It Was All Just a Coincidence

Horikita froze when she saw Ayanokoji and the room that appeared inside. She stared at Ayanokoji and Kazami as they walked out one after the other, her expression frosting over, her voice filled with incredulous shock.

"You two... were hiding in there the whole time? Eavesdropping on everything?"

She had just argued her case, declared she would appeal to the chairman, and questioned the school's system... and these two had heard every word. At the thought of them witnessing everything she had just done, anger and irritation mingled, and the girl's presence turned fiercely intimidating.

Ayanokoji sensed something was wrong and immediately explained, "We actually didn't hear anything. The school's soundproofing is pretty good."

Chabashira-sensei, happy to stir up more trouble as she watched, contradicted Ayanokoji. "No, you can hear conversations outside perfectly clearly from in there. After all, you're the third cohort I've taught. I know quite well whether it's soundproof."

Ayanokoji: "..."

Faced with Horikita's almost murderous glare, Kazami remained completely unruffled and openly nodded. "Absolutely. We were tuned in the whole time. Didn't miss a second."

With that, he even gave a lifelike imitation of Horikita's stubborn tone from earlier, recreating her iconic moment: "I'm going to the chairman to challenge the school's unfair class assignments."

He captured her earnest tone perfectly, vividly reenacting her impassioned fight for her rights.

Horikita's face turned livid, and her eyes grew even colder. Fixing Kazami with a fierce stare, she spat through gritted teeth, "Want to die?"

Emotion Points from Suzune Horikita +8.

If they had not been in the Teachers’ Office, she would definitely have stepped forward to have a proper argument with Kazami by now. No, she would already have thrown hands.

Kazami's courting of death never ended. Even facing a murderous Horikita, his expression did not change.

"All men must die, but some deaths are weightier than Mount Tai, while others are lighter than a feather..."

"Enough. Let's get down to business."

Chabashira Sae interrupted him, a vein faintly throbbing on her forehead. Regret filled her as she silently grumbled. If I'd known Kazami could cause this much trouble, I should have summoned him separately. Putting these three together is an absolute disaster.

After reining in the chaotic atmosphere, Chabashira finally got to the point. Her gaze swept over the three as she took out Ayanokoji's pre-enrollment test papers, the true reason for today's meeting.

"Ayanokoji. Exactly fifty points in every subject."

Seeing the papers with a score of 50 in every subject, Kazami nodded repeatedly. As expected of my best friend. Even his way of keeping a low profile is so refreshingly unconventional.

Chabashira saw Kazami smiling, looking thoroughly proud. Are you Ayanokoji's father? Is there really nothing wrong with this student's head? Still, that would explain why he was assigned to Class D despite knowing so much.

Under Horikita's and Chabashira-sensei's gazes, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji remained expressionless and spoke softly, with great modesty. "It was all just a coincidence."

Looking at the unperturbed Ayanokoji, Chabashira continued, "You also scored fifty on this quiz. What's more, you got the easy questions at the beginning right, but you actually answered a very difficult question toward the end correctly too. You should know that only a handful of students in the entire year got the last two questions right. Kazami was the only one who got everything right."

Kazami held his head high and puffed out his chest, looking as though he wanted the teacher to keep talking if she had more nice things to say. Chabashira frowned at the sight. Though Kazami had not spoken up to cause trouble, he certainly had no shortage of little gestures and expressions.

Ayanokoji wore the same expression, his tone as calm as ever. "It seems coincidences can be pretty frightening sometimes."

He kept up his humblebragging low profile throughout, dealing maximum damage.

Beside them, Suzune Horikita withdrew into herself, silently pressing her lips together, her pride badly battered. Even after giving everything she had to practice questions and prepare, she had been unable to solve the last two questions on this quiz. First Kazami, now Ayanokoji—the gap in their abilities left her utterly defeated.

Having exposed Ayanokoji's hidden abilities, Chabashira Sae turned to Kazami Saku beside him, a hint of surprise and significance in her eyes.

"As for you, you really did exceed my expectations. Your results at the start of school were unremarkable, but you actually got full marks on this quiz, ranking first in the entire school."

Kazami copied Ayanokoji's modest tone and waved a hand self-effacingly. "It was all just a coincidence."

Exactly the same line. Chabashira: "..."

What did I do to deserve a student like Kazami? She fell silent for two seconds, forcibly suppressing her exasperation. For the sake of leading Class D in its push to Class A later, she would endure it and not stoop to arguing with this clown of a student.

After composing herself, Chabashira once again looked at Suzune Horikita, who had already lost her equilibrium. Her tone was blunt and cruel as she punctured the obsession Horikita had clung to all this time. "Do you understand now? You've always prided yourself on working hard, considered yourself powerful, and believed you were one of the strong. Yet both Ayanokoji and Kazami are far more capable than you, and they're in Class D too. What grounds do you have to remain so certain that your understanding isn't mistaken?"

Chabashira-sensei launched a mental attack on Horikita. Damage: 999.

After listening from the side, Kazami let his imagination run wild, misinterpreted Chabashira-sensei's meaning, and eagerly jumped in to explain it to Horikita with a perfectly serious expression.

"Chabashira-sensei, I get what you mean! You're saying Horikita might look fierce and competitive, like an untamable wolf, but she isn't actually strong at all. At most, she's a little puppy guarding her food, right?"

Chabashira Sae was speechless, nearly laughing out of sheer irritation. You certainly know how to interpret things.

"Is that what I meant?" She helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead. Although that is part of what it amounts to, you weren't supposed to say it so bluntly!

What had originally been meant as a wake-up call for Horikita instantly became a public humiliation after Kazami's description.

Suzune Horikita bit hard on her lower lip, her fair cheeks flushing with anger. Her fists clenched tightly, her fingertips paling slightly. Rage churned in her chest. Shame, anger, frustration... she could barely hold back the fury inside her.

If she had not been here, with Chabashira-sensei present to keep her in check and basic etiquette and rules to observe, she would absolutely have settled things with Kazami Saku on the spot today and taught him a proper lesson.

Looking at the three before her, Chabashira Sae had thoroughly achieved her goal for the day. She had deliberately summoned all three together to make the proud Horikita face reality, recognize the true abilities the other two kept hidden, and break through her fixed, narrow-minded understanding. At the same time, she wanted them to gain some understanding of their teammates' abilities.

But could these three really lead Class D up to Class A?

"All right, that's it for today's conversation." Chabashira-sensei waved a hand. "As for your plans from here, go back and think them over yourselves."

With that, she stood up and unceremoniously chased all three out of the kitchenette.

"Out. Stop taking up office resources."

As the door gently closed and Chabashira-sensei left, the three stood in the office corridor. This teacher-student meeting, which Kazami considered pointless, officially came to an end.