Ichinose Honami's face flushed. She felt a little embarrassed about scheming to take D Class students' Private Points.
But thinking of Aragaki Shun's instructions, she pushed aside her unease and voiced her thoughts. "No matter what, making sure every student in our class is safe is the most important thing, right? We were brought together by fate, so naturally, we should grow together and graduate together. That's the only way for things to end well."
"Kanzaki's suggestion is simply too cruel. Even if this school is a little unusual, students from different classes can still form friendships. I think competition is fine, but we should do our best to avoid anyone being expelled."
Kushida Kikyo: "..."
The rest of D Class: "..."
Don't think we can't see how obvious it is that one of you is playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.
It's just that seeing through it doesn't help us at all!
Yosuke Hirata took the contract Aragaki Shun handed him with a wry smile. It said exactly what the boy had described earlier: Aragaki Shun would provide D Class with the correct Midterm Exam questions and answers, and D Class would pay him 200,000 Private Points each month until graduation.
If the questions Aragaki Shun provided turned out to be wrong, the contract would be void as soon as the Midterm Exam ended.
If they were right, the contract would officially take effect the moment the Midterm Exam ended.
"This contract is fair. Personally, I'm inclined to agree, and I'll do my best to persuade everyone in class to agree as well."
Hirata did the math in his head. With all the answers in advance, he was confident he could get a perfect score in every subject.
Even if some of their classmates weren't as capable, there were still over two weeks until the Midterm Exam. If they put in a little effort, they could memorize most of the answers.
That way, assuming their final Class Evaluation Points were based on the class average, D Class should be able to score over 90 points.
Each of them would pay Aragaki Shun 5,000 Private Points and still have over 4,000 more in spending money.
Most importantly, nobody in the class would be expelled.
"I don't have any objections either!"
Kushida Kikyo maintained her sweet, adorable persona as usual. "As long as no one gets expelled, that's all that matters."
"We won't get expelled, and we'll get some extra spending money too. This is a great deal!"
Karuizawa Kei was relieved as well. With her grades in the danger zone, she was eager to finalize the contract right away.
Once these three agreed, they could pretty much speak for most of D Class.
The rest were either troublemakers like Ken Sudō, who needed the Past Exam Papers the most, or independent-minded honor students like Horikita Suzune, standing right in front of them.
And clearly, Horikita Suzune's opinion didn't matter.
"91. Ryuen Kakeru needs to sign two contracts"
"Pleasure doing business with you. I hope D Class and we have more opportunities to work together."
Seeing that D Class's three representatives had all signed, Aragaki Shun was in a good mood. He made it clear that if another opportunity like this came up, he would be sure to approach D Class again so they could both benefit.
"Class A and D Class have B Class and C Class between them, so we won't be facing each other directly for a long time. We can make more win-win deals like this in the future."
Hirata, Kushida, and Karuizawa all had different expressions. Keeping your distance from nearby enemies and befriending those farther away was indeed a clever strategy, but if D Class made too many deals like this, wouldn't they end up as Class A's total lackeys?
Still, the three remembered that Chabashira Sae had said that ever since Kodo Ikusei Senior High School was established, D Class had never managed to overtake Class A.
And after a little over a month at school, they had also realized just how vast the gap between D Class and Class A was.
The two classes were simply too far apart in overall ability. Even as some of D Class's most influential representatives, they couldn't ignore the facts and claim that D Class would definitely defeat Class A.
As Aragaki Shun had said, even if they intended to compete for class rankings, they would first have to lead their class past Ryuen Class and Sakayanagi Class before they could challenge Class A.
What's more, each of the three D Class representatives in front of him had a shameful past to hide.
The benefits of graduating from Class A were certainly tempting, but none of them saw them as absolutely essential.
If working with Class A helped them fulfill their own wishes, they wouldn't mind gradually losing D Class's independence.
Of course, that was only what Kushida and the others thought. Horikita Suzune, who had been unable to get a word in edgewise, made no effort to hide her displeasure.
"You got ahead this time, but don't think you'll get the better of D Class every time!"
The cool beauty was extremely unhappy about the class having to pay Aragaki Shun 600,000 Private Points every month.
Even after signing the contract, no one in D Class would be expelled for failing, they wouldn't lose Class Points due to anyone being expelled, and they could earn up to 100 Class Points... If they only considered what the deal meant for the class, D Class had undoubtedly come out ahead.
But from the perspective of class competition, D Class would lose 200,000 Private Points every month, while Class A would have 200,000 more at its disposal. That was a difference of 400,000 every month, adding up to over ten million in three years.
At Kodo Ikusei, where Private Points were used as a weapon, that was an enormous loss that would be difficult to recover from.
If she had been negotiating, she would never have agreed to such unreasonable terms.
Now that they knew the Midterm Exam questions were available as a shortcut, she could simply find them herself. Why should she stand by while Class A exploited them?
Unfortunately, Aragaki Shun didn't need to care what she thought, and nobody in class cared about her opinion either. There was nothing she could do.
"No matter whether our opponents are C Class, B Class, or you in Class A, I'll win in the end! Just you wait!"
Aragaki Shun looked at Horikita Suzune, who was inexplicably throwing out threats, but didn't bother responding. He simply reminded Kushida and Hirata, "Next time you discuss cooperation between Class A and D Class, don't bring along people who have nothing to do with it."
Hirata and Kushida were unquestionably the central figures in D Class. They had strong influence and the ability to rally both the boys and the girls, while Karuizawa was the leader of the girls.
Aragaki Shun had invited only these three representatives because he didn't want to waste time dealing with D Class's bunch of oddballs.
After all, they were just like Horikita Suzune standing there: they weren't especially capable, but thought highly of themselves, and each put their own interests first.
Having one person like Horikita Suzune, who couldn't read the room, around was already irritating. He had no patience for D Class's disorganized rabble.
All he needed was 200,000 Private Points a month. How the three representatives persuaded the others to pay, and how they dealt with the troublemakers who refused... They could worry about that themselves.
"You!"
Horikita Suzune couldn't stand being ignored like that, but before she could explode, Kushida Kikyo hurried over and grabbed her.
"Come on, Horikita. What we need to do now is go back and explain this deal to everyone in class, not stay here and keep provoking Aragaki-kun."
Kushida found it satisfying to see Horikita put in her place, but for the sake of her little angel persona, she had to step in and play the good person.
Besides, the contract was done, and they had the exam questions in hand. All she wanted now was to get back to class, make her presence felt, and divide up the 200,000 Private Points in the contract as soon as possible.
After all, she knew exactly what their classmates were like!
If she didn't get most of D Class to sign the contract right away, those shameless people might take the Midterm Exam questions without paying. Once they no longer feared being expelled for failing, they'd absolutely leave the three representatives to cover the 200,000 Private Points each month.
"Nobody wanted her here in the first place. Horikita just doesn't understand what people say and insisted on following us. We couldn't exactly kick her out, could we?"
Karuizawa Kei glanced toward Horikita Suzune and pursed her lips, then looked hesitantly at Aragaki Shun. "Aragaki-kun, could I get your contact information? Next time you want to invite us to something like this, you can just send me an email."
Aragaki Shun looked at the girl, who seemed strangely eager to please him. He didn't hesitate, simply showing her his contact information. "Of course. Hirata, would you like to add me too?"
There was no need to add Kushida. Last month, she had already found ways to get in touch with almost everyone at the school.
"That would be very helpful. Thanks, Aragaki-kun."
Hirata put on an extremely grateful expression.
For him, the most important thing was that everyone in class could get along peacefully.
Even if Aragaki Shun's contract clearly exploited D Class, that didn't change the fact that the deal would keep everyone in the class from being expelled.
That was enough!
"Bam—!!"
Aragaki Shun had just exchanged contact information with the two of them when a loud bang came from the doorway. Everyone there turned to look.
"What are Class A people doing with D Class trash? Aragaki Shun, did you call me here just so I could watch you exploit these defective products?"
"Ryuen Kakeru!"
Aragaki Shun looked coldly at the red-haired delinquent who had deliberately kicked the door to Class A's classroom. He picked up two contracts from the table.
"Don't worry. They only need to sign one contract. You'll have to sign two."
"Two contracts?"
Ryuen Kakeru strode over arrogantly, casually took the two contracts, and tried to tear them to shreds without even looking at them.
"I, Ryuen Kakeru, don't take threats from anyone!"
"If you tear them up, I'll have no choice but to get you expelled!"
Aragaki Shun watched Ryuen freeze in place, his expression impassive.
He wasn't joking. If Ryuen really tore up the two contracts, Aragaki Shun would have to take that as a refusal to negotiate and move straight to the next step.
Getting Ryuen Kakeru expelled wasn't easy, but if Aragaki Shun was willing to pay a high enough price, he could do it. The only question was whether it was worth it.
An invisible pressure spread through the room, lending Aragaki Shun's words an air of absolute conviction. The atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
The four D Class students who had been about to leave stopped as well. They held their breath and silently watched Ryuen face off against Aragaki Shun with his two lackeys. Curiosity welled up in them.
D Class had just signed an exploitative contract with Aragaki Shun, and now C Class seemed set to get the same treatment—or worse. They couldn't help wondering how it would turn out.
Ryuen stared at Aragaki Shun with sinister eyes. When Aragaki Shun threatened him just now, Ryuen had actually felt a flicker of hesitation. It was humiliating!
He wasn't supposed to feel fear at all, so why had Aragaki Shun's presence intimidated him for that brief moment?
Setting aside his confusion, Ryuen fixed Aragaki Shun with a glare and let out a contemptuous laugh. "Heh. Looks like you think you've got something you can use to expel me whenever you want?"
"It's because you're always playing dirty."
Aragaki Shun deliberately goaded the delinquent across from him with a scornful look.
"If C Class's homeroom teacher hadn't always protected you, the things you've done since enrolling would've been reported by your own classmates long ago, and you'd have been thrown out of Kodo Ikusei."
"...What are you talking about? I can't make any sense of it!"
Ryuen sneered and refused to engage with the accusation.
Everyone in C Class knew what kind of person he was, but so what?
As long as there was no evidence, and C Class's homeroom teacher continued to protect him, none of it mattered. He could still rule C Class through violence.
"Honestly, I don't care what you've done to your classmates in C Class," Aragaki Shun said, knowing Ryuen wouldn't admit to anything in front of a crowd. He simply continued speaking. "As they say, fortune favors those who help themselves. If thirty-nine of them let one person intimidate them with violence, what could anyone else say?"
"But you shouldn't have sent that bunch of thugs from C Class to provoke and harass the students in Class A."
"Your C Class delinquents can ignore their grades and spend all day following people around the streets, but the rest of us in Class A don't have that much time or energy to waste."
"Hmph. That's quite a performance."
Ryuen snorted disdainfully and sat on a nearby desk. "I should've known you'd be Class A's model student. I hear you spend 400,000 a month on cram school too. You really must have money to burn."
"You're not wrong," Aragaki Shun said, readily agreeing. "After all, Class A has more than three times as many Class Points as C Class, and your class has to transfer a third of its Private Points to me every month."
Ryuen's face darkened. C Class's monthly payment of 400,000 Private Points to Aragaki Shun came to exactly the same amount Class A spent on cram school each month.
"Looks like you won't learn until you see the coffin!"
Seeing how unconcerned Ryuen looked, Aragaki Shun took out his phone and sent an email, then showed it to him.
"I reported you to Student Council President Manabu Horikita for kicking the door to our classroom just now. The classroom cameras caught it, so I'm sure the Student Council will handle this incident fairly."
"Huh?"
Ryuen couldn't quite wrap his head around that.
Even if kicking the door was considered deliberate provocation, the most he could expect at this school was a deduction in Class Evaluation Points. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so brazen.
"You're going to the Student Council over something this trivial? Are you a little kid who still needs his mother?"
Aragaki Shun ignored the taunt and went on. "By the way, I had every Class A student who was followed or harassed by C Class this afternoon record what happened, using audio and video. I also had them ask the C Class students whether you, Ryuen, had ordered them to provoke us."
"Those recordings and videos have all been reported to the Student Council. Congratulations, Ryuen. You've set a record: your name was brought to the Student Council's attention thirteen times in one day."
Ryuen fell silent. A vague unease suddenly rose in him. "Are you deliberately trying to make the Student Council notice me? And what good would that do?"
"Normally, nothing much. At most, it would make the school keep confirming that you're just a delinquent who likes to cause trouble."
The problem was, none of this was a frame-up. It was all true!
"Everyone in Class A has decided that every time C Class provokes us, we'll make sure you get noticed by the Student Council again."
"Of course, since there isn't enough evidence, these reports can make you a person of interest across the whole school, but they can't get you expelled outright. To do that, Class A still needs to find evidence that settles the matter once and for all."
As he spoke, Aragaki Shun looked at Ishizaki Daichi and Yamada Albert beside Ryuen. "Ishizaki, Yamada, do you have any evidence saved from the times Ryuen used violence?"
"Ah! Me?"
Ishizaki looked around in disbelief, then pointed at himself. Was this some kind of joke?
Yamada Albert: "..."
Before you continue