Miss Karuizawa Kei Is Huddled in a Corner

"It won't affect your daily life to that extent."

Looking at the three people on the other side who were discussing things related to the Midterm Exam and didn't seem to notice Kitagawa Ryo and his companions much, Sakayanagi Arisu propped her head up and lazily said:

"Horikita remembers that before the Midterm Exam, our homeroom teacher, Mashima, said to encourage us that if we passed both the Midterm Exam and Final Exam, the school would take us on a free summer vacation to an island."

"I remember."

Horikita Suzune nodded.

"You probably expected this, right? This school definitely won't just take its students on some free island vacation without a care in the world."

Sakayanagi Arisu placed her cane across her thigh, her ivory-white calves slightly dangling in the middle of her white stockings, gently swaying back and forth.

"Special Exam."

"Yes, Special Exam."

"However, it's Special Exam that has nothing to do with me."

Waves, beaches, cruise ships.

From birth until now, Sakayanagi Arisu has been destined to be forever separated from these words. The only time she secretly took the train to the beach to try to walk on the sand, the price was watching helplessly as the gift her father gave her, the snow-white sun hat, was blown away by the wind and then swallowed by the vast waves.

"You want to borrow some points from me?"

In the Student Council's reception room, the Student Council vice president Miyabi Nagumo, stood with her arms crossed, sizing up Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka had suddenly contacted him after school, and he hadn't expected that the first thing Ayanokouji would say upon meeting him was about points.

"Ayanokoji, while I do value you highly, you haven't demonstrated any greater abilities."

"It seems you haven't dealt with either of the two names on the list I gave you, Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu."

"If Vice President Nagumo is confident that he can get the current Student Council President's younger sister and the current Chairman's daughter to drop out of school within a month, I might value you a little more."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's answer annoyed Miyabi Nagumo somewhat, but he controlled his emotions well and quickly put on a smile, saying:

"This is not the attitude of begging."

"For me, this was just an equal exchange; there was no one asking for favors."

"But I have the power, which already creates an unequal situation."

Miyabi Nagumo stood up and whispered in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's ear:

"Although I don't know your background, at least here, in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School..."

"Boring."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sighed. Although he had investigated the Student Council vice president before coming, there were still many rumors about her private life, even though she was just a Student Council vice president.

Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka doesn't care about other people's private lives or how many girls they've been rumored to be dating, only by coming to meet him in person can one realize that, in a sense, the other person's perspective is limited to this school.

Moreover, it seems like they haven't even figured out how to manage their own little corner of the Student Council.

After realizing the importance of the Student Council, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had originally planned to join Student Council. However, it seems that Kitagawa Ryo acted faster than him, arranging for Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu to join first.

If it weren't for this, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka really wouldn't have planned to cooperate with Miyabi Nagumo.

But for now, we'll just have to make do.

After another round of bargaining, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally managed to get some money.

"Summer vacation... desert island survival?"

[Sakayanagi Arisu's state of mind changed, and her life trajectory shifted.]

[Players are advised to complete Chapter 4 as soon as possible.]

[Chapter: Arisu Sakayanagi's Spring Wish]

A million-word reflection

I just realized today that this book has already reached one million words. This is the first time I've written a book that's over a million words, and it feels quite novel. If we follow the original outline, there will probably be almost another one million words left, so it probably won't be finished anytime soon, so don't worry.

The school just reopened today, and my roommate dragged me out for dinner, karaoke, and internet access, so I'm taking this opportunity to ask for a day off.

Thank you for reading all this time, and I hope to witness the ending of this story with you all.

Chapter 66: Ms. Karuizawa Kei is squatting in the corner

It seemed that because the Midterm Exam date was approaching day by day, the remaining days of May passed in the blink of an eye, and the Midterm Exam, which sounded like a judgment to most of the students in Class D, was finally here.

In the office, Mashima Tomonari, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, finished grading the last test paper with a red pen. He filled in the last student's score on the computer, clicked the mouse a few times, and the average score of Class 1-D appeared. He then divided it by two to get the passing score for Class 1-D.

To be fair, the passing score for each subject was a rather dismal number, and when divided by two, it was shockingly low. However, what made Mashima Tomonari sigh was that even with such low standards, Class 1-D inevitably produced those who failed, or rather, those who might drop out.

With a heavy heart, Mashima Tomonari closed his laptop, packed his briefcase, and left the office. Just as he was locking the door, he suddenly heard a male voice behind him.

Two hours had passed since the exam ended and school was dismissed. There shouldn't be many students left in the school building. Mashima Tomonari turned around in confusion and met Kitagawa Ryo's gaze.

"Mashima."

As the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, Mashima Tomonari had become quite familiar with each student in his class during his nearly two months of teaching experience. Moreover, Kitagawa Ryo's admission information was vague and mysterious, which had already left a very deep impression on him.

"Kitagawa-kun, is there something you need?"

"If you're asking about your grades, you did very well this time, so don't worry."

Although Kitagawa Ryo is shrouded in mystery, it is undeniable that he demonstrates an extremely high level of ability in both academics and sports, and is one of the few students in Class 1-D who achieved good results in this Midterm Exam.

No, it wasn't asking me.

Kitagawa Ryo took a step forward:

"I want to know who in the class failed?"

"... Is Kitagawa planning to falsify his grades?"

Mashima Tomonari smiled, recalling the news he had just received from the Chairman earlier that day:

"I forgot to tell you, your Drama Club's entry, 'Youth Taboo Game,' won the grand prize in the competition. Although it's not high enough to award Class Points, the Private Points rewards should be distributed by the Student Council soon."

"But reality isn't like in dramas. Even threatening my teacher wouldn't change my grades."

Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this:

"Threats are out of the question, but bribery is entirely feasible."

"Didn't our Mashima teacher say this at the beginning of the school year? In this school, points can be used to buy anything, so grades should be included too, right?"

Mashima Tomonari's pupils contracted slightly; he had forgotten about that.

However, this is also due to his previous habitual thinking. After all, he had always taught Class 1-A, and Class A had almost never encountered a situation where points had to be used to buy scores over the three years.

But he quickly calmed down, and after recalling the rules the school had given to their homeroom teachers, Mashima Tomonari said in a deep voice:

"You can't afford it."

"Six students in Class 1-D failed this time. If you want to get them all to pass, you don't have enough points—no, you don't have enough points for the entire Class D combined."

"But I never said I would buy points for everyone."

Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward and patted Mashima Tomonari on the shoulder, lowering his voice:

"That's why I need to know the list of those who failed and their specific scores."

"As well as..."

"Yay!"

After homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae announced that everyone had passed the Midterm Exam, Class 1-A erupted in cheers, a rare occurrence. Although everyone's grades were good, passing the exams was definitely a relief for the students. Among them, Totsuka Yahiko Kamuro Masumi the other side also breathed a sigh of relief.

Being assigned to Class 1-A doesn't mean everyone is academically gifted. Kamuro Masumi and Totsuka Yahiko's grades were quite average, especially considering that the overall average score of Class 1-A was ridiculously high. It took them more than half a month of hard work to barely pass the mark.

"It's all thanks to Katsuragi for organizing the study group; otherwise, I would definitely have fallen below the passing grade."

Totsuka Yahiko, who considered himself Katsuragi Kohei's number one follower, immediately began to take credit for him. In the posted report card, he was the last in Class 1-A, just four points above the passing mark. Perhaps it was because he knew he was not good at studying that Totsuka Yahiko clung tightly to Katsuragi Kohei's coattails in the hope of improving his own status in Class 1-A.

However, the study session organized by Katsuragi Kohei did help the students at the bottom of the class, so the rest of Class A accepted Totsuka Yahiko's praise, since they had just passed the Midterm Exam and were in a pretty good mood.

Chabashira Sae, standing on the podium, was feeling quite pleased with herself. Just as she was about to smile and encourage her classmates a few more times, she suddenly heard the classroom door being pushed open. She looked over in confusion.

Hello, hello.

The moment Ayanokoji Kiyotaka noticed Kitagawa Ryo, his body tensed up immediately. Almost completely abandoning his usual lazy demeanor, his golden pupils pierced through the classroom, looking straight at Kitagawa Ryo from the last row.

[They've arrived, just as expected.]

"No wonder they're in Class 1-A; their average score is almost double that of Class D. Even if you just copied the answers, you might not be able to score this high."

Facing the gazes of Chabashira Sae and the entire Class A students, Kitagawa Ryo showed no sign of nervousness. He walked to the podium as if no one else was there and pointed at the report cards posted on the blackboard:

"Last one... Totsuka Yahiko."

Being abruptly called out by his name, Totsuka Yahiko stood up angrily and shouted:

"Hey, which class are you in? Did you come to the wrong classroom?"

"Class 1-A, I didn't go to the wrong place."

"You're not a student in our Class A at all, are you?"

Faced with Totsuka Yahiko's questioning, Kitagawa Ryo also gave a mocking smile:

"Yes, I'm not a student in Class A, but you won't be either soon."

"Are you kidding me?"

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's declaration, Totsuka Yahiko suddenly felt a pang of fear for some reason, while Chabashira Sae, standing at one end of the podium, took two steps back in alarm, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she looked at Kitagawa Ryo as if she had just thought of something.

She happened to run into Kitagawa Ryo's deep, dark eyes as he looked at her.

"Class 1-A, Grade 1, homeroom teacher Chabashira."

"This morning, I learned something interesting from our class teacher."

"Midterm Exam scores can actually be bought with points, like adding a point to someone's score."

"In that case, the reverse should also be true, right?"

Kitagawa Ryo drew a line above Totsuka Yahiko's name with chalk.

"I want to buy four points of Totsuka Yahiko, a student in Class 1-A. Please name your price."

As Kitagawa Ryo spoke, the previously calm atmosphere in Class 1-A was suddenly ignited. Katsuragi Kohei stood up in shock, and the other Class A students were either dumbfounded or stunned. Totsuka Yahiko even shouted in terror:

"How could such an outrageous thing happen? It's impossible, it can't be, right?"

Faced with Totsuka Yahiko's pleading gaze, Chabashira Sae forced herself to calm down.

That's right. Even if this rule exists, Kitagawa Ryo is just a student in Class 1-D. Class 1-D's Class Points have been zero since the beginning of this month. At most, the other person only has the 100,000 Private Points the school distributed last month, which is definitely not much more.

"One point - one hundred thousand!"

She practically spat out the number through gritted teeth, and after regaining her composure Chabashira Sae stared at Kitagawa Ryo, who had come here alone.

Under the watchful eyes of Chabashira Sae and all the students in Class 1-A, Kitagawa Ryo began operating his mobile phone.

The next second, Chabashira Sae received a notification on her phone. "[You have received 400,000 Private Points]".

"... He bought it."

Just as Chabashira Sae murmured those words absentmindedly, and Totsuka Yahiko's vision went black, Katsuragi Kohei suddenly spoke in a deep voice:

"Our Class A can also pay 400,000 Private Points to buy back those four points."

Upon hearing Katsuragi Kohei's statement, Chabashira Sae suddenly snapped out of her daze. She had been so overwhelmed by Kitagawa Ryo's aura and led by his way of thinking that she had almost forgotten the fact that her class could also buy points.

Class 1-A had 1,000 Class Points, and this month they have 450 Class Points. After Koenji Rokusuke dropped out, the class has a total of 39 students, and it's more than enough for Private Points.

"I can offer 20,000 points."

Kushida Kikyo immediately stood up and said.

"I didn't spend much last month, so I can come up with 50,000."

Hirata Yosuke also began to rally support.

"I also..."