"Classmate Kagihara, how much do you know about Ken Sudō's character?"
"I wouldn't say I know him well. I've only heard a few things since the start of the school year."
"A person's temperament is a habit formed over time. Especially for someone like him, who's accustomed to solving problems in the most primitive way. Don't you think it would be harder to teach him to think with his head instead of responding with his fists in such a short time... than to get him a Perfect Score?"
Horikita Suzune fell silent.
Every incident since the start of the school year had proved his point.
Whether it was talking back in class, failing the Midterm Exam, or falling for Class C's clumsy provocation this time—
Ken Sudō had never changed.
"Then... if you were the one facing this situation..."
Horikita Suzune fixed her gaze on Kazehara Tetsu's face.
Would you... abandon him?"
That was the heart of what she wanted to ask.
She needed an answer.
Or rather, she needed a "reference point" that would let her convince herself to make a decision.
"Abandon him..."
Kazehara Tetsu murmured softly. He showed no surprise, as if he had expected her to ask.
He didn't answer with a simple "yes" or "no."
Instead, he turned the question back on her.
"Horikita, have you ever calculated the cost?"
"The cost?"
"Suppose you have an asset right now. To keep it running, you've invested a large number of Class Points, leaving the class with zero Class Points for a month. That was the first investment."
"Then, once again, because of that asset's shortcomings, you called on the entire class to sacrifice part of everyone's interests and scrape together three hundred thousand Points to pull him back from the brink of Expulsion. That was the