Chapter 159
"If I were to publish this recording on the School Forum, Chabashira-sensei would definitely be expelled from the school and forced to leave Advanced Nurturing, never to have the chance to fulfill his long-cherished wish again, right?"
"Ayanokoji, do you think this can threaten me?" Chabashira Sae's voice lowered, and even her tone became firm.
But the brown-haired boy knew that this was just an act; she was genuinely starting to get anxious.
Even with the exceptionally strong Class A in this year's class, she might not be able to achieve her goal.
However, as long as he can continue to stay in the Advanced Nurturing training program, Chabashira can still place his hopes on three years later, six years later, or even nine years later.
Therefore, even if I have to give up this year's Class D, I absolutely cannot be expelled by the school.
This is what Chabashira Sae really thinks.
"The kind of behavior that Chabashira-sensei uses to threaten students with expulsion would cause a stir in any school if it were exposed."
"Moreover, this is Advanced Nurturing, and school regulations stipulate that homeroom teachers cannot excessively interfere with inter-class competition among students. Teacher, you have clearly violated the rules."
Ayanokoji said calmly.
"So what are you going to do? Send the recording to the School Forum right now?"
To conceal her inner turmoil, Chabashira Sae's voice remained assertive, as if she didn't care at all about the threat the other party was threatening in return.
"Don't you want to continue your peaceful campus life? Doing this will only hurt both of us."
"Give me the recording, and I'll never ask you to contribute to the class again. I can even help you resist any threats of expulsion. Otherwise, I'll definitely drag you down with me before I get expelled!"
"Even at this point, the teacher still wants to use this trick to fool me?" The brown-haired boy's voice was cold, his expressionless face deliberately laced with sarcasm. "If you could do that, you would have already caused a stir in the class."
Ayanokoji believed that, given Chabashira Sae's consistent behavior, if she truly had the right to arbitrarily expel students from her class, she wouldn't have tolerated it until now.
If the bad apples in the class are expelled at the beginning of the semester, and the outstanding students with potential are forced to contribute, Class D, once fully integrated, will definitely be a competitor no weaker than the other three classes.
"Although I don't really care, I suggest that teachers consider their attitude more carefully when asking for favors in the future."
"If you have no other explanation, I will hand over this recording pen to the Student Council. Please explain this to the school later."
After putting the recorder back into his pocket, Ayanokoji made a move to turn and leave.
Seeing his resolute expression, Chabashira Sae had no choice but to give in, no matter how unwilling she was.
"Wait, state your conditions. If it's simply to get me expelled from school, it won't do you much good at all."
"Is that really true?" the brown-haired boy retorted. "After the teacher leaves the Advanced Nurturing, no one will threaten me with expulsion anymore."
"But letting me stay will bring you more benefits," Chabashira's voice, which had been so arrogant before, was now filled with humiliation and pleading.
"I'd do anything to stay in Advanced Nurturing!"
After saying that, Chabashira Sae took two steps forward, knelt down, and grabbed Ayanokoji's thigh.
This unexpected move startled even the Masterpiece in the White Room, who took two steps back to avoid the female teacher's outstretched hands.
"Chabashira-sensei, what are you trying to do?"
Ayanokoji suspected that the other party was setting a trap for him.
If a scene of a teacher kneeling before students were filmed and seen by others, he would definitely face an investigation by the school, and the situation would be out of his control.
"Isn't this the kind of thing that students your age like?"
Chabashira Sae had a cold, ascetic face as she knelt on the ground, puffing out her chest to display her impressive figure.
"I know you're not popular in class because you hang out with people like Yamauchi, and you haven't had a girlfriend yet..."
"Enough!" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka realized once again just how crazy this woman was. To prevent any accidents from happening, he decided to end the conversation quickly.
"Chabashira-sensei must have accumulated quite a few Private Points over the years in order to advance to Class A. Give me all your savings from school, and I'll give you these voice recorders. I also guarantee there won't be any other backups."
A flicker of hesitation crossed Chabashira Sae's eyes; she hadn't expected Ayanokoji to offer this condition.
That money was her bargaining chip to fulfill her long-cherished wish. If she handed it all over, when this class of students graduated and she welcomed a new Class D, she would be one less card to play.
"... The salaries of the four homeroom teachers in the first year are also arranged from highest to lowest according to A, B, C, and D. As the homeroom teacher of Class D, the Private Points I can get each month are at the lowest level among the teaching staff."
"I know that. The school only issues teachers half of their basic salary in Private Points; the rest of their salary and benefits are transferred directly to an external account in cash."
Ayanokoji interrupted Chabashira's sob story, "But Advanced Nurturing very wealthy. As a boarding school, it pays its teachers quite well. Even if a teacher is just the homeroom teacher of Class D, they can still get 200,000 Private Points per month, right?"
This salary is certainly not much compared to other class instructors, but Chabashira Sae has been teaching at Advanced Nurturing Education for 6 years and has experienced two Class D. After such a long period of saving money, the Private Points she has accumulated must be a considerable number.
Chabashira's pupils contracted; she hadn't expected Ayanokoji to know even this, it seemed he had been prepared all along.
"... You've spoken with the homeroom teachers of other classes. Who were they? Could it be Chie Hoshinomiya?"
"You don't need to know that!"
"Do you intend to steal my savings and use it to transfer to Class A? Impossible! I absolutely will not allow it!"
This year's Class D can lose; the previous two years were the same, and Chabashira is already used to it.
But why is it that Hoshinomiya's class was able to produce an ace and graduate from Class A with the help of a top student?
While her own failure was certainly painful, the success of her former partner was even more unacceptable to her.
Moreover, it was Wang Meiyu's betrayal during the Uninhabited Island Exam that caused Class D to completely fall apart, making it impossible for them to unite.
Like her before, the other person also took this step for the sake of love.
But their situations seem completely opposite.
She wasn't sure what complicated feelings she had for Hoshinomiya and Wang Meiyu, but the only thing she was certain of was that she would never give her savings to Ayanokoji so that he could contribute to Class A.
"Then you can rest assured, teacher. I never wanted to join Class A; it makes no sense to me."
Finally, after much maneuvering, when Ayanokoji walked out of the rooftop, he had an Anonymous Point Card worth ten million yen.
This Private Points represents the majority of Chabashira Sae's savings, accumulated over 6 years and 5 months—a total of 77 months—through frugal living.
According to her plan, she needed to save at least 20 million, so that when Class D appeared and there was hope of fulfilling her long-cherished wish, she could use it to make a final push.
If a suitable person cannot be found for a long time, even with Twenty Million Personal Points, we can still find a way to bring in an excellent leader from the higher-ranking classes.
But after this ordeal, Chabashira's savings of over six years at school were completely stripped away by Ayanokoji, and it's unknown how long it will take to make up for it.
The Masterpiece naturally felt no remorse for this; only with enough gold coins in hand could he proceed with his next plan.
Arriving at the café as agreed, Ayanokoji pushed open the door to a private room, where three well-known first-year students were already seated.
Koenji Rokusuke, Katsuragi Kohei, and Ryuen Kakeru.
Upon seeing this, the Masterpiece already knew what was going on.
Without a doubt, no matter how difficult the situation is for first-year students, there will always be someone who refuses to give up.
228. The Temptation of Going Home; Being Inquired About by My Adoptive Father About My Private Life
August 25th.
After completing the procedures at school, Aragaki Shun was finally able to leave Advanced Nurturing under the guise of club activities.
The official instructor of the Cultural and Entertainment Club was Chie Hoshinomiya. Knowing what was going on with Aragaki Shun outside, the school did not send any other faculty or staff to monitor his actions.
In other words, only he and Hoshinomiya will be leaving school this time. Once he gets rid of this woman, Aragaki Shun can go home and spend a week at his leisure.
As he walked out of the school gate, Kagurazaka Ayame, the editor in charge of his light novel publishing, was already waiting for him in her car at the gate. When she saw Aragaki Shun and Hoshinomiya come out, she kept sticking her head out of the window and waving to the two of them.
"Teacher Aurora, over here, come quickly!"
He exchanged a glance with Hoshinomiya, and the two walked to the car together. Aragaki Shun Kagurazaka Ayame:
"It's been two months since we last met, Editor. You look great, has something good happened recently?"
"You're such a busy person, you've finally managed to squeeze out some time to participate in the publisher's promotional activities. Isn't that a good thing?"
Rolling her eyes, and seeing that both of them had fastened their seatbelts, Kagurazaka Ayame started the car and began driving back the way she came.
"Oh right, there's another book signing event I need to attend."
Thinking of this, Aragaki Shun raised an eyebrow slightly.
After all, he applied to leave school under the guise of club activities, and he still had to write two reports as club records after returning. Even if it was just for show, he couldn't just do nothing.
Moreover, the editor had put in a lot of effort to help him organize this trip out of school, so he couldn't just ignore it.
"I promised this, so of course I won't break my promise. But I remember telling you to put all this work in the last three days, right?"
"The school only gave me a week to leave campus. I need to go home for the first four days to see my family and friends, so I've asked the editor at the publishing house to make the arrangements herself."
After leaving the boarding school, instead of going home immediately, they would go to the publishing house to participate in activities.
That would upset both the adoptive parents and Ayase.
Everything has its priorities, so we'll just have to postpone the publisher's request.
"I've thought of this before. Do you really think I'd drag you to the publishing house?"
Kagurazaka Ayame said she had expected this, and then steered the conversation to Chie Hoshinomiya.
"But what about this teacher? I remember that Kodo Ikusei Senior High School has very strict management rules, and there are corresponding regulations regarding students leaving the school, right?"
"Ah, is Ms. Kagurazaka asking me?"
Hoshinomiya pointed to himself as if he had just woken up from a sleepwalking Hoshinomiya. After seeing the other party nod, he yawned and waved lazily.
"It's alright. The Board Chairman has already said that I'm just going through the motions this time, and it's a paid vacation."
"After Xiao Aragaki goes home, I can finally go out and explore. After all, it's been half a year since I left school, and I have to thank Xiao Aragaki for giving me this opportunity."
"By the way, teachers probably don't have anything to do outside of school, right?" Aragaki Shun suddenly asked, as if he had thought of something.
"That's true. I don't want to go back home for the time being."
Hoshinomiya sighed. Ever since she followed Chabashira Sae to the Advanced Nurturing, her connection with her family had become quite distant.
"Is there something you need me to do, Xiao Aragaki?"
Given Aragaki Shun's status and position, there shouldn't be many things he can't accomplish after graduating from school.
But there are some things that adults really should handle.
So Hoshinomiya guessed, "Could it be related to everyone in the class? I remember you asked many classmates to write letters and mail them back for them, right?"
"Simply sending a letter is unnecessary for you, teacher. But if you have the time, could you please visit the Ichinose?"
Looking out the window, Aragaki Shun bluntly stated, "She and Kanzaki are both important pillars of the class; it's better to nip any potential problems in the bud as soon as possible."
After discussing it with Chie Hoshinomiya, the two of them were sent to the publishing house by Kagurazaka Ayame.
Aragaki Shun made a brief appearance here, as if he had completed his club activity check-in, then turned around and said goodbye to the two of them, calling over his familiar driver to take him back to the Aragaki Family.
He started Advanced Nurturing Education in April, and now it's late August; he's been away from home for almost five months.
Looking at the courtyard in front of him, which hadn't changed much, the heir of the Aragaki Family raised an eyebrow and relaxed considerably.
To be honest, he actually prefers the daily life away from home, where no one is watching over him.
This can be considered, to some extent, the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder."
But after a while, it's inevitable that homesickness will creep into your heart.
It can only be said that human emotions are indeed quite complex.
"You really came back, Shun?"
"Yes, Mother, if I don't come back soon, Father and Ayase will nag me."
Upon entering the courtyard, Aragaki Shun saw his adoptive mother tidying up the house and quickly put down his luggage to help.
Unlike her adoptive father, who is a member of the House of Representatives and is often too busy with work to attend to family activities, Ayase's Mother is more focused on family education and even became the president of the parent-teacher association for this purpose.
She emphasized cultivating Ayase's manners and domestic skills, requiring her to take on household chores such as cleaning and laundry from a young age.
He treated Aragaki Shun, his adopted son whom he had raised from childhood, the same as his own son, providing him with every kind of treatment.
However, because Aragaki Shun's second life was less troublesome, this mother would occasionally complain that her adopted son was too mature, and she felt little sense of accomplishment seeing him grow up so quickly.
"Your father mentioned this to me a few days ago. I was thinking of tidying up the house myself, but I didn't expect it to still be unfinished."
"It's okay. It's been months since I last did house cleaning. I'll just give it a try and get back into the swing of things."
Aragaki Shun skillfully picked up the tools and began cleaning the house.
Given the Aragaki Family's circumstances, they could naturally hire someone to help with these things, but for the sake of the so-called "feeling of home," his adoptive mother often preferred to do it herself and would ask him and Ayase to help as well.