After three days of pushing himself, Shangguan Che rubbed the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror, finally seeing them fade. He couldn't help lamenting inwardly, How is Sakura's constitution so good?
A few days ago, he had specifically asked Sakura how her dark circles disappeared so quickly. She had casually replied, "I just sleep," and hadn't relied on makeup at all.
That answer had made Shangguan Che intensely envious.
They both stayed up late and got dark circles, so how could there be such a huge difference between people?
The moment he stepped into the classroom, a heavy atmosphere hit him. Shangguan Che glanced around and saw Ken Sudō slam his textbook onto his desk, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. He looked even angrier than he had a few days ago, when he'd argued with someone over a math problem.
Then he looked at Hirata, standing beside his desk with a worried expression, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the textbook.
Shangguan Che's heart sank. What happened now? May's barely started, and the difficulty's already set to maximum?
As soon as the morning meeting bell rang, Chabashira Sae walked into the classroom with an expressionless face, just as she had at the beginning of the month. Her high heels clicked against the floor, and the room fell silent at once. After getting scolded by her icy stare once before, no one dared speak carelessly anymore.
"Yesterday evening, a brawl took place in the unused club building." Chabashira-sensei's voice was cold. The moment she finished speaking, the classroom erupted.
"What? Something like that can happen at school?" someone exclaimed in a hushed voice.
"Chabashira-sensei, was anyone hurt?" Kushida Kikyo immediately stood up, her voice full of concern.
Shangguan Che muttered inwardly, Is Kushida really sincere about this? No, no—clear my mind. Don't overthink it, and definitely don't look at her, or I'll get dragged into something again.
The terrifying sixth sense of women in the anime world. I absolutely can't let my guard down here.
"No one in our class was hurt." Chabashira-sensei's words quieted the room somewhat, but a new wave of commotion quickly followed.
"So the people who fought were from Class D and another class, and it was students from the other class who got hurt?" Horikita Suzune turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Shangguan Che was sitting right beside them, so her words drifted straight into his ears. He scratched his head. I don't have super-hearing. It's not my fault—I just happened to hear that by accident. He casually listened to the whole exchange.
"Chabashira-sensei, what do you mean by that?" Hirata finally spoke up, his voice urgent.
Chabashira-sensei scanned the class, then fixed her gaze on Sudō. "Yesterday, Ken Sudō got into a fight with three students from Class C. Sudō wasn't injured, but all three students from Class C were seriously hurt."
"Class C has now reported Sudō's violent behavior to the school and is demanding that he be expelled."
"That's not true!" Sudō slammed his hands on the desk and stood up, his face flushed. "They were the ones who asked me to go to the club building! And they were the ones who provoked me into fighting!"
"The two sides' accounts don't match, so the school has referred the matter to the Student Council for a ruling. Next Monday, Class C and Class D will face off, and both sides may present evidence." Chabashira-sensei paused, then continued, "Now, does anyone here have information as an eyewitness?"
The students began searching their memories, but after a long while, no one raised a hand.
Apparently, no one had been near the club building at that time.
"Chabashira-sensei, will this cost our class Class Points?" someone asked cautiously.
"Of course. Individual behavior affects Class Points. That's school policy." Chabashira-sensei's words were like a bucket of cold water over Shangguan Che's head.
His "attribute point increase plan" couldn't afford a setback like this! This was a major matter that affected two quests.
"The school is currently looking for witnesses. I expect the teachers of the other classes are explaining the situation as well," Chabashira-sensei added.
Shangguan Che's thoughts stirred. Is she hinting that we can ask students from other classes for help?
"This means the news about the fight between Class C and Class D has already gotten out," Horikita whispered to Ayanokoji.
Shangguan Che was confused. Wouldn't the school put up a notice about this sooner or later? 'Gotten out' makes it sound so serious. Once again, he felt helpless about his knack for "overhearing things by accident."
Throughout the morning meeting, Hirata said nothing, his brows tightly knit. Shangguan Che resolved to ask him about it after class. But before he could get up, Hirata came over on his own.
"Shangguan, could you help me with something?" Hirata asked pleadingly.
"Sure." Shangguan Che nodded.
"Could you help me find out whether anyone from another class witnessed what happened?"
"Of course!" Shangguan Che agreed at once, then furrowed his brow. "But we're only free at lunchtime, right? We have a study session this afternoon. We can't go looking around at night."
He changed tack. "How about we leave Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudō in Kushida's hands for now? If they end up failing and getting expelled, they might blame you. Kushida should be able to handle them."
"That works. Lunch is on me." Hirata relaxed.
"...All right." Shangguan Che agreed aloud, while inwardly scolding himself. Keep pretending, Shangguan Che! Let's see how long you can keep acting like a 'good guy' in front of Hirata!
"By the way, let's ask Chabashira-sensei at lunch if we can check the cameras near the scene and see whether anyone else passed by," Shangguan Che suggested.
"Great idea! You're so smart, Shangguan!" Hirata's eyes lit up, and he praised him as if he were a child.
Shangguan Che's mouth twitched. He said nothing, only nodding. Forget it. There was no point holding that against Hirata.
The two had just reached the teachers' office when Hirata stopped. "Shangguan, it looks like Chabashira-sensei isn't here."
"Then should we come back later?" Shangguan Che was about to leave, but Hirata grabbed him.
"Wait. I'll ask the teacher where she is." Hirata waved his phone. A reply soon came in. "Chabashira-sensei says she'll be here in ten minutes."
"Then let's wait inside." Shangguan Che pushed open the office door. It was empty, except for the humming printer and a pink-haired girl standing beside it.
"Good afternoon, Shangguan!" The girl turned around. It was Ichinose Honami.
"What a coincidence. Ichinose, this is my friend, Hirata Yosuke," Shangguan Che introduced them.
"Nice to meet you, Hirata. I'm Ichinose Honami." Ichinose smiled and nodded, her expression bright.
"Nice to meet you," Hirata replied politely.
"Ichinose, what are you printing?" Shangguan Che asked, even though he already knew she was printing tests and handouts. He asked anyway, out of "politeness."
"That's a secret~" Ichinose winked, her tone playful.
"Now I want to know even more!" Shangguan Che teased her on purpose.
"Hey, Shangguan, that's not very nice, is it?" Hirata quickly tugged at his sleeve, afraid he would upset Ichinose. He knew what Shangguan Che was like, but didn't know Ichinose was already used to it.
"It's okay, Hirata." Ichinose waved a hand and smiled. "I'm just printing tests and handouts."
"Are you curious why I came to the teachers' office to print everything by myself?" Ichinose tilted her head and gave them a sly smile.
Shangguan Che really was curious. Back in high school, the class representative would call five or six people over just to pick up a few things. Why had Ichinose come alone to print documents for the whole class? But he played along. "Yeah, Hirata and I are both curious. Please, kind-hearted Ichinose, tell us!" He deliberately used the same tone he did when chatting with Ichinose online.
"Oh, I'm not that kind~" Ichinose laughed. "You're making things up again, Shangguan!"
"I'll stop making things up. I really want to know, so please tell me, Ichinose." Shangguan Che put on a "sincere" expression.
"All right, then." Ichinose lifted her right index finger and lightly tapped it against her lips. "Printing documents in the teachers' office is free. You don't have to spend your personal points~"
"I see! Then thank you so much. I owe you another favor!" Shangguan Che realized.
"I told you, you don't have to remember little things like this!" Ichinose waved her hand. The printer beeped, and the documents were ready. She expertly gathered the pages and held them in her arms.
"Perfect timing—they're done. I'll get going. See you, Shangguan. See you, Hirata!"
"Do you need help?" Shangguan Che asked casually as he watched Ichinose carry a thick stack of papers.
"No, I can manage. Thanks, kind-hearted Shangguan~" Ichinose smiled and waved before leaving the office.
Shangguan Che stared after her, feeling as though he had grasped something important but couldn't quite remember what it was.
Ichinose always seemed to be thinking of her class all by herself, while keeping her own hard work carefully hidden.
"Hey, Shangguan, Ichinose's already gone. Stop thinking about whether you should've offered to help!" Hirata patted him on the shoulder.
"You're overthinking it. I was just spacing out." Shangguan Che snapped back to his senses and quickly denied it.
He couldn't exactly say he was thinking about Ichinose, could he?
"Oh, I see. Then I was overthinking it." Hirata didn't give it another thought and smiled as he scratched his head.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind them. "Well, you two seem pretty relaxed. Having such a nice chat in the teachers' office?"
Shangguan Che and Hirata turned at the same time. Chabashira-sensei stood in the doorway with a stack of lesson plans in her arms, her expression as icy as ever.
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