Inside the private box, Kure Ragna listened to Mochigase's explanation with a stunned expression.
He was so shocked that he didn't even realize the fried chicken in his hand had been squeezed so tightly that oil dripped down his fingers, staining his palm.
"...Wait, the old man actually said that?"
His voice wavered, barely coherent.
If he had heard this in the past, he would have immediately dismissed it as nonsense. The idea that the Kure Clan's chief—his own grandfather—would say something like this went against everything their ancestors stood for.
But then again, hadn't his own life already deviated from tradition? Instead of training as a fighter after junior high, he was forced to enroll in this high school. Wasn't that already a break from the norm?
Thinking about it that way, maybe it wasn't so absurd after all.
Mochigase took a sip of Coke, then wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand before pushing himself up from the floor. His stance was shaky, but his tone remained casual.
"In any case, those were his exact words. I've delivered the message. Whether you believe it or not is up to you… Well, I should be heading back."
Mochigase had only told Kure Ragna a portion of his grandfather's words—he hadn't shared the full story.
"Wait, where are you going?" Ragna asked, still processing everything.
"Back to headquarters, obviously." Mochigase smirked, stretching his sore shoulder. "I lost the fight, so there's no point in sticking around."
As he turned to leave, he suddenly paused. "Oh yeah, there's one more thing."
"What?"
"It's a message from President Katahara Metsudo. Two sentences in total."
For some reason, an uneasy feeling crept up Kure Ragna's spine.
Mochigase raised two fingers and spoke deliberately.
"First—'I wish my dear brother a happy campus life.'"
He paused before continuing.
"And second—'If you want to become stronger, eat the forbidden fruit.'"
With that, he tossed the empty Coke bottle into a nearby trash bin, turned on his heel, and bolted out the door, disappearing before Ragna could even react.
A moment of silence passed before Kure Ragna sighed, rubbing his temple.
"Eat the forbidden fruit if I want to get stronger? What kind of nonsense is that…? That old man is still a damn virgin, what does he know about forbidden fruits?"
But before he could dwell on it, another problem surfaced.
His eyes drifted toward the streaks of blood leading from the floor to the doorway.
"…How the hell am I supposed to explain this to the KTV boss?"
A cold sweat formed on his forehead.
No—wait. This wasn't his responsibility. The room wasn't even his to begin with.
"If anyone asks, I wasn't here. This is Mochigase's problem, not mine. Time to disappear."
Grabbing his unfinished Coke, he casually tossed it into the fried chicken bucket, picked up the entire thing, and swiftly exited the room.
By the time the staff realized something was amiss, the young and handsome new physical education teacher—who had only been employed for half a day—had already vanished, setting a new record for the fastest escape in Advanced Nurturing High School's history.
---
On the Other Side
Hidden in the distance, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka silently observed everything. His expression remained unreadable, but his mind worked carefully, piecing the situation together.
No one could tell what he was thinking—or what his next move would be.
---
The Next Morning
Morning class began as usual.
Because the preliminary test had been conducted the previous day, Sae Chabashira entered the classroom with a stack of corrected test papers in hand.
After distributing them, she turned toward the blackboard, listing the names and scores of every student. Once done, she faced the class, her tone as flat as ever.
"Here are your test results. You can check your individual papers or look at the board."
There was no fluctuation in her voice—no hint of praise or disappointment.
"Some of you didn't study very well in junior high, that much is clear," she continued. "However, what surprises me is that most of you managed to pass."
Pass?
Kure Ragna glanced at the blackboard.
The scores were arranged in descending order. At the top was Haruno Yukinoshita, unsurprisingly, with a perfect score.
Just a few places below, he found his own name—85 points, tying for fourth with Yosuke Hirata.
It was worth noting that Koenji Rokusuke had secured third place with a 95. The guy was now busy combing his hair, his expression smug. The moment he caught Ragna looking, he flashed a wicked grin.
Idiot…
But something felt off.
Chabashira had said most of the students passed, yet from the rankings, it was obvious that nearly half of them had scored below 60.
By normal standards, wouldn't that mean a lot of them had failed?
Unless…
He narrowed his eyes.
They're using a different passing threshold.
It wasn't uncommon. Schools in Japan didn't have a unified grading system. Some based passing marks on a fixed number, while others used a relative scale.
Chabashira's next words confirmed his suspicion.
"Of course, even though many of you technically passed, some of your scores are, quite frankly, garbage. That's because our school has rather loose standards for passing. As long as your score is at least half the class average, you're considered to have passed."
Half the class average?
That was absurdly low.
Unlike society, where the top 1% could skew the overall metrics, a test had a fixed maximum score of 100. There was a limit to how much top scorers could influence the average.
A quick mental calculation told him that the class's total score divided by 40 resulted in an average of 64 points. Half of that would be…
32.
That meant anyone who scored at least 32 had technically passed.
And the only one below that threshold is…
"Sudo," Chabashira called out, her voice cold. "You're the only one who failed."
The entire class turned to look at him.
She didn't stop there.
"Since I brought it up before, let me clarify—your midterm exam will be an opportunity to earn class points. The number of points you gain will be based on your class's average performance. At most, you can earn 100 class points."
Then, her tone turned even sharper.
"And here's the bad news. Anyone who fails the midterm won't just be expelled. If someone fails, the entire class will be penalized by losing 30 class points per failing student."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Chabashira smirked slightly.
"That concludes this morning's session. Good luck."
-----------------------
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