Sudo Drops Out

A month later, on May 3, Point Issuance Day finally arrived.

Just as Akasaka had expected, D Class received no points. That proved they had earned zero points this month.

Akasaka didn't care about that. He cared about Class A and Class B's results. His 1.5-million-point bet depended on them, so he couldn't afford to be careless.

Akasaka went to the classroom and waited for Chabashira Sae to announce the results.

Since no points had come through, his classmates were whispering among themselves.

"What's going on? Why didn't we get any points this month? Is the system down?"

"I don't know! I just bought a PlayStation last month and spent all my points. If they don't come through this month, I'll have to live on scraps."

Sudo slapped both hands on his desk. "Damn it! Why weren't we given any points this month? I still need to buy a uniform and a basketball. I broke my ball last month, and I'm short on cash for a new one."

Everyone looked disgusted by Sudo's unreasonable outburst, but no one said anything. This time, they were all on the same side: they all wanted to know why the points hadn't come through.

Chabashira soon entered the classroom, her expression frighteningly dark.

She truly hadn't expected D Class to be so awful that they couldn't even hold on to a single point.

She didn't even bother hiding the disgust on her face as she looked at the students below.

The students, too, were bewildered by her stare.

Chabashira never usually bothered with them, so why was she acting so strangely now?

Chabashira pinned the results poster for the month to the blackboard, then smacked the desk to get everyone's attention.

Chabashira took a deep breath to settle her irritation, then glared viciously at the useless lot in front of her.

"You really are the worst of the worst! I never expected this!"

"I thought you might have managed to keep a hundred or two hundred Personal Points. Looks like I overestimated you. Well done—you didn't leave yourselves a single point."

Chabashira Sae was so angry she started laughing.

The students still didn't understand what she meant.

Chabashira soon explained Class Points and the related rules, as well as why they hadn't received any points for the first month.

"You've really outdone yourselves! You managed to achieve the legendary zero points in your first month. This is the first time this has happened in the school's history! Even I have to admire you."

Chabashira clapped sarcastically at the students below.

The students were all ashamed, but Akasaka wasn't concerned about that. He wanted to know the other classes' Class Points.

The Class Points on the blackboard were as follows.

Class A: 855

Class B: 915

Class C: 490

Class D: 0

After seeing the results, Akasaka couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It looked like he'd pulled it off. Still, he hadn't expected the gap to be so small...

If Kamuro hadn't helped by getting two deductions of thirty points and one of twenty-five imposed on Class A in advance, Class B still wouldn't have won.

Meanwhile, back in Class A, their homeroom teacher, Majima Tomoya, wore a frighteningly dark expression.

He couldn't understand why Class A had fallen so far. What on earth had happened?

They shouldn't have lost so many points...

The students in Class A were also gloomy. They couldn't understand what had happened either.

The two leaders of the class's rival factions, Katsuragi Kohei and Sakayanagi Arisu, looked especially grim.

Sakayanagi in particular seemed to know who had done it. She gritted her teeth in frustration and spat out a name.

"Akasaka Ryunosuke!"

Meanwhile, Class B was the complete opposite. The room was filled with laughter and cheers. They had finally succeeded in rising to Class A.

Hoshinomiya Chie was so happy that she invited everyone to karaoke, promising the teacher would pay.

She also glanced at Ichinose and added, "Remember to invite Akasaka, too. There's something I want to discuss with him."

Ichinose nodded in agreement.

Seeing that, Hoshinomiya began the lesson as usual, quietly admiring the boy named Akasaka. She hadn't expected him to actually pull it off. He really was formidable...

Over in Class C...

Their 490 points had been more or less what they'd expected, so no one reacted particularly strongly.

But one person sensed something was off: Shiina Hiyori, Class C's brains and strategist.

As Shiina looked at Class A and Class B's rankings on the blackboard, she grew suspicious.

"Strange. Class A should be the stronger one, so why is the gap between them and Class B so big?"

"Or... has the competition between the two classes already begun?"

Soon, it was time to go home.

Akasaka packed his bag and got ready to leave.

He didn't care that everyone else was fretting over their points. It had nothing to do with him.

Now that everyone in D Class knew that Class Points depended on good behavior, they immediately started shifting the blame.

"You! You're the one who plays games in class all the time! You're the reason we didn't get any points!"

Karuizawa Kei accused Yamauchi Haruki. He was the one who played around in class without restraint, as if the teacher didn't matter at all.

Yamauchi immediately took offense and pointed at Karuizawa. "What gives you the right to criticize me, you slut? It's not like you don't play on your phone in class either. Tch."

Yamauchi spat heavily on the floor, then muttered, "Slut!"

Karuizawa Kei sprang to her feet and slammed her hands on the desk. "Who are you calling a slut? Say that again, if you dare!"

Yamauchi stuck his tongue out at Karuizawa, taunting her. "I said you! What are you going to do about it? Slut, slut~"

"Yamauchi Haruki!!!!"

Karuizawa raised a chair, ready to smash it down on him.

Yamauchi jumped in fright and hid behind Sudo.

Everyone hurried to stop Karuizawa from hitting him, but Yamauchi kept running his mouth, spewing insults.

He stuck half his head out from behind Sudo and continued insulting Karuizawa.

"I insulted you. What are you going to do about it?"

"You women are all rotten."

"Why are you pretending to be so pure? Who knows how many men you've been with behind everyone's backs..."

Yamauchi wore the standard sneering expression of a man from an adult comic.

Karuizawa's face flushed red, and her voice caught with tears. "Yamauchi, you bastard!"

Karuizawa ran off in tears, leaving her schoolbag behind.

Seeing this, the girls from the Gyaru Group hurried after her.

The other girls glared at Yamauchi with disgust.

Yamauchi was annoyed and snapped back at them.

"What are you looking at?! What gives you the right to lecture me?"

"Especially you, Hasebe Haruka. Why are you looking at me like that? You're no good either!"

Hasebe clicked her tongue in disdain and muttered, "Disgusting creep!" Then she slumped back over her desk, unwilling to look at the revolting guy.

Yamauchi was furious. He pointed at Hasebe and launched into another tirade.

He went straight to vulgar insults.

"Hasebe's boobs are huge! I bet you can't even find a bra that fits. Hahaha!"

The vein in Hasebe's temple bulged. She stood up, ready to hit him. "Say that again, if you've got the guts!"

But the other girls held her back.

"Forget it, Haruka. Don't get mixed up with a guy like him. He's disgusting."

Another girl chimed in, "Yeah, just ignore him."

But Yamauchi still wasn't done. He picked another girl and started in on her.

"And you, Sakura. Yours aren't small either. They're almost as big as Hasebe Haruka's. You're always fiddling with your camera. You're not taking those kinds of pictures, are you? Could you show me some?"

Sakura Airi looked wronged, as if she wanted to explain something...

"I-I don't take those kinds of pictures..."

But her voice was so quiet that no one could hear her.

Yamauchi quickly leaned closer. "Huh? You said you do take those kinds of pictures? Everyone, look! She takes porn photos!"

Sakura Airi burst into tears and buried her face in her desk, sobbing.

"Wuwuwu, I don't. I don't take those kinds of pictures..."

"Yamauchi! You've gone too far!"

Sato Maya rolled up her sleeves, ready to hit Yamauchi, but Sudo stepped in front of her. Sudo was clearly on Yamauchi's side. He thought Yamauchi had a point.

These girls were being unreasonable. Just because they were men didn't mean they wouldn't fight back.

Seeing Sudo take that stance, Sato Maya swallowed her anger and retreated with a huff.

She was worried Sudo might actually hit her. At nearly two meters tall, he was pretty intimidating.

When Yamauchi saw his ally come to his side, he immediately felt emboldened again. He sprang out and quickly looked for someone new to attack.

His gaze landed on Kushida Kikyo, who stood nearby looking concerned. He was about to go after her, but then he thought it over and rolled his eyes. There wasn't really anything to criticize her for.

Kushida was always nice to him and sometimes talked with him. She clearly liked him, so he'd let this girl who had a crush on him off the hook...

Yamauchi couldn't help thinking that to himself.

If Kushida heard that, she'd have wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

She just wanted to be friends with everyone. She hadn't expected Yamauchi to have such a vivid imagination.

Yamauchi had practically insulted every girl in the class, one after another.

The girls wanted to gang up and beat him, but Sudo was standing in front of him, and no one dared to act rashly.

After Yamauchi had finished venting, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Ahh, that feels good! It's been ages since I've let loose like that. Let's see who else there is."

Yamauchi looked around, then turned his attention to Horikita Suzune, who had remained silent and studied by herself from beginning to end. He pointed at her and launched into a broadside.

"Horikita, you're always acting like you're some big shot, like someone owes you millions. What are you so smug about?"

Horikita frowned deeply but didn't respond to the disgusting creep. She went back to reading.

When Yamauchi realized she was ignoring him, he became annoyed. He walked over, sat right on her desk, then snatched the book she was reading. He glanced at it, tossed it to the floor in disgust, and stomped on it.

Horikita rose angrily to her feet, and Sudo quickly stepped in front of her, facing her directly.

Horikita folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You're going to protect him?"

Sudo impatiently waved his hand. "I don't hit women. Just don't touch my friend..."

Before he could finish, Horikita attacked.

She raised her leg and delivered a sharp kick to Sudo Ken's jaw.

Sudo didn't react in time. The kick sent him flying to the ground, and he nearly passed out.

Horikita slowly lowered her leg and looked coldly at Yamauchi Haruki, who was standing nearby.

Yamauchi staggered backward in fright and fell over, looking utterly pathetic. But he kept scrambling away, terrified that Horikita would kick him.

Hadn't he seen that huge, two-meter guy get kicked unconscious?

He couldn't take a blow like that with his scrawny frame.

Horikita walked slowly up to Yamauchi. She clearly had no intention of letting him off.

Yamauchi hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Horikita, I was only joking with you. Don't take it seriously. You'll get points deducted for hitting a classmate."

Yamauchi pointed at the classroom's security camera, warning that if Horikita hit him, the whole class would lose points.

That was exactly why he'd felt free to insult people without restraint.

He was sure the girls wouldn't hit him, since doing so would drag down the whole class.

Even if someone did hit him, he still had Sudo, his trump card.

He just hadn't expected Horikita to be so strong that she could knock Sudo down with one kick. If he'd known, he wouldn't have provoked her.

Horikita had noticed the camera, but she didn't care anymore.

After all, the class's points were already at zero. How much lower could they go?

The other girls thought the same way and openly supported Horikita hitting him.

Even if some points were deducted next month, they didn't mind.

Yamauchi was simply too infuriating.

Faced with the girls' support, Horikita wasn't interested. She only wanted to teach Yamauchi, the one who'd provoked her, a lesson.

Horikita took one step after another. Yamauchi was almost crying with fear.

Just then, Sudo, who Horikita had knocked down with one blow, got back to his feet. He felt his bruised jaw, then grimaced in pain.

"You actually dared to hit me. Don't blame me for what happens next."

Sudo charged at Horikita. She sidestepped, dodging him.

When his attack missed, Sudo continued swinging at her. Horikita raised both hands to block his punches, handling them with ease.

Compared to Sudo's brute force, Horikita's technique proved crucial. She effortlessly deflected every one of his attacks.

Sudo grew desperate and grabbed a nearby desk, raising it to smash into Horikita.

Horikita hadn't expected him to go that far. She failed to dodge in time, and the desk struck her squarely, leaving blood seeping from her forehead.

Everyone rushed to Horikita's side and shielded her, glaring furiously at Sudo.

Sudo knew he'd gone too far. He'd just lost his temper for a moment. He wanted to say something, but the words seemed stuck in his throat; he couldn't get them out.

Later, Hirata Yosuke arrived with a teacher from the infirmary, his expression grim. He also announced that D Class's Sudo Ken had been expelled because of his excessively violent behavior.

To fill the vacancy, the school planned to recruit another top student from outside and place them in D Class. As for the point deduction for Sudo's assault, the school wouldn't issue a penalty for the time being. Everything else would remain unchanged.