7.2
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 test subject is contemporary Japanese. You are forbidden from turning your papers over before I give you the signal to begin,” said Chabashira-sensei. “Please keep that in mind.”
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, signaling the official start of the exam.
“Begin.”
We all flipped our test sheets over at the same time.
If everything went as Keisei had predicted, I thought the countermeasures we’d developed should be enough. I quickly skimmed the questions from start to finish, trying to judge whether my classmates could solve them. It was a cruel lineup, but they weren’t impossible. We’d predicted quite a few questions with near-pinpoint accuracy, so if we just stayed calm, we had this. Keisei’s plans were right on the money.
Moreover, the school had altered several test questions significantly. I could see traces of where Class C had attempted to trick us, but the school had made edits.
This test would be hardest for Class D’s most average students, like Haruka and Akito. They needed to do the best they could and ace the humanities like their lives depended on it.
If a student didn’t study enough for this test, they might end up with only ten or twenty points. In that case, their partner would definitely want to score at least fifty or even sixty points. The competent students among us should be able to traverse the sixty-point hurdle, but they still couldn’t be careless.
Horikita, sitting next to me, immediately picked up her pen and answered the first question. I twirled my pen in circles as I meditated on what I should do. Satou had been relatively more enthusiastic than the other students when it came to participating in the study sessions, and I anticipated that she’d score higher than Ike or Yamauchi. However, I needed to complement her score with an appropriate score of my own. Our individual scores alone wouldn’t guarantee success. Considering what was to come in future, I decided to aim for a sixty-point baseline.
I raised my head. My gaze briefly met Chabashira-sensei’s as she watched over us from her podium. However, she wasn’t my target; I wanted to see how Kushida Kikyou reacted to the test.
So far, Kushida appeared to be checking something as she scanned the test sheet over and over. She stayed still for about two or three minutes. Finally, she started answering questions.
The exam continued in tense silence.
There was a minor incident in the fourth period during the math portion. That section, of course, would decide Horikita and Kushida’s competition. The incident happened immediately after we flipped our exams over.
“Why?” squeaked Kushida.
“What’s the matter, Kushida?” asked Chabashira-sensei.
“N-no, it’s nothing. I’m sorry,” she replied.
Kushida’s audible slipup must have concerned our classmates, but she immediately started answering the questions regardless. I took a good look at her. Kushida, normally so calm and composed, was in an agitated state we’d never seen before. She was shaken. Looks like that guy made his choice.
Horikita continued working steadily, undistracted by Kushida’s unrest. This was a true, fair battle now, powerful in its simplicity. All we had to do now was demonstrate the result of our labor.
With my troubles rapidly fading, I concentrated on the exam.
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