"...Chabashira-sensei?" Hearing Chabashira-sensei's promise, Hoshino initially thought he'd misheard.
"Show them your points. Within the limits of my authority, I'll grant you any one request!" Chabashira-sensei emphasized again, put out the cigarette in her hand, and slowly turned around.
"..." Now, even Horikita and Ayanokoji were a little surprised, not just Hoshino.
"Chabashira-sensei, what exactly is your reason for doing this? ..."
Hoshino couldn't figure out what Chabashira-sensei was trying to do. He stared into her eyes, trying to find an answer there, but failed.
"I don't have to tell you why. Just answer: yes or no?" Chabashira-sensei cut him off, her expression stern.
"What if I say no?" Hoshino asked tentatively after thinking for a moment.
"Then you'll be expelled! Immediately!"
Women were terrifying! She'd just been talking about an exchange, and now she was threatening him outright.
Still, Hoshino wasn't about to let Chabashira-sensei intimidate him. At the very least, he didn't think she had that much power! Expulsion could have a huge impact on a student's life. Even at this school, Hoshino couldn't imagine they'd give a teacher the power of life and death over their students.
Actually, Chabashira-sensei's offer was pretty tempting. It could help him accomplish a lot; at the very least, getting back 300,000 points shouldn't be a problem. There wasn't necessarily any benefit in going out of his way to oppose the homeroom teacher.
Besides, Sudo wasn't a completely useless student. He could probably make a significant contribution in sports, so keeping him around wasn't a bad deal!
Horikita and Ayanokoji said nothing. They simply watched Hoshino as he pondered.
"Haah... All right, I agree..."
After weighing it over, Hoshino agreed.
There was no need to go against Chabashira-sensei, especially when her offer was so tempting!
"But, Chabashira-sensei, how can you guarantee that you'll honor your offer?"
Hoshino had agreed to Chabashira-sensei's terms, but that didn't mean he would trust her so easily.
After all, they couldn't draw up a contract in front of the homeroom teachers from the other classes. Hoshino wasn't going to take Chabashira-sensei's word for it! When their own interests were at stake, people could forget any promise they'd made!
Everyone fell silent.
Indeed, if this was an agreement involving a teacher, but they couldn't draw it up in front of another teacher, how could they ensure it would hold?
"...How about recording a video?" Seeing that no one was speaking, Hoshino thought for a moment and asked tentatively.
"That works." As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei took out her phone, quickly recorded a video explaining all the terms, and sent it to Hoshino.
She was so fast it was astonishing.
Chabashira-sensei really was a woman of action. She moved incredibly quickly!
"All right, but we still need to draw up the agreement. Should we go to your office in a bit?"
Although Hoshino had seen Chabashira-sensei take action, he still wasn't entirely at ease. After a moment's thought, he decided to make sure they completed the proper paperwork. There were also a few things he wanted to ask her about in private.
"...Fine... You really are a handful, Hoshino!" Chabashira-sensei was getting impatient with him, and her brows drew together.
"Haha! Better safe than sorry! Don't sweat the details."
Hoshino felt a little awkward. He operated his phone, brought up the page showing his points, and held it out for Horikita and Ayanokoji to see.
Points!
"Huh?" Horikita looked astonished. She hadn't expected Hoshino to have so many personal points.
"Th..." Horikita seemed to want to say more, but in the end she gave up.
As for Ayanokoji, he looked completely indifferent, though his pupils widened slightly. What kind of expression could you expect from someone who'd been stone-faced for a thousand years?
Then Hoshino put his phone away and transferred 300,000 points to Chabashira-sensei.
"Mm, I got them! Go back and tell Sudo he won't be expelled." Chabashira-sensei glanced down at her phone, then turned around and said in a low voice.
The matter was more or less settled. The three of them said goodbye to Chabashira-sensei and left the rooftop.
It all felt a little bewildering. Hoshino was still confused.
As far as he could tell, Ayanokoji and Horikita had wanted to buy points but didn't have enough, so Chabashira-sensei had sent Horikita to find him? Then Chabashira-sensei had traded a favor for him to hand over those 300,000 points?
After sorting through it, he had a rough idea of what was going on. Still, there were a few things he needed to ask Chabashira-sensei about.
"I'll count these points as a loan. Once I have enough points, I'll pay you back right away." As Hoshino was thinking, Horikita hurried over to catch up with him.
"Huh? Why?" Hoshino stopped in his tracks. Her words left him a little dazed.
That was a lot to take in! Could it be that Horikita liked... Hoshino turned around in shock and looked at her.
"Hey, keep imagining things and I'll make you suffer the same pain as Ayanokoji."
Noticing Hoshino's odd expression, Horikita immediately realized he was thinking something strange. Her gaze sharpened, and the temperature around them seemed to drop instantly.
"Uh... Sorry! Wait, I didn't say..." Hoshino apologized reflexively, then belatedly clapped a hand over his mouth.
"..." Ayanokoji simply watched from the side, looking like he was enjoying the show.
"Why? Why..." Horikita was stumped by Hoshino's question.
It was true that she and Sudo were only classmates. She had no real reason to use her personal points to help him.
"Probably because she wants to get into Class A, and Sudo can't be eliminated this early," Ayanokoji said as he walked over.
"Doesn't that make it even weirder? Shouldn't the whole class share the cost?" Hoshino couldn't understand.
"..." Ayanokoji was at a loss for words, too.
The points to buy Sudo's marks should either have been split among the whole class or paid by Sudo himself. However you looked at it, it had nothing to do with Horikita!
Although she did seem eager to move up a class, Horikita really did have the makings of a leader. She was just a little inexperienced right now! Hoshino had a theory.
Back in the classroom, Ayanokoji told Sudo the good news that he wouldn't be expelled.
"Huh? What's going on, Ayanokoji?" Sudo looked shocked.
"Yeah, Ayanokoji, what happened?" Kushida had also come over to Ayanokoji, and many people turned to look at him.
"..."
Hoshino returned to his seat in silence, looking resigned. In the end, he'd paid out those 300,000 personal points.
Had Chabashira-sensei really gone to such lengths just to get information about his points? Hoshino had reason to believe that she seemed to be looking for allies for Horikita and Ayanokoji. If so, it seemed her goal was to move up a class. But he couldn't make sense of her actions since the start of the school year.
Unable to figure it out, Hoshino gave up thinking about it. He'd wait until after school, when he could meet with Chabashira-sensei and ask her properly.
"Ring-ring—" The bell rang for class.
Before you continue