Chapter 032: Class 1-C at Zero Points!
At this moment.
The Class 1-A classroom.
"Finally finished cleaning."
"If you didn't want to wait for me, you could have gone back early." Kamuro finished wiping the blackboard and finally walked over to Sakayanagi's desk.
Sakayanagi Arisu was sitting at her desk reading Farewell, My Lovely. It was recommended to her by a "literary girl" she met at the library.
Since that girl had silver hair just like hers and was quite cute, Sakayanagi felt she could spare a moment to appreciate the girl's taste.
However, after finishing it, she wore a stern expression. She couldn't bring herself to like the theme of "unrequited love" at all.
Because she, Sakayanagi Arisu, inclined toward predation. If she couldn't snatch something, she would create the opportunity to seize it anyway.
Of course, this might be because of Sakayanagi's poor health; being barred from many activities might have made her inner self so aggressive.
"Well, Masumi-chan, you could actually ask others to help you with the cleaning. After all," Sakayanagi Arisu said with a small smile, "you're quite the 'favorite' by my side now. Getting one or two students to clean for you would be effortless."
"Don't call me by my first name; stick to Kamuro," Kamuro Masumi replied.
"And I have no interest in taking advantage of people like that."
Her tone was stiff.
However.
"?" Kamuro took out her phone to check something, her brows suddenly furrowing.
"What is it?" Sakayanagi's gaze shifted over.
"I just received news." Kamuro stared at the screen, her voice dropping.
"Students spotted members of Class C and Class D deliberately approaching Class B's Ichinose and Hikigaya." She looked up, confused.
"What do you think students from those two classes are trying to do by contacting the Class B representatives at a time like this?"
"..." Hearing the familiar names, Sakayanagi fell silent.
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Kamuro waited in confusion, sensing something unusual in Sakayanagi's reaction.
Finally, Sakayanagi spoke up slowly.
"You're actually asking me such a question? The results of the conduct assessment are about to be announced. Right now, Class C and Class D aren't even considered opponents to our Class A. So, no matter what they intend to do, you have nothing to worry about."
Indeed.
These words gave Kamuro a sense of relief.
Class C likely wasn't much of a threat after being reported multiple times by the people Katsuragi arranged, and Class D was beyond saving.
So, if two non-threatening classes contacted Class B, what was there to fear?
But she soon heard Sakayanagi add, "By the way, you've been running into him occasionally lately, haven't you? Has there been anything special?"
"...?" Kamuro.
'Him?'
Kamuro knew exactly who Sakayanagi meant by "him."
Having been Sakayanagi's "puppy" for nearly a month, Kamuro thought she had a handle on the girl's temperament, but right now, Sakayanagi's tone and question held an inscrutable oddity.
It was as if she cared deeply about Hikigaya Hachiman.
However.
"I don't want to run into him. In his heart, he's always saying things about wanting to catch me in the act or turn me against you," Kamuro expressed her resistance.
She knew her situation all too well. With her academic ability, getting into her dream university on merit alone was a pipe dream.
The only way out was to stay in Class A until graduation and rely on that precious school recommendation. This concerned her future; she had to treat it with gravity.
'Hmph.'
Anyway, Hikigaya only knew her past and her shoplifting habit; as long as she didn't steal, he wouldn't have leverage.
Therefore, she would never betray Class A.
"I see." Sakayanagi Arisu gave a soft response and closed her book with a faint thud. She gazed at Kamuro, the smile on her face seemingly tinged with a thin layer of coldness, her voice airy.
"Then it seems... you're quite lucky, becoming the 'heroine' of a new world. How nice for you."
'Wait, what?'
Kamuro felt that Sakayanagi had suddenly become somewhat angry.
Wait.
Why on earth did you suddenly get mad?
.
.
.
Time quickly reached May 1st.
Homeroom was scheduled for 8:00 AM.
But just after 7:00 AM, the freshmen could no longer contain themselves.
They poured out of the dorms in groups of two or three, rushing toward their classrooms like birds returning to their nests. The air was thick with a restless mix of anticipation and unease.
Because today was a special day for them.
All four classes now knew the truth of the school that was to be officially announced today, so they naturally knew today was the day they would receive this month's living expenses.
According to the information they had, on the 1st of every month, living expenses would be fairly deposited into each student's private account based on their Class Points *100.
However, a panicky phenomenon occurred.
Most students repeatedly refreshed their phones, but their private accounts remained as still as stagnant water, with no notifications of points deposited. Anxiety began to spread through the crowd.
"Maybe it's just early?" someone comforted themselves, their voice uncertain.
"Homeroom doesn't start until eight; maybe the school staff hasn't started work yet. Let's wait a bit longer."
"Come to think of it, today is a new month!" a Class D boy clapped his companion's shoulder, his tone one of relief.
"That means we passed last month's special exam!"
"But we didn't even take a single test. That counts as passing?"
The companion scratched his head, looking incredulous.
"Who cares! Isn't it better without tests? I hate tests the most!" another voice chimed in, sounding lucky.
"But we get living expenses today. My points ran out the day before yesterday."
"Me too, I only have 50 points left. I didn't even eat breakfast."
"Well, I ate. I still have 1,500 points. Sometimes being a bit frugal pays off, right?"
"Haha... your 1,500 points aren't much better than ours!"
A few Class D boys walked by, fooling around.
"Speaking of which, Ayanokouji." One of the boys turned to his quiet companion. "How many points do you have left?"
"Me...?" The youth called Ayanokouji, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, calmly swept his gaze across his friends' curious faces.
He had nearly 70,000 points sitting in his account. But he instinctively didn't want to tell Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, Sudo Ken, and Sotomura Hideo.
He only gave a vague grunt in response.
Perhaps because they arrived at the school building early, while passing the first-floor stairs, this group of Class D students noticed that many people weren't going upstairs. Instead, they were gathered near the entrance around a blank little blackboard that had just been set up.
Ayanokouji looked over and understood immediately. It was the Student Council.
Two students wearing Student Council badges were placing a brand-new small blackboard onto a temporary desk.
He was familiar with this setup; he had previously scouted the second- and third-year areas, which had similar notice boards clearly displaying class points. Those were the class evaluation changes for the upperclassmen after their monthly special exams.
Part of this information had been given to him by Horikita Suzune in homeroom, and part of it he had confirmed himself. Now that the one-month period was up, the information blockade on the freshmen would be lifted.
What this blackboard was about to reveal were the latest scores for the first-year classes—starting from the 1,000 base points—after the first month's special exam.
Based on his observations of the second and third years:
2nd-year Class D had 310 points.
And even the bottom-ranked 3rd-year Class D still held 120 points.
Those were classes that had endured over two years of brutal competition!
Therefore, Ayanokouji calculated that after just one month of testing, his 1st-year Class D should have at least six or seven hundred points left, right? Otherwise, how could they survive the subsequent wars of attrition and still have a margin like the 3rd-year Class D?
One of his goals in choosing this school was to experience a "normal" high school life. Although this place was special, everything so far seemed to be within the "normal" scope of his understanding and control.
"I am the Student Council Vice President, Nagumo Miyabi," a blonde student council official introduced himself proactively.
"I am the Student Council Secretary, Tachibana Akane," the steady-looking girl beside him added.
"As is custom, on the 1st of every month, we announce the results of the special exams here in the school building. Of course, during homeroom later, your teachers will explain your class situations in detail."
Noticing the freshmen gathering, the two student council members gave brief explanations.
"So, what you're about to write down are our class evaluation scores after the first-year conduct special exam, right?"
A tall, bald boy without eyebrows stepped out from the crowd and asked steadily. He was Class A's Katsuragi Kohei.
"That's right. You must be Class A's Katsuragi-kun," Vice President Nagumo Miyabi's gaze landed on him, a smile of approval on his face.
"The performance of you freshmen in this exam was quite impressive."
Last year, during his time, they hadn't been able to grasp the school's truth so quickly. To think that all 160 students in this year's four classes knew the truth within half a month of enrollment was indeed quite excellent.
Of course, when he said "excellent," he was referring to Classes A and B.
"Vice President Nagumo!" another energetic voice rang out. It was Shibata from Class B, looking around. Finding that his class "boss" hadn't arrived, he proactively squeezed to the front to claim a spot.
"I'm Shibata from Class B!"
"Shibata! You joined the football club and will soon be a regular member. Keep working hard. And congratulations to your class for achieving a good score."
Nagumo Miyabi seemed to know Shibata.
"Alright, enough pleasantries for now," Secretary Tachibana Akane interrupted gently, gesturing to Nagumo that it was time to get to business. She held a record book, her expression focused.
"Well," Nagumo Miyabi smiled, picking up a piece of white chalk. His gaze swept over the inquisitive freshmen.
"I just feel this year's freshmen are exceptionally spirited, truly different from previous years."
However, just then.
"Heh, how lively!"
A clearly mocking voice rang out from the edge of the crowd, breaking the brief silence. Following that, the crowd was roughly pushed aside by brute force, carving out a path.
Ryuen Kakeru of Class C walked in arrogantly with his henchman, Albert, a defiant smile on his face.
"So impatient to know the results? Only you, Katsuragi? Sakayanagi didn't come? And... oh?" Ryuen's sharp gaze scanned the area, intentionally drawing out his words.
"Hikigaya and Ichinose didn't come? Tsk."
"Seems you've been left behind by all of them; they don't even bother coming," Ryuen said casually.
"Ryuen!" Katsuragi frowned.
Clearly, he realized Ryuen's intent was likely to sow discord.
However, sowing discord between Classes A and B was meaningless, as Class A viewed Class B as rivals and wouldn't form an alliance anyway. So, Ryuen was trying to divide Class A's two leaders. Sakayanagi didn't come while Katsuragi did—was Katsuragi more "low-end"?
Katsuragi's lackey, Totsuka Yahiko, clearly didn't grasp this layer. He couldn't help himself and stepped forward to scold: "Hey! You! Aren't you afraid of being in the conduct assessment period? So arrogant!"
"Idiot!" Ryuen sneered, his chin tilted up with undisguised contempt.
"The school can't keep this stupid conduct exam going forever! Today is a new day, we're exempt! I've already kicked six trash cans today!"
As he spoke, Ryuen shoved his hands into his pockets, his posture extremely brazen.
"...This Ryuen from Class C feels like a thug—" low whispers rippled through the crowd.
"Shh, I went to the same junior high as him. He was a gang leader!" a Class D student nervously tugged at his companion's sleeve, confirming in a whisper.
"But what is this 'conduct exam' they're talking about anyway?"
Clearly, Ryuen's reckless style made many ordinary students feel uncomfortable and afraid.
Amidst the murmuring, Vice President Nagumo Miyabi ignored the interludes. With a calm expression, he turned around, gripped the white chalk, and with a steady, powerful lift of his wrist, wrote the first clear, bold number at the top of the small blackboard.
A 955
This was the same recording format as the second and third years.
But.
Recalling the full data for the first years he had received in advance, and seeing that most of the students present were from Classes C and D, he felt they might not understand the number.
So, Nagumo added some information.
Class 1-A: 1000 points - 45 points = 955 points
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