Enraged

The wind howled across the rooftop of the Teaching Building, rattling the railings.

Chabashira Sae leaned against the railing, pulled a pack of Ladies Cigarettes from her pocket, took one out, and lit it.

White smoke slipped from her red lips and was quickly swept away by the wind.

She only resorted to this to numb herself when she was extremely irritated.

Once again, she had failed.

She had thought that with Last Year's Past Papers, these Flawed Products would at least all pass the easiest Midterm Exam.

But something had still gone wrong.

And this time, there were two of them.

The scene came back to her: years ago, one tiny mistake had stopped her from graduating from Class A.

The frustration and resentment had haunted her for all these years.

She had pinned all her hopes on her class.

But this bunch of good-for-nothings...

"Teacher, smoking isn't a very good habit."

A calm voice came from behind her.

Chabashira Sae turned and saw that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had somehow appeared behind her. His face was as expressionless as ever.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to make a deal with you," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said bluntly.

"A deal?"

Chabashira Sae gave a cold laugh. "What, are you here to plead for those two good-for-nothings, too? I told you, the rules are the rules—"

"I want to buy points," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka interrupted.

Chabashira Sae's fingers, holding the cigarette, froze in midair.

"Oh..."

"If Points can buy anything, then scores, being quantifiable, naturally fall within the range of goods that can be traded. It's not hard to figure out," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied without leaving any room for argument.

"100,000 Points per point."

Chabashira Sae blew out a smoke ring and named the price she had prepared long ago. "Six points in total, for 600,000 Points. Can you afford that?"

Her voice was full of scorn.

A class that had squandered all its Class Points in its first month after starting school.

A class with hardly any Personal Points left, either.

600,000 was an astronomical sum for them.

She was certain they couldn't possibly come up with that much money.

That meant those two good-for-nothings would be expelled. It was as good as settled.

It was a shame, but at least they could weed out the weak links in the group. That might not be a bad thing for the future.

As she thought this over, she saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka slowly shake his head.

"Teacher, that price is too high."

"Too high? This is a very fair price to keep students from being expelled... Besides, I don't have the authority to decide."

"Teacher, you don't want anyone in Class D expelled any more than we do, do you?"

The words struck like a dagger, piercing straight through every one of Chabashira Sae's defenses.

At last, her expression changed.

"I don't know what you're really trying to do, but from the way you act, you clearly want to climb higher... So you'll do whatever you can to protect them. Even if they're just two good-for-nothings."

Chabashira Sae looked at the student standing before her.

And just behind the door to the Rooftop Entrance, Horikita Suzune had heard every word.

She had come to speak to Chabashira Sae and make one last attempt.

She hadn't expected to walk in on this.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka...

He was actually...

"300,000."

Chabashira Sae spoke again, naming her price. "That's my final offer. Six points in total to save two students. 300,000 Points."

"...Deal."

After getting her answer, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't linger for even a second. He turned to leave.

"Wait."

Chabashira Sae called after him. "Can you come up with 300,000 Points on your own?"

"Of course not." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stopped and turned back.

"This will require Horikita's help. After all, she has far more standing in the class than I do. If she asks the class to pool their Points, she'll be more persuasive."

Behind the door, Horikita Suzune's body jolted.

Had he... known she was here from the start?

Horikita Suzune slowly emerged from behind the door.

"Let's go." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka offered no further explanation and headed for the stairwell.

Horikita Suzune had no choice but to follow.

By the time the two returned to the Class D Classroom, it had become a living hell.

Kanji Ike sat slumped on the floor, staring blankly as he repeated, "Why did this happen?"

At some point, Sudo Ken had kicked over his own desk, too.

The other students had split into several sharply divided groups.

Several high-performing students led by Yukimura Teruhiko wore undisguised looks of relief.

Most of the students in the middle and lower ranks, meanwhile, looked shaken and uneasy. They whispered among themselves about how narrowly they had escaped failing this exam.

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo were huddled around Kanji Ike, trying in vain to comfort him.

But any words seemed feeble in the face of the cold, hard fact of expulsion.

The classroom door slid open, and Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walked in one after the other.

Everyone's eyes instantly fixed on them.

Horikita Suzune ignored their complicated expressions and walked straight to the front of the classroom.

"The teacher said there's a way to keep them from being expelled."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it sent shock waves through the room.

"What way?" Hirata Yosuke was the first to jump to his feet and ask, his voice urgent.

"Use Points to buy scores," Horikita Suzune said concisely.

"The two of them are short by six points in total. After negotiations, the final price is... 300,000 Personal Points."

300,000.

After a brief silence, the room erupted.

"You've got to be kidding!"

The first to leap up in protest was Yukimura Teruhiko.

He slammed his hand on the desk and stood, his face full of anger. "300,000 Points! Why? Why should all of us pay for their laziness and stupidity?"

His words instantly lit the fuse in everyone's hearts.

"Yukimura's right! I worked so hard for this exam. Why should I give my Points to people who sleep through class every day and run around fooling around?"

"Exactly! They didn't work hard, and now that they're going to be expelled, they want to drag all of us down with them? That's so selfish!"

"I'm against it! My Points are mine. I'm not giving them to anyone!"

The objections came surging in like a tide.

"You bastards! How can you say something so heartless? Aren't we all classmates?"

Sudo Ken roared, grabbed a chair beside him, and was about to hurl it at Yukimura Teruhiko.

"Sudo, calm down!" Hirata Yosuke reacted quickly and wrapped both arms around him from behind, barely stopping things from getting worse.

"Classmates? Don't make me laugh! Whose fault is it that our class ended up like this? And now you expect us to spend our own money to save you? Why should we?"

"You... want to fight?!"

"Come on, then! I'm not afraid of you!"

The classroom descended into complete chaos.