Hachiman unhesitatingly judged that Chabashira Sae was lying.
"..." Chabashira. "Why do you say that?"
"Because it's contradictory. If it were for the sake of climbing up and increasing the Teacher's treatment, then there would be no need to be so frugal in the early stages."
"And to invest so much."
Hachiman said, "I don't think it's just to get a higher reward. Rather, you must have something deeper within you."
"..." Chabashira.
Is that so.
So this brat is indeed very tricky.
Chabashira stopped talking and walked directly to the railing, placing both hands on it. The railing seemed to tremble slightly as if touched, but it didn't really.
Chabashira Sae was very gentle.
She just rested her hands there.
"Before, my evaluation of you was already high," Chabashira said, with her back to Hachiman. "But now, that evaluation might need to be raised."
"Indeed."
She said, "I have my own obsession. I was a student at this school, and I also came from Class D."
"And the Class I was in eventually advanced to Class B, just a hair's breadth away from Class A."
"But unfortunately, we ultimately failed to pull off the upset."
"But this matter has always remained in my heart," Chabashira said. "And the information I've collected also shows that Class D has never succeeded in pulling off an upset to become Class A, but I want to see if there's ever a chance."
"And this time, seeing your files and discovering you problem children, I thought it might be worth a try," Chabashira said.
I see.
It was regret.
Hachiman nodded.
"But Chabashira Sae, you might still be lying," Hachiman analyzed and said.
"Because the motivation is insufficient."
"I don't think a simple regret would be enough for you to be so persistent, so, could it be that you were responsible for your Class's inability to reach Class A back then?"
"Because you ruined the future everyone hoped for, your heart has been stuck at that moment," Hachiman said.
Thump!
At that instant, the railing, which had just been treated gently, vibrated.
Chabashira's left hand pressed on the trembling railing.
"You're truly a terrifying man," Chabashira Sae turned around, her eyes already changed, "And very cruel."
...
Chabashira Sae.
She enrolled in Advanced Nurturing High School as a student of the 10th generation after it began operations.
She was initially assigned to Class D.
During the first month of simplicity, they didn't show any outstanding performance, and only after a month did they grasp the true nature of this school.
However, they had already lost at the starting line because of this.
But the students in her Class, though a step behind others, did not lose heart.
Instead, they showed unity.
And after much effort, they finally reached the position of Class B.
At this point, it was already the end of the Third Year, and the difference in Class evaluation points from Class A was not large. There was one expulsion exam.
In this exam, as long as someone was expelled, they would safely pass.
Otherwise, they would be penalized with deducted points.
Maintaining the current gap with Class A, they had hopes of surging ahead in the next special exam.
At that time, to avoid a situation where the Class would harm and frame each other, the Class representative chose to have everyone vote for her to be expelled, so that everyone could achieve the goal of reaching Class A.
This point was agreed upon by all students in the Class except for one person.
And the person who did not agree was Chabashira Sae.
When everyone else agreed to expel the Class representative, she chose to object.
This continued until the end of the exam.
Their Class did not receive the reward for this exam, and thus had their Class evaluation points deducted.
And so, in the final special exam, they still did not surpass Class A.
They ultimately graduated as Class B.
Because of this, Chabashira's personal relationships fractured.
Her best friend grabbed her collar and cursed at her, and most of her classmates resented her, because they all thought that if she hadn't insisted and had agreed to the Class representative's plan, perhaps they would all have graduated as Class A students.
They would have gone to their desired universities for free without exams, or directly to their desired workplaces.
Besides these, they would also have earned the title of excellent graduate from Advanced Nurturing High School, meaning a talented individual.
For some, it was almost something that could be called life-changing, and it was just gone.
After that, it was relatively ordinary. No matter how unwilling, everyone graduated and went their separate ways in life.
Chabashira chose to pursue higher education, attending the same university as Hiratsuka Shizuka.
After graduating, Hiratsuka Shizuka chose to return to her hometown of Chiba, while Chabashira chose to return to Advanced Nurturing High School.
She accepted the employment offer from Chairman Sakayanagi, thus becoming the Teacher of Class D of Grade 1, as everyone knows her now.
However, upon returning here, everything from the past—that choice that could have changed the fate of her entire Class—was brought back to her memory.
It also became her knot.
Therefore, she now only wants to know if the students of Class D can truly aim for Class A.
If the students of Class D can truly aim for Class A, then it proves that the students of Class D have the ability to climb up.
And she was indeed wrong.
All of the above are the psychological traumas of Chabashira Sae, and now she has revealed her own past.
However.
The one who made her open her wound was herself.
Hachiman did not force her; she chose to do so herself.
She certainly knew her own obsession.
She had not applied for psychological counseling, nor did she believe it would be effective.
Perhaps she would only turn back when she truly hit a wall.
...
Thus.
After recounting her past, Chabashira remained silent, then watched the boy who had sat down on a nearby bench to think.