Unexpected Invitation

After Horikita Suzune finished speaking, the entire classroom fell somewhat silent.

"Since Yosuke has spoken up, I'll contribute a little too." Karuizawa Kei, the leader of another girls' group in Class D, also spoke.

As Hirata Yosuke's girlfriend, she had always followed his lead.

With several class leaders speaking up, quite a few students managed to scrape together some points. However, for Class D, which had gained nothing in the second month, there were only so many points they could squeeze out.

In the end, Class D gathered 240,000 Private Points, most of which came from Horikita Suzune, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Kushida Kikyo's savings. But it still was not enough. Kushida Kikyo knew more people, so she planned to borrow some from other classes during lunch break.

Horikita Suzune returned to her seat and tapped Ayanokoji Kiyotaka on the shoulder.

"Did you know something?"

"..." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "That night, I went downstairs to buy a drink and saw what happened with your brother."

That explained it. Horikita Suzune withdrew her gaze; she had just thought of that night as well.

Shiraishi Makoto had threatened her with precisely this back then: "Your academic ability may be good, but what about an exam involving teamwork?"

Remembering those words was exactly why she had said, "We can't give up on Sudo Ken here."

She did not know whether doing this would benefit the class, but she could not remain unchanged like that.

The first class began as well, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned to the blackboard and listened attentively.

During lunch break, Kushida Kikyo was the first to approach Ichinose Honami, hoping to borrow some points.

She had truly found an easy target. For Class A, where nearly everyone was excessively kind, borrowing money was not difficult at all.

When Ichinose Honami brought the news to the class, Shiraishi Makoto did not stop his classmates from helping Class D, though he did offer a reminder.

"Everyone, let me make one thing clear first." Shiraishi Makoto clapped his hands. "Class Funds are never to be lent out. After all, they are our class's safeguard."

"Everyone is naturally free to use the points they personally control as they wish, but keep this in mind: since Class D currently has no Class Points and scored poorly on this exam, they will most likely receive no points to repay you with for the next two months. Don't make your own lives unbearable just because you want to do a good deed."

Despite Shiraishi Makoto's reminder, most Class A students considered that new points would be issued tomorrow and generously lent out their money. Shiraishi Makoto also gave away 20,000 points.

It was not because he felt guilty about what he had done. He simply felt that this benefited Class A's image and would also help reinforce its internal unity.

On the surface, Class A had offered support when Class D was in trouble. Secretly, he could command Kushida Kikyo and cooperate with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. In future exams, it would be easier for him to draw on Class D's strength.

Having approached only Class A, Kushida Kikyo had gathered all the points she lacked.

"Thank you all so much." After receiving the points from Ichinose, Kushida Kikyo spoke with tears in her eyes.

However, Shiraishi Makoto did not think those were tears of gratitude. They looked more like sorrow over owing such a massive foreign debt. The look Kushida Kikyo had secretly shot him earlier had practically been murderous.

Still, congratulations were in order. Class D had successfully weathered this crisis.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next day, time for the points to be announced.

"105,000 points?" Shiraishi Makoto deduced the rankings from the Class Points they received.

In this Midterm Exam, Class A's average score ranked second in the grade. They received 75 Class Points and had not lost any points for other reasons.

If Class B had taken first in average score, then the gap between Classes A and B was only an insignificant five points.

"Shiraishi, what do you think we should do?" Watanabe Jinji stood beside Shiraishi Makoto, operating his phone as he asked the question.

Since new points had been issued, the students who arrived in the classroom had all gathered around Shiraishi Makoto, handing in their Class Funds.

40,000 in the first month, then 60,000 in both the second and third months. That meant Class A would have 6.4 million points in Class Funds this month as a safeguard.

"Same as before: running fast doesn't necessarily mean you'll win. Not falling is what counts as success."

Shiraishi Makoto did not think it was a problem for Class B to close the gap somewhat, but he still reassured them a little. "Whether it's Class A or Class B, there won't be any difference before graduation. Our gap was small to begin with, so we should have long been prepared for a prolonged battle."

"Exactly." Kanzaki Ryuji nodded lightly. "When it comes to academics, everyone will need to keep working hard going forward."

The class that took first place in this Midterm Exam was undoubtedly Class B. Their overall quality surpassed the other classes by a considerable margin, and academic performance was their most outstanding advantage.

Hoshinomiya Chie also arrived in the classroom carrying the report cards.

However, to the students' surprise, Class B's score this month was not as high as they had imagined.

Class A: 1055, Class B: 1035, Class C: 500, Class D: 0.

Class B had not scored the expected 1050, but 1035. It seemed they had lost 15 Class Points last month for other reasons. Class C had also lost 20 Class Points last month, then received the 50-point reward for placing third in the exam.

"Why did Class B lose so many points?" This was the question on every Class A student's mind.

Even when they did not know the rules, they had only lost 50 points in one month. Yet after learning the rules, Class B had still lost 15 points.

Had Sakayanagi Arisu made her move? Even Shiraishi Makoto could not make sense of it.

In any case, the sense of urgency among Class A's students grew stronger.

"The gap is shrinking bit by bit..."

Seeing that everyone in the class remained positive, Hoshinomiya Chie was also pleased. She merely announced a few routine matters before ending the class meeting.

"Remember to vote in the class group. And if you have something to do, remember to request leave in advance." Ichinose Honami started a poll in the class group chat. To celebrate successfully retaining Class A's position and perfectly surviving the Midterm Exam expulsion crisis, they were voting on where to gather after school today.

Shiraishi Makoto casually voted for a board game café, then looked through his phone.

Having collected so much money, he had to keep proper accounts. Otherwise, it would be easy to lose track of which points belonged to the class, which he could use freely, and which had come from other sources.

"Shiraishi... may I ask if you're free the day after tomorrow?"

A private message from a classmate rose to the top of Shiraishi Makoto's chat list.

The name displayed there caught him by surprise.

"I should be free. What is it, Sakura?" Shiraishi Makoto replied quickly.

"Well... I want to take some photos at school this weekend, but it would be a little inconvenient by myself..."

What was this about? Shiraishi Makoto lightly tapped the desk.

However, the message on the other end was quickly withdrawn, followed by another message: "Sorry... I interrupted you."

"It's fine. I'll go with you."