"Wha—what's with that look?!"
For some reason, Tachibana glared at Kaoru, as if she had been greatly mocked.
"I'm always the one correcting your mistakes, aren't I? Like being disrespectful to seniors, having an arrogant tone, not working hard, and only knowing how to bully your elders..."
Watching her count on her fingers, Kaoru Mitoma couldn't help but feel exasperated.
It was precisely because of this trait of hers that even if he wanted to respect her, he just couldn't muster the feeling.
"Yes, yes, thanks to senpai's guidance, I was able to break those bad habits, like sneaking snacks in the office."
Hearing the first part, Tachibana Akane was initially pleased, but the next moment her face turned bright red as she stammered.
"W-what are you talking about? I don't understand at all!"
"Thinking about not being able to eat snacks in the office anymore makes me inexplicably melancholic," Kaoru shook his head and sighed deeply.
Tachibana couldn't take it anymore and simply headbutted Kaoru's chest like a fierce mortar shell, sending him stumbling back a few steps.
"Hey hey hey, are you trying to kill me, senpai?" Kaoru clutched his chest.
"Oww, that hurts! You're too hard!"
Intending to teach Kaoru a lesson, Tachibana instead ended up staggering herself.
Clutching her head as she crouched on the ground, she looked up at Kaoru with teary eyes.
Kaoru fell silent for a moment—this girl was truly all bark and no bite.
"I told you not to look at me with those eyes!" Tachibana was both embarrassed and angry, knowing how ridiculous she looked right now.
But it was his fault for deliberately bringing up her secrets—it wasn't like she never shared snacks with him!
"Just one semester has passed, yet you two have grown much closer," Horikita Manabu rarely showed a smile.
Watching their playful bickering lightened his mood considerably.
Tachibana quickly stood up, hastily denying any connection with him,
"Not at all... There's zero affection between me and this guy. My feelings toward him... our relationship is 'null'!"
Seeing Kaoru's smirk, the girl felt her face burn with embarrassment—it was so hot!
But feeling nervous in front of her crush was only natural!
Why did he have to make such a disgusting expression? It was infuriating!
"By the way, if it weren't for this guy, we wouldn't have lost 100 points during the sports festival!" Tachibana seemed to be changing the topic... no, she wasn't changing the subject, just posing a simple question to Kaoru because she couldn't stand his usual attitude.
"When it came to the actual competition, you were completely useless after all."
"Oh? Senpai was watching my matches?" Kaoru seemed surprised. "My apologies, I didn't notice you there."
Tachibana huffed twice: "Of course I was watching you—I saw every match! Don't think you're so great just because you took first place. In the end, you still made us lose!"
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
"Huh?"
"I tried my hardest, but not only did I lose, I even dragged senpai down with me. I'm truly sorry."
"W-wait, it's not that serious!"
Fooled by his excellent acting, Tachibana began to regret her harsh words.
"I didn't mean to blame you! I only said that because I was a little upset with you earlier!" she hurriedly explained.
"It really doesn't matter—you don't need to take it to heart at all!"
Kaoru blinked.
This senpai seemed to have some motherly potential.
"Really?"
"Really, really! I was just annoyed with you earlier."
"Is that so? Then shouldn't senpai apologize to me now?"
"I'm sorr— Wait, are you tricking me?"
"Am I?"
"Uwaah!"
Without hesitation, Tachibana bit Kaoru, revealing a pair of Little Fangs that left him grimacing in pain for quite some time.
In the end, Kaoru had no choice but to treat her to a meal—otherwise, this senior likely wouldn't have let go.
...
After leaving the student council office, Kaoru soon spotted Kiriyama Ikuyo sitting on a bench, clearly having waited for some time.
"In the first semester of our second year, the gap between us and Nagumo was 400 Class Points," Kiriyama began.
"The school seems dissatisfied with Nagumo's strategies, and the penalties in the past six months have been severe. The amount of Class Points we can earn has drastically decreased."
Kaoru sat beside him and listened as he continued, "Class 2-A's points dropped from 2100 to 1745, with 100 of those thanks to you. However, our class also fell from 1700 to 1320."
Though both sides suffered significant losses, the gap remained unchanged—still over 400 points separating Class 2-B from their goal.
Without Kaoru's help, that gap would likely have widened to around 600 points.
"Sorry, I originally expected Nagumo to fall to last place," Kaoru sighed.
The sports festival was a test of physical ability—if the difference in strength was too great, even the best strategy wouldn't help.
"You can't blame yourself. The root of the problem lies with us," Kiriyama said bitterly.
"If you had arrived earlier, the gap between us and Class 2-A wouldn't be this extreme. But we've had too many dropouts."
Kaoru recalled what Sakayanagi Arisu had told him at the start of the term about the upperclassmen's dropout rates.
While the third-year had fewer than 10 dropouts, the second-year was already approaching 20.
"As exam penalties grow harsher, our class has lost three more students in the second year," Kiriyama said heavily.
Unlike Nagumo Miyabi's targeted sabotage of their class, the exams themselves had a cruel system in place.
From a logical standpoint, losing one or two weaker students wouldn't be too devastating for the class.
But even talented students were at risk—Class 2-B had already lost several of their best.
In truth, the problems ran deeper.
Kiriyama knew his class had many other issues—too many incompetent students and oddballs, for one.
"Does the school allow you to disclose details about your special exams?" Kaoru asked.
"Yes. To prevent leaks, each year's exams are different," Kiriyama replied.
"The rewards from the sports festival will probably be used in the next exam. Any thoughts?" Kaoru suspected the school wouldn't hand out points without reason—it was likely a clue for the upcoming test.
Kiriyama hesitated. "Around this time in previous years, it was usually written exams. But I'm not entirely sure."
Kaoru fell into thought.
If it was a written test, what could he do?
Should he personally tutor Class 2-B?
Or perhaps drug Class 2-A and knock them all out on exam day?
"Mitoma-kun, I really appreciate your help." Kiriyama Ikuyo suddenly smiled.
"Thanks to the sports festival, the class morale seems to have recovered quite a bit. Let us try tackling the next exam on our own."
"Feel free to contact me anytime if you need assistance." Kaoru didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm—a class without fighting spirit had nothing at all.
"Well, well, what a coincidence running into you two here today. Kiriyama, that smug look on your face is quite telling."
Unexpectedly, Kiryuin Fuka appeared before them, wearing a radiant smile.
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