"Here's the situation. I'm sorry, but your placement in Class D wasn't our mistake. You're simply a student of this caliber, so you were bound to end up in Class D."
"...I see. I'll ask the school again."
There was no helping him. The person in front of him, Chabashira-sensei, represented the school. Wouldn't asking the school again only make him look more foolish?
Besides, student problems were generally handled by the Student Council... Was this guy planning to use that as an excuse to meet that Horikita Manabu?
"Do as you like. You'd be better off using that time to figure out how to lead your class upward."
"How could we possibly overtake the other classes when we're burdened with so many deadweights? They're nearly a thousand points ahead... Anyway, I'm going back. But please remember that I haven't accepted what happened today."
"Understood. Since that's what you want, I'll keep it in mind. By the way, I also called someone connected to you to the Counseling Room."
"Someone connected to me... Could it be my bro—"
"Ayanokoji, Kanda, come out."
What a stretch. I'd only talked to her once outside class. How did that make us "connected"?
But since Chabashira-sensei had called him, Shuichi Kanda couldn't keep pretending he was dead. He stood up and got ready to leave.
Wait, why aren't you moving?
Are you trying to sell me out?
Well, whatever. I'd set you up once, too, so I'd let it go this time.
Shuichi Kanda opened the door to the break room and stepped out.
"Just you? Where's Ayanokoji?"
"He said he wanted to drop out."
"Is that so?"
"That's right. He said it himself."
But before Shuichi Kanda could finish making things up, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji walked out of the break room, his fingers still a little wet.
"I was washing a teacup."
Damn, he was good at making things up.
When Ayanokoji appeared, Chabashira Sae was speechless. What was going on with these two?
Horikita was also surprised to see them both come out.
"Did you hear what I said just now?"
"What did you say? I knew you were talking about something, but I couldn't make it out. These walls are surprisingly thick."
Tsk, who knew Ayanokoji was like this? Shuichi Kanda gave him a disdainful look. But he was still too green. Watch and learn.
"Could you have been talking about something Chabashira-sensei used to do, like Horikita? Otherwise, why would she know so much about Hori—"
Before Shuichi Kanda could finish, he clamped his mouth shut and stared straight ahead, as if he had nothing to do with what he'd just said.
That was because Chabashira-sensei was looking at him like he was already dead.
Sorry, I got carried away, but you can't blame me! Damn you, Ayanokoji. Why'd you have to guess so accurately?
"Teacher, why are you doing this?"
Whether the room was soundproof had been obvious from the start. As soon as Horikita entered, she'd heard the kettle boiling inside.
"Don't rush. These two are key to the class's future promotion. Listening carefully can only help you."
After Chabashira-sensei said that, Horikita had no choice but to listen. She was the one with a special fixation on Class A, after all.
"Hold on. I don't remember saying I wanted to move up to Class A. I think Class D is fine." Shuichi Kanda raised his hand.
Seriously!
Believe me!
Watching that bunch of clowns act like idiots felt like watching a comedy. It was genuinely hilarious!
"Is that so? Then why did you use Hirata to unite the class?"
"Huh? Is that how you see it? It was Hirata's decision. I was just helping him out, since he picked up my textbooks for me."
"So it was also Hirata's idea for you to take two million Private Points from me as an investment?"
"Of course. I gave him the points as soon as I got back to the dorm. You can call him over and ask if you don't believe me."
"He only picked up your textbooks, and you helped him this much?"
"Of course. A drop of kindness deserves a flood of gratitude!"
Shuichi Kanda wore an exceedingly earnest expression.
Wait!?
You set me up?
Damn it, I'd dug myself into a hole without realizing it!
"Then keep helping Hirata get to Class A. I'm sure he won't mind, given that it's for the good of most of the class."
A smile appeared on Chabashira's face.
"I'd like to help, but I don't have the ability."
"Is that so?"
As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei pulled a test paper from her clipboard.
"This is your quiz paper. Shuichi Kanda, eighty points."
"It's only eighty. Someone in our class got ninety."
Chabashira Sae said nothing. Instead, she handed the paper to Horikita Suzune.
"This is..."
"Have you noticed?" Chabashira-sensei smiled. "This exam covered five main subjects, each worth twenty points. The last math problem and the last two science problems were completely beyond the curriculum. An ordinary first-year high school student wouldn't be able to solve them."
"But Kanda, you answered them all perfectly. Yet you didn't get a single question right in social studies. Do you have something against me, the teacher who teaches Japanese history?"
What? There were questions beyond the curriculum?
Shuichi Kanda was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to know which questions were beyond the curriculum?
Damn it, she'd set him up!
As for social studies, Shuichi Kanda was truly innocent. I really didn't know the answers!
### It was no wonder Chabashira-sensei thought that. With the answers so clearly divided between right and wrong, it looked deliberate.
Fine, I'd shut up. Say whatever you wanted.
"Well, if Kanda was deliberately provoking me, Ayanokoji, you're the truly interesting one."
Good. Chabashira-sensei had turned her attention to Ayanokoji.
"I doubt I'm more interesting than a teacher with the unusual surname 'Chabashira.'"
"Hmm, I've heard of someone with the surname 'Chadu.'"
...Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut?
"You two. Are you trying to kneel and apologize to everyone in the country with the surname Chabashira? Hmm?"
"But I really have never heard of anyone with the surname Cha—"
A wise man didn't fight when the odds were against him. Please, go on. Just stop looking at me like that. I'm scared.
"Enough. Let's talk about Ayanokoji instead."
"I don't think I've done anything particularly attention-grabbing. And I didn't get zero points in social studies, either."
You're really going to rub it in? You're really going to rub it in? Damn you, Ayanokoji!
I'd only betrayed you once before—well, twice. Was there really any need to be so petty? What a spiteful man.
"True, you didn't get zero in social studies. But what you did was even worse. And do you have some kind of misunderstanding about what 'attention-grabbing' means?"
As she spoke, Chabashira-sensei took a third test paper from her clipboard.
"Japanese, fifty points. Math, fifty. English, fifty. Social studies, fifty. Science, fifty... And for the record, your score on this quiz was fifty as well. Do you understand what that means?"
"I see."
Shuichi Kanda nodded, then casually moved away from Ayanokoji.
"This guy's a spy from another school."
To keep his scores in so many subjects at fifty, he must be capable of getting a perfect score. That was the only way he could control his results so precisely.
And on top of that, there was the inhuman physique Shuichi Kanda had observed during swimming class.
That settled it!
There was no doubt!
This guy was a Dragon King enduring humiliation, waiting for the three-year agreement to come due so he could smirk and turn the tables!
The air died.
"It was a coincidence. All of it. Like winning the lottery."
Ayanokoji naturally wouldn't just admit it.
"Have you ever won the lottery?"
"No. Besides, I don't think the school has anywhere to buy lottery tickets."
Watching the conversation go off the rails, Chabashira took a deep breath. "Kanda, shut up."
Facing these two, Chabashira Sae felt her head was about to explode, especially because of Shuichi Kanda.
"Ayanokoji, you really are an irritating student."
"So, am I irritating or interesting?"
Damn it, had you learned to talk like that from Shuichi Kanda, you little brat?
"Listen. Only three percent of the entire year got this fifth math question right. But you solved every part of the complicated equation perfectly. On the other hand, seventy-six percent got question ten right. How could you possibly get that one wrong?"
"So, like I said, it was a coincidence."
Facing these two students, Chabashira Sae felt her head buzzing. Whatever. She'd said what she needed to say. She'd leave the rest to Horikita to worry about.
"Anyway, even you, Horikita, should be able to see that these two are exceptional. Ayanokoji's mind is unfathomable. Academically, he might even be better than you.
"And Shuichi Kanda managed to unite the entire class through Hirata in just one day. I don't need to say anything about his overall abilities."
"So, Hirata was the one working hard to unite the class. It had nothing to do with me."
But Chabashira ignored Shuichi Kanda's protest. She'd realized that if you simply ignored him, he'd quiet down.
Besides, Horikita would be the one dealing with him later. What did Chabashira have to worry about?
"All right, I have a teachers' meeting to attend. You three, leave."
Chabashira-sensei dismissed them.
After leaving the Counseling Room, Shuichi Kanda headed for the classroom. He wanted to get his bag, and the study session still hadn't ended.
"Hey, I can understand Ayanokoji coming along, but why are you following us, Horikita? Weren't you skipping the study session?"
"I just have something I want to ask you." Horikita immediately followed them. "What do you think about what Chabashira-sensei said?"
"Nothing in particular."
"Same here."
Their thoroughly dismissive duet nearly made Horikita lose her temper, but she had no intention of giving up.
"Aren't either of you interested in Class A? I admit that the current gap in points is despairingly large, but I don't believe things will stay this way forever. We still have a long time at this school. Don't you want to do something with your own hands?"
Before you continue