In the pitch-black infirmary, accompanied by Hoshinomiya's faint perfume and that syrup-sweet voice, events from ten years ago were told in detail:
"Don't be fooled just because I started this year as Class B's homeroom teacher. Back then, both I and Sae-chan were students of Class D—ten years ago. Ah, I really miss those days; the gap between classes wasn't enormous like in your case."
Yukio's interest was piqued. Hoshinomiya and Chabashira—two instructors who seemed quite capable—had been relegated to Class D a decade ago? Did that mean they hadn't been so outstanding back then, merely at the tail end of their year?
Of course, that couldn't be the whole story. Hoshinomiya's off-hand remark about "the gap not being large" made Yukio reassess: it wasn't their ability that was lacking, but rather that the average level of every student back then was so close that they all clustered together.
"So, ten years ago," he asked, "how small was the difference between the top Class A and the bottom Class D?"
"Hmm…" Hoshinomiya mulled it over, rummaging through memories of her own school days. "In class-point terms:
"Even at the single greatest spread, Class A and Class D never differed by more than one hundred points."
That was a vivid, succinct image: the four classes biting so tightly that one slip cost you the lead and a shot at Class A. It was nothing like Yukio's year, where the class he led sat nearly two thousand points ahead of the current Class D—an absurd chasm.
Hoshinomiya's gentle fingers pinched the knot in his right shoulder, applying just enough force.
"So you can imagine, Yukio-kun: with margins that tiny, whichever class made the first mistake would drop out of contention entirely."
"Our Class D back then hit such a mistake—a special exam that tested human nature. It was downright inhumane; every class went through upheaval."
"Don't worry, Yukio-kun. That disgusting exam was banned for destroying morale and class bonds; it hasn't been run once in the past decade."
"Anyway, about Sae-chan. Even though that exam was a nightmare and we argued ourselves hoarse, we still made a decision in the end. But Sae-chan's selfishness—her refusal to cooperate—wrecked it all."
"Because of her single-minded obstinacy, our Class D lost a full three hundred class points. Each of the other three classes gained one hundred. In one stroke, we were four hundred points behind everyone else."
Hoshinomiya's voice, warmed earlier by pleasure, now turned as frigid as a January wind, laced with old venom. Even a decade of time hadn't washed away her resentment toward Chabashira.
Yukio grasped why. A hundred-point spread wasn't bad at all—those Class D students had every chance to graduate as A-class. But with a four-hundred-point deficit? Impossible. Falling that far behind when everyone started equal meant you were out for good; if you had the power to claw back four hundred points, you'd have been leading already.
Because of Chabashira's stubborn lone-wolf act, an entire class fell from probable A-class graduates to utterly hopeless. She single-handedly shattered her classmates' chance at social ascent. Who wouldn't resent that?
Girls rarely fight, but in Yukio's current delinquent class, those rough-and-tumble gals treat hair-pulling, face-scratching, slapping, even kneeing the stomach like daily fare.
"So that's why you go after Chabashira-sensei so relentlessly," Yukio said, half in awe. "Carrying a grudge for ten years—that's persistence."
There was no blood feud, no life-and-death debt—only a ruined possibility. But that one possibility, had it come true, would have given Hoshinomiya a brilliantly easy future, so she treasured it. Chabashira's actions had erased it forever.
"Obviously." Her tone soured, dredging up bitter memories. "I'd planned to graduate from Class A, then land the easiest job in the world—play on my phone, binge dramas, sip a little wine, and never worry about money. Sae-chan destroyed that dream."
"Worst part? When she graduated she promised the school she'd come back after college. Of course I knew why—atonement. She wants to drag yet another Class D up to A to clear her conscience."
"As if I'd let that happen—so I came back too!"
"Now I'm stuck in this nurse's office every day, sometimes saddled with a homeroom class—exhausting. Yukio-kun, you have no idea how awful it is to get up early, waiting for students to fall ill or get hurt. For a lady like me, lack of sleep is murder on the skin!"
"…" Yukio doubted even AN High School could conjure up such a cushy job for her. The school's goal was mid-level societal talent, not carefree loafers.
And you followed her just to sabotage her? he wondered, marveling at just how deeply Hoshinomiya hated Chabashira.
...
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