Just as Yukio had expected, it did not even take until nightfall.
The moment the school released the results of the Unanimous Vote Special Exam, the entire second year immediately zeroed in on Class D.
The other three classes had all lost class points too, but that part alone would not have caused such a stir. What really drew everyone's attention was Class D taking a direct three-hundred-point hit, instantly turning them into the center of attention.
People were like that.
If you had a moderately bad day, then saw someone else having an even worse one, your mood would unconsciously improve. It was not exactly evil. It was just human nature.
Yukio's class and Ichinose's class had both lost two hundred class points and were still cursing the school over a disgusting exam like that, but once Class D showed up with a minus three hundred, the students from those two classes immediately felt much better.
So it was not just them having a rough time? Turns out Class D had it even worse. Suddenly, losing two hundred did not feel like such a big deal anymore.
And with their spirits a little lifted, the second-years promptly went to Class D's students and started asking what the hell had happened. How had they managed to drag it out all the way to a timeout failure?
Everyone was genuinely curious.
If the whole class had just voted against the final question, they would only have lost two hundred points, so how had they ended up timing out and losing three hundred instead? That was such a stupid way to go down.
And once people started asking, the Class D students naturally did not want to suffer alone with all that bitterness bottled up inside.
So the moment someone brought it up, they started unloading.
"Ugh, don't even ask. At first we wanted to all vote against it, but then Koenji started persuading people to throw away one useless person in exchange for points."
"Then the whole class exploded. Everyone kept arguing and arguing. It was annoying as hell. In the end, we opened the expulsion branch, but when it came down to voting someone out, nobody could actually finish the job, so it just... timed out."
The other second-years stared in disbelief.
"No way. Your Unanimous Vote got that complicated? You seriously couldn't even settle on one suitable person?"
The Class D students had plenty to say about that too.
"That part wasn't the problem. Horikita actually found one. Sakura. Her grades were low, her physical ability was low, she had no friends, and nobody really liked her. She was perfect to vote out. But then Yukio showed up, transferred Sakura into his class, and took her away. So we couldn't vote her out anymore."
"What the hell?!"
That piece of news spread out and hit the second-years like a small earthquake.
A transfer?
That was huge.
Sure, the second-years had long known that the enormous sum of twenty million private points could not only cancel an expulsion, but also let someone transfer classes however they wanted, even jump straight to Class A alone.
But actually hearing that someone had really transferred into Class A still left them stunned, waves crashing through their minds.
Because this was the first time it had actually happened.
After more than a year, this was the very first class transfer the entire grade, no, this whole cohort had seen since enrolling.
As the news spread, more and more people reacted with shock and envy, while a lot of them could not make sense of it.
What exactly was the connection between Yukio and Sakura?
Why did he specifically go rescue Sakura in the middle of Class D's Unanimous Vote exam?
Yukio's class chat basically exploded on the spot.
"Welcome to the new member! Everyone's ranking in the class chat just dropped by one."
"By the way, where is the new member? Even with Sakagami-sensei in the chat, there are still only forty-one people. I don't see the new addition."
"Relax. She's probably still handling the transfer paperwork or something. We'll probably see her in class tomorrow. We can add her to the chat then."
When Shiina saw the news, she blinked in surprise too, then smiled.
She had actually always been able to tell that Sakura had been deliberately avoiding both her and Yukio.
It was probably because Sakura had not known how to face the feelings in her heart.
Now that Sakura had transferred over, Hiyori guessed Yukio must have resolved that knot in her heart.
In that case, their class had gained another good sister.
Compared to the lively atmosphere in Yukio's class, Ichinose's class was even more focused on the transfer news.
"So someone really did transfer straight into Class A..."
"That means... in the future, Ichinose really is going to work hard to earn a huge amount of private points so we can each solo-transfer into Class A too, right? There's already a real example now."
This had been the decision Ichinose made during the Unanimous Vote exam when facing Haruki Kanzaki's stubborn "yes" vote.
Even if classmates had to leave the class, they should not be abandoned. They should be sent toward a brighter future instead.
It was Ichinose's way of caring for everyone.
Just remembering the clash between Ichinose and Kanzaki during that exam made her classmates' feelings grow even more complicated.
One was the class leader, the other the vice class leader.
This was not some conflict over unfair distribution of benefits, and it definitely was not a power struggle.
Both of them had simply been thinking about their classmates and wanting everyone to have a better future.
That left the members of Ichinose's class not knowing how they were supposed to process any of it.
Then Ichinose herself directly posted in the class chat:
"That's right! Everyone, don't worry. We still have more than a year left. If we keep working hard from here on out, maybe we can all solo-transfer into Class A!"
Kanzaki, sitting alone in his dorm room and reading the chat, saw the changes in the atmosphere and saw Ichinose's encouragement.
It only strengthened his resolve to atone.
If his method would not work, then he would do it Ichinose's way.
At the very least, that would secure everyone's future.
As for the other classes, they were shocked too, but that was about it.
Sakayanagi's class was a different case. They were the closest class to Yukio's class in the rankings, and if they pushed hard enough over the next few special exams, they still had a real chance of overtaking them and reclaiming Class A.
So naturally, they had no reason to envy this kind of solo jump to A-Class. They were still putting their hopes in Sakayanagi, hoping she would keep leading them so they could overtake the competition together and return to Class A as a class.
And as for Class D, they had just lived through the whole transfer from beginning to end, so they were even less inclined to talk about it anymore.
Their class chat was dead silent.
At most, behind the scenes, Kushida, Matsushita, and Karuizawa kept messaging Yukio over and over.
Yukio replied to each one in turn, soothing them all.
Lastly, the teachers had their eyes on the matter too.
Sakagami-sensei was honestly pretty surprised. Out of nowhere, Yukio had somehow recruited another student into his class?
Still, Sakagami trusted Yukio's judgment. If Yukio had spent twenty million points to bring her over, then he clearly had a reason. Better to leave it in his hands.
As for Chabashira and Hoshinomiya, they were even more focused on it.
In the end, Hoshinomiya was the first one to text Chabashira:
"Drinks tonight?"
Chabashira's reply was brief and direct:
"The usual place."
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.