Because of the encounter with Kōenji, I ended up missing lunch and arriving slightly late to the library.

Even though I felt a bit hungry, when I entered the library the Three Idiots were already there, and Kushida was acting as the instructor while teaching them.

When Kushida noticed me, she called out, “You’re late.”

After asking about their progress, it seemed the three of them were doing better than expected thanks to the intensive basic training we did last week.

If we just gave them the past exam questions about three days before the test, they should be able to avoid failing.

In the original story it was done the day before to avoid lowering their motivation, but people who were originally bad at studying wouldn’t be able to memorize five subjects in one day.

This time I wanted results in order to corner Horikita, so I set three days to eliminate any chance of failure.

“I was thinking during class… geography is actually pretty easy.”

“Chemistry isn’t as hard as I thought either.”

Ike and Yamauchi muttered that, seemingly feeling the results of their studying.

Seeing that, Kushida nodded happily.

“Maybe because those subjects rely a lot on memorization?”

“English and math have many problems you can’t solve unless you understand the basics first. I remember struggling to memorize them too.”

Yuki also showed sympathy and deepened her rapport with the Three Idiots.

Right now she probably wanted to improve their impression of us and increase their motivation to study even slightly.

“But even if it seems easy, you can’t let your guard down. There’s always a chance current-events questions will appear.”

“Old-man questions? What’s that?”

“Current-events questions, things related to politics or economics that happened recently, Sudō-kun. It means the test won’t necessarily only include things from the textbook.”

“Ugh. That’s cheating. What’s the point of a test range then?”

When Yuki mentioned current-events questions, Sudō made a disgusted face.

Yuki was a bit mischievous.

Since she already knew the content of the past exams, she knew such questions wouldn’t appear.

“Hey, keep it down a little. You’re being loud.”

Apparently we had gotten a bit too noisy, and the student at the next table complained.

In truth, we were at fault.

“Sorry, sorry. But you better watch out for old-man questions too.”

“Huh? Old-man? Oh… you guys… are you from Class D?”

Perhaps Ike’s sloppy apology gave it away.

Reacting to Yamawaki’s voice, several nearby male students looked up at us.

“What about it? So we’re from Class D. Got a problem with that?”

“No problem. I’m Yamawaki from Class C. Nice to meet you.”

Now that he knew we were from a lower class, Yamawaki openly looked down on us.

Sudō realized that too and snapped back immediately.

“What’s your problem?”

“I’m just saying I’m glad I’m not in Class D. Studying with bottom-feeders like you would be unbearable.”

“What the hell did you say!”

“I’m just telling the truth. Don’t get angry. If you start violence, who knows how badly it’ll affect your point evaluation. Or are you too stupid to understand that?”

“You bastard… bring it on!”

“Calm down, Sudō. There’s no benefit in getting involved with them.”

“Ayanokōji-kun is right. Calm down, Sudō-kun. If you cause trouble here, more points might be deducted.”

“Must be tough being treated like defective goods. I’m looking forward to seeing how many of you get expelled in the next test.”

“Enough already!”

Sudō snapped and grabbed Yamawaki by the collar.

Even though he’d been warned repeatedly, he still couldn’t stop.

Fine.

If I didn’t teach him a lesson, he wouldn’t stop.

“The one who needs to stop is you, Sudō.”

“—!”

I grabbed Sudō’s extended arm with force.

He didn’t scream, but from the pain he released Yamawaki’s collar.

Then I slowly tightened my grip.

Sudō tried to pull his arm away but couldn’t.

It was simply the difference in physical ability.

If I wanted to, I could break his arm right now.

Perhaps realizing that, Sudō looked panicked but desperately held back from shouting.

“Sudō. Your behavior is excessive. Biting at everyone you dislike makes you no different from an untrained dog. It’s obvious you’ll eventually cause trouble for the class. If you have no intention of reflecting on your actions now, then here—”

“Okay, stop stop!”

Just as I began releasing a bit of killing intent, Ichinose from Class B appeared.

At the same time Yuki said, “Kiyotaka, that’s enough.”

So I reluctantly released Sudō.

As soon as I let go, Sudō collapsed onto the floor and rubbed his arm.

“Sorry, but as a student using this library, I can’t ignore any more trouble. If you want to continue, take it outside.”

“…You’re right. We were the ones making noise. Sorry.”

I apologized to Ichinose and suppressed my anger.

When someone who usually never gets angry suddenly shows anger, it becomes frightening.

Because I had ‘gotten angry’ more accurately, pretended to, Sudō looked extremely shocked.

“It’s fine if you stay quiet. And you guys shouldn’t provoke them either. If it continues, I’ll have to report it to the school.”

“S-sorry. We didn’t mean it like that, Ichinose.”

“Let’s go. Studying here will make us stupid.”

“Y-yeah.”

After Ichinose’s warning, Yamawaki and his group quickly left.

For now, the problem was resolved.

“You’re Ichinose, right? Sorry again for causing trouble.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me. Just behave and everyone will forget about it.”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

“If you’re going to keep studying here, be quiet. That’s all.”

After warning Sudō, Ike, and Yamauchi, Ichinose returned to her class.

I turned back to Sudō.

Because of what I had done earlier, he suddenly stood up like he wanted to grab me.

“Ayanokōji… you…”

“Sudō, calm down.”

“Huh!? Like hell I can—”

I released my killing intent again.

Sudō froze.

“Sudō, calm down.”

“…Damn it. Fine.”

After experiencing pain once, even an idiot understands what happens if they anger me.

Sudō suppressed his anger and sat down.

“See? You can do it. If you had ignored Yamawaki like that earlier, none of this would have happened.”

“Tch. It’s not like I want to get angry. I just lose control sometimes.”

He looked away.

In the original story, Sudō had also been rejected by a prestigious school that had offered him a sports recommendation because of a violent incident before enrollment.

“…Are you really okay like that? What if someone provokes you during a basketball game? Wouldn’t you punch them and get expelled?”

“I wouldn’t do that during a game!”

“If you can control yourself during a game, you can do it in daily life too. I’ll teach you a trick to calm your anger.”

“Huh? A trick?”

“They say human anger only lasts about six seconds. If you can endure that long, you’ll calm down. Haven’t you ever gotten angry and later thought, ‘Ah… I did it again’?”

Acting on impulse and regretting it later was common for people with a short temper.

Sudō nodded reluctantly.

“Yeah… that happens.”

“So when you feel anger rising, endure ten seconds. After that, imagine you’re in the middle of a basketball game. You can’t punch someone during a game, right?”

“Endure ten seconds… and imagine I’m in a game…”

“Stability in your mental state will improve your basketball too. If you can stay calm instead of losing your temper, your potential will rise. Haven’t you lost the ball before because you got angry?”

Instead of persuading him normally, I framed it in terms of basketball so he could understand the benefit.

If he realized controlling his anger would help him, he wouldn’t reject it.

“Yeah… I’ve lost the ball because I got mad before. If I stay calm, that won’t happen…”

“You won’t master it today or tomorrow, but it’s about awareness. Just being conscious of not losing your temper will change your actions.”

“…Maybe.”

“Alright, let’s try.”

I flicked Sudō’s forehead.

Perhaps I used too much force, because his head snapped back like a bouncing ball.

“Ow!”

“Count ten seconds in your head.”

Sudō glared at me but slowly counted.

Then he complained, “Don’t just do that suddenly!”

But there was no anger in his voice.

“See? You did it.”

“Maybe now. But if it happens suddenly, I’m not confident.”

“Then build the habit. When you eat breakfast, think ‘I won’t get angry today.’ Then again at lunch, then dinner. Linking it to something you always do will naturally remind you.”

It was like salivating when you see a lemon.

A conditioned reflex.

“If you remember three times a day, it’ll be easier to recall when something sudden happens.”

“I see… when I eat… I’ll try it.”

Sudō seemed willing.

Once that settled, lunch break ended and we returned to class.

Ike and Yamauchi also looked relieved that no fight happened between Sudō and me.

* * *

A few days after teaching Sudō how to calm his mind.

Since then, I had started seeing him muttering, “Don’t get mad” before meals every day.

I wasn’t sure if it was already affecting him mentally, but he seemed slightly calmer in daily life.

Three days before the exam, I instructed Kushida to release the trump card, the past exam questions and have everyone memorize them.

“Everyone, sorry. Before you leave, could you listen for a moment?”

After school, Kushida stood up before people started leaving.

No one ignored the request from the class’s leader-like figure.

“You’ve all been studying hard for the midterms, right? I think I can help a little. I’ll hand these out now, so please take one each.”

She distributed copies of the past exam questions.

When everyone finished reading them, all classmates except Yuki and I looked shocked.

“These are actually past exams. Yesterday Ayanokōji-kun and I got them from a third-year senior.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to me.

I would have been fine letting Kushida take the credit, but she must have wanted to acknowledge my effort.

Horikita, on the other hand, seemed to blame herself for not realizing the usefulness of past exams.

“The midterm two years ago apparently used the exact same questions. I confirmed it with second-years too, and last year was the same. So if you study these, they should help a lot.”

“Whoa! Seriously!? Thanks, Kushida!”

“Yes! But if we had these, we didn’t need to work so hard studying…”

“Yamauchi, that’s rude to Ayanokōji and the others who taught us.”

“Yeah, Yamauchi.”

“S-sorry.”

Ike thanked Kushida.

Sudō scolded Yamauchi.

Well, Yamauchi wouldn’t be here forever anyway.

Then Ike shouted enthusiastically.

“Let’s keep this secret from other classes! We’ll all get high scores and shock them!”

Everyone nodded and thanked Kushida and me.

After telling them to keep studying, they left the classroom.

“You look frustrated.”

“…Yes. If I had thought carefully, I would have realized past exams were useful. I’m frustrated with my own incompetence.”

“You simply never considered using past exams. People who can succeed alone don’t need such tools. Thinking about others means understanding that.”

Horikita twisted her expression in frustration.

Her humiliated expression was quite entertaining.

“But announcing it this early seems risky. If it’s not the day before, their motivation might drop.”

“You’re still judging based on yourself. People who couldn’t study before won’t memorize everything in one day. If you want high scores, three days is reasonable.”

Horikita fell silent.

Between someone who produced results and someone who did nothing, the answer was obvious.

Still, I couldn’t be completely relaxed.

Three days should be enough, but these idiots might still fail somehow.

I’d confirm it just in case.

“In the end, you did nothing. Where did the Horikita who wanted to reach Class A go? If you can’t even struggle desperately and just watch as a bystander, maybe your ambition was only that shallow.”

I left her behind.

Her hands trembled with humiliation.

But she couldn’t lash out.

She knew it would only reveal her incompetence further.

Feel the helplessness.

You are useless.

During this entire exam period, Horikita hadn’t helped classmates study or found any strategy to overcome the test.

She only studied for herself.

Yet I knew she was uneasy.

She tried to act normal, but I saw her watching the class from afar.

Even her brother’s words, that she must struggle desperately, hadn't reached her.

In the end, the midterms would begin.

Thanks to the past exams, no one would fail.

But Horikita had achieved nothing.

Unable to contribute to the class.

Good only at talking and studying.

That became her evaluation.

While feeling humiliation and helplessness, chased by anxiety that she needed to do something, she was crushed by the fact she could do nothing.

Criticism from classmates alone wouldn’t have bothered her.

But seeing the class improve without her shattered her pride.

Like a lost child with nowhere to go.

* * *

Changes Compared to the Original Story.

• Sudō and Yamawaki’s fight was stopped.
It was judged necessary to teach Sudō a small lesson. Sudō also seemed to vaguely realize that Kiyotaka was no ordinary person, so he listened fairly obediently.

• Sudō was given mental training.
When this story was written, it was still before the sports festival in the original story’s second year arc. When I later read the main story and realized the idea overlapped, I was extremely surprised. Onodera, sorry.

• The past exam questions were handed out three days in advance.
In the original story they were given the day before, but this time the priority was scores rather than maintaining study motivation, so they were distributed earlier. In any case, there will be another study group before the final exams, so the exact number of days doesn’t matter.

• Horikita is being cornered mentally.
It’s gradually becoming enjoyable to push Horikita, who wants to become like her brother into admitting she cannot become like him and forcing out that humiliated expression. She has already been worn down mentally quite a bit. I intend to push her further.

* * *

Characters Appearing in This Chapter.

• Ayanokōji Kiyotaka
He disciplined Sudō. At the same time, he also put Horikita in her place using the past exams. Since he has begun to like seeing her humiliated expression, he plans to push her further mentally.

• Tsubaki Yuki
Helped the Three Idiots study. Watching Kiyotaka discipline Sudō left her making a rather indecent expression.

• Kushida Kikyo
Under Kiyotaka’s orders, she is gradually taking the class leader position away from Hirata. Originally Kushida does not have the capacity to be a leader and she understands that herself, but since Kiyotaka is backing her from behind, she is confidently enjoying the leader position.

• Ichinose Honami
Heroine number twelve. This time she only came to give a warning, but she remembered Kiyotaka. At the moment there are no signs of romantic feelings developing. Her chest size is closer to G than F.

• Horikita Suzune
She feels frustrated at herself for overlooking such an obvious tool as past exam questions. However, even if Horikita had not developed tunnel vision, she still would not have found them. In the end, she can only taste her own helplessness while things proceed exactly as Kiyotaka intends.

• Sudō Ken
He had been acting too violently for too long, so Kiyotaka disciplined him. Now he is following the mental training instructions he was given.

• Yamawaki
A minor character. In the original story he is the one who tells Class D that the exam range had changed. If he had not done that, Class D would likely have suffered many expulsions. In that sense he could be considered their savior.

• Ike and Yamauchi
They are studying hard, but Ike is still a show-off and Yamauchi remains socially insensitive.