Chapter 21

Kamuro stopped in front of the door and turned around. I was obviously being sarcastic by that comment as she randomly dragged me here, but I was curious how she would take it. I also wanted to understand better how Sakyanagi operates by probing her. She's like a vault of information that I have to crack open. 

She turned around and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Pretending not to hear, are we? I'll get the information out of her eventually. I shrugged my shoulders in response and nudged her aside, so I could exit the room first. After that rejection, I headed out of the karaoke room and returned to my original task of buying groceries.

Entering the grocery store, I stacked my basket with some instant ramen and some coffee. More specifically, shin ramen. The spice of the ramen combined with the taste of sweet coffee made for the perfect meal. 

-----

Nearing the finals of the first semester, I could see a difference in the class as even the low-scoring students were diligently taking notes. The threat of expulsion was really a bad thing to them, huh?

On the other hand, since I had already studied, I wasn't too worried, so I put in my wireless earbuds and hid them using my hair. Unfortunately, I still had to pretend to pay attention as private points would be lost if I didn't.

From the student council, I learned that after graduation Seniors could exchange their private points for actual money. The conversion rate was 1 yen to 2 points, so it wasn't bad at all. Honestly, this school could be the best money-making method in the world.

With midterms in 2 days, the student council was closed, so after class, I was able to head back to the library with no problems. After a couple of hours at the library, it was already dark, so I went back to my dorm to relax. Upon entering the building, I saw a Kushida stealthily leaving the building.

Well not that stealthily, I was able to spot her and hide before she saw me. There was something up with that girl. She wasn't bad at academics or sports, yet she was still placed in Class D? Why would someone with her communication skills be placed in a class for "defects?" The same logic applied to Ichinose, she was top tier in academics, decent at sports, and amazing at communication, yet she was in Class B. Those 2 had some secrets hidden within their charm.

Seeing, that Kushida was trying to sneak off somewhere, I immediately followed behind. After all, this was a chance to see her true side, and getting some blackmail on Kushida would allow me to use her vast communication network. I staggered behind her as I pulled out my phone to start a video recording.

Due to perverts on trains within Japan, it was legally required for phones to have a shutter sound whenever you took a photo or video, so I would need to start recording while I was far away from her. After starting the recording and ensuring she didn't hear, I quickened my pace to catch up to her.

It was almost curfew, and the so-called "angel" of the school was off wandering around alone. Something was wrong. After around 2 minutes of following, Kushida stopped at the edge of the island. 

She was staring out at the ocean surrounding the island, on which the school was located. She looked around for a bit, but I was hidden in the safety of the trees, so she would not be able to find me. I peeked out of the trees with my phone pointed at her once she turned around.

Finally, Kushida broke the eery silence.

"You think you're so great just because you're pretty. I swear, I hate you, hate you, HATE YOU!"

She began kicking the railing bordering the edge of the island, and the sound of the fence bouncing back and forth from the impact ran out. The real Kushida seemed to have taken over.

I was curious. Who does she hate so much? What caused this? She was clearly suffering from a split personality disorder as she was able to switch from "angel" to "devil" within 10 seconds. It was impressive if you think about it, she's been hiding her true self for at least 4 months now without being caught or being suspected at all. If I weren't here, she would have probably gotten away with it all.

"Just die, Horikita! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

She continued throwing kicks at the fence and the sounds of their collision echoed throughout the night.

Horikita? The student council president's younger sister? Wasn't she also in Class D? Why does Kushida harbor so much hatred towards someone in her own class? I genuinely didn't understand her intentions, but it didn't matter, I now had the perfect blackmail against Kushida.

She was now just a pawn in my plan to make as much money as possible.

While Kushida was panting, exhausted from kicking the fence for over 5 minutes straight, I stopped the recording and headed back to the school dorm to gather my thoughts and to avoid being caught.

If I were to blackmail her using the recording, I couldn't reveal my identity to her as Kushida would definitely try to get revenge. That means I would need to somehow get my hands on another phone to hide my number. This phone would be used to send the video of that scene to Kushida to make her comply and give her orders. The teacher mentioned private points could buy anything, so that plan with the new phone would suffice for now.

In my dorm, I wondered if Ichinose has a similar dark side to Kushida as, after all, the two are very similar in their "fake" personalities. 

Anyway, Kushida wouldn't be useful to me for right now, so I put away my phone and continued studying until I eventually fell asleep.

--------------------------

The day of finals was here. The carefree and go-lucky attitude within Class B transformed as students desperately crammed information with each other. Only me and Kanzaki remained calm as he stared at the board, awaiting the bell, while I was looking out the window with my earbuds in.

Even Hoshanomiya, the teacher who usually stumbled into the classroom with a strong scent of alcohol, wore a serious expression.

She probably knew the greatest weakness of Class B, an expulsion. The unity would fall apart, and Ichinose would blame herself and give up the position of leader, leaving the rest of Class B in shambles. However, I doubt anyone would be expelled from an exam with the papers I gave them and most of the students already had strong academics.

When looking through the student council information, I also noticed how people from Classes A and B in earlier years were expelled. Obviously, this should be impossible as how could someone, who was placed in the best class, fail a simple exam? This meant that these "special exams" could lead to expulsion for students. By the transitive property, special exams could be Class B's greatest weakness...

Snapping me of my thoughts, Hoshanomiya announced in her normal playful voice.

"Good luck with your exams, not that you need it! Remember, no cheating dear students!"

I took off my earbuds and grabbed the exam paper passed down to me. After taking a glance at the stack of papers on my desk, I realized that the questions weren't the same, but it seemed like similar concepts were there. 

Class B breezed through the exams, and after the final one was done, the students practically skipped around the room in joy. The time that was supposed to be spent worrying about whether you would pass or not now contained the scene of students happily chattering about their summer vacation plans.

Within 10 minutes, Hoshanomiya reentered the classroom with a long roll of white paper. With a smile, she plastered the paper on the board, and the class got even louder when they realized no one was even close to being expelled. Everyone was at least 10 points above the expulsion line.

I stepped out of the classroom as the noise was too much for me and headed towards the other classes. I was curious whether anyone from Class D would be expelled. Knowing Ryuen, he wouldn't allow anyone from Class C to fail, and Class A was Class A, so Class D was the only class that could have an expulsion. 

I arrived at the classroom and peered through the window on the door. Inside, I could see a familiar face, it was the teacher who was with Hoshanomiya when I asked about the island. That explained the hostile glare from her, she probably heard about what I did to her class earlier. I positioned myself more to the left, so I could have a look at the board.

On the board, there was a piece of paper with a list of everyone's grades. Near the bottom, there was a red line, and under that red line, there was a name. "Ike" His grade was a 38, and the passing requirement was a 39. 

That was unfortunate, but he probably deserved it. I mean I knew from the senior that Class D had also bought the answers for the final, so if he failed even with that, Class D was truly a place for defects. Since he was only one point away from passing, I could easily save him by buying the point, but I wanted to see if this Class was truly a bunch of "defects." Could they even figure out that even exam points could be bought? 

The teacher did say "Points can buy anything," so it was pretty obvious.

As I stepped back from the door to get a better spectating position, the backdoor to the classroom opened and the Class D teacher walked out.

Usually, teachers wanted their Classes to advance and reach Class A, however, this teacher was different. It seemed like she didn't give a shit because she could have easily given a hint by mentioning that "points can buy anything" again, but she just walked out, leaving one of her students to be expelled. She was a cold-hearted and ruthless teacher, the opposite of Hoshanomiya.

As she left, she took a quick glance at me before turning around to leave. I guess my curiosity got the best of me as I blurted out to her.

"Why didn't you give them a hint or any clue?"

While walking away, she responded,

"If they can't figure this much out by themselves, Class A is impossible"

I guess her logic was correct. If they couldn't even decipher the points and S system after more than 4 months of school, their class was hopeless. Still, this teacher was cruel.

As I continued observing the class which was now in chaos, two students burst out of the classroom. I believe their names were Ayanokoji and Horikita, the two who lent me a dorm.

The 2 students glanced at me before running after their teacher. It seemed they knew the solution to this problem. However, I doubted that they knew of the classes's most fatal flaw, Kushida's real side. As I observed the class, I could see that most of the students depended on 2 individuals, Hirata and Kushida. I could now see that I essentially had control over Class D through her

Kushida was going to be a lot more useful than I originally thought.