After returning to the dormitory, Onizuka thought about Hoshinomiya-sensei's words by himself.
Twenty million points?
That was quite a sum. If he went about it the usual way, it might take him a lifetime to save that much, right?
Fortunately, he wasn't someone who liked doing things the usual way.
Time flew by, and the third week of the school year soon arrived.
Aside from most of the boys in the class having a meal together in the cafeteria, today wasn't much different from any other day.
The third period was social studies with Chabashira-sensei. Usually, Chabashira-sensei didn't bother with the noisy state of the classroom and simply taught the material in the textbook.
But today was different.
"Quiet down, all of you!"
Chabashira-sensei suddenly entered a "stern mode" the students had never seen before, and the classroom fell silent in an instant.
"What's wrong, Sae-sensei~?" asked one of the usually rather lively students in the class.
"The school will be holding a small test at the end of the month. But don't worry. The results of this test will only be used as a reference and won't appear on your report cards."
"But cheating is absolutely forbidden!" Chabashira-sensei added, as if she'd just thought of something else.
The test papers soon reached Onizuka. He glanced over them. They were all easy questions, so easy that even the class's slackers and idiots ought to be able to answer them.
But the three questions on the back of the paper were suddenly much harder, with no transition at all, as if they didn't want anyone to answer them correctly.
Still, they were no challenge for Onizuka.
He soon finished the test and handed it in early, then returned to the dormitory to rest.
This test was probably one of the factors that would determine how many points their class received in the future, right?
Judging by how they studied day to day, probably only a handful of them could get good results.
Onizuka could hardly wait to see them wail after learning the truth.
...Ring, ring, ring...
The first class bell of May rang.
As usual, the first period was "homeroom time," led by the homeroom teacher.
Chabashira-sensei soon walked into the classroom carrying several sheets of paper rolled into cylinders.
Her face was stern, even more so than when she'd been in "stern mode" last time.
The D Class students, who usually liked to fool around, showed some restraint when they saw Chabashira-sensei's face.
When she saw that everyone had quieted down, Chabashira-sensei placed the rolled-up papers on the lectern.
"It's homeroom time. Before I discuss something important, if you have anything to ask, you'd better ask now."
At her words, the students began discussing things among themselves. In the end, Yosuke Hirata asked the question.
"Sensei, may I ask why our points for this month haven't been deposited yet? Many students don't have enough points left to pay for lunch."
Chabashira Sae gave a couple of cold chuckles.
"From the first day of school, I already emphasized that, barring unforeseen circumstances, points would be deposited into your student cards on the first of every month."
"Clearly, this month isn't an exception."
Kanji Ike, sitting off to one side, couldn't stay seated.
"But, sensei, our student cards really haven't received any points!"
"Heh heh heh heh. You really are idiots. I've never had students as useless as you!"
Chabashira Sae suddenly erupted. Her gloomy presence pressed down on Kanji Ike, who had just stood up, and he fell back onto the floor.
"Now, everyone sit down. Get back to your seats!"
At her words, Kanji Ike hurriedly picked up the chair he'd knocked over and sat down on it.
"Good. You're not so stupid that you can't even understand what I'm saying. I'll say it again: this month's points have all been deposited into your student cards without error!"
It's just that the points are zero.
"It's just that the points are zero."
Onizuka's thought echoed Chabashira Sae's words.
The students below the lectern immediately erupted.
"Why? Didn't the school say it would give us a hundred thousand points every month?"
"What do we do, what do we do? I even borrowed fifty thousand points from a second-year student, and I promised to pay it back today!"
"This can't be right, can it? How could something like this happen!"
Listening to the uproar below, Chabashira Sae finally couldn't take it anymore. She slammed both hands onto the lectern with a loud bang.
"I never said the school would give you a fixed hundred thousand points every month!"
"You brought this miserable state upon yourselves. You really are something. You squandered all the Class Points in the first month of school. You're a bunch of 'talented' people the likes of which have never been seen before."
Then, Chabashira Sae used a magnet to stick a sheet of paper to the blackboard.
"These are the mistakes you made over the past month. If you have questions about the points the school deducted, you can come up and check after class."
"But for now, sit down!" she yelled when she saw the students starting to stir again.
"Take a look. These are your Class Points. Look carefully at the difference between you and the other classes."
Chabashira-sensei put several more sheets of paper on the blackboard. They listed Class A through Class D, each with a number beside it.
Class A had nine hundred and forty, Class B had six hundred and fifty, Class C had four hundred and ninety, and, naturally, Class D had zero.
"Every Class Point will be multiplied by a hundred and issued to you as individual points in your accounts."
"By the way, don't think that good behavior will make your Class Points go up. Aside from certain Special Exams, this process is irreversible."
"Also, these are your test scores from the end of last month."
Chabashira-sensei put another sheet of paper on the blackboard and drew a red line at the score of thirty-two.
(Onizuka: That's one huge blackboard!)
"You're really lucky. If this had been an official exam, our class might have lost seven students all at once."
"What do you mean, 'lost seven students'?" Yamauchi Haruki couldn't help shouting from the side.
"What an idiot. 'Lost' means expelled, doesn't it?"
There was no doubt that the only person who would dare say something like that at a time like this, apart from Chabashira Sae, was Koenji Rokusuke.
"What's the matter with you!"
"Quiet!!" Chabashira-sensei stopped a fight from breaking out in the classroom and braced both hands on the lectern.
"How do you think this school maintains a one-hundred-percent graduation rate? By throwing out trash like you, of course. Then all that's left are the elites, and the rate is naturally one hundred percent."
"Don't think you can just help yourself to free lunches at this school. If you're here to waste time, get out while you can!"
With that, Chabashira-sensei slammed the door shut and left the classroom.