The Loser

Most of the students in Class D couldn't understand what the words on the sheet of paper posted on the blackboard meant.

"Is this... the scores for each class?"

Someone offered a hesitant explanation in a quiet voice.

"This month, you were free to live as you pleased on campus, and the school did not intervene. But you're responsible for the consequences of being late, chatting during class, and so on. That's all. The same goes for spending points—what you do with what you've earned is up to you. The school imposes no restrictions."

"This is too much! I can't survive like this!"

Ike, who had been silently listening to the conversation, finally understood the situation.

Yamauchi Haruki let out a pained wail, probably because his personal points had hit zero.

"Idiots, look carefully. Points have been credited to every class except Class D."

"This past month, every class was evaluated according to the same rules. And yet, there's such a huge gap in points. That's the reality."

"Why... is there such a huge difference in the classes' points?"

Hirata couldn't understand it.

In truth, Chabashira Sae couldn't understand it either. How had this year's Class D managed to squander all their points in a single month?

Class A's score was the highest in history, while Class B had overtaken A right in the first month. Even Class C had scored higher than previous years' Class B.

Three of the strongest classes ever, and one of the weakest?

How was she supposed to deal with this? Chabashira Sae had given up.

"Do you understand why you were placed in Class D?"

The students looked at one another. As far as they knew, the classes had been assigned at random.

"This school assigns students to classes according to merit. The best students go to Class A, and the useless ones go to Class D."

Three years, then another three years. This year's Class D had crushed Chabashira Sae's hopes from the very beginning.

"To put it simply, Class D is the last refuge for all the deadbeats. In short, you're all defective products of the worst kind. It's only fitting that defective products end up here."

Horikita Suzune hadn't been crushed by the news that they'd receive zero points each month—her daily expenses had always been limited.

But the label "defective product" was the one thing that stuck in her mind, a thorn she couldn't pull out.

Chabashira Sae's cold laugh rang especially sharply through the classroom. "You spent all your points in just one month. You're the first Class D in history to manage that. Honestly, I almost admire how outrageously irresponsible you've been. Impressive. Truly impressive."

Every student in the class heard the sarcasm in their homeroom teacher's words, but no one spoke up to argue.

After all, it was a fact no one could deny.

Hoshino Kanade had to admit he'd acted outrageously this month. If we were going to get zero points anyway, I might as well spend them all.

"So, as long as our class has zero points, we'll keep earning nothing?"

"That's right. Your points will remain at zero until graduation. But don't worry. Your dorm rooms are free, and there's free food too. You won't starve to death."

Although free room and board guaranteed the students' basic survival, most of them hardly found it comforting.

In just one month, they'd grown used to a life of extravagant spending. Having to suddenly tighten their belts was a difficult adjustment.

The spending trap Chabashira Sae had set at the start of the school year had led to this predicament just as she'd expected. Only this year's Class D had managed to sink to such a new low that even she couldn't help marveling at the absurdity of it.

"...So from now on, everyone else is going to look down on us?"

Sudo kicked the leg of a desk with a bang. The sharp sound quieted the noisy classroom for a moment.

With class rank serving as a measure of ability, the Class D label became a mark of shame—a public declaration that the class was packed with the grade's "defective products," a nest of idiots not even worth hiding.

Apparently, to Sudo, this suffocating sense of inferiority cut deeper than having to eat a lousy free meal.

"What, Sudo? You care about your reputation too? Then work hard to move the class up."

"Huh?"

"Class Points determine not only the amount of personal points distributed each month, but also the class rankings."

The speaker paused, then lightly tapped the current ranking chart. "Take Class A, for example—it was Class B just last month."

"Chabashira-sensei—there's a flaw in the class assignment system itself!"

Horikita Suzune suddenly stood up, her voice rising sharply as her fingertips dug into her palm. "Class B crushed and overtook the original Class A in the first month's assessment. So when we started school, what gave them the right to enter under the Class A name?"

Horikita Suzune had never believed she belonged in Class D. The fact that the original Class B had overtaken the original Class A was proof enough.

Chabashira Sae unconsciously rubbed the edge of her lesson plan with her fingertips. That question really was a difficult one.

Given the accuracy of the class assignments in previous years, there shouldn't have been any mistakes.

The only reasonable explanation came to mind: Class B had an early-blooming strategist who had kept the group tightly in line with an iron fist.

But even that couldn't prove Horikita Suzune didn't belong in this class.

"Perhaps this year's Class B assessment was debatable—but Class D's score of zero is ironclad evidence. There isn't even the slightest room to argue."

"But..."

Horikita Suzune tried to say more, but Chabashira-sensei cut her off.

"That's enough. If you want to challenge the school's decision, prove yourself by making it to Class A."

Horikita looked dissatisfied, but she could only slump back into her seat. Still, judging by her posture, she seemed just as confident as ever.

"There's one more unfortunate piece of news I have to share with you."

Chabashira-sensei pinned another sheet to the blackboard. It showed the results of the last quiz.

"The quiz results are in—and I'm truly delighted to see so many 'honor students' in this class." She suddenly leaned forward, bracing herself against the lectern as she scanned the bewildered faces below. "Congratulations. If that had been a formal exam..." She let the pause stretch, like a blade dangling overhead. "Two weeks into the school year, seven of you would already be packing your bags."

Class D fell into an uproar once more.

Compared to the bottom-ranked Class D, the students who had just been demoted to Class B—the former Class A—were just as dispirited.

They'd lost the Class A title in only a month, and Class B had snatched it away from them. It was hard to accept.

For students who thought of themselves as the elite, it was a blow to their pride.

Just then, a Class C student passed by the corridor on his way to the bathroom. He deliberately leaned against the window frame to peer inside, then drawled loudly, "Well, well—so this is the old Class A that fell from grace? You sure went downhill fast."

Before he'd even finished speaking, angry shouts erupted among the Class B students. Totsuka Yahiko, one of Katsuragi Kohei's followers, was especially furious. His veins bulged as he kicked aside his chair and leaned forward to give chase, like a fighting dog whose tail had been stepped on.

But the other student had struck and fled, leaving no target to pursue.

Katsuragi Kohei stopped Totsuka too. "Quiet!" His ironclad command crashed through the air, crushing the ripples of unrest in Class B before they could spread.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't seem to care about becoming Class B. She lightly tapped the handle of her cane, her gaze passing over Totsuka Yahiko's flushed face before finally settling on Katsuragi Kohei's tense expression.

"If you continue letting this impulsive follower of yours bark unchecked, Katsuragi..."

She suddenly chuckled, a glint of icy mockery beneath her snowy-white lashes. "I'm afraid we won't even be able to hold on to our place in Class B~"

Totsuka Yahiko dared to bark at other people, but in front of Sakayanagi Arisu, he didn't even dare swallow too loudly. In the end, he simply lowered his head, hiding his resentment.

"I don't need you to point that out."

Katsuragi Kohei's fist clenched suddenly beside the seam of his uniform trousers, but his voice was as heavy as a steel nail driven into granite.

"Good."