The List of Dropouts

When it comes to gossip, everyone is the most enthusiastic.

Right now, Class A's group chat was buzzing with discussion about what happened in Class D that afternoon.

Minami Kosho: "Has everyone heard? About what happened in Class D."

Kohashi Yume: "I know a little, but not the full details."

Yuki Gyakukai: "What? What happened? Why don't I know anything? Are you all ganging up to leave me out? [Angry]"

Honami Ichinose: "[Panicked shaking head] Huh--? I don't know either. Am I being left out too?"

Shibata Hayate: "Why's no one talking? Can someone explain what happened? I was at the soccer field in the afternoon, I really don't know anything. [Laughing]"

Ryuji Kanzaki, in his dorm room, watched the bunch of goofballs in the group chat and couldn't help but shake his head.

Ryuji Kanzaki: "Let me explain. Roughly, after the midterms ended this afternoon, an argument broke out in Class D. Because of the past exam papers, Hirata indiscriminately laid hands on some of his classmates."

Chihiro Shiramami: "Scary... [Trembling]"

Chie Hoshinomiya: "I can vouch for that. Everything Kanzaki-kun said is true."

Honami Ichinose: "How does Teacher Hoshinomiya know? [Confused]"

Chie Hoshinomiya: "Because Hirata-kun from Class D is currently lying in the infirmary. [Wink]"

Honami Ichinose: "..."

The group chats for Classes B and C were also discussing this matter.

"Past exam papers actually exist? Doesn't that count as cheating?"

"Haven't you seen the notice? The past exam papers were reported the day before the first-year midterms."

"That's rough... So Class D didn't cheat; they were set up..."

Sakayanagi Arisu watched the messages flickering on her phone, pondered for a moment, and a faint smile crept onto her lips. "What a nasty trick, Gyakukai-kun. I wonder how many people in Class D will end up expelled this time."

There wasn't much need to overthink this. By connecting all the clues, she could roughly pinpoint who orchestrated this incident.

She knew there were capable individuals among the first-years, but some of them had no motive to do this.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Class D's self-proclaimed genius, had no reason to act.

Sho Ryuuen, the tyrant of Class C, would find his optimal move in closing the gap between Class C and Class B, so he had no reason to do this either.

As for Class B—Sakayanagi Arisu's own class—it had already split into three factions: the Katsuragi faction, the neutrals, and the Sakayanagi faction. They were all too busy with internal strife to bother with other classes.

And with Class D sitting at zero class points, they had no strategic value worth targeting.

At the Student Council, Manabu Horikita was still handling affairs.

Across from him, Secretary Tachibana was diligently scrolling through information, her two little buns bobbing as she tilted her head.

Kouhei Katsuragi, the only first-year in the Student Council, sat at his desk, meticulously processing the tasks assigned to him.

"Katsuragi."

Kouhei Katsuragi set down his work and looked up at the Student Council President.

Due to his alopecia, his bald head reflected the light, momentarily blinding the bespectacled Manabu Horikita.

With a resigned sigh, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"A violent incident occurred in first-year Class D. Since you're a first-year and should be familiar with each class's situation, I'm leaving this matter to you."

"Yes, President."

Adhering to a strictly businesslike attitude, Kouhei Katsuragi left the Student Council and quickly made his way to the school infirmary.

Along the way, he kept contacting students who knew the full sequence of events, asking them to recount what had happened.

Of course, this wasn't the most important part.

Knowing the facts was useless on its own. The key was that if one of the two parties insisted on pursuing the matter to the end, then one side would inevitably face punishment.

In the worst case, both sides would face expulsion.

That was, of course, if someone pressed charges. If no one did, then the matter would be handled differently.

Arriving at the infirmary door, he knocked lightly and stepped inside.

"Katsuragi-kun, I'll leave this to you."

Bruised all over, his face a patchwork of black and blue, Yousuke Hirata sat up from his bed as Kouhei Katsuragi arrived.

His body still ached somewhat.

Kouhei Katsuragi looked at Hirata in this state, momentarily at a loss for words.

"I'm here from the student council. I want to ask—are you going to hold Yamauchi and the others responsible? Given your condition, this clearly qualifies as severe bullying."

Yousuke Hirata shook his head.

Seeing him like this, Katsuragi's expression turned serious: "Even if your injuries are considered minor, you were still ganged up on by seven or eight people. That's a serious violation of school rules. Even if they're your classmates, do you really need to cover for them like this?"

"No." Hirata gave a bitter smile. "After all, it's all my fault. I just hope that when the exam results come out tomorrow, they won't be expelled."

Though he didn't understand Hirata's reasoning, Katsuragi maintained a businesslike attitude. After getting his answer, he went to find Haruki Yamauchi and the others.

Because of their class point deficit, they'd been eating free wild vegetables for a long time and playing video games in their dorms. So finding them was easy—Katsuragi went door to door in the dormitory.

When he asked them whether they would hold Hirata responsible for striking first, some hesitated.

Yamauchi didn't hesitate at all to press charges.

"I'm the one who got hit. What do I care if he's lying in a hospital bed? It's all his fault! I'm going to make sure he gets expelled just like me!"

Katsuragi looked at Haruki Yamauchi with some exasperation. As an outsider, he didn't feel it was his place to judge.

"Is that so? I've recorded your demands. We'll notify you of the results tomorrow."

The next day, each class was tense.

Class A (Reverse Class): All passed, earned 67 class points.

Class B (Katsuragi's Class): All passed, earned 73 class points.

Class C (Ryuuen's Class): All passed, earned 16 class points.

Class D (Hirata's Class): 7 failed, earned 0 class points.

The atmosphere in the Class D classroom was oppressively grim.

Yousuke Hirata, still covered in bruises, had taken his seat early.

Seeing him, his Class D classmates whispered among themselves, their words unclear.

Finally, their homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira, entered.

Without any preamble, under the resentful gazes of the students, she picked up a piece of chalk and wrote this month's class points on the board.

Still zero.

Then she posted the so-called midterm exam results on the blackboard.

"You really surprise me..." Hirata held a faint hope, but her next words made his heart—and the hearts of the entire class—sink.

"A bunch of hopeless defective products. Hah. Seven people expelled in just the second month of school—unheard of. You lot of trash have set a new record."

Looking at these worthless good-for-nothings, Chabashira let out a sneer.

Then she quickly took a red pen and drew a passing line at the bottom of the score sheet.

"See it clearly?"

Those whose names fell below the red line were filled with despair.

Some of those who had participated in beating Hirata lowered their heads in shame as they saw their own names and his scores.

From the score sheet, it was clear that Hirata's midterm results were abnormally low.

But because of him, some of the weaker students had gained an extra point of hope.

Finally, looking at these fools with disappointment, Chabashira spoke coldly from the podium:

"Those to be expelled: Haruki Yamauchi, Kanji Ike, Satsuki Shinohara, Hideo Tonokura, Ryotaro Hondo, Soushi Miyamoto, Wataru Isekii."

"Those whose names I called, pack your things. Leave the school on your own this afternoon."

Just as the class was sinking into gloom at the sheer number of expulsions—

"Wait!!!"