Trust

Any action leaves behind informational traces, no matter how concealed.

In Hoshino Kanade's view, spending every day with Kiyona and possessing her keen observational skills, it was only a matter of time before she was discovered.

Rather than over-concealing and causing Kiyona to discover the truth later and feel alienated, it was better to reveal some of the truth in advance.

This way, even if other things were exposed, she would be more accepting.

More importantly, after observing for many days, Hoshino Kanade found that Kiyona's actions had completely overturned the cold label the original work had given her, Ayanokoji.

Since she genuinely considered herself a friend, she should also give the other party the same trust.

Reality, after all, is different from the predetermined script of an anime. When everyone truly steps into life, they are improvising their own paths.

And the so-called script is merely a draft that can be looked back upon, not a rule that must be blindly followed.

Kiyona had intended to speak with Kanade privately, but upon meeting the other's calm gaze, she suddenly felt her intentions had already been seen through, as if a voice was saying, "Just ask directly."

'Are my expressions really that obvious?'

In reality, to outsiders, Kiyona's face remained as unmarked as fresh snow; it was just that Hoshino Kanade, after many days of interaction, had a good grasp of Kiyona's temperament.

Her thoughts were quite clear between anticipation and imagination.

"Then... no, I have nothing I want to say."

Kiyona wanted to ask about Class D, but the words caught in her throat, and she swallowed them back. Since Kanade chose to keep it from Class D, he must have his reasons.

She never doubted that Kanade could see through the truth of this school. After all, he had already caught those subtle clues within two days of school starting.

Hoshino Kanade remained silent for a moment. He thought he had misjudged, but Kiyona had wanted to ask at first, right?

"Since Kiyona isn't asking..." he looked up and directly at her, "Are you obsessed with reaching Class A?"

Kiyona was not surprised that Kanade had noticed her hidden strength. After all, her lack of common sense had made her attempts to conceal her abilities so clumsy that they were impossible to hide.

But this was fine too. In her opinion, only those with similar strength could truly treat each other as equals in friendship.

She shook her head slightly, her hair ends lifting, "I just want to enjoy high school life. Class A was never in my plans."

"Perfect," a faint curve flickered across Hoshino Kanade's lips, "I'm not interested in the Class Game either. Compared to that..." he paused for half a second, "earning points to maintain our daily lives is more important."

The three of us living our lives well is more important than anything.

"So this is Kanade's consideration... I understand." She nodded gently, her falling hair obscuring the faint light flickering in her eyes.

Shiina Hiyori had no interest in class competition to begin with. She was naturally willing to join classmates Hoshino and Ayanokoji, who shared similar interests.

From this moment on, they officially stood shoulder to shoulder on the same front.

The next day, Shiina Hiyori held a book and spoke softly, her eyes sparkling, "If this information can be of use, a million points should be quietly transferred to your account at the beginning of next month."

Hoshino Kanade nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."

"I'm glad I could help," the girl tapped her cheek with her fingertip, a faint smile blooming on her lips, "and... this operation has given me inspiration for a new story. This kind of hard work actually makes me happy."

April soon approached its end. During this period, apart from a surprise pop quiz at the end of April, the rest was a beautiful daily routine.

May 1st.

As soon as the class bell rang, Teacher Chabashira entered the classroom holding a poster tube, her brows furrowed with a solemnity unusual for her.

Ike blurted out a lewd joke, "Teacher, did your period not come?"

Chabashira ignored him and placed the poster tube directly on the podium, her gaze sweeping across the entire class, "We will now begin the morning assembly. But before we start, do you have any questions? If there's anything on your mind, it's best to ask now."

She felt like her tone carried a hint of schadenfreude. It was understandable, as she had endured this for a month.

Someone in the audience immediately raised their hand and asked, "Teacher, I checked this morning, and the points haven't arrived at all. Isn't it stipulated that they're distributed on the 1st of every month? I couldn't even buy juice this morning, this is too unreasonable..."

"Hondo," Teacher Chabashira interrupted coldly from the podium, "I told you long ago that the remittance process is complete. This month's points have undoubtedly been distributed."

"But, but my account really hasn't changed..." Hondo looked flusteredly at Yamauchi and others for support, only to see Ike blankly scratching the back of his head.

This dense fellow clearly hadn't noticed anything unusual, and by chance, avoided the embarrassment of losing his composure in public.

"...You truly are a bunch of foolish students."

As a teacher, saying such a thing was clearly excessive.

Was it because she had suppressed too much, or was she taking out her frustration because this year's batch would be difficult to fulfill her ambitions?

"Foolish...?"

A blade-like gaze pierced Hondo, who was asking blankly.

"Hondo, sit down. I won't say it a second time."

"Mi-Mizue-sensei?"

The icy, sharp tone he had never heard before made Hondo freeze, his throat bobbing as he swallowed back his retort. He slumped back into his seat like a rusty gear.

"The points have indeed been transferred to your account, there is no doubt about that. The fantasy that our school alone has forgotten you is merely your self-consolation."

"But the account balance hasn't changed at all! Where is the deposit you mentioned reflected?"

Hondo gripped his terminal, the "0" on the screen stinging his eyes red, confusion gradually replaced by unwillingness.

Chabashira Sae must be on the verge of laughter. This is just great.

It was Koenji who stepped forward at this moment.

"Ha! The mystery is revealed, Teacher."

Koenji's booming laughter exploded in the classroom. He casually rested his legs on his desk, his fingertips pointing at Hondo with a teasing pressure.

"The answer is ridiculously simple. Our Class D didn't receive any points at all this month!"

"Wait, wait!" Hondo's pupils contracted in shock. "Didn't you say it was 100,000 points a month? What is this..."

"I don't recall hearing that, do you?"

Koenji sneered, pointing his fingertips at Teacher Chabashira without restraint.

"Although Koenji's attitude is problematic, the situation is as he says. Honestly, I've given so many hints, yet so few people could figure it out on their own. It's truly pathetic."

The sudden turn of events and announcement caused the classroom to become noisy.

"...Teacher, may I ask a question? There's something I don't understand."

Worried about his uneasy classmates, Hirata, as the class leader, stepped forward.

"Please tell us the reason why we weren't given points. Otherwise, we cannot accept it."

"Tardiness, absences, totaling 112 times. Talking privately during class or using mobile phones, 485 times. You did this many times within a single month..."

Chabashira Sae was also dumbfounded. What kind of storms had she not weathered? But this was truly unprecedented.

Yet, with her excellent teaching qualities, she mechanically read out the information emotionlessly.

What followed was a debate between Hirata and Chabashira Sae regarding "prior notice" and "common sense."

This continued until the bell for morning assembly rang.

"It seems you've all roughly understood. Now, let's get to the main topic."

Teacher Chabashira took out a thick white paper from the poster tube in her hand, unrolled it, and then attached it to the blackboard, securing the four corners with magnets.

It read:

Class A: 950 points Class B: 940 points Class C: 750 points Class D: 0 points