October flew by in an instant, and it was already November.
"Alright, everyone, back to your seats. There's something important to discuss."
Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom and spoke from the podium. Many students paused for a moment, seeming to realize something, and quickly returned to their seats. In the blink of an eye, the once noisy classroom fell silent.
Chabashira-sensei took note of the students' reaction and gave a slight nod before continuing, "It looks like you're all serious about this. Now, I'll be announcing the midterm exam results."
Two days ago, at the end of October, they had taken their second midterm exam. Everyone still had fresh memories of the previous semester's midterms—after all, failing even a single subject in the midterms or finals meant expulsion.
"Congratulations, for now, everyone has passed."
As Chabashira-sensei displayed the exam results, a wave of cheers erupted in the classroom. But while some were celebrating, others were less thrilled—especially the student who barely scraped by, landing in last place just above the passing line.
"Whew, that was close! Almost ended up in last place... Good thing Ken's here to take that spot!"
Yamauchi let out a sigh of relief when he saw Sudou's name at the bottom of the list. He couldn't help but tease, "Ken, you really need to start studying. Last semester, it was Kanji at the bottom, but now that he's gone, it's all on you. You better step it up—I don't want to lose another friend!"
"What the hell did you just say!?"
Suddenly, Sudou shot up from his seat as if he'd been provoked, looking furious—like he was ready to throw a punch.
Yamauchi flinched for a second at Sudou's outburst, but after realizing Sudou wasn't actually going to attack, he quickly got annoyed. The stares from the students around them, filled with amusement, only made it worse.
"Hey, Ken, what are you trying to do?"
Yamauchi shouted back, "This is just about the basketball team, isn't it? No need to take it out on me! And everything I said is true—you really are at the bottom. Not to mention, you let everyone down at the sports festival, costing us a ton of points for nothing..."
"Yamauchi, that's enough..."
Hirata stepped in, trying to stop him. He could already see Sudou's face turning red with anger. But Yamauchi, as if possessed by some kind of drama spirit, completely ignored Hirata's warning and kept pushing. It was like he wanted to prove that even Hirata couldn't control him.
"Hirata, stay out of this! This has nothing to do with you! Ken ran away like a coward during the sports festival, and—"
BAM!
Before Yamauchi could finish, Sudou's fist slammed into his face.
Yamauchi was sent flying backward. When he hit the ground, his face immediately swelled up, and a tooth popped right out of his mouth.
Dazed, Yamauchi stared at the tooth on the floor, his face twisted in pain. Then, unexpectedly—he started crying.
Sitting on the ground, holding his face, he wailed like a child. The sight was both pitiful and ridiculous at the same time.
"You bastard! Don't think I don't know—it was you going around badmouthing me that got me kicked off the team!"
Sudou, completely losing control, started kicking over desks and chairs.
The first to suffer were the students nearby. Sakura, who had been sitting close, was frozen in fear. She didn't move an inch, too scared to react.
Then, in the next moment, a figure stepped in front of her.
"Hey, that's enough!"
Hikigaya's action seemed to make Sudou even angrier. He swung his fist straight at Hikigaya's face, but it was as if Hikigaya had anticipated it. He tilted his head slightly, then suddenly stepped forward with his left foot, lowered his center of gravity, and grabbed Sudou's arm. To everyone's shock, he lifted Sudou completely off the ground!
Boom!
A loud, heavy thud echoed through the room as Sudou was slammed hard onto the floor.
The noisy classroom instantly fell silent. It took a few seconds before everyone finally reacted. Many students stared at Hikigaya with shock—and even fear.
Hirata quickly came over to check on Hikigaya. Seeing that he was fine, he let out a sigh of relief. But when he looked at Sudou, who had already passed out on the floor, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
The class meeting, which was supposed to be a normal discussion, had to be put on hold because of this incident.
After Yamauchi and Sudou were sent to the infirmary, Chabashira-sensei continued the meeting as if nothing had happened. She didn't seem particularly affected by the violence that had just occurred in the classroom.
"We'll deal with Yamauchi and Sudou's situation later. Someone can fill them in on what I'm about to say."
Chabashira-sensei looked at the students with an indifferent expression.
"There will be a small test next week covering eight subjects. The content is very simple—if you've properly studied middle school material, you'll be fine."
Hearing this, many students groaned. They had just finished their midterms, and now there was another test coming up. Though everyone tried to hold back their complaints because of the earlier incident, sighs and murmurs of frustration still filled the room.
"But don't worry. This test won't have any impact on your grades. Whether you get a zero or a perfect score, it doesn't matter. This is simply to assess your current level."
The students, who had looked miserable just moments ago, suddenly seemed relieved. However, some quickly realized that something felt off.
Sure enough, Chabashira-sensei glanced coldly at the students who thought they were off the hook.
"Although this test won't affect your grades directly, it will determine the content and format of your final exam."
Before anyone could ask questions, she continued.
"This final exam will be a bit different. It will be conducted in a partner system. In other words, the results of next week's test will decide your partners for the final exam."
She then explained the rules.
There were two conditions that could cause a student to fail.
The first condition: If a student's score in any subject was below 60 points. However, since this was a partner exam, the total score between both students would be counted. So, even if one student got a zero, as long as their partner scored 60, they could avoid failing.
The second condition: Even if every subject had at least 60 points, there was still an overall passing line. There were eight subjects, meaning a perfect score would be 800 points. If the combined total of both partners didn't exceed a certain threshold, they would still fail. According to Chabashira-sensei, in previous years, this threshold was around 700 points. That meant each student had to score at least 43 points per subject on average.
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