A Disappointing Class D

Sae Chabashira.

She looked just shy of thirty, still carrying the beauty of a young woman while already projecting mature competence.

Under her black business jacket, she wore the same basic white shirt as the students. But on her, the outfit had a very different effect.

The fitted suit made the curves of her body even more noticeable, and paired with black stockings and pointed heels, she was far more striking than the students around her, who still carried a trace of youthful awkwardness. She had the distinct charm of a mature woman just entering her prime.

Having read the original story, Yukiya naturally knew a great deal about Sae Chabashira.

Chabashira had once been a student at Advanced Nurturing herself, and she had also belonged to Class D. In her year, however, the gap between the classes had not been especially large. Class D had been less than one hundred Class Points away from Class A.

In simple terms, if Class D had succeeded, they could absolutely have defeated the other classes and graduated as Class A.

But because of Chabashira's own naivete, she made a mistake that caused Class D's entire plan to fail. In the end, they fell short of Class A by a hair.

That failure left Chabashira with guilt and turned her desire to raise Class D into an obsession, even after she became a homeroom teacher.

But at this school, students were not the only ones forced to compete. The teachers were as well.

And the homeroom teacher of Class B was Chie Hoshinomiya, who had been in the same year as Chabashira.

Because of that, if Chabashira saw no hope of class promotion, she would never reveal her ambition. Otherwise, there was a real chance Hoshinomiya would target her relentlessly.

For Sae Chabashira, the chance to rise existed only once.

So if she could not see any hope of promotion, she would keep a cold, indifferent attitude, watch Class D destroy itself, maintain her harmless image, and wait for the next opportunity.

Yet every year's Class D was filled with defective students. There was never any real chance of reaching Class A.

Chabashira had been waiting for years.

And this year, new hope had finally arrived.

She secretly glanced toward Kiyotaka Ayanokoji in the corner.

Chairman Sakayanagi himself had asked her to keep an eye on this student. There had to be something special about him.

Unfortunately, nothing about his plain appearance or dead-fish eyes gave anything away.

Chabashira withdrew her gaze and tapped the stack of booklets she had already placed on the podium.

Her tone was cold.

"This school does not reshuffle classes. For the next three years, I will be your homeroom teacher. I look forward to working with you."

"Also, the entrance ceremony will be held in the gymnasium in one hour. Until then, read through the materials explaining this school's special rules."

Yukiya received two booklets from Chiaki Matsushita, both of which looked familiar. Every student had received something similar before enrollment.

Unlike other high schools, this school was unusual.

Choosing to enroll meant accepting the obligation to live on campus. Unless the school granted permission, all outside contact was forbidden, even contact with family.

In exchange, the school had built a wide range of facilities: karaoke rooms, movie theaters, cafes, clothing stores, and more. It was practically a small commercial district.

Unlike the booklet he had seen before, the one in his hand was thicker. When he opened it, a device similar to a cell phone lay inside.

"This is your student ID. It can be used at every facility on campus, and you can also use it to purchase goods. Think of it as a credit card."

As Yukiya toyed with the student ID, Chabashira continued explaining the rules.

"However, purchases cost Private Points, so be careful. At this school, there is almost nothing those points cannot buy. Practically anything can be purchased."

Behind him, Horikita was still a little dazed.

Passing materials backward was common sense for students, yet Yukiya had simply confiscated her student ID.

How was she supposed to quickly gather information now?

The classroom was silent.

Horikita frowned and poked the boy in front of her with her pen.

Soon, a note appeared from under Yukiya's arm. Horikita took it without thinking.

[Your name. And while you're at it, draw something I would find cute.]

Click.

Horikita instantly pulled a compass from her pencil case, so angry she was close to exploding. Every desk had a nameplate on it. She refused to believe Yukiya did not know who she was.

He was obviously teasing her.

'Childish.'

Horikita gripped the compass and cursed him silently. Then she looked up at Chabashira on the podium and slowly put the compass back down.

She picked up the paper and wrote her name.

Reporting him to the teacher was not even under consideration. There were too many ways for him to explain it away, and it did not fit her personality anyway. She also saw no need to build connections with these classmates.

After drawing a small image, Horikita poked the seat in front of her again.

Yukiya took the note and smiled in satisfaction.

[Suzune Horikita]

He slowly tore the paper to pieces.

He knew it would be nearly impossible to make Horikita draw a genuinely cute expression. Still, he was not childish enough to do something meaningless.

If he wanted to control Horikita, he first needed to leave a strong impression on her. Otherwise, with her personality, he would become nothing more than someone who passed through her life.

The method was a little childish.

But it worked, and that was enough.

Meeting Horikita's cold gaze, Yukiya calmly passed the booklet back to her.

She stared icily at the boy in front of her.

Before long, however, Horikita's attention shifted to the phone-like student ID.

Even so, if Chabashira had not still been explaining the rules, Horikita absolutely would have stabbed him with the compass.

At the podium, Chabashira saw everything and ignored it.

She simply continued in the same cool voice.

"Private Points are deposited automatically on the first day of every month. At the moment, each of you should have received one hundred thousand points. One point is equal to one yen."

The classroom instantly grew noisy. Even Horikita looked surprised.

An ordinary Japanese high school student might receive around five thousand yen a month in allowance. Even with a part-time job, thirty thousand yen a month would be considered decent.

And this school had just given every student one hundred thousand yen in spending money.

"Are you surprised by that much money?"

There was a faintly amused edge to Chabashira's voice.

"This school measures a student's value by merit. Being admitted here means each of you possesses that much value. Don't hold back. Use it freely."

She waited for a while.

When none of the students asked any questions, Chabashira glanced at Ayanokoji with slight disappointment and left the classroom.

Yukiya touched his chin, somewhat surprised.

Although Chabashira had not explained the details of the rules, there were still problems visible in what she had said.

For example, she said points would be deposited on the first of every month, but she never promised that the amount would always be one hundred thousand.

It was not difficult to notice.

And yet no one in Class D had asked a single question.

'Looks like there really is a reason we ended up in Class D.'

The baseline ability of each year's Class D truly was far weaker than that of the other classes. Chabashira had clearly intended to turn this style of explanation into a test.

"This school is amazing. Where should we go after class?"

"With these points, we can buy whatever we want!"

As soon as Chabashira left, the students became excited. It was the first time any of them had ever had such a huge amount of money.

"Everyone, could I have your attention for a moment?"

A blond boy stood and left his seat, looking at the class with a bright, confident smile.

"Starting today, we'll be living together as a class. How about we introduce ourselves? It would be nice if we could all become friends."

"We still have some time before the entrance ceremony. What do you think?"

Perhaps because he had taken the lead, his suggestion quickly won everyone's approval.

The blond boy spoke with confidence.

"Since everyone agrees, I'll start."

"My name is Yosuke Hirata. You can call me Yosuke. I like all sports, and I'm especially good at soccer. I'm planning to join the soccer club here. Nice to meet you all."

After Hirata, most of the students began introducing themselves.

Yukiya slowly considered every word Hirata had said.

Yosuke Hirata.

In middle school, a childhood friend of his had been bullied. As his friend, Hirata failed to take it seriously and chose to look away. As a result, the boy died by suicide.

However, the bullying at school did not disappear afterward. Instead, it grew even worse and spread to Hirata's classmates.

Eventually, when the bullying seemed endless, Hirata chose to suppress it through violence.

If both sides were given equal pain, and if he became the person at the very top of the school, then bullying could disappear.

Unfortunately, bullying was not the only thing that vanished.

So did the smiles of the entire school.

Only Hirata stood at the highest level. Everyone else became equal beneath him. Whenever an incident occurred, Hirata gave both sides the same pain.

The classmates who had once laughed and lived cheerfully became like walking corpses, going to and from school each day under Hirata's terrifying control.

Yukiya soon noticed that everything Hirata had said had been framed as a question, as if he were asking everyone for permission.

This sunny, confident, popular boy could not make decisions on his own.

The student named Yosuke Hirata was not simply a nice guy.

Compared with any individual classmate, Hirata cared far more about the concept of the class.

Yukiya smiled.

Hirata was the perfect tool.

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