May 1st,
The morning bell rang for our very first day of class of the new month. Soon afterward, Akira-sensei strode into the room, holding a rolled-up poster. He had his usual calmness, he walked up to the teaching podium and started to stare at all the students not saying a word.
"Hey sensei, is everything okay?" Ida asked
Akira-sensei looked around the classroom before looking at Ida and answering him. "Yes, everything is fine." He replied.
Ida nodded and Akira-sensei continued speaking. "Before morning homeroom begins, does anyone have any questions for me? If so, now is the time to ask." Immediately, several students raised their hands.
"Akira-sensei, I checked my point balance this morning, but I saw that we earned fewer points than last month, could you please explain?"
"Fujiwara-chan, I explained this last month, didn't I? Points are deposited on the first of the month and I've confirmed that points were wired this month without any issues."
"Um, Akira-sensei I'm not quite understanding." Replied Fujiwara
Apparently, some of the class was left out of the loop, I thought for sure Kiriyama would have explained his thought process and findings with the others in the class if he wanted to be the class representative, or maybe some simply didn't believe him.
Kiriyama raised his hand "May I answer Akira-sensei?" he asked.
Akira-sensei smiled "Go head, Kiriyama."
Kiriyama stood up from his seat "Sensei never said that we would receive 100,000 points a month and in the overview of the OAA app, you can see that how we contribute and our behaviors to our classes can affect us. I pointed this out to most of you over the last month. That's all I know though if Akira-sensei wouldn't mind further explaining" Kiriyama sat back down after finishing.
"Well, Kiriyama-kun, you are right about the points and yes the OAA app did give the students of this year more hints than previous years but--
A total of 1 late arrival, 21 incidences of using a cellphone in class, and 17 times a student looked outside the window rather than listening to the lessons. As a result, you guys had a decrease in private points per month."
'Way to call me out Akira-sensei'
Akira-sensei continued "I explained this to everyone on the day of the entrance ceremony. This school measures its students' true abilities." Akira-sensei unrolled the poster he brought and spread it out. Everyone in the class was looking at it.
"Are these the results for all the classes?" Kiriyama asked.
Class A – 950
Class B - 700
Class C - 450
Class D – 110
So, 1000 points mean 100,000 yen, not that I'm surprised. Every class had lost points. Knowing this I turned my attention outside just listening to the conversation between Akira-sensei and my classmates.
Akira-sensei smiled nodded before continuing "Honestly, you guys have done a great job this past month. The school has no intention of preventing you from doing what you guys want during class or in how you spend your points."
"Akira-sensei, do the points each class have mean something? What if Class A had fewer points than Class B?" Kiriyama asked.
"Good question Kiriyama-kun, yes the school sorts students by their level of excellence. The superior students are sorted into class A, the least capable in Class D. If Class B ended the month with more points than us in Class A that means we would drop down to Class B and the current Class B would become Class A." Akira-sensei paused before continuing "Does anyone have any more questions, how about you Ayanokōji-kun? If I recall you said you wanted to talk to me on May 1st."
I turned my head to look at Akira-sensei and spoke "No, not currently I already knew most of the information you have spoken about thus far."
A seat then crashed on the ground "WHAT! Why didn't you tell us if you knew Ayanokōji-kun!" Fukushima said while pointing at me.
"W-woah Fukushima-kun calm down..." Oshiro meekly said.
"If he knew something shouldn't he have told us?" Fukushima seemed to make a case to our classmates.
"Oh my Fukushima, I knew most of the information too, will you get mad at me?" Fūka sneered at Fukushima. "Are you sure you're not mad about something else?" she teased.
"I agree with Fukushima, if both of you knew something why didn't you tell us?" Konno said.
I turned my attention back outside and calmly replied. "It's simple, it was all speculation. Either way, Kiriyama pointed out his own findings and the class did a good job. Shouldn't we focus our attention elsewhere instead of pointing fingers?" I tried to divert the attention of my classmates due to me withholding information by pointing out Kiriyama's findings.
Kiriyama stood up "I agree with Ayanokōji-kun, we did a great job with the information that we had, and also as sensei pointed out earlier, we are currently in competition with the other classes we should not be fighting amongst ourselves."
Fukushima and Konno both sat down after Kiriyama intervened. This didn't stop Fukushima from throwing me a look of contempt though. I chose to ignore him and look back outside.
Akira-sensei gave a nervous laugh and started to stick another piece of paper on the board. It listed the names of everyone in Class. A number stood next to everyone's name. "As I was saying... judging by the test that we took yesterday you all have done a great job."
1. Ayanokōji Kiyotaka- 100
2. Kiryūin Fūka - 95
3. Kiriyama Ikuto - 85
4. Yasui Shig - 85
5. Ishikawa Mana- 80
"With the exception of a few high scores, the class average was a 70. Good job Ayanokōji-kun for scoring a perfect score."
I simply nodded at Akira-sensei
Akira-sensei then turned his attention back to the class and put on a serious expression. "Now, let's talk about what happens if someone fails an exam... If you ever fail a midterm or final exam in this school, then you will have to drop out. For how we determine who fails or passes we use the class average and divide it by 2. Since the class average was 70 if someone scored under a 35 for this exam they would have to drop out."
I looked to see who scored the lowest on the test.
38. Fukushima Kyo - 45
39 Matsubara Shin - 45
40. Izumi Chieko – 40
Well, it looks like we a few that were close to expulsion. I assumed that since this was Class A most of us would be capable academically.
"Lastly, 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" Akira-sensei hesitated for a moment before continuing "However, nothing comes easy in this world. Only the elites such as yourselves would deserve to get into a college or workplace of your choice."
Akira-sensei words left some confused.
"What do you mean by that Akira-sensei?" Kiriyama asked him.
"To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to stay Class A. This school guarantees nothing for any other students. If you guys don't graduate as Class A and fall to Class B or below you will not and I repeat NOT be guaranteed anything."
This left my classmates in surprise, most of them had their jaws wide open. I looked at Fūka to see her reaction but she was just sitting back in her seat clearly not interested.
"Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Make sure to study. I have confidence that everyone here can pass and not get red marks on their report cards. If possible, challenge yourselves showing off your talents that the school believes you have." Akira-sensei looked around and started to gather his papers to walk out of the classroom.
"Akira-sensei" I said to get his attention.
"Yes, Ayanokōji-kun?"
"After school could we talk about what I originally wanted to talk about?" Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for me to deeply dive into the S-system like I wanted to.
"That is fine Ayanokōji-kun, just come down to the faculty office after classes have ended for the day."
I nodded
After Akira-sensei saw me nod he exited the room, my classmates were just in silence.
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AN -
Hello,
It's been a while since I've posted since I was on vacation. I hope you enjoy this chapter I plan on posting part 2 within the next day.
As always please point out any grammar errors
Thank you for reading,
Eli