Time rewound to the night before the grades were announced.
Night had fallen, and most students had already returned to the dormitories. The Teaching Building was silent, with only the motion-activated lights in the corridors flickering on and off as people passed.
A light was still on in the Teacher's Office.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
A calm male voice came from inside.
The door opened, and someone stepped in.
There were only two people in the office.
Majima Tomoya was seated behind his desk, sorting through a thick stack of documents. Steam still rose from the coffee cup in front of him.
Beside his desk, Class B's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, was leaning against it at an angle. She held a cup of coffee that seemed to belong to Majima Tomoya as well, and wore a lazy smile as she chatted about something.
Her tight professional outfit accentuated her mature, curvaceous figure, a striking contrast to Majima Tomoya's rigorously formal, almost stiff suit.
When he saw that the person who had entered was Kazehara Tetsu, Majima Tomoya's stern expression didn't change in the slightest. He simply stopped what he was doing.
"Kagihara, what brings you here so late?"
Hoshinomiya Chie also turned around with interest. Her expressive eyes openly swept up and down Kazehara Tetsu.
"Am I interrupting you two on your little date? Sorry about that." Kazehara Tetsu closed the door behind him, seeming not to notice Hoshinomiya Chie's slightly flirtatious gaze.
"Kagihara, you really know how to joke. Majima-sensei and I are just having a normal work discussion." Hoshinomiya Chie chuckled.
Majima Tomoya brought the conversation back on track. "Go on. What exactly do you need from me?"
Kazehara Tetsu walked up to his desk, pulled out the chair usually set aside for visiting students, and sat down.
"There's something I'd like to 'negotiate' with you, Sensei."
"Negotiate?"
"I'd like to clarify the exact rules regarding using Personal Points to purchase exam scores."
The moment he asked, the atmosphere in the office turned subtle.
A flicker of barely perceptible confusion crossed Majima Tomoya's eyes.
There had been students who asked to purchase scores before, and a few had even figured out that they could.
But Kazehara Tetsu...
A student who had scored full marks on the Quiz and was certain to get full marks on the Midterm Exam—why was he asking about this?
"Kagihara?"
Hoshinomiya Chie tilted her head, feigning exaggerated surprise. "Did you mess up on the Midterm Exam? Oh my, this is big news! The genius of Class A actually needs Points to save face for once?"
Her teasing tone made it clear she was enjoying the spectacle.
"You misunderstand, Sensei."
Kazehara Tetsu smiled and shook his head. "I'm confident about my score this time. I came to see you about something else."
He paused, then asked a question that caught Majima Tomoya completely off guard.
"I'd like to ask: at This School, how many Personal Points does it cost to purchase one point on an exam?"
Majima Tomoya stopped moving.
He scrutinized the student in front of him.
"Adding one point costs 100,000 Points. That price only applies as an emergency measure for failing students, and the School Authority must review the request."
Majima Tomoya gave him the official answer, his tone stern. "Kazehara, I don't know why you're asking, but I have to remind you: the School Rules aren't a game for you to exploit."
"Understood." Kazehara Tetsu nodded, paying no heed to the warning.
Then he changed tack.
"Since 'adding one point' costs 100,000 Points, then..."
A smile appeared on his face, one that made Majima Tomoya feel distinctly uncomfortable.
"...what does 'subtracting one point' cost?"
"Subtracting a point?"
Majima Tomoya looked stunned. He even wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him.
The smile on Hoshinomiya Chie's face froze too. Her hand holding the coffee cup hung in midair, and her eyes were filled with an enormous question mark.
A student had come to a teacher, claiming he wanted to use Points to "subtract" a score?
This was beyond anything they could comprehend in their careers as teachers. It sounded like an absurd joke.
Majima Tomoya thought there might be something wrong with his hearing. He even felt like sticking a finger in his ear. "What did you say?"
"I said I want to purchase a service: subtracting one point from a certain student's score in one subject."
The air in the office froze instantly.
In all his years as a teacher, Majima Tomoya had seen every kind of student.
But he had never seen, or even imagined, anyone making such a... vile request.
"Kagihara, are you joking?"
"Sensei, do I look like I'm joking?"
"Preposterous!"
Majima Tomoya slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, glaring down at him. "The School established the hidden rule about 'purchasing scores' to give students who've stumbled a chance, not to let someone like you use it to indulge your twisted impulses!"
It was the first time he had ever lost his composure like this in front of a student.
Yet faced with his fury, Kazehara Tetsu remained calm.
"Majima-sensei, please calm down."
He waited until Majima Tomoya had caught his breath before speaking slowly.
"I understand your anger. But anger won't solve anything. Why don't we discuss whether this is 'reasonable'?"
"Reasonable? Is there anything reasonable about this?!"
"Of course there is."
"The School Rules clearly state that students may use their Personal Points to purchase anything permitted by the rules while on campus. Correct?"
Majima Tomoya furrowed his brow but didn't argue.
"Then let's analyze it. Does an 'exam score' count as a 'commodity'? I believe it does."
"Because you just told me yourself that 'adding one point' costs 100,000 Points. If something can be assigned a fixed price, then regardless of its form, it is essentially a commodity available for trade."
Majima Tomoya's lips moved as if to argue, but he found himself unable to respond.
After all, Kazehara Tetsu's logic was based on rules the School itself had established.
"Now that we've established that a 'score' is a commodity, the next question is whether my 'purchase' falls 'within the scope permitted by the rules'."
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