A Promise with Chabashira Sae

On the first day of May, every student in D Class wore expressions of resentment and anger, occasionally casting their eyes toward Sudo and the others.

Even now, not a single point had been credited. What Horikita had said had undoubtedly become reality.

Although, aside from Sudo, many people had performed far from satisfactorily, at a time like this, most people's first reaction was to find someone to blame.

Sudo, who had performed the worst, naturally became everyone's target.

But due to Sudo's short temper, everyone only dared to be angry without speaking up. They could only condemn him with silent stares, using them to convey, "It's all your fault that things turned out like this."

Meanwhile, Sudo was still sleeping soundly. The intense training in his club had left him exhausted, but it was also true that he lacked self-discipline and focus when it came to things he had no interest in, such as studying.

When the bell for First Period rang, Chabashira Sae entered the classroom carrying two rolls of white paper. Her expression was colder than usual—or perhaps, more disappointed.

"Um... Sensei... the points still haven't been deposited."

Ike Kanji spoke timidly.

Even now, there were quite a few people like him who still harbored wishful thinking. What if the school had made a mistake? What if Horikita and Hirata had been lying?

However.

Those with greater initiative had already sought confirmation from their teachers. Hirata, who cared more deeply about the class, stood up and asked in confusion, "Sensei, D Class has been careful enough this past month. Why haven't we received any points? This is too strange. Please tell us the reason, or we cannot accept this!"

This past month, Hirata had indeed urged everyone to regulate their behavior and study actively, yet this was still the result.

"Originally thought you understood what changes the S System would bring. As expected, D Class is still D Class."

Chabashira Sae looked at Hirata and said mockingly, "Tardiness and absences: thirty-one instances in total. Private conversations during class, passing notes, using mobile phones... You knew about the S System and still ended up like this. You truly are a group of hopeless flawed goods."

By the end, Chabashira Sae even seemed to feel both sorrow at their misfortune and anger at their refusal to improve.

Faced with those facts, Hirata could only shut his mouth resentfully.

He had indeed worked hard and put in a great deal over the past month. The number of tardiness incidents and the like was far lower than in the Original Work, yet losing one thousand points and losing ten thousand points made no difference.

Everyone understood those general principles.

But whether one could actually put them into practice was another matter entirely.

D Class had more problems with mentality, personality, and habits. The current D Class simply could not regulate itself; there would always be someone secretly taking out their phone to check the time.

It was as if one had clearly made up their mind not to scroll through short videos at night, only to realize it was already two in the morning.

Bad habits built up over more than a decade were now returning to exact their price.

If they could not manage everyone as thoroughly as Horikita did, then with merely Hirata's gentle reminders, this outcome was only natural.

Even if they followed Horikita's methods, things like passing notes would still happen. Even if Ichinose from B Class had been put in charge of D Class, the outcome would not have changed much.

Yeyue watched the dejected crowd. D Class really was this bad.

If they did not experience some setbacks and form stronger bonds, then promoting to A Class would undoubtedly be impossible.

However.

Yeyue did not care. He already had a foolproof method to promote to A Class, and more of his thoughts were devoted to choosing his future left and right arms.

"Hirata, it seems you can understand your own shortcomings as well."

Looking at Hirata, whose fists were clenched and whose face was filled with resentment, Chabashira Sae turned and pasted one roll of white paper onto the blackboard.

The paper clearly displayed the data for each class.

A Class: 960 points

B Class: 650 points

C Class: 490 points

D Class: 0 points

"Look." Chabashira Sae sneered, tapping the blackboard with her knuckles as she said coldly, "The gap between the classes is truly perfectly reflected in the Class Points."

Chabashira Sae did not say much more. Now that D Class already knew the information, too much of a blow might affect their motivation.

"Chabashira-sensei." Horikita raised her arm. After receiving permission, she stood up like a model student. "Since the school encourages competition among students, there should also be ways to increase Class Points."

Upon hearing Horikita's words, everyone could not help but turn hopeful eyes toward Chabashira.

Yeyue propped his head up with his left hand and spun a gel pen in his right, calmly watching everything. If D Class's students could not develop their own motivation and willingly work for D Class, then everything would be meaningless.

"There are indeed such methods, and the nearest opportunity is the Midterm Exam."

Before everyone could celebrate, Chabashira Sae poured another bucket of cold water over them. Another sheet of white paper was pasted onto the blackboard, listing everyone's names with numbers recorded beside them.

Below a distinct red line were the names of eight people.

"Even idiots can understand what these numbers mean, right?" Chabashira Sae swept her gaze across the class, placing her left hand on her hip before slamming her right palm onto the podium. "These are the results of the previous quiz. What exactly did you learn in junior high? If this had been a Formal Test, eight people would have been expelled just after school began."

"Expelled... What's going on?"

"What? Horikita didn't mention anything like this."

The students in the class cast questioning looks at Horikita. If she knew such information, why had she not told them beforehand? More than anything, they seemed to be looking for someone to blame.

However, Horikita Suzune had no intention of explaining herself. She, too, could not help but cast a sharp gaze toward Yeyue.

Yeyue shrugged. "I don't know either."

It was worth mentioning that in the last Placement Test, he had averaged around ninety-five points, performing above average and raising D Class's passing line by several points.

"Chabashira-sensei, this isn't funny. Expulsion isn't something to joke about."

"These are the school's Rules. Prepare yourselves."

"How can this be? How could the Ministry of Education possibly allow such ridiculous Rules to exist?"

"If you Cannot Accept it, then just withdraw."

Listening to the complaints below, Chabashira Sae's gaze turned icy and her tone remained indifferent. "The school fully respects each student's personal wishes. As Long As you are willing to submit a withdrawal application, the school will generally accept it."

Chabashira's words instantly suppressed the students' dissatisfaction. When it came to withdrawing, no one could accept it.

After waiting for everyone to quiet down somewhat, Hirata asked gravely, "Chabashira-sensei, does the Midterm Exam mean that anyone who scores below the average will be expelled?"

"That's right." Chabashira Sae's tone softened slightly, though it was still somewhat cold. "In addition, anyone whose score is lower than in this Placement Test will also be expelled. Any other questions?"

No one responded. D Class had actually already known most of the information, but the threat of expulsion was simply too great. They had yet to recover from the shock, or perhaps were unwilling to acknowledge it.

"Tenyo, come to the office with me."

Chabashira Sae gathered up two sheets of blank paper, left those words behind, and walked out of the classroom.

Yeyue followed after her as well, under everyone's puzzled gazes.