The cafeteria instantly descended into chaos.
Having reached this point, neither Komiya Kyogo nor Daichi Ishizaki could endure it any longer.
This was no longer a question of class points or anything of the sort. It was a most serious issue of dignity.
Moreover, Year 1, Class C was the first to engage in this kind of behavior, so Daichi Ishizaki had experience. In a situation like this, the other party's fault was slightly greater. If nothing unexpected happened, even if they fought back now, it wouldn't cause Class C to lose too many class points.
"Is this the reason you specifically asked me out to eat, Subaru?"
Looking at the group of people making a ruckus in the distance, a somewhat helpless look appeared on Hiyori Shiina's face.
Originally, Hiyori had been somewhat happy this morning because Natsuki Subaru had specifically asked her to have lunch together at noon. Although it wasn't as if they hadn't eaten together before, this was the first meal since they changed how they addressed each other, so it held a bit of special significance.
Hiyori had even taken the time to apply light makeup when coming to the appointment at noon.
"That's one of the reasons, I suppose."
"After all, as a friend, I do have a little selfish motive."
Looking at Hiyori's somewhat helpless expression, Subaru spoke with some amusement: "Of course, I also realized that you, Hiyori, look a bit nicer today compared to usual."
Although there was no color, and the changes were almost nonexistent, Subaru was not someone who couldn't read the atmosphere.
"Compared to usual... do I look a bit nicer...?"
Hiyori glanced at Subaru, whose expression was almost no different from usual, and gently shook her head.
No matter which aspect of Subaru's behavior she looked at, Hiyori felt that her dressing up today didn't have much effect. Of course, even so, being able to be noticed by Subaru as having something different made Hiyori somewhat happy.
"However, I really didn't expect this."
"Are Class D's methods being so radical... because the class points returned to zero?"
Watching Ken Sudo, who was forcefully provoking anger in Daichi Ishizaki and Komiya Kyogo despite them originally preparing to yield, Hiyori sighed slightly. It was truly a bit extreme.
Only Class D could play like this because their class points had returned to zero.
"That's about right."
"Although everyone in the class has somewhat different thoughts, the overall goal is still more or less the same."
Subaru looked at Ken Sudo, who was still full of vigor fighting one against two, and said with a smile: "Without class points, there's absolutely nothing left to worry about. We can do some things that, normally speaking, one wouldn't do."
"Some people want to advance to a higher class, some want personal points. The goals are different, but the process is the same."
"But, a level like this feels like it's easy to get carried away."
"Once something really happens, I'm afraid the school will actively step in."
Although it was called a school of meritocracy, Hiyori never believed there were truly no restrictions at all.
Currently, mere fighting was fine, but with Ken Sudo's method of provocation, it was very easy to thoroughly enrage the provoked party. Once the provoked party was thoroughly enraged and disregarded the consequences, the matter would blow up.
However, just as Hiyori's voice fell, the battle situation in the distance underwent a distinct change.
Under Hiyori's somewhat astonished gaze, Ken Sudo, who had originally been fighting one against two and looked as if he would battle Daichi Ishizaki and Komiya Kyogo to the end, glanced at the defense of the surveillance cameras and then... ran away directly.
He did not let the battle continue.
"It seems Class D has thought very clearly about exactly where to stop."
Hiyori nodded with a look of realization.
"Yes."
"Sudo is a member of the Basketball Club. His physical condition is very good, and he is highly valued by the president of the Basketball Club."
Subaru explained slightly.
Since they held a meeting for several hours, they certainly weren't talking nonsense. Last night in Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's dorm, Suzune Horikita and the others had already discussed exactly how to execute the self-destruct plan, including the attitudes that might appear from the school administration, which were also taken into account in the plan.
Someone with good physical fitness like Ken Sudo would execute slightly more radical methods. This way, even if he accidentally truly enraged the opponent, he could withdraw at the critical moment and forcibly interrupt the conflict.
Of course, if the opponent's physical fitness was also very good and they insisted on chasing, that was fine too.
Or rather, Suzune Horikita eagerly wished for that. Because if one side had already run away and the other still chased, then as time dragged on, whose fault was greater would become somewhat unclear.
How to erupt in conflict, and to what degree the conflict should erupt before stopping—it was all planned.
Meanwhile, conflicts were also starting to erupt with Year 1, Class A and Class B.
Class B was doing okay; they had sufficient experience dealing with Class C's racketeering plans. Although Class D's methods were more radical and direct, they barely managed to cope with it.
Even among the many members of Class D involved in the racket, Ken Sudo's side was a relatively rare case. Ken Sudo wasn't scamming someone with whom he had no grievances; the conflict between Ken Sudo and Komiya Kyogo had existed for a long time.
This time, taking advantage of the self-destruct plan, Ken Sudo was simply venting the dissatisfaction he had accumulated toward Komiya Kyogo in the Basketball Club over this period. Normal Class D members still had some scruples when facing people who hadn't provoked them at all.
"It seems that for a long time to come, there won't be any quiet days."
Watching Daichi Ishizaki and Komiya Kyogo, who chased for two steps and then stopped in the distance, a look of helplessness appeared on Hiyori's face once again.
The only thing Hiyori hoped for now was that the library wouldn't also be frantically targeted by Class D sending people to cause trouble. Even though Hiyori felt that there was a high probability Class D wouldn't go toward the library.
Although she hadn't seen the specific situation on site, Hiyori was very clear that quite a few people in Class D were somewhat afraid of Subaru. And since the library was Subaru's daily check-in spot, Class D likely wouldn't treat the library as a main location for their rackets.
"There's actually no need to be so worried."
"In the end, there are only so many people. There aren't that many opportunities, nor are there that many people."
Subaru smiled slightly at the somewhat distressed Hiyori.
Subaru could guess Hiyori's general thoughts; she was nothing more than worried that Class D's indiscriminate attacks would directly affect the entire school, and even her few private sanctuaries like the library would be affected.
However, such worries from Hiyori were indeed somewhat superfluous.
When it came down to it, the entire school only had four hundred students, and that was under the major premise that no one had been expelled. In reality, adding up the three grades, let alone four hundred people, there likely weren't even three hundred and eighty.
The number of expulsions in the second and third years combined was more than twenty, not to mention Subaru had personally expelled one.
Class D only had thirty-nine people, and the suitable candidates who would truly participate in the racket plan were even fewer. For example, people like Airi Sakura, Suzune Horikita, and Kikyo Kushida basically wouldn't participate. Including the boys with top-tier academic ability in the class, they didn't need to participate either.
Of course, when personal points were extorted later, those who didn't participate would receive far fewer personal points distributed to them. It was all relative. For someone like Subaru, who did nothing but watch the show from beginning to end, getting a few thousand personal points would be impressive.
Those willing to cooperate a little would get ten or twenty thousand personal points. The main forces would start directly at thirty thousand. Especially someone like Ken Sudo, who exerted himself and led the charge—almost comparable to the vanguard in an ancient siege battle—would start at fifty thousand.
All in all, there were only so many people. With the timeline stretched out to the final exams two months later, and Class D having to target three classes simultaneously, averaging it out to Class C's side, having one racket incident a day would be considered good luck.
According to the estimates of Suzune Horikita and the others, to achieve the desired effect, one suitable opportunity for a racket every two or three days would be enough.
Ryuen: [Shiina, are you with that Natsuki Subaru from Class D?]
Before Hiyori could say anything else, the student terminal she had placed on the dining table received a message from Kakeru Ryuen. Daichi Ishizaki and Komiya Kyogo had already reported the earlier incident to Ryuen.
Ryuen hesitated almost not at all and sent the message directly to Hiyori.
"Sigh, troublesome matters have arrived."
Hiyori looked at the message on the student terminal and sighed slightly.
After all, Ryuen was the leader of the class. Hiyori wouldn't drop the ball on serious matters. As for what exactly Ryuen wanted to say, Hiyori could probably guess.
If she remembered correctly, not long ago, Ryuen had sent people to find trouble with Subaru. It was only natural for Ryuen to suspect that Subaru had planned Class D's affairs.
Hiyori: [I have an appointment with Natsuki-kun to eat together today.]
Hiyori: [Is it because of the conflict between Ishizaki-kun, Komiya-kun, and the people from Class D?]
Ryuen: [You are right next to him?]
"A bit interesting."
"It seems this guy is even more amusing than I imagined."
Looking at the message Hiyori replied with, Ryuen narrowed his eyes slightly and laughed out loud.
Last week, he had sent Daichi Ishizaki, Komiya Kyogo, and Kondo—the three of them—to provoke Subaru. This week, Class D counterattacked so directly and completely without any disguise.
Ryuen wouldn't believe it if someone said it had nothing to do with Subaru.
Counterattacking is what makes it interesting.
Ryuen wouldn't be interested in a doll that didn't move.
"What's so funny about this?"
Mio Ibuki looked at Ryuen, who had started laughing inexplicably, and couldn't understand.
"Although Ishizaki and the others' fault should be smaller, we're definitely going to be deducted class points."
"Class D's class points are zero. One person was expelled last time, and it didn't go into the negative, which means Class D's class points won't get any lower. Isn't this a massive disadvantage?"
"If this continues, our class's class points will probably drop significantly too."
Thinking that one day in the future, Class C's class points might drop to a very low level due to Class D's series of racket behaviors, to the point where they wouldn't even have ten thousand personal points a month, Ibuki felt somewhat irritable.
Even for Ibuki, who was somewhat of a loner, she hoped for better living conditions in the future.
And there was one more thing Ibuki didn't say out loud.
Although Class C currently accepted Ryuen's leadership, part of the reason was Ryuen's violence. But it absolutely wasn't just violence; Ryuen also had to display his true ability.
If he just watched Class D infinitely drag down Class C's class points like this, then no matter how Ryuen used his violence, it would be to no avail.
"Hahahahaha."
"Ibuki, of course, it's because I'm happy. Because I'm happy, I want to laugh out loud."
After hearing Ibuki's incomprehending voice, Ryuen laughed loudly.
Incidentally, he sent another message to Hiyori.
Ryuen: [I find Class D's actions very interesting.]
Ryuen: [Tell Natsuki Subaru that if needed, Class C can also participate and muddy the water even more.]
"Happy?"
Looking at Ryuen, who was not only not annoyed or angry but actually somewhat happy, the expression on Ibuki's face became even more bewildered. Apart from bewilderment, there was also a bit of impatience.
If possible, Ibuki really didn't like this feeling of using her brain. Under circumstances where she could use her hands, Ibuki would absolutely not use her brain.
"Ibuki, it's merely a trifling amount of personal points; there's no need to care at all."
After sending the message and putting away the student terminal in his hand, Ryuen looked at Ibuki's somewhat impatient expression and smiled faintly: "Don't forget, graduating from Class A is the only way to achieve final victory."
"Do you think this group from Class D will only target our Class C?"
"If there is even a slight possibility, the targeting our Class C faces will be the weakest. The ones who should really be having a headache shouldn't be our Class C, but the true leaders, Class A and Class B."
"This time, Class D isn't as easy to deal with as we were before."
As he spoke, Ryuen laughed again.
The gap between Class D and the three classes ahead was somewhat large, making one feel hopeless. Although the Class C led by Ryuen was a bit better off, it wasn't by much.
A gap of nearly five hundred class points... even if Ryuen was very confident, he also knew it was a gap that would require a long-lasting, very troublesome, and calculated effort to erase.
But now, the opportunity had come.
Class D, with its class points at zero, didn't have the scruples that Class C had.
They could attack all classes unscrupulously and unreservedly. In that case, things became much more interesting.
____
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