The Fighting Incident

June 1st.

(The timeline follows our side now—I forgot for a moment that Classroom of the Elite starts in April. My bad.)

Suzuki Tsubame strolled leisurely, slowly stepping into the classroom.

He could clearly sense a restless, anxious atmosphere permeating the room.

"This month's points... still not out yet?"

"No... ugh, I've refreshed dozens of times, and there's not a single hair."

"How is this possible?! Did the school's system glitch out or something?"

Nearly two months of running on empty, and now their pockets were cleaner than their faces.

On top of that, eating grass rations day in and day out had left them all gaunt and sallow.

Everyone was counting on that ten-thousand-point payout so they could finally get some meat.

"Suzuki, what do you think? Why haven't this month's points been distributed yet?"

Horikita's tone was calm.

After all, unlike the others, she had no worries about points for now.

"Have you been paying attention to Sudo these past few days?"

Suzuki Tsubame didn't answer her question directly.

Instead, he turned it back on her with a question of his own, letting her think it through.

"You mean... this delay in points is because of Sudo?"

Horikita carefully recalled the redhead's recent odd behavior.

It seemed to be related to the Basketball Club—he'd been pretty down lately.

But... when people asked him about it, he always brushed it off. That was probably where the problem lay.

"Yes and no..."

"Forget it, don't overthink it. We'll know once Chabashira-sensei comes in."

"Oh."

Horikita decisively dropped the thought. It wasn't like she needed those ten thousand points anyway—even if they never came, it didn't matter.

Suzuki Tsubame glanced over. Not far away, Sudo was slumped over his desk, looking utterly exhausted.

Sudo's situation was a bit complicated.

During this time, Sudo had been acting alongside Suzuki Tsubame and the others, and he'd gotten a little smarter.

Under the watch of Universal Surveillance, he hadn't actually laid a hand on anyone.

The reason he looked so listless was entirely because of the Class C bastards tormenting him.

They'd tried every trick in the book to provoke him.

But even though he hadn't thrown a punch, he'd still walked into a blind spot in the cameras with those Class C guys, and they'd gotten what they wanted in the end.

As for why Suzuki Tsubame hadn't chosen to help him—first, the guy's temper still needed tempering.

Second, of course, there was no reward involved. As everyone knew... Suzuki Tsubame only helped girls.

Tap... tap tap...

Chabashira Sae, dressed in her teacher's uniform, stepped into the Class D classroom with an icy expression.

The noisy, chaotic atmosphere in the room immediately died down by more than half.

The moment Chabashira entered, Ike stood up impatiently and blurted out:

"Little Sae, why haven't this month's points been handed out yet?"

His words instantly struck a chord with everyone.

"Yeah, yeah! Don't we have a hundred class points?"

"Right? They haven't been docked again, have they?"

"No way! I really can't eat grass anymore!"

Chabashira took her place behind the podium.

Her expression was as cold and biting as ever.

"I just received word from the school. This month's personal points for the first-years will be delayed."

As Chabashira finished speaking, the uneasy tension in the classroom briefly eased.

But when she delivered her next line, everyone's hearts would be yanked right back up into their throats.

"As for the reason for the delay... it's because Ishizaki Daichi of Class C has accused a certain student in Class D of using violence against them."

"Could there be a mistake?!"

"Who did it? Couldn't they wait until the points were distributed to start trouble?"

"They're not going to deduct our class points, are they?"

Clearly... everyone had plenty of complaints about the points not arriving yet.

Chabashira stood coldly at the podium, unmoved by the crowd's reaction.

Once the voices of mutual accusation and speculation quieted down a little.

She continued:

"The school needs time to investigate the circumstances of this fight and assign responsibility to both sides."

"In other words, until the investigation into the fight is concluded and disciplinary measures are decided, the personal points of all first-year students will be delayed."

"Oh, and if Class C wins this case, Class D's class points will likely drop back to zero."

Boom--!

"No way!"

"What the hell?! We finally got a hundred class points!"

"Who did it?! Come out and fight me one-on-one!!!"

If the delayed distribution of points was enough to ignite their anger.

Then... the prospect of points dropping back to zero was enough to strip away their reason.

Amid the chaos and uproar, Chabashira remained unmoved.

Instead, she turned her gaze toward a certain figure in the back row of the classroom.

"Sudo Ken, due to the severity of this assault incident, you will be suspended during the school's investigation."

"Come with me now. The Student Council is still waiting for your testimony."

Chabashira Sae's words struck like a thunderbolt.

Exploding instantly in Sudo's ears!

At the same time... they drew the attention and stares of the entire class.

Sudo jerked his head up, looking at Chabashira on the podium, his face full of confusion and disbelief.

"Chabashira-sensei, have you got it wrong!?"

Pale-faced, Sudo hurriedly defended himself:

"These past few days... the Class C guys have been harassing me, but I swear, I never laid a hand on them."

Sudo raised his right hand, three fingers pointing to the sky, intending to use an oath as his defense.

Little did he know... such childish antics were utterly useless.

Chabashira's expression remained icy, unchanged.

"Save those words for the Student Council."

"Now, come with me immediately."

Sudo froze in his seat.

Feeling the mocking, sneering gazes around him, he was like a fish on a chopping board, all his strength drained away!

"Wait!"

Just as Sudo was about to resign himself and follow Chabashira out.

A voice suddenly rang out firmly.