The Defectives (CotE x Male Reader)

Study Sessions

(Y/N)'s POV

After our homeroom class began at 6 p.m., Chabashira-sensei left the
classroom immediately. Hirata, glancing sideways at the perplexed students, stood and went up to the podium. The atmosphere suddenly became much tenser.

Hirata: Ahem. For today's homeroom, I would like to hold a meeting for tomorrow's quiz. I've received Chabashira-sensei's permission. But before that, Horikita-san, would you please?

As if waiting for Hirata's words, Horikita got up quietly and stood next to Hirata. The sight of Horikita and Hirata stood together had the class befuddled. Even I felt weird to see the two of them in solidarity.

Horikita had always fought alone. However, after the failure she suffered at the sports festival, she understood the limits of fighting alone, and it was as if she was reborn into a different person.

Horikita took a deep breath before starting to speak.

Horikita: First of all, I would like to apologize to you all.

I thought she would start talking about the final exam right away, but she didn't. There seems to have been something smoldering in Horikita's heart for several weeks now.

Horikita: My poor performance during the sports festival was nothing but disappointment. Even though I always act tough in front of everyone, in the end, I achieved nothing for Class D. Please, allow me to apologize.

After saying so, Horikita bowed her head deeply. Naturally, this display shook many students. Onodera, who had become a little estranged from Horikita after the three-legged race, quickly spoke.

Onodera: I-It's not like only Horikita-san's sole responsibility for the loss. Please, you don't need to lower your head.

Sudou, who had been trying so hard for Horikita's approval, stood up for her as well.

Sudou: That's right. We came and fought together as a team. Even we lost, it's not only your responsibility alone, but all of us as well.

Huh. I'd never imagined Sudou would say something like that. But still, most of the classmates nodded in agreement. Looks like the class had really became mature.

Horikita: Regardless of whether we won or lost, a humble attitude can make any outcome acceptable. But that's not the case here. At least, my contribution to the sports festival had barely any positives.

She looked over at Sudou for an instant. By giving him that look, she implied that the one thing she'd gained was becoming Sudou's ally.

Horikita: But that's the end of the apology. Now, I would like to fully commit to challenging this next quiz and the final exam. Unless we all come together as a class, we won't get through this challenge.

One of the students raised her hand and asked.

"Even so, do you have a plan or something? Like, I mean, we don't know how the school choose the pairs, do we?"

Horikita: In fact, we do. The rules for how partners are chosen have already been made clear. If we handle things right, each student could feasibly end up with their ideal partner. Hirata-kun, if you would.

Hirata nodded and wrote out the rules of how the pairing works on the blackboard.

Basically it's the same conclusion that we came up during our discussion before in the Pallet. Only this time, we had confirmation about it. Thanks to Kushida for confirming our hypothesis with the seniors.

In case you guys forgot, by looking the class as a whole, the person who achieved the highest score will be pair up with the one with the lowest score. The pairing will then continued by choosing student with second highest score and the one with second lowest score, and so on.