What Should You Do When You're Thrust into the Spotlight? Fight Back, of Course! / The Strategy Failed, and the Beatdown Turned into a Pep Rally

Heh. The good mood I'd gotten from teasing A-Sho and Katsuragi this morning had been completely ruined.

As the bell rang, Chabashira Sae, Class D's homeroom teacher, walked in. Her expression was more serious than usual.

But the classroom was still as noisy as ever, and no one paid her arrival any mind.

"Teacher, don't tell me you're still on your period?"

Kanji Ike even cracked a truly nasty joke at her—one that could practically be called [***].

Compared to what he said, what Hoshino En had said to Sakayanagi Arisu was nothing.

But Ike's joke didn't even dent Chabashira Sae's armor.

"We'll begin our homeroom meeting now. But before we do, you must have some questions, right? You'd better ask them quickly."

"Teacher, weren't we supposed to get 100,000 Private Points deposited into our accounts on the first of every month? Why did we only get 3,000 this month?"

The speaker was a boy named Hondo. He was one of the few boys who usually hung around Ike and Yamauchi, so the girls in the class generally despised him. His standing in the class was only slightly higher than theirs—and Ken Sudō, who was even closer to them and had a fiery temper.

"A month ago, what I said was, 'Points are automatically deposited on the first of each month, and one point is worth one yen. Your student cards should already have this month's 100,000 points on them.' I never said that 100,000 points would be deposited every month."

"Huh? B-but..."

"In other words, the school originally valued Class D at [100,000 PPT], but after evaluating us last month, it decided that Class D was now worth only [3,000 PPT]. Is that right, Teacher?"

The person who spoke without waiting for the teacher's permission was Koenji Rokusuke. He'd been one of the students who hadn't panicked before, and even now, after learning the truth, he didn't seem the least bit shaken. He even had his legs up on his desk, just as he had on the first day of school.

Hoshino En really couldn't like such a self-centered person, but he didn't feel any particular animosity toward Koenji Rokusuke, either. As long as Koenji didn't bother him or cause him unnecessary trouble, he wouldn't treat him as an enemy—not even if Koenji did something that hurt the class and, in turn, harmed his own interests.

"Koenji's attitude is a problem, but he's right. To be honest, some of you realized it on the second day, so I was expecting something when the exam came around. I didn't expect the results to be this bad. In fact, given that you knew there was an exam, the answers you came up with were far beyond my expectations."

When Chabashira Sae brought up the Behavioral Norms Exam that Kushida Kikyo had mentioned to the entire class on the second day of school, everyone in Class D fell into an indescribable silence.

Most of them hadn't given it a second thought before today. They'd gone on doing whatever they pleased, breaking the rules as they went, and now they'd gotten exactly the result they deserved.

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Chabashira Sae's mockery and occasional cold chuckle were the only sounds echoing through the room.

"Looks like you have no more questions. Then let's officially begin the meeting."

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae took a sheet of paper from the documents she'd brought and pinned it to the blackboard with a magnet.

The sheet listed each class and its score.

[First Year, Class A: 950 points]

[First Year, Class B: 700 points]

[First Year, Class C: 490 points]

[First Year, Class D: 30 points]

Every class except Class D had a conspicuous three-digit score. The figure for Class D, set a little apart, stood out painfully to everyone in the room.

"You're free to decide what kind of life you want to lead at this school. The school won't interfere. But whether you're late to class or use your phones when you shouldn't, the consequences will fall on you. Your class's performance will ultimately be reflected in your Class Points."

"Oh, one more thing: although the school deducts points based on each class's conduct, it won't award points for following the rules. So even if you behave exceptionally well from now on, your Class Points won't increase."

At Chabashira Sae's words, Class D erupted. That meant they might have to get by on just 3,000 Private Points a month for the next three years.

"We've never heard anything about this before! How are we supposed to survive like this?"

Kanji Ike, who'd been silent until now, finally erupted.

His reputation was truly awful, but there was no denying that he'd just voiced what most of the class was thinking.

Chabashira Sae merely chuckled, as if she were gloating, and said,

"How could you possibly not survive? The student apartments are free, with water and electricity included. The convenience store has a limited supply of free goods every month, the cafeteria serves a free Vegetable Set Meal, and there are free drinks in the vending machines all over campus... So how exactly can you not survive?"

Her delivery was harsh, but there was some truth to what she said. Life would be a little difficult, but at least they wouldn't starve.

Hoshino En had been through much worse, so he didn't think it was a big deal. If anything, having a free place to live was already pretty great.

But most of Class D couldn't accept it.

They'd spent an entire month living it up. Now they were being forced to go from luxury to frugality. Wasn't that just tormenting them?

Especially for people like Ike and Yamauchi, who'd already spent all of last month's 100,000 Private Points. Yesterday, they'd been making fun of the upperclassmen who had to eat the Vegetable Set Meal. They hadn't expected to be in the same boat themselves today.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 54: What Should You Do When You're Thrust into the Spotlight? Fight Back, of Course!

"Teacher, why are the classes' Class Points so different?"

Hirata Yosuke asked a new question.

When he'd heard Hoshino En's analysis yesterday, he'd struggled to understand why the top three classes had pulled so far ahead of Class D despite being judged by the same rules. Class A in particular had lost only 50 points in a whole month. That was incredible.

But he hadn't been able to ask Hoshino En about it yesterday, given what he'd said himself. Now was the perfect chance to ask the teacher.

"That brings me to the second thing I wanted to tell you. You didn't think the school assigned students to classes at random, did you?"

Seeing the shock on most of the students' faces, Chabashira Sae's cold smile grew even brighter.

"W-what does that mean...?"

"Aren't students usually assigned to classes at random?"

The students grew restless again. This time, it wasn't just the ones who'd spent money without restraint. Even the students who usually behaved well were beginning to panic. Horikita Suzune, who always claimed she was destined to achieve great things, was one of them.

"This school assigns students to classes based on their ability. The most capable students go to Class A, and the least capable are dumped in Class D. In short, Class D is a collection of Flawed Products, and the score you received is exactly what you'd expect for Flawed Products."

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae clapped her hands, as if celebrating their realization that they were Flawed Products.

This woman was definitely a sadist!

Hoshino En had suspected as much ever since he'd seen her deliberately encourage the students to spend money on the first day of school. But now, watching her beam at the sight of the "top students" with twisted expressions, he was even more certain.

There was no longer any secrecy requirement, yet she was still putting down the students in Class D, her own class, and even seemed to enjoy it. She showed not the slightest inclination to encourage them. Hoshino En didn't think they had much to praise, either, but as their homeroom teacher, she was definitely failing at her job.

Could she have suffered some sort of psychological trauma in the past, and taken a job as a homeroom teacher just so she could enjoy tormenting students?

Just then, Hoshino En noticed Chabashira Sae looking his way. Her smile grew even more meaningful.

Oh no. I'm done for!

"By the way, as for the 30 Class Points you have left—it's because Hoshino turned in some lost property and indirectly helped the school catch a criminal in hiding. The school awarded those points to him separately. Class D's original 1,000 Class Points had already been used up long ago."

"In other words, your actual worth is [0]!"

That final remark made Class D even more depressed. And this time, Hoshino En had no choice but to share their feelings—because her announcement had dragged him into the spotlight.

Everyone else in the class turned to look at him in the corner, sizing him up as if he were a monkey.

Could she really not stand to see anyone else doing well?

Hoshino En could practically see how things would go for him from here on out.

First possibility: The rest of the class would be grateful for what he'd done, and Hirata would use the opportunity to pull him into the class leadership. To avoid unnecessary trouble, his only option would be to accept. He'd be dragged into the competition between classes, bringing even bigger problems down on himself.

Second possibility: The others would decide he'd just gotten lucky and deliberately target him for standing out despite being "the lowest of the low" in the class. Hirata would pull him into the class leadership to "protect him," and things would end up just like in the first scenario. The only difference would be that most of the class would resent him. Even if he really helped the class, the girls who admired Hirata would force the credit onto him instead.

Based on his assessment of Class D's students, the second possibility was at least 70% likely.

"Huh? Hoshino? There's no way he'd turn in lost property! Teacher, you've got the wrong guy!"

Sure enough, as soon as Chabashira Sae finished explaining, Yamauchi Haruki was the first to jump in and challenge him.

They'd had a falling-out before, but Hoshino En usually kept a low profile, so Yamauchi had never found an opportunity to target him. Now that he finally had something he could use against him, he looked thrilled.

Ugh. What a pain!

Why are there so many self-important idiots in this world?

Disgusting... Annoying... Irritating!

Shadows clouded the Starry Eyes hidden beneath Hoshino En's bangs.

"The school's review and assessment are correct, Yamauchi..."

"Yamauchi, instead of questioning what I did, why don't you take a good look at yourself?"

Hoshino En cut Chabashira Sae off and stared straight at Yamauchi Haruki.

"At least I actually brought 30 Class Points to our class, so everyone has something to spend this month. What about you? What have you done for the class over the past month?"

"I..."

Hoshino En had turned the conversation toward contributions to the class. As soon as he did, everyone else looked at Yamauchi Haruki with disgust.

Pretty much everyone had contributed to the class losing points, but Yamauchi Haruki's record in that regard was unrivaled.

"And Chabashira-sensei, please stop putting down Class D."

Hoshino En hadn't forgotten the person who'd started this whole mess and turned the attention toward him.

"No matter how often you say Class D is awful, it doesn't matter to us. We can't change what's already happened. We just have to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. I don't think everyone here is so fragile that one setback will knock them down for good."

He'd brought all his classmates onto the same side with his words, encouraged—and riled—them up, and cut off any path to backing down or giving in.

For boys and girls their age, the most frightening thing wasn't failure. It was being looked down on by others.

Sure enough, as soon as he said that, flames blazed in almost everyone's eyes. No one wanted to admit they were fragile.

"On the contrary, you keep putting down Class D, so I'm curious. If Class D is a collection of Flawed Products, why, out of all the teachers at this school, were you chosen to be our homeroom teacher?"

Then he shifted the focus, moving the students' attention from the class's problems to the teacher's.

"This is a school where ability comes first. If the classes themselves are divided according to ability, then their homeroom teachers should be assigned according to a similar standard, shouldn't they?"

Finally, he turned her argument against her, using her own logic to strike back. He transformed the differences between students into differences between teachers, directing the students' attention toward the outsider whose position differed from theirs—Chabashira Sae.

After that combo, Chabashira Sae fell silent.

The smile disappeared from her face, as if he'd hit a nerve.

Seeing her reaction, the other students also stopped criticizing Yamauchi Haruki.

They stared blankly at Hoshino En, who'd talked back to their homeroom teacher, then at Chabashira Sae, who had nothing to say.

What Hoshino had said seemed pretty reasonable, and Chabashira-sensei hadn't argued back... Could she actually be just like "us"—a "Flawed Product"?

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 55: The Strategy Failed, and the Beatdown Turned into a Pep Rally

"Chabashira-sensei, I was just guessing. Don't get so tense."

Seeing Chabashira Sae's expression grow even uglier, Hoshino En smiled kindly, easing the atmosphere before it could freeze over.

A little teasing was enough. They still had a long time to spend together, so there was no need to rush things.

Besides, he had no intention of taking part in the competition between classes. If the others started targeting him because of this and dragged him into the spotlight under the banner of "popular opinion," that would be a real "problem"!

So he needed someone "well-known" in class to help divert everyone's attention.

"Hirata, you must have something else you want to ask, right? The school seems to have kept a lot from us. Maybe their claim of '100% advancement to higher education and employment' is a lie, too."

Still, Chabashira Sae really did seem to have some issues. Maybe he'd get a chance to find out more later...

Hoshino En's question landed like an atomic bomb in still water. Everyone's attention immediately shifted to Hirata Yosuke, the person he'd mentioned.

The possibility was so shocking that Hirata Yosuke didn't even notice Hoshino En steering him toward the question. He simply went along with it and asked Chabashira Sae,

"Chabashira-sensei, is there really a catch?"

Chabashira Sae: "..."

If she'd brought it up herself, the "top students" in Class D would probably have had some interesting reactions. But now that they'd asked first, it wouldn't hit them nearly as hard, and their later surge of determination wouldn't be as strong. In the end, it might not even work as well as simply encouraging them.

Tch. Hoshino En really is a thorny student.

But for the sake of her own plans, she explained anyway.

"Our school is a special institution supported by the government, so naturally it trains talented people the society needs. The '100% advancement to higher education and employment' benefit is real, but only the best students in Class A can receive it."

Her words immediately set off a wave of groans in the classroom. Did that mean Class D had already lost its chance at this benefit?

"But that doesn't mean you have no hope."

Seeing them start to despair, Chabashira Sae quickly added another dose of encouragement.

"The classes' rankings can change, and that's reflected in their Class Points as well. As long as your Class Points surpass Class A's, your class will become the new Class A."

But it didn't help much, because—

"Class A has 950 points, and we have 30. That's a difference of 920 points. How are we ever supposed to catch up?!"