Chapter 77: Setting the Trap

  "It seems like you came a little te today."

  In the library, Hiyori put down the book in her hands and curiously asked the person who had arrived te.

  "Ah~ It's... It's because I got deyed by some things."

  Hikigaya's eyes darted away. He definitely couldn't bring himself to say, "I scared Sakura away because I'm too terrifying," which would be an embarrassing bck mark on his record!

  It seemed that ever since he "met" Sakura, Hikigaya found his bck history growing exponentially. He really didn’t want more of that!

  "Is that so? But why is Hikigaya-kun sweating so much?"

  Hiyori asked, still curious, while pulling out a pack of tissues from her pocket and offering it to him.

  Hikigaya quickly thanked her and then became curious about why Hiyori was at the library today. After all, she had been holding study sessions for the css, and Hikigaya hadn’t run into her alone at the library for a while. Their "accidental" meeting st night had been completely unexpected.

  After hearing Hikigaya's words, Hiyori sighed involuntarily. "My original pn was to tutor Ishizaki and a few others today, but near the end of the school day, they were all called away by Ryuen-kun, I don't even know for what."

  A dissatisfied expression appeared on her face. Judging by how she scolded Ishizaki and the others st night, Hiyori didn’t seem like the type to just let Ryuen have his way, but the reality was that she was sitting here, compining to Hikigaya.

  "It’s not your fault, Hiyori. You just didn’t want your cssmates to be caught in the middle, feeling uncomfortable."

  Hikigaya understood the kind-hearted nature of the girl in front of him. She wasn’t submitting to Ryuen; she simply didn’t want Ishizaki and the others to get hurt because of her.

  Given Ryuen’s personality, Hikigaya guessed that Ryuen probably wouldn’t make a move against Hiyori, because she shared the same noble "selfless dedication for the css" spirit as Hirata. The warning from Ishizaki and the others st night, urging him to stay away from Hiyori, was one of the best proofs.

  The concept of "noble ideals" felt abstract, but when the need arose, it could unleash infinite possibilities.

  At least during the midterm exams, Ryuen wouldn’t make a move against Hiyori; he would even protect her.

  However, Ryuen not targeting Hiyori didn’t mean he wouldn’t target others, like Ishizaki, and the others. With Hiyori’s nature, she would never just stand by and let them be hurt, which meant Ryuen would keep using her "kindness" as a weakness.

  Seeing that Hiyori looked downhearted, Hikigaya decided to change the subject.

  "By the way, Hiyori, what do you think about this school’s midterm exam?"

  "What do I think? Isn’t it just about everyone working hard to review and helping each other to pass the exam? The rule about being expelled if you fail is really too strict, though."

  Hiyori’s opinion wasn’t complicated. She still saw the midterm exam at this school as no different from other exams. The only thing she had an issue with was the harsh expulsion rule.

  "It must be tough, teaching and helping your cssmates in the study sessions, right?"

  Hiyori nodded and sighed. "Tough? It’s more than tough, it’s driving me crazy."

  There weren’t many students in Css C with excellent academic abilities, even fewer than in Css D. Besides Hiyori, there were only two other girls who were decent at their studies and helping with tutoring, but the boys were in much worse shape. Except for the top student, Kaneda, there was no other boy who could help, so Hiyori had to focus most of her energy on tutoring the boys.

  The boys like Ishizaki and Yamawaki, whom Hikigaya had seen that night, were among them. It wasn’t hard to imagine that with such a group of troublemakers who didn’t listen, Hiyori was already doing well by keeping her temper in check instead of storming off in frustration.

  "Uh, Hiyori, you’ve really had it tough."

  Hikigaya deeply sympathized with her situation of having to py both the mother and the father. Just look at how many times Horikita had lost her temper with the fools in her group, and Kushida was constantly pying mediator, trying to smooth things over while maintaining a smile. It really was a thankless job, and anyone doing it would suffer.

  Hikigaya had already seen plenty of conflicts in the library during breaks. Horikita and the three fools would clearly hate each other but still try to keep the study session going. It was a bizarre situation, with Kushida acting as the lubricant, using his "monkey training method" with great expertise.

  "Actually, there’s a way to do it without making things so tough."

  Hikigaya unconsciously gnced at a certain spot, thought for a moment, and then slowly spoke.

  Hikigaya pointed at the practice exam paper in front of Hiyori: "From what I know from the student council, every year’s freshmen have to face the ‘fail and get expelled’ midterm exam, and it’s the same for second-year and third-year students."

  Hikigaya stopped here, and Hiyori had already realized what he was implying.

  "Are you saying there are past exam papers?"

  Hiyori’s mouth opened in surprise.

  "Yes."

  Hikigaya nodded mysteriously. "The midterm exam from st year is very likely to be the same this year. Even the previous quizzes were exactly the same, no changes."

  "But doesn’t that viote school rules?"

  For Hiyori, who was obedient and followed the rules, this idea felt too rebellious.

  Hikigaya shook his head. "No, quite the opposite. The school has never explicitly stated any rules about this. It’s like they accidentally overlooked this loophole. You could even say that this midterm exam is a test to see how we can cleverly use the rules."

  Past exam papers—this was the "hidden rule" for passing the midterm exams and also the method hinted at in Tea Pilr-sensei’s words to avoid failure.

  When Hiyori seemed like she was about to speak again, Hikigaya quickly interrupted and continued, "Actually, confirming this guess is very simple. You just need to ask older students if they have past exam papers. By observing their reactions, you can judge if it’s true or not, right? For lower-level csses, this is a guaranteed way to prevent students on the edge of failing from being expelled."

  For higher-level csses, the past exam papers didn’t matter much, but for lower-level csses with generally weaker academic performance, it was a "guaranteed safety net."

  What Hikigaya said was clearly right and, in terms of results, the most practical and fitting solution.

  The logic was sound, but Hiyori’s face remained full of unease.

  Hiyori still felt uneasy about using such a "shortcut." She was worried that passing the exam this way would encourage zy, "get something for nothing" thinking among the students. Even if they could pass every exam using such a method, life couldn’t always rely on shortcuts, or even cheating.

  What Hiyori was truly concerned about was that this "shortcut" method would subconsciously foster ziness in the css, leading to negative thinking.

  Just as Hiyori was about to speak, two figures appeared behind Hikigaya, having shown up without him noticing.

  "Ishizaki-kun? Ibuki-san?"

  Before Hiyori could say anything further, Ishizaki had already impatiently shouted at Hikigaya, "Hey, didn’t I warn you st night not to get close to Hiyori?!"

  "Ishizaki-kun!"

  "Sorry, Shiina, but this is Ryuen-san’s order."

  Hiyori furrowed her brows, about to speak, but Hikigaya stopped her. He shook his head to reassure her, signaling that it was fine. He took a deep look at Ishizaki and Ibuki, then packed his things, said "see you next time" to Hiyori, and left on his own.