Chapter 11 - Death and Taxes?

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"Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis." ~Niccolo Machiavelli

"Hmm? I don't think I've seen you around here before," the girl with cherry blonde hair says to me as I prepare to enter the elevator.

It was Honami Ichinose, the leader of Class B, and the girl Ryuk had mentioned to me on the first day of classes.

I put on a friendly smile and responded, "Good morning. I don't think I've seen you around either, but it's always good to meet someone new. I'm Light Yagami, from Class 1-C."

"Ah, then I have heard of you. I'm Honami Ichinose from Class 1-B," she responded.

"Then it seems I've also heard of you, a lot of good things at that. I hope the same can be said for me," I respond to her as the elevator stops at the lobby.

"Yes, I have heard a lot of good things. My class is very social; almost everyone has some friends from other classes, and I've heard Class C always speaks highly of you," Ichinose says, pausing. "Although they also always bring up some other guy, Kakeru Ryuen. I can't say I've heard anything good about him," she says with a frown.

"Yes, Ryuen can be a bit difficult to deal with, but recently, he's cooled down since he got what he wants."

"I see. Well, you guys shouldn't let a bully like that rampage whenever he wants. If it gets too much, let Class B know. We will definitely help Class C."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. And the same thing is true for me. If you or anyone else in Class B ever needs help, please let me know."

After that conversation, Ichinose and I went our separate ways to our classes.

***

As I stepped into Class C, the room was full of chatter. It seemed everyone was pleased with the point allocation.

I glanced toward Ryuen as I made my way to my seat. He appeared deep in thought. "What's on your mind?" I asked, settling into the seat behind him.

"Just planning for the future," Ryuen responded as Sakagami entered the classroom. "You'll find out soon."

"The first of the month has arrived. I'm sure you've all seen your points this morning," Sakagami announced, walking to the whiteboard with what looked like a poster in hand.

"Indeed, we have, Sensei," Kondo replied from nearby.

"Your performance as a class could have been better. After all, you knew about the school system before anyone else. But overall, for Class C, it was impressive. Earning 600 points in the first month is rare for Class C," Sakagami responded.

"Yeah!" the students of Class C cheered happily. Sakagami smiled, showing genuine care for his students.

"I won't go over tardiness, absence, and phone usage. You should already understand that these things count against you. If you don't want your points to decrease, simply behave better. That should be simple enough."

With that, Sakagami took the poster in his hand and placed it on the whiteboard behind him.

Class A - 940 points

Class B - 650 points

Class C - 620 points

Class D - 0 points

It seemed everyone in the class understood what these numbers meant.

"It seems that even with our informational advantage, Classes B and A are still ahead of us," Ryuen commented, and the class nodded in agreement. "But man, is Class D full of idiots or something?" Ryuen added, causing the rest of Class C to snicker. I couldn't help but chuckle a little myself.

"Now, now, that's a bit harsh. If the school expected them to be the worst batch of students, there's sure to be a reason for that. But at the same time, Class C has both me and Ryuen in it. Who's to say Class D doesn't have someone who is capable but just disinterested?" I suggested, and the class nodded, still smiling.

"Well, we could take advantage of that," Ryuen proposed, and I smiled. I knew someone like Ryuen wouldn't stay still when he saw easy prey.

"Are you done yet, Sensei? I have a few announcements to make to the class myself," Ryuen said.

"No, I have one more thing to say before you can take the floor," Sakagami says, pulling out some papers. "These are the scores from the practice test you all took a few days ago." Sakagami begins writing on the whiteboard. "The average score on this test was 54, quite poor," he says, dividing the average by two. That makes the passing grade for this test 27."

So that's how passing grades are calculated here.

"Eleven of you would be expelled right now if this test were to be counted by the school."

"Well, it would've been fine. Yagami would've saved us with the points we gave him, right?" Nishino asks from the back.

"Unless Yagami has acquired over 6 million points from all of you, that wouldn't be possible," Sakagami responds, and realization strikes the class. They could be expelled at any moment.

"And the final thing, as many of you know, there are many advantages to coming to this school, like guaranteed employment and college acceptance. However, none of that is actually achievable unless you reach Class A status. With that said, keep in mind your midterm is in three weeks." Sakagami leaves most of the class stunned. "Well then, someone else can have the floor for now."

"May I? I believe it would be best if I speak first. I'll try to be brief," I ask Ryuen, who simply nods in response.

"As you've heard, eleven students would have been expelled today if the test we took had been counted on our record. I've devised some strategies to reduce this number, but first, I want to propose that now, as the total number of points we receive has decreased, we should consider raising the class tax."

"Oh? Are you certain that's a wise move, Light? Humans are inherently greedy. Suddenly increasing the class tax like that might not work out for you. They could become upset or just refuse to pay." Ryuk interjects, and I survey the room.

Upset? No, that might be true in a higher class like Class A, where there are probably more academically capable individuals. But here, I don't see anyone who is upset. If anything, they are scared. A step away from expulsion, it makes sense they'd be scared. A class average of 54 is pathetic. Plus, no one here can simply refuse to play; as a minority, they'd become an enemy of the class by doing so publicly.

"Well…" one student seemed like he was about to speak, then glanced at Ryuen to see he was disinterested with the whole situation. That seemed to give him confidence. "I just don't think it's fair that high performers on tests should have to pay a tax to protect those who are less capable." His name was Kaneda. He seemed a bit nervous speaking as he was in the minority as a high performer.

"I understand what you mean," I say, looking at Kaneda, then glancing at the sheet Sakagami attached to the whiteboard with scores. He got an 82. "But in a way, I'm the highest performer in this entire class." I point to my test score, a perfect 100.

"Yes, but you're the one holding all the points. It's different. You can spend your points freely," Kaneda argues back.

Obviously, most of the class wasn't on his side. Most of the class was either failing or on the verge of failing the exam. Even those who scored 50 and higher had something to be worried about because the midterms may be a more rigorous exam than the practice exam.

Hearing his words, I take my phone out of my pocket and place it on Ibuki's desk. "If you think I'm so horrible that I'd bathe myself in luxury while my classmates are struggling, then feel free to check my phone and transactions yourself. I am confident that out of everyone in this class, I've limited my purchases the most to be conscious of the situations of those around me and the responsibilities I have. So, I have spent less than 20,000 points since the start of classes last month. But if anyone doesn't believe me, please take a look at my phone yourself and pass it around," I say, bluffing but confident, as I go quiet, looking at Ibuki.

Ibuki looked at my phone but didn't unlock it and instead passed it directly to her right into the hand of Shiina. Without a second thought, Shiina takes the phone and passes it directly to her right into Albert's hands. Albert, also disinterested, passes it to his right onto the hands of Ishizaki, who passes it behind him without checking it to Manabe, who quickly passes it to her left to Tokito, who, with a disinterested look, finally passes it to Kaneda.

Kaneda merely glanced at the phone. In an environment like this, standing out wasn't necessarily a good thing; checking my phone wasn't worth it. He was intelligent enough to understand that.

"I apologize. It seems I've made an error. I didn't mean to question your integrity, Yagami," Kaneda admits, his gaze fixed on his desk.

"Don't apologize. It's only natural to seek assurance that someone is as good as their words," I respond, a smile playing on my lips. "Does anyone wish to verify my transactions?" I inquire.

I doubted anyone would dare to repeat such a stunt. Just like that, Kaneda had painted a target on his back by opposing the majority. The class had lost trust in him as he seemed to be turning his back on them with this act, and chances are it could been worse if he had checked my phone.

I approach Kaneda and retrieve my phone, seeing that no one else intended to challenge me. "I notice some of you casting strange looks at Kaneda, but before you do that, ask yourself this: if the roles were reversed and you were paying for the class's mistakes, would you willingly give up your money for others?"

At those words, some people avert their gaze from Kaneda. Kaneda looks up at me, seemingly surprised that I had helped him regain some of the class's acceptance.

At the same time, some gazes changed onto me as they realized I was a prime example of someone willing to sacrifice themselves for the herd.

I return to the front of the class after saying that.

"So, how many do you think we should give up?" Ibuki soon asks.

"Well, I want everyone to be able to live comfortably, so if everyone doesn't mind, may I ask how many points you all have?"

Soon thereafter, I learned that the class had an average of 47k points after their initial tax that morning. Students had spent an average of 35,000 points in the first month. It was better than expected, but I suppose they didn't have much of a choice after I taxed them an average of 55,000, and they also knew they wouldn't be getting 100,000 the next month.

Knowing that everyone could survive on 35,000 points, everyone agreed to allocate 12,000 extra points to the class pool.

"How many points does that leave us with in your account?" Manabe asks me.

"About 3.76 million." A lot of the class seemed reassured by this number. It meant a much greater chance of being saved, after all.

"I have one more thing to announce," I say, reaching into my bag and pulling out a folder full of packets. "These are study guides for the midterms. Every topic the teacher has explained is in this packet, and there are even practice questions. But I can promise, if you all study using this, you will definitely pass the midterms." At these words, Ryuen looks at me. He was probably curious about how I could be so sure. Well, I want him to be curious anyway.

"I also request that high scorers be mindful of others and try to limit their grades to bring down the class average. Also, if you need help make study groups or contact me," I say, smiling as I pass out the packets.

As the class took the packets, many of them breathed a sigh of relief and looked pleased. I had spent time making sure the common idiot could understand the information on those packets, so as long as they can get through this packet, everyone will pass the midterms.

"I'm done now, Ryuen," I say, walking to my seat.

"Finally," Ryuen declares, a smirk playing on his lips as he strides to the front of the class. "I believe you all grasp the importance of this class competition now that Sakagami sensei has laid it all out for us. Your dreams? You can kiss them bye-bye unless we climb to Class A successfully. So, we will be launching our first offensive, and it will be against Class D." Ryuen's words hang in the air, and I can't help but smirk. He's easier to read than a book.

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