Eavesdropping

Konoe wandered aimlessly around campus to clear his head. Just then, a gentle voice came over the loudspeakers. After a stretch of cheerful music, an announcement followed:

"Would Ayanokoji from Class 1-D please report to the Teacher's Office immediately? Your homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, would like to see you."

Konoe, who considered himself Ayanokoji's friend, was intensely curious and immediately decided to go take a look.

As he entered the School Building and walked down the hall, Konoe suddenly spotted Ayanokoji. He was talking to a brown-haired woman. She didn't look like a student, and from a distance she seemed pretty cute.

To avoid being spotted, Konoe watched from far away. He couldn't see very well, naturally, and couldn't hear anything they were saying either.

"What are you doing?"

The cold voice made Konoe flinch. He turned around and saw that it was Chabashira-sensei.

"I'm just wandering around. What is it, Chabashira-sensei?"

"You don't look like you're just wandering around. But this works out. Come with me."

Caught red-handed, Konoe naturally wasn't happy about it. "Wait, I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"Don't talk back. Come with me."

Under the pressure and authority of his homeroom teacher, Konoe had no choice but to follow Chabashira, lamenting his bad luck.

Chabashira soon reached Ayanokoji.

"Hoshinomiya, what are you doing?"

Chabashira-sensei smacked the woman chatting with Ayanokoji over the head with the clipboard in his hand. The impact rang out with a thunk, and she immediately crouched down, clutching her head and groaning.

"Ow... What was that for?!"

"Because you were clinging to my student."

"I just heard he was coming to see little Sae. You weren't here, so I thought I'd keep him company until you showed up."

"Don't mind her, Ayanokoji. Sorry to keep you waiting. Come with me to the Guidance Room. And you too, Konoe."

Ayanokoji glanced at Konoe, then said, "I think we can talk here, can't we? Why do I have to go to the Guidance Room? Did I do something wrong?"

"It has nothing to do with me. I was just passing by and got dragged along. By the way, who is she...?" Konoe said bluntly.

"Don't talk back. Come with me."

Hoshinomiya followed right behind Konoe with a big smile. She leaned so close that her face was practically against his ear and said, "You're so cute! I'm Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher for Class B. Just call me little Chie!"

"Understood, Hoshinomiya-sensei. I'm Konoe Hirakawa from Class 1-D. Please stand a little farther away." Hearing her energetic introduction, Konoe almost mistook her for a student. The way Hoshinomiya was looking at him made him a little uneasy.

"Don't be so serious. Sae and I have been best friends since high school. You've got nothing to lose by getting on my good side."

"Hoshinomiya, how long are you planning to follow us?" Chabashira-sensei interrupted her.

"Don't be so cold! Let me listen in. It's not like you'll lose anything, right? Besides, with little Sae's personality, there's no way she'd ever have a one-on-one talk with a student, right? Unless... Little Sae, you're not planning to defy your superiors, are you?"

Hoshinomiya's lively tone gradually turned cold. Women are terrifying! Konoe thought excitedly.

He remembered how indifferent Chabashira had seemed in class and had assumed she had no rivalry with the other homeroom teachers. It seemed he'd been mistaken.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I wouldn't do something like that."

"Haha, you're right. Little Sae would never do that." After she finished speaking, Hoshinomiya looked at Konoe and Ayanokoji. Both of them looked equally indifferent.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, could I have a moment of your time? There's something about the Student Council..."

An energetic girl's voice rang out. She was extremely cute, with long pink hair. Most strikingly, her eyes were adorable: they conveyed joy while also stirring a protective instinct in others.

When the girl called Hoshinomiya away, Chabashira hurriedly led the two boys away as well.

Ayanokoji and Konoe followed Chabashira to the Guidance Room beside the office. Konoe spoke up immediately. "What exactly do you want? Please just tell us, Chabashira-sensei."

Chabashira glanced at the clock on the wall, then walked over and opened a door in the Guidance Room, motioning for them to go inside.

"You two, hide in here for now."

It seemed to be a kitchenette. Ayanokoji started to make tea on his own.

"No need. Stay quiet in there. Don't come out or make a sound without my permission. If you disobey, you'll be expelled. Understood?"

Hearing that, Konoe suddenly felt like causing trouble, but he managed to suppress his rebellious streak. After Chabashira closed the door, he waited obediently with Ayanokoji. Before long, they heard the Guidance Room door open.

"Come in, Horikita. What did you want to see me about?"

It seemed to be Horikita, the girl Konoe had upset earlier. What she was about to say might be what she'd wanted to discuss with Konoe. He glanced at Ayanokoji, who looked a little resigned.

"I'll get straight to the point. Why was I placed in Class D?"

"You're certainly direct."

"Today, you said that only outstanding students are placed in Class A, while Class D..."

"What I said was true. It seems you think you're outstanding."

After a few seconds of silence outside, Horikita continued, "I'm confident that I solved almost all the entrance exam questions, and I don't remember making any major mistakes in the interview. I thought I wouldn't be placed in Class D, at the very least."

It seemed Horikita had come to find Konoe today because she wanted him to come with her to speak with Chabashira-sensei. Horikita was indeed very capable. The results announced today had placed her second, which meant she had even solved one of the three extremely difficult questions at the end of the Mini-test.

"You almost solved the entrance exam? Students aren't normally allowed to see their results, but I happen to have your paper here. I suppose I can make an exception."

"You were certainly prepared... Almost as if you knew I'd come."

"I am a teacher, after all. I can make a reasonable guess about what my students will do. Horikita Suzune, your entrance exam results were exactly as you expected: you tied for third among the First Years. You weren't far behind the top two, either. You also did very well in your interview. There were no major problems."

"Thank you. In that case, why was I placed in Class D? And wouldn't the top two be Konoe? He's in Class D too, isn't he?"

"Leaving aside the fact that Konoe had nothing to do with first or second place—or even the top ten—I want to ask you something first. Why are you puzzled about being placed in Class D?"

Ayanokoji looked at Konoe. Konoe pretended not to notice.

"Of course I'm puzzled. I wasn't placed in the class that matches my ability. And that's not to mention that only Class A can guarantee further education and employment."

"Matches your ability? You certainly think highly of yourself," Chabashira said mockingly. "I admit that you're academically gifted and intelligent. But who says good grades guarantee a place in an excellent class?"

"But isn't that the way society works? It's common sense."

"Common sense? If people's worth is judged solely by exam scores, resources go to those who can only talk big in theory. The result is that the incompetent wield power however they please, push out the truly capable, and then hand those resources to their own relatives."

Konoe looked astonished at the outrageous claim. It didn't seem like something an educator should say.

Even if Chabashira was right, what difference would that make? If exam scores weren't used to judge people, what should be used instead? The real issue was this: whatever standard you used to distribute resources, problems would keep arising. Even if an infinitely precise machine were used to judge people's worth and allocate resources, problems would still emerge.

Distributing resources according to exam scores was simply the best solution available at the moment. That didn't mean it was the most correct, but for now, it was the most suitable.

So the problem wasn't the criteria for evaluation at all. It was how to solve the problems that arose from them.

But for Horikita, Chabashira's explanation was enough.

"Being good at studying is certainly a valuable ability, but this school's purpose is to cultivate truly outstanding people. It would be a huge mistake to think that good grades alone could get you into a good class. The school has made that clear from the start. If the school's standards were really what you thought they were, do you think Sudo and the others would have gotten in?"

First, let's define what it means to be outstanding... Konoe shook his head, clearing away the jumbled thoughts in his mind, and tried to think carefully about what made the trio outstanding.

"Besides, Class A isn't as wonderful as you imagine. Being in Class A means the School Administration expects a lot of you—and the other three classes envy you. Competing under pressure every day is exhausting too. Some students might even be glad they weren't placed in Class A."

"Are you joking? I can't understand anyone like that."

"Is that so? I imagine there are some odd students in Class D who are happy to have been placed there."

Konoe looked at Ayanokoji. Ayanokoji happened to look back at him, and the two silently looked away from each other in perfect sync.

"I want you to check again whether I was supposed to be placed in Class D. What exactly are the criteria?"

"I'm sorry, but being placed in Class D simply means that students at your level are bound to end up in Class D."

Horikita protested again, and Chabashira calmly responded.

"...Horikita, do you have some special reason you absolutely have to make it to Class A?" After another exchange, Chabashira asked her directly.

"...I'll take my leave for today, but I won't accept this."

"Oh, right. I also brought someone to the Guidance Room. You seem to know him."

"Someone I know? Could it be... my brother..."

"Ayanokoji, come out."

At that moment, Konoe was incredibly glad Chabashira hadn't called his name. He stared at Ayanokoji with the most sincere expression he could manage.

Ayanokoji didn't budge.

"If you don't come out, I'll have you expelled."

Ayanokoji sighed and nodded at Konoe, then went back into the Guidance Room and said, "How long were you planning to make me wait before you'd be satisfied?"

Only after seeing that Ayanokoji hadn't exposed him did Konoe finally feel content.