Chapter 5: 1 - Direction
Making my way through the building, I could see the empty hallways that made up the structure. Since we had just been given information regarding how the school works, it was to be expected. Classes are still filled with people discussing what to do and how to handle the future now that the truth has been revealed.
I had planned to stay in class and discuss further details with my classmates about what our next steps should be. However, I was suddenly called by the loudspeaker to head to the Faculty Room.
'What could Chabashira want?"
I found myself upon a door with the words 'Faculty'.
"Don't need to think twice about this one." I sarcastically told myself.
Opening the door, I saw an empty room until my eyes landed upon a lone woman sitting at a desk.
"Hello, Ms. Hoshinomiya." I initiated the conversation.
"Oh hello Yagami-kun, are you here for something or someone~?" Hoshinomiya seductively finished her sentence while narrowing her eyes and holding a smirk.
'Here we go again.' Sighing to myself, I remembered the past events of this teacher's antics that I was already all too familiar with.
"My homeroom teacher, Ms. Chabashira, requested my presence. Have you seen her, Ms. Hoshinomiya?" I asked, quickly attempting to shut down any possible lecherous talk that may stem from this woman.
"Hmm...no I haven't seen her, would you like to stay here with me to wait for her?" She continued pestering me, as she emphasized herself.
"No thank you, since you haven't seen her then she's not in this room. I'll just wait for her arrival outside." Quickly averting my gaze, I swear I could see her pout.
Walking outside, I shut the door behind me.
'Guess I'll just wait, not like I can do anything else real-'
My thoughts got caught off as the door behind me quickly opened and closed.
'Leave me alone woman.'
"Ohayo~! Yagami-kun! Leaving me all alone was rude, hmph!"
Clinging onto my back, I feel ashamed to say it, but I felt her chest pressing on my blazer as she squirmed around almost causing me to fall.
"Well, I'm sorry Sensei but I believe that Ms. Chabashira called me for an urgent matter, so seeing her as quickly as I can is vital to whatever is happening." I quickly let out an excuse.
"Hmph is that so~?...Does this mean you like Sae-chan over me Yagami-kun?"
'Where did that one stem from? Sae-chan? It must mean they're close.'
"Well, I always did like history more than math so...."
"Aww...no fair! Hmm...how about this..." Turning her body over so her chest was against mine, Hoshinomiya made sure to press her weight onto mine as she continued.
"I bet Sae-chan doesn't give you after-school tutoring lessons, does she? Then how about it, I'll tutor you as much as you want, just the two of us.~"
'Get off of me already.'
"Ms. Hoshinomiya, I'm sorry but I don't think I can-"
Getting cut off before I could finish, my saving grace came in the form of my homeroom teacher who chose to whack Hoshinomiya on the head with her clipboard.
"What do you think you're doing with my student?!" Chabashira yelled as Hoshinomiya yelped down in pain.
"I was just keeping him company!!" Hoshinomiya said while crouching down on the floor.
'Serves you right.'
"Yagami-kun, let go." Chabashira did not seem to be in the mood for entertaining Hoshinomiya's antics and ushered me to follow her.
Softly placing my hand on top of Hoshinomiya's head, I rubbed her head softly for a few seconds before addressing her.
"I'm sorry sensei, but I really need to go. I'll see you in class." Taking my hand off her head, I followed Chabashira to our destination.
However, it didn't seem like Hoshinomiya was done.
"Oooh, mind if I follow along, Sae-chan~" Quickly grabbing her from the side, Hoshinomiya spoke to Chabashira.
"Do you want to be hit again?" With no remorse, Chabashira chose violence over peace.
"Eeek-no no, I just wanted to know what you were up to!!" Moving away from my enraged teacher, Hoshinomiya instead latched onto me.
"That is none of your concern, shouldn't you be attending to some other matters? For your sake, I hope that the paperwork you were assigned is finished and ready to be submitted." Chabshira said with a glint in her eye.
"Hehe, about that-" Before Hoshinomiya was able to finish, another student had appeared out of nowhere.
"Ms. Hoshinomiya, are you free right now? I need you to look over some of this paperwork I have from the student council!" With a bright and friendly demeanor, the strawberry-colored hair girl spoke.
"Oh Ichinose-san, I was kind of in the middle of something-"
"No, you weren't. Your student's calling for you so get to it!" Walking up behind her, Chabashira smacks Hoshinomiya's butt with her clipboard.
"Ah! Well, I better get going before Sae-chan gets mad at me even more, see you later Yagami-kun!" Not wanting to get hurt again I presume, Hoshinomiya finally left with the girl whose name was "Ichinose".
"Now that the distraction is gone, let's head to the guidance office," Chabshira said while lightly scratching her head and sighing.
"The guidance office? I hope that I haven't done anything to warrant being reprimanded." I lightly joked.
"We shall see." Regaining her serious demeanor, Chabashira entered the office.
I followed suit.
"May I know why I was called here?" It was natural for me to be confused given the fact that I had been given no details for Chabashira wanting to see me.
"In a moment."
Glancing at the clock that was hanging on the wall, which read nine o'clock, Chabahira opened the door to a room. I soon realized that it was a small office kitchenette. Making her way inside, she placed a kettle on top of the stove.
"I'm going to make tea, is roasted green okay?"
"Sure," Entering the small room, I picked up the container with the tea powder.
"In a moment, one of your classmates will open the door to the guidance office. I want you to remain in this room until I call for you. You should be able to hear everything from inside here, even with the door closed." Looking at me for confirmation to make sure I understood, I nodded to Chabashira.
Closing the door behind her, Chabashira left the kitchenette.
Being given no explanation as to why I needed to eavesdrop on what should've been a private conversation between one of my classmates and my teacher, I was simply left to speculate about my circumstances.
Not too long after, I heard the main door of the guidance office open.
"Ah, come in. So what did you want to talk about Horikita-san?" I heard Chabashira say.
"I'll be quite frank, why am I in Class D?" Getting straight to the point, I could hear Horikita step into the office.
"That is quite frank."
"Today, you told us that the superior students were sorted into Class A. While Class D was filled with the leftovers, those who are unwanted."
"That is true, but if you're saying this it must mean you see yourself as superior to your peers."
"Of course I do, I solved nearly every problem on the entrance exam and made no substantial mistake during the interview. Taking this into account, my assignment to Class D makes no logical sense."
Horikita, seeing herself above others had yet to see the true flaws that resigned within her. Her ability to outperform others when it came to academics may as well have given her a free ride to the top of any institution however this school operates differently.
Her score during the most recent quiz suggested that Horikita is academically gifted but when it came to being sociable, is where she floundered. From our first introductions, Horikita did not leave off a good impression. Even after that, we hardly spoke for brief periods.
Someone like Kushida completely overshadowed Horikita when it came to being approachable and seemingly kind. Always being willing to help and understanding the needs of others is what allowed Kushida to maintain a high position in social circles and be the leader of the girls in Class D.
In other words, Horikita is completely useless when it comes to cooperating with others despite her high grades. It's Horikita's pride and ego that have completely blinded her to her faults.
"Logical you say? Isn't this same way of thinking the same reason why our current society is flawed? In the past, Japan had solely relied on test scores to determine one's worth. As a result, those on top desperately tried to kick down the truly superior students. The end result was the current hereditary succession which we still have."
'Corruption, bribing, and scheming at the top have only hindered development. In the end, those on top only want to monopolize all the power and control amongst themselves. Even after they pass, they want only their blood to hold the luxury that everyone else needs.'
"Make no mistake about it, I don't doubt that you are a capable student however this school's goal is to produce superior students. If academics were the only thing taken into consideration then this school would serve no purpose. Think logically, would someone like Sudou even be considered for enrollment?"
While Sudou had too many major flaws at the moment, his physical abilities were higher than many of those in the class. In a best-case scenario, someone like Sudou becomes a coach or a player in a highly established team. However, money talks. Someone born into a rich and prestigious family would be more likely to get that spot than someone who isn't.
But this school sought to change that, it is ultimately up to each student where they will ultimately end up.
Despite Sudou showing no promise to improve over the long term, I believe that his usefulness would be vital to the growth of the overall class and I sought to make sure his development would occur in a reasonable amount of time.
"Tch...you still haven't given me a straight answer, why was I sorted into Class D? Did something go wrong with the grading? Please double-check." Horikita, still blinded by her pride chose to believe that someone else had made a mistake before acknowledging her own.
"I'm sorry, but there certainly was no mistake in your assessment." Chabashira sternly stated.
"I see, then I will ask the school another time-" Horikita spoke before getting cut off.
"Their answer will be the same, ask anyone in a higher position and they will provide the same response. As I've already said this morning it is possible to reach Class A by overtaking them. You could conceivably reach Class A before you graduate."
"I can't imagine it would be easy though, even if it is reasonable, how can those misfits that I have for classmates possibly reach Class A?"
"Well, that is why I have brought help," Chabashira spoke, no doubt smirking while she did.
"Help? Who could possibly-"
Deciding that now was the time to act, I opened the door as Horikita finished talking.
A moment of silence overtook the room as I closed the door behind me.
"What is he doing here?" Narrowing her eyes, Horikita glared at me.
"I thought I told you to wait until I called for you?" Chabashira said while holding a smirk.
"Sorry sensei, but I couldn't wait anymore." I looked at my teacher for a moment before turning my attention to Horikita.
"Horikita, I apologize, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I was called by Chabashira to be here," I said, attempting to calm Horikita down.
"Sensei, why would you do this?" Horikita quickly realized that this had all been planned and was angered.
"Because you needed to be here to listen to the rest." Sternly speaking, Chabashira grabbed a few sheets of paper before addressing me.
"You are quite the interesting student Yagami, 50 points on every single subject on the entrance exam from Math to English. Yet you achieved a modest 100 on the most recent quiz." Chabashira spoke sarcastically.
Horikita looked stunned for a moment, taking a glance at the papers before looking back at me.
"I decided to study a lot more since I was accepted into the school, I wanted to do whatever I could to support the class. That's all." Attempting to deflect the conversation, I gave no real details on why I had achieved the scores I did.
"Really? Well, I find it interesting that only 3 percent of students solved the fifth math problem successfully which you did and you even used a complex formula to do so. However, you failed to solve the tenth problem which was solved by 76 percent of students. Could this perhaps mean something?"
I simply gave a small smile.
"I-I don't understand, you were fully capable of getting into a higher class, but you got problems wrong on purpose?" Horikita said.
"Again, all I did was study more once I was accepted into the school." I lied.
"What did I say Horikita? You needed to listen to this. Is there more to Yagami than meets the eye?"
Horikita didn't have a response but simply glared at me as if though contemplating what she should say.
"Well, that's all we have time for today. Another teacher meeting will start in a moment." Chabashira quickly ushered us out. I said my goodbyes to Chabashira who responded with a nod and a smirk, seemingly satisfied with the result that she had achieved.
"Well goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow in class." I bid my farewell to Horikita.
However, Horikita stopped me before I could leave.
"Wait!"
Quickly grabbing onto my arm, Horikita stopped me in my tracks.
"Yes, do you need something?" I looked back at Horikita.
"Why did you only score 50s? Did you purposefully choose to lower yourself?" Horikita said.
There was a moment of silence before I spoke again.
"Horikita, do you honestly believe that the students of Class D are simply the leftovers?" I asked in a calm tone.
Taking a pause, Horikita spoke.
"Yes, there is no doubt in mind. This is why I am confused as to why you would want to purposefully place yourself on such a level." Blinded by arrogance, Horikita did not once doubt herself.
"The students of Class D, while having major faults are not simply those that are leftover. Each of us has something which prevents us from growing, however, if these obstacles were to be removed then there is no doubt that we would be able to match students from Class A. Perhaps even surpass them." I said.
Horikita was taken-aback, unsure of what to say.
"Development of the human mind never stops, we never cease to learn and grow. Humans can reinvent themselves through sheer determination and will. All they need is motivation and a want to change, to make it so."
In the back of my mind, I could remember a quote, something which I was continuously told when I was younger, something that was said by.....him.
'Humans can become whatever they want.'
Horikita contemplated what I told her. Instead of acting brash as she normally would, she took her time to understand the meaning behind my words.
"The class needs to be fixed...even those who are at the bottom. If I....we want to reach Class A then the class needs to improve as a whole." Horikita finally came to a realization.
Simply put, Horikita's goal was also the class's goal. Since there was no mistake in Horikita's placement in Class D, there was no point in continuing to attempt to dispute her assignment to the class. Instead, Horikita would now need to focus on actively taking part in our classmate's development.
"It's a good start, we all have a common goal. Reaching Class A is something that we can all take an active part in. Would you like to assist Horikita?" I said, Horikita who had already let go of my hand still looked a bit unsure.
"If it means reaching Class A....then it is necessary. There is no way that I can simply sit back and leave the class to its own devices." Although Horikita still boasted her pride, she ultimately did understand what needed to be done to move forward.
"I will be of assistance then, to reach Class A," Horikita said.
"Your help we useful then, I'll see you tomorrow Horikita," I said, taking one last look at Horikita before walking away.
Horikita nodded before walking in the opposite direction.
As we both walked to our destinations, I could hear Horikita's steps grow fainter and fainter.
Walking into the corridor that connected two different buildings on campus, I looked outside the window, which gave me a full view of the campus. I couldn't help but notice that I could see my reflection.
Since it had begun to lightly rain, there were only dark clouds visible.
Because of this, I could see the smile that had adorned my face.
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