Starting in class C: not completely defective.

Arc 6 chapter 6: cooperation and growth

"Thanks for agreeing to talk with me, Hirata-kun," I said to the boy sitting across from me.

"It's no problem, Matsushita-san. Anything for a classmate. What is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked.

"Well, you know about the special exam coming up?"

"Yes, the paper shuffle. The study groups are going really well, at least in my opinion," he said excitedly.

"Yeah, well, about that. I've been made an offer by class A," I said.

Hirata froze.

"Class...A?" He asked, slowly.

"Yes. Now, before you say anything, hear me out. I already know what you want from this exam: you don't care about the class points, just as long as no one is expelled, right?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well...yeah, obviously...but..." he started to protest.

"I have made a deal with Ryuuen Kakeru to ensure that no one in the class is expelled. Ryuuen's class does well in special exams, but they're still easy prey when it comes to a written exam. It's mutually beneficial," I explained.

"But...how is Ryuuen going to ensure that no one in our class gets expelled? And how are we going to make sure no one in his class gets expelled?" Hirata was slightly flustered now.

"It's simple: Ryuuen gives us the answers to his test questions, and we give him the answers to ours. This ensures that everyone in the class will pass in both A and D, and we will avoid expulsion."

Hirata mulled it over. It was a solid 2 minutes before he spoke again.

"Fine."

"Really? Thanks, Hirata-kun!" I said.

"But, Matsushita-san...what if Ryuuen betrays us?" He asked.

"Don't worry. I'm confident he won't. It's not within his best interests."

"What do you mean by that?"

I put my finger to my lips, and grinned.

"That's a secret, tee hee!" I said, cheekily.

"Wait a sec...why did you need to tell me about this?" He asked.

"Ooh, I almost forgot...I need you to give the answers to everyone in the class. You have more clout than me, and people will more readily accept your decision rather than me," I said, bringing the answers out of my bag.

I was surprised that class A had managed to write their questions so quickly. Class D was still in the middle of writing our questions, so it would be a little while before I gave Ryuuen the papers.

"Here are the answers, Ryuuen-kun. Please memorise them," I said, once I had convinced Hirata to give me a copy of the answer sheet to give to Ryuuen.

"Well, thank you very kindly, Matsushita. I hope that this will be the first in a long line of transactions," he said, smirking.

"Just remember Ryuuen: I'm contracted with Ayanokouj-kun, not you. Don't think I'm your property," I barked.

"Kukuku, don't worry, I know full well that you're Ayanokouji's ally, rather than mine and the rest of class A's. I just hope that we can continue to cooperate in his absence," he bowed mockingly.

"As long as I think Ayanokouji-kun would be okay with it, or he wouldn't think the idea was bad, I'll follow along," I said.

"Good, good...well then, goodbye Matsushita," he walked off and waved.

"See you later, Ryuuen-kun."

The first part of the final exam was here. The minimum overall score each pair needed to pass was 692 points, which was lower than expected, but we couldn't afford to be careless. The first day covered four subjects: social studies, English, Japanese and mathematics.

As I walked into the hall on my way to the classroom, I met up with Maya. For better or worse, she seemed to have been waiting for me.

"Good morning, Chiaki-san. It's almost time for the test, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Did you sleep well last night?"

"I studied until about one o'clock. I feel a little nervous," said Maya, putting her hand to her chest and taking a deep breath.

"Well, I can't say it's going to be easy, but let's both do our best. You should do well if you just apply everything you've learned," I told her.

"Okay!"

No matter what, even if we weren't partners, we were still friends, and I wanted her to pass.

Her partner was Miyake Akito, and my partner was Airi Sakura. I was confident that we'd both pass.

As the bell rang to signal that the test was going to begin, everyone started to pack up their study materials. We had to store any and all objects unnecessary for the exam in the lockers at the back of the classroom. The only things we were allowed to have were writing utensils. If our pencils broke, we ran out of lead, or we used our erasers up, we had to request additional supplies from Chabashira-sensei.

"We will now start your final exam. Your first subject is contemporary Japanese. You are forbidden from turning your papers over before I give you the signal to begin," said Chabashira-sensei.

Rather than have the students at the front of each row pass the test papers back, Chabashira-sensei placed the papers on each student's desk herself.

"The exam will be fifty minutes long. Please try to avoid leaving sick or using the restroom. In the event that you aren't able to wait, please raise your hand and let me know. You won't be allowed to leave the room during the exam for any other reason," she continued.

Chabashira-sensei finished handing out test papers. Not a single student was talking by this point. Everyone focused on their papers. Shortly afterward, the next bell rang, signalling the official start of the exam.

"Begin."

We all flipped our test sheets over at the same time.

Good. Ryuuen kept up his part of the bargain. It's a good thing neither of us betrayed one another.

I was confident that no one would get expelled during this exam.

Ayanokouji POV

Her growth was rapid for a girl of her age, physique and mental ability. She wasn't a match for him just yet, but I was confident that she could get to his level with a few years of training.

Well, he would already be leaps and bounds ahead of her at that time, but for anyone to reach his level before their twenties meant that they were truly exceptional.

I watched her sparring with her instructor, the next bout just about to begin. Kushida launched herself at the poor man with blinding speed, and put him in a position where he couldn't move in less than 5 seconds. Truly extraordinary.

Soon, she would be ready to go out on the hunt with Akito. To find him. To find my son.

I had heard that the car he had used to get away had been spotted in Kyoto.

Many of my enemies lived in Kyoto, and it would take me a week to find him if I didn't know who he was with.

But mark my words: I will find him, before he can escape.

I would make sure of it.

Authors notes
1192 words
Special exam begins, Ryuuen and Matsushita didn't betray each other.
Kushida is growing rapidly.
Not much else to say really
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