Classroom of the Elite, Oh No, I've Become a Stand-in

"1.02 million points? Does our class even have that many points?"

"No way! I'm not helping someone who was just insulting us a moment ago."

"Exactly, exactly. Wouldn't it be better to use those points for food? I've been eating cheap set meals for almost a month now."

"Impossible! Such ugly existences aren't worth my precious points; on the contrary, they are tarnishing my beauty."

Not bad!

Placing her small white beret on the desk, Sakayanagi Arisu took in the expressions of most of the students in Class D with satisfaction.

These three were simply not worth the 1.02 million private points; the total points Class D could scrape together right now probably didn't even amount to 400,000. Even if they did, these students would never hand them over to bail out these three individuals.

Taking a step back, even if they tried to borrow from students in other classes, there were less than 10 minutes left before class started. In such a short time, they couldn't even explain the situation clearly, and no student would dare to lend such a massive amount of points without signing a contract.

Thinking this, Sakayanagi Arisu cast her gaze toward Sudo Ken, who had been keeping his head down in silence.

Although his brain had some issues, his body was still decent; he could barely pass as a useful pawn. As for the other two... hehe...

"Thwack—!"

A heavy, clear thud interrupted Sakayanagi Arisu's train of thought, causing the smile on her face to freeze instantly.

The crisp sound immediately drew the attention of the entire class.

Looking toward the source of the noise, Hirata Yousuke knelt down on the spot in front of all the students, his brown bangs falling forward to cover his face, making it impossible to see his expression.

"Everyone, even if it's just a little, please help Sudo and the others. Consider these points as a loan from me to you all; I will pay them back. From now on, as soon as I get any points, I will pay you all back first."

"Even if I can't pay it back now, once I start working in the future, I will definitely pay you back. Whether it takes one year, two years, ten, or even twenty years, I will absolutely return these points to you. I can write IOUs, sign legal documents, whatever you need—just don't let Sudo and the others get expelled... I'll do anything!"

"I'm begging you."

Having said that, Hirata Yousuke pressed his forehead deeply against the floor.

"Hirata..."

Sudo Ken looked at this classmate with whom he didn't usually have a great relationship, opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

The entire class watched in shock as Hirata Yousuke knelt on the ground, casting aside all his dignity to beg them humbly—the usually gentle, kind, and well-liked Hirata Yousuke...

"Only this once, for the sake of Hirata."

"Tsk... why does Yousuke have to help people like that? Wouldn't it be better to keep the points?"

"Ichinose should be able to lend me some. I hope she gets the message, otherwise, you three will still have to be expelled."

"Well... although I really dislike them, I've received a lot of help from Hirata in the past. I hope the upperclassmen in the club won't mind me asking them for a loan."

Even the students who disliked Hirata couldn't deny everything he had done for Class D. Without him patching things up and acting as a mediator, this scattered Class D would have collapsed long ago.

Sakayanagi Arisu's fingers tapped lightly against the edge of her phone, struggling to maintain the smile on her face.

She had thought he was just a normal "good guy," but it seemed she had been too naive; this person was also a bit crazy!!

"That's right, we'll definitely study hard from now on. Doctor, we're brothers for life, right?" Yamauchi Haruki immediately ran up to a student wearing glasses.

"..." Ike Kanji looked at the group of girls sneering and his lips trembled a few times.

"Want us to help you? In your next life! Didn't you say you didn't care about this school? Get lost while you still can!"

Horikita Suzune took out her phone, her expression shifting as she stared at the screen.

In truth, she didn't want to save these three people, but considering that future class competitions might involve special exams related to the number of students—especially since Sudo Ken, who had outstanding physical abilities, was among them.

Was the trade of 1.02 million private points to save three Class D students worth it? That would only become clear later on.

Students who could cough up such a large amount of points at once were few and far between. As luck would have it, she happened to know two, who were also the only two friends left on her phone.

[Brother]

[Mikage Touji]

Horikita Suzune's slender fingers hovered indecisively over the two avatars.

Logically speaking, as long as she spoke up and asked her Brother in a low voice, there was a high probability he would lend her the points.

So, Horikita Suzune decisively chose Mikage Touji!

In the end, at the cost of nearly being angered to death, Horikita Suzune managed to borrow 80,000 points from the dawdling Mikage Touji.

At the same time, the students of Class D each transferred their loans to Hirata Yousuke's account.

625,000 points—that was the price of Hirata Yousuke's dignity.

The bell for class rang, and the final period happened to be Japanese Literature; Chabashira Sae arrived in the classroom right on time.

"You're still here? Return to your seats, it's time for class."

"Chabashira-sensei, wait, please give us a moment. Just a moment, we'll be ready soon, I beg you." Hirata Yousuke pleaded with tears in his eyes.

"..."

Chabashira Sae was momentarily dazed. She scanned the situation in Class D—the broken leader, the bickering classmates, the chaotic class—as if she were reminded of something.

"Fine, this period will be changed to a homeroom meeting; you can manage it yourselves. Also, don't get any ideas about me; the school strictly forbids teachers from personally intervening to help students."

"Thank you, thank you." Hirata Yousuke bowed repeatedly.

Time ticked away, second by second, as the clock on the wall moved forward.

Yamauchi Haruki watched the time on the wall clock drawing closer and closer, then looked at the personal points on the blackboard that were still far from enough, and shouted in a breakdown, "Hey, what are you guys doing? There must be more, right? I saw you girls buying new clothes earlier, you must still have points! Hurry up, don't just stand by and watch us die! You cold-blooded bunch!"

His brainless outburst was, as expected, immediately met with a barrage of criticism from the students of Class D.

"You think we'd save you with that attitude?"

"Get down on your knees and thank us properly! If it weren't for Hirata's sake, you wouldn't even get these points."

When one plan failed, the desperate Yamauchi Haruki scanned the classroom, quickly locking his target onto the person most likely to still have points.

"Sakayanagi-chan, you still have points, right? Hurry! Take them out and save me now!"

Sakayanagi Arisu, who had been silently watching the show, rested her hands on her knees, an awkward yet polite smile appearing on her face.

"I am very sorry, Yamauchi-kun, but that was my last bit of points just now. The ones distributed at the start of the school year—"

"What are you talking about? Hurry up, just take out your phone and let me see, isn't that enough?"

Yamauchi Haruki shook his head, rudely interrupting Sakayanagi Arisu.

"..."

The countless retorts prepared in Sakayanagi Arisu's mind stalled on the spot; her usually infallible tongue was useless at this moment, and her smile lost its composure.

"I knew it, you still have points! Hurry! Hand them over, and Kanji and I will thank you!" Yamauchi Haruki was overjoyed, shouting impatiently at Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Don't go too far! So what if Sakayanagi-chan has points? How could she possibly let you see something as private as her phone contents?" Karuizawa Kei, sensing the situation turning sour, led her group of gal friends to confront Yamauchi Haruki.

"Exactly, and fix your attitude, you jerk!"

"That's all the points there are, take it or leave it!"

Yamauchi Haruki's behavior incited public outrage throughout the class. No matter how much Hirata Yousuke pleaded, the class refused to cough up another single point, and in the end, the personal points on the blackboard remained stuck at 688,000.

Seeing that it was impossible to raise more points and feeling the collective exclusionary gaze of the class, a sweating Yamauchi Haruki used the last shred of intelligence he possessed to analyze the situation.

688,000 points—no matter how you calculated it, one person had to be expelled.

So...

"Ike, do you really have no sense of gratitude? The students were kind enough to lend us points, you know?" Yamauchi Haruki immediately shifted his target and attacked Ike Kanji.

"Haruki, you..."

Ike Kanji stared blankly at Yamauchi Haruki beside him, his pupils dilated, momentarily speechless.

"I knew from the start you weren't a good person. You're always bad-mouthing Hirata and the others behind their backs, and you only cause trouble in class. You can't compare to someone like me, who has been in the spotlight since elementary school."

"Aren't you the same as me? Discussing the girls' chests in class every day?" Ike Kanji, having recovered from his shock, shouted back.

"I was collecting evidence to expose your ugly side to the whole class." As he spoke, Yamauchi Haruki turned to the class, pointed at Ike Kanji, and shouted, "He even planned to peek into the girls' changing room a while ago! Luckily, I stopped him."

Once these words were out, the gaze of every girl in Class D toward Ike Kanji was filled with disgust. If Yamauchi Haruki's behavior was purely annoying, Ike Kanji's attempted peeping was an unforgivable criminal act.

"You're actually saying all these things?" Ike Kanji roared in disbelief.

"You don't even care about this school, right? You might as well get expelled and leave the opportunity for me and Sudo. Right, Sudo?" Yamauchi Haruki turned to ask for Sudo Ken's opinion.

"Huh?"

Sudo Ken looked at the bickering Ike and Yamauchi, gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes; the words to kick them while they were down ultimately didn't come out.

"Didn't you just say things like that too?" Ike Kanji, panicking, hurriedly sought confirmation from others. "Right, Hondo? Kushida-chan, he said that just now, didn't he?"

"Am I wrong? Why should I be the one expelled? It's clearly Ike's fault. If Ike had just kept his word, we wouldn't be arguing at all."

"It's all my fault? Say that again!"

"It is Ike's fault. Now, Ike just needs to keep his word and obediently get expelled."

"Why shouldn't it be you who gets expelled?!"

"That goes without saying, because I'm better than Ike."

The two, who had been laughing and playing together that morning, went their separate ways by the afternoon, exposing each other's secrets and cursing their former friend with the most venomous words.

At this point, Hirata Yousuke realized clearly that it was impossible to save all three. At the same time, the students in the class were resistant to helping Yamauchi Haruki further; if he hesitated any longer, he might not even be able to save two.

Without consulting any other students, Hirata Yousuke stumbled over to Chabashira Sae and used points to purchase three votes for Sudo Ken and six for Yamauchi Haruki.

Seeing that he was about to be expelled, Ike Kanji completely broke down, shouting and cursing the entire class over and over again.

In the end, both men lost their sanity, grabbed chairs, and prepared to strike each other, only to be restrained from behind by Sudo Ken and Hirata Yousuke, leaving them unable to move and forced to trade insults from a distance.

Their shouting match continued until the bell rang for the end of the period.

Ike Kanji, who was expelled, continued to curse Yamauchi Haruki until the very last moment he was dragged away, his eyes filled with venom as he glared at the students, while Yamauchi Haruki looked triumphant, happy that he had successfully remained at Kouiku.

Chapter 57: Sakayanagi Arisu, Critical Hits Every Time

After enjoying this fine show, Sakayanagi Arisu walked out of the classroom with an elegant smile, holding her cane, at a leisurely pace.

As she reached the corner of the school building, Sakayanagi Arisu came to a halt.

"Ara, Sensei, instead of processing Ike-kun's expulsion at a time like this, you're following me instead. May I ask what this is about?"

Her melodic voice drifted across the flowerbeds by the school building.

Chabashira Sae stepped out from the shadows of the building with a complex expression on her face.

"Why, why didn't you remind Hirata that he could use points to purchase marks from the very beginning, instead of waiting until the final period to tell them?"

"Hmm? Chabashira-sensei, what are you talking about?" Sakayanagi Arisu turned around with a smile. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You must know how to use the points—or rather, there isn't a single person in the entire grade who understands it better than you. After all, I have seen your file," Chabashira Sae said with absolute conviction.

"So, may I ask what that has to do with me? There is one thing Horikita-san said that I actually agree with: people must take responsibility for their own actions."

"Of course it has to do with you!" Chabashira Sae's emotions were uncharacteristically agitated at this moment. "If you had spoken up sooner, Ike and Yamauchi wouldn't have reached this point, they wouldn't have turned into enemies, and perhaps they could have had a bright future ahead of them."

"Hehe." Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes curved into crescents, as if she had just heard a joke. "Isn't it you, the one who gave them the wrong exam scope from the very beginning, who made them into what they are now?"

"If you had told them the exam scope had changed just one week earlier during the past two weeks, they would have had plenty of time to study. Perhaps they all could have passed, don't you think?"

Chabashira Sae's expression turned grim.

"I heard that you also graduated from Kouiku, didn't you?"

"That's right."

Chabashira Sae's voice betrayed a sense of reminiscence and bitterness.

"You didn't graduate from Class A, did you? In my eyes, someone like you who acts purely on emotion never had the qualifications to graduate from Class A in the first place."

"I—"

Chabashira Sae started to retort, but suddenly stopped, her eyes lowering as she was rendered speechless by Sakayanagi Arisu's words.

"You never had any intention of helping them from the start, did you? Looking at you, it seems you were reminded of something by the class infighting and had a change of heart, wanting to find someone to clean up the mess. Otherwise, you only needed to drop a small hint to Horikita-san, and she would have figured it out on her own. Isn't that right, Horikita-san?"

Chabashira Sae looked behind her, where Horikita Suzune had appeared at some point.