I Don't Want to Fail the Exam!

Horikita Suzune wasn't in a good mood. About a month ago, she had received some information from Kamio Tatsuya.

The school assigned students to classes based on their ranking. Class A was for the elite, while Class D was full of the worst students.

She'd been utterly shocked at first, but soon came to feel that the information had to be wrong.

How could Class D be full of the worst students? Wasn't she excellent?

She was confident in herself. She considered herself an outstanding person, and that conviction had never wavered.

Over the past month, she had witnessed the Class D students' outrageous behavior and reckless antics, but she still didn't think there was anything wrong.

She simply thought that every class had a few lawless troublemakers—and that people like that might even make up the majority.

Besides, hadn't everything been going just fine at first?

But with the teachers' inaction and laissez-faire policy, the students in her class had become increasingly unruly. It was all the teachers' fault.

What she hadn't expected was that this would be a test set by the school.

And the result was that she was now short on meal money.

She was starting to worry about how she'd manage her food expenses this month. Would she have to eat the free Mountain Vegetable Set?

It wasn't that she thought there was anything shameful about eating the Mountain Vegetable Set.

The problem was, what if her brother happened to see her?

That was what she was worried about.

More than anything, she didn't want her brother to see her in such a sorry state.

If she remembered correctly, the school provided free ingredients. She'd go check after class.

"At least tell us the specific criteria for adding and deducting Points... so we can use them as a reference in the future."

Hirata looked visibly frustrated. He remembered what Kamio Tatsuya had just said: evaluations could change.

Even if their Points were at zero now, surely they could raise them by improving their evaluation through hard work.

"That's a reasonable thought, but school policy doesn't allow us to disclose the specific details of your evaluations.

When you enter the workforce, it'll be up to the company to decide whether to tell you the exact criteria for your personnel evaluations. I'm sure you can understand that, at least to some extent."

Looking at her dejected students, Chabashira-sensei gave a faint smile for the first time that day.

"Even if you stopped being late or talking during class from today onward... let's say you managed to avoid any deductions this month. Your Points wouldn't decrease, but they wouldn't increase either. In other words, you'd still receive zero Points next month.

On the other hand, it doesn't matter how late you are or how many classes you skip. Your Points are already at zero. How about that? Doesn't it make you happy?"

"Ah..."

Hirata's expression darkened further. He understood Chabashira-sensei's point. This kind of reasoning would only discourage students from improving their classroom behavior.

Just then, he noticed his phone vibrate.

Using a phone during class was obviously grounds for a deduction. If the other classes had any Points, their students wouldn't do something like that.

So, had a classmate sent him a message?

He hadn't planned to check it, but he remembered what Chabashira-sensei had just said. It didn't matter if he broke the rules again.

And whoever was messaging him at a time like this might...

With a certain feeling in his heart, Hirata took out his phone in full view of the class.

After reading the message, Hirata jolted in surprise, then hesitated.

"What's wrong, Hirata? Do you have another question?"

As he stared at the message from an anonymous sender, Hirata's expression wavered for a moment. Then he looked up at Chabashira-sensei.

"Chabashira-sensei, even if we can break the school rules without losing any Points, what about the other classes that still have Points? Will they lose Points if they break the rules?"

The moment Chabashira-sensei heard Hirata's question, she understood why he'd asked it.

Who?

Who had sent Hirata that message?

Chabashira Sae scanned the class but couldn't find the person.

"Before I answer that, can you tell me who sent you that message? This isn't the sort of question you'd come up with on your own."

Hirata Yosuke gave a wry smile and explained.

"Well, I don't know. It was an anonymous account."

An anonymous account meant it had to be a student from Class D. But who could it be?

With no time to observe or think further, Chabashira-sensei answered Hirata's question first. "Of course. Breaking the school rules will result in a deduction."

"I see." Kamio Tatsuya nodded.

So having zero Points wasn't entirely bad after all.

Most of the Class D students didn't understand why Hirata had asked that question, but a few had already guessed at something from his question and Chabashira-sensei's answer.

"Enough small talk. Let's get to the point."

As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei took out a thick sheet of white paper, unfolded it, and pinned it to the blackboard.

It listed the names of Classes A through D, each followed by a number.

Class A: 994, Class B: 650, Class C: 490, Class D: 0.

"W-what is this?"

Was this the Class Points they'd heard about?

"This is a direct representation of how the school evaluates you," Chabashira-sensei explained. "When the school year began, all four classes had 1,000 Class Points. These are the Points you still have as of today."

"B-but why do the other classes still have Points? That's weird..."

Why did the other classes have Points?

Because they hadn't broken the rules, obviously. Idiot.

Faced with a question like that, Chabashira-sensei could barely bring herself to answer. She felt like doing so would lower her IQ, but as a teacher, she still needed to explain the situation.

"It seems you haven't paid any attention to the other classes. For the past month, every class has been evaluated according to the same rules. The process is absolutely fair and impartial.

"Yet there's such a huge gap in your Points. That's reality."

"B-but why? Why is the gap in Points so clear-cut?"

"It's simple. This school assigns students to classes according to their abilities, with the best students placed in Class A.

"Then comes Class B, then Class C, and you students in Class D are the worst of the bunch. In other words, you're defective, the very worst of the lot—and you've lived up to expectations by behaving like garbage."

Faced with this unreasonable system of class assignment, the Class D students seemed deeply shaken.

Even Horikita Suzune was no exception. Kamio Tatsuya had told her the same thing before, but she hadn't believed him at all.

Afterward, she'd observed the students in the other classes as well as those in her own.

She thought that many people in Class D were actually stronger than students in the other classes—for example, Hirata, Kamio Tatsuya, and herself.

So she'd been holding on to some hope.

She'd hoped that Kamio Tatsuya's information had been wrong and that her 90,000 Points would be returned.

She would even rather believe that the teachers had deliberately let them do as they pleased than accept the fact that she wasn't as outstanding as she thought.

She hadn't expected Chabashira-sensei to confirm what Kamio Tatsuya had told her right off the bat.

Even so, she still didn't think of herself as defective. She even planned to confront Chabashira-sensei after school and demand a proper explanation.

I Refuse to Fail the Exam!

Looking at her silent students, Chabashira-sensei raised both hands and clapped.

"But losing all your Points in just one month is a first, even among previous Class D students. Honestly, I'm impressed you managed to pull off something like that. Well done, well done."

Hey, you've already said that once. There's no need to repeat it.

And in such a quiet room, suddenly clapping like that was practically putting mental pressure on certain students.

Sure, you were clapping your own hands, but from where I stood, it felt like you were slapping them in the face.

"So if our Class Points are at zero, will we keep receiving zero income from now on?"

"Exactly. You catch on quickly." Chabashira-sensei gave him an approving look.

She really had a nasty personality. Was she actually a teacher?

Kamio Tatsuya had serious doubts.

"But don't worry. You can still live at this school without Points. Food and daily necessities are free, so your basic needs will be taken care of."

Kamio Tatsuya knew all about that. He'd tried them on the first day of school—not only the free daily necessities, but the free food as well.

But they were used to eating delicious food, so the Mountain Vegetable Set would probably be hard for them to stomach.

It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality.

That saying perfectly described the difference between the first month and life after it.

No, he really wanted to laugh.

"...Are we really going to be looked down on by the students from the other classes from now on?!"

No, no, Sudo. Even most of the people in Class D looked down on you. Don't get too full of yourself.

"You surprise me, Sudo. I didn't think you cared about your pride. Then work hard to move your class up."

"Huh?"

"Class Points aren't only connected to the amount deposited each month. They directly determine the order of the classes.

"For example, if your Class Points were higher than Class C's right now—say, 491—then you'd be Class C."

Most of the Class D students didn't understand why that mattered. As far as they were concerned, having Points was enough. It made no difference whether they were Class A or Class D.

"Teacher, if that's the case, does that mean there's actually a way for us to earn Class Points?"

"You're perceptive, Hirata. But I doubt you'll manage it."

As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei pinned another poster to the blackboard. It was similar to the previous one, except this one listed everyone in Class D, each followed by a number.

Kamio Tatsuya spotted his own name. His score was 51, putting him in the lower half of the class, though not especially close to the bottom. He had no idea whether that counted as a failing grade.

He felt a little embarrassed about it.

"These are the results of your last quiz. When I saw them, I almost burst out laughing. What on earth have you been studying for the past nine years?"

Most of the class had scored around 60, though there were also some high scores. Horikita beside him, for instance, had gotten a 90—the highest score in the class.

Apart from Horikita's 90, there were two more students with scores of 90: Kouenji and someone named Yukimura.

Kamio Tatsuya knew Yukimura. He was one of the few students who paid attention in class.

So Kamio Tatsuya recognized him and had even learned his name. His full name was Yukimura Teruhiko.

Kamio Tatsuya counted the scores. He ranked 27th in the class, just behind Ayanokoji, who'd scored 50.

That guy was lucky. He'd gotten exactly 50 on a 100-point test.

"Good news. If this had been an official exam, seven students would have been expelled already, and it's only the start of the school year."

E-expelled?

Kamio Tatsuya's eyelid twitched. What the hell?

"E-expelled? What's going on?!"

"What? Didn't I tell you? According to the school's rules, you'll be expelled if you fail even one subject on the midterm or final exam. For this test, everyone who scored below 32 would have been expelled. You really are hopeless."

This was definitely the first time she'd said any of this!

Wait.

Had she said it during the week I was suspended?

Kamio Tatsuya looked around at the students' expressions. It didn't seem that way.

So it really was the first time she'd mentioned it.