During the first week of classes, Nagami understood why the school had divided the students into Classes A, B, C, and D. As expected of Class D, the students in the back row were the very picture of academic failures.
Yamauchi and Ike beside him looked like academic failures, too. They read novels and played games. Why would the school even admit people like them? It was hard to understand.
From a college student's perspective, the school's lessons were so simple. If he studied for twelve hours a day, he could finish a semester's worth of material in a month.
Classes were boring, too. He'd go check out the other classes after school.
Class C had an air of delinquency about it. They seemed like a pain, so he'd better keep his distance.
Class B had a pink-and-gold little angel, surrounded by people. The harmonious, joyful atmosphere was captivating. It was practically heaven.
After he'd stood there for a while, someone from Class B came over to talk to him.
"Who are you? Which class are you in? Don't stand in the doorway for so long."
Kanzaki Ryuji said.
"Relax, classmate. I'm here to make friends. The atmosphere in Class B is really nice. I'm so envious. I'm Nagami from Class D. And you?"
He offered a polite smile. No one would hit a smiling face, and the competition between classes was practically nonexistent at the start of the school year, so there was little chance of being rejected.
"Kanzaki Ryuji." He gave his name simply.
Ichinose, the center of attention, noticed them and came over.
"Hello! I didn't expect there to be a handsome guy in Class D."
The students from Class B gathered around Ichinose.
"Let me introduce myself again. The name's Nagami."
"Haha. I'm Ichinose Honami, and this is..."
Ichinose and he chatted back and forth, and they seemed to get along well. Behind her, Shiranami Chihiro's expression gradually darkened, and her fists began to clench on their own.
I can be great friends with the little angel for the next three years.
Nagami thought.
"Oh, it's getting late. Ichinose, Kana."
"Kana."
After saying goodbye to Ichinose, Nagami returned to class. Kushida kept pestering Horikita, apparently hoping to be friends with her, but Horikita didn't seem interested.
Whatever. Nothing to do with me.
"I'm so beautiful." Koenji repeated the phrase every now and then.
Ugh, that's the one downside to sitting behind Koenji.
Before long, a month had passed.
"Hey, what's going on? Did you get your points?" Yamauchi shouted.
"I didn't get any. Me neither," Ike and Sudo chimed in.
As expected, the Three Idiots started making a fuss.
"How ugly." Beautiful Guy said.
The Red-Haired Ape was about to blow up when their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, walked up to the podium. Everyone immediately returned to their seats.
"Chabashira-sensei, our points haven't come in today. Is there something wrong with the system?"
Yamauchi asked.
"Yeah, Sae." Ike addressed their homeroom teacher by her first name, as if they were close.
Chabashira stood at the podium with a scornful smile.
"As expected of a defective bunch. You were late or left early a total of eighty-six times. You used your phones in class 365 times and talked without the teacher's permission 100 times. At least you didn't get any negative points, or you'd never recover. I told you in the very first class: at a school where ability comes first, discipline matters, too. You've proudly earned zero points. This is the worst class I've ever taught. The first Class D in history to get zero."
The Three Idiots wailed and complained that the school was unfair, but Chabashira coldly moved on to the next topic.
Class A 940
Class B 650
Class C 490
Class D 0
Each Class Point represented one hundred Private Points for each student per month. That was all.
"Old hag, you just insulted me, too. I've gone through the entire textbook this past month."
Nagami felt indignant at Chabashira's area-of-effect damage.
"But this is kind of interesting. Class A is finally worth challenging. Are you ready, Class A? I'm going to rule over you."
"Rule over what, again..." Ayanokoji said.
Shit, I said that out loud. It was Ayanokoji. He wasn't the closest to me, so how did he hear? Could he read lips?
A sheet of paper was posted on the blackboard again. It listed every student in the class, with a number beside each name.
Nagami scored a perfect 90 and ranked third.
Aside from the top few students, most of the class seemed to be hovering around 60 points. Ignoring the Ape's unbelievable score of 20, Ike was next with a nearly identical 24. The average was probably around 66.
"Consider yourselves lucky. If this had been a formal midterm exam, six of you would have been expelled just after the school year began. Frightening, isn't it?"
Chabashira explained it to the whole class again.
"Wait, you get expelled for failing? I've never heard anyone say that."
The Red-Haired Ape started complaining.
"Didn't I tell you? If you fail even one subject on any formal exam at this school, you'll be expelled. Anyone who scored below 33 on this exam is going to be expelled. Do you understand?"
After Chabashira said that, Class D erupted. No one wanted to be expelled just after starting school.
You little bitch, you never told us that! You did it on purpose, didn't you? Looks like the school's goal is to set all kinds of obstacles in front of students so they'll drop out, ensuring a hundred percent employment rate. That's it?
Nagami had already figured it out back in the first chapter.
The Three Idiots are going to get expelled for failing? Great. Just what I wanted. They're going to get expelled sooner or later anyway.
Still, it's not good to lose my human shields. The more people I can use as scapegoats, the better. Ugh, what a pain. I have to keep putting up with them.
Nagami's two sides began arguing with each other, his troublemaking personality and his self-interested one trying to persuade the other.
"My points haven't come in at all. Guess I'll have to eat the vegetable set every day from now on."
"I can't stomach that zero-yen meal..."
"How am I supposed to survive on the thousand points I have left?"
Not long after the teacher left, the classroom filled with wails and the stench of despair.
Heh, I deliberately didn't warn the Three Idiots or anyone else. Their panicked faces are hilarious. But I can't laugh yet. I have to hold it in.
"This class is hopeless. Why is the world treating me this way? Why am I in Class D? Damn it! Damn it!"
Yukimura said.
Hey, kid, you stole my line! Nagami was annoyed.
"Everyone, we have to earn points next month. And to do that, the whole class has to work together. We should remind each other not to be late or talk during class. And using our phones is obviously forbidden, too."
Hirata tried to motivate the class from his seat, painting them a rosy picture.
"What? Are you ordering me around? This is pointless. If our points were going to increase, fine, but there's no point changing anything now."
"Yukimura's right. These are deductions, so we won't earn any points. Unless the school takes pity on us and hands them out, we'll never repay the school's kindness now."
Nagami's words made some people's last bit of hope die completely.
"Huh? Even if we pay attention in class, our points won't go up? Then why should I bother following the rules?"
The Red-Haired Ape got up and walked out.
Soon, amid all the gossip and chatter, it was time to go home.
Just then, the kind-hearted Hirata walked over to Nagami.
"Nagami, your grades are really good. Would you like to help organize a study group?"
"Horikita's grades are even better, right? Why not invite her? As for me, my social skills are at zero, so it'd be hard for me to take on the responsibility of running a study group. Horikita's aiming for Class A, so I'm sure she wouldn't turn you down."
To Nagami, a study group would definitely mean dealing with the Three Idiots, which made him physically sick. At worst, he might beat them all into the Infirmary. Refusing was also for his classmates' safety.
"I have somewhere to be. See you, Kana."
Hirata failed to keep Nagami there because he had plans with someone.
At the rear entrance to the school, Ichinose paced nervously.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ichinose. What did you need to tell me in person?"
"A confession..."
A confession? There's no way it's for me, right? I'm charming, sure, but we haven't known each other long, and we've only talked online. We're just ordinary friends.
"I'm about to get confessed to here! Someone from Class B wouldn't be a good fit. Could you pretend to be my boyfriend for a day, Nagami?"
"I see. Pretend to be your boyfriend for a day. But I think it'd be better to tell her how you feel in person."
What a gentle angel. But if we break up after just one day and word gets out, with the little angel's popularity, I'll definitely get branded a scumbag. This is where you're wrong, little angel.
"Huh? Ichinose, who's this?"
Chihiro arrived at the agreed meeting place and asked in confusion.
"Chihiro, this is my boy—"
"Just a friend!"
I cut her off. I hadn't expected the person confessing to be a girl.
"Ichinose, I understand that you want to protect your friend, but confessing your feelings isn't easy. Every day, you watch the person you love walk away and wonder whether she loves you back. Even the smallest thing about the person you like can make you especially sensitive. When your anxiety is about to overflow, you work up the courage day after day, telling yourself you have to confess. You want to say those words—'I like you'—but you just can't get them out. You don't know how long you've been waiting for this. For all the courage Shiranami put into this, shouldn't you give her feelings a proper response?"
"That's all!"
Nagami headed to the vending machine, bought a bottle of Coke, and sat down on a nearby bench. Before long, Shiranami ran off in tears.
Ichinose saw Nagami beside the vending machine and walked over.
"Thank you, Nagami."
"Want some coffee?" Nagami said.
"You just helped me. Let me..."
Ichinose tried to apologize.
"I already bought it."
"All right. Nagami, can I call you Nagami-kun from now on?"
"By all means!"
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