"Cheers!"
In Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's dorm room, a group of people sat together, clinking their juice-filled cups and sharing in the joy of the moment.
"Come to think of it, things got pretty dangerous this time. If Kushida hadn't brought back last year's test papers, Ike and Sudo would've been done for, right?"
"What are you talking about? You barely passed yourself!"
So noisy. How had things ended up like this? I should've been enjoying the peaceful evening in my own dorm room. Why had I come to this party?
Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Chiba Yu let out a silent sigh.
After that, Chiba Yu and Ayanokoji had each paid 50,000 points, pulling Sudo back from the brink of expulsion.
But the price of doing so was that each of them had less than 20,000 points left.
"By the way, Ayanokoji, how did you get the teacher to cancel Sudo's expulsion?"
As everyone celebrated, Kushida asked Ayanokoji the question she most wanted answered.
The dorm room fell silent in an instant. Everyone turned to look at Ayanokoji, wanting to hear how he'd done it.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze swept around the room, finally pausing for a moment on Horikita and Chiba Yu.
Having made up his mind, Ayanokoji was about to speak.
"Let me explain."
Just then, Chiba Yu—whom Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had assumed would quietly sit back and watch—spoke up out of the blue, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"This time, Ayanokoji, Horikita, and I each paid 50,000 points to buy the missing point Sudo needed from Chabashira-sensei."
"B-Buy points?!"
"R-Really?"
"You can actually do that with personal points?"
Seeing the disbelief on the faces of the trio and Kushida, and Horikita Suzune's shock at Chiba Yu having laid everything out so openly, Chiba Yu continued explaining:
"Remember what Chabashira-sensei said before? At this school, personal points can buy anything you want. That naturally includes points on a test."
"But that's still hard to believe."
"There's nothing impossible about it. And Sudo, after what I said in class this morning, you should understand how important studying is now. If you're still like this next time, I can guarantee that no one will be able to help you."
"Tch... I get it. I'll work harder from now on."
"Mm." Chiba Yu nodded. He didn't put much faith in Sudo's promise, but since Sudo himself had said it, he didn't press the matter.
"All right, now we should settle the bill."
"Settle the bill? What do you mean?" Sudo looked confused.
Seeing that Sudo didn't understand, Chiba Yu got straight to the point. "Ayanokoji and the others and I each lost 50,000 points for your sake. Did you think you wouldn't have to pay us back?"
If they hadn't needed Sudo for the Sports Festival coming up, Chiba Yu was certain that not even Jesus could have saved him this time.
Sudo stiffened, struggling to get the words out.
"Y-You mean I have to find a way to pay you all back?"
Chiba Yu gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "Isn't that obvious? I can't speak for Ayanokoji and Horikita, but you have to pay back my share in full. Since we're classmates, I'll charge you a little less interest. That's pretty generous, isn't it?"
At that moment, Sudo felt as if his life had gone completely dark.
"Why did you tell Sudo and the others about this?"
In the hallway, Horikita and Chiba Yu rested their arms on the railing. The evening breeze stirred Horikita's beautiful black hair, carrying a faint fragrance with it.
"Nothing special. I just feel bad about the points I worked so hard to save."
At his answer, Horikita turned to look at him in confusion. "I understand you less and less. You keep saying you only want to get through school in peace, yet you keep helping us. What are you really after?"
Horikita's question didn't ruffle Chiba Yu in the slightest. He replied calmly, "I think I should clear one thing up first. I've never said I did any of this for you."
"Huh? But you—"
"I tutored the girls in our class for Hirata because if I'd refused, he would've kept pestering me afterward. That would've been a hassle."
"I helped Sudo because if he'd been expelled, then when the school held events like the Sports Festival, our class would've fallen far behind the other classes. On top of that, the boys would've had to take on more work. That would've interfered with my low-energy lifestyle."
"If everyone in our class works a little harder, I can enjoy the peaceful life I want with greater peace of mind."
"So you're saying you did all of this for yourself?" Horikita asked again.
"Obviously."
Chiba Yu didn't continue arguing with Horikita. Instead, he headed for his dorm room. Their rooms were separated by only one wall, and all he wanted now was to get back to his warm little bed and sleep in peace.
"Wait, I still have something to—"
But before Horikita could finish, Chiba Yu had already opened the door and gone inside, leaving her with only the sight of his back.
After the turmoil of the midterm exams, time seemed to fly by. For some reason, Chiba Yu's popularity in class had shot up since then. Most of his classmates had gone from thinking of him as "an ordinary guy who's pretty good at studying" to "a distinctive guy who's great at studying."
It all came down to the fact that Chiba Yu had taken Sudo's punch without even flinching that day, the well-defined muscles he'd shown off without restraint during swimming class, and the revelation that he'd been deliberately controlling his test scores.
All these factors, combined with Chiba Yu's good looks—he was the sort of person who grew more attractive the more you looked at him—had caused his popularity in class to soar. Quite a few girls even came over to strike up conversations and ask him to help them study.
Especially after they found out Chiba Yu didn't have a girlfriend, things only got worse. It wasn't until a week or two later that things finally started to improve.
"Can someone come save me..."
Slumped over his desk, Chiba Yu murmured weakly, looking as though all the life had been drained out of him.
"Didn't you bring this on yourself? You're the one who made such a big show of yourself and lectured Sudo for so long."
Karuizawa, sitting in front of him, seemed to have heard his complaint and couldn't help turning around to say it.
"By the way, why haven't this month's points been handed out yet? We shouldn't have gotten zero points this month, right?"
Karuizawa looked at the points balance on her phone, still completely empty, and couldn't help wondering.
That was what most people were thinking right now, too.
"No idea. Maybe something else is about to happen."
Normally, at a school this large, something like this shouldn't happen...