Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

Chapter 8: Peace was never an Option

The first month of school passed by like it was the wind, and the students of Class D were as lively as ever. How could they not be? Today was the day where they will get their monthly allowance of 100,000 points and go back to how they were enjoying their lives when they started going to this school.

"They sure are excited today," Kiyotaka commented from where he was as he chose to observe his classmates. There was never a quiet day in this classroom because of things like these.

"Why wouldn't they be? It's the first day of the month. The school will be sending 100,000 points to our accounts, and that's something that a lot of them were waiting for," said Suzune, who was also observing the class like him, which was a bit strange.

Normally, she would read a book instead and choose not to concern herself with class matters.

Kiyotaka turned to her. "That's the strange part, though. When I checked my point balance this morning, I didn't receive a hundred thousand points. I remember it was only about 9,000 points that got sent to me."

Like his classmates, Kiyotaka also looked forward to receiving 100,000 points from the school, just not to the extent as them. However, when he woke up, there wasn't any. The only amount he received was 9,700 points, which was strange.

"So you noticed it too?" Suzune looked at him in return as their gazes locked. "I think I actually received the same amount as you."

"If that's the case, then the same must go for all of our other classmates. They either didn't notice or they thought that they would receive the rest today," Kiyotaka concluded. "What do you think about this situation?"

"I'm not sure..." the girl muttered as she was in deep thought. "But I have a feeling that we won't be receiving any more points today."

"Is that so?" he asked, the curiosity present in his voice. "Assuming Horikita is right and that we won't be getting any more points from the school, then it would make sense why the cafeteria offers free food for the students. It's for those who no longer have any points left in their student accounts. But why would the school give us less than 100,000?"

It didn't take long before the morning bell rang, signaling the start of their class. Everyone immediately went back to their seats after hearing it and not long after, Chabashira-sensei walked inside the classroom. She looked more stern than usual and it was starting to scare some of the students.

"Hey, uh, sensei? Did your menopause start or something?" Ike joked in an attempt to brighten up the situation, but all it did was cause a big wave of nervousness to wash over his classmates. There's no doubt that he only made the situation worse by saying such a thing to their teacher, of all people.

"Before we start our homeroom, does anyone have any questions they want to ask? If so, now is the time to ask them." Thankfully, it didn't seem like Chabashira was affected by that remark from Ike. She still looked serious, though, and right after she invited her students to bring up any questions that they might have, several of them raised their hands.

"Uh, sensei? I checked my point balance this morning... but I only got about 10,000 points, I think? Are we going to get the rest of our 100,000 points later today?"

"Yeah, the same happened for me, actually. Is something wrong with the app, Sae-chan-sensei?"

"I already explained this before, didn't I? Points are distributed on the first day of every month. Points have already been given to the students for this month hours earlier. And I can assure you, there is nothing wrong with the student ID application."

"Eh? But only 10,000 points got deposited to my account..."

Hondou and Yamauchi looked at each other, as they wondered what was going on. Ike was the same, completely different from his boisterous self a while ago. Everyone else only looked on, torn between feeling confused and nervous about this.

"Are you idiots really that dumb?" she glared harder at her students, even causing some of them to shrink in their seats.

"D-Dumb? How?" Hondou repeated her words stupidly.

"All right then, I'll explain it once again. In a way that your small brains can understand," she sighed.

Taken aback by her words, Hondou couldn't do anything but sit down and remain silent.

"Points were deposited to each and every student account in this school. There is no chance that we have forgotten anyone in this class. To think otherwise is an insult not only to me, but to the whole school as well."

"We heard you, Sae-chan-sensei, but... we still didn't get our 100,000 points?" Yamauchi asked, beginning to look irritated.

Meanwhile, Kiyotaka was in deep thought. If their teacher was telling the truth, and she probably is, then Suzune was right. They already received their allotted points for this month, and they wouldn't be getting any more. This creates another question, though.

Why did they only get a fraction of the 100,000 points that they received during their first day here?

"Hahaha! I see now. That's how it works, eh, sensei? I have figured it out," Koenji's voice boomed across the room, gaining everyone's attention easily.

"Huh?"

Koenji leaned back against his seat, as he rest his feet on top of his desk. "It's simple. Our supposed points for this month have indeed been given to us. However, it is not the amount that you expected. We have only received a total of 9,700 points, a fraction of the supposed 100,000."

"Wait, what are you talking about? Sae-chan-sensei said that we'd get 100,000 points every month—"

"I don't recall ever hearing such a thing," Koenji smirked. "Or were you simply not listening during our first day here?"

"The hell did you just say?!"

Chabashira quickly intervened before an argument could take place. "While he has an attitude problem, Koenji is not wrong. It's utterly disappointing that almost no one noticed the hint I gave you. How deplorable."

And with that, the classroom descended into chaos over the issue of points.

"Sensei, may I ask a question? I'm afraid I still don't understand," Hirata raised his hand. Even now, when the class was about to fall apart, the young man took initiative for the sake of his classmates. "Can you please tell us why we only received a fraction of the 100,000 points? We won't understand otherwise."

The rest of the class nodded, agreeing with him.

"A total of 62 absences and late arrivals. 287 incidences of talking or using a cell phone in class. Those are quite some numbers over one month. In this school, your class's results are reflected in the points that you receive. As a result, you nearly wasted all of the 100,000 points that you should have received. Be grateful that you even received a few points at all."

Chabashira-sensei slammed her palms down on her desk and glared at everyone there

"Nearly wasted, huh? I guess all we really got was 9.7% of the 100,000 points that were supposed to be deposited to our accounts," Kiyotaka thought as he analyzed the situation in his mind. "Since she's keeping track of the offenses that we commit instead of ignoring them, this also means doing inappropriate things inside of the classroom and students' behavior are factors in determining whether we'll keep our points or lose them."

"I should have explained this all to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. You were this close to being evaluated as nothing more than fodder," she explained further, emphasizing her point with her fingers.

"Chabashira-sensei, I do not recall hearing you explain that to us before—"

"What is this? Are you saying you are incapable of understanding unless it's explained to you detail by detail?" The woman cut him off.

Yosuke's calm look started to fail him as frustration began leaking out. "There was never any explanation about reducing our points. If those were explained beforehand, I'm sure we would have avoided committing any offenses that would result in losing our points."

"Is that your argument, Hirata? Tell me, then. Were you not taught in elementary school or junior high about the consequences of being late or talking in class? I'm sure that in all of your years in going to school, you learned about the basic things to do and not to do while inside a classroom. And now you're saying that you didn't understand because I didn't explain it to you? I'm afraid your argument is flawed, Hirata."

Yosuke couldn't say anything this time, because he knew that he was caught in a tight spot. On one hand, he knew that it was to be expected for a student to behave properly and at the same time, he didn't want to let his friends down.

"If you had simply acted like proper and behaved students, then your points would have never dropped. As I said, consider yourselves lucky that you even received some."

Still, no one dared to speak out against her, especially after that perfectly sound argument. Everyone was aware of what bad behavior is and what it could bring. Most of them simply didn't know how much of a big deal it would be.

"Did you honestly think you'd receive 100,000 points every month with no strings attached? At the most prestigious high school in the country? This place is dedicated to training gifted people, not for children who cannot even rely on their own common sense."

"She makes a good point. There's no way that the government could give 100,000 yen to every student in this school on a monthly basis, since Chabashira-sensei said that 1 point is equal to 1 yen. That's not even counting the upperclassmen..."

Kiyotaka could have figured this out a lot sooner, but he didn't bother putting the extra effort in doing so. Plus, he couldn't exactly put his information-gathering skills to the test when he was already preoccupied with another problem the whole time.

Even though Hirata looked agitated himself, he still maintained his calm demeanor. "Well then, could you at least explain to us how points can be added or deducted, sensei?"

"I cannot tell you. The teachers are not allowed to disclose how we evaluate the students. It's like with any other organization. When you enter a company, it's the company's choice whether or not to tell you how it evaluates its employees. That being said, I'm not cruel, and I'm not giving you the cold shoulder. As a matter of fact, you're all so pathetic that I'll give you a piece of advice."

"You're already being cruel, sensei..." was the collective thought in most of the students' minds.

"Let's imagine that you stop being late to class and being absent completely. Even though no points will be deducted from you this month, that doesn't mean you will receive any higher than 9,700 either. But if you fail to behave yourselves, you might just end up getting no points at all."

Instead of something that would give them hope in this predicament they have found themselves in, Sae's words bore the opposite effect on her students. Those who thought they could improve their situation by fixing their bad behavior had their hopes dashed right away.

At that moment, the bell rang.

"Looks like we spent too much time yammering. I hope you understood the gist of it, because now we're switching to our main topic for the day." As she said those words, she then brought out a white rolled-up poster and attached it to the blackboard so that everyone could see its contents.

Class A - 890

Class B - 650

Class C - 490

Class D - 97

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.

~XoX~

"If we don't get any more points, what am I gonna do...?"

"I can't live with just 9,000 points..."

"Does this mean we can't get into college now? Why the hell did we even go to this school? Does Sae-chan-sensei hate us or something?"

During the break, the classroom erupted into chaos. It's like their teacher's words was a bomb that exploded, and this was the outcome. Most of the boys and girls were in despair from this turn of events, some were calmly assessing the situation, and then there was Koenji who didn't care at all.

"Forget about the points. What about this class? Why was I put into Class D?!" Yukimura cried, obviously upset about his placement in a class whose students were considered 'failures'.

"Everyone, I know that you are all confused, but we all need to calm down. Causing a ruckus won't help anyone," Hirata, sensing that the class was about to delve deeper into chaos, stood up and attempted to act as the voice of reason.

"How are we supposed to calm down? Sensei just called us a bunch of failures! Aren't you even frustrated with all of this?!" Yukimura continued to rant, giving in to his emotions and letting his anger take over.

"Even if I was, it's better for us to work together in order to turn things around."

"Turn things around? I don't even agree with how we were sorted in the first place!"

Hirata nodded his head in sympathy. "I understand. However, whining about our situation won't help us right now."

That was something that Yukimura didn't take kindly. Marching over towards Hirata, he grabbed the blonde teen by the collar forcefully. "What did you say?" he growled.

"Please calm down, you two. I'm sure that Chabashira-sensei talked to us harshly so we'd do a lot better next time," spoke Kushida, walking towards the two and gently prying them away from each other. Yukimura didn't resist at all, and simply listened to the girl who continued to speak. "Besides, it's only been one month since we started here. There's still plenty of time for us to get our points up, but we can't do it when we're all divided like this. Come on, everyone."

"I-I mean... I certainly wouldn't say you're wrong, but..."

Yukimura's anger vanished in an instant. With that, the girl shifted her attention towards everyone else and flashed a sincere smile. "It's better for us to band together. There's no need for us to fight against each other. That would only make things worse, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry. I lost my cool," Yukimura apologized.

Hirata waved the apology off. "It's all right, Yukimura-kun. I should have chosen my words a little more carefully, so we are both at fault."

While Kikyo brought everyone together effortlessly as if she was a goddess of sorts, Kiyotaka took a picture of the poster in front and observed it closely. Suzune noticed his action and immediately grew curious.

"What are you doing?"

"Figuring out how points are calculated," he replied, not taking his eyes off his phone.

"Didn't sensei already explain how? Points are immediately deducted when a student arrives late, does something else in the middle of a discussion, and other acts that are not befitting of the proper student."

"Yes, Chabashira-sensei did explain how points are deducted. However, she didn't explain anything about how they can be increased," he pointed out. "Of course, it's possible that our points may never increase again, but from sensei's words earlier, it's possible for us to overtake Class A. We simply need to find out how a class can increase its points."

"Wouldn't it be difficult to figure those details out at this stage? Furthermore, I don't believe you can resolve this by simply investigating. You'd have to get everyone to listen to you as well."

As Suzune said those words, Kiyotaka noticed something different from her. Normally, the girl was cool and composed, but now it felt like those aspects of her were gone. He also noticed that she sounded rather impatient now. Was it because of their current dilemma as a class?

"Are you also planning to get into a college after graduating from this school?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, when we learned about the differences between Class A and D, I noticed that you looked shocked. Were you hoping to receive 100,000 points like everyone else?"

"I wasn't, but it was certainly a surprise to find out that points are a reflection of our performances," she admitted. "Regardless, not having points won't hinder our lives here. We have free options whenever we need it, right?"

He nodded in agreement. Ever since he heard from Yamauchi that the cafeteria offered free food, he began to take notice of some students who ordered the free meal instead of a normal one. "That's true. Though, this is a tragic fate for those who spent all of their points this past month."

Suzune clasped her hands together and let out a sigh. "While unfortunate, they've simply reaped what they've sown. And like what Chabashira-sensei said, we still managed to retain at least 97 points after the first month. If anything, they should feel lucky that we didn't end up with 0, or we would have not received any points in our balance."

"That's also true, which is why we have a chance to turn things around. We simply have to find out how a class can increase its points. Getting everyone to listen should be easy with people like Hirata and Kushida leading the charge," he replied calmly.

"If you say so," she sighed, not even sounding convinced by his words.

"Attention, everyone. Before class begins, I want you to listen seriously for a moment."

The classroom was still in an uproar until now, but Hirata quickly claimed everyone's attention when he stood at the teacher's podium. His presence was enough to calm his classmates, though it didn't make their situation better.

"While we won't be receiving 100,000 points this month, all hope is not lost yet. We still have the 9,700 points that were sent to us, but we can't afford to take this lightly anymore. Now that we are aware that our points can be deducted, we have to tread lightly and be careful about what we do in this school. I'm sure nobody wants our points to go any lower than they already are right now, right?"

"Yes, Hirata-kun is absolutely right!" one of the female students shouted, her worries immediately remedied by Hirata's mere presence.

Hirata gave a kind nod in response, before continuing. "Therefore, we must work to increase our points next month. In order to do that, we all need to cooperate with each other. So please, take care not to be late to class or to talk during a lecture. Using cell phones during class is prohibited too, of course."

"Huh? Since when do you get to tell us what to do?" Ike asked, displeased with the fact that a pretty boy like Hirata was ordering them around like he was the class leader.

"Do you have a better idea, idiot?" Sudo spoke up from behind him.

"You don't get to talk like that, Sudo! You were next to the lowest score in the exam!"

"So? It just means I'll have to do better next time," he shrugged, surprising a lot of the boys in the room. Normally, that would have caused him to lose his cool and prepare for a fight, but Ken remained where he was. "All of us were caught off guard with the thing about points and the exams. None of us could have seen it coming."

Even Ike was surprised, but he hid it behind a smug grin. "Hah! I wouldn't even be surprised if you fail the next exam and cause yourself to get expelled, Sudo!"

Sudo didn't even look annoyed one bit. Instead, he felt amused.

"Really? Want to bet on that?"

"Sure thing! If I get a higher score in the next exam, then you have to walk around this room on all fours, barking like a dog!"

"Deal," he agreed in a nonchalant voice, shocking almost everyone in the class at how easily he agreed to such a ridiculous demand. Still, he didn't seem bothered. "But if I get a higher score, then you have to burn all of the doujinshi and porn magazines that you have in your room."

Ike's face turned comically white.

"What the—? How the hell did you know about those?!" he demanded, before realizing that everyone was now staring at him because of what was just revealed. He quickly shrunk from everyone's gazes. "I-I mean... sure, bring it on! I'll whoop your ass in the next exam, Sudo! You'll be crawling around here like a dog, I'll make sure of it!"

Onodera didn't hesitate to stand up from her seat and run towards her friend, sending him a look of worry. "Sudo-kun, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her, which didn't really ease Kayano's worries one bit.

"Interesting..." Kiyotaka thought, feeling surprised at this turn of events as well. "I'm tempted to lend Sudo a helping hand in this, but I suppose I'll just watch and see this unfold. He looks like he already has the situation under control."

"Right..." Hirata sweat-dropped at what just happened, before shifting his focus back to the task at hand. "Well, I hope everyone understands what we must do from now on. Chabashira-sensei may have been harsh in her words earlier but like what Kushida-san said, she likely acted that way to make us do better next time."

After finishing his little speech, Hirata then stepped down from the podium. Strangely enough, he didn't go back to his seat and instead, walked towards Ayanokouji's desk.

"Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun, do you have a moment? I want to speak with you about how we can increase our points. Is it fine with you?" he asked.

"Why us?" asked Kiyotaka in return, feeling curious why Yosuke turned to them of all people.

"I want to hear everyone's opinions. However, I feel that if I ask for everyone to state what they think, more than half of the class probably won't take it seriously."

"I'm sorry, can you ask someone else? I'm not good at discussing things with others," said Suzune.

"I am not forcing you to speak up, Horikita-san. If you could think of something that can help, then it would be good. A simple suggestion would be good enough."

"I'm sorry, but I have no interest in something meaningless."

"This is the first challenge that we'll be facing together as a united Class D. We have to—"

Suzune looked at him coldly. "I refuse. I will not participate."

From her words alone, Yosuke understood that the girl wasn't going to change her stance. "I... I see. I'm sorry if I bothered you. If you change your mind, you are welcome to join us."

Feeling dejected, he turned his attention towards Kiyotaka this time.

"What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?"

Kiyotaka wanted to join so that he can get some possible ideas on how their points can be increased, but he was curious about Suzune. What exactly was her problem? He noticed that she was acting strange ever since their teacher left, as if she had become more distrustful of other people than before. It's probably for the best if he deals with this right now, otherwise it might come back to bite him in the ass in the future.

"I'll pass... although I might change my mind."

"I see. If you do change your mind, then please let me know." Yosuke seemed to understand his stance, since Kiyotaka didn't reject him strongly like Suzune.

As their blonde classmate left them, Kiyotaka didn't waste time and turned to look at Suzune. "Mind explaining what that was about?" he asked whilst raising an eyebrow.

"I already said it. I'm not good at discussing things with others," she repeated.

"You don't seem to have any problem discussing things with me," he rebuked.

The girl sighed. "You are different, moron."

"Oh, I see. I'm different because you like me," he teased.

Suzune blushed for a brief moment at that claim, before she sent him a scowl. "I'll stab you with this pen if you don't stop," she threatened, raising her pen for emphasis.

"Stopping now," Kiyotaka conceded. He definitely didn't want to see this girl get angry, because the system might do something to fuck him over if he does.

Suzune kept on glaring at him regardless, checking to see if he was really going to stop. When he didn't say anything else, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "It would have been pointless to discuss things with Hirata-kun. If our situation could be easily solved by talking, then it would be fine. However, if an unintelligent student who has no idea how to deal with the issue at hand tries to lead the discussion, then the group will simply fall apart. I doubt that Hirata-kun actually knows how to increase our points."

"You have a good point," he nodded in agreement. It was clear that Hirata had no idea how to actually help their class, and is simply doing this in order to prevent the whole dynamic from falling apart. That's why he was asking for others' input on how they could increase their points.

"Besides, I can't meekly accept my current situation. You shouldn't, either."

He looked at her in confusion. "Can't accept? What do you mean?"

Suzune didn't answer his question. She only stared at the poster that Chabashira-sensei left for them.

~XoX~

After their classes had ended, Hirata stood in front and prepared the blackboard for a big discussion regarding their class. Because of his powerful charisma, almost everyone in the class had shown, with the exception of Koenji and Horikita. Koenji didn't really care about the whole issue, while Horikita left early because she had something important to attend to, according to her at least.

If Kiyotaka had to take a guess, she was most likely on her way to the teacher's office for a talk with Chabashira-sensei. He could still remember her shocked look upon finding out that the different classes also indicated an hierarchy of sorts and knowing that girl's personality, she wasn't pleased about being placed in a class of failures. Unlike Yukimura though, she was calm and composed about it instead of throwing a tantrum in the classroom, but now she was likely going to get answers from Chabashira-sensei herself.

"Ayanokouji!"

Kiyotaka's attention was drawn to Yamauchi, who suddenly appeared in front of his desk with a look of despair on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"Hey, can you buy this from me for 20,000 points? I need more points!" he cried, holding up a handheld gaming console that he apparently bought immediately after receiving his 100,000 points on the first day of school. Now that Chabashira-sensei dropped a massive bomb on them about their points, Yamauchi found himself in desperate need of more.

Kiyotaka gave him a blank stare. "If I buy it, then who am I supposed to play with?"

"How the hell should I know? Come on, it's a good console! It's a limited-edition one, so it's a good deal."

"Not my problem," Kiyotaka said flatly. He didn't even want the thing. Also, why was Yamauchi turning to him for help in the first place? They weren't even friends, as far as he was concerned...

"Come on, Ayanokouji! You're my only hope!" Yamauchi continued to wail.

Kiyotaka continued to stare at him with an impassive look, despite the teary-eyed look on his classmate's face. Fortunately, he quickly realized that Kiyotaka wasn't convinced one bit, so Yamauchi immediately switched to another target.

"Professor! Your buddy needs a favor from you! Buy this game system for 22,000 points!"

"So, not only did he switch his attention to Sotomura, but he also increased the price," the young man thought to himself, unsure if he should feel disappointed or annoyed.

"Things are really tough for our classmates who used up their points..." Kikyo spoke as she approached Kiyotaka's desk.

"Like what Chabashira-sensei said, it's not like we didn't receive anything this month. They'll just have to live with 9,700 points and what's left of their initial money," he sighed.

The girl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's true. Still, I wish I could help them."

He had no idea if she was faking or being genuine with that statement. Like everyone else, Kushida was shocked upon finding out that there's more to the points that they receive than meets the eye. "But what about you? Do you have enough points? Girls need a lot of things to live with, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm okay. For now, anyway. I think I've used up half of my points. I kinda lost control this past month and overspent a bit, hehe..." she confessed while twiddling her fingers in embarrassment. "But it's nothing to worry about! I'll hold myself back this time. What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?"

He shrugged. Money wasn't a problem for him. He was more concerned with finding out how their points could be increased so countermeasures can be prepared ahead of time. "I'll be fine. I didn't even spend a lot of points, since I didn't need to buy anything. In fact, I'm more worried about you. It's got to be hard not to spend money when you're so popular."

"Hehe... I guess..."

"Hey, uh, Ayanokouji? Do you have a minute?"

Both of them turned their heads to see Kei walking up to Kiyotaka's desk, looking strangely nervous from the way she was rubbing her arm and her gaze directed elsewhere.

"Do you need something, Karuizawa?" asked Kiyotaka.

"Uh, I... kinda spent a lot of points this past month... I think I only have 20,000 left, actually. If you don't mind, uh... can I have some points from you? Just 2,000 points would be enough!" she asked, feeling both embarrassed and nervous that she was asking him to lend her some points.

This surprised the young man. This was the first time they've talked in a long while and while the system wasn't saying anything about a heroine losing interest in him or outright hating him, it was still surprising to see Karuizawa approaching him for a reason like this. "Why me? Why not your friends?" he asked curiously.

"I already asked them and they lent me some... but I don't think it's enough yet, and... I kinda overheard what you and Kushida-san were talking about just now so I know that you still have a lot... n-not that I was listening on purpose, obviously!" she explained. "And, well... you're the only guy I talk to around here..."

That was an exaggeration. The last time they talked was during the little trip that Kushida organized a week ago. That mattered little to her, though. When they were alone together that time, Kiyotaka wasn't really bad company and he never once acted like a desperate pervert who's out to get her.

As far as she was concerned, she could approach him without fear. That and there was no way in hell she would talk to another boy around here for points... maybe except for Yosuke. Actually, she could also approach him later on and ask for some points too.

"Uhm... if you need points, Karuizawa-san, then I'd be happy to—"

"No, no, I can't borrow some from you. I know you already spent a lot, Kushida-san. I'm asking Ayanokouji," she said, cutting off Kikyo before she could finish her sentence. "So? Is it fine with you? If you don't want to, it's fine."

Kei felt a little nervous about his answer since she knew that they weren't even friends or even close for her to ask him for some points, but little did she know that the decision was already made.

"Sure, why not? Only 2,000 right?" Kiyotaka asked. He didn't have a shortage of points, so why wouldn't he help her out? Plus, even if he didn't want to, it's not like he could say no and make her sad, which was a huge red flag in his book.

Kei stared at him in shock for a few moments, showing that she really wasn't expecting him to give her points just because she asked. Besides, he didn't owe her anything. However, her doubts were proven wrong and right away, a big smile took over her features.

"Thank you! Really, thanks for this, Ayanokouji-kun!" she flashed him a genuine smile, before pulling out a little piece of paper that had a cell phone number written on it. "Here's my number, by the way. You can send the points to me later. Thanks again!"

She left the sheet of paper on his desk before walking away, in pursuit of a new person whom she can ask for points. However, she was clearly in a much better mood than before, all traces of nervousness gone in her features.

[You have gained 10 Affection Points with Karuizawa Kei!]

"Karuizawa looked kind of cute when she smiled like that..." Kiyotaka thought as he stared at the blonde girl for a bit, before pocketing the sheet of paper that she left for him. He'll send her the points she needed later on, maybe when he gets back to his dorm. "I guess this means I'm good in her eyes?"

"That was amazing, Ayanokouji-kun! I honestly thought you were going to ignore Karuizawa-san because it's not your problem. It's what you did for Yamauchi-kun earlier," Kikyo cheered on while clapping her hands in applause.

"You have a point. It's probably her fault that she spent almost all of her points as well. But unlike Yamauchi, she wasn't persuading me to give her points. She would have understood if I turned her down. I think that's enough reason for me to help her," he told her. There was also another reason that involved keeping her happy since she's one of his heroines, but there's no need for Kushida to know about that.

"Wow, Ayanokouji-kun... I never knew you could be so kind!" she smiled brightly.

"Are you saying I'm not kind?"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Kushida shook her head, looking appalled at that accusation. "It's just... I don't think you're close with Karuizawa-san or even proper friends with her since you don't really talk to each other... but you still helped her."

"Because she would have been sad if I didn't," he thought to himself.

The loudspeaker from outside the room then came alive, and the voice that spoke issued an announcement that could be heard from inside.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from first year, Class D. Please come see Chabashira-sensei in the faculty office."

Kikyo turned to him in surprise. "Looks like Chabashira-sensei wants to see you."

"It appears so," the young man said, maintaining his usual expression for everyone to see even though deep down, he felt confused. "I'll see you later then."

As Kiyotaka left the classroom and set off for the teacher's office, all while ignoring the stares from his other classmates along the way, he was in deep thought.

Why would Chabashira-sensei call for a meeting with him? He couldn't have done anything wrong that could get him in trouble, right? In fact, he could count the number of his classmates who have actually committed an offense that would be worthy of a one-on-one meeting with their teacher.

"Could this be about the little incident that happened between Sakura and I?" he asked himself, remembering the escapade he had with one of his heroines a few weeks ago, where he walked in on her while she was changing clothes. "Hm, I don't think so. While she was extremely embarrassed about that incident, I doubt Sakura could tell someone else about it. She doesn't even talk to anyone in the classroom, so it's unlikely that she went to Chabashira-sensei right away."

Well, the only way to find out would be to go see his homeroom teacher. Whatever this meeting would be about though, Kiyotaka was almost certain that the cause of it was a simple misunderstanding. As far as he was concerned, he had done nothing wrong and he had been keeping a low profile ever since school began... well, trying to, at least.

It didn't take him long to find the faculty office. But just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he immediately noticed that someone else was about to do the same, causing him to pull his hand away.

"Oh, I apologize! Are you going inside too?"

He then turned his head to see one of the most beautiful girls whom he had laid eyes on. Sure, Horikita, Kushida, and Matsushita were very beautiful themselves, but this girl was almost on another level. Her pink hair that reached her back was already one thing, and then there were her eyes. They were of the color blue and Kiyotaka couldn't help but be drawn into them as the girl locked gazes with him. To add to that, she also had a well-endowed figure like Sakura, to the point that the young man had to keep himself from looking down at her chest.

"Yeah, I was. You?" Kiyotaka coughed, as he steered his thoughts away from ogling this girl and her body. "I wonder if the system made her into a heroine as well?"

She smiled. "Yep. I'm looking for our class adviser, Hoshinomiya-sensei. She was supposed to arrive at our classroom about an hour ago, but she didn't show herself. So, I came to check if she's here. What about you?"

"I was called here for a meeting with Chabashira-sensei," he revealed, finding no reason to hide that fact from her.

"Oh, so that was you?" she asked, realizing that this was the same person whose name she heard over the school intercom earlier. "Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, right?"

Kiyotaka nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun! My name is Ichinose Honami, from Class B."

She threw out her hand for a handshake, which he accepted without hesitation. As he did so, several notifications popped up and the young man quickly read through them all.

[Honami Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Ichinose Honami!]

[Your current status with Honami has changed to 'Fellow Leaders'!]

[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Ichinose Honami!]

[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Harem Creator'! You gained +5 in Charm!]

"Seriously? All I did was shake her hand..." he raised an eyebrow, taken aback at how easy that was before letting out a sigh at the last one. "...and I'm not surprised that there's an 'achievement' like that. If the system's not making my life more complicated than before, then it's mocking me about my situation."

He shook his head to shift his attention back to reality, as he gave her a nod out of acknowledgement. "I'm delighted to meet a beautiful girl like you."

Honami blinked a few times, before she blushed, having been caught off guard by that compliment.

[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Ichinose Honami!]

Kiyotaka quickly realized what he just said. "Wait, did I really say that? That wasn't what I had in mind. Oh, don't tell me this is gonna be a regular occurrence from now on..."

It was already obvious that the system was making him say these things, even though he didn't choose between the three choices that it normally gives him when talking to a heroine. Even now when he is finally getting used to the madness that this eroge superpower can bring to a normal person, it's still finding a new way to annoy him.

Before he could apologize to the girl about what he said, he noticed that her 'heroine screen' had finally appeared atop her head. Obviously, he couldn't help but read it and see what information it could give him.

[Ichinose Honami: 'Bright and Friendly Schoolmate']

[Relationship Status: Fellow Leaders]

[Affection Points: 6/100]

[Heroine Summary: Honami is an extremely beautiful girl who is currently considered to be one of the most attractive students in this school. She has a buxom figure; beautiful hair, big boobs, godlike hips, sexy thighs, pretty much everything you could ever want in a girl. Despite her bubbly and friendly personality, she had a troubled past that nearly destroyed her life. When her mother was hospitalized, it left her younger sister without a present on her birthday. She stole an expensive hair clip to make her sister happy, but it was soon returned when her mother found out and she was left in a depressed state for months causing her to waste the remaining time of her 3rd year in middle school.]

Okay... he didn't need to see that first part because he could already see those traits from her, but the later part of her 'summary' was what definitely caught his attention.

"Like Karuizawa, she's doing a good job of hiding her past by putting up a bright and friendly face. She's not like Kushida, though... Ichinose seems like she genuinely wants to get along with everyone," he concluded. "There's a few vague parts of her 'summary' that still need some details, but this already gives me enough information about her.

"Honami-chan? What are you doing here?"

A young woman of average height with light brown hair and purple eyes stepped out of the teacher's office, a confused look on her face.

Honami quickly snapped out of her flustered state and turned her attention to the woman. "Hoshinomiya-sensei, why didn't you arrive for homeroom earlier? We've been waiting an hour for you, but you never showed yourself."

"Eh?" she tilted her head in confusion, before it all came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. "O-Oh, silly me! I must have forgotten. Must be because of the alcohol from last night... I'm sorry, Honami-chan! Please forgive me!" she wailed, shedding anime tears as Honami tried to calm her down.

"What an incompetent teacher," Kiyotaka commented in his thoughts. He had never tasted alcohol before, but he was completely sure that it's a bad idea to get drunk when a person has a job the next morning... especially for a teacher in the most prestigious high school in the country.

The woman quickly recovered from her crying fit and noticed Kiyotaka's presence afterwards, causing her to raise an eyebrow curiously. "Oh, and who's this? I don't believe you're part of my class... are you?"

"I'm not," he replied. "I was asked by Chabashira-sensei to go here."

"Oh, Sae-chan? That's strange... she never asks for students to go here..." she mumbled, before eagerly walking up to the young man. "Ne, ne, why did she tell you to come here? Huh? Why?"

"I have no clue."

"Ehhh? But that's not right! There has to be a reason why she called you here! Hmm, what's your name?""

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Ayanokouji-kun, eh? I'm Hoshinomiya Chie, the teacher in charge of Class B. Sae-chan and I have been friends since high school!" she smiled, before leaning closer to him. "You must be pretty popular in her class, huh?"

While the young man maintained his calmness despite the woman's zealous attitude, Kiyotaka began to wonder if she was really a teacher. She was acting more like a student with the tendency to question everything rather than a person with a job to lecture her class.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I think you should leave Ayanokouji-kun—"

Chie ignored her. "Hey, hey, do you have a girlfriend?"

"I don't," he shook his head, but his mind had another answer. "Technically, I'll soon have eight girlfriends thanks to this eroge system. I wonder how that will fare..."

"Hmm... if you were in my class, then I'd have you all to myself. Ayanokouji-kun is pretty hot, if I may say so~" Chie flashed him a seductive look, which caught Honami off guard and made her take a step back, while Kiyotaka remained as calm as ever.

Before she could do anything else though, a stern voice stopped the woman in her tracks.

"What are you doing, Hoshinomiya?"

Chabashira-sensei stepped out of the office in time to see what was happening between her fellow teacher and her student. Without hesitation, she smacked Hoshinomiya on the head with her clipboard, making the woman back away while holding her skull in great pain.

"Ow! What was that for?" she cried.

"For attempting to assault one of my students."

Chie pouted. "Aw, I was just asking him some questions while he waited for you, Sae-chan."

"It didn't seem like you were," Sae folded her arms, unamused with her fellow teacher's antics. "Ichinose, was it? Please take her away."

Honami quickly shook her head to snap herself back to reality, as she nodded and grabbed her teacher by the hand, before pulling her away from there.

"Eh?! Noooo! I still have some questions I want to ask Ayanokouji-kun...!" The woman cried helplessly as she tried, and failed, to free herself from Ichinose's grip.

Kiyotaka watched quietly as Hoshinomiya-sensei got dragged away. "I have no idea if Hoshinomiya-sensei is going to be a heroine as well, but considering how Chabashira-sensei is a potential one, I shouldn't be surprised. I wonder how I should deal with her if that ever happens," he said in his thoughts, already thinking of a plan if it ever happens that Chie would be one of his heroines.

"Sorry about her," Chabashira spoke, gaining the young man's attention. "Let's go inside and we can discuss what I called you here for."

Sae opened the office and allowed her student to step inside first, before closing the door. She then gestured for him to sit down on one of the couches, where three cups of tea were waiting at the small table at the center. Kiyotaka noticed the extra teacup right away, making him think that there's someone else who'll be joining them.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked as he sat down. "I don't think I've done anything wrong, sensei."

"No, you haven't done anything wrong. At least in the eyes of the school," Sae answered him as she took her seat as well.

Before he could think about what she meant, the door then opened, causing the teacher and student to turn their heads and see who had arrived.

Horikita Suzune walked in with her usual cool expression and immediately, she saw Chabashira-sensei sitting at one of the couches there, drinking tea. That was when she noticed that there was someone else with her, and it was a person whom she was overly familiar with.

"Ayanokouji-kun? Why are you here?" she frowned in confusion at seeing him here in the teacher's office, before shaking her head. It doesn't matter if he was here. "Never mind. Sensei, I need to speak with you urgently."

"Then take a seat beside Ayanokouji. It's a good thing that I prepared three cups of tea beforehand," she told the girl, who did as she was told and sat right beside her classmate. "So, what did you want to talk to me about, Horikita?"

"I was right... Horikita was planning to talk to Chabashira-sensei," Kiyotaka thought to himself, taking a hidden glance at his classmate. "But why now? Why not earlier right after she left the classroom? Unless..."

"I will be frank. Why was I sorted into Class D?" asked Suzune, taking a sip of her tea to calm herself.

"That's quite frank."

Suzune frowned. "Today, you told us that the school sorted superior students into Class A. You said that Class D was filled with the leftovers, the delinquents and failures."

"That's true. Based on your question, you must consider yourself to be a superior person."

Kiyotaka kept his attention towards Suzune, wondering how she would react to this. If her personality was to be taken into account, then she would no doubt refuse to take this lying down. He really lucked out by becoming friends with her before all of this.

"I solved nearly every problem on the entrance examination. I made no substantial mistakes during my interview, either. I can understand if I wasn't put in Class A but at the very least, I shouldn't have been sorted into Class D."

"You solved nearly all of the problems on the entrance examination, eh? Normally I couldn't show the examination results to individual students, but I'll make an exception in this case. I just so happen to have your answer sheet here," Chabashira said, removing Horikita's answer sheet from her clipboard before showing it to her.

Suzune's eyes widened slightly in realization. "You're prepared for this. It's almost as if you knew I'd come here to protest."

"I'm an instructor. I understand the mind of a student, at least to some degree, Horikita Suzune. Just as you said, you did well on the entrance examination. You had the third-highest test score among the first-year students and were close to the highest and second-highest-scoring students. You did exceedingly well in the written test. And you are also right on your second point. We found no particular problems in your interview. On the contrary, we evaluated you quite highly."

"Then why?"

"Before I answer that, why are you dissatisfied with Class D?"

"Who could be happy with an incorrect evaluation? On top of that, you said that the class rankings greatly impact our future prospects. Of course I'm dissatisfied."

"Incorrect evaluation, you say? Then perhaps your self-evaluation is far too high." Sae laughed. "I acknowledge that your academic ability is excellent. You're certainly very smart as well. However, who exactly decided that smart people are categorically superior? We never said that."

Kiyotaka was starting to put the pieces together in his mind after those words, while Suzune was struggling to understand everything.

"But... that's just common sense."

"Common sense? Didn't common sense create our current, flawed society? Before, Japan relied solely on test scores to separate the superior and inferior. As a result, the incompetents at the top tried desperately to kick down the truly superior students. In the end, we settled on a system of hereditary succession."

"...which also means that the school didn't sort students based on academic ability alone," the young man concluded in his thoughts.

"You're a capable student, Horikita. I don't deny that. However, this school's goal is to produce superior people. If you believe academics alone place you into a higher class, then you are mistaken. That was the very first thing we explained to you. Besides, think rationally. Would we have admitted someone like Yamauchi if we decided superiority based solely on academic merit?"

"Tch..." Suzune gritted her teeth. It was clear that she was slowly losing her patience.

"Furthermore, you may be too hasty in proclaiming that no one would be happy to be incorrectly evaluated. Take Class A, for instance. They are under incredible pressure from the school, and are also the target of extreme envy from the lower classes. Competing every day with that kind of pressure bearing down upon you is far more difficult than you might imagine. There are some students who are happy to be incorrectly evaluated at a lower level."

"You must be joking. I can't understand how a person would think like that," Suzune retorted, folding her arms across her chest.

"Is that so? I think that Class D boasts some of those people. Strange students who would be happy to remain where they are until they graduate."

"I almost felt like she was talking to me right there," Kiyotaka thought.

"You still haven't given me an explanation, sensei. Was I honestly sorted into Class D? Did anything go wrong with the grading? Please double-check," the black-haired student said, still believing that there was some kind of mistake with her placement in Class D.

"I'm sorry, but you weren't sorted by mistake. You are definitely in Class D. You are at that level."

Disappointment flashed in the girl's eyes. "Is that so? Then I will ask the school again, at another time."

"Horikita's not going to give up. She merely determined that Chabashira-sensei is the wrong person to ask," the young man shook his head in slight disappointment.

In all honesty, he shouldn't be surprised that Horikita was like this since her 'heroine summary' already told him everything he needed to know. It's just that he had gotten used to a more open side of Horikita in the past weeks that seeing her like this made her seem like a completely different person when she's around him.

"You'll get the same answer from anyone in a higher position. Besides, there's no need to be disappointed. As I told you this morning, it's possible for one class to overtake another. You could reach Class A and overtake the other classes before you graduate."

"I can't imagine that it will be easy, though. Forget overtaking Class A; how in the world could we even gain points if we have immature misfits in our class? I can't see how it's possible," Suzune argued. She wasn't wrong, the difference in points between Class D and the other classes was overwhelming and to make matters worse, unity was a major issue within them that can't be remedied through nice words and comforting gestures.

Sae shrugged. "I don't know. You alone get to decide how you head down that path. At any rate, Horikita, do you need to be in Class A for any special reason?"

That was a question that the girl couldn't answer right away, mainly because she didn't know what to say. "Well... I suppose that's enough for now," she finally spoke after thinking hard about what she should answer. "But know that I'm not yet convinced that I was sorted correctly."

"Understood. I will keep that in mind. Now then, Ayanokouji, I'll explain why I called you here." Chabashira-sensei dismissed the girl's concerns and shifted her attention to the young man who had been listening silently until now.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me..." Horikita muttered as she prepared to leave. She was actually planning to talk to him about all this, but she could just wait until their teacher was done with him.

"Wait, Horikita. It would be in your best interest to stay and listen. It may provide you with a hint on how to reach Class A."

Suzune looked at her friend for a moment, as though she was considering Sae's words, before she sat back down. "Please keep it brief," she said.

Chabashira-sensei chuckled as she glanced over her clipboard, before turning back towards the young man in front of her. "You're an interesting student, Ayanokouji."

"I don't think I am," he humbly denied.

"Well, when I read over the entrance exam's results, your scores piqued my interest. I was honestly shocked," she removed another answer sheet from her clipboard and showed it to her two students, one that Kiyotaka was familiar with. "Fifty points in Japanese. Fifty points in mathematics. Fifty points in English. Fifty points in social studies. Fifty points in science. In the recent short test, you scored seventy points. A slight improvement, but not enough. Do you know what this means?"

A stunned Horikita looked over the test paper and then shifted her focus to her friend. "This is a rather frightening coincidence," she mumbled.

Chabashira smirked. "Oh? You believe that getting 50s in every subject was a coincidence? He did it intentionally."

"It's a coincidence. There's no evidence that it isn't. Besides, what would I gain by manipulating my scores in the first place? If I was intelligent enough to achieve high marks, I would've tried to get perfect scores."

Chabashira sighed in exasperation.

"Listen. Only 3 percent of students solved the fifth math problem successfully. You solved it perfectly, and even used a complex formula to do so. However, the tenth problem on the test had a completion rate of 76 percent. Did you make a mistake on it? Or did you do it on purpose?"

Kiyotaka shrugged. "It was a coincidence. Perhaps I simply did not know the answer to the question, sensei."

"For crying out loud! I respect your frank attitude, but it'll cause problems for you in the future, Ayanokouji!" the woman said.

"I'll simply deal with them when they come."

Sae let out a deep sigh. "Why do you pretend not to know?"

"Like I said, it was a coincidence. It's not like I'm hiding that I'm a genius or anything." Kiyotaka wanted to groan. Even he knew that that attempt in lying was horrible.

"I wonder. He may be even more intelligent than you, Horikita."

Instead of reacting in a negative manner to such a claim, Suzune simply stared at Kiyotaka in wonder. She was thinking of the possibility that everything their teacher was saying about her classmate was true, but a lot of things won't make sense if that was truly the case.

"I don't like studying, and I don't plan to try hard. That's why I got those scores," the young man said in a last effort to explain how he got a 50 in every test.

"A student who chose this school wouldn't say something like that. However, some students may have different reasons for getting in. You, for example, and Kouenji as well. I think you're fine with being in either D or A."

"What makes you think that, sensei?" Horikita asked.

Chabashira-sensei smirked. "You want me to explain it to you in detail, Horikita?"

"Yes."

"As much as I would like to, I'm afraid I don't have any more time. It's almost time for the faculty meeting, so I have to leave. Don't worry, Horikita. You can talk to him yourself if you want answers. Now, I'm going to close the door, so please get out."

The two quickly left the office, but they didn't go anywhere yet. They simply stood outside the office, not knowing what to do.

"Want to head back to the classroom?" Kiyotaka asked, taking a glance at the girl.

Suzune didn't respond at all and simply kept her head down, as if she was thinking deeply about something. Seeing her in this state, the young man chose to walk away. It's probably even for the best that they stay away from each other until tomorrow...

"Wait." Horikita called out, stopping him before he could even move. "Was your score...really just a coincidence?" she asked.

Kiyotaka was about to utter the same response that he said to their teacher, but thought twice about it. Suzune knew that he wasn't like their other classmates, at least when it comes to abilities. She likely sees him as either a rival or an equal. She knew that because he implied it when he told her that his 'school' made him study a full-blown novel as part of the 'curriculum'. Yeah, it's true that she didn't believe it at first but after everything that she has seen from him up until this point, she now had no reason not to believe his words back then.

"I don't know if I should be glad or annoyed that I basically told Horikita about what I'm capable of doing," Kiyotaka said in his mind as he sighed heavily. On one hand, he could feel glad that he won't have to hide what he can do from her while on the other, this was only going to make things even more complicated because not only would he have to deal with his eroge superpower, he would also have to show more of what he can do...

"Do you want to know the honest answer?" he asked.

Suzune walked towards him so that they were standing side-by-side. "Of course."

"Then it wasn't. I intended to get a score of 50 in every exam," he admitted.

The girl had already suspected it ever since Chabashira-sensei pointed it out as a possibility, so Suzune wasn't that shocked to know this. She was curious about another thing, though.

"Why? Wouldn't it have been better to do your best in the entrance exams?"

Kiyotaka shrugged. "Simple. I didn't want to attract attention, and I wanted to have a normal high school life. If I had gotten a higher score, there's no doubt that it would have brought me unnecessary attention."

"Then what's the point of solving the complex problems and making a mistake on the easy ones?" Suzune pointed out his hypocrisy. "That alone got you attention from Chabashira-sensei."

"I just wanted to test myself. It didn't occur to me that she would confront you and I about it and reveal what I did."

She thought about his answer for a moment before putting it all together, everything that he and their teacher said. "Does this mean you're not interested in reaching Class A?" she asked, remembering how Chabashira pointed out that Ayanokouji didn't really care about which class he ended up in.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You have an extraordinary fixation on Class A for some reason."

"Should I not? I'm simply striving to improve my future prospects."

"I didn't say that. You should. It's perfectly natural. But now that we know we're at the bottom of the school hierarchy around here, you'll have a hard time getting there."

"It doesn't matter," she shook her head stubbornly. "I will reach Class A. But first, I wish to find out this school's true motives. Why was I put into Class D? Chabashira-sensei said that I had been deemed a Class D student, but why exactly? When I discover the answer, I'll aim for A. No, I will definitely make it to A."

The young man saw this as an opportunity to show Horikita her biggest flaw. If she wanted to reach Class A, then she needed to be aware of this as soon as possible. The longer she stays ignorant of what's wrong with herself, the longer it will take for her to change. The worst case scenario would be that she never realizes it, and will result in her undoing.

He couldn't let that happen.

"Since you wanted me to be honest, I'll continue to be honest with you, Horikita."

Kiyotaka stood in front of her and stared directly into her eyes.

"You're deemed as a Class D student because of your attitude," he said firmly. "There are honestly times where I feel glad and lucky that I managed to befriend you on our first day here. Because I can tell that you would have been different if I didn't. Very different."

Suzune stared at him in confusion. "Different?"

"Don't you realize it? If we had never been friends, then you would have been someone who has no regard for the people whom she thinks are below her. I'm honestly glad that I prevented that from happening, because I can already see that you're starting to change. Against my expectations, you actually befriended Kushida, someone whom you disliked at first."

"I don't understand..." she muttered, wondering what he was trying to achieve with this.

"Then I'll ask you this and I want you to be honest. If you had never found out that I came from a prestigious school before this, would our relationship stay the same as it is right now? If you had never found out from Chabashira-sensei that I intended to score a 50 in all of my entrance examinations, would you still be here, listening to me?" he asked. "Sure, you only referred to me as a friend after we saw your older brother but at that point, you didn't see me as a person who's inferior to you. Instead, you saw me as someone equal."

Her eyes slowly widening in realization, Suzune looked down and thought about everything he said just now. Her attitude, what she could have been if they had never been 'friends', what could have happened if she didn't have a favorable opinion about him from the start, and how she saw him now compared to their other classmates.

Kiyotaka felt a sense of satisfaction when he noticed that his words were getting through to her, so he decided to press on. "Plus, think about it. Do you really think that you alone can get our class to overtake the other classes? I don't really care what class we end up as but I'm asking you, as a friend, can you do it all by yourself?"

With that, Kiyotaka stopped and waited for Suzune's response, which took about a minute. The whole time, the girl kept her head low and she was completely quiet. When she finally spoke though, she didn't sound like the usual cool and calm girl that everyone was used to. Instead, her tone carried defeat and humility, now that she realized what her flaw was.

"No. You're right... I cannot solve this problem on my own. We won't even make it to the starting line without everyone's cooperation."

"Then you'll just have to get them to cooperate, which shouldn't be hard when you have people like Hirata and Kushida who have a powerful presence in the classroom. Teach them how to behave so our points won't go down. But even with that, we'll still be stuck with 97 points because we have no idea how they can be increased."

That was still a big problem that they both had no way of dealing with. All they know is that their points can be deducted from committing various offenses inside the classroom. They had no idea how it could be increased, despite their teacher telling them that it's possible.

"It sounds like we've got a huge problem on our hands," the girl commented.

He nodded. "And under that problem, we have three major issues. Tardiness and doing something else during class are the first two. Third, making sure no one fails the midterm exam."

"I believe the first two issues are manageable, but the midterm exams are a different matter entirely."

The short test that they had taken last had contained a few difficult questions, but it had been pretty easy overall. Still, even at that level, some students had failed. They were very lucky that it wasn't an official test, otherwise they would have been expelled from the school.

"I need your help, Ayanokouji-kun."

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow at her statement, which was something that came completely out of nowhere.

"Help? Is that so?"

"You're right that I can't get to Class A all on my own. I need everyone to cooperate and do their part. That includes you. So, if it's not too much of a bother, can you help me?"

"I'll do what I can as a member of the class," Kiyotaka shrugged. He had no problem helping out the class as a normal student, of course.

"That's not what I meant," she shook her head. "I'm asking you to help me lead. You said that I saw you not as someone inferior but rather, an equal. I agree with you. That's why I want you to help me. I... cannot do this alone."

He stared at her, his expression unchanging. "You shouldn't put your faith in me."

"I am not. I'm putting my trust in you," she corrected him. "I'm trusting you as a friend that you will do your part in making our class better. If you don't wish to attract attention, then it's fine. You won't have to tell everyone that you're more than a simple student, as long as you do what you have to do as a part of the class."

Obviously, there was a big part of him that wanted to flat-out reject her plea because like what he had feared, it would completely destroy whatever hope he had left of having a peaceful high school life. Living with an eroge superpower wasn't this bad, since the system always causes things to end in his favor.

The most stressful thing about it would be its broken skill that can alter reality itself, but it still didn't compare to coming out of the shadows and stepping up to lead a classroom. Sure, Horikita assured him that he wouldn't have to show what he's capable of to everyone, but leading a class? It honestly sounded worse than dealing with an eroge system that annoys and overwhelms him in a multitude of ways.

Regardless, despite a big part of him wanting to say no, all he could do was sigh in defeat, before nodding slowly in agreement.

"All right."

The reaction from the girl came in an instant. Wide eyes and her mouth hanging open, almost as if she couldn't believe it.

To show that he was completely serious about this, Kiyotaka even offered her his hand, which the gobsmacked Suzune immediately took after realizing what his answer was.

[You have gained 10 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]

After dismissing that particular notification, Kiyotaka suddenly felt drained of his remaining energy for the day, as he wanted nothing more than to lock himself in his room and bury himself within the confines of his bed right now.

"Rest in peace, my chance at a peaceful life..." he thought, shaking hands with Suzune and affirming their little partnership.

~XoX~

Kiyotaka's Progress:

[Dating Stats]

Charm: 99

Wisdom: 119

Aura: ?

[Heroines' Status]

[Nanase Tsubasa: 'Friendly Kouhai']

[Relationship Status: Loyal Follower]

[Affection Points: 45/100]

[Heroine Summary: Tsubasa is a dear friend of Eiichiro who met you a month ago when his father brought you here. During all the times she has visited, she always looks forward to being around you because of how much of a mystery you are. She constantly wonders why you never show any kind of emotion, but chooses not to ask anything because she thinks it is something you don't want to share. She looks up to you as her 'senpai' and highly values your opinion. She aims to go to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School like you in a year's time]

[Horikita Suzune: 'Troubled yet Determined Friend']

[Relationship Status: Strange Friends]

[Affection Points: 92/100]

[Heroine Summary: Suzune is the younger sister of the current Student Council President of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, a talented young man named Manabu whom she looks up to very much and desires to be like him one day. She chose to go to the same school as him for the sole reason of following in his footsteps, as well as to make him acknowledge her. She is very isolated and refuses to make friends of any sort, believing that she is above everyone else and doesn't need social connections to achieve her goal.]

[Kushida Kikyo: 'Shocked yet Optimistic Friend']

[Relationship Status: A Rocky Relationship]

[Affection Points: 99/100]

[Heroine Summary: Kikyo is a beautiful girl who hailed from the same middle school as Suzune. Kikyo harbors extreme hatred for the latter because Suzune possibly knows about her and what she has done to her class years ago. She is a talented individual and revels in being praised by people around her. She normally acts like an angel to other people when in reality, she has everyone around her eating out the palm of her hand. She also loves it when people share their deepest secrets with her, believing that it makes her above everyone else because of what she knows.]

[Sakayanagi Arisu: 'Obsessed Little Girl']

[Relationship Status: Childhood Friends]

[Affection Points: 95/100]

[Heroine Summary: Arisu is a petite girl with a certain condition that requires her to use a cane in order to walk around. She knows you ever since you were a child, although you've technically never met. She has simply seen and heard of you before. While she is impressed with what you have accomplished in the White Room, she also refuses to believe that a 'fake genius' like you cannot win against a 'natural genius' like her. Regardless, she has been looking forward to meeting you so much that she has 'relieved' herself lots of times just by thinking about you.]

[Matsushita Chiaki: 'Slightly Jealous Teaser']

[Relationship Status: I've Got A Stalker]

[Affection Points: 75/100]

[Heroine Summary: Chiaki is the only daughter to wealthy parents and is a very capable student in her own right. However, she chooses to hide her true abilities from everyone as she prefers not to be in the limelight. At first glance, she found you interesting and believes that there is more to you than meets the eye. She was planning to watch you from afar and see for herself just what is interesting about you, but you managed to catch her presence before she could do so.]

[Sakura Airi: 'Shy Classmate']

[Relationship Status: An Accidental Misunderstanding]

[Affection Points: 50/100]

[Heroine Summary: Airi is a very shy and nervous girl who always gets nervous whenever she interacts with other people. However, she possesses an exceptional ability of reading other people, especially their true intentions behind their eyes. She loves to take pictures, sometimes of herself which started her career of being a gravure idol online. She uses the name 'Shizuku' and wears fake glasses to hide her identity from her internet followers. She feels very embarrassed about you seeing her in the midst of changing clothes, but knows that it was her fault in the first place.]

[Karuizawa Kei: 'Cute Nervous Classmate']

[Relationship Status: Out of Darkness]

[Affection Points: 25/100]

[Heroine Summary: Kei is a gyaru who is mostly a normal girl that loves fashion and hanging out with friends, but her past is a complicated one. She has a long history of being bullied in her old school. She has been beaten, pushed around, had her hair pulled, experienced her shoes being filled with different things, and more. In this new school, she wants someone who can pretend to be her boyfriend so that that person can protect her from being bullied this time around. However, because of the change in living arrangements for the freshmen, she doesn't want to talk to any boy yet.]

[Ichinose Honami: 'Bright and Friendly Schoolmate']

[Relationship Status: Fellow Leaders]

[Affection Points: 6/100]

[Heroine Summary: Honami is an extremely beautiful girl who is currently considered to be one of the most attractive students in this school. She has a buxom figure; beautiful hair, big boobs, godlike hips, sexy thighs, pretty much everything you could ever want in a girl. Despite her bubbly and friendly personality, she had a troubled past that nearly destroyed her life. When her mother was hospitalized, it left her younger sister without a present on her birthday. She stole an expensive hair clip to make her sister happy, but it was soon returned when her mother found out and she was left in a depressed state for months causing her to waste the remaining time of her 3rd year in middle school.]