Chapter 22: Chapter 7.1

It’s after class, and Imoto took to the front of the room, using the teacher’s desk as a podium; he had even taken time out of his day to create a PowerPoint presentation.

He most likely prepared this with a normal examination in mind but now has to integrate the new information into the existing show.

Mostly everyone gave him their undivided attention as he spoke, the only exceptions being Hisoka, who didn’t bother to stay; Tachibana, who was currently packing up her school bag; and Mikhailov, who just got up from his seat then immediately left.

Surprisingly, both Takawana and Matsukura decided to stay. I wonder what influenced their decision.

However, Imoto didn’t seem discouraged by the fact that the most helpful person just left the session before it even began.

Since Mikhailov is in the top 10, the possibility of him not working with the class is a stone in our shoe. After all, we could use his abilities when it comes to navigating this event.

Sadly enough, I didn’t feel like staying either, but I am feeling a bit too comfortable right now to get up.

 "Are you planning on leaving as well?" asked Tachibana as she continued the process of putting her books into her bag.

"I think I will listen to what he has to say for a few minutes; it wouldn’t kill you to do the same as well."

"I already know what he’s going to say, and it will revolve around the power of teamwork, which I believe to be nonsense considering that this class rarely wants to work together or even try their hardest."

Sharp words are coming from Tachibana, and they appear to be true based on the silent reactions from various individuals.

Some of them are most likely trying to figure out who the marked student is.

Yasuma stood by his side, like arm candy, as Imoto began to speak.

"As we have been told, an exam will be coming up, and I want to ensure that we score as high as we possibly can, because this is a chance to get class points as well as lifeline points."

A couple of students were nodding their heads as he spoke: Imoto may actually be a good leader.

"The other topic at hand would be the marked student issue. My opinion on it is that we should avoid trying to go after the said person and focus on getting high enough scores to at least place 2nd or 3rd. It’s obvious that the school set it up in a way for us not to completely work together."

"Are we giving the marked student 200 lifeline points and the opportunity to move up three ranks, and however many additional ranks we will gain based on our class's performance in this event!? “Matsukura exclaimed.

A solid question from Matsukura to my surprise, maybe he actually has a functioning brain under there.

Fukami countered him by saying, "If the marked student is exposed, then they lose 200 lifeline points, which may result in their expulsion, and that will hurt our class even more."

"So we’re just going to live with the fact that this person is getting a bigger reward than us," added Takanawa.

It all comes down to being a team player, so what will everyone chose?

Yasuma cut both of them down by saying, "I know two of the most academically weak students in our class aren’t complaining, when most likely the rest of the class’s grades will carry your poor ones."

Well, that is a bit harsh.

After coughing, Imoto smoothly replied, "The marked student still has to score higher than our class average, so they have a challenge for themselves. In that case let’s make them work for it by applying ourselves."

"There’s still a chance that the person fails to score higher than the average and gets the deduction, causing expulsion, so in any case, that still hurts the class." Tachibana harshly added in.

This event is set up in a way where there aren’t any complete winners. Will they allow the marked student to live and gain a better reward than them, or will they hunt them down then expose them for 200 extra points plus a slight levitation on the rankings?

Not to mention how the second option will hurt the class if the student gets expelled due to hitting zero on their lifeline total, but at the same time, they can fail to score more than the class average and suffer the same fate.

However, if the marked student were to reveal themselves. There's no sure reason that one of our classmates won't betray them.

This feels like a dangerous situation.

Imoto continued addressing the class, "So with that in mind, I think I came up with a solution to help the students who score lower than the school’s passing mark of 50."

Some students shifted their eyes to Matsukura and Takanawa, who bowed their heads in slight embarrassment. Hisoka would have most likely gotten a highlight as well, so he dodged a bullet by skipping class.

Fukami noticed what was occurring and said, "There’s no need to highlight the people who already know what they have to fix."

Matsukura looked at Fukami as if she was his savior, and she smiled at him.

Imoto continued, "Moving on, I have concluded that the test may come in the form of mixed subjects. So the odds that two of the three random subjects maybe English and mathematics are very high considering the format of last term's examinations. So I would like those who are strongest in the first two subjects to tutor the weaker ones. If they can score high enough in those first two sections, then those scoring poorly in the third subject shouldn’t affect us too badly."

That’s actually a pretty okay strategy, but he’s banking on the chance that the majority of the students’ scores will be at least average on the third known subject. However, banking on two of the three subjects being mathematics and English is a huge gamble considering the wide array of subjects we are taught in this school.

Fukami shot her hand up in a manner that radiated pick me energy, "That’s a great idea; I will volunteer as the mathematics tutor since I have one of the highest grades."

"You were actually my first choice when it came to a tutor, so thanks for making it easier on me."

A couple “Yeahhh” could be heard from the class to that decision.

It appears the session is back on track once again, and surprisingly, Tachibana is still here for whatever reason. Maybe she changed her mind about leaving.

"We still require a tutor for English, and the two people that are most suitable for the role academically would be Tachibana-san and Higaki-chan."

There is a bunch of whispering going on between various classmates when they hear the options. I don’t know much about Higaki, but I do know her proficiency in English is extremely high, with only Tachibana being able to match her. I believe their marks are eerily similar, with Higaki having one more point than the latter.

Fukami turned towards Higaki and asked, "So will you do it?" to which Higaki shook her head so quickly that her ginger-colored hair waved side to side.

A disappointed look crept upon Fukami’s cute face.

"What would be your reason for rejecting it?" asked Imoto, who leaned against the teacher’s desk.

Higaki stammered out her words.

"Um, I just don’t want to be res-ponsible for ano-ther person’s success or failure.”

That’s understandable, because I feel the same way.

So now, the next option would be Tachibana, who looked a bit dissatisfied with where the flow of the conversation was heading.

She quickly shot down the request before it could take place.

Imoto lowered his head and said, "Tachibana-san, you’re the only other person who is suitable for the job."

This was a sign of him begging her to take the job, but she still refused.

"I don’t see the point of me tutoring these weaker students; they had a term to get their act together, so if they fail, they fail."

Fukami interjected, "If they under perform, then our class will barely get any points, which will directly affect you."

"I fail to see how this will affect me; after all, there are other ways of crossing the finish line in a favorable position in the school."

"Don’t tell me that you’re planning to hunt down the marked student. You may hurt us by doing that, Tachibana-chan."

The class began to get rowdy since that possibility was thrown into the air once again.

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Imoto attempted to calm everyone down, but his efforts were fruitless.

Since it was mostly her fault that the idea was injected into people’s heads once again, Fukami did the same, as expected; her attempts bore the same result as Imoto's.

Without saying a word, Tachibana picked up her bag and exited the classroom.

"Why is she such a bitch?" asked Yasuma as Imoto attempted to cover her mouth as if he sensed that question coming, but the words still managed to slip through the gaps of his makeshift finger gag.

As if we were in an empty cave, the word "bitch" began to echo as it was repeated by fellow female classmates.

Does she actually have plans to hunt the marked student, or is she just saying that?

A lot of people were already behaving hostilely toward Tachibana, who always ignored it. Her "selfish x ice queen" behavior didn’t sit right with the other girls or most of the boys. However, no one dared say anything to her face due to the weight behind her family’s name. Their fear and respect for it run deeper than their dislike for her.

There is becoming a public thrashing; I should leave before it gets even uglier.

Yasuma turned her attention to me. "Are you going to run to Tachibana-san and tell her all the mean things I said about her? After all, you’re the only person who seems to be able to stand her."

I’m starting to think Yasuma is the bête noire and not Tachibana.

Reclining in my seat, I replied, "Your personal opinion on Tachibana-san has nothing to do with me, nor do I owe any loyalty to her. So why would I do such a thing?"

The class seemed to cheer when they heard those words.

Glaring at me, Yasuma replied, "You’re a bad friend for taking a neutral stance instead of defending her. I guess the word chivalry isn’t in your vocabulary."

"Yasuma-chan, that’s enough of this topic." Fukami urged.

This is the only way I would expect her to act as one of the class’s conciliators.

I don’t think Tachibana ever considered me as a friend, and neither did I, to some degree. We are just two people who just happen to talk to each other from time to time. However, I don’t appreciate being sucked into this situation.

"Still, there’s no need for me to tell her when she heard everything that was just said."

With a smile on my face, I pointed toward the classroom’s door with my right index finger.

Yasuma froze up a bit when I told her that, and the classroom became quiet. It appears that they talk a big game but are still afraid of a completely angry Tachibana. This is all the information I needed.

Imoto glanced towards the closed door and immediately steered the conversation right back on track, continuing once again.

"We are still lacking a tutor for English."

Morikawa, a male student who wore glasses, adjusted them before standing up.

"I will take over the role if no one else wants to do so."

Imoto shook his index finger at him. "Thank you for the offered assistance. Your average is 81 in mentioned subject, so I trust you to do a great job."

That’s impressive that Imoto remembers everyone’s average when it comes to subjects.

Morikawa said, "All those who require help with English, please approach me."

Quite a number of students made their way towards him, and an equal amount of students made their way towards Fukami, who is the assigned tutor for mathematics.

After the session was dismissed, Imoto approached me and said, "Sorry that you had to witness something like that."

I let out a bone-tired sigh, "Were things always like this before I transferred in?"

"Actually no, people were neutral with their feelings for Tachibana-san, but after the 100-point loss, resentment began to grow, and now it’s reached this point."

"So what are your feelings towards her? I can safely guess Yasuma-san’s own."

"I bear no ill will towards her, and I want nothing more than for everyone to get along, but it’s a bit complicated right now, as you can see."

"That’s very much understandable, but after witnessing your actions today, aside from the last bit, I must admit that you’re a good leader. You handled the new situation pretty well."

Imoto scratched the back of his head and laughed, there was a hint of bashfulness mixed in as well. Maybe he isn’t used to people complimenting him in that aspect.

"Thanks for saying that."

Now it’s time to quickly rip off the bandage in regards to the other thing.

"However, I still do think your plan is flawed due to one unpredictable element."

The unfortunate part is that he may not be able to fully account for it. So I can’t fault him if our class manages to go belly up for this event.

"I can’t brace for everything, so the most I can do is at least try to sway everyone into making a decision that can benefit the entire class."

"Mikhailov’s actions are unpredictable; after all, we’re unsure if he will hunt the marked student or not."

I’m leaning towards him doing so, considering that the upwards movement of three ranks will negate any negative effects of our class’s potential piss poor placement in this miscellaneous event.

"The only thing I am banking on is that he just focuses solely on scoring as highly as possible, and that also includes the highlighted questions."

"Highlighted questions are a different story; if they took the time to inform us about it ahead of time, I am sure there will be some sort of trick."

Imoto’s shoulders dropped, and he let out a deep exhale. It looked as if he just let out the world of issues.

A leadership position is stressful after all, that’s why I will accept to avoid any and all.

"That’s a possibility, and I also want to thank you for killing the situation with the name-calling."

"What do you mean by the last part?" I asked while looking at my smart watch.

"I am talking about the part where you said Tachibana-san was listening in on the conversation. That was a lie, right?"

So Imoto caught on quickly and assisted my lie by immediately changing the topic. He’s one of the few notable students in the class.

"It was the only way I could shut down that entire conversation, and either way, I don’t think she would be fazed by the entire situation, seeing that she is on her own personal mission."

Also, I just wanted to test how much weight Tachibana has in class without her realizing it.

"I will keep this between us; however, do you need a tutor for any subjects? I am unaware of your academic strengths and weaknesses."

What are my academic strengths and weaknesses?

"There’s nothing to worry about I can study just fine on my own so focus on getting the class ready for the upcoming hurdle."

Just a few days in, all I can say is that this class is a headache.

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