Horikita Route

Chapter 10 - V1

It was 2 days before the midterm exams when I felt that something was wrong, somehow.

For the past two weeks and a half, under my leadership and Hirata's help, the class has been hard at work on improving our academics. Everyday, sometimes even on lunch, the groups made by Kiyotaka met to revise for the upcoming exam.

The atmosphere of the class was always filled with nervous anticipation, gone was the despair and desperation that they felt when first learning about the S-System.

Throughout the week, I handled my group with ease, guiding them, teaching them the right material. Even after finding out from Kiyotaka that the material we were learning wasn't the right topics, the various study groups of our class took it in stride, Kiyotaka's harsh but motivational words helping them to be put on ease.

Friday, last week

The class was in turmoil, and I could understand why. The topics we were studying were wrong, different from the ones covered for the exam. I was standing in front of the class with Hirata and Yukimura to my right, trying to calm down the students.

"Everyone, calm down! I'm sure we could still salvage this! The topics are close enough, and we still have time to recover!" Hirata, the ever-mediator, said to the panicking idiots.

'But Hirata! What do we do? This is so bad!'

'All that time, wasted for nothing!'

'Are we going to be expelled, Horikita-san?! We just got here! I don't want to leave yet!'

Various protest and shouts of indignation rang around the classroom of 1-D. Sigh... Honestly... these guys....

I was exasperated and had no idea what to do to calm down this idiots. I know my words would only make them panic more, since I have the tendency to speak the truth. Hirata seems to have failed on calming down the class. Kushida and Karuizawa, the two popular leads of the girls, also seem to be at a loss on what to do.

If this is what I have to deal with to get to Class A, it seems impossi-

"Then give up."

A cold, calculating voice was loudly heard by everyone in the class.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, from his seat, said this words without even looking in our direction, still staring at the dark, gloomy clouds up above.

"Ayanokouji-san, what do you-" Hirata said, but was cut off by my brown-haired friend.

"I said, just give up. That's what you guys are doing now, aren't you? Crying over spilt milk. What's done is done. If you guys truly wanted to get to a higher class, you'd not act this way."

His statement cut through the minds of the defectives like a hot knife through butter, silencing them from further idiocies.

Then, he turned to the direction of the class, looking at us, looking at them with eyes that seemed to indicate that he was as bored as he could ever be.

"You have a week to study the material. Do you plan to lie down like dead fish and just take the brunt of it? Even a wild boar knows how to adapt in different situations. Start now, use the weekends to keep up and don't let yourselves become dead weight to the class.

...

If you get expelled, you guys have no one to blame but yourselves. Now, you have an hour for lunch, I suggest going ahead and doing that now."

Kiyotaka then looked at the direction of the podium, at Hirata and Yukimura, and said;

"I'll prepare something on Wednesday. Ready them for what's to come, I'm counting on you guys."