"I can't believe the school lets defectives walk in the same mall as us. It ruins the atmosphere. Look at them. They look so desperate."
Matsui Chiaki stopped walking. Her hands curled into tight fists at her sides. She turned her head to glare at the Class A girls.
"What did you say?" Matsui asked. Her voice was sharp.
"You heard us," a Class A girl sneered. "Are you deaf and stupid?"
Matsui took a step toward them.
Her friend grabbed her shoulder. "Don't, Chiaki. It's not worth it. If we argue and accidentally cross the line, we might get reported for bad conduct. We can't lose any more points because we don't have any to lose."
Matsui bit her lower lip. She glared at the Class A girls for a long moment. Then, she turned around.
"Let's go," she muttered.
The Class A girls laughed loudly as Matsui's group hurried away. The sound echoed down the wide mall corridor.
Reine observed all of these events from a distance. She happened to see the boy in the convenience store. She heard the whispers in the hallway. She walked past the incident at the mall.
She observed things unfold quietly.
The psychological pressure on Class D was reaching a breaking point. The students were not sleeping well. The classroom was tense. The constant mockery was grinding their confidence into dust.
They were scared of the midterms, scared of the rent, and furious at Class A at the same time. It was a terrible combination.
---
Friday afternoon arrived.
The final bell rang at 3:30 PM. The teacher packed his briefcase and walked out the door.
Usually, the students would pack their bags and rush out of the room to start their weekend. But today, no one moved.
Forty students sat in their chairs. The air in the room was heavy.
Hirano stood up from her desk in the second row. She walked to the front of the room and stood behind the teacher's podium. Kariya stood up and walked to the front to stand next to her. They both looked very serious.
"Can I have everyone's attention for a minute?" Hirano asked calmly. This time, her voice was not bright and bubbly like it used to be.
The whole class looked at her.
"We need to talk about what's happening," Hirano said. She looked across the rows of desks. "I know this week has been really hard for everyone. Class A is targeting us. They are saying horrible things. They are trying to make us feel worthless."
"Those Class A jerks. They called me a piece of trash yesterday," a boy near the window muttered while staring at his desk. "Right in front of the cafeteria. Everyone heard it."
"They blocked me from walking into the library," a girl added. "They just stood there and laughed at me."
Kariya crossed his arms and then he looked at the class. "They're doing it on purpose to mess with our heads. They want us to get angry and do something stupid."
"Exactly," Hirano said, nodding. "We can't let them win. If we fight back with fists, we get expelled. If we yell and cause a scene, we might get a penalty. The school rules are strict. Class A knows this. They're using the rules as a shield while they throw rocks at us."
"So what are we supposed to do?" another boy shouted from the back. "Just sit here and take it? Just let them spit on us every day?"
"Yes," Hirano said firmly.
A murmur of angry protests ran through the room.
"Listen to me!" Hirano raised her voice over the noise. "We have to take it, at least for now. If we fight by throwing harsh words back at them, Class A will achieve their objective. Their taunts are obvious rage baits. The midterms are the only thing that matters. If we study, and we pass those tests. We can survive."
"If we survive, we can fight back later," Kariya added. "But right now, we have zero points. We have no power and currently at the bottom. We have to swallow our pride and focus on the exams."
Hirano looked at every single person in the room. "Please! I'm asking all of you. Under any circumstances, do not get provoked. Do not let them make you angry. Just walk away. Promise me."
The room was quiet. The students knew she was right. It was the logical choice—or perhaps it was the only choice. But logic did not stop the anger burning in their chests.
When Hirano said the word provoked, the entire class shifted.
Almost every student in the room turned their heads. They looked toward the fifth row. All eyes were drawn to the large, muscular boy.
Sugimoto Ken.
He was the biggest risk. He had almost punched the Class A leader on Monday. He had a terrible temper and he did not know how to walk away from a fight. If anyone was going to snap and ruin the class, it was him.
Sugimoto felt their stares. He looked up from his desk. His face turned dark red. He gripped the edge of his table.
"What?!" Sugimoto yelled. The loud sound echoed in the classroom. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I know the rules! I haven't hit anyone yet!"
"Yet?" a girl in the front row whispered.
"We just want to make sure you understand, Sugimoto-kun," Kariya said carefully.
"I understand!" Sugimoto yelled back. He kicked his chair leg. "I'm not an idiot! I can control myself!"
Suddenly, a loud bang interrupted the argument.
CLACK!
The sliding glass door at the front of the classroom hit the metal frame with tremendous force.
Five Class A students barged into the room.
The tall boy from the cafeteria led the group. He walked past the podium and stepped right into the middle of the room. He looked at Hirano and Kariya standing at the front.
"Oh, did we interrupt a meeting?" the tall boy asked. He put a hand over his chest, pretending to look shocked. "Are the defectives planning a strategy? That is so cute. Trash trying to act like real students."
Kariya stepped forward. "Get out! This is our classroom."
"Your classroom?" A Class A girl stepped out from behind the tall boy. She laughed. "You don't own anything. We bought your seats, remember? We're just inspecting our property."
The tall boy walked down the aisle and stopped right next to Sugimoto's desk.
Sugimoto gripped the edges of his table. His knuckles were white.
"I heard yelling," the tall boy said, leaning down. He brought his face close to Sugimoto. "You said you can control yourself. Is that true, animal? Let's test it."
The tall boy raised his foot and kicked Sugimoto's desk.
The desk jerked. Sugimoto's notebooks fell to the floor.
"Oops," the tall boy smiled. "My foot slipped."
Sugimoto's chest heaved as he stared at the fallen notebooks.
He did not move or swing.
"Pick them up," the tall boy whispered. "Pick up your trash."
Sugimoto clenched his fist.
"Don't do it, Sugimoto," Kariya warned from the front. Sugimoto glared but did not attack.
The tall boy clicked his tongue. He turned away from Sugimoto, looking bored.
"He really is tamed. A dog with no teeth."
Sugimoto gritted his teeth.
He walked further down the back row, then stopped next to Reine's desk.
Reine sat perfectly still. She looked straight ahead at the whiteboard. She did not look at him.
"Look at this one," the tall boy said loudly. He tapped his finger on Reine's desk. "She doesn't even talk. Are you mute, defective? Or are you just too stupid to form a sentence?"
Reine kept her face completely blank without blinking.
"Hey," the tall boy snapped. He slammed his palm flat on her desk.
The loud smack echoed in the room.
"I'm talking to you. Look at me when I speak."
Reine slowly turned her head. She looked at his hand on her desk. Then she looked up at his face. Her amber eyes were flat, cold, and entirely empty.
The tall boy frowned. For a brief moment, he looked uncomfortable. The total lack of fear in her eyes confused him. But he quickly forced a loud laugh.
"Creepy," he said, stepping back. "No wonder you are in Class D. You look like a dead fish."
The Class A girl walked up behind him. She looked down at Reine's cheap notebook.
"She doesn't even have proper study notes. She sits there like a ghost. What a waste of oxygen."
"Let's go," the tall boy said, waving his hand. "This room smells like failure. I can't breathe in here anymore. Good luck on the midterms, defectives. Try not to cry when you get expelled."
They walked back up the aisle, laughing loudly without looking back. They walked out the sliding glass door and left it open.
The room remained completely and utterly dead silent for a long time.
Sugimoto slowly bent down toward the floor. He picked up his fallen notebooks one by one. His large hands were shaking violently in pure rage.
Kariya punched the wall with his right fist.
Reine turned her head back to the whiteboard. She stared at the blank surface.