Past Exam Papers

Evening.

Two days had passed since the last time he met Kushida Kikyo, and today, she suddenly sent a message.

It turned out that Ayanokouji had obtained the past years' exam papers and entrusted her to forward them to the rest of Class D, while also asking for Uesugi Hara's opinion on the matter.

Uesugi Hara wasn't particularly surprised when he saw the message; after all, this sort of thing was standard procedure for Ayanokouji.

Uesugi Hara replied directly to Kushida, confirming that the current exam questions were indeed identical to those from previous years, telling her to go ahead and use the material for review, and asking her to send a copy to him as well.

In truth, Uesugi Hara had previously spoken with Horikita Manabu about this exam, even dropping subtle hints at the time that he already knew the questions were the same as in past years.

However, Horikita Manabu's reaction had been completely calm, as if he hadn't picked up on the implication at all.

It was hard to tell if this attitude was a deliberate act or if he was intentionally keeping quiet for the sake of his younger sister, Horikita Suzune.

After all, Class D's class points had been wiped out last month, and if they couldn't earn more points, they would be stuck eating vegetable sets for every single meal.

Uesugi Hara sprawled out on his bed, staring at the photos of the exam papers Kushida Kikyo had sent on his phone screen. His fingers paused for a moment before he forwarded them to the small group chat of the three A-Class members, adding a note: "Actual questions for this exam. Bought them for 30,000 points. Remember to reimburse me."

Not long after the message was sent, replies from Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei popped up; neither of them showed the slightest bit of suspicion regarding the authenticity of the papers.

Only that little loli sent a private message that carried a provocative tone: "Uesugi-kun is truly impressive. Your methods are heaven-reaching; even I, the daughter of the Chairman, didn't know the exam questions, yet you managed to obtain them so precisely. It's truly surprising~"

Uesugi Hara twitched the corner of his mouth at the screen and replied with a straight face: "You flatter me, Arisu-san. If you were to ask the Chairman yourself, surely he wouldn't keep you in the dark?"

"Hehe~"

Seeing the reply from Sakayanagi Arisu, Uesugi Hara felt his temples throb twice.

The mockery and knowing tone hidden within those two light characters seemed to spill off the screen, brushing against his heart like a feather—this girl was clearly playing dumb while knowing exactly what was going on.

His fingertip hovered over the screen before he finally pressed the terminal off, too lazy to waste any more breath on this cunning little loli.

The next day, Class A classroom.

Katsuragi was distributing the exam papers one by one. He didn't mention the origin of the papers, nor did he explicitly state that these were the actual questions for the upcoming exam, merely instructing everyone calmly: "These are past exam papers. You can use them for practice. Do not leak them to other classes."

On the other side, Uesugi Hara had just received the 30,000 points transferred from Morishita Ran. When Morishita Ran handed over her phone to confirm the transfer, she couldn't help but ask: "Uesugi Hara, these papers... did you get them?"

"Something like that," he replied nonchalantly. His fingertip slid across the screen to confirm the 30,000 points had arrived, and he sent a 10,000-point "hard work fee" to Kushida Kikyo before putting his terminal away.

"Impressive," Morishita Ran said, her tone tinged with admiration.

"Keep it low-key," Uesugi Hara replied with a smirk.

As for the 20,000 points he had skimmed off the top, he felt not a shred of guilt. He'd earned it with his own skills, so why fret over it?

As the saying goes: making money isn't shameful.

The three of them had already discussed whether or not they should use these papers the previous night.

Sakayanagi Arisu had been explicitly against it, arguing that with Class A's strength, there was no need to rely on such things.

Katsuragi Kohei held the opposite view, believing that any opportunity to earn points for the class was worth taking, and he supported using them.

After several rounds of debate, both sides took a step back, leading to the current situation—the papers could be distributed, but it must never be explicitly stated that they were the actual exam questions, nor would anyone be forced to use them.

Uesugi Hara didn't care about the outcome; he had done what he could, and how it turned out had nothing to do with him.

Though he said that, he still reminded Kamuro and the others to study them seriously.

Noon at the cafeteria, the place was noisy.

"Uesugi-kun, what a coincidence."

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane, moving like a silent breeze, and had arrived beside Uesugi Hara before he even noticed. Behind her, Kamuro Masumi carried two trays, her gait slightly awkward.

The moment Uesugi Hara's gaze swept toward Kamuro Masumi, he was met with a fierce glare. That look clearly said, "What are you looking at!" Kamuro Masumi wore an expression of slight humiliation, mixed with a faint blush from being caught by an acquaintance—a strange combination that made Uesugi Hara struggle to suppress a laugh.

The two of them didn't stand on ceremony at all; without waiting for Uesugi Hara to speak, they sat down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"It is quite a coincidence," Uesugi Hara replied, though he was screaming internally, I don't believe a word of that!

"I'm surprised Arisu-san has the interest to eat in the cafeteria today?"

"Uesugi-kun, do you think I'm somehow different from others?" Sakayanagi Arisu tucked away her cane, her tone leisurely. "I am merely an ordinary student; it is perfectly normal for me to eat in the cafeteria."

"Oh?" Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow. "But I often see Kamuro running errands to buy food for you." With that, he tilted his chin toward Kamuro Masumi, his expression clearly asking, "Isn't that how it is?"

Sakayanagi Arisu covered her lips and chuckled, her voice cloyingly sweet: "Kamuro sees that I have difficulty moving and volunteers to help me; I am deeply grateful. Is Uesugi-kun trying to sow discord between Kamuro and me with such remarks?"

Kamuro Masumi's eyes widened instantly, her gaze toward the black-hearted loli filled with disbelief—how could this person say such outrageous things with a straight face!

Uesugi Hara felt a twitch in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face, calmly responding: "I see. Kamuro is indeed beautiful and kind-hearted."

To an outsider, it sounded like a casual compliment, but Kamuro Masumi felt like she was looking into a mirror; she knew exactly what kind of schemes were running through the minds of these two.

Seeing the two who had been at each other's throats just a moment ago now singing in harmony as if they had planned it, steering the conversation toward her, her internal alarm bells rang loudly.

"Sakayanagi, didn't you say you had something to discuss with Uesugi?" she quickly interrupted.

Uesugi Hara saw through Kamuro Masumi's intentions and followed the lead: "Oh? What could be important enough for Arisu-san to make a special trip?"

"Actually, it's nothing much," Sakayanagi Arisu said, her fingertip tapping lightly on the table. "I was just curious where Uesugi-kun obtained the information about the exam papers."

"Oh, you mean that," Uesugi Hara said, spooning up some soup. "I naturally have my own sources of information."

"But as far as I know, the first midterm exam of every year is handled by the Student Council," Sakayanagi Arisu said, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment, her smile hiding a hint of scrutiny. "Uesugi-kun's intelligence is truly impressive."

"It's just a small connection." Uesugi Hara held out his hand, pinching his thumb and index finger together to show a tiny gap.

Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze fell upon that sliver of space, her eyelashes fluttering slightly, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "'A small one'? To be able to pry clues about the midterm exam papers from the Student Council—that 'small' connection is truly heavy indeed."

Her fingertips unconsciously stroked her cane, the coldness of the metal seeping through her skin. "Uesugi-kun must also be aware of how strictly the Student Council controls such information. Especially the President, Horikita Manabu; that man cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes."

Kamuro Masumi paused in her eating, stealing a glance at Uesugi Hara. Even though he spoke so nonchalantly, the knowing expression he wore when he deliberately steered the topic toward himself earlier clearly hid other intentions.

"Perhaps I just have good luck?" Uesugi Hara withdrew his hand and picked up his chopsticks to grab a piece of fried chicken. "After all, in things like rules, there are always corners where the light doesn't reach."

"Luck, is it?" Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled, her voice wrapped in an indefinable meaning.

She suddenly leaned forward, and in the moment the distance closed, Uesugi Hara could even smell the faint scent of coffee on her. "Speaking of which, Uesugi-kun's 'small connection'—could it be related to that student from Class D, Kushida?"

This little girl is already pickled in schemes.

Uesugi Hara didn't stop chewing his food. When he looked up, he met her probing gaze, the corner of his mouth curling into a smirk. "Arisu-san, you've looked into this so thoroughly—are you particularly interested in me?"

"Just curious, that's all." Sakayanagi Arisu straightened up, leaning back against her chair, her tone returning to its leisurely state. "After all, it's rare to find someone who even makes Kamuro unable to help but pay attention."

Kamuro Masumi choked on her rice, her cheeks flushing bright red as she retorted incoherently, "Wh-who's paying attention to him!"

Uesugi Hara glanced at her and said slowly, "Oh? Then who was glaring at me so hard just now that their eyeballs were about to pop out?"

"You—!" Kamuro Masumi was speechless with anger, but Sakayanagi Arisu interrupted her lightly. "Alright, arguing while eating is such a mood-killer." She turned to Uesugi Hara, her smile soft but carrying an unquestionable sense of pressure. "However, Uesugi-kun, if some 'connections' are tangled too tightly, you might just end up burning yourself."

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow but didn't respond, simply picking up a piece of tamagoyaki and popping it into his mouth. Sunlight filtered through the cafeteria window, casting a warm, glowing light over the food.

"Perhaps." He swallowed the food in his mouth, his voice neither high nor low.