Act 11: Scene 3

"I might consider listening to you if you tell me the truth, sensei..." he added, noticing that his words had completely silenced the woman and rendered her unable to say anything.

And then, Chabashira sighed in defeat.

"What is there to tell when you've already said everything? I shouldn't even be surprised..." she finally spoke after about a minute of silence. Her serious expression shattered completely, and was replaced with a look of melancholy. "You're right. I was a student of Class D when I was a student here. We actually had a chance at achieving what nobody else has done before in this school: becoming the new Class A despite being known as the defective class."

"What happened?" he asked, wondering how that all fell apart. It must be the main reason for her obsession with reaching Class A, and why she can't move on from it despite the years that have passed.

"You don't need to know why. All that matters is that I wasn't able to achieve that goal. But now, I have my chance at finally putting my insecurities to rest... through you. I believe you can do what I wasn't able to do, Ayanokouji."

Her demeanor had completely changed by now; instead of the usual dead-serious expression that one would normally see from her, Sae looked... defeated, in a way. It's like she had been stripped of all her strengths as a teacher and all that was left was a woman with weaknesses.

"I feel like you overestimate my abilities, sensei. Just because I held back in my exams doesn't mean that I can lead the class in overtaking everyone else,"

Of course, if he put his mind into it and with some effort on his side, Kiyotaka could lead his class and compete with the other classes. However, just the idea of taking charge already left a bad taste in his mind as it meant attention, and he already had enough of that at the moment from a bunch of girls.

Leading a class and overtaking all the other classes... just wasn't worth it.

"That's why I will let you choose," she revealed, making Kiyotaka tilt his head in confusion. "Initially, I was planning to blackmail you into thinking that holding back will get you expelled and that I have the power to do so, but you saw right through me before I could get the chance. Trying to blackmail you now would only be a waste of time when I can simply ask you for help."

As the woman let a self-deprecating chuckle at her own blunder, Kiyotaka stared at her blankly.

"It would have ended badly for you as well," he said in his mind. Kiyotaka felt tempted to leave when Sae basically admitted that she wished to manipulate him and never interact with this woman again, but kept himself where he was. At least, he was able to stop her before she could do something foolish and stupid. "What's in it for me?"

"If you hear me out and accept my proposal, then you will gain my full support. Whatever it is that you feel would be beneficial to the class, I will support you."

"A mutual agreement between a teacher and their student... something like this wouldn't be allowed in this school," he pointed out.

A smirk formed on her face. "That's right. It isn't. But why do you think I wanted to talk to you up here?"

Oh, so that's why she wanted to talk here on the rooftop. In the case that he does end up making an agreement with her, they wouldn't be seen on camera. Yes, it was technically breaking the rules, but no one was currently around to catch them in the act. A smart move on her part.

"However, if you say no, then I will not bother you regarding this ever again. You'll go back to your classroom and forget that this conversation ever happened," Sae reverted back to her self-deprecating tone and chuckled to herself. "Perhaps I deserve it for trying to manipulate someone like you into doing what I want."

Instead of making this woman pay for thinking of manipulating him, Kiyotaka decided to stay where he was and think about this a lot more. At the very least, she admitted her mistake and came clean with what she wanted.

But before Kiyotaka could truly think of what to say, the world stopped and three floating pink screens appeared before him.

A. [No thank you, Sensei. I'm already dealing with a lot of things and I have no time for your request. Even if my chances at a peaceful life are gone, I don't want to be bothered anymore.]

B. [I still wonder why you want me of all people to lead us to Class A, Sensei. However, you can be assured that I won't let you down.]

C. [How about a new deal, Sensei? If I can make our class the new Class A before the end of the school year, then you become mine.]

"How... convenient," he mumbled.

...well, this at least saves him the trouble. He won't have to think of what to say anymore, just the answer that he had to her question and the system would handle everything else.

With that, Kiyotaka weighed the options he had right now.

The first option was definitely appealing to him, and it would have been the one he'd choose in a heartbeat, but he looked at the other ones for now. It's not just because it would be sweet revenge for him, but also because he was dealing with a lot of things. There are currently 8 girls who are also his heroines and five of them are his classmates. On top of that, he was also a tutor of them and there's his already-scarce sleep hours...

It kind of ticked him off that the system was self-aware of all the bullshit that it was making him go through, though.

The second one didn't catch his interest at all. It was simply him accepting Chabashira-sensei's request without some kind of special condition on his part. In other words, he would be admitting defeat and rescind to his fate of being the woman's errand-boy.

It could also be said that it's the most 'normal' response out of the three choices, but also the one that he wouldn't choose no matter what.

And, like most times, that left the final possible choice.

To put it simply, the third option was adding a condition of his own to his teacher's little proposal, which was something that favored him. She won't just support him in his quest to reach Class A, as the stakes became higher this time. If he's able to do it before the school year ends, then Sae would be his... most likely as a romantic partner.

"It's either the first or the third one," he said to himself.

Hmm, it was pretty inevitable that he would eventually 'unlock' Chabashira's route (since he had already seen her 'summary' during their first day here), and this was a one-way ticket to doing it. Why not just do it now and get this over with? Just to save him from the agony of dealing with this on another day?

Kiyotaka wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that this woman was considerably older than him. In fact, it actually amused him that he had gained Sae's interest by simply holding back. It amused him even more that the 'condition' he would give her is basically the reverse of what's happening at the moment. Instead of Sae manipulating him through blackmail, he would have her dancing in the palm of his hand using her dream as bait.

This system was truly something else.

...oh, and he also wouldn't mind having a woman like Chabashira Sae on his side... in every possible way, that is. This woman was beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful than anyone else in class. She was also mature and was serious most of the time. Through this deal, she'll follow his orders without question and being a teacher, it also gives her certain perks that students don't have. That will definitely be useful to him in the future and he'd be a fool to let that opportunity slip through his fingers.

The fact that she's a teacher also made her someone 'off-limits' in the eyes of normal students and in turn, it made the option more appealing than the first one to him.

With all these in mind, Kiyotaka eagerly chose the third option.

"How about a new deal, Sensei? If I can make our class the new Class A before the end of the school year, then you become mine," he asked the woman with a smirk as the world went back to normal.

At first, Sae thought that she was only hearing things. But then she quickly realized that there was nothing inherently bad about her hearing and it was working fine, so... what did Ayanokouji say?

Something about her being his...?

...no, that can't be. The boy was just joking, obviously. He must have learned how to do that from his classmates, that's all. But just to be sure...

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

Kiyotaka's smirk turned into a grin.

"If I can lead our class to become the new Class A before the end of the school year, then you become mine, sensei."

Oh god, he was actually serious.

Sae didn't know if she should feel nervous, disgusted, scared, or a mixture of all three. To add to that, this boy was grinning, something that she had never seen him do before and it was getting under her skin easily, which she hated.

"W-What the hell are you talking about?" she tried to sound serious, but failed.

"Isn't it obvious already? Or do you want me to explain it to you slowly?"

He took a step towards her, and Sae moved back out of instinct. Kiyotaka continued his advance with the woman stepping back every time he did so, but was soon stopped when the metal fence of the rooftop met her back.

Her eyes widened in both fear and anger that she had been cornered with no possible way out. The fact that he was way taller than her only made it worse in her case.

She could try to push him away and make a run for it, but that would defeat the original purpose of why she was here. She also needed his response to her question and despite Kiyotaka's... questionable actions, he was about to give his answer to her.

In other words, she was trapped.

And so, as much as she hated it, Sae stayed where she was. That didn't stop her from glaring daggers at the young man, though.

"If I give you what you want before the school year ends, then you'll be mine, sensei. How is that hard to understand?" asked Kiyotaka, grabbing the fence on either side of her head which made his teacher feel like an animal stuck in a cage.

Despite her growing anxiety for what might happen, Sae put on her usual stone-faced expression and stared back at him with as much intensity as she could muster.

"Did you hit your head somewhere, Ayanokouji?" she mocked. "It must be the reason why you're blurting out nonsense out of nowhere."

He leaned even closer to her face, making the woman gasp. "Sensei, is it really that hard to understand what I want? You want me to fulfill your dream, and I want something in return, which happens to be you."

"Damn it! What the hell is this kid?! How can he talk like that?!" she ranted in her mind, while being unable to stop the blush that was forming on her cheeks.

She had no idea how Kiyotaka could be this smooth and suave in his tone and the worst part is that it was working on her!

"I'll say it again," he leaned close to her ear this time, so much that his breath sent chills down her spine. "I. Want. You."

The red hue on her face became worse, but the woman was then allowed to breathe normally when he moved away from her ear.

"Y-You must be just as much of a horndog as some of your perverted classmates, huh? I thought you were different from them, Ayanokouji. It turns out... you're just like them," she said defiantly.

"Can you really blame me, sensei? When the prize is too good to ignore?" he chuckled. "I wonder why you don't have a boyfriend yet. Has your luck ran out?"

"I simply have no time for things like that," she shot back, feeling insulted at that jab towards her.

"Hmm, it doesn't feel like it. I think it's simply because you haven't found the right person yet. I mean, look at you."

His hand left the metal fence and Kiyotaka began to point out every single one of his teacher's good points.

"Your hair looks gorgeous," his hand touched her hair. "You have a beautiful face," his hand trailed her cheek down to her jaw. "A nice chest, these sexy hips, and those delicious thighs..." he didn't touch any of those areas lest he risk getting kicked where it hurts the most, though he did stare openly at them. "...the guy who marries you will surely be the luckiest person in the world."

Sae's face was no different than a boiling tomato at this point after every compliment he gave her. The worst part is that it didn't feel like he was lying, and all that he said was genuine.

It took about a minute for the woman to calm down in order for her to say anything in return.

"You're insane. Student-teacher relationships are obviously not allowed, Ayanokouji. If you're caught being in a relationship with one, then the punishment you'll receive can be as severe as an immediate expulsion," she tried to send him a glare, but Kiyotaka couldn't really take her seriously because of the embarrassed look on her face. "I'm sure you know that, or has your libido blinded you to the point that you have no idea what is right or wrong anymore?"

Kiyotaka laughed as he lifted her chin up so that she was facing him, and he took great amusement in seeing his normally-serious teacher be reduced to a blushing schoolgirl.

"I know that they're not allowed, sensei, but we won't get in trouble if we're not caught, right? That's what you implied earlier when you told me that you'd support me if I agreed to your proposal. Besides, if you hated this, you would have pushed me away by now and threatened me or something."

"Damn him! Damn this little shit and his smooth-talk!" she shouted in her mind. Sae hated the fact that he was right, and she hated herself even more for not doing anything to defend herself against his offensive assault.

"It's how things work around here, is it not? I can give you what you want, but I don't feel like having your support only. It's honestly not worth the effort," he explained. "But having you, as a whole? That's something to think about."

"He's actually being serious about this..." she thought, feeling her heart beating faster inside her chest.

It was already clear a while ago that Ayanokouji wasn't kidding when he stated his demands, but it was only now that Chabashira realized it.

He wanted her in exchange.