Yorozuya, who had been sitting pretty, heard someone on the podium call his name and hurriedly responded:
"What is it, Chabashira-sensei?"
"I heard you got this year's exam questions from upperclassmen?"
Shinjo could tell Chabashira was just hoping he would save Sudo. If that was the case...
"Uh, that's right. But really, it was my fault. An upperclassman had tried to sell me the exam questions even earlier, but the price was a whopping 50,000 points. I just couldn't afford it... If I'd had 50,000 points, maybe Sudo wouldn't have..."
Chabashira Sae's eye twitched.
You really are asking for a fortune... But never mind. As long as you're contributing to the class, 50,000 points is nothing.
"I understand. This isn't your fault, Shinjo."
Though she said that, Chabashira also nodded solemnly at Shinjo, signaling that she accepted his price.
Well, then. The deal is done.
Suddenly!
Shinjo slapped his forehead as if he'd just remembered something important, then hurriedly stood up again.
"I've got it! Sensei!"
Chabashira Sae watched Shinjo's impromptu performance without changing her expression.
"Sudo! I have a way to keep you from being expelled!!"
"Really?! Shinjo?!"
The one who reacted most strongly wasn't Sudo, but Hirata, who had just been feeling a little down.
This guy really does care about his classmates. Sudo has embarrassed him in public several times, but he can still go this far for him... That's amazing.
"I remember Chabashira-sensei saying that, at this school, you can buy anything with points, right?!"
"Points? But what do points have to do with this...?"
Fortunately, there was someone clever in the class. With just a little prompting from someone else, Horikita immediately understood what was going on.
"You mean we can use points to buy Sudo's missing mark?!"
The moment she said it, the whole room erupted.
Clearly, they hadn't expected points to work that way, but it sounded reasonable enough.
"Chabashira-sensei! Can we really do that?!"
Hirata eagerly turned to Chabashira for confirmation, while the despairing look in Sudo's eyes instantly gave way to a glimmer of hope.
Chabashira Sae replied with feigned disdain:
"In theory, yes. But if you want to buy the one point Sudo is missing, you'll need 100,000 personal points. Can you come up with that?"
Sudo's spirits sank again. His mood was on a roller coaster, soaring and plummeting, up and down. How could he possibly come up with that many points?
But why should he have to worry about that?
Hirata immediately put his standing as the class's go-to leader to use:
"Everyone! Please help Sudo! I hope you can each contribute a few points to help him get through this. We're all friends!"
Kushida Kikyo chimed in, speaking up for Sudo as well:
"Hirata's right! Sudo is one of our Class D friends, and he really has changed. The Sudo of today is hardworking and earnest. He's an indispensable member of our class!"
With the two central members leading the way, many classmates offered to lend Sudo the points he needed.
Horikita and Ayanokōji were especially generous, each contributing 30,000 points.
"Um... Sudo, Kei and I spent our points on the exam questions and answers, so..."
Shinjo tactfully explained that he was short on money. Beside him, Karuizawa quickly abandoned the idea of donating a few thousand points herself.
After all, everyone had seen how much those two had contributed, so nobody would say anything if they didn't donate.
Instead, Sudo kept thanking Shinjo. Without him, Sudo wouldn't have passed his other subjects, and it was Shinjo who had come up with the solution that had saved him.
"Shinjo, and Karuizawa, you've already done so much for me. I can't ask you for anything more. Thank you! Really, thank you!"
"And thank you, Ayanokōji and Horikita. I can't believe you'd give so many points for someone like me... And Hirata, Kushida, and everyone else... I... I really... Don't worry, I won't cause any more trouble for the class. I'll pay back the points I owe as soon as I can!"
They say men don't cry easily, unless they're deeply hurt.
Watching his classmates set aside their grievances and contribute money for him, Sudo felt the softest part of his heart deeply moved.
Chabashira Sae looked down at Shinjo, who hadn't contributed a single point, and clicked her tongue.
That kid gets all the credit, and now Sudo's even grateful to him...
Before long, they had pooled together 100,000 points, and Sudo had successfully stayed in Class D.
Seeing that everything had finally been settled, Shinjo let out a quiet sigh of relief. Thankfully, nothing unexpected had happened this time.
For a simple example, if they could buy back the point Sudo had lost, didn't that mean someone could also buy him back to a failing grade?!
Maybe the price of a single point wouldn't be 100,000 if someone tried that, but it couldn't be outrageously high, either. If Ryuen came along and was willing to spend a fortune just to get Sudo expelled, that would be a real headache.
"Um, since we got through this scare, should we hold a..."
"Oh! We really should have one~"
Hold what?
A big celebration, of course~!
After class, the members of Horikita's study group gathered again to discuss the celebration.
Kushida Kikyo suggested it, and Ike and Yamauchi chimed in. Sudo felt he absolutely had to celebrate making it through safely. Horikita flatly refused, saying she didn't have time, while Shinjo said that since he'd been invited, he supposed he had no choice.
(Ayanokōji: What about my opinion?
Everyone: That doesn't matter at all!)
"Cheers!!"
Since they couldn't drink alcohol, they might as well drink as much juice as they wanted!
"So why are we having the celebration in my dorm room?"
Ayanokōji couldn't understand it. More importantly, how had they managed to barge into his room without his permission?
"But where else could we have it? You're not suggesting we go to a girls' dorm, are you? Just so you know, our three rooms are such a mess that they're impossible to look at. Even if we cleaned properly, there's no way we could get them tidy in a day."
"Why not go to Shinjo's place? He probably keeps his dorm room clean, right? After all, he has a girlfriend."
Shinjo spread his hands innocently.
"Why would you assume a girlfriend would do your housework for you? Besides, my room isn't that messy, but it definitely isn't as spacious as yours."
Since he had a habit of buying all kinds of strange and unusual things, Shinjo's room was also piled high with cardboard boxes.
Before you continue