Later in class, just as we were dismissed for lunch, Kaoru made her way to the front of the room. Standing up on the ledge, she talked to everyone.
"I'm a little disappointed by the lack of participation in our training sessions. We had a vote on this the previous day, and the majority of you agreed to it."
She leaned against the wall.
"I'm going to personally suggest a plan. Everyone will transfer me 1,000 points, and you will receive them back if you participate at least once daily. Our combined efforts will benefit the class in the long run. Raise your hand if you agree."
After a little bit of discussion, some hands slowly began going up. After a few people raised theirs, I decided to raise mine as well.
"Kaoru... I'm a little busy tonight... can I skip just today?" asked a boy.
"What are you going to do?"
"Just... um, some homework that... because I'm behind and all..."
"Before I answer you, we're going to vote on this first."
After a few moments, several more members of the class. Eventually, Kaoru managed to get the majority on her side.
"Alright, the class has spoken. From today on, there will be a mandatory 1,000-point deposit to me which will be returned if you attend the necessary training. If you have any issues with this, raise your hand now."
The boy raised his hand.
"Um, you didn't tell me what I could do..."
"I'll let you off the hook today if you attend both training sessions tomorrow."
"Tomorrow doesn't really work either..."
"I'm going to need more details. Everyone else, deposit me your points now."
There seemed to be quite a lot of trust in Kaoru, as most students began sending her their points without much hesitation. I opened up my phone and looked through some of the different attributes of the students before preparing to send her my points.
-
Your Account
Current Points: 3,895
Owed: 87,780
Owing: 12,000
-
I had enough, so I didn't really mind the deposit. Before long, a large number of points were being added to her account. She was still having a conversation with the boy who was trying to find an excuse to skip the training.
It didn't look like there was much else for me to do, so I decided to go back to my dorm.
• ───────────────── •
I wanted to do some more reading, so I sat down in my dorm room, lying down on my bed. Usually, I just went to class since there was nothing else for me to do and because I'd been trying to imitate a normal school life. However, one of the main benefits of the freedom provided by this school is the ability to skip class.
I didn't really have anything to learn, so if I wanted to read, I guess I'd just stay in my dorm. I'd go to the cross-country training session after school with Kaoru and the rest of the class for some fresh air later.
Opening We Have Always Lived in the Castle, I continued to read it. I did enjoy the slightly unhinged narration style from the narrator; it was quite a change of pace from the other book I'd read recently. It was interesting enough to hold my attention until it was time to begin making my way to the sports centre.
The time was 4:15 pm.
I closed the book and placed it on the bed—page 198.
Making my way back out of the dorm, I saw Okamoto; he was walking with Takagi.
"Hey, Mizuhara, how's it going?"
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm "It's alright."
"What are you up to?"
"Our class is practising for the cross country."
"Ah, that sounds fun. Did you hear that Takeuchi got demoted to class E?"
"Yeah, it was quite unfortunate."
Takagi was tugging at Okamoto's sleeve.
"Well, we're going to the cafe, so I'll see you another time!"
"Alright, see you."
The two of them walked off, and I made my way toward the meeting place for 2-C. There were more people there than the last few times. As I joined the group, I noticed that there were a few first-years as well.
"Ah, you're here, Mizuhara," greeted Karou.
"Hey, Kaoru."
"We've got a friendly relationship with 1-C, so I've invited some of them to practice with us."
"That's a good idea."
Furukawa and Itsuki made their way over.
"This is going to be hard to organise," commented Furukawa.
"It's fine. Just lead the way; I'll keep it orderly," responded Karou.
"Alright, thanks, Kaoru."
Standing beside Kobayashi, we all huddled in a big group. Kaoru was still noting down the names of everyone and keeping things in order. Eventually, Furukawa made his way to the front and called out.
"We'll start now. Feel free to go at your own pace."
With that, the group began moving. It was somewhat difficult to run with everyone squished together at the beginning. Not until a little while later did the group begin to disperse. The faster runners and slower runners were starting to separate, giving me some more breathing room.
Kobayashi fell behind a little, so I was running behind Hamasaki, the girl who was in 2-E with me at one point. She was quite a personable girl, with a friendly personality and good social skills. But more impressively, she was also smart and rational.
"How have you been, Mizuhara?"
I noticed that she wasn't really that puffed, despite being near the front.
"It's alright, just adjusting to the new class."
"I like this class a lot more than our old one. It's much more orderly."
"Yeah."
Continuing on our run, the students spread out even wider. Hamasaki was purposely altering her pace to stay with me. Otherwise, the distance between everyone would've meant that we would all be alone.
Unlike before, Furukawa didn't stop for a break after every lap. Some students stopped for a water break, but others continued.
Our session lasted around an hour, and everyone was quite exhausted. We got together one final time and did some stretches under the guidance of Kaoru.
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