That'll Cost Extra / One Joke Is Enough

Could she be one of those XXNs?

Kamio Tatsuya felt a headache coming on. Wasn't asking her to help him study a little too rash?

When she heard Horikita Suzune bring up the entrance exam, Chabashira-sensei smiled and pulled a test paper out of nowhere.

"I see. Normally, entrance exam results aren't something you can show other people. But since you've put it that way, I'll make an exception. As it happens, I have your test paper right here."

What a lie...

What were the odds of that?

Kamio Tatsuya exchanged a glance with Ayanokoji Kiyonaka. They both saw the same thing in each other's eyes.

Honestly, Chabashira-sensei was really picking on Horikita. She had her completely under her thumb.

This was the Counseling Room, not the teachers' office. In general, you wouldn't expect them to keep something like this on hand.

Chapter 34: That's a Different Price

Horikita certainly had plenty of flaws, but she was still smart enough to see through things.

So she immediately saw through Chabashira-sensei's clumsy lie.

"You really came prepared... As if you knew I was coming here to protest."

"I am a teacher, after all. I'd like to think I understand my students' personalities to some extent."

Tsk, here she went again.

If you really understood your students' personalities, you wouldn't have called me here. You clearly hadn't seen through the fact that I was a slacker at heart.

Couldn't you just let me quietly be a slacker?

Why drag me into this mess?

He didn't know what would happen next, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.

"Horikita Suzune, your entrance exam results were just as you'd judged them to be. You came third in the written exam, with a score not far behind first and second place. And as you said, you made no major mistakes in the interview. In fact, your evaluation was quite good."

"But..."

"Thank you. Then—why?"

"Before that, why are you unhappy about being placed in Class D?"

"Because the school didn't evaluate me properly. Besides, the class you're assigned to at this school will have a huge impact on your future. Of course I'm unhappy about it."

"Properly evaluated? Hahahaha! You certainly think highly of yourself."

Chabashira-sensei laughed at Horikita Suzune without mercy.

"Your written exam results were certainly excellent. I'll admit that. But who said that students with strong academic ability would be placed in the top classes? We've never said that."

"But—but that's common sense in society."

As if she'd heard something amusing, Chabashira-sensei laughed again.

"Common sense? The so-called common sense you've made up for yourself is the problem.

"Being good at studying is certainly a valuable ability, but this school exists to produce truly outstanding people. In other words, being good at studying alone isn't enough.

"If the school placed students solely according to academic ability, Sudo and the others wouldn't even be here."

At that, Horikita didn't know how to respond.

"That's how things are. It's unfortunate, but the school didn't make a mistake by placing you in Class D. You're simply a student of that caliber, so naturally you were placed in Class D."

"...I see. I'll ask the school again."

The school? Wake up. Chabashira-sensei, right in front of you, represented the school.

Everything she'd just said had been on behalf of the school, too.

The way you put it made it sound as if you suspected Chabashira-sensei hadn't conveyed the school's decision correctly, or had deliberately interfered.

Honestly, Kamio Tatsuya thought Chabashira-sensei was being remarkably generous just for not getting angry.

"Do whatever you want. Instead of wasting your time on that, you should think about how to lead your class up the rankings."

"With so many burdens to carry, surpassing classes with nearly a thousand more Class Points doesn't seem possible... Never mind. I'll head back for now, but please remember that I haven't accepted what happened today."

"Fine. Since that's what you want, I'll keep it in mind. By the way, I also called someone connected to you to the Counseling Room."

"Someone connected to me... Could it be my bro—"

"Ayanokoji, Kamio, come out."

Hearing that, Kamio Tatsuya felt utterly exasperated. What a pain. She might hold a grudge against him now.

Still, the honest Kamio Tatsuya honestly stood up from the sofa and prepared to go out.

Then he saw Ayanokoji sitting completely still.

Even if the guy didn't want to get dragged into trouble, it was already right on top of him. He shouldn't be thinking about running away now. He should face it.

Besides, there was no back door in this tea room. Where could he even escape to?

When he stepped out of the tea room, Kamio Tatsuya gave Horikita Suzune a helpless look, showing her he'd been forced into this.

"Where's Ayanokoji?"

"He jumped out the window and ran away."

Then Chabashira-sensei went straight into the tea room and saw Ayanokoji, who had just stood up.

"Ayanokoji, do you want to be expelled?"

"Please go easy on me."

A little while later, in the Counseling Room.

"You heard what we just said, didn't you?"

"What did you say, Chabashira-sensei?" Ayanokoji answered before anyone else. "I did hear you talking about something, but I couldn't make it out. These walls are surprisingly thick."

Hey, hey, were you still trying to avoid this at a time like this?

It won't work!

Face reality!

Good grief.

"I heard you, but I have a bad habit: things go in one ear and out the other. So, what were you just talking about?"

As he spoke, he put on a look of utterly convincing confusion.

"Enough with the clumsy acting."

Clumsy? You really don't know how to appreciate it.

"Sensei, why are you doing this?"

"Don't be in such a hurry. These two will be key to the class moving up in the future. It won't hurt you to listen carefully."

Hearing that, Kamio Tatsuya raised his hand and cut her off before she could get started.

"Please wait. I have no interest in moving up to Class A. If that's why you called me here, I'll be going."

So far, Kamio Tatsuya had no plans to move up to Class A.

He'd already made over three million Private Points. His monthly living expenses were close to a hundred thousand, and if he spent carefully, he could live comfortably all the way to graduation.

If he could coast through all three years, why work himself to the bone just to get into Class A?

Of course, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't some lazy bum.

He didn't mind working hard to get into Class A.

What bothered him was why he had to drag that bunch of idiots in Class D all the way there.

Especially that bastard Yamauchi.

If you wanted him to put in effort, fine—but expel Yamauchi first.

Everyone got paid the same. If you had the ability, you should do more work?

Did being a good person mean you deserved to have a gun pointed at you?

What a joke. Kamio Tatsuya wasn't some bleeding heart like Hirata Yosuke.

So Kamio Tatsuya had no intention of lifting a finger. It wasn't as if staying in Class D meant he was bound to face expulsion.

It wasn't that he wouldn't help if they absolutely insisted. That would just cost extra.

In simple terms—he wanted more money!

Watching Kamio Tatsuya's firm refusal, Chabashira Sae felt a headache coming on. She remembered the interviewer's assessment of him.

The interviewer seemed to have written a long evaluation, but on closer inspection, it all boiled down to two words:

Lazy!

At the end, they'd even added: If his lazy nature can be corrected and his potential brought out, he has a bright future ahead of him.

Now that she'd met him, the assessment had certainly been accurate.

From the very beginning, he'd been making all kinds of excuses to avoid getting involved in trouble.

That was right—even Chabashira admitted that getting Class D into Class A was a troublesome task.

Chapter 35: Once Is Enough for a Joke

Chabashira Sae glanced at Kamio Tatsuya and decided that this wasn't something she should have to worry about.

Someone else was more eager than she was to get Class D into Class A. Thinking this, she looked at Horikita Suzune across from her.

"Whether you want to move up to Class A is up to you. As your teacher, I'm only offering advice to students who want to get there."

Hah, easy for her to say.

Kamio Tatsuya curled his lip. Still, as long as she didn't try to talk him into helping Class D, he could listen to what the crafty teacher had to say.

After glancing at Kamio Tatsuya, Chabashira Sae decided to start with Ayanokoji.

"Japanese: fifty points. Mathematics: fifty points. English: fifty points. Social studies: fifty points. Science: fifty points... For the record, you also got fifty points on this quiz. Do you understand what that means?"

Fifty points?

Those weren't his results, and they certainly weren't Horikita's. So they had to be Ayanokoji's?

Kamio Tatsuya looked at him, then silently edged farther away.

Horikita also looked at Ayanokoji in astonishment.

"Coincidences are truly frightening."

A coincidence?

How could this guy say that with such a straight face?

Kamio Tatsuya was starting to dislike him. Kamio could be pretty awful himself at times, but compared with this guy, he was like an angel. This guy really thought everyone else was an idiot.

In other words, he didn't take anyone seriously.

Thinking back to when he'd invited Ayanokoji to eat with him, Kamio Tatsuya felt sick.

Just then, Kamio Tatsuya felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Was that... a reply?

Kamio Tatsuya pulled out his phone as if nobody else were there. Sure enough, he had an unread message.

[Junior Kamio, I don't know what happened, but I can tell you this with certainty: this school has a very comprehensive set of rules. As long as you don't break them, nobody but you can get you expelled.]

At that, Kamio Tatsuya immediately felt reassured and spoke up.

"I'm going back."

Kamio Tatsuya's sudden interruption left the three of them stunned. They had no idea what had happened.