COTE :  Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

While the three of them observed Chabashira Sae, this homeroom teacher of humanoids was also silently sizing up Fuyuji.

Class A was concealing an unknown combat asset.

After the previous deserted island special exam, the homeroom teachers of the three classes besides Class A had all more or less sensed this fact.

If the matter of preparing supplies in advance could still be attributed to the competent leadership of Class A's current representative, Katsuragi Kohei, then the leap of thinking required to set one's sights on the staff and bypass class competition entirely was absolutely not something that Katsuragi's steady, prudent personality could produce.

In fact, if not for the fact that the process of this special exam was not to be disclosed, the outstanding students of the other classes would undoubtedly have arrived at the very same conclusion.

The only question was exactly who. That could not be confirmed.

When her close friend Hoshinomiya had asked half-jokingly, Mashima Tomonari had kept his lips sealed. But the student before her now was one of those she considered the most suspicious.

The remaining few were also quite capable students.

At this thought, a wave of powerlessness washed over her. Class A was already the class with the highest average caliber among the four. It was only natural that they had so many capable individuals.

And yet, even so, they were still tightly united as one.

In contrast, Class D was barely held together by the adhesive that was Hirata Yosuke, at risk of falling apart at any moment.

If she wanted a Class D like this to achieve her long-cherished wish...

A layer of shadow surfaced in Chabashira's eyes. Her fist quietly clenched. She gritted her teeth.

She could only rely on her!

Watching this Japanese History teacher, who had been perfectly fine sitting in her chair just moments ago but whose expression had suddenly and inexplicably shifted—

Kamuro tugged at Fuyuji's sleeve, leaned in close, and whispered in his ear, "Did this teacher get dumped or something? Why does she look like life has lost all meaning?"

Fuyuji leaned back without the slightest attempt at discretion and replied dismissively, "Rumor from the Class B students: this teacher hasn't had a boyfriend in over a decade. Every day after work, if she's not smoking, she's drinking. No idea if she's already rocking the sad cat-lady style."

"..."

Chabashira, who had just been struggling in the depths of her memories, stiffened abruptly. The muscles in her cheeks twitched unnaturally. She'd just been shot out of nowhere.

Regardless, the reading of the special exam rules had to continue. Chabashira forced her face taut, recomposed her emotions, and strove to make her voice as flat as possible.

"Before I begin the explanation, I need to first confirm your identities. Fuyuji Mikage, Kamuro Masumi, Kito Hayato of Class A, correct?"

"Correct."

"Please sit."

Once the three were seated, Chabashira nodded and spoke again. "Let me state in advance: during the rules briefing, I will not accept any questions. I ask that you listen patiently until I am finished. If you have questions along the way, you may write them down and save them for the end. I will answer them at my discretion."

Oh? Now this was interesting. It seemed they'd learned their lesson from the deserted island exam—avoiding frequent student questions that would interrupt the briefing and risk running out of time?

The room was silent. Only the air conditioning hummed softly, and the faint sound of ocean waves drifted in from outside the window.

Fuyuji sat obediently in his chair, rather curious to see what kind of stunt this mysteriously secretive special exam would pull off.

Kamuro had absolutely no interest whatsoever. The guy next to her would handle everything anyway. She rested her chin on one hand, her gaze drifting past Chabashira's shoulder on its own to take in the ocean view outside the window.

Kito maintained his habitual reticence in front of outsiders. His eyes were lowered, having entered some kind of power-saving standby mode. Without instructions from Fuyuji, he wouldn't do anything.

Seeing that the three remained seated, Chabashira picked up the folder on the desk, cleared her throat, and formally began reading out the rules for this special exam.

"The fundamental abilities required of a functioning member of society can be broadly divided into three categories: Action, Thinking, and Teamwork. Those who possess these abilities are qualified to become outstanding adults."

Opening with a bombshell!

Oi, oi. Never mind whether that's actually true or whether becoming an outstanding adult even relies on such definitions—you, a teacher who specializes in internal strife and loves pressuring her students, standing there and talking about "becoming an outstanding adult"—is that really alright?

"The previous deserted island exam heavily emphasized Teamwork. This time, however, it will be Thinking. This will be an exam that requires the ability to process information. Thinking ability, in other words, is the capacity to analyze the current situation and then clarify the issues at hand."

"In this special exam, the school has likened the entire first-year student body to the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and divided them into twelve groups. The exam will be conducted within these groups."

An exam conducted within the groups?

Sensing that the main event had apparently arrived, Fuyuji's eyes flickered. He leaned forward from the back of the chair and straightened up.

In other words, the rules for the other groups weren't really any different from those for their own group—only the groups and personnel were different.

In that case... why go to all this trouble to split the four classes up and explain things one by one? Wouldn't it be better to simply assemble everyone in a single group and explain it all at once?

Such a simple and fast method—the homeroom teachers couldn't possibly not know about it. The only possible reason was that something was preventing them from doing so!

The key to cracking this open should be right there.

"The group you have been assigned to is [Rabbit]. Here is the list of group members. When you leave the room, you will be required to return this paper. Photography is also prohibited. If you feel it is necessary, please take note of it here first—"

Chabashira's hand, extended to pass the paper, came to an abrupt halt.

Fuyuji pocketed his phone without changing expression, pulled out a pen and paper, and signaled for Chabashira to continue her explanation.

All this fuss. Just a list of names, and they weren't even allowed to take it out. Wasn't this a blatant signal to the students that there were important clues here and they should hurry up and look?

Chabashira: "..."

It seemed there really hadn't been any rule saying they couldn't simply copy it down.

Her peripheral vision caught something. Only now did she notice that Kito, who had remained silent all along, had a recording pen gripped in his broad palm. From the looks of it, he had been recording everything she'd said up to this point.

No wonder these three seemed to have no questions whatsoever. They could just go back and listen to it a few times. If they had any issues, they could simply ask classmates who attended later briefing sessions.

So thoroughly prepared. As expected of Class A, led by the famously steady and prudent Katsuragi Kohei?

Still, the necessary procedures had to be followed.

Chabashira's paused hand continued its motion with a touch of helplessness. She placed the postcard-sized slip of paper on the desk, then folded her arms and fell silent, giving the students time to do what they needed.

Class A: Kito Hayato, Kamuro Masumi, Fuyuji Mikage.

Class B: Ichinose Honami, Hamaguchi Tetsuya, Beppu Ryota.

Class C: Ibuki Mio, Shiina Hiyori, Manabe Shiho, Yamashita Saki.

Class D: Karuizawa Kei, Sakayanagi Arisu, Sotomura Hideo, Yukimura Teruhiko.

Fuyuji's expression instantly crumpled.

Ichinose and Shiina, both adorable girls—that was one thing. But what the hell was that scummy loli Sakayanagi Arisu doing here? What was with this bizarre grouping?

Crap. Why did it feel like this was aimed right at him?

And this list only had names on it. If there were clues, they could only be found among these dozen or so names.

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