Reporting, Punishment and Reward / Making a Big Deal Out of Nothing, a Student Council Invitation

Horikita Manabu didn't answer the question.

Kageya Shinjitsu had figured it out, too.

Whenever the Student Council President didn't want to answer something, or couldn't, the answer was always to ask the homeroom teacher.

Questions about how class scores were calculated, or how many points they earned, were all off-limits.

Chapter 12: Reports, Punishments, and Rewards

The answer was always to ask the homeroom teacher.

The homeroom teacher had become the ultimate shield.

"Fine, I understand. Let's leave those questions for now."

With no chance of getting more information by asking, Kageya Shinjitsu switched tactics.

"Let's talk about something else. I saw one of my classmates damaging school property. I want to report him, and I'd like to know what punishment he and his class will receive. Will it be announced? Or does the school not care if students go around breaking things? Also, I'd like to know whether there's any reward for reporting a classmate."

"Besides my classmate, I also want to report a second-year student. He insulted the students in Class D by calling us 'defective products.' That's an insult to our dignity. I want him to apologize to us, and ideally, provide compensation—points."

"I even have the evidence ready."

He'd just been over by the second- and third-year students, calling the students in Class D defective products and provoking them. Now Kageya Shinjitsu was here to make trouble for them.

He wasn't going easy on anyone. He'd reported both a classmate and an older student.

Listening to Kageya Shinjitsu, Horikita Manabu's brow furrowed.

"Is this difficult, senpai?"

"This is something the Student Council can deal with, isn't it? Or does the school have Disciplinary Committee Members for this sort of thing? Or do you just ignore it all?"

Kageya Shinjitsu stepped closer, looking Horikita Manabu in the eye.

"No. This is indeed the Student Council's responsibility. Show me the evidence first." Horikita Manabu looked up at him.

Kageya Shinjitsu smiled slightly and handed Horikita Manabu the footage he'd just copied onto his phone.

The school's surveillance cameras were excellent. They didn't just capture clear footage; they recorded the conversations, too.

Horikita Manabu watched the video, gradually regaining his composure.

It showed everything, from the red-haired boy taking up space outside the convenience store to eat instant noodles, to the second-year students coming over to provoke him. Their conversation had all been recorded.

In short, it looked like stray dogs fighting over territory and food.

"Don't look down on me just because I'm a first-year, hey!"

"You've got a lot to say to us second-years, don't you? Don't you see our bags here?"

"Our bags are here. So get lost."

"Ooh, scary. Which class are you in? No, let me guess. Class D, right?"

"So what if I am?"

"Did you hear that? He said Class D. Just as I thought! His true colors are showing."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean, hey?"

"We'll let you poor 'defective products' have this place for today. Let's go."

"You running away?"

"Go on, keep shouting! You'll see what hell is like soon enough."

It wasn't just an argument. The footage showed the second-years insulting Class D as defective products, and the red-haired boy kicking over a trash can and littering.

"What you said did happen."

"You're in Class D? Is he your classmate?"

On the first day of school, one of his own classmates had betrayed another student. Horikita Manabu found it troubling that Kageya Shinjitsu had reported his own classmate without a second thought. He clearly didn't care about the group—or perhaps didn't consider his class a group at all.

Horikita Manabu was beginning to understand why the boy in front of him had been placed in Class D, despite having excellent powers of observation.

What troubled him even more was that his cute little sister was in the same class.

"Right, exactly. I'm reporting them. Please tell me everything you can, Student Council President."

No matter how he put it, Kageya Shinjitsu was trying to learn how the school worked.

He didn't care about the punishments themselves.

If the punishment wasn't too severe, he wouldn't mind taking one himself if necessary.

"As for kicking over the trash can and damaging school property, the school sets those punishments. The Student Council can't control them, and I can't tell you what they'll be."

"But we can issue a formal reprimand to this Class D student as a warning."

"As for the reward you're asking for, I'm afraid we can accept your report, but we don't have the authority to reward you. The school generally doesn't offer rewards like that, either."

Horikita Manabu paused, then carefully explained.

"A formal reprimand, I see. So kicking over a trash can isn't a serious offense for an individual—maybe there's no individual punishment at all. Instead, our class loses points. And once the damage is done, there's no fixing it. Even if I'd cleaned up all the trash myself, the points wouldn't have come back, right?"

"Looks like only major offenses, like cheating on exams or school violence, lead to punishments like suspension or expulsion. For other personal misconduct, the class score takes the hit."

Even though Horikita Manabu hadn't spelled it out, Kageya Shinjitsu understood.

If that weren't the case, Horikita Manabu could have simply told him what punishment the red-haired boy would receive. Since the complaint had been brought right to him, yet all he offered was a formal reprimand, they'd either already been punished in some other way or the school simply didn't handle it. Given the school's approach, Kageya Shinjitsu figured the first was more likely: the punishment had already been handed down.

And the punishment had been dealt to the entire class. The red-haired boy had dragged everyone else down with him. Once points were deducted, they were gone. There was no system where doing good deeds earned points back—or perhaps the deed hadn't been good enough.

Kageya Shinjitsu now understood some of the school's tricks.

As for the rest, it wasn't covered by the information lockdown.

The lockdown would probably be lifted after the next evaluation.

Maybe it was meant to give the new students a taste of what was to come. It couldn't stay in place forever; there'd be no point, since the truth would come out as soon as the next batch of points was issued.

The students would probably look pretty shaken when they saw how badly their class score had been cut.

Horikita Manabu didn't respond. He simply watched Kageya Shinjitsu, pretending not to have heard him.

That only confirmed Kageya Shinjitsu's suspicions further.

Chapter 13: Settling the Matter, and a Student Council Invitation

Even without a direct answer, it was enough to gradually uncover the truth.

Kageya Shinjitsu probed a little further.

"No reward is fine. What about those two senpai? Will their class be punished? Will they be punished personally?"

"And I want them to apologize. Insulting an entire class like that is going too far, isn't it? They don't even know us, yet they insulted us. I'd like some other compensation, too—points."

"There's a law against verbal abuse. If this school allows it, then starting tomorrow, I'll stand outside their classroom and insult them. That should be fine, right?"

He wasn't worried at all. If he'd been held accountable for the things he'd said to the second-year Class D students earlier, he wouldn't have minded.

As long as he could confirm what would happen, he didn't care if he got punished.

It didn't look like a serious punishment. Otherwise, the second-years wouldn't have acted so recklessly under the cameras.

The barrage of questions had left the pretty girl serving as secretary feeling a little overwhelmed. She watched her Student Council President anxiously.

"Of course, insulting people isn't allowed. Since you've raised the issue, I'll contact those students and discuss it with them. If they admit to what they did, they'll certainly apologize. As for compensation in points, that's less certain."

"They didn't explicitly target you, if you understand what I mean."

Horikita Manabu explained.

He wasn't going to seek points as compensation the way Kageya Shinjitsu wanted.

"I see."

"What a shame."

So a little verbal abuse didn't count for much. Even if someone reported it, the most they'd get was an apology.

Their class might lose points, but Kageya Shinjitsu didn't care about the second-years' class score.

He didn't care much about his own class score, either.

"I was worried I'd get punished."

Kageya Shinjitsu said it casually.

But to Horikita Manabu and the others, it sounded a little strange.

Worried about getting punished? They had no idea that Kageya Shinjitsu had already run his mouth at the second-year students that day.

But Horikita Manabu didn't ask any more questions. He was probably afraid that if he asked Kageya Shinjitsu one thing, the boy would come back with several more questions.

"If you have no objections, I'll proceed this way. Once we confirm what they did and they don't dispute it, I'll have them apologize to you. If the other students in Class 1-D want an apology, too, I'll have them come to your class and apologize."

Horikita Manabu spoke with an impartial air.

Of course, that was only if the second-year students didn't object.

If they did, there would be a public hearing and a confrontation.

"No objections. Make sure they apologize properly. And make sure they know I was the one who reported them."

Kageya Shinjitsu agreed without hesitation.

"..." Horikita Manabu looked at Kageya Shinjitsu, tempted to ask him,

Are you really not afraid they'll retaliate?

"As for your classmate's case..." Horikita Manabu began.

According to the school's policy, punishments didn't need to be announced unless there was a reason to do so.

"As for the red-haired guy, announce it if you want, senpai. If you can't be bothered, forget it. I can't be bothered with things that don't benefit me, either."

Kageya Shinjitsu spoke plainly.

He'd already lost some interest in the red-haired guy.

"I see. Well, to thank you for reporting it, I'll personally reward you with ten thousand points. As for making an announcement, we won't issue one."

Horikita Manabu took the opportunity to settle the matter quietly.

He had no interest in issuing an announcement that would reveal the school's evaluation process.

If they made an announcement, more students would pay attention to their behavior.

Giving his underclassman a little reward was no big deal.

"Thank you, Student Council President." He wasn't about to turn down free money.

Ten thousand points wasn't much, but Kageya Shinjitsu didn't hesitate.

He accepted the points.

"I don't have any more questions. Thank you for your guidance, senpai."

"If I get the chance, I'll come by again."

With his goal accomplished, Kageya Shinjitsu said goodbye, ready to leave.

It was getting late. He could go have dinner now.

Just before he stepped out, Horikita Manabu asked him a question.