"Just think of it as your teacher investing in you. When you all graduate from Class A in the future and achieve your dreams, remember everything Chie has done for you, okay?"
"Don't fall behind halfway through and leave your teacher happy for nothing after she's invested so much. If that happens, little Chie will definitely cry."
Seeing Hoshinomiya strike that same cute, coquettish pose again left the class speechless, but at the same time, they felt a swell of emotion in their hearts.
Their homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya, usually seemed pretty unreliable, but it looked like she really did care about her students.
Only Aragaki Shun, who had made an agreement with her last month, kept his expression calm on the surface. Inside, though, he was thinking about the benefits the school gave its homeroom teachers.
He remembered that when he'd gotten Chie Hoshinomiya to cough up some cash last month, she'd offered only 300,000 Private Points per month.
Of course, that wasn't all the Private Points she could provide. After weighing the pros and cons, she'd decided that was an investment she could afford.
According to Hoshinomiya, the bonuses, allowances, and various subsidies the school gave them were paid in yen from the outside world. Only their base salaries were split evenly between yen and Private Points, so they could live on campus at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.
There was no doubt about it: if the homeroom teachers wanted to support their own students, they could only use that half of their base salaries.
But they needed money to live at school, too. Even if they managed to save some Private Points, most would probably apply to exchange them for yen from the outside world and put it in their bank accounts.
Under normal circumstances, no homeroom teacher would deliberately scrimp and save just to keep their Private Points in the school.
At least, Hoshinomiya had said that before now, she'd preferred to spend her spare Private Points on alcohol and all kinds of cosmetics.
The former Class A teacher, Mashima Tomoya, and Class C teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, weren't a concern either. Based on Hoshinomiya's observations, neither of them seemed inclined to stockpile large amounts of Private Points.
They could only be used at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School. To be safe, exchanging them for yen from the outside world as soon as possible was obviously more reassuring.
The only one he needed to watch was Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
Chie Hoshinomiya said bluntly that no one understood Chabashira's obsession better than she did. And in all these years, she'd never seen her buy any luxury goods. That frugal lifestyle had to mean she was secretly saving up Private Points, ready to surprise everyone if Class D ever got a chance to rise to Class A.
However, she was only the homeroom teacher of Class D, the class with the lowest base salary. No matter how much she scrimped on the half of her base salary paid in Private Points, she could only save so much each month.
So she wasn't much of a threat.
That meant he didn't need to worry that the teachers' support would have too great an impact on the classes' future competition.
Once Aragaki Shun had confirmed that, he smiled at his classmates, who were still excited, then took out his phone and began sending payment reminders to the leaders of the other three classes.
—800,000 from Class A, and 400,000 each from Classes C and D.
The thought of bringing in 1.6 million Private Points every month filled him with joy.
So he decided to keep up the pressure and make the noose around their necks even tighter next time.
For example, he'd only taken 200 of the former Class A's 850 Class Points. He'd been far too kind.
He could have just left them with around 200 points, like Classes C and D.
That way, they wouldn't starve, but they wouldn't be satisfied either. They could still dream that they were only 210 points behind him and might turn things around in the next Special Exam.
65. The Former Class A's Reaction and the Payment Reminder
Perhaps happiness in this world was conserved.
While everyone in Aragaki's class was caught up in the joy of rising to Class A, the neighboring former Class A, now Class B, had to endure the bitter taste of defeat and being plundered.
The former Class A's homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, was a serious man who looked mature and steady, as if no major crisis could ever make him panic.
So even when his class dropped in the rankings in its very first month, he didn't complain to his students. He simply continued to carry out his duties with the same diligence as ever.
He posted the Class Evaluation Points of the first-year classes on the blackboard. As he watched the commotion below, sparked by everyone's inability to accept the change, he sighed inwardly, then quietly watched as Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei quickly calmed the members of their respective factions.
There was no doubt that either of them had what it took to lead the former Class A. Yet precisely because both were in the same class, the class had split into factions, and its strength had never been fully united.
To make matters worse, even though the former Class A had two leaders and three factions, its overall ability was still the strongest.
But the former Class B had produced a student who'd surprised the school more than once. Not only had he unified the class right at the start of the school year, he'd also attacked the former Class A without a moment's hesitation.
Battered by trouble both inside and out, the class he led had become the A Class to fall in the rankings the fastest in Kodo Ikusei's history.
This situation really was... not the least bit cheering...
"Mr. Mashima, I have a question. Why is Class B's score over 1,000? Is there some kind of bonus section in the Behavioral Standards Exam?"
A tall, composed, bald boy who didn't look like a high school student at all stood up.
He was Katsuragi Kohei, the Moderate Faction leader, who had more support in the former Class A than even Sakayanagi Arisu.
"..."
Hearing Katsuragi Kohei's question, even Mashima Tomoya struggled to keep his composure. Still, he forced down his conflicted feelings and shared the school's explanation.
"Because of the new record set by the former Class B, the school added two new rules to this exam. Specifically, of the former Class B's 1,060 points, 50 were a reward and 50 were compensation. The remaining 960 points were their Class Evaluation Points from the Behavioral Standards Exam..."
Sure enough, when the former Class A students learned that the school had compensated the former Class B because they'd dropped in the rankings in the first month, prompting the school to acknowledge that the original class rankings had been wrong, the entire classroom fell into a crushing silence.
A few seconds later, a shrill voice rang out, shattering the gloomy atmosphere.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! We're the strongest! Those guys in Class B just got lucky and managed to turn things around. The school can't possibly—"
"Yahiko!"
Just as the green-haired boy grew so agitated that spit flew from his mouth, and he was about to criticize the school under the cameras, Katsuragi Kohei suddenly roared, cutting Totsuka Yahiko off.
As if he'd never heard Katsuragi Kohei speak so harshly before, Totsuka Yahiko was startled. He waved his hands wildly, fumbling over his words.
"Boss Katsuragi, b-but... This is humiliating! That despicable guy—"
"That's enough, Yahiko!" Katsuragi Kohei sternly cut him off. "Whatever the reason, we lost this exam. If we spout nonsense now, people will think we can't accept defeat."
"Katsuragi's right. We've only lost once. It's only a difference of 210 points. We can let the Class A seat stay with Aragaki and the others for now."
On the other side of the classroom, Sakayanagi Arisu might have been tiny, but she radiated an aura that rivaled Katsuragi Kohei's.
From the way she spoke, Class B was little more than a pack of mongrels she could crush at will. It was an incredibly arrogant remark, yet coming from her, it sounded as though she were simply stating a fact.
"Sakayanagi, Katsuragi," Mashima Tomoya said, looking at the two class leaders. In the end, he simply gave them a calm instruction. "I'll leave the class's decisions to the two of you from now on. There are still three years ahead of us. A temporary setback means nothing."
He was worried about the divisions in the class, but Kodo Ikusei wanted its students to grow on their own through competition between classes. As their homeroom teacher, he shouldn't interfere too much in a matter like this.
"I understand, Mr. Mashima."
"Leave it to me."
After accepting their teacher's trust together, Katsuragi Kohei turned to Sakayanagi Arisu with a grave expression. "Sakayanagi, I think we should put a stop to our internal conflict for now and find ways to improve everyone's abilities. Our top priority should be taking back the Class A position."
"Oh? Do you have any good suggestions, Katsuragi?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at her opponent, whom the class regarded as the Moderate Faction's leader, with amusement. After the class dropped in the rankings, even he could no longer stay moderate, could he?
"The next exam is the Midterm Exam, and it involves 100 Class Points. I think our classmates should follow Class B's example and sign up for the Supplementary Class to strengthen everyone's fundamentals."
It had to be said that, although he was deeply frustrated at losing to Class B, Katsuragi Kohei could fully accept the result once he'd learned about Aragaki Shun's actions.
Setting aside his outrageous record of defeating a whole host of clubs and his decision to dump Class D's trash on them, he thought that Aragaki's move to enroll everyone in the Supplementary Class was absolutely necessary.
After all, any high school student outside who planned to go on to higher education or find a job would apply to a specialized supplementary class.
At the Supplementary Class, students could follow academic, home economics, and arts courses according to their own interests, and also receive professional guidance for further education and employment.
Whether for the upcoming Midterm Exam or for their future studies and careers, he thought Class A needed to spend the money.
But Sakayanagi Arisu didn't see it that way.
The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes and looked Katsuragi Kohei up and down, making him distinctly uncomfortable. He had no choice but to give her a puzzled look.
"I thought Katsuragi would have learned something after taking a loss, but you're still just as boring."
"Sakayanagi, what exactly do you mean?"
"Heh. Katsuragi, do you think you can beat that man by following right behind him?"
Sakayanagi Arisu gave an exceedingly haughty smile. "I've never picked up something someone else has already used. If I'm interested in something, the best way is to take the initiative and snatch it for myself."
Before Katsuragi could frown and argue, both their phones received a notification at the same time.
They glanced at them instinctively. It was a payment reminder from a certain former Class B leader—
"Please transfer the 800,000 Private Points for this month."
66. The Former Class A's Experience as a Blood Bank
"...It seems we can put our disagreement on hold for now, Katsuragi."
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the payment reminder on her phone with displeasure, her brows drawing together slightly.
As the Board Chairman's daughter, she'd never experienced being short of money growing up. She didn't mind having to pay 20,000 Private Points each month.
If it made her happy, she wouldn't bat an eye at handing out 100,000 or even 200,000 a month.
But that wasn't the situation here. In truth, the payment reminder was proof that a competitor had taken a prize from her.
The feeling of someone forcibly taking something that belonged to her was truly unpleasant.
"Because you insisted last month, Katsuragi, our class had no choice but to sign that unpleasant contract."
"Now Class A has only 850 Class Points, yet everyone still has to give Aragaki 20,000 Private Points each month. That means everyone gets to keep only 65,000 Private Points a month."
"At a time like this, Katsuragi, you're still thinking of having everyone waste Private Points to sign up for that so-called supplementary class like Class B?"
Give up five cities today and ten tomorrow, and then enjoy one peaceful night.
Last month, when Sakayanagi Arisu saw the contract Aragaki Shun had taken out, she understood that he intended to gradually drain Class A's funds and turn them into Class B's blood bank.
But understanding someone's scheme didn't necessarily mean you could break it.
He had too many cards to play, while Class A was still divided. The other leader of the class disagreed with her choice to fight to the bitter end, and the ordinary students, who were just average people, were even less willing to risk everything for a chance at a comeback.
In those circumstances, even though she didn't want to sign Aragaki Shun's unfair contract at all, she couldn't override the collective will of everyone else in the class.
"Everyone else in the class agreed to sign the contract last month."
"Sakayanagi, your ideas are far too extreme. Even the people who follow you couldn't accept them."
Katsuragi frowned. The reminder for 800,000 Private Points on his phone was glaring, but at the time, their entire class had had no other choice.
In the middle of last month, Aragaki Shun had used a Transfer Ticket to send Yamauchi Haruki from first-year Class D to their Class A.
At first, they hadn't understood why he'd done it.
It wasn't until they saw Yamauchi Haruki do all kinds of ridiculous things in Class A's classroom—like littering, sleeping in class, and harassing Class A students—that they started to feel uneasy and asked Mashima Tomoya what was going on.
They learned that Yamauchi would be a Class A student for that entire month, and that every mistake he made would be reflected in Class A's Class Evaluation Points.
When they heard this, the whole of Class A exploded.
Ever since Sakayanagi Arisu had told them the truth about the school, they'd been strictly disciplined themselves every moment, in and out of class. They hadn't dared to slack off for even a second, afraid that any carelessness on their part would cost Class A its precious Class Points.
Now the school was telling them that all their restraint had been for nothing. With that Class D piece of trash around, next month they wouldn't just be unable to stay in Class A—they might even lose all their Class Points?
How could they possibly accept something so absurd?
But whether they accepted it or not, there was nothing they could do. The school said the other side's attack was permitted under Kodo Ikusei Senior High School's competition rules. It was up to them to figure out how to deal with it.
So Katsuragi Kohei could only keep his classmates in the room after class and have them watch Yamauchi Haruki, trying to pressure him into thinking about the consequences of continuing to act recklessly.
The plan had almost worked. After all, that Class D piece of trash didn't look like the sort of person with unshakable resolve. A little intimidation was enough to leave him flustered and at a loss.
But then the leader of Class B, and the mastermind behind sending Yamauchi Haruki to Class A to cause trouble, Aragaki Shun, suddenly showed up to sit in on their class. Seeing Yamauchi's pitiful, frightened expression, he actually "kindly" offered him a suggestion—
"If you're uncomfortable here, why not go back to Class D? You could also stay in your dorm room and play games with Kanji Ike, or go kick over some trash cans at the shopping center. As long as you're not in Class A, how could they keep picking on you?"
After receiving such an inhumane suggestion, Yamauchi Haruki really did stop attending class and bolt on the spot.
This made everyone in Class A furious. After all, Yamauchi had skipped class right in front of them, but Class A would be the one to lose Class Points.
In the end, Sakayanagi Arisu came up with a solution. After learning all the details about the Transfer Tickets from Mr. Mashima, she had everyone in the class pool a million Private Points and sent Yamauchi Haruki back to Class D in the name of the entire class.
Just when the Class A students finally breathed a sigh of relief after all that, Aragaki Shun—the same inhumane guy—opened the personal information screen on his phone and showed everyone that he still had seven Transfer Tickets. Then he "kindly" reminded them:
"A Transfer Ticket costs 2 million Private Points, and applying to the school to send someone back costs 1 million. You'll still need to raise 7 million Private Points to cancel out the Transfer Tickets I have left."
"Oh, right. Class B should be able to raise another 2 million this month and buy one more, so the actual amount you'll need is 8 million."
Faced with this blatant threat, the students in Class A had no choice but to hold their noses and sign a contract promising to transfer 800,000 Private Points to Aragaki Shun every month until graduation, in exchange for his promise not to use another Transfer Ticket to send anyone to Class A for a year.
Actually, at the time, Sakayanagi Arisu had proposed another idea: they could simply let Aragaki Shun use his Transfer Tickets, while everyone in Class A blocked the doors of the other three classes each day and tried to reduce all four classes' scores to zero. Then everyone could start over from the same starting line.
But this extreme strategy was rejected outright by everyone else in the class, including the members of the Sakayanagi Faction.
Not everyone was related to the Board Chairman. Even if their Private Points were wiped out, she could still have medical staff assigned by her father look after her.
The others didn't want to spend several months living on nothing but free products and free meals.
After they signed the contract, their remaining Class Evaluation Points were indeed protected. But they also had to face the predicament of having only 65,000 Private Points per month to spend.
In this situation, if they followed Class B's example and signed up for the Supplementary Class, each person would have to pay a fixed 10,000 Private Points a month. Then, after subtracting the roughly 30,000 each student spent on living expenses every month, each Class A student could save at most 25,000 Private Points a month.
Before you continue