Withdrawal

The moment Chabashira Sae pushed open the door to the Class D classroom, the low murmur of discussion fell silent, and the air seemed to freeze.

All eyes turned toward her, filled with suppressed tension and unspoken questions.

She walked steadily toward the podium, the click of her high heels against the floor unusually clear in the unnaturally quiet classroom.

She surveyed each young face below, and a trace of disappointment flickered through her heart—especially when her gaze fell on the person she had been secretly watching.

She had hinted at the key to the rules so many times, even hoping the person she had her eye on would step up at this crucial moment, yet there had been... no response at all.

Were these three years going to be just like so many before, wasted in the mire of Class D?

Not a hint of that disappointment showed on her face. Chabashira Sae wore her usual cool, slightly weary expression.

She gently set the papers in her hand on the lectern, unhurried.

Below the podium, every student was lost in their own thoughts.

Many resented the fact that Chabashira had waited until the final few days to tell them the exam scope had changed, catching them off guard and leaving them far too little time to study.

A lot of them felt uncertain, convinced they had bombed the test. Those who had hovered near the Passing Line on the last quiz were especially on edge, their faces full of dread.

At last, an impatient boy could no longer hold back. His voice was taut as he asked, "Teacher, I heard you're announcing our exam results today... When will that be?" The question was like a stone dropped into still water, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Chabashira Sae looked up at him, her voice flat and even. "Don't worry. I'll announce them now." She paused, her gaze sweeping across the class, then added, "If I waited until after school, there wouldn't be enough time to handle the paperwork."

Her words were like an invisible hand tightening around their already frayed nerves, making many students' hearts leap into their throats.

The hot-tempered Ken Sudō looked ready to explode. He leaned forward slightly, fists clenched beneath his desk, waiting for the moment the verdict on his grades would light the fuse.

Chabashira Sae clearly had no intention of dragging things out.

She turned and briskly pinned a large sheet of White Paper listing every student's name and scores in each subject to the center of the blackboard.

The paper rustled softly as it unfolded, yet the sound rang through the classroom like a thunderclap.

Dozens of eyes locked onto it, frantically searching for their names and the fateful numbers beside them.

After a brief silence, a shrill, tearful cry broke the stillness. "I was only one point short! It's the teacher's fault! Why didn't you tell us about the change to the exam scope sooner?" Yamauchi Haruki sprang to his feet, pointing at the glaring score for one of his subjects. His face was deathly pale, and his voice trembled with agitation. "I don't want to be expelled! I don't!"

Not far from him, a girl stared at her grades as tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She covered her face with both hands, stifling intermittent sobs, clearly on the verge of breaking down.

"Bang!" Ken Sudō kicked the leg of his desk with all his might, making the stationery on top jump.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the blackboard and growled, "Why did this happen? I worked so hard!"

Hirata Yosuke, the class leader, took a deep breath and stood.

He looked toward Chabashira Sae at the podium, his voice steady but edged with an unmistakable challenge. "Teacher, you didn't tell us about the change to the exam scope until the very last minute. That simply wasn't fair to us.

"Now... is there really nothing we can do to make up for it?"

Hirata's stepping forward seemed to light a fuse.

The other students chimed in, their voices full of anxiety and resentment.

Someone else was facing expulsion this time, but who knew if they would be next? They couldn't let their homeroom teacher decide their fates so "arbitrarily"!

The objections swelled like a rolling snowball. Those whose scores were also below the Passing Line they had expected seized what felt like their last lifeline, joining the outcry in hopes that their collective strength might change the outcome they faced.

Faced with the furious crowd, Chabashira Sae merely raised her chin a little, her expression still perfectly calm.

"Don't rush." Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out the commotion. She had weathered too many storms; this was nothing much.

At the suggestion that there might be a way forward, the classroom quickly fell quiet.

Everyone held their breath, staring tensely at Chabashira Sae and waiting for her to continue.

Without the slightest haste, Chabashira Sae picked up a conspicuous red pen from the lectern.

Her gaze traveled down the list before the Pen Tip finally landed on Ken Sudō's name, drawing a bold red line through it.

"Teacher... what does this mean?" Ken Sudō's voice carried a faint tremor and deep confusion.

He had clearly seen that Yamauchi, Ike, and one or two others had also been perilously close to failing, yet now only his name had been marked with the red line for expulsion.

He should have had "company" in this fate, but now he was facing it alone. This sudden sense of being the "only one" stirred an indescribable feeling in him, a mix of absurdity and the suffocating frustration of being singled out.

Chabashira Sae set down the red pen and turned to face the class, her voice utterly even. "At this school, the Passing Line is calculated as half the class average for that subject." She raised a hand and lightly tapped the grade sheet on the blackboard. "In this Midterm Exam, the average in some subjects was... unexpectedly lower than last time. The Passing Line has naturally been lowered accordingly."

Her gaze finally settled on Ken Sudō, and her words were clear and cold. "So, Ken Sudō, only your English score is below the adjusted Passing Line."

The classroom fell utterly silent.

The earlier commotion and protests seemed never to have happened.

The truth doused every unrealistic hope like a bucket of cold water.

Ken Sudō opened his mouth, but in the end, nothing came out.

He slumped back into his chair, grabbing his hair with both hands until his knuckles turned white.

Regret wrapped around him like poisonous vines. If only he had spent more time on English; if only he had pushed himself harder during the final few days... Now, all those "ifs" had become heavy fists, pounding mercilessly at his heart.

Hirata Yosuke was still the first to break the silence.

Even though Ken Sudō had once cursed him and treated him with rudeness and hostility, Hirata's face was still full of genuine concern. "T-Teacher.

"Is Sudo really going to be expelled? Is there... truly nothing we can do to make up for it?"

Chabashira Sae's answer was unequivocal, leaving no room for negotiation. "That's the reality. If you fail, that's the end of it. Ken Sudō will be expelled."

Horikita Suzune, seated in the back row, raised her hand almost unconsciously, as if she wanted to say something. Her lips moved a few times, but in the end, she lowered it helplessly.

Her brow furrowed as she looked at Ken Sudō, her gaze conflicted.

If he had missed by a point or two, perhaps they could have argued over a loophole in the rules. But Sudō's English score... wasn't short by just a little. It was a gap no remedial measure could bridge.

A deep sense of helplessness seized her.

"Sudō, come to the teachers' office after school. That's all." Chabashira Sae announced her final decision briskly. Without looking at anyone else, she picked up the papers from the podium and walked straight out of the classroom.

The door closed softly behind her, shutting out the complicated, unspeakable atmosphere inside Class D.

Horikita Suzune could only watch as the figure representing authority and final judgment disappeared beyond the doorway, silently crying out inside, I can't do anything! A deep sense of defeat spread through her.

Strangely, amid the heavy silence, a secret, unspeakable feeling began to spread through the class.

For most of the students in Class D, Ken Sudō—the troublemaker with a quick temper who resorted to violence at the drop of a hat—was really going to be expelled... The air in the classroom seemed to feel... a little lighter for it.

The thought made them feel somewhat ashamed, but they couldn't deny the genuine sense of relief they felt.