I got up early in the morning, changed into comfortable clothes, and went to a park to run.
After warming up a little, leaving my room after locking it, and keeping the key in my pocket, I used the stairs to get down and out of the dorm building. I started and finished my workout in an hour.
I went back to my dorm, unlocked the door, and started cooking food for breakfast as well as something to put in my lunch box. Eggs for breakfast, and omurice with some spices, I cooked my bento. After everything was done, I took a bath. It is an old habit to take 2 baths a day.
Afterwards, I packed my schoolbag and went to school. Then, remembering I have to change, rushed back in, changed into my uniform, and then went out.
If I were to reach the school campus, and they were to deny me access to go to class. Ahh! I would have died of embarrassment. Thank me for paying attention.
After I reached the classroom, I decided to invest in Ichinose. If Ichinose were not here, then I would have thought of warning the class about the possibility of the school using private points to discipline students. But, since Ichinose is present, I believe that she would be an ideal leader for this class, and thus, the best to talk to the class about it.
But then, I thought of the fact that if this school judges students based on proficiency, then does that mean that A, B, C, and D mean something more than just simple representations?
For that, I would have to scout. So, before homeroom could start, I got up from my seat.
"Where are you going?" The voice was unfamiliar to me. I turned around to see Kanzaki, a key name I noticed in the people who introduced themselves.
"If you are curious, just come with me. I think you would want to hear this as well."
He understood my tone instantly, and we left together. It feels good to talk to someone competent after all!
"What is it?" He asked.
"I was going to ask Ichinose to ask everyone to consider the possibility that we might not get the same private points next month," I said.
"You thought of... W-Wait a minute. Does she know about this?"
"She did talk to me about this yesterday."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"Yesterday, when?"
"In the evening, at the mall."
"Why were you there with her at the mall?"
"Coincidence."
I take it back, he is also a high-school boy.
"What I called you here for is to confirm something."
"Confirm what?"
"Confirm whether A, B, C, and D mean something more than just class labels? Like ranks..."
"Why would you think that?"
"'The school judges students based on proficiency,' but judging against whom? Is there anyone else other than the other classes?"
"What does this have to do with Ichinose warning classmates? Wait, you think..."
"Yes, if this were to spread around, then our class might lose an advantage."
Kanzaki seemed to think, then said: "So you want to scout other classes to see how things go around there."
"More like, their sense of discipline and confidence..."
"Why not just discipline?" Kanzaki asked, puzzled.
"Discipline can also come in front of a tyrant. Discipline is self-honed when there is no external threat."
"Ok. Let's go."
"Go where? Homeroom is gonna start, you know!", we suddenly heard a feminine voice behind us.
I said, "Hoshinomiya-sensei, please don't jump on us like that."
"You guys were asking for it." She teased, then quickly regained her composure. "Just come to school early tommorow to scout around."
I guess the teachers at this school are no joke. They just make it seem like they do not notice things. Ah! Scary...
"Ok, sensei!", I said, as I got back into the classroom. Feeling slightly deflated of not noticing her. My skills are going numb, it seems.
After a few classes, the lunch break started. I pulled out my bento from my bag, and as I started to dig in, Kanzaki asked, "Why do you have a bento. And homemade at that?"
I sighed, then said, "I am low on points."
"How much?"
"Only 6550 points."
"For someone who can deduce so much from so little, you sure seem to have a splurging habit." Kanzaki mocked.
"It's not my fault. After all, starting a new life needs money."
"As long as you can put yourself to sleep."
"Arggh!", I moaned in frustration.
I packed my lunch back... Since Ichinose is busy, I might as well leave with Kanzaki for the cafeteria for now.
"Are you not going to eat it?" Kanzaki said.
"I will just eat in the cafeteria."
"Why? You gonna share?"
"Because you can also buy yours, and we can talk whilst eating. Wait, I get it. You are purposefully playing dumb, aren't you? You scumbag!"
"Took you long enough." He said as he led the way to the cafeteria.
"As the rumours are circulating among the girls, there are 2 scums in class D that shine a lot. Ike and Yamauchi, if I heard correctly."
"Is that so?" Kanzaki asked.
"Yes, and in class C, the person in discussion is Ryuen, a former delinquent."
"What does that information mean?"
"It means that it is highly possible that... (whispering in his ear ->) that A, B, C, and D mean something in terms of leaderboards". Then, after I moved away from his ear, I continued: "I will not deny the need to confirm this. I would like you to keep this in mind."
"Okay, got it."
After taking a seat and discussing the specifics of our plan, it was laid out as such. We would shift the environment of class B so that being an ideal student in terms of discipline and attention will become normal... For that, Ichinose will need to be convinced to act as if she feels hurt whenever someone does something disrespectful to the teachers.
After this, I went back to class with Kanzaki, and on the way to the class, we exchanged contact details. He will come in handy.
As such, Kanzaki and Ichinose are my very first investments in this school.
x-x-x
My next investment was Sudo. This is different.
Sudo's fights and reactions show that there is a system working to sensitize Sudo. Like preparing a nuclear bomb out of Uranium, Sudo is being tuned so that he would explode at the moment they want. However, systems are predictable.
The one who created the system must have influence. And if they have influence, they have value. And value can be extorted.
Now, before someone thinks of me as an evil extortioner, I have to prepare an explanation. If there is none, then I would simply submit the evidence to the school.
The explanation I came up with goes like this: In this school, dorms are pretty much free, except if you overuse your electricity, water, etc. Though I am pretty sure the main purpose of this is to prevent unnecessary waste. Also, even when the cafeteria has paid meals, they also have free meals, albeit they are bland in taste.
My main point is that, unlike the real world, points in this school are either influence or luxury. Even if one has no points, it is not tied to survival. As such, extortion is completely fine, as long as students are left with some points.
Now, my main plan is to monitor Sudo and record evidence of systematic bullying. My reasoning is that if someone went to the trouble of creating a complete system against him, then they would try to cash it in. A school report might be the most obvious route.
Again, recording every incident is impossible, so I will do my best to record most. Just enough to show that there is indeed a pattern.
Today was my first day following around Sudo.
Even though the recordings I got today are not worth much, it does not mean that the plan is flawed. It just means that over time, the evidence I get will be undeniably rich.
After following around Sudo, and getting 2 voice recordings and one video recording of a push, I came back to my dorm room, made dinner, ate, took a bath, and went to sleep.