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ArabicClassroom of the Elite: Surviving with the Intel System — Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Physiological Needs Indeed Mean What He Understood
Hoshinomiya Chie.
On the surface, she presented herself as an energetic, approachable young educator who loved mingling with her students. Yet, as Akira observed the woman standing before him, his mind summoned a perplexing piece of intelligence he had acquired on the very first day of enrollment.
[Information Three: To satisfy physiological needs, please knock on Hoshinomiya Chie’s door three times at exactly 2:00 AM.]
‘Wait. The mysterious woman rumored to be completely open is actually this person? She is a faculty member?’Akira kept his expression perfectly neutral while his thoughts raced.’Could I have misunderstood the phrasing? Perhaps physiological needs does not refer to that specific act…’
The biological definition of the term was broad. Aside from the obvious, it encompassed the baseline requirements for human survival: air, water, sustenance, and sleep.
Hoshinomiya keenly registered the absolute zero atmosphere radiating from Suzune. Realizing the dark-haired girl was a conversational dead end, the teacher naturally pivoted her attention toward the silent boy standing nearby.
“Oh my. Isn’t this Shimizu-kun?” She closed the distance between them with a sudden, fluid step, bringing the sweet scent of floral perfume into his personal space. “You are even more handsome in person than in your photos.”
Akira maintained his polite facade. “Does Hoshinomiya-sensei know who I am?”
“Of course.” She raised a slender index finger, waving it back and forth in a playful rhythm. “The first-year girls have a secret Hotties Ranking circulating around, you know. Shimizu-kun is sitting right at the very top of that list.”
“The girls actually make rankings like that?” Akira shifted his gaze toward Suzune.
The dark-haired girl immediately cut him off. “Do not look at me. I had nothing to do with it.” Her tone remained entirely flat, devoid of any surprise. She clearly knew about the list long before this conversation.
“Shimizu-kun.” Hoshinomiya leaned in even closer, her eyes sparkling with the ravenous light of a dedicated gossip. “A handsome boy like you must already have a girlfriend, right? You must have received quite a few confessions since the entrance ceremony.”
Akira subtly adjusted his stance, pivoting his shoulder to create a few inches of distance without making it look like a retreat. “I do not have a girlfriend yet.”
“Eh.” Hoshinomiya drew out the syllable, tapping her chin with a manicured nail. “You only denied the girlfriend part. Which means you have indeed been confessed to, right?”
“…Yes. I have.” Akira allowed a brief pause before adding, “But I rejected them.”
The memory of Karuizawa Kei standing before him flashed through his mind. That interaction certainly qualified as a confession.
“Oh my.” Hoshinomiya dragged out her words again, her mischievous gaze darting between the two students. “Shimizu-kun could not possibly be…”
“…We are not like that,” Suzune interrupted reflexively.
The moment the words left her mouth, her posture stiffened. She realized her blunder a fraction of a second too late.
“…in love with our Ichinose, right?” Hoshinomiya finished her sentence with a bright smile. Her eyes remained locked onto Suzune’s face. “This student, I am talking about our class president, Ichinose. After all, Shimizu-kun spoke to her last week. You should not be so quick to react.”
Suzune froze completely.
The realization washed over her. She had walked blindly into a linguistic trap. This teacher had been staring directly at her while deliberately baiting the hook with another girl’s name.
‘That name… where have I seen it before?’Suzune searched her memory. She recalled the contact list Akira had shown her on his phone last week. Amidst the dense rows of text, the name Ichinose had indeed been present. Her full name was Ichinose Honami.’She did that on purpose. Absolutely on purpose.’Suzune felt her blood run cold. Her earlier decision to deliberately ignore the woman had clearly provoked this calculated, humiliating counterattack.’These teachers are even more unqualified than the last.’ Suzune rendered her harsh judgment in the silence of her mind.
First was her own homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae. A woman who constantly wore high heels, offered zero guidance, and left the campus the exact second her shift ended. Since the entrance ceremony, Chabashira had treated even the most basic class affairs with absolute apathy. While the other classes had long since elected their representatives and established order, Class D remained entirely leaderless, wandering like a flock of sheep abandoned in a wasteland.
And now, the woman standing in front of her.
Hoshinomiya tilted her head, idly twirling a strand of her slightly curled hair. Between her styled locks and the long legs exposed beneath her miniskirt, she looked exactly like a Shibuya street girl out for a night on the town.
The absurdity of the situation grated on Suzune’s nerves. A faculty member was openly prying into a male student’s romantic privacy right outside the staff room, all while holding a petty grudge over a perceived slight.
Suzune took a half-step back, her expression hardening into a mask of ice. “The employment standards of this academy are truly questionable. Your frivolous attire alone completely fails to meet the professional baseline expected of an educator.”
“Waaah. Mini Sae-chan is so scary. So scary.” Hoshinomiya exaggeratedly clutched both hands over her chest, yet the smile on her lips only grew wider and sharper.
She suddenly rose onto her tiptoes and pointed a manicured finger toward the ceiling. Right at the surveillance camera mounted in the hallway.
“But you know, under active surveillance, publicly questioning the School Administration and insulting faculty members will result in quite a few points being deducted.” Hoshinomiya giggled. “It seems Sae-chan’s grand plan is going to fail again. I am so afraid she is going to hit me over this.”
In the blink of an eye, the teacher’s expression morphed into one of distressed victimhood. She turned her teary, wronged gaze toward Akira. “Shimizu-kun, you have to testify for me. She started it.”
“Right. Shimizu-kun even gave me beer to drink, so you will protect your favorite teacher, right? Do not worry. As long as you protect me, I will give you plenty of rewards.” Hoshinomiya stretched out her hand, her voice dripping with coquettish sweetness.
Akira reacted instantly. He executed a flawless half-step backward, his body moving with the agile precision drilled into him through boxing. The delicate hand grasped nothing but empty air.
He had never expected that his first evasive retreat after mastering combat footwork would be used to dodge the delicate grasp of Hoshinomiya Chie.
‘So that is how it is.’
The puzzle pieces finally clicked into place. Those cans of beer he had given to Ichinose Honami as a token of gratitude had been regifted. The Class B president had handed them over to her homeroom teacher.
And this woman, operating on her own twisted logic, had taken the student’s regifted alcohol as a direct sign of affection from Akira himself.
So the woman was a functional alcoholic.
‘The so-called rewards she mentioned… they could not possibly be what I am thinking, could they?’
The ambiguous phrasing continued to ferment in his mind. His previous rationalization began to crumble. Perhaps the system’s mention of physiological needs meant exactly what he had initially assumed.
This Advanced Nurturing High School was truly a fascinating ecosystem. It enforced a brutal, cutthroat meritocracy upon its students, yet remained unusually lenient regarding the conduct of its faculty.
‘Wait. This person is the homeroom teacher for Class B.’
A cold realization washed over Akira. His eyes flickered slightly as he re-evaluated the entire exchange.
Hoshinomiya’s seemingly casual words and erratic behavior. Deliberately provoking Suzune with a frivolous tone. Instigating a heated argument in the exact spot where the hallway surveillance cameras could capture high-definition audio and video.
It was all a carefully constructed trap.
Suzune, reacting exactly as the woman had calculated, had lost her composure. By insulting a teacher and questioning the administration on camera, she had just cost Class D a portion of their precious Class Points.
From the perspective of a rival class, tripping up a competitor through such underhanded means was entirely unbecoming of an educator. It was dirty, manipulative, and petty.
But from the standpoint of a Class B student? Having a homeroom teacher who actively weaponized her own personality to sabotage rival factions and protect her students’ interests was a massive asset.
Despite acknowledging her tactical acumen, Akira felt his personal impression of the woman plummet.
Regardless of the competitive nature of the school, an adult using their authority to indirectly target and sabotage a student was a fundamental breach of character.