Information Sharing

The next morning, after Chabashira-sensei finished explaining some precautions regarding physical education class, he prepared to leave.

At this moment, Hirata stood up and called out to Chabashira-sensei, "Chabashira-sensei, could I have a moment of your time?"

The classmates looked at Hirata with curiosity. Although only two or three days had passed, the students of Class D had already formed a very good impression of Hirata.

"What is it? If it's not urgent, you can discuss it at the office," Chabashira-sensei replied with his usual indifference.

"Sensei, please let me ask just two simple questions. It won't take up too much of your time, and I'd like everyone in the class to hear them."

"...Alright, make it brief," Chabashira-sensei walked back to the podium.

"I heard that we are currently undergoing some kind of examination. Is that true?" Hirata asked directly.

Chabashira glanced at Konoe, who was sitting in the back row, then let out a soft snort and said, "I don't know where you heard that, but I cannot answer that question."

It was exactly what Konoe had said. Hirata now completely believed Konoe's guess from yesterday.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"What examination?"

The classmates became noisy upon hearing the inexplicable question.

"My second question..." Hirata paused deliberately, waiting for the classmates to quiet down. "Does the school distribute different amounts of points each month, and is the amount distributed determined by student evaluations?"

"What is this about?"

"Don't we get a fixed 100,000 points every month?"

"I've never heard of such a thing."

Before Chabashira-sensei could answer, the class descended into chaos. Hirata quickly calmed them down, "Everyone, please wait for the teacher to answer first, okay?"

"...I cannot answer this question either. Are we done? Hirata-kun." With that, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom without waiting for Hirata's reply.

"Everyone, I'll take up a little of your time. There's something I want to explain." Hirata immediately turned to face his classmates.

He conveyed three main points: the points distributed by the school might be related to overall student evaluations, the school might be conducting an examination for the students, and Class D might be in a competitive relationship with the other three classes.

After conveying this, he expressed his hope that the classmates would try to adhere to daily classroom discipline.

Because the classmates couldn't quite grasp the logic, and people kept interrupting Hirata, he had a very hard time finishing his explanation.

"Could what Hirata-kun said be true?"

"Isn't that terrible?"

"But these are just speculations, right? Didn't Chabashira-sensei not say anything?"

"Idiot, not saying anything just confirms that there is indeed an examination!"

The classroom buzzed with discussion.

"Hahahaha, so that's how it is. Hirata boy, it seems you're quite useful." Kogenji's booming laughter interrupted the classmates' discussion.

"What's going on? Kogenji, do you know something?" Ike asked Kogenji.

But Kogenji just sneered and didn't respond further.

"Everyone, please think carefully. Would the school really give first-year students, who have just entered the campus, 100,000 points every month without any restrictions? Moreover, this is a key school officially established to cultivate outstanding talents." Hirata explained again.

"If the points are related to evaluations, perhaps we can work together and find ways to protect our points. Isn't it better to take action to protect our points than to do nothing and potentially lose them? That's what I think. What do you all think?"

Hirata's words were very sincere. He had already made a good impression on his classmates, and most of them were now subtly agreeing with his statements.

"But even if what you say is true, and the points distributed by the school are related to personal evaluations, then shouldn't you just take care of yourself? Why do you specifically ask us to act together?" The question came from a bespectacled boy who was usually inconspicuous. His name seemed to be... Yukimura Teruhiko.

"That's because Class D seems to have a competitive relationship with the other classes. Although this is also a guess, if it's true, then the evaluations might be on a class-by-class basis. And if we act together, we can also supervise each other, Yukimura-kun."

Yukimura lowered his head to think upon hearing this.

Suddenly, there was a sound of something being thrown from the back row.

"What examination or evaluation? These are just your baseless speculations! I won't waste my time on something with no evidence!" Sudo kicked a desk and stood up, leaving the classroom. It seemed he was going to skip class again today.

Hirata called out to him, trying to persuade him to stay, but Sudo didn't stop. Just then, the class bell rang, and Hirata had no choice but to return to his seat.

"I think Sudo-kun is right. These are just speculations. If that's all there is to it, it doesn't seem very meaningful, does it? Aren't you making a fuss over nothing?" The person who spoke was an ordinary-looking boy. His name seemed to be... Yamauchi Haruki.

"But..."

"Everyone, can we discuss this again after school? It won't take up too much of your time," Hirata said with a smile again.

Konoe watched Hirata work so hard, feeling moved. At the same time, he began to wonder why some classmates were strongly opposed to his ideas.

Sudo's vehement opposition and Yamauchi's opinion provided an escape route for other students who were still hesitating. Since Hirata was only talking about speculations, it was better to remain indifferent and continue their comfortable lives than to act rashly. It was indeed difficult to get people to step out of their comfort zones based on mere speculation. Konoe sighed, thinking of the reason.

As expected, Hirata tried to persuade everyone again after school, but as Yamauchi impatiently left first, several other students also left one by one. Only half the students remained in the classroom, and most of them were girls.

Furthermore, when Hirata subtly asked the remaining students to pay attention to their daily discipline, another small portion of the students looked troubled, as if adhering to discipline required immense effort.

By the time of dismissal, Hirata couldn't hide his disappointed expression. Several female classmates were comforting him.

Seeing this, the other students also left the classroom one by one. Only Konoe and Ayanokoji remained in the classroom.

Konoe walked to Ayanokoji's seat and found that Ayanokoji's expression was still the same, indifferent, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

"What does Ayanokoji think? I feel like Ayanokoji can always look at things objectively."

"That's not true, I guess I was just unlucky. Don't worry too much about it."

"Unlucky?"

"Yeah, if Hirata delivered the message directly, then it would all depend on the classmates' own thoughts, right? Since everyone thinks differently, it's a matter of luck."

Konoe felt a flash of inspiration upon hearing this, but he couldn't quite grasp it. In his opinion, this kind of thing had a high success rate; why wouldn't it work in other people's minds? What was the difference between his thoughts and theirs?

Immediately, Konoe wanted to close his eyes and activate his Mind Palace to think carefully about the differences. But at that moment, Ayanokoji patted him on the shoulder, interrupting him. "There's no need to rush, is there? Don't worry too much about it. Shall we go back together?"

Konoe nodded and left the classroom with Ayanokoji.

"Speaking of which, the school seems to have swimming lessons. How are you at swimming, Konoe?"

"...I can't swim at all. I need to improve my physical education a bit. How about you, Ayanokoji?" Konoe had already forgotten his previous worries, his thoughts shifting to tomorrow's troubles.

"I can swim, though it's pretty much like running. Do you need my help? With swimming."

Konoe naturally didn't take the politeness as a serious offer, but he still said gratefully, "Thank you, Ayanokoji. But there's no need to trouble yourself. Since tomorrow is swimming class, it would be better to learn during the lesson, wouldn't it?"

Ayanokoji nodded and said no more, leaving the classroom with Konoe.