She was ninety percent sure this was a trap set by Class C.
Horikita Suzune helplessly rubbed her forehead, then turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and said,
"Does he even have a brain?"
"Uh..."
Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's usually expressionless face was beginning to crack.
At that moment, Hirata Yosuke realized that something was wrong, too. He hurried after Yamauchi and asked,
"Um, did something happen to you yesterday, Yamauchi? Did students from Class C bully you?"
Yamauchi Haruki casually waved a hand and shook his head. "No, no. I just beat up three nobodies from Class C and sent them running."
Watching Yamauchi Haruki boast without the slightest awareness of what he'd done, Horikita Suzune calmly took a breath, then stood and walked out of the classroom.
"Hey, Horikita, where are you going?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka hurriedly called after her.
"I'm going to find Uesugi Gen and return this guy. I'll also ask him whether he sent this spy from Class B into our class."
Yamauchi Haruki had plunged straight into such an obvious pit without even looking, then scooped up the crap at the bottom and flung it in your face—before bragging, "I'm amazing, right?"
At that moment, Horikita Suzune regretted it. This guy was completely beyond saving.
She seriously suspected that Uesugi Gen had deliberately sent him back to drag Class D into the abyss.
At that moment, The Accomplice Lady gave a cute little sneeze...
Chapter 39: You're One of a Kind, Big Fool
Class A: 1004 cp
Class B: 953 cp
Class C: 492 cp
Class D: -23 cp
"Looks like the school's pretty generous, handing out so many Class Points at once."
Uesugi Gen lay sprawled across his desk, looking bored.
The changes in each class's scores were enough to give him a rough idea of what had happened.
Classes A and B had probably earned their Class Points through fair and square means.
As for why Class B had gained more than Class A, that was probably the result of Uesugi Gen's deal with the school, combined with Class B having the highest score.
As for Class C...
Uesugi Gen rubbed his chin.
Even with no one expelled, they'd only gained two points. Had they lost points somewhere else?
In other words, even knowing that behavior violating ethical standards would cost them Class Points, they'd gone ahead and done it anyway.
So, were they deliberately testing the limits of the school's rules? What a gutsy guy.
Still, gutsy or not...
Uesugi Gen said with a pained expression,
"If you want to know, why not just ask me?"
"For only 500,000 points, I'll teach you everything Nice Senior has learned in his life. And if that's not enough, I've also got the Student Council's records of all the deductions over the years. I'll throw those in for 300,000."
As for Class D, they'd either run out of points to lose, or the school was rewarding them for not abandoning their classmates.
At this rate, exchanging 1.9 million points for 77 Class Points hadn't been a bad deal.
The problem was...
"Teacher, why haven't we gotten our points for this month yet? At this rate, I'll have no choice but to keep begging for food."
Uesugi Gen slapped the desk in protest.
Kanzaki Ryuji gave him a sidelong, contemptuous look.
"More than half your expenses last month were paid for by me and Shibata. Ichinose offered to make you a bento, and you turned her down. Is freeloading really that fun?"
"Most importantly, haven't you already received the points from the Student Council?"
Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Uesugi Gen blushed.
"Shut up! A lackey isn't allowed to talk back to the class leader."
"I'm the vice leader!"
The whole of Class B chimed in.
"Well... um... Let me think about how to explain this to you..."
Suppressing the smile tugging at her lips, Hoshinomiya-sensei took a while to gather herself before slowly recounting what had happened.
As Hoshinomiya-sensei continued, the expressions on the faces of the Class B students gradually shifted from curiosity,
to shock,
and finally to speechlessness...
"What a genius!"
Uesugi Gen fell silent for a moment before finally saying the words.
Anyone with half a brain could tell from Hoshinomiya-sensei's account alone that this had been a trap.
"So the students from Class C set him up on purpose, right?"
Shibata, sitting behind him, quietly asked Uesugi Gen.
See? Even Shibata had figured it out.
Smack!
A palm smacked the back of Uesugi Gen's head.
"What was that for?"
"My hand slipped. I just had a feeling you were thinking something you shouldn't."
Shibata smiled, showing no remorse.
They wouldn't find a talent like this anywhere else in Kōiku. He deserved to be brought into Class D's fold.
Miss Horikita, I'll even throw in another 1.9 million. Find me another talent like him and send him to Class C.
Class A,
They weren't paying any attention to the commotion among the lower-ranked classes. Their focus was entirely on Class B.
Katsuragi Kohei's brow furrowed.
"Not only has the gap between us and Class B failed to grow, it keeps shrinking. How... did they manage that?"
It was an undeniable fact that Class A had the highest average ability in the entire year. Yet their lead over Class B wasn't growing; Class B was about to catch up. How could Katsuragi Kohei not feel anxious?
Sakayanagi Arisu, the other leader of Class A, didn't seem to care in the slightest. Instead, she chatted with Kamuro Masumi with great interest.
"So, Masumi, what did you find out about that Uesugi?"
Kamuro Masumi's expression shifted repeatedly before she finally let out a long sigh.
"Everything points to Uesugi not being that jerk, but my instincts keep telling me it was him!"
"Oh, how intriguing. Could you tell me what happened, Masumi?"
Sakayanagi Arisu said with a smile.
After listening to Kamuro Masumi's account, even Sakayanagi Arisu's smile faltered.
"You're saying he not only forced his own classmates to buy him meals, but also used his position as Student Council vice president to take bribes and demand favors?"
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't care about class competition, but she did care about Advanced Nurturing. It was her father's life's work.
Now, someone was making a mockery of her father's life's work—and that person had been personally invited by her father.
Even Sakayanagi Arisu, whose mind was usually sharp, found herself at a loss for a moment.
Father, are you sure this is all right?
Kamuro Masumi rested her chin on one hand.
"That's why I say it can't be him. But this feeling that I can't see through him keeps telling me it is."
Let's leave Class C aside for now. As usual, it was full of chūnibyō kids having a great time.
As for Class D...
"Yamauchi, do you have anything to say in response to the Class C students' accusation that you assaulted them?"
Chabashira Sae stood at the lectern with her arms folded, asking Yamauchi Haruki in as even a tone as she could manage.
"Teacher, there must be some misunderstanding. Yamauchi would never do something like that."
Hirata Yosuke stood up from his seat, anxiously trying to defend him.
"What are you talking about, Hirata? I did it. How about that? Pretty impressive, huh?"
Yamauchi Haruki jumped right in and admitted it in front of the entire class.
"Um... Yamauchi, I should warn you: if the school determines that you really did this, you may face a very severe punishment."
Chabashira Sae's mouth twitched. She pressed her palm to her temple, speaking with a headache.
No matter how much she wanted to give up, she still wanted to make it to Class A.
"So what? They're not going to expel me, are they?"
Yamauchi Haruki looked like someone who had already decided nothing could hurt him.
He was so full of himself now that he was about to burst.
The entire Class D fell silent.
He... was he really that bold?
Ken Sudō stared blankly at his friend as if he were seeing him for the first time. Even he, hot-tempered and often in fights, knew the school couldn't find out about something like this.
Horikita Suzune gazed blankly at the ceiling, no longer able to keep up her cool façade.
Maybe I should just focus on collecting 20 million points and transferring to Class A. That seems more reliable.
"Hahahaha! How amusing. You're truly amusing, Yamauchi boy. I've never seen anyone so conceited and ugly."
Koenji Rokusuke crossed his legs and said without holding back.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Koenji? Believe me, I'll beat you up next. Honestly, I've always found you really irritating."
Yamauchi Haruki glared at Koenji and raised his fist threateningly. Then he noticed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka watching him from the side and said smugly,
"Well, Ayanokoji? How about you make me your boss? You only have to pay me 10,000 points every month."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was speechless.
For the first time in his life, Ayanokoji had encountered someone he couldn't read.
At that moment, all he wanted was to shout at Yamauchi Haruki,
Big Fool, you're not like the others!
Before you continue