At 8:30 PM, the lights were still on in the teachers' office. Tomoya Mashima was still poring over an English dictionary. As the homeroom teacher of Class A, he always appeared somewhat aloof in front of his students, maintaining a proper distance. But those who knew him well knew that beneath his detached exterior was a genuine care for his students. Before taking on a new class, he would always spend three days carefully studying all the students' files, just to get to know each child's characteristics more quickly. And when it came to preparing for lessons, he would spend at least three hours every day to ensure the quality of each class. If there were an award for the most competent first-year teacher, Mashima would undoubtedly be the winner, barring any foul play.
Mashima turned another page of his lesson plan. He noticed his thermos was empty and got up to get some hot water. As he turned around, he froze for a moment. The teachers' office, which should have been empty, was now full of people. Chie Hoshinomiya from Class B was grading homework with her head down, Kazuma Sakagami from Class C was leaning back in his chair, twirling a pen in his hand, and most surprisingly, even Sae Chabashira from Class D was at her desk, her fingertips tapping a rhythm on the tabletop.
Mashima subconsciously glanced at the wall clock. At this time, he should have been the only one in the office. He would occasionally run into Sakagami, but a full house like today was a rare sight. His gaze lingered on Sakagami for a few extra seconds. As colleagues, they maintained a professional courtesy but had never become close. Mashima could never agree with Sakagami's protective style of ignoring right and wrong. No matter if his students were right or wrong, this homeroom teacher would always side with them, even resorting to underhanded methods behind the scenes.
But Mashima had to admit, Sakagami did put his class's interests first. This obsessive protection might stem from a teacher's sense of duty, or perhaps he was just eyeing the hefty class advancement bonus at the end of the year. But whatever the reason, the result was good, and that was all that mattered.
As for the other two—Hoshinomiya and Chabashira—they were old acquaintances of his. The three of them had been in the same grade in high school, just in different classes. Now, after all these years, they were colleagues at the same school again. It was a kind of fate. However, as a friend's honest evaluation, Mashima couldn't bring himself to say they were competent teachers.
Hoshinomiya's private life was indulgent, to say the least. She changed boyfriends more often than her class schedule. Mashima didn't want to judge her personal choices, but the problem was, she would even sneak out to drink on workdays, coming to class the next day with dark circles under her eyes and reeking of alcohol. In that state, it was a miracle she could teach at all.
And Chabashira was the complete opposite extreme. She was cold and detached. Besides a fruitless relationship in high school, she hadn't dated anyone in all these years. Mashima guessed that her ever-present cigarette had probably scared off most suitors. After all, not all men could tolerate the lingering smell of tobacco on their partner. As for her teaching attitude? She was even more perfunctory than Hoshinomiya. She would arrive just in time for class and leave immediately after, and the classes she taught had never successfully been promoted. She was less a teacher and more a workplace ghost who just clocked in and out.
But then again, in terms of real ability, their teaching skills were not inferior to his. Otherwise, with the strict hiring standards of Advanced Nurturing High School, how could they have been kept on? Mashima still remembered that when she had first started, Chabashira had also been a meticulous teacher. Her lesson plans were neat and detailed, and she never missed an after-school tutoring session. But after "that incident," Hoshinomiya had started to target her like a shark that had smelled blood. The two classes' grades had plummeted in their constant infighting, eventually becoming the bottom of the grade. And Mashima had, by a strange twist of fate, reaped the benefits, securing the position of Class A's homeroom teacher for several consecutive years.
But whenever he saw the names of the eliminated students on the two classes' rosters, he would remember that in this war without smoke, the real victims were never the teachers on the podium, but the innocent children in the classrooms. He had actually tried to persuade them privately several times. But Chabashira consistently ranked last in the annual evaluations and was eventually sent to teach Class D. Over time, the once-meticulous Chabashira had been worn down into her current state of just getting by.
And Hoshinomiya... she hadn't been like this at first either. He remembered that when she had just started, she would diligently grade homework late into the night. It was only after Chabashira had completely given up that she had followed suit. The unopened lesson plans in her office drawer and the increasingly strong scent of her perfume were silent testaments to a kind of self-abandonment.
Mashima knew that if one were to really look into that old incident, Chabashira was indeed at fault. So now, looking at the dark circles Hoshinomiya tried to hide with mascara, he couldn't even bring himself to scold her. As long as it didn't involve class competition, the two of them would still go out for drinks together on weekends. But once the class rankings were involved... the deliberately forgotten old scores would suddenly become more important than the final exam results.
Anyway, back to the point. He hadn't seen the two of them so serious in a long time. But starting to work hard now was ultimately too late.
"Class A this month should still be my class," Mashima said very seriously. "Those kids figured out the hidden rules just a few days after school started, and so far, they haven't lost more than 80 class points."
It wasn't unprecedented for students in previous years to discover the rules. But the timing was key—discovering it too late was meaningless. And even if they discovered it, if they weren't willing to share it with the whole class, it was equally useless. Besides, getting the entire class to strictly follow the school rules was a difficult task in itself. These three conditions were enough to filter out 99% of the students. And his Class A had executed all three almost perfectly. With Sakayanagi and Katsuragi as leaders, he felt victory was within his grasp this time. In all his years of teaching, this was the first time he had dared to make such a bold statement in just the second week of school.
"Hmph! Isn't that always the case with Class A? A glorious start, a miserable end. It's just the beginning of the school year. The real competition is yet to come!" Sakagami pushed up his glasses and sneered.
"Oh my... what a coincidence! My students have also just discovered the hidden rules~" Hoshinomiya said with a grin.
"What... how did you manage that?" Sakagami was genuinely surprised this time. It was one thing for Class A to discover the rules, but how did even Class B...
Hoshinomiya just smiled and didn't answer, her gaze drifting to Chabashira. "Sae-chan, stop pretending~ Your Class D has probably already spread the news, right?"
Chabashira just gave her a cool side-eye. "...You talk too much."
This casual reply, however, made Sakagami's face instantly darken. Class D... knew too?! The most anxious one, naturally, was Class C, which was still in the dark. Because in previous years, it was usually A and B at one table, and C and D at another.
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