August. The sun blazed overhead.
A hazy, oppressive heat blanketed the earth, sending waves of hot air shimmering upward.
The heat surged, and under the blazing sun, all of Advanced Nurturing seemed to warp.
Air carrying the scent of grass and earth blew in from afar, brushing Ayanokoji's impassive face and lifting the bangs on either side, revealing his sharply defined, somewhat handsome forehead.
At that moment, he stood on the school building's rooftop, staring absently at the bustling students on the campus paths as he waited for Chabashira to arrive. She had asked to meet him.
Before long, the sound of shoes approaching reached him. Ayanokoji slowly turned and looked at the female teacher walking toward him, his gaze indifferent.
"Ayanokoji, a man contacted the school a few days ago and said he wanted a certain student in Class D expelled."
Chabashira Sae spoke slowly, her tone even.
"Oh? That's rather bizarre."
"But the school wouldn't expel a student without a reason, would it?"
"Of course not. As long as you're still a student here, you should be protected by the school rules. However..." Chabashira slowly lit a cigarette. "That's only if you haven't done anything to break them."
"What counts as breaking the rules?"
Ayanokoji's eyes narrowed slightly. His intuition told him that the "rules" Chabashira meant weren't the school regulations everyone knew about.
"Heh." Chabashira gave a cold laugh before continuing. "There's no clear standard."
"Sometimes cheating on an exam counts; sometimes getting into a fight does..." She paused to take a drag from the half-burned cigarette in her hand, then continued. "Sometimes, even failing to participate in the class competition counts."
At that, Ayanokoji's brows furrowed slightly.
As expected, this awful teacher had long since realized that he had no intention of reaching Class A.
Although his behind-the-scenes meddling had contributed to the successful resolution of the two recent incidents, he had ultimately acted for his own benefit. The class hadn't come first.
The outcome had benefited them both, but that didn't guarantee he wouldn't abandon the class—or even turn against it—for some other gain in the future.
After all, this school had a special system: students who saved up twenty million points could apply to change classes and join whichever class they wanted.
Not only could they transfer on their own initiative, someone else could also offer the same amount in personal points to "recruit" them.
Twenty million wasn't beyond Ayanokoji's reach, especially with the option of pooling points from the class...
With that in mind, it wasn't hard for Ayanokoji to understand Chabashira's actions.
She wanted to keep him shackled to Class D forever—or drain him dry before he left!
Damn, she really was greedy and nasty!
"Are you threatening me?"
After a moment's hesitation, Ayanokoji spoke calmly, his gaze seeming even colder.
"That depends on you."
Chabashira blew out a smoke ring, flicked her cigarette to the ground, and ground it beneath her shoe. "If you give your all to help Class D reach Class A from now on, I'll do everything I can to protect you. Otherwise..." A sharp glint appeared in her eyes.
"You'll be expelled."
Ayanokoji looked impassively at the cigarette under her shoe and spoke slowly.
"Can you really call yourself a teacher?"
"Heh. Think carefully about your choice. In the next Special Exam, I expect to see you show what you can do. Otherwise..." She turned her back to Ayanokoji and began walking away, step by step. "After summer break, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka will no longer be a student here."
Ayanokoji watched her retreating figure for a long time, until she disappeared from view.
He took a couple of steps forward and bent to pick up the cigarette butt, mulling things over as he did.
So his bastard of a father had pressured the school to make him leave after summer break?
Heh. It seemed his father's reach wasn't so long after all. Otherwise, why would he have needed to compromise like this? He could've just had him expelled outright.
And from what Chabashira had said, the school didn't seem willing to accept his "proposal." So now he was trying to use Ayanokoji's behavior against him, or find some other way to force him out. In other words... his father had hit a wall?
At the thought, Ayanokoji couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.
He hadn't expected that the arrogant bastard who'd forced his way into controlling Ayanokoji's life could ever hit a wall. It felt
So good!
As for Chabashira's threat, Ayanokoji dismissed it as background noise. His interests were currently tied to those of the class, so he'd help out here and there.
Chabashira wanted more? She wanted to wring every bit of value out of him before something went wrong?
Well, there was nothing he could do about that. She'd overestimated him. This was all he could manage; take it or leave it.
Still, one thing had caught his attention. Another Special Exam was coming at the end of summer break?
Damn, they were taking away even his vacation...
As expected of Advanced Nurturing. It really was obscenely rich and utterly inhumane.
Lost in thought, Ayanokoji made his way downstairs and tossed the cigarette butt into a trash can. He couldn't help taking another jab at Chabashira in his mind. She could call herself a teacher?
She had no manners at all. Tch!
He spat toward the trash can, then scowled and headed for the dorms.
There went another precious day of summer vacation.
Under the shade of a nearby tree, Ichinose had witnessed the whole scene. She looked completely baffled.
...A delinquent?
So... was this what Ayanokoji was really like? Did that mean she didn't know him at all?
In an instant, she began to deeply doubt her emotional intelligence and social skills...
Meanwhile, murmurs drifted out of the Class A classroom.
Several key members of the "Sakayanagi Faction," led by Sakayanagi, were holding their usual weekly intelligence briefing.
"Everyone, how's the investigation going?"
Sakayanagi parted her lips slightly, her voice gentle and refined.
"Nothing unusual, for the most part. Ryuen and Katsuragi haven't met in private lately, either," Hashimoto said with a smile, his expression full of admiration and affection.
"Nothing unusual on my end, either. It's just..." Kamuro Masumi trailed off, as if deliberately leaving them hanging.
"It's just what?"
Sakayanagi asked gently.
"It's just that I don't understand why we're keeping an eye on that expressionless guy. Wouldn't Horikita or that Koenji guy be a better target?"
Kamuro said with a serious expression, her furrowed brows adding to her stern look.
"Uh... he's our greatest threat."
Sakayanagi hesitated for a moment, then gave an elegant smile.
Hashimoto looked completely lost, but when he heard the words "greatest threat," his brow furrowed and surprise showed on his face.
He hadn't expected anyone else at this school to earn such high praise from Sakayanagi.
He was about to speak when Kamuro beat him to it.
"How could that be? Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"
"From what I've seen over the past two weeks, he's utterly ordinary. And weren't both of the incidents in Class D that nearly resulted in expulsions resolved by Horikita Suzune? Why focus on an unknown like him?"
As Kamuro spoke, her tone was somewhat resentful, as though she were accusing Sakayanagi of making her do pointless work.
She could understand why they were watching Ichinose, but she just couldn't accept keeping tabs on a boy who was practically a background character.
It wasn't that she doubted Sakayanagi. If Sakayanagi gave her a clear and reasonable explanation, she'd still carry out her orders without hesitation.
After Kamuro finished, Sakayanagi thought for a moment but kept her eyes on her, her smile still composed.
She smiled slightly and said:
"Masumi, you said you'd been observing him for two weeks, right?"
"I've been watching him for almost ten years~"
Time flew by, and before long, summer vacation was coming to an end.
In the girls' dormitory, Horikita packed some essential sun protection and a set of athletic clothes into her bag. Then she put on a pair of sneakers suitable for walking outdoors, stepped outside, and gazed up at the vast blue sky.
The gentle summer breeze carried white clouds across the boundless sky, like white ships sailing along.
Today, she too would set out for the school's privately owned luxury cruise ship, the Speranza.
The name meant hope. Was it simply a vacation trip—or another surprise Special Exam that had come out of nowhere?
She murmured to herself, and before she knew it, the elevator had reached her floor.
The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing a face she wasn't particularly happy to see.
Ayanokoji: "Want to get on?"
Before you continue