Chapter 40

[Oh my god... that was terrifying!]

[No kidding. Nangong Cheng is always smiling, and even when he collected those information fees, he wasn't this... vicious.]

[Haruki Yamauchi had it coming. Who in our class doesn't know Sakura is under Nangong Cheng's protection? They even spend every lunch break together.]

[Seriously. He talks about girls' looks, boobs, and butts in class every day. It's disgusting.]

[Am I the only one who got turned on?]

[Girl, you... Okay, me too, a little. Nangong Cheng was scary just now, but he was also super hot, wasn't he?! A guy like that would make you feel so safe!]

[So you two felt it too...]

[Didn't Kei say she wanted a boyfriend? I think Nangong Cheng is a better choice than Hirata. Hirata's just too softhearted.]

[Yeah. I'd definitely pick Nangong Cheng. That build, that strength... Oof, I'm feeling it again...]

[Please stop. This isn't a hair salon.]

Karuizawa Kei read every message in the group chat, but her finger hovered over her phone screen without tapping it.

Simply put...

Her PTSD had flared up a little.

That atmosphere, that scene... How many ordinary high school students had ever encountered something like that? It really was frightening.

Fortunately, Nangong Cheng had acted for the girls' sake, and that made Karuizawa Kei very happy.

But Haruki Yamauchi hadn't started saying those things yesterday. If Nangong Cheng was only stepping in now, it was probably because of Sakura Airi...

That wiped the smile off her face.

But it was fine.

If he had a girlfriend, she only had one person to compete with. If he didn't, she'd be competing with several.

So she typed a message into the chat.

[That's right. I've decided to go after Nangong Cheng. He's exactly my type.]

But someone else soon replied—

[Doesn't Sakura seem really close to Nangong Cheng, though? And I heard Ichinose from Class B has been spending a lot of time with him lately. People on the Campus Forum are even saying they're already dating.]

[Don't forget Kushida. Even that ice queen Horikita hugged Nangong Cheng on the first day of school.]

[I also heard Wang Meiyu is from the same hometown as Nangong Cheng, and he asked her for her contact info.]

[Kei, looks like you've got a lot of competition.]

Reading her friends' messages, Karuizawa Kei felt a little uncertain herself.

But as the leader of the girls' clique, she couldn't show weakness now. She had to answer firmly—

[Don't worry. I'll win.]

You Really Only Think About Yourself

[Didn't you say you weren't going to bother with Class D?]

Horikita Suzune typed the message to Nangong Cheng on her phone.

Clearly, she was curious again.

What a curious girl.

Nangong Cheng took out his phone and typed a reply.

[If you got married, would you stop caring about your family?]

[?]

Leaving the baffled Horikita Suzune alone for the moment, Nangong Cheng turned to Sakura Airi, who was chatting with Haruka Hasebe.

"Sorry, Airi. I should've dealt with this sooner."

"I-it's okay..." Sakura Airi waved her hands, her face flushed. Then she laced her fingers together and said, "I was actually planning to tell you when you got here..."

"A-and Horikita spoke up for me too. It just... didn't really help..."

Nangong Cheng glanced at Horikita Suzune in surprise. She looked calm, as though she had done nothing worth mentioning.

"I've met plenty of boys like him, but I've never seen one so shameless."

"Honestly, I don't approve of you using violence, but I can't deny it was the most effective, direct solution."

Apparently, her resentment had been building for a while.

Aside from Kikyo Kushida, who had announced right away that she wanted to be friends with everyone, the girls in class made no effort to hide their dislike and disgust for that attention-seeking duo.

Nangong Cheng nodded with an approving look.

"Horikita, you've grown up."

"..."

Horikita Suzune resisted the urge to stab Nangong Cheng with her compass and changed the subject instead. "So what exactly did that message you sent me mean?"

"You'll know when you get married."

"I can't wait that long."

"But I'm not old enough to legally marry yet."

"?"

When Nangong Cheng saw Horikita Suzune take a compass out of her desk, he gave her a look that said What am I going to do with you? Then he took out his phone and typed a reply—

[If you weren't so determined to bring the whole class along, I'd have just made that idiot shut his mouth. Why would I do anything extra?]

"..."

Horikita Suzune fell silent for a moment.

She didn't know what to say to that.

[Since your brother told you to learn from me, just watch how I do things. I'll explain what needs explaining.]

[As for the girls, unless something unusual happens, I'm leaving them to you from now on. Handle things as you see fit.]

[That's one of your assignments, too.]

Nangong Cheng stopped teasing Horikita Suzune.

He wasn't afraid of the compass, but there was no need to take it that far. A little playful banter was enough.

Then lunch break came.

Nangong Cheng couldn't eat lunch with Sakura Airi this time because Sae Chabashira had come looking for him.

Ah, here comes the one who got the complaint.

"Hasebe, sorry for the trouble, but could you eat lunch with Airi?"

"Sure."

Nangong Cheng went to the faculty office.

He had expected to find Sae Chabashira alone, but Chie Hoshinomiya, that scheming woman, was there too.

Well, well. Here to watch the show?

"Chabashira-sensei, you wanted to see me?"

"Nangong, explain what you did in class this morning. I need to give the student you hurt an explanation."

Sae Chabashira stubbed out her cigarette and gave Nangong Cheng a pointed look.

Beside her, Chie Hoshinomiya quietly fanned the flames.

"That's right, Nangong. I heard a student from your class come to complain during the break this morning."

"Did you really hit him?"

Nangong Cheng glanced at Chie Hoshinomiya and gave her a polite, awkward smile.

You, Sae Chabashira, need to give a student an explanation?

Don't make me laugh.

"Chabashira-sensei, there's nothing to explain. Someone who can't watch his mouth might get beaten to death once he's out in society. I hit him first so he'd have a chance to break that bad habit."

"He should be thanking me."

Sae Chabashira fell silent for a moment.

She had already asked the other students what had happened. Haruki Yamauchi had indeed started it by making crude comments about the girls, and it wasn't his first time. He had angered just about everyone.

As a woman herself, she had no sympathy for someone like Yamauchi. But as a teacher, she still had to go through the motions.

"Mind your limits next time."

"Oh, sure. Anything else? If not, I'm going back to eat lunch."

Nangong Cheng made as if to leave.

But Sae Chabashira wasn't about to let a perfectly reasonable chance to talk to him slip away, even with Chie Hoshinomiya present.

"Nangong, can you tell me what you're actually trying to do? You know what I mean."

"Oh? What do you mean, Chabashira-sensei?"

Nangong Cheng played dumb.

He glanced at Chie Hoshinomiya and saw that she was itching to jump in.

"First you took Horikita Suzune to Classes A, B, and C to sell information. Then you and Ichinose Honami from Class B plotted against the Student Council vice president in the cafeteria. Now you've openly used violence in class and told the students to follow your arrangements..."

Sae Chabashira listed off what Nangong Cheng had done last week as though she knew it by heart.

Looking straight at his almost mocking expression, she asked, "Between the class and yourself, which did you choose?"

"Why choose?"

Nangong Cheng looked puzzled. "Can't I have both? Chabashira-sensei, you're not seeing the bigger picture."

"Only with enough Private Points can Class D pull off an upset. Otherwise, if a Special Exam comes along at a crucial moment where someone has to be expelled for the class to pass, wouldn't Class D fall apart?"

This time, not only Sae Chabashira but also Chie Hoshinomiya fell silent.

So that was it...

If we'd had enough points back then to cancel out the expulsion, would things have ended differently?

We might not have turned it around, but at least we could have tried...

"Of course, if someone I hate gets expelled, I'm not going to be kind enough to save him."

"An expulsion penalty would cost us a lot of Class Points..."

"So what?"

Nangong Cheng looked at Sae Chabashira. No wonder she has such a bad reputation.

Even now, she still didn't understand one thing—

"Chabashira-sensei, you don't seriously think every student in Class D deserves to graduate from Class A, do you?"

"Take Haruki Yamauchi. He only got into Advanced Nurturing because the school wanted a few genuinely awful students to fill out Class D. Otherwise, would someone at his level even get into high school?"

"Never mind whether I'd want to bring him to graduation from Class A. Do you think the school would recommend someone like him to a top university or company and ruin its own reputation?"

Nangong Cheng laid his cards on the table.

"I'll say it outright. I'm going to get Haruki Yamauchi expelled."

"..."

Unlike the silent Sae Chabashira, Chie Hoshinomiya was thoroughly enjoying the show.

Yes, yes! That's the man my... little Honami chose. Go on, hit that bitch Chabashira where it hurts! Class D will always be Class D!

But Chie Hoshinomiya was celebrating too soon.

Even Nangong Cheng couldn't have predicted how Sae Chabashira would react after he said something that fundamentally ran against her wishes—