"I could also borrow some points from the upperclassmen in my club. If we do that, we might be able to scrape together enough."
Hearing that, Sudo suddenly spoke up too. "Right, I could borrow some points from the upperclassmen in the Basketball Club."
Hope flared on everyone's faces again. Watching them, Kitahara couldn't help thinking that they were still too naive. With Class D's current Class Points, who would dare lend them anything and take the risk? Ichinose might be an exception, though. Knowing her, she really might lend them points.
"This is a bit tricky. This is the class I'm about to defect to, so should I warn them?" But as Kitahara glanced at the empty seats, he added, "They probably won't need to use those points. Ayanokoji went out just now, probably to find Chabashira. But Horikita went with him, too. Looks like Ayanokoji really was behind her question earlier."
"Right. Horikita can't pull this off with her current abilities, either. But this method is out now. I wonder what else he can do to help them through this crisis."
"Forget it. What happens now is none of my business. I have something else to take care of."
"Where am I supposed to find two more club members? Ideally, they should be from Class B. We'll be fighting side by side in the future, after all."
Kitahara was still pondering this, unaware that Ayanokoji had already begun a face-off with Chabashira in the office.
"Is something wrong? Class is about to start," Chabashira-sensei asked.
"Sensei, can I ask you a question?" Ayanokoji asked calmly.
"A question?"
"Do you think society today is equal?"
"That's a rather abrupt question. What would be the point of answering?"
"This question is important. Could you answer me?"
"In my personal opinion, of course this world is not equal at all." Chabashira-sensei sighed and spoke slowly.
"I feel the same way. The word 'equality' is inherently hypocritical. But human beings are creatures capable of thought."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Chabashira clearly didn't want to waste time.
"In other words, we have to make the rules appear equal on the surface."
"Oh, so you're the one behind Horikita. But Class D can't scrape together that many points right now. Without that person's help, even I don't know how to change this situation." Chabashira quickly understood after hearing him out.
Ayanokoji opened the app on his phone. "Please sell me their chances to retake the exam."
"Hahaha! You're quite interesting. I never thought you'd come up with something like this." Chabashira laughed loudly.
"Sensei, Horikita's question in the classroom just now, along with your answer, already made everything clear."
"So, Sensei, how many points do you want?"
"Let me think... This is the first time I've ever done something like this."
"I'll give you a special price. How about 100,000 points for each of them?"
Ayanokoji nodded. This was the best possible outcome.
Chabashira looked at Ayanokoji. "Even so, you still don't have enough points."
"If you add my points and Hirata's, we should have enough," Horikita Suzune said as she pushed open the door. "We don't know how many points the class will lose if so many students are expelled at once, so I think keeping them here will do more good than harm."
"Horikita..." Ayanokoji looked at her, surprised by her sudden appearance. He hadn't expected Horikita to choose to keep them, either.
"Hahaha! In some ways, the two of you are even more interesting than Kitahara. Fine, I'll sell you these three chances. Hurry up and gather the points."
"In the history of this school, Class D has never been promoted. Even so, are you still going to struggle in vain?" Chabashira couldn't help asking as she watched them, as if she were seeing her former self.
"Leaving him aside, I intend to rise to a higher class." Horikita Suzune spoke first.
"You're defective products the school has given up on. How do you expect to climb higher?"
"With all due respect, even a defective product can become acceptable with a few small changes. And putting myself aside, I can't think of any reason Kitahara ended up in Class D, apart from his somewhat questionable personality. At least, that's how I see it."
"Even the school still hasn't figured out Kitahara's principles. Perhaps we'll understand once we know what he believes in." Chabashira answered. (That's why, even though I already know what he's capable of, I still haven't approached him. But these two in front of me now, especially Ayanokoji, might be just as capable as Kitahara.)
"As your homeroom teacher, I'll be watching you closely. I look forward to seeing what you can do."
After that, things became very simple. Once they returned to class, Ayanokoji told Hirata and the others the outcome of his discussion with Chabashira. Of course, he said it was Horikita's achievement.
Just as expected, after Hirata explained things, everyone understood Horikita's contribution. With Hirata organizing them, they quickly gathered the 300,000 points they needed.
Sudo and the others were finally able to relax. When Sudo learned that Horikita had paid 60,000 points herself, he went up to her, bowed earnestly, and said, "Thank you, Horikita. I'm sorry for how I acted before."
After hearing his apology, Horikita replied without changing her expression, "I didn't do this to help you. I did it so I could move up to a higher class."
Hearing that, Sudo didn't react as he usually did. He was like a tamed lion. Watching this, Kitahara could only say, "I can't believe he's still become Horikita's lapdog after all that."
With Sudo leading the way, the other two also thanked Horikita. The class had learned of Horikita's "strength" through this incident, and everyone gathered around her. Horikita had no intention of continuing the conversation, but they were still too excited to hold back.
Meanwhile, Kushida watched from the other side, her gaze fixed on Ayanokoji. She hadn't expected the scene that should have belonged to her to fall to her enemy, Horikita.
Watching the entire room from the back row, Kitahara murmured to Ayanokoji, "I didn't think you'd come up with this plan. I guess I underestimated you. But once I finish my task, I'll have filled in my only weakness."
"Ugh, now I have to hurry and decide who to bring into the club."
At the same time, in the Student Council Office, Horikita Manabu looked at the final tally and said to Tachibana, "Go announce the results, as well as the news that those two have joined the Student Council."
"Understood, President," Tachibana replied earnestly.
After Tachibana left, Horikita Manabu rested his chin on his hands. "I didn't realize that Ayanokoji from Class D had been hiding so much. But why did he choose to reveal himself during this exam?"
Horikita Manabu stared at the message Kitahara had sent him on his phone, lost in thought.