Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

The refreshing breeze of May blew into the classroom of Class C, Year 1, with the doors and windows wide open.

The space, which was originally filled with the noisy atmosphere typical of a lunch break, gradually quieted down because of the figure that appeared at the entrance.

"To everyone in Class 1-C, I'm so sorry to have disturbed you while you were eating."

Standing at the very front is Nan Yunya, the vice president of the student council.

He stood at the front of the classroom with a refreshing smile on his face, like a model student in a painting.

He was there to fulfill the apology that Huashan had forced him to make the night before, but there was not a trace of humility in the air around him.

He adopted a completely superior attitude, condescending to instruct his juniors.

"I heard that yesterday, our second-year students were a little rude to your class. As the vice president of the student council and also as a senior, I've come here specifically to apologize for their rudeness. ...I'm sorry."

As Nan Yun said this, he tilted his neck and lowered his head only slightly.

He then turned his gaze to Kaoru Hanayama, who was sitting in a seat deep inside the classroom.

However, Hanayama himself just stared intently at the Yakuza math notes spread out on the table, without even looking up.

For Huashan, the only thing he values ​​is the result that the other party achieved in order to uphold the rules.

As for Nagumo's show of trying to cover up his cheap pride, it's not even worth glancing at.

Huashan's complete disregard gave the students of Class C a strange courage.

"Oh? Isn't this the student council vice president?!"

The tranquility was broken by Haruki Yamauchi.

He put down his chopsticks from his bento box and stood up with a sly and malicious smile.

"Did you come here specifically to apologize to us? But wasn't that attitude a bit too disrespectful to your juniors? Hopefully, you can show us a more genuine reflection."

"That's right!" Chi Kanji immediately chimed in, his voice brimming with pride.

"Does the student council think they're so great? We're the victims here. If they don't show more sincerity, we can't accept this. Right, Sudo?"

A vein bulged on Nan Yun's forehead. But the smile on his face did not crumble.

"Heh... still not pretty as ever."

As if to deliver a further blow, the voice of Rokusuke Koenji rang out from the back row of the classroom.

While adjusting his bangs with a mirror in his hand, he didn't even glance at Nan Yun, and elegantly blurted out his words.

"A person who can only cling to the gilded film called power will always appear ridiculous no matter how they try to embellish it. Your stiff smile is utterly absurd in the face of my beauty. Get out of here, the air is getting stuffy."

The pond, the mountain, and the Koenji Temple all made sarcastic and sarcastic remarks incessantly.

Nan Yun's cheek twitched involuntarily.

For him, being looked down upon by these insignificant first-year students was an unbearable humiliation.

However, the silent pressure from Hanayama sealed off Nagumo's chances of a counterattack.

"Then I won't bother you any longer. I'll take my leave now."

Nagumo barely managed to maintain the smile mask plastered to his face as he left Class 1-C as if fleeing.

The moment she stepped into the corridor, the smile on Nan Yunya's face vanished without a trace.

He turned and looked back at the second-year student following behind him with a cold gaze.

"Immediately inform all second-year students: Under no circumstances should they sell past exam papers to first-year students, not even a single one."

Since rules cannot bind, then rules will be used to defeat. This is Nagumo's revenge.

However, he hurriedly checked with the assistant at the terminal and reported to his superior in a trembling voice.

"President Nan, Nan Yun... It seems that a small group has already sold the data from the past exam papers to a guy named Long Yuan, and it seems that he has sold quite a few of them."

"...Tsk."

Nan Yun smacked his lips and immediately turned around.

Before it was too late, he used his authority as the student council vice president to completely replace the first-year exam questions with something else.

This will inevitably force those who rely on past exam papers to drop out of school.

He quickly pushed open the door to the student council room.

"President, regarding the first-year midterm exams, I, as the student council, have a proposal—"

Before Nagumo could finish speaking, the student council president, Horikita Manabu, who was sitting at his desk, cast a cold and stern gaze at him.

Although his right arm was wrapped in glaring bandages, his imposing presence remained undiminished.

"Regarding that matter, there's no need to elaborate. It's already been decided to completely change the exam questions."

"What...!?"

"We received anonymous feedback from first-year students suggesting a possible leak of exam questions. The school is taking this very seriously and has decided to completely replace this year's questions with entirely new content."

Nanyun stopped moving.

Someone else took advantage of the rules and controlled the course of the game before you did.

He didn't know whether this was a trap set by Longyuan, the buyer, or some kind of defensive strategy adopted by others.

But the result was that the loopholes for Nan Yunya's intervention were completely blocked.

boom!

The spacious student council room echoed with the dull thud of Nan Yunya slamming her fist on the table.

......

May 25th. First Semester Midterm Exam Results Released.

After the storm of the midterm exams had passed, a sense of peace filled the classroom of Class C, Grade 1 after school.

The report cards for all students were posted on the blackboard, and the result announced by Chabashira Saeko was that there were zero dropouts in Class 1-C.

Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi survived with scores barely passing, and they hugged each other and cried with joy.

In the back of the classroom, a little away from the noise, Kaoru Hanayama was alone, staring at the stickers on the blackboard.

Kaoru Hanayama: 37 points in mathematics

He racked his brains and worked tirelessly through the night, and the result was a score of 37 points, which was nothing short of a miracle for him.

However, Huashan's gaze did not linger on his own score.

His gaze fell on the name written slightly above.

Horikita Suzune: English 96, History 98, Japanese Language 92... Math 40

She should have excelled in all subjects, but she dropped to an unusually low score in mathematics.

The passing score for this midterm exam was determined by half the class average.

If some high-achieving students deliberately lower their scores, the class average will drop, which in turn will lower the passing score for lower-achieving students.

Hanayama slowly took a step forward and stood in front of Horikita Suzune's table, who was packing up to leave.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Horikita."

A deep yet weighty voice fell.

Horikita stopped putting the textbook into her bag and quietly raised her head.

"You deliberately lowered your score to manipulate the average, didn't you? And thanks to that hellish tutoring, I managed to avoid failing... You were a huge help. Thank you."

If it were the usual Horikita, she would probably say something like "Please don't misunderstand" or "It's not for you," a barbed statement meant to maintain her aloofness.

However, she met Huashan's straightforward gaze without looking away.

"No."

Horikita quietly shook her head and answered in a soft but warm voice.

"This is simply a matter of course to prevent the class from suffering losses. Adjusting the average score is just the most effective risk management I can do."

She paused there for a moment, straightening her posture slightly.

"However, I commend you for not running away and for persevering in facing the tasks I assigned you until the very end. This is the result of your own hard work. ... You're welcome, Hanayama-san."

There was no strange show of bravado, nor any denial.

There, between two people who had weathered a crisis together, there was a positive acceptance.

Hua Shan's lips relaxed slightly.

The smile that appeared on his stern face, covered with scars, carried a warmth as generous as a parent watching their child grow.

"Horikita, you've matured a bit in how you treat people; your expression isn't so bad anymore."

A compliment for being too straightforward.

Horikita was momentarily speechless, only slightly shifting his gaze away.

But her calm profile proved that she was not angry.

"……have a finger in the pie."