The class was instantly plunged into despair. After telling them to fend for themselves, Chabashira Sae slammed the classroom door shut and walked out.
"Bang!"
Sudō kicked a desk hard. It was unclear whether he was upset about failing the exam or being assigned to the class of dead-last students.
The others weren't doing much better:
"I have no points to spend! H-how am I supposed to get by this month?!"
"M-me too! I already spent all my points yesterday..."
Chabashira Sae had told them that the cafeteria offered free food and the convenience store handed out free daily necessities, but who would actually want to live like a refugee?
"Forget the points—our class is the real problem, isn't it?! Are you kidding me?! How could I possibly have been assigned to Class D?!"
Yukimura, still wearing his glasses, continued to vent his frustration. Even Horikita Suzune's face was set in a deep scowl.
She couldn't understand it. Her academic ability and physical fitness were both excellent. She might not have ranked first on the entrance exam, but she'd certainly been near the top!
Why had the school not only denied her a place in Class A, but dumped her in the garbage heap at the very bottom?
As the class descended into chaos, the kindhearted Hirata struggled to take charge:
"Everyone, calm down..."
"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?! Hirata, your grades are great too. Aren't you even a little upset?!"
"I understand how you feel, but right now..."
"I'm talking about right now! I've been treated unfairly since the moment I enrolled. I just can't accept it!"
Furious, Yukimura advanced on Hirata. If Shintō hadn't quickly stepped between them, there was no telling what the hotheaded student might have done.
"Calm down, Yukimura. No matter how upset you are, the school made this decision. It has nothing to do with Hirata, does it?"
"That's right, Yukimura. Calm down."
With everyone trying to reassure him, Yukimura gradually settled down. He apologized to Hirata, then returned to his seat and fell silent.
"Thanks, Shintō."
"No problem."
To steady the class, Hirata went up to the podium and tried to soothe everyone:
"Everyone, I know this is hard to accept. But if we start working hard from now on—studying, paying attention in class, and not being absent or late—we still have a chance to earn back the points we lost!"
But Class D lived up to its reputation. At a time like this, they preferred blaming others to encouraging one another.
"If I remember right... Sudō's always sleeping in class and showing up late, isn't he?"
"Now that you mention it, I've never seen Sudō pay attention in class!"
How could the hot-tempered Sudō put up with their accusations? He slammed his hand on the desk and sprang to his feet.
"What the hell are you all talking about?! You lost points too, and now you're blaming me? Who wants to play your little good-student game?! Leave me alone!"
With that, he kicked his chair over and stormed out through the back door.
His reaction only gave the others more ammunition. They piled all their grievances onto Sudō.
Before long, the classroom rang with soothing words, curses, complaints, and sobs.
Seeing this, Shintō stretched, picked up his backpack, and prepared to leave, but Karuizawa caught him by the hem of his shirt.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Back to the dorm to rest. The class's points are already down to zero, so studying hard won't earn us any more. I might as well get some sleep."
"Uh... okay."
Shintō had barely left the classroom when someone blocked his path.
"Come to my office. We need to talk."
"Tch... I don't see what there is to talk about."
Shintō followed Chabashira Sae to her office. As befitted Advanced Nurturing High School, every teacher had a private office of their own—perhaps so they could discuss things that weren't meant to see the light of day.
As soon as Chabashira returned with Shintō, she found Horikita Suzune and Ayanokōji already waiting there.
"Huh? Shintō?"
"Ah... I got caught cutting class red-handed."
"That's rough."
Chabashira ignored the two boys' whispered exchange, sat back in her chair, and lit a cigarette.
"Horikita, did you need something?"
"Of course I do!"
Horikita Suzune, who had been waiting impatiently, stepped forward.
"Chabashira-sensei, I want to know how the school assigned students to classes. Or did something go wrong with the system?"
"I've seen your entrance exam scores, Horikita. They were excellent. You ranked near the top in both academics and athletics."
"Then why was I assigned to Class D?!"
"Because this is where you belong."
"What did you—"
Chabashira took an unhurried drag on her cigarette, picked up a file folder that looked as though she'd prepared it well in advance, and tossed it over.
"Take a look for yourself. I hope you find the answer in there."
Horikita Suzune hurriedly pulled out the entrance exam results. She scanned them from top to bottom and didn't find anything strange until she came to a line where every subject score was exactly 50.
Is this guy really not showing off on purpose?
Shintō shot the owner of those scores a scornful look.
She stared in disbelief, her mouth falling open. The scores had clearly been deliberate. So who did they belong to?
None other than Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.
"Ayanokōji... you!"
"So you've noticed what Ayanokōji's scores really mean."
But Ayanokōji himself remained calm and asked, "What do they mean? Maybe it's just a coincidence."
But no one in the room was convinced by his explanation.
"If you want to prove yourself, there's only one path: lead them to defeat Class A. Horikita, this is where you belong."
Horikita was having none of it.
"Are you kidding me? How could I lead a bunch like that to defeat Class A, when they're so much stronger than us?!"
"I told you, these exam scores really were an accident."
But Ayanokōji's words were automatically ignored by all three of them.
"Whether Ayanokōji admits it or not, there's nothing I can do about that. But there's something else you should know. Shintō here discovered all the information and truths I told you today on the very first day of school."
Chabashira had a Plan B in case Plan A failed. That was why she had deliberately brought Shintō to the office.
"What? How is that possible?!"
"Hey, I said it was the first, second, or third day. How did that turn into me figuring out all the secrets on the very first day...?"
From this, Horikita could be sure that Shintō Katsuya had discovered the school's hidden rules a long time ago.
And Ayanokōji had used his score-gaming trick to prove that his academic ability far surpassed hers.
If even those two had been assigned to Class D, then what about her...?
"Then why didn't you tell us the rules sooner?!"
"Horikita, even you think Class D is full of hopeless cases. Why should I play Zhao Yun at Changban Slope for them?"
A sage named Kira Yoshikage had once told Shintō never to answer a question with another question.
But he had to admit, talking like this really made him seem cool!
Before you continue