The students of Class D all turned to look in the same direction.
There sat a girl.
Black hair.
A beautiful girl with stunning black hair.
Her whole presence gave off a "don't talk to me" kind of vibe.
She looked and acted aloof, but she was without a doubt the top student in class.
During lessons, even students like Hirata and Kushida would sneak peeks at their phones, but not her. She focused on every single class with complete seriousness.
Even though they'd all been in the same class for half a month now, she still didn't seem to fit in. It seemed like only Kushida was willing to hang out with her, but even then, Horikita's attitude toward Kushida was unusually cold.
Because of that, many students who liked Kushida saw Horikita as someone difficult to get along with.
And now—
Chabashira-sensei just said that Horikita studied ten hours a day.
Ten hours?
Huh?
Is she even human? What kind of super genius is this?
"..." *Creak.*
Hearing her name, Horikita Suzune stood up without hesitation. She put down her pen and followed Chabashira-sensei out of the classroom, completely ignoring the way her classmates were looking at her.
Or rather, even if the teacher hadn't called her, she already had something she wanted to ask.
Why was she placed in Class D?
She had already noticed that many of her classmates had poor self-discipline, and some of them were even worse than the students she had met in middle school.
She still didn't understand everything about this school, but it felt like she had been put in the wrong place.
And there was something strange about how their teacher treated this class. The students were all incredibly relaxed, yet their teacher acted like she didn't care.
Horikita needed an explanation for this.
And so.
Under the curious gazes of the entire class, a cold and aloof girl with long black hair stood up and followed Chabashira Sae.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the two of them—one tall, one short—seemed somewhat alike.
With Chabashira walking in front and Horikita Suzune following behind, they soon arrived at their destination: the rooftop.
Chabashira didn't say a word along the way. But once they reached the rooftop, she took out a slim cigarette, lit it, and took a slow drag.
"…" Horikita.
Chabashira-sensei remained silent, but Horikita wasn't the type to stay quiet forever.
She had questions, things she wanted to ask.
After all, she was still just a student. She didn't have the patience to hold back for too long. Just as she was about to speak, she heard her teacher's voice.
"Hah—"
Chabashira exhaled a perfect ring of smoke before finally speaking.
"Horikita, get ready."
Hmm.
Get ready for what? Was she finally fed up with how lazy the class was and wanted Horikita to help make them take their studies seriously?
Horikita Suzune frowned.
Then she heard—
"Get ready to drop out," Chabashira Sae said.
"…"
The atmosphere suddenly went silent, and Horikita's emotions spiked.
Because—
What was this teacher saying?
Hadn't she just said in class that Horikita studied for ten hours a day? Shouldn't she be praising her dedication?
Horikita considered herself the most hardworking and disciplined student in the class.
She had assumed that maybe Chabashira-sensei had noticed how other students played on their phones during class and wanted her to step up and set an example.
After all, attending a school with free tuition and living expenses—if students didn't take their studies seriously, they were just wasting resources.
That was what Horikita had thought.
But what was the response she got?
"Horikita, get ready to drop out."
Right now. Immediately.
If she wasn't just hearing things, then her homeroom teacher had actually said something this cruel.
"…"
For a moment, Horikita Suzune felt like her entire world had been shaken.
But maybe—just maybe—she had misheard?
"You didn't hear wrong, Horikita. I'm suggesting that you drop out," Chabashira said, as if reading her mind.
Horikita clenched her fists, her left hand gripping her right hand tightly.
"Why?"
Horikita forced herself to stay calm. "I don't think I've performed so poorly over the past two weeks that I should drop out."
"There are plenty of students in class who have done worse than me," Horikita said.
"Heh, is that all you've learned from your experiences and observations in the past two weeks?" Chabashira sounded almost mocking. "And you want to compare yourself to those students?"
"If that's the case, then my suggestion isn't wrong. You should drop out."
"You're Student Council President Horikita Manabu's younger sister, aren't you? And yet, your performance has been a disgrace to him." Chabashira's voice was cold. "Your brother is considered the best student council president this school has ever had. But you? You're just dragging him down."
With every word from Chabashira, Horikita Suzune's face seemed to grow paler.
It was clear that the attack was effective.
As a homeroom teacher, Chabashira had access to student records and was responsible for regularly updating their evaluations.
That's how she learned about Horikita Suzune—her appearance, her last name, and even her middle school history matched up with Student Council President Horikita Manabu.
That confirmed it—they were siblings.
So how was Horikita going to respond to this?
If it was just about revealing her connection to her brother, it probably wouldn't shake her too much. After all, back on the first day of school, Shirogane from Class 1-C had already used this against her.
But this time…
Chabashira-sensei had changed her approach.
This time—
"I… shamed my brother." Horikita suddenly seemed much more vulnerable.
"..." Chabashira.
So it's the classic case—two siblings, with the older one being exceptional, while the younger one struggles with self-doubt.
"Your performance right now is terrible. Absolutely unacceptable," Chabashira said. "There's a lot I can't tell you, but I can at least point you in the right direction."
"If you don't want to drop out, then prove yourself."
"As it stands, you haven't proven anything." Chabashira's tone softened slightly, giving Horikita a bit of breathing room.
"What?" Horikita looked at Chabashira.
Chabashira took another drag from her cigarette.
What she was doing now was technically against the rules—teachers weren't supposed to push students toward figuring out the school's system and how to navigate it.
PS: Second update!
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