Chapter 18: 1.1 The Troubles (1)[Edited]
"Hey, did you receive your points?" A girl asked another.
"No, you?" The other girl asked back and was given a, "Nope," for an answer.
Another asked the question to another and all responses were the same, some version of 'no.'
I hadn't received them either and we should have. We should have received them the moment the clock struck midnight. A senior confirmed it for me when I asked through Kouenji.
There was trouble, a smoking gun—the bullet had already left the barrel. Now it was just a matter of finding out who, where, why and what.
My eyes travelled up at the clock in our class. It was already time. And sure enough, the bell buzzed its grating rhyme, signalling the start of our day.
"Good morning, everyone. You all seem more restless than usual today."
Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom, her tone and demeanour not a bit different from the day she had first met us. It was like everything washed over her, not leaving a dent or mark as it did.
"Sae-chan-sensei! Do we have zero points again this month?! When I checked this morning, I didn't see a single point deposited into my account!"
"Oh, so that's why you're all so restless?"
"We worked ourselves half to death this past month! We passed the midterm, so why are we still at zero points?! No one's been late or absent, and no one's talked during class, either!"
"Don't jump to conclusions. Listen to what I have to say first. You're correct, Ike. You have all worked harder than ever before. I recognize that. Naturally, the school understands full well how you all feel."
"Well then. Without further ado, here are this month's point totals."
She put a paper up on the board that listed the point values, starting with Class A at the top. Excluding Class D, all of the other classes had nearly 100 more points than last month. Class A now sat at 1004 points, slightly above where everyone had started when we were admitted.
"This isn't good. Could they have figured out a way to increase their point total?!" I heard near hysteria from the girl a step from me. She was focused on other classes.
Our class though was more interested in our own. Next to our class was a simple line, class D: 85.
"Huh? Wait, 85? Does that mean we went up? Yahoo!"
Ike excitedly jumped up and down the instant he saw our score.
"It's too early to celebrate. All the other classes saw a similar increase in their points. We didn't close the distance at all. This might just be a reward first-year students receive for getting through the midterm. Every class seems to have gotten at least 100 points." Horikita as always was a downer.
"So that's what happened. I thought it odd that we'd been awarded points so quickly."
"Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes has widened, Horikita?" Ayanokoji asked.
"No, that's not it. We managed to get something this time, after all."
"Get something? Get what?" asked Ike, now standing.
Horikita, after attracting everyone's attention, fell back into silence. It was as if she didn't wish to provide an answer. The class leader, Hirata Yousuke, answered for her.
"I believe that Horikita-san is referring to the deductions we incurred throughout April and May. In other words, we didn't see a reduction in points for talking in class or being late."
I didn't pay attention to any of them, they were unimportant. My eyes were on Chabashira.
Come on, out with it. Tell us what happened.
"Ah, is that so? I suppose that even if we got 100 points, a lot of deductions would've brought us down to zero." Ike, after this simple explanation, raised his arms in victory. "Wait. But then, why didn't we get any points?"
"Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students' point distribution has been delayed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer," she said.
"Huh? Seriously? If this is the school's fault, then shouldn't we get some kind of bonus as compensation?"
The students grumbled in discontent.
"Don't blame me. This was the school's decision, there's nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you'll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is."
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I flipped a coin in the air, "Heads," he called. It landed on the back of my hand, heads facing us. "Damn it," I cursed as I slid my lunch box over to him. With one hand he clicked open the cover to reveal the results of my morning hard work, fried chicken and eggs with rice and some sauce.
The blind bastard laughed as he promptly leaned back into his seat, occupying the whole side of his bench. With his sparkling teeth, "I see you have decided to be my cook today. Good work Heylel boy."
Eyeing his possession I could only swallow my anger. The cock-sure ass was now in possession of both my and a third-year girl's lunch box. Of course one of them had been given willingly and one had been looted over a game of chance.
Fuck you Kouenji.
I got up, and now, I had a choice to either buy a set here or just go get one of those ready-made lunches. I had eaten meal sets before, but I had never tried those ready-made things.
Guess today was my lucky day.
Speaking of luck, I looked down at the toss-coin in my hand and as the name would suggest, it was a thing to be tossed not used for purchases.
This thing had been giving me garbage luck for the past six tosses, absolute malarky I tell you, absolute malarky.
Pocketing the thing. I walked out of the cafeteria. Dragging myself into a store to pull out a simple lunch, after which I decided to just retreat to the class. I had no desire to see the smug bastard's face.
Entering the class, I saw about eight to ten students, of course, the two who sat behind me were included. Ayanokoji once he saw me waved his hand, Horikita didn't but she at least gave me a nod. Deciding to join them I entered my seat—sitting sideways so I could at least see their faces.
"Here?" Ayanokoji asked, "Don't you bring your lunch? Why did you buy one?"
She pulled up her lunch box, a homemade one and put it on her table. Oh, she cooks, "A brute's stomach is a pit, don't you know, Ayanokoji?"
"I lost it to Kouenji. We gambled on it," I said as I broke the seal.
Horikita shook her head while Ayanokoji looked at her lunch, "Doesn't it cost quite a bit and take a lot of effort to make your lunch?"
I looked at the dullard, "The ingredients are free. Ever been to the supermarket?"
Ayanokoji looked surprised, "Wait," he pointed to her food, "You can make this for free? Is that why you cook?"
I tilted my head, "What do you think it was?"
"I thought you were just being…you."
What is that supposed to mean? There was only one appropriate response, "Fu—" I froze before the whole word left my lips, Horikita had an eraser in hand, ready to throw, "—lly idiotic human being."
Her erase lowered, but her eyes were glued onto me. "I will cure your potty mouth."
I sighed and started to dig in, "Why am I friends with you?"
She smirked, as she took a bite of her food, "Chance and circumstances."
Hey! That's my line—Ugh, you know what? Kouenji was better, at least he would gloat silently. Speaking of, he had started to be conservative with his points as well. For my part, I had about 67k in my bank—hey, that meant I was richer than Kouenji. Ha! Welcome to being poor you ass.
"What are you smirking about? It's creepy." Horikita asked.
"Nothing, I can now call Kouenji poor."
"You two are pretty chummy, huh?" She asked.
"Not particularly, he is okay with me being there. If I was gone tomorrow he would not care." I shrugged. In a way, it was kind of amazing just how much of a narcissist he was.
"Why do you hang out with him then, you could distance yourself?" Ayanokoji asked.
I laughed, "Cuz why would I distance myself? It's fun."
"Hmm?" He truly looked like he had not expected that answer. Still, please don't look at me like I'm an alien.
"Yeah, it is fun. A lot of time he leaves me annoyed or baffled, sometimes both but that is fine. I enjoy goofing off with him."
Even Horikita was looking up at me, "You can tolerate his personality?"
"Yep."
"Then why are you friends with me?"
Hm? My eyes went to him, Ayanokoji.
"I don't believe I am that fun of a person. I am quite boring actually." He said, shamelessly.
You have been involved in so much…you are truly an idiot if you think no one has ever noticed anything.
Besides who said we are friends? No need to mention that though.
A smile etched on my face, a laugh guttered out of my lips, "That's what you think."
He nodded, "Why?"
Why huh? "How about this," I put my hands into my pocket. Pulling out my toss coin, "Heads or tail. If you win I'll tell you exactly why."
Both their eyes fixated on the coin, he stayed silent for a second before nodding.
And so, flipped a coin in the air, "Heads," he called. It landed on the back of my hand, tails facing us. "Oh well." I shrugged as I pocketed it back in.
"Why me then?" Horikita asked.
Her tone was calm but I could see something in her eyes. I couldn't tell what.
"Do I need a reason?" I lied. The real reason was, 'I just keep getting dragged into your issues,' but again, it was not something to say out loud, "Well if you want one, it's cuz your reactions to stuff are funny."
There was silence for a second then she broke it, "If you don't need a reason to be friends with anyone why aren't you friends with everyone?"
"Cuz I think friendships happen naturally. No need to force it. I will become friends with more people." I took another bite, "I'm now friends with Sudou too. And since I intend to stay the whole three years, I am in no rush."
"I suppose if it is only forty people—"
"Forty people?" I chuckled, "That's naive Horikita. That's so naive."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I mean two things, one, I will make friends with other classes. And two, people will drop out, Horikita. It will happen. There will be expulsions."
She froze for a second, "...You truly do mean it don't you? Even after you convinced me to save the idiots."
"Of course. I have a feeling we are just getting started with this school and its brand of nonsense."
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[A/N: Ayanokoji is so hard to write, imagine an expressionless character who is intelligent and does not want to be noticed. That's who Ayanokoji is.
By the way, at this point, Heylel only considers Kouenji and Horikita as his friends.]
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