A Monster's Influence: Route B

Volume 1 - Chapter 7

Ayanokouji's POV

May 1st. The day of reckoning had come. A few days ago, we had a pop quiz that apparently would not be reflected in our report cards. Given the meeting we had earlier last month, we all didn't trust this information Hoshinomiya-sensei told us and tried to do our best. "Try" and "do my best". I should be a comedian.

Earlier this morning, the group chat had constantly lit up as the class was busy in a spirited discussion regarding the number of points we received. As expected, we took a significant hit due to the two incidents that occurred. I could also assume we lost points as the class got somewhat lax towards the second half of the month, with some of my classmates communicating during class and not paying attention during class discussions. We all received 69,000 private points in total. Many of us were disappointed that we didn't receive the full amount, while some were elated that we didn't lose too many points. I'm just sad that I had less money to buy ice cream with. I only had 184,000 points. Before the discussion got heated by accusations, Ichinose quelled the disorder creeping up and encouraged us to do better.

We at least were in the clear compared to some other classes. Coincidentally, I met Hirata, who I learned had a dorm room adjacent to mine. He looked pale as a ghost and asked whether there was an error in the distribution of the points. Naturally, I gave him an ambiguous answer. It wasn't my job to babysit his class. I already provided him a hint because we were sort of friends. It was up to his class whether or not they acted like normal, well-adjusted members of society and diligent students. I heard that all the males in that class besides Hirata were filthy degenerate perverts who should die. They apparently do weird things like measuring contests. Measurement of what, I didn't know, but I thought it would be best not to get involved. Perhaps I'll throw Kanzaki in there as punishment.

*rrrring*

The class bell rang, signalling the beginning of homeroom. Hoshinomiya-sensei was, as always, plastered, head down while recovering from a hangover. She suddenly psyched herself up before slapping the board.

"I will now announce this month's class point totals for each class!" she said exuberantly.

"Sensei, you haven't written anything down yet," Kobashi commented, "Why did you slap the board?"

I could almost feel the second-hand embarrassment emanating from the class in waves.

"Fuck."

"Aren't senseis supposed to be well-mannered and exhibit decorum?" I asked rhetorically. This is what you get for that first day. Vengeance-chan will always be mine.

Sensei quickly did as she said, writing the classes and numbers on the board.

Class A: 940 cl

Class B: 690 cl

Class C: 460 cl

Class D: 150 cl

"Are there any questions?" Sensei asked.

Ichinose, the ever-diligent student, asked, "Can you please tell us if we can get those points back?"

"Nope!" she answered with a smile.

"What about how we were evaluated and what our infractions are?" Kanzaki asked.

"For the most part, Class B has been overall great! For the majority of this month, you were well-behaved in class with no absences and late arrivals. However, around the last two weeks, some of you became lax and started chatting during class. In addition, there were two incidents outside of the school complex where some of you got into some trouble. Be careful next time!" she pouted.

"Yes, sensei," most of the class chorused. Sensei then plopped herself back onto her seat and took a nap, resting her head on her arms once again.

...

"I guess this is free period?"

The class got up and started conversing with each other about the information given to us. Feeling concerned, some of us went to the front to watch over sensei. Yume was rubbing her back while Shibata snickered at Kanzaki's exasperation at the state of sensei.

"Our teacher is quite eccentric, huh," I thought out loud.

Kobashi let out a little laugh, "Yeah. She's not a bad person though. A little odd, but she means well,"

Girl, have you not noticed her being too touchy-feely with the boys to motivate them? That woman is an evil temptress, I tell you, playing with the feelings of innocent and impressionable boys! ...It definitely was a facade, however. A cleverly built one, but a facade nonetheless. The purpose of having one was the burning question.

"Oh! I forgot!" Sensei popped up once again pointing to the sky, startling Kobashi who fell to the floor in surprise.

"This school operates under government supervision and boasts a high rate of advancement into higher education and the workforce. In order for you to receive those benefits and achieve your dreams, you have to surpass Class A and maintain that position by the end of your senior year!" she paused for dramatic effect. No one seemed to be affected by that revelation.

"What, nothing? I thought you all would be shocked or something?"

"We sort of figured that there was going to be a competition of sorts during the first week,"

"Tch. At least none of you are in danger of dropping out, hmph!" she turned away from us, "You are all able to spend homeroom as you would like." she finished before exiting the classroom.

The rest of the class went back to their conversations, while I talked with Himeno, Kanzaki, and Ichinose regarding the competition. Or rather, Himeno and I just silently listened to them conversing. I'm less interested in the competition than developing the students that interest me. I'm not that interested in reaching Class A at all. I'd just like to enjoy my freedom. Then again, I do want more points for ice cream. If I had twenty million points, I'd spend all of it on that. Maybe I'll somehow convince the class to give me that money and then buy the ice cream parlour.

"Pfft!" Himeno snickered beside me.

"What?"

"I can't believe you said that out loud. Now I know not to trust you with our finances,"

"Our?"

"You know, ours, Ichinose, Kanzaki, and the rest of the class,"

I wondered if that was a Freudian slip. It looked like Ichinose and Kanzaki were still engaged in that conversation that they didn't really notice us.

"Do you think I should buy an espresso machine and install it in class?" I decided to throw out.

"Why would you buy one when Palette is in the same building?"

"I'm glad you asked. One, we both know the drinks in Palette are mediocre and overpriced. The coffee beans they use definitely aren't the best. I'm pretty sure we can buy gourmet beans to use from one of the specialized retailers. Two, we'll conserve energy because we won't have to walk to Palette and come back. We can just lounge in the classroom. Three, there will be less of a line. Palette is almost always filled to the brim with students, and it will take a long time for us to get our orders. Sometimes, we have to cancel because they can't make it in time. Four, I believe it can potentially be a lucrative business. Perhaps we'll sell cafe drinks at prices slightly lower than Palette. With Ichinose's connections, we can possibly make some money during the break periods between classes. We do have a fifteen-minute break in between each class,"

"...Why is this concept well thought out?"

"I want to open a library cafe in the future,"

The two of us then relaxed listening to Ichinose and Kanzaki who still somehow were conversing about the competition as we waited for the next class period.

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Something quick and dirty. It's kinda fun writing about the mundane, you know? Shooting the shit with your friends and all. A library cafe is kinda suitable for him, right? Calm, relaxing, ordering people to do the work for you as you read? What's not to love? Also Hiyori next chapter. Maybe. No more writing for the rest of this week and maybe next week because of important stuff going on.