Chapter 2 Part I

Mornings in Class D were always lively, because most of the students were far from studious. Today they were being even more raucous than usual. The reason was obvious. We were about to finally get points for the first time since we'd come to this school.

My school, the "Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School," has adopted an unprecedented system known as the S-Point System. I'll explain that in a bit.

I took out my school-provided cell phone, launched the pre-installed school app, and logged in using my student ID and password. I then selected the option "Balance Inquiry" from the menu. From here, you could do many things. You could check your current personal balance, or you could see how many collective points the class had. There was also a function that enabled you to send points to another student.

There were two types of points listed. One of them was marked with a "cl" at the end, which was short for "class." These were also referred to as "class points"—not points that an individual student possessed, but rather, points that the class had accumulated together. Class D had had zero class points since June. No points at all. The other points were marked with a "pr" at the end, which stood for "private." These were our individual points.

On the first day of every month, they multiplied the cl points, or class points, by 100, then deposited that amount into our private point accounts. We used these private points to purchase daily necessities, meals, even electrical appliances. At this school, points are currency. They are very important.

If you didn't have any private points, you were forced to live day-to-day without spending money. You couldn't use real currency anywhere on campus. Because Class D was sitting at zero points, we hadn't received any private points for the month, and thus had to get by without cash.

When we first started here, we had 1000 class points.

If we had kept those points, we would have received 100,000-yen worth of points each month. Unfortunately, our class points fluctuated every day. Many things caused a reduction in points, like talking in class or getting a low score on a test. As a result, Class D had zero points when May came around. Things had continued in that vein until now, July 1.

In addition to determining our monthly allowance, the class points were used to measure our class's merit. The classes were ordered by class points, in descending order from A through D. So in the event that Class D managed to get enough points to surpass Class C, our class would probably be promoted from D to C for the next month. Moreover, should we finally manage to get all the way up to Class A, then we'd have the chance to attend the college of our choice, or to get the job we wanted.

When I first heard about this system, I thought it'd be important to accumulate as many class points as possible. Private points would grant us only personal satisfaction. However, my perspective changed when I bought a point for the midterm test.

I'd been able to purchase a point for Sudou on that recent test. If I hadn't, he'd have just barely failed. When I realized that the school would allow me to purchase exam points, I understood that our homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, hadn't been kidding when she told us, "At this school, you can buy anything with your points."

Ergo, holding onto private points meant that it was possible to favorably change your situation. Upon further consideration, you could likely purchase more than just test points.

"Good morning, everyone. You all seem more restless than usual today."

Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom as the homeroom bell rang.

"Sae-chan-sensei! Do we have zero points again this month?! When I checked this morning, I didn't see a single point deposited into my account!"

"Oh, so that's why you're all so restless?"

"We worked ourselves half to death this past month! We passed the midterm, so why are we still at zero points?! No one's been late or absent, and no one's talked during class, either!"

"Don't jump to conclusions. Listen to what I have to say first. You're correct, Ike. You have all worked harder than ever before. I recognize that. Naturally, the school understands full well how you all feel."

After being admonished by the teacher, Ike shut his mouth and sat back down.

"Well then. Without further ado, here are this month's point totals."

She put a paper up on the board that listed the point values, starting with Class A at the top. Excluding Class D, all of the other classes had nearly 100 more points than last month. Class A now sat at 1004 points, slightly above where everyone had started when we were admitted.

"This isn't good. Could they have figured out a way to increase their point total?!"

My neighbor, Horikita Suzune, appeared solely focused on the other classes. However, Ike and most of the other Class D students didn't care much about the other classes' points. The important question for them was whether we had received more class points. That was it.

Written next to Class D was our point total: 87 points.

"Huh? Wait, 87? Does that mean we actually went up? Yahoo!"

Ike excitedly jumped up and down the instant he saw our score.

"It's too early to celebrate. All the other classes saw a similar increase in their points. We didn't close the distance at all. This might just be a reward first-year students receive for getting through the midterm. Every class seems to have gotten at least 100 points."

"So that's what happened. I thought it odd that we'd been awarded points so quickly."

Horikita, who hoped to reach Class A, didn't appear pleased with the result. She wasn't smiling.

"Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes has widened, Horikita?" I asked.

"No, that's not it. We managed to get something this time, after all."

"Get something? Get what?" asked Ike, now standing.

Horikita, after attracting everyone's attention, fell back into silence. It was as if she didn't wish to provide an answer. The class leader, Hirata Yousuke, answered for her.

"I believe that Horikita-san is referring to the deductions we incurred throughout April and May. In other words, we didn't see a reduction in points for talking in class or being late."

The sharp-witted Hirata hadn't missed a beat. Splendid.

"Ah, is that so? I suppose that even if we got 100 points, a lot of deductions would've brought us down to zero." Ike, after this simple explanation, raised his arms in victory. "Wait. But then, why didn't we get any points?"

He lobbed his original question again at Chabashira-sensei. It was indeed strange that we hadn't received 8700 private points in our accounts.

"Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students' point distribution has been delayed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer," she said.

"Huh? Seriously? If this is the school's fault, then shouldn't we get some kind of bonus as compensation?"

The students grumbled in discontent. Once they found out that they would be getting their points, their attitudes had changed dramatically. There was a significant difference between 87 points and no points.

"Don't blame me. This was the school's decision, there's nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you'll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is."

There was deeper meaning behind Chabashira-sensei's words.