With that, he left.
"Get some rest. Call me if anything comes up." Horikita Manabu did the same.
They had been busy all night, and now it was about time for them to leave.
Only Chabashira-sensei remained.
"Was this really an accident?"
After everyone else had left, she looked at Kageya Shinjitsu with a penetrating gaze.
"It was an accident. Really. I never thought they'd come after me over something so trivial."
"They even dragged Karuizawa into it."
Kageya Shinjitsu answered honestly.
It really had been an accident.
"Sensei, don't you believe us?" Karuizawa Kei asked, sounding displeased.
"No. I just want to understand what happened. If they were really at fault, I'll make sure you get an explanation."
"Karuizawa, if you're all right, go back and get some rest. There'll be medical staff looking after Kageya, and I'll keep an eye on him too."
Chabashira-sensei was trying to send her away.
Karuizawa Kei was unhappy.
"I'll come see you again tomorrow."
But she was still persuaded to leave.
"Chabashira-sensei, just say what you want to say. I need to rest too."
Before long, only Kageya Shinjitsu and Chabashira Sae remained in the infirmary.
"I want to know how much you understand about this school."
Chabashira Sae asked him.
Judging by his usual performance in class, he didn't seem like someone who could understand all this.
There was another strange one in the class.
Forty-third Chapter: Chabashira-sensei, I'm a kid too!!
"Uh, what do you mean?"
Kageya Shinjitsu pretended not to understand.
"Tell me everything you know. Whatever you know, say it."
Chabashira Sae sounded annoyed.
Seeing how vexed she looked, Kageya Shinjitsu smiled.
After all, the teachers had been keeping things from them.
"I don't know that much. I just have a general idea: we won't get a hundred thousand points next month, the classes are competing against one another, and only students who graduate from Class A get special treatment from the school. Also, points can be used to buy all sorts of things."
That was already enough to astonish Chabashira Sae. It had only been a few days since the start of school.
The school had already sealed off the information, yet he still knew this much—and she hadn't let anything slip.
So he must have gotten it from other students or teachers.
That made Chabashira Sae uneasy.
He was in her class, yet when he wanted information, he hadn't even asked her.
"I can't believe you found out so much in such a short time."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
He'd admitted it all already, Chabashira Sae said.
"What would I say it for?" Kageya Shinjitsu asked.
He looked at her as if she were the one being strange.
"Don't you plan to lead Class D into competing against the other classes? Don't you want to become a member of Class A?"
Chabashira Sae asked him directly.
But Kageya Shinjitsu only gave her a look of utter exasperation.
"Lead them into the competition? Why should I lead them?"
"Don't tell me you're trying to trick me into leading them?"
"You really are a defective product too, Chabashira-sensei."
Lying back on the bed, he stared at the cool, aloof teacher in front of him.
Kageya Shinjitsu had already decided there was something wrong with her.
"Defective product."
Chabashira Sae didn't want to hear those words.
Back then, they had made it to Class B, and had even come close to graduating from Class A.
"What do you know?"
"I don't know anything. But I do know that no matter which class you graduate from, ability is ability, and a lack of ability is a lack of ability."
"Do you think it would be fair to the current members of Class A if the people in our class became Class A students and graduated?"
"At least for now, I don't see much value in a lot of our classmates becoming members of Class A."
Kageya Shinjitsu looked at Chabashira Sae as if he had some deep story of his own. Unfortunately, he didn't have any wine, and he didn't want to hear her story. He didn't even need to think about it to know it would be a pain.
"People have to rely on themselves. If they want something, they should work for it. Sensei, if you really want to lead them into Class A, why don't you do it yourself? Like the teachers of the other classes, use a few words to give them a proper nudge, talk with them, and help them grow."
"Are you looking down on them, or do you think you can't do it? If you look down on yourself, they'll do the same. If they want it for themselves, once they know what's at stake, they'll work for it. So you don't need to worry."
"Most importantly, you have no right to say I'm keeping information from them, Chabashira-sensei. Maybe you want to spur them on, to make them understand that shame can make people fight back. But your situation is no different from mine~~~~"
"Don't dump something on your students when you don't even think you can do it yourself. I'm a kid too!!"
"There may be other secrets, but all things considered, there's no doubt about it, Sensei: you're a defective product. Face reality."
"There's nothing wrong with being a defective product. Like me, I accepted my own problems long ago."
"You..."
Under his unflinching gaze and the barrage of words, Chabashira Sae felt her heart ache.
She wanted to say something, but the moment she opened her mouth, he cut her off.
It was as if he'd seen through everything. She stood before her student with nothing left to hide.
"Chabashira-sensei, I'm going to rest now. Even a bad teacher should know not to disturb a patient, right?"
"We can talk about it another time."
Kageya Shinjitsu got in the first word.
"Fine. I never thought someone like you would be right under my nose."
"I underestimated you."
The look on Chabashira Sae's face made it seem like she was going to keep an eye on him. It was a little frightening.
"If you need anything, you can contact me."
She left him with those words.
"..."
"What a pain."
"Annoying classmates, annoying teachers."
Only after Chabashira Sae had left did Kageya Shinjitsu let out a breath.
He hadn't even dealt with the troublesome classmates yet, and now there was a troublesome teacher too.
Class D's future seemed bleak.
With that thought, Kageya Shinjitsu fell into a deep sleep.
He was long used to getting hurt, so this incident didn't affect his sleep.
The next day, he showed up as usual, seemingly unaffected by what had happened the day before.
In fact, many students had no idea anything had happened yesterday.
Class D, however, was already down two students.
Kushida Kikyo had been staring at her phone since the first period.
Every now and then, she glanced at the two empty seats in the classroom.
What's going on?
Neither of them came to school?
She kept messaging them, but neither replied. She even tried calling, but got no answer.
Kushida Kikyo wasn't the only one. Kanji Ike and the others sitting behind her were also very "concerned" about Kageya Shinjitsu and the others.
Forty-fourth Chapter: Even among all the Class D students, they were among the worst.
Kanji Ike and the others in the back weren't just watching with concerned looks.
They were also constantly complaining in their group chat.
Kanji Ike was especially worked up. Whenever he mentioned Kageya Shinjitsu, his words were full of malice.
"I told you that guy was no good. He skipped class again today."
"He can't keep pretending forever."
"Hey, that gal's not at school either. You think they hooked up yesterday?"
"Could be. Karuizawa Kei looks like the kind of girl who'll go with anyone."
Yamauchi Haruki added his two cents in the chat. He was more focused on Karuizawa Kei.
The two of them kept the conversation going, with the other boys chiming in from time to time.
For the most part, the boys talked about girls or other crude topics.
Who was cute, whose figure was better, whether they might have a chance with this or that girl—things like that.
In their conversation, Karuizawa Kei had become a gal who was eager to get into that sort of thing.
They figured she'd already been with all the handsome guys back in middle school, and that when she set her sights on Kageya Shinjitsu yesterday, she'd gone straight for him.
They also brought up how she'd once had her eye on Hirata and had been rejected.
"I'm so jealous. She's a delinquent girl, but—huh? I'm so jealous. I really am..."
At first, they'd mocked them, but before long they were sounding envious.
After all, Karuizawa Kei was pretty cute.
Kanji Ike and Yamauchi Haruki, two hopelessly single guys, let their hormones run wild.
"Chabashira-sensei."
"Sae-chan..."
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