Chabashira-sensei's Unusual Behavior

"...Chabashira-sensei?" Hearing Chabashira-sensei's promise for the first time, Hoshino thought he had misheard.

"Show them your points. I can grant you any one request within the scope of my authority!" Chabashira-sensei emphasized again, extinguishing her cigarette before slowly turning around.

"..." This time, it wasn't just Hoshino; even Horikita and Ayanokoji were somewhat surprised.

"Chabashira-sensei, what exactly is your reason for doing this?..."

Hoshino couldn't quite grasp what Chabashira-sensei was trying to achieve. He stared into her eyes, attempting to draw some conclusion, but he failed.

"There is no reason for me to tell you. Just answer me, yes or no?" Chabashira-sensei interrupted Hoshino, her expression stern.

"And what if I say no?" Hoshino pondered for a moment, asking tentatively.

"Then you will be expelled! Immediately!"

Women, they are truly terrifying! One moment she was talking about conditions for an exchange, and the next, she was resorting to direct threats.

However, Hoshino wouldn't be easily intimidated by Chabashira-sensei. At the very least, he didn't believe she possessed that much authority! Expulsion had a significant impact on a student, and even in this school, Hoshino didn't think it would grant a teacher such "power of life and death" over the students.

In truth, Chabashira-sensei's condition was quite tempting. It could accomplish quite a few things; at the very least, recovering 300,000 points shouldn't be a problem. There wasn't necessarily any benefit to stubbornly opposing one's homeroom teacher.

Furthermore, Sudo wasn't a student without merit. In terms of athletics, he should be able to play a huge role, so keeping him wouldn't be a loss!

Horikita and Ayanokoji, standing to the side, didn't interject, merely watching Hoshino as he pondered.

"Sigh—alright, I agree..."

After thinking it over, Hoshino decided to agree.

There was no need to butt heads with Chabashira-sensei, and besides, her condition was quite attractive!

"However, Chabashira-sensei, how exactly will you guarantee the authenticity of your condition?"

Although he had agreed to her terms, it didn't mean Hoshino would easily trust her.

After all, this kind of matter couldn't be formalized as a contract in front of other homeroom teachers. Based solely on Chabashira-sensei's word, Hoshino wouldn't be convinced! Often, when one's own interests are involved, any promise can be cast aside!

Everyone fell into silence.

Indeed, if it involved an agreement with a teacher but couldn't be signed in front of other faculty, how could one ensure the contract was valid?

"...Record a video?" Seeing no one speak, Hoshino thought for a moment and asked tentatively.

"Fine." With that, Chabashira-sensei took out her phone, quickly recorded a video explaining all the terms, and sent it to Hoshino.

The speed was staggering.

Chabashira-sensei was truly a "woman of action"; her efficiency was real!

"Alright, but the necessary written agreement still can't be skipped! Shall we go to your office later?"

Although Hoshino had seen her actions, he still wasn't entirely at ease. After a moment of thought, he decided to see the agreement through to the end, and there were some other things he wanted to ask her in private.

"...Fine... Hoshino, you really are troublesome!" Chabashira-sensei was growing impatient with Hoshino's persistence, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Haha! Better safe than sorry! Don't worry about the details."

Hoshino felt a bit awkward. He operated his phone, flipped to the page displaying his points, and showed it to Horikita and Ayanokoji.

Points!

"Eh?" Horikita looked surprised; she hadn't expected Hoshino to have so many personal points.

"This..." Horikita seemed to want to say something more, but ultimately gave up.

As for Ayanokoji, he looked indifferent, though his pupils dilated slightly. What could one expect from a man with a permanent poker face?

Subsequently, Hoshino withdrew his phone and transferred 300,000 points to Chabashira-sensei.

"Mm, received! You two go back and notify Sudo; he doesn't need to be expelled." Chabashira-sensei glanced down at her phone, then turned around and said softly.

With the matter mostly resolved, the three of them bid farewell to Chabashira-sensei and walked off the rooftop.

Did it feel a bit muddled? Hoshino still felt confused.

The general sequence was that Ayanokoji and Horikita wanted to buy points but didn't have enough, and then Chabashira-sensei had Horikita come to find him? And then it evolved into Chabashira-sensei using a condition to trade for him paying these 300,000 points?

After sorting through his thoughts, he had a rough grasp of the current situation, though there were still some things he needed to ask Chabashira-sensei to clarify.

"Consider these points a loan from me. As soon as I have enough points, I will return them to you immediately." While Hoshino was lost in thought, Horikita caught up to him.

"Eh? Why?" Hoshino stopped in his tracks, feeling dizzy from that statement.

That was a lot of information! Could it be that Horikita liked... Hoshino turned his head in surprise to look at Horikita behind him.

"Hey, if you keep thinking nonsense, do you want to taste the same pain as Ayanokoji?"

Noticing Hoshino's subtle expression, Horikita instantly understood that he was thinking something strange, and her gaze turned sharp, the surrounding temperature seemingly dropping.

"Uh... sorry! No, wait, I didn't say anything..." Hoshino apologized instinctively, then immediately covered his mouth, realizing his mistake.

"..." Ayanokoji, standing to the side, just watched them silently, looking as if he were enjoying the show.

"Why? Be..." Horikita was stumped by Hoshino's question.

Indeed, she and Sudo were merely classmates; there was basically no reason for her to spend her own personal points on him.

"It's probably because if we want to reach Class A, Sudo can't be eliminated this early." Ayanokoji walked over.

"Isn't that even stranger? Shouldn't the points be shared by the whole class?" Hoshino couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

"..." Ayanokoji was also left speechless.

The points to buy Sudo out of expulsion should either have been split among the entire class or borne by Sudo alone; there was no reason for Horikita to be the one handling it!

Although there were indeed urgent reasons for wanting to rise to Class A, Horikita clearly possessed hidden leadership potential, even if she was still a bit green! Hoshino had a certain suspicion in his mind.

Returning to the classroom, Ayanokoji broke the good news to Sudo that he wouldn't be expelled.

"Huh? What's going on? Ayanokoji?" Sudo looked completely shocked.

"Yeah? Ayanokoji, what happened?" Kushida also leaned in close to Ayanokoji, and many others turned their gazes toward him as well.

"..."

Hoshino, meanwhile, helplessly returned to his seat; in the end, those 300,000 private points had still been spent.

Why would Chabashira-sensei go to such great lengths just to trade for information about his points? Hoshino had reason to believe that Chabashira-sensei seemed to be looking for helpers for Horikita and Ayanokoji. From this perspective, it seemed her goal should be to rise to a higher class. Yet, he couldn't quite make sense of her actions since the start of the school year.

Finding no answers, Hoshino gave up on the thought, deciding to just ask Chabashira-sensei properly when he met with her after school.

"Ring-a-ling—" The bell for class rang out.