Everyone had questions about Horikita Suzune's statement.
Everyone had something they wanted to ask.
But no one wanted to be the first to step forward.
They needed someone to speak up for them.
So Hirata Yōsuke did.
"Can you explain, Horikita?" he asked, staring straight at her.
Hirata's gaze, along with everyone else's, felt like needles piercing her body.
The uncomfortable attention stabbed into her from all directions.
But Horikita didn't retreat.
She had already made up her mind.
"Before enrolling, you all heard that the school would guarantee our employment and further education, right?" she said calmly, meeting Hirata's eyes.
"So what?"
"Isn't this school run by the government?"
"As long as we graduate properly, we can choose any major company, right?"
"That's why we're here in the first place."
The classmates saw nothing strange about it.
Horikita shook her head.
"That's wrong."
"More precisely, it's incomplete."
"Only students who graduate from Class A receive that guarantee."
The moment she said that, Class D exploded.
"Hey, hey, are you kidding me?! Why only Class A?!"
"Isn't that fraud?!"
"The teacher never said that! What proof do you have?!"
"If… if there's no job guarantee…"
Emotions surged.
They no longer needed Hirata to voice their doubts.
They shouted directly.
"Everyone, calm down," Hirata said, raising his hand.
After the noise subsided, he turned back to Horikita.
"Horikita, what's your basis for saying this?"
She couldn't have said something like that without reason.
"…I confirmed it with Chabashira-sensei," Horikita replied calmly.
"Not only that, the school evaluated us before enrollment."
"From A to D, in descending order."
"Of course, I don't accept the school's evaluation."
"So I'll rise to Class A in my own way."
By accumulating twenty million points…
Or by winning special exams.
"For that, I need your help," she said, taking a deep breath.
"Give me two hundred thousand."
"I already paid twenty thousand to confirm the employment and class ranking information."
"But to learn the contents of the first special exam, it costs two hundred thousand."
She had never intended to get back the money she'd already spent.
But there was no way she could gather two hundred thousand on her own.
"Huh?!"
"Hey, so this is your real goal?!" Yamauchi Haruki jumped up.
"After all that, you just want money from us?!"
"The school already gave us one hundred thousand!" Ike Kanji added.
Kushida Kikyo also spoke up gently.
"Horikita, are you having some kind of trouble?"
"If you are, everyone would understand if you told us."
"We could gather two hundred thousand and lend it to you. You could repay it over the next few months."
"You don't have to make up something like this."
After Kushida spoke, more voices joined in.
"Yeah, the school said they guarantee employment. Why would they lie?"
"If Chabashira-sensei confirmed it, why didn't she tell us directly?"
"And charging money? What kind of teacher does that?"
"Exactly!"
"Heh, what a stupid discussion," Kōenji Rokusuke sneered loudly.
"If Horikita-girl confirmed it with Teacher, then we just need to ask Teacher ourselves, right?"
"By the way," Ayanokōji said calmly, "isn't the next class Chabashira-sensei's?"
"Oh… right?"
The noisy trio suddenly fell silent.
"Wait… isn't it already class time?"
They finally realized the period should have started.
So… where was Chabashira Sae?
"It seems you all have many questions for me."
The class bell rang perfectly on cue.
Then, entering through the door—
was Chabashira Sae.
The usually cold, ponytailed homeroom teacher wore a faint, ambiguous smile for once.
She walked to the podium, taking Horikita's place.
Glancing at Horikita, who had stepped aside, Chabashira's lips curved upward slightly.
It seemed her hint had worked.
"Sensei," Hirata asked seriously,
"Is what Horikita said true?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
That single word shattered everyone's hopes and doubts.
A gyaru beside Hirata still wasn't convinced.
"Only Class A gets recommendations… and the evaluations…"
"They're all true," Chabashira replied coldly.
"And yes, the price of two hundred thousand points is real."
"But she left out one thing."
She paused slightly.
Then, under everyone's gaze, she said quietly:
"Tomorrow, the price will be one hundred thousand."
Hesitate.
Waver.
Weigh the pros and cons.
And make a carefully considered choice.
Wait just one day, and the cost is halved.
What a bargain.
What a generous deal.
If you don't accept the school's evaluation—
then prove it to me.
Show me that you're not defective products.
But exceptions who can rise to Class A.
It was only the third day.
Not too late.
If they could unite now, see through her trap, and combine it with that trump card…
Challenging Class A wasn't impossible.
"T-Ten thousand?!" Yamauchi shouted.
"That's half off!"
"If it's only one hundred thousand, even Horikita could afford it in a month, right?!"
"Hey, Yamauchi," Ike said,
"Horikita still needs money to live. She can't spare that much."
"But if we lend her what she lacks this month, she can repay us next month when we get poi
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