Classroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 76

Chapter 76: End of Final Exams

The school bell echoed through the sprawling campus of Advanced Nurturing High School, its sharp chime serving as the ultimate declaration of freedom. The long, grueling gauntlet of final exams had finally reached its conclusion.

Inside the classroom, the suffocating tension instantly evaporated, replaced by a restless, buzzing energy. It was as if a collective breath, held for weeks, had finally been exhaled.

Almost immediately, every conversation converged on a single, tantalizing focal point.

The upcoming summer vacation—specifically, the dreamlike luxury cruise trip.

Students clustered together in small groups, their faces flushed with undisguised excitement.

“It’s finally over! I swear, my brain cells are completely fried!”

“Tell me about it. That last essay question was practically a death sentence… but who cares? We survived!”

“Hey, hey, did you guys buy your swimsuits yet? I saw this incredibly cute one at Keyaki Mall yesterday!”

“Forget the clothes, think about the food! I heard the ship’s buffet is open twenty-four hours a day, with hundreds of gourmet dishes. I’m going to gorge myself from the moment we board until they kick us off!”

A luxury cruise. The boundless blue sea and sky. Free food, opulent lodging, and endless entertainment. These words dangled in the air like irresistible bait, easily capturing the hearts of the exhausted adolescents.

Kaedehara Tetsu remained seated by the window, entirely detached from the surrounding clamor. He didn’t join the frantic discussions, his gaze simply drifting toward the scenery outside the glass.

A soft pressure nudged his back. A finger, poking him with a tentative, almost clinical force.

He didn’t need to turn around. He already recognized that highly specific, rhythmic touch.

“Kaedehara Tetsu.”

Morishita Ai’s voice drifted from directly behind him. Her tone was hushed, carefully modulated as if she were afraid of startling a wild animal.

She leaned forward, her presence encroaching on his personal space until her head peeked over his shoulder. Her large, unblinking eyes locked onto his profile, brimming with an eccentric, analytical curiosity.

“During the exam just now, I observed that your pen stopped moving for a considerable amount of time. Did you encounter a problem that exceeded your cognitive limits?”

Before he could answer, she offered a deadpan follow-up. “If you require academic assistance, I can provide my services at any time.” A brief pause. “It is free of charge, too.”

Tetsu slowly turned his head to meet her unwavering stare.

“No,” he replied, his voice a calm, flat drawl. “I was just about to fall asleep.”

“Asleep?” Morishita tilted her head a fraction of an inch. “It seems the exam questions lacked the necessary stimulation, boring you to the point of unconsciousness?”

She didn’t miss a beat, her interrogation proceeding with mechanical efficiency. “What is your self-assessment regarding your overall grasp of this exam’s material?”

“Barely passing.”

“‘Barely passing’…”

Morishita’s gaze lingered on his face, her eyes narrowing imperceptibly as she processed the data. “That is a highly ambiguous metric. Do you mean hovering just above the school’s minimum threshold, or merely meeting your own internal expectations…”

“Yo, what are you two whispering about over here? Secretly cross-checking your answers?”

A frivolous, smoothly polished voice sliced through their quiet exchange.

Hashimoto Masayoshi had materialized beside their desks. He didn’t bother sitting, opting instead to stand with one hand casually tucked into his slacks and the other resting on the edge of an empty desk. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp.

His gaze flicked back and forth between Tetsu and Morishita, calculating the distance and atmosphere between them, before finally settling on Tetsu.

“Judging by those serious expressions, you definitely aren’t discussing anything fun. So, Kaedehara, how did you fare?”

Without actually waiting for Tetsu to formulate a response, Hashimoto waved his hand dismissively, steering the conversation with practiced ease.

“Never mind, never mind. Talking about grades right after the bell rings is the ultimate buzzkill.”

He leaned in slightly, a conspiratorial grin spreading across his face. “Let’s focus on something far more appropriate for this celebratory atmosphere. For instance… that massive luxury liner waiting for us.”

Hashimoto lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming with a cunning, almost predatory amusement. “The boundless blue ocean, the endless buffet, the open-air pool on the top deck… just picturing it is enough to make a guy’s blood boil, right?”

He smoothly pivoted the topic, tossing a loaded question directly into Tetsu’s lap.

“But let’s say you had to choose between the two absolute peaks of this vacation… Kaedehara, I’m genuinely curious.”

A mischievous, probing smile tugged at the corners of Hashimoto’s mouth.

“The magnificent, impressive natural scenery, or the sight of cute girls in swimsuits. Which of these two do you prefer?”

It was a blatant trap. A psychological snare wrapped in a casual joke. Choosing either option would inevitably expose a specific facet of his character—either a pretentious liar or a shallow pervert.

Morishita didn’t spare Hashimoto a single glance. Her unblinking stare remained locked entirely on Tetsu. She clearly had zero interest in Hashimoto’s existence, but the underlying premise of his question had piqued her curiosity. She wanted to observe how Tetsu would handle such a direct, vulgar binary.

“Do I have to choose just one?” Tetsu leaned back in his chair, his posture loose. He shifted his gaze from Hashimoto’s expectant, theatrical grin back toward the window.

“Scenery—especially something as grand and monotonous as the ocean—suffers from the fastest rate of diminishing returns,” Tetsu began, his tone dry and deeply analytical. “On the first day, you might feel a deep sense of exhilaration at its vastness. But give it time. When you wake up every single morning to the exact same endless blue horizon, aesthetic fatigue sets in rapidly. Its long-term intrinsic value is actually the lowest.”

He paused, letting the silence stretch for a heartbeat before turning his dark eyes back to the two of them.

Hashimoto listened to this absurdly academic breakdown, his smile widening into something genuinely delighted. He nodded enthusiastically, gesturing for Tetsu to keep going.

“So, following that flawless logic, the value of swimsuits is the highest?” Hashimoto prompted, his voice laced with suppressed laughter.

“No.” Tetsu shook his head with absolute solemnity.

“The value of a swimsuit is highly volatile. It is entirely dependent on the underlying quality of the ‘human body’ wearing it. A high-tier physique acts as a multiplier, causing the aesthetic value of the fabric to increase exponentially. Conversely, a poor-quality physique forces the swimsuit’s value to plummet toward zero, potentially even crossing the threshold into negative visual pollution.”

He delivered the conclusion with the gravity of a professor ending a lecture. “Therefore, both options possess distinct pros and cons, making it impossible to objectively declare one superior to the other.”

“Wow…”

Hashimoto stared at him for a second before letting out a long, impressed whistle.

“Kaedehara, you really are… spectacularly boring.”

“I am merely stating empirical facts,” Tetsu replied smoothly.

“Right, right. So, Kaedehara…” Hashimoto leaned closer, his eyes dancing. “After that incredibly deep, philosophical analysis… what is your final verdict?”

Tetsu adjusted his posture, his expression a mask of pristine virtue. “A man must maintain his integrity and personal style. One must constantly strive to be a noble gentleman, entirely divorced from such low-brow, primal interests.”

Just as Hashimoto’s face began to fall, assuming Tetsu was actually going to choose the ‘scenery’ to maintain his image, Tetsu smoothly tacked on his final thought.

“However, I still prefer the swimsuits.”

“Pfft… Hahahaha!”

Hashimoto completely broke character. He doubled over, clutching his stomach as genuine, booming laughter echoed around their corner of the room.

“I knew it! Kaedehara, you… you really put on a flawless act!”

While Hashimoto struggled to catch his breath, Morishita, still hovering near Tetsu’s shoulder, let out a soft, barely audible breath through her nose. It was a delicate, yet utterly devastating sound of pure contempt.

She didn’t say a word, but the look in her large, doll-like eyes as she stared at his serious profile screamed a single, unmistakable accusation: Hypocrite.

“Alright, alright, my ribs hurt.” Hashimoto finally managed to straighten up, wiping a stray tear of mirth from his eye. “Man, getting to see this interesting side of you makes today a total win.”

He checked his phone and waved a hand at the pair. “It’s getting late. I need to go prep my gear for the trip. Catch you later.”

With a light, bouncy step, Hashimoto turned and strolled out of the classroom.

Morishita stood up straight, smoothing out her skirt.

“Goodbye, perverted boyfriend.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and silently glided out the door.

By now, the vast majority of the students had already departed. The frantic, buzzing clamor of the afternoon quickly receded, draining from the room like an ebbing tide, leaving Tetsu alone in the quiet warmth of the classroom.