The day before the test we were in class as Kushida handed out the test questions to everyone. "Did you make these?" Kei asked her.
"Actually, they are questions from an earlier test. A third-year student gave them to me last night." Kushida lied. "He said pretty much the same questions had appeared on the test the last two years, so I bet they will be useful on our test tomorrow!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Ike tried to make out with the paper.
Everyone seems really happy and Sudo looked relieved. "Koenji, here." Kushida tried to give one to the man spreader.
"I beg your pardon, but I need no such thing and I have a date to get to, now, if you will excuse me." He walked past her.
"Kushida." Suzune went up to her.
"I know you might not need it, but..." Kushida handed her one.
All the boys surrounded Kushida and thanked her. She looked really happy about it. "So she likes the attention, that's why she wants friends." I hummed.
We did the test and the day arrived for the results to be announced, and Sudo's group were still surrounding Kushida singing her praises. "Kushida is well suited to the role." Kiyotaka hummed.
"Not much of a compliment." Suzune added.
"Hey, Rekka." Sudo came up to me and everyone looked over curiously since most have only seen us interact when he pushed me. "I wanted to show you this."
"Oh, Flareon!" I exclaimed seeing the card in his hand.
"I said I was going to tell you what Pokemon you remind me of." He laughed. "Your name means fire and your eyes are bright like one to, along with your passion for basketball!"
He then paused when he noticed everyone else watching us. "What are you looking at?!" He yelled.
"I say you're a Sylveon gentle and cute." I admitted and he blushed.
"Thanks." Sudo walked off as everyone looked a little shocked but happy.
"Cute?" Kiyotaka asked me.
"Like a puppy." I explained. "Easy to train, but easily falls for bait."
Suzune looked a little confused at my explanation, but Sae came in to announce our results so she didn't ask me about it.
"To be honest, I'm impressed." Sae admitted. "I never thought you'd be able to get such high scores. I acknowledge your efforts."
"However..." She circled Sudo's name on the board. "You got a failing score, Sudo."
He got a 39, overall. "What, you're kidding me! How did I fail?!" He freaked out.
"The threshold for failure on this midterm test was 40, the average score on the midterm test was 79.6 and dividing that by two makes 39.8 since we round that up, you needed a score of 40 or higher to pass." Sae explained making him lose hope.
All of his aggression left him since his way of fighting is violence and that won't help him here. "We only knew each other for a short time, but I appreciate your efforts, I will issue your notice of expulsion after class." She informed him.
"Wait a minute! Isn't there any way to save him?!" Hirata stood up.
"A failing score means you're finished." Sae answered.
"We can't let Sudo be expelled!" Kushida added.
"Rules are rules." She shrugged. "Give it up. Homeroom is over. Sudo, I will be waiting in the staff office after classes."
Saw walked out? "Want to go buy one?" I asked Kiyotaka. "Losing is boring."
He nodded and got up, we went to leave class through the back door. "Rekka? Ayanokoji?" Kushida brought everyone's attention to us.
"Sorry, nurse's office." I waved my hand and gave a weak smile to convince them.
We then went after Sae and she was on the roof smoking. "I should have brought my umbrella." I hummed as we walked out onto the roof.
"What is it? Class is going to start soon, you know." Sae asked us.
"Teacher. May I ask you a question?" Kiyotaka spoke up.
"A question?" She hummed without turning to us.
"In Japan, right now, do you think society is equal?" He asked.
"That's quite a question." Sae laughed amused. "Is there any point in me answering that?"
"It's important, could you answer, please?" Kiyotaka informed her.
"From where I stand, I'd say society is certainly not equal, not a bit." Sae admitted.
"I agree, I think the word equal with humanity is a myth." I hummed.
"What are you getting at?" She asked us.
"That rules require, at least the appearance of an equal application." Kiyotaka explained then held out his phone when she turned to us.
"We would like a point for Sudo's English test score." I grinned. "We can buy anything we want with points."
She laughed. "You two are interesting, you want me to sell you test points?"
"As Rekka said we can buy anything with our points, and rules must be applied equally, even on this midterm test." Kiyotaka informed her.
"I see, your idea is indeed plausible, however, that doesn't mean you both can afford it." Sae smirked.
"So how much?" I asked.
"Let me see if you both can give me 10,000 points right here and now, I will sell it to you" She grinned.
"That's cruel, teacher." Kiyotaka informed her.
"That's part of the rules, too." Sae reminded us.
"I will pay too!" I turned to see Suzune was the one who yelled. "We don't know what penalty might be enacted on a class that loses students to expulsion. I have determined there may be considerable merit in keeping him around."
"Horikita." Kiyotaka mumbled while I grinned.
"I knew you people would be interesting." Sae laughed. "Very well, I will sell you Sudo's test point. You can let him know his expulsion has been rescinded yourselves."
"You sure about this?" Kiyotaka asked.
"I agreed to sell it for 20,000 points, I don't have a choice." She informed us. "In the history of this school, no class D has ever advanced to a higher tier, do you still intend to struggle for it?"
"I don't know how they feel, but I will ascend to a higher class." Suzune declared.
"And how do defectives like you, abandoned by the school expect to aim for the top?" Sae asked us.
"If I may be bold, defective merchandise can often be fixed with the slightest of alterations, anyone can learn and make it to the top, that is my feelings on the matter." Suzune explained and it made me grin since she used the words I told her showing she can change and be manipulated.
"I look forward to seeing it then." Sae walked off. "As your teacher, I will watch over you warmly."
"Please don't, I will die." I asked of her, and she just stared at me.
We went back to class, and I found Sudo at his desk slumped over it. "Hey, Sudo, your expulsion has been rescinded." I informed him and he slowly looked up and then hugged me tightly while crying.
"Thank you!" He yelled.
"Really?" Yamauchi asked me.
"She wouldn't lie!" Sudo held me high up as he celebrated.
"Put her down, please." Kiyotaka asked of him.
"Not yet, being this tall is cool." I hummed seeing the tops of everyone's heads.
Everyone just grinned at us. "Man, you're really light, do you even eat?" Sudo asked me.
A bunch of the girls then hit him confusing me. "Was I supposed to get hurt by that?" I asked.
"No!" Sudo yelled confused as he backed away from the girls.
After school, I was with Kiyotaka and Suzune in the park. "Class A has 1,004 points, by comparison. We have 87 points, honestly, aiming for Class A feels like a pipe dream." Kiyotaka admitted.
"I'm not giving up." Suzune added. "I will advance to Class A."
"I see." He nodded.
"What?" She asked with an aggressive tone.
"Well, we owe you one, thanks for saving Sudo." Kiyotaka thanked her.
"Yeah, thanks!" I added.
"Didn't I tell you two? I did that for my own sake, nothing more." Suzune sighed.
We both hummed at the same time. "Is that really the only reason?" Kiyotaka asked.
"What are you saying?" She questioned us.
"You knew Sudo's English midterm score would be borderline so you intentionally lowered your score, didn't you? That's a very nice thing to do for someone you once pushed away." He mumbled.
"I did it to get into Class A" Suzune repeated.
"You even worked with Kushida, and you used the same words I told you before, you're nice." I grinned flustering her further and it seems she will be easy to manipulate even more in the future.
"I don't like your attitude, Ayanokoji." Suzune stood up. "To regret in suffering or to regret in despair...which do you prefer?"
"Neither probably." I guessed as she went for him with a compass.
"Ow." He mumbled.
After that, we went home and I had a bath, and I was going to check in with Kiyotaka to show I didn't die.
I got changed into my PJs first. "We should invite Rekka!" I heard Sudo yell, so I opened the door that connects to Kiyotaka's room and everyone paused and looked at me.
"Wait, why is she there?!" Yamauchi yelled.
"Did you hide her?!" Ike asked.
Suzune and Kushida looked shocked. "I remember hearing Rekka's voice while I was on the phone with Ayanokoji, I knew it, you two are dating!" Kushida pointed at us.
"No." We both corrected her calmly.
"No?! You're in his room!" Sudo yelled.
"So you're dating him then?" I asked and he made a gagging sound. "Anyway, this is my room. His room is attached to mine since I could die in my sleep, anyway, here's your daily update of me not being dead, so what's happening?"
"I had no objection to celebrating, but I don't know why it's in my room." Kiyotaka explained.
"Here." Kushida held out a bag of popcorn for me, and I took it and sat with her on the bed, and Suzune was a little distance away from us reading a book.
Ike and Yamauchi were praising Kushida like usual. "Hey, how did you two get them to rescind Sudo's expulsion?" Kushida asked us and everyone looked over.
I looked at Kiyotaka, and I could immediately tell we had someone easy to pin it on. "Suzune had a talk with the school. It was amazing. She said you can't expel anyone without an explanation just because they got failing scores." I grinned.
"You did?" Kushida turned her attention to Suzune, and Suzune went to deny so Kiyotaka spoke up.
"I have never seen her so serious about anything, it sure was incredible. She threw out all these accusations and not one teacher could fight her." Kiyotaka lied.
The boys started to sing her praises this time. "Isn't it great, Sudo?" I asked him.
"Why would you do that for me?" Sudo mumbled.
"I merely acted for my own benefit, and Rekka helped me to." Suzune pointed at me.
"Crying helps?" I asked.
"She cried!" They all yelled except for Kiyotaka.
"Well, I like you guys." I grinned, "Suzune really was the only one who did it all."
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" Suzune questioned me.
"Do you want me to go back to calling you, rude girl?" I asked, and she turned away from me. "Suzune it is!"
I could see Kushida had a change of attitude. She was much quieter even as the celebration went on. "The only change was the boys weren't singing her praises anymore." I hummed as I was helping Kiyotaka clean up while Kushida was the only one who stayed behind to wash the dishes.
"Thanks for staying behind." Kiyotaka thanked her as she came out of the kitchen.
"I should thank you for letting us use your room." She grinned.
"Hey, Kiyotaka? Do you like girls like Horikita? Or Rekka?" Kushida asked nervously. "I always see you three together and all the girls in class are talking about it."
"Horikita is my friend, actually, she's my neighbour and Rekka is Rekka." He answered.
"I see, what about you, Rekka? Do you like Horikita?" She asked me.
"Yeah, she doesn't use violence...much and even looks after my health and she gives me carrots." I laughed.
"That's the part of the meal you remember?" Kiyotaka looked at me.
"Of course, I remember it all." I nodded then yawned. "I don't remember my bed, I'm going to it."
"I will get going." Kushida informed us. "Goodnight."
"Night." I waved to her then when she left I noticed a phone. "Oh, interaction!"
Kiyotaka picked it up, and I was in my PJs but who cares, we both went to the elevators and saw only one was moving, but it went to the bottom floor. "I thought the girls were on the upper floors." Kiyotaka mumbled.
"They are." I confirmed. "We might see something new, let's go."
We went down in another elevator to the bottom floor, and we saw her crossing the street so we followed her to some railing overlooking the sea.
"We don't even need to be hiding re-" Kiyotaka went to say as we were watching her from behind a tree.
"What a pain in the ass." I didn't recognise Kushida for a second since that was a very different tone. "You think you're so great just because you're pretty, I hate you! I swear I hate you. I hate you!" She started to kick the railing. "Just die, Horikita!"
I was just smiling seeing that people can keep such a side hidden then her phone went off and she saw me. "You left your phone." I explained and Kiyotaka came out from hiding.
She walked over to us quickly and snatched her phone from him. "Did you hear?" She asked.
"If I said I didn't, would you believe me?" He asked her.
"Is there a problem that we did?" I hummed, and she got really close to my face.
"If you tell anyone about that, you will pay." Kushida threatened.
"How?" I excitedly asked seeing she didn't seem to be the kind to use violence as a threat and she was confused.
"I will tell everyone you tried to rape me, Ayanokoji, and once you are gone, I will make sure Rekka dies from her condition." She explained.
"But that would be a false accusation." Kiyotaka informed her.
"Oh, no, it's not a false accusation." She took his hand and put it on her boob surprising us. "Your fingerprints are right here, there's your proof, I'm serious."
"I understand." He nodded.
"There's no reason for me to tell anyway, so I won't." I reassured her, and she let go of him.
"You hear me? If you betray me, you will pay." Kushida reminded us. "I want to ask you two just one question, can you promise me, right now, that you won't tell anyone what you saw?"
We both nodded. "Very well, I will believe you." She turned away from us. "Okay!" She went back to the other Kushida. "I guess we have got another secret, huh?"
"Which one is the real one?" I asked curiously.
Kushida just smiled at me and she went back first. "Do you have a clue?" Kiyotaka asked me wanting to know the same thing as me.
"Nope! I think the trigger was that she wasn't getting attention or praise from the boys and it was on someone else. I remember seeing how much she loved the attention before, but I have no idea what it has to do with what we just discovered." I shrugged. "But seeing her like this more might help me, so I will gladly like to interact with that Kushida more, its better than towel talk."
"She said she would kill you." He reminded me.
"Yeah, I could use that for a big interaction I have been wanting to see." I grinned. "But I want to sleep first."