About 10 minutes had passed since Yukimura began grading Miyake and the others' problems. I returned to my seat after finishing my conversation with "a certain student."
"Oh, by the way, what happened with Saitou-kun? Was he going to come teach us?" Hasebe asked, as if she had just remembered, once I sat down.
"…Did you not listen to the explanation? You said you didn't want to be taught by Saitou, so Yukimura came instead."
"Oh yeah, I guess so. Anyway, don't make it sound so bad, Miyacchi. If a girl from Class C heard that, she'd kill me."
Hasebe waved her hands back and forth in a slightly exaggerated manner. But after glancing around a bit, she leaned her face toward the center of the table and whispered. "Well, I'm not really a fan of Saitou-kun, so it's not a lie."
"Hey… don't say that in front of Ayanokouji."
"Eh? What's the big deal? I'm not saying anything mean."
Miyake scolded her with a look of exasperation, but Hasebe didn't seem to care.
"Sorry, Ayanokouji. It's not that Hasebe has bad intentions, she's just the type who's very clear about her likes and dislikes."
"See? You get it so well. As expected of my Loners Alliance partner."
"What's that...?"
Hasebe held the pace of the conversation the entire time. The fact that they could talk so casually was a testament to their good chemistry.
"It's a genuine question, but what is it about Tsugumi that you're not a fan of?"
In Class C, Yamauchi was probably the only one who had explicitly said they were not a fan of or disliked Tsugumi. Now that a second person had appeared, a question arose. When I asked, Hasebe looked like she was thinking.
"You and Horikita-san, who are close to him, might not feel this way, but it seems like Saitou-kun keeps his distance from everyone."
"Keeps his distance?"
"Yeah. Like with this exam, I'm sure things would have gone better if Saitou-kun had led the class instead of Horikita-san. I feel like his consciousness isn't quite aligned with everyone else's? I can't really explain it well."
I see. So there are students in the class who think that. Well, I can understand what Hasebe is trying to say. This time, due to a certain circumstance, Tsugumi and I were not supposed to be involved in the exam. If you ask me if Horikita alone can beat Ryuuen, there's still some doubt. It would be strange for students to not see Tsugumi, who always says he wants to go to Class A, step up.
"So I just don't really get him. …Also, there are the rumors about women. They said he was dating for money, or that he was two-timing three girls? Is that stuff true?"
…I guess he can't complain if a girl he just met avoids him. If I knew a girl was doing that, I'd just think she was a total mess. Hasebe asked about the rumors with great interest. I guess this kind of topic is interesting to girls her age.
"I don't know about the dating stuff. But the two-timing thing is probably a rumor. Tsugumi has never had a girlfriend since he enrolled."
"Wait, for real?"
Hasebe's eyes widened in genuine surprise.
"Unless Tsugumi lied to me."
"Seriously? That's even worse. It means he's just keeping them on the hook, right?"
"…I don't know that much."
The truth is, there's a complicated reason, but I couldn't think of a way to clear up the misunderstanding without explaining it. This was the moment the White Room's masterpiece brain was defeated by one high school boy's bad reputation with women.
"Alright."
Suddenly, Yukimura looked up with a lot of energy. It seemed he had finished checking everything.
"I have a rough idea of your weak points. But I want to get into the details from here on out."
He said that and turned the notebook he had been writing in over toward Miyake. "I made a few liberal arts problems. I'll have Hasebe do them later, so don't write the answers directly in my notebook, write them in your own."
In this short amount of time, Yukimura had not only grasped the two's tendencies but also created his own problems. As expected of someone with academic abilities superior to Horikita's. After grading the two's problems, Yukimura sighed, looking somewhat exasperated.
"You two are something else…"
The number of problems they both got right was 3. The number of wrong answers was 6. And there was one with a triangle. It would be the same score on a test, but what was surprising was that they had the exact same correct and incorrect answers.
"It's not just that you have similar strong subjects, but your ways of memorizing and your tendencies are the same."
"Wow, that's almost like it's fate, Miyacchi."
"It's not."
"Oh, okay. You're no fun. But is this a bad thing?"
Hasebe panicked as if she had just come to her senses, but it was the opposite.
"In this case, it should be a good thing. The effort will be cut in half."
"That's right. It's also fortunate that the subjects are liberal arts."
It meant he could effectively teach just one person. And unlike science problems that require a fundamental understanding, subjects like world history don't require going back to the beginning.
"So it'll be easy?"
"That depends on your efforts from here on out. Counting back from the day of the final exam, we'll need to meet up about 7 or 8 times. It's better to study with breaks in between than to cram all at once. Is that okay with you three? Miyake, you have your club to worry about."
"My club will probably take a break when the finals get closer, but let's talk about the time."
Yukimura nodded at Miyake's request and continued his explanation. "This might sound like a threat, but the reality is that taking the exam with your current academic ability is quite bad. If it were a normal test, it would be one thing, but the problems for this exam are being created by Class D. In the worst-case scenario, you could get a disastrous score in the teens."
"…That's true. Class D would definitely make some twisted problems."
"Yeah. But it's not impossible to figure out the trends and prepare for them. It might be hard to imagine Class D creating the problems, but I predict that Kinuta will be the one to make them."
His name didn't ring a bell, but I hadn't never heard it before.
"You mean that creepy guy with glasses?"
"I don't think you should say that, but yeah, probably him. He's the best student in Class D."
If the information Yukimura provided was correct, it would be logical to assume that the most capable student would be the one to create the problems.
"Also, we should find out soon what difficulty level will get rejected. Horikita and Hirata are preparing problems that are on the borderline and will have them checked. We should be able to pinpoint the general difficulty level by tomorrow."
"They work fast. That's a good idea."
Yukimura murmured in admiration.
"Hmm, I see."
Perhaps relieved by their exchange, Hasebe nodded with a smile.
"I'm not in a club, so I'm free whenever. You can decide based on Miyacchi."
She said that, giving all the decision-making power to them.
Miyake looked at Hasebe in surprise.
"I really thought you were going to refuse, Hasebe. This is rare. You usually don't want to get involved with guys."
"I think I need to study a lot this time. It would be okay if I got expelled, but I can't let Miyacchi get dragged into it, can I?"
It seemed she had agreed out of consideration for her friend, Miyake, rather than for herself.
"Then let's call it a day for now. I plan to have the first study session the day after tomorrow."
Yukimura concluded. He planned to find the trends in the problems and come up with a plan today and tomorrow. The first day had gone quite well. Feeling a sense of progress, we all disbanded.
---------
Later, I returned to my dorm and was messing around on my phone when I heard a chat notification.
"Ah… Tsugumi."
The name on the screen was Saitou Tsugumi. It had been about a week since we last spoke, as we had been busy with exams.
'You did great! How was the study session?'
It seemed he had sent a message of encouragement. This kind of thoughtfulness is probably why people like him.
'It went pretty well. We agreed to meet up as a group of four, and the next session is the day after tomorrow.'
'Oh, really? Four people… so Sakura-san wasn't able to come in the end, was she?'
His words reminded me of the unexpected student I had met at Palette today. That student was Sakura. She was the "certain student" I had been talking to when I stood up. I was surprised when she asked if she could join the study session, but Tsugumi had probably encouraged her. In the end, I told her it would be better for her to ask them herself, so it didn't happen.
'Yeah. I talked to her at Palette, and I thought it would be better for Sakura to ask herself rather than me introducing her… Was that a mistake?'
'No, I think that's good. It would be a bit awkward if she just came in because I introduced her. I think the Sakura-san now can handle it.'
'I see. That's good then.'
The conversation ended with a read receipt. …Someone please teach me how to handle these situations. It's too much for me, a person who is bad at communicating, even in reality. As if my prayer to God had been heard, Tsugumi sent a message a little later.
'Are you free tomorrow, Kiyotaka-kun?'
'Tomorrow? Yeah, I am.'
'Then let's have a strategy meeting for this exam. Can you and Suzune-chan come to my room tomorrow?'
…Of course. I was hoping a little because it was my birthday tomorrow, but I'd never told him about it. …I'll definitely have Tsugumi celebrate it next year. I replied, holding that disappointment and determination in my heart.
'Got it.'
---------
And so, time passed, and it was after school the next day. I was walking alone to Tsugumi's dorm room. I should have just gone with Horikita right after school, but…
'Sorry! I haven't had anyone over recently, so my room is super messy. I need some time to clean it up, so I'm heading back first!'
Tsugumi said that and ran off ahead of me, and Horikita had disappeared at some point.
"What did I do to deserve this?"
I'm sure Tsugumi was lying. It's not like his room would get that messy just because Sakayanagi hasn't been over recently. You can tell from how he usually is. As for Horikita, it's a mystery. If she had something to do, she could have said so.
"…I'm out of luck."
Muttering my dissatisfaction, I walked sluggishly toward the dorm. The path, which had been so hot, was now wrapped in a dry, cold wind. The cold that I usually didn't mind was bothering me more than usual since I was walking alone.
---------
I realized I hadn't been alone much recently.
No matter where I go, Tsugumi or Horikita are there, and at home, I'm playing games while on a call with Dr. and Ike. Horikita also apparently bought a game console with her points after midterms. It's something I couldn't have imagined back in April. Honestly, I thought it would be enough to have a moderately fulfilling student life, but I didn't expect it to be this fulfilling.
…This is bad. Being alone makes me feel nostalgic. We have an important discussion coming up, and if I'm like this, the two of them will make fun of me.
As I was giving myself a mental pep talk, I noticed I had arrived in front of Tsugumi's room. Since it's polite to be courteous even among close friends, I always make sure to ring the doorbell when I visit. I did the same this time, but there was no response. I don't really want other students to see me…
"Tsugumi? Hello?"
I called out, but there was no response, so I tried to open the doorknob, and for some reason, it wasn't locked. Tsugumi is usually not this careless.
"I'm coming in?"
I said that and opened the door to go inside, but for some reason, the lights were off. The curtains on the kitchen and hallway windows were all closed, and a strangely unpleasant darkness filled the room.
"…Tsugumi?"
Something was off. It had been 15 minutes since Tsugumi had returned. Horikita should have arrived by now, but there was no sound coming from the door connecting the hallway to the room. ---Could this be a trap from him? Would he send an assassin to an unrelated person like Tsugumi before even making contact with me? No, if the reason Tsugumi is trying to get expelled is what Sakayanagi said, then it's entirely possible he's making a move to break my spirit.
While realizing my thoughts were going in circles, my body calmly picked up the frying pan that was on the dish rack. Then I crept to the door, killing my footsteps, and with a resolve, I pulled the door open forcefully.
---------
The moment I did, the dark room was suddenly filled with light, blinding my eyes that had grown accustomed to the darkness. And then I heard two dry popping sounds… Crap?! A gun?!
I was certain I had been shot when I smelled the gunpowder, but what landed on my body was not a lead bullet, but something like a fluffy piece of paper… Paper? It was then that I finally realized the situation I was in was very different from what I had imagined. ---I looked in the direction the sound had come from, and I saw a smiling Tsugumi and an equally mischievous-looking Horikita.
"Kiyotaka-kun! Happy Birthday!"
…Huh? Birthday? What is going on?
"I don't know what you were imagining, but first, put that dangerous thing down."
"Oh, okay."
As Horikita told me, I put the frying pan back where I had gotten it from.
"Hey, Suzune-chan, you have to say it too."
"…You already said it, so I don't have to… "
"Suzune-chan?"
"…Alright, fine."
After repeatedly looking at and away from my confused eyes, Horikita whispered softly.
"Happy birthday, Ayanokouji-kun."
"The surprise was a big success, wasn't it? Man, I'm so glad we prepared for this."
Following Horikita, Tsugumi happily took the paper that had landed on my head. …I see. I have a rough idea of what's going on. And at the same time, I realized I had made an incredibly embarrassing mistake. But there was one question that still lingered.
"…How did you know my birthday?"
"I just asked the teacher. I thought you'd definitely never had a birthday party before."
"Well, that's true, but…"
I don't think that's the point.
"As for me, I'm curious about what you were imagining. You suddenly killed your footsteps and then jumped out of the hallway with a frying pan."
"…Don't ask."
I don't know why, but I'm so embarrassed. But a feeling far greater than that shame was overwhelming me.
"Hey, we have cake too! I've been preparing this for two weeks, so let's eat soon! I'll go get a knife!"
Tsugumi ran to the kitchen with a smile I had never seen before. Horikita, who was left in the room with me, sighed, looking tired and exasperated.
"…Sigh. You're too tense."
"…"
That was a flawless point. Tsugumi didn't seem to understand, but Horikita knew why I had made such a mistake.
'The drinks are cold, what do you want? We have Calpis, cola, and orange juice.'
Tsugumi's voice echoed from behind the door.
"I'll have a cola. What about you, Horikita?"
"Then I'll have a Calpis. It's been a while since I've had it."
'Okay! Just a sec.'
He seems to be having more fun than I am, and I'm the one being celebrated.
"I know what you're thinking. The first friend we ever made is an incredibly sinful person."
"…Yeah, he is."
I'm happy, of course, but if things continue like this, I don't know if I'll be able to have a celebration next year. It's a complicated feeling. Horikita looked at me with a different, more resolute look than before.
"---So, I will absolutely not let you run away. Right, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Yeah. Of course."
'Hey, sorry you two! There's too much stuff over here, so I can't carry it! Give me a hand!'
Tsugumi's voice, asking for help, could be heard.
"Then, for today, let's just enjoy ourselves."
"Sounds good, Horikita."
I called out to Horikita as she stood up and started to walk.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"…You should be thanking Tsugumi-kun, not me."
============
🚀 Want Full Access NOW & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!
Free readers - don't worry, I'll still be posting daily updates here. But P4tr3on members get the VIP treatment!
Your support helps me create more wild stories like this. See you on the dark side! 😈"