Classroom of the Elite, I Also Want to Be a Good Person

Many of these secrets are things students would rather drop out than have everyone know.

Using them as leverage is practically a guaranteed success.

Karuizawa: [If I borrow money, the others will hate me, especially the boys.]

If you don't borrow money from the fake little angel Kushida, the boys in Class D will hate you anyway.

Aoyama, lying on his bed, muttered to himself as he received Karuizawa's reply shortly after.

Because of her aggressive personality and her need to maintain her position as the representative for the girls, Karuizawa was ranked number one on the list of girls most disliked by the boys in Class D.

Shiina had told him this during a chat two days ago, hoping he would tell his childhood friend to be more careful so she wouldn't get bullied.

[This is an order, not a negotiation. Don't disappoint me.]

After sending the text to Karuizawa again, Aoyama rested his hands behind his head.

Although the number of rule violations by Class D students had dropped sharply in mid-April, because of the heavy deductions early on, the personal points Class D students would receive when the class points updated on May 1st would likely not exceed 40,000 at best.

And every month, according to their contract, Kushida was required to give him 50,000 personal points.

It is only right and proper to pay back one's debts.

Chapter 26 Sakayanagi Has Princess Syndrome

"Teacher, did the school make a mistake? Why were so few points deposited today? We shouldn't have had that many deducted, right?"

On May 1st, the moment Chabashira Sae stepped onto the podium in the Class D classroom, Ike Kanji shouted loudly from below.

The first thing Class D students did upon waking up was check their personal point balances, and after calculating, they concluded that their class points were down to a mere 250.

One thousand class points had shrunk by 75 percent.

"I've been following the rules properly ever since I found out that violations cost class points," Yamauchi Haruki muttered in a voice loud enough for the whole class to hear.

When it came to shifting blame, he was serious.

Unlike Yamauchi, Sudo, who was sitting at the back of the classroom by the door, was already resting his chin on his left hand and looking out the door, as if there were some good show to watch in the hallway.

Sudo and Yamauchi were recognized by the students of Class 1-D as the biggest contributors to point deductions, but of the two, Yamauchi clearly lacked that self-awareness.

"Ha?! Didn't you show up late just last week?"

"My phone happened to break that day, so it's not my fault the alarm didn't go off. I even ran to school that day, but I was just a little bit late."

Shinohara Satsuki, who had a rather fiery temper, immediately reacted to Yamauchi's words, though Yamauchi was quite talented when it came to making excuses for himself.

Back and forth, the classroom began to grow noisy. After Ike Kanji spoke up for his best friend, Karuizawa and Sato Maya, as friends of Shinohara, also joined the fray.

The boys and girls began to confront and blame each other.

"Everyone, sit back in your seats and be quiet, you idiots." Suppressing the anger brought on by disappointment, Chabashira's face was as cold as thousand-year-old ice.

Generally speaking, in the first month of school, even without knowing anything, the worst class—Class D—would still have two or three hundred class points left.

Chabashira, who harbored a wish for Class D to make a comeback and rise to Class A, had been overjoyed when she learned that Aoyama was selling relevant information to Class D.

With the fact that violations cost class points laid out in the open, she believed that by May 1st, Class D would not be lagging too far behind the other three classes; it could be called a wonderful start like no other.

However, the idea was beautiful, but the reality was harsh.

Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, and Sudo Ken—these three had refreshed Chabashira's lower limit of understanding regarding Class D students.

They were sixteen-year-old students, yet how could they be stupid to such a degree?

Slowly pulling a white sheet of paper from the poster tube she had brought into the classroom, Chabashira unfolded it and fixed it to the blackboard with magnets.

[Class A: 940]

[Class B: 890]

[Class C: 780]

[Class D: 250]

Because the number for Class D on the white paper was 250, the students who had calculated their deposited points quickly understood that these were the class points for each class after the deductions.

Due to the massive disparity, the classroom soon became noisy again.

"The class points of the other classes are far ahead of ours." Wearing her hair in short twin tails, Wang Meiyu spoke to her friend Kushida Kikyo.

"Ah... they are a bit high, aren't they? But I believe that as long as we work hard starting now, we can catch up."

A bit distracted, Kushida replied to Wang Meiyu's comment a beat late.

Last week, that is, at the end of April.

Karuizawa had played the victim in front of her classmates and then semi-coerced her into lending her 5,000 personal points.

And after borrowing her few remaining personal points, for some reason, the number of students dragging her to hang out at the Keyaki Mall had also increased.

It would be fine to refuse once or twice, but it was becoming difficult to justify refusing multiple times in a row.

As of yesterday, Kushida's personal points had dropped below 10,000.

Adding the 25,000 she had just received today, there was still a gap of over 10,000 before she could fulfill her contract and pay Aoyama.

Meanwhile, in the Class 1-A classroom.

After Mashima displayed the class points for each class, Aoyama fell into a state of self-doubt.

Hadn't he traded information on the rules with Class D back in the second week of school? How could Class D's class points be a pathetic two hundred and fifty?

How was he supposed to make friends with someone who had no money?

"Mashima-sensei, could you elaborate on the special exams?"

"For instance, how many times do they occur each semester, is the fluctuation in class points generally large, and could you share the content of past special exams?"

After explaining a heap of rules that were originally meant to be kept hidden, Mashima allowed the students to raise their hands if they had any questions.

The first to raise a hand was Katsuragi, who was deeply trusted by his classmates.

"The number of special exams per semester is not fixed, nor is the upper or lower limit for the fluctuation of class points."

"As for your third question, I believe Aoyama-kun, who serves as the vice president of the Student Council, can provide you with a more satisfying answer than I can."

"Are there any other questions?"

Answering Katsuragi calmly, Mashima's gaze did not linger on Aoyama for long.

"I'm a bit curious as to why Class D's class points are so low. According to the teacher, the overall level of students in Class C and Class D should be roughly the same."

Her voice dripping with elegance, Sakayanagi Arisu raised her small hand cutely into the air.

Among classes A, B, and C, even if there were gaps in class points, the numbers were far smaller than the gap between Class C and Class D.

Among the four classes that were supposed to be competing like fierce dogs, it seemed a husky had been mixed in.

It didn't even make one want to treat them as an opponent.

"As a teacher, I cannot lie or mislead students, and as for Sakayanagi-san's question, I believe Aoyama-kun can provide the answer."

"It sounds as if Aoyama-kun knows everything."

Sakayanagi chuckled, her laughter like a flowing spring, serene and elegant.

"I only know what I ought to know. For example—Sakayanagi Arisu has a princess complex."

Don't go getting so ahead of yourself; I actually quite dislike you, you brat.

Hearing Sakayanagi Arisu's pointed accusation, Aoyama fired back directly, not indulging the chairman's daughter in the slightest.

As a leader, one can be incompetent, but one cannot be stupid.

In the original course of the story, Katsuragi Kōhei and Sakayanagi Arisu had both served as leaders of Class A, with Katsuragi first and Sakayanagi later.

As for the reason for Katsuragi's downfall, it was because Sakayanagi Arisu, wanting nothing for herself, simply directed her followers to act as traitors during a special exam.

With internal moles—several of them—Katsuragi could only suffer defeat after defeat in the special exams, eventually being forced to resign and losing his position as leader.

As for Sakayanagi, who took over as the leader of Class A, her performance could only be described as indescribable.

But if she were merely incompetent, Aoyama wouldn't have much of an opinion on her.

His biggest grievance against Sakayanagi was that during a certain must-win special exam, she conceded, causing the class to lose points, and then voluntarily dropped out of school, causing the class to lose another three hundred points.

And the reason she did this was simply because her "love-struck" brain had flared up.

An incompetent general exhausts the entire army; this saying was a true reflection of Sakayanagi.

She abandoned friends, classmates, and followers, only to end up with nothing.

A clown among clowns.

Chapter 27: You Don't Get to Decide

"Aoyama-kun seems to have a deep prejudice against me, even though we haven't spoken once throughout the entire month of April."

In the classroom, Sakayanagi's calm voice rang out, breaking the heavy atmosphere caused by Aoyama's explosive statement.

On that smiling face, not a hint of annoyance could be seen.

"I hate idiots, that's all." With the same pointed tone, Aoyama stood up from his seat so that the entire class could see him.

Sakayanagi Arisu's figure was no longer the focus of his gaze.

"The leader of Class B is confirmed to be Ichinose Honami, Class C is Ryuen Kakeru, and as for Class D, Hirata Yosuke can be considered the leader."

"A snake cannot move without a head, and a bird cannot fly without wings; such an obvious truth surely needs no further explanation from me."

Scanning the students who had various expressions and thought he was about to nominate himself, Aoyama chuckled and continued.

"I propose that Katsuragi serve as the leader of Class A. Who supports this, and who opposes it?"

Only a stable regime could produce stable results. On the question of who should lead Class A, Aoyama was one hundred percent in favor of Katsuragi.

As for Sakayanagi, who would lead Class A into a nosedive toward Class C after seizing power, she was nothing but trash.

"I object. I think Sakayanagi-san is more suitable for the leadership position than Katsuragi-kun." A boy with tan-colored short hair and sharp eyes stood up from his seat.

Machida Koji. His physical ability was excellent, his academic ability was slightly lacking, and his judgment was decent.

At just a glance, the boy's profile appeared in Aoyama's mind.

"Anyone else?"

Moving his gaze away from Machida, Aoyama looked calm and composed, like a lion patrolling its territory.

"I also think Classmate Sakayanagi is better."

"Me too."

"..."

Perhaps seeing that Aoyama did not immediately lash out at Machida, one student after another expressed that they would prefer Sakayanagi Arisu to become the leader of Class A.

A serious, rule-abiding bald powerhouse versus a cute girl exuding the aura of a young lady.

Naturally, they supported the cute Sakayanagi.

"Machida, Kito, Hashimoto..."

After about ten seconds passed, no one else stood up to express support for Sakayanagi.

Thus, Aoyama pointed out the names of the students who had just expressed opposition to his proposal one by one.

"I don't care what you think, I only care what I think." Using an unquestionable tone, Aoyama recreated a classic domineering CEO quote.

"You might not be afraid of her princess syndrome, but I am. If Sakayanagi becomes the leader of Class A, I might just stop showing up to class from time to time because I'm disgusted."

Not showing up to class meant absences, and absences meant deductions in class points; if too many were deducted, they would lose their position in Class A.

Openly and brazenly, Aoyama placed shackles on the students who agreed with Sakayanagi becoming the leader.

If they wanted Sakayanagi to take the position, they would first have to defuse him, this ticking time bomb.

"Are you threatening me? I don't believe you don't want to graduate from Class A." Aoyama's unreasonable approach made Machida, the first one to speak up, furious.

"Don't be like that, Aoyama. If the number of people who agree with Sakayanagi is greater than those who agree with me, then the position of leader should belong to Sakayanagi."

As the biggest beneficiary of Aoyama's self-destruction, Katsuragi also expressed his opposition to his methods.

However, Aoyama was not surprised by this; after all, Katsuragi had a relatively upright personality, and it would be strange if he approved of threatening classmates.

"Katsuragi, it's not up to you to decide whether you become the leader or not; I am the one making this decision." Continuing his domineering behavior, Aoyama looked at the increasingly angry Machida.

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not just threatening you; I'm threatening everyone here."