Yeyue Seen Through

Just as Sudo and Horikita were about to come to blows, something unexpected happened.

Kushida voluntarily stepped up to Sudo, her eyes carrying a pleading look.

"Sudo-kun, please calm down. Horikita might just not be good at communicating. Could you, for my sake, wait until Horikita finishes what she has to say?"

"Ah... Hm... Oh, since Kushida says so, I guess there's no helping it."

Perhaps because she was too close, the hot-tempered giant Sudo was surprisingly shy, blushing deeply as he faced Kushida.

Tenyo Yuyuki watched everything unfold calmly.

Kushida was actually helping on the surface while subtly undermining, indirectly lowering everyone's impression of Horikita.

This was the current D Class!

Without a doubt, a group of flawed goods, struggling even with simple communication. The few talented individuals each had their own hidden thoughts.

What was surprising was—

Kouenji Rosuke, who did as he pleased, was still sitting in the classroom.

Even when Sudo was about to throw a punch, Kouenji just had his legs propped up on the desk, looking at the mirror in his hand, tidying his appearance.

He had always been a maverick, so no one paid attention to his actions.

Horikita watched Sudo gradually calm down before speaking again.

"Is the farce over?"

"Horikita, could you please choose your words a little more carefully?"

Hirata's tone was bitter as he made the suggestion, even looking like he might cry.

Maybe to Horikita, this really was a farce, and Sudo was a worthless person, but you just couldn't say it like that.

Yuyuki's teeth ached a little at this point; he felt tired just watching Hirata.

Horikita frowned. "Is there something wrong with my wording? Besides, everything I said is the truth."

"Hm..."

Hirata nodded, temporarily giving up on persuading Horikita. For now, mediating the conflict in D Class was more important.

"Anyway, Horikita, if you have something to say, you should just tell everyone."

"That's exactly what I plan to do!"

Horikita brushed her beautiful hair behind her ear, implying that the delay was everyone else's fault.

She had no intention of wasting more time, so she placed both hands on the podium and looked at the class.

"Everyone, starting next month, the school will no longer distribute 100,000 Private Points."

That was a bombshell right from the start.

The entire D Class instantly became noisy.

"Stop joking around."

"What is this guy talking about?"

Similar remarks rang out across D Class.

A few scattered individuals showed serious expressions, intending to listen carefully to Horikita's information, but the noisy environment of D Class didn't allow it.

"Everyone, please calm down a little."

Hirata soothed the class, restoring silence, then turned to Horikita. "Horikita, could you please explain?"

D Class still had some capable people.

Hirata and the others had also perceived the school's abnormality.

Although they couldn't uncover the full truth, they hadn't recklessly spent their Private Points either.

"Everyone, what I'm about to say is very important, so please listen carefully."

Horikita nodded, fixing her gaze on the few students who had been talking loudly earlier, including Karuizawa.

Perhaps Horikita's stare was too sharp.

Karuizawa's expression stiffened. She pretended not to notice, twirling her hair with her fingers as she turned to look out the window, looking like she didn't want to listen, didn't understand, and was impatient, avoiding Horikita's gaze.

This scene—

Only a few people like Tenyo Yuyuki noticed.

Others might think nothing of it, just assuming, 'Karuizawa is enduring for the class's sake; it's best not to provoke her.'

But in reality, it was easy to see.

Karuizawa's weakness was actually quite clear!

This behavior was somewhat inconsistent with her babe image.

Before they could react, Horikita spoke again.

"This school has a reward and punishment system called the S System, which scores us based on our daily performance and exam results."

"The points you ultimately earn are called S Points, also known as Class Points."

"What does that have to do with our points?" Shinohara complained. "Can't you make it simpler? This is impossible to understand."

Before Horikita could respond, Hirata quickly cut in. "In other words, based on our daily behavior—like using phones in class, passing notes, or even small things like sorting trash in the dorms—all of this affects the Class Points. Our Personal Points are also influenced by the Class Points. It's not a fixed 100,000 every month."

After speaking, Hirata turned to look at Horikita, as if unsure. "That understanding's fine, right, Horikita?"

"Correct."

Horikita Suzune nodded, seeing nothing wrong with it.

"As expected of Hirata—he explains things simply and clearly!"

"It's great to have Hirata around."

"See, I knew all along the school couldn't be that generous. No way they'd just hand us 100,000 Points."

"Yamauchi, quit bluffing. Didn't you just spend 80,000 Private Points on that handheld console?"

"Huh, was I found out?"

The girls in the class praised Hirata, while Yamauchi Haruki, acting as if he'd seen through everything all along, remained unfazed even under suspicion from Sudo and the others.

The entire D Class.

Aside from a few exceptional talents, the other two-thirds of the students ranked in the bottom 20% of their grade.

Being placed in D Class wasn't unjust at all.

Even Yeyue found it hard to watch. "Suzune, what's the ratio between Class Points and Personal Points? Based on your judgment, how many Personal Points can we get next month?"

"100:1."

Though a bit puzzled why Yeyue, who clearly knew the answer, would ask, Horikita still swept her gaze across the entire D Class, her voice turning cold.

"One thousand Class Points equals one hundred thousand Personal Points. Judging by your attitude in class, D Class's Personal Points for May might very well be—"

The entire D Class fell silent in an instant. Horikita's wording was still a bit off, but this time, no one had the mind to care.

Yamauchi Haruki broke the silence with a snicker, teasing. "No way. Horikita's surprisingly fond of jokes. How would we live without Personal Points? This is a school, you know. They wouldn't do something like that, right, everyone?"

"Yeah, seriously. We're still students. How could the school treat us like this? The Ministry of Education would get involved. Horikita doesn't even get that? So funny~"

Facing her classmates' teasing and even mockery, Horikita remained unmoved, her sharp eyes fixed on everyone.

Gradually, they all realized Horikita wasn't joking.

"Really? The school really won't give us Personal Points?"

"Idiot, if you behave well, you'll naturally get Personal Points."

"This affects our livelihood! How can the school do this? I'm going to protest to Chabashira-sensei!"

The entire D Class instantly fell into chaos. Though only a day had passed, many had already spent most of their Personal Points. Yamauchi Haruki and a few others even considered banding together to get the truth from Chabashira.

After all, what Horikita said might not even be true.

"Everyone, don't panic. Since Horikita told us all this, she must have some plan, right?"

Hirata's face still carried that reassuring smile. "Right, Horikita?"

You could hear a hint of expectation in Hirata's tone. In just a few dozen minutes, a thin sheen of sweat had already formed on his forehead.

"Correct."

Horikita nodded, a trace of sarcasm in her voice. "But there's something else. This school divides classes based on the students' merit order."

"Excellent students are placed in A Class, useless ones in D Class. And only by graduating from A Class can you obtain the school's promised right to freely choose your career."

"In other words, D Class is a gathering of the bottom-feeders—what other classes even call flawed goods."

"Seeing your behavior just now, I've confirmed that once again!"

You could tell from her tone that Horikita had already removed herself from D Class. She didn't consider herself a member of D Class at all. Being placed here could only be the school's mistake!

Hirata's expression stiffened.

He'd actually gone and expected something good from Horikita's speech. He almost wanted to slap himself.

Even though everything Horikita said was true, it was too hurtful.

Before the enraged Sudo could speak again, Hirata quickly cut in:

"Is that so? I think everyone in D Class are wonderful friends."

First calming the furious D Class, Hirata then encouraged them. "And since we're all part of D Class now, all we have to do is Promote to A Class. With so many excellent companions, as long as we all work together, I believe we can definitely do it."

To keep D Class from collapsing, Hirata was truly giving it his all.

The girls suppressed the anger in their hearts, glanced at Hirata, then exchanged looks with their friends, ultimately deciding to give Hirata face.

But.

What Horikita had said just now was truly too much. She was simply treating everyone in D Class as dead weight.

Sudo and the others weren't about to let Horikita off just because of a few flattering words of encouragement from Hirata.

No one was stupid.

They were all young and proud in their own right.

Just then.

"That's right." Kushida stepped forward, looking at Sudo and the others, her eyes bright as she clenched her fists. "As long as we all work together, we can definitely promote to A Class, right?"

"Hm... well, since Kushida says so too, let's all do our best."

The clenched fists slowly loosened, and Sudo and the others reluctantly chose to lie low.

But everyone in the class looked at Horikita with cold eyes.

No one thought they were useless.

Still, they understood social graces; they were just saving face for Hirata and Kushida.

Horikita didn't perceive it, and even if she had, she probably wouldn't have cared. Instead, she nodded.

"That's right. Promoting to A Class isn't impossible. In any case, I will definitely promote to A Class."

"Then, Horikita, do you have any methods?"

Hirata also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course."

Horikita brushed her beautiful hair behind her ear, speaking with extreme confidence.

"As long as everyone follows my arrangements, we can definitely promote to A Class."

"Starting today, everyone will wake up at 6:30 during school days, gather at 7:00 for a half-hour jog to build stamina, arrive at school by 7:50, hand over your Student IDs (phones) to me during class, or to Hirata, whom you can trust, and attend a two-hour Study Session every day after school."

"If there are difficulties, like not being able to wake up, I can call you every morning to make sure you're up."

"Additionally, each person will submit half of their Private Points as a deposit every month, to be returned the following month. If there are fights, passing notes in class, or other behaviors that affect the class, a portion of the points will be deducted as class funds for D Class."

"I believe the remaining 50,000 Private Points should be enough for everyone to live comfortably."

"If you still have doubts, you can submit them to Hirata, whom you trust, or even have Chabashira-sensei supervise. I won't touch those Private Points."

"Any other questions?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Horikita swept her gaze across all the D Class students, and everyone fell into dead silence.

Hirata looked a bit awkward, forcing a smile. "Horikita, this... isn't it a bit much?"

"What do you mean?" Horikita frowned, explaining, "This is the best plan I could come up with. I believe I've considered everyone's situation thoroughly enough. Of course, if you have a better plan, I can accept it."

"No, it's not about the plan." Hirata glanced at the other students and said somewhat euphemistically, "Horikita's plan can indeed ensure Class Points, but everyone will probably find it hard to accept."

"I cannot understand!" Horikita tossed her hair, looking a bit displeased. "Since you admit my plan works, and everyone's goal of promoting to A Class is the same, what reason do you have to not accept it? Tell me. If there's another valid reason, as long as it can guarantee Class Points, I'll try to revise it."

"No... it's not..."

Faced with Horikita like this, Hirata couldn't argue back.

Horikita was indeed extremely capable, had thought things through thoroughly, was willing to put in effort for the class, and could even sacrifice her personal time.

But Hirata had already perceived it.

Horikita severely lacked empathy for others and completely failed to consider how they felt.

Relying solely on absolute logic wouldn't work.

"Tch, listening to all this was just a waste of time. Haruki, Kanji, let's go."

As if losing all interest, Sudo and the others slung their bags over their shoulders and left the classroom directly.

"It's already 4:30. The Sports Briefing is about to start."

Yeyue suddenly spoke, turning to look at everyone. "And since everyone needs time to digest all this information, why don't we stop here for today? If there are other questions, you can verify them with Chabashira-sensei first."

"Th... that's right."

Hirata quickly responded. If they kept discussing it, D Class wouldn't end well.

Horikita coldly watched the D Class students without saying much else, returning to her seat to pack up.

"Alright, aren't we supposed to attend the Club Fair?"

"That's right."

Yeyue nodded, briefly said goodbye to Matsushita Chiaki, and sent a text message to Kushida saying he would definitely make it to the evening gathering.

Then he followed Horikita and Ayanokoji out of the classroom.