Chapter 200 – Leaving the special exam

The yukata workshop had enough space to accommodate everyone. Otherwise, having around a hundred people sitting and waiting would have been impossible without extra chairs or cushions, so they had to stand and wait.

Though the cool autumn breeze was starting to blow, standing for a long time wasn't ideal. The senior students were used to the school's different ordeals and could endure it.

However, the girls from Yukio's class were struggling. Some had woken up at 5 a.m. to put on makeup and were starting to feel exhausted. They were already quite displeased.

Therefore, when Yukio suggested going out to play, the reaction was immediate. The girls in the class were practically ready to express their support for their leader with all their enthusiasm.

Yukio's words stunned everyone. The deputy in charge of entertaining the group at the yukata workshop was sweating profusely, holding a glass of iced water, ready to come over and ask what was happening.

The class members were initially surprised but then burst into collective laughter. Yes! This was Yukio! This was the style of their class!

Why should they stick to the rules and wait around? Or foolishly sit there waiting for Takahashi to assign tasks? Their class had always won by being unrestrained. Following Yukio was the way to go.

The third-year students from Classes B and C were baffled and couldn't understand at all.

What was this first-year class doing? Just leaving? They had never seen anything like this before! This was a special exam! They hadn't even waited for the job assignments and were already leaving? Weren't they concerned about ranking last in the project?

"Uh, uh, this, this student!" The deputy, perhaps recognizing Yukio as the class leader, hurried over with a glass of water, sweating but maintaining the professional smile typical of businesspeople.

He couldn't let Yukio leave just like that. If Takahashi questioned him later, he would be blamed.

Advanced Nurturing High School had provided so much, he couldn't afford to offend any of the students. Takahashi had instructed everyone at the workshop beforehand to satisfy any demands the students had.

This made the deputy sigh and regret his choices. If he had studied hard and gotten into Advanced Nurturing High School, would he not need to be so humble in the workplace today? Could he have been like Yukio, coming in and being treated like a VIP?

These thoughts were fleeting, though. In reality, he quickly reacted and stepped in front of Yukio: "Student, here, have some water first. Let me introduce the workshop process to you."

He had a simple plan. The students were here for the workplace special exam, so they needed to understand the workshop, right?

He tried to stall Yukio, dragging out the conversation to buy time until Takahashi arrived. This way, he wouldn't offend the Advanced Nurturing students and wouldn't be blamed by Takahashi. A seasoned workplace tactic.

"No need," Yukio said, pointing to the Takahashi Yukata sign. "If we want to understand, we'll look it up ourselves. We'll come back when we have time."

With that, he led his classmates away, full of enthusiasm like high school students on a field trip, leaving the deputy holding the glass of water, looking very nervous.

He wanted to stop them but couldn't, and letting them go might cause problems. Subsequently, he quickly downed the water and ran to the workshop to report to Mr. Takahashi. This was beyond his control!

The third-year students from Classes B and C were stunned. Were first-years really this bold now? Leaving within five minutes of the special exam starting?

Sakagami, who was secretly scoring the third-year Class B students, didn't step in either. He watched with great interest. To prevent homeroom teachers from favoring their own students, each teacher was assigned to score different classes, along with other school staff to ensure fairness.

Sakagami wasn't worried, fully trusting Yukio's abilities. However, when another teacher responsible for scoring Yukio's class approached and inquired, Sakagami put on a forced expression of distress and sighed, saying he had no idea what those class misfits were thinking.

Meanwhile, Yukio led his classmates back to their bus. He patted the driver's seat and said, "Driver, let's go. Find a nearby café."

"Huh?" The driver couldn't keep up with Yukio's pace. Seeing a large group of students getting back on the bus, he was genuinely confused.

"This is just part of our class's special exam strategy," Yukio explained vaguely. The driver, familiar with the school's special exams, didn't ask further. Since the homeroom teacher didn't come to stop them, he started the bus.

The class members were tired but also exhilarated: "Awesome, Yukio-san! Deciding to leave just like that!"

"Awesome! I didn't want to stand there waiting either. What a waste of time!"

"You can't say that. We could have been assigned tasks right away, but unfortunately, Horikita Manabu from third-year Class A was too skilled and took Mr. Takahashi away first."

"Yukio-san, what do we do now? We'll follow whatever you say!"

Yukio took Sakagami's original position, standing in the aisle with a smile. As the bus started and occasionally swayed, he stood firmly: "Since President Horikita got the jump on us, we won't wait."

"The scale of Takahashi Yukata is quite large, but with our four classes, over a hundred people, there's too much redundancy. President Horikita took all the important positions, leaving only meaningless repetitive tasks."

"For example, serving tea, cleaning, answering phone calls as customer service. You don't want to do those things, right?"

At first, everyone was just annoyed at the long wait, but after hearing Yukio's analysis, they realized he had saved them from a tedious fate.

That's right! Given Horikita Manabu's tendency to take all the important tasks, if they had waited, there really wouldn't have been anything for them to do! They'd be stuck doing menial jobs like sweeping and serving tea. How miserable would that be?

Ryuen also seemed to understand this point. He didn't seem surprised at all, instead glancing back at the workshop receding in the distance: "But serving tea and cleaning at least gets us points."

"Leaving directly means we get zero points."

"What does it matter?" Yukio was particularly relaxed, resting his right hand on the seat Sakagami originally occupied, as steady as a mountain: "We'll go back tomorrow, do some random tasks, and get the points."

"Don't you find it strange? Takahashi-san and that deputy were very respectful to us students. With that kind of treatment, are you really worried about not having any work?"

"Hmm?!" Ryuen, upon being reminded, realized that Mr. Takahashi and the deputy's attitudes were indeed odd. What kind of boss treats new employees so courteously?

Whether it was Mr. Takahashi with Horikita Manabu or the deputy with Yukio, both were excessively polite, which felt out of place.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly," Yukio's exchange with Ryuen dispelled the worries of the whole class: "We students don't have anything special, so their respect isn't directed at us personally, but rather at the school."

"Typically, it's the newcomers who are respectful to the boss, but here, Takahashi-san was the opposite, which indicates that we are different. We are here to complete a project, not to do menial work."

"In other words, as long as our requests aren't unreasonable, Takahashi-san will likely comply. Leaving early today isn't an issue, and if we want to work and earn points later, Takahashi-san won't refuse because of our early departure."

"The initiative is entirely ours, so why not take advantage of it and enjoy ourselves a bit?"

***

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