Nightfall

May 1.

It was a day that filled Class 1-D with anticipation, yet they hated it with all their hearts.

Yawning, Shintō hadn't even stepped into the classroom when he heard the noisy discussions. They were all about things like, "Have your points come in yet?"

Or, "Just wait a little longer. Maybe it's not time yet."

Looking at his innocent classmates, Shintō's eyes held a trace of sympathy and pity. Poor kids. Their blissful everyday lives were about to be buried...

"Shintō-kun, have your points come in?"

The person who spoke to him was Karuizawa. She was already a big spender, and looked forward to that hundred thousand points at the start of the month more than anyone.

Shintō opened his mouth instinctively, but he had no intention of being the one to break the bad news. Chabashira-sensei would explain it soon enough anyway.

"No, not yet."

"I see... Then it must not be time yet. Maybe the teacher in charge of transferring the points hasn't started work."

"Maybe."

A little while later, Chabashira Sae walked in from outside, holding a poster tube.

Her expression was even colder and sterner than usual, as if Ike's joke about her hormones being out of whack had actually been true.

Without hurry, she placed what she was holding on the lectern, swept a cold glance over her students, and let her eyes linger a little longer on Shintō before speaking slowly:

"Next, we'll have a class meeting. But before we begin, I expect some of you may have questions for me."

Sure enough, as soon as she asked, several students raised their hands.

"Sensei, um, I checked this morning and found that my points hadn't come in. Didn't you say we'd get them on the first of every month? I almost couldn't buy a drink this morning!"

"That's right. The points are indeed transferred on the first of every month, and this month is no exception."

"Huh? B-but I really didn't receive any points! None of my classmates did either!"

Yamauchi, Ike, and the others exchanged glances, clearly having no idea what Chabashira Sae meant.

"Heh heh heh... You really are a bunch of idiots."

A chilling voice came from the lectern, filled with anger, disappointment, and a hint of schadenfreude.

Chabashira-sensei wasn't as friendly as the other teachers, but she had never criticized these troublesome students before. So when she suddenly called them idiots, they were clearly stunned.

"Idiots... What does that mean...?"

"Your points have already been transferred. I've said so before. I'm not joking, you didn't mishear me, and the school couldn't possibly have forgotten to transfer them. Understand?"

Chabashira-sensei seemed to enjoy playing the riddler, taking pleasure in watching her students gradually sink into despair as if they'd fallen into an icy pit.

Then again, perhaps they had brought this on themselves.

Regardless of what Chabashira was like, even if they'd been assigned a truly good teacher, these Class D students would still have driven them up the wall, wouldn't they?

"But even if you say that... I still don't understand..."

The student clearly wanted to say more, but Chabashira Sae ignored him and turned to Shintō Katsuya.

"Shintō, you know what's going on, don't you?"

Fortunately, she didn't point out that Shintō had figured it out long ago. Otherwise, the whole of Class D would surely have turned against him.

At Chabashira-sensei's question, everyone's attention turned to Shintō Katsuya.

Why do you always have to make a meal of everything? You could just say it yourself, but you have to drag me into it...

After grumbling about Chabashira Sae in his mind, Shintō sighed and stated the truth as calmly as he could:

"You mean the points we received this month are zero, right?"

As if to heighten the mood, Kōenji immediately burst into laughter and arrogantly propped both legs up on his desk.

"Hahahahaha! So that's what it is!"

Shintō Katsuya rolled his eyes at him. That guy really knew how to put on an act.

"Wait! Didn't you say we'd get a hundred thousand points every month? Why is it zero?!"

"Hondō, I know this is hard to accept. Even I don't want to accept it. But if you think back carefully, what Chabashira-sensei said on the first day was that points would be transferred on the first of every month, and that everyone would fairly receive a hundred thousand points that month."

"She never said it would be a hundred thousand points every month."

Perhaps she'd finally found someone to speak for her. Chabashira Sae's expression finally changed, though it was no longer icy; it had become openly scornful.

"I gave you plenty of hints before, but only a handful of you noticed. That's why I say you're nothing but a bunch of idiots!"

But Class D's students clearly weren't going to accept this calmly. So Hirata, as the class's central figure, stood up.

"Sensei, please tell us why our points are zero. Otherwise, we can't accept this!"

Chabashira was already prepared for this question.

"Late or absent: ninety-eight times in total. Dozing off in class and playing with your phones during lessons: over four hundred times. Do I need to say more? You're students, and you've behaved like this. Can you still blame the school for giving you a zero rating?"

"Wait, but you never told us before that our points could change, and you never explained what would be deducted for!"

Hirata tried to fight back, but Chabashira Sae answered with another cold laugh.

"Are you saying that, as students, you never learned in elementary or middle school how to respect classroom rules and study properly?!"

"You've only just started your first year of high school. Did you really think you could get a hundred thousand every month without any restrictions? Let me tell you: this is a school established by the government specifically to cultivate outstanding talent! It's not a paradise for worthless slackers and freeloaders!"

"Th-this..."

The classroom fell into deathly silence. They hadn't thought that far ahead, but when they considered it, they'd all heard the saying that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Every face was now etched with resentment and regret. Even Hirata stood frozen, unable to say another word.

Though Chabashira had gotten the reaction she wanted, she still wasn't satisfied.

"Oh, right. I have another piece of good news for you... Even if you decide not to be late this month, or decide to study hard, that won't increase the points already deducted. Simply put, the personal points you receive next month will still be zero."

It really was good news, at least in Shintō's eyes. Since zero was the lowest their points could go, he could be late and skip class as much as he pleased this month.