Did she like him?
Definitely not.
So—
Everything pointed to one thing: if Chabashira-sensei was willing to pay such a price, then there had to be something she absolutely needed to accomplish.
And the fact that she had kept up this frugality for three whole years also showed her determination to see it through.
With that, Hachiman reached a conclusion.
There were plenty of problem children in Class D, but their homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, was the biggest problem child of them all.
Only—
The black-haired female teacher with a single ponytail was currently staring at the dead-fish-eyed boy before her.
Her golden eyes were quite beautiful, and her fingers were slender.
But her gaze was sharp. Being watched by her felt like being targeted by a hunter, yet Hachiman did not move.
Instead, Chabashira was the first to look away.
"An obsession..."
"Why would you think that?"
Chabashira took out a slim cigarette from the pocket of her business suit and lit it, but did not take a puff.
"You should know that I'm an adult. If there's something wrong with me, I'll handle it myself."
So this was an adult's style—handling her own problems?
Only—
"But some people become blindly fixated on things," Hachiman said.
"Heh..."
Chabashira seemed to smile, but she now found him troublesome.
"If I said there was nothing wrong with me, what would you do?" Chabashira asked.
"I'd probably return the two point cards you gave me," Hachiman said. "And our deal... might end there."
For Hachiman, that would also be a regrettable decision.
After all, he was in Class D, and losing his channel for obtaining points from Chabashira would be a huge loss.
Only—
Once he knew she had a problem, he could not keep taking the money she had saved by scrimping and saving.
At that point, he might have to check out the school clubs and such, see whether there were any other ways to make money.
But the upperclassmen had already been harvested by Classmate Sakayanagi once, so he would probably only get to drink a little of the leftovers.
Still, getting kept by Sakayanagi... he should forget about that.
Hachiman felt that trashy loli was not dependable at all. When they ate together, she kept talking about keeping him, but when he suggested the AA system, she agreed immediately. What she said and what she did were completely different.
Hachiman took that deeply to heart.
"You little brat." Chabashira stubbed out her cigarette. "Why are you suddenly ending the deal?"
"Because Chabashira-sensei actually has the students' files, doesn't she?" Hachiman said.
"..." Chabashira said, "You're quite interesting. That's true. As the homeroom teacher, I have the files, but what's in them may differ from reality. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to ask you to help?"
It was perfectly reasonable.
But—
"The price you're paying is too great, and your salary is only two hundred thousand yen," Hachiman said.
"Only... Are you worried that I don't have enough money?"
"Indeed."
Sae Chabashira seemed to adjust her wording. "My salary after coming to this school isn't very high, and just as you inferred from the idea of Meritocracy, teachers here are also judged by merit."
"As the homeroom teacher of Class D, my salary is only a mere two hundred thousand yen."
"But this is also where this school differs from the outside world. Back in university, your Hiratsuka-sensei and I were still together, but I did not choose to take a job at a local high school with her because of this."
"Because the school gives every student a chance to climb upward, even though I start low as your homeroom teacher, if you rise to Class C, my salary will double. If you rise to Class B, it will double again."
"And that is something the outside world cannot offer."
"So this is my ambition. What is wrong with making some initial investments now in order to gain greater rewards later?" Chabashira said. "I admit that asking you for help is partly to fulfill a teacher's duty of evaluating students."
"At the same time, I hope you can uncover outstanding students so we can climb upward together."
"This is a plan where all three sides win."
She admitted that her deal with Hachiman was meant to have him connect the potentially promising problem children in the class.
Though these problem children were bombs, it was undeniable that their raw abilities were still impressive.
So they had the potential to climb upward.
And Chabashira had been so frugal in order to make investments.
Did she intend to use points to spur the students to climb upward?
It seemed both inspiring and opportunistic, a sort of utilitarianism.
But—
"You lied," Hachiman said calmly and without the slightest mercy.
PS: It's starting, it's starting. See you at midnight tonight for ten updates.
PS: Wah wah wah.
Sae Chabashira: Don't underestimate me. Shizuka Hiratsuka and I used cheats together!
Hachiman did not hesitate to judge that Sae Chabashira was lying.
"..." Chabashira said, "Why do you say that?"
"Because it contradicts what you said before. If this were about climbing upward and improving your treatment as a homeroom teacher, then there would be no need to be so frugal in the early stages."
"And the investment is far too large."
Hachiman said, "I don't think it's merely for higher compensation. Rather, there should be something deeper inside you."
"..." Chabashira said nothing.
Was that so?
So this brat really was troublesome.
Chabashira stopped speaking and walked straight to the railing. She placed both hands on it. Perhaps because she had touched it, the railing trembled slightly—or perhaps it had not.
Chabashira-sensei was very gentle.
She had merely placed her hands there.
"My evaluation of you was already not low," Chabashira said, her back to Hachiman. "But now, I may need to raise it."
"Indeed."
She said, "I have my own obsession. I was once a student at this school, and I too came from Class D."
"And the class I was in eventually rose to Class B, only one step away from Class A."
"But unfortunately, we ultimately failed to overthrow those above us."
"But this matter has remained in my heart," Chabashira said. "The information I gathered also showed that Class D has never successfully risen to Class A. But I wanted to see whether there was truly a chance."
"And when I saw your files this time, I found problem children like you and thought that perhaps I could try," Chabashira said.
I see.
It was regret.
Hachiman nodded.
"But Chabashira-sensei, you may still be lying," Hachiman analyzed.
"Because your motive is insufficient."
"I don't think ordinary regret alone could explain such obsession. So, could it be that you were responsible for your class failing to reach Class A back then?"
"Because you destroyed the future everyone had hoped for, your heart has remained stuck in that moment ever since," Hachiman said.
Bang!
At that instant, the railing that had just been treated so gently made a sound.
Chabashira's left hand pressed down on the trembling railing.
"You really are a frightening man." Sae Chabashira turned around, her gaze having changed. "And cruel, too."
Sae Chabashira.
After Advanced Nurturing High School began operating, she enrolled as a student in its tenth class.
She had initially been assigned to Class D.
During the simple first month, her class had shown nothing particularly outstanding. It was only after that month that they learned the true nature of the school.
But because of that, they had already lost at the starting line.
Still, though the students in her class had fallen a step behind the others, they did not lose heart.
Instead, they showed unity.
And through hard work, they eventually reached the position of Class B.
By then, they had already reached the end of their third year. The gap between their class evaluation points and Class A's was not large, and there was a dropout exam.
In that exam, as long as someone dropped out, the class could safely get through it.
Otherwise, they would be punished with a deduction of points.
If they maintained their current gap with Class A, they could hope to overtake them in the next special exam.
At that time, in order to prevent the class from hurting and framing one another, the class representative chose to have everyone vote for her. She would withdraw from school, and everyone else would achieve their goal of reaching Class A.
Everyone in the class except one person agreed to this.
And the one person who did not agree was Sae Chabashira.
When everyone agreed to have the class representative withdraw, she chose to oppose it.
She persisted until the exam ended.
Her class did not receive the reward from that exam and consequently had class evaluation points deducted.
Then, in the final special exam, they still failed to surpass Class A.
They ultimately graduated as Class B.
As a result, Chabashira's relationships with others fractured.
Her best friend grabbed her by the collar and cursed at her. Most of her classmates resented her, because they all thought that if she had not insisted on opposing it and had agreed to the class representative's plan, perhaps they would all have graduated as Class A.
They could have entered the university they wanted for free and without examinations, or gone directly to the workplace they wanted.
Beyond that, they could also have received the title of outstanding graduates from Advanced Nurturing High School—talents.
For some people, it was practically something that could change their fate, and it was gone just like that.
After that, it was rather ordinary. No matter how unwilling they were, everyone graduated and went on to their own lives.
Before you continue