Sudo Ken, One Point Short

With the midterm exams over.

Before the bell even rang, Mashima Tomoya was already standing at the podium. He held a stack of report cards, tapped their aligned edges twice against the podium, then set them down beside him.

He did not speak immediately. First, he swept his gaze around the classroom.

"Class A's midterm exam results."

His voice was not loud, but the classroom was so quiet that even the sound of turning pages was absent.

"Everyone passed. No one failed."

After a brief silence, the atmosphere in the classroom loosened somewhat. Some students relaxed their shoulders and let out a breath, while others turned to exchange glances with the people beside them.

Mashima Tomoya did not let that mood last long. He opened the report cards and began calling names one by one.

Those whose names were called went up to collect their report cards. Some hurried over, glanced at their scores, and returned to their seats with smiles. Others took theirs expressionlessly and went straight back.

"Kiryu Yume."

He looked up.

"You passed history, as well as all other subjects. You ranked twelfth in the class overall."

After a pause, he added, "Your history score has improved significantly since last time. Keep it up."

Kiryu Yume took his report card, folded it in half, slipped it into his bag, and returned to his seat.

A voice came from diagonally behind him.

"So you actually passed."

Morishita Ran leaned sideways against the back of her chair, one hand resting on the top edge of his chair back. Her fingertips dangled about two centimeters from his shoulder.

Kiryu Yume turned to look at her.

"What do you mean, 'actually'?"

"You only got forty-one on the last quiz." Morishita Ran's tone was flat. "I thought you were going to make a regretful exit this time."

"Sakayanagi Arisu tutored me for two weeks."

"I know. The library's huge, and I'm not blind. The way Sakayanagi Arisu went through everything with you page by page, anyone who didn't know better would think she was teaching her son."

Kiryu Yume choked on his words. He opened his mouth, then shut it again.

The corner of Morishita Ran's mouth curved up for an instant as he faltered, then returned to normal.

"Do it yourself next time. Don't always make someone carry you."

Kiryu Yume looked at the back of her head, paused, then called softly, "Mama Morishita."

Morishita Ran's hand paused for a beat as she turned a page. Once she had flipped it over, she said without looking back, "I know, you disobedient child."

Kiryu Yume opened his mouth and closed it again. He lowered his head, glanced at his report card, and put it into his bag.

The bell rang.

He stood and left the classroom.

The hallway was crowded. He had taken a few steps toward the stairwell when he heard people talking ahead. It was louder than an ordinary conversation, as if they were arguing about something. He passed through the crowd and rounded the corner, where he saw at least a dozen people gathered outside Class D.

He did not squeeze in. Instead, he stopped beside the wall, around seven or eight meters away, where he had a clear view of the entire Class D hallway.

Chabashira Sae stood in the middle of the hallway. Her posture was straight, her arms hanging naturally at her sides. She held several report cards in her left hand, their corners fluttering slightly in the breeze, but she did not look down at them.

Sudo Ken stood before her. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling visibly even from several steps away. He said nothing, but his fists were clenched, his knuckles white, with red marks between his fingers where his nails had dug into his palms.

Chabashira Sae spoke.

"Class D's midterm exam results have been announced. Most students have met the passing standard. However, Sudo Ken scored thirty-nine in English."

The hallway fell quiet for several seconds.

"The class average for that subject is eighty. The passing mark is forty. You are one point below the passing standard."

She paused and looked straight ahead, her gaze landing on Sudo Ken's face.

"According to school regulations, you will be expelled."

Sudo Ken's breathing hitched for a moment, but Chabashira Sae gave him no chance to recover. She added, her voice quiet but every word as clear as if carved into the hallway tiles.

"We handed you past exam questions, and you still managed to score thirty-nine. Is your brain just for decoration?"

The hallway became even quieter. Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki both froze, while Hirata Yosuke's brow twitched, though he said nothing.

Sudo Ken's face reddened. His clenched fists began to tremble, but he did not argue, because he had no argument to make.

Ike Kanji's voice burst out from the crowd, panic impossible to suppress. "No, wait a second! Sudo Ken passed every other subject, so why does one English score—"

Chabashira Sae did not look at him. "Rules are rules. The class average determines the passing line, not personal wishes. Sudo Ken's English score is less than half the class average. The same standard applies in every class."

Ike Kanji opened his mouth, then closed it. His hand waved once in midair before dropping back down. He turned to look at Yamauchi Haruki, who stood beside him, pale as a sheet. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Hirata Yosuke stepped out of the crowd. He stopped two paces away from Chabashira Sae, his tone gentle. "Chabashira-sensei. May I ask whether this expulsion decision takes effect immediately? Have Sudo's parents already been notified?"

He did not plead for mercy. He was asking about the procedure.

That made Chabashira Sae glance at him. "His enrollment will be frozen immediately. He will complete his withdrawal procedures and leave school today."

Hirata Yosuke fell silent for two seconds. "Then at least let him finish today's classes before he leaves. Announcing an expulsion so suddenly is a shock to both him and his classmates."

"There's no need." Chabashira Sae's tone never wavered. "This is the school's decision, not mine. Even if I stood here and said 'what a shame' a hundred times, the outcome would not change."

Hirata Yosuke said nothing more. He remained where he was, silent for several seconds.

Karuizawa Kei stood near the outer edge of the crowd. She was too far back to see the exact figures on the report cards in Chabashira Sae's hand, but when the words "expulsion" reached her through the crowd, the motion of twisting the zipper pull around her fingers paused.

Then she began twisting it again, pulling the zipper all the way up, then down, then up again, repeating the motion several times. She did not speak, and her expression did not visibly change much, but she kept repeating that action.

Uneasy voices began to rise from every corner of the crowd, impossible to contain.

"Expelled over one point..."

"That's way too harsh..."

"Rules are rules, but..."

Horikita Suzune stepped out of the crowd.

Her pace was unhurried. She stopped half a step diagonally in front of Sudo Ken, standing sideways so she could see Chabashira Sae's expression while catching sight of Sudo Ken's clenched fist at his side from the corner of her eye. She did not look at Sudo Ken. Her expression was calm, as though she was not speaking up for anyone.

"Chabashira-sensei, does the school have an appeal process for this expulsion?"

Chabashira Sae's gaze shifted from Sudo Ken's face to Horikita Suzune's. "No. Academic evaluations and expulsion standards are enforced uniformly by the school. Appeals are not accepted."

Horikita Suzune did not respond right away. She lowered her eyes as though processing the information, then raised them again.

"Then aside from an appeal, is there any provision in the school rules that allows a student's academic evaluation to be changed after grades are announced?"

"No."

"Can personal points be used to buy the one point he is missing?"

The hallway fell silent.

Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki's eyes widened at the same time. Hirata Yosuke said nothing, but he tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on Horikita Suzune's profile.

Chabashira Sae looked at her for two seconds. The corner of her mouth moved so slightly it was nearly imperceptible. "Come to my office."

She turned around. Her heels clicked twice against the hallway floor as the crowd automatically parted to make way.

Horikita Suzune stood there for an instant, perhaps half a second, before following her.

The eyes in the hallway followed her retreating figure until she disappeared through the staff office door.

The door closed.

The hallway did not immediately become noisy again. Sudo Ken still stood where he was, unmoving, with nothing in the empty hallway before him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was not standing in the center of the crowd.

He stood at its edge, toward the back, in a position where he neither drew attention nor risked being pushed out. From there, he could see Chabashira Sae's face and Horikita Suzune's back.

After seeing Horikita Suzune follow Chabashira Sae into the office, he pulled his hand out of his pocket and headed in the direction opposite the stairwell.

Kushida Kikyo stood toward the front of the crowd.

She had not spoken the entire time. Her expression matched those around her: a slight furrow in her brow, her lips faintly parted.

But the moment Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned and headed toward the stairwell, her gaze shifted away from Horikita Suzune's retreating back for less than half a second, sliding toward the corner of the hallway before returning.

She looked once more toward the staff office, where Horikita Suzune had just disappeared behind the door. Then she withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, rubbed the back of her left hand with her right thumb, and raised her head again.

"There should be a way, right...?"

She said it to the girl beside her, concern perfectly measured in her voice, its final note lifting slightly.

The girl beside her replied with something, and she nodded without looking toward the hallway corner again.

People began to disperse from the hallway. Some returned to class, some discussed the matter quietly, and some took out their phones to type.

Three people remained in the hallway. Ike Kanji stood to Sudo Ken's left, Yamauchi Haruki to his right. The three stood side by side, and none of them spoke.

Ike Kanji opened his mouth, then closed it. He reached out and patted Sudo Ken's shoulder. His hand remained there for two seconds before dropping. Then he turned and left.

Yamauchi Haruki looked at Sudo Ken once, then followed after him.

Sudo Ken stood there alone as the people around him grew fewer and fewer. The bell rang.

Inside the staff office.

When Horikita Suzune entered, Chabashira Sae was already seated at her desk, flipping through a file folder. She did not look up when she heard the door open.

"Close the door."

Horikita Suzune did as instructed.

Chabashira Sae finished the page, closed the folder, leaned back in her chair, and glanced at Horikita Suzune.

Then her gaze passed over Horikita Suzune's shoulder and settled on the doorway.

"You at the door, come in too."

The door opened slightly.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stepped through the gap. He looked neither at Horikita Suzune nor Chabashira Sae. He walked up to the desk and stopped about two paces away from Horikita Suzune.

Chabashira Sae leaned back in her chair and looked at the two standing before her.

"You two really know how to pick your timing."

No one replied.

Chabashira Sae tossed the folder onto the desk with a dull thud.

"You want to know how the rules are written? Fine, I'll tell you."