Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

After Sakayanagi Arisu left, only that corner of the library seemed to be frozen in time.

Huashan remained quietly with her eyes closed, her breathing perfectly steady.

Sitting next to him, Horikita Suzune stole glances at his profile while letting out a soft sigh of admiration deep inside.

(...I'm feeling lost.)

The choice is between resorting to underhanded methods like money to solve the problem, or taking the exam with honorable means and challenging the paper-and-pen exam.

This man must be currently engaged in a fierce internal struggle between his own pride and reality.

This man, who had always lived by his own rules, showed a moment of pause before Horikita.

Horikita began to have genuine respect for his straightforward yet clumsy way of life.

(Very well. Whatever your choice, I will...)

A minute passed. Still no movement.

Three minutes passed. It remained motionless.

Five minutes passed.

(…Hmm? Isn’t this a bit too long?)

No matter how you look at it, the time spent thinking about it was far too long.

"...Um...shouldn't we be reaching a conclusion by now?"

Horikita was puzzled, so she quietly reached out and gently patted Hanayama's thick, log-like shoulder.

No response.

"...Kanayama-kun?"

I pushed it with a little more force.

In that instant, Huashan's body began to lean forward at an unnatural angle.

"Why……?"

Boom!

The silence of the library was shattered by a devastating roar, like a meteorite impact.

He struck the tabletop directly on the forehead, causing the sturdy wooden surface to dent.

The surrounding students turned around, wondering what had happened.

"……Um."

Huashan slowly straightened up.

Although he had a red mark on his forehead, he seemed completely unconcerned.

"...Are you asleep?"

Horikita's voice was colder than a blizzard in the far north.

"Ah, it seems I lost consciousness for a moment."

"I thought you were struggling with what to choose, but it turns out you were just sleeping soundly!"

Horikita pressed hard on her temples, desperately trying to dispel the headache.

"I'm not worried."

Huashan shook his head.

"You mean that shortcut that Sakayanagi mentioned? Secretly bribing the teacher in charge of setting the exam questions to get the answers directly. That's not something a student should do. So don't even consider it."

"……ha?"

Horikita was instantly stunned.

"You, did you take Sakayanagi-san's words that way? She must have meant that it's possible to directly purchase the scores within the scope permitted by the school system, right?"

"...What did you say?"

Huashan opened his eyes wide.

"Can exam scores be bought with money?"

Huashan murmured to himself, then looked up at the ceiling for a while.

He turned his gaze back to the notebook and asserted forcefully.

Even so, I will not do that.

"...Could you tell me your reasons?"

"I made a promise with my family... As an ordinary high school student, I should live a normal school life. Is it something an ordinary student should do to buy exam scores?"

Horikita slammed his hands on the table because of this utterly illogical reasoning.

She even forgot she was in a library and involuntarily shouted out.

"What right do you have to say such things! Why can't you realize that your own existence is the most abnormal of all!"

Facing Horikita, who was panting heavily and whose shoulders were heaving, Hanayama remained unfazed.

"……All right."

Horikita took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Continuing to cater to his unique logic will be utterly futile.

"My goal is to advance to Class A. Therefore, I must absolutely prevent the possibility of being expelled and having my class points reduced. Since you are determined to pass the exam on your own, let's keep the method of buying points as a backup plan in case of any unforeseen circumstances."

She gripped the mechanical pencil again and pointed to a blank space in the notebook.

"Now you must study with all your might. Since you reacted with such a disoriented refusal just by seeing the equation, I'll change my teaching approach."

"This has been a huge help. For some reason, I feel really sleepy when words and symbols appear in succession."

"Then let's learn about probability next. This should be a concept that's easy to relate to in real life."

"Oh. Probability?"

"That's right. For example, suppose there's a coin here. What's the probability of it landing heads or tails when tossed?"

"...That kind of thing depends on the force of the coin toss's thumb and the wind direction that day. If you have the skill, the probability of heads can be fixed at 100%."

"I'm not listening to you talk about cheating! I'm discussing mathematical theory!"

Horikita's cold mask cracked once again.

"...Let's forget about coins. Now, suppose there are 3 red balls and 7 white balls in this bag. If you blindfold yourself and take out a ball, what is the probability that it's a red ball?"

"As long as you squeeze the entire bag, including its contents, to confirm, the probability becomes irrelevant."

"Aren't you satisfied until you completely destroy the problem?!"

Horikita clutched his head. For this man, luck and probability were things that should be subdued by force; this premise was deeply ingrained in his mind.

Ordinary approaches simply won't work.

"...I understand. Let's use a metaphor that's more in line with your own personality then."

Horikita took a deep breath and stared intently at Hanayama.

"Russian Roulette".

"……oh."

The color of Huashan's eyes changed slightly.

"In a six-round revolver, you load only one bullet. You rotate the cylinder, press it against your temple, and pull the trigger. The probability of firing on the first shot is one in six. You understand that, right?"

"It's a very common pastime. It's perfect for trying your luck."

(A very common form of entertainment; what kind of daily life do you lead...?)

Despite inwardly complaining, Horikita calmly continued speaking.

"So, assuming the first person pulls the trigger and fires a blank, what is the probability that the second person will pull the trigger and fire a bullet?"

"...One-fifth, right? Because the remaining compartments in the bomb bay have been reduced to five."

"Correct answer! It's definitely possible!"

Horikita's voice carried a hint of reassurance and joy.