Himeno: [Hey, don't skip class tomorrow. Got it?]
Uesugi Gen stared at his phone, his face dark with annoyance. Was this for real? Did they really trust him that little?
Hmph! Fine, he wouldn't skip!
With a swipe, Uesugi Gen withdrew the leave request he'd sent Hoshinomiya.
The next day, Uesugi Gen wrestled with his blankets for a while before finally dragging himself off to class.
"Haah~ Morning!"
He made his way to the classroom, spotted his seat, and greeted Ichinose and the others.
"Morning, Uesugi-kun."
Ichinose was as full of energy as ever.
"Morning, Uesugi. Here's your breakfast."
Shibata, seated behind him, handed him some bread and milk.
Ever since Ichinose and the others had found out that Uesugi Gen didn't usually eat breakfast when they caught him skipping class, they'd brought him breakfast every day.
"Good timing. We're discussing your theory from last time."
Kanzaki Ryuji was reviewing his textbook nearby. When he saw Uesugi Gen arrive, he closed it and spoke with a serious expression.
"It wasn't my theory. You came up with it. I only said a few things."
Uesugi Gen took his seat and accepted the breakfast. Half-asleep, he said,
"I'm the one who was left in the dark, okay? You only just told me that points might be tied to student conduct."
Himeno Yuki, leaning against the window, narrowed her eyes at Uesugi Gen and glared at him, wondering why he hadn't told her sooner.
"I only just realized that Yuki didn't know. She wasn't there when we discussed it."
"And this is only a theory, after all. We don't have any concrete evidence, so we didn't share it. We could only tell the class to do their best not to break the rules."
Ichinose stepped in to smooth things over.
"Not break the rules—"
Himeno Yuki's heart skipped a beat. She turned to look at Uesugi Gen.
"This guy's not in trouble, is he?"
"Nope. I have permission from the Student Council to skip class, so the school won't come after me for it."
The Student Council had plenty of work to do, including patrols and off-campus duties, so quite a few members had this privilege. Uesugi Gen was just more frequent in using it than most.
Uesugi Gen reassured Himeno Yuki. She was the only person in the class immune to Ichinose's charm, so he had to treat her well.
"If Uesugi-kun's theory is right, the points should change next month. This test might be the school's final assessment of the students."
Ichinose, standing beside Uesugi Gen, spoke earnestly.
"I agree with Ichinose. The school can't let the students keep slacking forever. Next month's point distribution is the perfect opportunity. They can strike a decisive blow while students are still worrying about losing points, after a month of living comfortably. It should be very effective."
Kanzaki Ryuji summed it up.
That was a pretty impressive assessment. Even with him slacking off all the time, it seemed Class B was doing just fine.
Uesugi Gen watched Ichinose and the others discuss things heatedly, then suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.
"Hey, Ichinose. You have plenty of friends in the other classes, right? What do you think the other classes will get next month?"
That's right. Uesugi Gen had decided to go big.
The answer would be announced in just a few days, and the school had already deducted most of the points it was going to. Rather than wait until next week for Hoshinomiya-sensei to reveal the answer, he might as well make use of them and have Ichinose and the others figure it out themselves.
"Hmm, let me think..."
Ichinose rested a finger against her chin and lowered her head, thinking quietly. Her expression gradually grew serious.
"I don't know much about Classes A and C, but Class D—"
Kanzaki Ryuji's pupils shrank. His brow furrowed as he murmured,
"That's strange. Why?"
"Why are the points arranged so—"
"—neatly?"
They said it in unison.
Watching the strange scene unfold, Shibata Hayate and Himeno Yuki were at a loss.
Uesugi Gen looked at Ichinose and Kanzaki, then glanced at Himeno Yuki and Shibata. He shook his head with a trace of pity and sighed.
A vein bulged on Himeno Yuki's forehead. She glared at Uesugi Gen.
"What are you talking about? What's strange about the points?"
Uesugi Gen looked at everyone's varied expressions, a delighted smile spreading across his face.
"Yeah, why? Why would the school do this?"
Heh. That was what they got for stabbing him in the back. They never saw it coming: Uesugi Gen was the one who'd stabbed them in the back!
After a long silence,
Ichinose was the first to figure it out.
"The school must have decided how to divide the classes from the very beginning. That would explain why the scores are so neatly arranged."
As expected, compared to Kanzaki, Ichinose had more friends in the other classes and could get more information from them.
Hearing Ichinose speak, Kanzaki Ryuji jolted. He suddenly remembered the example Uesugi Gen had given him on the second day of school.
What did rankings mean in a company? Or why did companies rank their employees?
"Competition is competition. Companies rank the performance of different departments to motivate employees to work more efficiently and compete against one another."
Kanzaki suddenly saw the light. He recalled what Uesugi Gen had done that day, and his thoughts connected like a circuit being shocked. He turned toward Uesugi Gen and gritted his teeth.
"Uesugi, you knew from the start that the classes were supposed to compete with one another. That's why you warned me on the second day that student conduct was tied to points, so our classmates would pay attention to discipline."
Ichinose caught on as well. She murmured as she recalled what had happened.
"So that's why you wouldn't let me explain the full theory. You only asked me to tell the class to be more disciplined. If we'd shared the details, students from the other classes might have heard about it, and they could have closed the gap with us. That wouldn't have been good for our class's competition."
"What are you talking about? I don't understand a thing. Right, Shibata? Yuki?"
Uesugi Gen dropped his smug act and feigned confusion.
"Shut up, you!"
"Bastard! Don't call me Yuki!"
Shibata and Himeno Yuki had caught on, too. The four of them had clearly been led around in circles by the guy in front of them.
"Don't sweat the small stuff."
Uesugi Gen acted as if they were making a fuss over nothing.
Seeing his smug, self-satisfied face, all four of them clenched their fists hard.
Ding~
The bell rang, and the four of them had to return to their seats.
"Then, Kanzaki, Ichinose, one last question. What do you think the school will use to drive competition between the classes?"
Uesugi Gen changed the subject and addressed the two of them seriously.
Given their judgment, Uesugi Gen was sure they'd find the answer quickly once they had a direction to look in.
But first...
Accept my revenge, Uesugi Gen's revenge for all that lost sleep!
This was Uesugi Gen's last desperate stand, after nearly a month of being tormented until he'd become a hedgehog.
Welcome to Classroom of the Elite
At the beginning of the second month, Uesugi Gen arrived at the classroom unusually early.
Kanzaki and the others wore serious expressions as they waited for the points to be distributed.
Bzzz~
Everyone's terminals chimed at the same time. It was here!
[Points deposited into account: 86,300]
Uesugi's prediction had been right.
Expressions of confirmation appeared on everyone's faces.
The night before, Ichinose had already shared the theory with Class B, so they weren't too surprised, having learned about it in advance.
"We're still getting more than eighty thousand points? I thought seventy thousand would be about the limit."
Uesugi Gen stared at his phone, speaking in a strange tone.
Based on the scores Class B had earned in previous years, combined with the information he already had, Uesugi Gen had estimated that Class B would retain around 650 to 750 points.
The biggest difference between Class B and Class A was that, when faced with a problem, most students in Class A would first consider the option that benefited them most.
When Class B dealt with problems, on the other hand, they also took friendship, the effects of their actions, and many other factors into account.
All those considerations kept them from achieving the best possible outcome and cost Class B a lot of points without them even realizing it.
"The points distributed by the school have changed, which proves our earlier theory was correct. As for the remaining questions, we'll have to wait for Hoshinomiya-sensei to answer them."
Kanzaki looked unusually exhausted today, with dark circles under his eyes. Uesugi Gen's questions from the past few days had clearly been eating at him. He'd barely slept all night.
Looking at Kanzaki Ryuji, Uesugi Gen burst out laughing.
"Haha, Kanzaki, that look really suits you. You're a brooding heartthrob."
Whack!
Ichinose lightly smacked the back of Uesugi Gen's head with a book. Her voice held a hint of resentment.
"Uesugi-kun, could you be a little quieter?"
Ichinose wasn't as badly off as Kanzaki. A little makeup had covered her dark circles, but she looked somewhat haggard and wasn't as energetic as usual.
"And whose fault do you think it is that we look like this?"
Kanzaki turned to look at Uesugi Gen, his gaze flickering with murderous intent.
It all came back to this guy. First, he'd posed a question that made Kanzaki wary. Then, just when he'd finally figured it out, Uesugi Gen had given him an even harder one, cheerfully declared that this was the real question, and then run off. That was why Kanzaki looked like this.
That damn cryptic bastard!
Sensing their anger, Uesugi Gen tried to defend himself.
"Figuring these things out for yourselves is what makes them worthwhile."
"It's almost time for class."
Himeno Yuki, who'd been quietly playing on her phone, reminded them.
At her words, Ichinose and the others dropped the subject and returned to their seats.
The classroom door slid open.
Hoshinomiya-sensei entered, humming a cheerful tune, her cheeks flushed.
Had she just been drinking? And why was she so happy?
Uesugi Gen was puzzled. From what he knew of Hoshinomiya-sensei, she was genuinely happy—not wearing one of her usual superficial smiles, the kind she used to hand out praise and good-person awards.
Class B had retained quite a lot of points, but it still hadn't moved up to Class A. The outcome wasn't all that different from what she'd expected. So why was she so happy?
"Hehe, I bet you all have questions. Don't worry, your favorite teacher is here! I'll answer them one by one."
Hoshinomiya-sensei stuck a sheet of paper on the blackboard like a poster, planted her hands on her hips, and grinned proudly, brimming with confidence.
Before you continue