Favoritism from Chabashira-sensei? Revenge? / Chapter 34: Arrogant Without Even Realizing It

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae took out her phone and began to read aloud. "Tardiness and absences: ninety-eight times in total. Talking privately or using your phones during class: three hundred and ninety-one times. You managed to do all that in a single month. At this school, a class's performance is reflected in its points.

"As a result, you lost all the one hundred thousand points you should have received. I believe I explained this clearly at the entrance ceremony: this school measures students by their abilities. And this time, you received a rating of zero. That's how it is."

To be honest, this was the first time Chabashira Sae had seen these figures, too. She'd been dumbfounded when she learned that Class D had zero Class Points that morning, but she hadn't expected these students to have behaved so badly.

"You should be grateful this school doesn't allow negative scores. Otherwise, given your conduct, heh..."

Chabashira-sensei left the rest unsaid, but everyone understood. If negative scores were possible, they might truly have no way to survive at this school.

"But we were never told that our points would go down. If you'd explained it, everyone would've stopped coming late or whispering in class, right?"

What kind of idiot was this? Shuichi Kanda's patience was at its limit.

"Do you need a teacher to tell you not to be late to school or whisper during class? What are you, a preschooler? Didn't you learn this stuff in elementary and middle school?"

He couldn't take it anymore. Shuichi Kanda couldn't take it anymore.

"Huh? Then can you honestly say you've never done any of that? Been late or left early, or whispered during class?"

When Kanji Ike couldn't come up with a rebuttal, he started picking a fight over that instead.

Everyone did it, so you had no right to criticize me, right?

That was what he'd thought, but there was no way Shuichi Kanda would give him the chance.

"Then want to make a bet? If I've caused even one point to be deducted from our class's rating this month, I'll give you fifty thousand Private Points.

"But if I haven't, I want you to apologize to me on your knees in front of the whole class. We'll make this bet in front of Chabashira-sensei, who represents the school, so neither of us can back out. Do you dare, Kanji Ike?"

Shuichi Kanda didn't go easy on idiots like this. He challenged him on the spot.

"Of course, you can give me fifty thousand Private Points if you lose. But you probably don't have that many left, do you? Hahahaha!"

To some of the class, Shuichi Kanda seemed like a loathsome villain at that moment. But quite a few others were on his side, believing that he was in the right.

"I—I—I don't know if you even have fifty thousand Private Points! What if you can't pay?"

Watching Kanji Ike struggle desperately, Shuichi Kanda smiled scornfully. He certainly wasn't going to show the other guy his balance.

"If I can't pay fifty thousand Private Points, I'll prostrate myself and apologize to you. How about that? I'm not even asking you to bow your head to the floor. Any way you look at it, I'm the one taking the bigger risk, right, Kanji Ike?"

The tense atmosphere felt ready to erupt. Everyone in the class watched Kanji Ike, waiting for him to decide.

Chapter 33: Favoritism from Chabashira-sensei? Revenge?

Faced with Shuichi Kanda's arrogant provocation, Kanji Ike was furious. But he also understood that Kanda wouldn't make an offer like that unless he was confident.

At the same time, Ike held on to a sliver of hope. Even the most finely made machine broke down eventually. Could Shuichi Kanda really have gone a whole month without making a single mistake?

Those two thoughts tugged back and forth until they reached a stalemate.

"Kanji, why don't you just drop it?" Yamauchi Haruki quietly urged him from beside him. But that only made things worse. Kanji Ike exploded.

What did you mean by that, Yamauchi Haruki? Did you trust Shuichi Kanda over me?

"I accept! If you broke the rules last month, you have to pay me fifty thousand Private Points. If you can't, you'll get on your knees and bow your head to the floor."

"Of course. If I didn't break any rules last month, you'll get on your knees and apologize to me." Shuichi Kanda smiled. "Chabashira-sensei, please witness this bet."

Chabashira was already in a bad mood, but she was more than willing to arbitrate a matter like this.

"The bet is on. If either of you refuses to honor it, you'll be expelled from this school."

Expelled...

That made the atmosphere in the room tense.

"Chabashira-sensei, I want to know whether I broke any of the school's rules last month. How many points will it cost?"

At this school, you could buy just about anything. Naturally, this was no exception.

"For just you, five thousand points. But as a bonus, I'll also tell you how many points Ike's actions cost the class."

"That's cheap. I'll take it."

It really was cheap—not even a fraction of the balance Shuichi Kanda had on hand.

He took out his phone and made a quick transfer, sending Chabashira Sae five thousand Private Points.

When the transfer notification came through, Chabashira Sae opened her phone and pulled up the relevant information.

[Received 5,000 Private Points from Shuichi Kanda.]

Then Chabashira-sensei turned her screen toward the class, showing them the notification that she'd received five thousand Private Points from Shuichi Kanda.

"Since I've received the points, I'll tell you the answer." Chabashira Sae opened the records and smiled. "The number of Class Points deducted from Shuichi Kanda over the past month was..."

Everyone held their breath, especially Ike, whose face already showed his delight.

"Zero!"

Zero—that is, zero times.

After hearing the answer, Shuichi Kanda smiled fearlessly. He raised a fist over his head in a victory pose.

This only made Ike look more miserable, while the group of underachievers led by Ike could only seethe in silence.

"The result is out, Ike. It's time to honor your end of the bet."

To make room for Kanji Ike to get down on his knees and apologize, Shuichi Kanda stood up and walked to the back of the classroom.

As it happened, Ike's seat was in the back row, so it was easy for him to step out.

But Ike was trembling all over, and for a long time, he couldn't bring himself to stand up.

Hirata felt bad for him. He wanted to stand up and plead on Ike's behalf. He thought Shuichi Kanda didn't need to take things this far.

There was no need to make himself a target for the entire class.

If Shuichi Kanda had heard that, he probably would have laughed out loud.

What do you mean, make myself a target for the entire class? I just can't stand the guy and wanted to teach him a lesson.

Besides, Ike and his crowd might dislike me for this, but the students who follow the rules and enjoy school life will definitely be on my side.

"Honor the bet already. I still have something important to announce to you all. If you don't want to honor it, that's fine too. After I'm done, come with me to handle your withdrawal."

Before Hirata could stand, Chabashira-sensei issued her final warning.

Shuichi Kanda glanced at Chabashira-sensei, feeling a little speechless.

This woman was scary. Ike had just made a lowbrow dirty joke at her expense. Did she really have to hold a grudge that badly?

Women were scary. Was she going through menopause early? Terrifying!

Of course, Shuichi Kanda wasn't sure whether Chabashira Sae actually had the authority to expel someone over this. But since she'd put it that way, she clearly didn't want to let Ike off easily, and she was now putting pressure on him.

Otherwise, teachers usually didn't get involved in conflicts between students. In this situation, Chabashira was obviously taking Shuichi Kanda's side.

Shuichi Kanda was certain Chabashira knew which students in Class D had broken the rules and which hadn't.

The moment she agreed to witness the bet, Shuichi Kanda knew it was in the bag.

Who could blame her for liking outstanding students? He was just abusing his privileges for once. What could anyone do about it?

When the students heard that she still had something important to announce, even those who had been on Ike's side started urging him to hurry up and get on his knees.

They didn't want Chabashira-sensei to leave out any important information. That would make things even worse.

So, under pressure from the crowd, Ike finally struggled to his feet and walked to a spot two meters in front of Shuichi Kanda.

Thud!

Without any further hesitation, Ike dropped to his knees. He even pressed his hands together on the floor and bowed his head to Shuichi Kanda.

"I'm really sorry for causing you trouble!"

The instant Ike knelt, bowed his head, and loudly apologized, the classroom fell silent.

The disdainful, mocking expression Shuichi Kanda had worn the whole time finally faded.

"You've got guts."

After leaving him with those words, Shuichi Kanda returned straight to his seat, as if nothing had happened.

"Ike, go back to your seat, too."

Ike got up from the floor, brushed off the nonexistent dust on his knees, and returned to his seat.

The other students in the class didn't seem to wear the contempt he'd expected on their faces. If anything, some of them even seemed impressed—including a few girls who'd never gotten along with him.

He'd admitted defeat and taken the punishment, and he'd gone down on his knees without hesitation. Maybe that showed a bit of manliness? Kanji Ike felt a little secretly pleased.

Shuichi Kanda had praised him for having guts because Ike had acted so decisively. He also hadn't asked Chabashira-sensei how many points Ike had cost Class D.

If Ike had gotten up and still looked defiant, Shuichi Kanda would have asked Chabashira-sensei how many points Ike had cost Class D the previous month.

Chapter 34: Arrogant Without Even Realizing It

Once the farce ended, the class settled down again—or at least, it became relatively quiet.

Now it was Hirata Yosuke's turn. And he didn't disappoint: as soon as Ike sat down, he immediately asked Chabashira a question.

"Chabashira-sensei, about the important matter you mentioned earlier..."

"Don't rush, Hirata. We're getting to that now."

As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei took a stack of thick white paper from the poster tube in her hand, unfolded it, and pinned it to the blackboard with magnets.

But most of the students couldn't make sense of what was written there. Most of them just looked confused.

However, Hirata, who had received a hint from Shuichi Kanda, understood almost immediately what it was.

It was the thing they'd discussed before but hadn't been able to figure out: the class ratings.

"Does this show our ratings?"

Hirata looked at the conspicuous zero next to Class D, his voice full of bitterness.

"That's right. These scores represent the ratings of your classes," Chabashira Sae said with a nod. "Class A: 940 points. Class B: 750 points. Class C: 490 points. Class D: zero."

Class D, zero. The words seemed to strike everyone in the heart.

"They're certainly arranged in a neat order."

Looking at the scores, Shuichi Kanda made no effort to hide his sarcasm.

"W-why do the other classes still have points?"

Even now, some clueless idiot had to speak up and question it.

Shuichi Kanda didn't hold back. He loved making fun of morons. He just loved seeing them hate him while being unable to do anything about it. It was hilarious.

"Idiot, still don't get it? Chabashira-sensei just explained clearly how Class D's points got reduced to zero."

Watching their expressions change, Shuichi Kanda looked delighted.

"Right. Being late, leaving early, chatting, or looking at your phone during class all lead to deductions from your class's points. The other classes made fewer mistakes, so they naturally had some points left. Is that clear enough?"

"That's right. Kanda's correct. The school hasn't been unfair at all in how it's judged you. Every class was assessed by the same rules this past month. And yet there's this much difference in points. That's reality."

"But why... is there such a huge gap between the classes' points?"

Hirata had also noticed the mystery hidden in the figures on the paper. The scores were spaced out too evenly.

"Are you beginning to understand why you were assigned to Class D?"

"The reason we were assigned to Class D? Weren't the classes assigned randomly?"

"Yeah. Aren't classes usually divided up like that at school?"

Not only Hirata but the other students looked confused. The difference was that Hirata was pretending, while the others really didn't understand.

"This school divides students into classes according to their ability. The best students go to Class A, and the useless ones go to Class D.

"To put it simply, compared to the other classes, the students in Class D are all defective. Congratulations—you've received the rating that trash deserves."

Most of the Class D students couldn't accept such an extreme system for assigning students, so the entire class fell silent.