Guidance

Chabashira Sae's gaze swept over the scattered test papers on the desk. Her fingertips hovered above them, unconsciously tapping the wooden surface.

She took a deep breath and murmured to herself, 'Never mind, the data doesn't lie.'

This conclusion seemed to temporarily suppress some emotion within her.

She looked up at Ayanokoji Kina, who stood quietly before her, a subtle, meaningful curve gracing her lips. "Ayanokoji, you are a truly interesting student."

Her voice was not loud, but it was clear enough.

Chabashira Sae picked up a table showing the entrance exam results and glanced at another small test paper beside her, as if searching for a connection.

"I had previously obtained the entrance exam results and planned to carefully consider how to individually guide you all, but..." She paused, her gaze sharp on Ayanokoji's face.

"Seeing your results on this recent exam, I discovered something very interesting. I was quite startled at first."

Chabashira Sae simply pulled out a score sheet and pointed at the scores, reading them aloud with a deliberately calm tone, as if dissecting a puzzle. "Japanese fifty, Math fifty, English fifty, Social Studies fifty, Science fifty..."

After finishing, she pushed the score sheet to the center of the desk and added, "For the record, the results of this recent small test were also fifty for every subject. Each subject is precisely at half of the maximum score."

Chabashira Sae leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping across the faces of Ayanokoji, Hoshino, and Horikita, and asked with emphasis, "Do you understand what this means?"

Horikita Suzune, standing to the side, was drawn to the question.

She leaned in slightly, her eyes scanning the score sheet, confirming the glaring "50"s in each subject.

Then, with clear confusion and a hint of inquiry, she turned her gaze to Ayanokoji Kina beside her. Her usually cool eyes held a deep scrutiny.

The named Kina showed almost no expression on her face. She seemed to shrug casually and replied in a somewhat perfunctory tone, "Kids playing around with tests, it's not something to take seriously." Her words sounded light and dismissive.

Chabashira Sae's brow furrowed slightly, and she stated directly, "You did it on purpose?"

She stared intently at Kina, pressing for the reason behind it. "Why did you take the test like this? Controlling the scores to such a precise degree?"

Kina seemed unfazed by the direct questioning, maintaining her emotionless demeanor, and simply responded concisely, "It's interesting."

These three words were delivered crisply, with an air of indifference.

In reality, these words had been pre-arranged between Hoshino Kanade and Kina.

Kina followed through as instructed.

As her gaze passed over Chabashira Sae's slightly furrowed brow, a ripple of emotion stirred within her.

Kanade had been able to predict Chabashira Sae's actions with such accuracy that, after a brief moment of confusion, she felt a sense of inadequacy. (Of course, Kina was overthinking this.)

She lowered her gaze, unconsciously staring at a crease on her sleeve. In her mind, she rapidly replayed the events: from the subtle variations in test scores to the current direction of the conversation, everything had been within Kanade's expectations, not deviating by an inch.

Chabashira Sae was silent for a few seconds.

The prepared speech she had intended to deliver, revealing Kina's hidden ability to manipulate scores, was now completely useless.

Because Kina had admitted it so easily, not even bothering to give a proper explanation.

This had completely thrown off her rhythm.

Chabashira Sae's gaze shifted towards the window.

Hoshino Kanade, who had been leaning against the wall, was now leaning against the window frame, maintaining his usual indifferent posture.

"And you, Hoshino?" Chabashira Sae's voice turned to him, filled with scrutiny. "Perfect scores in all subjects on the entrance exam, top-tier written abilities, yet your evaluation during the interview was extremely poor, barely passing in 'coordination' and 'group consciousness'."

She crossed her arms and questioned, "Can you tell me why you're so unsociable? And haven't you considered improving your situation and striving for more class points each month? With your abilities, it's entirely possible for Class D to earn more points, and you would benefit personally."

Hoshino Kanade withdrew his gaze from the window and lazily glanced at Chabashira Sae, responding listlessly, "I just feel like it doesn't matter which class I'm in."

His tone was flat. "After all, I don't want to play those boring 'games of interpersonal bonds'."

As for the points, Hoshino Kanade scoffed and casually waved his hand. "Points? What's wrong without them? With the Free Meal Set as a safety net, I won't starve even if I'm not full. Life goes on."

As these words, which could be described as a "declaration of giving up," were spoken, Horikita Suzune's brow furrowed slightly.

Chabashira Sae looked at his completely indifferent, utterly resigned attitude, her disappointment and a hint of annoyance impossible to conceal.

A rather impolite but extremely fitting thought flashed through her mind: 'This guy... he's a slacker.' He had completely abandoned any possibility of aiming for the top, and even treated the valuable class points with an attitude of "what does it have to do with me."

However, this feeling of powerlessness passed in an instant.

A more practical problem immediately surfaced: these three individuals before her – Ayanokoji Kina, who could precisely control scores; Hoshino Kanade, whose behavior was unpredictable; and Horikita, whose abilities were decent but who was prickly towards her classmates.

'How can I get them to lead the class to ascend to Class A?' Chabashira Sae's mind raced, this becoming the immediate, thorny, yet crucial question she had to consider.

Just then, the wall clock struck the hour.

Chabashira Sae snapped back to attention, glanced at her wristwatch, and quickly began tidying the documents on her desk.

"I have to go."

She picked up her coat and draped it over her arm, standing up. Her tone returned to that of a capable teacher. "The faculty meeting is about to start. This place needs to be locked up."

Chabashira Sae walked to the office door and took out her keys. "You three, you can leave now."

Upon hearing this, Horikita Suzune did not look at Chabashira Sae again, nor did she acknowledge Ayanokoji Kina or Hoshino Kanade. She was the first to step forward, walking directly towards the door, her back still exuding an aloof aura that kept others at a distance.