Although Tokyo Metropolitan Advanurturing High School differed signifitly from ordinary high schools in terms of rules and structure, its overall yout remained rgely ventional. For instahe homeroom teachers' office was located at the end of the first-year corridor, separate from the offices of subject teachers.

  Since subject teachers had no involvement in css petitions, their workspaces were positioned on the opposite side of the academic building—an iional measure to prevent information leaks between csses.

  Walking side by side behind Hoshinomiya, Hikaru and Iade their way toward the office to retrieve teag materials.

  But more importantly, they had aask—printing the tract prohibiting the resale of the school's hidden rules.

  The tract tempte was stored in the school's internal system, accessible only through faculty puters. Having an officially saned tract was a crucial step in their pn.

  ---

  "Drip, drip, da--~!"

  As they walked through the corridor, Hoshinomiya hummed an unfamiliar tune, her tone cheerful and melodic.

  With her youthful appearand voice as clear and bright as a child's, it was hard to believe she was actually a teacher.

  "Sensei, are you in a good mood?"

  As the ever-reliable mood-setter, Iose took the opportunity to lightemosphere with a casual question.

  "Of course!" Hoshinomiya responded pyfully, tapping the ground lightly with her feet as she walked.

  "Today, I discovered two amazing students—and the best part? They're from my own css! How could I not be happy?"

  "...Is that so? Well, I suppose that's a good reason to celebrate," Iose replied with a slightly awkward smile, still adjusting to Hoshinomiya's etric way of speaking.

  "Sensei, what time do the m activities officially clude?"

  Hikaru had no i in their lighthearted exge. He was more ed with the actual schedule.

  "Hmm… 11:30 AM. That gives you about an hour," Hoshinomiya answered, pausing briefly as they he office.

  "Sioday is the first day, there isn't muned after the opening ceremony. Besides receivibooks and dormitory key cards, the only other scheduled activity is the ele of css representatives."

  "Ohat's done, everyone is free to rex and prepare for tomorrow's lessons."

  "But you two are heading to Css 1-A ter, aren't you? That means you'll o speed things up once you're done here. Make sure to finalize the css representative sele quickly before you go."

  "Got it," Hikaru replied.

  "Oh, by the way, our school's css representative system is a bit different from what you might be used to," Hoshinomiya added with a mischievous smile.

  "Because here, there's only one position avaible."

  "..."

  Hikaru and Iose exged gnces.

  After learning about the school's hidden rules, they now had a much clearer uanding of how things worked.

  If only oudent could hold the role of css representative, then the implications were obvious.

  Hoshinomiya, seeing their realization, shrugged casually.

  "Css representative is just a title," she said lightly. "You could call it css leader, css delegate, or css head instead. The name doesn't really matter."

  "The important thing is that this person will be responsible for leading the css forward."

  "That makes sense."

  After Hikaru for a while, Hoshinomiya finally shifted her gaze toward Iose.

  "But personally, I think Iose-san should take the role."

  "Eh? Why me?" Iose was visibly surprised by the teacher's suggestion. "Wouldn't Hikaru be a better choice?"

  She immediately tried to dee, expressing her ck of fiden taking on such a responsibility.

  "No, I agree with Hoshinomiya-sensei," Hikaru said calmly.

  He met Iose's gaze and spoke in a posed tone.

  "I think you possess something I ck."

  "...And what's that?"

  "Charisma."

  Hikaru didn't hesitate to praise her. It didn't cost him anything to say hings, and who knew? It might even boost her stock price.

  "Iose-san has a natural trustworthy aura. Even people meeting you for the first time feel fortable opening up to you. That's a rare, ialent."

  "And this ability is crucial for uniting the css. If flicts arise, I believe you'd be the best person to resolve them quickly and smoothly."

  "Wh-what? I'm not that amazing…!"

  Iose's face turned a soft shade of pink at his straightforraise.

  Her usually posed expression faltered, and a touch of shyness seeped into her delicate features.

  From the front, Hoshinomiya was thhly enjoying the se, uo hold back her amusement.

  "Aww, isn't this just youth?" she teased.

  After them closely, she made an iing remark.

  The tall, sharp-featured boy on the left and the graceful, bright-eyed girl on the right—despite wearing identical school uniforms, they looked like a pair straight out of a fashion magazine.

  "Hikaru and Iose should get along well~" Hoshinomiya mused aloud, her tone pyful. "Maybe iure, you two might even—"

  "Sensei, let's focus on finalizing the css representative ter. Right now, we should deal with more pressing matters."

  Hikaru swiftly cut her off before she could tinue.

  "Fine, fine~ But I'll be looking forward to seeing how this pys out, hahaha."

  ---

  Upoering the homeroom teachers' office, Hikaru immediately noticed a tall, slender female figure standihe bookshelves.

  "Oh my, Sae-, are you here for textbooks too?"

  Hoshinomiya's casual tone indicated familiarity as she greeted the woman with a niame.

  "Yes."

  It was only when Hikaru got closer that he noticed the stunningly elegant teacher.

  Unlike Hoshinomiya, who had a trendy and youthful look, this woman wore a perfectly fitted bck business suit, paired with a crisp white blouse.

  Her long, shapely legs were ed in bck tights, emphasizing an impeccable silhouette.

  Her refined features carried a cold, distant air, yet the mature and anding aura she exuded gave her a pletely different kind of appeal.

  "I'm here to collect teag materials too," Hoshinomiya decred smugly. "And I brought two exceptional students with me~!"

  She turoward Hikaru and Iose as if showing them off.

  "This is Hikaru, and this is Iose."

  Then, she introduced the woman to them.

  "And this is Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher of Css 1-D. You call her Chabashira-sensei."

  "Good m, Chabashira-sensei."

  Hikaru and Iose politely greeted her, but Chabashira simply gave them a slight nod before briskly exiting the room without saying another word.

  "She's always like that—not much of a talker," Hoshinomiya expined with a light ugh.

  But Hikaru caught something different in her eyes—a flicker of rese.

  Huh…

  Looks like eveeachers have their own power struggles. Iing.

  Hikaru mentally filed away this new discovery.

  But before he could dwell on it further, a system notification suddenly popped up in his vision.

  [Ding!]

  [olocked: Chabashira Sae]

  [Current Stock Price: 50]

  …Huh???

  Hikaru blinked, momentarily stunned.

  He had been amused by Hoshinomiya's rivalry, but this?

  Wait, wait, wait… Teachers have stock values too?!

  What kind of system is this?!