Rain tapped against the window glass. The grades and point report posted on the blackboard looked like a festering wound. The boys in the failing group slumped in their seats. Even the hotheads who'd been picking fights with Takagahara were now staring blankly, and most of the other students were absorbed in their phones.
At the start of the school year, everyone had received 100,000 points. Now more than half the class had less than 10,000 left in their accounts.
"What am I supposed to do this month with no points?"
Someone's voice broke the brief silence.
"I've only got 2,000 points left. How am I supposed to get through the month with that?"
"I had 20,000 left, but I used it all up yesterday because I thought we'd get more points today."
The classroom was in an uproar, practically in chaos.
"Bam." Yukimura slammed both hands on his desk and seemed to mutter to himself, "You've got to be kidding me. Forget the points—I want to know why I was assigned to Class D."
Hirata Yosuke stood at the front of the classroom, absently fiddling with a button on his uniform. He looked a little lost in the face of the situation. "Everyone, let's not panic." His voice was as gentle as ever. "I understand how you're all feeling, but we need to calm down first."
"Calm down? Who'd be okay with being called incompetent and useless? Besides, if the classes are really ranked according to Class Points, why was I put in Class D? I can't accept that!" Yukimura turned on Hirata, who'd stepped forward, and vented his anger at him.
"Yukimura, I understand how you feel, but there's no need to take it out on me."
"Quit pretending to be such a goody-goody!" Yukimura suddenly charged at Hirata and grabbed him by the collar. "You're not happy being stuck in a place like this, either, are you? Aren't you tired of playing the 'gentle class leader' every day? In the end, the points system is going to grind us all into dust anyway."
"You two, please calm down. I think... I think the teacher was so harsh because she wants us to improve," Kushida said as she stepped in to separate them. "And we've only been at school for a month. This month might be tough, and we may have to get by on the free vegetable meals in the cafeteria, but if we do well, we might earn Class Points. Then we'll have personal points next month. So we should all work together to raise our Class Points. I... I'm right, aren't I?"
Kushida's words eased the anger between the two and calmed the rest of the class.
"Sorry. I just..." Yukimura spoke first.
"It's okay. I wasn't exactly blameless, either." Hirata patted Yukimura on the shoulder to show he didn't hold it against him.
"Ding!" Takahashi took out his phone. The custom-made fortune slips he'd ordered from a handicrafts shop were ready; he could pick them up after school.
"Everyone, before class starts, I'd like you to hear me out for a moment." After a brief discussion with Kushida, one of the class's mainstays, Hirata addressed the room from the front.
"You all know that we currently have no Class Points at all, which means we have no personal points, either. You don't want to go through the rest of school with no personal points, do you?"
Hirata glanced around at the class before continuing:
"So, if we want to earn points next month, we need to work together this month and put a stop to all disciplinary violations. I hope everyone will keep an eye on one another and make sure nobody is late, skips class, or sleeps during lessons..."
Most of the class agreed with Hirata, but not all of them.
"Heh. Why should we listen to you? We don't even know how to earn points. What if we follow the rules for a whole month and still don't get any? There'd be no point in making ourselves behave."
Takahashi looked at Sudo and thought, Given how things are in the class right now, I should just go with the flow. If I undermine the little unity they've managed to build, I'll quickly become a target. And if they fail this month, they'll blame you even if you haven't done anything. People always need an excuse to cover up their own failure. And, damn, you still haven't figured out that points are tied to behavior, even now? That's why the teachers don't care how we act in class. You're such an idiot. I'll have to keep an eye on him from now on. With a brain like that, the other classes could easily find a way to take advantage of him.
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