Part 3

Since I had a meeting with Horikita, I waited in the hallway from the guest room with my back against the wall.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little late."

Although Horikita showed up while apologizing, there was no problem because she was not really late.

"You were fast, though."

"Do you intend on talking here?"

Students are constantly entering and leaving this room near the guest room.

It's one of the least suitable places to talk about things you don't want to hear.

"It's definitely not a good place to talk. Yes, that's right. I think we should go to the vending machine and have a drink. Wouldn't it be nice to talk while walking?" That would be fine, I don't have any particular objection.

Standing-up conversations attract a lot of attention, but if you chat while walking, you don't have to worry about it.

"The vending machine in front of the bathhouse was selling fruit milk. It was delicious."

I was told that it was something to drink after going to the bath, and I really thought that was true.

"Thanks for the childish comment. But it's not something you drink in the middle of the night, is it?"

Is it a time issue? No, from a girl's point of view, that might be especially true.

"But the vending machine at the public bath would put us farther away from here, so let's go over there."

Horikita's steps are slow, and she moves in a way that prioritizes talking first.

"It's about that day at the culture festival. I've been meaning to ask you, but I never had the opportunity to do so. It's stuck with me for a long time, since I couldn't find the right timing until today."

"You must have been tired at that time, you seemed to have exposed your sleeping face unprotected."

"...want me to kick you?"

I immediately raised my white flag as I was shown her eager upper body stance.

"Forgive me."

"It's such a blunder. To show a boy my sleeping face. You've disgraced me."

"Is it really something to worry about that much?"

"Of course it is... just forget about that now. I want to ask about that day."

Horikita brushed her embarrassment away with her hand, and her face turned serious.

"What happened in the student council room that day, didn't you have something to do with

it?"

The festival, that day, the student council room, there is only one event that these can lead to.

"Did you expel Yagami-kun?"

"Why do you think that?"

I'm not dodging the question, I was just interested in the reason why she came up with that answer.

"I don't know if you knew, but it's possible that Yagami-kun was trying to expel you. In fact, his behaviour in the student council room was enough to support that." Horikita, in her own way, seems to have a few pieces that I don't know about.

Using these pieces, it's no surprise that what happened was seen by her.

"I didn't know about Yagami, but I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise.  You knew first hand that Housen was trying to get me expelled, didn't you?"

"It's the 20,000,000 private points reward."

"Yagami was in on it, and he was waiting for an opportunity, right?"

"I thought about that, too. But, there are too many strange points. Above all, he wasn't trying to get close to you for money."

It seems that Horikita, who was present at that scene, knows more about it.

"All of the possible answers weigh on my mind. But that's not what I want to know the most."

"Then what do you want to know?"

"Your true identity. I can't think of you as an ordinary student like any other."

"That's a troubling question. If I am not normal, then what kind of student would I be?"

"...I don't know. It's not about being superior or not. I just can't imagine what kind of person you are. I don't understand."

What kind of person is Kiyokata Ayanokoji? Is that what she wants to know?

"There's nothing special to talk about. In fact, I don't have enough to actually talk about."

"Then, can you answer my questions if I ask? Your birthplace, graduated elementary school, junior high school. Have you been to any competitions in the past? Did you study on your own, or with a private tutor, or cram school?"

I bet they don't ask so many questions even on a blind date.

"I know what you're trying to say, but I don't feel like receiving so many troublesome questions."

Horikita's lips are knotted and she showed blatantly her dissatisfaction.

"That's why I'm going to disclose some information."

"...What kind of information?"

"For example, right. The fact that I was involved in the Yagami case, just as you had been suspecting."

"You're not joking, right? Because Yagami-kun was trying to expel you?

"I didn't know for certain that it was Yagami. It is more correct to say that I set up a trap for the student who was trying to expel me, and Yagami got caught in it. Student Council President Nagumo, Ryuen and the others were also there... I set all of that up. I enclosed them, so that they could not make half-hearted excuses."

Until now, I didn't see any meaning in telling this to Horikita.

However, I can give her the data by indirectly showing what kind of person I am.

For when we eventually come into conflict, I will make sure to create a possibility to put this to good use.

"Incidentally, there is no connection between the student council president and Ryuen. I only talked to them both separately."

"That discomfort I felt that day... I think I get it now."

"By the way, we're almost at our destination."

We took the stairs up to the second floor where the large bathing area is located, and arrived at the resting area where the vending machine is.

Then, there were two female teachers who had monopolized two massage chairs. They were very relaxed, giving themselves over to the massage, and did not notice us.



Horikita and I looked at each other once. We could ignore them, but Horikita chose to speak up.

"It looks like you are very comfortable here, you two."

"...eh? Ah, it's Horikita-san~"

Hoshinomiya-sensei replied, raising only her wrist and flapping her hand.

"Isn't it about to be bed time for the students, and time for the teachers to be working?"

"How unfortunate~. It's like a half day for us today, so~. Right? Sae-chan."

"That's right."

Leaving herself to the rattling massage chair, Chabashira-sensei closed her eyes comfortably.

"That thing, does it feel that good?"

I was interested in using it, but I couldn't because of the eyes of students who frequently came and went because it was adjacent to the large bathroom.

"Massage becomes indispensable when you get older. We do a lot of hard work that you young people don't know about."

It seems that with physical decline comes the need for equipment to support it.

"Especially in Sae-chan's case, her shoulders are very stiff."

"You didn't need to say that."

For a moment, the teacher's sharp gazes interleaved with each other.

"Even so, Horikita-san, you've completely become a leader. Asking as the former B Class home room teacher, do you feel comfortable in B class?"

"Not really. What I am aiming for is  A Class. This is just a crossing point now."

"I see what you're saying."

Ignoring the conversation, I picked up the remote control connected to Chabashira-sensei's massage machine.

There seem to be five levels of strength, and now it is working with level 3.

Of course, the stronger it is, the more effective it will be.

For some reason, I was curious about how the strength of the fifth level would feel, so I changed it.

"Nn, ah, nnh!"

As Chabashira-sensei jumped with surprise, the machine started making a strong grating sound.

I thought it would be about a 40% increase in functionality, but it may be more than that.

"A, Ayanokoji, wha-what are you doing, nnh! Turn, turn it back!" She reached for the remote control in clear panic.

She pulled the cord by force, and the remote control fell from my hand.

"Ugh, uugh! Hyah, ha-ha, quickly, get it!"

"Please don't pull it then."

I picked up the remote control and went from five to three levels of strength.

"Hah, hah... hah, hah... what the hell are you doing!?"

"No, I was just curious. I wondered if the stronger it was, the better it would be."

"Of course not! It has the right strength for each person!"

She looked at me angrily, with a bright red face, the most devilish expression I have ever seen from her.

Apparently, it was more stimulating than I expected.

"What are you trying to do?"

The noisy exchange also attracted attention from Horikita.

"We interrupted you during your break. Let's go, Ayanokoji-kun"

"Are you two going to take a bath? You can't go in together."

Ignoring the foolish thing Hoshinomiya-sensei said, Horikita turned around.

"Wait, Horikita-san."

Hoshinomiya had been joking around until just before, but I noticed that her face had changed to a serious one.

"Indeed, I think your class has grown remarkably, Horikita-san. Class B must aim for Class A at the crossing point. I know it's obvious, but I still think that's lovely, and very admirable of you too."

It sounded like a compliment, but it had a different meaning.

"Chie, don't say too much."

"Isn't it fine? I'm just trying to say what I think."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're not free to say what you think."

"Please say it."

Horikita urged her to say so, as if she was curious about Hoshinomiya-sensei's previous words.

"I won't hesitate, then. You see, as a home room teacher with a class, I have always been thinking about something. Teachers from A class to D class compete in the same way. If I had to use an analogy, you could think of it as the teachers as millionaires playing cards with each other."

"Millionaires... huh?"

"You know the rules, don't you?"

"Yeah, well..."

"With the cards handed out, we fight for three years to determine the highest and lowest positions from 1 to 4, but millionaires will play with cards with numbers from 1 to 13, right? If we leave aside the local rules and special rules this time, then basically the big number card is stronger, and the small number card is weaker, right? If a student with only 3 numbers and a student with 6 numbers bump into each other, of course, the student with 6 wins. Mashima's A Class has a certain amount of hands, and there are a lot of cards like 10 or 11.

On the other hand, the more you go towards D Class, the more cards there are such as 3 or

4. Well, it's kind of the school tradition so far."

Having said that, Hoshinomiya-sensei took the remote control of the massage machine and raised the strength of rubbing by one level.

That's barely three levels, so I should remember again how strong the fifth level is.

"Of course, the students change every day. I think a child who was a 3 or a 4 could grow up to be a 12 or a 13, or in rare instances, the strongest number of 2.

That's why there are fluctuations in the classes, and sometimes the D class goes up to the B class. Well, it's extremely rare, though."

The Horikita class has come to an unprecedented place.

"But, it's important to fight on an equal footing. That any class is always fighting within the numbers 1 to 13. If there is injustice or cheating in a certain class, it would be no good, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"But, you know..? Don't you think there's one card in your class that shouldn't be mixed in, Horikita-san?"

"A card that shouldn't be mixed in..?"

Hoshinomiya-sensei laughed, and turned her gaze to me.

"Yes, it's cheating. Sae-chan's class is the only one in possession of a joker." Horikita also noticed the stare, which was as if pointing at a name.

"Chie. Enough already."

"I can have a couple complaints, right?  Even if we are fighting with all our might, a single joker can turn the situation upside down. No, it is much worse than playing with millionaires and the like. Because, unlike a card that is gone from your hand after you use it once, you can use the joker again and again and again. There's no way I can win."

As a home room teacher, her words could be taken as a declaration of defeat for her own class.

"Regardless of the merits of your statement, what will you do if a student from the D class hears it?"

A statement acknowledging defeat. Shock is inevitable if students in the Ichinose class hear it.

"...That's right. Sorry, sorry. Maybe the alcohol is getting to me now because of the massage."

She said so, and turned it off.

"The joker came into your hands because of the luck of Sae-san and Horikita-san. If you reach A class with it, it's not cheating, is it?"

It was obvious to everyone here that it was sarcasm.

"That's enough already, Chie."

A voice close to intimidation that I've never heard up until now.

Then, Hoshinomiya-sensei's drunkenness cooled down for a moment, and she jumped up in a hurry.

"I'm going back to my room! Farewell!!"

Slightly peeved, Hoshinomiya-sensei waved her hand and walked down the hallway with big steps.

"I'm sorry for all that. She said it herself, but it must have been the alcohol circulating because of the massage."

As if defending Hoshinomiya-sensei, Chabashira-sensei replied so while getting up from the massage machine.

"It's fine. I'll just ignore it as drunken non-sense."

Horikita replied with a single, harsh comment, and Chabashira-sensei coughed once, a little disturbed.

"You're pretty harsh, huh?"

"You seem a little concerned about what I said earlier, teacher."

"It's not like I don't have anything to think about, to be honest. It's too different from the class I took three years ago."

It is true that there are powerful cards in the Horikita class.

"I don't know if Ayanokoji-kun is a joker or not, but there is no denying that he is a powerful classmate. But, I don't want to hold back because of that."

Without even looking at me, Horikita spoke her mind towards Chabashira-sensei.

"I will fight with all my might using it, since it is a card that was dealt to your class, Chabashira-sensei. Because I'm aiming for A class."

"That's right. Of course, that is my intention."

However, I am sure that Chabashira-sensei herself thinks that she is not prepared enough.

The A class led by Sakayanagi is also packed with solid cards. You may win one game, but you never know what will happen if you play 10 or 20 games.

"Well... I'll go after Chie, then. If I leave her like that, she might drink too much until the morning."

She couldn't seem to abandon her friend and old classmate, so she followed her.

"That's it for today, Horikita."

"There's still so much I want to ask you, though? Joker-san."

"I've come all this way, so I want to take a bath again. Besides, there are more people here now."

Students trying to enjoy a bath before going to bed were beginning to show up.

"You'll tell me later. Can I think that way?"

I nodded and went straight through the curtain leading to the men's bath.