Chapter 48: Class C and Class D Dispute
June passed in a flash, and the time quickly turned to July 1st.
On the morning of July 1st, Mashima-sensei entered the Class A classroom as the bell for the morning assembly rang.
"Mashima-sensei, has something happened? I checked my balance this morning, but this month's private points haven't been transferred yet," a boy named Matoba Shinji raised his hand and asked.
"I'll explain that in a moment. First, I'll announce the class evaluation points for all first-year classes."
Saying this, Mashima-sensei unfolded the paper in his hand on the blackboard and revealed the changes in the class evaluation points, starting with Class A: "Class A is 1040 points, Class B is 663 points, Class C is 492 points, and Class D is 87 points."
In fact, after the midterm exam, all classes' class evaluation points had increased compared to May. Class A had even reached 1090 points, slightly exceeding their points at the time of enrollment.
According to Mashima-sensei, this was a reward given to the first-year students who endured the midterm exam, with a minimum of 100 points distributed to each class. Class A, with over half of its students achieving full marks in all five subjects, received 150 class evaluation points.
However, in June, the Class C students adopted the strategy Sakayanagi had proposed at the beginning of the school year, which was to actively provoke other classes.
It seemed they mainly targeted Class A and Class B, as Class D had already lost all their points in the first month and wasn't worth the effort.
They used verbal insults and abuse, walked with water cups and pretended to accidentally fall, drenching people, and deliberately embarrassed people to take photos of their embarrassing moments—in short, they went as far as they could to be annoying.
Although the incidents were excessive, the troublemakers wouldn't be expelled for just these things. At most, they would have class evaluation points deducted and be suspended for a week.
While Class A defended itself well, they still lost some points. Surprisingly, Class B, despite being the victims, lost nearly the same amount of points as the Class C instigators due to the latter's relentless harassment.
It must be said that Ryuen's tactic was quite effective.
After announcing the class evaluation points, Mashima-sensei calmly explained: "There was a dispute this time, so the first-year points will be distributed a little later. I apologize to you all, but please wait a little longer."
"A dispute? Is it related to someone in our class?" Katsuragi, concerned about the class, rubbed his hairless head and asked with a heavy voice.
"The school is still investigating the specific details, but this incident should not involve Class A."
Hearing Mashima-sensei's answer, the Class A students relaxed. Seeing that there were no other questions, Mashima-sensei picked up his textbook and began teaching the day's lesson.
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July 2nd, Advanced Nurturing High School. Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High. Sensation: Hot.
Hikigaya walked along the tree-lined path leading to the school. The midsummer sun pouring down from above was both glaring and hot. With every step he took, he felt his body cry out in protest, and he was close to breaking out in a full sweat all over.
Standing in the cool shade of the trees, Hikigaya softly let out a sigh of relief.
'Right now, even if the end of the world was closing in behind me, I probably wouldn't run.'
Just then, an energetic student jogged past Hikigaya.
'Good grief, running to school in such hot weather. Is this person out of their mind?'
"Good morning, Hikigaya-kun." The archangel of Class B, Ichinose, smiled and greeted Hikigaya.
'Oh my, such a lively and cheerful voice, full of youthful vigor. It turns out to be Ichinose-san.'
"...Good morning." Hikigaya's voice lacked conviction because he had just badmouthed her in his head.
"Hikigaya-kun, were you exercising?" Not noticing Hikigaya's abnormality, Ichinose asked, a little curiously: "You seem to be sweating a lot."
Hikigaya could tell that Ichinose-san was simply curious and had no other meaning. But her words still reminded him of the time in middle school when a girl in his class sprayed him with antiperspirant from a distance.
He would never forget that one day, just before summer break, after P.E. class, Soga-kun in the queue next to him quietly—never mind. Let's not bring that up. It feels like my mood is already turning sour.
"Uh, well... because I'm still young, I'm just very well-hydrated. I'm not an amphibian or anything..." Hikigaya returned to the present. Looking at Ichinose, who was staring at him, he stammered out an excuse.
'That's right. Although I embody a mixture of decay, loneliness, and loserdom, I am not a sad frog!'
"Hikigaya-kun, you're very funny," Ichinose smiled gently, pulling a few tissues from her uniform pocket: "If you don't mind, use these tissues to wipe your sweat."
"...Thank you." Hikigaya carefully took the tissues, making sure his sweaty hand didn't touch Ichinose-san's smooth skin.
"Well, Hikigaya-kun, I'll be going now. See you later at school."
"Oh, oh."
Ichinose waved goodbye to Hikigaya, then ran towards the school with youthful steps.
The stuffy air occupied every corner of the school building. The stairwell during the morning rush hour was crowded with people, and the irritation index was skyrocketing.
The phrase "solitary figure" suggests being in a dark corner, but once you become a master of loneliness like me, you instead act openly. Because of this, my surroundings are like the eye of a typhoon, creating a dead zone within the school.
It must be tough for people with many friends to be surrounded by 36-degree Celsius-hot protein in this stuffy weather. Solitary people, on the other hand, can enjoy a well-ventilated, comfortable, and pleasant campus life all year round.
Hikigaya arrived at his seat, sat down, rested his chin on one hand, and looked out at the cloudless, clear sky.
"Attention, everyone. I have something to inform you about today. A small dispute occurred at school a few days ago—Class D's Sudo seems to have gotten into a conflict with some Class C students. In short, they had a fight." Mashima-sensei walked to the podium and openly announced the details of the fight between Class D's Sudo and the Class C students, including the fact that Sudo would be suspended and the class points would be deducted based on the degree of responsibility.
His words were completely unbiased, delivered from the school's neutral stance.
"I see. So this is why the distribution of private points was delayed... In that case, why hasn't a conclusion been reached yet?" Yukinoshita asked.
"The complaint was filed by Class C, stating that they were unilaterally assaulted. However, when the school sought to confirm the truth, the Class D party, Sudo, claimed this was not true. According to him, he did not seek out trouble; rather, the Class C students called him out and initiated the fight."
Hearing this, the Class A students lowered their eyes. In their view, since it didn't concern them, they didn't care what happened between the lower classes.
"Because Sudo pleaded his innocence and claimed there was a witness, the conclusion has been temporarily postponed as the truth is currently unclear.
Depending on which side is at fault, the treatment and countermeasures will change significantly. If any student witnessed the fight or has relevant evidence, they can receive a reward by providing it to the school." Mashima-sensei finished the announcement as required by the school, posted the relevant information on the classroom bulletin board, and quickly left the classroom.
Since the dispute between Class C and Class D was completely irrelevant to Class A, even Sakayanagi, who usually enjoyed causing trouble, showed a lack of interest. Rather than focusing on such uninteresting matters, she preferred to chat with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita to learn more about the two of them.
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