July 1

A month had passed since Uesugi Hara went to see Mashima Tomoya.

Before he knew it, the morning of July 1 had arrived.

It was time for the monthly Class Points distribution again.

Uesugi Hara hadn't told the class about the rules he'd learned from the teacher. The school hadn't announced them, so it must have had its reasons. There was no need for him to say anything.

Besides, it would only get him into trouble, and might also cause unnecessary panic among the others.

So he'd kept an especially low profile lately.

Each day was like clocking in: teasing Kamuro, trading a few barbs with Morishita, chatting with Sakayanagi whenever she came by, then checking out Airi's legs in the evening. And just like that, the day would drift by.

Before long, Mashima Tomoya strode into the classroom, unable to hide his grin. He looked to be in a very good mood.

He clapped his hands at the front of the class and said with a smile, "I'm sure you're all curious about how the classes' points changed last month, right?"

"Of course! Don't keep us waiting, Mashima-sensei!"

"Yeah! I've been dying to find out how far ahead we are of the other classes!"

"Come on, Sensei, tell us! We can't wait any longer!"

The classroom erupted, everyone urging him on at once.

"Haha, don't rush me. I'm announcing them now." Mashima Tomoya turned with a smile and wrote the class points on the blackboard:

Class A: 1064

Class B: 660

Class C: 600

Class D: 87

"Amazing! Our class did that well?" someone cheered at once.

"But why did Class B only get so few points?" someone else asked.

"Who cares? Them getting less is better for us!"

"Exactly! Why overthink it? We're in the lead, and that's what matters!"

Ichinose's class, huh?

Uesugi Hara furrowed his brow. Over the previous two months, he'd often seen students from Class C harassing students from Class B. During the midterms, they'd even deliberately disrupted Class B's study group.

It seemed Class C had figured out some of the rules and had already begun putting them into practice.

And Class B was their first target.

Class B had probably broken the rules many times under Class C's harassment, which was why its Class Points hadn't gone up.

But what was going on with Ken Sudō the other day?

Was Class C planning to target two classes at once?

Whatever. It didn't matter.

Now that Class C had made its move, considering what Shiina had said last time, would they go after me next?

Then I'd better prepare properly and find a chance to make a killing.

After all, the bigger the storm, the more valuable the fish!

Mashima Tomoya waited for the cheering to die down a little, then clapped his hands. "All right, everyone, settle down. I have a few things to say."

The noisy classroom fell silent at once, and every student turned toward the front.

"Although the midterm exams are over and you all did well, don't let that make you slack off on your studies." Mashima Tomoya's tone grew more serious.

"Yes, Sensei!" the whole class replied in unison, their excitement from before dying down a little.

"Hey, Kamuro, did you hear that? He's talking about you."

"Shut up. Worry about yourself." Kamuro Masumi glared at him viciously.

"Good. You've got plenty of spirit. Get ready for class." With that, Mashima Tomoya left.

At lunchtime, the three of them sat at the same table in the cafeteria.

"By the way, even Katsuragi wasn't selected when he ran for the Student Council. So who actually got in?" Uesugi Hara poked at the rice in his bowl and asked Sakayanagi Arisu across from him.

Sakayanagi Arisu had just elegantly wiped her mouth. At his question, she smiled lightly. "I heard no one was selected."

"The Student Council explicitly said they were recruiting. How could no one get in?" Kamuro Masumi asked with a frown, voicing the question Uesugi Hara had wanted to ask.

"I don't know either." Sakayanagi Arisu lifted her glass and took a sip, her smile unchanged.

You really don't look like you have no idea.

He changed the subject and glanced at Sakayanagi's barely touched tray. "By the way, are you full after eating that little?"

"I certainly don't eat as much as Uesugi does," Sakayanagi replied evenly.

"That little would barely make me one-fifth full." Uesugi Hara smacked his lips, then added, "No wonder you haven't grown at all in all these years."

Sakayanagi Arisu's smile froze. Her fingers tightened around her glass. "Uesugi, there's no conclusive research showing a direct relationship between height and diet."

"Oh." Uesugi Hara answered absentmindedly and went back to his meal.

Sakayanagi Arisu ground her teeth inwardly. He's so irritating!

"So your class didn't get any points this month either? You called to borrow some from me?" Uesugi Hara answered the call from Kushida Kikyo.

"Yeah. I thought we'd get points this month, so I lent some to other people earlier. But they didn't give us any today, and I can't get back the points I lent out. Uesugi, sob, I don't have any points left to buy food, sob..." Kushida Kikyo said pitifully.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Uesugi Hara was getting a headache from her. "I can lend you some, but you're not going to lend it to other people too, are you?"

"W-well... I don't think so." Kushida Kikyo's voice grew faint.

Uesugi Hara fell silent for two seconds. "I'll lend you 1,000 points for now. We'll talk when you've used those up." He wasn't a charity. Even a little from his own pocket would be a huge sum.

"1,000 points!? Are you kidding me?" The other end of the call erupted. Kushida Kikyo's yell nearly burst his eardrum.

Uesugi Hara held the Terminal away from his ear. Once she quieted down, he calmly said, "Spend carefully. It'll last you two days."

Kushida Kikyo: Uesugi Hara! Are you even a man?!

"Fine. I'll come back to you when I've used it up." In the end, she gave in, her voice coming through the Terminal gritted with frustration.

"You still haven't told me why your class didn't get any points. I thought you had 87 Class Points?"

"Isn't it all because of that idiot Ken Sudō!" Kushida Kikyo immediately launched into a rant. "He got into a fight with people from Class C, and now the whole class has to bear the consequences."

"Ken Sudō?" Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, remembering what he'd seen the other day.

"Yeah! Now that he's in trouble and facing suspension, he comes running to us for help. It's ridiculous." Kushida Kikyo laughed angrily.

"By the way, do you have any clues?"

Uesugi Hara came back to himself and answered without hesitation, "No."

"Really? You answered so quickly. Are you sure?" Kushida Kikyo asked again, unwilling to give up.

"Really. I don't."

There was a brief silence on the other end before Kushida Kikyo spoke. "All right, then. If you find out anything, you have to tell me.

"Of course. We've known each other for so long. Don't you know what kind of person I am?" Uesugi Hara said, patting his chest.

"Then thanks, Uesugi!" Kushida Kikyo instantly switched back to her cheerful tone, as if the unpleasantness had never happened.

"Mm."

After hanging up, Uesugi Hara pulled up the video he'd recorded last time. How should he make use of it?