But Katsuragi's group — and Katsuragi himself — completely disagree with that idea.
At most, he asks everyone to give 25% of their points as backup for exams.
That's the kind of leader you can trust.
"About that—" Nagumo was just about to say more, when a soft, sweet voice cut in from the side.
Turns out Sakayanagi had already finished reading the bulletin board.
"I don't think it's worth it," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "If you get too caught up over just 50 points, then during the special exam coming up, you'll probably be held back by small things again."
"That kind of mindset is bound to lead to bigger problems later."
In other words, focusing on the small stuff and missing the big picture.
"And if you're this eager over 50 points, can I assume this is the limit of your thinking?" Sakayanagi asked.
"You little— Sakayanagi!" Yahiko couldn't stay quiet after hearing her taunt.
"Wait a second, Yahiko." Katsuragi raised his hand. Yahiko was great in many ways and always had his back, but he tended to be impatient. "When Nagumo-senpai mentioned those 50 points, did he mean that even if Kamuro hadn't reported Shirogane, they still would've earned the bonus?"
"In other words, can you twist the truth and still get points?" Katsuragi asked.
"I never said that exactly," Nagumo replied, raising his hands.
But saying he didn't say it directly… was basically saying it in a roundabout way.
So Nagumo was sending a message to Katsuragi, Sakayanagi, and the others. At this school, being too honest might not be the best path.
Just as expected.
Nagumo came to give them a heads-up.
And now that he'd said so much, Katsuragi looked over at the bulletin board.
Second-year Class A, Nagumo Miyabi — 300,000 private points deducted.
Nagumo Miyabi was a student council member, the vice president, and an upperclassman. Even though he was only in second year, he knew the school rules well. So for him to be openly punished like this… it didn't quite add up.
He was telling them it's okay to not always play fair—so does that mean, even if he broke the rules, he had ways to cover it up?
But in reality, he still got punished and lost private points.
So then—
"Senpai, could it be that the 300,000 points you lost were actually…" Katsuragi thought back to what Nagumo said when he came to Class A to talk to Kamuro.
His words back then seemed like a subtle hint. It helped those who already knew some of the school's secrets confirm that their info was accurate.
"Heh. So you were paying attention after all."
"I really do have high hopes for you guys," Nagumo Miyabi said.
He'd already spent the points, so of course he wanted to see results.
Unfortunately, just now when he tried talking to the super cute Sakayanagi, she completely ignored him.
So he turned to talk to her little "puppy," Kamuro.
But he got the cold shoulder again.
Not surprising, really. She'd shut him down before, and even after a month, nothing had changed.
Just as he was getting a little annoyed, Katsuragi Kohei showed up. And from the looks of it, Katsuragi might actually have some potential.
Great.
He understood what Nagumo was trying to do and saw the value in the experience Nagumo was sharing.
"Boring." But Sakayanagi didn't care. "The four classes are already ranked in a clear order."
"Class A already has the upper hand, and now they're getting extra info too?"
"That just makes school life even more boring," Sakayanagi said.
"Sakayanagi." This time it wasn't Yahiko who responded—it was Katsuragi.
This was exactly why he found Sakayanagi dangerous.
She was way too extreme.
Because—
Look, she was even annoyed that her own class was too strong and had too much of an advantage.
"Seems like you're not happy with me, Katsuragi," she said. "Alright then, I'll leave this month's special test and next month's too in your hands. You take care of everything."
Sakayanagi had gone to Class B at noon to tell Shirogane about the 20 million points they got from the president, and she also gave him a mission—worth 20 million points—to take down Ayanokouji.
But Shirogane didn't reply to her right away.
On top of that, according to what the other students from Sakayanagi's group found while tailing him, Shirogane had gone to the student council at that time.
Because they were scared of the student council president, the ones following him didn't dare go any further, so they couldn't get any more info right away.
And even though Nagumo-senpai, who's part of the student council, was there, he just went to soccer practice, and when he saw them coming, he jogged over. He talked a lot, but clearly didn't have anything useful to say.
That made Sakayanagi a bit annoyed.
Still, the news didn't come too late.
Because—
The next morning, just as all the students were getting ready for their homeroom period, they were told to go to the gym instead.
The reason? A new list of student council members was going to be announced today.