Classroom of the Elite: Legacy

V.1-Ch.8.2

Misaki

Advanced Nurturing High School; Hallways

Just a day before the exam, I went and talked to Furukawa and Karuizawa, both of whom I sent on a mission earlier to retrieve the midterm answers from an upperclassman.

"Furukawa-kun, Karuizawa-san," I greeted them. "Do you have it?"

Karuizawa held in her hands multiple pieces of paper, which were copies of the answers we received. "Yep! Ready when you are!"

I nodded. "Just after class ends, we'll give it out to everyone. Tomorrow's the big day."

"Um, Horikita-san? Why are we giving it out today instead of before? It would've given them enough time to study, don't you think?" said Karuizawa.

"If we did, their motivation to study would've been reduced down to zero. They would've been overconfident and may have fully relied on the answers for the test rather than their own intellectual skills. For example, if I gave these answers to people like Azuma or Kawasaki, do you think they would really take anything seriously?"

"When you put it like that...no," Karuizawa answered.

"Exactly. That's why today is the perfect day to give it to them. Knowing that the test is tomorrow, they'll have no choice but to memorize it all to the fullest." The work our study groups have done will surely make everyone pass. This is just a precaution, or insurance if you will.

"Oh, by the way, we also have the answers for our mock test," said Karuizawa. "Furukawa and I compared them with our own. All of it matched up." Karuizawa handed it to me.

"I see...thank you for doing that. I never mentioned it and yet you thought of getting those answers as well."

"Well...it wasn't me. It was Furukawa-kun who brought it up."

I turned to look at Furukawa, staring at him. "You...?"

"What?" Furukawa said with such a blank expression on his face.

"...No, it's nothing," I said. "Anyways, thank you both for doing this. I will make sure I repay you."

Karuizawa shook her head and smiled. "No need to thank us, Horikita-san. It was just the right thing to do." Karuizawa turned to look at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's almost time for class to start. Should we go?"

I nodded. "Yeah." The three of us walked off and entered our classroom.

Hours later...

The bell rings and signals the end of class. Everyone started talking, standing up from their seats and planning to leave for the day. Just then, Karuizawa stood up and walked up to the front of the podium.

"Excuse me! May I have your attention?" Everyone turned to look at her. "I have some important papers to pass out to you before you leave. Please, take a look at this!" Karuizawa started walking around, going to every seat and handing out the sheets of paper. As they held it in their hands, their faces lit up and they gasped.

"W-What is this...?!" asked Kawasaki.

"This is...an answer sheet?" asked Kasai.

"That's right. I talked to an upperclassman and asked them to give it to me. Thought it might help us!"

"Woah! That's amazing!" said Kurino.

"Why didn't we think of this before?! We wouldn't need to do all that studying!" said Azuma.

Just as I thought. I'm glad to have not given this to any of them before.

"Um, Karuizawa-san," said Kurino. "How did you know an upperclassman would have it?"

"...Eh?" Karuizawa blinked.

"Yeah, where did you get this idea anyways?" asked Azuma.

"Um...well...I...um..." Karuizawa turned to look at me and her eyes met mine. Please help, Horikita-san...!

I sighed. "Did you not listen to Matsubara-sensei? She clearly told us there was a way," I said.

"Huh?"

"Oh! So that's what she meant!" said Kurino. "She was talking about this answer sheet, wasn't she?"

I nodded. "This is Class D, the lowest and most defective class at this school. Compared to a class like Class A, we have almost no chance of succeeding in anything. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible. This answer sheet is one of the many ways we could use to pass and rise to the top."

"Class D did not do so well in academics. Even so, we tried to boost everyone's skills up by forming study groups and teaching the students with the lowest grades in our class so none of us could fail. It was difficult. But it wasn't just books and pens we used. We had an answer sheet.

Thanks to one of my classmates, they were able to get it from an upperclassman just a day before the test. With it, everyone focused on memorizing it so they could use it. Luckily, when the test came, it was the exact same. Everybody passed. Somewhat..."

If Okaa-san didn't tell me this, I would've never known about it. Well, even if she didn't tell me, I'm sure I would've figured it out anyways.

"Horikita-san," Kasai called my name. "It wasn't Karuizawa-san who did this, was it?" Karuizawa and everyone else turned to look at me, staring at me with eyes of suspicion.

"...I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just explaining for Karuizawa-san, that's all. Right?"

"R-Right..." Karuizawa said with a horrible poker face.

"Everyone, let's all do our best and memorize this, alright?" said Kasai.

"Let's all pass this together!" said Kurino with a bright smile and extremely positive aura.

"Yeah!" The entire class erupted in cheers, motivated by their words. Thanks to the two of them, they all were inspired and prepared for tomorrow.

Everyone started moving and heading out of the classroom. As Kasai and Kurino were about to leave with the others, they took a glance at me. They both knew that it was me who did it, but they didn't say anything, and that was fine with me.

Now that they were all gone, it was now only me and Furukawa left in the classroom. The desks around us were empty, the sun outside still shone, and it was quiet.

"Do you plan to stick around here with me or something?" I asked.

"I'd thought I'd wait on you. Wouldn't want you to fall asleep again, right?"

I glared at him with embarrassment shown on my face. "If you dare mention that again, I will make sure you never leave this classroom alive."

"Too bad. I've already died once..." he muttered.

"Hm..." I grunted, then stood up from my seat and grabbed my bag. "I'll be leaving now. Don't even think of following me."

"I won't." I stared at him for a moment with anger still residing in my eyes, then turned away and walked through the classroom doors and left.