46 #46 Planning
"Still, it's too much of a work to do..." Sudo replied with an unconvinced expression to Yuichi's taunt.
"Yeah? So it's too much work to remember all questions and answers...I see, so in that case, I guess you won't need them entirely." Yuichi said with a faint smile while stuffing the stack of papers back into his bag.
"Hah?! Wait, man! You can't do that to me! If I want to get so many points, I will have to really study it like we did study those materials for days..." Sudo said with a pitiful expression.
"Does that matter? If you won't have those answers, it will be a miracle if you can avoid expulsion. At least you will know that you are studying something meaningful. I am ready to compromise, as long as you will study from these papers seriously and not just half-assedly, I am fine with it." Yuichi said with closed eyes and folded arms.
"That...Fine! But I won't be skipping anymore of my club activities. You can afford to do that due to your skill but you should also stop skipping since you are the captain." Sudo said while pointing his finger at Yuichi's face with an upset expression.
"That's fine by me, you can use a lunch breaks for studying but I suggest you take photos of it and study it without anyone around." Yuichi suggested.
"Huh? Why? We won't be showing this to everyone else? Anyway, how much sure you are that the exam will have the same questions as in these papers? After all, didn't the topics for the midterms just changed?" Sudo asked with a confused expression since he thought that Yuichi would show this to everyone else.
"It definitely will be the same as the previous one. I even took this test from 2nd and 3rd-year students respectively and both have the same questions. Despite that, we can't show these to anyone until at least 2 days to the midterms. If we are going to release this information so early on, everyone might lose motivation to study...Also, I hope you are aware that this is the only 1-time thing. After the midterms, I expect you to start studying the same way you did a few days ago." Yuichi replied with a serious expression.
"Well...Why not make a use of it and use old tests from our seniors to prepare for our future tests? Are you afraid that school might find out?" Sudo asked.
"I am not afraid because I know Chabashira-sensei wanted us to do that right from the beginning. As she previously said...they don't really care solely about Academic ability" Yuichi said while looking out of the window.
"Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean that she wanted us to do this?" Sudo asked with a confused expression.
"...Don't worry about it" Yuichi glanced at Sudo before redirecting his gaze once again out of the window before finally replying.
'Naive...I was indeed naive, hard work alone can't do shit in this school. They don't care if you are hard-working or if you are able to study the entire day...They want you to explore every possibility you can use to your advantage. "Screw hard work! No one needs hard work when you can solve something within a few steps and save your precious time"' Yuichi thought about his conversation with Chabashira-sensei.
'Still, I doubt all tests will be like this...It's not like they will completely abandon academic ability. Once students discover this, they will naturally try to exploit it as much as they can, I doubt the school will allow it. Was this only a 1-time thing?'
"Well, you can take a few photos but...Sudo..." Yuichi said with a faint smile before his smile disappeared and cold expression appeared on his face as he called out Sudo's name.
"?! Y-Yeah?" 'Those eyes are the eyes back from that match against core team...' Sudo was a bit startled when he faced so serious Yuichi however it wasn't his first time seeing Yuichi like this because he had the chance to see this during the previous match.
"Don't show them to anyone else...Do you understand?" Yuichi said with a cold tone and narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, don't worry. Although I don't really understand your worries, you are the one who planned this out so I won't be the one ruining your plans" Sudo nodded firmly before taking out his phone and taking a few photos.
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The next day at school...
"Eavesdropping is not commendable quality." Yuichi muttered with a faint smile when he passed Horikita's seat to get to his own seat.
"I have no idea what you are on about." Horikita replied with closed eyes and composed expression.
"Hm? I never specified who I was talking about..." Yuichi sat down and glanced back at Horikita with a grin which prompted Ayanokoji to raise his eyebrow in confusion.
"Anyway, can you please announce what we have discovered yesterday?" Yuichi asked Horikita and Ayanokoji quietly listened to their conversation while looking out of the window.
"Why me?!" Horikita asked while suspiciously narrowing her eyes at Yuichi.
"No reason really...but you owe me for that eavesdropping, you can do that much, right?" Yuichi said with a faint smile and Horikita just glared at him before getting up and walking up on the podium in front of the board.
She announced the news and everyone immediately released sounds of dissatisfaction. That was expected since a lot of students already started studying the old materials and now all their effort was for naught.
After announcing the news, she came back and sat down on her seat.
"Are you happy?" Horikita asked with a sarcastic tone.
"Yes" Yuichi replied with a bright smile which prompted Horikita to raise her eyebrow in confusion.
"Why are you so carefree? Are you sure you can prepare Sudo for the midterms in 1 week?" Horikita asked with a furrowed brow.
"Nah, but I am pretty sure you will be quite surprised by Sudo's scores" Yuichi smirked at her while supporting his head with this hand.
"Maybe if you would have remained on my entire conversation with Chabashira-sensei, you would have probably discovered why I am so confident. All I can say is that she never expected the students that are already falling behind to be able to learn everything by themselves." Yuichi said in low voice.
"What do you mean that she never expected it? ...Are you telling me that she deliberately has hidden this information from us?" Horikita asked with narrowed eyes as if she was just confirming her suspicion.
"Maybe, anyway, you don't have to do anything special, just carry on with your tutoring lessons." Yuichi said before focusing on the board.
The main reason why he didn't reveal anything yet was that there were too many people around and in case someone overheard, rumors could start spreading.
'I am still not sure if this year's test will be the same as the previous 2 however if not, then they are truly cruel to the students who have problems with studying. If it will be the same, we can't call them cruel since we can just take the previous tests and study from them. Maybe they will start putting very difficult situations in our way, but if looked from the other perspective, the solution might become very easy. It will be just about finding that solution.' Yuichi thought, still confused by this school's intentions. He understood the reasons behind many things this school did but some of those reasons are still unknown to him or confusing. Maybe his view on "nurturing young people" is still very narrow, maybe his idea of "outside world" is still very narrow...
'Am I still too naive? ...Do I have to sink deeper?' Yuichi thought with narrowed eyes and clenched fist while looking out of the window.
Yuichi glanced behind him at Ayanokoji before glancing at Horikita who was reading her book.
'I guess I should wait until the next break.'
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After their first class of the day ended, Ayanokoji intended to go somewhere much to Yuichi's luck. Yuichi quickly followed after him before stopping him in the hallway.
"Ayanokoji-kun, do you have a minute?" Yuichi asked which prompted him to stop walking and turn around at Yuichi.
"Eh? Iwamura...Go ahead." He replied with a slightly confused expression.
"Could you do something for me, let's say in a few days?" Yuichi asked with a helpless smile as he knew how Ayanokoji liked to avoid any type of trouble.
"Hm? That depends on what would that be, I guess..." He replied as the same way as Yuichi expected.
"I would like you to distract Horikita for a few seconds so I can stuff something into her bag without her looking. I can tell you details during the lunch break, I will even pay for your lunch, that is if you already don't have any date planned with Kushida." Yuichi said with a smile.
"Eh? Distract her? Are you planning to prank her by pouring something into her bag or putting something stinky there? Also, I am not dating Kushida at all, if you like her, you are free to pursue her." Ayanokoji asked with a slightly surprised expression, wanting to distance himself from Yuichi.
"No, as I said, I will tell you details later today. And it was more of a joke than a serious statement, that matter with Kushida..." Yuichi said and waited for his answer.
"Alright, I don't really have plans for the lunch break anyway..." Ayanokoji agreed and both parted ways there, with Yuichi returning to the classroom.
