Methods Decided

"I heard you're presiding over this hearing?"

In the Class D Counseling Room, Chabashira-sensei stood with her arms crossed, looking stern.

"...Yes." Hoshino had been called in as soon as school let out. Though he was a little confused, he slowly took a seat across from Chabashira-sensei.

The Student Council website had apparently posted the details of the hearing that morning, and it was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. It was no surprise that Chabashira-sensei knew about it.

"What are you planning to do?"

"..." Hoshino didn't know how to answer the question at first, and he fell silent. Then he asked Chabashira-sensei, "How are things on Horikita's end?"

"...Progress has been so-so. Things still aren't going well with Sakura..."

That was about what Hoshino had expected. From what he'd observed, given how intensely Sakura struggled with social anxiety, she wasn't someone who could be persuaded overnight.

As he'd thought, Chabashira-sensei was indeed keeping an eye on this whole affair. Hoshino's guess had more or less been confirmed: Chabashira-sensei was also set on moving up to Class A.

He lowered his head in thought, then slowly spoke. "Actually, I have enough evidence on my end."

Chabashira-sensei looked up in surprise, then frowned in confusion. "But... you're also the one presiding over this..."

"President Horikita must be testing me. After all, being appointed secretary right off the bat without any achievements to my name would make it hard to earn people's trust."

"..." Chabashira-sensei fell silent.

That was only Hoshino's guess, but at the moment, he couldn't think of any more convincing explanation.

What he wasn't sure about was whether President Horikita knew that he had evidence.

What a pain!

"By the way, Chabashira-sensei, I heard Class B is involved too?" Hoshino asked, suddenly remembering something.

"Class B? It seems Kushida spoke with Ichinose, and Ichinose is the sort of person who likes helping others..."

Chabashira-sensei's answer surprised Hoshino. He wasn't sure whether to believe it. Was that really the only reason?

Still, if Class B wasn't involved, then the whole situation was basically clear.

"So? What are you planning to do?" Hoshino had been lost in thought for a long time without saying a word, and Chabashira-sensei was starting to grow impatient.

"...I did consider handing what I have over to Ayanokoji, but if I do that, this whole thing will probably fizzle out."

The video's usefulness was highly time-sensitive. If they revealed it in a hurry now, it wouldn't have much of an impact.

At this point, Ayanokoji would probably still have Horikita take the lead and defeat Class C at tomorrow's hearing.

But that was a pretty small gain.

"..."

"Chabashira-sensei, I remember there's an exam next month, right?"

"...Are you thinking..."

"Yes. If the student is suspended during the exam, school rules mean they won't get a makeup exam, and they'll receive zeroes in every subject, right?" After days of careful deliberation, this was the best solution Hoshino had come up with so far.

"If there's no evidence during that time, the matter will just drag on?" Chabashira-sensei understood what Hoshino was trying to do.

"At least, as I see it, Horikita won't back down easily. Ayanokoji will probably teach her what to do next, too." Hoshino wasn't entirely sure, but this was the only way he could make sense of things. He was betting that Ayanokoji would step in and help Horikita buy time while they looked for a solution.

"By the way, Chabashira-sensei, what happens if a student gets expelled?"

"...The class loses three hundred Class Points for each expulsion." After thinking for a long time, Chabashira-sensei finally spoke.

"Hmm???" Hoshino hadn't expected that. He'd assumed an expulsion would cost, at most, a few Personal Points. But three hundred Class Points...

They really had tied everyone together in the same boat!

Still, it didn't seem like it would affect Class D much at the moment. It couldn't possibly drop below zero, could it? If Personal Points were deducted every month, they could just give up altogether. There wouldn't be any point in working hard.

"Have you started aiming for Class A, too?" Now that they had a solution, Chabashira-sensei seemed quietly relieved.

"Huh? No." Chabashira-sensei's words interrupted Hoshino's train of thought, and he looked confused. "The bigger the impact, the more we can get out of Ryuen."

"..." Chabashira-sensei fell silent, lost in thought. Hoshino, however, understood a little.

"Moving up to Class A should be everyone's shared goal! Chabashira-sensei, you don't really think the current Class D is in any shape to move up, do you?"

"..."

"Take Sudo, for example, before we even get to Horikita and Ayanokoji. He's impulsive and quick-tempered. What happens if he causes a similar incident again? Then there's Koenji, who might as well be completely separate from the class. Hirata and Kushida seem to have no problems, but Chabashira-sensei, you must know that isn't really the case. And then there's Ike and Yamauchi..."

Hoshino was at a loss for words. He'd never seen a class with so many problem students. Practically everyone had something wrong with them!

"Are you not afraid I'll have you expelled?" Chabashira-sensei bared her fangs, her expression darkening as she stared straight at Hoshino.

Hoshino was suddenly surprised. Chabashira-sensei was so determined to move up a class.

Even though the class had so many problems, Chabashira-sensei still seemed intent on getting them promoted. It was very different from the image of a teacher Hoshino had in mind. At least, he'd always thought teachers prioritized their students' growth.

"You won't, and you can't." Hoshino calmly met her sharp gaze.

After a long stare, Chabashira-sensei seemed to lose. She looked away, her confidence wavering.

"The situation isn't bad right now. At least, the cost of trial and error is low, and there's still a chance to weed out the real dead weight."

Most of what he'd said was, of course, just an excuse.

Hoshino didn't want to work for nothing. Why go after Class C? Taking Class Points away from them wouldn't earn him even a single Personal Point!

Getting something directly from Ryuen was far more worthwhile.

It was just that, given his current position, it wasn't appropriate for him to threaten Ryuen himself. He could always find someone else to do it.

Suddenly, everything made sense, and Hoshino felt himself relax.

The Student Council work had been making him feel pretty out of his depth lately.

After talking things through a little with Chabashira-sensei, his thoughts had suddenly become much clearer.

As expected, it took a clash of ideas to spark something!