Classroom of the Elite

Book 6: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: "Means of Survival"

After the start of homeroom at 18:00, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom immediately.

The students of the class were sitting there in wonder, Hirata shot them a side glance as he went to stand up at the podium.

We weren’t looking to play any games now. A serious discussion was about to begin.

“For today’s homeroom, I would like to hold a meeting for tomorrow’s quiz. I have gotten permission from Chabashira-sensei, who has told me that today's homeroom time is free for us to use. First of all, Horikita-san, would you please?”

As if waiting for Hirata’s words, Horikita got up quietly and stood next to Hirata.

For her to go and stand side by side with Hirata, some of the students probably began to feel a sense of incompatibility. Many may not have realized until now that “Horikita” and “Hirata” made up Class D’s strongest team. Hirata had always welcomed her, but Horikita had never allowed for it. Horikita always fought alone and acted with the belief that she could win without the help of others.

However, after the failure she suffered at the sports festival, she understood the limits of fighting alone, and it was as if she was reborn.

Of course, not everything has become perfect.

The Swiss biologist A. Portman has said that humans are physiologically premature. He argues that, from the point of view of zoology, humans are born about a year early compared to the developmental states of other mammals. Although human beings are classified as large animals, when a baby is born, its sensory organs have already been developed, while it’s athletic ability is immature and they’re not able to walk on their own. Other large animals on the other hand, such as deer, are mature when they are born, and there are many other isolated creatures who leave their nests and live on their own.

As is the case with this example, now Horikita has just been reborn, and is not able to move around on her own yet.

However, although very immature, she also contains infinite possibilities.

She could grow up in any way moving forward.

Perhaps Horikita’s heart is still conflicted. She’s probably trying desperately to struggle against it.

It would be for the best for her to surrender herself to this change and commit to it.

“……First of all, although this is a thing of the past, I hope you will let me apologize for something.”

I thought she would start talking about the final exam right away, but she didn’t. There seems to have been something smoldering in Horikita’s heart for several weeks now.

“During the sports festival, I didn’t manage to bring us any results. I always have a tough attitude with everyone, but I was ultimately unable to do anything for Class D. Please allow me to apologize.”

After saying so, Horikita bowed her head deeply. Of course, many students were shaken by this appearance.

It was as if Horikita had accepted the blame for the reasons behind Class D’s defeat.

After the three legged race, Onodera had become a little estranged from Horikita and quickly spoke:

“It’s not Horikita-san’s sole responsibility for the loss. You don’t need to lower your head.”

“That’s right, Suzune. After all, Haruki and Professor weren’t much help either.”

Although it’s pitiful, it was also true. Yamauchi glared at Sudō, but there was no objection.

“A humble attitude can make any outcome acceptable, regardless of whether we won or lost. But that’s not the case here. At least, my contribution to the sports festival had hardly any positives.”

After saying so, Horikita glanced at Sudō’s face for a moment. It was probably nothing other than to supplement that she had made a friend of Sudō. It would be impossible for Sudō to not understand the mood. He shyly scratched his cheek a little, quietly revealing a smile and his white teeth.

“But this is the end of the apology. I would like to fully commit to challenging this next quiz and the final exam. I believe that unless the class is to fight as a unit, it will be insurmountable.”

“I can understand that, but do you have a solution or something? Like how the partners are chosen. We don’t know about that, do we?”

“No, the rules for how partners are chosen have already been made clear. If we handle this well, it is possible for all of us to have an ideal partner. Hirata-kun, if you would.”

Hirata, who had turned to the support role, received her signal and wrote out the pairing rules on the blackboard.

The rules of pairing

When looking at the class as a whole, the person who scores the highest and the person who scores the lowest on the quizzes will be matched with each other.

Then the second best and worst students, the third best and worst students and so on.

For example: The student who gets 100 points will be matched with the student who gets 0 points. The student who gets 99 points will be matched with the student who gets 1 point.

“This is the meaning of the quiz and the pairing principle. Simple, isn’t it?”

“Oh, oh my! This is the rule of pairing! You’ve done it, Horikita! You’re amazing!”

“This is something that many of the students should have also discovered. The important thing is this. Based on this rule, we can also see that students who get lower grades will be partnered with those who get higher ones almost by default. However, exceptions can always happen. Due to this, I’m going to start explaining the strategy for reliable and precise pairings.”

Although she said that many students should have discovered this already, this was not the case. Compared to past hints, this one was indeed easy-to-understand. But she might have noticed it only because of her experience with her past failures.

Horikita walked next to Hirata and turned back to face the classroom.

The feeling of embarrassment and dislike for speaking in public.

She had no such resistance at all in her heart, only the drive to move forward.

“Taking into consideration the results from our classes tests so far, I’d like to focus on having the students who are worried about their scores make plans with the students getting good grades. Although in the end there will be some students who are uneasy, the reality of the situation is that we cannot support everyone.”

11 students were averaging 80 points or more, with the exception of those who attained perfect marks on the midterms. If that average was increased to 90 points, the number of students would be reduced to 6. It’s a sad thing to think about the content of the tests which have been comparatively easy. The number of students with excellent grades was less than half the class.

On the contrary, even if you take into account the number of scores averaging over 60 points, not everyone would be able to be matched with an ideal partner… In other words, it’s impossible for every pair to have a high-scoring student.

Therefore，Horikita appears to be aiming for stability by creating mandatory teams of 10 people at the top and bottom of the class.

The names of the students with lower grades were listed on the blackboard one by one.

“Well, I don’t quite understand. What should we do?”

Asked Yamauchi, who knew his name would be written.

“The 10 students written here can just write their names on tomorrow's quizzes. Since your scores will not be reflected on your report card, taking a 0 on the quiz doesn’t have any disadvantages. Conversely, to the top 10 people, please be sure to score 85 points or more. The remaining 20 students are equally divided into 10 people. For the upper half of these students, your grade should be aimed at a maximum of 80 points, while for the lower half, you only need to score 1 point. With this method, the optimal balance for the final exams should be automatically achieved. However, I will confirm the details of this later since there is also the possibility that accidents will happen.”

The important thing here is to make sure that the students taking a 0 and the students scoring a 1 are not paired with each other.

The students with differences in academic ability must be paired up as much as possible.

“I also think this strategy is very good. We shouldn’t challenge the exam without having taken any countermeasures.”

Hirata had discussed this with her beforehand, so there should be no negative comments about the plan. His aim was to create a favorable atmosphere.

Kōenji usually didn't consent with things like this, but he showed neither affirmation nor denial.

Rather, he seemed uninterested in the chain of conversation. His ability to integrate into the class was even worse than Horikita’s. But this time he maintained his typical attitude which is probably for the best.

Although Kōenji usually doesn’t take the special tests seriously, he would always avoid situations where he would be at risk for dropping out.

This time, for the case of the "mandatory pairing", he wouldn't get poor grades. While the chances of it are low, there is a chance you might get expelled even you get a few perfect marks on the finals, depending on the capability of your partner.

Due to this, though he would pretend not to be interested, he would probably be willing to cooperate with the exam.

No, Kōenji’s behavior might not be readable. There’s the possibility that he’ll end up doing something unpredictable.

“Kōenji-kun. Do you have any objections?”

“I have no objections, that was really a nonsense question. Of course, I have already mastered the contents of this exam.”

He stretched his long legs onto his desk as usual and smoothed his hair back.

“Well, can I expect you to indeed score more than 80 points?”

“What do you think? Wouldn’t that depend on the content of the test?”

“If you deliberately score 0 points and get matched up with another student with high grades, there will be a risk of a breakdown in the overall balance for the class. Could you at least understand this, if anything?”

The only thing to be afraid of for these quizzes is an abnormal score. A highly-capable pair like Horikita and Kōenji being created must be avoided.

“I’ll consider it carefully. Girl.”

Even though Kōenji’s answer was really suspicious, she couldn’t pursue the topic now.

Because we have to control the points of the official final exam.

(Intro End.)

(Part 1)

The next day, the time of the quizzes arrived.

I thought that we would begin immediately, but Chabashira-sensei addressed the class first.

“The quiz will start here in a moment, but I have something to report on before that happens. The class that you had nominated to attack for the final exams, Class C, was approved as it did not conflict with the choices from any other classes.”

“Did Class A and Class B both nominate Class D? Regardless, it’s great that we’re able to attack the unstudious Class C without leaving luck and misfortune up to the heavens.”

It seems that we’ve surpassed the first hurdle, and Horikita was relieved. Next would be finding out which class would be attacking Class D.

“Then, the class that will be attacking Class D was also determined to be Class C. This was also because their nomination had no conflicts with other classes.”

Put differently, this battle is in the form of Class C versus Class D, and Class B versus Class A.

“It’s an ideal combination.”

“Seems like it.”

There were no conflicting name selections, which means that the upper classes had both chosen to attack their closest rivals in order to expand, or shrink, the difference between each other. It was such a case.

What can be seen from this, is that Class A’s nomination was decided by Sakayanagi. Katsuragi would have nominated Class D, which would have given them the highest chances of winning.

Furthermore, it can also be predicted that the overall influence of Katsuragi is declining.

Class C was selected as our nomination just as Horikita desired.

“Even though we're about to take a quiz, Ike and Yamauchi look entirely fine. Before tests, you two usually have dark circles under your eyes. Do you have some form of secret strategy this time?”

“Hehehe. Please watch carefully, sensei.”

Ike was full of confidence, but it was as expected. After all, he hadn’t done any studying.

What he should be afraid of would be getting a partial score on the quiz. The difficulty level of the content seemed to be incredibly low, but if you don’t understand a single question, all you can do is write your name and hand it in as a blank sheet. If he was to take this unique quiz seriously it would only go to increase his risks in the future.

There was no way Chabashira-sensei would be unable to see this.

“Don’t regret your decision afterward. You should face this quiz seriously.”

“I am serious. After all, it doesn’t affect my grades, right?”

“Of course. There will be no reflection on your grades.”

“Then I can be at peace with not having to get a high score.”

“That's only if it goes how you're expecting it to."

Towards her ambiguous response, Ike and the others who hadn’t chosen to study fell silent for a moment.

“Should we aim for good scores on this quiz…?”

Sudō unintentionally lost his peace of mind due to her words.

“Don’t let her fool you. There is no mistake in our plan.”

The collected words from Horikita managed to calm the worried students. Sudō regained his composure in an instant.

“………Also. I just have to believe in Suzune.”

Chabashira-sensei witnessed the situation, confirmed that the atmosphere in the class had been restored, and then picked up the quiz handouts.

“Well then, we will start the quizzes. Please remember not to cheat. If caught cheating, regardless of whether it influences your grades or not, we will impose a merciless penalty.”

Sensei handed the examination paper to the front of each row and let us pass it back.

Since we were told to keep it face down until it starts, I flipped the quiz over immediately after it was handed to me.

“Are you not worried about it? About whether or not the pair selection method you came to is correct?”

“No. I am confident about it this time.”

There was no sign that Horikita was swayed by Chabashira-sensei’s words. Because of this, Ike and the others weren’t swayed as well.

If the leader shows fear or hesitation, those emotions will easily begin to spread.

A symbol of change. The students began to shape into an entirely new Class D.

It was only a little bit, but I think this was transmitted to the homeroom teacher who faced the students every day.

“Begin.”

The quiz started at her signal.

I slowly overturned the quiz papers.

“Oh…”

I couldn’t help but make a sound. I probably wasn’t even the only one surprised. Although the difficulty was expected to be very low, it turned out even lower than that.

It was at a level where even students in the upper grades of primary school would be able to answer. Of course, there were some questions with increased difficulty, but even then someone like Ike could easily score above a 60 as long as they didn’t panic.

It’s a sweet trap. A disaster easily could have happened had we absentmindedly jumped into it. But due to Horikita’s strategy, Class D wouldn’t end up with unreasonable results.

(Part 1 End)

(Part 2)

The quizzes ended smoothly without any problems. The results were announced after the 4th period the next day.

Class D had challenged all of their tests in the past without any form of unity.

Whereas this time, the quizzes had produced a sense of unity that was almost too well done.

Pairing system, problem creation, and inter-class competition aside, it may be a wonderful thing that the overall rule for this special examination is so simple. Just take a test and get good grades.

This is the same thing as what we have been forced to repeat over the past nine years or more since we had started in elementary school and all the way through high school.

“It’s good that I didn’t have to get involved with this time.”

It's comforting to be able to say this from the bottom of my heart.

“Then, I will announce the pairings for this semester’s final exams.”

The results of yesterday’s quiz were posted and it went as follows:

Horikita Suzune and Ken Sudō, Hirata Yōsuke and Yamauchi Haruki, Kushida Kikyō and Ike Kanji, Yukimura Teruhiko and Inogashira Kokoro.

The pairs were announced almost as we had expected. By the way, my results said:

Ayanokōji Kiyotaka…… Satō Maya.

“The gods have a bad sense of humor…”

How did it come to this? It was the kind of outcome that would cause me to think like that.

Satō seemed to notice that we had been paired up together and looked back in my direction with a smile.

I raised my hand a little to let her know I had seen it too.

“Kōenji-kun also hasn’t betrayed our expectations of him.”

Kōenji was paired with Okitani. Based on the result, he seems to have gotten a solidly high score.

Well, he’s gotten high scores on every exam that he takes so far, so it’s more like he is just taking the exam as usual. He didn’t pay attention to the result, crossed his arms with an incomprehensible smile, and laughed.

“Looking at the results, some of you seem to have understood the intent of the quiz. It then follows that this information was successfully shared with the rest of the class.”

Chabashira-sensei looked at the pairing list and appeared to be very impressed.

“Pair the students with the highest and lowest scores. If the results are the same, the partners will be randomly selected. I probably don’t need to explain it to you all, but I’ll tell you this anyways.”

There’s no reason to be surprised at this point, but it was relieving for our rule to be validated.

“There doesn’t seem to be any issues with the pairings.”

“Yes. It’s going so smooth that I’m a bit scared. But the real thing starts now. How to make exam problems and overcome the exams on our own. Your pairing is Satō-san, which should be fine.”

I didn’t select her deliberately, but with the upper and lower students combined, the other half of the students in the class are likely to score outside of the predicted strategy. A result like this can be said to be just right.

Satō is a candidate who could potentially fail the final. I have to keep my grades at a high level moving forward.

“In order to raise the classes average score, I will hold a study group until the final exam. Because I can cooperate with Hirata-kun and Kushida-san this time, I’ll be able to hold two sessions per day. A two-hour session from 4 pm to 6 pm after school ends, and 2 hours from 8 pm to 10 pm for those with club activities. We need to decide who will take which session. What do you think, Hirata-kun?”

“Since I’m involved with club activities, I’ll take over the second study session. Let’s get through this and work hard.”

Things were truly moving steadily. Because of the increase in the number of people who can teach, we can adopt a strategy like this.

After that, Horikita and Hirata discussed the details of the study sessions again and again, slowly ironing out the finer details.

The supervision of the first session was taken up by Horikita, while Hirata took over the second session. They decided to thoroughly guide the students who were struggling with their grades, while still supporting all of the students who attended the study groups. Kushida was a special force who would attend both sessions and focus on teaching the students who were anxious about reaching 50 points. There were a lot of girls sitting in this middle tier, such as Onodera and Ichihashi.

That said, this plan was not without problems.

Compared to the first semester, the number of students involved in the study group is pretty large. In contrast, there are only three people in charge of teaching.

It follows that the larger the student side of the teacher-student ratio gets, the poorer the quality the overall teaching will be.

At lunchtime, Hirata and Sudō met up with Horikita.

“Fuck, Suzune isn’t leading the second session. That kills my motivation.”josei

Since Sudō couldn’t attend the first session due to his club activities, he couldn’t be taught by Horikita this time.

Horikita worked as Sudō’s motive to study, so he seemed pretty reluctant. In the past, he would have probably acted out here.

“No matter who is teaching, if you lack motivation, I will be troubled. Understand?”

“……I understand. I’ll study, after all, we are a pair.”

She had great control over the bulky Sudō. It was admirable.

“Your efforts will also be reflected in my own evaluation. It would be nice if you would understand that. On top of that, I will try to show up at the evening sessions, so come on.”

Horikita put forward the final blow, as if Sudō was in the palm of her hand.

“Oh wow. I suddenly have the motivation again! Please treat me well, Hirata.”

“Likewise. Let’s do this together, Sudō-kun.”

Because of his decision to become partners with Horikita, Sudō seems to be more driven.

But still, there were unexpected problems.

“……I need to talk to you for a minute, alright?”

The student who came up to Horikita was someone who I had never spoken to before.

He came over with a nervous, sorry-looking expression.

“Miyake-kun, what’s wrong?”

He was a student of Class D, Miyake Akito, and he was with a girl whose beauty was a common topic among the boys of the class, Hasebe.

These two students were usually very quiet and rarely involved themselves with anyone. It was an unexpected visit from an unexpected combination.

“I remember you two, you guys are a team for the final exams, right?”

Hirata asked, looking for a common point to start with. Miyake began to talk about the situation.

“We are a pair for the upcoming exam, but based on the results we got on the quizzes and midterms, we are good and bad at the same subjects, so there’s a bit of a problem. It’s a little nerve-racking. We wanted to ask for advice.”

After he finished, he handed their quiz results and midterm results to Hirata.

The pair had decided to compare the results of their quizzes with each other. Their average score was very different, with Miyake getting 79 points, and Hasebe getting a single point as intended. Horikita’s plan worked smoothly to get good pairs for the students in the upper and lower parts of the class. But there was a miscalculation here. For the mid-term exams, their average scores were 65 points and 63 points, for Miyake and Hasebe respectively. They have almost no difference in their academic ability. They're two students who are in the very middle of the class but were split into the upper and lower sections. At first glance, the two of them would seem to be able to manage the final exams, but there’s a catch.

The tendency for both of them to make the same mistake on a question was too similar. In other words, the subjects that they aren’t good at are exactly the same. Sixty points in each subject will be required for the final exams. It will be a dangerous bridge to cross.

“Indeed, this is a bit unexpected. Let’s make sure to check the other pairings later.”

“I’m sorry to trouble you again, Hirata. Whether it’s the cruise or the sports festival, I always seem to give you trouble.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You would do the same if I were the one who needed help.”

Was that what happened? Miyake had withdrawn from the sports festival just before the final relay race due to an injured leg. He seems to have made a full recovery as there were no problems with his movement.

I happened to recall this kind of thing, but I don’t know the specific details.

Miyake and Hasebe, the answers that they chose were very similar.

They were so similar that one might think the same person had taken both exams.

Even if it’s possible to adjust someone's academic ability to some extent, it isn’t possible to get every student into their ideal pairing. It’s unavoidable that an incompatible match would be created.

“This will be hard. I don’t want to complicate the plans we set up or disrupt the progression of the study groups.”

It’s not that they were too stupid to be able to study for the test. The problem was that the two of them had their weaknesses and strengths heavily skewed. It was a special type of situation that was somewhat different from Sudō’s which was that he was simply not good at studying.

As a result, the quality of the teaching will become less and less adequate.

Originally it would be ideal to teach lessons one-on-one.

“Kushida-san, can I trouble you with some additional students? There will be a lot of people to tutor, but these two should have some foundation for studying. They shouldn’t diminish the overall coordination of the study group."

“Yup. I don’t mind, as long as Miyake-kun and Hasebe-san don’t mind either?”

Kushida asked the two of them. Miyake didn’t say anything, but Hasebe was different.

“I’ll pass. I don’t like being around Ichihashi-san.”

She refused in response. Fortunately, Ichihashi had left the classroom, so the conversation wasn’t overheard.

“It’s also not comfortable for me to attend a study group with a lot of people.”

It seems that Miyake had suggested to Haruka to for them to ask Hirata together.

I had thought she would be apathetic about it, but it seems that she ended up disagreeing with Miyake altogether.

“But, the two of you share the same weaknesses. Even if you are able to clear the overall score requirement, if you are to take the final exams like this, there is a real possibility that one of your subjects will be below the minimum requirement of 60 points.”

“Yep, I know.”

Hasebe gave off a look of dissatisfaction and took her gaze off Horikita. She then turned her back on us and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“Miyatchi. I’m sorry you took the time to invite me. I feel pretty embarrassed, but in the end, this is not something I’m cut out for.”

Refusing once again, Hasebe left the classroom alone.

“Sorry, Horikita.”

“I don’t care. Even if it’s just you, would you mind working with Kushida-san?”

If Miyake was to work to compensate for his worst subjects, he could effectively cover for Hasebe.

“……I’ll pass. I don’t feel like I’d be able to study in a group full of women. I’ll try to do it on my own.”

Miyake gave his own response and withdrew as well after grabbing his bag off the seat. Horikita could not force them to study. If they didn’t participate in the study session of their own will, it would be nearly impossible to get any results, and it would lower the moral of the students who were taking the studying seriously.

“What should we do? If we can, I think it would be better to provide some support for those two.”

“That’s right…… If only there was someone else who could participate in teaching them.”

I saw Horikita looking at me for an instant, so I declined her with my eyes. I don’t believe that I can communicate with Miyake or Hasebe, not even considering whether or not I have any teaching skills.

My existence shouldn’t be considered after that point.

“I’ll try to adjust and see whether or not I can make time.”

After some thought, Horikita concluded that she had no choice but to make a move herself, and attempted to sum things up.

“I’m against the idea. When I think of the long war that will be coming in the future, you will undoubtedly be overworking yourself. As a result, the overall efficiency of learning for everyone will drop. Horikita also has to work on creating problems for Class C as well.”

“But if there’re no other options, what choice do we have?”

Horikita’s speech had become forceful since she had judged that there wasn’t anyone else who could teach them.

Even though Hirata could advise her not to do this, he had no means available to stop her.

Horikita will look after Miyake. It was beginning to appear as though the matter was decided.

“Then I’ll take care of it.”

A student who hadn’t been involved in the discussion so far approached the group.

The one who joined the discussion was Yukimura.

“Yukimura-kun, if you’re willing to cooperate, I’d be glad to welcome you. You work hard in school and definitely have the appropriate academic ability. But are you fine with this? I thought that you didn’t care for this kind of interaction.”

“At least, if I don’t cooperate, it doesn’t seem like we will overcome this exam. Horikita, you’re the same way, trying to take on everything by yourself.”

It might be that Yukimura is choosing to act because he saw the changes that have happened with Horikita since the sports festival.

“But there’s one other problem. I can teach, but I don’t have any ties with Miyake or Hasebe. I think it would be tricky or impossible for me to try to convince the two of them. I want you to come up with a way to convince the two of them to come to my study session.”

He attached the condition that we would have to bring the two of them with us.

Of course, there was no such thing as a condition. Thankfully, Horikita was delighted with the arrival of a helper.

He was like a movie companion, coming out of the sky in a helicopter to rescue the main character who had been driven into the corner by enemy soldiers.

“I understand. I will think about how to gather the two of them for you.”

After Yukimura had made the minimum promise with Horikita, he left the classroom as if nothing had happened.

“Is it okay for me to think of things as okay for the time being?”

“Not necessarily. Think about it, none of us have any connections with either of the two of them.”

I couldn’t stop myself from pointing it out to her, so I did.

“……Hirata-kun, will they listen to Yukimura-kun?”

“I wonder…… I think you know this already, but the three of them are the type of people who like solitude. It will have to do with whether or not they match with Yukimura's personality or way of thinking. They might end up being a little uneasy about it.”

Horikita sat in thought considering what Hirata said, and after a bit, she eventually turned to me.

“Hey, Ayanokōji-kun. Would you mind if I left the management of Yukimura-kun to you?”

“Management?”

“You were in the same room as Yukimura-kun on the ship, so I thought you might be somewhat flexible. It may be difficult for you to communicate with Miyake-kun or Hasebe-san, but if you work as the middleman it should be easier for all of us to connect with them.”

She said such a thing. Using the process of elimination, it was clearly the best plan available. None of the three of them appeared to be the type of person who would be able to stay in touch with Horikita.

Even so, why choose me of all people? I’ve entirely pleased with not getting any more involved with this than I already am.

“You appear to be rather unwilling. Are you not willing to help me? It’s just management, I didn’t say I wanted you to teach.”

It’s true that it’s just management, but it will be a very difficult thing to manage.

“Can I ask this of you?”

I can only nod my head as the pressure from Horikita had begun to change into a threat.

Let’s renew my mindset here.

Accepting this matter can help Horikita save face, and the backup plan isn’t entirely useless.

The important thing is that I’m not made to do anything further than this. The most troublesome task here would be to teach others and thinking of problems for the final exams.

“I’ll try my best.”

I gave her my answer and sighed in a manner so as not to be seen by Horikita.

(Part 2 End)

(Part 3)

After school, I started to take action immediately. I spoke with Yukimura and then got in contact with Miyake. We all agreed to hold a study group. I had asked Hirata in advance and got prior consent from the two of them.

“What about Hasebe?”

As soon as class was over, Hasebe vanished from the classroom without anyone noticing.

“Did she run away?”

Yukimura muttered a bit angrily.

“Hasebe isn’t that kind of girl, perhaps she left ahead of us?”

“Why would she leave first?”

“Eh, there could be a variety of reasons.”

Miyake appeared to understand Hasebe well, so he wasn’t particularly worried.

For the time being, we headed towards Pallet which was the planned meeting place for the study group.

Then, in the middle of the corridor along the way, we came across Hasebe.

“Why did you head out without us?”

As soon as Yukimura saw Hasebe, he asked her.

“Should I say that I don’t want to attract attention? It’s a little inconvenient for me to stay in class.”

She answered him ambiguously. Yukimura seems to have taken it personally.

“Are you saying you would hate to be seen talking to us?”

“It’s not like that. I just have a lot of difficulties with it.”

“Don’t worry, Yukimura. Hasebe is always like this.”

“The seats will all be taken while we stand here and talk. So in the meantime, why don’t we get going?”

I understand Yukimura’s feelings and that he’s getting irritated, but we should put that aside for the time being.

In fact, now that school has ended, students would start to gather at Pallet.

“That’s right… It would be troublesome if all of the seats were taken. Let’s go.”

Yukimura quickly regained his composure and took the lead.

“You should pay a little bit more attention to what you say.”

“Was what I was saying really so unpleasant? I’ll reflect on this a little.”

It seems that Hasebe wasn’t intending to be rude.

We managed to secure four seats and reorganized the situation.

“Uh, well, in short, please advise me.”

Yukimura sat next to me, with Hasebe across the table. Miyake sat next to Hasebe.

I don’t know how this gathering managed to happen or how it turned out this way, but the group of 4 had managed to come together despite the atmosphere of discomfort.

“If you have any questions, I’ll hear them out first.”

After I said this, the only female in the group, Hasebe, rose her hand lightly and said:

“So Ayanokōji-kun can talk?”

“……Is that really the question you chose to ask?

Hasebe looks up at me as if intrigued. It’s apparently incredible that I was talking and speaking to them.

“How do I put it… I didn’t have any impression of you at all. Are you the type of student who isn’t even noticed when you’re absent?”

I haven’t had many conversations with Hasebe. Even if I had made an impression, there was no way for her to know much. After hearing her comment, Miyake brings up the topic of the sports festival.

“But the way he ran as the anchor at the relay race was awesome. Because of that one event, Ayanokōji became the center of attention of the school.”

“I wanted to see it. But I went to the restroom and missed Ayanokōji-kun’s race. So for me, it feels a little strange. Didn’t you race against the former student council president? It seemed to be a hot topic right after the sports festival ended.”

“Were you in the track and field club back in middle school Ayanokōji? After watching the relay, a talent scout from the track and field club came.”

“Ah, well, I received some solicitation, but I refused.”

After all, that type of motivation to recruit was only temporary, and not something that would go on for long. The people in the track and field club shouldn’t be thinking about me anymore. Even if someone is a good runner, if they don’t want to take part in club activities, it’s meaningless to keep on trying.

“To be honest, I haven’t ever done any club activities, so I’m not aware of the situation.”

“Ah really? What a shame.”

As the conversation continued, Yukimura listened without inserting a single word. Hasebe changes the topic over to Miyake without worrying about the state of the situation.

“Miyatchi is in the archery club. Is it fun to shoot a bow every day?”

“I wouldn’t do it every day if it wasn’t fun. By the way, the bow doesn’t get shot, the arrow does.”

He’s right.

“I’m not interested in club stuff, like… I’m good with spending my time doing the things I like.”

The two of them are quite different than what I’ve experienced so far. They were much more talkative than I expected.

“Oh Miyatchi, is it alright for you to miss your club activities?”

“I took time off.”

“How brief.”

“I will put my time into whatever takes first priority. Archery club isn’t very strict so there’re no particular penalties.”

“Will you all listen to me for a moment? I want to say something before we begin the study session.”

Yukimura, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, calmly spoke up. The person his eyes focused in on was neither Hasebe nor Miyake, but me.

“No secrets like back at the sports festival, Ayanokōji”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Studying. I’ve heard from Horikita that you’re plenty capable at it.”

“……That woman.”

It seems Horikita has given unnecessary information to Yukimura that I was unaware of.

“I’m relatively good at memorizing things. I think I can score pretty well if I concentrate.”

If I don’t say at least this much, it will be difficult to gain Yukimura’s trust.

“Are you the type who doesn’t do things even though you have the capability to do them?”

“I can’t compare to you, so don’t expect too much of me. I’m not good at teaching.”

“I understand. You should take this seriously so you can get even 1 more point. Since I will be teaching you, you will absolutely get a higher score than you did on the midterms.”

Immediately after, Yukimura proceeded to ask the others:

“Did you bring your test papers from the first semester’s final and the last midterm test as I instructed?”

“Well, yeah.”

Hasebe spoke up, and Miyake nodded. They took the papers out of their bags and handed them to Yukimura.

I look at the papers from the side and confirm their contents. The conclusion that comes from there…

“Both of you are excellent at science, but your results in most of the humanities are devastating.”

Their score in math was around 70 points, which was a relatively high score, but their scores in world history and language averaged around 40. It’s clear that they would be worried if this was left as it is.

“I didn’t think you two were on such good terms with each other, but I did know you both shared such a clear weakness.”

“When I was studying in the library earlier, I was able to speak with Hasebe. That’s the flow of things.”

“Miyatchi and I are pretty independent types. I don’t really wanna become involved with the class.”

These two people held a sense of distance from the class and didn’t belong to any specific group. Was this the reason for their lack of integration with the rest of the class?

“I feel the same in that sense. Even in this group we’re in now, I feel very awkward.”

“So why did you approve of making a group this time?”

“This isn’t exactly a group, per say, it’s more like a study club. If there are only a few people in it, it will be quiet. It doesn’t bother me when I study by myself, so I’ll have to think about finding a new method to study. I’m sorry, but it will take some time for me.”

“Okay. I’ll just wait and have a tea break, alright?”

Hasebe took out her cell phone immediately and began to relax. These days, it’s easy to kill time as long as you have a cell phone. Should I also take out my phone? What should I do in this situation?

I suddenly felt a gaze, and inadvertently sent my own in that direction.

Several boy students were watching us while one of them spoke out to somewhere.

I could recognize the three students. All of them were from Class C. Though I could only remember the name of Ishizaki who stood in the center.

I hope I don’t get caught up in trouble…

However, Ishizaki didn’t come looking for trouble. Although they looked over to us from time to time, they still went to the front of the cake cabinet in Pallet positioned next to the cashier. There is a display of cakes that can be enjoyed with drinks or can be ordered to go. Strawberry Shortcakes and Mont Blanc seem to be the particularly popular options, but I was unaware of the details. The clerk judged that the group in front of him was customers, and appeared to have difficulties hearing the order from the students. The clerk showed no signs that he would be reaching out to the cake cabinet, and his expression gradually turned nervous and apologetic.

“You can’t think of some way to do it!?”

Ishizaki had become impatient and cried out, and the noisy cafe became much quieter for a bit.

“Even if you insist… for a special order cake, it needs to be mentioned at least a week in advance. It would be very difficult to prepare something the same day.”

After hearing this response from the clerk, Pallet became noisy once again as if nothing had ever happened.

“What was that about?”

As Hasebe twirled her pen between her fingers, she looked towards Ishizaki with a look of disgust.

“Come on. It doesn’t involve us.”

Yukimura didn’t show any interest and was writing something based on the old midterm exams he was given. He was determining their specific weaknesses and planning out what exact measures to take moving forward.

“Cake…”

I wasn’t interested in what happened with Ishizaki, but at the same time, it’s my birthday tomorrow.

To be honest, I don’t have any clear idea of how to spend a birthday like any normal person would. It only meant that I was one year older.

I didn’t really know anything. I know that a birthday is a day when someone is celebrated by their family, their lover, and their friends. I just don’t understand the emotions someone would feel at that time.

“What’s up, Ayanokōji-kun?”

“It’s nothing.”

Tomorrow is the 20th of October.

There are many students, staff, teachers, and other people in this school.

Even if one or two people were to have the same birthday, it wouldn’t be an uncommon thing.

The only difference between them and me is whether or not there would be anyone to celebrate it with.

I wonder if anyone will remember my birthday next year.

(Part 3 End)

(Part 4)

“I’ll go get another cup of coffee.”

“Ooh, me too!”

It had been more than 30 minutes since Yukimura had started to confirm the results of their exams in Pallet. He hasn’t looked up from the papers yet, and it looks like it was going to take a while longer for him to decide on a plan.

Hasebe and Miyake went to the cashier with their empty cups. Pallet had a policy where your second cup would be half price, although only valid on the same day. Pallet sold coffee that was cheap, tasty, and generally impeccable. It seems to be growing in popularity among first-year students. Hasebe and Miyake were already preparing to drink their third cups, but Yukimura, who was absorbed in his work, hadn’t even finished the second half of his first. His attention was completed absorbed by the textbooks, notes, and test papers, considering how to make the best progress for the study group.

“That looks like a lot of work.”

“That’s because I’ve effectively never taught people how to study. I used to teach an idiot how to stay cram until late at night back in middle school, but I couldn’t stand doing that. He didn’t have any of the fundamentals, and wasn’t able to concentrate on the material very well.”

Yukimura set his pen on the table and looked up at the ceiling as if recalling that time.

“Now I can’t forget the time that I wasted. I thought it was stupid to teach people how to study. During the first semester, when you and Horikita held a study group to stop those idiots from failing, I was laughing at you in my heart. The same goes for the group made by Hirata. Doesn’t it just seem like a waste of time? Someone who doesn’t study is almost always someone who hates doing it in the first place. I put in a day or two of effort to get rid of failing grades, so if they just go back to how things were before they’re just wasting my time.”

Rather than being abusive, Yukimura seemed to be muttering his honest thoughts.

“Then, why did you decide to teach us this time?”

It’s difficult to compare the cramming that Yukimura taught to the final exams. If you don’t study thoroughly, you shouldn’t expect to overcome the difficulty. Yukimura is under a lot of pressure. In the event that Hasebe and Miyake get expelled, he would probably choose to shoulder the responsibility himself. If it got to that point, he would look past the fact that it was their own responsibility and start to regret that he could have taught them better. That’s the type of person that Yukimura is.

“I was useless during the sports festival. What I had determined to be unnecessary had caught up with me. The only difference here is whether the school prioritizes athletics or academics.”

Ike, Yamauchi, Sudō, and other students who wouldn’t study. Yukimura who wouldn’t exercise. Despite their differences, since he had judged that the school determines these things to be of equal importance, he had come to this conclusion.

“In this school, it’s not enough to just study. It’s not enough to just exercise. Even if we were to combine the two, it still wouldn’t be enough. Even people like Horikita or Hirata, who are well-versed in both, can’t survive this alone. Intuition, inspiration, and common sense. Ultimately, we will be called upon to display these indispensable qualities of human society. There’s no way we could do it purely on our own. It’s necessary to unite as a team and stick together. That’s the only way.”

Yukimura should have suffered all kinds of hardships to get into this school by now.

“So I decided to help. I want to contribute what I can to the class.”

And that, of course, would be holding a study group.

“It’s also because I had noticed that I had these selfish feelings about studying. I was reminded of my selfish mother when I thought of this, so I re-examined myself…… No, this story is unnecessary. You can forget it.”

Yukimura, who had returned from his thoughts, interrupted himself and took his gaze off the ceiling.

“Perhaps if I had to tutor Ike, I would have more problems. Miyake and Hasebe both have the ability to work hard and be serious about their schoolwork, so it’s much easier. Also, since they are good at science, this shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help, but I can expect them to at least have some sizable improvements.”

What forward-thinking…… No, would it be better to take this as his response to the two of them? Even though he was just listening silently, he could see that Miyake and Hasebe both had a good attitude toward reading. They both had a pretty good viewpoint and ability to understand the material. Because of this, Yukimura earnestly wanted to do his best for them.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

Hasebe and Miyake also hadn’t returned yet.

It seemed like there would be some time before the start of the study session, so I gave this excuse to leave the table as well. This was because I had been feeling the gazes of not only Ishizaki, but also of somebody else.

Although I couldn’t see it clearly, someone had been discretely trying to peek over here. Yukimura didn’t look at me as I left at all, so I moved directly to their seat. I don’t think that they had noticed me, so I walked up directly while hiding my presence.

“What are you doing all on your own, Sakura?”

“Hyaa!?”

Sakura jumped a little in her seat and looked up fearfully.

“Uh… A coincidence, really, Ayanokōji-kun!”

“Oh, so it’s a coincidence?”

“A coincidence, yes!”

“Haven’t you been looking back at us from time to time?”

“That was… that…… I-I’m sorry…”

Since Sakura didn’t have the confidence to carry out the lie from the beginning, she immediately confessed.

“It doesn't seem like you necessarily have anything to tell me, or do you?”

So there was no need for her to come here. If it was urgent, she would have called or sent an email.

She didn't have any errands or business here, and she’s not the type who would ask someone else, so looking at it this way…

“Do you want to join the study group too?”

“Wha, why, w-why!?”

“Well, the reason is rather simple. I can see your study materials inside your bag.”

It’s not necessary to take all of your notebooks with you whenever you go somewhere, but a study group would be a different story.

There are a lot of students here who were studying on their own, but Sakura would never choose to study in a place like this.

“Oh no……”

She panicked a bit and attempted to close her bag, but it was too late. That reaction itself was just like saying yes.

“If you don’t mind our study group, would you like to join us? I’ll ask the others.”

“B-but I… I’ve hardly ever spoken to any of them…”

Sakura couldn’t get close to our table because she wasn’t good at coming in contact with other people. I understood this much even though she didn’t say it.

“You’ve come this far on your own? If it’s the Sakura that I know, you wouldn’t have even been able to take the chance to come to Pallet and risked the chance of meeting people.”

It’s no easy task to lurk alone in a place that is filled with both large and small groups of people. The idea of escaping and heading back should have crossed her mind several times already.

Despite that, she still managed to remain here, which shows Sakura’s current state of mind.

“It’s up to you to decide what to do. It’s better not to consider just my opinion on this. You have to consider how Yukimura, Hasebe, and Miyake would think and feel about it as well.”

Sakura may be discouraged by these words.

She might resent me and think: ‘He doesn’t want to take a stance on it and accept me.’

However, Sakura’s passive attitude has its good parts and bad parts.

Since it’s a matter of her progress as a person, keeping my distance and waiting to see what she chooses to do on her own is the best policy.

Of course, I have a reason to think this.

Despite being in a group now, the threshold for communication with Yukimura and the others seems to be lower than with the other classmates. I feel like that in my own way. Sakura must also have a similar feeling.

“Just think about what you want to do. We’ll be staying here for the next hour and studying.”

Although it seems a little cold, I left Sakura after saying only those words. Even though the cafe was crowded, if I was to spend too much time next to Sakura’s seat, I would soon be spotted by Hasebe.

I casually returned to my seat. Yukimura only glanced at me and said nothing in particular.

After waiting for about 2 minutes, we were approached by the others.

“What a long wait. So, have you finished going over everything yet?”

“I’m almost done.”

Yukimura sped up his pace.

“Oh yeah! That’s right Ayanokōji-kun, I wanted to ask you something. Okay?”

“Stop it, Hasebe.”

Miyake stops Hasebe from trying to ask something.

“Oh come on. Like, it’s not a big deal if anyone else hears.”

“That’s not the issue. Consider the time and place, you know?”

“It’s after school, and this is the school cafe, so right now is really the perfect time to start on the subject, right?”

After Miyake saw that Hasebe had no intention of backing down, he shook his head as if to give in.

What on earth is she trying to ask me?

“Ayanokōji-kun, are you going out with Horikita-san?”

“I am not.”

“An immediate response? Should I say that answer sounds pretty rehearsed? To me, it seems pretty suspicious indeed.”

“I’ve already been asked by various people before. Horikita and I don’t always work together.”

“That may be true. But they say that rumors about love are only half false, you know.”

A girl like Hasebe who prefers to alone seems to also be seriously interested in the topic of romance.

A sensible guy in this situation wouldn’t forget to check with Hasebe to see if she has a boyfriend.

Of course, there’s no way that I was going to do it (it simply isn’t possible), so the topic ended with that.

“Okay!”

Yukimura suddenly raised his head in full force. It seemed that he had finally finished his revision.

“Somehow, I feel like I was able to grasp where exactly the two of you are having difficulties. This is the detailed plan I would like to focus on moving forward.”

He announces this and passes over the various notes he had written to Miyake.

“I tried to come up with some liberal arts questions. I’ll also have Hasebe answer them too, so don’t answer them directly in my notebook. Write them on your own. The time limit is ten minutes for all ten questions.”

Miyake took out his notebook without any complaints about the impromptu questions. Since he understood that this was in order for him to produce the best results he obeyed the instructions. After ten minutes of struggling, he passed the questions over to Hasebe like a baton. The purpose of these questions was to conduct a more in-depth investigation of their weaknesses.

Then, after a total of 20 minutes of exams, Yukimura immediately began writing out their scores on his notebook.

“Honestly, you guys……”

Yukimura finished grading the impromptu exams, and with a dumbfounded sigh, presented them with their scores.

They mutually got three answers correct, six incorrect, and the last one was half correct.

Their exams were the same, but it was surprising that they managed to get the exact same questions right and wrong.

“You’re not only good at the same subjects, but you each have the same tendency of memorizing information.”

“Awesome! Doesn’t it feel almost like our destinies are intertwined, Miyatchi?”

“I don’t feel it.”

“Ah, as always your responses are dull. But, isn’t this kinda a problem?”

Hasebe returned to her senses and began to feel anxious, but in fact, the opposite was true.

“It would be better to say that this situation is perfectly fine. It will only take half as much effort to solve.”

If their learning ability and tendencies are almost exactly the same, as Yukimura says, the burden should become rather light.

The number of people who need to be taught can essentially be considered to be just one person.

Of course, because they are so similar, there should also be a couple of trivial differences, but when those situations come up, as long as they follow their instructions, it should carry on smoothly.

“Do you feel like this will be easy?”

“It depends on how much effort you put in from now on. These questions were some of the less difficult ones, but your grades were still a bit disturbing. I think it’s necessary for us to gather like this a bit regularly… In short, we will need to study more. Counting backward from the day of the final exam, I’d like to have seven or eight opportunities to gather. A certain amount of time between each meeting will be preferable so you can do a bit of self-studying as well. Are you three alright with this? Miyake should also have problems with club activities.”

“As we get closer to the final exam, the number of club activities will cool down a bit, but let me ask to be sure.”

Yukimura nodded to this natural request. Then there was Hasebe.

“Ah, let me know one thing before I answer you, okay? Is this kinda what it will be like to study normally? I don’t like, like studying, but when it comes to reviewing this and that, I think I can still do it on my own. Is there any benefit to studying in a group like this? Yeah, I know that having a smart person teach me will increase the efficiency, and I came here because of Miyatchi’s advice, but I’m still kinda dubious about it all.”

“You don’t seem to be dubious about only my teachings.”

Yukimura noticed the overtone of Hasebe’s response, which explained the policy.

“I’m not going to be holding a regular study group. This is because while the questions for past exams were written by the school, this time around they’re going to be written by other classes. The school’s problems are usually targeted at assisting to move on to university and are standardized to content that is either basic or relatively easy to study for. To put it simply, it’s a matter of course. On the other hand, the fact that questions will be written by other students is an unknown. It’s difficult to formulate tendencies and countermeasures for it. This is why after considering this, it’s necessary to study for these exams.”

Miyake was convinced with Yukimura’s explanation.

“That’s right. Class C is definitely going to give us very tricky questions.”

“Ah, well, it’s not entirely impossible to formulate tendencies and countermeasures. It might seem unthinkable to come up with the problems Class C will have for us, but what if we think of the individual who will come up with them? As far as I can predict, I think the question-writer will be ‘Kaneda’.”

Although I’m not completely familiar with the name, it’s not one I’ve never heard before.

“He’s that disgusting creepy-looking guy with the glasses, right?”

“I’m not too sure if I agree with that, but that’s probably the guy. He’s the best student in Class C.”

If the Yukimura’s information is correct, it would be appropriate to assume that the students who have done well in their studies would be the ones writing their questions.

“Ah, but if the problem’s turn out to be really distorted, it may also be one that was written by Ryūen or Ishizaki, right?”

“That’s impossible. Even if there is a trap question, it’s impossible to come up with one without first having a firm background in the subject. Try to imagine it yourself. Do you think you can come up with a social studies question that can’t be solved easily?”

“……No, not at all. I can’t even think of a topic in the first place.”

“Same thing here. What kind of social studies questions will be put on the test?”

“That’s the way it is. Even if you think about it, your mind will only flash over the obvious content. Difficult problems and trap questions aren’t something you’d be able to easily create even if you wanted to. If you look at the textbook and aim for the difficult parts of the content, the school will probably end up rejecting the question since the problem wasn’t set up correctly.”

His conjecture made a good point. However, it was just a little too weak to instill confidence.

“Is it up to the school to ultimately decide if a question is acceptable or not?”

I gave a slight interjection into Yukimura’s story.

“If so, do we need to know the clear standard which the school determines a question to be acceptable?”

“That’s true. If we knew that, we wouldn’t have to work as hard.”

“I think it’s possible to figure out. In short, if Class D prepares a number of highly selective questions, and gives them to the school for review, would it not be possible to come to a clear answer to the question based off which questions get accepted?”

“Ah, that’s right. That’s actually a really good idea.”

“You’re pretty sharp, Ayanokōji-kun.”

“In this case, we seem to have to submit these questions as early as possible in order to identify the benchmarks that the school has. I’ll try to think about a few questions myself, but will Horikita or Hirata be willing to help as well?”

“I don’t know… we’re totally split up from them now, so the details are unclear.”

“That’s troubling. You’re the only one of us who can keep in touch with them.”

Miyake and Hasebe also nod almost simultaneously.

“I get it. I’ll see what I can do… but don’t expect too much from me.”

Do both Horikita and Yukimura plan to use me as a convenient middleman for them?

“Yeah, I see.”

Hasebe’s doubts seemed to have been settled, and there was a smile on her face.

“Well, I don’t do any club activities, so let’s decide how to do this based on what works for Miyatchi, okay?”

By saying so, she gave up all the decision-making rights.

When Miyake heard this, he looked at Hasebe in surprise.

“I thought Hasebe was still going to refuse. How unusual, you don’t usually want to get involved with guys.”

“It seems like it would be kinda bad if I didn’t join in the study group. It would be my own fault if I was going to like, drop out of school, but I don’t want to get Miyatchi involved, alright?”

She appeared to have agreed for the sake of her friend Miyake instead of for her own.

“Well, that should be it for today. I plan to hold the first study session the day after tomorrow.”

Yukimura summed up the first session. Did he plan on going over the topic trends and formulate countermeasures today and tomorrow?