Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

Kikyo Kushida, who had fainted on the ground, slowly and dramatically opened her eyes.

"Hmm...uh...?"

She blinked repeatedly, as if she had just realized that she was lying on the ground.

"Ah, oh dear...? Is that Hanayama-san...?"

The voice that came from her lips was that of an angel—sweet, soft, and beloved by everyone—just like the one heard in the classroom during the day.

It's unbelievable that this is the same crazy woman who was spewing curses in the dark and banging her head against the railing just seconds before.

She tried to stand up, but because her legs were too weak, she slumped back down with a thud.

"Is there a problem?"

Breaking the silence, Huashan asked briefly.

Upon hearing that deep voice, Kushida seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and then gave a weak-looking smile.

"Hehehe... I'm sorry, did I scare you? Actually, I... have had severe sleepwalking episodes occasionally since I was a child."

She gently pressed her aching forehead, rolled her eyes upward, and looked up at Huashan with a pitiful expression.

"But if everyone knew about this... they might think I'm disgusting and ostracize me. I've always kept it a secret. So..."

Kushida clasped his hands together in front of his chest, pressing his desperate pleading expression firmly to his face.

"Hanayama-kun. Please, could you please not tell anyone about what happened today? Please...!"

(…………)

That was a rather low-level lie.

Let alone Huashan, who has traversed countless battlegrounds of extreme evil, any high school student with a normal IQ could see it.

However, Kaoru Hanayama did not pursue the matter further.

He doesn't have the malicious pleasure to deliberately expose someone's obvious lies and drive them into a corner.

The so-called ultimate way is sometimes about remaining silent and sometimes about remaining completely oblivious.

It was simply a stubborn determination to protect one's dignity and place of refuge, even at the cost of breaking one's forehead to continue the performance.

Regardless of whether the direction is right or wrong, the fact that she is desperately trying to survive is undeniable.

Huashan simply nodded silently.

"...!"

Seeing that nod, a relieved look spread across Kushida's face.

"Thank you...! Really, thank you so much, Hanayama-kun!"

She bowed repeatedly as she tried to stand up, holding onto the railing.

However, perhaps the confusion and fear just now put a strain on the muscle fibers.

He took a wrong step and tumbled down the paved concrete steps.

"Ouch...! Ugh, I hate it, I'm such an idiot..."

Even with her face covered in mud, she didn't let it break her twitching smile, and scrambled to her feet.

Then, dragging the mud off his body, he walked slowly toward the girls' dormitory.

Until I watched that petite figure disappear into the darkness.

(That's really hard work for a high school student.)

Huashan felt a slight sense of helplessness and a strange admiration for her tenacity.

From the second day onwards, Kikyo Kushida's actions were absolutely perfect.

The redness on her forehead was cleverly hidden by her bangs; the angel mask that treated everyone equally showed not even the slightest flaw.

Behind her smile, she was constantly monitoring Huashan's movements.

(He really didn't tell anyone... Despite his huge size, he's surprisingly tight-lipped...)

Several days later, Kushida breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart.

May 8th, Friday, lunch break.

In the classroom, Kaoru Hanayama was sitting in her seat, wrestling with a notebook filled with numbers that looked like they were crawling earthworms.

Horikita left his seat, seemingly for some reason.

Just then, two uninhibited footsteps walked straight toward Huashan's desk.

Looking up, Huashan saw Ryuen Sho and his loyal dog, Ishizaki Daichi, in his field of vision.

"Hey, Hanayama. You're studying hard again today."

There was no provocative look on Long Yuan's face.

Instead, a chilling smile, like that of a con artist posing as a business negotiator, was plastered on their faces.

Ishizaki stiffened slightly in front of Hanayama's enormous body, but he still stared intently at them as if he were hiding in the shadows of Ryuen.

"What is it?"

Huashan didn't put down the pencil in his hand, and calmly responded.

"Don't be so wary. I'm here today to propose a win-win solution."

As Longyuan spoke, he threw several photocopies from a transparent folder onto Huashan's desk.

It was a copy of a past exam paper with handwritten answers.

"Whether it's Class A or Class B, don't you want to drag those arrogant, domineering guys down with you?"

Long Yuan leaned out and lowered his voice.

"We're both in lower-ranking classes. How about we form a partnership right here?"

Hua Shan's thick eyebrows twitched slightly.

"I found out the inside story of this midterm exam through a little channel. These guys are idiots, using the same old questions from previous years every year. In other words, as long as you memorize these copies, even the dumbest person can get a perfect score."

Long Yuan snapped his fingers, deepening his smile.

"As a token of my sincerity, I'll provide the exam papers to you free of charge."

"……unnecessary."

Huashan immediately shook his head and pushed the copy back with his fingertips.

"Using tricks to get a high score goes against my principles. Take it back."

(Just as I expected...)

Longyuan was not surprised at all; on the contrary, he seemed to have expected Huashan's reaction and squinted his eyes with pleasure.

"Hehe... It's your freedom not to use it. But, Huashan."

Longyuan tapped the photocopy that had been pushed back with his fingers.

"Even if you don't use it, what about the others? I heard the whole class meeting outside. Your class has an army of idiots even more desperate than us, doesn't it? How many of you can actually avoid failing on your own?"

Those words, like a sharp blade, pierced Huashan's ears.

"I admire your dedication to upholding your own beliefs. But don't you care if your classmates are expelled for failing exams?"

Huashan stopped moving.

"Well, take your time to think about it."

Longyuan left the copy on Huashan's desk and turned away.

"I already said it's a free gift. Whether you use it or not is up to you."