Chapter 159 If You Perform Well, I'll Let Ichinose Go on a Date With You
Joining Class B indeed sounded like a good choice.
Shimizu Akira had thought before that if he truly couldn't stay in Class D, Class B would likely be the best way out among the remaining three classes—after all, Ichinose Honami was there. In Class B with her present, students rarely faced the risk of expulsion. In this school, one probably couldn't find another person as purely kind-hearted as Ichinose.
"I know what you're mulling over," Hoshinomiya Chie interjected immediately as she watched his contemplative expression.
"Are you thinking that even if you join Class B, there's no guarantee you'll eventually move up to Class A? But think about it—it's highly unlikely Class A would invite a student from Class D to join them. Class B, on the other hand, has the best hope among the three classes of promoting to Class A—doesn't last month's Class Point rankings prove exactly that?"
She leaned half a step forward. "Joining Class B is better than wasting away in Class D, isn't it? Our class is famous for its unity; you'll never see a leaderless mess like Class D. Our class representative was chosen by the students themselves. You know Ichinose, so you should know every word I'm saying is the truth."
To be fair, Hoshinomiya Chie's words did have some merit. Class A was, by common logic, the most difficult class to join. Among the remaining B, C, and D, Class B was undoubtedly the strongest in terms of comprehensive strength—Ichinose Honami had indeed unified the entire class into a force to be reckoned with.
"But Hoshinomiya-sensei," Shimizu paused, slowly tossing out a question.
"Why did you think of recruiting me into Class B? Instead of choosing someone else?"
He naturally didn't believe the "jackpot" rhetoric; that sounded like a cheap trick to fool a child. Class B was good, but the problem was: even if they wanted to absorb new people, why would they target a Class D student? They weren't poaching the top students from Class A, and taking a step back, Class C students were, in a sense, much stronger than Class D.
"Little Shimizu sure is suspicious," Hoshinomiya Chie chuckled.
"People in Class A are already at the top of the pyramid; unless there are special circumstances, you can't recruit them. As for Class C... those people would only ruin our class's atmosphere."
She paused deliberately, looking straight at Shimizu as her tone became serious: "There's a reason for choosing you, naturally. Last month, you bought the rules that the school was intentionally hiding from an upperclassman, right? No need to play dumb; I've already asked the person involved."
'Asked? Hoshinomiya Chie has already looked for that Yamamura-senpai?
Then how did she know I was the one who asked Yamamura-senpai about that matter?'
Shimizu suddenly remembered that when he first found Yamamura-senpai, it was Ichinose Honami who led the way. In that case, the teacher likely found out from the mouth of her own class representative.
Wait—he suddenly recalled that strange phone call from Ichinose Honami last month. At that time, she said in an odd tone that it was Shimizu who had secretly contacted Yamamura-senpai and asked her to proactively provide the information.
So, that "anonymous benefactor" was actually the Hoshinomiya Chie standing right in front of him.
The reason wasn't hard to guess.
School rules strictly prohibited teachers from directly interfering in class affairs; the last time Chabashira Sae was penalized for establishing a vice-class representative was the best example. Hoshinomiya Chie likely used Yamamura-senpai's mouth and let Ichinose misunderstand logically—since Shimizu was one of only two people who had contacted Yamamura-senpai, he naturally became the candidate for the person who "did a good deed without leaving a name."
Because of this, Shimizu had pointlessly taken the "fall" for being a good person.
"Of course, right now it's just saving a spot for you," Hoshinomiya Chie said with eyes curved in a smile, though her words carried clear conditions.
"It depends on your future performance—after all, a class transfer costs 20 million points, and Class B will have to save for a very, very long time. Plus, you'd have to convince Ichinose; my class representative originally planned to use those points to save people."
She leaned in closer, her tone gaining a hint of coaxing: "In short, Ichinose from our class will be in charge of communicating with you regarding this matter from here on. However, don't think this is a sure thing; it depends on your future performance... if it's good, maybe I can persuade her to use the class funds to buy you, or even let her go on a date with you. The same goes for the other female students."
The hallway bell suddenly rang; it was the warning chime for class.
Hoshinomiya Chie straightened up, tapped her lips gently with her finger, and winked at him: "Alright, hurry back to the classroom. Oh—and you can't tell others about this. I've only told you; students in other classes don't get this kind of benefit."
After she finished, she couldn't help but giggle twice as she turned around, like a child who had hidden a piece of candy. Her light footsteps receded down the corridor, blending with the tail end of the bell and gradually disappearing around the corner.
Shimizu Akira returned to the classroom and slowly sat in his seat, replaying her words in his mind. At this moment, the cryptic reminder Chabashira Sae sent this morning surfaced in his
head: Shimizu-kun, if you encounter people from other classes approaching you for strange reasons, or... if someone offers to introduce you to a so-called 'friend', be sure to remain vigilant.
Thinking about it this way, the person Chabashira Sae was referring to was likely Hoshinomiya Chie.
Did Chabashira Sae already expect Hoshinomiya Chie to come looking for him? But the question was, how did she know?! Did Hoshinomiya Chie tell her proactively? Telling her to her face that she was going to poach her student? That was equivalent to openly declaring an intent to sabotage her.
He tried to imagine it from Chabashira Sae's perspective and felt that if he were her, he'd have been fuming long ago. The interaction style of these two best friends was truly interesting; he wondered what had happened in the past to reach this level of "frenemy" behavior.
It really was a case of "when the gods fight, the mortals suffer." With these two homeroom teachers clashing like this, the students underneath were probably going to endure quite a bit of misery.
As for the conditions and benefits offered by Hoshinomiya Chie, Shimizu just took them with a grain of salt; there was no need to take them seriously.
She was clearly "drawing a big pie" (making empty promises)—after all, for a class to save up 20 million points, it would take at least ten months or more. During this period, there were many variables; if the Class Points collapsed, let alone ten months, they might not even gather those 20 million by the second year.
Taking a step back, even if they truly saved enough, why would they spend the money to "buy" him? It was most likely an attempt to "catch a white wolf with empty hands" (get something for nothing), making him work for Class B willingly out of hope.
This was actually an "Open Scheme": if you didn't take it to heart, it would simply pass. But if you did listen and truly believed they would bring you into Class B, you likely wouldn't have the heart to contribute to Class D anymore.
As for the phrase "I only told you, don't tell anyone else," it was an old, classic trope. It was obvious she had said this to who-knows-how-many people; she likely knew exactly what she was doing.
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