Chapter 151: It's Just Moral Blackmail—Who Doesn't Know How to Do That?!
Yuto looked toward Ike and Yamauchi on the podium.
"I don't care whether you spent six hundred thousand points or ten thousand on those papers. I'm not giving you a single point."
"There are three reasons."
"First, Ike Kanji, there's no way you spent six hundred thousand points buying those papers."
"You're obviously trying to make a huge profit from everyone. I don't approve of that."
After being condemned by everyone and exposed as guilty, Ike did not dare refute Yuto.
"Second, who can guarantee that the papers in your hands will actually be used for our upcoming midterm?"
"Third, even if they really are the papers for the upcoming exam, I still won't buy them."
Yuto curled his lips into a smile.
"Because I have confidence in myself."
"I can earn a good score without relying on shortcuts."
"Exactly! I'm not giving points to someone like Ike either!"
"Just like Shimizu-kun, I'm confident I can earn a good score through my own ability!" Yukimura Teruhiko immediately agreed.
For academically excellent students such as Yuto, Yukimura, Hirata, and Suzune, using old examination papers to gain an unfair advantage had little meaning.
"I don't want to pay for those so-called examination papers either."
A timid voice suddenly followed.
Yuto looked to his right in surprise.
That had actually been Airi!
His shy childhood friend had voluntarily voiced her own opinion.
Yuto was genuinely surprised.
In truth, Airi had been influenced by Kei.
Kei had boldly stood up to Ike earlier, so Airi felt that she should also gather the courage to say something in Yuto's support.
Unfortunately, Airi usually maintained an extremely low presence in Class D.
Her quiet statement barely attracted anyone else's attention.
"The beautiful me finds all three of Shimizu-boy's arguments perfectly reasonable."
Koenji Rokusuke placed his long legs on his desk and swept back his blond hair as usual.
"I have no intention of wasting points on meaningless papers either."
"Someone else will surely buy them. I'll simply borrow a copy from that person."
Yuto glanced at Koenji.
The guy spoke as though he actually had friends in Class D who would willingly lend him things...
Still, Koenji's words reminded several students of something.
Unlike Yuto and the others, these students had poor grades and genuinely wanted to place their hopes on Ike's papers.
But although they wanted the papers, they did not want to spend their own personal points!
Class D had earned no points this month.
Their balances were already running low, so why would they willingly spend what little remained?
And with Ike demanding an outrageous six hundred thousand points, everyone became even less willing to pay.
There was still an entire week before the midterm.
They could simply wait until someone bought the papers and then ask that person for a copy.
Even if they were not close to whoever bought them, they still had their little angel Kushida Kikyo!
Kikyo was surely acquainted with that student.
They could simply ask her to obtain a copy for them!
Ike's entire face darkened.
The main reason he had scraped together fifty thousand points to buy Tokito's papers was because he expected to resell them to Class D at a huge markup.
Yet one casual sentence from Koenji had destroyed everyone's willingness to pay.
Among the many weaknesses of human nature was selfishness.
The moment the Class D students realized they might obtain the papers without spending anything, they naturally became resistant to paying Ike.
That included students who were relatively friendly with him, such as Sotomura Hideo and Sudo Ken.
Even Ike's friends wanted them for free!
Part of the problem was Ike's reputation.
His lateness, skipping classes, sleeping through lessons, and openly making inappropriate remarks about the girls had already made him extremely unpopular within Class D.
If Yuto were selling the papers instead, the situation would have been completely different.
Most Class D students would willingly contribute their share.
And there was another issue!
Ike was shamelessly insisting that the class pay him six hundred thousand points.
That made his behavior even more irritating.
Yuto certainly liked personal points, but he would never scam his own classmates.
If he wanted to profit from someone, he would target students from other classes instead.
"How can you people do this?!"
"I went through all that trouble to buy the midterm papers, and now you bastards want to freeload off what I paid for?!" Ike shouted bitterly.
Yuto smiled.
"What you just said is even more unreasonable."
"When you bought those papers, did you ever ask us whether we wanted them?"
"Did you ask whether we were willing to spend points on them?"
"Yet now you're demanding that we reimburse you. Does that sound reasonable?"
"And Ike, didn't you just say you bought the papers to contribute to the class?"
"If that's really true, then you shouldn't charge anyone a single point."
"You should simply give the papers to everyone for free."
"That would actually count as contributing to the class."
Wasn't this merely moral blackmail?
Who didn't know how to use that trick?
Ike was trying to morally pressure everyone with, "I spent my own points and effort obtaining these papers."
So Yuto simply countered with, "If you really care about the class, you should contribute them for free."
"Shimizu-kun is right!"
"Ike-kun, if you genuinely did this for everyone, you shouldn't charge us!"
"You should give the papers to the class for free!"
Cold stares, condemnation, shouting, and opposition poured toward Ike and Yamauchi from every direction.
Their faces turned pale, and their legs began trembling.
When had they ever been condemned by more than thirty classmates at once?!
This time was even more frightening than before.
Everyone was attacking them for the sake of their own midterm results rather than merely defending Yuto.
Ike's trembling legs finally gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.
Fortunately, that was all that happened.
Otherwise, the classroom might have ended up smelling terrible!
Watching Ike's pathetic state from the doorway, Chabashira shook her head.
She stepped into the classroom, her black stockings complementing her long legs as she walked with her usual commanding air.
The chaos caused by Ike and Yamauchi had already become uncontrollable.
As their teacher and homeroom instructor, Chabashira needed to restore order.
The Class D students gradually fell silent as she entered.
Chabashira looked at the trembling Yamauchi and Ike sitting on the floor before sighing.
"Stand up. What do you think you're doing sitting on the floor?"
Ike, his face full of humiliation, grabbed Yamauchi's trouser leg and clumsily pulled himself upright.
He hurriedly turned toward Chabashira.
"Chabashira-sensei, you heard everything from outside, right?"
"You agree that everyone should pay me for the papers I bought, don't you?"
"I heard your conversation, but this isn't something I should interfere with."
"Ike Kanji, do you really believe a teacher should involve herself in matters concerning privately acquired examination papers?" Chabashira asked speechlessly.
"..."
Damn!
Under the pressure of the situation, Ike had nearly forgotten that Chabashira was a member of the school faculty!
Once he realized even she would not support him, Ike finally shouted in utter despair.
"Fine! I'll give you bastards the papers for free! Happy now?!"
"That's more like it!"
The Class D students immediately brightened.
They did not particularly care that Ike had just called them bastards.
After all, they were getting supposedly useful midterm papers for free!
"I spent six hundred thousand points on those papers!" Ike cried in agony.
Even now, he stubbornly insisted that he had paid six hundred thousand.
Sure, sure.
As long as he handed them over for free, he could claim he had spent sixty million points and everyone would happily believe him!
Ike's grand scheme had completely failed.
He had spent fifty thousand points buying the papers from Tokito, failed to make any profit from Class D, and was now being forced to distribute them for free.
If he had known things would turn out this badly, Ike would have kept the papers entirely to himself.
He never would have told these damned bastards that he had them!
Yuto smiled faintly as Ike and Yamauchi trudged away from the podium in despair.
Those two idiots had probably developed a psychological scar from this.
They likely would not dare climb onto the podium to show off again anytime soon.
The farce caused by Ike and Yamauchi finally came to an end.
Holding her textbook and teaching materials, Chabashira began the lesson.
Throughout class, Ike wore the lifeless expression of someone who had just lost a fortune.
Yamauchi looked somewhat better because he had already been broke, so Ike had never managed to borrow any points from him.
The only reason Yamauchi had joined Ike on the podium was because he wanted to imitate Yuto.
He wanted to stand out and attract admiring looks from the girls.
Unfortunately, everything that happened up there was completely different from what they had imagined!
...
When the bell rang, Chabashira immediately gathered her materials and left the classroom.
Kei quickly moved her chair beside Yuto again and leaned against his shoulder.
She had always loved clinging to Yuto, but now that she had entrusted him with her first time and her entire being, she was even more attached to him.
Yuto smiled at his clingy girlfriend.
If they were not inside the Class D classroom, she would probably crawl straight into his arms and demand hugs and kisses.
"Yuto, let's go outside for a walk~" Kei said in a spoiled, adorable voice.
"Sure."
Yuto smiled and left the classroom with Kei, taking advantage of the ten-minute break to walk around outside.
Meanwhile, Hirata and several other students approached Ike.
They took the papers from the irritated boy and hurried off to find somewhere to photocopy them.
The academically weaker students were anxious.
Partly because they feared Ike might change his mind and refuse to let them copy the papers for free.
And partly because they wanted to obtain the supposed upcoming midterm papers as quickly as possible.
Suzune watched the students carry the papers away with her usual cold expression.
She became curious.
Were the papers Ike obtained the same as the ones Manabu had given her?
With that question in mind, Suzune approached Ike.
"Ike-kun, you remember at least some of the questions, don't you? Tell me one or two of them."
"I didn't even look at the papers. How would I know what questions were on them?" Ike answered weakly.
Having his papers taken for free had completely drained his energy.
Suzune looked stunned.
"You said those papers were related to our upcoming midterm."
"You obtained them and didn't immediately start studying the questions?"
"Of course not!"
Ike looked irritably at Suzune.
"Why would I memorize them immediately?"
"I can just stay up late the night before the exam and look through them then."
"That attitude is completely wrong!"
"Stop nagging me, Horikita."
"I've survived like this since elementary school. I have plenty of experience."
Ike looked proudly toward Yamauchi.
"Right, Yamauchi?"
"Yeah. I was thinking exactly the same thing," Yamauchi replied with a foolish grin.
Suzune's face became utterly expressionless.
Their attitude toward studying had genuinely angered her.
She immediately turned and walked away from the two idiots.
They were hopeless.
Suzune was beginning to seriously question whether people this unwilling to help themselves were worth all the effort she had invested in them.
Returning to her seat, Suzune looked toward Yuto's empty chair.
"Shimizu must have understood their personalities from the beginning."
"That's why he simply leaves them alone," she murmured quietly.
Exactly.
Yuto had long since realized that Ike and Yamauchi were the kind of people who could not be helped unless they chose to change themselves.
That was why he left them alone.
Whether they wanted to give up entirely or Suzune wanted to keep tutoring them, Yuto allowed them to make their own choices.
…
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