Chapter 11

"That's what I said. It's fine if you don't believe me—we can sign a wager agreement. It'll be completely fair." Hirata hesitated, not because he was afraid of taking responsibility, but because he was worried his classmates might suffer even greater losses because of him. "Honestly, didn't I say we're running out of time? Class starts in a few minutes." Yuyuan had deliberately chosen the break between classes—a time long enough to finalize an agreement, but too short to consider it carefully—to strike a deal with Class D. He wanted to put them under pressure, and continued to press them. "It seems the people in Class D don't want to know after all. What a shame. I'm afraid your personal points next month won't be very high, so I'll have to look for another buyer. Goodbye." The others hadn't reacted much at first, but the moment they heard they might receive fewer points, they grew uneasy and turned to whisper to their friends. "Wait a moment, please." A beautiful girl with long brown hair stopped Yuyuan, then made a suggestion to Hirata. "Hirata, didn't he say we'd still make a profit even if it cost a million, and that he'd give it to us for free if it wasn't worth that much? Either way, we won't lose anything, so there's no harm in signing." Seeing someone take the lead, the others chimed in. "Exactly, Hirata. At least the agreement gives us some protection. Who knows if he'll make something up to trick us?" "Right! If it isn't worth that much, we could save a huge amount of points for a whole month." Seeing that all his classmates agreed, Hirata had no choice but to nod. "Yuyuan, we agree to sign the agreement."

"An excellent choice." Yuyuan took out the agreement he'd prepared earlier and handed it to Hirata. "Go ahead. I've already signed it. If you don't mind waiting, I'll tell you about it after school. It's a long story. Of course, if you're in a hurry, I can come back during the next break, but I probably won't be able to finish explaining it in one go. You'd have to spend two breaks on it." This time, Class D quickly reached a consensus. Honestly, having to sit here and listen during break was worse than being killed. "That's fine. After school works too." After signing, Hirata received confirmation from his classmates and agreed to Yuyuan's suggestion. "Then I'll take my leave." Yuyuan picked up the contract and took Kamuro's hand, giving her a meaningful look that carried a hint of threat. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Masumi." "I-It's fine. Now that you're done, let's go back." A flush spread across Kamuro's face again, like when he'd pinned her against the wall. She obediently let Yuyuan hold her hand. Yuyuan left Class D under the envious gazes of its boys. On the way back, Masumi Kamuro kept her head down the entire time, lost in thought. Seeing that Kamuro hadn't said a word since they left Class D and still hadn't made any move to pull away, Yuyuan wore a playful smile. "Snap out of it, Masumi. I've reached your classroom. Are you hoping I'll escort you all the way inside, holding your hand?" "Why would I think that?! I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going back." Coming to her senses, Kamuro quickly pulled her hand free and ran toward Class A. Yuyuan made it into his classroom just before the bell rang. His classmates were all sitting properly at their desks, waiting for the teacher to arrive, and he looked pleased. But by the time school ended, he wasn't smiling anymore. "I can't believe I forgot to ask Kamuro to come back after school. I shouldn't have bothered with her." He'd gone to Class D with a girl during break, but now he was alone after school. Wouldn't that make it look like he'd been putting on an act the whole time? Just as Yuyuan was regretting agreeing to that masochist's request, he noticed Ichinose slowly packing up her desk. "Honami, sorry to bother you. I have a deal to discuss with Class D. Could we go there together first, then talk?" "That's fine, but if it's a business deal, would it be convenient for me to come along?" Yuyuan waved a hand. "It's fine. It's about points. The other classes haven't caught on yet, so I'm taking this opportunity to earn some." Ichinose nodded without committing herself. She didn't think it was right to take points from others, but she wouldn't oppose Yuyuan if that was what he wanted to do. "I didn't expect you to have thought that far ahead already, Yuyuan. You really are capable." As they spoke, the two arrived at Class D's door. To Yuyuan's surprise, every seat in the classroom was occupied. It seemed they'd been spending quite a lot these past two days. And there was someone unexpected standing beside the podium: Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae. "Everyone in Class D, we meet again. First, let me introduce you. This is Ichinose Honami, the class representative of Class B." Seeing Yuyuan with a different girl beside him, the people in Class D started speculating about the relationship between the three of them. "Hey, do you think those three are involved with each other?" "Are you crazy? It's barely been any time since school started. How could he have landed two gorgeous girls so quickly?" "No, no. He's so handsome, so I bet they're fighting over him. Heh heh heh, men... slurp" Watching the increasingly absurd scene unfold before him—and seeing one girl lost in some fantasy, nearly drooling—Yuyuan couldn't take it anymore. He rapped his knuckles on the desk in front of him. "Do you want to hear the information, or are you going to keep gossiping? If you want to listen, then sit quietly." The few he'd called out in front of everyone looked embarrassed. But since they'd been gossiping in front of someone else, they couldn't exactly argue back. Once Class D had finally quieted down, Yuyuan told them everything about the points. As the others whispered among themselves, trying to take in information that overturned everything they thought they knew about the school, Horikita Suzune waited and waited for the news she most wanted to hear. "You said before that there was a pattern to how the school assigned students to classes. You didn't mention that just now, did you?" Horikita was growing anxious. If she'd been placed in Class D because the assignment was random, she could reassure herself that she'd simply been unlucky. But if the school really assigned classes according to a particular pattern, she couldn't imagine what she and these people might have in common. "That's true, but I figured you wouldn't be able to focus on the points if I told you first, so I had to start with that. Now that everyone's had time to digest it, I'll tell you." Looking at the baffled Class D students and Chabashira Sae, whose expression hadn't changed, Yuyuan wore an inscrutable smile as he explained. "I'll keep it brief. The pattern behind the class assignments is actually very simple. The school assigns students to classes according to their abilities. We know Class A is the best, so take a guess—which class do you think is the worst?" His words left Class D stunned. They no longer cared about Yuyuan's teasing way of addressing Horikita. None of them could accept what he'd said, while their homeroom teacher, Chabashira, remained silent. "That's impossible! How can the school arbitrarily rank students like that?" someone protested, stubbornly denying it. Others refused to believe it and decided to ask Chabashira directly. "Chabashira-sensei, is what he said true? Is that really how the school sees us?"final