Arc 9Chapters 201–221
No recap yet. An arc gets one once it has 25 chapters.
No recap yet. An arc gets one once it has 25 chapters.
Ike devised a plan to protect himself from Bai Lan by publicly advocating for a lighter punishment during the anonymous class discussion, hoping Bai Lan would owe him a favor. As the meeting approached, Kushida and Hirata prepared the class group and shared the rules and evidence for the discussion.
Class 2-D held a discussion meeting to decide Bai Lan’s punishment, with Hirata serving as judge and Kushida leading the proceedings. Ike tried to earn Bai Lan’s favor by proposing a light punishment, but Karuizawa posted an even stronger defense, and the meeting continued under rules that gave each student only one chance to speak in the opening stage.
Karuizawa proposed no punishment for Bai Lan, while Ike plotted to use her loyalty against her and mocked Horikita’s proposal of a special award. Horikita argued that Bai Lan had saved the class at least 400 points by protecting Karuizawa, reframing his attack as part of the same incident and leaving the class to consider his contribution.
Horikita argued that Bai Lan’s actions had saved the class far more points than they had cost and that he deserved a Special Award, prompting students to debate how to reward or punish him. The trial entered its Battle Stage, where Horikita defended Bai Lan against the severe-punishment faction and left its representative speechless.
Horikita argued that Bai Lan’s achievements and the deterrence he provided justified a substantial reward, warning that punishing him could drive him to leave the class and become its enemy. The class’s factions fell silent or changed their positions, leaving Kogenji as the last hope for those seeking to reduce Bai Lan’s reward.
Horikita argued that Bai Lan deserved the Special Award because his abilities and the class's trust in him made him irreplaceable. Kogenji conceded that she had missed her chance to earn credit for helping Karuizawa, and the Battle Stage ended with Karuizawa confirming she would still turn to Bai Lan for help.
First-Year Class B awarded Bai Lan a 400-point Special Prize after Horikita persuaded the class not to punish him, while Bai Lan packed for his planned departure and ignored the meeting. When he learned of the decision, he realized Horikita had used his influence to sway the class and worried that his plans had gone awry.
Bai Lan’s efforts to reduce his standing in class backfired, and Horikita revealed that a dropout would cost the class 300 points. After his five million yen withdrawal was approved, Bai Lan collected the cash, arranged a trip outside school, and left through the gate the next morning.
Bai Lan traveled to the Arctic to fulfill his wish of fighting a polar bear, while his absence left Teacher Chazhu reflecting on his claims about who deserved Class A. She resolved to test whether her class could rise to Class A without being opposed by the school and society.
Chazhu told Class B that Bai Lan was absent, then teased them into thinking he had dropped out and cost them 300 points. Hirata explained that Bai Lan had used points to legally leave school, while Chazhu considered how to develop other capable students in his absence.
Hirata explained Bai Lan’s planned absence as a chance for the class to prove itself and take on more responsibility. As the students accepted his explanation, Horikita and Kogenji emerged as ambitious students seeking influence, with Kogenji determined to reach Class A.
Kogenji abandoned his plan to earn points independently after realizing Bai Lan had monopolized the class’s opportunities and authority. While Bai Lan was absent, Kogenji decided to copy his successful tactics and seize influence, ending with Kogenji looking toward the second-year Class D classroom upstairs.
Bai Lan trained several polar bears in the Arctic by fighting them and feeding them, while searching for a well-fed bear strong enough to challenge. On June 9, he prepared for his final training session before heading back to school.
Bai Lan lured a polar bear with a fish-scented buoy and challenged it, then looked forward to returning to Advanced Nurturing High School so he could resume his dropout plan. After nearly a week without signal, he reached a port, received a flood of missed messages, and checked his communications app for updates from Kushida Kikyo.
After returning from the Arctic, Bai Lan learned that Kogenji had exposed Yonekura and her accomplices for framing Karuizawa, leading to their expulsion and the withdrawal of two other students. Bai Lan hurried back to Japan, rented an apartment near the school, and began considering what Kogenji’s actions meant.
Bai Lan stored his Arctic gear and souvenirs in his new apartment, then reviewed the messages about Kogenji’s plan to force Yonekura and four others to drop out. He realized Kogenji wanted to seize his authority by surpassing his earlier revenge, and wondered how Kogenji had obtained one million points so quickly.
Bai Lan deduced that Kogenji was saving points to change classes, then rejected the idea of hiring him to help force Bai Lan’s own expulsion. After returning to school, Bai Lan arranged for Horikita to take his luggage and went to ambush Nagumo, but found that the stairwell made attacking him too risky.
Bai Lan ambushed Nagumo, intending to beat him, but discovered that Nagumo had a broken arm and realized he could not safely attack him. Nagumo mistook Bai Lan’s angry question about who had injured him for concern, leaving him stunned and confused.
Nagumo interpreted Bai Lan’s questions about his injured hand as an offer to cooperate in framing Kogenji Rokosuke, who had undermined both men’s standing by expelling Yonekura and four others. Seeing a chance to stabilize his control over the second-years and renegotiate his debt to Bai Lan, Nagumo decided to accept while concealing his eagerness.
Bai Lan learned that Nagumo’s hand would take three months to heal, ruining his plan to earn disciplinary penalties by beating Nagumo. He dismissed Nagumo’s request to reduce his debt and saw Kogenji’s rise as a way to weaken the support that had been obstructing Bai Lan’s plan to drop out.
Bai Lan explained how the school would enforce Nagumo’s thirty-million-point debt and concluded that Nagumo would eventually have to target him to escape it. Blaming Hirata for enabling Kogenji’s power grab, Bai Lan ended their agreement and warned him that he would make him suffer.