Ayanokoji Kiyotaka

After arriving at the Student Cafeteria with Ayanokoji, Konoe found himself at a loss for what to eat.

The cafeteria offered a dazzling array of dishes, making it hard to decide what to choose.

"There's quite a variety. Even the pickiest person could find something to eat here, right? What would you like, Ayanokoji?" Konoe asked.

"I'm not particularly picky. Anything's fine. Why don't you choose, Konoe? I'll have whatever you're having," Ayanokoji replied casually.

Extremely Spicy Beef Curry Rice was not only spicy, just the way Konoe liked it, but also had the added benefit of a short line.

Konoe led Ayanokoji toward the curry rice counter. "Is that all right? Can you handle spicy food, Ayanokoji?"

When Ayanokoji nodded, Konoe said no more.

After they sat down somewhere inconspicuous, Konoe finally got to the point. "Come to think of it, Ayanokoji, we rode the same bus to school. What a coincidence."

"That's true," Ayanokoji said. He took a bite, paused, then took another.

Konoe took a bite and looked surprised. "This is pretty good. The beef is really juicy, and the curry is both spicy and fragrant, with the beef's distinctive flavor coming through. The spices don't clash with the chili, either."

"Yeah."

"Yesterday, I went to ask Chabashira-sensei a few things. I think I can tell you about them, Ayanokoji."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Basically, I have two guesses. The first is that the number of points the school gives us depends on how it evaluates the students."

That makes sense, Ayanokoji thought. If the school gave each student 100000 Points every month, with twenty-five students in each class and four classes in the First Year, there would be around 300 students in the whole school. That would cost the school 360 million yen a year. Even with the government backing it, that would be a difficult budget to cover.

"My second guess is that we're undergoing some kind of evaluation. I think it's a comprehensive assessment of some sort. I'm not sure when it ends. It could be in ten days, or it might last exactly one month, since the points are updated once a month."

"...Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't Hirata be a better person to share this information with?" Ayanokoji asked, puzzled.

"I'll tell him, but I think it's more important to tell you first. You've noticed something yourself, haven't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have helped Sudo clean up his mess yesterday."

"That was just..."

"You don't have to explain. I think I understand. I'm not fond of trouble either, but things change when the fire reaches your doorstep."

"What do you mean?" Ayanokoji looked up. At that moment, he saw Konoe in an entirely new light.

"You heard the second-year students' reactions to Sudo's dispute at the convenience store yesterday, didn't you? Especially what they said about Class D."

"Defective," and "You've seen hell."

Ayanokoji watched Konoe in silence as he continued.

"What if all the students in Class D were ranked in the bottom twenty-five in the entrance evaluations? And then the results of our subsequent assessments determined how many points we received each month? It'd be one thing if we were evaluated individually, but if it was a class-wide evaluation... And the convenience store even has free items for people who spend 100000 Points each month... Then the assessment must be pretty difficult..."

Now Ayanokoji understood what Konoe meant. For the past two days, most of the students in Class D had been unusually lively in class—in other words, they weren't following the rules very well.

There were security cameras all over the school, including in the classrooms. If this was an assessment, the school might evaluate the students based on their everyday behavior, and those results could affect how many points they received.

Judging from the second-year students' reactions to the dispute at the convenience store, even if Class D wasn't directly competing with the other classes, there was still an unspoken hierarchy between them. That made it highly likely that the assessment would be based on each class as a whole.

"So next, I'm going to look for more information to verify my guesses. While I'm sharing what I've found with Hirata, I'll also try to build connections with the key people in our class. This school doesn't seem simple, and you don't want to get caught in the crossfire either, do you?" Konoe said, though his words weren't entirely sincere. He disliked trouble. He didn't mind making connections with his classmates along the way, but he didn't think verifying the information was necessary.

Ayanokoji fell silent, then asked about something that concerned him. "Is this kind of thing normal? Competition between classes?"

"I think it's probably pretty normal. My guess is that it might have something to do with the homeroom teachers' salaries and bonuses. I've heard of cases where student performance affects how teachers are evaluated." Konoe thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Then why didn't Chabashira-sensei tell us directly?" Ayanokoji asked, raising an obvious question. If the classes were competing, then their homeroom teachers had to be competing too.

"Chabashira-sensei was probably ordered to keep quiet or something." Konoe told Ayanokoji about his conversation with Chabashira-sensei the previous afternoon. "This is probably part of the assessment."

"...You should've agreed. 800000 Points," Ayanokoji sighed.

"Huh?"

"800000 Points sounds like a lot, but it's not impossible to get. And this might have been our only chance to get reliable information," Ayanokoji replied.

"So you'll help out with the assessment, right? I just don't want us to get 100000 Points this month, then have it drop to 50000 next month." Konoe looked at Ayanokoji expectantly.

Ayanokoji agreed with that reasoning. He felt as if he'd heard something like it before: once people had experienced a comfortable life, they couldn't easily give it up. A drop in their standard of living could deal a serious blow to their morale.

"I can only say I'll help out when it's within my capabilities. What are you planning to do next?" Ayanokoji asked impassively.

"First, I'll get to know Hirata and Kushida, and share this information with them. Then I'll try to sell the two pieces of information to the other classes." Konoe stated his true intentions, and that was indeed what he planned to do.

"I'd recommend only telling Hirata. Kushida has a pretty wide circle of friends," Ayanokoji said meaningfully.

Konoe thought it over and nodded. That was true. If he told Kushida directly, there was a good chance the information would be made public.

"Got it. I won't tell Kushida, then. But I was originally thinking of asking her to verify the information with the second-years, since she seems well suited to that sort of thing."

"Yeah. There's no need to rush, right? It's only the second day, so I think it'd be better to observe things first. Also, I'd recommend not selling your information to Class C. It'd be better to sell it only to Class A," Ayanokoji replied.

Konoe thought for a moment, then nodded. The points at the start of the school year were important, but giving his competitors more cards to play with was risky. As for why it was safe to sell the information to Class A, it was because Class D wasn't competing with them at the moment.

"Thanks for the advice, Ayanokoji. By the way, what are you planning to do next?"

"I'll observe the situation first. Maybe I'll find a few reliable people to help me along the way." Ayanokoji finished his curry.

"That sounds good. I look forward to working with you, then. I'll take a little longer to finish eating, so why don't you head back first?" Konoe said happily.

"I should be the one saying that. I don't have anything in particular to do when I get back, so I'll wait until you're done," Ayanokoji replied, his voice as calm and listless as ever.