May 1st.
The peaceful routine of everyday life was bound to end eventually.
Morning
Class B, despite the expectations of an eventful day, remained calm as usual. Around Ichinose, a familiar scene unfolded—Xiaobai, Himenoyuki, and the others were gathered around her, chatting away.
"Everyone," Ichinose called out, standing up with a sweet and reassuring smile. "Did you all receive this month's personal points?"
"Yeah… I got 65,000," Xiaobai muttered in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
"Same here," another student, Okakura Asako, nodded in agreement. "Honami-chan, as expected, you were right. There's no way the school would give us 100,000 points every month."
She seemed to be one of Ichinose's core members. It wasn't uncommon to see her laughing together with Okamoto, Haku, and Ichinose.
But Ichinose shook her head helplessly. "No, it's all thanks to Hikigaya's insight. If he hadn't predicted the connection between class points and personal points, we wouldn't have been able to react so quickly."
Hikigaya, upon hearing his name, instinctively averted his gaze and rested his head on the desk, already sensing a few stinging glances directed at him.
As expected of Ichinose—she never forgot to acknowledge everyone's contributions.
But the truth was, her own reasoning was exceptional.
Even without him, personal points wouldn't have changed significantly. Ichinose's deduction alone would have been enough to get the class through April smoothly.
That thought made him feel somewhat guilty under everyone's gaze. His contribution wasn't nearly significant enough to deserve admiration.
Still, since he had turned his back on them, the classmates around him didn't bother him further.
"That's true," Okafaze said cheerfully. "But it seems like saving our personal points was the right choice after all. It'll definitely come in handy later. Honami-chan, here are my points for May—35,000. Please keep them safe for me."
As she spoke, other students quickly followed suit, willingly handing over their personal points to Ichinose.
Hikigaya sighed, his cheeks feeling dry. Without hesitation, he put on his headphones and pretended not to hear anything.
Innocent.
Too innocent.
This whole situation was almost sweeter than MAX Coffee.
Handing over personal points to a classmate for safekeeping? Unbelievable.
Why not give them to him instead?
These people were idiots.
"Seriously…"
Even Ichinose seemed a little overwhelmed by their enthusiasm. "Saving points is good for the class, but there's no need to go overboard. If you need to use them, let me know anytime."
"It's fine. 30,000 points is plenty for a month's expenses."
Seeing the conversation shift away from him, Hikigaya relaxed slightly. However, he caught a glimpse of Juke's forced smile as she reluctantly handed over her points.
Serves her right.
Suppressing a chuckle, he turned away.
Class Time
As the bell rang, signaling the start of class, the students returned to their seats.
Hoshinomiya Chie, their homeroom teacher, staggered into the classroom, barely holding onto a roll of paper as she gripped the doorframe for support. She then dragged herself onto the podium as if she might collapse at any moment.
"Teacher Hoshinomiya, are you okay?" someone asked, concerned.
"It's fine, it's fine," she waved her hand dismissively. Though she was smiling, her face was unusually pale. "I just drank a little too much last night and, well… I'm suffering for it now. Don't worry."
A wave of helpless smiles spread through Class B.
It wasn't the first time they had seen their teacher like this. Hikigaya had also witnessed her suffering through hangovers many times during Chinese class.
Luckily, the students in Class B were independent and knew how to handle their childish teacher.
After a moment, Hoshinomiya unrolled the papers and stuck them to the blackboard—one on the left, one on the right.
The left sheet displayed the class points for each class:
Class A: 940 points
Class B: 650 points
Class C: 560 points
Class D: 0 points
At a glance, Ichinose and the others immediately realized Hikigaya's prediction was correct.
Class points and personal points were exchanged at a 1:100 ratio.
The right sheet was their basic test report card from the previous exams. While the test results didn't count towards their grades, Class B had still taken them seriously.
Even Hikigaya had put in effort—he wanted to gauge his academic level at this elite school.
Japanese: 2nd place (Ichinose was first, as expected. She had ranked first in the entire entrance exam, after all.)
English: 8th place (a subject where many students excelled)
Science Subjects: Disaster.
Physics & Chemistry: 60 points
Mathematics: 52 points
As he had always known, no matter how much effort he put in, he would never excel in subjects he wasn't good at.
His overall ranking placed him 16th in the class—barely above average.
But that was enough.
He had no intention of improving further.
The passing line was set at half the class average score, meaning as long as no subject dropped below 50 points, there wouldn't be any problems.
Still…
A math score of 52 was dangerously close to the line. Considering luck played a role, aiming for at least 60 would be safer.
With that thought, Hikigaya mentally set a new goal: 60 points in math.
"Well, it looks like everyone expected this," Hoshinomiya said, resting her chin on the desk. "So I'll keep it brief."
She then lazily waved her hand. "Only Class A gets to choose their career paths freely. If your class points surpass Class A's, you'll move up. If they drop below Class C's, you'll fall. That's all there is to it. Good luck, everyone~"
…
Simple.
Too simple.
Hoshinomiya clearly had no intention of explaining things in detail, leaving the students to figure it out themselves.
Fortunately, Class B was full of competent people.
"Teacher," Ichinose raised her hand. "The school must have a system in place for increasing class points, right? Can you tell us about it?"
"You mean how to gain class points?"
Hoshinomiya tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Ah, yes! The upcoming midterm test! If your class scores well, you'll earn class points. But if anyone fails, they'll be expelled. Be careful! You all know the passing line, right? It's, um… that thing…"
"The class average," Ichinose answered for her.
"Yep! That's it!" Hoshinomiya grinned, giving her a thumbs-up.
Expulsion.
A harsh reality.
Getting expelled from Sakurajima's elite institutions wasn't a minor setback. A single blemish on one's academic record could significantly impact future opportunities.
Sensing unease among his classmates, Ichinose smiled warmly and reassured them. "It's okay. In my eyes, this is the best class. If we work together, no one will be expelled."
"Honami-chan…"
The class smiled, clearly comforted by her words.
However…
Hikigaya didn't share their optimism.
Avoiding expulsion entirely? That was idealistic thinking. The world didn't work that way. Someone was bound to fall short eventually.
And if that happened…
How would Ichinose handle it?
But in the end…
It turned out the unlucky one was him.
Oh.
That's fine, then.
He was used to drawing the short straw.
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