CHANGED - Classroom of the Elite

41

The exam came and went and Suzune wasn't feeling all that bad.

Sure, she forgot to take her Nurofen this morning and it feels like she took a fucking sledgehammer to the noggin, but other than that she's just fine.

Hosen cooperated pretty well in the exam; she didn't even have to check whether or not he failed on purpose. He's the guy who once someone shows dominance over him, he'll drown in his own sorrow for a few days (which was coincidently when the exam was scheduled), but will eventually come around, scowling and snarling like usual.

He hasn't texted her back about the ballet lessons yet, though.

The morning after the results were made public, people seemed to be keeping their distance away from Suzune, even more than they usually do anyway. Like she was a criminally offensive slur or something.

She walked into the class, which they were as rowdy as ever. People were cheering over their scores. The lowest scoring pair wasn't in their class, so that's a first. But then their chatting got quieter and quieter.

It didn't take her long to figure out why.

"A perfect score?!" Someone yelled. Even Chabashira had to do a 180 and look at the marks to check. "TWO?!"

"Huh?"

"Wha- Suzune and Ayanokoji???" She recognized Sudo's voice in the mass.

"There's no way! That test was so hard!"

"I mean, I can kinda get Horikita landing a 100 out of 100, but... Ayanokoij, too?"

(The night before the exam - 11:21pm

"Do you wanna make a bet?" Suzune asks out of the blue over the phone.

"Depends on what the benefits are." Ayanokoji answers. "What do you have in mind?"

"The exam tomorrow." There's a bit of awkward silence so she then elaborates, "We both know for a fact that your biological caregiver is going to somehow the scores we both get on this exam, likely through Tsukishiro. Why not give him something to care about?"

"... you do realize that this contradicts my wishes to live a normal life throughout my high school career, correct?"

"Not really; a 'normal' kid's high school life is full of ups and downs, curveballs and other whatnots, and wouldn't you know it, family spectacles actually play a major part in a lot of them." Suzune twirls a pen in-between her two fingers. "Plus, making people a little more wary of where they step might just be the boost you need."

"..." She knows he's debating this. She also knows that he knows that she's planning something, but they've never really pried into each other's 'grand plans' beyond a few hiccups here and there.

"What are your terms and conditions?" Ayanokoji finally inquires after a minute of thinking, and Suzune smiles.

"Well, here's my idea...")

They made sure to not talk to each other whatsoever during that whole day, which predictably left the class (actually more like their whole year level) whispering and coming up with potential theories, each sounding a bit more wild than the last.

Suzune didn't meet Kiryuuin up on the rooftop that day.

---

(10:34pm –

"Tsukishiro spoke with me again this afternoon." Ayanokoji said. "When I was walking back to the dorms. He asked if I had discovered the identity of the White Room student yet."