"..."
Under that thunderous voice, the heated atmosphere in the classroom cooled rapidly.
After waiting for a brief moment of silence, Hirata Yōsuke spoke in a low voice.
"Don't make me repeat myself over and over again."
His voice carried suppressed emotion—restrained and restrained—as he repeated words he had said countless times since the beginning of the month.
"Last month's exam was no one's fault, and no one is to blame," Hirata said, pressing his fingers hard against the desk until his knuckles turned pale. "Arguing about it now is meaningless. Instead of fighting over this, you should calm down, listen in class, and prepare properly for the midterms."
"O-Okay, okay, everyone, calm down. We're in class. Hirata's just doing this for everyone's sake."
The one who hurriedly stood up to smooth things over was Karuizawa Kei.
As Hirata Yōsuke's girlfriend—and, in a sense, the leader of D Class's gyaru group—she knew exactly when she should step in and who she should support.
Even though her boyfriend had voluntarily moved away from her seat.
After all, if she didn't maintain their connection like this…
Then the glory surrounding Hirata Yōsuke would no longer shine on a parasite like her.
"I-If there's something to talk about, we can discuss it after class..." Wang Meiyu added softly.
Kushida Kikyo smiled and said, "Isn't it better when everyone gets along?"
Led by these key figures, the classroom atmosphere quickly softened again.
From his seat in the corner, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka suddenly spoke quietly to Horikita Suzune beside him.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
Horikita Suzune: "...?"
"Is there something I should say?" she asked, confused.
"Defend someone?" Ayanokōji tilted his head. "Or refute them?"
"...Idiot." Horikita cursed softly, then ignored him and lowered her head to her textbook again.
Although she had already checked herself in the mirror, honestly, she still didn't know how to fix that habit right away.
In any case, when there was nothing else to do, she would study.
Studying was never wrong.
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka: "..."
Huh? You could do that?
He felt like he understood something—yet also like he understood nothing at all.
"Cool!!!"
Suddenly, Kōenji Rokusuke, who had stirred up the class with the note and then casually watched it cool down after Hirata spoke, clapped his hands loudly.
"But it's very boring, Hirata-boy. Noise, disputes, emotions—then everything returns to calm under force."
"Such a dull wavelength. Such a boring outcome."
"There should be something, right? A decisive mistake. A decisive culprit." Kōenji spread his hands. "Why choose to Ignore it?"
Chabashira Sae.
She was not part of the "group."
She did not belong to the "everyone" Hirata wanted to protect.
She was the perfect vessel to absorb everyone's resentment, to carry all of D Class's negative emotions.
Wasn't she?
And how convenient—it just so happened that rumors about her had started spreading recently. About her past. About how she once stood on the same side as them.
Most importantly, these "rumors" had seemingly been confirmed by A Class's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie.
Their credibility was guaranteed.
So why stay silent? Why ignore it?
Why not raise the blade and point it straight at the target?
"..." Hirata Yōsuke remained silent.
He couldn't give a decisive response.
In this class, Kōenji was the one person he couldn't interfere with.
Not because of his background, but because Kōenji was too free—too "unrestrained."
Kōenji Rokusuke only followed his own heart.
But if Hirata wouldn't speak, others would.
For example… the person at the center of the topic.
"It looks like you all have quite a lot of opinions about me."
An uninvited woman stood at the classroom door.
Rolling the book in her hand into a tube, Chabashira Sae knocked lightly on the half-open door, her face expressionless.
The dismissal bell rang right on time.
Without bothering to erase the blackboard, the original teacher calmly packed up his materials and walked past Chabashira out of the classroom.
He had done his job.
There was no need for him to waste time on class conflicts.
"Chabashira-sensei..."
"Oh, Teacher, you came at just the right time." Kōenji snapped his fingers. "Everyone happens to be discussing you."
"Why not let these 'juniors' hear about your glorious past?"
"How about it?"
Chabashira slowly walked up to the podium, bracing herself with both hands as she scanned the students below.
"..."
Even after more than a week, these students hadn't truly changed.
Only their behavior had.
When emotions flared, they still fell into chaos.
Hirata Yōsuke wasn't enough.
Or rather, Hirata alone wasn't enough.
What this class lacked most was "unity."
Being bound together.
Standing as one.
A true team spirit.
They had to realize that D Class was a collective, or they had no future.
Otherwise, if that nightmare of a unanimous special exam ever came again…
Their ending would only be a fatal fall.
Taking a deep breath, under the gaze of the entire class, Chabashira Sae raised the corners of her lips.
"Glorious deeds? Yes, I was indeed glorious," she said. "Even after being labeled the worst by the school, I still struggled upward together with my companions."
"I was once only one step away from the lofty A Class—so close it was almost within reach."
"I was nearly able to touch it."
"Compared to you students who proudly set a zero-point record in your very first month, I was far more glorious."
Her words were filled with self-satisfaction.
She suppressed her regret.
She hid her obsession.
Lifting her pale neck, she put on a façade of pride.
"But wasn't it 'glorious Chabashira-sensei' who turned 'within reach' into 'out of reach'?"
A cold voice rang out from below.
So cold that it sent chills through Chabashira's entire body.
One of her students casually dumped a bucket of ice water over her.
Stripping away the makeup she had used to beautify her past.
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