Chapter 100

Last day of exam

I woke up in the morning and headed out to have breakfast, but most of the people around me had serious expressions on their faces.

There were some students who were nervous, probably because there was a problem with the group.

There is no problem at all with my group.

This is partly because their individual abilities are high, but also because the members of the large group are also excellent.

When we entered the designated classroom, 2nd and 3rd grade students were already seated, and as soon as we took our seats, a chime rang and the teacher entered.

I would like to explain that the exam itself will be conducted in small groups or by grade level.

The exam consists of four parts: meditation, speech, relay race, and written exam.

The order of the exams for first-year students is zazen, a written exam, a relay race, and a speech.

It's a bit lazy to have a speech after the Ekiden, but it's probably much better than the second-year students who do the Ekiden from the beginning.

After listening to the explanation, we headed to our respective exam centers. Our first year is a zazen place.

When I entered the classroom next to the zazen area, the teacher, Mr. Mashima, the homeroom teacher for 1st grade A class, opened his mouth.

"Now, let's begin the zazen test. The grading criteria will be based on manners and movements after entering the dojo, and whether or not there is any disturbance during zazen. Students will be asked to line up in order from the time their name is called and head toward the zazen area.A. Class Hayabusa Kito, Class D Ken Sudo..."

Mashima-sensei's instructions cause an uproar from the students. They usually stick together in small groups, but during the actual performance, they seem to be randomly arranged. Maybe this puts pressure on the students.

After a while, it was my turn, so I lined up. There were about 10 people taking the exam with me, but I didn't know anyone in particular.

After taking a deep breath, I entered the dojo to find more than 10 teachers with boards and pens, and even a few cameras.

I've been thinking this for a while, but isn't this school's grading strict?

While thinking this, I moved to the designated position while imagining in my head the manners I had practiced so far, crossed my legs, and then put each leg on top of my thighs, doing the prostrate position.

Some people are disturbed by the pain, but in my case, I experienced pain all the time in middle school, so I was able to finish the exam without being too disturbed.

After zazen, the students move on to the next classroom under the teacher's guidance, but the group members are separated. This is probably to prevent cheating.

And I head to the designated place...

"Hehehe. I am more beautiful today than I was yesterday..."

I was to the left of Koenji, the ultimate free man. The person in question was stroking his own hair and feeling sullen.

Looks like the group Koenji was in was having a really hard time...

As I get fed up with Koenji humming, a teacher I don't recognize comes in and starts handing out handouts when it's quiet.

As for the written exam, what I learned at the forest school was tested exactly.

There are some common sense questions, so even if you slack off, you'll still get 50 points. Well, I have no intention of cutting corners.

I continue to write while imagining what I have learned in my head.

After solving everything, I put down my pencil. As I am careful not to be suspected of cheating, I see Masumi and Hiyori running from outside the window.

She was more than 200 meters away, but it was easy to find her, probably because she was my girlfriend.

(They're already taking a physical fitness test... We're going to do a relay race next, so please don't get hurt.)

If they were to get injured, my spirit would suffer.

As I absentmindedly watched Hiyori and the others running from the window, a chime rang, so I handed the printout to the teacher who came to collect it.

It may not be a perfect score, but it should be 90 points.

Once everything was collected, we went out onto the field and stood in front of the school gate under the guidance of the teacher.

There are a number of vans there, and all the students except the first one start getting on board.

Once in the van, the teacher gives another explanation. There are three important points:

"At least one person must run 1.2 km,''

"The baton must be changed every 1.2 km,'' and  "If you are unable to complete the race due to an accident, you will be disqualified.''

Since we are a group of 15 people, each student can run 1.2 km, but there will be students from groups other than 15 who will run 2.4 km or 3.6 km.

By the way, I have the second highest physical strength after Kito, so I'll be in charge of the steep mountain roads.

Running on a steep mountain road isn't easy, and I need to save up some stamina for the speech that comes later.

However, it is difficult because if you cut corners too much, it will affect your score.

While this was going on, more and more students got out of the van, and eventually it was my turn to get out of the van.

And when I look at the vans around me...

"Is Hikigaya also in this location?"

Ayanokoji gets out of the van next to me. I couldn't believe I was in the same position as this creep.

"Well, you're in a group of 10 people. How many kilometers are you going to run?"

"I'm 2.4 km"

"It's quite hard. Oh, by the way, I have to tell you something..."

After saying that, I lightly tapped Ayanokoji's ear.

"(Pres Nagumo mentioned your name yesterday in the presence of me, Ryuen, Hashimoto, and Horikita-senpai.)"

"I know. I followed Hashimoto last night."

What? seriously? At that time, I was alert to my surroundings, but I didn't notice any signs.

It's out of the norm to have an amazing enemy search skill and an amazing stealth skill.

No wonder, he is creepy.

"I see. Well, why don't you use this as an opportunity to give up on living peacefully? Arisu wants to fight you without anyone's interference, so it's fine, but there's no guarantee that the others won't make your name public."

Ayanokoji has already been attracting a lot of attention since the relay incident, so it would be impossible to keep it a secret.

Or rather, there's a possibility that Arisu will make him numb and make it public.

While I was chatting quietly with Ayanokoji at the starting point, I felt someone behind me, so I turned around and saw Kanzaki from Class C running towards me, passing the baton to a student from Class C, and sitting down.

About 30 seconds later, Kito, who was in charge in front of me, came over.

"ask...!"

"Aiyo"

I pick up the baton and start running down the mountain road. The class C student running in front of me was running about 300 meters ahead of me, but he was slower than me and was gradually closing the distance.

Then, when the distance was less than 50, he seemed to sense that I was getting closer, and he looked at me with a startled expression on his face.

But turning your back is a bad idea.

As I geared up one gear and started to close the distance further, the C-class boy hurriedly turned forward, but...

"Ah!"

In his impatience, he tripped over a tree trunk and fell. It's more than a competition.

Naturally, I have no intention of helping, and overtakes the C-class boys to take the lead.

Lower the gear at the same time as you pull out. I was able to catch up even without gearing up, so I can widen the gap even in my current state.

The important thing is to maintain your physical strength.

Then, as I continued running, I finds a place where there are multiple students.

Apparently this the place to pass the baton.

When I glanced behind me, I couldn't see the C-class boy I had just passed.

The fall probably slowed it down.

I don't rush and keep my current speed as I approach the next runner's target.

"I left it to you."

"Yes!"

When I handed him the baton, he ran away at a moderate speed. When I can no longer see the target, I drink water at the water station.

I have a speech to make after this, so I need to make sure my throat feels better.

As I was thinking this and waiting for the next person to arrive, about a minute after Matoba ran, the C class boy who had passed me earlier came over and handed me the baton.

Then, after about 30 seconds, Ayanokoji arrives.

However, Ayanokoji runs 2.4km without stopping. He's clearly going to be cutting corners, but he could come second with that speed.

Then, one by one, the students arrived one after another, and once the six groups had run through this area, a waiting teacher instructed them to get into the van.

We just got in the van and headed to the goal as quickly as possible.

At the finish line, students who have finished running are waiting to see who will cross the finish line.

After waiting for a while, Yoshida from our group came around the corner and headed straight for the finish line.

Then Koenji, a free man, crossed the finish line one tempo behind.

However, it was too late for Koenji, who usually sets records close to Japan's records in physical education classes, so he probably cut corners like Ayanokoji.

Well, since we were in first place, I thought it was a good thing and waited for the other groups to finish, and once all the groups had finished, we headed to the school building to receive the speeches for the final exam.

The content of the speech itself was simple, but since it was after the relay race, they were quite tired, so all of them shouted at the top of their voices as they completed the exam.

After finishing all the exams, we changed from our jerseys to uniforms, gathered our things, and gathered at the gymnasium. It's been a long time since I've worn a uniform and it feels fresh.

It's just before 5pm, so I probably won't be back to school until 9pm.

After waiting for a while, the girls also come to the gymnasium, I discover my three lovers, and stop wanting to go right away.

We're gathering in groups right now, so please be patient.

As I was thinking about it, Matoba spoke to me.

"Thank you for your hard work this time. I realized once again how talented Hikigaya-kun is."

"You're overbuying. Aren't you guys the best?"

Being an A-class member, all of them had high potential. If things continue like this, A class will never fall below B.

After all, the current B-class has Ryuen, who has the potential to eat

But him, stepping down as the leader, and the only other students who pose a threat are Hiyori and Albert.

There are many students in Class C with high potential, but Ichinose prioritizes protecting the students over winning, and most of the students are Ichinose's yes-men, so they are not a threat.

We, D class, have substandard students like Ayanokouji and Koenji, but those two don't give their best, and nearly half of D class has low abilities, so it's possible to get to B, but we can't move up to A

It would be tough as hell.

"No. At least from what I've seen so far, I think you're close to Sakayanagi-san."

"That's okay. I guess it's impossible to overcome just by approaching."

Arisu is a genius and I'm an ordinary person.

In terms of overall strength, I'll win because I can do some exercise, but it'll be tough to win in mental strength.

As I was talking like this, an elderly man I had never seen before came to the stage, so I closed my mouth.

"Thank you everyone for your hard work during your time at the forest school. Although the content of this special exam at the forest school is different, it is an exam that is held once every few years. This time, the content was higher than the previous one. This is the result of everyone's teamwork.''

Is this man in charge of the forest school?

It was unexpected because I had never seen it before.

"Right away, we will announce the ranking of the test results for the large groups. When we read out loud, we will only read out those in charge of the 3rd grade group. Also, all groups of male students were above the borderline, and no one was expelled. They were able to survive the exam.'' As soon as this was announced, the boys let out a sigh of relief.

Our group, which was aiming for first place, was no exception.

But "all groups of male students"...that means...

"First of all, first place overall for boys... is the group of Kuranosuke Ninomiya, 3rd year C class.'' At that moment, cheers went up from around me.

This is because this large group is the group that Horikita-senpai belongs to...in other words, there is a large group that includes us.

"You did it, Horikita. As expected," Fujimaki-senpai praises Horikita-senpai, as the rankings from 2nd to 6th place are announced.

The group with Nagumo came in second place. "As expected of you, Horikita-senpai. Congratulations."

Nagumo says this with a smile on his face, but he doesn't seem to regret it at all.

Well, I guess so. If my intuition is correct, Nagumo will drop an incredible bomb after this.

Horikita-senpai remains silent as he hears Nagumo's praise. Maybe he has a bad feeling about what happened yesterday.

"You lose, Nagumo," Fujimaki-senpai, who was unaware of the situation, said to him

"The announcement has only just begun."

"Let it go. It's settled."

"Yes, I'm sure. But only for the boys," the moment Nagumo said that, the air around him became cold.

"Boys? It doesn't matter if it's girls."

"Yeah. It doesn't matter. For this match."

Fujimaki-senpai's expression turned grim at the roundabout way he said it.

"Next, I will announce the girls' group. The group in first place is the 3rd year C class, the group to which Natsu Ayase belongs."

Some of the girls get excited at those words. If I recall correctly, the group consisted of a small group centered around my class.

While I was thinking about this, the problem finally came.

"Well, it's really unfortunate, but... there was one small group of girls that broke the average score.'' Then, the commotion from earlier disappeared and the gymnasium suddenly fell silent.

At this point, Horikita-senpai also seemed to notice and looked at Nagumo.

But it's already too late. "The lowest group is Momoko Igari's group from 3rd year B class."

Some screams can be heard hearing those words. But the teacher's words continue.

"And the group that broke the border...'' As the tension of many students spread through the gymnasium...

"...This is a small group of Momoko Igari, also a 3rd year B class student. With that, we will announce the results of the mixed training camp"

The moment he announced that, Nagumo looked extremely happy.

When I looked at Matsushita, she had a smile on her lips, be careful not to let your friends notice!

"What did you do, Nagumo?"

"Right now we're in the middle of announcing the results, senpai."

Immediately after the announcement, Fujimaki-senpai approaches Nagumo, but he snorts a laugh.

"Well, please be quiet. It is unfortunate, but it has been decided that Ikari-san, the person in charge, will be expelled from the school. Furthermore, as a result of the deliberation, they have to choose the person who'll be expelled with her. That concludes the announcement. Please feel free to spend your time until the bus is ready."

The students are ordered to disperse and begin to move slowly.

Meanwhile, Nagumo happily heads towards Igari-senpai while smiling.

"Igari-senpai. Please tell me who will be your companion."

Igari-senpai remained calm in response to his words. The fact that she remained calm even after being told she was expelled means that Nagumo has given her 20 million points.

"It's already decided, isn't it? It's Tachibana Akane from Class A, who gave us some ridiculous instructions and led us to the bottom."

Igari-senpai vents her anger towards Tachibana-senpai, who has a pale look on her face.

Now it turns out that I won the bet.

Then I have no reason to be here.

Later, when I receive the points from Nagumo, all I have to do is give half of them to Matsushita.

With that in mind, I walk towards my three lovers, with Nagumo's laughter and Fujimaki-senpai's angry voice behind me.

"Yo. Good work on your exams."

"Thank you for your hard work. Still, I didn't expect someone to drop out."

Arisu looked at Nagumo with interest. Judging from the way she spoke, Arisu must have understood his strategy.

Meanwhile, Nagumo and the 3rd year A class had a quarrel, and as a result, the 3rd year A class chose to pay 20 million private points and 300 class points to save Tachibana-senpai.

"Oh, they chose relief? Well, there's a difference in private points, so from a B-class perspective, they'll probably be lucky."

"What? Did you find out about the student council president's strategy?"

"Yes. The student council president probably told the second-year group and the third-year group members other than Tachibana-senpai to cut corners among the large group that includes Igari-senpai. Especially, the large group of third-year students did a lot of work by abstaining."

Arisu answers Masumi's question.

"I understand that, but why did you put a B class student in charge?"

"Class D and C have different points from Class B. If a student from Class C or D becomes the person in charge, there is a possibility that they will take B class instead of A class at the last minute."

"And the B class will also use the remedy. Therefore, the A class and B class will lose 20 million private points and 300 class points, so the C class and D class will also be lucky."

From C and D classes, the top two classes will have their class points reduced by 300, so they will be happy to cooperate in expelling Tachibana-senpai.

"But then wouldn't there be no advantage to B class?"

"Maybe the student council president will pay the 20 million points needed to save Igari-senpai. That way, there won't be a difference in class points, but in terms of private points, B class will have an overwhelming difference over A class, Masumi-san"

"If I remember correctly, the student council president was in control of the entire second year, so it would be easy to collect a little bit from all the second years."

Hiyori nods at Arisu's consideration. In fact, Nagumo has nearly 10 million points, so it wouldn't be impossible.

In any case, as a result of this, even though there was no difference in class points between 3rd year A and B classes, there was a large difference in private points.

There will probably be one or two more special exams in the third year before graduation, and depending on your private points, the pecking order may change.

Well, to be honest, I don't care who wins.

For me, I was able to see through Nagumo's strategy in this exam.

Because of this, he liked me, and I might be able to make some kind of deal in the future.

I don't care what happens to the second and third year students when they graduate.

In other words, I don't care what happens to my classmates.

From my point of view, if me, Hiyori, Arisu, and Masumi are happy, it doesn't matter if all the other students are unhappy.

With that thought in mind, I headed for the exit where the bus was, with my three girlfriends in tow.

Class points just before the start of forest school

A class 909

B class 600

C class 550

D class 452

Results at Forest School

Men's

A class +28 points

B class -38 points

C class +4 points

D class -9 points

Women's

A class -12 points

B class +5 points

C class -19 points

D class +26 points

Cumulative

A class +16 points

B class -33 points

C class -15 points

D class +17 points

Class points at the end of the forest school

A class 925

B class 567

C class 535

D class 469