As the bell rang, Sato stopped chatting with me and returned to her seat, though she seemed a little reluctant.
Horikita studied on her own, as if nothing could distract her.
Soon, Chabashira-sensei strode in on her high heels. She set her books down, braced both hands on the lectern, and surveyed the class.
The room, which had been somewhat noisy, quickly fell silent. Even the rowdiest trio of idiots sat up straight.
"Ahem. I'm handing out the end-of-month quiz now. Pass the papers back."
"Relax. This quiz won't affect your grades. It doesn't matter if you get a zero, so take it easy." Chabashira-sensei wore an inscrutable smile.
"Really, Chabashira-sensei? It won't matter how we do?" Kanji Ike asked to make sure.
"That's right."
At her words, the tension that had just built up in the classroom vanished in an instant. No one started chatting, but most of the students looked happy.
The test paper soon reached me. I glanced over it. "The first questions are at a third-year middle school level, but the last few are difficult even for high school."
"Haha, is Kodo Ikusei pulling this kind of stunt to find math geniuses?"
I looked up. Everyone seemed to be working through the questions without much stress, so I lowered my head and started answering.
The bell rang again, signaling the end of the exam. After we handed in our papers, Sato invited me to go to the cafeteria with her.
"Ayanokoji-kun, how did you do on this morning's Japanese and math tests?"
"Haha, I think I did pretty well. I'd guess around seventy points on average." I gave her an estimate, though I'd deliberately kept my scores down.
"Wow, that's amazing! I could answer the first questions, but the later ones looked like astronomical figures to me. I didn't understand them at all."
"How about I tutor you when we have time after the quizzes are over?"
"Really? That'd be great!" Sato's eyes lit up, and delight spread across her face.
Early the next morning, it was May first.
"Chabashira-sensei, what's going on? Why haven't my points come in this month?" Ike and Yamauchi confronted Chabashira-sensei as she entered the classroom.
"Yeah! It's not just them—all of our points are missing. How are we supposed to live like this?" Sudo, the red-haired delinquent, shouted.
"Oh no, I still have so many cosmetics to buy! And bags, too!" Karuizawa Kei complained.
With the entire class staring at her expectantly, Chabashira-sensei finally spoke. Her face was expressionless, and her voice cold. "You're all such idiots. Have you still not figured it out?"
"Teacher, what do you mean?" Ike asked, sounding angry enough to drop the honorific.
"Hahahaha! I see, teacher. I understand. You're right—they really are a bunch of idiots, pig." Koenji laughed, his feet propped up on his desk.
As soon as Koenji finished speaking, the whole class turned to look at him. His classmates glared at him angrily.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? What do you know? If you don't know anything, stop spouting nonsense." Ken Sudō pointed at Koenji, clearly annoyed.
Koenji didn't react at all. He just admired his own handsome face in a hand mirror or took out a nail clipper to trim his nails.
"Teacher, please just tell us. Why didn't our points come in this month?" Hirata Yosuke finally stood up.
Watching this, I gave it some thought. We'd been in school for a month, and the class had already formed its own groups.
For the most part, there were two large groups centered around Hirata and Karuizawa, along with a few smaller, scattered groups. Kushida Kikyo's influence was undeniable; she got along well with everyone except Horikita.
"Since the start of school, you've been late 92 times, skipped class 37 times, and engaged in disruptive behavior during lessons 325 times."
"At the start of the school year, every class had 1,000 Class Points. At the beginning of each month, a class's Class Points are multiplied by one hundred to determine the points its students receive."
"Because of your various misdeeds, our Class Points have fallen to zero. That's why you haven't received any points. You'll only get them again once our Class Points become positive."
"Also, midterms are at the end of this month. If you fail any subject, you'll be expelled."
After saying that, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom, leaving the students in a daze.
"Ayanokoji, how many points do you have left?" Horikita asked me.
I didn't say anything. Instead, I showed her the points page on my phone.
Horikita glanced at it and smiled faintly. "You still have over eighty thousand. Looks like you didn't waste your money last month."
"How much do you have left? You should have more than me."
Horikita then showed me her points. She still had over ninety thousand and had barely spent any.
The suspension of points was no big deal for people like Horikita and me. But for students who'd suddenly gotten their hands on such a large sum, let loose, and spent it all, it was like having the ground pulled out from under them.
Normally, a hundred thousand yen a month for a high school student seemed impossible. But there was nothing inherently wrong with spending freely.
The real problem was that our bad behavior since the start of school had reduced our Class Points to zero, leaving us without any personal points. That was when the downside of spending so freely became apparent. Without savings to fall back on, some of them might have to live on very little for a long time.
"How can this be? Are you kidding me?" One student finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted.
"Yamauchi, don't do that. Calm down," Ike and Sudo tried to soothe him.
Of the Idiot Trio, Yamauchi was the dumbest by far, and his intelligence was questionable. Ike and Sudo still had ten or twenty thousand points left, while Yamauchi had only a few hundred.
The girls' side of the room was tense, too. "Kei, what should we do? I spent a lot last month, and now I've only got a few thousand left."
"I have even less than you. Let's borrow some from the others for now, then pay them back once we get more points." Karuizawa suggested this to Sato.
The two of them started asking people for points. Not many of the girls were likely to have enough to spare, and the two didn't manage to borrow much, but it was better than nothing.
Eventually, I saw Karuizawa go over to Hirata and cling to his arm, acting coy. "Hirata, could you lend me some points? I'll pay you back later."
"Sure, of course, Karuizawa. Would ten thousand points be enough?"
Karuizawa accepted the points with a smile.
Then I saw Sato come over to me. She looked embarrassed and couldn't meet my eyes, tugging at the hem of her clothes with both hands.
"Ayanokoji-kun, could you lend me some points? I promise I'll pay you back. Please trust me."
I reached out and ruffled her hair. "Of course. We're close, after all. Would twenty thousand points be enough?"
"Mm-hmm. You're so nice, Ayanokoji-kun."
After transferring the points to Sato, I chatted with her for a while. She mainly talked about the upcoming midterms and asked me to tutor her when I had time.
I'd already promised to help, so I told her right away that I'd tutor her properly. Sato returned to her little group, satisfied, though she still sneaked glances at me from time to time.
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