As Chabashira Sae walked out of the classroom, Ken Sudō felt all hope drain away.
A passing score of 44.
That ominous number seemed to herald his death, too.
"Damn it! In the end, I'm getting expelled just like this. I can't accept it!"
Ken Sudō lowered his head in anguish, clenched his fist, and slammed it hard against the desk before slumping over it.
The man, usually hot-tempered, now had tears welling at the corners of his eyes, and his voice grew choked with emotion.
The students of Class D couldn't help glancing at Ken Sudō, their feelings complicated.
"Sudo..."
Kanji Ike turned to look at Sudo and opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything comforting to say.
Still, he couldn't help feeling a little sympathy. After all, Sudo had been one of the people he'd hung out with over the past two months.
But Yamauchi Haruki, sitting in front of them, was another matter entirely.
"Aw, Sudo, there's nothing you can do about it!"
"I never thought you'd be this useless. You had the answers and still couldn't pass."
"Haha, I only looked at the answers the night before the exam, and I passed everything. If I'd studied them for a few more days, I definitely could've gotten high scores, but there was no need."
"Pack your things. If you're getting expelled, then you're getting expelled. Go get yourself a decent job afterward."
Yamauchi Haruki casually walked forward, saying all this in a taunting tone as he gesticulated wildly.
There was nothing about his behavior that suggested he was trying to comfort a friend who was about to be expelled.
Even though many of the Class D students didn't like Sudo, after hearing Yamauchi, they couldn't help looking at him with disgust.
Chihaya Rei also tilted his head and looked over in surprise.
Yamauchi Haruki was even more absurd than he'd expected.
It looked like he was about to turn against Ken Sudō.
Chihaya had been planning to torture Sudo himself, but now he decided to wait and watch a little longer.
After all, there might not be many more chances to see Lord Yamauchi perform.
Of course, the person most shocked by Yamauchi Haruki's words was Ken Sudō himself.
He abruptly raised his head, eyes wide, and stared at Yamauchi Haruki in disbelief.
"Yamauchi?! H-how can you say that about me?"
Over the past two months, Ken Sudō had considered Yamauchi Haruki a friend.
Besides, they usually hung out together.
And now Yamauchi Haruki was saying such contemptuous things about him. There was no doubt that he was kicking Sudo while he was down.
Sudo felt both furious and heartbroken...
"Isn't everything I said true?"
Yamauchi Haruki shrugged indifferently, a faint smile on his face. "Your memory's so bad. You should've memorized the answers earlier."
"Yamauchi, you bastard!"
It was as if Yamauchi's words had finally pushed Sudo over the edge.
He suddenly straightened up and took a big step toward Yamauchi Haruki, glaring at him furiously as though he might attack him at any moment.
Seeing this, Yamauchi Haruki backed away in alarm, pulling Kanji Ike in front of him for protection as he shouted:
"Sudo, don't do anything stupid! You've already been expelled!"
Kanji Ike jumped in fright. Naturally, he was afraid of getting caught up in Sudo's rage, so he hurriedly protested:
"Hey, Yamauchi, don't drag me into this!"
But Yamauchi Haruki continued hiding behind him, and everyone found the sight a little funny.
"Sudo, don't hit him. Please calm down first."
"And Yamauchi, stop talking, too!"
Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyo were the ones who stepped between them in time, preventing the farce from escalating.
Naturally, Yamauchi Haruki took the opportunity to move farther away from Sudo, not wanting to get hit.
But he continued looking at Sudo with contempt. Sudo was going to be expelled anyway.
There was nothing he could do about it.
As Hirata Yousuke tried to calm Sudo down, he pleaded with the whole class:
"Please, everyone. If you can think of any way to let Sudo stay, please tell me."
"There's nothing we can do."
"Sorry, Hirata. We can't think of anything either..."
"Chabashira-sensei was very firm just now. She said it's a school rule and can't be changed."
"..."
One after another, the Class D students responded, all shaking their heads as they declared Sudo beyond help.
As those voices rang out around him, Ken Sudō's expression grew increasingly grim, and he lowered his head in despair.
Hirata Yousuke's expression turned more and more bitter, too.
Hirata had a feeling there was something they could do, but he couldn't think of what.
In the end, he couldn't do anything at all...
"There is a way."
Seeing Hirata's gloomy expression, Chihaya Rei decided it was time for him to speak.
His voice carried clearly to everyone in the room.
Actually, Chabashira Sae had dropped a hint, though it hadn't been much.
By telling Sudo to handle his expulsion procedures after school, she'd given Class D time to find a way to keep him from being expelled.
After all, when Yamauchi Haruki was expelled by a vote in the original story, he'd been ordered to leave the classroom on the spot.
"Chihaya, what should we do?"
A glimmer of hope appeared in Hirata Yousuke's eyes, and he hurried over to ask.
"I asked the teacher. One point costs 100,000 personal points. As long as Sudo can come up with 500,000 points to buy five points, he'll pass."
Chihaya Rei calmly explained this to Hirata Yousuke.
Hearing this solution, the delighted expressions on Hirata and Sudo's faces lasted only a few seconds before fading away.
"Does it really take 500,000 points?"
Hirata Yousuke exclaimed in surprise.
There was no way Class D could raise that much right now.
But Hirata Yousuke still looked around at the class, wanting to try anyway, at least to see how much they could gather. If they were short, they could borrow the rest from another class.
"Could everyone pool some points to help Sudo?"
"Please."
Hirata Yousuke spoke earnestly. Standing beside Chihaya Rei, he faced everyone and bowed deeply.
But only a few quiet replies came from the class, all saying they couldn't raise that much.
Looking at Hirata Yousuke, Chihaya Rei couldn't help giving a slight shake of his head.
"I could borrow the 500,000 personal points from my friend in Class A."
He said it in an even tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked at Chihaya Rei in astonishment.
But Chihaya Rei's gaze sharpened as he fixed it on Ken Sudō, his tone growing more emphatic.
"But Sudo, I have no reason to help you for nothing."
"Do you think you're worth having me and Class D help you raise 500,000 points?"
?!
The whole class couldn't help freezing for a moment.
"..."
Sudo felt a loud buzz in his head. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer, and he didn't even dare to meet Chihaya Rei's gaze.
That was true. Aside from Kanji Ike and a few others, he had no friends in the class. Why would everyone help him?
Not everyone was a good person like Hirata Yousuke.
"Chihaya, could I trouble you? I know I'm asking a lot, and I'm sorry."
"Whatever you ask of me, I'll do it."
Hirata Yousuke earnestly made his request to Chihaya Rei, his expression both serious and ashamed.
Hirata continued:
"Why don't you put the points we need to borrow under my name? Otherwise, Sudo will be expelled. That would be too cruel to him."
"Hirata, you shouldn't do that."
Chihaya Rei gave Hirata Yousuke a long look and rejected his suggestion outright.
Chihaya Rei looked at the whole class and spoke without holding back:
"How many of you are willing to give up your points to save Sudo because you actually want to?"
"Even those who are willing to give points are only doing it for your sake, Hirata."
Quite a few students nodded when they heard this.
Nobody was close to Sudo.
Chihaya Rei stopped paying attention to Hirata and turned to Sudo, speaking coldly:
"Sudo, from beginning to end, you haven't used your head to think. Whenever something happens, you just lose your temper and act on impulse."
"For this exam, the only way to be completely safe was to make sure you scored at least 50."
"But you were overconfident and took a chance. You didn't study at all, and even when you had the answers, you didn't spend time memorizing them."
"So now that you're facing expulsion, I'm saying you brought this on yourself."
"Do you admit it?"
Chihaya Rei's words echoed in Sudo's mind.
He raised his head, tears at the corners of his eyes, and punched his thigh hard.
"You're right. I brought this on myself. You have no reason to help me raise the points..."
"Then why didn't you memorize the answers before?"
Chihaya Rei continued to press him. "Why wait until now to regret it?"
Sudo froze for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:
"Recently, the Basketball Club I joined was choosing the players who'd compete in the games, so I was training all the time."
"But when it comes down to it... I still had free time. It's my own fault for not taking it seriously and for being arrogant. That's why I failed."
After hearing this, Chihaya Rei nodded.
At least Sudo had a reason involving his club for not studying.
Now that Chihaya had pointed out his mistakes, Sudo understood that he needed to reflect. He wasn't entirely hopeless after all.
"Let me ask you: do you really want to stay in this class?" Chihaya Rei asked.
"I... do."
Sudo nodded vigorously.
"Then you should ask me and your classmates yourself to lend you the points."
"Instead of making Hirata do it for you."
"Besides, you mocked Hirata on the very first day of school, yet he's still been helping you all this time. Don't you think you owe him an apology and a thank-you?"
Chihaya Rei spoke coldly, pointing all this out without mercy.
[Torture Sudo Ken, gained 2080 Torture Points] [Torture Sudo Ken, gained 2350 Torture Points]
"..."
Ken Sudō stood there dumbstruck, his mouth opening slightly.
He looked deeply shaken, but in truth, he'd finally come to his senses.
Everything Chihaya Rei had said was right.
He'd even insulted Hirata, and when Hirata invited him to a study group, he'd treated him badly.
Now look at his so-called friend.
Yamauchi Haruki had just kicked him while he was down and mocked him.
Only Hirata Yousuke had helped him selflessly.
Thinking about all this, Sudo's voice grew choked, and tears filled his eyes. He hurried over to Hirata.
"Hirata, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"I treated you so badly, but you were still willing to help a scumbag like me. Thank you..."
Hirata Yousuke was taken aback. He wasn't used to Sudo changing so suddenly.
But the kind-hearted Hirata quickly forgave him, and he felt relieved, too.
He stared at Chihaya Rei in surprise, thinking:
So this was Chihaya's real goal? Helping Sudo grow?
Just how far could those eyes of his see?
After apologizing to Hirata Yousuke, Ken Sudō went over to Chihaya Rei and bowed deeply.
"Chihaya, thank you for telling me all that."
"Please help me borrow some points. I swear I'll pay you back."
Sudo then turned to the other students.
"And... everyone in class, please help me..."
"I really, really don't want to leave this school, or this class..."
"I'll never hold the class back again!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sudo bent forward and bowed to everyone.
He slammed his head hard against the desk, producing a sharp thump.
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