I arrived at the classroom and found that there were still very few people.
"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun," Hirata greeted.
"Good morning, Hirata," I replied.
Azuma, Ishikura, and Mii-chan also greeted me.
When I sat down on my chair, the calm and collected Horikita closed her book and faced me.
"So, what's with your message last night?" she asked.
"Hmm, the reason why I wanted you to accompany me was so I didn't have to explain too much. But it wouldn't be fair for you if I don't say anything."
"It's alright if you just give me the gist of what you're planning," she sighed.
"Frankly speaking, I think I found a trick for everyone to get a perfect score on the exam."
Hearing my words, Horikita's eyes instantly narrowed.
"What-? You can't possibly be talking about cheating, right?" Horikita asked with a perplexed expression.
"No, I don't think so. You'll see later."
"Just what in the world are you going to..." Horikita stared at me before pondering what I said.
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When lunchtime arrived, Horikita and I went to the cafeteria without attracting too much attention.
Seeing me eyeing the people in line, Horikita probably wanted to ask some questions, but since I made it clear to her that explanations would come later, she just kept observing me.
When I saw the perfect target, I immediately followed them to their table. I sat beside him without warning and Horikita sat across the two of us.
"Good afternoon, Senpai. Do you mind if we ask you something?" I said.
"What the-? Who the hell are you guys?" He slightly flinched in surprise.
"I'm Ayanokouji from Class 1-B. Senpai, are you a second-year, or a third-year?" I asked.
He regained his composure shortly after hearing my introduction. Not only that, but he also seemed to be expecting us to be first-years.
"Third-year," he answered. "What do you want?"
"You're from Class D, aren't you, Senpai?"
"Yeah, so what?" He glared at me.
Horikita seemed surprised about me correctly guessing his class, but after a few seconds, she finally figured it out.
"Don't worry, Senpai. We're only here to offer you a sweet deal," I said.
"A sweet deal?" He raised an eyebrow.
Since everyone was minding their own business in the crowded cafeteria, my voice was drowned out by the noisy conversations of the students.
"The test questions for the midterm exams during the first semester of your first year— do you still have them? Or if you don't, do you at least know anyone who does?"
At this point, even Horikita stared at me in shock.
"Do you even understand what you're asking from me?" he replied with a question.
"Of course, I do. I don't think this kind of method would be considered cheating. We just want to use those old test questions for 'study purposes'."
"Why are you asking me?"
"Nothing special. I just thought you'd be easier to negotiate with since you look like you're struggling with your points. I can give you some points in exchange for those test questions." I said looking at his free vegetable lunch set.
"I don't have them, but I know someone who does. I can get the test questions from him and give them to you directly, but how much are you willing to give me?" he narrowed his eyes.
"10,000 points."
"Are you kidding me? I won't accept anything below 30,000," he said.
"Let me tell you something, Senpai. I thought of this strategy as a way to increase our class average, not to prevent anyone from getting expelled. We'll be totally fine even if I call this whole thing off," I said with a grave expression. "And you're not the only one we can negotiate with, so please don't get too ambitious with your demands."
Our positions switched in an instant. There's no way he can let this deal go knowing that others can take it.
"Tch, shit... Fine, 20,000..." He clicked his tongue in frustration.
"You didn't seem to understand what I said, Senpai. Fine, I'll settle for 12,000."
"Damn it... That's too low..." he was agonizing about accepting my deal.
I guess I can let him bite the carrot now.
"Hmm... How about this then? Do you remember the mock test that all of us were asked to take before May? I'll give you 18,000 points if you can include that."
His expression instantly changed after hearing my compromise.
"Alright-! I'll settle, I'll settle. I'll give everything to you directly in exchange for 18,000 points."
"It's a deal then. Don't rip me off, Senpai. Point transfers are always recorded."
"I know, I know. It's not like I wanna get in trouble, too," he said, acting irritated despite his obvious elation with how everything went.
I transferred 18,000 private points to his account and gave him my contact info.
After everything was settled, Horikita and I got up from our seats and proceeded to line up. That bit got me hungry. I wonder what I should buy.
"Ayanokouji-kun," Horikita called out to me as soon as the two of us sat in our respective seats. Her lunch set looks pretty appetizing.
Horikita usually makes her own bento. But since it's pretty rare for her to visit the cafeteria during lunch, I guess she decided to make an exception for today. I'm glad I specified to her that our business would be "during lunch at the cafeteria".
"Hm?"
"We're in a pretty inconspicuous part of the cafeteria. I believe there's no risk in explaining everything here?"
"Of course. Where do you want me to start?" I asked, stuffing a spoonful in my mouth.
"You can tell me everything at your own pace. Please don't leave out any details," she replied.
"Alright, I'll ask you a question then. What did you think of it— of what I did just now?"
"It was... pretty ridiculous. No ordinary student would think of getting old test questions from upperclassmen unless they're good friends with them," she said.
"Well, you're right. Some might even think that it's tantamount to cheating."
"That's what I'm concerned about."
"You don't have to worry. If the school really considered it cheating, they would've outlined it in the rules," I shrugged. "And besides, I knew everything was permissible during our first exchange. His composure indicated that bartering points like that is a common practice in this school."
"But... tomorrow's the last day before the exam. Even if the test questions turn out to be of use, they wouldn't be able to help us much, wouldn't they?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's why you can call this both an insurance and a gamble."
"I get the insurance part, but why a gamble?"
"I'm sure you're wondering why I went ahead and asked for the surprise mock test's questions, too."
"Yes, I was. Knowing you, it must be part of the strategy you came up with, right?"
I nodded.
"Didn't you find that test weird? If they were really going to use that test as a reference for our performance in the first three weeks, why would they use junior-high level questions mixed with three high-level questions by the end?"
"You're right, I was wondering about that too."
"It's about remembering the questions, Horikita."
"Remembering the questions?" Horikita pondered for a second before looking at me with a nonplussed expression.
"You figured it out?"
"A student won't be able to remember the questions from a test that they found easy and familiar... but extremely hard questions will surely remain in their minds," narrated Horikita.
"They even went so far as to put all three of them at the end," I added. "Once I get those questions from the upperclassmen—"
"You'll be able to compare them by checking the last three questions," she finished. "So you weren't aiming for the test questions to be simply similar. You wanted them to be completely the same. That's why you called it a trick to give everyone perfect scores."
"Excellent, as expected of you," I praised.
"Thank you, but Ayanokouji-kun, even if the questions from the mock test turn out to be completely identical, there's no guarantee that the midterms will be the same thing."
"Hence, a gamble," I said.
Horikita shook her head with a sigh
"When did you plan this?" she asked.
"I thought everything through last night, but I had my hunch ever since Chabashira-sensei announced the change in topics. It was a move that would yield the opposite conclusion from mine. If the coverage was 'suddenly changed', then the thought of using older test questions would've been useless because the content of the exam would also 'change'," I explained.
"Then how did you arrive at this conclusion?"
"I was thinking about how Ken, Ike, and Yamauchi even got admitted to this school. If their academic abilities were so poor, then they wouldn't be able to maintain their places here. After all, this school expels students who fail the exams without any exceptions."
"But just from that..."
"It's a good argument, but of course, it wouldn't be too convincing. What made me sure about this was Chabashira-sensei's indifferent attitude towards the three of them in particular. Both of us know how obsessed she is with Class A, right? If that was the case, she would be instructing us to keep an eye on those three," I explained.
"So you're saying that her indifference was a clue in and of itself? Chabashira-sensei was telling us that their poor academics don't matter because 'there is a way to make them pass'— is that what you've concluded?"
"Yeah, that's right," I nodded.
"I see... I understand. We won't know if your theory is right until we get the results, but I don't think you'll go through with this idea unless you're at least eighty or ninety percent sure, right? And besides, this is a low-risk, high-return plan." Horikita nodded before turning to me. "As usual, your ridiculous way of thinking amazes me, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Thanks," I replied, taking her words as a compliment. It would've been great if she smiled while saying that. Her cool expression only puts pressure on me.
"But at the same time, it daunts me too," she said.
"Why?" I asked, looking at her straight in the eyes.
"The way you harassed that upperclassman mentally was unnerving, to say the least," Horikita responded with a reluctant expression.
"The right situation calls for the right attitude. If I acted any weaker, he'll be harder to negotiate with," I answered. "Don't worry. My boring personality is my real personality."
"I see," she sighed. "I'll trust your words as an ally."
"Thank you."
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After that, we headed back to the classroom, waiting for our end of the bargain. While I was hanging out with Akito and Ken, I suddenly received a message.
"Oh, wait a sec'. I'll talk to Horikita for a bit. The thing we worked on earlier finally showed some results," I explained vaguely.
"Aight'," Ken said with a grin.
"Sure. Do what you need to do, mister tutor." Akito was the same.
When Horikita saw me approach her seat, she looked at me with widened eyes, probably due to her feelings of anticipation.
"How was it? Were they the same?" she asked.
"Calm down, Horikita. I haven't checked it yet. We'll look at it at the same time," I said.
Horikita nodded in response.
I tapped the notification and images started appearing. They were questions for the midterm exams. Horikita and I didn't bother looking at them in detail. What we're looking for are the questions from the mock test.
"Here they are," I said zooming in on the last three questions.
"They're... exactly the same... down to the last letter." Horikita's lips trembled slightly.
"If the midterm exams follow the same rules, then we might just get the highest class average in the entire year," I said.
"You're right. Send them to me, Ayanokouji-kun. I'll distribute these questions to everyone after the last study session tomorrow."
"Yeah, that's what I was intending to do. We can't carelessly show these to them or their motivations to study will plummet," I nodded.
"Yes, and if we tell them that the test questions have a very high chance to be completely identical, they'd frantically memorize each and every answer with the hopes of breezing through the exam," she elaborated.
After saying those words, Horikita turned to me.
"Ayanokouji-kun... If you win this gamble, then your plan might just work," Horikita said with a smile.
This is the first time I've ever seen this girl smile genuinely.
Someday, I hope I can learn how to smile like that.