Classroom of the Elite: Starting with a Zero, I Know the Plot So I'm Just Going to Lay Flat!

So.

Nakano Yuu decided to continue ignoring Chabashira.

"Just now," however, his seatmate spoke up at that moment, "Chabashira-sensei seemed to send you some kind of signal."

?

What kind of signal?

Nakano Yuu turned his head to look at Horikita Suzune.

Seeming to understand his confusion from his expression, Horikita added, "I saw Chabashira-sensei tap your shoulder three times with her hand."

Oh.

So she had seen it after all.

But Horikita, aren't you usually very focused during class? Even when he stared at her during lessons, she never noticed, yet when Chabashira-sensei merely rested her hand on his shoulder, you caught it.

However, Nakano still knew that Horikita and Chabashira had many similarities; Chabashira was like an older version of Horikita, so perhaps certain things about Chabashira could be deduced by observing Horikita.

But the current Horikita was still relatively naive, nowhere near the level of cunning and craftiness of Chabashira.

So, she still needed some cultivation.

"What do you think the teacher was signaling by pressing on my shoulder just now?" Nakano Yuu asked.

"It was probably telling you to follow... oh no, it likely meant for you to find her when you have time," Horikita said.

"If it were just a single press on your shoulder, it might have been a coincidence, or a direct instruction to follow her."

"But three taps likely imply she has something in mind," Horikita said.

Oh, oh, oh.

So you actually understand this quite well, don't you?

"Then," Nakano said, looking at Horikita, "let's run a test."

"?"

Horikita's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. Nakano picked up the eraser from his desk and handed it to her.

"Pretend you picked up my eraser, and now you're returning it to me," Nakano Yuu said.

"..." Horikita.

Horikita Suzune didn't understand at all what he was trying to do, but she still placed the eraser back on Nakano's desk. However, just as she was about to pull her hand away after placing it down, she suddenly felt a large hand press onto the back of her hand.

Then.

Tap, tap, tap.

The other person's fingers tapped three times along the back of her hand.

At that moment, Nakano pulled his hand back, and Horikita's left hand was set free.

She remained expressionless.

Nakano's expression, however, appeared somewhat confused.

"I just tapped the back of your hand three times too, but I know I was just touching you. So, as for Chabashira-sensei," Nakano Yuu paused, then added, "was she also just trying to touch me?"

"..." Horikita.

Horikita's gaze turned sharp for a split second, then immediately became bewildered.

Because she had assumed Chabashira-sensei wanted Nakano Yuu to come see her, likely for a notification or some other matter.

But Chabashira-sensei hadn't said it explicitly.

So.

Perhaps it could be interpreted as Nakano had just deduced, but wouldn't that mean Chabashira-sensei was actually a pervert?

Thinking this.

"But Chabashira-sensei shouldn't be that kind of person," Nakano Yuu said. "Therefore, I wasn't that kind of person just now either; you cannot think of me as a pervert."

"Alright, you're free now," Nakano Yuu said.

"..." Horikita.

So what exactly was that test supposed to be?

In truth, it wasn't a test at all; it was just that after Nakano realized he had been touched by Chabashira-sensei, he felt it was unfair, so he decided to bully the "immature version" of Chabashira-sensei.

Unlike Nakano's playful antics, after finishing her lecture, Chabashira left the classroom and returned to the faculty office.

The office was spacious, and as homeroom teachers at this school were expected to stay with their students until graduation, the school provided them with special treatment.

For instance, this office was an area reserved exclusively for the four homeroom teachers.

Upon arriving at the office, Chabashira sat directly in her chair.

Her mood was somewhat complicated.

Not bad.

She is also a graduate of this school, belonging to the 17th graduating class. She was in the 12th class, five years ahead of the current students, but because she started school early, she is only 13 years their senior. This year happens to be her 29th birthday.

In the past, she hailed from Class D, but through the collective efforts of the entire class, they rose to Class C and even reached Class B. However, in the final competition for Class A, her own mistake caused them to miss the opportunity.

Her classmates complained and resented her, but all of that ceased by the time they graduated.

Everyone moved on to different paths. After all, life goes on. Dwelling on the past is useless.

As for her, she relied on her excellent academic record and diligent study to get into a prestigious university, then decided to become a teacher and returned here.

She has already been the homeroom teacher for three batches of Class D. She was a student of Class D in the past, and now she is the homeroom teacher of Class D; she doesn't see any problem with that. However, watching the students remain ignorant, watching them degenerate, watching them shrink away from challenges, and watching them eventually get expelled.

Among them, quite a few students were actually excellent, only assigned to Class D due to some specific issue, yet they ultimately could not escape the fate of expulsion.

She feels it is very unfair; there is a problem with this system. Was the initial sorting really correct?

She began to ponder these matters.

She pondered intensely.

Ultimately.

She developed a wish, or perhaps a stubbornness deep in her heart that she had never given up on.

She hopes that the students of Class D can prove themselves, rise up, and even succeed.

Of course, deep down, she also feels regret, apology, and sorrow for the fact that her former class lost the chance to promote because of her.

As an adult, she is well aware that the past cannot be undone.

Therefore.

Unlike her failed self, she hopes that there will be students in Class D who can accomplish the goal that her former Class D students could not.

Successfully promote to Class A.

It is just that such a thing might be impossible to see during her tenure as a homeroom teacher, but just before this batch of students arrived, the Chairman told her something.

The freshmen of this term are very different, and there are a few students in this year's Class D who are quite special.

So, can one interpret this as meaning that this batch of students might be worth expecting? That they might be able to break free from the shackles of Class D?

And so.

She completely adopted a hands-off, "let it rot" approach.

It should be said that it is truly worthy of Class D; in a completely free environment, this class lost 1,000 points in just one month, and potentially even more.

Upon confirming this result, she was almost dumbfounded.

Because this was the worst performance any previous Class D had ever encountered.

However.

Now she has discovered that there are indeed several special individuals in this class.

And the most special person right now is Nakano Yuu. He used a special license to enroll, commonly known as getting in through the back door.

Such things are not absolutely impossible to happen; even Ikusei High School finds it hard to avoid such conventions.

And this student, in the first month, took the initiative to call her. She thought that this student was indeed the special student the Chairman spoke of, so perhaps she could have expectations, but very quickly, she found that this student's performance was mediocre. He spent all his points and even broke a school security camera.

In other words, he really did get in through the back door.

She basically chose to give up.

However, just a few days ago, she suddenly thought of something. Although the students of this year's Class D are performing worse than any previous batch, and their class evaluation score even dropped to zero.

But.

Could there also be a phenomenon of finding life after death? This class is difficult to unite, but now, because they have no living expenses, they might spontaneously unite in order to have money to live, and cooperate for the exams.

So perhaps it can be considered a blessing in disguise.

Thus, when Hirata wanted to test the students' grades, she intervened.

She handed the entrance exam papers to Hirata. Because of the special license, she had not received Nakano Yuu's entrance exam scores.

So she decided to try one more time.

And she was not disappointed. This person is not simply incompetent and a back-door entrant; this guy is indeed capable. In the updated test scores, this guy scored over 95 in all subjects, and such results are not something that can be achieved just by studying hard.

So this boosted her confidence.

Perhaps she can let this guy lead Class D.

Yes, if Nakano Yuu's ability is very strong, then his performance last month might just be a facade—for instance, if Nakano-kun was intentionally acting mediocre.

Mediocre Nakano Yuu.

And generally speaking, if someone wants to appear ordinary, it is because they are super excellent.

She does not care that the current Class D is more than 800 points away from Class A.

Because the gap must be large enough to be bridged, and if they manage to do it, only then is it possible for Class D to even persist until graduation as Class A. Otherwise, even if they had points, they wouldn't be able to hold onto them.

However, during the exam, Nakano Yuu made a somewhat puzzling move: he pressed her hand and tapped the back of her hand three times.

This seems to be some kind of secret signal.

In other words, did the other party also have a desire to be promoted to a higher class? After all, despite having such excellent grades, he was stuck in Class D, so he must want to move up, and the process of promotion would require a certain amount of assistance; as his homeroom teacher, she could provide him with help that didn't violate any rules.

At the time, she felt that this guy might actually be quite clever.

Then.

Then there was no then.

She was left pondering the meaning behind him tapping the back of her hand three times: was he going to contact her in three hours? Was he going to contact her at 3:00 PM?

Or was he going to contact her at 3:00 AM?

But none of those happened.

She spent that entire day staring at her phone, but the other party had no intention of sending her a message.

Then.

Three days later, he naturally didn't show up either.

So she began to doubt her own life.

She even started to wonder if Nakano Yuu tapping her hand three times back then had no special meaning at all, or if he had simply been touching her hand.

"..."

Speculating about a student in such a way was not the right thing to do.

So she fell silent.

Since he wouldn't come to her, she would take the initiative to go to him.

And so.

Today, she tapped his shoulder three times. The other party would know exactly what it meant.