Sakayanagi's Growth

"You've seemed deep in thought lately. Is something bothering you?"

Sakayanagi asked during their casual chess game in the library.

"A little. I'm not a superhuman, after all."

"Can I help?"

"If I need anything, I'll ask you, Sakayanagi."

Just then, Amasawa Yuto's phone rang. Someone had sent him a message.

He picked it up, glanced at the screen, then set it down without replying.

But the notification sounds kept coming, one after another.

"If it's urgent, you can reply. I don't mind," Sakayanagi kindly reminded him.

"Then I'll take a quick look." Amasawa Yuto picked up his phone and began reading the messages.

Amasawa Yuto's attention was on his phone.

The messages were from Yamamura Miki.

They concerned the favor Amasawa Yuto had asked of her that day.

Sneak in and get the contact details of every student in the school.

The contact list was usually kept in the head teacher's or principal's office. Even Yamamura Miki couldn't sneak in there without being noticed.

But there was another place that had the contact details of every student in the school.

The Infirmary.

So that staff could contact people a student knew if the student got hurt.

Yamamura Miki had sneaked into Hoshinomiya-sensei's Infirmary, taken the contact list, photographed every page, and sent the pictures to Amasawa Yuto.

"What does Amasawa-kun need these for?"

After sending the pictures, Yamamura Miki asked him.

Amasawa Yuto made up an excuse on the spot:

"Actually, there's a girl I like, but I was too embarrassed to ask for her contact details, so I asked Yamamura."

"I see. Was I able to help?"

"You helped a lot. Thanks."

"That's great!"

Amasawa Yuto looked through the contact details of every student in the school, comparing them one by one with the mysterious number he had memorized.

But even after reaching the very last number, he still couldn't find one that matched.

So it wasn't a student at the school?

But that made very little sense.

Amasawa Yuto had asked Teacher Mashima, and learned that to call a student using a school-issued phone, you had to be on school grounds.

In other words, at midnight, that mysterious person had definitely been inside the school.

But they weren't a student there.

And they couldn't have been a teacher or staff member, either.

The number of digits was different.

Teachers and staff had regular eleven-digit phone numbers, so they could easily contact people outside the school.

The students' numbers were all one digit shorter: ten digits.

Normally, ten-digit numbers were used for hotlines outside the school, which could only receive calls, not make them.

But this number belonged neither to a student nor to a teacher or staff member.

Still, it was easy to imagine that the other person wasn't some rookie who could be tracked down just from their number.

Should he try to figure out how someone could get their hands on a student's phone number?

As Amasawa Yuto pondered this, his gaze unconsciously shifted to Sakayanagi Arisu across from him.

For example, what if her father was the chairman of the board?

"Yuto-kun, I've been thinking a lot about what you said last time—that I shouldn't fixate on the competition between classes."

Sakayanagi spoke up suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I realized my way of thinking was a little simplistic. I used to think the competition between classes and the way we controlled our pawns were just games of chess, and that as long as they entertained me, that was all that mattered.

If I hadn't met you, Yuto-kun, I'm sure I would have continued believing that, only to suffer a crushing defeat one day."

"You don't need to sell yourself short, Sakayanagi. You're strong. I'm sure you could graduate from Class A even without me."

Sakayanagi shook her head. "After talking with you, Yuto-kun, I started thinking more deeply about this school and the relationships between its classes and year groups. You went to check the points for the second- and third-year classes today, too, didn't you? Did you notice anything?"

Sakayanagi surely wouldn't have gone to the other school buildings herself. Kamuro or Hashimoto must have gone in her place.

"The point gap is huge. It's basically impossible to make a comeback."

"Don't you think their points seem a little strange, Yuto-kun? I mean the points for third-year Class A and second-year Class A."

Of course they were strange.

The three Class A point totals were 940, 1,420, and 1,350.

Considering the Special Exams, Horikita Manabu's third-year Class A had been at the school for two years, yet it still had fewer points than Miyabi Nagumo's second-year Class A, which had only been there for one.

And if Class A kept winning, it wouldn't be strange for its points to soar above 2,000.

But that wasn't what had happened. Even third-year Class A, led by Student Council President Horikita Manabu, had only 1,350 points.

It wasn't because Horikita Manabu himself or Class A lacked ability.

It was simply one of the school's hidden rules.

A simple calculation made that clear. With forty students per class, 2,000 Class Points meant the school had to give that class eight million Personal Points every month.

That came to 96 million points a year—nearly a hundred million.

Considering that points had the same purchasing power as yen, it was like handing out piles of cash to the students. That would be a huge financial burden.

The school must have a limit on Class A's points—a hidden "ceiling."

Once Class A's points got too high, the school would surely design exam rules that disadvantaged the class, forcibly draining its points and ensuring the students' income didn't get too high.

Judging from the points of second-year Class A and third-year Class A, that limit was probably around 1,500 points.

But Amasawa Yuto was fundamentally different from Miyabi Nagumo and Horikita Manabu: he came from a wealthy family.

Would that ceiling still apply to the chairman's daughter and the child of a conglomerate?

"Do you want to help Class A, Yuto-kun?"

"I think it'd be nice to get some more points. What about you, Sakayanagi? Have you finally started thinking from the class's perspective?"

"It's because I realized how unexpectedly lovely my classmates are. For the first time in a long while, I've felt the harmony between classmates. Masumi is adorable, isn't she? The can of beer she took back then is still in my room's fridge."

"Kamuro? By the way, did she ever go back for the beer, or has she already kicked the habit?"

"An alcohol habit? Haha—" Sakayanagi chuckled, still as elegant as ever. "Masumi doesn't drink."

"Then why did she—?"

"She likes the thrill of doing something bad. That's why she steals things."

There were people like that. They found everyday life dull, so they chose to do things that skirted the edge of the rules, chasing a thrill they couldn't find in their ordinary lives.

"And there's Kito-kun, too. You wouldn't guess it from his frightening appearance, but he dreams of becoming a fashion designer."

"Hashimoto-kun is taking action now, too. He's a bat—he'll help whichever side looks like it's going to win."

"And Morishita-kun has been pestering you a lot lately, too. Yuto-kun, this class has far more enthusiasm and energy than you might expect. And it's all because you helped Class B in the first month, making everyone feel a sense of crisis."

"For the next three years, I'll make protecting our place in Class A my responsibility, for everyone in the class. I hope you'll watch over me from the sidelines, Yuto-kun."

She looked at Amasawa Yuto and spoke earnestly.