Melancholy, unmotivated Ayanokoji Kiyotaka attends his first day at Tokyo Metropoiltan Advanced Nuturing High School, a government-established institution for training a generation of Japan's best and brightest. In this school, it is said, everything is decided based on merit, which includes the generous monthly "point" allowance students can spend at local shops. As Ayanokoji begins navigating this system, he also nurtures curious relationships with aloof fellow outsider Horikita Suzune and the terminally gregarious Kushida Kikyo.

Thanks to a lot of hard work and scheming, Class D managed to get surprisingly high scores on their midterm exam. But when a student fails a single test, Ayanokoji makes one final play to save his classmate from expulsion.