A/N: I realized while writing, I'm used to reading last names, so with the exception of the mc(unless it's not centered around him even if this is in third person), everyone else should now be using their last names unless they get closer to mc.
--<>--
Nemuri sat in his seat, prepared to spend the stocked up social battery for the next week or so.
While attention was annoying, especially in a place where the 'smartest high schoolers' were gathered, Nemuri had somewhat of a one track mind.
Getting points.
Not getting expelled.
And getting coins.
Nemuri didn't specifically remember if they were able to convert points to cash, but he could verify it with one of the few people he knew was somewhat trustworthy in the show later.
That stuck-up girl's brother.
…Maybe it would be beneficial if he got to memorizing the names.
He didn't care about getting to Class A.
What was the purpose of getting into the college or job of his choice if his dream was to be able to dream without worry?
However, Class Points also dictated how much Personal Points he got every month.
Nemuri was spoiled by a friend and had a faint memory that Class B was cooked.
That didn't sound good for his future.
While he didn't specifically know why Class B got fucked over, he could assume some obvious things. If Ichinose was definitively the leader, then she was a shit leader.
Again, he didn't know the reasoning behind why she was a shit leader, but if the class went down that low, then there was obviously an issue with the leadership.
So, Nemuri had a plan.
He didn't know if it was a good plan, but he needed to change something for the sake of his future.
It was Plan A: Become a Strategist!
Being a leader was directly contradicting his plan to sleep a lot and farm coins.
However, if he was a strategist, all of the dirty work didn't need to be done by him!
He would be the Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei!
Or the Merlin to King Arthur!
Or the Tang Sanzang to Sun Wukong!
Or at least that's the plan, anyway.
"So, any questions~?"
Nemuri snapped back to focus, as his new Homeroom Teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, finished her explanation.
Nemuri took the opportunity to raise his hand, along with two others.
While he might not know all of the characters within Advanced Nurturing High School, he did remember his class roster.
So he could tell the names of the two students other than him who rose their hands.
Kanzaki Ryuji and Ichinose Honami.
"Hmm, there's more questions than I thought?" Hoshinomiya tilted her head. "Then, let's go with Kanzaki-kun first!"
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, when you mentioned that on the first day of every month that points would be allocated, does that guarantee that 100,000 Points will be distributed?" Kanzaki lowered his hand.
"Additionally, it seems unrealistic even if this is a government sponsored institution that they can afford to give students the equivalent of 100,000 Yen every month."
'...Kanzaki seems to be smarter than I thought?'
Only remembering Ichinose out of the students from Class B when it came to the source material, Nemuri was a bit confused.
If there was a competent guy here all along, then how did Class B go to the gutter?
Was it her fault all along from the beginning?
Nemuri glanced at Ichinose incredulously, but looked back at Hoshinomiya, waiting for her response.
Hoshinomiya hummed in thought, before shrugging.
"Who knows?"
There was an awkward silence as the students registered what Hoshinomiya had said.
"Eh?" Kanzaki paused in confusion. "What does that insinuate, Hoshinomiya-sensei?"
Hoshinomiya only shrugged once more. "How you interpret my response is up to you, Kanzaki-kun~"
'...Isn't this the perfect chance to elevate my own worth so I can get a strategist position?'
Nemuri raised his voice, quiet yet clear enough to shoot through the confused murmurs of the class.
"...Then is it possible to buy a real explanation, Hoshinomiya-sensei?"
The class went silent. While they couldn't immediately tell who asked the question, they looked at Hoshinomiya for a response.
Nemuri was aware of how points had the possibility of buying anything within Advanced Nurturing High School.
It meant that this loophole possibly existed.
Didn't know if it existed.
Of course, Nemuri knew of the Behavioral Exams.
It was the whole thing that got him into watching past the second episode of the anime.
However, he himself didn't know the specifics, and attempting to explain it to Ichinose to communicate to the rest of the class didn't guarantee anything, rather than information delivered directly by the school staff.
--<>--
Hoshinomiya glanced at Nemuri with interest in his statement. Despite her rather easy going personality, she was surprisingly observant.
'...It seems I have more students with potential than just Ichinose-chan.'
Hoshinomiya hummed with an underlying satisfaction. While reaching Class A would mean an increase in her salary, she was more off-handed in terms of assistance.
If there was one thing she wanted, it was preventing Class D from even getting close to becoming Class A.
So if her own Class B could rise up to Class A and stay there, wouldn't that fill both boxes of preventing Sae-chan rising to Class A and increasing her salary at the same time?
However, just because Nemuri had asked this question didn't mean that she was immediately going to give in and tell the price.
After all, she wasn't a cheap woman!
"...It's pretty expensive you know~" Hoshinomiya gave a small smile of anticipation, leaning onto the podium.
"Are you sure you can afford it?"
--<>--
At the question, before students could question whether it was worth it or not, Ichinose raised her voice.
"How much is it, Hoshinomiya-sensei?"
While Ichinose came into Advanced Nurturing High School to seek a new beginning after her past, if there was something suspicious about the school, for the sake of both her classmates and herself, making early sacrifices was perfectly fine by her.
She originally had similar suspicions as Kanzaki, and was just as confused as him at Hoshinomiya's initial ambiguous response of 'Who knows?'.
However, a sudden statement by a classmate reignited her intent on knowing more about this school.
Ichinose felt rising tension as she watched Hoshinomiya hum in thought.
"Two million points."
At such a suddenly high number, Ichinose couldn't help but have her thoughts come to a halt.
She originally thought 100,000 Points were extremely exaggerated, and now Hoshinomiya-sensei was talking about two million?
But she soon did the math.
With forty people in one class, if everyone gave up half of their points, then wouldn't it be easily achievable?
…But would her classmates be willing to spend so much on information that had a small chance of being useless?
Thoughts ran through her mind as she overthought how to convince her classmates to invest into this opportunity, when a familiar quiet but clear voice was heard.
"I mean… isn't having 100,000 Points a month already too much for us?"
--<>--
When Nemuri had heard Hoshinomiya's price, while there was the initial pause, it was quickly overridden by common sense.
Even 50,000 Points per month was already enough for some.
So, making a sacrifice early on was undeniably more beneficial in the long run.
While it did pain him a little on the inside to lose that much money on one purchase, if he was already draining his own social battery to have some standing within this class, what was a little more.
So when there was a pause as most students paused at the price, Nemuri took the opportunity to raise his voice.
"I mean… isn't having 100,000 Points a month already too much for us?"
First was to establish a truth that most people could comprehend.
Next was establishing a solid reason. "If the information that we buy does tell us about the amount of points we get next month, couldn't we prepare for it if we buy it?"
And then finally was to create a feeling of trying to convince but not force a positive response.
"So… I personally think that we should buy it."
Nemuri had somewhat planned this conversation.
Of course, this was under the condition that he even got the opportunity to speak.
If someone spoke before him, all of this consideration would have gone down the gutter, never to see the light of day.
Additionally, if someone interrupted him while speaking, the rest of his statements would also go down the gutter.
But getting to use these lines gave Nemuri a sense of satisfaction, as if getting a decent dice roll to land on an unowned expensive property in Monopoly.
If he decided to use his social battery, it had to be carefully considered at the very least.
He wasn't much of a public speaker.
After Nemuri finished that sentence, there were murmurs of agreement.
While a few whispers of hesitation spread through the classroom, no one wanted to be the first to voice outright opposition.
All it would take was one confident push to decide the flow of the room.
However, Nemuri didn't have any intention of adding or rallying his classmates actively. That only gave the impression that he wanted to be a leader.
That was the worst case scenario.
He glanced toward Ichinose, yet locked eyes with her.
Thankfully, his bangs naturally covered his facial features, but he still looked at Ichinose with confusion and a hint of urging.
'What are you looking at me for? Do something!'
He didn't have a Plan B or C!
--<>--
After a few seconds of murmuring, Ichinose stood up from her seat near the middle of the classroom and looked around.
"I agree with…"
Ichinose trailed off.
'...What is his name?'
Hoshinomiya called with amusement from the podium. "Kyusoku Nemuri."
Ichinose quickly put that name to memory before nodding. "I agree with Kyusoku-san!"
"I understand that it does seem expensive, but what if we didn't get this information now, and next month the amount we get is different?"
"Also, doesn't everyone think Hoshinomiya-sensei's explanations were missing something?"
Ichinose asked.
After all, when Hoshinomiya-sensei first said about the 100,000 Points, she said that the school weighed their students by their merit.
Maybe buying this information could tell her more about this 'merit' that the school weighed.
Thankfully, there was only a short pause before another student rose from their seat.
Kanzaki-san…if she remembered correctly.
"I agree with spending points to buy this information. Maybe Hoshinomiya-sensei wanted to tell us, but couldn't. Why else would she respond with 'Who knows' to a question that anyone here could have asked?"
With that statement, there were more nods of agreement from her classmates.
"I agree!"
With more students raising their voice in approval, Ichinose quickly stopped them from making too much noise.
"But we can't force people to pay. How about a show of hands if you agree to pay for the information? I'll try to make up if you disagree!"
Kanzaki raised his voice. "Me too."
While Ichinose was worried of not having any money, the chances that the information bought was important were high.
Yet that worry was unnecessary, as everyone in the classroom raised their hands in agreement.
A smile bloomed on Ichinose's face.
"Thank you everyone!"
She turned back towards Hoshinomiya.
"We'll buy the information, Hoshinomiya-sensei!"
Hoshinomiya had a somewhat satisfied smile on her face.
"I need the points first though."
"Oh!"
Ichinose turned around back to her classmates, pulling out her phone.
After moving to her contact page and Student ID, she looked back towards Hoshinomiya.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, could I use the blackboard?"
Hoshinomiya gave a nod, so Ichinose walked up to the front of the classroom, writing her contact information and Student ID.
"Could everyone please add my phone number and then text me your name?" Ichinose asked. "I'll make a class group chat too!"
"And also send 50,000 Points to my Student ID so we can buy the information!"
There was a few minutes of silence as the entirety of Class-B added Ichinose to their contacts and sent her the points.
"I'll get the class group chat running after the Entrance Ceremony!" Ichinose announced, before turning to Hoshinomiya, who had her phone pulled out.
Hoshinomiya handed her phone to Ichinose, but also wrote her own phone number on the blackboard.
"Also, here's your lovely homeroom teacher's contact information! I'm also the School Nurse, so if you have any health problems, you can contact me." Hoshinomiya put a finger to her lip in thought.
"Or if you want any romance advice, feel free to ask me about that too!"
That only got a few awkward chuckles from Class B.
Hoshinomiya pouted. "Hey, what's with this silence?"
A boy raised his voice, giving a lively response. "We will, sensei!"
Her expression brightened. "Really?! I'll be waiting, Shibata-kun!"
Shibata could only give an awkward laugh at the enthusiastic response. "Aha…"
However, Ichinose came to Shibata's rescue, having transferred the two million points to Hoshinomiya's account.
"Two million confirmed, huh?" Hoshinomiya mumbled, as Ichinose went back to her seat, waiting with rapt attention.
The information that she was curious about was finally about to be revealed!
--<>--
Hoshinomiya revealed everything.
The existence of Class Points.
Class competition.
Class A being the only class to get benefits that the school promised.
Twenty Million Points to transfer to Class A.
Special Exams.
Expulsion.
After Hoshinomiya's explanation ended, there was an opinion of disapproval.
Automatically classifying students into 4 different groups, all based on their own abilities, and now they were told that they didn't even get the 99.9% Employment or Acceptance after graduation?
But soon after, a sense of competitiveness arose.
After all, they were already in Class B, right behind Class A, which meant that they probably had abilities similar or comparable to Class A, right?
And they also had information exclusive to them!
So even though there was an initial feeling of disapproval, it soon changed.
After all, they had the information advantage from the beginning!
But then, another thought entered the minds of Class B.
And if Class Competition was inevitable, then wasn't it better to have a leader…?
However, there seemed to be only one candidate for the position, right?
A few students glanced at Ichinose, who was still in thought.
Yet, one student within Class B knew this couldn't happen.
Yes.
That one outlier was our Protagonist.
Kyusoku Nemuri.
After analyzing the rest of his classmates, there seemed to be a way better candidate.
While at first glance, Ichinose Honami was undeniably a competent Class Leader, with how she had taken the initiative to gather the class points and also get everyone's contact information.
If Nemuri didn't know that she was a fraud—even if he didn't even know what she did—then he would have also been satisfied with such a perfect leader.
But he did know!
Yes, the addition of himself would mean that the butterfly effect would inevitably take place.
However, Nemuri didn't trust himself to be so proactive to the point where he would find at which point Ichinose screwed up her leadership.
So, he wanted to nip it in the bud!
Nemuri believed that Ichinose's position as the Class's leader was due to the trust and popularity built up from the proceeding month, and then when the students assumed that having a leader would be better, had unanimously chosen Ichinose.
Or at least that was Nemuri's theory.
That meant letting Ichinose gain popularity to the point where her position was impossible to challenge was simply the worst choice of action!
The person who spoke first won!
"Um, I think that—"
Before Nemuri could even finish his sentence, he was cut off.
"If we're going to be in a class competition, then wouldn't it be good to vote for a leader?"
Since Nemuri's voice was naturally quiet, his voice was quickly drowned out by the person who interrupted.
Nemuri paused, as if surprised that he was interrupted, and opened his mouth to try and speak again.
"Then I—"
"I think that if we're choosing a representative, then wouldn't Ichinose-san be a good choice? I mean she already has all of our contact information and gathered all of our points really fast."
'Damn you Hamaguchi Tetsuya for such a good argument!'
Nemuri inwardly cursed.
"I think that Ichinose-san is also a good choice for a leader!"
Another voice spoke up, which led to a majority of the classroom agreeing with Hamaguchi's opinion.
There was simply no way that Nemuri could speak over this many people.
Listening to the rest of the class already satisfied with deciding on something this important before an entire day even passed, a thought popped into his mind.
'...I might just give up, and hope that doing this one thing somehow snowballs into me getting a lot of points.'
Yet, just as Nemuri thought up with that self-defeatist mindset, the person in mention intervened.
"Wait, wait! I feel like already deciding on a class leader is too early!" Ichinose exclaimed in abashment at how fast everything was moving, in which the classroom quieted down.
'...An opportunity?'
Yet then, before he could even formulate a possible method, someone else made an innocent yet large mistake.
"Then does anyone else want to be a leader?"
'Damn you Yonezu Haruto!'
While in essence, it was merely a question that could have been from innocent intentions, it effectively prevented any other possible candidates from volunteering, especially during a time when the public opinion was obviously on Ichinose's side.
Nemuri wasn't annoyed at that aspect.
After all, this gave him an opportunity to speak without possibly getting interrupted.
But he was annoyed that speaking here would get him that much more attention then if he just inserted his own opinion naturally with the flow of the conversation.
Yet, it wasn't like he wasn't going to take the opportunity.
"I… think that Kanzaki-san would also be a good leader…"
That sudden statement got the attention of both Kanzaki, who hadn't expected anyone to nominate him, and Ichinose, who had already put Nemuri's name to memory.
Nemuri, who now had the attention of the whole class, was grateful with his face blocking bangs at this moment.
"He was also the first one to ask Hoshinomiya-sensei about the school…"
Nemuri knew that his argument was weak.
Rather, it was easily refutable.
'Damn you Kanzaki Ryuji! Why didn't you take the initiative when you had the chance!'
Now he was cursing about how Kanzaki let Ichinose take the initiative for every step after that, as this was basically all Nemuri could argue for Kanzaki.
And, as expected, someone refuted it.
A voice, similarly quiet but a little louder than his called up.
"But didn't Ichinose-san also have her hand up when Hoshinomiya-sensei asked if there were any questions?"
'Haah… Damn you Shiranami Chihiro, for countering the only claim I had…even if it was a shit claim.'
Welp.
Nemuri no longer had any ideas on being able to change public opinion.
After all, if he used Ichinose's argument of it being too early to judge whether she was a good class leader or not, then the cycle of someone coming up with the reasoning that no one else volunteered would only continue.
Just as it seemed that Ichinose was about to nod, based on the natural vibe of the class, an unexpected savior emerged.
Hoshinomiya Chie!
"Students~ While your homeroom teacher is very happy that everyone's so proactive, the Entrance Ceremony is starting soon, you know?"
"...Eh?!"
That announcement paused the entire flow of the conversations, as the majority of the class quickly got up from the seats.
Ichinose took the opportunity to set an announcement.
"Since we couldn't decide today, let's decide after school tomorrow! And let's keep the information a secret from other classes, at least for now, okay?"
With nods of agreement, students quickly shuffled out of the classroom, wanting to not be late to the Entrance Ceremony.
After all, who knew if being late resulted in losing Class Points?
Nemuri was self aware in the sense where he admitted that his physical abilities were subpar.
…Even if subpar was an understatement.
So he was the last one to leave, but as he was about to leave the classroom, a voice called out to him.
"Kyusoku-kun~"
He turned around, to find that Hoshinomiya had already gotten close to him.
...It was painful to admit that she was actually taller than him.
She looked down at him, as if looking at a cute object.
"Aren't you grateful to your beautiful homeroom teacher~?"
She was referring to when she mentioned the Entrance Ceremony, which stopped the flow of the conversation.
Even when there was actually a surprising amount of time remaining before the Entrance Ceremony.
"...Thank you, Hoshinomiya-sensei." Nemuri gave a thankful bow.
While it was probably useless in the end, seeing as even in a day the chances of Ichinose getting closer to her classmates was guaranteed.
"You're probably thinking that even with my assistance, it's hopeless right?" Hoshinomiya said with a smug smile.
Nemuri paused, but gave a small nod.
She wasn't wrong, after all.
Hoshinomiya took a step closer.
Nemuri took a step back.
"Then can I ask why you don't want Ichinose-chan to be the Class Leader?"
Nemuri paused in thought.
'She even saw that…? Well nevermind, I guess it was obvious if you looked hard enough.'
"...I might just be overthinking it, but she looks too nice…?"
It was a bad argument.
However, not having much knowledge on Classroom of the Elite, it was the only reason that Nemuri could think of.
"She seems like the person who can't go hard against other classes, even at the expense of our class." He added on.
"And you think Kanzaki-kun is?" Hoshinomiya asked.
Nemuri nodded.
Didn't he just give that serious vibe?
Rather, Nemuri would have nominated anyone who seemed to be even remotely competent, as long as it wasn't Ichinose.
"Then…why not yourself?" Hoshinomiya tilted her head. In her opinion, during the sequence of events, until the point that she noticed him being cut off, he was leading the flow of the crowd.
From asking about whether the information could be bought, and igniting the spark that would convince the rest of the students to agree to the payment.
Everything was effective and subtle.
If there was a small gripe that Hoshinomiya had, it was that he didn't seem to have much of an ambition, and his voice was simply too quiet.
But maybe that could be fixed in the future, but who knows?
"Well…I just didn't think I was a good candidate."
'...Being the leader means less time to sleep!'
Nemuri inwardly complained.
"Eh~ is that so?" Hoshinomiya hummed, obviously skeptical, but skipped over it. "Also, when I skimmed your file, there was something interesting."
"...Was there?"
"If you don't know, then that's that. But if you have any issues with your health, then contact me, the School Nurse, okay?"
'...My health? I mean I know I'm pretty weak, but I don't think it's that bad?'
Nemuri tilted his head, but Hoshinomiya didn't elaborate, only giving a smile in return.
"...Yes ma'am."
Hoshinomiya nodded. "That's all I wanted to say. You should get to the Entrance Ceremony before it starts, Kyusoku-kun~"
Nemuri could only give an uncertain nod, slowly walking out of the classroom.
--<>--
Back in the Teacher's Office, Hoshinomiya hummed a tune, pulling back up the student files.
While she did give a small skim over her students, there was a different reason why she paid attention to Nemuri more than normal.
After all, with such an unusual school note and stats, who wouldn't?
If she had high hopes in Ichinose, then Nemuri was someone she had to constantly pay attention to, whether he was interesting or not.
"Here it is, one file on Kyusoku Nemuri." She murmured.
--<>--
Name: Kyusoku Nemuri
Academic Ability: A
Intelligence: B-
Judgment Ability: B-
Physical Ability: E-
Cooperativeness: C-
--<>--
Comments from the Interviewer:
The student has previous records of high grades, along with one of the highest scores on the Entrance Exam. Has previous records from orphanage and school regarding a lack of close friends despite his a normal attitude shown during the interview. We wish to see the student's improvement in creating close relationships.
Special Note: According to a recent physical examination taken as a special case of not being able to finish the Physical Exam, the student has reported symptoms of malnutrition, presumed hypersomnia, and possible anorexia nervosa.
Not recommended to physically overexert himself.
Recommends teachers to keep an eye on the student's mental state.
--<>--
She looked at the attached photo, where Nemuri's bangs were moved aside for the photo, revealing a somewhat awkward but cute photo.
'What a waste of a hairstyle, hiding such a cutie!' She thought, before falling into thought.
Hoshinomiya was aware of another student with a similar case, the current Chairman of Advanced Nurturing High School's only daughter, Sakayanagi Arisu.
However, while Sakayanagi may have been born with a congenital heart defect resulting in a lack of physical strength, resulting in her carrying a cane to assist with walking.
On the other hand, Nemuri had a similar physique despite not from a disease, but due to his lifestyle.
That single aspect made the two scenarios completely different in terms of attention.
Having such physical abilities despite being able to fix it was the main reason behind his placement in Class B, despite being in a similar situation physically to Sakayanagi.
Hoshinomiya initially paid attention to Nemuri just in case there was an accident, but he turned out to be surprisingly proactive.
Yet she couldn't actively intervene in the decisions of a student even when it came to health.
'He doesn't even seem to be aware of the reasoning behind it.'
She sighed.
'I can only hope the atmosphere of Class B can fix this issue…'
--<>--
A/N: Another long ass chapter.
Also, i didn't abandon blink or wn. I'm just taking a break on wn(as a whole) until my patreon chaps hit 5-10 in advance(even if I haven't made any progress on that).
--<>--