Chapter 7.1

“If we don’t get any more points, what I am gonna do?”

“I used up all of my points yesterday…”

During the break, the classroom erupted into an uproar…or rather, chaos.

“Forget about the points. What the hell about this class? Why was I put into Class D?!” Yukimura cried resentfully. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead.

“Wait, does this mean that we can’t get into college now? Why did we even go to this school? Does Sae-chan-sensei hate us or something?”

None of the other students could hide their confusion.

“I understand that you’re all confused right now, but everyone needs to calm down.” Hirata, sensing the classroom tipping toward crisis, stood and attempted to rein everyone in.

“How are we supposed to calm down? Aren’t you frustrated that she called us a bunch of failures?!” Yukimura said.

“Even if I was, isn’t it better for us to band together so we can turn things around?” Hirata asked.

“Turn things around? I don’t even agree with how we were sorted in the first place!”

“I understand. However, sitting here whining won’t help us right now.”

“What did you say?” Yukimura quickly went to Hirata and forcefully grasped his collar.

“Calm down, you two, okay? I’m sure that the teacher talked to us harshly so we’d be inspired to do better, right?”

That was Kushida. She slipped between the two and separated them, gently taking Yukimura’s balled fist. Just as anyone would expect, Yukimura didn’t try to hurt her and reflexively took half a step back.

“Besides, it’s only been one month since we started here, right? Like Hirata-kun said, it’s better if we all do our best together. Do you think that I’m wrong about that?”

“N-no, it’s… Well, I certainly wouldn’t say you’re wrong, but…”

Yukimura’s anger had almost completely vanished. Kushida looked at everyone in class, and it was almost as if her eyes reflected a sincere wish for us to work together.

“Yeah, it’s better for us to band together. Right? There’s no need for you to fight, Yukimura. Hirata.”

“I’m sorry. I lost my cool,” Yukimura said.

“It’s all right. I should have chosen my words a little more carefully.”

Kushida Kikyou’s presence brought everyone together. I took out my cell phone and snapped a picture of the paper with the class point totals. Horikita, taking notice, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I haven’t been able to figure out how points are calculated yet. You’ve also been taking notes, haven’t you?”

If I could figure out how many points were deducted by being late or talking in class, it’d be easier to come up with countermeasures.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to figure out those details at this stage? Besides, I don’t think you can resolve this simply by investigating. Everyone in our class arrived late and talked too often.”

As Horikita had said, it certainly was difficult to conclude anything based on the current information. Also, Horikita’s usually cool, composed attitude was gone. She seemed rather impatient.

“Are you trying to get into college, too?” I wondered.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, when we learned about the differences between A and D, you looked shocked.”

“But so was almost everyone in this class, more or less. If they’d told us at the start, that would’ve been one thing, but to explain it at this stage? Unthinkable.”

Well, she was right about that. There was probably a lot of discontented grumbling coming from Class C and B students as well. After all, the school treated every class except for A like leftovers. Trying to get to the top was probably our best option.

“I think that before we even start talking about A or D or whatever, we should secure points.”

“Points are just a byproduct of our performance, though. Not having points won’t hinder our lives here at school. We have free options at almost every turn, right?” Horikita said.

If you thought about it that way, it’d be a relief for the students who’d lost all of their points.

“‘Won’t hinder our lives here at school,’ huh?” If you wanted to simply get by, this wouldn’t be a problem. However, there were many things you could only obtain with points. Entertainment, for example. If the lack of entertainment options wasn’t a problem, then it’d be fine, but…

“About how many points did you spend last month, Ayanokouji-kun?”

“Hm? Oh, my points? I spent about 20,000, approximately.”

This was tragic for the students who’d used up their points. Like Yamauchi, who was ranting and raving at his desk. Ike had also spent almost all of his points.

“While unfortunate, they’ve simply reaped what they’ve sown,” Horikita said.

It was certainly true that indiscriminately spending all 100,000 points in a single month was a slight problem.

“They baited us into spending all our points over the course of this one month, and we fell for it.”

One hundred thousand points per month. Even though everyone had thought it too good to be true, we’d been too happy to care.

“Attention, everyone. Before class begins, I want you to listen seriously for a moment. Especially you, Sudou-kun.” The class was still in an uproar, but Hirata claimed everyone’s attention when he stood at the teacher’s podium.

“Tch, what is it?” Sudou grumbled.

“We didn’t get any points this month. This is a serious problem, and one that will have an enormous impact on our daily lives moving forward. It’s impossible for us to make it to graduation with zero points, right?”

“You’re absolutely right!” shouted one of the female students, her voice full of despair.

Hirata gave a kind nod in response, sympathizing with her.

“Of course. Therefore, we must earn points next month. To do that, we all need to cooperate with each other. So, please, take care not to be late to class or to talk during the lecture. Also, the use of cell phones during class is prohibited, of course.”

“Huh? And why do you get to tell us what to do? Besides, that’s supposing our points will increase. If they don’t change at all, then it’s useless.”

“As long as we continue talking during class and being late, our points won’t increase for sure. Although we can’t go below zero points, disruption will, without a doubt, count as strikes against us.”

“I’m still not convinced. Besides, even if we get serious and work hard in class, our points won’t necessarily go up.” Sudou snorted and crossed his arms in defiance. Kushida took notice of this and commented on it.

“Well, the teacher did say that the being late and talking in class were obviously bad, right?”

“Yeah, I agree with Kushida-san. It’s only natural to avoid doing those things.”

“That’s just your own selfish interpretation. Besides, you don’t know how to increase our points. Try talking to me after you figure that out.”

“I don’t think that there’s anything particularly wrong with what you said, Sudou-kun. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.” Hirata bowed his head politely toward the disgruntled Sudou.

“However, Sudou- kun, it’s a fact that unless we all cooperate, we won’t get any more points.”

“Do whatever you want. It doesn’t matter. Just don’t involve me in it. Understand?” Sudou snapped.

As if being in the room made him feel uncomfortable, he left immediately. I had to wonder: Would he return when class started? Or did he not intend to return at all?

“Sudou-kun really can’t read the room. He’s the one who was late to class the most. Couldn’t we still get some points even without Sudou-kun?”

“Yeah. He really is the worst. Why is he in our class?” Hmm. Until now, everyone had been enjoying their lives of luxury to the absolute fullest. No one had previously complained about Sudou. Hirata stepped down from the podium and, strangely, stopped right in front of my desk.

“Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun, do you have a moment? I want to speak with you about how we can increase our points. I’d like you to join me. Can you?”

“Why do you want us?” I asked.

“I want to hear everyone’s voices. However, if I ask for everyone to weigh in, I think more than half of the class probably won’t take it seriously.”

So, he wanted to ask us individually? I doubted I’d be able to come up with any particularly useful ideas, but I supposed it couldn’t hurt to talk. Just as I was thinking that…

“I’m sorry, can you ask someone else? I’m not particularly good at discussing things with others,” said Horikita.

“We wouldn’t force you to speak up. If you could help think of something, that would be good. Simply being there would be enough,” Hirata said.

“I’m sorry, but I have no interest in something meaningless.”

“This is the first trial we’re facing together as a united Class D. So then—”

“I refuse. I won’t participate.” Her words were stern, yet composed. While she’d considered Hirata’s position, she refused him once again.

“I…I see. I’m sorry. If you change your mind, I’d love for you to join Horikita had already stopped looking at Hirata, who withdrew dejectedly.

“What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?” he asked. Honestly, I’d be glad to participate. I’d thought that most of the class would be involved. However, if Horikita was the only one absent, then she might be treated the same as Sudou.

“Ah…I’ll pass. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry for bothering you. If you change your mind, please let me know.”

Hirata probably understood what I was thinking. I hadn’t rejected him strongly. After the discussion ended, Horikita began preparing for the next class.

“Hirata’s a great guy. He’s able to get everyone to take action just like that. People can easily get depressed in these situations.”

“That’s one perspective, yes. If we could easily solve this by talking, then that’d be fine. However, if an unintelligent student tries to lead the discussion, the group will fall further into chaos, to the point where there’s no hope of salvaging anything. Besides, I can’t meekly accept my current situation.”

“You can’t accept what now? What do you mean?”

Horikita didn’t answer my question. She fell completely silent.

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