"What's this?"
"I thought you'd be completely devastated after scoring zero."
"But seeing how energetic you all are, I must admit, I underestimated you."
Chabashira Sae sneered coldly.
Then she shifted her tone and casually dropped a shocking piece of news.
"In three weeks, for the midterm exams, anyone who fails will face expulsion."
"W-what?!"
Everyone was instantly stunned.
"Expulsion? Chabashira-sensei, you're not joking, right?"
Failing an exam and getting expelled? That was unheard of at any other school!
"Hmm?"
"Didn't I tell you already?"
"According to the school rules, if you fail even a single subject in the midterm exams, you will be expelled."
Chabashira Sae feigned surprise, but her eyes were full of mockery. "You should feel lucky. Based on the results of the previous diagnostic test, every student who scored below thirty-two points would have been expelled."
"Ah?!"
"That's unheard of!"
Class D erupted into wails of despair.
Even Hikigaya couldn't help but frown, because he too had failed a subject—scoring only eleven points in Math.
The grades for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were poor too, but just barely above the passing line.
Most schools outside focused on happy education and didn't emphasize exam scores; some even withheld report cards to protect students' privacy.
But Advanced Nurturing High School was all about extreme competition. Fail an exam and you get expelled—parents would have a field day complaining!
Well… here, students couldn't even contact their parents. It was a completely closed system.
Hikigaya internally grumbled.
However, regarding the rule "fail and get expelled," Hikigaya didn't feel too resistant.
He thought that being a student meant studying properly—and considering the generous benefits this school offered, strict rules were reasonable.
If you don't want to be expelled, the proper approach was simple: if you fail a subject, study it until you pass.
So why were all these people whining? Hikigaya couldn't understand.
"Then, I hope everyone passes the exams smoothly."
After Chabashira Sae left, the atmosphere in Class D turned grim.
Even the conflict between Hikigaya and Sudou lost all attention.
Of course—compared to exams that could lead to expulsion, the petty arguments hardly mattered.
Because of this, Class D stayed unusually quiet for the rest of the day.
A good learning environment truly matters.
Without the usual chaos, Hikigaya's focus soared, and for the first time, he even took proper notes during Math class.
Sakagami Kazuma observed him for a while and, after confirming he was genuinely paying attention, abandoned any plans to target him.
After all, aside from being Class C's homeroom teacher, he was still a first-year Math teacher, and basic professional ethics remained.
***
After school:
As usual, Hikigaya packed up, planning to go to the Martial Arts Club for daily training before returning to the dorm to study.
This, he thought, was the daily life of a normal high school student.
Compared to middle school, he now had a club activity—an epic breakthrough for him.
If Komachi knew, she'd be delighted.
"Wait, Hikigaya,"
Hirata Yosuke called out.
"What is it?"
"Uh… didn't you see the class group chat?"
"What group chat?"
"Ah?"
"…."
Hikigaya looked completely blank.
"Sorry! Really, I'm so sorry!"
Hirata Yosuke clasped his hands, his handsome face filled with sincere apology.
"I created the class group chat on the second day of school and assumed everyone joined… I didn't expect I missed you, Hikigaya. That's my fault!"
That rang a bell… Hikigaya remembered the group ID being written on the board that day, but he hadn't paid attention since he was too busy gathering information.
"No need to apologize. It's not your fault, Hirata."
"No, it's my problem! As class president, I failed to take care of all the students—that's terrible!"
Huh? This guy's sense of responsibility seemed over the top.
Seeing Hirata's almost fanatical gaze, Hikigaya couldn't bring himself to refuse joining the chat.
He felt trapped if he tried to resist…
"Fine. Please let me join the group."
Hikigaya chose to comply. Worst-case, he could mute notifications.
"Good, that's right. A class should stick together."
Hirata Yosuke's face instantly lit up with a strange happiness.
This line reminded Hikigaya of an old TVB gangster movie he'd seen—where a gang leader begged for mercy, and the rival warmly replied, "A family sticks together."
Could Class D, full of these exceptional students, really spend three years sticking together?
After checking higher-grade classes, Hikigaya saw that almost every class had student attrition—except Manabu's third-year Class A.
Still, he couldn't bear to crush Hirata's idealistic enthusiasm by telling him this harsh reality.
Scrolling through the class group, Hikigaya noticed Horikita Suzune also joined.
Probably annoyed by Kushida Kikyo, she'd finally joined. That persistence suited her.
A new announcement in the group was Hirata calling everyone to an after-school study session.
"I noticed, Hikigaya, that your humanities grades are excellent,"
"So I hope you can help guide others during the study session."
"Please!"
Hirata bowed slightly as he asked, sincerely pleading.
"…."
Hikigaya paused. If he remembered correctly, Hirata's grades were mostly above average except for Japanese.
In other words, Hirata sought his help solely for the lower-performing students.
Frankly, this was already beyond being a pushover—it was dedication to others.
"Hirata, even if I agree, have you considered something?"
Hikigaya deliberately raised his voice:
"Do the students even want my tutoring?"
Class D's members all expressed annoyance and resistance.
"That dead-fish-eyed guy's so gloomy and violent—who'd listen to him?"
Shinohara Satsuki muttered quietly, "Right, Karuizawa?"
"Ah… well…"
Kei Karuizawa hesitated but inwardly felt willing.
After all, Hikigaya had stood up for her and punished Sudou Ken, who had bullied her.
While she wouldn't fall for him, there was no harm in getting closer to someone who treated her kindly.
With Hikigaya as an ally, she no longer needed to worry about being bullied.
Her only problem was maintaining her strong-girl image from before, making it hard to approach him directly.
***
Ghost_User came in clutch and found the raws 😭🙏
Again thx alot man