with your head down and not saying anything?"

Kanji Ike turned around to look at his friend Sudo in the seat behind him, grinning teasingly.

"Are you worried about your score? Relax, you'll be fine!"

Ken Sudō had been sitting with his head down, looking glum. He really was a little worried about English. But after hearing Ike's reassurance, he smiled and replied:

"Yeah, I should be able to pass. I wrote down everything I remembered."

"Hahahaha!"

Yamauchi Haruki laughed and joined the two of them.

"Sudo, there's nothing to worry about. I only started memorizing the answers a few days before the exam, too. Just think, in a few days our points will come in, and we'll finally be able to eat something good."

"You're right." Ken Sudō nodded.

"..."

Chihaya glanced at the three of them without a word.

Seeing the obvious worry on Ken Sudō's face earlier, he knew Sudo's English was still doomed.

Before long, Chabashira Sae, dressed in a black suit, walked into the classroom with several sheets of A4 paper.

She stood at the podium and scanned the students of Class D. Then Chabashira's lips curled up, and she exclaimed:

"You've really surprised me this time."

"Looks like we did pretty well."

"Sensei, hurry up and announce the results!"

Many students in Class D were on the edge of their seats.

Chabashira Sae didn't waste any time. She unrolled the sheets she was holding, clearly displaying everyone's scores in each subject.

"Japanese and math: everyone passed."

"Social studies and chemistry: everyone passed."

As Chabashira raised her voice to announce the results, she also pinned the corresponding score sheets to the blackboard so the students could see their grades.

Most of the scores were in the eighties or nineties. Only a few were in the fifties or sixties.

When the students of Class D saw the results, cheers erupted throughout the classroom.

The way they'd gotten the answers might not have been very honorable.

But everyone was happy to see such good results!

Everyone passing meant no one would be expelled. It meant they'd earn 100 Class Points.

Let the music play and the dancing continue!

"Lastly, English..."

Chabashira Sae's voice trailed off.

This time, she didn't announce that the whole class had passed. Instead, she pinned the English score sheet to the blackboard first.

Her unusual behavior made some of the students realize that something was wrong.

Horikita Suzune, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Hirata Yousuke were among them.

Chihaya was also looking up at the scores on the blackboard.

His gaze went straight to the scores of the last few students on the English results sheet.

Yamauchi Haruki, 49 points.

Kanji Ike, 48 points.

Ken Sudō, 39 points.

Seeing that the three members of the Black House had the same English scores as in the original story, Chihaya understood at once.

In the original story, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had had Kushida Kikyo hand the answers to the students of Class D just a few days before the exam.

But because of the butterfly effect Chihaya had caused, Sakayanagi Arisu had given Class D the answers in the very first week.

Getting the answers early meant the students of Class D had more time to memorize them.

Naturally, those who spent more time memorizing the answers got higher scores.

The class average rose as a result.

But there was one important point: not every student in Class D spent more time memorizing the answers just because they got them early.

Take Ken Sudō, Kanji Ike, and Yamauchi Haruki. They'd practically waited until the exam was right around the corner to cram the answers at the last minute.

So their scores were no different from those in the original story.

"Click!"

As he thought about it, Chihaya's hands moved without pause. He took a photo of the English scores with his phone.

That photo was going to come in handy soon...

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

A few of the students nearby noticed Chihaya taking a photo.

But no one thought much of it. Some people liked to keep a record of their exam results, after all, so taking a photo was perfectly normal.

Horikita Suzune frowned slightly and looked at Chihaya in confusion.

She didn't think things were that simple.

Everyone had copied the answers for this exam, so there didn't seem to be much point in recording the scores.

But for the moment, Horikita couldn't figure out what Chihaya was planning.

While Chihaya was doing all this—

"Someone failed English."

Chabashira Sae said in a low voice. Her eyes were already fixed on Ken Sudō, who sat near the back door.

"You're the one who failed, Sudō."

Huh?

Me...?

Ken Sudō froze as if struck by lightning. It took him a few seconds to come to his senses, and then he hurriedly looked for his score.

When he saw his 39 points in English on the last line of the results sheet, Sudō's eyes widened.

"Sensei!"

Sudō sprang up from his seat in a panic, knocking his desk and chair with a loud squeak.

He clenched his fists with all his might and shouted in confusion:

"Isn't my English score high enough?"

Thirty-nine points was higher than his score on the last English quiz, but Chabashira Sae was saying that he'd failed.

Chabashira Sae seemed not to notice Ken Sudō's panic. She glanced at him coolly, her expression unchanged.

"I told you, didn't I? At this school, the passing score for an individual subject is half the class average."

"The average English score for the class this time is 88, so the passing score is 44."

Chabashira Sae spoke coldly.

She sounded as if she were simply carrying out her duties by rote.

Chabashira turned around, picked up a red pen, and drew a line beneath Kanji Ike's name.

It was now clear that Ken Sudō was the only student whose name appeared below the bright red line on the English results sheet.

"You only got 39 points, which is five points short of passing. I'm sorry, Sudō, but you're the only one who failed English, so..."

Chabashira Sae stared straight at Ken Sudō, who had gone rigid, and said without mercy:

"Sudō, you're expelled."

Chabashira's words weren't meant for Sudō alone. The rest of Class D had heard them, too.

Quite a few students stared in shock.

How could you still fail after all that?

They looked at Ken Sudō with complicated expressions, while privately feeling relieved that they weren't the ones who'd failed.

Kanji Ike and Yamauchi Haruki, in particular, both looked as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

Their English scores were only a little above the passing mark, too.

"No! I don't want to be expelled!"

Ken Sudō's face flushed red. Unable to believe it, he clutched at his hair and shook his head from side to side. Finally, he looked helplessly at Chabashira Sae and pleaded:

"Sensei, please give me another chance! Next time, next time I'll definitely pass..."

Faced with Ken Sudō's desperate protests, Chabashira Sae simply walked down from the podium with an expressionless face and said:

"I told you the rules: anyone who fails the midterm exam will be expelled."

"Come to the staff room before school ends this afternoon and complete the expulsion procedures."

With that, Chabashira started to leave the classroom.

Seeing this, Hirata Yousuke hurriedly called out to stop her:

"Chabashira-sensei, is there really nothing we can do?

If there's any way to let Sudō stay, please tell us!"

Chabashira Sae stopped and listened. She didn't answer Hirata Yousuke, and then she left the classroom.