Buying Points

"I'm sorry, Sudo. You failed."

The score sheet posted on the blackboard was like a merciless verdict. Sudo's name had been viciously slashed through with a bright red line, making it especially glaring. "Huh? Why?! I should have passed!"

Sudo sprang up from his seat, eyes wide and face full of disbelief as he shouted at Chasuke. He looked like an enraged lion.

The air in the classroom instantly froze. Students all around turned to look, some surprised, some confused, and some simply eager to watch the show.

"I don't need to repeat myself, do I, Sudo?"

Chasuke's expression remained unchanged, his tone as calm as a stagnant pool, as though the bristling lion before him posed no threat at all.

"What kind of joke is this?! Didn't my English score clear the passing mark?!" Sudo yanked over his test paper as if it were a lifeline and held it high, pointing directly at the conspicuous score of 41.

"Look! This 41 is one point higher than last time's passing score of 40! What makes you say I failed?!"

Last night, Sudo had been engrossed in games until late into the night, only realizing how late it had gotten after midnight. There had been no time left for last-minute cramming. So, steeling himself, he glanced sideways and copied part of the answers from the student on his right, treating a dead horse as if it might yet live.

His luck had been decent. He scored 41 points, and at the time, he had secretly rejoiced, thinking passing was guaranteed. Now, he glared at Chasuke indignantly, looking as though he were the pitiful victim wronged by the entire world.

"That is the fact of the matter. No amount of arguing will change it, Sudo." Chasuke adjusted his glasses, a trace of chill in his gaze behind the lenses. He slowly drew a piece of chalk from the box on the podium and lightly placed it against the blackboard, pronouncing Sudo's "death sentence."

"Each class has a different passing standard. It is determined by taking half of the class average. This time, your results were fairly good. More than a quarter of the class got perfect scores, and the average was as high as 86.4."

At that, Chasuke paused, tilted his head slightly toward Sudo, and curled his lips into an almost imperceptible smile.

"In other words, the passing mark is 43.2. Rounded off, that makes it 43. So I'm sorry, Sudo, but your 41 points are not enough to pass."

"How could this happen?!"

Sudo looked as though he had been struck by lightning. He froze completely, and the test paper in his hand drooped limply.

The classroom fell silent again. As the students of Class D all kept quiet, a voice came from the back row.

"Chasuke-sensei, is there an error in your calculation of the passing mark?"

Horikita Suzune, who had remained silent until then, rose with a frown, her eyes locked on Chasuke and a trace of urgency in her voice.

Upon hearing that, Chasuke immediately glanced at Horikita's score on the sheet. She had perfect scores in four of the five subjects, with only English barely reaching the passing line.

"It seems you and Sudo are quite close. But there is no mistake in the calculation."

"Is there really no other way to let Sudo pass?"

Chasuke smiled faintly, as though that smile concealed something. He gently returned the chalk in his hand to the box on the podium, producing a soft clack.

"There is a way, though it depends on whether Sudo himself can seize the opportunity. After all, in a classroom where strength is everything, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. Oh, and Sudo, come to my office after school."

With that, Chasuke turned and walked out of the classroom with light steps, leaving behind a meaningful laugh.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat in his seat, his eyes flickering slightly. Using the bathroom as an excuse, he unhurriedly headed for the classroom door.

Horikita, her brows tightly furrowed, seemed to seize upon an opportunity. At a time like this, Chasuke-sensei would not speak without reason. Ayanokoji probably knew something.

Horikita quietly followed Ayanokoji's footsteps...

The wind howled noisily.

As the tip of his fountain pen scrawled a rough formula across the title page of Game Theory, the commotion from Class D downstairs did not affect Sakamoto's writing in the slightest.

Hashimoto raised his head from where both hands rested on the railing, the silver cross on his earlobe flashing with cold light. "Class D is putting on a monkey show again."

Sakamoto closed his book, the rainbow gleam reflected from his watch face sweeping across his gold-rimmed glasses.

"This time, it isn't an ordinary show." Sakamoto took out his phone.

"A passing mark of 43.2..." Sakamoto chuckled at the phone screen. The numbers displayed there were the class averages that had just been updated on the school bulletin minutes earlier. "That's 0.7 higher than yesterday's estimate. Looks like that idiot got lucky. Too bad it won't do him any good."

"By now, the leads should be about to take the stage. Let's leave them a stage to perform on."

The two left the rooftop and casually found an empty classroom, waiting for the leads to make their entrance.

The click of high heels came from the corridor entrance.

On the rooftop,

Chasuke lit a cigarette. Before she could enjoy it for long, the movement behind her caught her attention.

"It's Ayanokoji." Chasuke merely glanced at him before continuing to enjoy the cigarette in her hand, pale smoke rising.

"Sensei, Class D's exam was conducted under unfair circumstances. I hope to receive a reasonable explanation."

"I'm sorry, but the facts will not change. Although you learned about the change in the exam scope a week later, that did not affect your ability to pass the exam.

"The vast majority of the class passed. Sudo's failure only proves that the problem lies with him."

Chasuke did not mind Ayanokoji demanding an explanation. Or rather, he did not disagree with that view either.

"Then, Chasuke-sensei, you once said that anything could be purchased with points at this school, correct?"

"Oh?" Chasuke paused in the middle of exhaling smoke.

"Ayanokoji, you really are smart. I had thought this year's Class D was too hopeless to be worth helping, but you are the first person capable of helping Class D."

"The one who wanted to help Class D was Horikita. She was also the one who voluntarily lowered her English score. I haven't done anything."

"So you don't want to stand in the spotlight. You say you haven't done anything, but I've seen quite a few things you've been doing behind the scenes."

Ayanokoji said nothing.

"Even after taking so many actions, you were still careless at the crucial moment. If you had made Sudo and the others memorize the answers earlier, Sudo would surely have passed English. A student like him is far too troublesome. Why not just give up on him?"

"Perhaps. Though the situation is bad now, there are still other ways." Ayanokoji's tone was calm, yet it carried a seriousness that could not be ignored.

There were many problems with the students in this class, and the situation he had observed was complicated as well. Still, for someone who had never been exposed to society before, this was likely a unique experience. But how he chose to act was Ayanokoji's own business.

"Please sell us two points for Sudo's English score."