1 Chapter 8.3: The group of failures, attempt 2 Part 3

It was ten minutes before the end of lunch. All of the members in the study group packed up and headed towards the staff room. In any case, we can't proceed until we make sure we know what's covered on the test.

"Sensei. We have something we want to confirm quickly."

"That was quite an entrance. All the other teachers are surprised."

"Sorry for intruding."

"It's ok, but we're in the middle of something. Keep it short."

She kept writing in her notebook, continuing her work.

"Last week, when you told us what was covered on the test, did you make a mistake? A little while ago, class C students told us that their test was different."

Without batting an eyebrow, Chiyabashira-sensei listened to Horikita. Then Sensei, who was listening in silence, suddenly stopped moving her pen.

"...The topics covered on the test were changed last Friday. Sorry, I forgot to tell you guys."

"What—!?"

After writing down the new scope of the test on a piece of paper, she ripped the page and handed it to Horikita. The textbook pages on the paper were all material we had already covered, and Sudou and the others hadn't learned the material.

"Horikita, thanks to you, I noticed my mistake. Thanks to the rest of you too. Later then."

"W-wait a bit, Sae-chan-sensei!? Isn't this way too late?"

"No, I don't think so. If they study for the next week, everything will be fine, no?"

Without any second thoughts. Chiyabashira-sensei tried to get us out of the staff room. However, no one moved.

"Even if you guys refuse to leave, nothing will change. You understand that, right?"

"...Let's go."

"B-but Horikita-chan! I can't agree to this!"

"As Sensei said, staying here would just be a waste of time. We should just start anew and study the revised material."

"But still!"

Turning her heels, Horikita left the room. Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi all followed, albeit reluctantly. Chiyabashira-sensei didn't even glance at us as we left. She didn't even say sorry for her mistake. Above all, I thought the other teachers would've said something after that incident.

Even though it was a pretty serious mistake for a homeroom teacher to make, there was no response from anyone else. My eyes then met with Hoshinomiya-sensei for a moment. With a small smile, she waved at me.

Well, I guess that's a response. However, I don't think that she just "forgot" to tell us about the test.

Walking out into the hallway, the bell for the afternoon classes rang.

"Kushida-san. I have a favor to ask of you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I want you to tell the rest of class D about the changes to the test."

With that, Sensei handed Kushida a piece of paper.

"I'm ok with it, but... is it fine for me to do so?"

"You're the best person to ask here. Also, it's impossible to take the test without knowing what it's about."

"Ok, I will inform everyone about the change."

"By tomorrow, I'll make sure to revise our study plan as well."

Even though Horikita was pretending to be calm, I knew she was feeling slightly anxious. Our frantic studying the past few days are now useless. Also, we only have about a week left until the test.

However, the biggest worry was Sudou, Ike and Yamauchi's motivation.

"Horikita. I know it'll be hard, but I will rely on you."

Sudou bowed to Horikita.

"I... starting tomorrow, will take a break from club activities for a week. Will that work?"

"...That's..."

Considering that we only have a week left, it's a very reasonable decision.

Even though it was the best possible thing she could ask for, Horikita couldn't immediately accept.

"Is that really ok? It'll be hard, you know?"

"Studying is difficult, right?"

Broadly grinning, Sudou patted her shoulder.

"Sudou, are you serious?"

"Yea. I'm really annoyed right now. Both at our homeroom teacher and those class C punks."

I guess you could call this a blessing in disguise. Because of this difficult situation, Sudou is starting to give studying a chance. He probably felt that he wouldn't pass if he didn't try harder. Sudou's new motivation seems to have set something off in Ike and Yamauchi.

"Can't help it, guess we'll try harder too."

"Alright. If you guys have prepared yourselves for it, then please cooperate with me. However, Sudou-kun—"

Horikita brushed off Sudou's hand from her shoulder.

"Don't touch me. If you do it again, I won't show any mercy."

"...You're not cute, woman..."

"We'll absolutely do well!"

"Me too!"

Kushida, also feeling motivated, stuck out her first.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you too!"

"Huh? No, I'll—"

"By any chance... did you give up?"

"...I'm thinking about it..."

"You already promised to work with me. Did you forget?"

Horikita kept an eye on me after hearing me.

"I'm not good at teaching. People are good and bad at some things, right?"

Honestly, in terms of teaching others, Horikita and Kushida are better than I am.

Also, I'm not someone cut out to teach.

"No, your test scores aren't that good, right?"

"There's not much time, so I think it's better for Horikita and Kushida to teach together, rather than doing separate one-on-one sessions. Also, there's something I'm worried about."

"Worried about?"

The events that just happened in the staff room are too serious to overlook.