Chapter 083: Ryuen: Damn! This broken school is impossible to handle!
Since the mid-term exam papers have been the same every year according to the usual practice, no teacher had noticed this aspect. As a result, the four classes didn't even follow the same teaching schedule, and there was a huge difference in progress.
And Sakayanagi is in charge of the exam paper, so she has to consider all of this.
After all, if the paper has problems, the school wouldn't accept it, so if it's based on the content taught in each class, even if old questions are leaked, she can still submit the paper, as long as the students have studied, they can still pass.
So this is to maintain the school's face.
Hachiman's suggestion is somewhat crazy, but Sakayanagi Arisu is a bit intrigued.
Because, although Sakayanagi Arisu maintained elegance when she was rejected by Horikita at first, she even thought that Horikita rejected her simply because the classes were divided into two factions.
And she could handle Katsuragi, not dealing with him because she thought it would be more interesting this way.
However.
Sure enough.
She was rejected.
So, she decided to join the student council by herself.
This thought made her feel that school life might become interesting.
But becoming the student council president is difficult. Not to mention that she couldn't even enter the student council, how would she win the election?
As the little princess of the Sakayanagi faction, Sakayanagi's faction collects all kinds of information.
One of the pieces of information given was about the second-year students.
In the end of the first year, Class B led by Nagumo was successfully promoted to Class A.
But Nagumo didn't stop there.
He single-handedly controlled the second-year students.
The school wanted students to compete between classes, but Nagumo was different. Every time there was a special exam, he would summon the class representatives from the four classes, hold discussions, and distribute rewards gained from the exams.
That's why there was such a strange set of scores for the second-year class evaluations.
Class A: 2000
Class B: 600
Class C: 400
Class D: 200
This means that second-year Class A's Nagumo not only is the vice president but also has the support of an entire grade.
So, to become the student council president, one would have to defeat him.
This is a difficult task, but the more difficult it is, the more of a interesting challenge it is for Sakayanagi.
Thus.
She decided to use this upcoming regular exam to make a big move and gather some votes.
So now, she needs to put in some effort.
But the time left for her is less than half a month.
And during this half month, Sakayanagi cannot skip classes and can only use her spare time to prepare the exam paper.
It seems like things are tough to the extreme.
But she still quite enjoys these kinds of challenging situations.
Thus.
There are only three days left until the final exam. And her task has been completed.
"Click—"
With a soft sound, the door to the room opened.
Kamuro walked in.
What came into view was a pink-decorated bedroom and a small bed.
Sitting at a desk leaning against the wall beside it was a girl with silver hair wearing a beret.
In the girls' dormitory, the petite girl stretched lazily while sitting in the chair, and in front of her was a computer. On the computer was an electronic version of the exam paper.
Hmm.
She was the one preparing the exam paper.
"Phew, it's finally done."
Sakayanagi let out a soft sigh, her rosy lips slightly parted. "Kamuro, is the tea I asked you to make ready?"
The girl had a displeased look on her face, as if dissatisfied with her subordinate's disrespect.
Kamuro Masami expressionlessly handed over the brewed tea.
"Mm, I like this temperature. Looks like Kamuro has become very familiar with me," Sakayanagi commented.
"…" Kamuro.
What the heck.
Who would want to be familiar with you?
However.
"Well then, is there anything you want to say, Kamuro?" Sakayanagi moved her chair back a bit, making more room for her slender, pale legs.
A slight smile played on her delicate face as she gently rocked her white legs back and forth.
Is there anything she wants to say?
Oh, she has so much to say!
Because Sakayanagi, do you even know what you're doing? You're using the leaked questions to write your own exam paper.
And the purpose of this?
To leak the exam.
So, this is toxic!
Kamuro had spent 100,000 yen to buy the exam paper from Hachiman.
Of course, she could also have bought it from the seniors, but it would be more troublesome if the other party recorded or blackmailed her.
So it was better to buy it from Hachiman.
Even if she was caught, at least Hachiman would take the fall.
As a result, she spent the 100,000 yen, and only then did she start memorizing the paper.
To ensure she could pass, she even deliberately kept the fact that she was a poor student hidden from Sakayanagi.
Then Sakayanagi told her she was planning to leak the questions and rewrite the exam.
???
So, by spending a large sum of money to buy a bunch of useless papers, isn't she just acting like a fool?
"You are challenging the entire school," Kamuro said with a stern expression.
"Challenging?" Sakayanagi responded. "That word works, but I prefer you think of it as sounding an alarm for the comfortable upperclassmen."
"I want to become the student council president," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "That position is the pinnacle for all students."
"And I want to take it for myself."
"…" Kamuro.
You really are arrogant.
Because she had been around Sakayanagi so much, Kamuro knew that what Sakayanagi was doing was a weapon to threaten the upperclassmen.
To become president, you need votes, and just one class or one grade won't be enough.
So her target was the upperclassmen.
Her method seemed to focus on those upperclassmen who hadn't prepared for this exam and had even relied on purchasing old exam answers in advance.
But she couldn't just blow them up directly; it had to be more subtle.
So she decided to threaten them a bit.
Thus, she started with the first-year students.
How cruel.
"By the way, Kamuro," Sakayanagi suddenly looked up, paused for a moment, then said, "You bought the exam paper from Hachiman, didn't you?"
"Hm?"
A sense of alarm rose in Kamuro's heart, and she instinctively took a step back. Unexpectedly, Sakayanagi just waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry."
"You have too many weaknesses. I'm not really interested in documenting them right now," Sakayanagi said.
"…" Kamuro.
Kamuro felt that Sakayanagi was especially annoying today.
"However, since you needed to buy the exam paper, you must want to take a look at the one that will be recognized by the school, right?" Sakayanagi Arisu said.
"..." Kamuro.
Is Sakayanagi tempting her?
"What do you want me to do?" Kamuro asked.
"Send a message to Hachiman. My part is done; now it's his task," Sakayanagi replied.
Kamuro stayed silent.
In other words, the crazy plan of leaking the exam papers by these two had begun.
And she knew that the paper she bought was now useless, and the 100,000 points were wasted.
But now that Sakayanagi had asked her to do this, she had no other choice.
In a situation where she didn't know anything, it was better to listen to someone smart.
After all, she had no other options.
Thus.
[It has been confirmed that students from Class D purchased the exam paper from upperclassmen. The recordings and videos have been sent to your email.]
Hachiman received the message from Kamuro.
Should he say, as expected of a Class A student?
They were all excellent students with good facilities, yet when it came to espionage, they were quite good.
And Hachiman knew this was Sakayanagi Arisu… urging him to make his move.
He needed to report the students from Class D for buying the exam paper.
Of course, this explanation wasn't quite right; it should be revised to say that the first-year students of Class D stole the exam papers for the upcoming midterm exam.
...
After school in the afternoon, Hachiman headed to the student council.
This time, he was alone.
"A student, huh…"
The vice president, Nagumo, who Hachiman had seen a few times before, was also there.
"What do you want to do, first-year student?" Nagumo asked, seeming to take the initiative since Horikita wasn't around.
Hachiman was originally from Class D.
Although he had been promoted to Class C, Nagumo found Hachiman strange.
On one hand, he had damaged surveillance cameras and accumulated a lot of demerits during his first six days at school, but he had still been promoted.
The president had even invited him to join the student council.
This showed that the president had quite a bit of recognition for him.
And that made Nagumo curious.
"I want to see the student council president," Hachiman said.
"…" Nagumo. "I am the vice-president."
"I want to meet the president, Horikita," Hachiman corrected.
"…" Nagumo.
Although Nagumo was the vice president, he still had certain privileges.
"Well, if it's something ordinary, I can handle it," Nagumo said, offering a composed but somewhat irritated smile.
"But if it's something serious, the vice president might not be able to handle," Hachiman said. "Also, this could offend people, so I think it's better for you not to be involved."
"…" Nagumo. "So, what big thing have you done?"
If it was something that would offend people, then indeed… it might be better to avoid it.
Especially for this ordinary junior. If it had been the cute short-haired girl from before, he might have considered it.
Just as this was being discussed, two figures appeared at the student council office door.
It was the serious-looking Horikita, wearing glasses, and then Secretary Tachibana.
"Isn't this Hachiman? What do you want today?" Horikita asked as he walked in, glancing at Nagumo before focusing his gaze on Hachiman.
This was a rare occurrence for him.
Before, he had wanted to invite Hachiman to the student council with the intention of seeing if he could suppress Nagumo, but Hachiman had refused. He had recommended his classmate, Karuizawa Kei, to come instead.
It was almost like he had given up the opportunity he had offered.
But now, it seemed like these two had already started their confrontation before he returned.
And Nagumo was rather annoyed with Hachiman.
"I came to the student council today hoping that the president would handle this matter fairly," Hachiman said.
"Oh?" Horikita raised an eyebrow.
"I want to report," Hachiman said. "I want to report that Ishizaki Daichi from first-year Class D stole the exam papers for the test on the 25th."
"…" Nagumo.
"…" Horikita.
Almost the moment Hachiman spoke, Nagumo understood… This was a matter that would offend people, and as expected, it was better not to get involved.
"Among other things, I discovered that the students from Class D stole the exam papers, and that those papers were spread to the entire class," Hachiman said.
"You're really bold," Horikita said, closing his eyes.
"President!" Tachibana, the secretary, looked at him.
She could already feel the pressure of Hachiman's report.
As upperclassmen, they knew exactly what it meant when someone stole an exam paper.
However…
If Hachiman's report was ignored but he then claimed that Class D students had spread the stolen exam papers, it would mean that when the actual exam came around and the papers matched the ones Class D had, Hachiman and his group could argue that the exam was unfair.
They might even question the fairness of the school itself.
This was something Horikita, as the student council president, didn't want to see.
But what if they accepted Hachiman's report?
Then the "stolen" papers from the first-year students would be invalidated.
This meant that the first-year students would have to take the exam without those papers, which might lead to many of them failing or even dropping out—a result that neither the school nor the student council would want.
So…
This was a dilemma.
"President—" Nagumo looked at Horikita.
"Nagumo, how do you think we should handle this?" Horikita asked in return.
"Me?"
This was a first-year issue and had nothing to do with the upperclassmen.
"I think if someone made a mistake, it should be handled fairly."
"And…" Nagumo continued, "The first-year students have just entered, so they don't yet understand the rules of this school."
What he meant was that the first-years probably didn't know that buying the old exam papers and trying to cheat was likely to work.
So, even if they didn't took the exam seriously, they could still pass.
It seemed reasonable enough.
But…
Horikita looked at Nagumo.
Because if they really dealt with it, the school would have to issue a new exam paper, and there wouldn't be enough time to prepare for it.
Of course, they could create an ultra-easy paper that everyone could pass, but that would cause the school to lose face.
So…
The school would be put in a difficult position.
But…
For Horikita, he thought that Hachiman, who wasn't well-known, might be taking this matter seriously for a reason, perhaps because he wanted to use this incident to achieve something.
After all…
The class with the lowest academic performance was Hachiman's class, and if the school had to issue a new paper, how could they ensure that his students wouldn't end up failing in large numbers?
Thus, Horikita said:
"I will handle this matter fairly."
...
Horikita would handle this fairly.
Meanwhile, in Class D of the first-year students.
All forty students were in the classroom.
It was class time.
The written exam was about to begin soon.
Due to time constraints, everyone was frantically memorizing answers.
And this was thanks to Ryuen's efforts.
The students of Class D obtained the information from the talkative students of Class C and found out that their class had access to the upcoming exam papers.
In fact, they were even old exam questions.
When Ryuen heard about this, he immediately arranged for someone to verify it.
After confirming, he immediately bought the papers.
However, Ryuen didn't distribute the papers right away; he only began handing them out yesterday.
The reasoning was that if they were distributed too early, the students wouldn't take them seriously, so they planned to cram at the last minute.
And since the class evaluation scores were reset to zero, many actions were no longer of any consequence.
So now, while the teacher was lecturing, the students weren't paying attention but were instead memorizing the exam papers.