July 1st

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

Time flew by, and it was already the morning of July 1st.

It was once again the day for the monthly distribution of class points.

Uesugi Hara had not told anyone in the class about the rules he had learned from the teacher; the school had its reasons for not making an official announcement, and he saw no need to be a busybody.

Besides, speaking up would not only bring trouble upon himself but might also plunge others into unnecessary panic.

Therefore, he had been keeping a very low profile during this time.

Every day was like clockwork: teasing Kamuro, exchanging a few barbs with Morishita, chatting with Sakayanagi Arisu when she came by, and checking out Airi's legs in the evening—the days just drifted by.

Before long, Mashima Tomoya walked into the classroom with a light step, an irrepressible smile on his face, clearly in a very good mood.

He clapped his hands on the podium and said with a chuckle, "I'm sure everyone is very concerned about the changes in class points from last month, right?"

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

"Yeah, yeah! I've been dying to know how far behind or ahead we are compared to the other classes!"

"Hurry up and announce it, teacher, we can't wait!"

The classroom instantly erupted, with everyone clamoring and urging him on.

"Haha, don't be impatient, I'm announcing it now." Mashima Tomoya turned around with a smile and wrote the points for each class on the blackboard:

Class A: 1064

Class B: 660

Class C: 600

Class D: 87

"Sugoi! Our class is actually this amazing!" Someone cheered immediately.

"But why did Class B only get such a small increase?" someone else asked in confusion.

"Who cares! The less they get, the better it is for us!"

"Exactly, why overthink it? As long as we're in the lead, that's all that matters!"

Ichinose's class, huh?

Uesugi Hara frowned as he thought about it. Over the past two months, he had frequently seen people from Class C harassing those in Class B, and during the midterm exams, they had even deliberately disrupted Class B's study sessions.

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

And Class B was their first target for attack.

Class B must have committed numerous violations under the harassment of Class C, which was why their class points weren't rising.

But what about that incident with Sudo Ken a few days ago?

Could it be that Class C was trying to deal with two classes at once?

Forget it, never mind.

Since Class C had already made their move, and combined with what Shiina had told him last time, was Class C planning to target him next?

If so, I'd better prepare myself well and look for an opportunity to make a killing.

After all, the rougher the sea, the more valuable the fish!

Mashima Tomoya waited for the cheering in the classroom to die down a little before raising his hands and clapping: "Clap, clap! Alright, everyone quiet down, I have a few things to say."

The noisy classroom instantly fell silent, and everyone looked toward the podium.

"Although the midterm exams are over and everyone achieved good results, you must not slack off in your studies because of it." Mashima Tomoya's tone became a bit more serious.

"Hai!" the whole class responded in unison, the previous excitement having faded quite a bit.

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

"Get lost, just worry about yourself," Kamuro Masumi said, glaring at him with a fierce look.

"Hmm, very spirited. Get ready for class." With that, Mashima Tomoya walked out.

At the cafeteria during lunch, the three of them sat at one table.

"Speaking of which, even Katsuragi didn't get selected for the student council, so who exactly 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, and upon hearing this, she smiled faintly: "I heard that no one was selected at all."

"Didn't the student council explicitly state they were recruiting? How could no one be chosen?" Kamuro Masumi frowned as she followed up, asking the very question Uesugi Hara had in mind.

"I don't know either." Sakayanagi Arisu picked up her water glass and took a sip, her smile remaining unchanged.

Uesugi Hara muttered to himself: The way you look, you don't seem like you don't know at all.

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

"I certainly don't eat as much as Uesugi-kun," Sakayanagi said in a flat tone.

"With the amount you eat, it would only be two-tenths full for me," Uesugi Hara smacked his lips and added, "No wonder you haven't grown in all these years."

Sakayanagi Arisu's smile stiffened instantly, and her fingers tightened around the water glass: "Uesugi-kun, there is no definitive research to suggest that height is directly related to diet."

"Oh." Uesugi Hara responded nonchalantly, continuing to shovel food into his mouth.

Sakayanagi Arisu gnashed her teeth in her mind: How infuriating!

"You're saying your class didn't receive any points this month either? And you want to borrow some from me." Uesugi Hara answered the call from Kushida Kikyo.

"Yeah, I thought we were supposed to get points this month, so I lent some out to others beforehand. But the points didn't arrive today, and I can't get back what I lent out. Uesugi-kun, wuwuwu~ I don't have any points left to eat, wuwuwu~" Kushida Kikyo said pitifully.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Uesugi Hara felt annoyed by her wailing. "I can lend them to you, but after I lend you these points, you won't just go and lend them to someone else, right?"

"Th-this... I probably won't." Kushida Kikyo's voice grew weak.

Uesugi Hara was silent for two seconds. "I'll lend you 1000 points for now; we'll talk once you've used them up." He wasn't a philanthropist; whatever he squeezed out from between his fingers was still a significant sum of money.

"1000 points!? You've got to be kidding me!" The other end of the line exploded instantly, and Kushida Kikyo's roar nearly shattered his eardrums.

Uesugi Hara held the terminal away, and only after she calmed down did he say calmly, "Spend it sparingly; it's enough to last you two days."

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

"Fine, I'll come find you again when I've used them up." In the end, she compromised, her voice grinding through the terminal.

"You still haven't told me why your class didn't get any points. I recall your class having 87 class points, didn't it?"

"It's all that idiot Sudo Ken's fault!" Kushida Kikyo immediately switched to complaint mode. "He got into a fight with people from Class C, and now the whole class has to bear the consequences."

"Sudo Ken?" Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, thinking back to what he had seen last time.

"Exactly! Now that he's in trouble and facing suspension, he comes running to us for help. It's honestly hilarious." Kushida Kikyo laughed in anger.

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

Uesugi Hara snapped back to reality and replied without hesitation, "No."

"Really none?" Hearing him answer so bluntly, Kushida Kikyo asked again, unwilling to give up.

"Really none."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment before Kushida Kikyo's voice returned: "Alright then, if you find any leads, you must tell me, okay?"

"Of course, we've known each other for so long; don't you know my character by now?" Uesugi Hara said, patting his chest.

"Then thank you, Uesugi-kun!" Kushida Kikyo instantly switched back to a cheerful tone, as if the previous unpleasantness had never happened.

"Mm."

After hanging up, Uesugi Hara pulled out the recording he had taken last time. How should he make use of it?

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