Vol. 1 Chp. 4: End of Peaceful Days

': Writing

' ': Sign language

Third period, history. Chabashira-sensei's class. She walked in as the bell signaled the start of the course. The student's attitudes didn't change, though.

"Everyone, be quiet. Today's class will be more serious," she said

"What do you mean, Sae-chan-sensei?"

You must be a brave or foolish person to call her that.

"It's the end of the month. We will have a short test. Pass these to the back."

She handed out papers to the first row. Eventually, the test reached my desk. The trial had several questions from each of the five major topics.

"Eh? I haven't been paying attention. This is unfair!" A student cried.

It isn't anybody's fault except for your own.

"Calm down. This test is only for future reference. It will not be reflected on your report card. There's no risk, so be at ease. However, cheating is naturally prohibited."

Let's get this test over with.

~Timeskip~

I was taking a walk around the school campus when I spotted someone. It was a young girl with pink hair who wore no glasses.

I made my way over to her as she was too focused on her camera. Tapping on her shoulder, she squeaked and fumbled with her camera. She turned quickly with a blush.

"P-please don't scare m-me like that..." She muttered.

'What are you doing, Sakura-chan?'

"T-taking pictures..."

'Of yourself?'

She didn't say anything, but she nodded.

"P-please don't t-tell anyone..."

'Okay... Oh, you look better without your glasses.'

Sakura's face turned beet red as she looked away. I could imagine steam coming out of her eyes.

I walked away.

~Timeskip~

May 1st

Today, we were supposed to get our points. Checking my phone, our points didn't change at all.

I still had the same amount as yesterday.

I better head to class.

Classroom 1-D

The morning bell for the first school day of May rang. Soon after, Chabashira-sensei walked in, holding a poster rolled into a tube. She had a grim and severe expression.

"Sensei, are you in menopause?" Ike asked.

I don't know if he was brave or stupid to ask her that.

"Alright, morning homeroom is starting. Are there any questions before we start? If there's something on your mind, feel free to speak up," Chabashira-sensei ignored Ike.

Immediately, several people raised their hands.

"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, and no points were deposited. Weren't they supposed to be provided every month on the first day of the month? I was impatient because I couldn't buy the juice I wanted."

"Hondou, I explained it before, didn't I? Points are wired to students' accounts every month on the first day of the month. They were wired without any problems this month as well."

Hondou and Yamauchi exchanged looks. Ike was too surprised to notice their eyes.

"Are you guys that stupid?" Chabashira-sensei had an ominous feeling about her.

"Stupid? What?"

Chiyabashira-sensei had a sharp glint in her eyes as Hondou repeated her words like a parrot.

Or an idiot...

"Sit, Hondou. I'll explain it again."

"S-sae-chan sensei?"

Hondou was surprised by her strict tone. With no other choice, he slumped down into his seat.

"Points were deposited without fail. The likelihood that this class was left out is very low. Do you understand?"

"No, even if I say I do understand, we haven't received our points..."

Hondou seemed dissatisfied with her explanation.

No, she's telling the truth...

"Hahaha, it looks like almost everyone is clueless except for this perfect being," Koenji boomed, laughing.

"We didn't receive any points because we're in class D."

"Hah? What's that supposed to mean? They said we'd get 100,000 points every month..."

"I don't remember hearing that. Right?"

"Your attitude has some problems, but what Koenji is saying is on the right track. Not many people seem to have noticed my hint. How sad."

The classroom erupted in uproar and confusion.

"Sensei, can I ask a question? I still don't understand," Hirata raised his hand.

"98 total absences and tardies. Three hundred ninety-one incidences of talking or using cell phones in class. I counted every infraction. In this school, your class performance is reflected in the points received. As a result of your behavior, the 100,000 points you could've gotten went down the drain. That's all that happened. I explained this all on the day of the entrance ceremony. That this school measures the abilities of its students; this time around, you guys were valued to be worth 0. There's nothing more than that," Chabashira-sensei talked mechanically, without expression.

"Chabashira-sensei, I don't remember ever hearing that explanation before..."

"What? Are you people incapable of understanding without any explanations?"

"Naturally. There was no mention of reducing the points transferred to us at the beginning of each month. If it was explained before, I'm sure we would've tried not to be late and not talk during class," Hirata argued.

"An interesting argument, Hirata. I also don't remember explaining the rules about the points received at the beginning of each month. However, haven't you guys learned not to talk in class and get to class on time since elementary school?"

"That is..."

"I'm pretty sure you guys have learned. In the nine years of compulsory education, they've always told you that such things are frowned upon. Talking in class and being late to class is bad. Also, did you say you couldn't understand because I didn't explain it? That excuse doesn't fly. If you behaved as a student should, your points wouldn't have dropped to 0. It's your self-responsibility."

There's no point in trying to argue with her. Her argument was utterly sound.

"After becoming first-year high schoolers, did you think you would get 100,000 points monthly without restrictions? In this school created by the Japanese government to train excellent people? That's impossible; use your common sense. Why leave doubts as doubts?"

Hirata looked frustrated by her sound argument; he recovered and immediately looked her in the eye.

"Well then, can you tell us how points are increased or decreased? We will always try to do our best from now on."

"That's not possible. We are not allowed to divulge how we assess the students' merit. It's the same as the real world. When all of you enter society and find work in some business, they probably won't tell you how you're assessed—that's up to the company, though. However... I'm not trying to be cold or hate you guys. This is such a pitiful sight that I'll tell everyone here one thing."

I saw a faint smile on Chabashira-sensei's face for the first time today.

"For argument's sake, if we say that everyone stopped being late and stopped talking in class... your deduction would be zero, but that doesn't mean you'll get more points. In other words, next month's allowance is also 0 points. Not being late or not talking to class won't help you get back up from the bottom. Keep that in mind; it'll help you."

Hirata's expression became even more gloomy. Unfortunately, some students still didn't grasp the concept despite her detailed explanation, which had the opposite effect. The ones who were willing to improve their behavior were disheartened. This is the goal of Chabashira-sensei or the school as a whole.

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom.

"Looks like we had too much idle chit-chat. Hopefully, you understood. Anyway, let's move on to the main issue at hand."

She spread out the white poster that was rolled into a tube. Taking a magnet, she stuck it onto the board. The students looked at the paper, still confused.

Class Points

Class A - 940

Class B - 780

Class C - 560

Class D - 0

"For the first month, all of you have been doing as you please. Now, the school's not saying that this is prohibited. Your actions, such as talking during class and being late, affect the points you get. It's the same with how you use points. You have the freedom to use points how you want. We haven't restricted how you use your points."

"This isn't fair! We can't lead a normal school life like that!" Ike shouted out.

Yaumachi also cried out in agony, but I tuned him out.

"Look carefully, you stupid kids. Every other class except class D got some points. Your points should still be plenty enough to last for a month."

"H-how do the other classes have any points left? That's strange..."

"I'll tell you, but it's not like this is some fraud. For this past month, all the classes were judged by the same rules. Nevertheless, they didn't lose as many points as you guys did. That's a fact."

"How... how is there so much difference in points between the classes?" Hirata asked.

"Did you guys finally understand? Why you were put in class D."

"The reason we were put in class D? Isn't that because we were appropriate for this school?"

"Eh? That's how ordinary classes work, you know?"

This place is anything but ordinary.

"In this school, all the students are divided into classes by merit. The best students are put in class A. The worst in class D. Well, it's a system found in major cram schools. In other words, class D is the collection of leftovers. That also means that you are the worst students, the defective products of this school. This is an outcome worthy of defective students."

"However, this class D is the first to lose all their points in the first month. On the contrary, I applaud you for living so lavishly until now. How praiseworthy," she clapped for us.

"After hitting zero points, does that mean we will always stay at zero points forever?"

"Yeah, your points will stay at 0 until graduation. However, be at ease since you can still use your dorms, and there are free meals in the cafeteria. You won't die."

"Will we be made fun of by the other classes now?' Sudou kicked his desk with a bang.

I think that's the least of our worries...

"What, you're still holding onto your pride, Sudou? Then do your best and try to make the worst class the best."

"Huh?"

"These class points aren't just linked to how much you get each month. It's also indicative of the class rank."

"All right, I have one more piece of bad news I have to tell you guys."

She put one more piece of paper onto the blackboard. The names of all the classmates were listed. Next to everyone's character was a number.

Well, shit...

"From looking at these numbers, I came to understand that there are a lot of idiots in this class," she glanced at the class as her heels clacked against the floor.

"These are the scores from the test a few days back. Sensei was glad after seeing your wonderful performance. Seriously, what the hell did you guys study in middle school?"

"What? Who the hell got zero points?" A student asked loudly.

This wasn't an actual test.

"Who the hell is Kagurazaka Norogumi?" Another student asked.

Am I that unknown in this classroom?

I wasn't anymore when I felt my classmates staring at me.

"I'll be honest... It's impressive to score 0 points and not get a single point," Chabashira-sensei said mockingly.

Even though she spoke mockingly, her eyes were telling a different story.

She seemed impressed...

Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi looked at me with mocking expressions.

"If this test were recorded, seven of you would already have to drop out. Good thing it wasn't, right?"

Yeah, I'm glad it wasn't.

"D-drop out? What do you mean?"

"Why? Did I not explain? If you get a failing mark on either a midterm or a final exam in any subject, you have to drop out of school. On this test, that would be everyone who got below a 32. Man, you guys are foolish."

The seven failed people had a red line separating the rest of the class. It was different for me as I had a black line.

"Kagurazaka, you're lucky this wasn't a real test, but you'll have to retake this. If you get the same score on the midterms, I don't need to tell you what happens."

"Zero score-boy," I heard someone whisper.

I tuned out everyone as I rested my head on my desk.

After Chabashira-sensei left the room, the class broke out into chaos.

Well, it looks like it ruined my entire high school life...

Oh well... Anyways, I'm heading back to my room and napping.

"Kagurazaka-kun!" I heard someone call out.

I turn around and found a perplexing expression on Horikita's face.

"Why?"

I tilt my head in confusion.

"The test. Why did you get a zero?" She asked.

I didn't want to try.'

I walked out of the classroom.

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