Chapter 4

I entered the lunchroom and scanned the area for my sister. I spotted her at a table that was filled with A-Class students and I made my way over. As I approached, a couple of A-class boys blocked my path.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I responded in jest.

"To sit down at this table."

Another boy chirped in.

"You're from D-Class, aren't you?"

"What's it to you?"

"I'm sorry, but D-Class students aren't allowed anywhere near A-Class. You're gonna have to leave."

A few more boys surround me. I then directed my attention at Yuki-chan.

"Yuki-chan, what's this about?"

"Not my idea, Brother. This just happened and I have no control over this."

Yet another A-Class student spoke up.

"'Brother'? How is a D-class student your brother?" 

He directed his attention toward me.

"Tell me D-Class, what trick did you pull on her? How are you, her, brother?" 

"I can't decide when and where I'll be born. This just happens, like me being in D-Class."

I responded sarcastically and pointed out the obvious, and he didn't take too kindly to that.

"You think you're worthy of A-Class? You can't even help your class out, so how would you benefit ours?"

That was a weird statement to say. I responded to dig more into that.

"'I can't help out in my class?' Can you explain that a little further?"

He smirks.

"Your class only has 10 value points while ours has 90. You were already at the bottom, but now you sank even further. It would be a miracle for you to even change your class' ranking, much less move to our class."

Well, he isn't entirely wrong: it would be a complicated process to improve my class' ranking, but not impossible.

"Yeah, I guess you are right. But if that was the case, then why are you stopping me from sitting down next to her?"

"What?"

The A-Class student had a confused look on her face

"If I'm such a non-threat, then why is my sitting next to her an issue?"

"That is because we don't know you."

A student came walking out from the crowd. He was short, fairly skinned, bob cut with glasses. 

"Think of it like this: a total stranger to us, especially someone from a rival class, comes up to one of our classmates. It's smart for us to be wary. Even if you do know her, that makes this situation more concerning for us because you could use her to get our class's information. With that in mind, can you see why we are hesitant to let you sit with her?"

Well, his logic is sound. If I was put in the same situation, then I would have probably acted the same way.

"I get that. If I were in your shoes, then I would act the same way as you are now, but I can assure you that I just want to eat with my sister."

He continued to look at me. He then spoke loudly, like he was addressing the crowd.

"Guys, I think I got it from here. You can leave us three alone."

An A-Class student began questioning him.

"But Hitoshi-kun, are you sure that's smart?"

"It'll be fine. With me around, I don't think anything bad will happen."

He nodded and the rest of the students left. Then the three of us sat down and he began talking.

"Now that we are more or less alone, let's get down to business. You want to get to A-

Class, right?"

My expression slightly changed to both a confused and concerned look.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you say that she is your sister. With that in mind, plus the fact that this school is based on a type of hierarchy, it's normal for anyone to try to get to A-Class, especially someone like you."

From that response, I can tell that this guy is pretty observant. I don't think pretending that's not my goal is the smartest move right now.

"Okay, you got me. That is what I'm aiming towards. I do want to be in the same class as my sister."

"I see. In that case, I don't have a problem with that, necessarily."

"Necessarily?"

"Well, you weren't put in D-Class for no reason. At face value, that means that you have certain characteristics that could be a potential hindrance to the overall class ability. But, that alone isn't the deciding factor for me."

"Deciding factor? Mind explaining that further?"

"Well, you two are related, and logically, you would roughly have the same skills as each other. Can I ask, did you try and get your class to conserve their points?"

How did…Wait. Yuki-chan must've warned her class about the point system. This also means that she came to the same conclusion I did, even though I didn't mention that to her. I then asked the boy about it, to gauge his response. 

"How do you know all of that?"

"Both of you have the same last names, but interestingly enough, your facial structure isn't similar at all. Based on that, I can assume that you two are step-siblings."

This guy is something else. Not only did he effortlessly dodge the question, he asked another more pressing one. I can see why someone like him is in A-Class.

"Yeah, we are. Well, not exactly. We are cousins, so we aren't technically blood-related, but we grew up like siblings."

"Cousins? Well, I guess that's plausible. Anyway, I promise that I'll keep that to myself, and I'll talk to my class about not harassing you two at lunch. But remember this, we are in rival classes, so that's as far as I'll go to help you. Well, take care now."

He gets up and leaves the table.

"Oh, one more thing."

He turns around.

"Don't get any bright ideas about bringing your class to A-Class."

"And why do you say that?"

"I'll see through any plan you set in motion. After all, I am a genius."

With that, he turns around and leaves. Yuki-chan then turns to me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect him to say that."

"It's fine. He isn't wrong though: we are in different classes and the chance of us colluding is pretty high." 

"I guess, but we won't do that. But, if you beg, I might-"

"Not happening. That, and us colluding. While we are here, we should play by the rules."

Yuki-chan started to pout.

"I guess. I really wanted to see you beg though."

"I know you probably did want to see that, but my pride won't allow me to stoop that low."

That A-Class student though. The fact that he could tell we weren't related means that his perception skills are top-notch. But, from what I can gather, he won't be a major threat, but his presence is still concerning. If I could get on his good side, then maybe he could help me transfer to A-Class with Yuki-chan. 

After a minute, Yoshikawa-kun came up to me.

"Hey, you're Tetsuo Fukushima, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. You're…Yoshikawa-kun, right?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you remembered."

"Well, you are in my class, so it's not that hard to forget."

Yoshikawa-kun chuckled.

"Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm eating with my sister right now, so I can't."

Yuki-chan turns to me.

"Brother, I'll be fine. It might be class-related, so It'll be wise for you to at least get along with them."

I looked at Yuki-chan, and then at Yoshikawa-kun.

"It's okay if you can't. I just figured…"

"It's fine. Let's talk over here."

I get up and face Yuki-chan.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes, Brother."

"Okay. If you get into trouble, call me immediately."

I walked with Yoshikawa-kun toward the first-year classrooms.

"You are a very caring brother. I wish I had something like that."

"What did you want to talk about?" 

I cut him off before he could continue that conversation.

"As I'm sure you heard, our class only has 10 Class Points. We are falling way behind the other classes and we need those points to gain Personal Points to be able to buy the necessities."

"Yes, I know. I'm pretty sure I was the one who pointed it out to the entire class."

He smirks.

"Well, what I'm sure you didn't hear is that we can gain more Class Points. The earliest way is during the upcoming Midterm in a month or so. If the class scores well enough, then we'll be able to earn some points."

That sounds a lot like the book that I read before coming to this school. The concept is pretty much the same. 

"Where did you hear that from?"

"I asked our teacher after class, and that is what she said."

"Well, thank you for telling me, but if it was just that, then you could have waited till the end of the day to tell me, so what's the real reason for you coming to me?"

I knew that a normal person would've waited till the end of the day if they had to say that, so I wanted to know what his true intentions were.

"To be honest, I would like to enlist your help with our study group."

There it is. I knew that there was something else.

"A study group? Why do you need my help?"

"Well, our teacher showed us the results of our last quiz, and you were placed in the top 10 of students. That, plus the fact that the other students who scored high are trying to help the bottom 30 with their studying. Our group is a bit underhanded, so I thought that I could ask you to help tutor them."

This was a complicated ask for me. If I were to accept, then that would mean I would have even less time to look after my sister and make sure that she is safe. On the other hand, if the class fails and we start losing Class Points, or not gaining any, then the amount of Personal Points I am receiving won't increase as well, and I wouldn't be able to transfer to my sister's class. Damn, this wasn't an easy choice. Do I give up short-term concerns for long-term results? Eventually, I responded.

"What time do you think these study sessions would be if I were to come and help out?"

I wanted to see if I even had the time to show up.

"Well, we were thinking around 5 pm after school today, and then we'll work out the specifics after we get the session down and organized."

5 pm could work.

"Okay, let me talk with my sister real quick."

"Of course."

I took my phone out of my pocket and called her. The phone rang a couple of times before she picked it up. 

"Hey, Yuki-chan."

"Are you going to help out your class?"

She seemed to already know my attention based on the tone of her voice.

"I'm going to see if I can help him, but I need a favor from you."

"You want me to stay in my room until whatever you have to do is done, right? Is that what you were going to say?"

"You know, I don't like when you try to predict what I'm going to do. It gets creepy sometimes."

"I'm sorry."

"You are right though. So, are you going to be able to do that?"

"You're lucky I don't have anything planned today, so I'll do it just for you."

"Okay, I'll pick you up to drop you off at your dorm after school, okay?"

"Sure thing, Brother."

I hung up the phone and Yoshikawa turned to face me.

"So, can you help out?"

"I'm going to walk my sister to her dorm after school today, then I'll meet up with you."

"Great. We were planning on going to the library. Here is my number in case something comes up."

He handed me his contact information and continued to walk away. 

"So, that's how I get someone's number. Well, first time for everything I guess."