First Year Class D, during class.
Horikita Suzune sat by the window at the back left of the classroom, in the same seat Shiina Hiyori occupied in Class C.
Horikita looked displeased. The class was so noisy that it was interfering with her studies.
Class D's classroom atmosphere was practically like a marketplace.
Meanwhile, with Ryuen enforcing the rules to a certain extent after figuring them out, Class C's classroom atmosphere now completely surpassed Class D's.
Even without any intervention from Tennoji Kaede, in the original timeline Class C still ended its first month with 490 Class Points, while Class D scored an unprecedented zero.
The gap between this year's Classes C and D in their first month was truly striking.
The Class Points system was the first challenge Advanced Nurturing High School had set for its new students.
The four first-year classes had all started with 1,000 hidden Class Points.
Based on the students' overall performance during their first April at the school, they would receive corresponding evaluations, which would result in Class Points being deducted.
At the beginning of each month, the classes would be reordered into A, B, C, and D according to their new Class Point totals.
Could a class gain Class Points during its first month?
At least in the history of this school, it had never happened!
Horikita Suzune had finally made it through one painful class. Some students in Class D even left two minutes before the bell, bolting straight out of the classroom.
"These people are crazy, and so is this school. And this is supposed to be Advanced Nurturing High School? Hmph! And this so-called Class D..."
Horikita suddenly remembered what Tennoji Kaede had said to her last time. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was some unpleasant reason she'd been assigned to Class D.
Was the last class in the A-B-C-D order supposed to be the worst?
But was she, Horikita, really one of the worst students?
Heh. How could that be? What a joke!
And wasn't S, the letter after D, considered the best by most people? Could it really mean something worse than D?
That was where Horikita Suzune's thoughts had led her. There was something there, but not much.
Come to think of it, what was that man's name...? She suddenly remembered that he hadn't told her.
He must have completely forgotten, she supposed. Just because he had more points than her, he thought he could act so arrogantly!
She glanced to the side. The brown-haired boy, Ayanokoji, showed no change in expression, even with the classroom as noisy as it was.
He was another inexplicable person.
Horikita took a deep breath and stopped dwelling on pointless questions. She stood up and packed her things. School was over, and all she wanted was to get back to her dorm and review the material she'd missed during class.
"Horikita, could I have a moment of your time?"
Her again? What a pest!
Horikita Suzune replied impatiently, "Kushida, I've already told you that I have absolutely no intention of becoming friends with you. Please stop bothering me."
Kushida Kikyo: ...
"She really is a horrible woman. How many times has Little Kikyo invited her now?" Kanji Ike said.
"By the way, don't you think Horikita's pretty cute? Though she still can't hold a candle to Little Kikyo, haha." Kuroya Supreme Godwork laughed.
"Boys are so disgusting..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had also turned his attention to the people sitting beside him. He felt that Kushida Kikyo's contradictory behavior today had some unknown confidence behind it, and it made him curious.
Kushida Kikyo looked Horikita in the eye and spoke slowly:
"Class 70 wants to see you. It's now or never."
"What?" Horikita hadn't quite caught that. What did she mean, 70?
Wait, could she mean 700,000? Was it him?
Kushida hadn't said it loudly, but Ayanokoji, sitting nearby, had still heard her.
"Hey! Wait, where is he? Do you know him? And what's his name?" Horikita blurted out loudly.
"Hey, did Horikita find some new relatives or something? Why's she so worked up?" Kanji Ike chimed in.
"Did Horikita get dumped by the boyfriend she made when we first enrolled? Maybe he's fallen for Little Kikyo, and now she's desperate. Haha, this is hilarious!" Kuroya Supreme Godwork laughed again.
"Maybe the two boys in our class are just really disgusting..." a girl from Class D whispered.
Kushida Kikyo almost broke character, barely able to hide her excitement! So, Horikita, you finally need my help?
She nearly blurted out, "Get down on your knees and beg me, and I'll tell you." But she hadn't forgotten that Tennoji Kaede had taught her what to say, and she couldn't go off script now.
But Brother Kaede was so amazing~ What weakness of Horikita's had he found? What was this "70" supposed to imply?
It didn't matter. She'd find out when she went today.
So Kushida said softly, "I do know Class 70. If you need to, Horikita, you can come with me to see him now. You might really not get another chance~"
Horikita snapped, "Who cares about your '70' or whatever? I asked you for his name!"
Kushida Kikyo couldn't hold back a small laugh. "Um, Horikita, if you want to make friends with someone, it's more polite to ask them their name in person~ Unless..."
Horikita, are you telling me you've gone your whole life without a single friend? For the sake of keeping up appearances, Kushida Kikyo held back and didn't say anything outrageous.
At those words, Horikita Suzune felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
In Class C, Tennoji Kaede received two messages: a new "fruit" from the Haigoku System and one from his terminal.
After comparing them, he thought that the task he'd previously assigned Kushida should have gone smoothly.
With the Haigoku System's "fruit" to verify things against, he no longer had to worry about walking into any traps.
After all, the more someone plotted to harm Tennoji Kaede, the greater the "karma" they incurred, and the more straightforward the "fruit" they received in return. No matter how carefully they schemed, it would all come to nothing.
But this time, Tennoji Kaede himself had guided the cause and effect from behind the scenes, so the odds of anything going wrong were far too low.
His terminal vibrated again. After checking it, Tennoji Kaede casually sent back a message.
"This should be interesting... Well, there's no harm in having another acquaintance. I might as well mooch some bonus points."
Kaede got up and prepared to head to the School Building cafe where they'd arranged to meet last time.
At a round table in a secluded corner of the Palace Cafe.
The three outstanding students of Class D—Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka—sat together, waiting for the main event to arrive.
"Sorry to keep everyone from Class D waiting. Though it was only five minutes~"
Horikita looked toward the voice and saw a man and two women approaching. Tennoji Kaede was naturally at the head of the group.
The six of them took their seats. Unfortunately, Kaede ended up facing Horikita, not Ayanokoji.
But it made little difference.
Tennoji Kaede began, "Thanks to everyone from Class D for accepting my invitation. I arranged this meeting in the first place to introduce you to Kikyo, but I hope you don't mind if I talk to Horikita about something else first?"
Kushida Kikyo, who'd thoroughly enjoyed needling Horikita earlier, quickly shook her head to show she didn't mind.
Did anyone really think she wanted to be friends with Horikita?
As if!
Kushida was more interested in seeing how this scene played out today. What other wonderful expressions would Horikita make?
Just thinking about it made Kushida so giddy that she could hardly sit still.
"Thanks for understanding, Kushida. Once we're done, you can sit and chat with Horikita in private."
Kaede shifted the subject.
"Now, let's get to the point. Let's talk about the rules hidden behind this school. They're very important to both our classes~"
Before you continue