Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"The exam for Group Mao is over."

'Oh dear, so the traitor really did send a message?'

Kusuo Saiki stared at his phone screen, muttering to himself, wondering how those guys in Class A had managed to get promoted to Class A.

The class division rules at this school seem to be different from what Chabashira Sae had previously mentioned.

Not all students in Class D are flawed, just as not all students in Class A are good students.

'But it has nothing to do with me.'

With these thoughts in mind, Kusuo Saiki left the meeting room, feeling a sense of relief.

'The real vacation is here!'

After Kusuo Saiki left, Honami Ichinose was somewhat stunned. Kusuo Saiki's nonchalant attitude towards the exam didn't seem like a pretense, but Honami Ichinose was certain that Kusuo Saiki had definitely done something.

"I was a little confused before... The school's group assignments follow a pattern, and I should have been assigned to the Dragon Group... but I ended up being assigned to the Rabbit Group..."

Honami Ichinose frowned and muttered to herself.

"Perhaps... Qi Mu is the reason I was assigned to this exam."

......

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, in the teachers' office.

"The answers to this exam were truly unexpected."

As Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher of Class C, poured herself a cocktail, she smiled and looked at Chabashira Sae, who had a serious expression on her face.

"What exactly are you planning to do, Chie?"

Chabashira Sae narrowed her eyes and looked at Hoshinomiya Chie, who had a cute face, beside her.

Unlike Chabashira Sae, who seems to care about nothing, Hoshinomiya Chie is very enthusiastic about the students in her class, even treating them like friends.

"Wow, why are you suddenly saying that? Did I do something?"

"Standardly, the school's policy should be to concentrate class representatives in the Dragon Group, right?"

Chabashira Sae's meaning was very clear: it was about why Ichinose Honami wasn't in the Dragon Group.

The homeroom teacher can influence the students in each group to some extent during special exams, and Ichinose Honami, who should have entered the Dragon Group, ended up in the Rabbit Group instead.

That group was the one that Kusuo Saiki and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji were in.

Chabashira Sae has already gained some understanding of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's situation. Although Ayanokouji Kiyotaka told her that Saiki Kusuo was not a special person, Chabashira Sae still cares about Saiki Kusuo.

“I’m not kidding—if we only look at grades or attitude towards life, Ichinose is indeed number one in the class. However, the essence applicable to society cannot be measured by numbers alone. So, in my opinion, she still has things to improve. And bunnies are cute, right? That bouncy feeling, isn’t it just like Ichinose?”

"If that's the case, then don't worry. I've already forgiven you for what happened in the past."

"Who knows? You're only satisfied when you're one step ahead of me in every action, which is why you let Ichinose join the Rabbit Team, right?"

"I really only removed Ichinose from the Dragon Group because I felt there was something I should learn. And, I'm curious about why you care about Ayanokouji, Kosae—it's just a coincidence, a coincidence, a coincidence! I don't care at all about your class's resounding victory in the last special exam—"

After saying these words, Hoshinomiya Chie suddenly narrowed her eyes slightly.

"And that's not all. Besides Ayanokouji, there's another student named Saiki that you're also very concerned about, especially since he shouldn't have been assigned to your class but to ours. Just like how Sakagami-sensei forcibly assigned Ryuen to their class, and I don't care at all about the fact that he, who was originally the leader, was suddenly replaced due to illness. The original Class D has directly risen to Class B in just four months, which is something that has never happened in the school before."

"Although this is not the rule, please abide by ethical standards. I really want to avoid reporting my colleague's inappropriate behavior to my superiors."

Chabashira Sae's expression gradually became serious, as did her tone.

"I simply think that this year's students have very special qualities!"

That is indeed the case.

The two of them reached a consensus on a rare point.

......

After dinner, Kusuo Saiki returned to his room and pondered how he should spend his upcoming vacation.

But at that moment, a familiar voice rang out at Saiki Kusuo's door; the visitor was none other than Karuizawa Megumi.

[Shouldn't Saiki be here? Manabe and the others apologized... was it because of Saiki? What exactly did he do?]

Kusuo Saiki overheard Karuizawa's doubts.

'Since there's nothing else, it's best to pretend you're not here.'

Saiki Kusuo said this.

Qi Mu seems to really like cakes and puddings, so I brought him some. If he's not here, he can take it back to his dorm and eat it himself.

Just as Karuizawa Kei hesitated whether to knock on the door, Saiki Kusuo stepped forward and pushed the door open.

"Huh? Saiki-kun?"

Karuizawa Kei was caught off guard by the sudden opening of the door and was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"I heard a noise outside, so I opened the door."

Kusuo Saiki replied.

"Oh...oh right, I brought you some dessert!"

As she spoke, Karuizawa Kei handed the bag in her hand to Saiki Kusuo.

"If you're feeling grateful... you can reciprocate tenfold..."

Karuizawa Kei is a somewhat contradictory person. On the one hand, she is genuinely grateful to Shiki Kusuo, but at the same time, she maintains a subtle queen-like demeanor.

"Thank you very much."

Kusuo Saiki took the bag and quickly glanced at the snacks inside.

"Um... what did you do to Manabe?"

Karuizawa asked with some confusion.

"No, it's probably because you apologized that Manabe and the others couldn't keep bothering you."

Saiki Kusuo said slowly.

Karuizawa Kei pursed her lips; of course, she didn't believe Saiki Kusuo's words.

In the blink of an eye, Kusuo Saiki was already seated and had placed the dessert on the table.

【So fast! 】

Even Karuizawa Kei couldn't help but sigh.

Kusuo Saiki looked at the dessert in his hand, thought for a moment, and then turned to look at Megumi Karuizawa.

"Want to eat together?"

"I......"

Karuizawa Kei paused for a moment, but nodded anyway, and sat down next to Saiki Kusuo to eat sweets together.

Her gaze would occasionally drift towards Kusuo Saiki, where she saw him eating dessert.

[When Saiki-kun eats, he really seems like a different person... kind of cute?]

‘…’

This thought brought Saiki Kusuo's attention back to reality, and he quickly controlled his expression.

But just then, Saiki Kusuo's phone vibrated. He took out his phone, glanced at the message, and saw it was from the school.

"The results of this special exam are hereby announced."

Kusuo Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that some of the students in the class seemed to be gathered together discussing the exam results, and of course, Kusuo Saiki didn't want to participate.

"Whose message is it?"

Karuizawa asked instinctively, leaning forward and glancing at Saiki Kusuo's phone.

"Didn't you receive the exam email from the school?"

"My phone died, and I haven't been back to my dorm since I left the meeting room."

Karuizawa Kei shook her head.

"Then take a look."

Kusuo Saiki then handed the phone to Megumi Karuizawa. He didn't need to see the specific information; he already knew the exam results.

Karuizawa Kei looked at her phone screen, her gaze sweeping over the dense text.

The Rat (子) – because the traitor answered correctly, the result is number three.

Ugly (Ox) – Due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.

Yin (Tiger) – Completely concealing the existence of the favored, therefore resulting in outcome two.

The answer to the question "卯 (Rabbit)" is the fourth result, due to the traitor's incorrect answer.

......

Hai (Pig) – Because the traitor answered correctly, the result is three.

Based on the above results, the increases and decreases in class and individual points in this exam are as follows.

The points will be followed by the units cl and pr, which are abbreviations for class points and individual points, respectively.

Class A... deduct 200cl, add 200 million pr

Class B... plus 50cl, plus 300 million pr

Class C... No changes to CL, plus 250 million PR

Class D... plus 150cl, plus 550 million pr

In this exam, Class D, to which Kusuo Saiki belongs, earned a certain number of class points, and thus achieved second place. They are now very close to Class A.

However, the biggest winner this time was Class D, the class that Long Yuanxiang was in.

Karuizawa Kei wasn't particularly bright, and he couldn't understand how Class D, which was originally ranked last, had managed to do it.

"Ugh?!"

Karuizawa Kei was somewhat surprised.

"Is Class D actually the biggest winner this time?"