Chapter 277: A Woman's Jealousy is Truly Terrifying!
The time reached the end of November, over the weekend, with only two days remaining before the final special exam of the term.
The first-year classes had entered their final preparations, thus ending the exchange study agreement. Hirata Yosuke organized a class meeting to discuss exam strategies.
"I have already prepared all the exam questions," Horikita Suzune stated. "Would you all like to review them?"
As the strongest academic in Class D, the questions Horikita prepared held significant weight and quality.
"No need.
I don't think anyone questions Horikita-san's academic ability.
The most important thing right now is to maintain the confidentiality of the exam papers. The fewer people who see them, the better."
As Hirata Yosuke said this, his eyes carried a deep meaning as he looked toward several individuals in Class D. Having been burned multiple times, he had gradually come to realize just how many spies bought off by other classes were hidden within their own.
"..."
Several people shifted their gazes guiltily, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Speaking of which, Hikigaya, you've been staying in Class C for so long—haven't you managed to fish for any useful intel?
Did that Shiina-san not secretly leak their exam questions to you?"
The speaker was Shinohara Satsuki, her words filled with provocative intent. Upon hearing this, the members of Class D all focused their attention on him.
"Yeah!
As long as we can get Class C's exam papers, we're set for this final!" Okitani Kyousuke expressed his support.
"Heh."
Regarding such an utterly brainless question, Hikigaya didn't even bother to respond.
"Hey, what are you laughing at?"
"We haven't even held you accountable for the act of 'aiding the enemy' by tutoring Class C. Shouldn't you do something to clear your suspicion?" Hondo Ryoutarou denounced him righteously.
"No need for 'suspicion.' I admit I aided the enemy. So what?" Hikigaya said coldly.
"You!"
The Class D students looked furious but found themselves powerless against him.
"Enough. Hachiman being in Class C happened for a reason.
There's no need for everyone to criticize him," Horikita Suzune spoke up in his defense.
"That's right.
Back then, Yukimura-kun fell into Ryuen's trap. To negotiate a settlement, Hachiman was forced to go to Class C.
This isn't his fault!"
Kushida Kikyo's public support instantly suppressed most of the dissatisfaction.
"Was it really 'forced'?
How come I saw him several times shopping and laughing with that Shiina from Class C?" Shinohara Satsuki raised her doubts.
"..."
Hikigaya suddenly felt several sharp gazes lock onto him. It was undeniable. Over the past month, Shiina Hiyori had been deeply involved in both his studies and his life.
"Um, can I interrupt for a second?"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention: "I want to ask, does anyone know where Koenji-kun has gone?"
"Koenji? Who knows where that guy ran off to."
"Ayanokouji, why do you care about him?"
Koenji Rokusuke had not attended a single one of Class D's study sessions.
"No, it's just that Koenji and I are matched as exam partners.
If he doesn't cooperate with the studying, I'm going to have a real headache."
On Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's paralyzed face, a rare, deep sense of helplessness emerged. Even Ayanokouji, who was skilled at manipulating others, had absolutely no way to deal with this unrestrained "Beautiful Man."
"Ayanokouji, you're on your own."
The others reacted with an air of schadenfreude. This was simply because the reputation of these two in Class D was quite poor.
"Everyone, don't say that.
If they fail the exam, both Ayanokouji and Koenji will be expelled!"
Hirata Yosuke's expression was serious: "If anyone sees Koenji-kun, please let us know his whereabouts."
"Is it possible that Koenji is sick?"
Hikigaya narrowed his eyes, offering a serious speculation: "Maybe it's so serious that he'll be absent from the finals on Monday."
"What? How could that giant freak get sick!"
Most of Class D didn't believe it: "Besides, didn't the school announce the rules for this special exam? They won't accept any reason for absence, including illness."
"Wait, if he misses the exam, Koenji himself will be expelled too!
Why would he do that?" Hirata Yosuke found it impossible to understand.
"Tch~ why does there have to be a 'why'?
The guy is the heir to a conglomerate, a rich young master.
Maybe Koenji got tired of staying at Advanced Nurturing and intentionally found an excuse to get expelled, so he can just pat his butt and enroll in some private school..."
Listening to Hikigaya's well-reasoned analysis, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's face suddenly became even more unsightly.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you don't look so good.
No need to worry. With your strength, transferring to a vocational school might be a better stage for you to shine."
'You call this 'no need to worry'?'
Ayanokouji was so angry he felt like he might cough up blood! He abruptly stood up from his seat and left the classroom without a word, his face cold.
He was likely going to find Koenji for a private "negotiation." One could only hope the person remained intact.
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Ding~
Kushida Kikyo's phone received a mysterious message.
[Do you want to take down Horikita Suzune?]
Kushida lowered her eyes, looking at Horikita Suzune holding the exam papers. A shadow of gloom flashed in the depths of her eyes.
[Substitute the exam questions with this set. As a reward, we can pay you 1 million personal points.]
[At the same time, we in Class C will help you get Horikita expelled!]
"Expelling Horikita from school?
This really is a godsent opportunity!"
Kushida Kikyo decisively replied to the message, agreeing to the proposal. Following the instructions, she printed out the exam papers provided by the other party and headed to the faculty office.
"Chabashira-sensei, I'm here to submit the exam papers."
Chabashira Sae's eyes flickered slightly as she nodded thoughtfully: "I've received them."
"By the way, Chabashira-sensei.
After this, if someone else tries to submit exam papers, please don't make a scene. Just accept them as usual.
Ultimately, the exam papers I just submitted must be the ones used for Class C's finals!"
As Kushida Kikyo said this, she pressed the recording button on the pen hidden in her pocket.
"I understand," Chabashira Sae's voice was icy.
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Class C Classroom
"The operation is proceeding smoothly."
Ryuen Kakeru received the recording of the scene where Kushida submitted the papers.
"As expected, a woman's jealousy is truly terrifying!
To fight over a man, they'll use any dirty trick!" Ryuen said with a look of disdain.
Through information provided by his spies in Class D, he had learned that Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune were arch-enemies. With a little contact and the bait of dealing with Horikita, he easily gained Kushida's active cooperation!
"Sigh, Ryuen-kun.
You went behind my back again and did something so unnecessary."
Shiina Hiyori sighed with a helpless expression. As Class C's top strategist, she hadn't been involved in this operation.
"Shiina, it's not that I don't trust you.
It's just that this matter involves Hikigaya, and I didn't want to make things difficult for you," Ryuen spoke truthfully.
"Ryuen, I think this plan is too risky," Ibuki Mio questioned.
"Why are you so sure Kushida will definitely backstab Horikita?"
"Nonsense! Do you think I'm blind?
That woman Kushida looks bright and cheerful on the outside, but when she looks at Horikita, she looks like she wants to kill her!"
Ryuen had sent people to secretly monitor Kushida and had long known she was no saint.
"While that's the truth... I don't think Kushida-san is that easy to manipulate."
Shiina Hiyori frowned, a faint ominous feeling stirring in her heart. But the die was cast; whatever she said now was meaningless.
"Hmph! Crazy women in love have negative IQs!"
Ryuen remained confident in his plan. With a wave of his hand, he distributed the pre-prepared exam papers to the whole class.
"These are the final exam questions. Spend the next two days memorizing them!"
The members of Class C were overjoyed: "To actually get Class D's questions—as expected of Boss Ryuen!"
Tokito Hiroya, however, grumbled: "Ryuen! If you got the questions so early, why did you make us study so hard? We were tortured by that dead-fish-eyed bastard for a whole month!"
"Tokito, that is the difference in vision between you and me."
Ryuen looked at him with utter disdain: "We can use tricks for this exam, but that doesn't mean we can do it for every exam. Students ultimately need basic academic ability.
Secondly, the fact that Class C was being tutored by Hikigaya can lower the vigilance of the other classes!"
"So that's how it is..." Ishizaki Daichi looked enlightened. "Meaning we were just playing a 'bitter-meat' trap for the past month?"
"It wasn't purely a trap."
"At least the knowledge we learned is real," Ryuen added.
"Ryuen, I find you're really suited to be the Study Representative." Ibuki Mio said solemnly. This time, she was serious.
"Get lost!"
Ryuen was thoroughly disgusted. A dignified delinquent and gang leader, acting as a Study Representative?
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Room 404
"Hachiman, it's just the two of us tonight. I have a very important matter I want to tell you."
Kushida Kikyo's eyes flickered with a complex, constrained expression.
"What is it? Did you get into some kind of trouble again?"
Hikigaya saw through her immediately.
"This... please see for yourself..."
Kushida took a deep breath and carefully handed over her phone. After seeing the information on the screen, Hikigaya's brow furrowed. The messages basically detailed Ryuen bribing Kushida to sabotage Horikita!
"Hachiman, I'm going to deal with Horikita.
You won't blame me, will you?" Kushida stared at him with haunting eyes.
Hikigaya didn't answer, just looked at her expressionlessly.
"I knew it. You definitely can't bear to let go of that bitch!" Kushida's lips curled, and her voice turned cold.
"Kikyo, do you and Suzune really have to fight to the death?" Hikigaya asked heavily.
"Yes. If only one of us can stay, who would you choose?" Kushida bit her lip nervously, her fingertips turning white from the pressure.
"Only children make choices. Adults take everything." Hikigaya stated his stance.
"When did you acquire the constitution of a scumbag?" Kushida glared at him crossly.
"Kikyo, once your act of swapping the papers is exposed, the gentle persona you've cultivated for so long will likely vanish completely."
Hikigaya didn't argue with her; instead, he chose to speak from her perspective.
"So Hachiman was worried about me?" Kushida's heart wavered.
"Kikyo, I'm also glad you didn't make a wrong decision." Hikigaya gazed at her with soft eyes.
"Hmph! What 'wrong decision'?"
Kushida refused to admit it: "I just suddenly felt that keeping that bitch Horikita around would be useful for dealing with the other 'thieving cats' together!"
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Two days later, the final special exam proceeded as scheduled.
Looking at the empty seat beside him, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's expression was extremely grim. He thought to himself: 'Did that bastard Koenji really intend to skip the exam?'
According to the rules, the combined score of the two partners must reach at least 800 points! Now that Koenji had skipped and scored zero...
This meant Ayanokouji had to achieve a perfect score in every subject to offset Koenji's zero. Perfect scores in eight subjects! Even Ayanokouji wouldn't guarantee he could hit such a supernatural score.
"It seems for this exam, hiding my strength is no longer an option."
Ayanokouji took a deep breath, looked at the paper in his hand, and his brain's CPU began to spin rapidly. With an alarming speed, his pen began to fly across the paper!
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Class C Classroom
The moment everyone received their exam papers, the entire class was stunned.
"What—what is going on?"
"The questions on this paper... they aren't the ones we memorized over the last two days!"
As the mastermind, Ryuen Kakeru's face was now as dark as still water.
"Was I played? That woman Kushida actually gave up on dealing with Horikita."
Ryuen quickly realized he had been tricked by Kushida Kikyo!
"To make former arch-enemies put aside their past grudges... There is usually only one possibility: a powerful enemy has appeared before them!"
Shiina Hiyori's voice was light, but it carried an inexplicable firmness.
"Alright, everyone quiet! Whatever it is, talk about it after the exam!"
Under the proctor's reprimand, the Class C students sat down obediently. Fortunately, the tutoring over the past month had produced some results. Since the memorized questions were useless, they could only bite the bullet and solve the problems themselves.
Meanwhile, the situation in Class D wasn't much better. Facing the exam questions personally written by Class C's Shiina Hiyori, everyone struggled with pained expressions.
Ring—ring—
The bell rang, signaling the end of the final special exam. This was also the end of the second semester.
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