July's Class Points

July 1st, the day Class Points were distributed.

This month, Class A received another 100 Class Points. It was the school's reward for the class getting through the Midterm Exam, though it had been delayed by a month. (That was apparently how it happened in the original work, too.)

Shiraishi Makoto considered the reason. Perhaps because this was the new students' first official exam, and normally the first occasion where Private Points might be used to save classmates, the school had simply delayed everyone's distribution by a month until the exact expulsions had been confirmed before issuing the corresponding points.

Class A had 1,150 Class Points this month, after inexplicably losing 5 points last month. Class B followed close behind, having lost nothing last month and catching up to 1,130 points.

The remaining Class C and Class D had 585 and 87 points respectively.

With First-Year Class B close on their heels, everyone in Class A was fired up.

"Everyone, the Final Exam is at the end of the month, so make sure you work hard!" Hoshinomiya Chie looked at their steadily shrinking lead in Class Points. She no longer had the mood to drink, but she was not panicking either.

Because she believed in Shiraishi Makoto, believed in Ichinose, and believed in this Class A that had already created miracles.

"Let's all go to the library after school and study properly," Ichinose Honami proposed, rising to her feet.

Although the school had yet to announce whether this Final Exam would award Class Points based on score rankings, it would also involve new questions, so they needed to prepare for the possibility that the school would reward points again.

If Class B took first again while Class A took second, and neither class lost points next month due to disciplinary issues, then Class B would return to Class A's position with a five-point lead.

The students of Class B were probably equally fired up.

"I've already asked my club for leave. I'll work hard," some of the lower-performing students declared, showing their determination.

Seeing everyone in Class A brimming with fighting spirit, Shiraishi Makoto looked out the window.

What did Class D look like now?

Class D.

This month, Class D had made two important discoveries. The first was that they had received 87 Class Points. The second was that Class Points could not be deducted into the negatives. Otherwise, considering how many points they had lost in the first month, those 100 Class Points would not have been nearly enough.

But...

"Little Sae, why haven't we received any Private Points?" Yamauchi Haruki could not help standing up to ask Class D's homeroom teacher.

When they had not received Private Points that morning, no one had found it strange. The school had not notified them about the 100 Class Points either, so everyone had assumed they were at zero. But now that they knew their class's Class Points were not zero, why had none of them received Private Points?

"Some disputes have arisen this time, so the points will be distributed a little later. I apologize, but please wait a while longer." Chabashira Sae stood at the podium and read the notice expressionlessly.

"What? That's the school's oversight, isn't it? So there's no extra compensation or anything?" Ike Kanji asked loudly.

The other students voiced similar complaints. After all, even office workers did not want their wages withheld.

"Don't make unreasonable demands. This is the school's arrangement; I'm only conveying the notice. Once the dispute is resolved, the school will distribute the points—if there are any left." Chabashira Sae continued in a meaningful tone.

Some people in the class had already noticed the problem, because that morning they had clearly heard that the first-year Class A and Class B had both received Private Points.

"Oh, right. Sudo, come to my office after school this afternoon." Chabashira Sae packed up her things, only remembering this before she left.

"O-Okay." After being a good student for a month, Sudo Ken had begun properly following school rules and discipline. When Chabashira Sae called for him, he could not help remembering how he had nearly been expelled last month, and instinctively shrank back.

"Ha ha ha, Sudo, you looked hilarious just now!!" That was Ike Kanji's voice.

"Shut the hell up!" Sudo Ken snapped in embarrassment.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita Suzune and found that she was still reading with an expressionless face, completely unconcerned about why the points had stopped being issued or what had happened.

Ayanokouji withdrew his gaze and continued looking out the window.

"What are you looking at?" It seemed his earlier movement had caught Horikita Suzune's attention.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about something."

"Then what were you thinking about?"

"..." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned to look at Horikita Suzune. Seeing her stare at him expressionlessly, he had originally intended to make up an excuse, but then caught sight of the compass tightly clenched in her hand.

"When I was eating in the cafeteria this morning, I heard that the first-year Class A and Class B had both received points. The classes that didn't receive any were Class C and Class D."

"So our class and Class C are involved in some kind of dispute?" Horikita Suzune put away her compass and frowned.

"Probably. But I don't know what happened either. It might have something to do with Chabashira-sensei calling for Sudo." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked toward Sudo Ken, who was still giving Ike Kanji a hard time.

After school that afternoon, Sudo Ken asked his club for leave and headed to the office.

Half an hour later, Class D's Failing Group gathered once more in Ayanokouji's room.

"That's what happened. You have to save me!" Sudo Ken told everyone everything he had heard from Chabashira Sae.

Because Class C had presented evidence, Sudo Ken, as the suspect, would be suspended for a period of time. The biggest problem was that Sudo Ken really had beaten someone up.

"Why did you hit them?" Ike Kanji asked in confusion.

"Let me make this clear first: this isn't my fault!" Seeing the unfriendly look in Horikita Suzune's eyes, Sudo Ken hurriedly said, "They called me out to fight. I just beat them at their own game. In short, this is a false accusation!"

"Sudo, please calm down first and explain things in more detail. For instance, why did they ask you to fight?" Kushida Kikyo was completely confused.

"Sorry, I think I explained it too briefly." Sudo Ken scratched his head awkwardly. He had been too eager to prove his innocence and did not want to leave a bad impression on Horikita Suzune, so he had skipped the entire sequence of events.

"Here's what happened. The advisor of the Basketball Club said he might put me on the official roster for the Summer Tournament."

"That's amazing! Congratulations!" Hearing this, Kushida Kikyo instinctively began clapping in celebration.

"Ha ha, it's only a possibility. Nothing's been decided officially yet."

"That's still impressive, especially since you're only a first-year. But what does that have to do with fighting?" Seeing the conversation drift off course, Ayanokouji spoke up and brought it back.

"Oh, right. So, since I was the only first-year candidate for the official roster, I wanted to make it for sure and work hard. But when I was heading home after school that day, Komiya and Kondo from the Basketball Club called me to the Special Building."

"They said they had something to discuss. We didn't get along in the Basketball Club anyway, so I thought it was time to settle things and went there. But I originally planned not to stoop to their level. I was already a candidate for the official roster, after all. I never intended to fight them."

"But when I got there, a guy named Ishizaki was waiting too. They said they couldn't accept someone from Class D like me becoming an official player, and threatened to make me suffer if I didn't quit the Basketball Club. When I refused, they started attacking me, so I took all of them down."