Savings

The surrounding gazes instantly focused on them.

Hoshino Kanade picked up the phone, and the screen lit up to the lock screen. Without hesitation, she entered the password she had just "heard" from Hoshinomiya.

It unlocked successfully.

Her movements were swift and practiced. The area was silent, and everyone held their breath.

Very soon, her pupils contracted sharply, and her face darkened completely.

She abruptly turned the phone screen around and held it out toward Hoshinomiya and the onlookers.

What appeared on the screen was not merely a few photographs, but a vast number of photos of female students.

The angles were discreet. They had clearly been taken secretly.

Her fingers swiftly scrolled through them before opening a hidden private social media app.

The logged-in account displayed explicit sexual harassment and threats to a female student's personal safety. Her face had been mosaicked out, but students from the school could recognize her from her figure and School Uniform details.

"...Tch." The sweet smile Hoshinomiya usually wore vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, furious expression. "The evidence is conclusive! This isn't just secret photography—it's a serious criminal offense!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Hoshino Kanade immediately called the emergency contact number on her own phone.

"Hello, I'm near the Electronics Store. Hoshinomiya, a teacher from our school, has been secretly photographed by an employee here. We also found a large number of secretly taken photos of female students from our school on his phone, along with clear evidence of sexual harassment and threats against students. Please send school security and the police immediately!"

What followed went smoothly.

With Hoshinomiya decisively cooperating through her authority as a teacher, the police intervened quickly.

Sakura Airi was discreetly and appropriately summoned to make a crucial identification.

The witnesses, physical evidence, and motive were all in place.

That employee's future had already been decided: what awaited him was not a simple verbal warning or brief detention.

He would face a lengthy prison sentence.

Conservatively speaking, he would be unable to reenter society for at least five years—let alone approach this campus again.

Hoshino Kanade watched as the employee was escorted into the police car, her heart calm.

This incident had been resolved, and the potential threat to Sakura Airi had been completely eliminated.

Beyond preventing a possible tragedy, her deeper purpose in coming here had been to observe Hoshinomiya up close.

Her understanding of Hoshinomiya seemed to run deeper than what the story had shown.

Afternoon sunlight streamed into the Class D classroom, but the air was stifling.

The teacher's podium stood empty, and the usual clamor between the desks was nowhere to be heard.

For three consecutive months—May, June, and now July—the "0" displayed for Class Points had remained on everyone's terminals and been etched into their hearts.

The days without Personal Points being deposited were nearing the limit of what these boys and girls could endure.

They could not afford even the cheapest cafeteria set meals or drinks from the vending machines. Even replacing a pen refill required careful thought.

The freely supplied low-quality toiletries and bland, monotonous food continued to wear away at their patience.

Oppressive sighs often rang out through the stuffy classroom.

Every time they checked their phones during breaks, that unchanged balance of "0" left them dejected. Despair and irritation spread in silence.

During this time, not even a single Special Examination that could earn the class points—even just a little—had appeared. Even the final exams still seemed far away.

Dissatisfaction had piled up in everyone's hearts.

If an opportunity truly came next, then regardless of what kind of examination it was, as long as it could earn Class Points or Personal Points, the students of Class D would likely fight for it without regard for anything else and seize that chance to change their situation.

"Smack."

An open math workbook was gently placed on Ike Kanji's desk.

Ike had been idly spinning his pen, his eyes unfocused.

"Ike," Horikita Suzune's voice sounded beside him.

She bent slightly and tapped several wrong answers circled in red. "These types of questions are where you repeatedly made mistakes on last week's quiz. There isn't much time until the next examination."

Her tone was calm as she stated a fact. "You don't want to be expelled for failing, do you?"

Ike Kanji's body stiffened, and his pen stopped spinning.

He looked up and met Horikita's gaze. There was no mockery in it, only seriousness.

The words "be expelled" struck the Nerves already frayed by the zero points.

He opened his mouth, then finally scratched his head in irritation and muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I know... Seriously..." Yet he still opened the workbook.

Horikita straightened up and looked toward the makeshift "study corner" in the corner of the classroom.

Several students with weak foundations like Ike's were seated there.

She was no longer the aloof girl who believed she could achieve victory even on her own.

She had begun to "manage" and "help" others in her own way.

She organized after-school Tutoring groups, analyzed each person's weaknesses, and bluntly—sometimes stiffly—pointed out the risk of expulsion they faced.

Though she was still not good at offering encouragement, these direct "warnings" were effective under such immense Survival Pressure.

Her gaze swept over the crowd and landed on Kushida Kikyo, who was chatting softly with several girls, her smile sweet.

A subtle emotion flickered in Horikita's eyes.

In the past, merely asking this "angel" to help with class affairs would have made Horikita feel intensely humiliated, as though she were bowing to Rules she despised.

But now... it felt different.

Horikita walked over and stopped several steps away from Kushida.

"Kushida," her voice was not loud, but it was clear and businesslike, "regarding the grouping coordination for next week's class study session, could you please help confirm the list and schedule?"

Kushida Kikyo turned at the sound, her bright smile unchanged. "Of course, Horikita. Leave it to me!"

She readily agreed, even taking the initiative to add, "Do you need me to speak with those students who aren't very motivated beforehand? I'll make sure they all attend on time!" Her tone was enthusiastic.

"Mm. Thank you." Horikita nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Inside... she felt very calm.

There was none of the resistance she had expected, nor did Kushida's smile sting her.

Asking Kushida for help really did not seem... humiliating at all.

Horikita thought as she walked.

Had she simply grown accustomed to it? No, it was more like she had seen their respective positions and boundaries clearly.

She recognized that amid Class D's current predicament, Kushida Kikyo's extensive social network and efficient coordination skills were things that Horikita Suzune could never attain, no matter how hard she tried.

Although she had been working to change, trying to understand social interaction and trying not to keep people at such a distance, her innate detachment and lack of approachability meant that she was far inferior to Kushida Kikyo's social methods when it came to uniting people and efficiently relaying information.

Now that she had recognized this, then for the class to endure its predicament of zero points, and to seize any possible opportunity, she needed to make reasonable use of every available resource.

Kushida Kikyo's abilities became a necessary and practical choice.

As a result, she began asking Kushida for assistance more often.

Organizing events, gathering information, mediating conflicts... whenever it came to tasks Horikita found difficult and inefficient, Kushida could always resolve them smoothly.

Though Horikita still felt an inexplicable chill deep inside whenever she saw Kushida's perfect smile, this Cooperation grounded in reality truly helped Class D maintain the bare minimum of functioning as they struggled to wait for an opportunity that might come at any time.

After all, in the predicament of zero points, any opportunity that might bring improvement was worth seizing, even if it came from someone she could never truly trust.