Enlightenment

Chabashira Sae's gaze swept over the several open test papers on the desk, her fingertips hovering above them as she tapped the wooden surface unconsciously.

She took a deep breath and muttered to herself, Forget it, the data doesn't lie. This conclusion seemed to help her temporarily suppress a certain emotion.

She looked up at Ayanokoji Kiyona, who was standing quietly before her, and a meaningful arc tugged at the corner of her mouth: "Ayanokoji, you really are an interesting student."

Her voice was not loud, but it was clear enough.

Chabashira Sae picked up a form printed with the entrance exam results and glanced at another quiz paper beside her, as if looking for a connection.

"I previously took the results of the entrance exam, intending to carefully consider individual guidance methods for you all, but..." She paused, her sharp gaze landing on Ayanokoji's face.

"Seeing your test scores this time, I discovered something very interesting. I was truly startled at first."

Chabashira Sae simply pulled out a grade report and read the scores aloud, her tone carrying a deliberate calmness, as if dissecting a puzzle: "Japanese fifty, Math fifty, English fifty, Social Studies fifty, Science fifty..."

After finishing, she pushed the grade report to the center of the desk and added, "As an aside, the result of this quiz was also fifty. Every subject is precisely stuck at half of the full score."

Chabashira Sae leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping across the faces of Ayanokoji, Hoshino, and Horikita, and she asked with added emphasis, "Do you understand what this means?"

Horikita Suzune, standing to the side, had her attention drawn by this questioning.

She leaned in slightly, her gaze sweeping over the grade report like a blade, confirming those glaring "50" figures.

Subsequently, with obvious confusion and inquiry, she turned her gaze toward Ayanokoji Kiyona, and a trace of imperceptible, sharp scrutiny flashed through her usually cold eyes.

Kiyona, who had been called out, had almost no expression on her face. She shrugged casually, as if it were nothing, and replied in a slightly perfunctory, joking tone: "Just a child playing around, nothing to take seriously." The words sounded light and airy.

Chabashira Sae frowned slightly and stated it directly: "You did it on purpose?"

She stared intently at Kiyona, pressing for the reason behind it: "Why take the test like this? Controlling the scores to such a precise degree?"

Kiyona seemed indifferent to such a blunt interrogation, maintaining her emotionless demeanor, and simply responded: "It's interesting." These two words were crisp and clean, tinged with a sense of nonchalance.

In reality, these words were, of course, something Hoshino Kanade had cleared with Kiyona beforehand.

Kiyona followed suit, but as her gaze swept over Chabashira Sae's furrowed brow, ripples stirred in her heart—Kanade's precise prediction of Chabashira Sae's course of action gave her, after a brief moment of confusion, a further realization: this ability to grasp and control the human heart was a height she had yet to reach (in reality, Kiyona was overthinking it).

She lowered her eyes to stare at a crease in her sleeve, as if decoding a puzzle set by Kanade, replaying the chess game he had laid out in his understated way: from the minute control of the test scores to the direction of this conversation, all variables were within Kanade's calculations.

Chabashira Sae was silent for a few seconds.

The script she had prepared to expose the manipulative ability hidden behind Kiyona's scores had completely lost its utility—because Kiyona had admitted it so easily, not even bothering to give a decent explanation.

This completely disrupted her rhythm.

Chabashira Sae's gaze turned to the window—Hoshino Kanade, who had originally been leaning against the wall, was now leaning against the window frame, still maintaining that indifferent posture as if nothing mattered.

"And you, Hoshino?" Chabashira Sae's voice turned to him, filled with scrutiny, "Full marks in all subjects on the entrance exam, top-tier written ability, yet your evaluation during the interview was extremely poor. Those items regarding 'coordination' and 'collective consciousness' were almost failing grades."

She crossed her arms and questioned, "Can you tell me if there is any reason for being so unsociable? And, don't you have any thoughts of improving your situation and striving for more monthly class points? With your ability, it is entirely possible for Class D to get more points, and you personally could benefit as well."

Hoshino Kanade withdrew his gaze from outside the window, glanced at Chabashira Sae lazily, and answered without much spirit: "I just think it doesn't matter which class I'm in." His tone was as flat as if he were discussing the weather, "After all, I don't want to play those boring 'games of interpersonal bonds'."

As for the points, Hoshino Kanade expressed disdain, waving his hand casually: "Points? So what if we don't have them? With free meals as a safety net, I won't starve to death, and life goes on."

As soon as this "declaration of giving up" fell, Horikita Suzune's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

Chabashira Sae looked at his completely indifferent, utterly checked-out posture, and the disappointment and slight annoyance in her heart were hard to hide.

A thought flashed through her mind that was not very polite but extremely apt: This guy... is a slacker. He had completely abandoned the possibility of pursuing the top, and even held an "it has nothing to do with me" attitude toward the precious class points.

However, this sense of powerlessness was only fleeting.

A more practical question immediately emerged: these three people in front of her—an Ayanokoji Kiyona who could precisely control scores, a Hoshino Kanade whose style of action was hard to fathom, and a Horikita who had good ability but was a bit prickly toward her classmates.

How can I pry these three rusted gears and make them mesh into an engine that drives Class D forward? Chabashira Sae's brain was running at high speed; this had become the key issue that made her feel troubled but forced her to think.

Just then, the wall clock struck the hour.

Chabashira Sae suddenly came back to her senses, raised her hand to check her watch, and then quickly organized the documents on the desk.

"I'm leaving."

She picked up her coat, draped it over her arm, stood up, and her tone returned to the efficiency of a teacher, "The faculty meeting is about to start. This place needs to be locked."

Chabashira Sae walked to the office door and took out her keys, "You three, get out now."

Upon hearing this, Horikita Suzune did not look at Chabashira Sae again, nor did she pay any more attention to Ayanokoji or Hoshino; she simply took the lead and walked straight toward the door, her back still exuding an air of aloofness that kept others at a distance.

Chabashira Sae's gaze swept over the several open test papers on the desk, her fingertips hovering above them as she tapped the wooden surface unconsciously.

She took a deep breath and muttered to herself, Forget it, the data doesn't lie. This conclusion seemed to help her temporarily suppress a certain emotion.

She looked up at Ayanokoji Kiyona, who was standing quietly before her, and a meaningful arc tugged at the corner of her mouth: "Ayanokoji, you really are an interesting student."

Her voice was not loud, but it was clear enough.

Chabashira Sae picked up a form printed with the entrance exam results and glanced at another quiz paper beside her, as if looking for a connection.

"I previously took the results of the entrance exam, intending to carefully consider individual guidance methods for you all, but..." She paused, her sharp gaze landing on Ayanokoji's face.

"Seeing your test scores this time, I discovered something very interesting. I was truly startled at first."

Chabashira Sae simply pulled out a grade report and read the scores aloud, her tone carrying a deliberate calmness, as if dissecting a puzzle: "Japanese fifty, Math fifty, English fifty, Social Studies fifty, Science fifty..."

After finishing, she pushed the grade report to the center of the desk and added, "As an aside, the result of this quiz was also fifty. Every subject is precisely stuck at half of the full score."

Chabashira Sae leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping across the faces of Ayanokoji, Hoshino, and Horikita as she deepened her tone to ask, "Do you understand what this implies?"

Horikita Suzune, standing to the side, had her attention drawn by this interrogation.

She leaned in slightly, her eyes scanning the report card like blades to confirm those glaring rows of "50"s.

Then, with clear confusion and inquiry, she shifted her gaze to Ayanokoji Kiyona beside her, a hint of imperceptible, sharp scrutiny flashing through her habitually cold eyes.

Kiyona, being singled out, showed almost no expression on her face. She shrugged as if it were nothing, answering in a slightly perfunctory, joking tone: "Just a kid playing around with the test, nothing to take seriously." The words sounded light and airy.

Chabashira Sae frowned slightly and cut straight to the point: "You did it on purpose?"

She stared fixedly at Kiyona, pressing for the reason behind it, "Why take the test like this? Controlling your scores to such a precise degree?"

Kiyona seemed indifferent to such a blunt interrogation, maintaining her emotionless demeanor as she responded concisely: "It's interesting." The two words were crisp and clean, carrying a hint of nonchalance.

In reality, these words had, of course, been cleared with Kiyona by Hoshino Kanade beforehand.

Kiyona followed instructions, but as her gaze swept over Chabashira Sae's furrowed brow, a ripple stirred in her heart—Kanade's precise prediction of Chabashira Sae's movements left her with a new realization after a moment of confusion: this ability to grasp and control human hearts was a height she had yet to reach (though, in truth, Kiyona was overthinking it).

She lowered her eyes to stare at a crease on her sleeve, as if decoding a puzzle set by Kanade, replaying the game he had laid out so casually in her mind: from the minute control of the test scores to the direction of this conversation, every variable was within Kanade's calculations.

Chabashira Sae fell silent for a few seconds.

The script she had prepared to expose the manipulative ability hidden behind Kiyona's scores now had no use—because Kiyona had admitted it so easily, not even bothering to provide a decent explanation.

This completely disrupted her rhythm.

Chabashira Sae's gaze turned toward the window—Hoshino Kanade, who had been leaning against the wall, was now resting against the window frame, still maintaining that posture of total indifference to everything.

"And you, Hoshino?" Chabashira Sae's voice shifted toward him, carrying scrutiny, "You got perfect scores in every subject on the entrance exam, your written test ability is top-tier, yet your evaluation during the interview was abysmal. You nearly failed the sections on 'coordination' and 'collective mindset'."

She crossed her arms and demanded, "Can you tell me if there's a reason for being so uncooperative? And don't you have any thoughts on improving your situation to strive for more monthly class points? With your ability, it's entirely possible for Class D to earn more points, and you could benefit personally as well."

Hoshino Kanade withdrew his gaze from outside the window, gave Chabashira Sae a lazy look, and answered listlessly: "I just feel it doesn't matter which class I'm in," his tone was as flat as if he were discussing the weather, "After all, I don't want to play those boring 'interpersonal connection games'."

As for the points, Hoshino Kanade showed nothing but disdain, waving a hand dismissively: "Points? So what if we don't have them? With free meals as a safety net, I won't starve to death; it's not like I can't get by."

The moment this "declaration of giving up" finished, Horikita Suzune's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

Chabashira Sae looked at his completely indifferent, utterly checked-out posture, unable to hide her inner disappointment and a touch of irritation.

A thought flashed through her mind—impolite but extremely fitting: 'This guy... is a total slacker.' He had completely abandoned the possibility of striving for the top, maintaining an attitude of "what does it have to do with me" even regarding precious class points.

However, this sense of powerlessness was only fleeting.

A more practical question immediately emerged: these three people before her—an Ayanokoji Kiyona who could precisely control scores, a Hoshino Kanade with an elusive style, and a Horikita who had talent but was prickly toward her own classmates.

'How can I pry these three rusted gears and make them mesh into an engine that drives Class D forward?' Chabashira Sae's brain raced; this had become the critical problem that felt thorny yet essential to solve.

Just then, the wall clock struck the hour.

Chabashira Sae snapped back to reality, glanced at her wristwatch, and quickly began organizing the documents on her desk.

"I'm leaving."

She picked up her jacket, draped it over her arm, and stood up, her tone returning to the efficiency of a teacher, "The faculty meeting is about to start. I need to lock up here."

Chabashira Sae walked to the office door and took out her keys, "The three of you, get out now."

Upon hearing this, Horikita Suzune did not look at Chabashira Sae again, nor did she pay any further attention to Ayanokoji or Hoshino; she simply took the lead, walking straight toward the door, her back still radiating an air of aloofness that kept others at a distance.