Exchange in the Room

Class 1-B.

As the final bell of the day rang, a crowd swarmed Ichinose's desk, all eager to ask about her plans after school.

"I'm sorry, everyone, but I have plans today," Ichinose politely declined, promising to make it up to them next time.

Watching Ichinose leave alone, the group couldn't help but wonder who she was meeting.

"Didn't Honami say she had plans? Why is she leaving by herself?"

"Maybe it's someone from another class."

"Eh?! Someone from another class is trying to snatch our Honami away!?"

"No, no, we're probably overthinking it."

"I hope so."

After leaving the classroom, Ichinose intended to meet up with someone, so she began scanning the area at their pre-arranged spot.

"Ichinose, over here."

A light voice drifted from behind her, and Ichinose turned around.

"Ah, Kanzaki, sorry, have you been waiting long?"

"Actually, you arrived before I did. Let's get straight to the point—where is the person who specifically asked to see me?"

"Well... he said we should meet in Room 405."

Kanzaki frowned, puzzled. "Room 405?"

Ichinose nodded, her expression turning serious as she recalled what U Amakusa had told her.

"I don't know the specifics either, but I believe U Amakusa wouldn't say something like that without a reason."

"It seems the only way to get a clear answer is to face him." Kanzaki stopped overthinking and decided to follow through with the invitation.

The two soon arrived in front of the door to Room 405. Before they could even knock, the door swung open.

It was U Amakusa.

"Come in."

Ichinose and Kanzaki exchanged a glance before stepping into the room one after the other.

Kanzaki immediately began looking around, while Ichinose sat obediently on the chair by the desk.

"There's nothing special to see, but feel free to look around. Would you like something to drink?"

Out of hospitality, U Amakusa opened the refrigerator, waiting for their answers.

Ichinose: "Barley tea is fine."

Kanzaki: "Anything is fine."

After preparing the barley tea, U Amakusa handed the drinks to the two, who both seemed to have something they wanted to say.

"I know you both have many questions, but for our upcoming conversation, it would be much easier if your homeroom teacher were present."

"You mean you want us to call Hoshinomiya-sensei?"

Even though Kanzaki didn't know what U Amakusa was planning, he understood the implication.

He needed a homeroom teacher present, but Majima, the teacher for Class A, was nowhere to be found.

That left only Hoshinomiya, the homeroom teacher for their Class B.

Seeing that Kanzaki had no intention of sitting down to talk, U Amakusa simply leaned against the wall.

U Amakusa nodded. "Yes. Ichinose, could you do me this favor?"

"Of course." Ichinose agreed without hesitation. "Kanzaki, I believe U Amakusa is someone we can trust."

Judging by U Amakusa's request for her to befriend Sakura, Ichinose didn't think he was a bad person.

"Sorry, Ichinose, I don't share that opinion." Kanzaki hadn't even taken off his school bag.

"I don't need your trust. This is a transaction between us," U Amakusa said flatly.

"A transaction?"

Kanzaki wanted to press further, but he saw U Amakusa making a gesture as if he were on a phone call.

He waited in silence while Ichinose dialed Hoshinomiya. Fortunately, things went smoothly, and Hoshinomiya readily agreed to come.

U Amakusa didn't waste any time and immediately began his explanation.

"Kanzaki, I've looked into you, and as for me, you've likely heard of me, so there's no need for introductions.

I'll get straight to the point. The fact that Ichinose accepted the invitation and you were suspicious of my motives shows that both of you have discovered that there are problems with this school.

Simply put, the 100,000 personal points the school distributes are highly irrational, and I can tell you about these irrationalities and the hidden rules of the school."

After hearing U Amakusa expose the school's issues, both of them fell silent for a moment.

Kanzaki, however, still didn't trust U Amakusa.

"At the end of the day, you still haven't stated your objective. What do you gain by telling us this?"

Ichinose added, "U Amakusa, I trust you, but you must have your own conditions for telling us all this."

"Thank you for your trust, Ichinose. You can rest assured that my conditions will not harm you or Class B in any way. As for Kanzaki, I intend for you to take this information and sell it to Class C and Class D."

Kanzaki reacted quickly. "You don't want to show your face?"

Kanzaki assumed U Amakusa wanted to be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes, hence needing a blade to wield.

However, this conclusion was quickly refuted.

Ichinose voiced her own deduction: "U Amakusa, this is not your condition. If that were all, you could have easily found someone from Class A to act as the front, and in doing so, you could have even reaped the private points of our Class B."

U Amakusa chuckled lightly. "I don't recall saying that was my goal. I will explain my purpose, but it will have to wait until Teacher Hoshinomiya arrives."

Kanzaki frowned slightly. "If you won't explain your purpose, I cannot trust you."

For once, Ichinose remained silent regarding Kanzaki's words.

Although Ichinose trusted U Amakusa, when it came to the collective interests of Class B, she could not make a decision based on simple trust alone.

U Amakusa offered no explanation, simply continuing on his own: "This school uses a hierarchical system to divide classes, with the most excellent being Class A and the lowest being Class D. At the start, every class is granted 1000 class points, and 1 class point is equivalent to 100 private points per month. During the first month, the school employs a point deduction system; factors such as tardiness, lack of focus, or fighting are recorded by the school's ubiquitous surveillance cameras. But these are not the most critical aspects. The 100% advancement and employment rate of Advanced Nurturing is something only Class A can enjoy. Therefore, class competition is the most crucial element of this school—to graduate with the status of Class A. The condition for promoting to Class A is to become the class with the most class points."

"In other words, if one wants to promote to Class A, the first month is the best opportunity." Kanzaki stroked his chin, quickly digesting the information brought by U Amakusa.

As a member of Class B, Kanzaki was well aware that in the half-month since school started, Class B had already lost at least 100 points. This was merely an estimate without knowing the specific weight of each deduction; the actual figure might be even higher.

However, both Ichinose and Kanzaki had noticed a question regarding U Amakusa himself.

Ichinose looked at U Amakusa with a serious expression. "U Amakusa, does Class A already know about these hidden rules? And why would you tell us?"

Kanzaki also looked at U Amakusa with immense confusion; just as he had said, the first month was the most likely time to promote to Class A.

U Amakusa shrugged indifferently.

"You can probably guess it yourselves. There can only be one reason I would do this: I have absolutely no interest in whether or not I graduate as Class A. As for whether Class A knows? Some have likely begun to realize it. I can boldly estimate that Class A's class points will not be lower than 850."

After hearing U Amakusa's answer, Kanzaki placed his school bag on the table, though he remained standing.

U Amakusa smiled slightly; this should be the beginning of trust.

After all, being able to tell them these things meant that U Amakusa was not an enemy in the class competition.

But all of this was predicated on the assumption that the information U Amakusa provided was correct.