ZAIN ZAFFAR'S POV:
June 1st, Thursday
The month of May went by pretty quickly, and you could actually feel the changes taking place because of the new policies that were implemented. The dorm system was strictly implemented and students didn't really go back to their houses since the school was on an island, and since we were getting private points, the parents stopped giving money to their children, so they had to resort to staying in the school and spend the points they were given.
That wasn't an issue for us, though. I practically had all the 100K points the school gave me since we went back to the mansion quite often because of our daily patrols. Since the Chairman knew about our identities, and had informed our homeroom teachers as well, we could easily move in and out of the island without any troubles.
The only downside to the dorm was that I couldn't bring things from the outside, and I could only buy things available on school grounds to decorate the dorm, so my dorm was the same ever since I arrived.
The reshuffling of the classes was quite unexpected, but the worst part was that none of us got shuffled into the same class.
I saw the roster of my class, and was thoroughly disappointed when I didn't see the name I wanted to...
I'll have to ask one of the boys if they have her in their class.
Agrim was in Class A still, along with my club president, Yukinoshita. Based on what Agrim told me, one of his clubmates joined him in his class. Apparently she was part of the Chitanda family.
Arush was in Class B with Ichinose and those other girls we saw that day. I'd say his class actually had some major changes. Fuutaro was shifted to his class, along with a member of Agrim's club. I don't remember his name, but I think it was Fukube...?
Ritvik, Hikigaya, and Yuigahama were in Class C, with no major changes in his class.
My class actually had a major change as well. All the other quintuplet sisters and another member of Agrim's club joined my class. His name was Oreki, I think.
The month had gone by without any major incidents. The teachers had been lax and didn't reprimand you for being late to class or sleeping in class.
The Chairman mentioned that we get points based on our worth, and the 100K points was a reward for getting promoted to Second Years.
How were we going to get 100,000 points per month? Or better yet, why were we getting a 100,000 points per month, anyway?
That amount was too high for a high school student, and the school had no reason whatsoever to hand us over that money for free.
To start with, I checked my points this morning too, but my point balanced hadn't changed from yesterday. So, I thought they would've been deposited later. Perhaps a delay, or even a mistake on the school's part but I was positive that this wasn't the case.
Something was definitely up.
During my conversation with the Boys last night, Agrim brought up a really good point... If the Chairman said the points are reflected in our worth- what if we're worth nothing...?
Based on how the month went, I was pretty sure our worth wasn't much, if not nothing.
I think I'll keep my findings to myself, since if I do reveal it to the class, they might resent me if I do end up being right.
The day had only just begun, and I knew that today was going to be different than other days. Something bad was bound to happen- this school was too good to be true.
I started getting ready, putting on my blazer and tie, before heading into the kitchen, where I brewed myself a fresh cup of coffee. Putting my frying pan on the stove, I waited for it to warm up as I started cutting some vegetables, including onions and garlic. Getting some coriander from the fridge, I rolled it up and finely chopped it up, before grabbing a tomato as well and doing the same thing I did with the onions and garlic. I grabbed the bottle of olive oil in my cabinet, I opened the cap and poured some of it on the hot pan, before dropping in the veggies for them to soften up. In the meantime, I cracked four egg whites into the bowl and two yolks, before whisking it quickly and putting the beaten eggs with the vegetables.
A few minutes later, my iteration of the Spanish omelete was finally ready. I grabbed the plate of eggs, my coffee and two slices of bread I toasted with some butter, and headed to the table to finally enjoy my breakfast.
It was only 6:00AM, and I could've had a heavier breakfast, but you never know when you have to go for some spider-activities, and a heavy breakfast doesn't pair well with that, so I decided it was best to avoid that.
Grabbing my phone, student ID card, and backpack, I got up and approached the big mirror in my room. With a final check in the mirror, adjusting the tie and smoothing any unruly hair, I was about to open my door but my started ringing.
[CALLER ID: ARUSH KUMAR]
"Hello?" I answered the phone with a greeting.
["What's up, pal?"]
"I was just about to exit my room. You?"
["I'm outside your door, actually."]
I opened the door to see Arush, clad in his uniform.
"Yo!" he greeted me.
"Yo." I said, cutting the phone.
"Man, am I glad we're neighbours." He said.
"Same." I said, closing the door behind my back.
Arush and I were on the fourth floor. His room number was 402, while mine was 401. Agrim and Ritvik's room were on different floors. 504 and 503, if I remember correctly.
On our way to school, Arush wanted to stop by a café and grab a bite to eat. Since I had already eaten, I just got myself a coffee.
"Today's gonna be fun, isn't it?" Arush asked, mixing his coffee.
"It's going to be a warzone in my class today." I said. "Did you get any points?"
"Of course. I got about 65K points."
"Damn..."
"Why? You didn't?" He asked, a smirk forming on his face.
"Nope."
"Damn... That sucks." He snickered.
The café we were at was fairly quiet without many people as Arush continued eating his breakfast at an isolated table.
"How did you do on the short test?" I asked.
"I think I got a perfect score." He replied, taking a bite of his pancakes.
"Nice. I definitely got full."
"Aah, at least we know who's not paying for dinner."
"You had doubts?" I smirked, sipping my coffee.
...
On our way to class, I ran into one of my classmates- Kei Karuizawa.
I slowed my pace in hopes of greeting her, but she was too focussed on her phone. I could see her eyebrows twitching from where I was standing, and due to my enhanced hearing, I could even hear parts of her mumbling random stuff.
I approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with a jolt, an angry expression on her face, but as soon as she saw me, her expression softened a bit, and she greeted me.
"Oh... It's you. Hi, I guess. What's up?"
"Nothing much." I replied. "You look like you were busy. Did I interrupt something important?"
"Eh, not really~ I was just asking the girls if they got any points. Ooh~! That reminds me- did you get any points?"
"Nope. Should I be concerned?"
"Ahh... Actually, none of us received points, so we were thinking of asking Chabashira-sensei during homeroom."
"That makes sense."
I didn't even notice when we reached our classroom. Guess time goes by fairly quickly while you're distracted.
Karuizawa opened the door and all eyes inside the classroom immediately shifted to us.
Okay, this is... fairly uncomfortable.
"Karuizawa-san... What are you doing?" Kushida asked Karuizawa as she approached her desk.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Aren't you dating Hirata-kun?" Kushida asked with a furrowed brow.
"Hmm? Yes, I am. So?"
"Ah- uh... Um, never mind." Kushida looked as though she was going to protest before falling silent. She probably got flustered because of Karuizawa's lack of reaction.
The room was strangely quieter than usual, more than likely all of them thinking about how none of us got any points.
I didn't get what the big deal was. I mean, I was just walking with her to class. That's not weird, is it?
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the quintuplet sisters glaring at me from the opposite corner of where I sat.
Looks like they decided to group up and sit together.
The morning bell for the first school day of May rang. Soon after, Chabashira-sensei strode into the room, holding a rolled-up poster. Her expression today was even more stern than usual. Had she started menopause, I wondered? If I made that joke out loud, I think she would've swung an iron bat at my face with full force.
"Hey, Sae-chan-sensei, did you start menopause or something?"
Unbelievably, Ike actually let that joke fly. Honestly, it was more shocking that I'd thought the same thing as him...
"Alright, your morning homeroom is about to begin. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions? If so, then now's the time to speak." Miss Chabashira completely ignored Ike's sexual harassment.
She appeared completely convinced that the students had questions they wanted answered. Immediately, several students raised their hands.
"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, and no points were deposited. Weren't they supposed to be provided on the first day of the month, every month? I was impatient because I couldn't buy the juice I wanted."
"Hondo, I explained it before, didn't I? Points are deposited to student's accounts on the first day of the month, every month. I've confirmed that points were wired without any problems this month as well."
"Um, but... nothing was deposited into my account, though."
Hondo and Yamauchi exchanged looks. Ike was too shocked to notice them looking at each other. I'd checked my point balance this morning as well, and saw that it had remained unchanged from the day before, which confirmed my theory about the S-System.
"What an overwhelming disappointment all of you are. Useless, the lot of you. I had such high expectations... Are you guys really that stupid?"
Was she angry or delighted? Miss Chabashira had an ominous feeling about her today.
"Stupid...? What?"
Miss Chabashira had a sharp glint in her eyes as Hondo stupidly repeated her words.
"Sit down, Hondo. I'll explain once more." She said.
"S-Sae-chan-sensei?" Surprised by her strict tone, Hondo slumped down into his seat.
"Points were deposited. That much I know for certain. There is absolutely no chance that we forgot anyone in this class. To think so is ludicrous. Understood?"
"Well, even if I say I do understand, we haven't received any points..." Hondo, still perplexed, began to look dissatisfied.
Is he really that stupid?
"Hahaha! I see. So, it's like that then, teacher? I think I've solved the mystery." Koenji boomed, laughing. He propped his feet up on his desk and smugly pointed towards Hondo. "It's simple. We didn't receive any points because we're in Class D."
"Huh? What are you talking about? They said we'd get 100,000 points every month-"
"I don't remember hearing that, do you?" Chuckling, Koenji then turned and boldly pointed his finger at Miss Chabashira.
"While he certainly has an attitude problem, Koenji is exactly right. For crying out loud, barely anyone seems to have noticed the hint I gave you. How deplorable."
In response to this sudden turn of events, the classroom exploded in an uproar.
"Sensei? I'm afraid I still don't understand. Can you please explain why we didn't receive any points? If you don't tell us that, we'll never understand how the point system works." Hirata asked on behalf of the class.
"Very well... 98 total absences and late comers. 391 incidences of talking or using cell phones in class. I must say, all of you are the very definition of defective..."
Miss Chabashira menacingly looked at all of us.
"Congratulations to all of you." She started once again. "I counted every infraction. In this school, your class performance is reflected in the amount points received. As a result of your behaviour, the 100,000 points you could've gotten went down the drain. That's all that happened."
"Huh?"
"What does that mean?"
Seriously? They still don't understand?
"I explained this all on the day the new policy was introduced. That this school measures the abilities of its students. This time around, you guys were valued to be worth nothing. There's nothing more than that. After becoming first year high schoolers, did you really think that you would get 100,000 points every month without any restrictions? In this school created by the Japanese government to train excellent people? That's impossible, just use your common sense. Why leave doubts as doubts?"
Miss Chabashira spoke in a robotic fashion, devoid of any emotion. My doubts were finally confirmed but in the worst way possible. Even though we'd started with the huge advantage of advantage of 100,000 points, Class D had lost it in just a single month.
"Sensei- I don't remember ever hearing that explanation before..."
"What? Are you people incapable of understanding something unless it's explained in detail?"
"Of course. There was no mention of reducing the number of points transferred to us at the beginning of each month. If it was explained before, I'm sure that we would've tried not to be late and not to talk during class."
"An interesting argument, Hirata. I also don't remember explaining the rules about the points received at the beginning of each month. However, you guys have learned not to talk in class and get to class on time since elementary school, haven't you? So why would we think that it didn't apply to high school as well?" Miss Chabashira paused in front of her podium before continuing.
Although Hirata looked frustrated by her sound argument, he recovered and immediately looked at her in the eye.
"Well then, can you at least tell us the details about how points are increased or decreased? We will always try to do our best from now on."
"That's not possible. We are not allowed to divulge the details of how we assess merit to the students. It's the same as the real world. When all of you enter society, and find work in some kind of business, they probably won't tell you how you're assessed- that's up to the company, though. However... I'm not trying to be cold, nor do I hate you guys. This is such a pitiful sight that I'll tell everyone here one thing."
For the first time today, I saw a faint smile on Miss Chabashira's face.
"For arguments sake, if we say that everyone stopped being late and stopped talking in class... your deduction would be zero, but that doesn't mean you'll get more points. In other words, next month's allowance is also 0 points. Not being late or not talking to class won't help you get back up from the bottom. Keep that in mind- it'll help you."
A part of the class still failed to understand; her explanation had the opposite effect. The students who wanted to change their bad behaviour had their mood dampened. That is Miss Chabashira's; no, the school's aim.
The bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom.
"Looks like we had too much idle chit-chat. Hopefully you understood. Anyway, let's move onto the main issue at hand." She spread out the white poster that was rolled into a tube. Taking a magnet, she stuck it onto the board. The students looked at the paper, still confused.
"Is this... the results of each class?" Horikita asked, unsure of herself. But without a doubt, these were the 'class rankings' for this month. Classes A to D were listed on the paper, with numbers right next to them.
Class Point Standings: June
Class-A: 940
Class-B: 650
Class-C: 490
Class-D: 0
However...
"Hey, don't you think this is strange?"
"Yeah... the numbers are too clean." Horikita also noticed something strange about the points.
"The actions of some of you has affected you all. All of you have done as you saw fit and the school has no intention of preventing you from doing as you will. We will put no restrictions on your freedom, you are welcome to act in any manner that you see fit. But freedom of choice does not mean freedom of consequences. As a result, all of you received your monthly allowance based on the school's perception of your worth."
"This isn't fair! We can't lead a normal school life like that!" Ike, who had stayed quiet all this time, shouted out.
Yamauchi was also crying out in agony. These guys have probably used up all their points.
"Look carefully, you stupid kids. Every other class except Class D got some points. The amount of points you guys have should still be plenty enough to last for a month."
"H-how do the other classes have any points left? That's strange..."
"I'll tell you, but it's not like this is some kind of fraud. For this past month, all the classes were judged by the same rules. Nevertheless, they didn't lose as many points as you guys did. That's a fact."
"How... how is there so much difference in points between the classes?" Hirata also noticed something odd about the numbers. The differences in points were too clean.
"Did you guys finally understand? Why you were put in Class D?"
"The reason we were put in Class D? Isn't that because we were appropriate for this school?"
"Eh? That's how ordinary classes work, you know?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Ahhh... I get it now." I mumbled, but due to the uncomfortable silence engulfing the class, everyone heard me, and turned to look at me.
"Oh? Would you mind explaining it, then?" Miss Chabashira asked me with a small smirk.
Why would you do that?
I looked around. Everyone was staring at me- and I do mean everyone.
"Hmm, very well..." I said, clearing my throat. "All the students are divided into classes by merit in this school- it's like a sort of hierarchy, let's say. The best students are put in Class A, while the worst are put in Class D. That also means that we are the worst students." I explained.
"Right you are." Miss Chabashira said. "This is a system you'll find in major cram schools. Class D is also known as the 'Defective' class. In other words, Class D is the collection of leftovers and failures; the defective products of this school. This is really an outcome worthy of defective students."
Horikita's face stiffened at Miss Chabashira's explanation. Looks like the reason behind the division of classes really shocked her.
I mean, it's better to put smart students with other smart students and incapable students with other incapable students. For example, if you put good apples with rotten ones, the good ones will rot faster.
Therefore, it was inevitable that the superior Suzune Horikita would be shocked at this sort of division. She thought of herself in a very high regard and that is probably the reason why she was placed here in the first place.
She's far too arrogant and she has a superiority complex.
There's also the plus point of me being placed here. There's nowhere to go but up.
"However, this Class D is the first one to lose all their points in the first month. On the contrary, I applaud you for living so lavishly until now. How praiseworthy." Miss Chabashira's unnatural applause reverberated in the classroom.
"After hitting zero points, does that mean we will always stay at zero points forever?"
"No. you will get multiple opportunities to increase your class points. However, I don't expect much from you..."
Although a student life with only the bare minimum is possible, a lot of the students probably won't like it. After all, the students lived their lives this month while indulging in every single possible luxury. Suddenly, having to live a life a self-control looks really hard for a lot of the students.
"But, I believe there are some capable students in this class who will probably try their best..." Chabashira said as she glanced at me.
Nah, please don't put your expectations on me, Miss. I don't have the energy for this.
"...Will we be made fun of by the other classes now?" Sudo kicked his desk with a bang.
Eh, it's reasonable that he's acting like this. After all, after you learn that Class D is a group of misfits and defectives and that the classes are divided by merit. It's inevitable that our class is mocked and made fun of by the students in the higher classes. It's not unreasonable to be despairing.
"What, you're still holding onto your pride, Sudo? Then do your best and try to make the worst class the best class."
"Huh?"
"These class points aren't just linked to the amount of money you get each month. It's also indicative of the class rank."
I see... In other words, if our Class D had held onto 500 points, we would have been promoted to Class C.
This really is like an assessment you'll see at multinational companies.
"Alright, I have one more piece of bad news I have to tell you guys."
She put one more piece of paper onto the blackboard. The names of all the classmates were listed.
Next to everyone's name was a number. They were the pop-quiz's results. From what I could see, the results were:
Mock Test Results:
1. Zain Zaffar- 100
2. Rokusuke Koenji- 94
3. Suzune Horikita- 90
4. Teruhiko Yukimura- 90
5. Yosuke Hirata- 88
6. Mei-Yu Wang- 87
7. Kikyo Kushida- 85
8. Chiaki Matsushita- 82
...
33. Miku Nakano- 32
34. Itsuki Nakano- 30
35. Nino Nakano- 28
36. Haruki Yamauchi- 26
37. Kanji Ike- 24
38. Ichika Nakano- 20
39. Yotsuba Nakano- 15
40. Ken Sudo- 14
"From looking at these numbers, I came to understand that there are a lot of idiots in this class." She glanced at the students as her heels clacked against the floor. "These are the scores from the test a few days back. I was very happy after seeing your wonderful performance. Seriously, what the hell did you guys study in middle school?"
Oh, yeah... We had one more mock test- like the one we had back in April.
Except for the top students in the class, almost everyone got below a 60. Ignoring Sudo's wonderful score of 14 points, the next lowest was Yotsuba's score of 15. The average score was about 60. The top score obviously belonged to me, a perfect score.
She took out a red marker before drawing a red line separating 7 names from the rest.
"If this test was actually recorded, seven of you would already have to drop out of school. Good thing it wasn't, right?"
"D-drop out? What do you mean?"
"Why, did I not explain that part? If you get a failing mark on either a midterm or a final exam in any subject, you have to drop out of school. On this test, that would be everyone who got below a 32. Man, you guys are really stupid."
Fuck.
"W-whaaaaat!?"
The 7 people who failed, or in other words, four of the Nakano sisters, and Ike & his group, let out a surprised voice.
On the paper, there was a red line separating the rest of the class and the seven people, the highest of which was a score of 30 points. In other words, everyone after Miku failed.
"Don't fuck with me, sensei! Don't joke about dropping out of school!"
"I'm also at a loss for words. It's the school's rules, so prepare for the worst."
"As Sae-girl-sensei said, there seem to be a lot of idiots here." While polishing his nails with his feet on the desk, Koenji had a smug smirk on his face.
"What's that, Koenji!? Your marks are in the red too!" Yamauchi wailed.
With a scoff, Koenji replied. "Where are your eyes looking at, boy? Look carefully."
"H-huh? Hey, Koenji's name is... huh?" Scanning from the bottom, his eyes gradually reached the top. And then- he finally saw the name Rokusuke Koenji. It was just below my score.
To his disbelief, Koenji had the second highest score in the class; 94 points. That means that he was able to solve two of the super hard problems. Maybe he isn't just talk after all...
"Oh, and one more thing. This school, which is under the control of the country, boasts a high percentage of alumni going to higher education and a high employment rate. That's a well-known fact. Most likely, many people in this class will go on to college or find work at a company."
That's obvious. As she said, this school has the highest employment and college acceptance rate. There are rumours that if you successfully graduate from this school, a usually difficult college or company will become a lot easier to join. Other rumours say that graduating from this school is like getting a recommendation to be admitted to any university, like the Tokyo University, Harvard or even Oxford.
"But... things aren't that easy in the world. People like you guys, who are of a really low level, will probably have trouble getting into college or getting a job." Miss Chabashira's words echoed in the classroom.
"In other words, in order to make our dreams of getting a job or getting into college a reality, we have to surpass at least Class C..." Hirata mumbled.
I doubt that, because based on what Arush and I discussed and the facts presented to us... The students of Class C shouldn't be all that better than the 'defectives'.
"That's also slightly incorrect, Hirata. Listen carefully now, because I'm not going to repeat it. There's no way to achieve your dreams except for surpassing class A. The school doesn't guarantee anything for all the other students. Not careers, not college admissions, not allowances. Nothing."
"T-that's... that's something I never heard about! This is absurd!" A boy with glasses, named Teruhiko Yukimura, abruptly stood up. He had tied Horikita's score with an astounding 90 points.
"How shameful. There's nothing as pitiful as boys making a commotion and panicking." As if he felt something from Yukimura's words, Koenji let out a sigh.
"...Koenji, do you not feel any resentment from being in Class D?"
"Resentment? Why would I feel any resentment? I don't understand."
"Because we've been told that our class is the collection of leftovers, and that our chances of getting into higher education or getting a job are slim!"
"Hah! That's nonsense. I can't even respond to that sheer stupidity." Koenji didn't stop polishing his nails. He didn't even face Yukimura as he talked. "This school just hasn't seen my full potential yet. I value, respect, and regard myself greatly, more than any other person. Even if the school puts me in Class D, it means nothing to me. If, for example, I have to drop out of school, it's completely fine. After all, it's the school that will come crawling back for me."
Sounds like something Koenji would say. Is it masculinity, or is it narcissism? Certainly, if you don't care about the school's class rankings, it doesn't matter at all. Considering his high intellect and physical ability, it is difficult to think that the students of Class A are all better than Koenji. Or perhaps he was assigned to Class D because of his personality?
"However, I'm not looking to go to college or find a job somewhere after I graduate. It's been decided that I will lead the Koenji Conglomerate in the future. It doesn't matter whether I'm in Class A or Class D."
For someone whose future has been guaranteed, there certainly is no need to be concerned about the class. Without any words to retort, Yukimura sat back down.
"Looks like your happy mood has been dampened. If you guys understood the harsh environment you were put in from the start, we wouldn't have need this long homeroom. The midterm is in three weeks, so please avoid getting kicked out of school. I'm sure everyone here can survive without getting any red marks. If possible, please challenge your situation with a behaviour appropriate for a capable person."
With that, she left the room without giving anyone a second glance. The red-mark students were crestfallen. Even the normally proud Sudo hung his head down in shame.
"What am I going to do without any more points...?"
"I used up the remainder of my points yesterday..."
After Miss Chabashira left the room, the whole classroom was in an uproar.
"Even more than the points, this is a problem with the class... Why was I put in Class D?!" Yukimura vented in frustration. There were beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Wait, does that mean we won't be able to go to a college we want to go to? Then why did I come to this school in this first place? I wonder if Chabashira-sensei hates me..."
None of the students could hide their confusion. Hirata silently approached the podium and started speaking.
"Alright, please stay calm, you guys. I understand that everyone is panicking right now, but we all need to calm down." Hirata took control of the class, trying to calm down the sense of impending crisis. "I'm sure all of us are shocked and unhappy with the results, but we should really discuss what we're going to do moving forward." Hirata proposed.
"How can we calm down in this situation? Are you not frustrated that we are the class of leftovers!?"
"Even if I say I am, isn't it better to work together to get out of this situation?" Hirata said.
"Get out of this situation? In the first place, I don't even agree with this hierarchy of classes!"
"Yukimura-kun. I completely understand your feelings. However, there's no use in sitting here and complaining about it, is there?"
"What?!" Yukimura walked up to Hirata and grabbed him by his collar.
"Yukimura-kun, please calm down! Surely, Sensei must have explained it to us sternly in order to cheer us up, right?" Kushida quickly stepped in to diffuse the situation.
She gently took Yukimura's balled fist in her hand. And as one would expect, Yukimura tried not to hurt Kushida and unintentionally took a step back.
"It's already been a month since school started. Just like Hirata-kun said, I also think that it's better for all of us to persevere through this situation. Don't you guys agree?" Kushida asked Yukimura, and the class in extension.
Nods and murmurs of approval broke out in the class, pressuring Yukimura to agree.
"I-I guess you're right, but..."
"We shouldn't be impatient. There's no need for anyone to fight."
"...My bad. I lost my composure for a bit there." Yukimura apologised.
"It's alright... We just have to see things from a positive perspective." Yukimura nodded and returned to his seat.
With the help of Kushida, the altercation resolved in an orderly way.
I glanced at Horikita, who seemed to be strangely impatient; her usual calm attitude missing.
"Hey, Horikita. Did you also come to this school to get into a good college?" I asked her.
"...Why are you asking me that?" Horikita asked me skeptically.
"It's just that when Miss Chabashira revealed the assortment of classes, you seemed really shocked."
"That was more or less everyone's reaction in the class, wasn't it? Even though we were given an explanation on the first day of school, I can't seem to wrap my head around this new information."
Well, that's reasonable. The people in Class B and Class C are probably grumbling in discontent just like us. Every other class other than Class A is treated as leftovers by the school. There's nothing to do except fight our way to the top.
That bastard Agrim must be pretty happy right about now.
"Points are only a by-product of our efforts in class. Not having any points won't hinder our school life. After all, this school provides everything for free at some capacity." said Hirata.
It's not an issue for living on bare minimum. However, there are a lot of things that can only be obtained by points. For example, leisure and entertainment. Not having any means of entertainment will probably only hurt us in the future...
"Zaffar-kun... How many points did you use last month?" Horikita questioned.
"Hmm? Not much. I practically have all of my points."
The students who haven't spent all their points are certainly at an advantage in our own class, but the ones who've spent every single point, like Ike & Yamauchi will have trouble living this month.
"Even though I think it's unfortunate, they're paying for their own mistakes."
Also, using up all 100,000 points in a single month is a huge problem. We were baited by the school in the first month; 100,000 points a month. Even though we thought it was too good to be true, every single student celebrated.
"First of all, I think that we should all start paying attention in class, especially you guys..." Arush pointed towards the Three-Idiots.
"Tch..." Yamauchi clicked his tongue in frustration.
"You too, Sudo. You need to fix your ways as well, pal." I said.
"...Yeah... I get it." Sudo grumbled frustratedly. "I'll try to be better." Surprisingly, Sudo didn't get angry and calmly replied.
"Nice."
"We didn't get any points this month, and from what Chabashira-sensei said, we won't be getting any next month as well. However, we cannot keep on living like this. We can't go on like this and graduate with 0 points..."
"Absolutely not." Someone affirmed.
"Of course not. So, we have no choice but to try and get some points next month. That's why everyone in the class has to work together to fix our problem. We should refrain from being late to and talking during class. Naturally, using cell phones during class is also prohibited."
"But! Didn't sensei said our points won't increase? So, why should we even try?"
"Even if our points don't go under 0, it'll still count as a negative. However, if our situation continues, they will never increase. In order to get points, our cooperation is of the utmost importance."
Sudo seemed dissatisfied, but agreed nonetheless.
"I think we all should hold a meeting after school today. We can discuss ways to increase our points, and I think everyone should participate. Horikita-san? Will you participate?" Hirata asked.
"Huh? Why me?" Horikita asked back, narrowing her eyes.
"I think it's best to hear everyone's opinions, don't you?"
"Sorry, but can you ask someone else? I'm not very good at discussing things."
"You don't have to force yourself to say anything in particular. It's good enough to just be there."
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of meeting for a pointless reason."
"I think that this is our first trial as a united class. So-"
"I already refused. I am not participating."
Calm yet strong words. Despite considering Hirata's standpoint, Horikita completely rejected his invitation.
"Are you stupid or just pretending to be a dumbass, Horikita?" I decided to speak up.
I had had just about enough of this conceited bitch.
"This is a serious matter. Acting like this way won't get you anywhere."
"And why should I listen to what you have to say?"
"You- Are you even listening?" I asked, flabbergasted.
"What?"
"If we want our points to go up, then we all need to participate. It'll be better for everyone if you do. We won't surpass anyone if you decide to act like a spoilt brat and refuse to participate in class discussions. Do you understand?"
"Tch..."
With that, everyone in the class had agreed to come to the discussion.
TO BE CONTINUED...
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Another one in the books. This chapter was actually a pain to write because I had to change shit up from the original stuff and add in some original things to keep things interesting.
The next chapter will focus on the other Spiders, giving them a chance in the limelight after finding out about the S-System.
My break is almost over, so I'll be back to weekly posting from next week.
As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate all the support. :)
- ZZS101