At the end of July, with only three days remaining before the final exams, Class A pulled off a sneaky maneuver. They filed a report with the Student Council, exposing that certain individuals were purchasing old test papers from senpai to cheat.
Using past exams was originally an unspoken rule, a "hidden tradition." However, once it was dragged into the light of day, the situation changed completely. The school had no choice but to declare the original papers void and urgently replaced the exam questions for the finals.
"Heh! I knew Class A would launch an attack at a ti like this."
"Dead-fish eyes, do you think this sche ca from Sakayanagi or Katsuragi?" Ryuen Kakeru sneered.
As the honors class, Class A's average academic ability held an overwhelming advantage over the other three classes. Even without the actual exam papers, they could pass the exams entirely on individual rit. As for the other three classes, that was a different story.
"Whether it's the timing or the execution, the report was far too crude." Hikigaya gave a cold, unimpressed evaluation.
"How so?" Ryuen truly hadn't considered that.
"Shiina, if you were the one planning this, what would you do?" Hikigaya suddenly pulled Shiina Hiyori, who was reading nearby, into the conversation.
"Eto~ Why are you asking to plan it, Hikigaya-kun?" Shiina Hiyori lowered her head slightly, hiding half of her face behind her book, leaving only a pair of eyes to stare directly at him. That expression was just like a cat crouching on the floor, eyeing a vase on the table—how could a little kitten possibly have bad intentions?
"Because I think Shiina-san is very smart." Hikigaya spoke the honest truth. He wanted to see if this girl was truly "white on the outside, black on the inside."
"Shiina's tactics? Interesting!" A thick sense of curiosity appeared on Ryuen's face.
The rest of Class C also cast curious glances toward her. Only Manabe and her group muttered disdainfully, "Tch~ what kind of tactics could a goody-two-shoes student like her have?"
"Hmm~" After a mont of deliberation, Shiina Hiyori answered slowly, "If I were the leader of Class A, I would report it to the Student Council exactly one day before the exam."
"What difference would that make?" Ryuen frowned, his mind entering deep thought.
"Yeah, isn't the goal just to get the school to change the papers?" Ibuki Mio blinked her clear eyes in confusion.
"What do you think, Hikigaya-kun?" Shiina Hiyori smiled faintly, tossing the question back to him.
'I asked you to say it, why are you looping it back to ?' Hikigaya couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. Seeing the silent, synchronized exchange between the two, the expressions of the Class C students beca sowhat subtle.
"Alright, enough, dead-fish eyes!
If you want to show off your affection, do it after you go back.
Stop being so cryptic now." Ryuen Kakeru urged impatiently.
'Where is the 'showing off affection'? Don't just talk nonsense without evidence!'
"Ahem!" Hikigaya cleared his throat. Albert, standing beside him, imdiately understood and poured him a glass of mixed fruit sparkling water.
'Damn it! You're blatantly bossing my man around!' Ryuen felt a surge of irritation.
Only after successfully wearing out the other's patience did Hikigaya speak leisurely, "The reason is simple. If you report it the day before the exam, the school won't have ti to create a brand-new set of papers.
At that point, if Class A had a set of exam papers prepared in advance and submitted them to the Student Council...There is a very high probability that the Student Council would adopt that set of papers."
The Class C students were dumbfounded upon hearing this.
"Nani! Isn't that extrely bad?" Ishizaki Daichi couldn't help but shout.
"If Class A makes the questions, can't they do whatever they want?" Komiya Kyogo was pale with shock. They were originally underachievers; only through hellish tutoring had they managed to barely keep up with the textbook progress.
"The Student Council wouldn't allow Class A to act so recklessly, would they?" Ryuen frowned.
"The difficulty of the questions would definitely be strictly limited to the level of a first-year high schooler. But the problem is, the creators can set all sorts of tricky questions. For example, in the Japanese exam, they could intentionally increase the length of classical prose or include a bunch of obscure kanji..."
As soon as Hikigaya said this, he saw the Class C students looking terrified.
'Are you a devil?'
"I'm just speaking hypothetically... Shiina thinks so too, right?" Hikigaya looked at Shiina Hiyori again.
"Eto~ I don't have such 'bad intentions' like Hikigaya-kun." Shiina Hiyori's eyes were soft, showing no change.
Hikigaya's gaze wavered; for a mont, he couldn't tell if she was being serious.
"In other words, Class A's attack this round was planned by Katsuragi?" A flash of contempt crossed Ryuen's eyes.
"Heh~ just a stubborn, rigid fellow."
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The final exams arrived as scheduled. Because of Class A's interference, the original papers were scrapped.
The school had to rush out new ones in three days, and as a result, the difficulty actually dropped significantly. After all, it takes less ti to make simple questions than hard ones.
Both Class A and Class B were able to pass with everyone comfortably. Class C, under the KTV study sessions organized by Ryuen, successfully had everyone pass as well.
In Class D, with Horikita Suzune joining the study sessions, the lazy teaching style of Hirata was replaced.
Regardless of gender or social clique, she treated everyone equally—by roasting them all! Yamauchi and his group were insulted the most; out of spite, they tried to incite Sudo Ken to rebel against Horikita.
Unexpectedly, Sudo, perhaps having learned his lesson from nearly being expelled for failing midterms, was actually behaving and studying for once.
Seeing their "brother" who was usually at the bottom suddenly becoming ambitious, Yamauchi's gang panicked and were forced to join the "involution" of studying.
"You've truly brought many surprises during these finals." The corners of Chabashira Sae's mouth curled up. Replacing her usual cold cynicism was a sincere smile. "First, I must congratulate you. Everyone has passed the final exams!"
"Yippee—!" The Class D classroom erupted in cheers.
"That's great, everyone passed!"
"It's all thanks to Horikita-san's tireless tutoring every day."
"Everyone, please give Horikita-san a round of applause!"
Hirata Yousuke stood up and led the clapping. Although people had complaints about Horikita's sharp tongue, the results proved she had helped them. Scattered applause gradually filled the room.
"There's no need to thank ... I only did it to achieve my own personal goals..." Horikita Suzune reached out to rub her brow, her face showing a sickly paleness.
Hikigaya noticed this and couldn't help but turn to her with concern, "Horikita, what's wrong with your health?"
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