---Notice---
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"The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different." ~Peter Drucker
-April 30th-
It was early in the morning, so of course, I was curled up in the corner of my bed, staring at my phone. The time was 06:30 time to prepare for classes, so I leaped off my bed and stripped off my clothes to enter the shower. The time was 07:00 exactly when I got out and put on my school uniform. I opened my fridge and searched for something to eat. I found a slice of strawberry cake from the Pallet cafe and slowly ate it, savoring every bite.
The time was 07:45. It was time to leave, so I exited my dorm and walked towards the elevator. However, someone stopped the elevator before it could move. "Good morning, Ayanokoji," I said.
He says, "Good morning," and steps into the elevator casually.
"Tomorrow is March first. The system will show its harshness then. How many points do you anticipate, Ayanokoji?" I ask him.
Ayanokoji exited the elevator, and I followed him. I observe him closely. He is one of the most challenging students to read among all I have encountered in this school. He responded, "I'm not sure," and paused. He is still thinking. "About a quarter of the students in our class are following the rules, so I estimate that's how many points we'll receive." He speaks with a relaxed tone.
I say, "I'm not sure if that would be fair. Fairness is a complicated concept to define." I notice Ayanokoji's attention shift slightly towards me, "People often misinterpret the reality of what is fair."
Ayanokoji and I walked the rest of the way towards class in silence.
I walk towards my seat and see Kikyo. I say, "Good morning, Kikyo Chan," and receive some unpleasant looks.
She greets me with a bright smile and says, "Good morning, Eru Chan!"
"Kushida, are you sure this is acceptable? Eru is clearly a questionable guy and may be coercing you in some way." Onohara inquired, her voice laced with concern. "You can confide in us, Kushida. If he is threatening you, we will help you expose him."
"Yeah, kushida, is something wrong?" Onodera also asks Kushida also, worried.
Ike says, "Kushida, if it's true, don't worry! I'll definitely kick that bastard's ass for you!" He acts like some kind of hero for Kushida.
I have observed this pattern frequently when conversing with Kushida. It is evident that I do not fit into the conventional norms of high school society.
She smiles sweetly and says, "No, no, guys, don't worry, I've already explained it to you; it's not like that at all." I put a lollipop in my mouth and prepared to listen to her speech, but the bell interrupted her, and Chabashira sensei entered the class.
She says, "Enough! I want silence, now!" She walks towards her desk with a stern expression. I wonder if she is going to announce something important.
She says, "It's the end of the month, so you have to take a short test." She takes some papers from a cabinet on her desk and tells the students to distribute them.
I received the test and scanned it quickly. It has 20 questions in four sections. I wonder if there is a hidden motive behind this sudden test.
She notices the students' anxiety as they look at the test. She says, "Don't panic. This test is just for reference. It won't affect your grades; there is no risk, so relax. But don't even think about cheating."
I look at the test with no interest. I recall Chabashira's words: no risk and for reference.
Once I had calculated the risks and benefits of scoring a perfect score on the test, I answered the questions quickly, handed in my paper to Chabashira, and said, "I'm done." None of my classmates seemed surprised or impressed. They had already accepted me as one of the top students in Class D.
She asked me, "Are you sure?" and took my paper. I nod and crouch back down onto my seat inconspicuously.
She starts grading my test quickly. Soon, the bell rings, and the test ends.
***
I get a chocolate cake and some coffee for lunch. I walk towards Ayanokoji and the idiot trio of our class. I ask, "May I join you?"
"Sure thing, buddy!" Yamauchi says with a grin and scoots over.
As soon as I started to eat, I noticed the trio staring at me. I wonder what they are thinking. Do they want some of my cake? I decide to ask them, with a piece of cake still in my mouth. "What is it?" I say, not bothering to swallow.
"Hey, Eru, you're not going out with Kushida, are you?" Ike asks me with a fake smile. The trio is eyeing me like hawks, and even Ayanokoji sneaks peeks at me, but he is not as crazy as these guys.
"Of course not," I say, taking another bite of cake. I notice the three guys still staring at me with suspicion, "I just talk to her because she's my desk neighbor. She's friendly with everyone, is she not?"
Ike groans. "Yeah, yeah, I get it; you're just friends with her. Lucky bastard, sitting next to her all the time. Why can't she let me call her Kikyo-chan? She's so cute and sweet." Ike, a true degenerate. "Ayanokoji said the same thing about Horikita, except the being friendly part."
The trio kept on talking about their fantasies, oblivious to the reality around them. Ayanokoji and I exchanged a glance. I wondered if he regretted his choice of seat as I did.
"Man, that's too bad. We can only dream of being with those hotties," Yamauchi says, glancing at me and my cake. "Hey, Eru, how can you afford to buy such expensive food from the school? How many points do you have left? You're not hiding something from us, are you?"
I glance at Ayanokoji, hoping he would help me out of this situation, but he quickly looks away. That is what I get for calling him a scammer. "About 140,000," I say, telling the truth. Ayanokoji should have an idea of my point count.
"What the hell? How?" Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudou shout at me in disbelief.
"I exchanged some information with the classmates, but that's all I can tell you," I say, noticing the trio's eager eyes, "Do not expect me to share any of my points with you. You're on your own." I say, dismissing their hopes.
"Man, this sucks. I'm almost broke; I only have 2,000 points left. But hey, at least we'll get a few more tomorrow, right?" Yamauchi says, looking at his phone.
These three have little to no points left, and neither do the rest of the class, I would presume. They are not patient or sensible enough to save them. That is not a bad thing, though. It means the plan to reform the class is on track to succeed.
***
The bell rang, indicating the end of the class and the school day.
"Hey, Eru-chan, do you want to join me and some friends for some fun?" Kushida asks me with a bright smile. I don't answer, mostly uninterested. "Please, Eru-chan, it'll be fun, I promise. Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and even Ayanokoji-kun are coming too," she says in a sweet-sounding voice.
"That is not a very persuasive argument," I say, recalling the unpleasant lunch I had with them earlier, "is there anyone else going."
Kushida pouts. "No one else you'd be interested in," she says, tapping her chin. "Just Mori-san, Matsushita-san, Karuizawa-san, and Hirata-kun. But if you don't want to come, I can't force you-"
"Hirata is coming too?" I ask, and Kushida nods. I think momentarily, then say, "I'll come." I'm curious about Hirata after our phone conversation. He's a fascinating individual, just like Kushida, her strange interest in Horikita and the Horikitas themselves.
Soon, I exited the class with Kushida, and we met up with Karuizawa, Hirata, Mori, and Matsushita.
Hirata smiles when he sees me. "Oh, Eru, you're here too. I'm glad you came. You don't usually hang out with us, do you?" he says sincerely; on the other hand, Karuizawa is looking at me with a cold stare. She doesn't like me, or essentially anyone else for that matter. "It's good to have you with us, Eru. We're all classmates, after all."
Finally, we joined up with Ayanokoji, Ike, and Yamauchi. The latter two look displeased by my and Hirata's presence as we gather together.
"Hey, Hirata, I gotta ask you something, man. Is it true that you and Karuizawa are going out?" Ike asks Hirata. I was curious but for different reasons. It's not easy to start a relationship in such a short time, and Hirata doesn't seem like the kind of person who would date someone like Karuizawa, so my eyes locked in on him, preparing for his response.
"Uh? Haha, where did you hear that?" Hirata asks, laughing nervously. He's embarrassed by the question. Is he embarrassed because he wanted to keep his relationship secret? Or could it possibly be he just doesn't want to admit his relationship with Karuizawa? But why?
Karuizawa grabs Hirata's arm before he can say anything else. "Oh, you guys heard the rumors, huh? Well, they're true. We're dating," she says, smiling brightly. But the whole situation looks fake, and Hirata is everything but comfortable in his current position. I can tell he's not used to this with her. I smile as I watch them, intrigued by their supposed relationship. Very intriguing, indeed. I'm glad I came along.
Kushida notices my expression and gaze on Hirata and Karuizawa but does not seem to comprehend why I'm interested in them.
"Hey, freak," Karuizawa says, letting go of Hirata and glaring at me. "Quit staring at us like that. You're grossing me out." She snaps at me.
"I apologize. I don't get much due to my insomnia, so I sometimes lose focus," I say, hiding my grin.
"Your insomnia sounds really bad, Eru. What do you do at night when you can't sleep? Don't you get lonely or bored?" Hirata asks me, sounding concerned he's more relaxed now that he's away from Karuizawa.
"Being alone doesn't bother me. I usually just watch the clock at night," I say. "But sometimes I go out for a walk and buy some snacks from the vending machines," I say, accidentally worrying him more, but luckily Ike is incapable of reading a room.
"Hey Kushida, what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No, I'm not dating anyone yet," she replied with a sweet smile.
As the day went by, I came to the conclusion that I had made a poor decision in accompanying Kushida and the others. It was a waste of time. However, I did not regret it entirely, as I witnessed something that caught my interest with Hirata and Karuizawa.
***
It was May 1st, the beginning of a new month. As soon as I woke up, I checked my phone and saw that I had received a deposit of 10,000 points from the school, bringing my total to 147,200 points. "What a specific number," I muttered to myself, staring at the screen. I was not familiar with the details of the system that distributed the points, so perhaps there was some logic behind it.
"Eru-chan!" Kushida greeted me cheerfully as I left the dorm building. "You always go to class so early, don't you? But that's good, you're very consistent." She said this more to herself than to me, as if she was making a mental note of something. She then started to walk beside me.
I reached for some candy to satisfy my sweet tooth as we walked, and I inquired, "Is there a particular reason for this? It is strange for you to wait for me so early."
Do you want me to?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. "I wouldn't mind leaving a little early to walk with you, Eru-chan." She continued, noticing my brief glance at her. "It's nothing, really, I just wanted to spend some time with you since you were on my mind because of today's date. By the way, did you get your points for this month?"
"Yes, I have received them. Is there a reason for your inquiry?"
"Really?" she exclaimed, surprised. "Well, I haven't gotten my points yet; I guess it must be some kind of error. How many did you get?"
"Only 10,000," I answered her honestly.
"I see; that's not a lot," she said with a fake sigh, pretending to be sad. "I don't know how I'm going to survive this month." She told me in a pitiful voice.
"I have no intention of sharing my points with you," I inform her bluntly.
Kushida chuckled at my swift reply and hooked her arm with mine, "I suppose that ruins my master plan," She said jokingly. She was remarkably adept at putting on a facade, and it was almost frightening. Why did she act like this? What was her true self like? I had only caught brief glimpses of it, but I was curious to see the whole picture.
After finishing that thought, Kushida and I reached the classroom, where many of our classmates asked us the same question about whether we had received any points. I gave them the same answer as I gave Kushida that I had only received 10,000 points from the school. As I was explaining this, the bell rang, and Chabashira-sensei entered the class.