Before they knew it, the second month's exam arrived.
The quintuplets really didn't pass, although their scores weren't too far from the fire. Their results were as follows:
Nakano Ichika: 54 points
Nakano Nino: 62 points
Nakano Miku: 65 points
Nakano Yotsuba: 52 points
Nakano Itsuki: 66 points
Currently there were three who passed and two who didn't. Those who didn't pass were Ichika and Yotsuba, lacking 6 points and 8 points respectively from the passing limit.
If Ryunosuke wanted to save them, he had to spend points to buy at least 14 additional points to guarantee basic passing for both of them. He immediately met their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, to buy those points.
After Ryunosuke left, the class atmosphere became chaotic like porridge. Because there were two people threatened with expulsion, that meant a reduction of 1000 class points. Class C didn't have 1000 points at all, so their points would immediately be wiped out, and the points they would receive next month were zero.
Everyone whispered to each other and blamed Ichika and Yotsuba who failed the exam. Those insults made both of them not dare to raise their heads.
Nino bravely kicked a desk until it toppled, then stepped on it. Like a mother animal protecting her young, she protected her younger and older sisters behind her, folded her arms, and faced the entire class's condemnation alone.
Yosuke had lost his fighting spirit. He didn't know what else to do...
He clenched his fists until they made a sound, then released them weakly while sighing.
"What should we do? Does Akasaka... have a way?"
Hirata looked toward the door, where Ryunosuke had left earlier. He staked all his hopes on him; there was no one else he could trust. He could only resign himself and hope a miracle would happen.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side, Ryunosuke was already in front of his homeroom teacher to buy exam grades.
Because it was said from the first day of school that "points can buy everything," plus in the original story Ayanokouji also did the same thing, the next step for him was just bargaining to save money.
This time Sae didn't make things difficult for Ryunosuke. After all, she was their homeroom teacher; when her student was in difficulty, it was natural she would give help. The main reason was because she saw hope to rise to Class A in Ryunosuke. If it were before, she definitely wouldn't bother dealing with this problem.
With a slightly dizzy head, Ryunosuke used 20,000 points to buy 1 grade point, to save Ichika and Yotsuba who were almost expelled.
Sae sat with crossed legs while sucking on a lollipop to reduce her cigarette addiction. After all, if her mouth wasn't sucking on something, her entire body felt uncomfortable.
Ryunosuke looked at her slightly surprised. "Have you quit smoking?"
Sae glanced at him sharply. "Weren't you the one who told me to quit smoking? Did you forget?"
Ryunosuke just remembered, during the cruise ship exam before, he had indeed said that—it even seemed like when he was threatening her...
He instantly felt somewhat awkward. He just realized his ability to provoke trouble was indeed extraordinarily great. If not for this school providing sufficient protection, he might have long ago been targeted for revenge by others.
Even so, Ryunosuke was still mischievous in front of Sae. He snatched the lollipop from his teacher's mouth and put it in his own mouth.
Sae didn't mind and didn't feel embarrassed or flustered. After all, she was a mature adult; small disturbances like this weren't enough to shake her heart. Her beautiful legs wrapped in black stockings rested on each other, one hand propping her chin on the desk, then she said in a teasing tone:
"Is your teacher's lollipop delicious?"
"Not bad," Ryunosuke answered briefly.
He had no other intention, just wanted to see what expression Sae would show, but unfortunately, he didn't see anything.
Sae smiled, didn't speak, and signaled with her finger for Ryunosuke to come closer. She wanted to whisper something.
Ryunosuke looked at her strangely. "What do you want to say? Can't you say it out loud? Why so secretive?"
Sae glanced at her coworkers around, the meaning was clear. Ryunosuke understood there were things others shouldn't know, so he brought his ear closer to listen to Sae's whisper.
Sae didn't disappoint him and said something quite surprising.
"Did you offend Chairman Tsukishiro? I feel there's something odd here. It seems our Class C is being deliberately targeted."
Ryunosuke looked at her again with a "strange" gaze full of contempt.
Sae's chest rose and fell in annoyance, she really wanted to punch this kid.
"You think your teacher is stupid?! You think your teacher wouldn't realize her own class was being cornered?!"
Ryunosuke withdrew his gaze, then clapped with a very fake and expressionless style. "Sensei is indeed extraordinary, very impressive."
The furious Sae threw a punch. Ryunosuke dodged nimbly and walked away with a casual style. Before really leaving, he poked his small head from behind the door and said to her who was still raging:
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to this class."
After saying that sentence, Ryunosuke disappeared from Sae's view.
Reflexively, Sae wanted to reach into her pocket to get a cigarette, but what she found was a lollipop instead. She smiled resignedly. "I forgot I'm quitting smoking. The cigarettes are gone, all that's left is lollipops."
She unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth. Her lips slowly formed a beautiful curve; clearly her mood was very good.
Although Ryunosuke was very annoying, the sense of security he gave was really no joke. Even Sae as a teacher was beginning to have a trace of other feelings toward him. However, as an adult, she prioritized benefits more; she wouldn't let romantic feelings affect her judgment.
Compared to following feelings, adults cared more about benefits. But as a consequence, they lost childhood innocence—what is called naivety. Adults who had experienced the harshness of the world wouldn't easily believe in things like love anymore. They looked more at utility value.
Meanwhile in class, the atmosphere was still chaotic.
At that time, Ryunosuke still hadn't returned...