Chaoskouji

Arc 7 Chapter 1 - No Rest for the Wicked

Chabashira wasn't wearing her usual dislike or distaste, or even her incredibly rare happy and proud look, but one of frustration.

There wasn't a student in the room who missed it.

Reaching her desk with a sigh, Chabashira placed down her papers, before returning to the podium at the front of the class. Absolute silence filled the room as we waited for her to speak.

"The school has made an executive decision regarding the structure of your learning this semester," she finally said. "Since the sports festival was later in the term than it usually is, it has been decided that your midterm and end of term exams are cancelled."

A loud cheer erupted in the room, mostly originating from the less academic students, boys and girls alike. However, I found it suspicious that Chabashira was so frustrated over this. No, the cancelation of exams should just mean she has less work. What had her so upset was a combination of the executive decision, and whatever else they decided. I clearly wasn't the only one in the room who thought so.

"Instead, they have been replaced with a special exam."

That silenced everyone in an instance as they processed what Chabashira had just said.

"But we just finished the sports festival! Don't we ever get a break?" Shinohara whinged.

"This exam was going to occur anyway. Be grateful that you don't have to do your exams like usual, simply because of the nature of this special exam," Chabashira quickly interrupted the complaint.

It was interesting how she described the reasoning. I could see why the exams were cancelled if we were supposed to have an exam anyway. We were past the halfway mark already, and including this new special exam, plus our end of term exams, there wouldn't have been much time at all.

"Now, before I explain the special exam, I need to show you the new class points."

Saying so, Chabashira picked up the large roll of paper and stuck it on the board. Everyone in the class, despite having a good idea, all took a look at it.

Class A – 928 (-100)

Class B – 908 (-50)

Class C – 767 (-150)

Class D – 690 (0)

Another cheer filled the room, albeit with less energy than the last, upon seeing the results. Very quickly, we were catching up to the other classes, or having smaller losses than them, and it wouldn't be long at the current pace before we overtook Class C. In fact, if Yamauchi and Ike hadn't been expelled and cost us 100 points, we would already have passed them.

"Yes, congratulations. I suppose you aren't a complete disappointment of a class. No Class D has ever lost so many points at the beginning of the year, but neither have they gained points so quickly either."

Yes, our rate of growth was much higher than the other classes, all of which were about the same level they had been at the beginning of the year. Only Class D had made any significant advancements so far.

"Sensei, please tell us about the exam before we get any more nervous," Hirata prompted.

"Very well. Next week, there will be a short test with problems from eight subjects. There will be one hundred questions on the test, making for a total of one hundred possible points. However, the questions will be on a third-year junior high school level. This test is meant to confirm that you remember your fundamentals. Furthermore, much like the mock test you took in the first semester, it won't affect your grades."

The tension in the class seemed to drain away from most people upon hearing that it would be easy. To many people, exams were a stressful occurrence, and even just the thought of them could induce panic. To hear that it wouldn't matter was a relief.