Saiki Kusuo nodded slightly. He had more or less figured out how to handle Sudo Ken, and now he just needed to repeat the same strategy with Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki for the next two days.
Thinking this, Saiki couldn't help but smirk. He was finally close to escaping this boring study group.
Horikita Suzune continued checking the others' tests, and next up was Saiki's.
'Horikita's satisfied with Sudo's performance, and I got one or two more questions right than him. It should be fine,' Saiki thought, then shifted his gaze to Horikita's face.
As soon as he noticed her furrow her brow, he knew something was off.
"Saiki, it seems you've been hiding your true abilities," Horikita said, turning to face him with a serious expression.
"This fifth question is quite difficult. I didn't expect you to solve it."
'I deliberately included a challenging question to test Ayanokoji and Saiki. Looks like my suspicions were right,' Horikita thought, her eyes reflecting Saiki's image.
Saiki's mind raced.
'Damn, I've been outplayed. Did Horikita intentionally add difficult questions? I couldn't read her thoughts earlier because she was focused on studying… And with these guys around, it's impossible to gauge the questions' difficulty.'
Normally, Saiki used his telepathy to assess the difficulty of exam questions. If even top students struggled with a question, he'd intentionally get it wrong. But this time…
None of the students taking the test were good at studying.
Sudo had improved but was still mediocre, and the other two were so bad they'd be lucky to understand the questions.
As for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, his situation was similar to Saiki's.
This meant Saiki hadn't noticed Horikita's trap earlier.
'I need a plan.'
'Create a strong wind to blow away my test? No, Horikita's already seen my answers.'
'Cause a power outage and swap my test with Ayanokoji's? No, our handwriting's completely different… I'll just have to wing it.'
Saiki kept his expression neutral and asked, "What's wrong?"
"This question is extremely difficult. I'm surprised you solved it," Horikita replied, her gaze intense, like a hunter's.
Ayanokoji also turned to look at Saiki.
'Did Horikita set a trap in the test? If Saiki solved it, he must have exceptional study skills,' Ayanokoji thought.
'This will probably make Ayanokoji even more suspicious… Slightly annoying.'
'But if Saiki's truly hiding his abilities, would he fall for this trap?'
'Wait, I got it right too. Did Saiki intentionally get it right? If he got it wrong, we'd still suspect he's hiding his skills. But by getting it right, he might lower our guard. His actions are hard to predict.'
'What are you even saying?'
Ayanokoji's thoughts were more complex than Saiki expected. Saiki's mind raced as he formulated a response:
"I recently studied this topic, so I knew how to solve it."
"Really? What a coincidence," Horikita said, her gaze unwavering.
"Yeah." Saiki nodded without hesitation.
"Your math test score was average, though."
"So I've started studying harder."
"In that case, I expect you to rank in the top 15 on the next math exam. That shouldn't be too difficult."
"I can't guarantee it. I don't know what the midterm questions will be like. If they're similar to last year's, maybe."
Saiki had no choice but to continue.
'His response makes sense, but it's more likely Saiki's holding back. We might be able to use this to help us advance to Class A.'
"One more thing: when you guys return to the dorm, I want you to tutor Ike and Yamauchi," Horikita said firmly, leaving no room for refusal.
Saiki nodded, resigned. The thought of tutoring those two gave him a headache, but it was an acceptable outcome.
"Ayanokoji, your turn… You got this question right too?"
"Just a lucky guess."
Over an hour later, the study session ended. Ayanokoji was tasked with tutoring other students, just like Saiki.
"Saiki, you're actually good at studying, aren't you?" Ayanokoji asked bluntly as they walked back.
"No, I just happened to review that topic."
Saiki replied without hesitation.
'No change in expression, no avoiding eye contact. Doesn't seem like a lie.'
'He's definitely testing me.'
Saiki rarely showed any emotion, so even Ayanokoji couldn't tell.
He glanced ahead, where Sudo was bragging about his test score to Ike and others.
Just then, Saiki noticed a familiar figure approaching from around the corner—one of the students from Class D who had been monitoring them earlier.
'That's Sudo from Class C. I must follow Ryuuen's instructions and collide with him…'
The student accelerated toward Sudo.