"Koenji…"
Hirata watched as Koenji intercepted Sudo. He quickly moved to Chabashira-sensei's side, guiding her back to a safer position.
"You—!!"
Sudo's words were cut short as everything went dark before his eyes. A sharp, biting pain shot through his back.
Before he could even process it, a second blow landed in his gut.
"Aaaarrrgh!!!"
Sudo let out a piercing shriek.
Koenji drove his knee into Sudo's abdomen. With one hand fisted in Sudo's hair, he yanked his head up, forcing him to meet his gaze.
"If you lack the strength, you should learn to control that temper of yours." After saying this, Koenji rose smoothly from his position over Sudo.
Suddenly, he sensed movement behind him.
He glanced back. Something had struck Sudo squarely in the left eye.
Sudo, who had been winding up for a punch, froze mid-motion. Seeing this, Koenji delivered a direct punch to Sudo's face, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"That was a close call. Nice work, Miyako girl."
This time, his words flowed smoothly, without any foreign affectations—a clear compliment directed at Amane.
That last strike—its speed, power, and precision—had genuinely impressed Koenji.
He ran a quick mental comparison. Against a stationary target, he was confident he could match Amane.
But to hit a moving, ambushing Sudo with such accuracy…
She must have trained hard for this, he thought. Koenji admitted that, in this particular skill, Amane had him slightly beat.
As for his "close call" remark…
That was nothing more than an offhand comment. Even without Amane's support, Sudo was no match for Koenji whatsoever.
Sitting nearby, Airi noticed something roll across the floor toward her.
She couldn't resist bending down to pick it up.
It was… a chocolate ball?!
She had just witnessed Amane's slick throwing motion. Seeing how Sudo—such a large guy—had flinched from the impact, she'd instinctively assumed it was something like a steel ball bearing.
But it turned out to be just a chocolate ball.
How could that be…
Just as Airi was marveling at the fact Amane had hit Sudo's eye with a chocolate ball, she noticed Amane looking her way.
Amane's lips moved, parting and closing, repeating the motion several times.
She seemed to be saying something.
Airi hurriedly mimicked the shape.
"That's… one hundred and fifty points… Huh??!"
Airi couldn't hold back a laugh.
Amane, really…
In the middle of such a serious situation, and she's still worried about her 150-point chocolate ball. But chocolate balls at that price point are usually super light…
Sudo was quickly taken away by campus security.
First period was English.
But seeing how Class D was in complete disarray—many students still whispering in despair—the teacher announced independent study, telling Class D to sort themselves out first.
The morning passed just like that.
Even when lunch break arrived, no one dared to leave their seat without permission.
Chabashira-sensei would be coming soon to take the failing students to complete their withdrawal procedures.
"Why did this have to happen? Are we really getting expelled? Just when I was starting to get popular with the girls…"
Yamauchi's loud complaint echoed through the room. Several girls shot him disdainful looks, but no one said anything too harsh.
After all, Sudo's outburst was still fresh in their minds.
If Koenji could handle Sudo, but Yamauchi also went wild… the girls would be no match for him.
"Is there really nothing we can do? I don't want to leave," a boy named Sotomura groaned, clutching his head as he desperately sought help.
But by now, no one had any attention to spare for him. Several girls were also facing expulsion.
If this many students were forced out at once, Class D would undoubtedly suffer a devastating blow.
Hirata covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut.
He could see it all; he could hear it all.
And that only made it harder to accept that the classmates he saw every day would soon be leaving this classroom for good. They'd been together for less than two months…
If anyone was genuinely pained and saddened by the others' departure, it was probably Hirata alone. But what drove Hirata to this state of despair wasn't simply the expulsions themselves.
It was his powerlessness as the class leader.
Under any other circumstances, he wouldn't have hesitated to step up and fight for one last chance for everyone.
But if the reason for expulsion was their exam scores…
He had no grounds to stand on and plead their case. They could complain about the school's harsh rules. They could blame Chabashira-sensei for not warning them sooner that the test format had changed.
…But the core of the problem lay with them.
They'd been given the correct answers beforehand, and yet, some had still scored only around ten points.
Hirata even wanted to ask them how they'd managed to score so low.
Just filling in the multiple-choice questions randomly would have netted them at least twenty points!
Besides, Chabashira-sensei had made it clear from the start that failing students would be expelled. With that in mind, even if he wanted to beg for mercy on their behalf, he had no valid argument.
All he could do was cowardly choose to escape.
"Amane, do you think there's any way to reverse the expulsions?"
Horikita had been racking her brains but still couldn't find a solution.
If she wanted to lead the class forward, she couldn't just stand by and watch a third of Class D get expelled.
If that many were forced out, Class D would become a laughingstock from then on.
"Well, there is one idea… but no guarantees it'll work."
Amane thought for a moment. She could see only one way to prevent such a mass expulsion. They had to appeal to the school itself.
Of course, the school's rules were set in advance.
But looking beyond the school's own framework… this institution was just one part of a larger social ecosystem.
Expelling a large number of students at once—even the school would have to consider the potential backlash…
"What's your plan?" Horikita grabbed Amane's hand, pressing her urgently. But before Amane could explain, Chabashira-sensei entered the classroom.
"Why is everyone still here? I only asked the failing students to remain. The rest of you, hurry up and eat or rest. Those who failed, come with me to complete your withdrawal procedures."
Having said this, Chabashira-sensei turned to leave.
"Amane."
Horikita still didn't know what Amane's plan was.
But things had reached a critical point. There was no time to weigh the rationality of any plan—they had to act now, even if it was forced. And the one being forced was Amane.
Amane hadn't wanted to get involved in the first place. In her view, using an ironclad reason to weed out the underperformers in Class D would save them all a lot of future trouble.
It'd make Horikita's job of leading the class easier, too.
But if Horikita was determined to save them, Amane had no choice but to step up.
Still…
There were some fools she had no intention of pleading for. Surely Horikita would understand that.
Amane raised her hand.
Even now, at this late hour, Amane was raising her hand. Chabashira-sensei, who had initially intended to ignore her, paused for some inexplicable reason.
"Yes, Miyako? Did you have something to say?"
"Chabashira-sensei…"
--+--
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.