Chapter 169

The girl certainly heard that sentence.

These words, far more provocative than anything she had ever said before, instantly made her chest feel tight. She looked at Kuroki Yuka in front of her and pushed her hard with both hands.

Kuroki Yuka was suddenly and roughly pushed backward, her head hitting the wall with a loud thud.

"Say it again?"

The girl stared intently at her.

And right after she did that, the classroom became very quiet.

The girl initially found it a bit strange, until another classmate nudged her in the back and made her turn around. Only then did she see the woman next to her who had just picked up the sketchbook.

It was an older woman, much taller than her, wearing a teacher's black uniform. After picking up the picture book, she casually straightened the folded corners of the pages.

Then, the woman looked at the girl who had pushed the other girl.

"Teacher Haihara... just now..."

The girl was clearly embarrassed and at a loss for what to do, and she stammered as she spoke.

At that moment, Kuroki Yuka also saw this woman who gave off a cold impression.

Haihara is their Chinese language teacher. She is a young female teacher who is not very popular with students. She usually doesn't have much enthusiasm for teaching and has an indifferent attitude towards students.

Teacher Haihara must have seen what just happened.

Even if a teacher has an obligation to handle the situation, they would probably just say a few words to the girl.

After all, that girl was cute, cheerful, and talkative, making her very popular in class and having a good relationship with the teachers.

Kuroki Yuka had no expectations of this teacher.

Her school teachers have always been like this, treating the disadvantaged students in the class coldly and doing nothing about it.

Moreover, this is a teacher who doesn't care whether the students are good or bad.

Just as she was thinking this, she soon heard a crisp sound—

"---Smack!"

Kuroki Yuka was stunned when she heard that sound.

Not only her, but the other students around her were also stunned, as if none of them had ever imagined what was happening before their eyes.

Even if she thought she had misheard, when Kuroki Yuka looked up, she saw the woman's raised hand.

The girl's face was half red after being slapped, and her expression was full of surprise and blankness.

Kuroki Yuka couldn't believe it.

Even for a teacher, this is incredibly strange. A teacher hitting a student is a very serious matter...

But Teacher Haihara seemed completely unconcerned about this, simply holding the sketchbook in one hand and saying indifferently:

"Instead of thinking about these pointless, messy things between men and women all day, you should focus on your grades, Tsuruta- kun."

"No matter how wonderful your high school years are, you'll just be a piece of trash that can be discarded at any time in society."

This young female teacher said something quite awful for a teacher.

The pretty girl named Tsuruta, with her head down, kept touching her slapped face. After hearing Teacher Haihara's words, she cried, whether out of anger or shame.

But when Teacher Haihara saw Tsuruta crying, she didn't care at all. She simply placed the sketchbook on Kuroki Yuka's desk and left.

She seemed to be simply going back to the classroom to retrieve some documents between classes.

The surrounding classmates gathered around Tsuruta, who was crying after being scolded. Some comforted her, while others berated Haihara for what she had just done.

"What is that teacher doing? How dare she hit someone? Has she lost her mind?"

"This kind of teacher should be reported; she absolutely has to be fired."

"Let's go to the Tsuruta together and make that scumbag leave this school. He doesn't deserve to be a teacher..."

The students seem to have harbored resentment towards Teacher Haihara for a long time.

In fact, before this, Kuroki Yuka had heard rumors that Teacher Haihara was unpopular.

He smokes, lacks enthusiasm in class, and is indifferent to students; I've also heard about even worse scandals.

Generally speaking, no teacher would help an unpopular student by hitting the most popular child in the class.

However, Tsuruta shook his head, indicating that he had no intention of reporting Teacher Haihara as the students had suggested.

"Forget it, that scumbag was reported a long time ago. She had that scandal not long ago, she'll probably resign soon, that's why she's so emboldened now..."

"Who knows what she might do before she's fired? It's best not to mess with her..."

Kuroki Yuka was briefly confused after hearing what Tsuruta said.

What kind of scandal happened not long ago?

What does that mean?

In the noisy and irritating classroom, Kuroki Yuka carefully smoothed out her sketchbook. Although the creases were irreversible, she tried her best to make it neat.

And in her mind, the image of that woman who had just appeared in front of her would flash by from time to time.

What kind of person is Teacher Haihara?

Chapter 100 The Adult's Embrace

During breaks between classes, you can hear a lot of whispered discussions in the corridors.

The sounds were all very faint, but when they overlapped in my ears, they became exceptionally clear.

"Look, isn't that the legendary Chinese literature teacher...?"

"Seriously, those eyes are terrifying; you can tell from their expression that they have a terrible personality."

Some students covered their mouths and whispered among themselves.

"I heard she had that kind of thing with a student, isn't that disgusting?"

"Really? It's already come to that point?"

"Or is she a female student?"

A nasty laugh.

There are also very vulgar remarks that are annoying to hear, but the people around them just laugh along and no one thinks anything is wrong.

Some students, who felt they knew the truth, were indignant:

"That kind of scum is a teacher? Are you kidding me?"

"Yeah, they should be fired as soon as possible."

"If you ask me, I'd rather just die..."

One by one, young and naive voices emerged, but one after another, they converged into the worst kind of vicious words. These vicious words, though mild, permeated everything.

Pure malice gradually wove into a web within this school, spreading to every corner around it.

In the classroom, at the entrance to the restroom, along the corridor...

A female teacher, expressionless and seemingly oblivious to the whispering students, walked step by step down the corridor toward her office.

As the students watched her walk by, some felt disgusted, some were curious, and others watched coldly.

Haihara, the target of these rumors, left the corridor without stopping, saying nothing even though she had clearly heard the bad things being said, and walked straight back to her office.

Although she is only a teacher, Haihara her own office.

It was nominally the health clinic teacher's personal office, but it was a sinecure assigned to her by the principal.

Back in her office, Haihara sat down alone in her chair, staring blankly at the course materials she was about to organize. She remained expressionless, making no sound or movement.

Previously, because her office was spacious and well-equipped, female teachers from her class would often come to sit there for a while. But recently, no one has come here anymore.

Haihara didn't have any particular thoughts.

She wasn't very familiar with the teachers who often came to visit, and since she preferred to be alone, it was better for the office to be quiet.

Just as she was thinking this, someone knocked on the office door.

After Haihara said "Please come in," she saw a female teacher who was about the same age as her push open the door.

Saying that no one will be coming recently is not entirely accurate.

At least one female teacher surnamed Suzuki doesn't seem to care about the rumors and continues to visit her as before.

The female teacher in front of me was young and elegant, with a gentle personality. She taught music, so she was very popular among the students. She was the complete opposite of Haihara.

Because she teaches music, Haihara and Teacher Suzuki weren't very close before these things happened.

Even now, Haihara's attitude towards her remains consistently cold and indifferent.

"Haihara, I'll come and sit here for a while today."

Teacher Suzuki smiled and sat down opposite Haihara's desk. Haihara didn't react and continued to stare blankly with her head down.

After the others arrived at her office, Haihara stood there in a daze for a short while before starting to organize the course materials on her desk.

In addition to being a music teacher Teacher Suzuki also serves as the advisor for the light music club, so she's not exactly idle right now.

However, after sitting down, she didn't immediately rush to deal with club work. Instead, she took out a small lunchbox and gently opened it.

Haihara ignored the noise.

Until Teacher Suzuki's gentle voice, perfect for singing, appeared in my ears:

"I baked cookies today, and the other teachers all said they tasted great! Can you try them and see if they're any good?"

Haihara looked up and glanced at Suzuki with her lazy, gloomy eyes. Teacher Suzuki then gently pushed the lunchbox full of cookies in front of Haihara.

Although it was said to be for her to try, it seemed like she was to eat it all.

Haihara looked down at the various shapes of cookies in the box. The shapes were all quite cute, like little animals, stars, or hearts. However, many of them were not properly filled with filling, making them look a bit strange.

Appearance didn't matter, of course. She didn't say anything, picked up a cookie, and put a small bite in her mouth.

The lips touched the cookie, making a crisp, soft sound.

Only after chewing and swallowing did Haihara casually say, somewhat surprised:

"The taste is not bad."

However, his tone remained as cold as ever.

Suzuki, however, seemed completely unconcerned. She simply rested her cheeks on her hands, looking at Haihara eating cookies with a happy and gentle expression.

"Then eat some more!"

Teacher Suzuki 'Haihara behavior very strange.

Why do people look so happy when they see others eating cookies?

What a strange woman.

Haihara vaguely understood that Teacher Suzuki was probably the kind of woman who was gentle to everyone, even to someone as gloomy and unpopular as herself.

It wasn't for any particular reason, it was simply because the person in front of me was a good person.

Haihara remained silent, simply following Teacher Suzuki's instructions and eating the cookies one by one.

The cookies weren't very tasty.

I don't know if Teacher Suzuki didn't do a good job, or if it's just because Teacher Suzuki likes this flavor, but it seems like there was a lot of sugar in the cookies.

Haihara dislikes things that are too sweet.

In the quiet office, the sound of Haihara eating cookies was very clear, and Teacher Suzuki just watched with a smile as Haihara ate the cookies.

However, after a while, the sound of eating cookies suddenly stopped.

Teacher Suzuki was also taken aback for a moment.

"..."

Haihara lowered her head, her hand reaching for the cookie again, but it froze, as if frozen in place. Only her previously silent gaze now held a light that seemed inappropriate for her.

Seeing her expression, Teacher Suzuki opened her mouth, but didn't say anything immediately.

After a while, Teacher Suzuki picked up a tissue from the table, reached out and gently wiped Haihara 'Haihara face.