Horikita Suzune's Plea

"Please, come in... Hmm? What do you need, Horikita?"

Hearing Chabashira's words, I managed to swallow the sigh that was about to escape my lips; I deserve some credit for that.

The reason is simple—I am truly terrible at dealing with my classmate, Horikita Suzune.

Even though we've never spoken, I feel an inexplicable resistance toward her.

She has always been a loner, coldly rejecting even the popular students in our class, like Hirata and Kushida, when they try to strike up a conversation.

Although I occasionally see her talking to Ayanokoji, it is basically just Horikita lecturing him one-sidedly.

A Horikita like this always reminds me of the person who infuriated me most during middle school—Yukinoshita Yukino.

That girl would belittle others for no reason, never cooperate properly when asked for help, and yet, she acted as if she were superior to everyone else.

At the end of the day, she was nothing more than a clumsy imitation of her older sister.

Without realizing it, I began to overlap Yukinoshita with Horikita, so naturally, I kept my distance from her as well.

Of course, I know they are different people, and if Horikita were capable of interacting normally, I should have responded in kind—though the possibility of her approaching me on her own is practically zero.

Back to the point—

So, when Horikita appeared in the teachers' office, I nearly let out a groan.

I pressed my ear against the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation.

It might have something to do with why we are being kept here.

"If I may be blunt, may I ask why I was placed in Class D?"

"You certainly get straight to the point."

Ah, as I thought.

Horikita thinks highly of herself and is likely dissatisfied with the school's arrangement.

This arrogance, devoid of any self-doubt, is exactly like Yukinoshita's.

"The teacher said this morning that excellent students are placed in Class A, and inferior students in Class D."

"What, you're not satisfied? You think you're excellent?"

"Of course."

An instantaneous, unhesitating reply.

But in my eyes, it was simply laughable.

Perhaps her grades are decent, but in other aspects, she is absolutely failing.

Although it's a bit rich coming from me... her attitude in the classroom is problematic; she's likely confused being aloof with being a loner.

"In fact, I solved most of the problems on the entrance exam."

"Solved most of them, huh... Usually, we don't show students their entrance exam results, but I'll make an exception today. As it happens, your answer sheet is still here."

Yeah, right.

How could an entrance exam answer sheet "happen" to still be here?

"You're very well prepared. It's almost as if you anticipated I would come to protest."

"I am a teacher, after all; I have some grasp of my students' personalities. Horikita Suzune, your written exam score was tied for third. The gap between you and the first and second place was minimal; you are indeed excellent."

"Then, was it a poor evaluation during the interview?"

"No. The interviewers gave you a very high rating."

"Thank you for the information. Then—why?"

"Answer me first: why are you so dissatisfied with being assigned to Class D?"

"Is there anyone who would be happy about receiving an unfair evaluation?"

Most people would feel that way, indeed.

However, I don't have any particular dissatisfaction with Class D.

"Hahaha, your self-evaluation is ridiculously high."

It was the same scoff I heard this morning.

Was it resignation? Or mockery?

"An unfair evaluation? Then let me ask you: what is the standard for a so-called fair evaluation?"

"That... by common sense, surely it's academic ability?"

"The school has never explicitly stated its criteria. It was you who arbitrarily assumed it was academic ability."

"...But Chabashira-sensei, isn't that common sense?"

"It is precisely that common sense that is dead wrong. In this day and age, people hold the belief that good grades equal excellence... it's laughable. Academic ability is certainly important, but this school aims to cultivate truly excellent talent. If we sorted classes solely by grades, someone like Sudo would never have been admitted."

What she said makes sense, but for a teacher, it's a bit out of line.

At a normal high school, she would have already been held accountable by the board of education.

It seems that class placement is indeed not based solely on grades.

Based on my grades, I shouldn't be in Class D at the very least; they must have also taken factors like cooperativeness and athletic ability into account.

Otherwise, as the teacher said, Sudo would never have been able to get in.

Thinking about it carefully is terrifying.

If athletic ability is also a criterion for placement, then the fact that the athletically inept Sakanayanagi can get into Class A means her other abilities must be truly outstanding.

"Furthermore, it is presumptuous to assert that no one would be happy with an unfair evaluation."

"Please don't joke. How could such a person..."

"Take Koenji, for example. As the heir to a conglomerate, he has no complaints about being in Class D."

Indeed, Koenji is always going on about inheriting his conglomerate and doesn't care about the class at all.

"...That doesn't prove anything. What I want to confirm is whether there was an error in the school's judgment. Please verify it again."

This girl hasn't doubted herself for a second... she's cut from the same cloth as Yukinoshita.

"I'm afraid there were no oversights by the school. Your placement in Class D is the inevitable result."

"...I understand. Then I will confirm it directly with the school administration."

It seems she hasn't given up entirely.

She must have judged that Chabashira-sensei is not the right person to negotiate with.

However, the higher-ups at the school probably hold the same view as Chabashira-sensei.

"No matter how many times you report this to your superiors, the result will not change. Besides, there is no need to be so pessimistic. Although you are in Class D now, you might be able to promote to Class A by graduation, right?"

"That is by no means an easy task. I will take my leave for today. But please remember, I have not accepted this result."

Who cares about you?

Your personal thoughts are completely irrelevant to the school, aren't they?

"Understood, I will keep that in mind... By the way, there are two more people coming to the guidance office. They are students related to you."

"People related to me..."

"Ayanokoji, Hikigaya, come on out."

They had to call us at a time like this.

To be honest, I really don't want to go out there...

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

Is that really something a teacher should say?

But not wanting to be expelled, I had no choice but to sigh and walk out of the pantry with Ayanokoji.

"Just how long were you going to make us wait?"

"Were you eavesdropping?"

Horikita frowned.

"You could say that."

"Setting Ayanokoji aside, Horikita-san and I shouldn't have any connection, right?"

"No, as classmates, you are naturally connected. Although, you seem more interested in other classes."

Facing my question, Chabashira-sensei responded without changing her expression.

However, if I'm classified as a classmate, I can't really deny it.

"Sensei, why are you doing this?"

Horikita asked, clearly showing her anger.

"Because these two are the key to your class climbing to the upper ranks."

"...Please keep it brief."

Hearing this, Horikita slightly adjusted her posture to listen.

"First is Ayanokoji. You really are an interesting student."

"I'm still far behind a teacher with a rare surname like 'Chabashira'."

"Should I kneel and apologize on behalf of everyone in the country named Chabashira?... Let's set that aside. Ayanokoji, you scored exactly 50 points in every subject on the entrance exam, and you got 50 points on this quiz as well. Do you know what that means?"

The report card the teacher showed indeed had every subject precisely stuck at 50 points.

In a sense, that's quite impressive, though some might find it interesting.

The person in question, Ayanokoji, couldn't care less.

"Coincidence is truly a scary thing."

"Oh? You insist that all those 50s are a coincidence? On the entrance exam, the fifth math problem had a success rate of only 3%, yet you solved it perfectly. And you got questions with a success rate of over 70% wrong. Is that also a coincidence?"

Ayanokoji... if you wanted to hit 50 points, couldn't you have just answered the easy questions?

"I already told you, it was just a coincidence."

Ayanokoji's poker face was truly impressive.

On the other side, Horikita was eyeing him as if he were an alien.

"Why... why would you do something so inexplicable?"

"I said it was a coincidence. I'm not some hidden genius."

"He might even be smarter than you, Horikita."

The teacher's words added fuel to the fire, causing Horikita to frown again, while Ayanokoji sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Although I understood the reason for being called here, but...

"So, Chabashira-sensei, why did you call me here? It can't just be a routine guidance session, right?"

Though I felt that was impossible.

"Right, Hikigaya, show Horikita your point balance."

Tsk! This teacher...

"I refuse—'do it or get expelled'—fine, fine, fine."

I sighed and pulled up the balance screen on my phone.

Horikita's eyes widened as she scanned back and forth between me and the screen.

"Additionally, I happened to record an interesting conversation."

The teacher said, pulling out a recording device—

"So? Why did you guess that the points would fluctuate on the very first day of school? I just thought that one hundred thousand per month was too generous and suspicious."

"Let me clarify that this is just my speculation, don't take it seriously."

"Assuming there are 400 students in the school, and each gets one hundred thousand per month, how much would the school have to spend?"

The conversation with Shiina on the day of enrollment was recorded in its entirety.

I didn't expect that someone other than Sakanayanagi would be eavesdropping.

"There were quite a few people who understood the point mechanism before May, but Hikigaya is the first one to have thoroughly analyzed it and taken countermeasures on the very first day of school. Coupled with his grades being in the upper tier of the grade, his comprehensive ability might far exceed Horikita's."

The teacher's words made Horikita's expression even uglier.

She was clearly just fanning the flames, wasn't she?

"In short, Ayanokoji is unfathomable, and Hikigaya is quick-witted. If you want to reach Class A, these two might be useful."

The teacher said this while standing up to lock the door.

In other words...

"Are we done? Can I go now?"

This conversation was clearly intended to provoke Horikita.

Since the goal had been achieved, there was no point in me staying.

"Yes, I have a staff meeting to attend. Ayanokoji and Horikita, you two head out as well."

After the teacher shooed us out, she walked quickly toward the office.

Alright, time to go find Sakanayanagi and the others for coffee.

Just as I was thinking that—

"Wait!"

Horikita called out to me.

Ah, I have a bad feeling about this.