Siblings and Teachers

After Ichinose left the meeting room.

Secretary Tachibana contacted the last student scheduled for an interview: Horikita Suzune of Class 1-D.

After the little incident with Ichinose, Tachibana no longer dared to assume she knew what President Horikita was thinking based on her own guesses.

"Hello, Senpai Tachibana. My name is Horikita Suzune. My older brother has been in your care. I look forward to working with you."

Excellent manners, a refined way of speaking, and a delicate face.

She was that person's younger sister. There could be no doubt about it.

Tachibana Akane leaned forward slightly, the folder in her arms, and returned the greeting.

"Hello, Horikita. I'm Tachibana Akane, a third-year. The president is waiting for us, so let me show you the way. And I look forward to working with you, too."

With that, Tachibana led Horikita Suzune to the meeting room.

Once they entered, Horikita Manabu sent Tachibana out of the room for the first time.

Tachibana pressed her lips together, bowed, and left.

Inside the meeting room.

Horikita Suzune looked at her brother, her thoughts in turmoil and her feelings mixed.

Since coming to this school, this was only the second time she had seen him.

The last time, Horikita Suzune hadn't been able to say anything. She had only poured out her feelings to her brother.

But this time, everything was different. She had a much clearer idea of what she wanted.

Horikita Suzune wanted to join the Student Council, support her brother, follow in his footsteps, and become someone like him.

She was serious.

And she was sure she could do it!

Although everything about this school seemed strange, and it had all sorts of bizarre rules, its fundamental purpose was simply to judge students' abilities through exams.

Horikita Suzune still refused to accept that she was the same as the failures in her class.

So if the school insisted on labeling her Class D, she would fight back. She would lead Class D all the way to Class A and prove herself to her brother.

In fact, given the current state of the first-years, Horikita Suzune's plan was quite feasible.

This year's first-years had the best chance of all four classes avoiding any deductions in the first month's exam.

The gap between Class D and the upper classes was almost nonexistent.

If they did well in the Special Exams to come, it wasn't impossible for Class D to make a comeback.

Horikita Manabu understood that, too. That was why he was even more dissatisfied with Suzune's naivety.

All of this hinged on Kujo's presence among the first-years.

What if Kujo hadn't revealed the school's rules?

What if Kujo started showing his strength in the exams to come?

What if Kujo wanted to lead his class to Class A?

Horikita Manabu asked the same question as before:

"What do you think of Kujo Makoto from Class 1-C?"

Horikita Suzune was unlike Ichinose and Katsuragi.

She wouldn't lie for someone else, nor would she give her brother some rigid, by-the-book analysis.

But she could still answer his question.

Because Horikita Suzune had looked into Kujo, too. Her brother had investigated Ayanokoji, so she had investigated Ayanokoji as well.

Ayanokoji was the person she understood least since the start of school, and Kujo was his friend from another class.

If Ayanokoji was someone who hid his true self and kept his cards close to his chest, Horikita Suzune knew very well that he wasn't good at making friends.

Unlike her own reasons, the other boy's very nature seemed entirely at odds with ordinary people.

Ayanokoji, who went to such lengths to conceal his abilities, had one day said that he'd made a normal friend.

Horikita Suzune couldn't ignore Kujo's existence.

Everything deserved to be done as well as possible.

Since this school put ability above all else, it was worth giving up some study time to analyze her opponent.

Horikita Suzune then listed her impressions of Kujo one by one.

He was athletic, tall, on good terms with some of the boys in Class D, and had a girlfriend in his class.

Those were the traits Kujo had shown her.

Horikita Manabu closed his eyes and tilted his head back with a sigh.

Those were indeed all surface-level traits of Kujo. In fact, anyone would see him the same way.

It seemed his younger sister was still as naive as ever.

If she joined the Student Council now, she'd have little chance of gaining an advantage over Nagumo, let alone competing with Ichinose.

And more importantly, Horikita Suzune was his own younger sister.

As one of his few weaknesses, she was bound to draw the attention of Nagumo, who was always looking to compete with him.

There wouldn't be any inter-year battles at this school for the time being. By the time they happened, it would probably be time for him to step down.

So Horikita Manabu wouldn't let her join the Student Council and give Nagumo any opportunity to take advantage of her.

It wasn't because Horikita Suzune wasn't good enough. It was because he, Horikita Manabu, wasn't strong enough.

Ever since she was a child, she had done everything he told her.

He said he liked long hair, so she grew hers out.

He was good at school, so she pushed herself to get good grades, too.

He trained in martial arts, so she trained her body alongside him.

Were they going back to those days again...?

"Suzune, only one first-year joined the Student Council this year. Her arrival has already filled the last available seat."

Horikita Suzune clenched her fists, her feelings a tangled mess.

The school's rules came before everything else.

Her brother would graduate in a year. Even saying a year was generous; it was less than that.

She didn't have much time left to earn his recognition.

"I understand, Brother. Because I'm in Class D, I don't even get the chance to compete with students from the upper classes..."

Her bangs hid her eyes, and her words brimmed with helplessness.

"I'll prove myself to you, Brother. Once I reach Class A, I'll come see you again."

Horikita Suzune turned and left.

Watching her walk away, Horikita Manabu offered her some advice:

"Suzune."

"..."

"You're still so immature because your goal is limited to reaching Class A."

After hearing her brother's final words, Horikita Suzune quickened her pace.

In the end, the siblings parted on bad terms.

Horikita Manabu, who had protected Class A's position for three years, and Horikita Suzune, who only wanted to reach Class A.

The distance between them was too great.

That was the cruelty of this school.

The teachers' office.

Unlike the students' squabbles, adults always acted with a purpose and a target in mind.

Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher of Class D, and Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher of Class B, were both graduates of Advanced Nurturing High School.

After graduating, Chabashira had chosen to stay at the school as a teacher.

And when Hoshinomiya learned of Chabashira's choice, she had stayed on as a teacher, too.

Why?

Because Hoshinomiya wanted to stop Chabashira.

She didn't want the class Chabashira led to reach Class A.

Even when they were students, Chabashira had made Hoshinomiya's life miserable.

So why should Hoshinomiya make things easy for her now that they were teachers?

That was the kind of adult Hoshinomiya of Class B was.

And lately, she had heard a rumor that made her hair stand on end.

Those useless students in Class D wanted to ask her Class B for help?

Their goal was Class A?

Hoshinomiya couldn't sit still anymore.

The news was simply too horrifying for her.

After what Sae had done to her back then, she still wanted to claim Class A's position now?

This year, her class already had an excellent student like Ichinose.

And who did you have in your Class D, Sae?

What right did your students have to deceive the students in my class?

With that in mind, Hoshinomiya went to Chabashira's desk.

"Sae~ You there?"

"..."

"Not here? Are you really not here?"

"..."

If she wasn't, well, sorry!

Hoshinomiya quickly started rummaging through Chabashira's desk and drawers.

Lately, all the various administrative duties the school had assigned had left Hoshinomiya mentally and physically exhausted.

Especially that one where teachers had to rate their new first-year students with circles and check marks. It was an absolute nightmare.

But since she was rating her students, Sae must have been dealing with the same headache.

Hoshinomiya was looking for the Class D students' evaluation sheet.

There it was.

She'd found it surprisingly easily.

After all, it was the school's top priority.

Uh...

Hoshinomiya stared at the dismal scores on the sheet.

She was speechless.

What was this?

This year's Class D...

Were all the students really this poor?

The evaluation wasn't a teacher's subjective assessment of individual students.

The school had prepared deliberately high standards for each category, standards as towering as a mountain.

If she could choose freely, Hoshinomiya would probably mark every student in her class as excellent.

But with set standards, she had no choice but to follow them.

That was why people said this job was thankless.

Hoshinomiya hated Chabashira because of how she had hurt her in the past.

But she also trusted her.

Chabashira was a serious person who would never slack off on her class duties. If she could stop dreaming about reaching Class A every day, Hoshinomiya might even change her opinion of her.

And yet she had given her own students such low marks.

Hoshinomiya grinned mischievously.

Looks like~

Class D really was beyond saving this year~

What wonderful news.

Hoshinomiya happily hummed a little tune, her feet drawing circles in the air without her noticing.

"Honestly~ Why did Sae have to write notes on the sheet, too?"

Hoshinomiya checked the timestamp on the evaluation sheet.

It was a photocopy.

The office printer automatically stamped the time even on copies.

So this was the latest version.

The notes listed five names.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Horikita Suzune, Hirata Yosuke, Koenji Rokusuke, and Kushida Kikyo.

Every name had a check mark beside it.

Sae must have had a tough time, too.

Hoshinomiya shook her head. She was lucky to have someone like Ichinose, a trump card in her class.

It looked like Class D was never going to team up with Class B after all.

This year's first-years are such a mess.

Rumors are just rumors. You can't trust them!

Hoshinomiya left the office.

Meanwhile.

On the school rooftop.

Horikita Suzune found Chabashira, Class D's homeroom teacher.

"Horikita? What information do you want from me?"

It was phrased as a question, but there was no hope in Chabashira's voice.

"I want to rise to Class A. I'll prove that being assigned to Class D doesn't mean we have to stay in Class D forever. I won't run away anymore. I'll catch up to my older brother. So, Chabashira-sensei, please help me—or rather, please help all of Class D."

Chabashira looked at the long-haired girl standing before her. In Horikita Suzune, she saw a reflection of her younger self.

"I'm a teacher. At this school, my duties and obligations prevent me from giving you—or any other student—meaningful help..."

Chabashira hadn't finished speaking when Horikita took out her phone and interrupted her.

"You can buy anything with points at this school. So that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Chabashira set down the sugar substitute in her mouth and gazed toward the farthest view visible from the school rooftop.

It was a view she had seen countless times since her own school days.

Chabashira said nothing. She only gave the girl a look filled with stories.

Horikita Suzune looked at the teacher, who wouldn't be swayed, and continued in a firm voice:

"If my points aren't enough to make you talk, then give me a number. I'll gather that amount and show it to you."

"It might be easier to use twenty million points to choose one person to move up to Class A."

Horikita Suzune clenched her fist, unable to understand the teacher's one and only sincere suggestion.

Her right hand involuntarily struck her chest as she shouted:

"Maybe the school has labeled us defective, but I won't settle for the way things are. The school gave us a chance, and I'll prove that even Class D can rise to Class A."

Chabashira took the evaluation sheet from her pocket. It had been crumpled into a ball.

She usually made multiple copies of important documents.

It was a hard-earned lesson from her years as an adult.

The names of every student in Class D were printed on it.

The handwritten section was densely covered in check marks.

Chabashira took out a pen, bit off the cap, and drew a circle around Horikita Suzune's name.

Then she looked at Horikita, who was tense, and smiled.

"Did I ever say I wouldn't help you?"

"But Horikita, I need to warn you: this year's first-years are all monsters. There's only so much help I can give you."

That was right.

Her class had never had much hope to begin with.

So why had she started to feel hopeful now?

Chabashira reproached herself for it.

It was precisely because she had been through so much at this school that her emotions had gradually grown numb.

Horikita Suzune.

I understand your thoughts and your situation right now.

But that's exactly why I feel sorry for you.

There's no place at this school for people like us.

Time will prove everything.