"Everyone! Could you please calm down for a moment?"
Kushida Kikyo stepped forward, trying to quell the storm.
"I know everyone's upset, but... but Sudo and Ike are our classmates, too! We can't just stand by and watch them get expelled, can we?"
Her words made some of the more tenderhearted students waver.
But Yukimura Teruhiko cut her off without mercy.
"Classmates? Kushida, don't be so naive. The moment they gave up on studying, they stopped being our 'classmates.' Are we supposed to pay for their irresponsibility?"
Kushida's face paled. She opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.
Amid the chaos, Hirata Yosuke, who had remained silent until then, walked to the center of the classroom.
"Everyone, please hear me out."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried through the room, and the noisy classroom fell miraculously silent.
Everyone's eyes turned to him.
"I understand Yukimura's point of view, and I understand how everyone who opposes fundraising feels. Making the people who work hard pay for the mistakes of those who don't is unfair, no matter how you look at it."
He acknowledged the opposition's position first instead of launching straight into a moral lecture. The anger on Yukimura Teruhiko and the others' faces eased a little.
"But, everyone, what we need to discuss right now isn't whether this is 'fair' or what we 'should' do. It's a more practical matter: the points that will affect everyone in Class D over the next few months."
"The damage has already been done. We have only two choices now."
"First, we give up on Sudo and Ike. What happens then? Our class loses two students. That will cause our Class Points to be zeroed out next month. All our hard work on this Midterm Exam will have been for nothing."
His words left everyone lost in thought.
"Think about it. When's our next chance to earn Class Points? The Final Exam. That means if we give up on them now, our entire class will earn nothing for the rest of the term. And the Points we worked so hard to raise through fundraising so we could buy the past exam papers will go to waste because of this expulsion."
He didn't talk about "classmates" or "friendship." He knew those arguments wouldn't reassure them.
"The second choice is to raise 300,000 Points and save them. It's a huge expense, and everyone's Personal Points will take a serious hit. But we'll keep our class intact and avoid having our Class Points zeroed out next month. Our Midterm Exam results weren't exactly good, but at least no one was expelled. That means we'll still get a little 'welfare payment' next month."
He laid out the pros and cons of both choices clearly for everyone.
The classroom fell completely silent.
Hirata's words had cooled their anger just enough for them to consider whether this could work.
Kushida seized the opportunity and stepped forward. "Hirata's right! I know it's hard to ask everyone to give up their Points. But this is a decision that affects our whole class and everyone's future. We can divide the 300,000 based on how many Personal Points each person has. Those with more can contribute more, and those with less can contribute less. That way, we can solve the problem without putting too much strain on anyone."
She and Hirata worked in tandem: he laid out the practical benefits, while she appealed to their sense of unity. Together, they made a compelling case.
In the end, with the two of them leading the way, Class D approved the fundraising plan.
No one put up any more fierce opposition.
But the mood in the classroom grew heavier than ever.
As Horikita Suzune took a pen and paper and recorded how many Points each person could contribute...
She could clearly see the simmering anger in the eyes of the students handing over their Points—their anger at Ken Sudō and Kanji Ike.
Ken Sudō and Kanji Ike kept their heads down and said nothing, enduring the scrutiny from every direction.
They raised the 300,000 Points.
But Class D's already fragile unity had been torn to shreds by the fundraiser launched to "save their classmates."
Horikita Suzune came back to herself.
She felt a stinging pain in her palm. When she looked down, she saw that her fingernails had left several pale marks.
She slowly unclenched her fist and took a deep breath.
She turned around and, for the first time, truly focused her gaze on Kazehara Tetsu's face.
"You're right. This really is futile."
Her voice had returned to its usual coolness.
Kazehara Tetsu raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that she'd admitted it so readily.
"Oh?"
"'Saving' them by relying on other people's sacrifices and compromises is, at its core, just a way of putting things off."
She continued, no longer looking away, meeting Kazehara Tetsu's gaze directly. "The problem hasn't been solved. It's only been temporarily covered up."
"So what are you going to do now? Keep playing the thankless 'savior,' or...?"
"I won't give up on getting into Class A."
"I'm willing to pay any price to achieve that goal."
There was someone whose example she had to catch up to.
Kazehara Tetsu regarded her with interest. "Sounds like you already have a plan."
"I'll help them truly grow up and understand why studying matters, so they'll stop dragging the class down. But..."
"If they can't even provide this last bit of 'remaining value,' then there's no reason for them to stay. Especially now that our Class Points have already been zeroed out. Getting rid of this useless dead weight before it can produce any results is the most rational way to cut our losses."
The wind swept across the plaza, stirring her long hair.
At that moment, the stubbornness that belonged to a young girl had vanished from her face.
Kazehara Tetsu gave a soft laugh. "That's a very rational way of thinking. But getting them to grow won't be easy."
"I'll make them change in my own way."
Kazehara Tetsu stood and stretched. "Good luck, Horikita. I hope the next time we meet, you'll have something... more interesting to show me."
With that, he stopped looking at her, slipped his hands into his pockets, and strolled away.
Horikita Suzune sat alone in the plaza for a long time.
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