The special examinations were over, and the next day, the closing ceremony of the second semester was held.
After listening to the teachers' speeches in the gymnasium, the students returned to their classroom for a brief presentation of awards. Those who excelled in club activities and other competitions got their rewards, and we also received a reminder for the winter break.
Then, Chabashira-sensei announced the results of the special examinations.
While everyone was holding their breath, we were told that our class had won.
At that moment, the students were cheering a shout of joy that echoed to the neighboring classes.
Only 50 class points were awarded or deducted for each class' win or loss, respectively.
Yet, we had gained a large number of them.
Almost at the same time, I received two messages on my cell phone.
One was from Ichinose, congratulating me on my victory.
The other one was from…
"Winter vacation starts tomorrow. It's important to take it easy on the first day, and cool down after your heads have gotten all heated up from studying so much."
Chabashira-sensei told us that we were dismissed from the class, while everyone's jubilation still lingered.
It was impressive to see Chabashira-sensei's eyes narrowed with happiness as she left the classroom.
As previously announced, this special test had a system that allowed each student in each class to know in detail who solved which problem, how many questions were answered correctly, the order they answered questions, and the amount of time taken was also disclosed.
By looking at this data, not only did we know who had made the effort, but also the strategy of each class.
It was definitely going to be useful data for both allies and rivals.
I'll check the details later, since I can do that on my cell phone.
I left the classroom ahead of the other students, who were making a fuss over the results.
Kei was watching me the whole time.
After missing the opportunity yesterday, I hadn't heard from Kei until now.
However, she seemed to be trying to make contact with me, since she was looking at me right before I left.
If it's hard to talk in a crowded place like this; we should relocate.
At the moment, Kei is still unstable and lacks a decisive factor for me to take action.
I can't expect her to grow if we continue to be estranged, so it can't be helped.
With this in mind, I decided to leave the classroom for a while, but...
"Are you going home alone?"
I went out into the hallway and the one who came running after me was not Kei, but Horikita.
"Is this okay? The person who played a key role in our victory left the classroom so quickly."
"I'll go back later. I thought I'd have a little chat with you."
With that, she caught up with me and we started to walk together. Indeed, there was no bag in Horikita's hand, and it seemed certain that she'd return to the classroom later.
"You used an interesting strategy for this special exam."
"I don't know if my way was the most efficient or not."
Horikita's strategy started with making Keisei the leadoff hitter to attempt the problems. Since he's one of the top students in our grade, she had him solve the minimum required two problems quickly. Afterwards he used the remaining time to focus on reading the other questions.
The purpose of this plan was to allow the following lower-ranked students to solve the easier problems.
The strategy was to alternate between the highest and the lowest ranked students.
However, this strategy couldn't be used under normal circumstances, because it was forbidden to talk during the test. No cell phones, pens or notes were allowed.
However, if you were wondering if there weren't any gaps at all, the answer would be no.
While the student in front was solving a problem alone in the classroom, the next student was waiting in the hallway.
In other words, when someone left the classroom after solving a problem, there was a moment when they passed each other, albeit only briefly.
There were two entrances to the classrooms, so if the students had to use the front when entering, and the back when exiting, a distance would be created, but Horikita had devised a solution for that.
All you had to do was to look at each other for a moment. The idea was that each student would communicate with the next using hand signs, to indicate which problems they should solve.
For example, if the suggestion was the 55th problem, they would show their right hand with two pairs of fingers crossed twice. If the suggestion was the 69th problem, they would show both hands with six fingers in total then extend nine fingers.
Horikita confirmed in advance that the rules didn't allow her to say anything about the answers to the problems, but it wasn't against the rules to use hand signs to tell which problem should be solved.
The instruction to simply tell the student which problem to solve didn't constitute cheating, and the rule against talking was also maintained. By repeating this, the less advanced students were able to concentrate on solving their problems more carefully, without having to search for them.
"Sakayanagi-san's class was also very close, even with our many students of low academic ability, we were only able to win in terms of total points, not in terms of percentage of correct answers."
Horikita's class got 72% correct while Sakayanagi's class got 86%.
If the competition had been played under the same conditions and distribution of scores, Horikita would've lost.
"She would not be happy. She did what she had to do, and lost."
She'd always ranked first in the midterms and written exams, and she proved it again this time.
"A win is a win, even if the percentage of correct answers is not as good as hers. No need to be pessimistic."
In fact, it was Horikita's class that gained class points and Sakayanagi's that lost them.
And a 72% correct answer rate is no less than excellent.
"Of course, I'm not pessimistic. I was just frustrated."
I guess that was unnecessary, it seems that their rivalry is much stronger than I expected.
"By the way, Karuizawa-san hasn't been well lately. She's been working hard on her studies, but is there something wrong?"
"Nothing. If I had to say, we may be in something resembling a bit like a cold war."
"I wouldn't call it nothing. It's rare to see you two fight."
"It happens when a man and a woman have been together for a long time. I know that well from experience."
Horikita raised her eyebrows and looked doubtful, as if she didn't like my answer.
"It's a good thing that she was able to get results in the study sessions and in the competition, even though she was in an unstable state of mind."
"It was said that she was so mentally cornered that she devoted herself to studying which she dislikes... Karuizawa-san's morale can easily also affect the rest of our class. Make up with her as soon as possible."
As a leader, you want to keep the class stable.
I saw Horikita off as she returned to the classroom and then I decided to leave.