May 1st, Morning Class Meeting

"Explain yourself."

Even though she was exposing a bit of skin, she didn't seem to care. Her face had none of its usual gentleness.

"Basically, it's an assessment of the new students by the school."

"Didn't the teachers already tell us? This school gives us points based on our abilities, right?"

"And the way they judge our abilities is by looking at how each class performs. Things like our attitude toward studying, skipping class, arriving late, and leaving early can all cost the class points."

"Given how our class is doing, do you think we'll get any points this month?"

Kageya Shinjitsu asked as he looked at Kushida Kikyo, who was sitting on top of him.

"Idiot, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Even in this situation, there's no way we'd get absolutely nothing, even if we didn't get a hundred thousand points."

Kushida Kikyo's little fists thumped against Kageya Shinjitsu's chest.

If he'd told her sooner, perhaps she could have done something.

She could have raised her standing in the class.

"Even if I'd told you, it wouldn't have helped. A lot of people in our class are beyond saving."

"They're all good at ruining things and useless at getting anything done."

"As long as even one person keeps dragging us down, the whole class suffers in this assessment."

"Given the current situation, Class D really is getting zero points."

Kageya Shinjitsu now understood the school's S-System completely.

After all this time, and after running around as a member of the Student Council, he'd gotten a full grasp of the situation.

Their class score for this month was undoubtedly zero.

Apparently, even the school was a little shocked.

They'd never seen a class this hopeless.

The worst class ever.

Even the school was at a loss for words. What more was there to say?

"You knew all along?"

After hearing they wouldn't get any points starting next month, even Kushida Kikyo felt indignant.

Anyone would react that way to news like this.

"Yeah. I knew pretty much from the first day."

Kageya Shinjitsu didn't hide it.

"Was that why you skipped class back then? You went to do something like this?"

"And you're not worried at all? You even managed to get yourself all those points?"

Kushida Kikyo pressed him, thinking back to what had happened.

"This is my compensation."

"As for the class, what's there to worry about? We get free food, so we won't starve, no matter what. We just won't have any points."

"You don't need to worry, either. Since you're my girlfriend, I can take you out to eat now and then."

Kageya Shinjitsu acted as if he were being very considerate of her.

"Idiot, if you'd told me, I could've saved more points."

Kushida Kikyo thought about it.

But considering her situation, she probably couldn't have saved much anyway.

She'd probably have people borrowing points from her next month, too.

"Wait, I'll transfer all my points to you. If I need to buy anything from now on, you can get it for me."

Thinking of that, Kushida Kikyo decided not to keep much money for herself.

She transferred her points to Kageya Shinjitsu.

"No problem."

"Actually, you don't need to panic so much. There are still a few capable people in our class."

"As long as we get rid of the trash, we can keep some useful people."

Kageya Shinjitsu said it casually.

"What about the other classes? How are they doing?"

Kushida Kikyo thought of the other classes.

"They definitely have points. They knew about this a long time ago."

"You'll find out on May 1."

Kageya Shinjitsu felt he wouldn't be able to keep it from her much longer.

"They knew already? You didn't sell out our class, did you?"

Kushida Kikyo quickly realized.

The more she learned about his personality, the more she felt it was possible.

He probably didn't have any sense of class solidarity at all.

And he didn't like getting too close to people.

That was why he'd kept brushing her off at first.

As for now, they were probably bonded by their shared troubles.

They both felt the same way, after all.

May 1: Class Meeting

About him selling out the class—

"You'll find out soon enough."

Kageya Shinjitsu smiled mysteriously without denying it.

"Idiot."

"I knew it."

"What are you plotting? Tell me already."

Kushida Kikyo muttered, then lightly punched him.

She was one of the people he'd sold out, after all.

"But it has nothing to do with me. Even without me, this class would still have scored zero."

"At most, you could say I didn't change anything."

"The ones who really pushed the class into hell were the others."

"They're the ones you should blame. You can't blame everything on someone else."

Kageya Shinjitsu spoke without a care.

He'd originally thought he'd need to do something.

But he'd underestimated this Class 1-D.

He'd barely had to lift a finger before completing his deal with the other classes.

"You're still so good with words."

"Go explain that to everyone else. If they all find out tomorrow, they'll probably want to tear you limb from limb."

Kushida Kikyo seemed to find the idea rather amusing.

At the same time, she was a little relieved that they hadn't made their relationship public.

She didn't ask him why he hadn't helped the class or anything like that.

It would have been pointless.

"Yeah... I guess so."

"Then why don't I have you draw some of the fire? We could go public. They might go easy on you, and then I'd be fine."

"Maybe they'd focus less on the points."

As he spoke, Kageya Shinjitsu rested a hand on her leg.

"You'd better take care of yourself. I can't draw the fire for you."

"I feel like telling everyone now would just make even more boys hate you."

After learning all this out of nowhere, Kushida Kikyo was anything but calm.

Thinking about how badly things would go for him later, she almost didn't dare imagine it.

The scene was too awful to look at.

Compared to him, Kushida Kikyo felt like she'd been an amateur back in middle school.

She even wondered if Kageya Shinjitsu might get beaten badly enough to be expelled.

"Then I'm really doomed. Little Kikyo, you'll be a widow before long."

Kageya Shinjitsu acted as if he were going to be beaten to death on May 1.

"Don't worry. I'll avenge you."

"Would me being alive get in the way of your revenge?"

"..."

Their voices grew quieter and quieter.

By the end, no one knew what they were doing in there.

The weather was gloomy, and rain pattered down.

It was May 1, a month after school had started. The atmosphere in Class 1-D wasn't good at all. It was as gloomy as the weather.

They'd been promised points on the first of the month, but not a single point had arrived.

Most of the students were confused and surprised. Even Kushida Kikyo, who knew what was going on, pretended to be surprised and fretted along with everyone else.

The students talked among themselves. When they realized none of them had received any points, they felt a little relieved.

At least the school couldn't have withheld points from everyone.

Today should be the day you all enter hell.

Kageya Shinjitsu didn't warn his classmates, who had no idea what was coming. He was already sitting in a corner, enjoying the show.

He was only missing some cola and popcorn.

Every so often, he caught a resentful look from Kushida Kikyo.

But he didn't pay it much attention.

Time ticked by, and the moment they'd been waiting for arrived.