OST: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Main Theme 2

On May 1st, the morning bell rang for our homeroom. Soon after, Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom holding her usual tablet, but her face seemed more stern than usual today.

"Alright, homeroom is about to begin. Before I start, does anyone have any questions? If so, now is the time to speak."

The clamouring students fell into silence. A couple looked at each other, before several students raised their hands.

"Uh... Shizuka-chan-sensei, I checked my point balance this morning, but I didn't see any deposits. Points are given at the start of each month, aren't they? I don't have any new points." Mitsuba said.

"Mitsuba-san, I've already explained this before. Points are deposited on the first day of the month. I can confirm that the points were wired this month without any issues."

"But... I don't see any new points allocated in my account either." Yukimura said.

Yukimura and Mitsuba exchanged concerned glances at one another. The rest of the class seemed to agree with their words.

I had also checked my point balance earlier this morning. I saw no deposits, but I assumed they were going to be wired later today.

"Are you kids really that dumb?"

Chabashira-sensei's words plunged the classroom's atmosphere into darkness.

"Dumb? Huh?" Yukimura stood up, balling his fist. "The hell did you call me, sensei?!"

"Sit down, Yukimura-san. For crying out loud, barely anyone seems to have noticed the hint I've given you. I'll explain it now to you lot, since it seems none of you here are capable of thinking for yourselves."

Yukimura growled and sat down.

"S-Shizuka-chan-sensei?" Mitsuba said, slumping in his seat and quivering.

"Points were deposited to everyone this month. That much is certain. There is absolutely no chance that we forgot about anyone in this class. Understood?"

Matsushita stood to speak on behalf of the class, rather than his own selfish concerns. He cared deeply about this class, and because a lot of us weren't thinking rationally, his leadership was very much needed at this moment.

"Chabashira-sensei. I understand, but that doesn't explain why we don't haven't gotten any points in our accounts."

That's right. If the points were distributed like she said, then why didn't we receive any? Had there been a discrepancy? Did that mean zero points were deposited in our accounts? Inside me, a vague feeling of doubt was growing.

Our class began to break out into low muttering. Chabashira-sensei's arms were crossed, but for the first time, we saw her smile.

"A whole class comprised of morons. How deplorable."

Chabashira-sensei's words silenced us.

"A total of 39 absences and 85 lates. 106 uniform infractions and 264 cases of unauthorised phone usage. 445 cases of talking during class and 480 cases of not listening or paying attention. 592 documented cases of other foul behaviour recorded outside of class. In addition, your test scores were abysmal and your performance during wartime was an absolute failure. Impressive figures for the first month of the school year."

The entire class fell into shock. Despite that, Chabashira-sensei continued her explanation in a robotic tone, devoid of any emotion.

"In this school, your class's results are reflected in the points you receive. As a result of your behaviour, you wasted all of the 100,000 points you should have received. That's what happened. This school judges students based on merit and measures them based on their abilities. This month, the school has evaluated you as garbage. That's all."

The class broke into an uproar over this revelation.

Everything made sense now. The scattered puzzle pieces finally clicked together. My vague doubts about how this school works finally made sense.

The free meals. The free items. The excessive freedom. Himeji's and Kuwahara's warning about spending points. These feelings that something wasn't right had been solidified in the worst way possible.

Even though we were gifted 100,000 points at the beginning, E Class had lost it all in a single month. I shot a sidelong glance at Yukina, who was taking note of what Chabashira-sensei was saying, and writing it down. The class was buzzing with noise, and complaints were thrown in every direction.

"But... but that's not fair!" Yukimura said. "If you told us about this from the start, we wouldn't have wasted all of our points!"

"Why didn't we get an explanation? You should've told us!" Mitsuba said.

"This is some kind of cruel joke... right? Why weren't we allowed to know all this...?" Tadokoro said.

"Explain what's going on!" Yamaguchi said.

Chabashira-sensei exhaled sharply, as if she was tired of this class.

"Honestly, are you lot really incapable of understanding anything without explanation?"

"Damn this teacher!" Yukimura kicked his table.

"If you don't tell us, we won't know!" Hono said.

"Exactly! Give us the rules Shizuka-chan-sensei!" Demiza said.

As the students began demanding for an explanation, Chabashira-sensei stood there with an amused look on her face. With this much noise, her explanation would get drowned out. She scanned the room, almost as if waiting for someone to speak up.

"Chabashira-sensei, I too think this is unfair." Matsushita said, standing up.

His heroic voice cut through the class, taking control of the disarrayed state with style. Everyone had calmed down a bit when he voiced his opinion firmly.

"There was no mention of the points we receive changing, or that our behaviour in class would affect this. If we were explained about this beforehand, then I'm sure we wouldn't have been late to class or talked during lessons."

Everyone began nodding in agreement.

"What a bizarre argument, Matsushita-san. While it's true I didn't explain the rules behind the points, haven't you guys learnt that things like talking in class and being late are bad things?"

"Well, that's..."

"I'm pretty sure you guys have learnt this ever since elementary school. Don't tell me that in your nine years of compulsory education, you've never learnt the difference between what's wrong and right? If you can't understand this simple concept without me needing to explain it to you, then you lot really are stupid. Any excuses for your behaviour are invalid. If you behaved as you should, your points would've never dropped to 0."

"Then why didn't you tell us off? Or stop us from being so raucous?"

"That would've gone against this school's policy of freedom. All of you did what you pleased, right? That's a promise we made. In this school, you can live however you wish. We won't prohibit you from doing what you want, after all. It's just that by doing these things, it affects the number of points you'll receive. The same can be applied to how you use these points. We haven't restricted you at all when it comes to them. So even though you won't gain any this month, you can still use last months, if you have any."

Out of everyone in the class, Mitsuba looked like he had it the worst. He had spent almost all his points on buying expensive cards, so he had ran out already.

"All of you are young adults now, so take some self-responsibility. Don't blame me or the school for your mistakes. You have the cognitive ability to understand that what you're doing is wrong, yet you still chose to act whatever suits you anyways. Do you really need me to babysit you? How absolutely pathetic."

Matsushita's face went dark. He huffed frustratedly, casting his eyes to the floor and sitting back down in his seat. All of his arguments were defeated, and Chabashira-sensei's sound argument shut down any other rebuttals.

"Did you lot honestly think that after becoming high schoolers that you'd get an allowance of 100,000 that easily? Of course there would be restrictions. It'd be impossible if there wasn't. Use your common sense. After all, why would a school be so generous to a bunch of garbage students like you anyways? You might have been accepted, but it does not mean you're elite. If you had doubts, then why didn't you act upon them? No wonder you lot are in E Class."

Chabashira-sensei then slammed the smart board with her hand. Appearing on it were classes A to E listed, with numbers next to them. The students looked confused at what she had shown them, but Chabashira-sensei began explaining.

1st Year Classes Points Distribution
A Class - 950
B Class - 630
C Class - 480
D Class - 120
E Class - 0

"These are the results of the five first year classes at the end of April. Some of you may have noticed that there's a tab in your school app that's called Class Points, or Cl for short. At the beginning of the month, all classes had 1000 Class Points. But now, all classes have managed to lose some in some way."

These numbers felt strange. They were too clean and even. The massive difference between each class seemed odd. Even though A Class was able to keep most of their points, they weren't perfect either.

"Honestly, I'm somewhat impressed." Chabashira-sensei unnaturally applauded us, letting her slow claps reverberate in the room. She really wanted everyone to intake the humiliating state of our class. "In the history of this school, we have never witnessed a class drop to 0 points within a month. You lot are the first, so take pride in the fact you're the worst class among the ten years of this school's establishment. I almost feel bad."

Her sarcasm turned the mood even more sour. The fact that we were only class to drop to 0 Class Points hurt a lot. Frustration came from students like Sakigamiya and Nora, who always behaved well and listened. Just by being lumped in this class, they had to suffer unjustly alongside people who displayed actual poor behaviour, like Fujimura and Yukimura.

"Every other class except E Class has retained some points, so they'll be receiving their deposits this month. To make it clear, you were all judged under the same criteria, but they didn't lose as many points as you guys did. For now, try to survive with the points you have. After all, you couldn't blow through all 100,000 points so quickly in the first month, right? You should still have enough to get you through this month. Even if you don't, there are free options scattered around the school, so it's not like you'll die without points."

"But... but we can't live a normal school life after that extravagant first month! You can't expect us to not complain!" Sakigamiya said.

Almost everyone seemed to agree with her. It was possible to go through this school without wasting a single point. The dorms were free, and you could just walk to and from school. The meals at school and the convenience stores offered free items.

However, most of us had used our points and lived lavishly. Having to readjust and use self-control will be really hard for some students. After all, having to go back to a mundane life after indulging in luxury would be difficult.

"Of course. Now, listen carefully you stupid kids."

Chabashira-sensei's firm voice silenced the room.

"I'm going to explain the other side of the S System, since none of you morons are capable of thinking for yourself. The S System assess students in real time and assigns them numerical values. In this school, all the students are divided into classes by merit. The best students are put into A Class, while the worst students are put into E Class. Everyone else is placed neatly into B Class, C Class and D Class in descending order of best to worst. Since you lot are in E Class, we have relegated you to Drachma Red, which is the nation of collective losers like you. All other nations are superior to you, and that red tie is nothing but a symbol of your lowly status in this school. In other words, you're garbage."

I immediately grasped our situation after hearing that. The nation we're in corresponds to our class. A Class students wore white ties, B Class students wore yellow ties, C Class students wore blue ties, D Class students wore green ties, and E Class students wore red ties. Royalty wore purple ties. Is this kind of segregation even allowed?

After hearing that, it now made sense why Adachi insulted us based on our nation. We were in E Class, the worst class, while he's in B Class, the second best class to A Class. It also drastically changes the meaning behind the war versus 3rd Year A Class. We were the worst class, going up against the best class in the entire school. We were essentially set-up to fail by the school.

"To put it simply, E Class is a collection of leftovers, the last bastion for failures. You are the worst students, and the school doesn't even want you here. All twenty-five of you drop-outs are the most defective students in this school. You're worth nothing, so you get nothing."

The worst student in the worst class... is that all I really amounted to?

Chabashira-sensei then pointed around the room. While the students shook with anger and self-deprecation, Chabashira-sensei continued her speech with a sadistic tone.

"I'm sure all of you idiots have the capacity to realise that our classroom is in a terrible state. The walls are peeling and there are stains on the tatami mats. The seats and tables are of the lowest quality and still have issues. The heating and cooling system is broken. One of the lights doesn't even turn on. A blind is missing and one of the window locks are broken. We lack many standard items in comparison to the other classes. We don't even have lockers in the back of the room. This is a result of your placement in this school. The classroom's state will reflect the class you are in. Since you're all garbage, your classroom is going to be garbage."

So even the state of our classrooms reflect on us as students. No wonder that 2nd Year B Class classroom was so much better than our one. I wonder if Rinbayashi had noticed this too.

"Since this school doesn't want you here, they've relegated the Drachma Red area deep in the back of the island where no one can see or hear you. Have you ever wondered why the Drachma Red area is so far away from the school, despite all the other nation's areas being relatively close? The school will go great lengths to shun you and segregate you from everyone else. As Drachma Red students, you don't even deserve the benefits of normal students. You're pretty much a stain to this school's reputation."

Even the island was designed to screw us over? Just how cruel was this school system?

Our moods were worsening by the second. Learning how this school worked was more of a curse than a blessing.

"As you're E Class students, it will be encouraged that all the other students should go to great lengths to look down at you, oust you or ignore your existence. Even though we take bullying very seriously here, when it comes to you lot, we don't care. Trash should be treated like trash."

"That's wrong!" Matsushita cried passionately, standing and pointing a finger at Chabashira-sensei. "No matter who it is, bullying is wrong! Just because we're E Class students doesn't change anything! No one deserves to be bullied over something as simple as a red tie! It's discriminatory!"

"If you hate this idea so much, then feel free to drop out of the school. It doesn't make a difference if a defective student like you disappears. However, I'd advise you to shut up and listen to the end. I'm not even halfway through on what your future school lives have to offer."

Matsushita grumbled, sitting back down. Even though we'd usually be rowdy, the depressing air weighed heavily on us and made us all quiet, reflecting on ourselves.

"Thank you. If you still want to try and hold onto whatever shred of pride you have, forget about it. In this escalator system, you'll be made fun out of by the other classes. You'll be made an example of by the teachers. They'll say things like this is where you end up if you don't work hard and aim for the top. Any peers you had from other classes will shun you for being in E Class. After all, each class is receiving this explanation right now. But for you lot, those homeroom teachers are going to paint an even uglier picture of you."

So, they're using propaganda to persuade students into this mindset. This system exists purely just to motivate the other students. By placing some of us into a class labelled "defective", they can incentivise other students through social pressure not to become a student like us. In turn, they'll work hard so they don't get made fun out of by their peers, and become a garbage E Class student.

It's incredibly cruel, but this idea clearly works since the results from this school have had a clear impact on our society. That's the most scary thing.

"The school boasts that when you graduate, the alumni will be able to get their dream jobs and higher education. For less than mediocre people like yourselves, this would be great. However, those promises doesn't apply you. Nor does it apply to B Class, C Class or D Class either. There's no way to achieve your dreams other than overtaking A Class. This school guarantees nothing for any other students."

As expected. As the best students, A Class gets preferential treatment. They'll be the only ones who get their dream jobs and universities by graduating from this school. The rest of us aren't. Even though it wasn't completely negative news, as the other classes were exempt from this as well, our broken spirits didn't respond whatsoever to Chabashira-sensei. Her provocations and cruel words didn't hurt as much, now that we were knee deep in despair.

"Did you know? The D in Drachma Red stands for defective. The E in E Class stands for End of the Line. You should feel disgusted of yourself for ending up in here. I feel disgusted even talking to you morons."

Chabashira-sensei then smiled.

"However. If you've already hit rock bottom, then there's only one way left to go. And that's up."

The air of the class shifted slightly. We raised our heads, and looked at Chabashira-sensei.

"This school isn't completely unfair. I already said the school judges students based on merit and ability. As such, you can move up the ranks. There are two ways. The first way is through individual movement. If you can prove yourself worthy of not being defective, then you can be promoted to a higher class. For example, Yukimura-san is good at sports. If he does exceedingly well enough and fixes his poor grades, he might get moved up to D Class."

Finally, a shred of hope had fallen upon us. We didn't have to take being the worst students after all. Everyone's faces lit up, as there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"The opposite is true however. If you're in a higher class, but do poorly or not as well as your peers, you may get put into E Class as a result. You can't feel safe just by moving up one time. You must prove to the school that you can retain this high quality to stay in the class."

The first person that appeared in my head was Kuwahara. It seems he was a victim of the system, as he had dropped from A Class to E Class for some reason.

I can only imagine the pain he feels, going from the top all the way to the bottom.

"The second way is through class movement. These class points aren't just linked to the amount of points you receive each month. It's also indicative of the class rank. If the number of class points this class has exceeds the number of points of the class above you, then the entire class gets promoted. To put simply, since D Class has 120 class points, if you get at least 121 class points, this entire class of defectives will be promoted to D Class, and D Class would be demoted to E Class."

Our entire class was in a state of shock once more. It was clear the best way to move up the ranks was by overtaking other classes through class points. But due to our behaviour, we shot ourselves in the foot at the starting line. The gap between us and D Class was huge.

However, this was enough to make us murmur again. Our class was determined to go higher. Chabashira-sensei silenced us by slamming her hands on the teaching podium.

"Don't get so excited over this. I'll tell you now, this isn't as easy as it sounds. I've taught three classes, one C Class and two E Class. Once that C Class dropped to E Class, they were never able to recover, and the two E Classes were never promoted at all during their three years years here. As your E Class, the entire school is essentially against you. That war you had against 3rd Year A Class was meant to ridicule you and demonstrate the superiority of the 3rd Year A Class."

"Chabashira-sensei... what does that mean?" Sakigamiya said.

"I'll tell you right now, I suppose. That war against 3rd Year A Class was just an exhibition war. A friendly war between classes, if you will. Only the official wars ever get broadcasted, but it's become somewhat a tradition at this school to humiliate the new 1st Year E Class on live TV by pitting them against the 3rd Year A Class. Essentially, you were a laughing stock that entire war. The entire school was thoroughly amazed by how terribly you performed."

Even though we had recovered our spirits, they got crushed again. This was just one of the ways the school was making an example out of us. Who knows what else they've done to ridicule us behind our backs?

Ignorance truly was bliss.

"The good news is, since it was a friendly war, none of you actually died. You can still fight in an official war, since we've yet to do one. That is besides the point now. Before I move on, are there any questions?"

Multiple hands were raised immediately.

"Chabashira-sensei, can you tell us how the class points increase or decrease? We'll do our best to get as many as possible so we can surpass D Class." Matsushita said.

"I cannot disclose that information. The details on how we assess you aren't allowed to be divulged to the students. It's the same as when you enter the real world. A company will evaluate the performance of it's employees, but it is their choice whether or not to disclose how. It's up to you to figure it out for yourselves."

"Has anyone ever figured out how?" Matsushita said.

"One student from A Class a couple years back. He managed to loophole the system and get his class to a staggering 10,970 class points. Of course, he was subsequently put in the Royalty."

That's scarily impressive.

"Can you give us a hint?" Sakigamiya said.

"Alright."

"Eh? Really?" Mitsuba said.

"I don't want to be cruel, nor do I hate you guys."

"Are you sure about that, Shizuka-chan-sensei..."

"Shut up Mitsuba, I want to hear the hint." Yukimura said.

"For arguments sake, let's say everyone here stopped their bad behaviour. Your deduction of class points would be 0, but it doesn't mean your points will increase either. That means next month you'll receive 0 points. Just behaving properly doesn't help you get back from the bottom. Keep that in mind, since it will help you."

The hint did more damage than good. Most students probably thought along the lines of "I'll just stop my poor behaviour", but since that didn't work, their moods dampened.

"Um... can we get... negative points?" Nora said.

"No. Once you reach 0 class points, you cannot lose anymore points. Consider yourselves lucky that you can't lose anymore than you already have."

Despite it being the truth, it was said in such a scornful manner, the air became dark again. We were running out of options very quickly.

"What about the war? Can winning wars give us class points?" Akihiro said.

"Indeed. The reward for your war against A Class was actually 1000 class points. If you defectives could actually beat that monster of a class, then you would've been A Class material for sure."

It's depressing to reflect on it now. Just like my entrance exam, if I had only won that fight, our class would be sitting at the top. At the same time, if I won in that entrance exam, I wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place.

Even though I hated the idea of being the worst, it somehow felt fitting I was relegated in this class of rejects.

An average nobody like me deserves this. In a school full of elite, being average was the equivalent to being worthless.

At the very least, being put in E Class means one thing for certain. There's only one way to go, and that's up.

"Since we lost the war... do we face repercussions?" Kawaguchi said.

"Of course. The hard punishment A Class has decided on is the downgrading of your equipment. By the end of this week, your tables and chairs will disappear for chabudai and zabuton."

The class was in outrage.

"Huh?! They can do that?!" Mitsuba said.

"They won the war. Even though it was friendly, it got treated like an official war. This means A Class could choose a befitting punishment for you lot. If you won, then you could've chose a befitting punishment for them."

"This is some kind of joke..." Yamaguchi muttered.

It seems like wars were a bigger deal than we first assumed. It might be our best way out of this dump.

"Chabashira-sensei. May I ask a question?" Rinbayashi said.

"Of course."

"Even though Drachma Red is the worst nation, how come they own 53% of the buildings in Higashi and Nishi Mall?"

Our classmates looked at the usually silent Rinbayashi with wide eyes. Her innocent question began to click in our heads. Despite being the nation of collective losers, we owned a good deal of stores in the malls.

"That's right... I got a discount at a clothes shop owned by Drachma Red last week." Hono said.

"Maybe being in E Class isn't so bad after all?" Mitsuba said.

"It's just another feature of War Time. One of the many rewards is the ownership of facilities on the island. The nation that has ownership over those buildings may receive perks and bonuses when shopping there." Chabashira-sensei said.

That was weird. This means another year's E Class must have won wars to claim these buildings. How was that possible, if E Class is made up of the worst students? Surely they'd lose in the war, right?

"That's great news!" Sakigamiya said.

"In comparison, C Class has the lowest amount of buildings..." Matsushita said, looking at the map of Higashi and Nishi Malls on his phone.

That was correct. The number of blue buildings on the maps were incredibly low. Red dominated the map.

Even though it was something as minute as control over a majority of the mall buildings, our class felt a little bit better despite the lingering dark atmosphere.

"If there are no more questions, I'm going to proceed with the final topic of homeroom today."

Chabashira-sensei displayed the test scores from two weeks ago on the board. However, there was a distinct difference. A red line was drawn below Fujimura's name.

"From looking at these scores, I quickly understood the dire situation this class is in. Sensei was so glad after seeing your wonderful performance. Seriously, what the hell did you guys study in middle school? The average score for your test was 49. Even D Class' average was a respectable 60. The minimum passing score for this test was 24. If this was a legitimate test, everyone below Fujimura-san, which is six of you, would've failed."

Chabashira-sensei sighed. Three of the six failures, Katsumi, Mitsuba, and Yukimura, hung their heads in shame. Two of them, Yamaguchi and Kouji, didn't look like they cared, and the last one, Kita, was too buried in despair to understand the situation.

"The reason I'm bringing these tests up now is to show you just how far behind you guys are compared to the other classes. If you wish to get out of E Class, than work harder. I'll tell you this right now."

Chabashira-sensei's once scathing voice had softened a little. It sounded like she was going to say something from her heart.

"As E Class students, the chances of you getting expelled are much higher than anyone else. In my nine years of working in this school, I've seen a handful of my students get expelled because of how poorly they did while at this school. It was unpleasant. Take this as advice from your homeroom teacher. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Expelled...?" Matsushita repeated.

"Damn it..." Yukimura muttered.

After that sobering advice, E Class was left more divided than ever before. Each one of us had our own personal thoughts about the situation, and right now, whatever unity we had was shattered. Our leader, Matsushita, was in ruins over this.

"That's enough for today. If you had understood the harsh reality of the environment that you were put in from the start, then this long homeroom period might have meant something. The midterm exams are coming up this month. Please thinks things over and revise for it. If possible, challenge yourself to act in a way befitting of a skilled individual, and try not to get expelled. That is all."

Chabashira-sensei walked out of the classroom, closing the door with added emphasis.

Our class didn't break out into chatter. Instead, we all sat silently, gathering our thoughts and feelings. You could hear the sound of the violent rain outside from how quiet it was.

This entire class was to be labelled as rejects from this point onwards. However, we weren't expelled. That was the key difference here. A defective product still has a chance. A broken product will get thrown away. This was the school giving us a chance.

Maybe this system isn't so cruel after all.

The difference between defective and broken products is small, but the defective product can become the superior article.

In this system, I have no where else to go but up.

Now then, what in the world should I do?

I suppose I don't have any other choice.

I'll show them. The potential of the worst student.