Act 6: Scene 2

Most of the students stared blankly at the poster, confused at what all those numbers meant. However, there were those who were able to understand it right away, and one of them was Horikita.

"Are those... the results of each class?" she muttered, taking a tentative guess on what the poster was about.

Kiyotaka took this as a chance to speak out his thoughts. "97... that has to be connected to the number of points we received this morning, don't you think?" he asked the girl.

She frowned in confusion. "Connected? You mean that those numbers represent how many points a student receives?"

"I see no other explanation," Kiyotaka shrugged, before nudging his head to the direction of the poster. "If 97 means 9,700 points, then it means that the other classes received more points than us. Class C got 49,000, Class B got 65,000, while Class A received 89,000."

"I see..." she mumbled, looking strangely nervous all of a sudden. She was likely caught off guard with how big the gap was between their class and the other ones.

"You've all been doing whatever you pleased this past month. The school and most importantly, I, have no intention of preventing you from doing what you want. How you choose to spend your points is entirely up to you. Your actions, however, will affect the points you receive."

"This isn't fair, sensei! We can't enjoy our student lives like this!" Yamauchi wailed. He had already used up the last of his points from last month and all that he had left was the amount that he received this morning.

Sae felt tempted to roll her eyes out of pure annoyance. "Look here, idiots. Every other class got points. The amount of points we gave you last month should be plenty for you to live on."

"But... how do the other classes still have points left? That's what those numbers mean, right?"

"I already told you, there's nothing unfair about it. All of the classes were evaluated in the same way. They just didn't lose as many points as you. It's that simple."

"But why is there a big difference in our point values?" asked Hirata, noticing that the gap between their class and the others in terms of points was weirdly large.

"Do you understand now? Do you see why you were placed in Class D?" the woman snorted.

"The reason we were placed in Class D? Isn't it because we were accepted in this school?"

A lot of the students exchanged confused glances.

"Wrong. In this school, students are sorted by their level of excellence. The superior students are placed in Class A, the least capable in Class D. It's the same system that major cram schools use. Simply put, Class D is akin to a group of failures. You are the worst of the worst. You're defective. This is only the result of it," Chabashira explained.

Despite the looks of disbelief on most of the students' faces, Kiyotaka maintained his apathetic look and simply listened on. He had nothing to worry about, because he still had points and he couldn't care less about his placement in a class. However, he did notice that his seatmate was caught off guard with this new knowledge.

Well, it did make sense for the school to put all of the superior students in a single class, while dumping failures with other failures. Putting rotten fruit with good ones will only cause the good to get spoiled.

And for someone like Horikita Suzune, she would be displeased with this arrangement.

"She's not gonna be pleased with this..."

"Like I said, be grateful that you received a few points this month. However, I won't even be surprised if you receive no points next time. As I've noticed, a lot of you have no regard whatsoever for decency and how to act like a proper student, after all."

"Does this mean that if we reach zero points, we'll stay like that until school is done?"

"Yes, you will remain at zero points until you graduate. But don't worry, you will still have a room in the dorms and free meals. You won't be kicked to the curb and left to die."

Although some students knew it was possible to live with only their bare necessities, the rest were not pleased with it. After all, they had been living a life of luxury in the past month, buying whatever they wished with no strings attached. To suddenly restrain themselves after all of that would be difficult.

"This means the other classes will make fun of us, right?" asked Sudo, as he could already see them getting mocked by other students for being considered failures.

"Worried about your dignity, Sudo? Well, you can always work to make your class into the best one."

"What?"

"Your class's points aren't just linked to the amount of money you receive each month. They also indicate your class rank."

"That means if our points become higher than 490, then our class will be known as the new Class C. Should we attain a higher number of points than Class B, then we'll take their spot and they'll be demoted. The same goes for Class A if we overtake them," Kiyotaka thought. "Sounds easy enough to understand, but it really feels like a company performance review."

"Now then, I have one more bit of bad news to share with you all."

Sae then attached another sheet of paper to the board, which was a list that contained everyone's names. A number stood next to each name and almost immediately, the students of Class D knew what it meant.

"Based on these scores, I can see that we've got a few idiots in this class," she took a quick glance at the scores before turning back to her students. "These are the results of the test that you took about a week ago. I'm actually shocked by these results. Just what in the world did you all study when you were in junior high?"

There were only a few people who got a high score, while almost everyone got a score below 60. There were also some unfortunate people who got a score below 30.

Sae's next tone was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm glad this wasn't included in your grades. If it was, then seven of you would have had to drop out."

"D-Drop out? W-W-What do you mean, sensei...?"

"Oh, did I not explain this to you? If you fail a midterm or final exam in this school, then you have to drop out. If we had applied that rule to this test, anyone who scored below 32 points would be booted from this school. You dodged a big bullet there."

"W-Woah, what?!" shouted Ike and some of the other failures.

There was a red line drawn on the paper, separating the seven people in question from the rest of the class. Sudo was among those seven people and he was just one point above Yamauchi, who had the lowest score overall.

"Hey, don't joke around, Sae-chan-sensei! This isn't funny!"

Chabashira-sensei shook her head. "I would never joke about this. These are the school rules. You should prepare for the worst."

"She is right. There appears to be a lot of idiots here," Koenji remarked while polishing his nails. Despite the fact that they were being reprimanded for their attitude and shortcomings, the guy showed no sign of weakness and remained confident as he always was.

"The hell are you saying, Koenji? You're the same as us!"

"You must be blind, boy. Don't equate a perfect existence like me to someone like you."

"Wait, Koenji is... what?"

Koenji's name was nowhere near the bottom. Instead, his name was at the top, showing that he had scored 90 points. He was tied for the top spot with a student named Yukimura Teruhiko, shocking almost everyone in the room. It only meant that he was able to solve one of the complex math problems at the end of the test.

"Oh, and one more thing. This school boasts a high rate of advancement into elite education and workforce placement. This is a well-known fact that I'm sure a lot of you know by now. It's also likely that most of you have already chosen a college or a future workplace."

A number of students donned serious looks. It was true, they already had a plan for how they want to handle their future after their time in this school, which would be a huge boost in their resume when the time comes. It was said that graduating from this school can make getting into a prestigious university or being accepted into a fitting job much easier. Those were only two of the benefits of being accepted into ANHS.

"However, nothing comes easy in this world. Some of you idiots would have to be naive to think that you could easily get into the college or workplace of your choice if you can't even act like proper students."

"Does this mean that if we want to get into the company or college of our choice, then we must, at the very least, surpass Class C?" asked Hirata.

"Nope. To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to overtake Class A and graduate with flying colors. The school guarantees nothing for any other students."

"Th-That's absurd! We didn't know anything about this!" Yukimura protested, standing up from his seat as he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"How disappointing. Something like this is to be expected from a school such as this," Koenji chuckled.

Yukimura turned his attention towards him. "Don't you feel satisfied being in Class D, Koenji?"

The blonde man raised an eyebrow. "Dissatisfied? Why would I feel that way?"

"Because the school is saying we're so low that we're basically delinquents and failures in the eyes of everyone else. There's no guarantee whatsoever that we'll be accepted into a college or get a job!"

"Bah. What nonsense. It is a stupid statement that I will not even bother to start an argument," he continued to polish his nails as if nothing else mattered. "The school simply hasn't seen my potential yet. I pride myself on being the perfect existence. I value, respect, and regard myself more highly than anyone. So, the school placing me in Class D means nothing. For instance, let's say that I dropped out of school. I would be perfectly fine. After all, I am absolutely certain that this school would come crying to take me back."

His words quickly caused some of his classmates to feel insulted. However, none of them said anything because it's clear that what he's saying may have some merit to them. He may be narcissistic, but he could back up his words without a problem. They were already treated to a first-row viewing of his physical abilities a number of times by now, and his test results on the blackboard spoke for itself.

Koenji folded his arms and smirked. "Besides, I don't care in the slightest if the school assists me in attaining higher education or not. It has already been decided that I will lead the Koenji conglomerate group. Whether I'm in Class D or Class A is a trivial matter."

"I can understand why he would think that way. His future is already decided whether the school deems him a failure or not. Plus, it's true that if you ignore the school's classification of students, then it's not really a big deal. The only thing you'd be worried about is the number of points that you receive every month. 9,700 points isn't much, but it's better than having nothing," Kiyotaka thought.

"It looks like your bubbles have burst. If you had simply understood the harsh reality of your situation from the start, then this homeroom period might have meant something."

Several of her students had their heads down, as they tried to process all of this. This wasn't how they were expecting this day to go, with their teacher crushing their hopes of having an enjoyable life in this school. Some of them were even close to crying.

"Now, your midterm exams are in three weeks. Think things over, and be careful not to drop out. Remember that you still have points that were delivered to you. You can find a way to avoid getting red marks on your red cards. After all, you're in a prestigious school that expects great things from you."

With that, Chabashira gathered her stuff and exited the room, even closing the door with force. She left the poster of the different classes and their points behind, probably so that her students could reflect on their behavior and performance.