Chapter 4

"Ne ne, do you wanna go sing some Karaoke?"

Maya-san asked.

"Yea, let's go"

Mii-chan replied

"Sounds great."

Matsushita-san agreed

"What about you Kei-chan?"

They asked her but she looked a bit distracted. Seemed like she was looking at somebody. All of us girls could guess why. Yesterday Kei-chan told us that she and Hirata had started dating. It was a huge shock and most of the girls were pissed that she had stolen the first move. I on the other hand couldn't care.

"Ne ne, Seems like Kei-chan doesn't have time for us girls after getting her prince charming~."

I mused.

"So how's life in Heaven with Hirata-kun~?"

I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.

"Yea yea, no fair taking Hirata without telling us!"

Mii-chan complained.

"Come on Mii-chan, like, the early bird gets the grub or worm or whatever, right?"

Karuizawa stated. I dont think I totally agreed with how she found it difficult to remember exactly what the popular saying was.

"Alright, tell us all about it. We were planning on meeting at the cafe after school today, you coming?"

Maya-san asked.

"Well yea, cause I got a boyfriend doesn't mean I'm abandoning my girls. Wasnt that like, totally obvious?"

"Yea yea. What about you Shiro-san?"

"Naa, I'm gonna pass. Theres some stuff I need to do."

I gently refused the offer. To be honest I've been going out much more than I'd like to and I was exhausted. I just wanted to relax and read a book.

"Aww, but without Shiro-san this will be a little boring.~"

"Yea yea, you've totally gotta come!"

"Dont be a buzz kill, Shiro-san"

"Sorry girls, but I'm  pretty busy you know. I've gotta meet someone."

I try to defend myself. But I will admit that I'm happy that they want me to join them this bad. Oh well, maybe next time.

"Meet someone? Shiro-san, do you.... Do you perhaps have a boyfriend?"

Maya-san mused. And of course, she took this in a direction it didnt need to head into. Well, since we've only been in school for 3 weeks, theres nothing wrong with not having a boyfriend right?

"Pfft, how can I get a boyfriend before any of you girls."

I try to brush off the question but it seemed these girls wouldnt let me.

"Well, Shiro-san is pretty, and funny and I'm sure you're smart."

Matsushita-chan said.

"What the heck, do you want me to die from embarrassment? Besides, you girls are waaaay cuter than I am."

"Na na, Shiro-san is too cute, isnt she?"

All the girls nodded to what Kei-chan said. Blood rushed to my face as they said all this.

"You girls are crazy."

I put my hands to my face. These girls might kill me one day.

"Ne ne, seems like Shiro-chan cant handle a little teasing. "

Maya-san said with a victorious smirk.

"She seems so much different when shes the one doing it."

"True true."

Even more blood rushed to my face now. I think I was steaming. Truly, these girls will kill me one day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Third Period, history. Chabashira-sensei walked into the class. The students were still making noise though. These 3 weeks I noticed that the teachers never complained with the students absolutely outrageous behaviour. Tardiness, sleeping during class, usage of devices during class, the teachers overlooked all of these and it had made the students so lazy I couldn't believe this was a prestigious school.

"Everyone, be quiet- Today's class will be more serious."

"What do you mean~ Sae-chan-sensei~"

Ah yes, her nickname in the class. I'd forgotten who even started it.

"Its the end of the month. We will have a short test. Pass these to the back."

A test? Well, it's about time. All I needed to do was to get perfect scores on the test and maybe the school would realise they made a mistake with my placement. It's not like I was trying to insult the other students in Class D, but if I made a mistake in my entrance exams I could surely make up for it now.

The papers were passed on from person to person until it finally settled on my desk. The test had several questions on 5 major topics.

"Eh~ I didnt hear anything~. I dont wanna take it~"

"Calm down. This test is only for future reference. It will not be reflected on your report card. Theres no risk so be at ease. However cheating is naturally prohibited."

That was a bit odd. If what I knew was right, that phrase 'it will not be reflected on your report card.' was definitely strange. Aren't your reports recorded on your report card in normal schools? Maybe because this school did things differently from other schools. Yeah. They would probably record it on something else. No difference to me.

As soon as the test begun I scrolled through the questions. 20 questions, 4 per section and 5 points per question for a total of 100 points. This was.... easy. In fact, too easy. The entrance exam was definitely harder than this (still easy to me though). It was like they were begging me to get perfect scores.

A few questions seemed a bit more challenging than the others. Still easy though.

"No... Why are these problems so hard..."

Someone yelled. I didnt pay attention to who it was. I expected this though. The questions were not something a first year could easily answer. Especially about 3 questions. They were clearly on a different level.

It seemed like they were measuring our academic ability with this. If they wanted to measure my abilities, I would just have to show them again that I was excellent.

I glanced at Airi-chan who seemed to be struggling a bit. Maybe this was going to bother her a bit later on. Then I glanced at Horikita who was to my left. She was filling in answers to the questions like they were nothing. Seemed like she was very smart. If she was a white room student I wouldnt be surprised if she got perfect marks. Then by accident my eyes met Ayanokoji's. We looked at each other for a moment then I averted my gaze nonchalantly.

After that I jotted down the answers to the questions. I finished within a short amount of time and read over, waiting for the final bell to sound.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

During lunch break I decided to go to the convenience store rather than the cafeteria. It had been a while since I had gotten my self some Ramen so I wasnt going to let this chance go.

As I stopped by to pick a pack of Ramen my hand collided with someone's by mistake.

"Sorry sorry. You can have it."

The person said. It was a cute girl, of average height with silver waist length hair, just like mine. She was a beauty with purple eyes. She wore the average uniform and had a bag at her side. It looked kind of heavy.

"Oh ok. Sorry."

I replied, as I took the Ramen. The girl held a certain book in her hand. It was a book I had planned on reading but never did.

"Wait... is that perhaps, 'Whose Body?'?"

I gestured to the book she held in her right arm. She looked at it then back at me, with glittering eyes.

"You know it?"

"Well... yeah. I had been planning on reading it ever since I saw it in the library. Seems like you booked it out before I could."

"Really? I just booked it this lunch and was planning on reading it. Seems like you were too slow."

"Hehehe,  seems like it."

The girl then stretches her arm to me for a handshake.

"My name's Shiina Hiyori. You can just called me Shiina."

I received her handshake politely.

"Shiro Tatsumaki. You can also call me Shiro."

"Are you going back to the cafeteria?"

She asked.

"Nope. I'm just going to sit on a bench and eat my Ramen before heading back."

"Oh then could I come with you?"

This girl was quite bold, huh? I saw no problem with it so I simply shrugged and accepted her offer.

"Sure. Lemme go heat up my Ramen. Grab yours too and come to the counter."

After that she took her ramen and came over. We both asked for the clerk to heat our Ramen then we went outside to eat the best food ever created by mankind.

"So good~!"

I cant help but squeal everytime I take it. It was just too good.

"Hehe... you really like Ramen, don't you?"

"Why wouldnt I? Ramen is the best. It nearly rivals my love for books and Ice cream."

"Oh, so you also love reading books?"

"Well yeah."

"Ohohoh, then I've got something good for you."

She brought her bag closer and opened it. She then removed 4 different massive books from it. I stared at the books in awe. I had already read these but I would really be excited to read them again.

"William Irish and Ellery Queen as well as Lawrence Block and Isaac

Asimov?!"

I think I might have been a tad bit too excited cause Shiina looked at me weirdly. So I sat back up straightly and cleared my throat.

"Sorry if I came off too strong or sounded weird."

I shyly said.

"No no no. It's ok. I was just surprised there was someone who loved books almost as much as I did."

"What? Aren't there any people in your class that like reading?"

"No. Not in class C."

"Oh. Anyway did you book all of these from the library?"

I had to ask because as vast as the library was, I hadn't noticed these books there. Maybe I must've overlooked some parts.

"Oh no. These are my own books. I'm carrying them around in case I meet someone who shares my interest in them one day so I can lend it to them. It was

only a book at first but before I found someone like that, they just kept

piling up."

"Fufufu, you're crazy."

I said

She had a satisfied grin on her face as she folded her arms and lifted her head high as if she was victorious.

"Go ahead and pick anyone of them."

"Seriously?!"

She nodded.

I scanned through the list. All of them, masterpieces, but I settled on one after a while of considering.

"Isaac Asimov..."

I said, then picked up the book.

"Please do."

So, I ended up getting Ramen and somebody to talk to about books. It was unexpected but I would surely accept it. Slowly but surely I had begun making connections everywhere. It would only be a matter of time before I had almost all sorts of information on my fingertips.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This morning when I woke up, I noticed something odd. I had checked my phone and on it, I saw my 87,560 points still on it. There was no addition to the amount of points.

There were only a few possibilities. One was the school had encountered a problem and would deliver it to us later. I highly doubted it. The other was that my gut feeling was right and we werent going to receive points today.

I decided to ask the other girls from the class on the group chat

[Me] : Hey. Have you girls gotten your points yet?

[Kei] : No

[Maya] : Not really

[Chiaki] : That's odd. Isnt it?

It seemed like I wasnt the only one. I decided to ask those from other classes that I knew. I had quite a few people in the other classes I knew, but there were only 2 people I could call actual friends.

[Me] : Heyo!! Kamuro!

[Kamuro] : What is it? Why are you texting me at 7 in the morning?

[Me] : Nothing really. Just wondering what my Kamuro-chan was up to.

[Kamuro] : Just get to the point already

[Me] : LOL. Fine. Did you receive your points this morning?

[Kamuro] : Well yea, obviously. The school did say they would give us the points. They didnt give us 100,000 points though.

[Me] : Seriously?! You got points?

[Kamuro] : Yeah. You didnt?

[Me] : No.

[Kamuro] : Maybe something went wrong. Just ask your teacher later.

Yes Kamuro. You're right. I should have spoken to Chabashira sensei earlier. I had been messing around with the other students so much I didnt get any chance to asked her questions. In exchange for securing my stance in this society, I had got side tracked. Now I was paying for that. Still, this was well within what I had expected. I just needed to ask one more person.

[Me] : Good morning!

[Shiina] : Good morning

[Me] : Hey Shiina, did you get your  points this morning?

[Shiina] : Hmmm. I've not checked. Let me do that right now.

[Me] : Please do.

If Shiina got points it would mean my class alone didnt get points. I didnt know about B class but I would guess they received points.

[Shiina] : Yeah I received points. Not 100,000 points though. I'm a bit concerned. Why? Didnt you also receive points?

[Me] : Nope.

It was officially, my class was the only class exempted from receiving the points.

"Fufufu.... Something amazing is going to happen today, isnt it?"

I say to myself. This whole situation was a big joke to me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

May 1st. Today was a day most students were looking forward to. Simply because today meant points were going to be distributed to the classes. However, in Class 1D, the atmosphere was heavy. The students hadn't received their points yet so some were worried.

The morning bell for today rang. Today was the first of May. It was also the day we were supposed to receive points, but, for some reason we didn't. Chabashira-sensei walked in, holding a poster rolled into a tube.

"Sensei~, are you in menopause?"

Ike suddenly asked. This guys was a real idiot.

"Keep that up Ike and you just might die lonely."

I accidentally blurted out. This guy was so frustrating. Everyday something dumb came out of his mouth. Even now with a crisis on our hands he could still make jokes. I sighed into my palm and shook my head.

It seemed what I said lightened the heavy atmosphere in the class as some people started laughing at Ike.

"Alright, morning homeroom is starting. Are there any questions before we start? If theres something on your mind, feel free to speak up."

She completely ignored us and went on to talk. And surely we the students had questions to ask. Several people raised their hands. It was so easy to guess what they were going to ask. I'm sure sensei expected them to.

"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, and no points were deposited. Werent 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."

"Hondou, I explained it before, didnt I? Points are wired to student's accounts  on the first day of the month, every month. They were wired without any problems this month as well."

Out of habit, I smirked as I realised I was completely right and that this situation was completely grave. Then my mind went back to what she had said at the beginning of the the school year.

'This school measures the abilities of students. Everyone here, who passed the entrance exam, has shown some merit and worth. The amount of money is a reflection of your skills.'

These were her exact words. I now truly understood the meaning behind them.

"Uh, but... I didnt get any points."

Houndou and Yamauchi exchanged looks. Ike just looked stunned.

"....Are you guys really that stupid?"

Yes sensei. You finally noticed these idiots for what they are. A bunch of idiots.

"Stupid? What?"

She glared at Ike as if he were an idiot. Which he is.

"Sit, Hondou. I'll explain it again."

"S-sae-chan sensei?"

Hondou shakily sat back down in his chair.

"Points were deposited. Without fail. The likelihood that this class was left out is very low. Do you understand?"

"No, even if I say I do understand, we haven't received our points...."

Houndou looked confused.

"Hahaha, I see, it was like that, teacher. I've understood this riddle now."

Koenji said in a loud voice while laughing. Putting his feet on the table, he pointed at Hondou with his self-important attitude. I was quite interested in whether he knew the actual answer.

"We didnt receive any points because we're in class D."

Fufufu

I held back my laughter. He was close but not quite there. Or was he trying to infuriate the class?

"Hah? What's that supposed to mean? They said we'd get 100,000 points every month..."

"I dont remember hearing that. Right?"

He said with a smirk,as he pointed at Chabashira-sensei.

Oh my, so he did know. Koenji Rokusuke. An interesting fellow. I might have to reevaluate him.

"Your attitude has some problems, but what Koenji is saying is on the right track. Not many people seem to have noticed my hint. How sad."

The classroom was suddenly noisy, with students voicing their complaints.

".... Sensei, can I ask a question? I still don't understand."

Hirata raised his hand. Over this past month, Hirata had taken a position sort of like the class rep. Even now he was performing that role perfectly.

"Please tell me why we didnt get any points. If that's not possible, we can never understand. After all, we were never given the reason for why we werent given points-"

"98 total absences and tardiness. 391 incidences of talking or using cell phones in class. I counted every infraction. In this school, your class performance is reflected in the amount of 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. I explained this all on the day of the entrance ceremony. That this school measures the abilities of its students. This time around, you guys were valued to be worth 0. Theres nothing more than that."

Sensei explained the situation to them with no expression or emotion. As if she had repeated this several times already. Maybe she had before. Anyway, now that my doubts were confirmed, seemed like I had a rocky road ahead of me. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Chabashira-sensei, I dont remember ever hearing that explanation before..."

"What? Are you people incapable of understanding without any explanations?"

"Naturally. There was no motion 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."

This was like a boxing match. Chabashira sensei threw a  blow and Hirata would respond with a weak blow. No, to be more precise this was an argumentative beat down.

"An interesting argument, Hirata. I also don't remember explaining the rules about the points received at the beginning of each  month. However, haven't you guys learned not to talk in class and get to class on time since elementary school?"

"That is...."

"I'm sure you guys have learned. In the 9 years of compulsory education, they've always told you that such things are frowned upon. Talking in class and being late to class is bad. Also, did you say that you couldn't understand because I didnt explain it? That excuse doesn't fly. If you behaved as a student should, your points wouldnt have dropped to 0. It's your own self-responsibility."

Wow. I was struggling to hold back the laughter. This beat down turned into a massacre real quick. There was no flaw in Chabashira-sensei's argument.

"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?"

"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."

Seems like Hirata who was frustrated a moment ago quickly analysed the situation and was looking for solution. He truly had the required characteristics to be a leader.

"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 wont 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."

Well, she had given me a clue on how to rise to class A now. I just needed to probe her for more information now.

Suddenly, Sensei had a faint smile on her face.

Ara ara, sensei. What could you be planning now?

Truly a rare sight. She got me so interested I adorned a faint smile unconsciously.

"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 months allowance is also 0 points. Not being late or not talking to class wont help you get back up from the bottom. Keep that in mind - itll help you."

Oh? So that's it, huh?

"Tsu..."

Hirata seemed like he wanted to say something but didnt. His face looked terrible as if he were horrified by what he just heard. It seemed like she was trying to dampen their moods to make them feel like there was no point in straightening up their lifestyles.

The bell rang and it was the end of homeroom. I wanted to stretch,considering I had been waiting for that bell.

"Looks like we had too much idle chit-chat. Hopefully you understood. Anyway, lets move onto the main issue at hand."

She spread out the white poster that she brought in. She used a magnet to stick it to the board.

"Is this.... the result of each class?"

I glanced at Horikita who muttered that on a whim. I guessed she was probably right about that.

Class A - 940p

Class B - 650p

Class C - 490p

Class D - 0p

So 1000 points was 100,000 yen? There was something strange about the points though. The differences were too clean.

"For the first month, all of you have been doing as you please. Now, the school's saying that this is prohibited. Your actions, such as talking during class and being late to class, just affects the number of points you get. It's the same with how you use points. You have the freedom to use points how you want. We haven't restricted how you use your points."

"This isnt fair! We cant lead a normal school life like that!"

The stupid Ike screamed this. He had been so quiet I had forgotten about him. His other friends that formed the group know as the 'stupid trio' were also crying out.

"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 a month."

Yeeaaahhh, tell that to Kei

That girl managed to spend up all of her points yesterday. Even I was surprised. I'd warned her several times about it and she didnt listen to me. Oh well, I wonder how she'll survive one month without shopping.

"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 didnt 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 it. The oddity of the points. The difference was too clean.

"Did you guy finally understand? Why you were put in class D."

Again, sensei says something interesting.

"Eh? That's how ordinary classes work  you know?"

Everyone exchanged glances.

"In this school, all the students are divided into classes by merit. The best students are out in class A. The worst in class D. Well, it's a system that's found in major cram schools. In other words, class D is the collection of the leftovers. That also means that you are the worst students, the defective products of this school. This is really an outcome worthy of defective students."

Defective? Me? Defective? Pfft... Fufufu... truly, this is amazing.

I had no worries whatsoever. What this school called me didnt matter. I knew with all certainty I wasnt defective. I now understood perfectly well why I was in Class D. Why somebody of my level of academic prowess would be put in a class full of losers (no offense though). At least this made my road a bit easier. I've always felt that it's easier to move forward than to defend.

"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."

The first time this woman has applauded the students and the students receive it with horrified faces and stiff necks.

"After hitting 0 points, does that mean we will always stay at 0 points forever?"

How are there people who still dont get it?

"Yea. Your points will stay at 0 until graduation. However, be at ease, since you can still use your dorms, and there are free meals in the cafeteria. You wont die."

".... will we be made fun of by the other classes now?"

Sudou angrily kicked his desk, just like the short-tempered delinquent I thought he was. Well, I could sort of understand the reason for his anguish, but an outburst of his rage wouldn't change anything.

"What, you're still holding onto your pride, Sudou? 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."

Wait.... did she just give me the information I wanted? A key to class A? Now I didnt have to probe her anymore. But still, that would mean the whole class. And that wouldnt be easy.

Just like she said earlier, this is just like a company. So all we needed to do was to impress the company head so much we get a promotion with the prize being an amazing privilege and position. It was like a game where the salesman with the most sales would win an all expense paid trip to Hawaii, and right now Class A was enjoying that privilege. Wait, so what was that privilege other than points. Surely it wouldnt just be points. If that was the case we could just decide to stop moving after we've acquired an amount we're satisfied with.

Could it be...? Damn, this school is just gonna produce a ton of crying students at the end of it all, ain't it?

"All right, 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 class members were listed. Next to the names were numbers. I instantly understood what it was.

I could feel the eyes of some of the students on me, even Horikita. I tried to ignore them.

"From looking at these numbers, I came to understand that there are a lot of idiots in this class."

She glanced at the students.

"These are the scores from the test a few days back. Sensei was glad after seeing your wonderful performance. Seriously, what the hell did you guys study in middle school?"

My name was at the top of the list and beside it, was the number 100, as expected.  A few students scored 90 and most of the class scored below 60. The lowest was easily Sudou-kun with 14 points and after him was Ike. Cant say I was surprised.

"If this test was actually recorded, seven of you would already have to drop out of school. Good thing it wasnt, right?"

Oh, so that's what she meant.

"D-drop out? What do you mean?"

"Why? Did I not explain? 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 foolish and stupid."

"W-whaaaaaat?!"

Sensei drew a red line of seven people's names.

The 3 idiots were part and some others. There were 2 very strange incidents. First was how Ayanokoji had an average score. So he was holding back just like I had thought. Next was Airi. She had a really low score. I guess I would have to help her out.

I've come to realize that I would be sad if i Airi were to be expelled. I wonder if anybody would be sad if I were expelled.

"Dont fuck with me Sae-chan-sensei! Dont joke about dropping out of school!"

Seemed like somebody didnt want to accept reality instead of shutting his trap and accepting this saving grace.

"I'm also at a loss for words. It's the school's rules, so prepare for the worst."

"As the teacher said, there seem to be a lot of fools 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 read too!"

"Fu. Where are your eyes looking at, boy? Look carefully."

"H-huh? Hey, Koenji's name is... huh?"

Fufufu... so the arrogant brat had a reason for his arrogance. He truly is a superior to most.

With a score of 90 points, Koenji's name stood at the top as on of the students with high scores. I was impressed since it mean he managed to solve at least one of those tough questions. Truly praise worthy. I might have to confront him one day.

"I never thought that Sudou would be a stupid character like me ...!"

Ike said out loud with sarcasm in his tone. Ok now I was just outright bored with Ike. Not once could he shut his trap.

"Could you just shut up for once, Ike. Cant you even sense the mood? This isnt time for one of your lame jokes or sarcasm. Making unnecessary noise is pointless and stupid so please just stop talking and sit down."

In a rage I accidentally blurted out my thoughts. At this point I didnt care any more. I was just sick of hearing Ike talk.

I could feel the gazes of my classmates on me once again. Maybe I shouldn't have said that? Well too late to think about that now.

Ike just stared at me, speechless.

"Fu. Well said princess."

Koenji said. Wait. Was he talking to me? Princess? What a stupid name. I hope he refrained from calling me that.

"Yea Ike! Just keep quiet and read the mood."

"Yea yea!"

Soon after, many of the girls started supporting me. Even some of the boys joined in. I was surprised by how much power I had gotten.

Ike finally sat down. Hopefully he wouldnt talk again. I didnt want to hear his voice right now. Or any time for that matter.

"Quiet down. 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."

Wow, this woman was stone cold. The students had already stepped on a land mine, after which she fired an RPG on them. Now shes planning to drop a nuclear bomb. Did she want to see people cry?

"But... things aren't that easy in the world."

Here it comes.

"People like you guys, who are of a really low level, will probably have trouble getting into college or getting a job."

And there it was. She shattered their hopes.

"In other words, in order to make our dreams of getting a job or getting into college a reality, surpassing class C is probably a minimum."

Hirata said. A bit better than what I was guessing.

"That's also slightly incorrect, Hirata. Theres no way to achieve your dreams except for surpassing class A. The school doesn't guarantee anything for all the other students."

And there it was. She took the shattered pieces of their hopes and melted them. Truly a stone cold woman. I wonder how her boyfriend deals with her. Wait, does she have a boyfriend?

"T-that's.... that's something I never heard about! This is absurd!"

Yukimura-kun, a student who wore glasses stood up. He tied with Koenji, both of them being directly beneath me. Another student to watch out for, then. Not like I had anything to be scared of.

"How shameful. Theres nothing as pitiful as boys making a commotion and panicking. Didnt you hear from the Princess earlier? Making noise is just pointless and stupid."

There he went again. Calling me Princess without my permission.

".... 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!"

"Fu. That's nonsense. I cant even respond to that sheer stupidity. 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."

I expected this kind of response from Koenji. Well, I cant blame him for his sense of superiority. He clearly had everybody out matched when it came to physique and masculinity. Even in intelligence there would be few who could challenge him. And if he was holding back, dare I say he may be close to a white room student. I couldn't quite figure out why he was assigned to Class D. Maybe because of his personality? Class D did have a lot of weird people. Maybe that's how classes are grouped?

"However, I'm not looking to go to college or find a job somewhere after I graduate. Its 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."

A student who's future has already been settled had no reason to be serious in class.

"What about you, Tatsumaki-san?"

Yukimura turned his gaze to me. I really wished he would have just kept quiet and sat down. I guess I would have to say something now.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you feel cheated being placed in class D? With your score you are easily the best in our grade. Aren't you annoyed that you were placed in Class D?"

"Fufufufu..."

I accidentally laughed at his question.

"What's so funny?!"

"Sorry, your question was just so funny I couldn't help myself. Well, honestly I dont care that I was put in class D."

"Well said, Princess. Hahaha"

Koenji roared.

"What?!"

Yukimura was at a loss.

"Let me finish. I dont care that I was put in Class D. If they refuse to acknowledge me, then what's left to do other than to make them acknowledge me? To prove to them that I deserve to be in A. Simply put, I plan on rising to Class A. I dont plan on screaming or complaining like an idiot. I'll just quietly accept it then rise. That answer your question?"

I then fixed my gaze on Chabashira-sensei. I saw a faint smile on her face. I wonder why that was.

"You..."

"Looks like your happy mood has been dampened. If you guys understood the harsh environment you were put in from the start, we wouldnt have need for 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 of a capable person."

Closing the door  Chabashira-sensei walked out of the classroom.

I myself begun to think about what she had said earlier. Defective students. So amusing. Calling a white room product defective. Such an insult. At least I now fully  understood why I was sent to this school of all schools even though they couldn't monitor me. Not just anybody could graduate from class A. It would take an elite to do so.

Meaning, class A was a classroom of the elite. My goal was to reach class A. Therefore, this classroom I sat in, at this very moment. This, is the Classroom of the elite.