The next day, during lunch break.
Sunlight slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the karaoke room, casting streaks of light and shadow across the polished floor.
It was the same time as yesterday, but this time, no one was alone. The five core members of Class B had gathered together.
They had come to the karaoke room to discuss the information they had obtained.
The five of them sat around a long table that could comfortably seat six, with several mostly untouched lunches arranged in the center.
Sitting to the left of the head of the table was Chihiro Shiranami. She had taken only two bites of her sandwich, clearly far too distracted to focus on her food.
Every so often, she glanced at the people passing outside the window, as if checking whether anyone suspicious was listening in.
Across from her sat Yume Kobashi, a girl with short blue hair and a gentle, composed air. She had her hands clasped on the table, her expression calm, though a hint of seriousness showed between her brows.
Sitting right beside Yume Kobashi was Asako Amikura, whose purple hair was tied in a high ponytail. Her notebook lay open in front of her, covered in notes written in a hurried scrawl.
On the right side of the head of the table sat Honami Ichinose.
She was dressed in a neat school uniform, her rose-gold hair tied in a low ponytail behind her head, leaving her smooth neck exposed.
As always, she sat with impeccable grace. But on closer inspection, the fingers wrapped around her glass were slightly pale at the knuckles.
Sitting directly across from her was Ryuji Kanzaki, his short purple hair neatly trimmed. His eyes held a calm sharpness, like a blade that had yet to leave its sheath but already gave off an edge.
The five exchanged glances, confirming no one else had entered the room, before Ryuji Kanzaki broke the silence.
"You've all finished investigating, right?"
His voice was neither too loud nor too quiet, echoing clearly through the small room.
The four girls nodded, each with a different expression—some grave, some troubled, and some still visibly shaken.
"Then..."
Ryuji Kanzaki's gaze swept over them. "What do you think now about what Mazumi Mami said yesterday—that 'this school has special rules'?"
"By now... we can be pretty sure it's true."
Yume Kobashi was the first to speak.
Her voice was gentle and soft, but her tone was certain. "Yesterday afternoon, I made a point of visiting the upper-year classroom buildings. I walked through every corridor from the first to the third floor, and I really did find that—there was a blackboard, about thirty centimeters square, hanging on the side wall by every classroom entrance."
She gestured, indicating the blackboards she remembered.
"They showed the class name and a fairly large number. At first, I wasn't sure what it meant. Then, when an upper-year student walked by, I pretended I was lost and asked for directions. I casually asked what the number on the blackboard meant..."
She paused. "The student gave me a strange look, but eventually told me it was 'Class Points.' He also said that at the end of every month, the school used those points to calculate how many Personal Points each student would receive for the following month. The conversion rate was—Class Points multiplied by one hundred equaled the Personal Points each student would receive the next month."
For a moment, the air in the room seemed to freeze.
"So that means..."
Chihiro Shiranami murmured, "If our Class Points don't reach a thousand by next month, none of us will get a single point?"
"In theory, yes."
Yume Kobashi nodded. "So Mazumi Mami's information is true, at least on the two key points: that Class Points exist and that they affect our personal income."
Ryuji Kanzaki folded his arms across his chest, lightly tapping one arm with his fingertips. "That's certainly not good news for us. We reacted too slowly. The other classes may have learned about Class Points through various channels long ago, while we didn't hear about them until yesterday, from the Class A leader."
He looked at Asako Amikura. "Amikura, did you find out anything about the free supply distribution points I asked you to investigate?"
"I did."
Asako Amikura opened her notebook. "I marked every free supply distribution point on the campus map. There are seven in total: the warehouse beside the cafeteria, the far end of the first-floor corridor in the classroom building, the gym entrance, the library's side door, and the common areas on the first floor of the dormitory."
She lightly tapped several spots on the rough map in her notebook. "I also took special note of the people lining up to collect supplies. Most of them were upper-year students. They looked numb and moved with practiced ease, clearly long-time regulars. The lines were consistently about the same length, with ten to twenty people waiting at each location."
"I also took a few of the free supplies back to examine their quality. They were usable, but only just. The towels felt rough, the toothbrush bristles were stiff, and the toothpaste tasted strange...but they weren't unusable. Honestly, unless they were really short on money, I doubt most people would want to use these things."
She looked up, her expression serious. "The problem is—supplies of this quality shouldn't attract so many people. The school gives out so many points every month. If you're even a little careful with your spending, who couldn't afford better-quality daily necessities? Unless..."
"Unless their Personal Points really are affected by their Class Points, leaving them seriously short on spending money."
Ryuji Kanzaki picked up where she left off. "So they have no choice but to collect these free supplies to get by."
"Exactly."
Asako Amikura nodded. "That's why I think these free supply distribution points are a safety net for when a class's Class Points hit zero. That further confirms that Mazumi Mami's information is true."
"Just as I thought..."
Ryuji Kanzaki closed his eyes briefly and exhaled. "The classes really are meant to compete with each other. Class Points really are the lifeblood of every class."
He turned to Honami Ichinose and Chihiro Shiranami. "What about you two? You investigated different things yesterday. What did you find?"
At his words, Chihiro Shiranami's face fell. She lowered her head, frustrated and unwilling to accept the result.
"...Sorry. I went to look for Chisato yesterday. I thought I could get friendly with her and maybe coax some useful information out of her..."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter. "But she wouldn't give me a chance. No matter how subtly I tried to sound her out—not even when I used inviting her to dinner or going shopping together as an excuse to get close—she wouldn't take the bait."
"Every time I brought up 'Class Points' or 'special rules,' she immediately changed the subject. Either she suddenly pretended to have something to do, or she laughed and tickled me, cutting me off before I could finish..."
She lifted her head and looked at Honami Ichinose with a plaintive expression. "I really did my best...but she was too crafty. I was no match for her at all..."
"That was to be expected."
Ryuji Kanzaki didn't seem to blame her. His tone remained calm. "After all, she's a maid of the Mizuki Family. If she weren't sufficiently alert and capable of handling herself, she wouldn't have been chosen to look after their young master personally. Getting information out of her probably wouldn't be much easier than asking Mazumi Mami directly."
Chihiro Shiranami knew Ryuji Kanzaki was trying to let her off the hook, but she still puffed out her cheeks, looking deeply dissatisfied.
"My results weren't much different from yours."
Honami Ichinose finally spoke. Her voice held a hint of rueful resignation. "Yesterday afternoon, I went to speak with several Second Year and Third Year students, hoping to ask them whether 'there were any special exams or tests coming up for us new students.' But..."
She gave a wry smile and shook her head. "They all reacted in exactly the same way. First, they looked stunned. Then their expressions turned strange. After that, they gave vague answers like 'you'll find out eventually' or 'I can't really talk about that right now,' before hurriedly making excuses to leave."
"That reaction tells us two things."
Ryuji Kanzaki held up two fingers. "First—there really is some kind of special exam or evaluation system for new students, and it has a crucial impact on how many Class Points we'll receive in the future."
"Second—the school, or some rule imposed by the school, forbids upper-year students from telling new students directly about it. That's why they were so evasive."
He lowered his hand, his tone turning slightly rueful. "And right now, the only person who clearly knows how this system works is Mazumi Mami."
"He managed to figure out this hidden rule soon after enrolling, then laid out the bait yesterday with perfect precision to lure us in. As expected of the Class A leader. The Mizuki Family is the foremost family, so they really do have access to information and resources that ordinary people like us can't get, and they can get them first."
His words once again made the room feel heavy.
"But that's beside the point."
Ryuji Kanzaki brought the discussion back around. "The question we need to focus on is whether we should pay one million points to buy information about the special exam system from Mazumi Mami."
He looked around at the four of them, his tone serious and firm. "If we pay that huge sum, the personal accounts of all forty students in our class will be nearly emptied."
"For some time afterward, we'll have almost no room for error. We'll need to scrutinize every unnecessary expense. More importantly, once we get the information, we'll be forced to some extent to rely on Class A. At least in the short term, we won't be able to resist them in any way."
"What happens if we don't pay?"
Chihiro Shiranami blurted out, "We can figure it out ourselves! If Mazumi Mami can discover the rules, why can't we?"
"Because we don't have time."
Asako Amikura calmly pointed out the heart of the problem.
"We're already starting far too late. Mazumi Mami figured out the rules long ago, while all we know so far is that Class Points exist. We don't even know how many Class Points our class currently has."
"If we refuse to buy the information and decide to investigate on our own, can we guarantee that we'll figure out all the rules before the next evaluation begins? If we can't..."
Her voice grew somber. "We'll have to deal not only with attacks from Class A, but also with Class C and Class D watching for a chance to pounce. If our Class Points really do hit zero, the other classes won't pass up the chance to kick us while we're down. Then we'd be facing more than just the threat of Class A."
"Amikura is right."
Yume Kobashi nodded, her gentle voice tinged with concern. "We got off to a late start. We're already a step behind everyone else. We have very few choices left—almost none, really."
The four girls' gazes turned to Honami Ichinose in unison.
Chihiro Shiranami looked at her and asked softly, "So what should we do, Honami?"
Honami Ichinose fell silent for a moment.
She lowered her eyes to the cup of tea before her, which had long since stopped steaming. A complicated light flickered in her gaze.
After a moment, she looked up and made her decision. "...I think we should ask everyone what they think after all. Something this important shouldn't be decided privately by just a few of us. We should let everyone vote and let all of Class B decide whether we should pay the one million points."
Ryuji Kanzaki's brow furrowed slightly.
"That may be true, but Ichinose—you should understand that you're the leader of our class. A leader needs to act like one. If this news spreads, it could easily cause panic within the class."
"Not everyone will be able to face this calmly, the way we have. Some people might act irrationally out of fear. Others might lose faith in the class..."
Ryuji Kanzaki said.
"But if I make the decision on my own without everyone's agreement..."
Honami Ichinose raised her head. Her amethyst eyes shone with earnest determination. "That wouldn't be right."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unmistakable conviction.
"I don't want to be the kind of leader who makes decisions unilaterally. I came to this school because I wanted to enjoy a fulfilling high school life together with everyone. I don't want anyone to be forced to accept an outcome they don't want because of my decision. So..."
A gentle but resolute smile appeared on her face.
"Everyone should decide this together. If everyone is willing to trust me and walk this road with me, then whatever the outcome, I'll face it together with them."
Honami Ichinose said.
"Honami...I knew you were the best!"
Chihiro Shiranami's eyes reddened slightly, her voice full of emotion.
Yume Kobashi and Asako Amikura didn't react as excitedly as Chihiro Shiranami, but their gazes, too, held deep approval and admiration for Honami Ichinose.
Only Ryuji Kanzaki, looking at Honami Ichinose's gentle smile, couldn't help feeling a deep sense of concern.
"Is this kind of personality really suited to being a leader?"
He didn't say the words aloud, only quietly burying his unease deep in his eyes.