"Yo, Hirata~~, I need help again." Yamauchi said with his hand raised up and waving in the air. Again?
"Alright I'm coming!" Hirata said, after finishing with Sudou.
Sudou still looked pretty confused even after Hirata's explanation judging from how he was aggressively looking at the question left and right over and over again.
"I also need help again!" Ike shouted out. Again?
"Ayanokouji-kun! I need help again!" Satou shouted out. Again?
I wished that Koenji was here, but it certainly wouldn't be his style to come and tutor just about anyone, even if he was being rewarded a generous sum of private points. And I am still competing with him on who could make more points in a single month, so paying him would make me lose that bet after the end of it.
The cheats really helped out with convincing everyone to attend Hirata's tutoring sessions, and now everyone in class D were attending the sessions, with the exception of Koenji and Horikita.
Although I have been having a little bit of trouble trying to help the class during the tutoring sessions at Hirata's study sessions afterschool... due to Satou. She keeps trying to make it a 1-to-1 session. But at least this should mean that she will pass the exams.
Everyone in lessons have become quite diligent as well. They have learnt that they should also work on their fundamentals as well, not just purely memorizing the answers. It has certainly been a massive improvement for class D compared to last month.
Horikita has appeared to have isolated herself into only studying. She wasn't able to get full marks on the practice test, so she is now trying to push herself into learning new material to get full marks in the actual test.
She will get full marks regardless as she went through what she thought was practice material before her tutoring session. And I didn't reveal the fact that the practice material she had was also the same as the actual exam. Her efforts in these 3 weeks will be in vain due to the cheats.
She doesn't appear to be trying to help Ike, Yamauchi and Sudou anymore either, instead focusing solely on herself.
Horikita would have attempted to make the group again but she must have seen the idiot trio join Hirata's group as well. Good.
After one of our study sessions a couple days after I had started helping out with Hirata's study sessions, Hirata asked me something
"Ayanokouji-kun, do you know the whereabouts of Koenji-kun? Although I am not concerned with him passing the exams, I do still hold some worries about him being bullied." Hirata asked.
"Apparently he seems to have started tutoring some class B students for some reason. I can't discern the reason why but it is probably points related."
"I see. It is unfortunate that he doesn't want to tutor us, but at least he wont be threatened with expulsion. In addition, do you think that would be the opportunity for alliance with class B?"
"That actually sounds like a good idea. I will go consult Koenji about that." Looks like Koenji could be the start to bridge to Ichinose that Hirata desires. I am sure that Hirata could simply ask Ichinose after explaining the Kushida situation, but this should make things easier for me and Hirata, and it will include myself as well. Although, I am not sure if Koenji is someone willing to bother with such.
Koenji appeared to be hanging around class B a lot. Maybe it is because he is selling cheats to class B? Afterall, I did give the cheats to Koenji.
Both me and Koenji have sort of built ourselves up as a mercenaries of sorts at this school as well partially due to our antics with the seniors, me and Koenji have been paid by some of the seniors to deal with their enemies.
He even appeared to be tutoring class B. But that still doesn't seem like something he would do.
Furthermore, Koenji appeared to be hanging out with two students a lot in particular.
When I was walking to class B, I got a call on the phone from Manabu.
"Ayanokouji-kun, it appears as if Hirata is on your case right now. He has confronted me regarding the Kushida situation. Apparently your teacher mentioned that I personally made sure to get Kushida expelled. He might have already deduced that Horikita Suzune is my younger sister, and is attempting to use that fact to link me to you."
"I see. That is quite troublesome. Even though I didn't necessarily do anything wrong ethically, Hirata could take advantage of this if he truly is just like Kushida. Thank you for informing me about this."
"Not at all. You did mention that I should keep note of his name after all. However, Hirata has also mentioned the fact that your teacher looked at you for a split second."
"I see. Hirata told me that fact as well, so I confirmed the fact that I was the one who Kushida attempted to frame. However, there is no need to reveal that you were the one who recorded Kushida as of right now."
It looks like Hirata is now attempting to see if me and Manabu have a connection with each other. I sighed to myself.
At this point, Hirata would still hold suspicions about me, and would probably deduce that the way he assisted in dealing with the Kushida situation was more than just a recommendation for permanent expulsion.
Why did Chabashira sensei left all those clues? Perhaps it was just by accident, an unconscious moment of time where she was glad that Kushida was expelled. Or maybe she was mad that someone like Kushida was expelled, and thought Kushida was framed, as Kushida is clearly a very capable student.
I do have an understanding of Chabashira's motivations of reaching class A due to Koenji's recording of her attempt to blackmail though. But why would Chabashira want to get to class A?
"I see then. Please be careful." Manabu said
"Alright then, by the way, do teachers gain benefits from graduating from class A?"
"Yes, although teachers should remain impartial at times, teachers should strive to be supportive of their own students at times as well. That aspect is encouraged by the privileges of a teacher whose class is in class A by the end of the 3rd year."
"I see, well I might have a problem regarding my teacher."
"Hmm?"
"Well I have evidence that my teacher attempted to blackmail Koenji. Of course, he recorded this, but I am not sure how much power teachers have or how much punishment teachers would receive in regards to this. It is still uncertain."
"I see. That is certainly quite troublesome. Relating to the previous case, I suppose it depends on whether teachers have access to the student records. In regards to the Kushida situation, if she did, she would be able to conclude that Kushida had a rather sinister past, and unconsciously made some unnecessary references due to her being glad that a pest would be removed in her class. If she didn't, she could possibly assume that Kushida was framed and perceive you as a threat, thus unconsciously or even consciously dropping clues to those like Hirata. Even though you are making attempts towards improving the class, she could still consider that as a threat, a blunder on your part, and also made those unnecessary references as well. It is all quite uncertain still."
Manabu was able to deduce the problems rather quickly.
"I will ask some of the more impartial teachers such as Mashima-sensei to confirm these details. I should mention that your class D has been quite a remarkable version compared to all the others that I have seen. Perhaps that has reignited a flame in Chabashira-sensei's mind in regards to climbing to class A. She has been known as a rather unmotivated teacher. Now that I think about it, how come you are placed in class D? If you could even think of a reason, that is."
"If I were to be honest, I scored exactly 50 marks in all my entrance exams and performed averagely in the interviews as well. I originally didn't want to bring attention to myself and wanted to live a normal school life, but my motivations have admittedly changed due to Koenji. It has been quite fun and interesting regardless. And, well, admittedly, my social skills when I first entered this school were pretty horrible."
"I see, well good luck. Perhaps you could try working together with Chabashira-sensei in regards to that second deal, to give a more convincing performance. It could also be a precaution to prevent Chabashira going after your throat like she did with Koenji. There are admittedly times when teachers show clear bias and favoritism towards their own students even at times where impartiality is required. You certainly have been acquainted with these show cases of bias during your, ahem, antics with the senior students during the trials."
"I see, I'll take that into account then."
"By the way...Koenji-kun certainly is an amusing individual."
"What do you mean?"
"A few weeks ago he told me that he wanted a tipping feature so that he can tip to the stores around Keyaki mall. The school seemed fine with agreeing to this as that meant less points were flowing in circulation, so as a result it is now an option on the school phones. Usually in Japan tipping can even be seen as rude, so perhaps that is just a common thing abroad."
"I see, I thought I misheard but it looks like he really was doing that. How absurd."
"Well anyways, bye for now and good luck."
"Bye." I then cut the call.
Seriously, what the hell is up with Koenji? He goes ahead and makes an ungodly amount of private points, just to spend it in the most ridiculous ways. Perhaps he just has spending habits from before the school due to being from a rich family.
Side Note: This took a while as I wanted to set up some bullet points about the future volumes.
Also I wanted to clarify this up a bit. If Ayanokouji says that he cracked a smile, he is thinking that he did. Not that he actually does, but mentally he does. This is what happened in volume 7 after he realized Chabashira's blackmail was just a bluff.