All four first-year classes were buying old test papers to pass the exams.
So basically, you're a liar, Shirogane Miyuki!
First, you said you asked the smart students in Ichinose's class to tutor you. Then you said you borrowed past textbooks and summarized the key points for your own class, and even sold that to Class A.
But…
That was all a lie.
You guys probably bought the test papers in advance, didn't you?
He really thought the first-year A and B classes were studying seriously for the test. That's why he gave the papers to Ichinose's class, thinking it would help them get the best results.
He thought it would build a good partnership.
But in the end…
He got tricked.
Still, maybe it wasn't a total loss, since he did help Class C. Thanks to the test papers he gave them, Ichinose's class was able to get top rewards and didn't fall behind the others.
And from what he knew about Ichinose's class—and from what his people who've been keeping an eye on them told him—they're not the kind of people who forget when someone helps them.
So in that sense, maybe it wasn't so bad.
"By the way, Shirogane, is there something so important that you have to keep texting?"
"You've been on your phone for like ten minutes now."
Nagumo noticed what was going on. Even though Shirogane was talking to him, his head stayed down, eyes glued to his phone the whole time.
Meanwhile, Kushida, who had been assigned a task by Shirogane, was working on his computer.
Shirogane only looked up to correct her if she made a mistake, then went right back to watching his phone.
"I'm messaging Sakayanagi."
Shirogane said.
"You're pretty close with Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, huh? But isn't it a bit risky to be so friendly with someone from another class?"
Nagumo said.
"It is a bit tricky, yeah. But if I get 20 million points and transfer to any class I want, then we'll be in the same class anyway."
Shirogane replied.
"Heh."
Nagumo gave a short laugh.
But in truth, he thought the whole thing sounded dangerous.
Whether it's Shirogane Miyuki saving up 20 million points to buy Sakayanagi Arisu, or Sakayanagi's class saving up 20 million to buy Shirogane Miyuki—
It looks like these two freshmen are trying something totally new.
But there's a reason behind it.
If Shirogane becomes student council president, then for Class 1-A, buying him over would definitely be worth it.
And for Shirogane's own class, if he can buy Sakayanagi, that would also be a huge boost.
So as long as either of these deals goes through, the class that gets the new member will definitely get stronger.
You could say—
No matter what, Shirogane won't lose out.
If he gathers 20 million points, he doesn't have to buy Sakayanagi. But if Class A manages to gather 20 million, there's a good chance they'll buy Shirogane.
That would instantly bring him into a very strong class.
And they'd be the ones asking him to join.
Meanwhile, Ichinose, who was only there to deliver documents on the student council president's orders, quietly listened to all this talk about the 20 million-point deal.
She didn't say anything, and no one paid much attention to her.
"But right now, I think Sakayanagi's actually here to talk about student council matters," said Secretary Shirogane.
"She said she's suspicious about how real this special exam was," Shirogane said.
"And that someone from her class might report it."
"Report it?"
Nagumo seemed to laugh.
Reporting cheating?
Haha.
Sure, that takes guts. But will it work? Every second- and third-year, and now even the first-years, are doing the same thing.
Is she trying to take on the whole school?
And didn't her own class cheat too?
All four classes got nearly the full 100-point reward. Who can say they didn't cheat?
So everyone cheats, and she's going to report it?
How cute.
"They said their class didn't cheat at all, and that the exam footage can be reviewed anytime," said Shirogane.
"Well, they sure are full of energy,"
Nagumo Miyabi said.
Then things went quiet again.
At that moment, Horikita Manabu, who had been sitting silently in the student council president's seat, finally looked up.
He glanced at Tachibana Akane.
Tachibana Akane suddenly seemed to remember something.
The day the student council president found out about Kushida's dark past, Shirogane had mentioned that a confrontation with Nagumo would happen soon.
But did "soon" mean right now, this moment?
As she thought about this—
Knock knock—
Someone knocked on the student council room door.
"Come in," said Horikita Manabu.
The door opened, and two male students walked in. One was tall, well-built, and bald.
The other was also tall, with blonde hair and good looks.
Seeing another blonde guy like himself made Nagumo Miyabi a little irritated.
But he didn't say anything.
Maybe he felt a bit disappointed. This year's first-years were bold enough to really come forward and accuse others of cheating on a school-wide level.
"So, Katsuragi, what brings you to the student council today?" Horikita Manabu asked in a formal tone.
"It's about the special exam from last month," Katsuragi said.
"Our class studied hard for a whole month, reviewing material from past lessons."
"And we got the highest possible reward. We were really happy about that."
"But we doubt the other classes."
"The first-year classes B, C, and D couldn't have done as well as we did."
"Especially this part."
As he said this, Katsuragi looked at Hashimoto.
Hashimoto pulled out a USB stick.
Horikita Manabu frowned slightly, but Tachibana Akane seemed to understand and walked over to take the USB from Hashimoto and plugged it into a computer.
Soon, an image appeared on the large projector screen.
It showed an upperclassman handing a test paper to a first-year girl.
"This is a student from my class and a senior from Class 2-A."
And there was also a student from Class 1-C present at the scene.
But that wasn't the only image from the projector.
There were more upperclassmen—both boys and girls.
Five in total.
And all five of them were seen handing test papers to first-year students.
The photos weren't taken with a phone; they looked like they came from a high-resolution camera, because even the text on the test papers was clear.
[First-Year First Midterm – Math Written Exam]
The questions on the test paper were clearly visible—and they were from the actual exam.
But in the lower-right corner of the photo, the timestamp showed the picture was taken *before* the exam.
Which means—
This was a leak.
"We're not just making this up."
"We just want fairness," Katsuragi said.
"Our class really didn't cheat."
Then Ichinose spoke up.
"The seniors told us these were just review materials from past years. We didn't expect the actual exam questions to match so much."
"And here's a recording from when the seniors handed us the papers."
Ichinose held up her phone.
[We've been helping you review for a while now. This school is unique, but there are still things you can use from regular schools.]
[Like reviewing old exams, for example.]
[Using it as practice material to get some training in.]
The voice belonged to a second-year student from Class A.
Little angel Kushida was sitting nearby. Since she had learned the school rules, she also had chances to interact with upperclassmen. She knew who the voice belonged to—it was a girl named Asahina.
Who would've thought Ichinose and the others had even recorded that voice. This recording clearly proved that a student from second-year Class A had leaked test questions on purpose.
You could say... it was a direct hit.
In these special exams, it's allowed for students who figure out the rules to buy and sell test questions with upperclassmen. But upperclassmen aren't allowed to directly interfere with the lower-grade students' exams.
And then—
Everyone looked at the photo Katsuragi brought out.
Along with the recording Ichinose provided.
Horikita Manabu looked toward Nagumo Miyabi.
"Heh—"
Nagumo Miyabi let out a small laugh, or rather, a bitter one. Really now, Ichinose? You play like this?
Weren't you supposed to be the kind, honest, and trustworthy type?
Why would you record something like that? And these obvious photos—there's no way they were taken by chance. Someone was clearly assigned to snap them at the right moment. That means this was all planned in advance. A trap.
In other words, they figured out he would send someone to leak the questions, so they set this all up beforehand.
Now, even the student council president, the others in the office, and even Kiriyama were all looking at him.
What could he even say?
If it had been Class 1-A reporting general cheating, they'd basically be challenging the whole school—because almost everyone was cheating, so nothing would've come of it. But the evidence they had now showed that second-year Class A interfered in the first-year exams.
There's no way to talk his way out of this one.
All he could do now was try to manage the damage and reduce the punishment as much as possible.
Thinking that—
"Regarding Class 1-A's report, our Class 1-B would also like to report second-year Class A for interfering in the exam," said Shirogane, the secretary.
"Huh?"
Kushida had just been quietly watching the drama unfold. At first, she was nervous since it seemed like Katsuragi was going to report everyone for cheating. But now, the focus wasn't on everyone cheating, it was all targeting second-year Class A.
Even though her class hadn't prepared any evidence, since Shirogane had already spoken up, she could follow his lead, right?
"We in Class 1-D also strongly oppose this kind of behavior," said Kushida.
"What about your class, Ichinose?" Horikita Manabu asked.
"We in Class 1-C will also file a report, and at the same time, prove our innocence. We had thought the second-year students were genuinely supporting us, but now it seems... maybe that support wasn't so sincere after all," said Ichinose.
So, Ichinose had officially joined the group reporting second-year Class A.
Damn.
Nagumo Miyabi thought this first-year batch was nothing but trouble. Especially Ichinose—she was ruthless. If recording the audio had been a bold move, now joining the report too? So much for the pure, kind underclassman image.
This meant they had completely lost any off-the-record support from second-year Class A.
That night, everyone saw a new punishment notice on the school bulletin board.
Several students from second-year Class A were punished for breaking the rules and interfering in the special first-year exam. A total of 2 million private points were deducted.
At the same time, Class A's class points were reduced by 200 points.
Let this be a lesson to all students.
Also, some rewards:
Class 1-D reported a shop street staff member for breaking the rules, earning +10 class points.
Class 1-A reported Class 2-A for interfering with the first-year exam. The report was confirmed to be true, so they received +20 class points.
Classes 1-C, 1-B, and 1-D jointly reported Class 2-A for interfering with the first-year exam. The report was also confirmed, and each class received +10 class points.
The scores for both first and second years have changed again.
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