5.5

I found a few QR codes, but there was still only one that seemed to be worth a large sum of points. There were several students looking for codes in the nearby area, so the competition was definitely too fierce.

Since using waves of non-participants for help was prohibited, it was unlikely that any students were trying to cheat openly, but with over 200 participants, it was inevitable.

I suddenly noticed that Satō had stopped and turned around.

"I wonder what I should do. What do I need to work on so that I don't cause trouble for the class?"

"What's up all of a sudden?"

"I'm sorry for asking such a weird question. But it's not just some random thought, okay? I've been thinking about it since before the uninhabited island exam. I was wondering if I was any help to the class."

After saying that, Satō stared at the palms of her hands.

"I wish I could tell my overexcited self from before I started school, back when I thought I could just have a random and interesting high school life and get a job anywhere, this isn't just any high school; it's a hell of a place."

For lack of a better way to put it, Satō was generally less capable than the average high school student.

However, she was still at the top of the caste and her voice possessed a certain amount of influence. Although academic ability, physical ability, and communication skills all had varying levels of difficulty, most people could improve them with some effort. Sudō's name probably came first as a clear example.

Sudō, who'd been at the bottom of the class in terms of academic performance, showed remarkable success and rapidly improved his test scores. As could be seen from this, the important thing was to have room to grow.

"If you want to work hard for your classmates, I suppose studying is essential."

"Yeah…that's right, isn't it?" Satō said, scratching her cheek and hanging her head as if to say she already knew that. "A-Ayanokōji-kun, I don't suppose you could teach me how to study…you can't, right?"

"Me?"

As soon as I asked, Satō hurriedly put her hands out and waved frantically.

"Sorry, sorry! Forget what I just said! Karuizawa-san will get mad at me…!"

"Wouldn't it be fine to ask Horikita to teach you?"

"Horikita-san? But we don't really get along very well, you know?"

The phrase 'don't really get along' was probably a rather mild way of putting it. For almost a year and a half, Satō hadn't taken any action you could call friendly when it came to Horikita.

"Aside from the fact that you two will need to get along, I think she has a well-established reputation when it comes to teaching. She trained up that Sudō after all."

There was no need to go into detail regarding Horikita's interpersonal problems and teaching methods. She was able to develop Sudō, the most problematic student in the school.

"Sudō-kun overtook me before I knew it…that's true."

"You don't want the shameful title of worst in the class that's bottom of the year do you?"

"A-absolutely not."

Satō was one of the candidates for lowest in the class, so she felt a strong sense of crisis when it came to that point.

"Then, could I ask you to be the bridge, Ayanokōji-kun?"

"If that's all you want, it's not a problem."

If it would improve the academic performance of the class, Horikita wouldn't refuse. Sudō may find it complicated to have more people around Horikita, whether of the same or the opposite sex, but he wouldn't reject her.