Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's last exam

Volume 1 Chapter 5: The Beginning of a New Month

As long as a man is free, he doesn't think about freedom.
Clifford Donald Simak

Three weeks had passed since the opening ceremony. In that time, a lot had changed: discipline in class was getting worse by the day, lessons were being conducted in a rather relaxed way, and many of my classmates had become friends with each other and had already formed their own groups of friends. Naturally, this didn't apply to me, because on the very first day I had already been branded as a strange type. It didn't bother me one bit, though, because I didn't want to hang out with people like them myself. It was much more pleasant to deal with someone like a class A or C student.

For example, I was playing billiards with Hashimoto recently when we happened to meet at the mall. He told me that Kamuro hasn't been herself lately, she's becoming more and more of a rowdy and cocky tsundere, whatever that means. Also, this blond guy taught me how to play pool. To be honest, it's not something I was able to master quickly enough, but gradually I managed to get used to it. Should I invite Hashimoto to play again next week?

I haven't seen Sakayanagi again so far, but I wasn't particularly bothered by that fact. To be honest, seeing her might be interesting but tiring, and I'd just like to live in peace for a while longer.

Kamuro... Well, I met with her a couple of times and even got some information from her about what was going on in their class and even in other classes. For example, the rift between the Class A factions kept growing. There were almost no people left there who remained neutral, they all had to choose sides. If we're talking about Class B, it's made up of fairly good-natured and friendly people who do without arguments and conflicts, which sounds inspiring enough. And finally class C. As I understand it, it is led by a tyrant man known as Rewen. Simply put, he uses violence and intimidation toward his classmates to get them to comply.

By the way, the girl I started hanging out with not too long ago is Shiina Hiyori. She, too, is from Class C, though it doesn't look like she was subjected to any wrongdoing by that "leader." Anyway, we saw her a few more times and even agreed that it would be nice to come to the library and read together once in a while. That would apparently be something interesting and new to me. Well, I hope this kind of waiting will pay off in the future.

Suddenly the bell rang, interrupting my thoughts and marking the beginning of my afternoon class. As I recall, we were in the middle of a school-appointed class period...

Our teacher, Chabashira-sensei, walked elegantly into the classroom. Her serious eyes looked around the classroom, and then she approached the people in the front row. This was no longer the usual beginning of class, even though it was class time.

«So, students. We're going to have a little quiz today. Please distribute these materials to the entire class.»

Without really explaining anything, Chabashira-sensei gave the stacks of papers to the front rows, and they, in turn, began to pass the necessary materials back to the back of the class. At this time, many of my classmates were clearly unhappy about this, but the situation did not develop beyond the usual conversations about such things.

Her gaze went back to all the students present. But this woman's face showed no unnecessary emotion, only a gray seriousness about the fact that we have some kind of test today.

«Don't worry so much, this test is only intended as a midterm test. The results will not reflect on your report card.»

It is rather odd to administer any kind of test if we get nothing out of it and lose nothing. Is it possible that our allowance next month depends on this test? If so, this work could really hit us hard, because, as far as I know, our class hasn't studied at all. Perhaps, though, this kind of student test will allow me to identify people who are good at the academic areas they study. Yes, I suppose it is a useful test.