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Volume 6, Epilogue: "Contrasting Decisions" Part 2

Today, the first half of the final exam begins. The required overall score for each pair was determined to be 692 points. It’s lower than expected, but we can’t be careless. It should be safe to say that this match will be decided by the end of the day today.

It’s a match where the outcome is determined by the difficulty of our questions and their ability to apply pressure on the students in the other class. The first day of the finals consists of the exams for four subjects: Japanese, English, Social Studies, and Mathematics.

This means that Horikita and Kushida’s fates will be decided today as well.

As I walked down the corridor on the way to the classroom, I met up with Satō who appeared to be waiting for someone.

For better or worse, the person she was waiting for appeared to be me, as she came close when she saw me.

“Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun. The exam is just around the corner.”

“Aah. Did you sleep well last night?”

“I went to bed after studying til one o’clock, but I’m starting to feel a little nervous.”

With that, she put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath.

“Though I can’t say it will be easy, let’s do our best for each other. You should be able to do well if you just demonstrate what you’ve studied.”

“Yeah!”

No matter the form, we’re still a pair. I can’t deny that we’re a coexisting body now that we’re sharing the same fate. If Satō fails, I fail, and if I fail, Satō also fails. We could easily drag each other down into the abyss.

“Good morning, Satō-san.”

“Oh! Good morning, Karuizawa-san.”

Having arrived at school, Karuizawa saw Satō and called out to her.

“By any chance, did you already have arrangements with Ayanokōji-kun? You two are a very unusual combination.”

“N-no. Not at all. We just met up by chance……”

“Is that so? Well, why don’t we grab a drink at Pallet together before we head to class?”

“Yeah! Well then, I’ll see you later Ayanokōji-kun!”

She spoke a bit bashfully as she turned away from me.

Karuizawa looked my way for an instant before heading off with Satō.

“Huh, so they were on good terms?”

“I suppose Karuizawa can be quite the jealous girl, surprisingly.”

“Eh?”

The one who spoke was none other than Hirata.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. What did you mean by that, just a second ago?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time together with Karuizawa-san while playing the role of her boyfriend. I\'ve faintly noticed that she has started to pay more attention to you, Ayanokōji-kun.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it.”

Karuizawa had been forced to change her parasitic host from Hirata to myself, so it can’t be helped that he would see it that way.

“Is that so? From where I stand, I’m glad it turned out like that. After all, I don’t think it’s healthy to be in a fake relationship. Sorry, that’s me being selfish so pay it no mind.”

That said, the two of us started towards the classroom.

“The questions Horikita-san thought up should definitely hinder Class C. As for what remains, I don’t think it will be very difficult to win as long as everyone handles the exam well.”

Hirata was also overflowing with confidence.

To a certain extent, he seems to see the path to victory for this exam.

Even though an unexpected pair of students had been matched up with each other, everything had more or less happened as expected.

“By the way, There’s something I wanted to ask you, Ayanokōji-kun. Do you know Shiina Hiyori-san?”

“She’s a Class C student, right? We met the other day when they showed up at Keisei’s study group.”

“They came to mine as well. It appears that Class C is looking for the mastermind working within Horikita’s shadow.”

“It seems so.”

“Ayanokōji-kun, you’re the person they’re looking for, aren’t you?”

Hirata wasn’t asking because he wanted to know, he was asking because he wanted to confirm.

“Ah, no. Of course I wouldn’t tell anyone else. You probably have your reasons for keeping this hidden. It’s also true that Class D sees benefits as a result of your actions.”

“Is that so? I’ll take your words as a warning then.”

“So you don’t deny it.”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I did.”

“That’s… yeah. Maybe so.”

“I’m not some hero, and I’m not hiding my true colors. I just don’t want to stand out. That’s my real intention and how I truly feel.”

“Then I assume that you probably had a reason for doing what you did at the sports festival. But was that a safe thing to do? Class C has started making their move. If it turns out that you need my help, I’ll gladly cooperate.”

I appreciated Hirata’s offer, but it just isn’t necessary at the moment.

“I’ll figure something out. I’ll rely on you in case something happens.”

“I see.”

We arrived at the classroom. I examined the expressions of Sudō and the others from a distance. There was a clearly different look about them compared to previous exams. They were composed, using their time to make whatever final confirmations they needed to instead of memorizing the subject matter in a panic. It wasn’t just one or two people, nearly half of the class was concentrated and engaged.

“This is quite the difference, right?”

“Truly.”

If you showed this scene to someone who had witnessed Class D several months ago, they still wouldn’t be able to believe it.

If this school didn’t emphasize results above all, this might not have been the case.

“Have you prepared yourself?”

My neighbor Horikita was reading a book instead of studying for the exam.

“What are you reading?”

“And Then There Were None.”

“Agatha Christie? Let’s hope there are some left after this.”

Horikita closed her book to reject my dark joke.

“Nobody is going to disappear. It goes without saying that you and I won’t as well.”

“The look on your face says that you’re going to win no matter the opponent.”

“Naturally. I’ve prepared to take first place in our school year this time.”

“If Class C’s questions turn out to be too simple, placing first will be very difficult.”

“I’ll win despite that. It keeps me motivated.”

Then I’ll really be looking forward to it. Show me your unshakable confidence with the final exam.

When the preliminary bell rang, everyone packed up their study materials. We were obligated to store anything unnecessary for the exams in the lockers at the back of the classroom. The only thing we were allowed to leave at our desks was a writing utensil. Additional supplies could be obtained if, for example, a pencil gets too short or breaks, a mechanical pencil runs out of lead, or an eraser gets used up. The only thing we would need to do is report it to Chabashira-sensei.

“You’ll take your first end of term exam after this: Modern Japanese. It’s forbidden to turn your paper over until I give the signal to start. Pay attention to this.”

Chabashira-sensei didn’t have the student at the front of each row pass the exams backward but instead placed the exam sheets on each desk one at a time.

“The exam lasts for fifty minutes. Try to avoid calling in sick or the need to use the restroom as much as possible. If you aren’t able to wait it out whatsoever, please let me know by raising your hand. You aren’t allowed to leave the classroom for any other reason after the start of the exam.”

She told us about the rules for the conduct of the exam as she finished handing out the exam papers to everyone.

None of the students were whispering to each other anymore. Everyone’s attention had been set on their exam sheets.

Shortly after, the next bell rang, announcing the beginning of the exam.

“Well then, you can start.”

As soon as she spoke, everyone turned the exam over at the same time.

If everything goes according to Keisei’s prediction, the questions will have an overall trend so our countermeasures will hit right on the mark.

I skimmed through the questions from top to bottom to see whether my classmates would be able to solve them.

There were merciless questions lined up, starting from the very first one. Despite this, there wasn’t anything unsolvable. There were quite a few questions that had already been predicted with pinpoint accuracy and quite a few that could be solved as long as you remained calm.

In other words, this means that Keisei’s objective was successful.

Moreover, there were large revisions to the content as instructed by the school.

Although there are traces that show attempts at making misleading questions, there are also traces of these questions being forcibly corrected.

Nonetheless, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to stop our average grade from falling lower than the last midterm exam. If there’s a student who’s behind in their studies, they might end up with 10 to 20 points. Taking this into consideration, the supporting partner definitely needs to take more than 50 points, or preferably more than 60 points, if possible.

If it’s the skilled people in the class, it seems like they’ll be able to pass the 60-point hurdle, but they still can’t be careless.

The largest problem in this situation is the groups of students in the middle like Haruka and Akito. They’ll have to stand firm in this situation. Their weak point, the humanities, absolutely must be defended as if their lives depended on it.

From the seat next to me, Horikita immediately picked up her pen and started on the first question.

Horikita was investing herself into a fight she absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

I spun my pen in circles as I thought about what I should do.

Relative to other students, Satō was enthusiastic about attending the study sessions, so I anticipate that she’ll score higher than Ike and Yamauchi. However, there’s also a need to compliment her score with a suitable score of my own.

This time around, individual scores won’t inadvertently raise the classes failing line. So after considering the future, I decided to take the exam on a 60 point basis.

More than that, the important thing is-

I raised my head.

My eyes crossed with Chabashira-sensei who was watching the class from the podium.

However, Chabashira-sensei wasn’t the one I was paying attention to.

Instead, I took note of how Kushida Kikyō was handling the exam in front of her.

Even though the exam had started, there was no indication that her arm was moving. She appeared to be checking something as she went over the questions several times.

She made sure of everything for two or three minutes before she finally began to solve the exam questions.

In this way, the tense exams continued past the first without any time for leisure or idle chatter.

However, there was a slight incident during the fourth exam.

It happened during the math exam, which is supposed to be when Horikita and Kushida’s direct confrontation would be decided.

It was immediately after we turned our exams over after the start signal.

“Why……”

Kushida’s voice leaked out despite her attempt to suppress it.

“What’s wrong Kushida?”

“N-no, I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

Our classmates expressed their concern for Kushida, whose voice leaked out for a moment, but she started on the questions immediately anyways.

I looked carefully and understood.

Her unrest was an unimaginable appearance compared to Kushida’s usual composure.

It appears that man decided to make ‘that’ choice.

Horikita worked on the math problems without being distracted by Kushida’s agitation.

It’s a straight and proper matchup, just to demonstrate the fruits of this last month’s effort.

It’s powerful because it’s simple.

Well. Should I concentrate on the exam now that the source of my troubles has faded away?