Starting in class B: Ayanokouji the actor.

Arc 1 chapter 10: test|hypothesis

(Half of this chapter is pretty much copied from the ln)

For third period today, we had history class with Chabashira-sensei. When the bell rang, Chabashira-sensei walked into the noisy classroom. The class quietened down a little at her entrance.

"Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a little serious."

"What do you mean, Sae-chan-sensei?"

They already had a pet name for the teacher.

"It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please pass these to the back."

She handed out the papers to the students in the front row. Eventually, the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main subjects. With only a few questions per subject, it really was short.

"Huh? I wasn't listening, though. This is so unfair!" A student cried.

"Don't say that. This test is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of course, cheating is prohibited."

Her phrasing struck me as odd. Normally, only general grades were reflected in your report card. But the way Chabashira-sensei said they wouldn't be reflected in our report cards made me think that the grade would be reflected in some other way. Well...perhaps I was worrying too much. If this had no effect on our report card, then there was no need to be so cautious.

As soon as the pop quiz began, I scanned the questions. There were four questions per subject, for a total of twenty. Each question was worth five points, for a total of one hundred points. Most of the questions were extraordinarily easy, to the point where it was almost a letdown. In fact, the questions seemed to be about two levels less difficult than the ones on the entrance examination. It appeared far too easy.

However, just as I thought that, I reached the end of the test. The final three questions were of an order of magnitude higher in terms of difficulty. The final math problem couldn't be solved without complex formulae.

"No way. These questions are seriously way too hard..."

These questions couldn't be geared toward a first-year high school student. The final three questions were clearly of a different quality than the others, so it was possible they'd been put on the test by mistake. Even though the results wouldn't be reflected in our grades, what in the hell were they evaluating with this?

Well, I guess I'd just have to solve these problems the same way I did on the exam.

Chabashira-sensei monitored us. As she slowly patrolled the classroom, she kept a watchful eye to dissuade us from cheating. I looked around the room.

From what I saw of my classmates, I was confident that none of them would actually fail the test.

I continued staring intently at my test until the bell rang.

"Ayanokouji-kun...you have a girlfriend, don't you?"

"What?"

After we'd finished eating lunch, I was chatting with a few people. The three idiots, Ike, Yamauchi and Sudou, had managed to come into the conversation.

"It's just that, you're always hanging around with girls. Like, you were at the basketball court with that loli chick from class A, right? And a few days ago, Ike got it from Sotomura, who heard from Hondou who was told by Miyake that Kushida went to your room the other night," said Sudou.

At this, everyone gave out an 'oh dayum' and looked to me for an explanation.

"Well, Arisu and I are what you call...childhood friends," I explained.

At this, everyone nodded.

"And what about Kushida-chan?" Asked Ike.

It seems Ike had a particular bee in his bonnet about me and Kushida. Perhaps he harboured feelings for her?

"Well, Kushida and I...we're just friends. I was helping her sort out some stuff the other day, is all." That technically wasn't a lie.

At this, everyone generally accepted my lie.

It would be bad if I got a girlfriend, or if Kushida got a boyfriend. Our popularity was slightly different to someone like Hirata, who had just started dating Karuizawa. Because of their relationship, both of their reputations skyrocketed. I and Kushida would start to lose followers who were only interested in our bodies if we ever entered into relationships.

I suppose, if Kushida and I dated each other, it wouldn't be so bad as us dating other people. At least it would make sense, since we were both the most popular people in the year.

Again, it was time for me to have some time by myself, without any distractions.

I decided this would be a good time to check out the library.

It was truly impressive, one of the largest libraries in the country. The fact that this was reserved only for high schoolers was truly astonishing.

I could spend hours in here.

Clack!

"Fufufu...hello, Kiyotaka-kun," said a voice.

"Arisu..." I said, before turning to see the short girl.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said, looking around the library.

"Indeed. It's almost as though you're following me," I said, browsing the shelves.

At this, Sakayanagi stiffened up a little.

"W-well...it's not like I followed you, actually," she muttered.

"So what do you make of that test earlier?" I asked.

"What? You...want to hear my opinion?" Asked Sakayanagi.

"Of course. Besides me, you easily have the greatest academic mind in the first-years that I've met so far. I've not met anyone who comes close to your level. I consider us to be almost equal, Arisu, so don't feel as though you need to prove yourself to me," I said.

"W-well then...I think that the test was meant to show the school what level we were at, academically speaking," she observed, blushing at my earlier words.

"I think the same. But why would we need to show them. What do you think happens if someone failed the test?" I asked.

"Well...perhaps they get expelled. This is supposed to be an elite school, after all. Perhaps the bare minimum for advancing in this school is to continually keep passing examinations," she theorised.

She was so close.

"Hmm...disappointing. I'd have thought you'd figured it out by now," I said, turning to walk away.

"W-wait...what do you mean? Where are you going?" She asked.

"To see if my theory is true," I said.

The only thing I needed now was concrete proof of my theory.

The classes...they descended in order of ability, with class A being the strongest, and class D being the weakest.

If you looked, it was all too obvious.

But for what purpose?

I finally arrived at my destination, and knocked on the door.

"Enter," said a voice inside.

I opened the door, and closed it behind me.

"Ayanokouji-kun...how can I help you?" Asked Chabashira-sensei.

1161 words
I revived my ancient computer from the dead yesterday. It was showing an orange stripy screen on startup, so I kicked it real hard, turned it off and on again. Lo and behold: it lives.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed