10 Midterm

The time has come for us students.

Midterms!

After I went on my way cramming an all-nighter with a bunch of episodes, I'm ready for the test.

Studying? What's that? Is that some sort of food?

"There are no absences today. It appears everyone is present."

Chabashira-sensei strode through the classroom with a bold smile on her face.

"That's the first hurdle for you leftovers. Are there any questions?"

"We've studied diligently these past few weeks. I don't think that anyone will fail."

"Oh my. You sound quite confident, Hirata."

Everyone wore a confident look. The teacher promptly took up the test papers and passed them out. Our first period test was for social studies. Out of everything in the test, it was probably the easiest subject.

"If anyone stumbles here, the other tests will be an uphill battle, quite frankly. You'll take this midterm and the final exam in July. If no one fails either test, you'll be rewarded with a vacation during your summer break."

"A vacation?"

"That's right. A dream vacation on an island surrounded by the brilliant blue sea."

Of course, the beach in summer meant we'd be able to see the girls in their swimsuits...

"Wh-what is this strange pressure..." one of the boys muttered beside me.

Chabashira-sensei stepped back from the obvious tension the students exuded... mostly the boys(me included).

"Everyone. Let's do our best! We're gonna go on that vacation for sure!"

"Yeah!" Ike howled along with our classmates.

Before long the exam had started.

The second and third period were Japanese and Chemistry respectively.

Then came fourth period. Mathematics. All of the abnormally difficult questions that had been featured on the mock test also appeared here, but the content was the same as the old exams. Even if Sudou and the other guys couldn't understand the problems, they could still apply the answers if they'd memorized them.

Then came the break. And then right after that would be the English test.

"Sudou-kun, how about you?" Kushida spoke to Sudou, who sat alone at his desk and stared fixedly at the old test material. However, Sudou looked sullen.

"Sudou-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm kind of busy."

He didn't look up from the questions as he spoke. He was reviewing the English test material, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat.

"Sudou, did you... not study the old test material, by chance?"

"Everything but English. I fell asleep partway through." Sudou sounded irritated. In other words, this was his first time reviewing the material.

"Eh?!"

That also meant that Sudou only had ten minutes to review.

"Damn, I can't get any of these answers to stick in my head," he muttered.

Unlike the other tests, the English problems weren't easy to memorize. Trying to cram all of the answers in just ten minutes would be impossible.

"Sudou-kun, memorize the problems that are worth a lot of points and those with the shortest answers." Horikita leapt up from her seat and moved next to Sudou.

"I-Ill also help." Kushida also came next to Sudou.

Without any delay I let Kushida use my teaching skill.

[You shared a skill: "Teaching IV" on Tool: "Kushida Kikyou"]

Though it may not be much getting all the necessary points within ten minutes.

After a while, there was only a couple of minutes left. The threesome study session between them ended.

Unexpectedly I could sense Horikita coming over my desk. I thought about the awkward encounter with the student council president. We haven't talked much fter that.

"Seishirou-kun, can I ask you for something?" she said.

"You need something from me? That's rare coming from you Horikita. Sure, what do you want?"

"If possible, could you lower your English test scores. Sudou-kun's situation is dangerous. At this rate he would be expelled."

"So it's that..."

What she meant was in order to atleast somehow lower the passing score for English as a subject. I as the top scorer contributes greatly on the average class scores.

"Do I take that you'll also have to do it? How caring for you to look out for someone unrelated to you."

"I'm only doing it for myself."

"Thats not how what it looks to me though."

"I don't care how you interpret it. Are you going to do it? Or not?" she demanded.

"You sure lack manners for someone asking a favor." I sighed.

"Im not asking you a favor. I'm saying you should help your friend."

It silenced me for a while before I answered, "...Fair enough. Okay let's do it your way. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, well then."

Oh boy. She really had a way of playing around words. I want to smack that higher-than-thou attitude of hers and let her submit to me. Female lead or not. An image of Horikita crying in tears begging for mercy while I grabbed her silky black hair came on my mind.

Now my inner sadistic tendencies taking over my thoughts. Imagination really is powerful, you could do anything in that world. I cleared out my thoughts and decided to focus on the exam.

Maybe I should get a psychologist.

"How many points do I have to get I wonder? Is 40 points enough?"

In the anime Sudou got a 39 points in the exam. A single point short. But 40 points is still a little bit dangerous. One small misstep would cause me to beg Class D to pay 100,000 points to pay for me. I'd have to put a bit of margin for insurance.

"Guess 45 points should be enough."

I'm not a stubborn person. If you ask me to do something, as long as I don't mind I'll do it. Getting a low grade once in a while would be fine really. So people around me won't think I'm some kind of superhuman who could answer every testin an exam paper.

"Still she could have asked properly." I muttered.

Atthe very least Horikita hadn't crossed the line like Kushida.

'

Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom, looking around at the students in surprise. Everyone was clearly anxious, holding their breath in anticipation of the test results.

"Sensei. We were told that the results would be announced today, but when?"

"There's no need for you to get so worked up, Hirata. You should have passed quite easily."

"So, when will the results be released?"

"Well, if you'd like, now is as good a time as any. If we waited to do it after class, we wouldn't have enough time for other procedures."

"What... do you mean by that?"

"Don't get flustered. I'll tell you now."

As usual, she revealed the details simultaneously and collectively. She stuck a large, white sheet of paper with everyone's names and test scores onto the blackboard.

"Honestly, I'm impressed. I didn't think that you'd score so well. Many students tied with perfect scores in mathematics, Japanese, and social studies. More than ten of you, actually."

Some of the students shouted in joy and delight when they saw the 100s lined up on the results sheet.

We saw Sudou's test scores. He had scored sixty points in four of the five main subjects, which was considerably high. He'd scored thirty-nine points in English.

Did my skill even help him get a single point more? Or was it just that inevitable that a main character will save him?

Anyway lowering my own test scores should be enough help. Paying points for him would be too much of a stretch.

Everyone was happy, when suddenly Chabashira-sensei announced that Sudou failed the English test. And because of that he had to be expelled.

Horikita who put on the effort to help Sudou had objected. But Chabashira-sensei ended up presenting how the passing grade was calculated and it rounded off.

79.5÷2=39.75

79.5 was the average score of the Class D. And with 39.75 rounded off to 40 points, the passing grade. Chabashira-sensei explained.

If only the average score was only a tenth of a decimal lower, Sudou would've passed.

"Wh-where are you going Ayanokouji-kun?" asked Kushida who was already wary of him being Horikita's friend and my warning.

"Toilet."

He said with menacing kanjis written in the air as he turned into a Jojo's reference.

It's one of those memes I found in the internet in my past life.

I secretly took a picture of our protagonist.