A Talk with Chabashira-sensei

After school, Hoshino headed straight to Chabashira-sensei's office.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Chabashira-sensei's stern voice called out.

When he opened the door, the room's layout caught Hoshino by surprise. He'd assumed every teacher had a private office, but apparently he'd been mistaken.

The office wasn't very large, but four desks stood neatly in the middle. There were also a few bookcases along the side for storing documents and the like.

Aside from Chabashira-sensei, the only person there was a middle-aged teacher with a decidedly "villainous" face. Oh, it was the history teacher! No wonder. Come to think of it, he was probably the homeroom teacher of one of the other classes, too.

Remembering what had happened in the library last time, Hoshino felt a little awkward.

"Wait here a moment."

Even before Hoshino came in, Chabashira-sensei seemed to have been busy with something. She was writing on a thick stack of papers with the pen in her hand.

Hoshino looked around. The office was quite clean and tidy. It was small, but not cluttered; the desks, cabinets, and even the floor were spotless. The windows were clear, and soft sunlight poured in. It really seemed like a nice place to read!

Hoshino felt a little envious. They talked about high employment rates, but could there be a better job than working at this school? What ordinary job could compete with these benefits?

"Come with me."

As Hoshino's mind wandered, Chabashira-sensei finished her work and beckoned him toward the door.

Suddenly, the office door opened.

A familiar figure walked in, followed by a girl with long golden-pink hair. It was Hoshinomiya-sensei, and...wasn't that the leader of Class B? Up close, she really was beautiful!

Noticing his gaze, the girl across from him smiled at Hoshino without a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh? Hoshino, what brings you to the office?" Hoshinomiya-sensei beamed as she came over and draped an arm around his shoulders.

"..."

"Hoshinomiya, quit fooling around! Let go of my student!" Chabashira-sensei urged her impatiently.

"Honestly, Sae! I wanted to have a nice chat with Hoshino..." Hoshinomiya-sensei obediently got up, grumbling and playfully whining.

"Sigh... Doesn't your class have a student here to see you, too?" Chabashira-sensei sighed, ignoring Hoshinomiya-sensei's pestering as she led Hoshino to a small tea room. A sign on the door read "Class D Counseling Room."

Was it for their class's exclusive use? Hoshino looked at Chabashira-sensei, unsure.

After opening the door, Chabashira-sensei first took a sheet of paper from the table and handed it to Hoshino.

Hoshino had a feeling what it was and took it.

As expected, it was the agreement he was supposed to sign. The terms had already been drawn up; all that was missing was his signature. Chabashira-sensei really was impressively efficient.

He scrutinized every word, taking nearly five minutes to read the agreement, which was only a dozen or so lines long.

"All right, no problems!" Hoshino picked up his schoolbag and rummaged through it for a while before pulling out a pen and signing his name.

"Hey, Hoshino, there's a pen on the table, you know?" Chabashira-sensei made two cups of tea and pushed one toward him.

"Huh? There is? I didn't notice." That was a lie!

"Mm... Let's get down to business. Ask whatever you want." Chabashira-sensei sat on the sofa across from him and took a sip of her tea.

"Chabashira-sensei, how did you find out?"

"Homeroom teachers have a certain right to know. For a limited time, they can access information about students in their class, including changes to their personal points."

That made sense. If students were allowed to freely trade personal points, wouldn't everything descend into chaos? And it seemed reasonable that homeroom teachers could check their students' records.

"All right! I'll take your word for now. Then, Chabashira-sensei, do you want Class D to move up?" Hoshino asked bluntly, though he had his doubts.

"I refuse to answer that question!"

"Huh? You can do that?"

"I never said I'd answer all your questions!" Chabashira-sensei said bluntly.

There was no point wasting one of his questions on that. Hoshino sighed to himself and gave up pressing her.

"You seem to have a lot of faith in Ayanokoji." It was a trap.

If Chabashira-sensei wanted to move the class up and was actively helping Class D, then she must have someone she believed could lead the class forward. The only question was whether it was Horikita or Ayanokoji.

In terms of ability, Ayanokoji was probably ahead of Horikita. He hadn't shown much so far, but his absurd academic and athletic abilities were already impossible for Hoshino to ignore. Horikita probably couldn't beat him in either of those areas. He could only hope Ayanokoji was "just that good."

"No, I have a lot of faith in Horikita. She has the makings of a good leader." Chabashira-sensei continued to sip her tea unhurriedly.

But suddenly, Hoshino sensed something was off! Something about Chabashira-sensei had changed! Sure enough, the person she had faith in was Ayanokoji.

People might go to great lengths to hide certain things, but whenever they lied, some subtle change was bound to give them away. People were natural when telling the truth, but when they lied, they tended to act just a little more deliberately, trying to make the other person believe them.

"Is that so?" Hoshino lifted his cup to his lips and took a careful sip. He hadn't expected Chabashira-sensei to be this skilled at lying. It was a little surprising.

But why not just ask Ayanokoji for help, the way she'd asked him? There didn't seem to be any reason to hide it. It looked like Ayanokoji really did have some major secrets.

Wait! Did that mean Chabashira-sensei had admitted she wanted the class to move up?

She'd started out by putting the students down, and now she suddenly seemed to want to move the class up? Something must have happened to Chabashira-sensei, and something in the class must have prompted her to take action.

As expected, good tea even made you think more clearly!

"Chabashira-sensei, how much of the rules can you tell me?" They both drank their tea in silence for a while before Hoshino spoke.

"Only what you know already."

It seemed the school had issued a gag order. Until the rules were triggered, the staff couldn't reveal much.

"Then let me put it another way. Can I buy the contents of the next exam?"

"No! Because I don't know them either..."

"..."

Though he already knew what the answer would be, Hoshino kept asking about the rules in different ways. He didn't get any particularly useful information.

There was no need to rush. Hoshino's thoughts began to wander: Maybe I should get Chabashira-sensei to make tea for me every day? She's really good at it!