July 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 getting through the Midterm Exam, though it had been delayed by a month. (That was how it was in the original work, too.)

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

Class A had 1,150 Class Points this month. For some unknown reason, 5 points had been deducted last month. Class B followed close behind; they had not lost a single point last month and had caught up to 1,130.

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

With first-year Class B pressing so closely behind them, everyone in Class A was fired up.

"Everyone, the Final Exam is at the end of the month. Make sure you study hard!" Hoshinomiya Chie looked at the Class Points that were steadily being caught up to. 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 stood up and suggested.

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

If Class B took first place again while Class A came in 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 advantage.

The students of Class B were surely fired up as well.

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

Seeing everyone in Class A full of fighting spirit, Shiraishi Makoto looked out the window.

What did Class D look like now?

Class D.

This month, Class D had gained two important things. First, they had received 87 Class Points. Second, they had learned that Class Points could not be deducted into negative numbers. Otherwise, judging from the deductions in the first month, those 100 Class Points would not have been enough to make a dent.

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 actually found it surprising. The school had never notified them about the 100 Class Points either, so everyone had thought 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?

"There was a dispute this time, so the points will be distributed a little later. I apologize, but please wait a little longer." Chabashira Sae stood at the podium and read the notice without expression.

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

The other students voiced similar complaints. Just as wage slaves did not want their salaries withheld, they did not want their points delayed either.

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

Some people in the class had already noticed the problem. That morning, they had clearly heard that first-year Classes A and 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 matter before she left.

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

"Hahaha, Sudo, you looked so funny just now!!" That was Ike Kanji's voice.

"Shut up!" Sudo Ken snapped in embarrassment.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita Suzune and found that she was still reading expressionlessly, completely unconcerned about why the points had stopped being distributed or what had happened.

Ayanokouji withdrew his gaze and continued looking out the window.

"What are you looking at?" Apparently, his 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 he caught sight of the compass clenched tightly in her hand.

"This morning, when I was eating in the cafeteria, I heard that first-year Classes A and B had both received points. The only classes that did not receive them were Classes C and D."

"So our class and Class C are involved in a 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 Sudo over." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked toward Sudo Ken, who was still dealing with Ike Kanji.

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

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

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

Because Class C had submitted 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 wasn't my fault!" Seeing the unfriendly look in Horikita Suzune's eyes, Sudo Ken hurriedly said, "They asked me to fight them. I just turned the tables on them. In short, this is a false accusation!"

"Sudo, please calm down first and explain things in more detail. For example, 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 just now and did not want to leave a bad impression on Horikita Suzune, so he had not explained the full story at all.

"It was like this. The Basketball Club's advisor said he might include me among the regular players for the Summer Tournament."

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

"Haha, it's only a possibility. Nothing has been officially decided 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 topic, Ayanokouji spoke up and brought it back.

"Oh, right. Here's what happened. Since I was the only first-year candidate for the regular lineup, I wanted to make the team no matter what 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, but we'd never gotten along in the Basketball Club. I thought it was time to settle things, so I went there. Still, I had originally planned not to stoop to their level. After all, I was already a candidate for the regular lineup, so I never intended to fight them."

"But when I got there, some guy named Ishizaki was waiting for me too. They said they couldn't accept someone from Class D becoming a regular player, and they threatened to teach me a lesson if I didn't quit the Basketball Club. After I refused, they started attacking me, so I took them all down."