Not long after Amasawa Yuto left, 1.5 million points really did arrive in Hoshinomiya's account.
Hoshinomiya sighed, unable to help worrying about her class's future. As things stood, Honami and Ryuji were both nowhere near Amasawa Yuto's level.
Still, she had at least made Class A pay dearly, and her own students would benefit too, learning the truth about the school ahead of time.
She emailed Amasawa Yuto and told him to come find her in the Infirmary. According to the school's rules, she could only explain things verbally.
Before long, there was a knock at the door. But the person who walked in wasn't Amasawa Yuto. It was Ichinose Honami.
"Um, Hoshinomiya-sensei? Is Amasawa here?"
"Honami, what are you doing here? Where's Amasawa?"
The two teacher and student stared at each other, both at a loss.
Just then, an email from Amasawa Yuto appeared on Hoshinomiya's phone.
[Just tell Ichinose Honami the rules. That's Class B's information. I'm not entitled to hear it.]
Hoshinomiya felt as if she'd taken a heavy blow to the head. It seemed like a few clues were about to fall into place.
"Honami, what did Amasawa tell you?" Hoshinomiya asked, making her voice as kind as possible, exactly like her usual gentle self.
Ichinose Honami looked a little awkward. "Well... Amasawa said there are deeper rules at this school, and that students might even be expelled. If we paid points, we could learn all the rules."
Hoshinomiya felt her vision go black. "You agreed?"
"Yeah... Kanzaki and I had actually sensed something was a little off, like the free supplies. But we were afraid of causing everyone to panic, so we didn't say anything. Then Amasawa approached us, and we agreed."
Hoshinomiya was so furious she nearly fainted. The 1.5 million she'd received hadn't come from Class A at all. It was from her own class! And Amasawa had deliberately haggled with her just to make a profit off Class B!
"Why... why didn't you come ask your teacher first?" Even if they'd only asked her, they wouldn't have been swindled like this.
"How many points did he ask you for?"
"Ah..." Honami lowered her head, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the hem of her skirt. She could probably sense Hoshinomiya-sensei's mood changing.
Seeing Honami acting so awkwardly only confirmed Hoshinomiya's suspicions. Who would've thought? In the first week of school, her class had already been played by Class A—
"We gave Amasawa 1.5 million," Ichinose said quietly, pressing her lips together.
"I knew it. He made that much off you—huh? How much did you give him?" Hoshinomiya was just about to lose it when she suddenly stopped.
Had she heard that right?
"1.5 million," Ichinose repeated, looking uneasy as she watched Hoshinomiya.
This time, it was Hoshinomiya who stood there in a daze.
1.5 million? Why? Amasawa hadn't made a single point? What was he after?
"Actually... Amasawa took us to ask Teacher Mashima from Class A, so we originally thought we'd need to raise two million points."
"For everyone in our class, we started collecting points. Then Amasawa contacted us again and said that if we let him handle it, we'd only need 1.5 million points. So we gave him the points and even signed a written agreement."
Hoshinomiya tried to process the flood of information. She hadn't realized so much had happened right under her nose.
But she still didn't understand what Amasawa Yuto had been trying to achieve. He hadn't gained the slightest benefit from it. Objectively speaking, he'd even saved Class B 500,000 points.
Otherwise, Class B might really have raised two million points before coming to see her.
And this would also greatly increase Class B's points when the first month's results were announced.
In an instant, Amasawa Yuto's image had changed from a shameless profiteer to a noble, selfless saint.
The dramatic shift left Hoshinomiya unable to react for a while.
"Anyway, we should thank Amasawa this time. Honami, I'll explain the rules to you now. There's no need to worry about Class A either. They didn't pay any points, so they probably won't be coming."
"Then... Sensei, since this is information being shared with all of Class B, could you explain it to everyone in class? After all, we all paid for it together."
Hoshinomiya felt deeply reassured by Honami.
Her class might not have a genius like Amasawa Yuto, but they had their own strength: unity. Class A still couldn't agree on pooling their money, while Class B had already managed to rally their classmates to come up with 1.5 million points.
Thinking of that, Hoshinomiya felt her students were so sweet and lovable.
As their homeroom teacher, she should believe in them and help them discover their potential.
"You're right, Honami. Since everyone contributed points, they all have the right to hear about it. Let's go to the classroom."
"Okay!" Ichinose nodded happily.
In the library, after sending his email, Amasawa Yuto turned his attention back to his chess game with Sakayanagi Arisu.
"I've taken care of my business. Let's continue, Sakayanagi."
"You seem to have made an interesting deal with Class B, Yuto."
"Not at all."
"So you didn't make a deal?"
"It wasn't interesting."
"Hehe." Sakayanagi burst out laughing. "I didn't know you could joke around, Yuto."
She picked up her white queen. "So, does that mean you played the good Samaritan for Class B?"
"Did Hashimoto tell you?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi was a blond boy with a small braid who looked sharp as a tack. He was currently a key member of the Sakayanagi Faction.
He seemed to be in charge of gathering information.
"Yes. At first, I thought you were planning to give Class B a show of force right at the start of the school year."
"Sakayanagi, you understand this school's rules very well. You should know how important points are."
"That's true. Which is why I'm even more curious that you helped Class B."
"Sakayanagi, where do you think our points come from?"
"Isn't it from the competition between classes?"
"That's only redistribution. Our points come from the school, from Advanced Nurturing High School. There are so many staff members in the shopping center and residential areas, so many teachers, and an enormous amount of points circulating—far more than what changes hands between classes."
Sakayanagi's hand, holding a chess piece, froze in midair. The smile vanished from her face. It was proof that she was thinking.
"Are you saying we should earn points from the school?"
"If you compare it to a casino, the students are the gamblers, and the school is the house. The gamblers compete against one another, but they all share a common enemy: the house."
"So, Yuto, are you planning to unite all four classes and declare war on the school?"
"Nothing of the sort. As beneficiaries of the established rules, we have no reason to break them."
"You said you wouldn't break the rules. You didn't say you wouldn't use them."
"Points don't necessarily have to be used to compete against other classes in our year. By all estimates, Class D's points this year will be at a historic low. If we don't do something, then later, if we have to compete against other years, we might be at a disadvantage in terms of total points."
Sakayanagi stared at Amasawa Yuto's face, dumbstruck. She had only been thinking about the competition between classes, while Yuto's perspective was completely different.
Was that why he'd helped Class B? Not only because they could raise the money, but also because if they ever needed support with points in the future, the only person who would use them without hesitation to help her classmates was Class B's big-hearted Ichinose Honami.
This school was a microcosm of society.
She once again recalled what people outside the school thought of Advanced Nurturing High School: the way someone viewed this school could reveal how they viewed society as a whole.
Perhaps the kind of awareness Yuto had was exactly what this school wanted to cultivate in its students.
Before you continue