Who Leaves, Who Stays?

"Perhaps feeling uneasy about the word 'sanctions'?" Hirata Yosuke asked in response.

"It means exactly what it says. But if I had to give an example—I hate ugly things."

Koenji Rokusuke raised an eyebrow, and using the mirror to reflect Katsuragi Kohei's bald head, he said:

"Bald boy, do you need me to buy you a wig? Sometimes it's too bright and gets in my eyes."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took a deep breath.

It seems that the intellectual talents he actively selected are truly exceptional.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Who Leaves, Who Stays?

The noisy atmosphere in Class D continued until the school bell rang over the loudspeaker. After all, they were just freshmen and still had a natural awe of the school bell. Ichinose Honami and the others who were leading the conversation also took the opportunity to end their chatter and let the whole class sit back down in their seats properly.

Filled with excitement and anticipation for the new environment, most of the students in Class D glanced towards the door, wanting to see who their homeroom teacher was.

To the boys' great disappointment, a minute later, a rather burly middle-aged man with a somewhat fierce face pushed open the door and entered the classroom of Class 1-D. With the build of a physical education teacher, he looked somewhat gloomy, and his silent demeanor as he walked up to the podium silenced the boys who were still whispering.

"Fellow freshmen of Class D, I am your homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomonari, and the subject I will be teaching is English."

He could hear whispers from below, such as "She looks more like a wrestler" and "She's not the beautiful homeroom teacher in black stockings." Mashima Tomonari shook his head helplessly. Having taught several classes of Class A students, he was suddenly told this year that he would be the homeroom teacher for Class 1-D. Although the Chairman had privately promised him that his usual treatment would not change, this contrast still made his face look a little ugly.

With a touch of melancholy, as if having seen the ocean, one finds it hard to be satisfied with a mere stream, Mashima Tomonari, after all, was a veteran teacher with professional ethics. At this moment, he roused his spirits and began to give a detailed introduction of himself and Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

"This school has no precedent for changing homeroom teachers, so barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be your homeroom teacher for the next three years. I hope to learn and grow together with you all during these three years. Please continue to guide me in the days to come."

"The entrance ceremony will be held in the Gymnasium an hour later. Before that, I will send you information about the school's special rules. I believe you have already checked some of the information on the official website before enrollment, but it would be good to double-check the information. If you accidentally violate the school rules, the most serious consequence could be expulsion."

The documents were handed out from the front row to the back, along with cell phones and student IDs.

Kitagawa Ryo casually flipped through the pages; it was basically a partial explanation of the [fully enclosed] management system. Some students in Class D might have previously thought that this place was no different from a regular boarding school, so when they saw the rule [[except in special circumstances, all external contact is prohibited, and leaving the campus is also prohibited]], they couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

However, Mashima Tomonari's remarks quickly drew their attention again.

"The student IDs you just received are one of the most important things to have while living in this school. You need this ID to use all the facilities on campus. You can think of it like a credit card. You need to use the points on your card to buy goods in stores and enjoy services at entertainment facilities. There is nothing on campus that cannot be bought with points. You can buy anything you own within the school grounds."

Mashima Tomonari paused here, then continued:

"As for the points, you can think of them as a monthly allowance provided by the school. They will be automatically deposited into your student ID on the first of each month. You can check now via your mobile phone. This month's 100,000 points should have all been distributed. By the way, within the school, one point is equivalent to one Japanese yen."

Apart from Kitagawa Ryo, Horikita Suzune, and Ichinose Sakayanagi, the atmosphere in Class D suddenly became incredibly lively.

Oh, and there's also Sakura Airi, that little rich girl. Considering that her first-edition hand-drawn limited-edition support outfit has already been resold for 55,000 yen on second-hand platforms, even 100,000 yen a month wouldn't be enough to buy two complete outfits.

However, for first-year high school students, a monthly allowance of 100,000 yen is a considerable sum. Although many of these students come from relatively well-off families, they may not actually have that much disposable income.

The closed management meant there was no supervision from parents and elders. The school also built various recreational facilities. This combination of measures left the students in Class D feeling dizzy and eager to go to the shopping mall and spend money like crazy.

"However, I still hope that everyone can develop a healthy view of money and consumption. Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is only three years in your long lives. If you develop a habit of spending money extravagantly, it may harm your future prospects."

Seeing the fervor of the students in Class 1-D, Mashima Tomonari and offered a word of advice. Although he hadn't had high expectations for the overall quality of Class 1-D before coming, a teacher's responsibility is, after all, to guide students. Even if most of the students in this class might not have the aptitude to succeed, basic professional ethics compelled Mashima Tomonari to earnestly offer this advice.

However, due to school rules, he could not reveal any further information.

"Teacher, may I ask you a few questions?"

Mashima Tomonari turned his gaze to the girl in the front row who had raised her hand, and her enrollment information quickly flashed through his mind.

[Ichinose Honami:

Academic ability: B+ Intelligence: A Judgment: B+ Physical ability: C+ Coordination: A

The interviewer's comments were erased. Judging from the rating data, this girl named Ichinose Honami definitely deserved to be in Class A. However, even with Mashima Tomonari's authority, he was completely unable to find out any reason why she was put in Class D. It was as if someone deliberately targeted her and threw her into this garbage dump.

Judging from her behavior, she didn't seem to be a bad person; rather, she seemed to have offended someone to be assigned here. Thinking of this, Mashima Tomonari couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the girl, and his tone softened.

"Is there a problem, Ichinose?"

"Actually, I'm more curious whether the school is giving too much living allowance. After all, our family of three doesn't even spend 100,000 points a month. This school already waives tuition. If they choose to give out 100,000 points every month, just like what Mr. Mashima said earlier, it will only encourage students to develop extravagant spending habits and unhealthy consumption views."

"Given that Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is one of the most famous high schools in Tokyo, its educational philosophy is truly bizarre."

"100,000 points a month, that's 1.2 million a year. The average annual income of a normal white-collar worker in Tokyo is only 4 million yen, and they won't spend all of that 4 million. 1.2 million feels so extravagant to me personally that it seems unbelievable."

Ichinose Honami's words were quite sincere, and they did indeed make many people start to think.

The students assigned to Class 1-D were not from wealthy families. Hearing Ichinose Honami's words, they thought of their parents' average monthly income and expenses. Considering that the school didn't even charge for accommodation or utilities, a strange feeling gradually crept into their hearts.

There's no need to pay for accommodation and utilities, and tuition is free. It's like the 100,000 points per month are just for eating, drinking, and having fun. For a prestigious university with a near 100% college entrance rate and employment rate, this is completely illogical.

"Maybe they want to train our financial management skills. When I was nine, I used my father's credit card to invest in stocks and made a fortune."

Yamauchi Haruki spoke up casually.

Fortunately, most people didn't respond to him; some were frowning as they reread the details in the documents, while others were rubbing their chins in thought.

Mashima Tomonari's slightly excited mood was suddenly dampened by this. Well, as expected, this is the normal thinking of a Class D student.

"So, I'd like to ask the teacher, what exactly is the purpose of the school distributing 100,000 points to students every month?"

Seeing Ichinose Honami's determined attitude, Mashima Tomonari nodded and said:

"The school has its reasons for doing this, and the same 100,000 points may not be deposited every month as today."

The rather vague reply clearly dissatisfied Ichinose Honami, Sakayanagi Arisu, sitting on the other side of the classroom, pressed for an answer:

"Not necessarily, that concept is too vague."

"Shouldn't Mr. Mashima give us a rough range, whether it's over 100,000 or under 100,000?"

I cannot answer that question.

"Is it because the range of elastic variation is unknown?"

Mashima Tomonari looked at the persistent girl with a bit of a headache, but after realizing that her surname was the same as the school's Chairman's, he calmed down again:

I cannot answer that question at the moment.

The school's first Special Exam was essentially a test of discipline in each class during the first month of school, hence the strictest restrictions were placed on this aspect.

"Okay, then I'll try another way."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded:

"Ms. Mashima just mentioned that the points received next month will be different. I'd like to ask, will the distribution of these points be the same for the whole class, or will it be different for each individual?"

"Class D is a collective."

Mashima Tomonari replied in this way.

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed satisfied with the answer and sat back down in her seat. However, most of the students in the class seemed completely unable to keep up with the pace of their conversation. Ike scratched the back of his head and asked:

"Uh, so will the same 100,000 points be distributed next month? If not, then I'll have to be careful with them."

"Didn't Mr. Mashima just say that the points will change next month?"

Another boy nearby answered.

"I know, but they won't tell us why it's changing, or whether it will increase or decrease. Does the school randomly select one person per month?"

Getting carried away with the conversation, Chi didn't even notice the class teacher's presence and turned to ask another nerdy guy sitting behind him:

"Hey, Sotomura, what are you thinking?"

The chubby guy, a fan of otaku culture, adjusted his glasses and said in a pretentious tone:

"Hmph, actually I already checked it out when I enrolled. The four classes for each grade are D, C, B, and A. Although it seems like a random class assignment, in my opinion, it's completely a tribute to <Baka and Test! Summon the Beasts!>!"

"Using academic performance as battle points to challenge and attack the classes above me—that's why I was assigned to Class D!"

"Um, actually I don't understand what you're saying."

Chi pouted and turned to chat with the other boys next to him, ignoring Sotomura who was immersed in his own chuunibyou fantasies. This could be considered a microcosm of the lax discipline in Class D.

And so, centered around the pond, more and more students began to ignore the class teacher on the podium. After all, the teacher didn't seem to care, so their voices unconsciously grew louder, and all sorts of strange ideas emerged.

"For students, it's definitely about academic performance."

A boy named Yukimura Teruhiko offered his opinion:

"When I was in middle school, our class had weekly quizzes, and the school had a major exam every month. Maybe this school is the same, with an exam at the end of each month, and then we distribute living expenses based on the results."

He seemed quite confident in his ideas, and nodded to add:

"It's similar to a scholarship."

Many people seemed to think that Yukimura's words made some sense, since exam results are indeed unpredictable variables, which also matched the homeroom teacher's statement earlier.

However, this idea made many students with poor academic performance turn pale.

"The homeroom teacher just said that Class D is a collective, so the final score should be based on the class average, right?"

"Then I'm relieved."

"I hope the top students in our class will strive to do better."

"Having 50,000 points is enough to live quite comfortably."

"What? You made me worry for nothing. I'm quite good at cramming before exams."

Seeing that the topic of discussion among the students in Class D was starting to veer off course again, Mashima Tomonari sighed helplessly.

In fact, since the establishment of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, no Class D has ever been able to successfully advance to Class A. Sometimes, a few exceptionally talented individuals may emerge and lead the class forward, but in the end, they all fall by the wayside.

One or two geniuses are simply not enough to improve the current situation of Class D.

"Isn't Suzune planning to show her face too?"

Kitagawa Ryo watched as Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu, then turned his head and asked.

There's no need for that.

Horikita Suzune answered while flipping through the book. She had naturally obtained some more detailed information from Horikita Manabu, but she did not intend to reveal it all at once.

"You really know how to choose."

She said, her purplish-red pupils half-closed:

"But what I'm more curious about is where the school found this group of students from."

"Does Ryo still remember Kushida Kikyo?"

Why bring her up?

"I'm thinking that if this person were here, it would probably only take a month to completely manipulate the entire class."

"After all, this is a group of students that can't be described as a rabble."

"Ichinose and the others probably think the same way."

Horikita Suzune closed the book in her hand, turned her gaze to Sakayanagi Arisu closed, and Ichinose Honami her desk, and said:

"Perhaps the two of them are already plotting how to use these people to build momentum for themselves."

"It feels like Suzune's personality has reverted to what it was before."

Kitagawa Ryo rolled his eyes. He suddenly started to miss Horikita Suzune, who had been broken down by goldfish a year and a half ago.

"Does Ryo think I should become like Ichinose, always showing concern for others?"

Horikita Suzune blinked.

That's your own business.

"... I heard my judgment is rated A, so Ryo should trust my judgment."

Is it possible that my judgment is rated A+?

"So, wasn't A+ Liang's judgment just me observing from the sidelines?"

Horikita Suzune smiled; she had grown a lot since a year ago, in every way.

"Yes."

Kitagawa Ryo stretched and, propping his head up with his hand, said:

Sometimes you need to be an observer to see things clearly.

"Who should leave?"

"Who should stay?"

He smiled at the Yamauchi Haruki, but his eyes were filled with indifference.

"Although Suzune's words are harsh, I like them very much."