Didn't everyone in Class A who missed the first contract have to transfer 20,000 points every month?
They only needed to pay an extra 5,000 Private Points each month to get the same terms. It still looked like a good deal.
But who could've guessed Class D would end up this terrible?
Wasn't it true that, in previous years, Class D could usually hold on to around 300 points after the first month? They'd learned the exam rules in the second week, so how had they still gotten such a poor result?
When Chabashira Sae saw Horikita Suzune biting her lip in frustration, she instead broke into a particularly nasty smile. "That's right. In this school, Private Points are the most important weapon. The claim that points can buy anything on campus isn't an exaggeration."
"But with fewer than 100,000 Private Points, you probably can't buy the exam deduction records for everyone in your class. And even if you did prove that you hadn't lost a single point during the Behavioral Standards Exam, what would that change?"
"..."
The black-haired girl pressed her lips together. She did have fewer than 100,000 Private Points, but what had Chabashira-sensei meant by that last remark?
"Is it that hard to understand?" Chabashira Sae looked down at Horikita Suzune, relentlessly chipping away at her confidence. "Even without the 100 points the school awarded them, Class A currently has 960 Class Points left. And if Yamauchi hadn't caused trouble, Class B's final score probably wouldn't have been any lower."
"There are forty students in a class. They lost only forty points in a month. Do you know what that means?"
It meant that most students in both Class A and Class B could follow the rules just as well. The performance Horikita Suzune had been so proud of in Class D was simply the bare minimum that every student in the upper classes could achieve.
The black-haired girl understood what her teacher was implying, and her face turned extremely unpleasant.
"The school may indeed have misjudged Class A's ability, but what does that have to do with you, a student in Class D?"
Chabashira Sae spoke without the slightest courtesy. "This school has been around for many years. In all the Behavioral Standards Exams it has held, Class A is the first class ever to make a comeback in its first month and force the school to admit it misjudged them."
"Horikita, you think you're the same kind of person. So what did you do last month to surprise the school? Did you lead Class D in a comeback against the upper classes?"
Horikita Suzune opened her mouth, but in the end, no sound came out.
She wanted to say that Class D had gotten such a poor result because the people in her class had dragged her down.
But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
She was certain she shouldn't have been assigned to Class D, but the truth was that she hadn't been able to accomplish anything last month.
She hadn't gathered information about the school right away, nor had she managed to obtain a large number of Private Points. She hadn't even been able to help Class D hold on to more points during an open-book exam.
It seemed the only things she could be proud of were her academic performance and athletic ability.
But even in Class D, those only put her near the top. She wasn't in a league of her own.
"Horikita, is there anything else you want to ask?"
Chabashira Sae watched Horikita Suzune, her gaze plainly tinged with deliberate disdain.
It was as if she were contemptuously saying: the school may have misjudged some people's abilities, but that doesn't mean one of them is a defective product like you from Class D.
"No, but I'll prove the school was wrong!"
Horikita Suzune sat down, her face icy. She now knew she couldn't change the school's decision. All she could do was prove her ability in the Special Exams to come.
Horikita Suzune wasn't the only one. Chabashira Sae casually brushed aside the questions from the rest of Class D, leaving the defective products in the school's eyes with no choice but to face their grim reality.
As for the option Chabashira Sae had offered them to withdraw from school, they could forget it. Not one of them would leave with their tails between their legs.
Amid the commotion in Class D, a girl with a high, chestnut-colored ponytail seemed to come to her senses. After more than half a month of hesitation, she finally made up her mind.
The class competition was real, and Class D really was the worst class in the first year.
She had to protect herself!
Even if she was just a pitiful parasite, she absolutely couldn't let the nightmares of the past happen again!
71. Inviting Shiina Hiyori to Transfer Classes
The first day of May soon came to an end.
To celebrate their promotion to Class A, the class decided to go to karaoke and stay out until late at night, at the suggestion of Ichinose Honami and the other girls.
Aragaki Shun naturally wasn't going to spoil everyone's fun.
After all, people worked hard to live better lives, not to suffer for the sake of suffering. A balance of work and rest, with time to push forward and time to relax, was the way to go.
Since their hard work the previous month had finally borne fruit, a group celebration was only natural.
So even Aragaki Shun, who usually spent all his time in the library, finally skipped his daily visit and went with his classmates to the party.
He was quiet by nature and wasn't the type to show off onstage. So when he arrived at the karaoke room, he simply sat on the sofa, keeping a low profile as he watched his classmates take turns singing into the microphone.
Not long after he sat down, a message suddenly came through on his phone. Aragaki Shun glanced at the sender's name in surprise.
[Shiina Hiyori]: "Are you not coming to the library today, Aragaki?"
[Aragaki Shun]: "Our class just got promoted to Class A, and everyone's excited. They dragged me along to celebrate."
[Shiina Hiyori]: "I see. That's nice."
[Shiina Hiyori]: "Because of you, Aragaki, our Class C is in a Private Points crisis. We even have to be careful about what we spend on meals, so we certainly don't have enough to waste points on a group dinner."
It seemed that even someone as easygoing as Shiina couldn't help showing a little resentment toward the person responsible when she found herself in such a difficult situation.
Of course, the two had gotten along fairly well through their regular study sessions, so she could tease him like this as a friend.
Otherwise, given Shiina Hiyori's quiet nature, she wouldn't have complained about such things to an outsider.
[Aragaki Shun]: "Sorry about that. As the Leader of Class A, I can't let personal feelings make me go easy on a rival class."
[Aragaki Shun]: "But if you're having a hard time, Shiina, I can lend you some Private Points as a friend. You can pay me back after you get enough points from a Special Exam."
[Shiina Hiyori]: "...You're not suggesting I pay you back after our Class Evaluation Points go up, but that I earn Private Points from a Special Exam. Does that mean you don't plan to let Class C's evaluation score rise?"
[Shiina Hiyori]: "Wait, no. Based on what you've done so far, you'll probably let our Class Evaluation Points rise, then take the corresponding Private Points every month and leave us only just enough to get by?"
[Aragaki Shun]: "You figured it out? So what do you think of my strategy, Shiina?"
Aragaki Shun wasn't surprised that Shiina had seen through his plan. After all, she was a Literary Girl who spent every day studying mystery novels. It was only natural that she had keen powers of observation.
Besides, it was an entirely open strategy. He'd never needed to hide it. If someone figured it out, so what?
[Shiina Hiyori]: "..."
[Shiina Hiyori]: "You really are mean, Aragaki. You're asking me, the victim you're squeezing dry, what I think of it."
[Aragaki Shun]: "You don't have to be a victim, though. I don't think Class C is the right place for someone like you, Shiina. Have you ever thought about transferring to a class with a more harmonious atmosphere?"
[Shiina Hiyori]: "???"
She sent him several question marks in a row. That was more than enough to show how flustered the Literary Girl was.
Aragaki Shun quietly waited for her reply, but it took four or five minutes for a new message to appear.
[Shiina Hiyori]: "If I'm not mistaken, you're not talking about using a Transfer Ticket to try another class for a month, Aragaki. You mean a permanent transfer, right?"
[Aragaki Shun]: "That's right."
[Shiina Hiyori]: "That's quite an unexpected invitation..."
After sending that remark, Shiina fell silent again.
Aragaki Shun had no idea what she was thinking. He could only see that the screen kept showing her typing. She must have written and deleted her message several times, which was why nothing had come through.
Several more minutes passed before the Literary Girl finally sent him a new message.
[Shiina Hiyori]: "Do you think I'm worth twenty million Private Points to Class A?"
[Aragaki Shun]: "Speaking objectively, you're probably the best candidate in Class C. The others either lack ability or would disrupt the overall atmosphere in Class A if they joined."
In the library where Aragaki Shun went every day, the Literary Girl suddenly came to her senses and realized that she had typed out a line without noticing: "What if you're speaking personally, Aragaki?"
Shiina Hiyori hurriedly deleted the words.
Good thing she hadn't sent them without thinking. What if Aragaki misunderstood?
Shiina cared a great deal about this friend who shared her interests. She didn't want their friendship to change because of an unexpected misunderstanding.
As long as they could keep meeting in a quiet corner of the library each day and discussing the books they were reading whenever the mood struck, that peaceful, uneventful life was already enough for her. She didn't want to stir things up for any other reason.
"But should I really accept Aragaki's invitation and join Class A?"
Shiina's thoughts grew strangely complicated. Even she didn't know what she was thinking.
In the end, she still couldn't sort out her feelings. She could only send Aragaki Shun a hurried reply before picking up the book beside her and losing herself in it.
What was done was done. She might as well read...
Back in the karaoke room, Aragaki Shun looked at Shiina's final message with a faintly peculiar expression.
[Shiina Hiyori]: "I understand. Let me think it over first, Aragaki. If you're still willing to invite me on the day you want me to transfer, I think I'll be able to give you an answer then."
The Literary Girl's thoughts were hard to understand. Were there really people at this school who didn't want to transfer to Class A?
Aragaki Shun felt a headache coming on. He couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
At this point, the only people he had his eye on and wanted to recruit into Class A were Katsuragi Kohei from Class B and Shiina Hiyori from Class C.
Compared to Katsuragi, who was the leader of Class B, Shiina, who didn't have many friends in her class, should've been easier to recruit.
He'd thought the invitation would be a sure thing. Who would've guessed he'd run into an unexpected snag?
72. Becoming Everyone in the First Year's Creditor
As Aragaki Shun pondered what Shiina Hiyori might be thinking, Kanzaki Ryuji suddenly walked over. "Aragaki, aren't you going to sing?"
"I'll pass. If everyone hadn't been so insistent, I'd still be in the library, reading up on all kinds of things."
Aragaki Shun shook his head and gestured for Kanzaki Ryuji to sit beside him. "Didn't you sneak off the stage halfway through, too?"
"Same as you. I don't dislike this sort of atmosphere, but I can't bring myself to sing my heart out onstage with everyone."
Kanzaki looked a little embarrassed, as if he blamed himself for not being able to fully join in with Class A's celebration.
Aragaki Shun simply said, "Let the people who want to sing sing their hearts out. The rest of us can sit down and chat."
"If everyone's having a good time, why should anyone suppress themselves just to fit the mood?"
With someone like Ichinose Honami, a social butterfly, in their class, Aragaki Shun had never worried about Class A's unity.
Still, not everyone in their class was cheerful, outgoing, and good at socializing.
For people who preferred to be alone, the overly enthusiastic way Ichinose and the others tried to make friends could sometimes become a pressure they found hard to refuse.
So during the past month, he'd reminded Ichinose a few times not to keep dragging the whole class into parties whenever she had nothing else to do.
That wasn't how you built connections within a class.
Didn't she know that because of her standing in the class, even students who didn't enjoy lively gatherings would have trouble turning down her invitation?
After that, socializing within the class became more normal.
After all, even Aragaki Shun, their class leader, rarely joined these events unless he had to. That naturally encouraged the others to make their own choices, too.
This was a rare celebration for Class A, one that everyone—including Aragaki Shun—had attended.
But his attitude hadn't changed: those who wanted to let loose could do so, while those who felt uncomfortable could sit nearby and enjoy the atmosphere like he did. There was no need to force themselves to do something they didn't enjoy.
"So I came over to chat with you, didn't I?"
A faint smile appeared on Kanzaki's face. Like Aragaki Shun, he enjoyed this kind of lively atmosphere, but preferred to watch from the sidelines rather than go wild onstage.
"Go on, get out of here! Why are you smiling at me like such a nice guy? It's kind of creepy. Go find a pretty girl instead."
Aragaki Shun waved him away with a disgusted expression. Kanzaki Ryuji's mouth twitched, and he felt a sudden urge to punch him.
The problem was, he really couldn't beat the jerk.
After a brief flare of anger, Kanzaki snatched up a drink from the table and downed it, then speared some fruit from the platter and ate it.
After that bout of eating and drinking, Class A's treasurer finally returned to his usual calm and collected state.
Perhaps his intelligence had returned to normal, too. Kanzaki realized that neither he nor Aragaki Shun was the sort to sit quietly and bare their hearts to each other, so they might as well talk business.
"This month's class funds have come in. With our Class Evaluation Points at 1,060, everyone paid 53,000, for a total of 2.12 million."
"Since Hoshinomiya-sensei agreed to cover the whole class's monthly tutoring fees—and even paid the 400,000 from last month—we've been able to save a lot more of the class funds each month. The class account now has 3.6 million Private Points."
As he spoke, Kanzaki handed him a document, which he seemed to have printed out earlier.
Aragaki Shun took it and gave it a quick look. It detailed every transaction made with Class A's funds since they began collecting them the previous month.
They'd collected two million in class funds last month. After deducting 200,000 for the management team's salaries and 80,000 for the class rules' notarization fees, they had 1.72 million left.
This month, they'd brought in 2.12 million. After immediately deducting 200,000 for management salaries and adding last month's remaining funds, they had 3.64 million.
A Class A group outing like the one they were having today also had to be paid for with class funds. After those various expenses were deducted, the balance in the Class A account really was just over 3.6 million Private Points.
"That seems like so little," Aragaki Shun remarked without a hint of courtesy. "The entire class's savings aren't even as much as what I've saved on my own."
Before you continue