Sakayanagi's Growth

"You've seemed lost in thought lately. Is something troubling you?"

During their casual chat over a game of chess in the library, Sakayanagi asked.

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

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

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

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

He picked up the phone, glanced at it casually, and set it back down without replying.

But then, notification sounds began to chime one after another.

"If it's urgent, you can go ahead and reply. It's fine," Sakayanagi kindly reminded him.

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

Amasawa Yuto's attention was fixed on his screen.

The person messaging him was Yamamura Miki.

It was about the task Amasawa Yuto had asked her to handle today.

To sneak in and obtain the contact numbers for every student in the school.

Usually, such a directory would be kept in the office of the head teacher or the principal, and even for Yamamura Miki, sneaking into those places without being detected would be impossible.

However, there was one other place that kept the contact information for every student.

The infirmary.

It was kept there so they could contact a student's emergency contacts in case of injury.

Yamamura Miki had snuck into Hoshinomiya's infirmary, retrieved the directory, and sent photos of every page to Amasawa Yuto.

"What does Amasawa-kun need these for?"

After sending the photos, Yamamura Miki asked him.

Amasawa Yuto made up a random excuse:

"Actually, there's a girl I like, but I was too embarrassed to ask for her contact info, so I had to ask for your help, Yamamura."

"I see. Was I able to help?"

"You helped a lot. Thank you."

"Great!"

Amasawa Yuto flipped through the contact information of all the students in the school, comparing them one by one against the mysterious number he had memorized in his mind.

However, even after reaching the very last number, he couldn't find one that matched it exactly.

It seems they aren't a student at this school?

But that would be very strange.

Amasawa Yuto had asked Mashima, and learned that to call a student using a school-issued phone, one must be inside the school grounds.

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

Yet, they aren't a student at the school.

They couldn't be a teacher or staff member either.

Because the number of digits in the phone numbers is different.

To facilitate communication with people outside the school, the phone numbers for teachers and staff are the standard 11 digits.

As for the students' phone numbers, they are uniformly one digit shorter, consisting of only 10 digits.

Generally speaking, 10-digit numbers in the outside world are service hotlines that can only receive calls, not make them.

But as it stands, the number belongs to neither a student nor a teacher or staff member.

Still, it was to be expected; the other party certainly wouldn't be a rookie who could be exposed just by their phone number.

Should I think about this from the perspective of how one could obtain a student's phone number?

As Amasawa Yuto thought this, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward Arisu Sakayanagi sitting opposite him.

For instance, what if their father is the chairman?

"Yuto-kun, I've been thinking a lot about what you said to me last time, about not being fixated on the struggles between classes."

Arisu Sakayanagi suddenly said.

"What?"

"I mean, I realized that my previous way of thinking was a bit simplistic. Before, I only felt that the struggles between classes and the control of pawns were nothing more than a game of chess, as long as it could provide me with amusement.

If it weren't for you, Yuto-kun, I would surely have believed that firmly, and in the future, I would have ended up suffering a crushing defeat."

"You don't need to be so modest, Arisu. You are strong; even without me, you would surely have been able to graduate from Class A."

Sakayanagi shook her head. "After talking with Yuto, I began to think more deeply about the relationships between this school, the classes, and the grade levels. You went to check the points for the second and third years today, didn't you, Yuto? Did you notice anything?"

Sakayanagi certainly wouldn't go to other school buildings herself; she must have had Kamuro or Hashimoto do it for her.

"The point gap is massive. It's basically impossible to turn things around."

"Don't you think their points are a bit abnormal, Yuto? The points for class 3-a and class 2-a?"

Of course they were abnormal.

The points for the three class a's were 940, 1420, and 1350.

Considering the existence of special exams, Horikita Manabu's class 3-a had been around for two years, yet their points were actually lower than Nagumo Miyabi's class 2-a, which had only been around for one year.

Moreover, if a class a kept winning, it wouldn't be strange for their points to soar past 2000.

Yet, that wasn't the case. Even class 3-a, led by student council president Horikita Manabu, only had 1350 points.

It was definitely not a lack of ability on the part of Horikita Manabu or class a.

Rather, it was simply the hidden rules of this school.

A simple calculation made it clear: assuming 40 students per class, 2000 class points would mean distributing 8 million private points to that class every month.

That would be 96 million points a year—nearly 100 million.

Considering that points have the same purchasing power as yen, this would mean handing out a massive amount of cold, hard cash to students, which would be a huge financial burden.

The school must have a limit on points for class a—a hidden "ceiling."

Once a class a's points get too high, the school will inevitably design rules for exams that are disadvantageous to class a, forcing them to spend points to ensure student income doesn't get too high.

Judging by the points of class 2-a and class 3-a, this limit is likely around 1500 points.

However, there was a fundamental difference between myself and people like Nagumo Miyabi or Horikita Manabu: I was quite wealthy.

Does this ceiling still exist for the chairman's daughter and the children of conglomerates?

"Do you want to contribute to class a, Yuto?"

"I think getting more points wouldn't be a bad thing. But what about you, Sakayanagi? Have you finally started thinking from the perspective of the class?"

"It's because I've discovered that my classmates are unexpectedly cute. For the first time in a long while, I've felt a sense of harmony among the students in the class. Masumi is quite cute, isn't she? That can of beer she took back then is still in the refrigerator in my room."

"Kamuro? By the way, has she gone back to get more beer, or has she already kicked the habit?"

"Kicked the habit? Haha—" Sakayanagi chuckled softly, though she remained elegant. "Masumi doesn't drink."

"Then why?"

"She likes the thrill of doing bad things, which is why she steals."

There are indeed people like that. Because they find reality boring, they choose to do things that skirt the edge of the law to seek out the excitement they can't find in their daily lives.

"And then there's Kito. Don't let his scary appearance fool you; he actually dreams of being a fashion designer."

"Hashimoto is also making moves right now. He's a bat; he'll side with whoever he thinks will win."

"And Morishita has been pestering you lately, too. Amasawa Yuto, the motivation and vitality of this class are far beyond what I imagined. And all of this is because you helped Class B during the first month, which made everyone feel a sense of crisis."

"For the next three years, I will make it my responsibility to protect Class A for the sake of everyone in the class, and I hope you will watch over me from the sidelines, Amasawa Yuto."

She looked at Amasawa Yuto and spoke earnestly.