Chapter Summaries

Takahashi Ren competed in the Sports Festival, where his class lost the Cavalry Battle and he and Shiraishi finished last in the mixed Three-Legged Race. After Shiraishi defended him from Yoshida’s accusations, Takahashi Ren left the tent to follow Yoshida toward the school building.

• Sudo charged ahead after Ryuuen taunted him, lost their one-on-one fight, and Ryuuen’s White Team won the Cavalry Battle.
• Takahashi Ren drew a request for a classmate’s hair clip, borrowed Shiina’s clip, and finished second in the Scavenger Hunt.
• Takahashi Ren and Shiraishi fell during the mixed Three-Legged Race, got up, and finished last.
• Yoshida blamed Takahashi Ren for the loss, but Shiraishi said the fall was her fault and defended Takahashi Ren.
• Yoshida walked toward the school building, and Takahashi Ren followed after Toba Shigeru warned him to be careful.

After the Sports Festival events, Takahashi Ren confronted Yoshida Kenta, who apologized and promised not to take his feelings for Shiraishi out on Ren again. The festival ended with the Red Team winning, while Class 1-B topped the first-year rankings, and the students dispersed for the day.

• Shiraishi told Nishikawa that she had used Yoshida's outburst to help her get closer to Takahashi Ren, but she planned to spend more time winning his trust.
• Takahashi Ren suspected Shiraishi's fall during the race had been unusual and went to the restroom, where he found Yoshida Kenta upset.
• Takahashi Ren acknowledged Yoshida's feelings for Shiraishi, explained why he had kept them private, and warned him not to target Ren again.
• Takahashi Ren spoke with Ai Morishita, who checked whether Yoshida was all right, and the two returned to the field together.
• The Red Team won the Sports Festival, Class 1-B ranked first among first-year classes, and Shibata Hayate received the first-year Most Outstanding Athlete award.
• The closing ceremony ended, and Takahashi Ren headed with the other students toward the classroom as the festival dispersed.

At the Student Council handover, Miyabi Nagumo announced sweeping changes that would concentrate power in the council and promised to overturn the school’s established order. Later, Takahashi Ren had lunch with Shiraishi, Nishikawa, Yoshida, and Kito, while Kito left without sharing anything about himself.

• Manabu Horikita gave a brief farewell address as outgoing Student Council president.
• Miyabi Nagumo became president and announced indefinite terms, the abolition of elections and membership limits, and a plan to remake the school.
• Second-years cheered Nagumo’s speech as the students left the handover ceremony.
• Takahashi Ren went to the cafeteria with Shiraishi, Nishikawa, Yoshida, and Kito for lunch.
• Shiraishi suggested the group share details about their private lives, and she, Nishikawa, Yoshida, and Takahashi Ren each talked about themselves.
• Kito finished his curry and returned to the classroom without discussing his private life.

Takahashi Ren met with Kamuro and learned that Sakayanagi wanted to meet Ayanokoji, then discussed Blindness with Shiina Hiyori at the library. Shiina asked whether he would hate her for helping Ryuuen, and the chapter ended with her saying she still wanted to read with him.

• Kamuro asked Takahashi Ren what he knew about Ayanokoji and said Sakayanagi had told her to bring him to meet her.
• Takahashi Ren told Kamuro that Sakayanagi had never asked him to investigate Ayanokoji, then wondered about Sakayanagi's interest and his growing lie to Kamuro.
• Takahashi Ren met Shiina Hiyori at the library, and they discussed the meaning of the blindness in Blindness.
• Shiina asked Takahashi Ren what he thought of Class C and admitted that she sometimes helped Ryuuen despite disliking his methods.
• Takahashi Ren said he would hate Shiina if she knowingly helped Ryuuen commit violence, and Shiina replied that she would not give him a chance to hate her because she still wanted to read with him.

Mashima explained that next week's eight-subject quiz would determine Class A's Fate-Sharing Partners for the final exams, a special contest called Paper Shuffle. The chapter left the class facing partner-based failure rules and a class-versus-class exam whose questions students would write.

• Mashima announced a hundred-question quiz covering middle school material and explained that its results would determine exam partners.
• Mashima explained that both partners would be expelled if their combined score fell below sixty in any subject or missed the required overall total, expected to be around seven hundred.
• Mashima said students would write the final exam questions for another class, with teachers reviewing them and fifty Class Points at stake for the winning class.
• Katsuragi asked how points would work in direct matchups, and Mashima explained that those contests would temporarily have a hundred Class Points at stake.
• Toba Shigeru questioned whether students could write unfair questions, and Mashima said teachers would reject questions that were outside the syllabus or invalid.
• Mashima told Class A to choose a class to challenge and said he would ask for its decision the day before next week's quiz.

Takahashi Ren discussed the Paper Shuffle pairing rules with Toba Shigeru and Ishida, then reflected on his friendships with several girls after they teased him about having a harem. He dismissed the idea and began preparing the forty questions he had to write for the exam.

• Takahashi Ren explained that scoring slightly lower on the quiz might pair Toba Shigeru with a strong student for the finals.
• Toba Shigeru and Ishida teased Takahashi Ren about being close to several girls and warned him that his relationships could become complicated.
• Takahashi Ren considered his connections with Shiraishi, Kamuro, Morishita, Sakayanagi, Shiina, Kushida, and Yamamura, but rejected the idea that he was building a harem.
• Takahashi Ren began writing exam questions and completed five mathematics questions before leaving the rest for the next day.

Sakayanagi brought Takahashi Ren and Kamuro together to discuss Class A’s leadership and its stance on the final exams. After Katsuragi rejected her offer to lead under her policies, Sakayanagi assigned Kamuro to watch Ayanokoji and continued trying to draw Takahashi into her plans.

• Sakayanagi discussed the final exams and Class A’s choice to challenge Class B with Kamuro and Takahashi Ren.
• Katsuragi and Totsuka arrived, and Katsuragi maintained that challenging Class B had been a mistake.
• Katsuragi stepped down as Class A’s leader, but refused Sakayanagi’s offer to lead under her policies and left with Totsuka.
• Sakayanagi told Kamuro to stop monitoring Katsuragi and instead keep an eye on Ayanokoji.
• Kamuro grabbed Sakayanagi by the collar, but released her after Sakayanagi threatened her with her cane.
• Sakayanagi called Takahashi her right-hand man and implied that Kamuro and Takahashi’s bond would serve her plans.

Takahashi Ren and his classmates dealt with Ryuuen Kakeru’s public accusation against Ichinose Honami, which the school quickly disproved, then sat their final exams. Ren reassured his careless partner Toba Shigeru that they had passed, while Ishida warned that Toba’s lack of urgency could eventually cause trouble.

• Toba Shigeru alerted Takahashi Ren and Ishida to an anonymous-looking letter, signed by Ryuuen Kakeru, accusing Ichinose Honami of illegally collecting points.
• Takahashi Ren dismissed the letter as a nuisance and left, and the school announced the next day that Ichinose had done nothing wrong.
• As December arrived, Mashima began the final exams and told students that each pair needed a combined score of 692, with at least 60 in every subject.
• After the two-day exams, Toba Shigeru said he had scored only around thirty in chemistry because he fell asleep while studying, and Ren assured him they would pass.
• Ishida criticized Toba for neglecting his studies, but Toba offered to buy dinner and left while Ren acknowledged that Toba would only change after facing real trouble.

After the final exams, Takahashi Ren, Ishida, and Toba Shigeru chatted about class rankings, clubs, and Christmas plans. They discussed Class C searching for a strategist in Class D, while Takahashi kept his distance from the matter and planned to spend Christmas performing with the Light Music Club.

• Toba Shigeru and Ishida noted that Class A had beaten Class B by two points and Class D had defeated Class C, leaving Class D only eighty points behind Class C.
• Takahashi Ren asked whether graduating from Class A mattered, and Ishida explained that a tie in the final exam would lead to another special exam.
• Ishida said he had joined the tea ceremony club because his grandfather collected tea sets, while Takahashi said he had joined his club because of a promise to his older brother.
• Toba Shigeru claimed Class C was searching for a hidden strategist in Class D, and Takahashi said he knew nothing about it.
• Takahashi told Toba Shigeru that he would spend Christmas performing with the Light Music Club, while Ishida planned to read.

Takahashi Ren learned that Mashima had no exam answers to sell and heard the teacher worry about his relationship with Miss Akiyama. Ren then tricked Ai Morishita into waiting for Mashima after school, leaving her angry as he suspected someone was talking about him.

• Takahashi Ren glanced at Ai Morishita's legs, and she called him a pervert.
• Ai Morishita told Ren that Mr. Mashima wanted to see him, but Mashima said he had not called for him.
• Mashima asked Ren for advice about moving his relationship with Miss Akiyama forward, while Ren asked whether Mashima could provide old exam content.
• Mashima refused to sell exam content and revealed that the price he had once quoted Ren was made up.
• Ren told Ai that Mashima wanted to see her after school, then left a note on her desk after she found the office empty.
• Ai Morishita crumpled Ren's note in anger, while Ren sneezed and joked that someone was talking about him.