It was the last day of the month, and many of my classmates were talking about what to spend their remaining points on. Apparently, they considered it a smart idea to use them all up now as if they would expire tomorrow, and 'it doesn't matter, since we get another 100,000 points tomorrow anyway'. How they came to that conclusion, I cannot fathom. There is no evidence to suggest it's a good idea, conversely there is overwhelming evidence saying that they won't get 100,000 points next semester, yet these morons refuse to listen to reason.
I didn't realise it was possible for people to become so corrupted with greed that they ignored any caution, so caught up with their idea of themselves that they couldn't rationalise that advice from other people was accurate. And they call Kouenji the narcissist. At least his actions could be justified demonstrably, which if my suspicions were right, he would have another chance to do so today.
Hirata was moving throughout the room, going from girl to girl, friend to friend, desperately pleading with them to not spend all their points, and save some, just a few, any at all, but it seemed his efforts would be fruitless.
Even Kushida, who so far had acquiesced with everything that happened, had taken a stance, recommending people save points. Based on her behaviour, if people asked her for points, she would give them some, so she was obviously trying to prevent that. For people to continue to hold her in such high esteem as the 'best friend in the grade', she had no choice but to help however she could, even if it meant hurting herself in the process. Why she kept this act up, and I was certain it was an act at this point, I had no idea, but after tomorrows reveal, she would snap. It was inevitable.
When the bell rang, Chiyabashira walked into the noisy classroom. Her entrance didn't alter the students' behaviour, still jabbering on about what they would buy. "Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a bit serious. It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please pass these to the back." She handed out the papers to the students in the front row. Eventually, the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main subjects.
Students began to exclaim in outrage at this announcement. Most of them hadn't been listening in class, either sleeping or playing with their phone so they had learned nothing in the past month. The audacity of these defectives, to ignore class for a month then claim a test was unfair. It astounds me.
"This test is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of course, cheating is prohibited." Because that wasn't completely suspicious. Everything the school did had a purpose, including giving us this test, so there had to be a hidden hint somewhere. Whether there were hidden punishments, or the test itself was a second layer of a test wasn't clear, but there was certainly more to this than just a simple exam.
This was the perfect chance to compete with Kouenji. I had assumed there would be some form of exam at the end of the month, in order for the school to diagnose how the students were progressing and I was right. However, there was just one problem.
"Sensei, I have a problem with this exam. It's far too easy." At this complaint the classroom exploded into noise, people yelling at me, complaining that it was already too hard, that I should just shut up and die.
"I must concur with demon-boy. How can we possibly compete when we will both score perfectly? This is an insult to the skills of a perfect existence." Now the class was also insulting Kouenji. The entire class, bar a few of the academic students, was entirely out of control.
"QUIET! Look, I can't change the test to suit the needs of two egotistical show-offs. If you want to compete so badly, why not see who finishes first, hm? Now start the test, you have two hours." With that Chabashira sat back down, and the class quieted down to begin their tests.
Normally I would have taken my time, relaxed. Watched those around me, learn who is struggling and who is smart. But none of that mattered. My mind cleared; the only important thing was finishing this test as fast as possible. My pen scribbled across each page, simple geometry, multiple choice history facts, basic physics of motion – it was pathetically simple. Most of this I had learned at 7, in the White Room. To think that students could struggle with it was laughable. That place truly did make geniuses. Even all of those who failed were still far beyond most of these students.
And at the 14-minute mark, my hand shot up into the air, at exactly the same time Kouenji's did. He smirked at me, recognising the humour in the ridiculous situation. The chances that people finish a test in exactly the same time is astronomical. It would mean solving and writing at the same speed as each other, something that when measured should never occur in such a chaotic environment. Yet we truly were each other's equal.
Chiyabashira came over and took our papers from us, since we were done, although she didn't allow us to leave. Kouenji decided to take the time to file his nails, while I took a nap at my desk, ignoring the stares from most of the class, but particularly Horikita, Matsushita and Yukimura, the three whom I regarded the smartest academically after Kouenji and I.
They would probably not believe we had actually completed the test, but when sensei returned with the results tomorrow, it would become clear that we had. I was confident we had both scored full marks. I had seen those sorts of questions before, and none of them were challenging. Those last three for maths, though. They were interesting. For the school to put what I assumed to be third year at least, if not college level questions on our test, there had to be a reason. They were probably the hint the school was giving with the test. Perhaps...
No point speculating now. As there was far too little information, and I wasn't sure whether it would even matter, I was much better off filing the information away for later consideration, than to worry about it for the next hour.
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Finally, the day arrived. May 1st. The day my life could finally get interesting. So far none of the other classes had acted, probably hesitant due to lingering doubts of my analysis, but today would confirm everything for them. The class battle would finally begin, and I could have some fun in my dull school life.
When I checked my phone this morning, I had only received 12,000 points. A huge decrease from the 100,000 from last month, but to be honest I was surprised class D had received anything at all. Sensei told us on the first day that we would be judged based on our merit and worth, and personally I felt the class should have been judged worthless.
Most of the class were talking in befuddlement, asking the same questions over and over to people who didn't understand what was happening. Of course, their saviour Hirata was doing his best to calm them, telling all the girls not to worry, that when Chiyabashira arrives the situation should be cleared up. I'm certain he had a good grasp of everything though, so really, he was lying through his teeth. He had all but confirmed he believed what I posted and had foreseen this kind of outcome as well. But for him, his priority was a positive classroom, which meant he had to calm everyone down, even if it meant giving out false hope.
Kouenji, as per usual was relaxing at his desk, with the biggest smirk I had ever seen on his face. Obviously, he understood the situation, but unlike the rest of the class he had no reason to be concerned. Over the past month we had both saved up large sums of points won or extorted from seniors, having foreseen such an event occurring.
Horikita entered the classroom a little later than usual today, however no one noticed, all too distracted with their lack of points. When she reached her desk, she stared at me for a moment, before taking her seat, deep in thought.
The bell rang to signal the start of homeroom, and soon afterward, Chiyabashira strode into the room, holding a rolled-up poster. Her expression today was even more stern than usual.
"All right, your morning homeroom is about to begin. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions? If so, now is the time to speak." She appeared totally convinced that the students had questions they wanted answered, probably knowing just how stupid most of the class was. Immediately, several students raised their hands.
"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, but I only got 12,000 points deposited. We get 100,000 points on the first of every month, don't we?
"Hondou, I already explained this before, didn't I? Points are deposited on the first day of the month. I've confirmed that points were wired this month without any issues."
This seemed to stump a few people in the class, although slowly a horrific realisation was dawning on those who had at least a few brain cells.
"Are you kids really that dumb?" Was she angry or delighted? I was getting an ominous vibe from Chiyabashira.
"Dumb? What?" As Hondou stupidly repeated her words, Chiyabashira looked at him sharply.
"Sit down, Hondou. I'll explain once more," she said. "All the points were deposited. I can assure you there were no errors or miscalculations in the transfers"
"Sensei, please put them out of their misery. I understand your desire to torment such defective students, but please, to be in a room of such ignorance is harmful to a perfect existence such as myself." Kouenji finally intervened, putting an end to this plain foreplay between Chabashira and Hondou.
"Very well Kouenji. It is deplorable how few of you noticed my hints. And then, when it was explained to you, you refused to listen out of some misguided sense of ego. For crying out loud, the student who figured it out and told you is in your class!" She pointed to me as she said this, dragging the attention onto me and away from Kouenji. "Every other class figured it out, yet with every advantage you all failed. How deplorable."
In response to this harsh nature from a teacher who previously didn't seem to care about us, the classroom exploded.
"Sensei, may I please ask you a question? I'm afraid I still don't understand." Hirata raised his hand. He appeared to ask on behalf of his classmates rather than out of selfish concern. Just as I'd expect of the de facto class leader. Even now, he took the initiative. "Can you please tell us why we didn't receive any points? We won't completely understand otherwise."
That was certainly true.
"A total of sixty-three absences and late arrivals. Three hundred and twelve incidences of talking or using a cell phone in class. That is quite a few infractions over one month. In this school, your class's results are reflected in the points that you receive. As a result, you wasted almost all of the 100,000 points that you should have received. That's what happened."
"I should have explained this all to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. This school measures its students' true abilities. This time, you were evaluated as being worth next to nothing. That's all."
Boom. There it was. The class finally realised how badly they messed up. To think they actually thought that they could get away with lazing around and not paying attention, whilst also receiving 100,000 points a month was laughable. It was beyond stupidity. The ego of my classmates was unmeasurable, to think themselves superior students whilst acting worse than toddlers.
I heard a pencil moving against paper. Horikita seemed to be tallying the number of absences, tardy arrivals, and instances of talking in class down in her notebook, perhaps trying to make sense of the situation.
"Sensei. I do not recall hearing you explain that to us before—"
"What? Are you incapable of understanding something unless it's explained in detail?"
"Of course. There was never any talk about reducing our points. Had that been explained beforehand, I'm sure we would have avoided being late or talking during class."
"That is a rather bizarre argument, Hirata. It is certainly true that I don't recall explaining the rules of point distribution. However, didn't you all learn in elementary school not to be late or talk in class? Was that not taught throughout your elementary and junior high schools?"
"Well, that's—"
"I'm sure that in nine years of compulsory education, you learned that being late and talking in class are bad things. And now you say that you can't understand this because I haven't explained it to you? I'm afraid your reasoning is flimsy. If you had simply acted properly, then your points would not have dropped almost to zero. This comes down to you taking personal responsibility."
There was no way for anyone to refute her perfectly sound argument. Everyone knew that bad behaviour didn't pay.
"Having just entered your first year of high school, did you honestly think you'd receive 100,000 points every month with no strings attached? At a school established by the Japanese government for the express purposes of training gifted people? That's unthinkable. Try using some common sense. Why would you leave it to chance?"
Sensei told them exactly what I'd been thinking. I could see that she was enjoying this. To crush their expectations, to shred their egos to the ground was something she had been longing for after a month of insolence and disrespect. And fair enough. Perhaps I should lend her a hand. The more crushed they were the more fun their reactions, right?
The bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom.
"It looks like we spent too much time yammering. I hope that you understood the gist of it. Well, it's about time that we switch to our main topic." From the tube she carried, she removed a white rolled-up poster and spread it out. She stuck the poster to the blackboard with some magnets. The still-confused students stared blankly at the poster.
"Are these...the results for each class?" Horikita tentatively took a guess. She was probably right. Class A through Class D were listed. To the side was a row of numbers that went up to a maximum of four digits. Class D had 120. Class C had 730. Class B had 905. And at the top was Class A, with a total of 990. In this case, 1000 points would mean 100,000 yen, wouldn't it? Every class had apparently lost points.
I was surprised in particular that class C had retained so many. Obviously, Class A with its superior students would be fine, and Class B with their fairy tale unity would have no problem holding onto points, but Class C, and especially Ryuuen, were very violent. If points were deducted for that sort of behaviour, the fact that they retained so many was impressive.
"You've all been doing whatever you pleased this past month. The school has no intention of preventing you from doing what you want. Your actions, such as being late or talking during class, only affect the points you receive. The same goes for how you use your points. How you choose to spend is entirely up to you. We have not put any restrictions on point usage."
"This isn't fair, though! We can't enjoy our student lives like this!" shouted Ike, who'd stayed quiet until now.
Yamauchi wailed in incredible agony. Like many people in the class he had used up all his points.
"Look here, morons. Every other class got points. The number of points we gave you for the first month should be plenty for you to live on."
"B-but, how do the other classes still have so many points left? That's weird..."
"I've already told you, there's nothing unfair about it. All of the classes were scored using the same rules. Despite that, they didn't lose as many as you. That's the truth."
"But...why is there such a difference in our point values?" Hirata also seemed to have noticed that the numbers were too tidy.
"Do you finally understand now? Do you see why you were placed in Class D?"
"The reason why we were placed in Class D? Weren't we simply accepted into this school?"
"Huh? But classes are normally divided up like this, right?"
"Sensei you're too cruel. Just tell them instead of going for complete destruction."
"Yes, demon-boy and I shall take over from here. It's much more fun that way."
Chabashira cracked a smile at our statements. Obviously, she found it entertaining for us to be the ones to destroy the class instead of her.
"Go ahead. You already figured everything out so you may as well tell them."
"Thank you, sensei. Now, if you actually paid attention to the classes, you would notice a significant difference between ours and the rest." The word defects seemed to trigger mild PTSD from the first day attack we launched. This was round two, and the class stood even less of a chance this time.
"Exactly right, Ayanokouji-boy. Comparing the classes, Class D is the collection of garbage in our year, the last bastion for failures in the school. All of you are defective products. That's why your actions have led to this and inconvenienced us two perfect existences."
Most of the class seemed to get furious at this. Not only did they receive barely any points, but now they narcissists were on a double pronged attack, with the teacher's permission to do so.
"Sensei, stop them!" "Yeah, they can't talk to us that way!" "Why look down on us, you're in just as much trouble as the rest of us!" Nonsense was spewing from my classmates' mouths, but instead of responding, Kouenji and I just looked to Chabashira to deal the final blow.
"Why should I stop them, everything they've said so far is correct."
At her conformation, most of the class shattered. They fell back in their chairs, souls crushed, broken. The students who considered themselves superior, like Horikita and Yukimura were furious at this. Being lumped in with defectives while unable to admit they have a defect seemed to force them to hold themselves back from screaming.
"So, does that mean that once we reach zero points, we'll always stay there?"
"Did none of you read the post demon-boy made? He explained every single thing you have heard today, including the answer to your question, Hirata-boy, on the first day of school. We perfect existences provided you with all the information you needed. It's your own defective behaviour that led to this." Kouenji had apparently had his fill of this conversation. To be fair, the enjoyment was starting to wane from it, so he went back to filing his nails, completely obsessed with his image again.
"Won't the other classes make fun of us?" Sudou kicked the legs of his desk with a loud thwack. After hearing that the classes were divided based on merit, everyone else would probably believe that Class D was full of morons. Despair wasn't unreasonable.
"Seriously Sudou. Do you believe this class doesn't deserve to be mocked? Even if we had tried to do worse, I don't think it would be possible. Pathetic. What was that word I used on the first day, sensei?"
"I believe you called them all defective, Ayanokouji. Which is exactly how the school has labelled you all. So, get used to it."
The class seemed to have given up resistance at this point, the constant flow of blows against them crushing them beyond recovery. Hirata, Kushida and Karuizawa were especially affected by the news, from what I had seen. At the loss of social and economic status in the school, most of my classmates were upset, but those three seemed to be having serious reactions, beyond what would be expected of them. Interesting. More evidence to support my theory from the first day that they had secrets I could use.
"Now then, I have one more bit of bad news to share with you all." She stuck another sheet of paper up on the board. It listed the names of everyone in class. A number stood next to everyone's name. "Judging from these, I can see that we've quite a few idiots in this class." As her heels clacked against the floor, she glanced at us.
"These are the results of the short test you took a while ago. Your sensei was so happy after your excellent performance. Come on, what in the world did you all study when you were in junior high?"
With the exception of a few high scores, almost everyone tested below a sixty. Even if you ignored Sudou's wonderful score of fourteen points, there was Ike, scoring a little above him at twenty-four points. The average score was sixty-five.
"I'm so glad. If this were an actual test, then seven of you would've had to drop out."
"D-drop out? What do you mean?"
"Oh, what, did I not explain this to you? If you fail on a midterm or final exam in this school, then you have to drop out. If we applied that rule to this test, anyone who scored below thirty-two points would be out. You guys really are stupid, aren't you?"
"Wh-what?!" wailed Ike and the other failures.
There was a red line drawn on the paper, separating the seven people in question from the rest of the class. Among those seven people, Kikuchi had scored highest, with thirty-one points. Anyone with a score equal to or lower than Kikuchi's had failed.
"Hey, don't jerk us around, Sae-chan-sensei! Don't joke about kicking us out!"
"Frankly, I'm also at a loss," the teacher said. "These are the school rules. You should prepare for the worst."
"The teacher's right. There do seem to be a lot of morons here." Kouenji wore a smug grin while he polished his nails, his legs propped on the desk.
"What the hell, Kouenji? You scored below the red line, too! You finished in 14 minutes, theres no way you and Ayanokouji passed"
"Pah. Where exactly are you looking, boy? Look again."
"Huh? Kouenji is...huh?"
Starting from the bottom of the page, Sudou scanned upward, and there he found Kouenji Rokosuke's name. Unbelievably, Kouenji had tied for the top spot with me, scoring one hundred points. That meant we'd been able to solve all of those super difficult problems.
"Impossible." An aura of awe and fear enveloped the classroom. To see the two students who had raced to finish and completed the test in 14 minutes be the only ones to get a perfect score astounded everyone.
"I must congratulate you two, Ayanokouji and Kouenji. I knew you would score well based on your entrance exams, but to think you could score perfectly in 14 minutes is rather absurd. For scoring the highest in the grade, both of you have earned 10,000 points." That meant even Sakayanagi hadn't managed to solve all the hard problems.
"How..." Horikita seemed broken. She had scored a very impressive 90 marks, meaning she had solved one of the hard questions, but to her, being able to do a test that quickly and still get better marks than her, marks she couldn't conceive ever getting herself was so far beyond the realm of reality her brain seemed to refuse to accept it.
"Oh, one more thing. This school, which operates under government supervision, boasts a high rate of advancement into elite education and workforce placement. That is a well-known fact. It's very likely that most of you have chosen a college or future workplace."
"However, nothing comes easy in this world. Mediocre people such as yourselves would have to be naive to think that you could easily get into the college or workplace of your choice." Chiyabashira-sensei's words carried throughout the room.
"In other words, you're saying that if we want to get into the company or college of our choice, we must, at minimum, surpass Class C?" Hirata asked.
"You're wrong. To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to overtake Class A. This school guarantees nothing for any other students."
"Th-that's...absurd! We didn't hear anything about that!"
A bespectacled student named Yukimura stood up. He'd tied with Horikita for 90 marks, indicating that there were no issues with his academic abilities.
"How disgraceful. There's nothing more pitiful than men losing their cool." As if prompted by Yukimura's words, Kouenji let out a sigh.
"Don't you feel dissatisfied being in Class D, Kouenji? How about you Ayanokouji. Both of you are geniuses you should be in Class A" Yukimura asked.
"Dissatisfied? Why would I feel dissatisfied? I don't understand."
"Because the school says we're so low that we're basically delinquents and failures. We've been told that there's no guarantee whatsoever that we'll advance into higher education or get a job!"
"I'm disappointed Yukimura." I guess I had to step in again. "I had high expectations of you, given your intelligence, but it seems you are just as disappointing as the rest of the class."
"What! How dare you, I scored 90 on that last test, how am I a disappointment. At least I should be in class C, not with defectives!" Oops, Yukimura, that may have been a mistake. Now most of the class hates you too, indicative of their glares, and you can't back up your claims like Kouenji and I did.
"So sad. Intelligent yet blind to your flaws, truly more defective than most people here. How absurd." This was his limit and apparently, I had crossed it. Yukimura, who was sitting diagonally in front of me, stood up, his chair falling backwards as he did, and launched himself at me. Very slowly.
"Pathetic." I grabbed him as he did so, and pinned him to my desk, holding his arm behind his back. "At least be able to back up your claims before you make them, or risk looking like an idiot. Like now." Releasing him, I threw him back towards his desk, where he tripped over his chair and fell to the ground. A few giggles emanated from the room, but at my glare around, they immediately ceased.
"To think people would laugh at someone for trying to prove themselves worthy. Remember, all of you are defective, none of you are better than each other. Don't throw stones in a glass house would be a good way to phrase the situation." I sat down and ignored the glares people threw my way; I was fairly used to it at this point.
Surprisingly, many of the girls weren't too bothered by what I had said and done. By getting to know them and proving my results they seemed to be accepting my analysis and recognising their defects far more effectively than the boys. Apparently, they trusted me even more after seeing I was right, unlike the boys who had instead increased their stubborn dislike for me. This was a fun experiment into how thick-headed someone can be.
"It looks like your bubbles have been burst. If you had simply understood the harsh reality of the situation from the start, then this long homeroom period might have meant something. Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Please think things over and be careful not to drop out. I have confidence that you can find a way to avoid getting red marks on your report cards. If at all possible, challenge yourself to act in a way befitting a skilled individual."
So, there was a guaranteed way to pass the midterms. It probably had to do with the test we had yesterday, the hint it provided with the difficult questions. Hmm. The trick was to figure out how to get everyone to study to pass. Having someone drop out now could be detrimental to our class points, so until I knew the punishments, it seemed it would be my job to help everyone pass.
Oh well. For now, at least the other classes would be focused on the midterms and wouldn't have time to play with me, so I may as well do something interesting.
But who said I can't play with them instead?
Authors Notes
Yay, may first finally. Had a lot of fun writing this. I figured that since some people would act better, class D would retain a few points. similarly, the other classes would all have more points than in cannon, since they had almost confirmation on the system.
Fully aware of how bullshit it would be to finish a test at the same time. I'm pretty fast with exams, but even so the time it takes is completely up to chance, whether brain melts for a second or two, or five minutes of uuuuuhhhh. But personally i believe that Kouenji is a match for Ayanokouji. In the tug-of-war on the island exam, although Ayanokouji is famously an inaccurate narrator, i still think Kouenji had the upper hand there. they both are god like but different areas each one will accell slightly more over the other. I dunno, tho, just my thoughts.
Things get even better from here, and longer chapters so I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Working on a couple of SS for this arc, so expect them at the end, and as always, enjoy!