The cruel truth

April.

Spring flourished everywhere, the grass growing tall and the birds singing.

At the same time, Advanced Nurturing formally announced to its first-year students that their real school life was about to begin...

Class 1-D.

As time passed, the students grew closer.

Within their own little cliques, that was. The class as a whole remained a disorganized mess.

The classroom was filled with irritation and unease.

"Hey, have your points come in yet?"

"You haven't gotten yours either? I thought it was just me."

Once someone brought it up, the classroom immediately buzzed with conversation.

"What the hell is going on with this school? Is their system so old it broke down?"

"This sucks. I wanted to buy the new game console!"

As the minutes and seconds ticked by, the wait dragged on.

Most of the students grew anxious and restless.

Ring...

The bell rang. Dressed in office attire, Chabashira Sae strode into the classroom on her long legs, right on time.

Her expression was icy, her presence imposing.

[Chabashira Sae]

[Looks: 9.7]

[Intelligence: 9.3]

[Combat ability: 9.2]

Damn, Chabashira's stats are that high? Suzuki Tsubame was dumbfounded.

Looks like none of the teachers at this school are ordinary.

Chabashira Sae slammed her lesson plan onto the lectern.

Bang! The sound rang out through the room.

"Quiet. Class is starting."

The silence lasted all of two seconds.

Apparently accustomed to Chabashira Sae's cold demeanor, Kanji Ike teased her.

"Little Sae, are you on your period today?"

Pfft.

A wave of snickering immediately swept through the classroom.

Even Suzuki Tsubame failed to keep a straight face. This guy really knew how to dig his own grave.

Chabashira Sae folded her arms and gave a couple of cold laughs.

"In all my years of teaching, I've never encountered students quite like you."

The atmosphere instantly chilled...

Until now, whatever they did, the teachers at the front of the room had simply let them be.

Sensing that something was wrong, the ever-amiable Hirata raised his hand and spoke cautiously.

"Chabashira-sensei, it seems this month's points haven't been distributed."

Chabashira Sae did not answer his question.

She picked up a piece of chalk, turned around, and wrote on the blackboard behind her.

Class A: 1090

Class B: 720

Class C: 510

Class D: 0

Chabashira Sae turned back and dusted the chalk off her hands.

"All first-year points have already been distributed. As you can see, every one of you received zero private points this month."

"What? Didn't you promise us?"

"Chabashira-sensei, has the school made a mistake?"

Cries of dismay erupted throughout the classroom.

Hirata Yosuke struggled to accept it, too. This would undoubtedly pose a serious threat to their seemingly stable class.

After all, they had never made a habit of saving points.

Even the students who usually spent frugally were in an uproar.

Confusion, anger, despair... every kind of emotion played out in the classroom.

Rather than getting angry at their reactions, Chabashira Sae smiled.

"Heh. Do you still not understand after seeing the numbers on the board? One class point equals a hundred private points. Each student started with 100,000 private points. In other words, each class started with 1,000 class points."

"But... Chabashira-sensei, you never told us about these rules, did you? Surely you can't put all the blame on us?"

Hirata Yosuke tried to reason with her, and the students around him voiced their agreement.

Yamauchi even shouted out loud.

"Exactly! You left us to our own devices, Chabashira-sensei. You're responsible, too!"

But they had clearly underestimated just how shameless Chabashira could be.

"Heh."

Chabashira sneered.

"When you get a job, do you expect your seniors to explain every unwritten rule of the company to you? If this were a company, you would have been fired long ago."

She was making nothing but excuses.

After all, when Ryuen had used force to conquer the neighboring Class C, their teacher, Kazuma Sakagami, had been there.

Not only had he provided moral support, he had deliberately covered for Ryuen. When necessary, he had even helped block the classroom's surveillance cameras.

Hirata Yosuke abandoned his pride and kept trying.

"Even so, surely we shouldn't have lost so many class points? How are deductions calculated? It's hard to accept the school's decision."

Chabashira Sae seemed to have anticipated that question. She answered without hesitation.

"193 instances of arriving late or leaving early. 453 instances of chatting, using phones, or eating snacks. Truly unprecedented."

"Of every Class D in this school's history, yours is the only one to have reduced its starting points to zero in the first month. I can now say with certainty that you are the worst class I have ever taught."

"Oh, and this year's Class A has also made history. They are the strongest Class A we have ever had. They raised their class points to 1,090 in their very first month."

"Be grateful you're in the same year as them. Now you don't have to bother trying anymore. You can just loaf around at school and waste your lives away."

"How could this happen? Does that mean we'll never get any more points?"

"The other classes are going to look down on us."

The students whispered among themselves, making no effort to keep their voices down.

"Damn it!"

Sudo lashed out with his foot, kicking the desk in front of him askew with a loud bang!

Kanji Ike, who sat in front of him, nearly fell over.

Ignoring Ike's resentful stare, Sudo stood up and roared in fury.

"Doesn't that mean those bastards are going to look down on us?"

His outburst drew every eye in the classroom.

Although they disliked his sudden tantrums, no one dared provoke him while he was this angry.

Sakura Airi, sitting nearby, flinched in fright. She buried her face against her chest, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

Chabashira seemed pleased by the scene. In a rare display, the corners of her lips lifted slightly.

"If you're afraid of being looked down on, then work your way up!"

"Once your class points exceed Class C's, you'll become Class C. Overtake Class A, and you'll be Class A."

"I almost forgot..."

After a pause, Chabashira Sae posted the test rankings beside the blackboard and continued.

"In the exam at the end of this month, anyone scoring below half the class average in any subject will face expulsion."

"Judging by these scores, at least nine students in our class would be expelled. They are Kanji Ike, Yamauchi Haruki..."

"Sudo, you're one of them, too."

Those words shattered their school utopia completely.

"N-no way! My dad will kill me!"

Ike's face filled with despair.

Yamaguchi, sitting in front of him, looked much the same.

An even deeper despair settled over the classroom. Losing their points was something they could just about learn to live with.

But if they were expelled, their whole world really would come crashing down!

Bang!

Sudo slammed his fist onto his desk.

Disregarding Chabashira Sae at the front of the room, he turned and walked straight out of the place that had brought him so much misery.

After this blow, Class D was on the verge of falling apart.

Faced with a class like this, even Hirata Yosuke had no idea how to comfort them.

But...

The class needs me! Everyone is waiting for me! I can't stay silent! I have to say something!

"Everyone! I don't think things are that bad yet!"

He stood up anyway, turned to face the others, and called out.

"We still have a month. If we all study hard this month, we won't have to give up on anyone. No one is going to leave!"

Yamauchi Haruki showed no appreciation whatsoever. Hirata Yosuke's dazzling presence only grated on him.

"Easy for you to say! Your grades are great. Of course you're not scared!"

His words were so warped that they immediately angered the gyaru girls.

Karuizawa looked at the bitter Yamaguchi with undisguised contempt.

"What a lost cause. Yosuke, I think you should just leave them alone."

With their queen bee leading the attack, the other gyaru girls immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! If they hadn't kept disrupting class, we might not have ended up with zero points!"

"Right. Just leave them alone and let them fend for themselves."

Now that someone had led the charge, Yukimura Teruhiko, representing the good students, immediately joined the fray.

"Instead of wasting time on these idiots, we should just let them leave. The class might actually be better off without them."

His words earned support from the good students. They studied diligently in class and rarely disrupted lessons.

People like Yamaguchi, Ike, and Sudo were the ones they hated most.

"You! You all..."

Under attack from nearly half the class, Yamaguchi was too ashamed to speak.

The other struggling students also lowered their heads in shame.

They could not face everyone's stares.

"Enough!"

In a rare outburst, Hirata fixed his eyes on everyone who had just spoken.

"I won't give up on a single person in this class!"

Everyone instinctively avoided his gaze.

He was a middle school boxing champion, after all. Ordinary, well-behaved students like them could not withstand that forceful presence.

Once the classroom fell silent, Hirata walked straight out, no longer caring whether Chabashira was there.

The less observant simply assumed Hirata Yosuke was acting strangely because the school had put him under too much pressure.

But those paying attention noticed something else. Although Hirata's grades were not the best in class, he still ranked in the top five. Why had he become so furious?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, needless to say, must have noticed long ago.

Watching Hirata's retreating back, Koenji Rokusuke felt that Hirata-boy had just become rather interesting.

Aside from Suzuki Tsubame, someone else in Class D had also picked up on the clues.

Looks like I should keep a little distance from Kei. There's something strange about their relationship...

So thought Matsushita Chiaki. Perceptive and sensitive, she had a keen understanding of people.

Hirata and Karuizawa's relationship had struck her as odd even before this.

They seemed to get along very well, often taking everyone shopping or out for meals together.

Yet their eyes rarely met, as though they were strangers.

With the farce over, Chabashira Sae left the classroom in silence.

Watching her quietly leave, Horikita suddenly felt a sinking unease. Chabashira-sensei! Haven't you forgotten something again?