Cote: Anomaly

Academy Park

6 : 00 AM

"Don't you have any friends in your class?"

Yuta just turned away after hearing Tachibana's question.Yuta opened his mouth but no word came out.

"So you don't have any."Tachibana incredulously looked at Yuta."Why though?You are quite nice and easy to talk to.You should have a ton of friends."

Tachibana continued to look at Yuta incredibly confused,for the short amount of time she had known him Tachibana judged Yuta to be a nice, kind and easy to take to, so him not having anyone he considered "friend" puzzled her.

"I don't know how to start a conversation or how to approach anyone."Yuta truthfully said."Besides, I think I prefer it this way."

Tachibana raised her brows at that this was her first time meeting someone with such reasoning. Then again she couldn't blame him, from what she was able to learn about him and the circumstances he lived his reasoning made sense.

Someone who live far away from the cities with only his grandfather with as less interaction with others as possible, someone like that was bound to have trouble approaching anyone though Tachibana could tell that there was something else amiss.

"But didn't anyone approach you instead?"

"Most didn't and those who did had their interest in mind."Yuta looked up at the sky. Suddenly remembering a girl who contradicted his statement.

'Then again she only did that after that accident so that doesn't count.'Yuta mumbled to himself shutting any other possibilities.

Hearing Yuta a fire could be seen lit ablaze in Tachibana's eyes.

"Don't worry your Onee-san here will help you the best I as mush as I am capable."Tachibana said as he patted Yuta's head.

"That's nice."

For someone like Yuta who lived an isolated life, such changes were appreciated.A foreign feelings he didn't want to reject.

"I will teach you how to approach someone and make friends with them."

Of the people Yuta had seen in the Academy Tachibana seemed like a genuine person, who didn't seem to have anything significant to hide, someone with whom he can let his guard down.

"You must have a lot of friends, huh?"

"Somewhat, though the friends i do have are quite nice."

"And what about this Horikita-kun?"The moment Tachibana heard that name she paused."He must be a great friend of yours for you to always talk about him."

Yuta could see her turning beet red for some reason.

Yuta didn't understand that, from what she told him about friends and "love" there shouldn't be anything to feel embarrassed about.

One of life's mystery,I suppose.

"H-He is a good friend."Tachibana immediately changed the topic at hand."Anyway,If you have any problem just consult me."

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Yuta POV 

Like always they can't keep their mouth shut.

"Sensei~, are you In menopause?"

I raised my brows at the guy asked that aloud, Ike if I remember correctly.

"Alright, morning homeroom is starting. Are there any questions before we start? If there's something on your mind, feel free to speak up."

Chiyabashira-sensel completely ignoted lke and continued to talk. She talked as if she was completely convinced that the students had something to ask, Immediately, several people ralsed their hands.

"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, and no point were deposited. Weren't they supposed to be provided on the first day of the month, every month?I was impatient because I couldn't buy the juice I wanted."

"Hondou, I explained it before,didn't I?Points are wired to students account on the first today of the month, every month.They were wired without any problem."

"Uh, but... I didn't get any point."

So my guess was right. I stared at the woman who confirmed my suspicions.I could feel Horikita burning a hole through my skull with all the staring.

"... Are you guys really that stupid?" Chiyabashira-Sesei had somewhat of a disappointed air around her.

"Points were deposited. Without fail. The likelhood that this class was left out is very low.Do you understand?"

"No, even if I say I do understand, we haven't received our points..." Hondou had a very dissatisfied expression on his face.

"Hahaha, I see, it was like that, teacher, l've understood this,riddle.now."

Koenji, if I remembered correctly, said in a loud voice while laughing. Putting his feet on the table, he pointed at, Hondou with his self-important attitude.

"We didn't, receiye any points because we are in class D."

"Hah?What's that supposed to mean, They said we would get 100,000 points every month..."

"I don't remember hearing that, Right?"

Smirking, Koenj then turned and pointed his finger to Chiyabashira sensei.

"Your attitude has some problems, but what Koenji is saying is on the right track.Not many people seemed to have noticed my hints.How sad."

The classroom erupted in uproar and confusion.

Though something caught my attention,the narrow eyed look Sensei was giving me.

Already knowing where this was going I relaxed on the chair and closed my eyes,not paying any attention to the conversation between Homeroom teacher and some eager students.

Soon enough someone started poking my arm,someone who I didn't need to open my eyes to realise the person in question.

"It seems all you speculations were proven true."

"Well that was the purpose of the speculations anyway."I remarked drawing a glare from her.

"How?"I merely raised my brows,seeing my confusion she elaborated."How did you know?"

"A bit of overthinking and caution and a tad bit of connecting dots can take a person far in their life."

"But, don't you think this is strange?"

"Strange?"

"The numbers are too clean."Horikita said pointing towards the board.

I noticed that there was something strange about the points.

"For the first month, all of you have been doing as you please. Now, the school's not saying that this is prohibited. Your actions, such as talking during class and being late to class, just affects the number of points you get. It's the same with how you use points. You have the freedom to use points how you want. We haven't restricted how you use your points."

"This isn't fair! We can't lead a normal school life like that!"

Ike, who had stayed quiet until now, shouted out.

Yamauchi was also crying out in agony.That guy probably used up all his points...

"Look carefully, you stupid kids. Every other class except class D got some points. The amount of points you guys have should still be plenty enough to last for a month."

"H-how do the other classes have any points left? That's strange..."

"I'll tell you, but it's not like this is some kind of fraud. For this past month, all the classes were judged by the same rules. Nevertheless, they didn't lose as many points as you guys did. That's a fact."

"How... how is there so much difference in points between the classes?"

Hirata also noticed something odd about the numbers. The differences in points were too clean.

"Did you guys finally understand? Why you were put in class D."

"The reason we were put in class D? Isn't that because we were appropriate for this school?"

"Eh? That's how ordinary classes work, you know?"

Everyone, well mostly ,exchanged glances.

"In this school, all the students are divided into classes by merit. The best students are put in class A. The worst in class D."

"Well, it's a system that's found in major cram schools. In other words, class D is the collection of leftovers. That also means that you are the worst students, the defective products of this school. This is really an outcome worthy of defective students."

Horikita's face stiffened. Chiyabashira-sensei's words must have hurt her pride and ego.

"However, this class D is the first one to lose all their points in the first month. On the contrary, I applaud you for living so lavishly until now. How praiseworthy."

Chiyabashira-sensei's unnatural applause reverberated in the classroom.

"After hitting zero points, does that mean we will always stay at zero points forever?"

"Yea. Your points will stay at 0 until graduation. However, be at ease, since you can still use your dorms, and there are free meals in the cafeteria. You won't die."

Although a student life with only the bare minimum is possible, a lot of the students probably won't like it. After all, the students lived their lives this month while indulging in every single possible luxury. Suddenly, having to live a life a self-control looks really hard for a lot of the students.

"... Will we be made fun of by the other classes now?"

Sudou kicked his desk with a bang. After having learned that the classes are divided by merit, everyone will probably make fun of class D as the group of idiots. It's not unreasonable to be despairing.

"What, you're still holding onto your pride, Sudou? Then do your best and try to make the worst class the best class."

"Huh?"

"These class points aren't just linked to the amount of money you get each month. It's also indicative of the class rank."

That's certainly interesting.That would mean even Class D can become Class B.

"All right, I have one more piece of bad news I have to tell you guys."

She put one more piece of paper onto the board. The names of all the classmates were listed. Next to everyone's name was a number.

"From looking at these numbers, I came to understand that there are a lot of idiots in this class."

She glanced at the students as her heels clacked against the floor.

"These are the scores from the test a few days back. Sensei was glad after seeing your wonderful performance. Seriously, what the hell did you guys study in middle school?"

Except for the top students in the class, almost everyone got below a 60. It seems I got the lowest score of 0, with the lowest after me being 14 Sudou's score.

"If this test was actually recorded, seven of you would already have to drop out of school. Good thing it wasn't, right?"

"D-drop out? What do you mean?"

"Why, did I not explain? If you get a failing mark on either a midterm or a final exam in any subject, you have to drop out of school. On this test, that would be everyone who got below a 29. You lot are really foolish and stupid."

""""""W-whaaaaat!?""""""

The seven people who failed, except me, all let out a surprised voice.

"As the teacher said, there seem to be a lot of fools here."

While polishing his nails with his feet on the desk, Koenji had a smug smirk on his face.

"What's that, Koenjil? Your marks are in the red too!"

"Fu. Where are your eyes looking at, boy? Look carefully."

"H-huh? Hey, Koenji's name is... huh?"

Scanning from the bottom, his eyes gradually reached the top. And then—he finally saw the name Koenji Rokusuke.To his disbelief, Koenji had tied for the top score in the class. 90 points.

If that's the best he can score he certainly doesn't have the right to call other fools.

"I never thought that Sudou would be a stupid character like me...! " Ike said out loud in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, and one more thing. This school, which is under the control of the country, boasts a high percentage of alumni going to higher education and a high employment rate. That's a well-known fact. Most likely, many people in this class will go on to college or find work at a company."

That's obvious. As she said, this school has the highest employment and college acceptance rate. There are rumors that if you successfully graduate from this school, a usually difficult college or company will become a lot easier to join.

Other rumors say that graduating from this school is like getting a recommendation to be admitted to Tokyo University.

"But... things aren't that easy in the world. People like you guys, who are of a really low level, will probably have trouble getting into college or getting a job."

Sensei's words echoed in the classroom.

"In other words, in order to make our dreams of getting a job or getting into college a reality, surpassing class C is probably a minimum.

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An:The real story starts from next ch forward.