Chapter 085: Sue, Sue, I’m Taking This to the Student Council! (Part 2) part 2

Hirata Yosuke also scored 51 in all subjects.

Matsushita Chiaki scored 70 in all subjects.

Kushida Kikyo got 51 in math, but scored over 90 in other subjects.

These students were all circled by Chabashira Sae.

"If you're lowering your scores on purpose just to avoid failing for a few students, it's meaningless. Your school rank is your own."

Chabashira Sae summed it up.

Here, failing is defined as scoring less than half of the class average.

Each test is out of 100 points. No matter how well you do, the passing score won't go below 50.

So if someone does badly on purpose to lower the average and help weaker students pass, they'd score just 51 points.

You could say that students like Ayanokouji and even Hirata made efforts for the weaker students.

And Kushida took the safest route with 51 points in math.

The lowest math scores were from Sudou with 36 points, and Ike Kanji with 35 points.

The average score for math was 66 points, so the passing score was 33.

That's very risky.

But because some students purposely lowered their scores, they helped others who didn't focus much at first but later did well, raising the passing score and preventing failures.

You could call it a kind of self-sacrifice.

It works as a safety net, but—

It also means that students who could have scored high ended up with lower scores, which lowered the total reward points the class got.

"This time, your class reward points are 90."

Chabashira said.

"Yay~"

The students cheered immediately, even though Chabashira-sensei scolded them, the result was still worth celebrating.

"90 points means you get 9,000 yen for living expenses. It's not much, but you have 300 points to spend per day."

Ike spoke up.

"That's not all."

"You also kept an eye on the shop staff this month and reported problems, earning an extra 10 class reward points."

Chabashira-sensei said.

"Why only 10 points?"

Some students complained.

"10 points is already good. Even though you caught the bad guys, the school wants you to focus your energy on competing with other classes."

Chabashira said.

"Why is it like this—"

The students had some complaints.

"And then—"

At that moment, Chabashira Sae took back the printed score sheets and wrote the class evaluation scores for each class on the blackboard.

Class A: 1074 points.

Class B: 835 points.

Class C: 660 points.

Class D: 100 points.

In other words,

"You're still at the bottom."

"Because all the other classes got the highest rewards."

"A class evaluation score of 100 points."

"They didn't have any dropouts, and they didn't even need the so-called protection measures."

Chabashira said.

"Why is it like this—"

Obviously, the mood in Class D, which had just started to brighten up, was suddenly crushed.

...

The same test results were announced in the other classes as well.

The teachers wrote the class evaluation scores for all four classes—A, B, C, and D—on the board in each classroom.

First-year Class A: 1074 points.

As soon as Sensei wrote down the score, the students in Class A cheered.

"Looks like our class really has no problems."

Katsuragi Kohei, sitting by the window, said.

"Yes."

Next to him sat a small, delicate girl with silver-white hair, clear pale skin, and neat features. She was so cute it almost felt unreal—this was Sakayanagi Arisu, like a girl from another world.

On the edge of the desk was a black cane, showing she was probably not in good health. She looked fragile and made people want to protect her.

But Katsuragi knew very well she wasn't as fragile as she looked.

Because the moment the exam papers were handed out this time, it was clear how far-sighted Sakayanagi really was.

The questions on the test were based on the current textbook's material, which meant a maximum score of 70 points. For everyone else in the class, 70 points was the highest possible score, and getting a perfect score was basically impossible.

There were 40 people taking the test.

But Sakayanagi included material from earlier textbooks.

This meant that if everyone mastered those extra points, a 100-point test was possible.

Getting an average score of 70 would then be an easy task.

Sensei Majima continued writing.

First-year Class B: 835 points.

Uh...

835 points. But last time, the score was 735.

That means in this exam, the first-year Class B—Ryuen's class—also got the full 100-point class performance bonus.

But still—

Class A's students earned their score through hard work and study. What about Class B?

It's true.

Their class did bring in students from Ichinose's class to help teach, and that probably helped them improve. But getting an average score of 70 per student? That's almost impossible.

Mashima-sensei kept writing.

First-year Class C: 660 points.

Class C's previous score was 560.

So that means Ichinose's class also got the full 100-point bonus. Her class must've really worked hard—not only learning their own material, but even reviewing past materials too.

And then they even helped tutor Ryuen's class.

Katsuragi stayed calm.

Mashima-sensei kept writing.

Now it was time for Class D.

"I think the class we really need to watch out for is Class B."

He said this to Sakayanagi Arisu, hoping she wouldn't become an enemy. This time, both factions in Class A had worked together and earned the top reward. That was the right move.

The class shouldn't be divided.

"This time, even Class B got the top reward."

"I think they must have figured something out."

Katsuragi said.

And then—

"No way!"

The students in Class A started to stir.

Katsuragi quickly looked over.

First-year Class D: 100 points.

Yeah.

Homeroom teacher Mashima wrote "100 points" on the board.

But Katsuragi had a headache now. Or more like, he was really troubled.

"Why?!"

He almost stood up without thinking.

Because—

Looking at the scores now, compared to the updates on the board from last time—

All four first-year classes, A, B, C, and D, had scored 100 points.

But in his class, they had earned that result through real effort. His classmates had studied hard and even learned the materials Sakayanagi had given them from past years.

They had earned their score fair and square.

But now—

The other classes also got the full score reward.

Why?!

"I'm not surprised by the results,"

A blond-haired boy suddenly stood up.

It was Hashimoto Masayoshi.

The guy in class who was best at gathering info and following people.

"I just shared the info in the group chat," he said.

"I'm guessing the other classes probably did the same thing."

After saying that, Hashimoto sat back down.

Everyone looked down at their phones. Soon, they saw the photo Hashimoto had posted.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

Voices of shock filled the room.

…

Later that night, the student council gathered after the scores were announced.

Since it was an official school day, the student council members were back at work.

From the president to the vice president, even Kushida—who was doing small tasks—was there.

Nagumo Miyabi looked over at Shirogane with a bit of envy.

It had only been a month, but the new member Kushida was already working. What's more, she had been assigned to Shirogane's team. Normally, helpers just filled in wherever they were needed. But now, she was basically Shirogane's personal assistant.

And right now, the two of them were even sitting together, working on documents.

They sure seemed close.

Even though student council work wasn't that hard, and Nagumo also had someone helping him, let's be honest—teaming up with a girl just felt better.

Instead of being stuck with Kiriyama all the time.

Nagumo actually didn't mind the arrangement. Sure, Kiriyama was on his side, but Horikita Manabu didn't know that. And it seemed like Horikita hadn't given up on Kiriyama yet either. So, in the student council, Nagumo and Kiriyama had to act like they weren't getting along. Sometimes, Kiriyama would even mess up on purpose to make it look real.

Just to make it seem like they were on opposite sides.

So, really, Nagumo had it harder.

But still—

"Shirogane, you joined the student council after updating the first-year scores, right? I heard all four of your classes got full marks."

Nagumo Miyabi said.

"Except for Class D, which got 90. They earned the last 10 points by reporting a shop employee for breaking the rules."

"But the other classes all got the full 100 points."

Shirogane corrected him.

"Actually, the second- and third-year class points were updated too, and they also got the full 100. So what's strange about us first-years doing the same?"

"Oh. No, nothing at all."

Nagumo replied lightly, like it was no big deal.

But that's not the case.

Deep down, he thought this was kind of ridiculous.

It made sense for the second and third years to get the highest rewards. Those tests were standard, and the older students already knew how to deal with them.

So it wasn't strange for them to score high.

But how did the first-year students all get such good scores too?

Even though Class D only got 90 points, the fact that they still got rewarded for it was just unbelievable.

In other words…

Aside from the test papers he gave to Ichinose's class, the other first-year classes must have also figured out they could get the tests from the upperclassmen.

Which means…