Love Live and Kamen Rider 43

With that, Eli Ayase thanked Senba Gari, then left together with Nozomi Tojo.

"Alright, now I should go and check on the class where Kotori is."

Watching the figures of Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo fade into the distance, Senba Gari prepared to leave as well, but then he remembered something.

"Wait, where is Kotori's class?! Damn it! I actually forgot to ask again! Argh! It looks like I'll have to search class by class."

Saying this, Senba Gari wandered through the hallway in frustration.

--The boy is lost--

"Uwah!"

In the infirmary, Honoka Kosaka sat up from the hospital bed, looked around the room, and then let out a sigh of relief.

"What the, it was just a dream. That scared me."

She then climbed off the bed and walked out of the infirmary. In the hallway, Honoka hummed a tune, skipping along while greeting the people she passed.

"Fumika, Mika, Hideko, good morning."

Seeing Honoka Kosaka greeting them, Fumika, Mika, and Hideko all looked at her with concern. One of the girls with short hair, Mika, looked at Honoka worriedly and said.

"Is she okay?"

"It's probably because the news of the school closing hit her too hard."

Fumika, one of the three, also looked at Honoka with concern as she spoke.

Then, when Honoka Kosaka walked past the bulletin board, her entire mood soured, and she muttered to herself.

"It really wasn't a dream."

"Clatter~"

When the classroom door opened, Honoka Kosaka walked past Umi Sonoda and Minami Kotori with a gloomy expression, sat down in her seat, and buried her head in her arms. Minami Kotori looked at Honoka Kosaka with concern and said.

"Honoka looks so depressed. I didn't realize she loved this school so much."

"That's not it, she must have misunderstood something."

"Misunderstood?"

Umi Sonoda's words left Minami Kotori feeling puzzled. Then, Honoka Kosaka suddenly lifted her head, stood up, and looked at her two childhood friends with teary eyes before speaking.

"What do I do? I haven't studied yet, and the school is going to close! If there's some kind of transfer test or something, I'm definitely doomed! Plus, I love this place so much, so no matter what, it absolutely cannot close!"

"Ahaha, Honoka, calm down," Minami Kotori said, sweating nervously as she watched the frantic Honoka Kosaka. "Even if you say that now, it won't help."

"Kotori is right, Honoka. Even if you say that now, it won't change the current situation."

Umi Sonoda, standing to the side, chimed in to agree with Kotori.

"I know that, of course, but... but..." Honoka Kosaka slumped onto her desk, nearly crying. "It's just so frustrating! I love this school so much..."

"I love it too..."

"There's nothing we can do. I heard that the number of students enrolling has been decreasing every year. By next year, there might not be any students applying to Otonokizaka Academy at all..."

Umi Sonoda said with a troubled expression.

"Who says that? My little sister is going to apply to Otonokizaka Academy next year!" Honoka Kosaka shouted.

"That's only one person; it won't change anything. Besides, the decision to close the school has already been made. Unless the application rate for our Otonokizaka Academy middle school division is extremely high, otherwise... and it's not just the students, even many teachers have left. After all, no one wants to teach at a school that's about to close, right?"

"..."

Hearing Umi Sonoda's analysis, Honoka Kosaka lowered her head in despair.

"Ah... speaking of teachers, have you heard? A new world history teacher is coming to our class," Minami Kotori said with a smile, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"Eh? A new world history teacher?" Honoka Kosaka looked at her in surprise. "I've never heard of that, and there haven't been any rumors about it in school."

"Kotori, are you sure about that?" Umi Sonoda looked at her with equal surprise.

"Mhm, I just heard it from my mom. And apparently, she used to be an archaeologist, too."

"Eh, an archaeologist?! But after she finds out that the school is closing soon, will she really come?"

Umi Sonoda said with some worry. However, young ladies, are you sure you said 'she' instead of 'he'?

Just then, a voice from outside the door caught everyone's attention.

--Perspective shift--

Outside the door of Class 2-B, Senba Gari spoke to a woman in her twenties wearing a grey office lady outfit standing beside him.

"Thank you so much for this, Ms. Fukagawa. If you hadn't shown me the way, I don't know how much longer I would have been wandering around."

A few minutes ago, Senba Gari had been walking through the hallway in frustration when he ran into Ms. Fukagawa, who was on her way to class. After explaining his situation, he had asked her to lead him here.

(Though I have to ask, aren't there only two classes for the second year?! How could you still not find it?!)

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. But if you really want to thank me, why don't you join me for a meal after we get off work?"

As she spoke, Ms. Fukagawa began to lean in toward Senba Gari, but he subtly pushed her away. Senba Gari then said with some embarrassment.

"Uh, haha, that won't be necessary. I'm very busy, yes, extremely busy!"

"It's fine. If today doesn't work, we'll try tomorrow. If tomorrow doesn't work, we'll try the day after. I'll keep at it until you have an opening."

"No, no, no! I don't have time tomorrow, the day after, or even next year or the year after that! And I suggest you go climb into a refrigerator right now to cool off!"

"Clatter~"

"Bang."

With that, Senba Gari pushed the door open, then immediately slammed it shut, leaving Fukagawa-sensei out in the hall.

"Honestly, but I'm not going to let you off the hook~"

Then, Fukagawa-sensei walked away.

"Whew~ My god, are all unmarried women of a certain age this terrifying? She scared the life out of me. Looks like I'll have to avoid her from now on. Uh, hello there."

Senba Gari looked out the door with the expression of a survivor, then turned around to see all the girls inside staring at him in utter confusion and bewilderment.

Isn't this an all-girls school?! What's the deal with a guy walking in here?!

That was the thought running through every girl's mind.

Then, all the girls watched as Senba Gari walked slowly toward the podium, placed his belongings down, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote the name Senba Gari on the blackboard. He turned around, rested his hands on the edges of the podium, and smiled at the stunned girls below.

"Hello everyone. My name is Senba Gari. Starting today, I will be your new World History teacher as well as your homeroom teacher."

Gossip is a girl's natural instinct.

"Teacher, what do you like to eat?"

"Teacher..."

"Teacher..."

"Teacher..."

"...My, my god, someone save me!"

Senba Gari clutched his head, staring at the group of girls with starry eyes and the mountain of questions they were throwing at him. He was damned if he answered and damned if he didn't!

Rewinding to a few minutes earlier.

Time Divider-

"..."

Silence. Absolute silence. Once Senba Gari finished speaking, the entire class fell quiet. Senba Gari felt like he could hear the wind blowing, but the next second, a massive uproar erupted from the classroom.

"Ehhhhhh?!"

"Ow, my ears," Senba Gari said, clutching his ears in pain.

"I mean, isn't your reaction a bit too intense?!"

Down in the seats, Honoka Kosaka grabbed Umi Sonoda's shoulders in a panic.

"Umi, did you hear that?! Our new teacher is actually that guy!"

"I, I heard you, Honoka! Stop shaking me, I'm getting dizzy!"

Umi Sonoda's eyes were spinning in circles as she spoke dizzily to Honoka Kosaka.

"Hey, you student over there. I know you might not be able to process this right away, but it's class time now. Could I ask you to return to your seat?"

Senba Gari looked at Honoka Kosaka below with a kindly expression.

"Oh, oh, sorry." Hearing Senba Gari's voice, Honoka Kosaka scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and sat back down. When she went to talk to Minami Kotori, she noticed Minami Kotori was staring blankly at Senba Gari on the podium, so Honoka Kosaka shook her shoulder in confusion and called out to her.

"Kotori, what's wrong? Kotori!"

"Ah! Honoka, what is it?"

In the end, Honoka Kosaka had to shout. Although Minami Kotori was brought back to her senses, the other girls were all watching her. Senba Gari saw that the silence had been broken by Honoka Kosaka; while he was secretly grateful, he looked at her and the other familiar face with a helpless expression.

"I say, you two, can't you save your conversation for after class?"

"Ah, ah, yes, I'm terribly sorry, Teacher!"

Honoka Kosaka scrambled back into her seat and apologized to Senba Gari, while Minami Kotori made a silent resolution in her heart.

"Well, never mind. I wasn't actually planning on teaching anyway, I was just teasing you."

Senba Gari said with a mischievous grin at Honoka Kosaka.

"Eh? How could you? You scared me!"

Realizing she had been played by the new male teacher, she complained.

"Alright, alright. Look, I know this is an all-girls school, and it might be hard for you to accept a guy suddenly showing up as a teacher, so if you have any questions, just ask."

However, Senba Gari didn't realize that this invitation would lead to a massive headache.

"Really? Then, Teacher, Teacher, how old are you?"

This came from Hideko, who wore her hair in a high ponytail.

"Me? I'm eighteen."

"Eh! That's only a year or two older than us!"

"Teacher, teacher, is it true that you used to be an archaeologist?"

"Eh? How did you all find out about that?"

"Teacher, teacher, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Ah? This..."

Just as Senba Gari was preparing to answer, questions from the other girls followed one after another, leading to the scene that unfolded next.

"Teacher, teacher, what kind of food do you like?"

"Teacher..."

"Teacher..."

"Teacher..."

"...My goodness, someone save me!"

Down in the audience, Umi Sonoda was watching with a dark expression as the new teacher was besieged by the other girls' questions. She then turned her head and saw Honoka Kosaka looking at Minami Kotori with a worried expression.

"Kotori, are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine, what's wrong, Honoka?"

"Well, it's just that you seemed to be staring at that new male teacher the whole time."

"No way, it's just that Kotori has seen that new teacher before, and Umi has seen him too."

"What?! When have I ever seen him?"

Umi Sonoda, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation the entire time, suddenly turned around and asked Minami Kotori with a puzzled look.

"Have you forgotten, Umi? It was that boy you accidentally bumped into when we went to find Honoka last time."

"I remember now, so it was him."

Minami Kotori's words reminded Umi Sonoda of her previous encounter with Senba Gari, and as she thought about it, her face turned slightly red.