With the sports festival over, our class has climbed all the way up to Class B.

Now all that’s left is figuring out how to drag Class A down—but before that, we have the midterm results announcement.

“How do you think you did, Chiaki?”

“Pretty good. I might even rank near the top.”

“Seriously? That’s amazing… but I think my scores improved too, thanks to you helping me study.”

“You worked really hard, Kei. I’m sure it paid off.”

Kei really is naturally smart.

She just lacked the fundamentals, and once taught, she absorbs everything quickly.

At this rate, her academic ability is probably around the middle of the class now.

While we chat, Chabashira-sensei opens the classroom door and walks in.

Everyone has gotten used to the school now, and the atmosphere tightens instantly.

She nods in satisfaction at the class’s growth.

There’s no trace left of the teacher who once called us trash back in May.

“You all look good. No point dragging this out—let’s announce the midterm results.”

She posts the results.

They’re revealed from the bottom up.

Even though it was a low-level competition, I was honestly surprised Sudō-kun had escaped the very bottom.

12th from the bottom. Considering where he started, that’s impressive.

The results of Horikita’s tutoring are showing.

He was also a huge contributor during the sports festival.

At this rate, Sudō could become a major asset to the class.

The rankings continue upward—then it’s me, Wang-san, Kōenji-kun, Horikita-san, Yukimura-kun.

And at the very top—Kiyotaka-kun.

“Whoa… Ayanokōji, full marks again?”

“Damn… that’s insane.”

Yukimura looks frustrated but still praises him.

During the first term finals, Sudō’s incident overshadowed things, but now Kiyotaka-kun’s academic ability is on full display again.

This time, zero expulsions.

Everyone studied properly, so we cleared it with room to spare.

The class relaxes—but Chabashira-sensei doesn’t allow it.

“Don’t relax yet. There’s an announcement regarding the next special exam.”

Another special exam right after finishing tests.

Everyone must be unhappy, but no one shows it.

She nods approvingly and begins explaining the so-called Paper Shuffle, which doubles as the final exam.

First, there will be a quiz beforehand, and based on those results, students will be paired.

The school decides the pairs, and the criteria are not disclosed.

The main exam has 8 subjects, each out of 100 points, 50 questions each, totaling 400 questions.

There are two types of failing conditions:

A combined score of 60 per subject per pair and an overall total threshold, usually around 700 points.

Then comes the troublesome part—each class creates its own test questions for another class.

You can make them yourself, consult teachers or seniors, or use books or the internet.

As long as the school approves, difficulty doesn’t matter.

However, questions beyond the taught curriculum or impossible to answer will be corrected.

You’ll also receive test questions made by other classes.

The class with the higher total score takes 50 class points from the other.

If both sides target each other, it becomes a 100-point swing.

You can choose which class to target—but if there’s overlap, it’s decided by lottery.

This looks like a troublesome exam.

Especially the part about creating questions for other classes.

According to Chabashira-sensei, every year, 2 to 3 pairs from Class D get expelled because of this.

After some questions from Horikita and others, homeroom ends.

Horikita immediately calls for a meeting after school.

The Class D leaders—Horikita, Kiyotaka-kun and Hirata-kun—and support members like me, Kei and Sudō-kun.

We’ll meet at Café Palette.

No reason to refuse, so I join.

Horikita figures out the pairing rule for Paper Shuffle.

High scorers will be paired with low scorers.

Her reasoning makes sense—if it were random, there would be far more expulsions each year.

The system naturally balances things somewhat, but if two low scorers get paired, it’s disastrous.

So Horikita comes up with a plan.

The lowest scorers intentionally get 0.

Lower-tier students get 1 point.

Top students score as high as possible and upper-tier students cap at 80.

This ensures balanced pairings.

“About the test questions… Ayanokōji-kun, can I ask you to handle them?”

“Sorry, I refuse.”

“I see, thank you. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Hey. At least listen.”

“You’re the best student in class. If you’re told to do it, you do it.”

“You’re a tyrant worthy of history… at least limit it to three subjects.”

“Fine. I’ll handle three of the remaining five, and Hirata-kun will do two.”

“Kiyotaka-kun, I’ll help too. Let’s do our best.”

“Thanks, Chiaki.”

Horikita is quite forceful.

Even Hirata looks wry, but no one objects.

We discuss the plan and disband.

“Alright, we’ll head off now.”

Kei and I leave the meeting.

We have something else to do.

October 20th is Kiyotaka-kun’s birthday.

We’ve been searching for a present.

Only ten days left—and still nothing perfect.

Today, we have to find something.

“He likes reading and coffee, right?”

“He never said it, but he drinks coffee often… maybe good beans or a coffee maker?”

That still doesn’t feel quite right.

But it’s the best idea we have so far.

* * *

“Before the quiz, I’ve decided the Paper Shuffle matchups.”

On quiz day, Chabashira-sensei announces the pairings:

Sakayanagi Class A → Ichinose Class C

Horikita Class B → Sakayanagi Class A

Ichinose Class C → Ryūen Class D

Ryūen Class D → Horikita Class B

We intended to target Ryūen’s class due to their lower academics.

But Ichinose’s class chose them too, and we lost the lottery.

Other classes likely targeted us as well.

Even though we’ve climbed to Class B, our mid and lower-tier academics are still weak.

At least Ryūen’s class is attacking us.

Their academics aren’t high either, so their questions shouldn’t be too extreme.

But first—the quiz.

We manipulate our scores according to Horikita’s plan.

After the quiz, the pairs are announced.

Just as planned, balanced pairs are formed.

Kiyotaka-kun pairs with Ike-kun and I pair with Inogashira-san.

Now all that’s left is studying and creating test questions.

Horikita leads one study session after class, Hirata leads another after club activities.

Kiyotaka-kun, me and Kushida support both.

While teaching and creating questions, our workload is manageable since we work together.

The next day, I’m in Kiyotaka-kun’s room helping create questions.

“We should avoid fill-in-the-blank questions that rely on luck.”

“Agreed.”

We also test borderline difficulty questions to see what the school allows.

“…Kiyotaka-kun, isn’t this too hard?”

“Is it? Then we’ll remove it.”

Since he can solve everything easily, he tends to include extremely difficult questions.

I adjust them as we go.

An hour passes.

“Let’s take a break.”

“Yes! Cake time.”

I bring out a custom-made birthday cake.

Turn off the lights.

Light the candles.

“Happy birthday, Kiyotaka-kun.”

“Thank you, Chiaki.”

He just… sits there.

…Wait.

“…The birthday person is supposed to blow out the candles.”

“Is that so? Sorry, I’ve never done it before.”

He blows them out.

…He’s never celebrated his birthday before.

I feel anger toward his unseen father.

But this is a celebration.

I push that aside.

I turn on the lights and cut the cake.

“Here, say ah.”

I feed him a bite.

He chews quietly.

“…This is good…”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Maybe this is his first time eating cake too.

“Sweet cake goes well with bitter coffee.”

“Thanks.”

He drinks black coffee from the coffee maker I gave him.

“…It tastes better than usual.”

He’s cute in moments like this.

A side only I see.

“Kiyotaka-kun, let’s celebrate together next year too.”

“Yeah. But your birthday comes first. April 25, right?”

“You remembered… can I expect something?”

“Yeah. If I’m not expelled.”

“That’s not funny here… but I’m not worried.”

“I could get expelled too, you know.”

“That won’t happen. No matter what, I won’t let you be expelled. Ever.”

“Kiyotaka-kun…”

His words calm me.

“Thank you. I feel better now.”

“Thank you too, Chiaki.”

After that, we watch movies and relax together.