Class Points Overview
Class A: 1004 points
Class B: 663 points
Class C: 492 points
Class D: 87 points
The next day, during homeroom, Chabashira-sensei once again posted the Class Points overview on the blackboard.
The changes in Class Points seemed rather suspicious.
Hoshino studied the figures on the blackboard from her seat.
Class A had gained 64 points, Class B had gained 13, Class C had gained 2, and Class D had gained 87.
How should she put it? The changes in Class B and Class C's points were just too strange!
Under Ryuen's "rule," Class C had probably committed plenty of violations, so it made sense that its points had barely increased. But Class B was full of well-behaved students, and its points had risen far too slowly. It was completely outside the norm.
Ryuen had probably already begun targeting Class B.
If that was the case, then given Class A's usual approach, its points should have increased faster than Class D's.
Ryuen was certainly greedy, but there was no denying that he had dealt both Class A and Class B a considerable blow! Was Ryuen really that powerful? Hoshino was a little surprised.
"Wow!" "We finally have some points! We can finally stop eating those free vegetable meals!"...
The classroom erupted into a commotion.
Chabashira-sensei looked at everyone below the podium without changing her expression. In terms of results, Class D had indeed made the biggest gains, even if it was thanks to Ryuen.
"There are a few other things. Regarding the last exam..." Chabashira-sensei was quite conscientious, and began reviewing the results of the previous exam!
Once class began, Hoshino started spacing out again.
Ryuen's actions had even affected Class A quite a bit. It seemed that Class A wasn't united either.
Hoshino had a rough idea of what Ryuen could do. His methods might work well against Class B, but Hoshino didn't think it would be easy to achieve such results against Class A, led by Sakayanagi. Although she had only met her briefly, Hoshino felt Sakayanagi was more dangerous than Ryuen! Of course, when it came to physical strength, that was another matter entirely.
For the most part, Hoshino hadn't found anything interesting since the start of the month.
She had plenty of personal points, and no particular way to earn more for the time being, so Hoshino had returned to her ordinary routine.
It had been a long time since she'd gone to the library.
As she walked there, the place suddenly felt unfamiliar. It had only been a month, but somehow she felt as if everything had changed, even though nothing was different. Hoshino couldn't figure it out.
She'd meant to keep up the good habit of visiting the library every day. Sigh, what a shame. Still, she hadn't been idle this past month, which was something to be grateful for.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Shiina in quite a while either!
Maybe because neither of them liked going out much, Hoshino had never run into Shiina elsewhere. It was only when she visited the library that she sometimes saw the girl sitting quietly in that "secret base," reading.
As far as Hoshino remembered, Shiina read a wide variety of books: classics, light novels, domestic and foreign works... She didn't seem to stick to any particular genre. The girl also read incredibly fast—at least, Hoshino could barely keep up. She turned the pages astonishingly quickly!
Lost in thought, Hoshino stepped into the library again. Not much had changed, except that there were definitely a lot more people inside.
After two exams, most people had begun to realize how important studying was. Compared to the classroom or dormitory, the library was certainly a better place to concentrate. In fact, most people here seemed to be holding study sessions, gathering in groups of three or five! Only one or two people were sitting "alone."
There seemed to be a clear dividing line, with the classes keeping quite a distance from one another.
Why were there so few familiar faces? They'd all been trading secondhand goods just a few days ago, so how did it already feel like she didn't know anyone? Was she face-blind? Hoshino suddenly began to wonder.
She shook her head, putting those thoughts aside, and began her search for books.
It had been a month, so the sequel to that otherworldly novel she'd started reading should be out by now.
After asking the librarian at the front desk, Hoshino finally learned exactly where the novel was. Yes, the exact location! The librarian could pinpoint the section, the row of shelves, and even the shelf it was on. That was pretty impressive.
What was even more surprising was that the librarian hadn't looked it up on a computer. She'd relied entirely on memory! Hoshino couldn't help growing deeply curious about her.
Following the librarian's directions, Hoshino went to the light novel section. After searching for a little while, she finally found the series on one of the shelves.
"Something doesn't seem right. I don't think this series was here last time. Did they reorganize it?" She wondered briefly, then let it go. It wasn't important.
With the latest volume in hand, Hoshino returned to her "secret base." As luck would have it, Shiina was there too! That girl really did love reading.
"Hey, Shiina. Good afternoon!" Since they already knew each other, Hoshino didn't feel the need to be reserved and greeted her casually.
At the sound of her voice, the girl seemed to snap out of a dream. She slowly lifted her head, and when she saw Hoshino, a hint of reproach appeared in her gentle eyes.
"...Good afternoon, Hoshino. You haven't been here in a long time. Have you been especially busy lately?"
Though she was greeting Hoshino, what was with that tone?
"Uh... no, I haven't really been busy." Hoshino turned her head away instinctively.
"Then why did you come to our classroom? And why did Ryuen transfer personal points to you?" Shiina looked suspicious. But with that expression on her face, she somehow seemed adorable.
"You know about that?"
"...Because I'm a Class C student too! And Ibuki and I are good friends. I just asked her."
Ibuki? Oh, the blue-haired girl.
Hoshino had figured someone would have seen it. It wasn't exactly a secret, and all it would take was asking around. Still, she was curious about how Ryuen had handled things in the end.
"...About that, um—I stumbled across his secret?" Hoshino didn't know how to explain it, so she could only be vague.
"Oh? What secret?" Shiina's curiosity was piqued, and she looked at Hoshino with interest.
Shiina probably knew about it too.
"Um... I caught him... winning Kaneda over?" After taking a moment to choose her words, Hoshino finally told her the truth. "By the way, Shiina, you're in Class C too. You weren't also..."
The moment the words left her mouth, Hoshino regretted them a little.
"No, I'm fine! I don't really care who manages the class. Although I do have some misgivings about Ryuen's methods, if he can lead the class forward, then I have no objections!" Shiina's face was gentle, as though the class's affairs had nothing to do with her.
She read every day, yet still knew a great deal about everything happening in her class.
Only then did Hoshino realize that the girl in front of her might be quite a remarkable person too!
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