A Deal with a Teacher

The kid would definitely get curious and come ask me about it.

That was what Chie Hoshinomiya had originally thought, and she'd figured things would more or less unfold that way.

Except...

"No. Don't want to. Don't care. If you don't need anything else, can I leave now, Sensei?"

After listening to Chie Hoshinomiya, An Xiao had immediately shot back three denials without a second thought.

It wasn't that An Xiao didn't want to know more.

After all, knowing yourself and your enemy meant you'd never lose a hundred battles.

But he could get this information from plenty of sources. It was best not to learn it from the woman in front of him, or he'd surely get dragged into trouble.

An Xiao was certain of that, so he promptly refused.

Chie Hoshinomiya had not gotten the answer she wanted. She paused, then pouted in displeasure, but when she recalled the personality analysis of An Xiao in the report, she understood.

Understanding or not, though, Chie Hoshinomiya had no intention of letting An Xiao leave so easily.

After all, compared to the "angelic" Honami Ichinose, she had more faith in the boy in front of her.

Although, based on the information she'd received earlier, Honami Ichinose, with her obvious "dark past," was more suitable to "keep under control."

There was no doubt, though, that in terms of personality and ability, An Xiao was clearly more worthy of her attention at this stage. And then there was the fact that she'd learned from Chairman Sakayanagi that An Xiao already knew some of the details...

With An Xiao on their side, Class B would have a much better chance of challenging Class A.

She herself didn't particularly care about whether her class made it to Class A. But judging by her "bestie" Chabashira Sae's recent actions, Chabashira still seemed to hold a grudge over her failure to lead her former Class D to Class A.

And unlike before, she might make a big move with the students in her class this year.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why she cared so much about this year's new students.

She'd even... broken the rules by looking at a certain student's entrance exam records.

When Chie Hoshinomiya learned of this, she couldn't sit still either.

She could afford not to care much about Class A.

But beating Chabashira Sae? She was very interested in that.

And that was why she'd sought out An Xiao.

"An Xiao, you know this school advertises a 100 percent college admission rate, and..."

"Yeah, I know. That only applies to Class A."

An Xiao nodded and cut in, finishing what Chie Hoshinomiya had been about to say.

"So don't you want to make it to Class A? If you help me out, I can also—"

"No!"

An Xiao's blunt reply left Chie Hoshinomiya speechless. The words she'd been about to say caught in her throat.

"You don't want to? Really? If you agree to help me, then with a little maneuvering on my part and your own smarts, you can definitely make it to Class A without breaking any rules."

"You're not even a little tempted?"

Hey, hey, what do you mean, "a little maneuvering" and "without breaking any rules"?

How was anything this shady teacher was saying now supposed to count as "not breaking any rules"?

Though he was complaining to himself, An Xiao knew he wouldn't be getting away anytime soon.

Chie Hoshinomiya was still putting on a cute act, but one hand had already grabbed the hem of An Xiao's shirt, while the other was firmly pinning down his phone.

An Xiao took a deep breath and replied listlessly.

"So, what do you want me to help you with?"

"So you're agreeing!"

"No. You have to tell me what you want me to do."

Although he hadn't agreed yet, Chie Hoshinomiya could see that An Xiao was starting to give in, so she didn't repeat herself. Instead, she went along with his question and explained what she wanted.

In short, over the next three years, he was to do his best to make sure Class D had not the slightest chance of reaching Class A. He should target them as much as possible and make their lives as miserable as he could.

Of course, if he could help his own class reach Class A along the way, that would be even better.

?????

After hearing Chie Hoshinomiya's request, An Xiao felt like several question marks were bouncing around in his head.

He could understand the second request. The class rankings would surely make a big difference to a teacher's salary, so it was perfectly reasonable for Hoshinomiya-sensei to ask for that.

But as for the first request...

Remembering how Hoshinomiya-sensei had been feeling around the desk of the female teacher named Chabashira Sae before they started talking, An Xiao couldn't help asking,

"Um, Hoshinomiya-sensei, the homeroom teacher of Class D... isn't that the Chabashira-sensei who just left?"

"That's right! It's the class that woman Chabashira teaches."

Chie Hoshinomiya answered An Xiao with the same smile, but this time it sent a chill down his spine.

"Got it. I'll keep an eye on Class D during the various exams and activities from now on."

An Xiao agreed, but he didn't want to go out of his way to target Class D in everyday life. He felt like that would really damage his reputation.

So, in his reply to Hoshinomiya-sensei, he put particular emphasis on the words "during the various exams and activities."

Chie Hoshinomiya had clearly understood what An Xiao meant, but she didn't mind. From what she'd seen of Class D over the past day or two, having An Xiao focus on them during Special Exams and certain activities would probably be enough to keep that woman Chabashira from turning things around.

Satisfied with An Xiao's answer, she nodded, then took out her phone and started tapping away as she asked him,

"What was your Line ID again?"

An Xiao had no idea what Chie Hoshinomiya was up to, but he obediently gave her his account details.

"Done!"

Chie Hoshinomiya tapped her phone screen with a firm press. At the same time, An Xiao's phone buzzed several times.

"It's a deal! I'm not the kind of mean woman who expects a horse to run without feeding it."

As she spoke, Chie Hoshinomiya waved An Xiao's phone around. Its lit-up screen clearly showed a notification that points had been credited to his account.

"While you're helping me, I'll deposit 20,000 points into your account every month. And, of course, if you land a major blow against Class D along the way, I'll give you some extra points too."

Great. I'm sorry I thought you were despicable, shameless, lewd, unscrupulous, and beyond saving.

Sensei, your sincerity has won me over. (??????)??

After showing An Xiao the notification, Chie Hoshinomiya stuffed his phone back into his pocket and asked,

"Now tell me, how much do you know about the school rules? I can't tell you directly what you've missed, but I can fill in some gaps based on the rules you already know."

P.S. Please recommend and bookmark! By the way, how many chapters are people normally supposed to update in a day?