Just Want to Be a Slacker

"No, I have things to do after school. And as for how to increase points, wouldn't it be simpler to just ask Chabashira-sensei directly? Since only Class A gets privileges, the school must be admitting four classes to encourage competition between them, so there's bound to be a way to earn more points. And opportunities like that won't be scarce—even if Chabashira-sensei hasn't mentioned it, if you ask, she probably won't hide it."

Hearing Kamio Tatsuya's words, Hirata Yosuke hesitated for a moment, then felt this seemed like a good approach.

"I understand. I'll go ask her later. Thank you."

Hirata Yosuke felt quite pleased.

Choosing to seek Kamio Tatsuya's advice had clearly been the right call—just one sentence had pointed him toward the direction for today's discussion.

As for Kamio Tatsuya, helping out with small matters like this was no trouble, and leaving a good impression on others never hurt.

The free time Chabashira-sensei had left behind quickly ended, and Class D returned to something resembling normal.

At the very least, no one was shouting randomly in class anymore.

Kamio Tatsuya could finally listen to the lesson properly.

That said, the teaching quality at this school was quite impressive—even someone with shaky fundamentals like Kamio Tatsuya could keep up with the pace.

But keeping up was one thing; there were still plenty of parts he didn't fully understand.

And whether he could pass the exams smoothly would likely hinge on those very areas.

He'd need to find someone to help him out.

Kamio Tatsuya glanced around. Horikita Suzune seemed like a decent choice—good grades, easy on the eyes.

Sure, her temper was bad, but he was the one paying!

Most importantly, she had no reason to refuse.

"Ahem, Horikita, I've got a part-time gig here—one thousand points an hour. Interested?"

Hearing this, Horikita Suzune frowned.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"You saw my grades. I passed this time, but it was a close call. I don't want to get expelled for failing a written exam, so I'm planning to hire you as my tutor."

Kamio Tatsuya made his request without a shred of shame. There was nothing embarrassing about being bad at studying—everyone had a wild past.

One thousand points an hour. There were still three weeks until the midterm exam, which meant twenty days. If he paid a thousand points each day, that came to twenty thousand points.

Horikita Suzune felt a flicker of interest. That way, she wouldn't have to eat the Mountain Vegetable Set and risk her brother seeing her in such a sorry state.

Besides, this guy had swindled those points from her in the first place—taking some back carried no psychological burden.

Moreover, she was going to study after school anyway; now she just had an extra person to tutor.

And this guy seemed fairly sharp—his past scores weren't disastrously bad, likely just from not studying hard enough. So he probably wouldn't be too much trouble.

After finding several reasonable justifications, Horikita Suzune finally convinced herself that this deal was worth taking.

"Fine, but I need to confirm your points first."

"No can do." Kamio Tatsuya flatly refused her request. "But I can pay you a deposit before we start the lessons."

There was no way he was letting her see his points.

Horikita Suzune shot him a suspicious glance, then nodded.

After all, her only goal was to confirm he could afford the payment.

"There are twenty days until the midterm exam. I'll prepay you half the Private Points now, and the rest depends on how things go."

With the negotiation settled, Kamio Tatsuya transferred ten thousand points to Horikita.

Staring at the ten thousand points that had just arrived, Horikita was a bit stunned.

"You're giving me this so early? Aren't you afraid I'll take the ten thousand points and back out?"

Kamio Tatsuya glanced at her, his eyes full of mockery.

"I don't think you will. After all, Horikita Suzune, you wouldn't want your brother to find out you've become someone who breaks her word over a mere ten thousand points, would you?"

Horikita Suzune's weak spot was clearly Horikita Manabu. From her past behavior, it was obvious she deeply respected him.

Conversely, she definitely wouldn't want him to see her in a bad light—that was her vulnerability, plain as day.

Dealing with someone like Horikita Suzune, who had such an obvious weakness, was far too simple.

One sentence was enough to easily keep her in check.

Sure enough, Horikita Suzune shot him a warning glare but said nothing more about backing out.

At lunchtime, the students in the class who had already used up most of their points started borrowing from others.

Of course, they didn't come to Kamio Tatsuya or Horikita Suzune.

Kamio Tatsuya had been involved in a violent incident in class before, so most people were afraid to approach him.

As for Horikita Suzune, even before getting close, you could feel the aura of someone keeping others at arm's length.

In fact, since the semester started, she'd only spoken a bit more to her immediate desk neighbors.

Before afternoon class began, Hirata Yosuke came to find Kamio Tatsuya.

"Kamio-kun, your suggestion was right—there really is a way to increase our points."

"This isn't anything praiseworthy. If you'd calmed down and thought it through, you'd have figured it out too."

As the two spoke, Kamio Tatsuya noticed Horikita Suzune nearby, her ears seemingly perked up, eager to learn the method for increasing points.

"The closest way for us to increase points is the Midterm Exam. Based on the average score of the midterm, we can earn corresponding points."

Hirata then explained in detail.

The Midterm Exam consists of five major subjects. The average score of each subject is added together, then averaged again to get the final point total.

In other words, the upper limit won't exceed one hundred points.

As for the lower limit, that's hard to say.

If we use the recent quiz as a reference, it's roughly sixty-four points.

Converted to Private Points, that's 6,400 points. Not much, but it's better than nothing. If you're frugal, at least you won't have to eat Mountain Vegetable Set every meal.

For someone like Horikita Suzune, who cooks her own meals, the expenses are even lower.

Can't spend it all—can't spend it at all!

Chapter 32: The Lower Defying the Upper? What a Rare Term

After school, the students of Class D looked like they hadn't snapped out of it yet, but at least they were gradually calming down.

And since Hirata had apparently scheduled a class meeting, Kamio Tatsuya packed up and left directly. Similarly, Horikita Suzune followed close behind.

"When do you plan to start the tutoring sessions?"

After leaving the classroom, Horikita Suzune looked at Kamio Tatsuya.

"If it's convenient for you, we can start right now." Kamio Tatsuya shrugged. "If you don't mind, let's just go to the library."

Horikita frowned, as if she had something difficult to say.

"Is something wrong?"

"I have an appointment with Chabashira-sensei later. Could you go to the library and wait for me? It should take about half an hour."

"No problem." Kamio Tatsuya agreed readily.

Then, they parted ways. Kamio Tatsuya headed to the library on the fourth floor, while Horikita Suzune went in another direction.

Walking to the third floor on his way to the library, Kamio Tatsuya unexpectedly saw Chabashira-sensei coming down the stairs.

Uh, seeing his own homeroom teacher—wouldn't it be rude not to greet her?

She might hold a grudge against him later.

After a brief hesitation, Kamio Tatsuya nodded at her.

He thought that would count as a greeting, but to his surprise—Chabashira Sae actually stopped and even called out to him.

"Is this how you greet the teacher who educates you? Extremely rude."

Well, this...

Those bastards in the class are way more disrespectful to you, aren't they? And now I'm the rude one?

Damn it, you're just looking for trouble on purpose, aren't you?

"Good afternoon, Chabashira-sensei."

With circumstances stronger than his will, Kamio Tatsuya temporarily yielded.

"Are you heading to the library?"

"Yeah, my foundation's weak, so I plan to start preparing for the Midterm Exam from today." Kamio Tatsuya told the truth.

Chabashira Sae stared at Kamio Tatsuya for a while, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Come with me."

Huh?

What does this mean?

She wants me to follow her?

Well, here's a question: what happens if you disobey a teacher's orders at this school? Asking online, pretty urgent.

Before figuring out the consequences of defying her command, Kamio Tatsuya decided to endure for now—after all, her authority might be considerable.

But surrendering like this isn't my style, so...

"Uh, but I have an appointment with Horikita-san later."

"Don't worry, I won't interfere with your date with Horikita."

"Uh, it's not a date. Please don't spread rumors—I don't want to get killed by the Student Council President." Kamio Tatsuya was utterly speechless.

"Student Council President?"

"Oh, he's Horikita's older brother."

Chabashira Sae seemed to find something amusing in what she heard, and nodded.

"Anyway, whatever it is, just follow me first."

No choice...

"Oh."

Kamio Tatsuya followed Chabashira-sensei all the way to the faculty office, but instead of meeting Horikita Suzune as he'd expected, he ran into Ayanokoji Kiyonaka here.

At the moment, he seemed to be pestered by a female teacher, and when he spotted Kamio Tatsuya and Chabashira Sae, he appeared to throw them a pleading look.

Seeing her student's predicament, Chabashira-sensei directly raised the clipboard in her hand and smacked the female teacher hard on the head.

"Hoshinomiya, what are you doing?"

Hoshinomiya?

Who's that?

"Ow~~ What are you doing!"

The woman called Hoshinomiya, after being hit by Chabashira-sensei, immediately crouched down holding her head.

"It's because you're bothering my student."

"Because he said he came to see little Sae, I was just keeping him company while you weren't back yet."

"Just ignore him, then. Ayanokoji, sorry to keep you waiting. It's not convenient here either, follow me to the Counseling Room." Then she glanced at Kamio Tatsuya behind her. "You too."

Alright, same here.

Seeing Ayanokoji's questioning look, Kamio Tatsuya shrugged and spread his hands, indicating he was just as confused.

"Uh, I don't think I've done anything as attention-grabbing as Kamio-kun. Chabashira-sensei, are you sure you've got the right person?"

Ayanokoji's words left Kamio Tatsuya a bit stunned.