COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

Having savored this fine drama to its conclusion, Sakayanagi Arisu, wearing an elegant smile, picked up her cane and walked unhurriedly out of the classroom.

Upon reaching a corner of the school building, Sakayanagi halted her steps.

"Ara, Sensei. Instead of handling Ike-kun's withdrawal procedures at a time like this, you follow behind me. Might I ask what business you have?"

Her pleasant, melodious voice rippled out beside the flowerbed in the school building.

Chabashira Sae, her emotions complex, emerged from the shadows of the building.

"Why? Why didn't you remind Hirata from the very beginning that points could be used to buy exam scores? Why wait until the final period to tip them off?"

"Hmm? Chabashira-sensei, whatever are you talking about?" Sakayanagi turned her head with a smile. "I can't quite grasp your meaning."

"You definitely knew. The uses of personal points—there's likely no one in the entire grade who knows them better than you. After all, I've seen your file." Chabashira spoke with absolute certainty.

"And so, what does that have to do with me? There is one thing Horikita-san said that I do agree with: people must take responsibility for their own actions."

"It has everything to do with you!" Chabashira's emotions flared up with rare intensity. "If you had spoken up just a little earlier, Ike and Yamauchi would never have spiraled to this extent. They wouldn't have turned on each other. They might even have had a decent future ahead of them."

"Heh heh." Sakayanagi's brows arched slightly, as if she had just heard a joke. "Wasn't the one who turned them into this sorry state precisely you, Sensei? The one who gave them the wrong exam scope from the very start?"

"Two weeks ago, had you told them even one week earlier that the exam scope had changed, they would have had more than enough time to study. They might well have all passed, don't you think?"

Chabashira's expression soured.

"I hear that you, too, are a product of the Advanced Nurturing High School?"

"Yes."

Chabashira's voice betrayed reminiscence and bitterness.

"You didn't graduate from Class A, did you? In my view, a person like you, who acts solely on emotion, was never qualified to graduate from Class A in the first place."

"I—"

Chabashira moved to retort, but suddenly stopped short. Her eyes lowered, and she found herself utterly speechless before Sakayanagi's words.

"From the very beginning, you never had the will to help them, did you? Seeing the state you're in, you probably watched the class infighting, it dredged up some memories, and then you had a last-minute change of heart. You wanted to find someone to clean up the mess. Otherwise, all you had to do was drop the slightest hint to Horikita-san, and she could have figured it out herself. Isn't that right, Horikita-san?"

Chabashira looked behind her. Horikita Suzune had appeared there without anyone noticing.

"Horikita, you came too?"

Horikita fixed a cold, sharp gaze on Sakayanagi, her long black hair fluttering in the breeze.

"I've had my suspicions for a while now. Regardless of the timing of announcing the method, the point totals of the students in class—everything was far too convenient. If the mastermind behind the scenes wasn't from Class D itself, there's no way they could have grasped those two's personalities so thoroughly. Sakayanagi-san, did you deliberately orchestrate this current situation?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sakayanagi tilted her head, the corner of her mouth curving into a pleased arc. "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, Horikita-san."

"Why did you just stand by and watch them sink? What benefit was there in this for you?" Horikita pressed on relentlessly.

"Weren't you yourself saying their expulsion served them right? So why now accuse me, the one who actually found the method, of standing idly by?"

"They failed the exam and got expelled. That serves them right. On this point, I will never defend them. But you knew a way to save those three. Had you spoken up just a little sooner, the class would never have had to devolve into such chaos. Right now, Class D is on the verge of collapse. What benefit did doing all this bring you? Please tell me, Sakayanagi-san!"

"What a sharp interrogation..." Far from seeming frightened, Sakayanagi laughed quite merrily.

"Then, what does any of this have to do with you? Weren't you the one who declared at the start of the year that you had absolutely no need for things like friends?"

"I—" Horikita was, in turn, rendered speechless by Sakayanagi's question.

Leaning on her cane, Sakayanagi walked slowly around Horikita.

"Horikita-san, you believe you can accomplish everything by yourself, don't you?"

Sakayanagi fixed her eyes on Horikita, whose complexion was growing increasingly pale, and commented in a lilting voice.

"Such a wildly arrogant confidence. Believing you could earn an acceptance letter to the Advanced Nurturing High School through academic ability alone—only to be sorted into Class D. Believing you could, by yourself, pull those three back to a normal academic level—only for it to end on a sour note due to attitude problems. Horikita-san, you truly amuse me."

"..."

Horikita clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and remained silent for a long moment. Finally, she let out a deep breath.

"Yes, I admit the me of the past was far too naive. Seeing things now, I understand that relying solely on my own strength is impossible. What about you, then? Do you truly feel not even the slightest desire to rise to Class A?!"

"That's right."

Sakayanagi nodded with a smile, her tone tinged with playful mockery.

"I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in graduating from Class A. That which you treasure like a precious gem is, in my eyes, utterly worthless! Seeing you like this, don't tell me you still intend to climb upward with a class like this one."

"Ah." Horikita admitted it frankly. "Even now, I still want to give it a try."

"As you are, you can't do it."

"That's precisely why I wanted you to help me!"

"My apologies. I haven't the slightest interest in such matters."

Sakayanagi lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and offered Horikita a small bow.

"Then... what exactly is your purpose in coming to Class D?" Chabashira, who had been silent the whole time, opened her mouth. "Truthfully, when I first saw you had been assigned to our class, I thought I had hit the jackpot."

"There is someone I've always wanted to defeat. He should be attending this school as well. I originally thought he was in this class, but I couldn't find him." Sakayanagi didn't mind revealing a sliver of information to them. "He's perhaps playing a game of hide-and-seek with me?"

"In that case, why not form an alliance with me—"

"You're not yet qualified!"

Sakayanagi cut off Horikita's words. The face that had been wearing a faint smile instantly hardened.

"In a contest between him and me, someone of your caliber has no right to participate."

Just then, a phone rang out. Sakayanagi took out her mobile and glanced at it.

"Well then, that will be all for today. I'm afraid I must take my leave. I have a prior engagement."

After a polite farewell to the two, Sakayanagi departed, leaning on her cane.

"Sakayanagi-san!"

Horikita suddenly called out toward Sakayanagi.

"If the person you're searching for has an entire class standing behind him, you can't possibly defeat him, can you? To accomplish that, you must borrow the strength of a class!"

Sakayanagi stopped in her tracks and looked back.

"That much, I know full well. Going forward, I will mold Class D into the shape I envision. As for that current bunch of classmates, forgive me for saying I can't even muster the motivation to order them around."

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