Starting in class C: not completely defective.

Arc 10 prologue part 2

"Mashima-sensei, Hoshinomiya-sensei. Do you have a minute?" Asked Chabashira, calling to her colleagues in the faculty lounge, just after Akito left but before classes began.

The four of them were former rivals who'd both worked hard and studied at this school, mutually pushing each other to improve. These three were also close friends. Since they'd known each other for a long time, Chabashira's colleagues gathered their papers and followed her without asking questions. They exited into the hallway that led to the classrooms where their students waited for them.

"This is so depressing. I can't believe we have to tell our students that we're having an exam where someone will definitely be expelled," said Hoshinomiya, the first to speak up. She looked down at her attendance records, letting out a heavy sigh. "I wonder who we're going to lose..."

She didn't sound at all like she was looking forward to finding out, but rather like she was just trying to face the reality of the situation.

"Well, it's not like it's been decided someone will be leaving, right? While there aren't many options available, there is something they can do."

"You mean spending twenty million points to override the expulsion? Isn't that the only way?" Replied Hoshinomiya.

Despite saying that, Hoshinomiya was already well aware of the truth. Right now, none of the classes had that many points saved up.

"If there's any saving grace here, it's not having to pay up the three hundred class points. I suppose there's no precedent for a forced expulsion like this. In that sense, it's only natural."

Normally, twenty million private points and three hundred class points were required to override a student's expulsion. This time, however, students were exempt from the class point requirement. Still, neither the teachers nor the students could just accept the forced expulsion as things were.

"I can't help but feel dissatisfied with acting director Akito's way of doing things," said Chabashira.

"Well, it's understandable that you'd feel that way, Sae-chan. He just came back out of nowhere and started doing whatever absurd thing he pleased," said Hoshinomiya, snuggling up close to Chabashira, as if she was about to huh her. Chabashira pushed her away, annoyed.

"Even if we complain, though, it won't change anything. If we say too much, it's likely we'll get axed," said Mashima.

"Are you for real, Mashima-kun? You were really going at it earlier with Akito-kun, weren't you? I was feeling, like, super extra nervous. But despite that, now you're all like, oh, we can't say too much?"

"You're right, Chie. The acting director probably doesn't care if teachers get fired. He knows there are plenty of replacements out there. If anything, he might even see it as convenient."

"Maybe he's planning to get rid of teachers who oppose him, like Mashima-kun, and replace them with ones more suited to his cause."

Chabashira and Hoshinomiya thought Akito's speech back in the faculty lounge might have been part of a ploy to root out rebellious teachers. Mashima didn't speak up to contradict that line of thinking.

"Be careful, Sae-chan. Akito-kun's always had it in for you," said Hoshinomiya.

"You seem awfully confident of your own class, even though they were demoted within 4 months."

"No way! Sae-chan, wait. The current class A were cheating, they had to have been. How could class C go to class A within 2 weeks otherwise?"

"Anyway, what I wanted to say was that you should refrain from acting carelessly," said Chabashira, ignoring Hoshinomiya's question and quickly wrapping up their conversation before heading off towards class C, clearly in a bad mood now.