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Horikita looked at her with icy eyes.
Every word from this Class B homeroom teacher was like a carefully concocted potion, slowly corroding her patience.
Behind those seemingly casual taunts, there was clearly a more definite purpose—to anger her, and then... deduct the so-called "points"?
So, what exactly did the "point deduction" mentioned by the other party mean?
It wasn't in the school rules handbook—was this another hidden rule set by the school authorities?
She quickly searched her mind for all possibilities.
Could there be some kind of point system in this school?
As long as a student violated specific school rules, corresponding points would be deducted?
Because she had purchased information from Akira, she had already paid eighty thousand private points. These days, her account balance was less than ten thousand, and if all of it was deducted, she would only be able to go to the supermarket to collect free ingredients and make her own bento.
Dealing with people was not her strong suit, especially now that she was facing an opponent who perfectly combined teacher authority with social skills.
In terms of pure intellectual sparring, she was absolutely confident she would not fall behind.
But facing someone like Hoshinomiya—who was both a master of social situations and held the advantage of being a teacher—even she felt somewhat at a loss.
However, Hoshinomiya's attention had already shifted from Horikita.
After all, Class D's class points had already been partially deducted, and this cold honor student no longer held value for her.
'Hehe... Just thinking about Sae-chan's angry and annoyed expression makes me so happy.'
At this moment, she was more interested in Akira, who stood to the side.
"Shimizu-kun~" Her fingertips playfully curled her hair, her eyes sparkling with dangerous curiosity. "I heard you took our Ichinose to meet some second-year upperclassmen? Come on, tell big sister honestly, what did you ask them?"
Akira subtly retreated another half-step, his back almost pressing against the hallway wall.
He really couldn't understand—why was this Class B homeroom teacher so relentlessly pursuing him?
The other party shouldn't know that Class D was probably already at zero! There were no points left to deduct!
Could it be... the other party had already realized that Akira knew about the S-System information?
To maintain Class B's advantage, was she trying to suppress potential threats from other classes?
But then he thought it was absurd.
Their Class D was just at the bottom. Class B's real competitor should be Class A. Moreover—
'Didn't she keep saying she and Sae-chan were best friends?'
This was the so-called "best friend"? In front of class interests, she would even scheme against her best friend's students?
Akira couldn't help but wonder if other class homeroom teachers were all like this.
When facing Hoshinomiya, the natural pressure from her teacher identity indeed made him feel uneasy.
After all, a slight misstep could lead to being labeled "disrespectful to elders."
"Hoshinomiya-sensei! What are you doing?"
A clear voice suddenly broke the stalemate.
At the end of the hallway, Ichinose was looking over with a helpless expression, her hand on her forehead.
Ichinose quickly walked over and stood beside Hoshinomiya. "Please don't make things difficult for students from other classes. Can't you see that Shimizu-kun and the others are troubled?"
"Oh my~ So it's my dear class president Ichinose~" Hoshinomiya blinked her eyes in feigned surprise, finally reluctantly stepping back two paces.
"Hoshinomiya! Don't harass my students!"
Accompanied by hurried footsteps, Chabashira finally appeared at the end of the hallway.
She was slightly out of breath, her sharp gaze piercing Hoshinomiya, and without a word, she raised her hand and lightly chopped her on the head.
"Who told you to lay a hand on Shimizu?" Chabashira's voice carried a rare hint of anger.
"Oh my~" Hoshinomiya rubbed her head, looking wronged. "He came to find Sae-chan on his own. I was just helping out and entertaining him while you weren't here~"
Chabashira snorted coldly. "It would have been better to just leave them alone."
She turned to Akira and Horikita, her tone softening a bit. "Sorry to keep you waiting. It's not convenient to talk here. You two, come with me to the counseling room."
"Let me come too~ Just to listen in for a little bit~" Hoshinomiya approached like a clingy cat, her eyes sparkling with gossipy light.
"No!" Ichinose quickly grabbed her wrist. "Hoshinomiya-sensei, we have important matters to discuss for our class!"
Chabashira, on the other hand, directly pulled out her trump card. "If you dare to follow, I don't mind letting you spend the weekend recovering in bed."
She added expressionlessly, "It'll save you from going out and causing trouble on the weekend."
"Waaah~ You two are so mean!" Hoshinomiya dramatically slumped her shoulders, like a puppy drenched in rain. "One is my best friend, and the other is my most trusted class president... How could I dare to disobey~"
When Akira and the others' figures completely disappeared at the end of the hallway, Hoshinomiya's bright smile gradually faded like a receding tide.
"Sae-chan..." She whispered. "She couldn't really be planning to defy her superiors, could she? Something like that... I'm the first one who won't agree."
"Hoshinomiya-sensei?" Ichinose tilted her head in confusion. "What did you just say?"
"Oh dear~" Hoshinomiya instantly resumed her usual cheerful expression. "Just talking bad about Sae-chan~"
"But aren't you two best friends?"
"Precisely because we're best friends... when we fight... it'll be even scarier."
"Sensei is saying strange things again..."
"Hehe~ That kind of thing is still too early for Ichinose! Anyway, how was our class last week?"
Ichinose's expression immediately darkened. "Not ideal... A few students with lower grades, seeing that the teacher doesn't really manage classroom discipline, have been playing on their phones and skipping class frequently recently..." She wrung her fingers in distress. "As class president, I also find it hard to say anything too harsh to them, so I can only... let it go for now."
Hoshinomiya sighed. "My dear class president... Last week you spent four entire lunch breaks with those upperclassmen. Did you really not notice anything?"
Ichinose blinked in confusion. "Just making friends normally..."
Hoshinomiya was momentarily at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
'Even Ichinose, with her A-grade intellect, didn't notice anything... Why did that Class D student...'
Suddenly, her eyes widened as if she had caught a crucial clue.
'Wait... that girl was easily provoked by me into violating school rules, but after hearing the word "points," she looked at me with a very confused expression... This isn't right!'
'Either he didn't get any information from the upperclassmen at all, or... he chose to conceal that hidden information from his classmates.'
"Ichinose!" Hoshinomiya suddenly turned around, pressing her hands on her student's shoulders. "What's the name of the upperclassman Shimizu-kun asked you to contact? Why are you suddenly here?"
"It's a second-year student, Yamamura-senpai... Well, Shimizu-kun actually asked me to come here to help!"
Hoshinomiya narrowed her eyes unconsciously upon hearing this.
'She deliberately called my Ichinose over.'
'It seems I really need to meet this Yamamura-san myself...'
'It seems a shark that shouldn't be swimming in the shallows has snuck into Class D...'
'I hope my intuition... is wrong this time too.'