By the time she had Kijima Tsukur wrapped around her little finger, would he still be so cocky?
Elsewhere.
Behind the hallway wall, Morishita Ai turned to look at Yamamura Miki beside her.
She murmured softly,
"Yamamura Miki, I think Kijima Tsukur was praising you."
"Hmph... At least he has a little conscience."
Yamamura Miki lifted her little chin, looking inexplicably pleased.
Come to think of it,
She'd been adjusting Kijima Tsukur's breakfast portions and dinner flavors these past few days!
She was practically the world's greatest philanthropist. Of course she deserved the praise, right?
Besides,
Strictly speaking,
This was something Kijima Tsukur should have been doing himself.
Thinking of that, Yamamura Miki glared fiercely at Kijima Tsukur's retreating figure again.
Beside her, Morishita Ai watched the drama queen and felt a little speechless.
"Yamamura Miki, why do I feel like you're so strange?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"You're all bark and no bite."
"I am not."
Yamamura Miki's pretty face flushed red. She muttered to herself, "You calling people by their full names like that is even weirder."
"See..."
Morishita Ai instantly realized what she was thinking.
Still, her powers of observation were exceptional, and she more or less understood why Kijima Tsukur had asked her to spend more time with Yamamura Miki...
No matter how suddenly or strangely she acted,
Yamamura Miki had never thought she was disgusting or anything like that.
Not once...
"Fine, I suppose you pass."
Morishita Ai thought it over, then nodded with some reluctance, as if she'd made up her mind.
"Since you're all bark and no bite, I'll call you Komatsu Kyo!"
"No way!"
May, we've got a traitor in our ranks!
May 1.
Time passed,
A month went by in the blink of an eye, and at last a new month began.
On the surface, everything had been harmonious this past month, but a closer look showed that Class A had roughly split into three factions.
The Sakayanagi Faction, led by Sakayanagi Arisu, Kamuro Masumi, and Kito Hayato.
The Katsuragi Faction, led by Katsuragi Kohei, Totsuka Yahiko, and Machida Koji.
The Kijima Faction, led by Kijima Tsukur, Yamamura Miki, and Morishita Ai.
The Kijima Faction was the smallest. Strictly speaking, it seemed to consist of only those three.
Although the Katsuragi Faction also supported Kijima Tsukur, most of them trusted Katsuragi Kohei.
Still,
If Kijima Tsukur failed,
Katsuragi would also take a huge hit.
The two factions were, in a sense, in the same boat.
Of course,
There was also one independent student—Hashimoto Masayoshi.
Though he had been interacting with Kijima Tsukur and the others, lately he had also started spending more time with Sakayanagi Arisu.
At that moment,
Class 1-A.
Everyone wore smiles, and Kijima Tsukur looked at the phone in his hand.
Personal Points: 172,983.
Including the Twenty Thousand Personal Points Ichinose Honami had paid him, Kijima Tsukur had originally possessed over ninety thousand Personal Points.
However,
He'd transferred another twenty thousand to Yamamura Miki for living expenses along the way.
According to Yamamura Miki, she still hadn't used up the twenty thousand he'd sent afterward. He had no idea when she would.
That morning,
The school had transferred another ninety-eight thousand Personal Points into his account.
It really was different from the one hundred thousand Personal Points they'd received at the start of the school year.
This also proved
That all the information Kijima Tsukur had shared was indeed true.
After a month,
Class A had retained 980 of its initial points.
That was why smiles beamed across Class A's faces.
Some people even privately suspected
That the twenty Class Points they'd lost might have been caused by Kijima Tsukur playing with his Rubik's Cube.
It wasn't an unreasonable suspicion,
After all, Class A was full of model students. Even those who weren't good at studying could at least pretend to observe classroom etiquette. Only Kijima Tsukur behaved without restraint.
But since his grades were excellent, no one said anything.
For Class A, everything was simple.
As long as your grades were okay, everything was negotiable, and the class atmosphere was warm and cheerful!
When the bell rang,
Everyone returned to their seats, took out their textbooks, and waited for class to begin.
Tap, tap, tap!
Accompanied by the sound of Mashima's leather shoes, the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom carrying a roll of paper like a poster.
Seeing the joy and confidence on everyone's faces, Mashima couldn't help but let a faint smile show on his stern face.
"It seems you've more or less figured out the rules of this school!"
"..."
"But I'll still go over them with everyone."
Next,
Mashima explained the school's rules in broad strokes, and they were exactly as everyone had understood them.
In fact,
The students knew a little more.
For example, Mashima didn't mention transferring classes with the Twenty Million Personal Points.
"All right, any other questions? Hmm, Classmate Sakayanagi!"
"Teacher."
With permission, Sakayanagi Arisu lowered her hand and smiled. "Please tell us when the next Special Exam will take place. Other than Special Exams, are there any other opportunities to increase our Class Points?"
"Hmm, as expected of Sakayanagi."
Mashima nodded and smiled. "That is indeed an important question, but we'll get to it later. Are there any other questions about the rules?"
No one answered.
They already knew the general rules,
And Sakayanagi Arisu had clearly asked the question they wanted answered.
During this time,
Sakayanagi Arisu had been very active.
It could be summed up in four points:
Maintain conflict, state her position, demonstrate her strength, and recruit allies.
Whenever there was a chance to stand out, Sakayanagi Arisu was the first to step forward.
Even if she couldn't deal a fatal blow to the Kijima and Katsuragi Factions, she had gradually gathered quite a few people around her.
"Since there are no questions, let's move on to the next stage. Your grades are very good—even the best in the school's history—and you've maintained Class A's standing. However..."
"The students in the other classes this year are not to be underestimated either. You mustn't let your guard down."
Mashima pinned the roll of white paper to the blackboard with magnets. It listed the current Class Points for each class.
Class A (Kijima Tsukur): 980 Class Points
Class B (Ichinose): 930 Class Points
Class C (Ryuen Kakeru): 690 Class Points
Class D (Ayanokoji): 0 Class Points.
The moment the paper was displayed,
The smiles on Class A's faces froze, and they could no longer smile.
They'd known that revealing the information at the initial stage would surely improve the other three classes' results.
But now...
Never mind Classes D and C. Class B was simply absurd.
There was a clear gap between Class B and Class C.
This showed that Class B, led by Ichinose Honami, far surpassed the other classes in organization and discipline—even Class A!
No!
It was practically certain.
When it came to discipline, Class B was definitely ahead of Class A.
If not for the lead they'd gained during the first three days, Class B would almost have overtaken Class A already!
They might be knocked out of Class A after just the first month!
Thinking of this.
Before you continue