Chapter 096: Hiyori – Hikigaya? Who's That?
It was quite a spectacle.
To put it another way, there might not be another chance in the future to score perfect marks in all subjects. Not that he was an academic genius, but sometimes, he just wanted to experience what it felt like to be one.
In fact, Hikigaya wasn't the only one with such thoughts.
"You all…"
"You really surprised me," said Chabashira-sensei.
Looking at the five subjects displayed, focusing on just the mathematics score alone—
Out of 40 students in the class, 24 had a perfect score.
Not just in mathematics, but many students also achieved full marks in other subjects.
Even those who didn't get full marks scored in the high 90s.
No one scored below 60.
This was quite astonishing.
Of course, the same results were displayed in the other two classes.
After all, they had access to the test papers beforehand. Scoring poorly despite that would be unacceptable, even enough to be considered foolish.
"And so, congratulations on earning the full 100 class evaluation points in this special exam," Chabashira announced.
She then wrote the updated scores on the blackboard:
Class A (Sakayanagi's class): 1088 points (988 + 100)
Class B (Ichika's class): 851 points (751 + 100)
Class C (Horikita's class): 550 points (450 + 100)
Class D (Ryuuen's class): 0 points (0 + 0)
"You've managed to maintain Class C's standing. I hope you can achieve good results in next month's special exam as well," Chabashira said. "If there are no objections, that concludes the homeroom session."
"No objections."
Everyone had passed the exam, which was a huge relief.
Had they not still been in the classroom, they might have already been celebrating.
However…
"Something on your mind?"
Sitting next to him, Horikita Suzune noticed Hikigaya's demeanor.
Even though they had successfully cleared the exam, he seemed deep in thought.
"It's nothing," Hachiman replied.
Although the test had ended successfully,
And no student had scored below 60,
There were still…
Ike Kanji had two subjects with scores around 60.
Sudo had one subject around 60.
Yamauchi Haruki had three subjects close to 60.
"..."
Even with access to the test papers, they couldn't manage full marks?
Meanwhile, Chabashira seemed ready to wrap up the homeroom session, giving them the time and space to themselves.
Hikigaya then checked his phone.
He had received a message:
[Bring Horikita and come to the rooftop.]
— Chabashira Sae
"..." Hachiman sighed.
That straightforward, huh?
Chabashira-sensei…
She had appeared so relaxed during the homeroom session, but inside, was she actually this anxious?
However, Hikigaya could somewhat guess the reason.
Class C's evaluation score was now 550, while Class B's was only 851.
If they pushed a little harder, they might be able to catch up.
So Chabashira was probably trying to fire them up for a final push.
—
Rooftop of the School Building
As soon as they opened the door, a refreshing breeze greeted them.
This was the place where Hikigaya had first met Sakayanagi.
And also one of the spots where he occasionally met with Chabashira-sensei.
"Well done this time,"
Standing inside the safety fence, Chabashira had her back turned to Hikigaya and Horikita. She held a cigarette between her fingers and lit it.
Hikigaya and Horikita had arrived as requested.
There weren't many places on campus without security cameras, and the rooftop was one of the few exceptions.
Of course, not many people came here, making it the perfect spot to have conversations that needed to remain private.
Would it also be an appropriate place to vent emotions?
However, being seen up here would be quite unsettling. After all, students from all four first-year classes, as well as other teachers, could potentially visit this rooftop.
From this perspective, Kushida's desire for an emotional outlet seemed truly difficult to fulfill. Unless she found another method, venting here simply wasn't feasible.
And so—
Even though he had been summoned by Chabashira, Hikigaya found himself lost in completely unrelated thoughts.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, on the first floor.
In Class 1-A, a bald, muscular man in a school uniform who looked nothing like a high school student stood in front of the blackboard alongside a petite silver-haired girl with a cane.
The blackboard displayed the updated scores of all classes, just as they had been written down during homeroom.
Sakayanagi Arisu gazed at the numbers:
Class A: 1088 points
Class B: 851 points
Class C: 550 points
Class D: 0 points
"Katsuragi,"
Sakayanagi suddenly spoke, "What do you think of the current situation?"
"The current situation?"
Katsuragi answered steadily, "Our class currently has 1088 points, Class B has 851, and Class C has 550."
"Looking at the scores, Class B is climbing."
"They haven't fallen too far behind us."
"We need to keep an eye on them."
"As for Class C, their previous score was 450, but now it's 550, which means they obtained the highest possible reward from this written exam."
"But based on what we've gathered, their class is mostly filled with academic underachievers."
Katsuragi continued, "So, I believe something must have happened behind the scenes."
And with that, Katsuragi stopped speaking.
Oh?
So Katsuragi suspected that Sakayanagi had leaked the exam answers to Class C.
And, of course… he was absolutely right.
Not only that, but Hikigaya from Class C had even passed the test papers to Class B.
That's why Classes A, B, and C all managed to achieve the highest possible class evaluation score of 100 points.
"Why aren't you mentioning Class D?" Sakayanagi asked, her expression unchanged.
If Katsuragi had only just begun suspecting her of being a spy for Class C, then he was still too naive.
After all, from the very beginning, she had already revealed the true nature of this school to Hikigaya from Class C.
This was something that, in a way, left Sakayanagi feeling a little melancholic.
However—
As a leader, a thick skin was necessary.
Sakayanagi might look cute, but she had no shortage of boldness.
"Class D?" Katsuragi's expression remained blank. He turned his gaze to the blackboard and said in a deep voice, "They're not worth considering."
"I believe that in the next exam, the real threat will still be Class B. As for Class C…"
"They may have gotten lucky this time, but climbing higher is almost impossible for them."
Oh?
Sakayanagi closed her eyes.
Yesterday, Kamuro had already reported the latest information.
Next month, as usual, there would be a special exam on an uninhabited island.
While the exact format of the test was unknown, upperclassmen had shared hints that, in the past two years, the uninhabited island exam carried a higher point value than regular exams.
Such high stakes could be either an opportunity or a devastating blow.
A well-executed strategy could quickly close the gap, but it could also cause the leading classes to lose a significant number of points.
And now—
Katsuragi, you see Class B as the primary threat, the opponent that needs to be guarded against.
But in the upcoming uninhabited island exam, you're going to suffer for that misjudgment.
Sakayanagi thought to herself.
Because in this last exam, the class that showed the most impressive performance, the one with the most aggressive tactics—
Wasn't Class B at all.
If anything—
Class B's ability to secure the 100-point reward actually made Sakayanagi look down on them even more.
After all—
Class B had decent academic skills; even in a normal exam, they could have earned 80 class evaluation points.
Yet, they had needed access to the leaked test papers just to secure the full 100-point reward? That showed a complete lack of awareness.
That's why Sakayanagi didn't see Class B as a threat.
The real danger was Class D.
Because Ryuuen's class had refused to do business with her this time.
They refused to trade votes for the student council election, and they even rejected the chance to buy the test papers for 3 million private points.
However—
Looking at the scores now—
Class D: 0 points.
They hadn't gained anything from the exam, yet no one had been expelled.
Which meant—
That class had most likely used score manipulation tactics, intentionally lowering their scores so that everyone could stay above the passing threshold. However, since they had set their scores too low, they failed to meet the criteria for a reward.
Even so—
The most dangerous class, in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes, was still Class C, where Hikigaya belonged.
With that thought, she gripped her cane and prepared to leave.
—
"..." Katsuragi.
Katsuragi silently watched Sakayanagi Arisu's retreating figure.
"In the end, Class B was only able to secure their 100-point class evaluation reward because they had several students who scored perfectly on the exam."
At that moment, a tall, slim young man with short light-green hair approached Katsuragi.
It was Totsuka Yahiko, Katsuragi's loyal follower.
After homeroom ended, he had gone to Class B's classroom to observe.
Then he took out his phone.
Katsuragi looked over.
What he saw were the test scores of Class B in the five subjects.
In each subject, there were more than 30 students who scored full marks, and even those who didn't still scored in the high 90s.
Everyone's scores were above 90.
In other words, Yahiko had secretly taken pictures of Class B's homeroom session.
"If they had done it on their own, there's no way they could have done it so perfectly," Yahiko said.
Their class had received Sakayanagi's test papers and memorized them.
But not everyone got full marks.
That was their miscalculation. Because the papers came from Sakayanagi, they were wary of whether she had any ulterior motives, so the students Katsuragi sent didn't completely rely on memorization. Instead, they also reviewed what they had learned.
As a result, during the first and second subjects, they realized—Sakayanagi's test papers were exactly the same as the actual exam.
So, during lunch break, they started frantically memorizing.
Because of this, for the last three subjects, most of them scored full marks. But in the first two subjects, they suffered, only scoring between 80 and 95.
And today, when the test results were announced, Sakayanagi's faction's eyes were burning into them.
So, in an attempt to make up for it, Yahiko decided to spy on Class B.
And now, were they suspecting that Sakayanagi had also leaked the test papers to Class B, their competition?
"These were her test papers, so she can use them however she wants," Katsuragi said. "Besides, it seems that Sakayanagi intends to run for student council president next year."
"Student council president!"
"Is that even possible?" Yahiko was shocked.
"Think about it carefully," Katsuragi said calmly.
"Looking at the results of this exam, our class, Class B, and Class C all received the highest-level class evaluation reward of 100 points."
"It seems strange, like both Class B and Class C also got the test papers."
"And the only one who had those test papers was Sakayanagi," Katsuragi said.
"So you're saying Sakayanagi wants to become student council president and is using the test papers to gather votes!" Yahiko immediately said. "That way, once she runs for president, she can secure most of the first-year votes! This kind of thing can't be allowed!"
Thinking about it, everything clicked into place.
Why didn't any first-year students get expelled in this exam?
Why did Classes A, B, and C all receive 100 points?
They must have known about the test papers.
There must have been some sort of deal made in secret.
"Don't jump to conclusions," Katsuragi shook his head. "If Sakayanagi truly becomes the student council president, I would vote for her."
"Because she is a student of Class A. If our class has a student in the student council, or even as the president, then our position as Class A will be incredibly stable," Katsuragi explained.
"Uh…" Yahiko hesitated. "But, even if she becomes student council president, will she really act in our class's best interest?"
"That is also what concerns me," Katsuragi admitted. "Sakayanagi is too aggressive."
"And it seems she isn't particularly interested in class competition."
"Otherwise, she wouldn't have given us the test papers so easily," Katsuragi said. "If she had kept them to herself, then our class wouldn't have been able to outperform theirs. She could have used it to suppress us."
"But she didn't," Katsuragi said.
"Well… I don't really get it, but… I still support you, Katsuragi!" Yahiko quickly swore his loyalty. "I believe only your steady leadership can guide us! Sakayanagi is totally unreliable!"
________________________________________
Meanwhile, in Class 1-D.
The homeroom session was still ongoing.
"First of all, these are the results of this exam."
"Our class successfully made it through safely."
The homeroom teacher posted the scores for the five subjects.
Everyone's scores were about the same.
Around 8 to 10 points.
The passing threshold was 4.5 points.
The entire class had passed safely.
But because their average score was too low, they did not receive any rewards in this exam.
"However, Ryuuen," their homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, looked over. "This strategy will not be allowed next time."
For this exam, Ryuuen's class had used a "score control operation."
The failing threshold was determined as half of the class's average score.
It had nothing to do with the other classes.
So, Ryuuen came up with a way to safely pass the exam.
But…
While the school acknowledged the method, they would not allow it to continue.
Otherwise, if they kept controlling their scores and getting low grades every time, what kind of image would that leave for the school?
"I'll come up with a different strategy next time," Ryuuen said.
That was reassuring.
Because most of the class had terrible grades, and yet Ryuuen had chosen to take all the burden on himself and find a solution for the future.
That put some of the students who were dissatisfied with Ryuuen at ease.
After all, Ryuuen wasn't forcing them to study.
Studying was annoying.
But…
"I heard," Ryuuen said, "someone saw you talking with Hikigaya Hachiman from Class C, Shiina."
Saying this, Ryuuen turned to look in one direction.
There sat a silver-haired girl.
"Hikigaya?"
But when her name was called, the literary-looking silver-haired girl stood up, looking confused.
As if she had never heard that name before.
"Who is that?" Shiina asked.
"…" Ryuuen was silent. "Forget it."
Then, he glanced toward the short-haired girl who had reported this.
This information had come from Manabe Shiho and Rika.
But… was this a complete misunderstanding?
If Shiina really did know Hikigaya, then he could have even assigned her to spy on him.
Because…
Ryuuen was already preparing for the next exam.
He was ready for his class to reclaim its rightful place.
.
.
.
"This is Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-D."
Meanwhile, on Hikigaya's side, Horikita Suzune, who was like a living student directory, identified the girl from the photo Hikigaya had taken.
"Sometimes, when I go to the library, I see her there."
"But she doesn't seem to have any friends," Horikita noted. "However, her academic ability shouldn't be bad."
"I've seen her doing assignments, and she works very quickly."
Oh?
A loner calling someone else a loner.
Also, why is Horikita always so focused on academics?
Was she really that annoyed that he scored full marks in all five subjects today and became a fake honor student?