The literature exam felt considerably more relaxed.
Compared to the despair-filled atmosphere of the previous tests, this one was different.
Thanks to Hirata's request, and his promise of answers for the remaining exams, nobody seemed particularly tense about this one.
The top students finished the exam in just half an hour. They didn't even need to try very hard to control their scores.
By simply leaving the major essay questions blank, they could easily keep their scores around seventy percent.
Amane, however, had no such concerns.
She answered the questions as she always would. She had no intention of obliging Hirata's request.
In her view, it wasn't necessary. Horikita finished her paper quite quickly too.
It seemed she had chosen to believe Hirata.
Ms. Chabashira, patrolling the classroom as the exam proctor, naturally noticed the change in the class.
Her face remained as cold as ever, but inwardly, she approved of Hirata's method.
When she circled over to Amane's desk, though, she nearly lost her composure.
Seeing Amane's answer sheet completely filled in, Ms. Chabashira felt a prickle of disbelief. She couldn't help but pick it up to inspect it.
Every single answer was correct.
Meaning, in this literature exam where everyone else was keeping their scores low, Amane was aiming for a high score.
This girl!
Ms. Chabashira was displeased with Amane's actions.
But as a teacher, she couldn't say anything about it. She could only place the paper back down.
And so, the exam concluded in this slightly eased atmosphere.
The moment the exam ended, Hirata eagerly hurried to the teacher's desk.
He produced the so-called upperclassmen's exam papers.
Short on time, he had taken photos of them. He posted these pictures to the class group chat, so anyone who wanted could memorize the answers as best they could.
Amane opened the images too.
She discovered that the history and literature exams were completely identical to the ones the upperclassmen had taken.
Even Amane was a little surprised. She hadn't expected the school to design a method that allowed everyone to perfectly pass the exams.
'With this, maybe everyone really can pass,' she thought.
After all, you only needed to memorize the answers for the subject right before each exam.
This kind of short-term, rapid memorization would play a huge role in the tests. It wasn't hard to imagine that for the next few exams, everyone in Class D would likely achieve remarkably high scores.
Or results far beyond their usual performance.
However…
It seemed everyone was overlooking something.
Subjects like Math and English were nothing short of a disaster for those with a weak foundation. Even with the answers right in front of them, it would look like gibberish.
With nobody to explain the material, the best they could do was memorize the multiple-choice answers.
And whether by design or by chance, the multiple-choice sections on these exams were only worth a paltry twenty points each.
--+--
Horikita approached Amane's seat. Seeing Amane staring intently at her phone screen, she felt a flicker of relief.
'It seems even someone as academically strong as Amane is paying attention to the exam info in the group chat. This should help unite everyone to get through the exams together…'
Curious, Horikita leaned over to glance at Amane's screen.
A red-haired girl dressed in very revealing—
The instant Amane detected someone nearby, she treated Horikita to a masterclass in instant screen-switching.
Her hand speed was so blisteringly fast it made Horikita blush.
And then…
"Amane, what were you looking at?"
Horikita's hand came to rest lightly on Amane's shoulder.
"I was looking at the exam photos posted in the group chat," Amane said, offering her phone to Horikita like she was presenting a treasure.
If Horikita hadn't seen the screen just moments before, she might have almost believed the lie.
But one thing nagged at Horikita. How did Amane manage to lie so flawlessly, without a single crack in her composure?
"Is that so? You weren't looking at anything else, were you? Pictures of cute girls, for instance?"
Horikita deliberately hinted that she'd seen the earlier scene.
"W-what? How could I… Suzune, you're overthinking it."
Amane looked somewhat guilty as she tried to take her phone back. But Horikita, quick as a flash, snatched it away.
"Amane, you're such a bad girl! Looking at pictures of cute girls in the middle of exam period!"
As she spoke, Horikita navigated back to Amane's photo gallery.
It displayed a picture of Horikita herself, reading a book in her dorm room.
"Huh? How???"
Horikita could have sworn she'd just seen a photo of a red-haired girl—one who looked somewhat familiar.
How could it have turned into a picture of her?
Horikita fixed a searching gaze on Amane.
"Sigh... I saw you were busy studying, Suzune, and didn't want to disturb you. But I missed you, so I could only sneak a peek at your photo to comfort myself. I never thought you'd catch me. Ahh, how embarrassing."
Amane's face was slightly flushed as she covered it with her hands, putting on a thoroughly bashful act.
Horikita's eyes widened. For a moment, she was at a complete loss for how to react.
Ahem. "Next time, don't let your mind wander to such… messy things during exams. You can look as much as you want back in the dorm. But during exams, you need to focus and take them seriously, understand?"
Seeing the situation had developed so differently from her expectations, Horikita could only manage a light scolding.
"Yes! I promise I won't sneak looks at your cute photos anymore."
Amane's utterly serious expression sent a bright red flush across Horikita's face.
She shot Amane an exasperated look, returned the phone, and went back to her own seat to privately wrestle with what she had just seen.
'Thank goodness for the private photo album.'
Amane let out a quiet sigh of relief.
That was close. Good thing she'd set up a private album specifically to prevent Horikita from finding anything during a phone check, even spending personal points to expand the storage.
Now that was what she called foolproof.
Heh.
The remaining three exams unfolded almost exactly as Amane had predicted.
Bolstered by the answers, most of the mid-to-high ranking students underwent a dramatic change in demeanor.
Some even wore smug, confident smiles.
But among the lower-performing group, even with their best efforts, subjects like chemistry, math, and English left them utterly bewildered and frustrated.
Their expressions grew increasingly grim.
After the exams ended, Amane planned to go shopping with Horikita. Her strategy was to put Horikita in a good mood first, then cautiously bring up her plans to see a movie with someone else tomorrow.
The probability of getting permission was higher when Horikita was in good spirits.
Just as Amane, humming a little tune, was about to leave the classroom, she was unexpectedly stopped by Ayanokōji.
"Do you think anyone will be expelled because of these exams, Miyako-san?"
Frankly, the question was quite sudden.
Never mind the nature of their relationship.
Discussing this with her was rather pointless. However one looked at it, the result wouldn't change.
"That's hard to say," Amane replied. "But personally, I think you should have given the exam papers to Hirata a bit earlier."
"I'm not sure what you mean, Miyako-san."
Seeing Ayanokōji still trying to play dumb, Amane didn't mind. If this got out, it wouldn't be good for him anyway.
"It's fine if you don't understand. What I mean is, you took advantage of Hirata having no choice but to trust you in a crisis. But you overlooked one crucial thing. The biggest problem with this exam isn't you or Hirata. It's the failing students at the bottom of the class. They are the key issue. You only considered how to make Hirata believe you, but you failed to consider…"
"It takes more than a day to freeze three feet of ice. Those at the bottom aren't the type to just glance at answers and magically pass the mark. You slipped up, Ayanokōji-kun."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.