Act 14: Scene 4

The bell would ring several minutes later, and everyone immediately went back to their designated seats. Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom with her usual aura of seriousness that always intimidated most of her students.

And intimidate them, it did.

Today was the first day of the month, after all... the day where they'll be receiving their monthly point allowance. While everyone had a feeling that there would be an increase in their point allowance, that didn't mean there couldn't be a decrease if they do anything to make their teacher mad.

"Good morning, everyone. You all look nervous. Any reason why?" Chabashira-sensei asked her students, noticing how almost all of them looked restless for some reason.

Believe it or not, the woman had begun to act like a proper teacher to her class ever since they proved themselves to her after the success of their first midterm examination.

When someone was misbehaving in her class, Sae would now go out of her way to scold that person and give him/her a proper lecture to ensure it doesn't happen again.

One could say that she was doing it for her own sake, by ensuring that their class points would not go down at all... however, since it's her students who were also benefiting from being scolded by learning from their mistakes, it could be said that it's a win-win situation for both parties.

"Sae-chan-sensei! Did we increase the points that we'd have for this month?!" asked Yamauchi, wanting to know if their efforts bore fruit or if it was all for nothing.

"Oh, so that's why you all look nervous?"

"We worked hard this past month, sensei. We passed the midterm too! No one's been late or absent, and I don't think we've created that much noise in the classroom during classes... or have we?"

"Don't just jump to conclusions, you idiots..." Chabashira sighed while shaking her head. Her class may have improved, but they still had moments of idiocy most of the time. "But you're correct, Ike. You have all worked hard in the past month, and I recognize that. The school shares the same sentiment."

After being reassured by their teacher, a lot of the Class D students let out a collective sigh of relief upon learning that their efforts weren't put to waste. Although now, they were wondering just how many points they received from the past month alone...

"Well then, without further ado, here are the classes' point totals heading into June."

Similar to last month, Chabashira-sensei brought out a rolled-up poster and put it up on the board for everyone to see.

Class A - 982

Class B - 726

Class C - 532

Class D - 212

All of the classes had nearly 100 more points than last month, except for Class D apparently. Every other class received a good amount of points and while Class D remained at the bottom of the class hierarchy, it had the most significant change... adding 115 points to their already-established 97 points from last month.

"Strange... all the other classes earned less than 100 points but in our case, we exceeded that..."

Strangely, Horikita Suzune's attention wasn't directed to their total points and how they were faring in their quest to reach Class A. Instead, she was more focused on the difference between the four classes of their year in terms of how much they received. Something just wasn't adding up in terms of how much they got...

On the other hand, Ike and most of the other Class D students didn't care about the other classes' points. What mattered for them was the question of how many points they had now, and this was it.

"212?! That's a big leap from the points we got last month!" Ike excitedly jumped up and down the instant he saw our score.

"Then this means we get 21,200 points for this month!"

"That's already a hundred times better than just getting 9,700 points! I'm glad I studied for the midterms!"

"You said it! I can survive the month a lot easier now instead of having to eat the damn vegetable set!"

"It's too early to celebrate, everyone. All the other classes had an increase in their points too. We're not the only ones who benefited from passing the midterm examination. It's more than likely that the other classes did so too."

"But we still got a lot of points. Last month, we're not even close to Class C but now, we're getting closer!"

"If being 300 points away is what you meant by 'closer', then yeah... we're definitely closer..."

Kiyotaka watched his classmates' reactions quietly. A lot of them were just happy that their total points had increased, while there were also some who were happy that they were catching up to the rest of the classes. There were even some who looked dissatisfied that Class D is still at the bottom of the barrel.

But among all of his classmates, one reaction stood out the most in his eyes.

The young man also noticed that Suzune, who was currently striving to reach Class A with his help, didn't look pleased with what they've gotten this month. In fact, there's not even a hint of a smile or a look of satisfaction on her face. All that she did was clasp her hands together and stare at the poster on the board, even narrowing her eyes in deep thought.

Granted, it would be a completely rare moment if the girl ever smiled and getting her to do so is as easy as getting her brother to acknowledge her, but Kiyotaka had a feeling that she would at least react to the positive change in their class points. And yet, there was no reaction on her face... no positive reaction, that is.

"Horikita. Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes has widened?" he asked her.

"No, that's not it. I'm curious how we received more than 100 points for this month."

The black-haired girl had all but forgotten about her earlier encounter with Amasawa along with her other classmates, and was now back to focusing on their class's welfare for their ongoing goal to reach Class A. However, she wasn't expecting an occurrence like this to happen, much less on the day where they are supposed to receive their monthly allowance.

It's not as if she wasn't happy with how much they've received this time. It was certainly a welcome change for their class, but the fact that every other class got at least 90 more points in their total class points and they received more than 100 was a strange occurrence. She didn't even need someone else to tell her that her class wasn't the most well-behaved out of them all, even though they've definitely improved from their first month.

Despite that... they received more points than any of the other classes.

Truly, a curious occurrence.

"Received more than 100 points?" asked Sudo, having heard Horikita's statement and now becoming curious about it.

Because of his louder-than-average voice, Horikita's statement had reached everyone's ears and right after it registered in their minds, they quickly took another look at the class point totals and some of them widened their eyes upon realizing something strange.

"Eh? Is it really that weird? Who cares if our class got more than 100 points? That just means we're better than other classes, obviously!"

"Better with someone like you around? You're even worse than Ike-kun."

"Oi, Ike's just as bad as me!"

"I am? Huh... maybe I am..."

"Don't agree with him, idiot!"

Suzune, right after seeing that she had attracted everyone's attention with her astute observation, simply ignored everyone's looks and continued to think about this strange outcome. Instead, someone else answered for her.

"I believe that Horikita-san is referring to how every other class received less than a hundred points for their class points for this month. If anyone here remembers the different class points that were unveiled last month, you would notice that every other class received an increase in points that are less than a hundred. In our case, however, we received more than that. We originally had 97 points but for some reason, we had an increase of 115 points, which led to us having a total of 212 points now. Am I right, Horikita-san?" Hirata explained, as he looked towards Horikita for a confirmation.

"That's correct," the girl nodded in agreement. "Just from looking at the increase in class points for the other classes, it can be inferred that the highest amount of points that a class can receive after a successful exam is 100 points. However, in our case, we indeed gained 115 class points, which is significantly more than what the other classes received."

Many pairs of eyes among her classmates widened in shock as they realized that strange occurrence, and it was indeed interesting. They began to understand how it was possible and that Suzune's words may have merit to them...

Suzune continued to narrow her eyes at the poster on the board. "No matter how you look at it, it's strange for us to receive more than a hundred points, let alone a hundred apiece. I haven't seen how the other classes work to say something like this but regardless, I don't believe our performance as a class could possibly be better than Class C, B, or A."

"Oi! Are you saying that we're worse than other classes?!" Yamauchi complained, feeling insulted by that remark because he worked hard just for their class points to increase. How dare Horikita imply that everything he contributed for the class meant nothing?!

Ken sent him a deadpan look. "You're definitely worse than them for sure, dumbass."

"I don't believe Horikita-san meant anything bad by it. I think she's simply saying that despite all of the things we accomplished by working together in the past month, we still had faults and we weren't perfect in everything we did for us to be given 100 points," Kikyo spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "Honestly, I believe her. There really is something strange about us getting more than 100 points for this month."

Actually, Suzune's explanation was already enough to convince some minds that the strange phenomenon regarding their class points makes sense. Meanwhile, Kikyo's added words regarding the matter worked on the rest of their classmates who had doubts about Horikita's little theory and didn't believe her right away.

Upon seeing Kushida speak up in Horikita's defense, Yamauchi made the wise decision to shut his mouth... as he had not forgotten the threat that the girl gave him last week... sure, that threat may be about Ayanokouji, but who's to say that it didn't apply to Horikita too?

To put it simply, Kushida could get rid of the very thing that makes him a man if he goes against her...

Anyway, since nobody cares about Yamauchi...

"Chabashira-sensei, is there a reason for this?" Suzune asked, turning to the one person who could confirm if her theory was correct.

Sae only shrugged, looking quite confused herself. "Beats me. You hit the mark right on with your explanation though, Horikita. Your performance as a class, while commendable and is a vast improvement from the previous month, I don't believe you are worthy of a hundred points being added to your total class points. It is also weird that you were given an extra 15 points for some reason but alas, I'm not one of the people who's evaluating you. I merely give my own reports regarding your behavior and performance to the administration. They are the ones judging you as a class."

"So... you have no idea why we got some extra points, Chabashira-sensei?" asked Karuizawa.

The older woman shook her head.

Seriously, it didn't make sense. Horikita was spot-on with her deduction and was correct about the highest number of points that a class can get for a successful midterm examination was 100. She was also sure of her assessment that her class didn't deserve a hundred-point increase in their class points. And yet, not only did they get a massive increase in class points, but they also got an extra 15 points for some reason...

"Well... that's actually because of Amasawa's presence," Kiyotaka said in his thoughts, as if he was answering the question in everyone's minds.

When the revelation about the class points and how everyone gets evaluated based on their behavior and performance was revealed to them by Chabashira-sensei, Kiyotaka was quick to deduce that each student was equivalent to a certain portion of the total points that a class receives.

At the start of the year, each class had 1000 points and there were 40 students in a class. Through simple Mathematics, the equivalent number of class points that one student brings is 25.

When he had that private meeting with the chairman last week, not only did Kiyotaka ask for Ichika to be given a 100,000 point allowance like every other student here, because she obviously can't live without any money to spend on. It's also obvious that a student like him who doesn't even receive a guaranteed 100,000 point balance every month can't be someone whom Amasawa can rely on.

Apparently, this was also the first time that the school accepted the instance of a 'guest' living within its premises, because outsiders are generally not allowed inside at all. But even so, Kiyotaka was fortunate that his request to the chairman was granted, and Ichika was given an ID card that's not for a student, but for a 'VIP Guest'.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Because Ichika was living with him, it also meant that she was under his care. Kiyotaka had explained to the chairman that by way of association, it effectively meant that she was also a part of Class D, despite not being a student. The main criteria being that she receives a point allowance like everyone else!

After hearing out his whole request and the proceeding explanation last week, Sakayanagi-sensei could only chuckle in amusement before commenting about how Kiyotaka was truly the 'Masterpiece' of the White Room for thinking of such a plan... before agreeing to give his plan a try.

Truth be told, his 'plan' was more of a gamble because of some unknown factors... the first being the fact that Amasawa wasn't a student. The administration might have given her the 100,000 points which was the same for any student starting here, but he had no idea if they would actually consider making her a 'part' of Class D. Another factor was that he was only a mere student making an insane request to the higher-ups, with only the chairman to vouch for him. There was no guarantee that the school administration would agree to what he wanted.

But seeing their current class points? There's no doubt that his gamble paid off. That or the system was secretly helping him in his endeavor by manipulating how things will play out. Either way, it was a victory for him.

Last month's class points + This month's increase from the midterms + Ichika's addition = 212 class points

Through this, Kiyotaka was able to kill three birds with one stone. One was the issue of handling Ichika's finances because there's no way he would go out of his way to spend his own money in taking care of someone younger than him. Another was to add a further increase to their class points in order to get closer in fulfilling Suzune's goal. That way, if she ever finds out that he had something to do with this strange phenomenon, then she can't complain about him not doing anything despite them being partners in this situation. It also leads to the third outcome, which was to gain a headstart in his 'bet' with Sae. The sooner that their class becomes the new Class A, then the sooner he wins their wager and right now, Kiyotaka was sure that he won't be losing that bet no matter what.

"Eh, so what if it's strange?" Ike asked while shrugging, earning his classmates' attention. "If anything, this could mean that the higher-ups just like us more than any other class!"

While no one really bothered to give Ike's idea some merit (except for some people like Okitani and Yamauchi), no one dared to speak up against him either. If he wanted to believe that ridiculous conclusion, then he was free to do so... but Horikita's words were more plausible and plus, their teacher herself said that the girl was right.

"Chabashira-sensei, what time will we receive our points then? Will it be in the afternoon?" asked Hirata, which was the other important question in everyone's minds that hasn't been brought up until now.

That question made everyone stop and think for a moment. Now that they knew how many points their class had, they were now thinking that it was indeed strange that they haven't gotten their allowance yet. Did something go wrong?

"Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students' point distribution has been delayed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer," Chabashira-sensei said while shaking her head.

The students grumbled in discontent. After finding out that their points have increased for this month, they were ecstatic. The difference between 212 points and 97 points was night and day.

"Don't blame me. This was the school's decision, there's nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you'll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is."

Her last statement was enough to reassure some of her students but for a select few like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, they could tell that there was a deeper meaning behind her words... they just didn't know what it could be.