"C-Calm down, Keisei-kun," said Sakura trying to calm Yukimura down.

"Airi is right, Yukimu. There's no use getting upset now, the most important thing is that we all pass, right?" Hasebe said.

After hearing what his friends were saying, Yukimura sighed and rested his body, "You guys are right, I'm sorry. I just felt annoyed earlier."

"Don't worry, Keisei. We're used to Ken making noise," Miyake said waving his hand.

"Hey!!" shouted Sudou angrily.

"See?" said Miyake grinning seeing his words come true.

Everyone laughed while Sudou just grunted in annoyance with his arms crossed.

"Wait a minute, Sae-chan-sensei! Isn't it way too late for this?"

"I don't think so. You still have one week. If you use that study time wisely, it should be easy. Right?"

Chabashira-sensei tried to shoo us out of the faculty room without the slightest hesitation. However, none of us moved.

"Chabashira, I hope this is the last time you make a fatal mistake like this," Mashima said sharply, he really didn't like Chabashira's negligence.

"Calm down, Mishima. I won't do it again, won't," said Chabashira seriously, she had stopped playing games with her students, this time she would support them seriously.

"Even if you stay, nothing will change. You understand that, don't you?" she asked.

"Let's go."

"B-but, Horikita-chan! We can't just accept this!"

"As Chabashira-sensei said, staying would be a waste of time. Instead, we should begin studying the revised test materials."

"It's not fair to them," muttered Shiranami with concern.

"They are, but there's nothing they can do. All they can do is accept it," Ichinose said softly.

"But!"

Horikita turned on her heel and left the faculty room, Sudou and the others reluctantly following after her. Chabashira-sensei didn't even glance at us as we left. I'd thought she would apologize for making such a mistake, but she didn't. If anything, I'd thought that some of the other teachers might react to this incident.

Despite the fact that this was a pretty serious mistake for a homeroom teacher to make, none of the other teachers seemed to care. Hoshinomiya- sensei was seated nearby. Our eyes met. She gave a small smile and waved hello. Well, that was something, at least. However, I didn't think that our teacher had simply forgotten to tell us what would be covered on the test.

"I also feel that Chabashira-sensei deliberately didn't tell us, her behavior has been weird ever since she revealed Ayanokouji-kun's entrance exam results. I don't know what the purpose is but I feel like it's all related to Ayanokouji-kun."

Inevitably Matsushita thought about it all when he saw the strange behavior of his homeroom teacher.

When I stepped into the hallway, the afternoon class bell rang.

"Kushida-san. I have a small favor I want to ask you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I want you to tell the rest of Class D about the changes to the test."

"That's fine, but...is it okay for me to do it?"

"You're the best candidate we have. There's no doubt in my mind. Besides, we can't take the test when we don't know what's going to be on it."

"Okay, I understand. Leave it to me. I'll tell Hirata-kun and everyone else."

"I'll get ready for tomorrow. By then, I should have narrowed down everything we'll need."

Horikita tried hard to appear calm, but I could sense her anxiety. That time we'd spent studying had been squandered, and we were back to square one. Plus, we now only had one week left.

However, our greatest concern was keeping the Idiot Trio motivated.

"Horikita. I know I've been difficult, but I'm counting on you." Sudou bowed to Horikita as he spoke those words. "Starting tomorrow...I'll take a break from club activities. Will that work?"

Everyone was staring at the screen with widened eyes, they couldn't believe that Sudou was bowing to Horikita, someone he hated. What's more he decided to take a break from the club and focus on studying.

"Oh, looks like the incident just now finally woke him up," said Sakayanagi raising her eyebrows in amusement.

"Maybe he didn't want his hard work to end in vain," said Hashimoto with a shrug.

"Or maybe he's just feeling annoyed with everything that's going on," Kamuro said crossing her legs.

"That..."

Considering that we had only one week left and time was of the essence, it was a rational decision. However, the offer so surprised Horikita that she couldn't immediately accept.

"Will that really be okay with you? It'll be a lot of work."

"Studying is a lot of work, isn't it?" Grinning, Sudou patted Horikita's shoulder.

"Sudou-kun, are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm pissed at our homeroom teacher and those jerks in Class C now, too."

"Oh, you're right Kamuro," said Hashimoto with a grin, Kamuro only snorted in response.

You could call this a blessing in disguise. After being backed into a corner, Sudou had finally developed a positive attitude about studying. He probably realized if he didn't do his best, he couldn't pass the test. His declaration inspired Ike and Yamauchi.

"Guess we don't have any choice. We'll try harder, too," Ike said.

"I understand. If you're prepared, then we can work together. However, Sudou-kun..." Horikita coldly removed Sudou's hand from her shoulder. "Please do not touch me. If you do so again, I won't show you any mercy."

"Pfft ha ha, Kenchin's cool moment was instantly destroyed," Hasebe said laughing.

"Tch! Shut up Haruka!" shouted Sudou in annoyance.

"You're not cute at all, lady..."

"We're definitely gonna do this!"

"Yeah! Me, too!"

Kushida, who also seemed motivated, stuck out her fist. "Come on, Ayanokouji-kun. You do your best, too!" she cried.

"Huh? No, I—"

"Don't tell me. Did you already give up on studying?"

"I've thought about it a little."

"You promised you'd work with me. Did you forget?" asked Horikita while glaring at me.

"I'm not a good teacher. People have different strengths and weaknesses, right?"

To be honest, Horikita and Kushida were better teachers than I was. I didn't consider myself really capable of tutoring others.

"Your test scores weren't that bad, were they?"

"There isn't much time left, so it might be more effective if Horikita and Kushida work together to teach those three rather than tutoring one-on- one. Also, something else is kind of bothering me."

"Bothering...?" muttered Mii-chan tilting her head in confusion, not understanding what Ayanokouji meant.

"Something bothering you?"

What had happened in the faculty room was far too serious for me to overlook.

This time not only Mii-chan, but almost everyone now tilted their heads in confusion at Ayanokouji's words.

"Huh? What happened? Is there something we missed?" asked Shinohara confused.

"I-I don't know," Satou said shaking her head, she was as confused as Shinohara.

Meanwhile Matsushita crossed his arms in deep thought, "What, what did I miss? According to Ayanokouji-kun, the incident in the faculty room was too serious for him to ignore, but what happened was only about the change in the exam questions. Is that the case? Ugh... I didn't get a single clue..."

Matsushita clutched her head while wincing from too much thought, she then shook her head and looked back at the screen, waiting for the answer to come out on its own.

In contrast to Matsushita, the class leaders didn't think too much or rather thought nothing of it.

Sakayanagi Arisu, Ichinose Honami, Horikita Suzune, and Ryuuen Kakeru. The four class leaders already knew Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's true abilities, so they didn't need to think about what was confusing everyone because it was pointless, instead they were excited now to see what Ayanokouji would do about the problem he was about to face.

= = =

When lunchtime came, I jumped to my feet and headed toward the cafeteria with purposeful strides.

"Where are you going?"

Kushida had noticed me rushing out of class and followed. She popped up before me, stopping me in my tracks.

"It's lunch. I thought I'd go to the cafeteria."

"Hmm. Mind if I go with you?"

"I don't really mind. But there are a lot of other people you could ask, you know."

"It's true, I do have a lot of friends to eat lunch with, but you don't have anyone, Ayanokouji-kun. Even though you'd usually reach out to Horikita-san, you haven't talked to her today. The other day, didn't you say something was bothering you about what happened in the faculty room? What was it?"

Those who were confused by Ayanokouji's previous words stared at the screen curiously, maybe they could find out what Ayanokouji meant earlier.

Kushida, as usual, was quite observant. To be honest, I hadn't wanted to do this with anyone, but I decided that Kushida was probably fine. I'd come to learn her secret by sheer coincidence. She wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Did I bother you back then?" Kushida asked Ayanokouji.

"Not really, even the negotiations went smoother with you around," Ayanokouji replied.

"Eh, really?"

"Yeah, sometimes boys can let their guard down if there's a pretty girl around, that's why I was able to easily carry out my plan back then," Ayanokouji said casually, not paying attention to the impact his words had.

"I-I see," Kushida stuttered and blushed, even though on the outside she was trying to stay calm by putting on a smile, but on the inside she was really messed up.

"P-Pretty!!! Hwa wa wa wa, why did he say that! And moreover why is my heart beating so fast now. Uuu... this looks like... did I... to Kiyotaka-kun..."

Kushida quickly shook her head to clear her mind, but the blush on her cheeks hadn't gone away. It took her a few moments to calm herself down.

And... it took her some time to understand her own feelings.

And one more problem...

Because Ayanokouji was too indifferent to his surroundings while staring at the screen and Kushida who was trapped in her own world. Neither of them realized that their conversation was loud enough for those around them to hear.

The strongest reactions are produced by girls, while boys are just indifferent or don't care.

Karuizawa gave him a fierce and burning glare, if looks could kill then Ayanokouji would be dead by now. Sakura gave a worried and worried look, worried because the boy she liked was getting away from her reach. And lastly for an inexplicable reason, Horikita and Hasebe gave displeased looks, but those glances were so fleeting that neither noticed even for themselves.

However, things became more difficult for Ayanokouji in the future.

"I can tell you if you promise that you won't tell anyone else."

"I'm good at keeping secrets."

Immediately the members of Ayanokouji's group stared at Kushida, making the girl shudder under their gazes.

"Good at keeping secrets, eh..." Hasebe said with a flat look.

A drop of sweat rolled down Kushida's face, "G-Guys, I promise I won't do that again," she said nervously.

"Ha ha ha, I was just kidding. We already know that," said Hasebe, laughing.

"Mou, Haruka-chan! You worried me earlier," Kushida said with a frown.

"Ha ha, sorry, sorry."

Kushida and I headed to the cafeteria together. We navigated our way through the crowd and finally reached the meal ticket machine. I bought tickets for two portions but didn't line up at the counter. Instead, I went to the side of the vending machine and looked at students perusing the menu.

"Hmm? What is he doing?" Mori asked confusedly.

"I don't know," said Onodera who was just as confused.

"What is it?" Kushida tilted her head and looked puzzled when I began studying the machine.

"This might answer what was bothering me."

I continued observing students as they bought lunch sets from the ticket machine. After I'd observed about twenty students, my target appeared. He purchased his meal ticket and walked to the counter with heavy, plodding footsteps.

"That... an upperclassman, right?" Kobashi asked.

"Yes, I've seen him at the graduation ceremony," replied Amikura nodding.

"But why did Ayanokouji meet that senpai?" Shibata asked confused.

"Maybe it's all to do with what's bothering him," Kanzaki said looking at the screen seriously, he had a feeling that what Ayanokouji was about to do was quite important.

"Okay, let's go," I said.

"Hmm? Okay."

We quickly exchanged our tickets for our meals and sat down in front of the heavy-footed student.

"Um, excuse me. Are you an upperclassman?" I asked.

"Hmm? Who are you?" The student regarded us calmly, a look of complete disinterest on his face.

"Are you a second-year student? Third-year?"

"Third-year. Let me guess, you're a first year?"

"I'm Ayanokouji, from Class D. You're also in Class D, aren't you?"

"Why does he know?" Ibuki asked confused.

"Ku ku, don't you know, Ibuki? It's so easy just by looking at that person," Ryuuen said grinning.

"Huh!? What do you mean?"

"Ibuki-san, that senpai brought free meals," said Shiina answering in place of Ryuuen.

Ibuki paused to process Shiina's words, after a moment of silence she widened her eyes.

"Wait, if he's eating free meals, that means..."

"He doesn't have any points, and if he doesn't have any points he's definitely Class D."

"I see," said Ibuki, satisfied that her confusion had been cleared. To be honest if it was any other student, she would definitely be surprised to see that student have such keen observation. But this was Ayanokouji talking about, so she wouldn't be surprised, instead she would be disappointed if Ayanokouji didn't find out.

"What's that got to do with you?"

Kushida looked at me with surprise, as if asking, "How did you know?"

"Because he's limited to eating the free meals. It's not very tasty, is it?" I asked. He was eating the free vegetable meal set.

Everyone finally found out how Ayanokouji knew the senior class, and they had mixed reactions.

"Eh, he found out just from that hint?" said Azuma surprised.

"I guess so, haven't we experienced the same thing before?" said Ichihashi.

Because they had been in Class D for a long time, they had already experienced the same thing as that senior, eating free meals when their points ran out. But lately they haven't had that anymore because of the class points they earned and they've been pretty frugal now since their meltdown on May 1st in their freshman year.

"You're right, I did it a few months ago. Leaving that aside, I'm curious about Ayanokouji-kun's dealings with that senpai," said Ishikura curiously.

There were no complaints about that, they were also curious about Ayanokouji's actions. Because as far as they knew, Ayanokouji was just a gloomy student, but after seeing these videos, they should probably take that statement back.

"What do you want? You're really irritating." He took his tray and made to stand, but I stopped him.

"I want to ask you something. If you listen, I'll show you my gratitude."

"Gratitude?"

The cafeteria's hustle and bustle drowned out my voice. The students were all engrossed in chatting pleasantly with their friends.

"Do you still have the problems from the midterm test from the first semester of your first year? Or, if not, do you happen to know someone from your class who does?"

"Huh!?"

Everyone was confused by Ayanokouji's words, they wondered why the boy would ask an upperclassman that.

But for the Class C students to have a feeling beyond confusion, they somehow felt familiar with the current situation.

It didn't take long for the smart people in that class to realize why the situation was familiar to them.

"Wait! Exam leak paper! If this is true according to my guess, then it's Ayanokouji-kun who gets the old test questions!" thought Matsushita widening her eyes, although now it's just an assumption but when she saw the scene on the screen she was very sure that her guess was right.

Just like Matsushita, several students in class C also came to the same conclusion as her, including Wang Mei-Yu or also known as Mii-chan. The girl was now frowning in confusion.

"If Ayanokouji-kun was the one who got the questions, then why was Kikyou-chan the one who distributed them?" thought Mii-chan about the only thing that confused her.

Meanwhile, Horikita stared at Ayanokouji with a complicated expression before turning her attention forward. Back then she believed that Kushida was the one who got the old test questions, but now it's revealed that Ayanokouji was the one who did. Actually she wasn't too surprised by it, but it still left a bad feeling inside her.

Ayanokouji was doing something behind the scenes that she didn't know about, that's what she didn't like. How much does he do? How much has Ayanokouji been doing behind the scenes without her knowledge? How come he never told herself about it?

Questions like that arose in her mind, why is that? She herself did not know the answer.

But one thing for sure is that she doesn't like being left out. She wanted Ayanokouji to rely on her and be acknowledged by her, not as a tool to be used but as a partner who helped each other. Especially now that she knows Ayanokouji's true abilities, making that determination even stronger.

Horikita sighed as she leaned back in her chair, thinking that made her even more excited now to see more of Ayanokouji in this school.

"Do you even understand what you're asking?" he said.

"It's not particularly strange, is it? I didn't think it was against school rules to study using old test problems."

"Why are you asking me?"

"That's simple. I believed I'd have the highest chance of success if I worked with someone who doesn't have any points. Honestly, that free vegetable meal doesn't look good. Of course, things would be quite different if you actually liked eating the vegetable set. What do you think?"

"How much are you going to pay?"

"Ten thousand points. That's as high as I'll go."

"I don't have the old test problems, but...I know someone who does. If you want him to help you, though, you're going to need to offer at least 30,000 points. If you've got that, you're fine."

"I'm afraid that 30,000 is a no-go for me. I don't have that much."

"How much do you have?"

"Twenty thousand."

"Then 20,000... no, 15,000 should do. Nothing under that."

"15,000, huh?"

"If you'd go so far as to ask for old test problems from a stranger, then you must be pretty desperate, huh? Well, the school will mercilessly expel any student who gets a failing grade. None of my classmates are even here anymore."

"I see. I understand. I'll pay the 15,000 points."

"Fu fu, as expected of Ayanokouji-kun, sharp as ever.