"Clatter!"
Chabashira Sae unrolled the paper she had just brought in and pinned it to the classroom blackboard.
"That's right. This is the S System. It reviews students in real time and calculates their scores. Look: multiply each class's Class Points by one hundred, and you get the number of Personal Points you receive this month. Your Class D has perfectly proven that you're the most defective products of all—in other words, trash!"
"How could this happen..."
"You've got to be kidding... What is this...?"
One after another, the students voiced their disbelief, their faces tinged with fear and confusion.
Clap, clap, clap!
Chabashira Sae clapped her hands, a contemptuous smile she couldn't hide on her face. "Still, I have to say I'm impressed. You managed to use up all your points in just one month. That's a first for any Class D in the school's history. I can't help but think more highly of you."
After explaining the rules and uses of Class Points, as well as how only students who graduated from Class A could enjoy employment benefits, Chabashira Sae immediately pinned another sheet of white paper to the blackboard and gestured for everyone to look.
"These are your scores on this test. I can only say that, true to form, most of your results were trash."
Chabashira Sae cast a sharp glance over the students below. "Starting with the next exam, anyone who fails the midterms or finals will be expelled."
"Expelled?! What gives you the right? We've never heard of anything like that!"
"But that's how it is. If you don't believe me, feel free to find out at the next exam." After coldly responding to one student's heated protest, Chabashira Sae began packing up. Then, without looking back, she left the classroom.
A heavy atmosphere filled the room, suffocating everyone, as if an invisible mountain were pressing down on their chests. Each student sat silently in their seat. No one spoke.
While the entire class remained silent, Hirata stood up and began walking around the classroom.
As Chiba Yu wondered what he was up to, Hirata's next move gave him a bad feeling.
No way. Don't! Chiba Yu inwardly protested, but Hirata headed straight toward him.
This is bad. That was Chiba Yu's first thought.
"I'm sorry, Chiba. You warned me back then, but I didn't take you seriously. That's what led to this situation. I'm sorry."
Hirata's actions immediately drew the attention of the whole class. Some students even stared at them, dumbfounded.
But a single question filled everyone's minds: what was going on? Why was Hirata saying that?
Being watched by the entire class wasn't pleasant. Hoping to escape the awkward atmosphere as soon as possible, Chiba Yu forced himself to reply, "It's not your fault, Hirata. I said it was just a guess at the time. Who knew it would actually be true?"
"No, it's still my fault. I knew there might be a problem, but I didn't take it seriously. Instead, I let everyone do as they pleased. I failed in my duty as class representative!"
Hirata lowered his head again, taking all the blame upon himself. Seeing this, Chiba Yu knew Hirata had backed himself into a corner. Ordinary words of comfort wouldn't get through to him now.
Chiba Yu sighed and shook his head helplessly. The next moment, his gaze sharpened, and he stared straight at Hirata.
"Right. You're not wrong. This is all your fault!"
At that moment, Hirata's already self-reproachful heart grew even heavier, and his head seemed to sink lower.
"Hey! How can you say that? Hirata..." Karuizawa Kei, seated in front of Chiba Yu, heard his words and was just about to stand up for Hirata. But when Chiba Yu glanced at her with eyes as deep and cold as a frozen pool, she faltered and couldn't get another word out.
The entire class watched the scene intently, as though it were some kind of farce. To them, Chiba Yu—usually an inconspicuous nobody—seemed like a completely different person, almost a stranger.
"Hirata, what's happened has happened. We can't keep dwelling on the past; we have to look ahead to the future. Didn't Chabashira-sensei just say that Class Points aren't set in stone? Our chance to turn things around is the next midterm exam."
"What you should be doing now isn't standing around looking dejected. You should be thinking about how to lead the class through this crisis. And look closely: your classmates are all waiting for you. Or have you lost confidence just because you failed once?"
Hirata looked up and saw his classmates gazing at him with worried expressions.
"Exactly, Hirata! This was only a small setback. We can win next time!"
"Yeah! We can do this!"
"Everyone..." Hirata murmured, the light in his eyes beginning to shine again.
"I understand!" Hirata took a deep breath, regained his confidence, and smiled at Chiba Yu. "Thank you, Chiba. I was getting caught up in my own thoughts."
Only then did the tension finally leave Chiba Yu's face, and he returned to the harmless-looking self he had been before.
"It's nothing. I'm just glad you're feeling better. Why don't we go to swimming class and clear our heads?"
For some reason, though, when Hirata smiled at him, Chiba Yu felt that something wasn't quite right.
"These people really are carefree, aren't they? That just happened, and already..."
During swimming class, the students who had been so solemn just moments earlier were now playing together without a care, as if nothing that had happened was a problem.
"Maybe they're just trying to take their minds off it."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune sat off to the side, keeping out of the others' fun. Like two wolves that didn't belong in the pack, they quietly stayed in their own corner.
"By the way, did he really know about this all along?" Horikita changed the subject, steering the conversation in another direction.
"Who are you talking about?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked in reply, either pretending not to understand or genuinely missing her meaning.
Horikita Suzune glared at him. "Aren't you close with him? I often see you going to and from school together."
"No, that really is just a coincidence." Thinking back to how often he happened to run into Chiba Yu whenever he went out, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still forced himself to maintain that explanation.
"So, he really did know about this in advance, right?"
The same question came around again, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't know how to answer.
"I told you, it was just a coincidence."
A familiar voice reached Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune's ears. They turned their heads and saw the very person they had been discussing walking toward them. He casually took the seat to Horikita Suzune's right...