The Ayanokouji Twins

Chapter 6 (1/3): The Expected Result

"Hey guys, don't forget about me. I did stuff too." I say, totally not  pouting.

"Joking, joking." I say as a few people hurry and reaffirm my contribution. Am I seeing things, or are they a little tense around me?

But all of that becomes irrelevant as the door opens once again, this time revealing our teacher. I hurry to go sit down, Kiyotaka following behind me.

"Good morning, Class D." She says while leaning against the podium, giving the routine greeting she's used for the last month. However, she soon breaks into a smirk as if laughing at her own joke, and corrects herself; "Or, I suppose it's Class A now?"

Cheers erupt from the class.

"Normally, I would be deducting points for that disruption." She says, which immediately shuts up our entire class. "But I'm not such a tyrant, so I'll let it pass." 

The smirk on our normally cold teacher's face is infectious. While not completely obvious, she's clearly happy right now. Is this joy from watching her class succeed, like a good teacher, or is it something else?

"That said, all of you better listen. You can all have your moment of happiness right now, but don't think you can slack off just because you made it to Class A." She says, switching back to her usual strict tone. "The only reason you're here is because of those two smirking back there," she says, pointing to our deadpan expressions. "You guys have yet to prove you have what it takes to thrive at this school. And on that note, here's your first real hurdle."

She pulls out a long poster and plasters it across the whiteboard.

"These are your scores from the practice exam a week ago. A perfect score is 20/20, so knowing that take a quick skim."

I do just that. There's no need to even mention what me and Kiyotaka got, and Kouenji isn't far behind at an impressive 18/20. Except for us three outliers, no one got higher than 16/20, though that's reasonable considering the last questions for each subject was much harder. Koenji only getting two right is evidence enough of that.

Kushida, Hirata, Mii-chan, Yukimura and Horikita all got 16/20, and from there the score distribution becomes very varied until we reach the bottom few with scores ranging around 5-2 out of 20.

Notably, there's a red line separating the bottom five from the rest of us.

"First, I'll preface this by saying we didn't expect you to get above 16. So for those perfectionists annoyed at their score, don't be. These guys." She says, pointing to the three scores up top. "Are just outliers. But, saying that, we also happen to have some outliers in the other end as well." She says, very deliberately glancing at the corner where Ike, Sudo and Yamauchi sit.

"If this was a real exam, all of you under this red line would've been expelled." She says without breaking a beat, as if it was a completely normal thing to say. The rest of the class seems to think otherwise, as a bit of panic starts to settle in.

"At the end of May, there will be a formal exam covering all the topics taught thus far. Anyone who gets below the class average on that test, like they have here, will be expelled without question."

At that, the entire class clamours.

"There's very little more to say on the subject. It's simple and exactly as I've said: get below class average, and you're expelled. There's no special conditions or rules, and we ask you of one thing only: a decent score. Of course, like any examination cheating isn't allowed, but you can study and prepare however you want. Make the most of this month."

"Now, any questions?" Several hands rise from the murmuring crowd, but instead of the people in front, the hand she picks out first is-

"Ayanokouji. What's your question?" She says, having a hard time hiding how expectant she is. So much so that we feel like teasing her a little.