COTE Alternative

Vol. 1: Chapter 8.2 - Association of Failures

The class had once again descended into chaos after their viewing of the audio file containing my confrontation with Chabashira-sensei back on the second day.

"Sensei, is it all true? Did the school lie to us after all?!"

"If I knew all this before, I wouldn't have come to this school in the first place!"

And other similar cries resonated throughout the classroom. I had hoped that the other classes couldn't hear our commotion or else they would be curious on what the noise waa about.

"SILENCE!" Chabashira-sensei commanded, all of my classmates quieting down at her words.

"The school didn't 'lie' to you, we just withheld important information that is valuable for your prospective futures." I don't think that's helping...

"THAT SOUNDS EVEN WORSE!"

"Hmm, I suppose it is." She hummed in response, not at all concerned about the state her class is currently in. "Though, I'm not surprised that only a few of you had the brains to try and dig deeper. To be expected from a bunch of defects after all."

An important thing to note is that this was the first time that Chabashira-sensei had spoken since Horikita and I got in front of the class.

Whether she's planning to disrupt my plans or to offer her help, the choice is rather obvious. She has no motive in doing the former, instead it would be more likely for her to want to help me, seeing as this was the class that she was overseeing. I suspect that teachers also benefit from their class holding the highest position in the hierarchy.

Despite seeing the despairing and enraged faces on her students, Chabashira-sensei continued.

"What the hell did you just say sensei?!"

"Defects. That's what the school has labelled you as. That's what you are and that's never going to change, especially with the way you are now." While the rest of the class wallowed in their own self-pity from her words, Chabashira-sensei continued once more.

"Ah that reaction truly proves that you belong in Class D." She mocked them

“In this school, students are sorted by their level of excellence. The
superior students are sorted into Class A, the least capable in Class D. It’s the same system you’d find in the major cram schools. In other words, Class D is akin to the last bastion for failures. You are the worst of the worst.
You’re defective." That was something that not mentioned in the recording.

The class knew from the file that they were comsidered the worst, but they didn't know how bad they truly were.

Horikita started seething beside me. While she knew that she was placed in Class D, the lowest class of the year , hearing it coming from the teacher's mouth is a different thing altogether.

I put a hand on her shoulder. This simple act calmed her down. It wouldn't do well for the presenters to lose their composure wouldn't it?

“Th-that’s…absurd! We didn’t hear anything about that!”

A bespectacled student named Yukimura stood up. He looked like the studious type from what I've seen during class discussions.

"Hoh? Do you consider yourself a superior student Yukimura? Are you dissatisfied with your placement in Class D?" Chabashira-sensei goaded him on.

"Of course I consider myself superior! I'm sure that I got one of the highest scores in the entrance exam! I don't deserve to be with these defects." Bad move Yukimura, you just made most of the class hate you with that statement.