Classroom of the Elite: After the Information Refresh, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 46

"Organize study sessions after school every day. Gradually improve everyone's academic performance and raise the overall quality of the class from the ground up."

"Only focusing on grades? Class Points are what matter, aren't they? Speaking of which, how's your policy toward the other classes coming along?"

"Policy toward the other classes?" Horikita Suzune clearly hadn't expected that question.

"I mean our strategic plans for the other three classes." Shimizu Akira leaned forward, enunciating each word. "Are you only focused on developing Class D? Are we going to ally with the other classes or oppose them? How are we going to gather information? How will we weaken our opponents' Class Points? I told you ages ago: at this school, you can't rely on grades alone..."

Shimizu Akira stopped halfway through.

Horikita had a slightly bewildered look on her face again.

Am I thinking too deeply, or is she looking at things too simply?

"I'll be direct." Shimizu Akira straightened up and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. "I might be willing to help, but eighty thousand points is nowhere near enough." His gaze shifted to Kushida Kikyou at the podium. "Besides, why wouldn't I choose to work with the current class leader? Her popularity and influence are far greater than yours."

Shimizu Akira watched Horikita's body tense, then calmly delivered the final blow. "Given your current abilities and bargaining chips... I'm sorry, but I refuse."

Horikita Suzune whipped around to glare at Shimizu Akira, forcing the words through clenched teeth. "...How dare you compare me to her!"

Meanwhile, at the podium, Kushida Kikyou began her class-leader's address with her signature sweet smile.

She rested both hands lightly on the edge of the podium.

"Everyone," she said in a clear, pleasant voice, though there was a hint of regret in it, "I'm sorry to tell you that because more than half of our class violated the rules of conduct last week and this week, we've already lost quite a lot of Class Points."

A wave of hushed whispers swept through the classroom.

Kushida paused at just the right moment. Once the murmuring died down, she continued, "I'd love to encourage everyone to start paying attention in class and doing their best from now on...but it seems we may already be too late. And, well...I really don't like forcing anyone to do anything."

"However, after looking carefully at the deduction rules, I found something interesting—" She raised an index finger and gave a playful wink. "Most of the reasons our class lost points were caught by those two surveillance cameras in the classroom!"

Kushida lowered her voice as if sharing a secret. "So...if we can delete all the footage from our two classroom cameras before anyone else gets to it, we can save at least 900 Class Points this month!"

Her final words were like a stone tossed into a still lake, instantly setting off a flurry of discussion in the classroom.

"Seriously?!"

"There's a chance our class could get 900 points!"

"Wouldn't that mean we could become Class A next month?!"

"Hahaha... fascinating! But surely it can't be that simple! Tell us your 'but'!" Kouenji Rokusuke suddenly burst into laughter. His voice held a trace of amusement, but the previously lively atmosphere immediately went cold.

"Of course there's a catch." Kushida Kikyou blinked her visibly dark-circled eyes, a gentle smile on her face.

She paused to make sure she had everyone's attention. "We have to pay 3 million Private Points to rent the two classroom cameras. But..." Her gaze swept across the room. "Considering how many Class Points we've lost over the past two weeks, trading 3 million Private Points for 400 to 500 Class Points should be a pretty good deal."

To prepare for her first speech as class leader, Kushida had stayed up until almost three in the morning.

She had gone over every detail again and again. The cameras were a particularly sensitive topic, so she had to handle it carefully.

She had decided to proceed step by step.

First, she would bring up the most attractive benefit, then gradually explain the rest.

Every word and every pause had been carefully planned.

Kushida's doing pretty well today.

Shimizu Akira praised her inwardly.

He had thought Kushida was simply good at getting along with people, but the eloquence she was showing now genuinely surprised him.

Emotional intelligence wasn't any less important than intellectual ability, and the order in which you said things mattered, too.

If she'd brought up the cameras first, the effect might not have been nearly as good.

Come to think of it...could Kushida Kikyou actually be suited to being class leader?

Class D really did have an awful lot of talent.

If she keeps helping the others in Class D improve and changes the way they think, maybe the class really can get better.

It feels like everyone has something they're good at, apart from Yamauchi and a few others!

Take Kanji Ike, for example. He often hung around with the others, but he'd once said he had experience camping.

He didn't seem like the sort to brag, unlike Yamauchi, so there was a good chance it was true.

Why does Class D feel like it's every bit as strong as Class A?

Sure, there are a lot of troublemakers, but they're all pretty capable!

Shimizu Akira had to admit that, based on what he'd seen so far, Class D really did have the ability to compete for Class A.

He'd more or less looked over all four classes yesterday.

Class C was unquestionably the weakest, while the other three seemed evenly matched.

"So...do you think I was wrong?" Shimizu Akira looked at Horikita Suzune. "Right now, you're simply not as good as Kushida Kikyou. She's more useful as class leader than you are. Could you have spoken as tactfully as she did?"

"..." Horikita Suzune looked at the girl on the podium, whose smile seemed fake to her. For the first time, she found herself thinking that perhaps the other girl wasn't so bad after all.

"A fake smile...can still work?"

"Never mind whether she's putting on an act. When everyone's looking up to her, she's genuinely working for the class. If she can keep 'acting' like this for three years, then she's the best person for the job."

"...I see. So that's what you were trying to do?"

Horikita Suzune's eyes flickered, as if she'd finally understood something.

Every time she crossed swords with Shimizu Akira, she ended up at a loss for words. But each time, she managed to find a new insight in what he said.

"Only by putting Kushida Kikyou in a position of authority can she make the most of her abilities?"

"By comparison, Hirata is too mild-mannered. He'd be better off taking a secondary role."

"So...you were the one secretly pushing for Kushida to be elected class leader?"

Horikita Suzune suddenly thought of something. If Hirata Yosuke had become class leader back then, would Kushida Kikyou still be devoting herself to the class like she was now?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, her heart sank. She might have made a mistake—a terrible one.

Should she have voted for Hirata Yosuke in the first place?

She seemed to have considered only her own feelings, never looking at the class objectively. Her thinking had been far too naive.

Shimizu Akira was right. With her abilities as they were, she probably wasn't qualified to be class leader.

"I hadn't considered all that, but you're right—for Class D, having Kushida Kikyou as class leader is the best choice." Shimizu Akira nodded, agreeing with her outright.

Horikita Suzune had made the right assessment this time.

Kushida Kikyou was the best choice for class leader.

If she were made to settle for vice leader, she probably wouldn't devote herself to the class as much as she did now.

Hirata Yosuke, on the other hand, didn't really care about his position. He could do his part well no matter where he was.

That conclusion might have been unfair to Hirata, but it was the truth: the gentle boy was better suited to supporting others.

He had leadership skills, but lacked the edge the role required.

"This deal is a sure thing no matter how you look at it!"

"Class Points are worth way more than Private Points! And once the cameras are set up...heh, skipping class will be even easier, won't it?"

"...I don't want to spend all day living under surveillance!"

Though their reasons varied, most of the class eventually approved the proposal.

Then a more practical problem came to light.

"That's 75,000 points per person!"

"We don't have anywhere near that many points on hand, do we? We already spent a million last time."

"True..."

Three million Class Points might as well have been an astronomical sum for Class D right now.

"Do you think they'd let us put off paying until next month?"

"If so...then it might be worth considering."

Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike finally realized that the class didn't have 3 million points to spare.

If they wanted to pay for the cameras, they'd probably have to put off payment until next month.

As the class's most frequent rulebreakers, they'd been getting cold looks from their classmates for the past few days.

For them, renting the cameras was actually a good thing.

Trading 75,000 points per person for 400 to 500 Class Points was a fantastic deal.

Even those two, who weren't usually very good with numbers, could clearly see it now:

It was like spending 75,000 yen at once to increase your monthly income by 40,000 yen.

They'd make their money back in two months. What wasn't to like?

"I'm afraid the deadline they gave us is seven o'clock tonight, and they'll add another 100,000 points for every hour we're late." Hirata Yosuke explained the situation to everyone in a heavy tone.

"Right! So I'm going to keep negotiating with them. If that doesn't work, perhaps we can ask the Student Council whether they offer loans? Once we get through this, things should go much more smoothly." Kushida Kikyou tried to lighten the mood.

"—Wait a second!" Horikita Suzune suddenly stood up.

It was the first time she'd spoken up in front of the whole class, and nearly everyone turned to look at her.

Shimizu Akira also glanced at her in surprise. Hadn't he explained himself clearly enough? Or was she planning to oppose renting the cameras?

Kushida Kikyou kept her signature sweet smile. "Horikita, you're not going to oppose renting the cameras, are you?"

In her view, voicing an objection after most of the class had already given their support wasn't a very wise move.

"I support renting the cameras." To everyone's surprise, Horikita Suzune gave a firm answer. "But I want to add one thing—once we get the cameras, we shouldn't delete the footage right away. We should watch it carefully and identify the students who keep breaking the rules and causing the class to lose points."

"Because of their misconduct, our Class Points could be completely wiped out by the end of the month if we didn't have the cameras. The whole class shouldn't have to pay for the mistakes of a few people!"

"They have to seriously reflect on what they've done!"

As she spoke, her gaze fell pointedly on Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike.

The two of them were probably the students who'd broken the rules most often in the class!

Why should they get to sit back and pretend none of this concerned them?

The cameras had saved them this time, but to prevent it happening again, they needed to face a serious punishment.

That was fairness! And it was perfectly reasonable!

Shimizu Akira paused, only then realizing why he'd thought so highly of Horikita Suzune in the first place.

Like the Student Council president, she was fair and wouldn't tolerate even the slightest wrongdoing. That was what set her apart from other leaders.

As he'd said before, Hirata and Kushida were both too soft.

Sometimes, you had to make an example of someone.

If the class kept playing at being friends and smoothing everything over, a few rotten apples would keep acting like they owned the place.

Sometimes, people needed to be punished!

"Well said! I thought you were a nasty person, but I completely agree with that!" Shinohara Satsuki nodded without thinking. "We can rent the cameras! We can take the hit for a few people's mistakes for the sake of the class, but we're not going to just swallow it! We have to find out who they are! At the very least, they should apologize to the whole class and keep their heads down for a while! That's the bare minimum!"

"Horikita made a good point. I've changed my mind about her a little."

"I thought she was just sharp-tongued, but she's absolutely right this time!"

Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike weren't oblivious. They exchanged a glance and immediately noticed the dozen or so hostile looks directed at them from around the classroom.

Horikita Suzune's sharp gaze was particularly intense.

It plainly said: You two are dragging all of Class D down.

Without the camera footage to prove it, you're the class's dead weight.

Kanji Ike glanced at Shinohara Satsuki and felt inexplicably guilty.

He wasn't a bad person by nature, so he lowered his head and apologized straight away. "Sorry. At the start of the school year, I didn't know that skipping class and being late would cost the class points. Now that I do, I promise I won't do anything else that harms the group's interests. It affects my monthly Private Points, too, after all."

Yamauchi Haruki reacted very differently. He shot back without a second thought, "We haven't even rented the cameras yet! What gives you the right to blame us? Besides, saying our Class Points could drop to zero is way too dramatic! We'll still have at least three or four hundred left by the end of the month!"