Eavesdropping

Konoe strolled aimlessly around the campus to calm his mood when a gentle broadcast voice came through. After a short, lighthearted musical interlude, an announcement began:

"Student Ayanokoji of Class D, your homeroom teacher Chabashira-sensei wishes to see you. Please proceed to the teachers' office immediately."

Konoe, who considered himself Ayanokoji's friend, became intensely curious and immediately decided to go see what was happening.

Entering the school building and walking down the corridor, Konoe suddenly spotted Ayanokoji. He was talking to a woman with brown hair. She didn't look like a student, and from a distance, she seemed quite cute.

To avoid being discovered, Konoe observed from afar. He couldn't see clearly and naturally couldn't hear any of their conversation.

"What are you doing?"

The cold voice startled Konoe, making him jump. He turned to see Chabashira-sensei.

"Just wandering around, what's wrong, Chabashira-sensei?"

"Your reaction doesn't look like you're just wandering. But that's fine, come with me."

Caught like this, Konoe naturally wasn't pleased. "Wait, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"Don't talk back, come with me."

Under pressure from his homeroom teacher's authority, Konoe had no choice but to follow Chabashira, lamenting his bad luck.

Chabashira quickly approached Ayanokoji.

"Hoshinomiya, what are you doing?"

Chabashira-sensei struck the head of the woman chatting with Ayanokoji forcefully with her clipboard, making a "bang" sound. The woman immediately clutched her head and crouched down, groaning.

"Ouch... What are you doing!"

"It's because you're bothering my student."

"I just heard he was coming to see Kosae, and since you weren't here, I decided to keep him company."

"Don't mind her, Ayanokoji. Sorry to keep you waiting. Come with me to the guidance counselor's office. And Konoe, you too."

Ayanokoji glanced at Konoe before speaking. "I think it's fine to talk here, isn't it? Going to the guidance counselor's office... Did I do something wrong?"

"It has nothing to do with me. I was just passing by and got caught. By the way, who is this...?" Konoe asked directly.

"Don't talk back, come with me."

Hoshinomiya, who had been smiling all this time, followed closely behind Konoe, her face almost pressed against his ear. "You're so cute! I'm Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher for Class B. Just call me Chie!"

"I understand, Hoshinomiya-sensei. I'm Konoe Hirakawa from Class D, first year. Please keep a little distance." Hearing her energetic self-introduction, Konoe almost mistook her for a student. Hoshinomiya's gaze towards Konoe made him feel a bit scared.

"Don't be so serious! Kosae and I have been best friends since high school. It won't hurt you to get along with me."

"Hoshinomiya, how long do you plan to follow us?" Chabashira-sensei interrupted.

"Don't be so cold! It won't cost you anything to let me listen for a bit, right? Besides, knowing Kosae's personality, she would never give individual tutoring to a student, right? Could it be... Kosae, are you trying to overstep your bounds?"

Hoshinomiya's tone shifted from lively to cold. Women are truly terrifying! Konoe thought excitedly.

He recalled Chabashira's indifferent demeanor in class and thought she had no competitive relationship with other homeroom teachers. Now it seemed that wasn't entirely true.

"Don't say foolish things. That's impossible, of course."

"Haha, Kosae really can't do something like that," Hoshinomiya said. She then observed Konoe and Ayanokoji's expressions. Both of them looked indifferent.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, could I borrow your time for a moment? It's about the Student Council..."

A vibrant, youthful voice called out. It was an incredibly cute girl with long pink hair. Most importantly, her eyes were exceptionally charming, capable of conveying happiness while simultaneously evoking a desire to protect her.

Seeing the girl call Hoshinomiya away, Chabashira quickly led the two away.

Ayanokoji and Konoe followed Chabashira to the guidance counselor's office next to the teachers' lounge. Konoe immediately said, "What exactly do you want us to do? Please tell us directly, Chabashira-sensei."

Chabashira glanced at the clock on the wall, took a few steps forward, and opened a door inside the guidance counselor's office, gesturing for them to enter.

"You two, hide in here first."

It appeared to be a pantry. Ayanokoji instinctively moved to make tea.

"No need. Stay quietly inside. You are not allowed to come out without my permission, and you are not allowed to make any noise. Understood? If you violate this, you will be expelled."

Hearing this, Konoe suddenly felt like causing trouble but managed to suppress his rebellious impulse. After Chabashira closed the door, he obediently waited with Ayanokoji. Soon, the sound of the guidance counselor's office door opening was heard.

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

It seemed to be Horikita, who had been "hurt" by Konoe earlier. What she was about to say was probably what she wanted to discuss with Konoe. Konoe looked at Ayanokoji, who gave him a helpless look.

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

"You're quite direct."

"You said today that only outstanding individuals would be selected for Class A, while Class D is..."

"What I said is the truth. It seems you think you're very outstanding."

After a few seconds of silence, Horikita continued, "Regarding the entrance exam questions, I'm confident I solved almost all of them. And I don't recall making any major mistakes during the interview. I believe I wouldn't be assigned to Class D at the very least."

It seemed Horikita had found Konoe today precisely because she wanted him to come with her to see Chabashira-sensei. Horikita was indeed excellent; her score today was second, meaning she had solved one of the three extremely difficult questions on the mini-test.

"Solved almost all the entrance exam questions? Normally, students aren't allowed to see these results, but I happen to have your test paper here. I'll make an exception and let you see it."

"You're very well-prepared... It's as if you knew I would come."

"As a teacher, I have a certain grasp of my students' behavior. Horikita Suzune, your entrance exam results were indeed as you expected, ranking third among the first-years, tied with others. The gap between you and the top two wasn't significant. Your interview also went very well, with no major issues."

"Thank you. If that's the case, why was I assigned to Class D? And wouldn't the first or second place be Konoe? Isn't he also in Class D?"

"Putting aside that first and second place, and even the top ten, have nothing to do with Konoe, I'd first like to ask why you're confused about being assigned to Class D?"

Ayanokoji's gaze shifted towards Konoe, who pretended not to see it.

"I wasn't placed in a class that matches my level, so of course, I'm confused. Not to mention, only Class A guarantees progression to higher education and employment."

"Matches your level? You think highly of yourself, don't you." Chabashira's mocking voice cut in. "I admit your academic ability is excellent, and you have a good mind, but who says good grades automatically get you into a good class?"

"But isn't that the general rule in society? It's common sense."

"Common sense? Deciding a person's worth solely on exam scores, giving resources to those who only talk theoretically, results in the incompetent arbitrarily wielding power, squeezing out truly excellent individuals, and then they distribute those resources to their relatives."

Konoe's eyes widened in surprise at the outrageous statement, which didn't seem like something an educator should say.

Even if Chabashira was right, what then? If not exam scores, by what standard should merit be determined? The core issue is: no matter what standard you use to decide resource allocation, problems will constantly arise. Even if an infinitely precise machine were to judge people's merit and allocate resources, problems would still occur.

Allocating based on exam scores is merely the current optimal solution. It doesn't mean it's the most correct, but it's temporarily the most suitable.

Therefore, the problem isn't the standard of judgment itself, but how to resolve the issues that arise from it.

However, for Horikita, Chabashira's reasoning was sufficient.

"Being good at studying is indeed a skill, but this school's purpose is to cultivate truly excellent individuals. It's a grave mistake if you think good grades alone get you into a good class. The school has stated this long ago. If the school's standards were truly as you imagine, would Sudo and the others have been able to get in?"

First, let's define what excellence is... Konoe shook his head, clearing the jumbled thoughts from his mind, and carefully considered what made the trio excellent.

"Moreover, Class A isn't as wonderful as you imagine. Class A signifies the school administration's expectations and the jealousy of the other three classes. Competing under pressure every day is also a very arduous task. Perhaps some students feel it's a good thing not to be in Class A."

"Are you joking? I can't understand such people at all."

"Is that so? I imagine there are also strange students in Class D who are happy about being placed there."

Konoe looked at Ayanokoji, who happened to be looking back. Both of them averted their gazes again with practiced synchronicity.

"I request you reconfirm whether I was assigned to Class D and what the scoring criteria are."

"Regrettably, your assignment to Class D simply means that a student of your caliber is bound to be placed in Class D."

Horikita protested again, but Chabashira calmly responded.

"...Horikita, do you have some special reason why you absolutely must be promoted to Class A?" After another pause in their conversation, Chabashira directly asked.

"...I'll take my leave for today, but I will not accept this outcome."

"Ah, right. I also called someone to the guidance counselor's office. They seem to have some connection to you."

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

"Ayanokoji, come out."

Konoe felt incredibly fortunate that Chabashira hadn't called his name. He stared at Ayanokoji with an incredibly sincere gaze.

Ayanokoji remained unmoved.

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

Ayanokoji sighed, nodded at Konoe, and feigned returning to the guidance counselor's office, saying, "How long do you expect me to wait before you're satisfied?"

Seeing that Ayanokoji hadn't exposed him, Konoe felt completely at ease.