Word Count - 2525 words
The current group in the Pallet consisted of Horikita, Hirata, Karuizawa, Ayanokoji, and surprisingly, Sudo. After his mess-up in the Sports Festival, he seems to have come to terms with his emotions and values, and now is genuinely interested in contributing to the class.
I found this change in attitude admirable.
"What have we found out about this exam till now?" Karuizawa-san started the conversation. "It seems pretty simple to me."
"It indeed is very simple," Horikita said. "But that doesn't explain something very important."
"Which is?"
"The short test that we'll be having next week, on our third year junior high school level syllabus," Horikita elaborated. "It doesn't explain the need for this test."
"Maybe we're just being tested?" Karuizawa-san pondered. "Maybe it has nothing to do with this Special Exam."
"I disagree. I feel that this exam is extremely important in regards to the upcoming Paper Shuffle. Sensei confirmed so herself. It seems that this short exam might be the key to acing this Special Exam."
"Hold up. Can you like, explain it in words such that an idiot like myself can understand?" Sudo groaned, and looked at Horikita.
"Very well. I meant that the pairs in the upcoming exam will be most likely made considering our results in the short test," Horikita explained.
"But that is purely speculation, right?" Hirata joined in. "We have no proof that that really is the case. And even if we do assume that the pairs are decided based on our results, what is the criteria for deciding the pairs?"
"It could be anything, to be honest. Maybe the top students will be paired together. Or maybe this exam is just a farce, and the pairs will be made according to alphabetical order. I don't think we can be sure."
The group fell into silence, and racked their brains to come up with some sort of protocol that would help decide the pairs. I sighed.
"I am positive that the first and last, second and second-last, etc., people will be paired together."
The group turned to look at me.
"Certainly, that is a possibility," Horikita pondered. "But what is the basis of your claims?"
"It's simple. Chabashira-sensei had made it clear that in the past, when the same exam had been conducted, there were only a maximum of one or two pairs expelled from the school. That could mean only one thing — the school makes the most balanced pair possible."
"Woah, slow down," Sudo said, and you could almost see the steam rising from his ears as he tried to use his brain for the first time. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"In other words, the school pairs up the student who scores the highest, and the student who scores the lowest," I explained. "That would also explain why there were only such less pairs expelled in the past. It is because most of the worse-off academic students were paired along with the honor students."
"Wait, if what you're saying is true, then the average students are in more danger, aren't they?" Karuizawa-san asked.
"It would seem that is the case," I said. I leaned back on the chair. "But now that we know this, we can use this to our advantage and tweak the rankings in a way that seems fit."
"You're saying we should alter our performances on the test?" Hirata asked me.
"Precisely. The students in our class who have low academic abilities, such as Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun and Sudo-kun, need to just appear for this test. Score a big zero, is what I mean."
"I understand. So you want all the dumb students to intentionally score a zero, so that we get paired up with the students at the top?" Sudo summarized. "That's actually a good idea."
"Yes. But that still leaves us with a bit of a problem for the students who usually rank somewhere in the middle," I said. "They'll be paired up with someone of almost the same academic capabilities as themselves, and that could lead to a bit of a dilemma."
"I don't think there's anything we can do to stop that," Horikita said. "Most of our class is filled with students that fall under this category. So there'll be quite a lot of pairs where both partners are average."
"The best we can do for them is arrange for study groups," Hirata pointed. "We can have academically better students teach them and help them in the coming few weeks of preparation."
"That brings me to another point," I pointed out. "Just because you'll be paired alongside academically brighter students does not imply that you can while away your time by not studying. Remember, this is a simple class battle. The class with the greater average score wins. We cannot afford to take it lightly."
"That's true. I think Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun need to be told that specifically," Horikita agreed to my statement.
"So can someone, like, sum everything up in an easy way so that an idiot like me can understand?" Sudo asked.
"The school will conduct a preliminary test which will decide the pairings for the subsequent midterm tests. The pairs will be formed such that they constitute the most balanced students together. And then we need to create questions together as a Class which will be used as a question paper for another class, and we'll get a question paper from one of the other classes. And whoever gets the better score wins."
Ayanokoji spoke up for the first time in the table, and laid out the entire situation bare in front of us. Hirata and Karuizawa-san nodded along with his explanation. Sudo seemed to have got the gist as well, and he slowly nodded his head in affirmation.
"Well, we've got another issue to sort out before we call it a day," I resumed. "We need to 'attack' a certain class with our questions. Does anyone have any objections with attacking Class C?"
"Class C? Surely that does seem to be the logical choice," Horikita resounded my argument. "They're the class who're closest to us in terms of academic abilities, so it increases our chances of winning."
"I agree. Class C should be our main target," Hirata said.
"But there's one thing that I want to confirm with everybody here. Class B is a viable choice, as well," said Horikita.
"Huh, Class B?" Sudo wondered aloud. "But why them? Aren't they like really smart and stuff?"
"Indeed. It is true that Class B is surely a tough nut to crack. But fighting Class C comes with considerable risk of allowing foul play and underhanded methods to enter our territory. This is Ryuuen we're talking about, after all," she replied calmly.
"I understand your concern, Horikita-san, but isn't it a bit counter-intuitive to choose Class B as our opponent?" Hirata asked concernedly. "There is definitely no chance of there being foul play if we battle against Class B. But it makes it exponentially harder to win."
"Class B has its fair share of dull students as well," Horikita responded. "Of course, I still believe that Class C is a better choice, but I don't want to close off all our options without giving it a thought."
"From that statement, can I infer that you have thrown Class A out of the equation?" I asked the black-haired girl.
"No question about that. Choosing Class A as our opponent is suicide."
There was no bantering about that in our group. It seemed everyone still thought of Class A as an all far-out heaven. I internally facepalmed at the lack of determination among my classmates.
Maybe a part of my desire to battle against Class A stemmed from the mysterious existence in Class A, Sakayanagi Arisu.
I wanted to battle her.
I wanted to see whether she was a worthy opponent or not.
But I guess that would have to wait. In an exam where the winner is decided solely on the basis of academics, having a full blown-out competition becomes extremely hard.
"So it's either Class C or Class B," Karuizawa-san reiterated. "I personally choose Class C. Aren't they the better option? I mean, I understand Ryuuen's mean and stuff, but it's not anything that we can't handle, right? We have Takeyama-kun with us, after all."
"I also don't like the idea of choosing Class B," Hirata said. "We have friendly relations with them. The last thing I want to do is destroy that trust."
Horikita stayed silent at their analysis, and sighed. "Very well then. Class C it is."
"Is that all we had for discussion? I've got basketball club in around 10 minutes, so I probably need to dip," Sudo said, pointing at his watch.
"I don't think we're done yet," I said. "We haven't discussed anything about study groups and questions for the other class yet."
"As for study groups, won't it be better to do the same thing as we did during the Midterms?" Karuizawa-san pondered. "Hirata-kun, Takeyama-kun, Horikita-san, Yukimura-kun, Mii-chan can all be the tutors, right?"
"I don't think there should be any questions on that," I said. "But it only makes sense to form the study groups after we've received the results of the short test next week."
"Hmm? But why?"
"We can then know the pairs that have been formed, right? We can put pairs together in the same study group, so we can know where each person lacks, and what each person needs to cover to compensate for the other."
"I see. Then we should form the study groups only after the test?" Sudo asked. "I understand. So I just need to get a zero, right?"
"Yes. Just get a zero. You'll most probably be paired along with the person who comes within the first 3."
"I hope I get paired alongside Suzune or something," Sudo grumbled. Horikita paid no heed to the laments of the lovestruck man.
"So that should end our short meeting, I think," Horikita amiably winded things up. "We can inform Yamauchi-kun and Ike-kun to score a zero as well tomorrow. Anyone else who we think needs to score a zero?"
"I suggest Kokoro-chan," Karuizawa-san stated. "She's not too confident in her studies, so I think it will make perfect sense to let her score a zero as well."
"Very well. Then 4 people will be scoring zeroes?"
"Count in Okitani as well."
"5? Do they really need help?"
"There's no harm in being cautious. At the end, the lower they score, they get paired along with the smarter students. I'm pretty sure once people know that, even the average students will start purposely scoring lower so that they get paired along with someone with a better score," I observed.
"Are you asking us to keep quiet about this, Keisuke?" Hirata asked me.
"Not exactly. We can't really stay quiet about this. We have to tell them. But we need to make it very clear that those who aren't supposed to score a zero, must score as high as they can."
"I understand. I'll relay that to all the girls," Karuizawa-san confirmed, and she began tapping away on her cell-phone.
"So we're done," Sudo said. "I really need to go. Club calls."
With that, the rest of us dispersed back to the dormitories.
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(Timeskip — 2 hours)
I walked through the autumn air. The wind was definitely getting colder. I would soon need to wear a jacket from next time.
I walked into the school premises, and climbed up the stairs all the way to the 3rd Floor. I turned around to head down the north corridor.
*Knock*
I waited outside the Faculty Room, and just as luck would have it, the door was opened by the person I didn't exactly want to meet.
"Ohoho, it's Keisuke-kun!" Hoshinomiya-sensei squealed, and she wrapped me around in a hug. "How've you been, cutie?"
"Umm, sensei."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I don't think you should....."
"Should what?"
I sighed. "I don't think you should be latching on to me like this." I slowly pushed her off and released myself from her grip.
"Aww~ but why?" she said sadly, and she wiped off an imaginary tear from her eye. "I thought you liked me, Keisuke-kun....."
Why does everyone do this to me? They always make me out to be the villain. It's annoying.
"I'm sorry, Hoshinomiya-sensei, but I don't see you that way."
Yet.
"Haah!" Hoshinomiya-sensei let out an audible scream, and she covered her mouth with her hands. "You..... you don't like me, Keisuke-kun?"
"That's not what I meant....."
"Then you do like me!" she squealed, and she latched herself onto my arm once again. "Come on, we'll go for a date! It can be in the Pallet, or even at the high end restaurant in Keyaki Mall, or maybe in your dorm bedroo- OW!"
Hoshinomiya-sensei let out a cute yelp, and she clutched her butt with her hands. "Ow, Sae-chan..... don't be such a cockblocker....."
Chabashira-sensei hit her once again.
"OW! Ok, ok, I won't use bad words again! I swear!" Hoshinomiya-sensei was almost on the verge of tears now.
"What are you doing to my student?"
"I wasn't doing anything, I pinkie-promise!" she held out her little finger. "Keisuke-kun said that he had a date with you! So I was getting all jelly-jelly!"
Chabashira-sensei raised her eyebrows. "A..... date?"
"Yeah, that's what he said!"
"I didn't say that!" I said incredulously.
"Hah, I love it when you get all flustered!" Hoshinomiya-sensei cooed. "Your cheeks become so pinchable and huggable and squeezable and ---"
Another whack from the clipboard earned another screech from the perverted teacher, and she scooted away into the Staff Room, clutching her now-probably red buttock.
Chabashira-sensei sighed.
"Please excuse her."
"It's alright; this isn't something new."
"Wait, you mean she's done this to you before?"
"She never went this far. I guess sensei was just happy seeing me after so long," I said.
"I'd suggest you keep a distance of at least 10 meters from her at all times," Chabashira-sensei grumbled. "You wouldn't want to get violated now, right?"
"I don't think she actually can violate me....."
"Prevention is better than cure, Takeyama. Come in. I assume you have something you want to talk about?"
"I do. But I believe it's a sensitive topic. Perhaps we can do this in private?"
"But of course. Head over to my cubicle."
"Thank you, sensei."
Hoshinomiya-sensei peeked her head out from her cubicle door. "Now, now, Sae-chan, what exactly are you planning to do to my Keisuke-kun all alone, huh?"
"Shut up, Chie, and go back to your work."
"But my work currently is to spy on the 2 of you!" she proclaimed. "I cannot allow you to turn Keisuke-kun into a man without me!"
"....."
"I wouldn't actually mind a threesome, you know? Hmm..... wait, I know! Why three, when it can be four! I'll call up Honami-chan!"
"Pass me the metal clipboard, Takeyama."
"No!! Not the dreaded metal clipboard!" Hoshinomiya-sensei screamed.
"You're dead, Chie."
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A/N's:
Oh My God.
Creepsies has updated guys.
Also RIP Hoe-shinomiya-sensei.
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