Although many things had happened yesterday that he didn't understand, in the end, none of them had affected Kitahara in the slightest.
Meanwhile, in Class B, a woman who had learned yesterday that Kitahara had come here and then spent the whole night drinking without figuring out why was lazily sprawled across the lectern, addressing the students below.
"Class 1-B, make sure you pay attention in class today, too!"
"You stink, Hoshinomiya-sensei. You smell like alcohol," Shiranami said from the front row.
"I accidentally drank too much yesterday." Faced with her students' questions, Hoshinomiya-sensei could only answer weakly.
Hoshinomiya-sensei, who had been lying on the lectern, suddenly remembered something. She sprang to her feet and pointed at the blackboard behind her, where the Class Points were displayed.
"I'll announce each class's scores for this month..." Before she could continue, Hoshinomiya-sensei felt as if something were about to come up from her throat.
Fortunately, she managed to press on. "Your Private Points will be deposited tomorrow."
Looking at their Class Points, which were now very close to Class A's, the students of Class B began talking.
"Our Class Points have gone up. At this rate, we might have a shot at reaching Class A."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"That's thanks to how well we did on this exam."
"Right, we held a study session, and everyone's grades improved."
For a moment, everyone turned their attention to Ichinose, the most important contributor to their success this time.
"How could you say that? This was all thanks to everyone," Ichinose replied modestly, feeling all the eyes on her.
Before Ichinose could react, a white-haired girl came running over and threw herself into Ichinose's arms, saying:
"I love you the most, Ichinose..."
Feeling the excited girl in her arms, Ichinose could only say softly:
"Chihiro... that's enough... wait—"
"No waiting. I'm so glad I'm in Class B. I'm so happy to be in the same class as you, Ichinose."
Looking at the harmonious Class B, Ichinose felt happy too.
I'm glad I'm in Class B, too. Our homeroom teacher is strange, but everyone in class is great.
So I'll move up to Class A together with everyone.
(If Kitahara knew what Ichinose was thinking, he wouldn't dismiss her, but he wouldn't have much hope, either.)
(After all, in the original story, Class B's disposition made it difficult for them to survive at this school. Besides, now that they had even more Class Points than they did in the original, they would probably be even more convinced that all they had to do was focus on their own affairs to achieve their goal.)
(But this was a school where strength came first. Just because you didn't go looking for trouble didn't mean trouble wouldn't come looking for you.)
(According to the original story, Class B wouldn't truly wake up until the Sports Festival. But they had far more points now than they did back then.)
Kitahara had already given the matter plenty of thought. His plan was to get Class B completely knocked out of the upcoming Uninhabited Island Exam, forcing them to wake up ahead of schedule.
So when the time came, they shouldn't blame him.
But one question had been bothering Kitahara for a long time: why did Class B's Class Points in the first month differ so much from the original story?
If Kitahara found the culprit, he'd kill him. Otherwise, there'd be no need to go to such lengths thinking about what to do with Class B.
At that moment, Kitahara was waiting for the elevator, yawning repeatedly. Exhausted, he wondered aloud, "I went to bed so early yesterday. Why am I still so sleepy...? Could it be because I didn't rob anyone yesterday...?"
Kitahara yawned again, not noticing that the elevator doors in front of him had already opened.
Before the person appeared, their voice came first. A familiar voice called out:
"Are you getting in the elevator or not?"
"Sorry about that." Kitahara apologized to Horikita and hurried inside.
"Good morning, Kitahara," Kushida said.
"Mm, good morning."
Watching Ayanokoji and Kushida chatting away in front of him, Kitahara felt something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
He had a feeling something had happened between them. They were far more different from usual today. They'd talked before, but their conversation hadn't flowed this smoothly.
Suddenly thinking of something, Kitahara slowly shifted his gaze back and forth between the two, trying to find some trace of it. But the clothes that bore any traces had obviously already been cleaned.
Though he hadn't found any clues, as someone familiar with the story, Kitahara could guess that after the exam, there was only one thing that could have brought them closer.
He was a little disappointed that he hadn't witnessed it himself, but Kitahara had a feeling it was probably a good thing.
Amid the seemingly peaceful atmosphere, the elevator finally reached the first floor.
I followed behind them, bringing up the rear. As soon as we stepped out of the elevator, a cheerful voice called out:
"Good morning, Kushida." Kushida turned and looked over. "Oh, it's Ichinose."
When Ichinose came closer, she glanced at Ayanokoji standing beside them and asked Kushida:
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"Of course not."
Hearing Ichinose ask them that, Kitahara thought of what might have happened between the two of them and couldn't help laughing aloud.
At the sound of laughter behind her, all three of them turned toward Kitahara at once.
Seeing Kitahara there, Ichinose said happily, "Good morning, Kitahara."
"Mm, good morning, Ichinose."
Hearing them greet each other, Kushida and Ayanokoji exchanged glances and realized there might be something unusual about their relationship. Ichinose's way of addressing Kitahara only made it seem more likely.
Kitahara himself didn't think anything of it. In his previous life, his friends had often called him "-kun," too. What he didn't realize was that this wasn't China.
After the brief greeting, Ichinose continued, "Kitahara, what were you laughing about just now? You seemed so happy."
"Uh... nothing. I just had a nice dream yesterday."
"Really? Looks like you slept well, Kitahara," Ichinose replied, tapping her cheek with a finger.
"By the way, have you guys received any points today?"
"Hm?" The three of them looked at Ichinose in confusion. Clearly, they hadn't heard about it yet.
But Kitahara immediately understood what must have happened.