Change

Meanwhile...

Class A (formerly Class B) had the feel of a stream thawing in early spring, more vibrant than ever.

Although Class B had always been known for its unity, Class A now seemed to have taken on a new vitality.

"Honestly... it's all thanks to Ichinose."

A few quiet murmurs rose from a corner of the classroom, and several students turned as one to look at the girl by the window.

Some even leaned forward unconsciously, their fingertips brushing the backs of chairs before quickly withdrawing—as if they'd been holding back from some kind of embrace.

The morning light streamed through the classroom windows, dancing on the tips of Ichinose Honami's hair.

She lightly held the edges of her textbook in both hands and spoke in a clear voice, like a stream in early spring. "We only made it to Class A this time thanks to everyone's hard work!"

A familiar smile spread across her face—that unclouded, youthful energy was just like the sun emerging from behind the clouds.

Class A's promotion had come so easily that most of the students could hardly believe it was real.

There had been no life-or-death special exam, nor any underhanded class-on-class scheming.

For now, Class A's badge was little more than an illusory glory before the storm arrived.

The classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone basked in the joy of rising through the ranks—

Only Kanzaki Ryuji leaned against the windowsill, unconsciously tapping his knuckles on the desk.

He knew better than anyone: harder than reaching Class A was forging a solid suit of armor before the storm hit.

Hoshinomiya Chie lightly tapped the lectern, amusement spreading from the corners of her eyes. "Although you made it to Class A through the aptitude assessment..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the students' excited faces. "It's still class time, you know—so don't get carried away."

There was a note of delight in her gently rising voice that even she hadn't expected.

—Her first class since becoming a teacher had reached Class A's doorstep in just one month.

For once, a few notes of lightness floated through the air in Class C. Though their daily lives were still weighed down by Ryuen Kakeru's iron-fisted rule, the relief of having survived was hard to conceal in the eyes of these teenagers.

The 750 Class Points awarded at the end of the first month were nowhere near as impressive as Class B's total, but they had at least left the utterly bankrupt Class D behind.

Ryuen watched the whispering students coldly, the corner of his mouth curling into a sharp smile.

Without his thunderous methods, the class's points would probably have been down to two-thirds of their current total.

A subtle realization settled over the Class C classroom. A few students who had once scoffed at Ryuen's strictness were only now beginning to grasp the point of his iron-fisted discipline.

Ryuen leaned against the window, drumming his fingers idly on the frame.

He swept his gaze over the students, whose eyes had finally taken on a hint of respect, and gave an almost inaudible snort.

"Hey, Ishizaki." He suddenly spoke, his voice like a dull knife scraping sandpaper. "You should go to the bathroom."

"Got it."

After Chabashira Sae left, discussion erupted throughout the Class D classroom.

A few students stared at their empty account screens, worrying over how they would get by this month with no income;

But what worried most of them even more were the school's brutal rules themselves. "Only Class A gets guaranteed further education and employment. So what was the point of getting in here?"

"You've got to be kidding me. Why should I... have been placed in Class D?"

Yukimura yanked off his glasses, his knuckles turning white.

"I understand how confused everyone is, but please calm down first."

Hirata Yosuke stood up to mediate. His almost obsessive concern for the class would eventually become his fatal weakness.

"Calm down? How am I supposed to stay calm!"

Yukimura took a sudden step forward, his uniform almost colliding with Hirata's chest.

Hirata Yosuke didn't back away. His voice was as still as a frozen lake. "I understand your anger, but venting your emotions here will only make things worse."

"What did you—!"

Yukimura suddenly reached for Hirata's collar, his fingertips only a hair's breadth from the fabric—when Kushida Kikyo slipped between them like a wedge.

She gently placed a hand on Yukimura's clenched fist. Yukimura clearly didn't want to hurt Kushida either, and couldn't help taking half a step back.

Kushida's words calmed Yukimura down, and afterward he and Hirata apologized to each other.

Irrational, taking his anger out on other people, and practically devoid of athletic ability—maybe being placed in Class D wasn't so unfair after all.

Hirata stood at the lectern and gave a "let's work together" speech, urging the class to keep one another in line during lessons.

He got some support from the girls, but his appeal fell flat with Sudo. When Kushida tried to reason with him, he kicked his chair aside and stormed out the back door, leaving behind a swinging door and a roomful of stunned silence. No one knew if he would come back for the rest of class.

"Sudo really doesn't get it, does he? He's the one who's been late the most. If Sudo weren't here, we'd probably have some points left, right?"

The answer was no—even without Sudo, all of Class D would eventually have squandered their points.

"Yeah... this is awful. Why do I have to be in the same class as someone like that..."

The students' resentment kept building. Even if Sudo really did get expelled later, Hirata Yosuke would probably be the only one who truly cared.

After school that afternoon, Hirata stepped up to the lectern and began preparing for a strategy meeting.

As soon as the after-school bell stopped ringing, Hirata Yosuke walked up to the lectern to call a class meeting.

Nearly the entire class stayed behind. Seeing how many people had gathered, the students who had run out of points seized the opportunity to take action.

With his points depleted, Yamauchi Haruki began selling off his used game console.

Even more absurdly, he'd bought the thing for 20,000 points and was now asking 20,002, trying to force it on Hakase. He barely seemed human.

Karuizawa Kei went around borrowing points from her friends, always wearing a relaxed smile.

She was only borrowing 2,000 from each person, but everyone knew perfectly well that they probably wouldn't get that money back.

As one of the central figures in the girls' social circle, her behavior was, in effect, a way of pressuring others.

Looking around, it really did seem that everyone who'd been placed in Class D had something seriously wrong with them.

The first month's aptitude assessment had come to an end, and the points held by each class had shifted dramatically, like water levels after a storm.

The reshuffling of the class rankings was quietly changing the course of every piece on the board—

Class D's plunge to zero, Class A's reversed ranking, the narrow gap between Class A and Class B...

Every crack in those numbers was tearing apart the course laid out in the original story.

Hoshino Kanade leaned toward the window. His reflection in the glass showed his slightly furrowed brow.

At that moment, he knew better than anyone: amid this flood of upheaval, the wave he'd once foreseen had receded to the shallows.

All he had left of his advantage was his memory of the exam questions—

And the struggles in each character's heart: Horikita Suzune's wounded pride at being labeled "defective"; Ken Sudō's inferiority-fueled outbursts of temper; and the fragility beneath Hirata Yosuke's perfect facade...

Hoshino Kanade had never intended to guide Class D—the effort to understand the nature of these "defectives" had long since lost its meaning.

Even if Sudo got expelled in the next exam, it would be his own choice. What did that have to do with him?

If anything, the deeper Class D fell, the less likely anyone was to notice his eyes, hidden in the shadows.

After a gentle musical intro played, a flat, emotionless announcement echoed through the classroom:

"Class 1-D students Hoshino and Ayanokoji, your homeroom teacher, Chabashira, would like to see you. Please come to the teachers' office."

The announcement interrupted Hoshino Kanade's thoughts.