The next few days were defined by a constant flurry of messages. I had never gotten so much use out of a group chat before.
I had been in the class group chat before, and a couple of others, but I had never bothered to say anything. If I had something to say, an individual message was more effective, but speaking in person was always best. And on the afternoon of the sports festival I was added into a lot more, but I had continued to ignore them.
It was the group chat containing Horikita, Hirata, Yukimura, Kikyou, Karuizawa and myself that I actually used. While Yukimura didn't know what was going on, and could sense the tension as we planned, he was tactful enough not to bring it up.
I had been told by Kikyou that he privately admitted to her that he didn't care about the spat between Horikita and Hirata, as long as they continued to cooperate and make progress in our planning as we were.
And surprisingly, despite their challenge and ultimatum, Hirata and Horikita both had the decorum to act reasonably, and while they clearly didn't enjoy cooperating, and numerous arguments had broken out between them, they were never over serious issues. When it came to major decisions in planning for the exam, they were capable of putting aside their differences and grudgingly agree.
Most of that came from them having the exact same ideas, as much as they didn't want to admit it. This was an exam wherein the only way we could protect our classmates was to succeed and crush our opponents in the most effective way possible, meaning both Hirata and Horikita would be united in their objectives.
Obviously, they didn't enjoy such cooperation. In fact, most of the problems came from the same debate of who was going to take the lead and inform the class of the decisions made. They both obstinately refused to let the other do it, nor share the responsibility.
In the end, everyone else convinced them to do it together, since a united front would put people to rest.
Hirata had gone off directly after his confrontation with Horikita to talk to some of his senpai friends, in order to find out the best way to approach the exam. He reported back to us much the same that I found from my own investigation, and it was rather simple to come up with a strategy.
And so, it was on Friday when Horikita and Hirata both walked up to the front of the class, and after some embarrassing jostling to try and be the one to stand behind the podium, Hirata emerged victorious, with Horikita relegated to standing by his side.
"I know a lot of you have been asking questions about the special exam, and the practice test coming up on Monday. As Kushida-san pointed out, it was best for us to retreat and consider the situation, before reporting back and explaining how we will overcome it." Hirata began strong.
"For now, we have decided several of us will be writing questions for the exam, to be compiled by Kushida-san. That way, she is the only person who knows what our questions are, and we won't have another incident like at the sports festival. I'm sure we can all agree that Kushida-san is trustworthy enough for this role."
There were some afirmatives muttered across the room, and not one person seemed to argue against it. Even if they had some personal slight, there wasn't a valid reason to deny this plan.
"Thank you for your trust in me! I hope I won't let everyone down!" Kikyou stood up and promised with a bow, nervous but thankful smile on her face.
"I'm sure you won't, Kushida-san," Hirata reassured her, giving her a smile. It was very rare to see Hirata smile these days.
"The other topic of conversation we need to cover is in regard to the practice test and the selection of partners," Horikita began, taking her turn to speak. "I'm sure many of you are concerned with not scoring well enough, or getting a partner who won't score well enough, however, we believe we know how to solve that problem."
"And do you think we're going to follow your plan again Horikita-san? It went so well at the sports festival after all," Shinohara taunted with a cruel smile.
But Horikita wasn't perturbed, having expected a reaction like this.
"This isn't just my plan. The suggestion came from Hirata-kun after he talked to some senpai's about the exam. This isn't the first year it has been done, and apparently partners are sorted in the exact same method every time. Using this, we can manipulate our pairings for the most desirable outcomes."
This had a more positive response than Horikita's previous words, as the entire class seemed excited at the chance to minimise their risks. Of course, there was still caution in everybody's minds.
"You're certain about this?" Matsushita asked. "I'm not doubting the information, but are you both sure that it won't change this year?" It was an important distinction Matsushita had made in her question, so it didn't appear as if she was doubting our leaders. That would be the biggest issue at this time.
"Of course, there is no way to be sure, but this is the best idea we have. Plus, Chabashira-sensei suggested that we talk to older students when the exam was announced. I see no alternative to this plan." Horikita effortlessly explained.
Matsushita nodded along with the answer to her question. "Right, I agree with you. I just wanted to be sure." I could see other people nodding as well, now understanding that we had no better option.
If it were anyone else, I would have suspected they were lying to cover up their lack of understanding. As it was, I thought Matsushita was doing a terrific job helping the class to relate to and understand the information being presented, just as I had asked her to.
"Wait, so what even is this method of rigging the exam? 'Cause we only got this weekend to prepare now." As usual, Sudou was trying to work out the minimum amount of studying required to pass.
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Sudou," Horikita stated with a smug smile. "The special exam we have on Monday will match the best performing students with the worst for the Paper Swap exam. Say, for instance, Sudou got zero marks on the practice exam, you would be matched with someone who got the opposite, in this case one hundred, or the closest result. This gives us a chance to control who is partnered with whom."
"We've come up with a plan," Hirata interrupted, pulling the spotlight back, "that should guarantee everyone a partner where your average score will be high enough. It will be the most dangerous for the average scoring students in the class, but with the right tutoring every pair should be able to have an average score of fifty between you. That will be enough to surmount any expulsions."
Suddenly, Hasebe stood up from her seat, a concerned look on her face.
"Horikita-san, Hirata-kun, there's thirty-seven students in our class. What... what happens to the odd person out?"
A grimace formed on the faces of Hirata and Horikita, along with everyone else who had been involved with the planning at one point or another and heard the debates.
Some concerned voices broke out, and several of my classmates began to yell in their newly worried state. It took the combined efforts of Hirata and Kikyou to calm everyone down.
"We have considered this already. It... wasn't an easy situation, and since some people weren't being cooperative and offering their skills," Horikita shot me a frustrated glare when Hirata said this, "Yukimura-kun has volunteered himself to do his best to score perfectly on the practice test and pass the Paper Swap alone. It won't be easy, but a score of 90% or higher should be enough to guarantee he passes."
Silence filled the room at this declaration, at the idea that someone was volunteering to take such a risk. Yukimura, to stave off conflicts and worries, had volunteered to score perfectly and take the test alone.
I thought back to the day when the idea was first brought up. It had been two days ago when someone other than myself had realised the problem in the situation. Hirata had been the one to do so, and quickly he and Kikyou had disappeared, contacting as many of their senpai friends as possible to find a solution.
Soon enough, with the concern, we had learned that the practice test was extraordinarily easy. This made sense on reflection, as it was a chance to mess up the pairings and doom some pairs to fail. Once we knew that it would be easy enough to manipulate our scores in the practice exam, the planning was simple.
Instead of having ten people score as perfectly as possible, with at least 90%, and pairing them with the worst in our class who would do nothing on the test, we no longer had that luxury.
The person who scored the highest and didn't have a matching partner would be forced to take the test alone. It was a small mercy the school gave, but it was something we could control.
The first suggestion was that I score the highest, but I shot that idea down as quickly as possible. I was already taking a risk by being one of the top scorers, and while I could guarantee my safety in answering every question, there was always a chance that our class would score well enough to raise the threshold beyond what was possible to be met by a single person.
With a choice between certain safety and almost certain safety, I decided to remain resolute and partner up with someone.
Eventually, Yukimura volunteered to be the one to take the risk, to stop the ever-growing argument between Horikita and Hirata, with the agreement that he wouldn't have to tutor too many more people, needing time to study himself.
"You're really brave to do this, Yukimura-kun. Thank you for taking the risk for the class!" Kikyou praised him in front of everyone, turning his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment.
"Eh, well I didn't do much at the sports festival, and this is the way I can help, so I'm happy to do so." He hadn't seemed so happy about it when it was first suggested but being praised by a cute girl in front of the class was bound to have an effect.
"Everyone, please remember that Yukimura will be trying to score 100 on the practice test. That means, to ensure he isn't partnered up, no one can score zero. You all need to get at least one mark." There were some snorts at that, but nobody made any comments. They were still in awe of the bravery on display.
There were some more supporting cries coming from our classmates, but once again, Horikita and Hirata pulled us back on track. They were working surprisingly well together, although it was clear every time one of them spoke that the other was frustrated and angry.
"There is one more thing to discuss," Horikita called out, bringing the room back to near silence. "I'm sure you'll all agree that our target should be Class C. I for one want to get some revenge on Ryuuen for the sports festival," she said with a cold smile.
And despite what reservations our class had towards Horikita, to her poor showing in the sports festival and the subsequent humiliation that the whole school saw, everyone wanted to get back at Ryuuen for his poisoning tactics.
"I'm glad we're all in agreement with that then," Hirata finished. "We will send everyone a message of how well you should try to score, to do our best at getting good partners. Once we know our partners and the class we're against, we'll organise some study groups then."
And with that, our homeroom was over for the day.
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I sat in my room with three boys from my class. I could already tell this exam would be a test in patience for letting people visit me.
I had invited Sotomura, Ijuuin and Okitani to my room on Sunday afternnon, and they were surprisingly well behaved. Well, I had expected that from Sotomura. He and I got along to some degree, but the other two boys were known for being rambunctious, almost to the degree of Ike and Yamauchi. This quiet, nearly fearful attitude was unusual.
Perhaps they had decided that I could expel people on a whim, and didn't want to be forced out of the school if they got on the wrong side of me. That would explain the hesitation when they arrived at my door.
I handed each of them a can of soft drink, and sat down in the comfy chair across from where they were sitting in a line on the ground.
"Thank you for coming."
"You said you had a way for us to earn points. I wasn't going to ignore that," Okitani admitted.
"Yeah! We can always use more private points," Ijuuin exclaimed.
"My compatriots speak the truth, Ayanokouji-dono. The absence of private points in my life is truly problematic."
I took a moment to adjust to the presence of such odd people. They were very different to the people I usually associated with.
"Yes, I have a deal for you." I reached over to my desk and picked up three stacks of paper. "This was rather expensive to print, so don't lose them."
I handed a different stack to each of them, and they began to look them over.
"These... these are exam questions," Okitani realised. "Did you write them?"
"Hey, mine are different!" Ijuuin noticed. "What's the deal here, Ayanokouji?"
"All three of you have ten copies of exam questions," I explained. "Each stack is different, and none of them are going to be used on our written exam. Once it's announced which Class we are targeting, I want you three to try and sell them these exam papers. Pretend you're willing to betray the class for enough points, and make sure you sell them to different people."
I thought it was likely that we would end up being paired against Class C. Ryuuen had a target painted on us, and he wouldn't be satisfied with the results from the sports festival. Sakayanagi wanted to claim Class A again, and Kanzaki would respond to her.
These three boys selling exam papers won't get much done, not obviously. No one in their right mind would purchase a paper from them, trusting it to be the questions, even if they said they got them from me. There might be a few people who did, but the real benefits would come from Ryuuen.
I had written hundreds and hundreds of questions in the past few days. It would seem almost inconceivable not to reuse them, at least similar styles, while writing these bait exam sheets. There was every chance that Ryuuen would purposefully buy a copy and use them to study, at least trying to get a glimpse of the questions I would come up with.
"All you need to do is quietly, without mentioning each other, go around the students of Class C and try to make them buy these. Say you don't care about the class points, and you just want private points to yourself. Charge around 5000 but be open to negotiation. I'll match any sale you make, so you'll get double whatever you sell them for."
That would be a good motivation to make them try. Of course, I thought it was likely that they might try dumping the exams and claiming they solved them all, but a significant effort wasn't unreasonable to expect.
"And this will help the class as well?" Okitani asked curiously.
"Yeah. This is the best way you can help. Try to trick some of the other students into not studying, so we can hopefully beat them."
"You're saying we have the opportunity to be useful?" Ijuuin realised, swelling up slightly.
And this was the difference between these boys and Yamauchi. They weren't blind to their faults, and how little they had contributed to the class. While they weren't proud of it, they were capable of admitting all they had done so far was struggle along, contributing nothing. I was offering them a chance to be useful, to make valid contributions to the class.
And all three of them seemed receptive enough to the idea.
"A truly marvellous strategy, Ayanokouji-dono. Your deceptive and devious nature knows no bounds."
"Sure." A lot of the time it was best to just agree with or ignore Sotomura.
There was a knock on the door. It seemed my next guest was early, so I left them there for now, taking time to finish addressing the three boys here.
"Don't do anything until after our opponent has been announced, and even then wait a few days. Don't let anyone in the class know what you're doing either, it will make it seem more legitimate if you are caught. And do it slowly," I warned them. This didn't have to go fantastically, but it needed to work to some degree for a certain action to happen.
"Don't worry, Ayanokouji. We'll do our part," Okitani promised with a relaxed smile.
"Yes, it truly is an honour to be involved in another of your schemes!" Sotomura proclaimed, forgetting we had company, and drawing the attention of the two boys beside him.
"Another?" Ijuuin asked.
"Never mind." I cut them off, hearing the person at the door knock again. "Don't lose the exams. I have to talk to someone else now." I was lucky my next guest wasn't Kouenji, because although I wanted to talk to him, I doubted he'd stay for a second knock, if I could even get him to show up at my room.
Recognising the dismissal, the three boys got up, leaving their soda cans on the ground and tromped to the door, and after putting their shoes back on, opened it and brushed past Matsushita on their way out. I couldn't be bothered by the fact that they didn't say goodbye or clean up their mess. Getting their cooperation was more important than being pedantic, and it wasn't as if I wanted their friendship.
"Interesting company." Matsushita looked amused, watching them walk down the hall and to the elevator. "You need better friends."
"I was just thinking that" I mused. "It's probably a good thing that they aren't my friends then."
Matsushita let out a laugh and entered my dorm, closing the door behind her and taking off her shoes.
"Excuse me."
"Take a seat. Tea?" I offered.
"If it's not too much trouble," Matsushita accepted, gracefully taking a seat on my bed.
Moving into the kitchen, I prepared two cups of tea, returning with them a few minutes later. Matsushita gratefully took the offered teacup and saucer.
"So," she asked after taking a sip. "Why did you want to see me?"
"I didn't want to have this conversation in messages," I admitted. "It's not overly suspicious, but I prefer to speak face to face."
"Then I suppose we agree on that."
We sat in silence, slowly drinking tea while I consolidated my thoughts. Matsushita was an interesting student, a bit of a wild card. She didn't particularly have a place in my plans, but she also wasn't worthless.
"We spoke on the summer holidays about your grades. You told me that Matsushita was going to start improving."
This was back at the pool after Matsushita had secured the recording footage from the remote control car.
"I remember. There were a number of interesting revelations that day," Matsushita confirmed without giving anything away.
"Have your grades been improving enough to lead a study group?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I most definitely could take one, but whether people would believe that it was the result of hard work is another thing altogether."
It would be strange for someone with slightly above average grades to suddenly be capable of leading a study and tutoring group.
"The problem is we don't have enough tutors. Horikita will take a group, as will Hirata and Kikyou. Yukimura will take on a couple of decently academic people that probably don't need to be tutored anyway, and by then we've gone through everyone who can tutor."
"Mii-chan could," Matsushita pointed out.
"She certainly is smart enough to understand all the content, but I'm not confident in her ability to teach others," I explained. "I'd expect her to work with Hirata, who will probably have a huge group, and act as an aid. No, since I can't be bothered, you'll have to help."
"But like you said, it would seem strange for me to suddenly be able to lead a tutor group," Matsushita mused. It was a tricky situation, but I was trying to give her the ability to broaden her connections.
"How about as a group study session. No main tutor, but your friends know you've been improving in your studies. Take them through stuff and help out, but never act as a tutor yourself."
"It's definitely a good idea," she admitted. "What you described is basically the same as tutoring, but as long as I never obviously try to fill that role, it will seem like just a group study session, where I'm learning slightly ahead of the class to improve myself. I think I could make that work."
"As long as you think you can manage it. Everyone has a role to play, even those boys."
"And what did you have them doing? Because that was some pretty heavy paperwork you gave them," Matsushita asked with a smirk.
"Disruption tactics to improve our chances, although I might've ruined their chance of ever being trusted again by anyone again."
"A noble sacrifice. I'm sure it will be worth it," Matsushita said with a smirk. Finishing her tea, she placed the saucer and teacup down on the bed. "If that's all, I'll be going then. Apparently, I have a study group to organise."
"Thank you for helping, Matsushita."
"It's no trouble. You're already managing so much, I'm happy to help out. And thank you for the tea," she said, moving to the door and putting her shoes on. "I'm sure that everyone will get through this."
"Yes, I see no reason to think otherwise," I agreed.
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It was Monday morning when I finally got to meet with Kouenji. He was waiting in the lobby of the dormitory when I arrived, and moved to join me as we headed towards school.
"Today is a rather splendid day, is it not?"
Looking around, I could hardly disagree. The sun was out, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. It wasn't swelteringly hot either, but a normal warmth, surprisingly nice considering we were heading towards winter.
"It is. I'm sure that will have a good effect on our minds as we do the test today."
We walked along in silence, as Kouenji combed his hair, looking at it from a pocket mirror to ensure it was styled correctly. The moment he was happy with it, he snapped the mirror shut, and it disappeared into his pocket, along with the comb.
"I'm sure you're curious as to whether I will be participating in your little scheme."
"It would be helpful if you did, but I can't force you," I admitted. Kouenji did what he wanted.
"No, but I thought I would be generous enough to provide you with the opportunity to convince me."
"Doesn't that mean you want to be convinced in the first place, or you have an indication that you will participate anyway?"
"No, it simply makes me blameless in the event that I do not participate and your plan is ruined. I now gave you the opportunity to convince me, so if I do not participate, that is your failing, and I am completely blameless."
That was some very convoluted logic, but it made just enough sense that I had to take it seriously.
"Fine. What would motivate you to score 99 on the test." We had to avoid getting full marks so as to not waste Yukimura's sacrifice.
"I suppose a challenge is in order. Truly, I don't see the chance to compete ourselves in a test. But I am curious as to how well you can teach someone."
Instantly his plan made sense.
"You want us to partner with the worst students and see who can raise someone's grades the most."
"As expected of you, Ayanokouji-boy, you figured it out. I doubt you have ever had the experience of teaching before."
"You're right, it's something I've never done."
"Then you agree? Because otherwise I shall score nothing and be paired with our sacrificial little lamb." It was a threat, I realised.
"Don't worry, I'm more than happy to make that deal. I was already prepared to privately tutor my partner anyway, so it makes no difference to me."
Nothing more needed to be said, and soon enough we arrived at class, taking our respective seats.
Soon enough, Chabashira walked in. There was a nervous air, as even though we were prepared it was still a test to be taken.
"We will begin shortly, but I'd like to say something. You nominated Class C as the class you wanted to attack for this test. Class A did as well, but you won the lottery, and the right to target them. Class C chose to target you in response, and by elimination Class A and B will target each other."
While I hadn't expected Class A to want to target Class C again, everything had turned out alright. A sigh of relief blew through the class upon hearing that we could have our revenge.
"Very well, since you don't seem to have any questions, we should get started. You all seem to be fairly confident about this," Chabashira noticed critically, at the smiles and relaxed attitude of our classmates.
"We're well prepared for this, sensei," Hirata answered seriously.
"Very well then." An approving smile flickered on Chabashira's face, and she walked around the room handing out the exams.
And just as planned, it was easy enough for everyone in the class to manipulate their scores to the level required.
Authors Notes:
Something that i haven't seen adressed before is what happens if there is an odd number in the Paper Swap exam. It's mentioned in the books, but never fleshed out, so this is my take on how it would go down.
As always, hope you enjoyed!