Himeko: Come, Have a Swig

As Himeko's battle came to an end, so did Xina's.

Once the ice coating the three Honkai Beasts reached a certain thickness, they completely lost the ability to move. Under Himeko's violently heavy slashes, they could only shatter together with the ice knocked from their bodies, breaking into countless messy fragments.

"Teacher Himeko, does this mean I passed?" Xina asked cautiously, tilting her head.

"Of course you passed, but... your ice is seriously tough." Looking at the hands gripping her sword, still numb from the vibrations, then at the tiny Xina beside her, Himeko could not help rubbing her forehead.

After a while, as if she had thought of something, she hurried over to Theresa and asked with an awkward smile, "Um, Principal, what grade are you planning to give Xina for that performance?"

"All right, Himeko. The assessment just ended, and I still need to review the grading criteria. Take Xina to class first." Without even raising her head, Theresa merely waved at the two of them while studying the test data on the screen before her.

"Okay, okay, Principal, you get back to work. We'll be going now!"

With that, Himeko grabbed Xina in one hand and dashed out of the assessment area as though carrying an oversized doll.

After rounding three corners in a row and confirming that Theresa had not followed them, Himeko finally set Xina down. Beaming with delight, she pulled a small silver flask from her collar, twisted off the cap, and rewarded herself with a huge swig.

Huh? Teachers could drink before class?

Xina did not understand, but Xina was deeply shocked.

Perhaps noticing the surprise in Xina's eyes, Himeko looked at the flask in her hand, then at Xina. With some reluctance, she shoved the flask up to Xina's face. "Want a swig too?"

"Ah?"

Staring at the flask pressed against her face, Xina's little brain seemed to have crashed.

It was one thing for you to drink yourself, but you even wanted to share it with your student! Should she praise you for being so willing to share, or complain that you still found time for a little drink while on the job?

"Come on, you have a swig too!" Himeko's face was red, and she was clearly a little drunk.

Drunk after one swig? Teacher Himeko, your alcohol tolerance is awful!

Thinking that, Xina sniffed the pungent yet vaguely familiar scent coming from the flask and decided to take back what she had just thought.

She understood why Himeko had gotten drunk after one swig just from the smell—the flask contained Old Maozi Grain Essence, something that could be used directly as fuel.

Before Xina could figure out how to refuse the drink, Himeko had already pressed her head into her chest, held the flask to her mouth, and poured in a tiny sip.

"Cough, cough, cough... So spicy..." Covering her tongue, Xina began hopping around beside Himeko. The liquor really was strong; just a few tiny drops made tears stream from her eyes like they cost nothing.

"Hahaha..." Seeing Xina's tearful appearance, Himeko could not help laughing out loud. With a rather mischievous grin, she poured another small sip into Xina's mouth.

"Huh? What's that noise outside?"

Still studying the assessment results before the screen, Theresa walked out of the assessment area in confusion. Following the sound around several corners, she happened to see a certain drunkard teacher drinking on the job, pouring alcohol into a student while throwing an arm around that unfortunate victim's shoulders and chatting away.

"HIMEKO!!!"

A sharp roar came from behind her. Looking at the not particularly tall figure charging toward her, Xina's eyes flashed with a trace of emotion.

She was here, she was here! She was coming toward her like a ray of light!

Thud!

With a dull impact on Himeko's head, Himeko, physically sobered up, looked at the flask in her hand and the pitiful victim beside her who had suffered at her 'hands,' then could not help swallowing.

"Major, do you have anything to say for yourself now?"

Theresa's face was covered in dark lines, and her tone was extremely stern. She did not even address Himeko the way she usually did.

Himeko stuck out her tongue. After seeing the label written beneath the flask in her hand, she awkwardly explained, "My dear Principal, you may not believe this, but the truth is, I grabbed the wrong flask when I left. I thought this one had Wheat Juice in it."

"Fine, fine, keep going. That excuse is absolutely brilliant—a brand-new version I've never heard before!"

On the surface, Theresa seemed to applaud appreciatively. But from the shift in her tone, Xina felt that Teacher Himeko might—no, definitely would—be in deep trouble!

Sure enough, after being handed a drinking ban and ordered to turn over every bottle of alcohol she had hidden away, Himeko dragged Xina along a long tree-lined avenue in a lifeless daze until they arrived at a noisy teaching building.

Hearing the uniquely chaotic noise inside, along with Kiana's highly recognizable voice, Himeko's already stiff expression darkened completely.

She marched to the classroom door with murderous intent, kicked it open with great force, and led Xina inside.

"Can you quiet down?! Do you have any idea that in this entire teaching building, our class is the loudest? I can hear you making a racket from half a building away! Can you all get perfect scores on your exams now? Or can you solo a Temple-Class Honkai Beast in actual combat?! Huh?! Why aren't you saying anything now?!"

Himeko slammed her palm onto the teacher's desk, leaving a clear handprint on its surface.

"..."

Realizing that Teacher Himeko was especially irritable today, the students in the classroom immediately fell silent. Even their breathing and heartbeats could be heard clearly.

After several long minutes, Himeko finally calmed down a little. She lifted her hand from the desk and nodded to Xina beside her.

"Today, our class has a transfer student. Xina, come introduce yourself."

"Okay." After writing her name on the blackboard, Xina turned to face everyone. "Hello, everyone. My name is Xina. I'm from North America. Please take care of me."

During the earlier silence, she had already scanned the entire classroom layout.

The classroom had five rows and five columns of seats, but there were not many occupied ones—only a little over ten students in total.

Kiana and Mei sat together in the fourth row, while Bronya sat by the window beside the aisle in the third row.

Fu Hua... Fu Hua was nowhere to be seen. She had probably gone out temporarily for something.

Then again, that made sense. If Fu Hua had been in the classroom, the class could not possibly have been as noisy as it had been just now.

Kiana saw that Xina was looking at her and happily waved to her. Xina returned the gesture with a polite smile.

After hearing Xina's introduction, the other students below the stage applauded to welcome her as well.

Himeko gestured for everyone to stop. "All right, Xina. There aren't many people in our class, so pick a seat you like."

"Okay." Xina stepped down from the podium and looked at the empty seats scattered all around, momentarily overwhelmed by indecision.

But as the saying went: by the window in the back row, the king's homeland. By the door in the back row, the class's God. By the trash can in the back row, noble blood.

With such a useful formula, Xina chose the window seat closest to the back door in the entire classroom. What was more... there was even a water dispenser not far from that spot.