Seeing that the two people in the Tea Room weren't moving, Teacher Chabashira spoke again:
"Ayanokouji, if you don't come out, I'll have you expelled. And Takahashi, you don't want anyone finding out how many points are on your phone, either."
Damn, how did she know? I'd delete the private photos I'd taken with my phone as soon as I got back. What a violation of a student's privacy!
The door opened, and Takahashi smiled at Teacher Chabashira.
"Huh? Why are you two here? What I just said..." Horikita looked shocked. Clearly, she hadn't known that Takahashi and Ayanokouji had been eavesdropping in the Tea Room.
"These walls are pretty thick, huh, Ayanokouji?" Takahashi said, looking at him.
"Yeah... they are. The door's pretty thick, too."
"Horikita, don't get the wrong idea," Teacher Chabashira explained. "You can hear everything said in here quite clearly from the Tea Room."
"Why would you do that?" Horikita asked Teacher Chabashira.
Teacher Chabashira ignored her question. "Ayanokouji, Takahashi, come over here. I'll explain why I called you in." As she spoke, she pulled several test papers from her folder.
"Japanese, math, English, science, social studies... and, of course, the quizzes. Every single score is fifty points. Tsk, tsk. Should I take this as a coincidence or deliberate?" Chabashira said, folding her arms and looking at Ayanokouji.
"It's just a coincidence. You don't have any proof that I did it on purpose, do you?"
"Heh." Chabashira picked up Ayanokouji's math test. "Question seven is full of complicated calculations, and hardly anyone in the school got it right. You did. Question ten was free points, and hardly anyone got it wrong. You did. Isn't that proof enough?"
"Um... that was a coincidence, too. Just a coincidence."
Chabashira stopped discussing these so-called coincidences with Ayanokouji. "Takahashi, you didn't take the entrance exam, so you could be called a backdoor admission. Yet you got full marks on the quizzes. If you watch TV often, you've probably seen plenty of high-ranking officials named Takahashi giving speeches on TV." (This novel is entirely fictional. Just enjoy it.)
"Horikita, compared to you, what do you think of those two? Could they be smarter than you?" Teacher Chabashira asked Horikita with another smile. "All right, I have a teachers' meeting to attend. This room needs to be locked, so once you're out, have a good chat."
Seeing Horikita fall silent, I decided it was best to leave first.
"Those scores just now..."
"They were all coincidences."
Leaving Ayanokouji behind, Takahashi hurried to the shopping district. After picking up his custom-made fortune slip, he immediately gave Ayanokouji a "half-good fortune."
Tsk~ A mix of good and bad luck. Keep it up, Ayanokouji, Takahashi thought. Of course, he also crossed Ayanokouji off in his mind as a reference point for the class average.
Elsewhere, Ayanokouji looked at Horikita helplessly. He'd refused to help Horikita get Class D promoted to Class A, but Horikita claimed she'd heard him say in his heart that he was willing to help.
What a shameless move.
"You don't have to insist on asking me for help. Takahashi got full marks on the quizzes. Rather than asking me, someone who just happened to get fifty on every test, why not ask him? And Hirata and Kushida would be happy to help you, too."
"Takahashi won't do. I've never spoken to him, and I don't think I could control him. I can tell Kushida doesn't truly want to be friends with me. As for Hirata, he's a rook, and I don't need him yet. What I need right now is a pawn, and you, Ayanokouji, are just right."
Ayanokouji: "..."
Before you continue