End of October.
Class B Classroom.
Hikigaya sat in his seat, suppressing his excitement.
If you ask why.
That would be.
Advanced Nurturing's hidden shops officially began operation today.
During this period, many things happened, like the Student Council election, but none were more important than the opening of the ramen shop.
The school had already issued an announcement.
Keyaki Mall would add two new ramen shops along with other stores.
They were Tenka Ippin and Toranoana.
But they were hidden shops after all.
Therefore, the school only provided the shop names; the specific locations had to be found by oneself.
Hikigaya couldn't wait to begin his journey of finding the shops.
Today's classes felt exceptionally long.
Just then, the bell rang, and Hoshinomiya Chie dragged her swaying, delicate body into the classroom.
"No way~ I drank too much again yesterday. Little Honami, come help~ paste the midterm exam results on the blackboard."
"Teacher, are you okay? Do you want to sit down and rest for a bit?"
"Yes~ and I want water~"
Hoshinomiya sat at the podium, acting like a child. Ichinose poured her a cup of water.
Afterward.
She picked up the magnets and fixed the midterm grade sheet onto the blackboard.
Despite such an abnormal scene, not a single person in Class B felt anything was wrong.
Hikigaya was truly speechless.
Does this Hoshinomiya person really have the qualifications to be a teacher? He wanted that kind of job too. Damn it.
The grade sheet spread out.
The midterm results were displayed before everyone.
Without a doubt.
Everyone was above the passing line.
Hikigaya took 14th place overall this time; however, this was a result that included bonus points from the sports festival.
In reality, it wasn't much different from when school started.
Actually, the middle group of Class B all had similar grades, basically hovering around this rank.
Ranking changes were common.
"By the way."
As she drank water, Hoshinomiya (31) seemed to remember something.
"Next week there will be a mini-exam covering eight subjects. However, the content is only at the third-year middle school level and won't have any impact on your grades, so you don't need to take it to heart."
"Hmm?"
Ichinose perceptively noticed: "Teacher, if it won't have an impact, is there any necessity for the exam? Or is it like when school started, just to see our strength?"
"Um..."
Only then did Hoshinomiya hold her slightly aching head and think.
"I remember it is."
"The school will use the results of this mini-exam as a basis to pair you into groups of two. This pairing will face the final exam in the form of a 'community of destiny'."
"There are eight subjects. Each is 100 points, 50 questions per subject, totaling 400 questions."
"There are two types of passing lines this time."
"One is that all subjects will have a passing line of 60 points. If any subject falls below 60 points, both people in the pair will be expelled."
"However, this 60 points refers to the combined score of the two partners, so you shouldn't need to worry about it."
As Hoshinomiya said.
Class B did not have any students with extremely poor grades.
Each person only needed to score 30 points. Even if the bottom two were grouped together, exceeding 60 points would be very easy.
"The other is that if the total score of the two is below a certain point—usually 700 based on the past."
"If the total score is below 700, they will also be expelled."
What.
Hikigaya breathed a sigh of relief.
Calculating it this way, each person needed 350 points; roughly 40 points per subject would mean no risk of expulsion.
For Class B, this was incredibly easy.
It seemed.
This special exam could also be passed easily.
Even if another 100 points were added, it didn't feel very difficult.
Looking at the midterm results on the blackboard, Hikigaya had that kind of confidence.
"Then it seems this time is very simple."
"Even so, we can't be careless."
"Indeed, it's better to continue holding study sessions, right?"
The people of Class B clearly considered this as well; it was just that written exams held no difficulty for Class B.
The ones who would feel danger were likely only Class C and Class D.
"Teacher."
"Is the exam only like this? What is the pairing method?"
Ichinose Honami confirmed again.
Although she liked Hoshinomiya's cheerful style, this teacher was indeed like a child.
"The pairing method can only be told to you after the mini-exam."
Feeling the doubtful gazes from the Class B crowd, Hoshinomiya Chie acted spoiled:
"Don't look at Teacher like that. Teacher can't help it either."
"I see."
Ichinose Honami nodded understandingly: "In that case, there is indeed a certain method for pairing that requires us to think for ourselves."
"Oh, as expected of Little Honami, Teacher's favorite student!"
Hoshinomiya Chie gave a thumbs up in praise: "Additionally, there's one more thing."
"For this exam, you need to create the test questions yourselves and then assign them to one of the other three classes."
"In other words, launch an [Attack]. The class being countered will become the defense. Your class's total score will be compared with the opposing class's total score."
"The winning class can obtain 50 class points from the losing class."
Huh?
Hikigaya frowned.
It didn't sound like much, but thinking carefully, it felt far too unfair.
"Then Teacher, what happens if it becomes a direct confrontation?"
"If it becomes a direct confrontation—for example, Class A attacks Class B and Class B attacks Class A—the class points involved will temporarily change to 100 points!"
"I see."
The entire Class B had become Ichinose's "one-man show." She nodded and said:
"Then Teacher, regarding self-made test questions, does the school have any restrictions?"
"Rest assured, the school will conduct a rigorous and fair inspection. If the questions exceed the scope of study or are impossible to answer, the school will ask you to revise them."
"This will continue until the test questions meet the standard. If the questions produced are still unqualified by the end, the school will replace them with pre-made questions. However, it's best if you consider the school's prepared questions to be of a lower difficulty level."
Fair.
Hikigaya was somewhat speechless.
Adults really are despicable; they love to spout high-sounding lies. How is this fair at all?
"Once you have decided on the class you wish to challenge, you can report to me. If your choice overlaps with another class, the school will call representatives to hold a lottery."
"Just tell me the designated class the day before the small test~"
"That's all~"
"The rest is up to you to figure out. See you tomorrow~"
After speaking, Hoshinomiya Chie waved her small, tired hand and chose to slip away.
Well.
Although Hikigaya didn't really want to say it.
With a teaching attitude like that, would Hoshinomiya really not get fired?
It felt like, rather than reaching Class A, Hoshinomiya Chie was more obsessed with suppressing Sae Chabashira.
After school.
"Hikigaya."
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let's have a strategy meeting first."
Seeing Hikigaya about to get up and leave, Ichinose quickly spoke up to stop him.
"No, I have club activities..."
Hikigaya's face stiffened.
Damn it, I still need to find a ramen shop. How can I be stuck in a place like this?
"I remember it's the Volunteer Service Club, right? It's fine, let's go to the club room to have the strategy meeting together."
"Uh... no need. If it's just for a little while, it should be fine."
Hikigaya forced a smile and returned to his seat, feeling as though Ichinose had him completely wrapped around her finger.
A strategy meeting with the whole class in the club room...
Absolutely not.
Even though there were two "ghost" members, that was his secret base!
A boy's secret base is not something easily opened to outsiders.
No one from Class B left. Everyone gathered around Ichinose, with Hikigaya standing on the outermost edge.
He looked around, wanting to find a place to sit.
But considering those were other people's seats and he might be disliked for taking one, he hesitated for a moment and chose to give up.
"Then let's start by talking about the next small test."
Ichinose sat in her seat and looked around at everyone, saying: "Although this exam isn't very difficult for us, we can't be careless. The study sessions will continue. What does everyone think?"
"Exactly. It would be terrible if we were overtaken by other classes because we slacked off."
"Yeah, I agree too!"
As expected, there was a chorus of approval from below.
Indeed, as Ichinose said, if it were simply about passing the exam and avoiding expulsions, this test held no difficulty for Class B.
The only thing to consider was how to win against another class to seize their class points.
"According to Ms. Hoshinomiya," Ichinose pondered, "there is indeed a specific method for the pairings. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Hmm."
Kanzaki said with a calm expression: "Hearing the teacher's explanation, this kind of exam has happened before. We should probably ask the seniors in the upper grades."
"Well, regarding that," the pure-hearted Shibata said with some confusion, "except for the second-years which seem a bit special, I haven't seen many expulsions among the third-years."
"Setting aside Classes A and B, the people in Classes C and D are generally not good at studying, yet there are very few expulsions."
As expected of the promising super-rookie of the soccer club.
He was very well-informed about the situation of the upperclassmen.
Hikigaya couldn't help but nod. He really didn't think people like Yamauchi Haruki had any intellect; in fact, calling them a bunch of idiots wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Pure-hearted Shibata actually put it politely by saying they just weren't good at studying.
How kind.
"Looking at it this way," Ichinose and the others nodded thoughtfully, "if there won't be many expulsions regardless, the pairing method is likely the rule where [the person with the highest score and the person with the lowest score are paired]."
"I agree with that," Kanzaki nodded. "Only in this way can the most balanced result be calculated."
"Yes, in that case."
Ichinose turned to look at Chihiro Shiranami and the others:
"Although I don't think Class B is at risk of expulsions given our grades, just to be safe, why don't we make good use of this rule?"
"Yeah, it would be bad if someone got expelled because we were careless."
"That's right, I don't want to see anyone leave this class."
Hearing the surrounding agreement, Hikigaya had no objection.
Although Class B didn't need to worry given their grades, there was absolutely no reason not to use a rule if it was available.
Moreover, being cautious wasn't wrong.
However.
On the other hand.
Hikigaya felt that the scene before him was somewhat eerie.
"Next is deciding which class to challenge."
Saying this, Ichinose looked around at the people around her.
This was the most important part.
After all, this was a major matter involving class points.
However.
When it came to class points, the crowd fell into silence.
Wait, that's not quite right.
It was just that everyone else was looking at Ichinose with expectation, waiting for her to speak first.
"Honami, which class do you think is better to challenge?"
Shibata smiled as he voiced everyone's thoughts.
"As for me," Ichinose said without hesitation, "I hope we can directly face off against Class A."
"Can you explain the reason?" The one who raised the question was Kanzaki.
"The reason is simple."
Ichinose's gaze was firm as she said: "As long as we can win against Class A in this exam, we can be promoted to Class A."
"That's right, if we beat Class A, we can rise to Class A in this exam."
"Even if it's just the facade of Class A, it will be more beneficial for future exams."
"I agree too."
Hmm...
Hikigaya finally understood that sense of eeriness from just now.
It seemed like a harmonious discussion, but in reality, it was Ichinose's one-woman show. As long as it was an idea proposed by Ichinose, no one would reject it.
Although Ichinose had sufficient reasons, Hikigaya truly didn't think attacking Class A was a good decision. He couldn't be the only one who felt this way, right?
Thinking of this, Hikigaya looked at the others.
Everyone had relaxed smiles on their faces.
Fine, it seemed he really was the only one with such thoughts.
"Is there something I missed, or...?"
Hikigaya frowned.
He wasn't sure if it was his own problem, or if others were afraid of taking responsibility and thus pushed everything onto Ichinose.
But choosing to attack Class A really didn't seem like a good choice.
After a moment's hesitation, Hikigaya decided to speak up.
Although the person in charge bears the responsibility, the people below should still offer timely opinions.