The Stunned Crowd

"If you still have questions, you may ask them now."

"..." Hearing this, everyone fell into a silence.

Seeing that no one spoke, Chabashira Sae said indifferently, "If there are no other questions, then all of you get into the classroom and sit down. I will tell you, and the others, the reason why."

"Clack, clack~" The sound of high heels rang out again. After speaking, Chabashira walked into the classroom first, and everyone followed one by one.

"Excuse me~ Teacher Chabashira Sae, right? Would you allow me to greet that girl in your class?" Just then, the cold, sinister voice of Ryuen Kakeru caused everyone to stop in their tracks, stunned once again.

As it turned out, Ryuen Kakeru hadn't walked far when he heard that someone behind him had dared to snitch on him. Hmph, if he didn't teach them a lesson, he feared it would be hard to establish his footing as a first-year.

"Oh, you want to continue?" Chabashira turned her head, staring at Ryuen and his two lackeys with surprise. She gave a disdainful smile, her voice cold and devoid of emotion: "Although I don't really want to get involved, if you act presumptuously in front of me, heh~ I wouldn't mind personally escorting you out for your own homeroom teacher."

"NONONO, dear teacher, I just want to say hello to that cute girl in your class before I leave. That doesn't violate school rules, does it?"

"What if I refuse?" Chabashira replied flatly.

"In that case, it's truly a pity. It seems I'll have to make up for this regret during off-hours." Saying this, Ryuen waved his hand and prepared to leave.

"Stop."

"Hmm? Is there something else, teacher?" Ryuen stopped, as if he had expected this.

"One minute. That is the extent of my patience." Chabashira sighed quietly, ultimately choosing to concede.

"Teacher, how can we..." The students of Class D were clearly dissatisfied, but a single, unquestionable look from Chabashira made everyone fall silent immediately.

After all, no one dared to openly defy their homeroom teacher unless they wanted to be expelled early.

"Oh~ is that so? Then I'm sorry to trouble you."

Ryuen let his two lackeys stand where they were, while he shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled leisurely toward the girl who had reported him.

However, as he passed Chabashira, he heard a faint, icy whisper from the woman: "If I find out you deliberately cause her trouble after this, don't blame me for targeting a certain subject in your Class C."

"Heh~ Understood."

Seeing Ryuen's sinister, mocking expression lock onto her, Sato Maya trembled instinctively. After venting her emotions, she had clearly sobered up quite a bit.

Seeming to realize she might have made a huge mistake, she hid behind Karuizawa Kei, bowing her head and whispering apologies for her impulsiveness, "Kei, I'm sorry, I did it again..."

"It's okay, Maya. Who doesn't have moments of impulsive mistakes? The teacher and everyone are here, it's alright."

After a gentle smile, Karuizawa Kei turned around and, with immense determination, spread her arms, attempting to shield Sato completely behind her.

Although she was terrified herself, she gritted her teeth and refused to back down.

After all, she had always admired and envied her best friend's bold and passionate personality. Furthermore, if Sato hadn't bravely stood up on that path to the dorms back then and led her away from that abyss, perhaps she wouldn't even be in this world anymore~

"Hey, I just want to say hello to her. Your homeroom teacher has already given her tacit approval, so don't waste my time, okay?" Looking at Karuizawa, who was blocking Sato alone, Ryuen said with great annoyance.

"No... can't you just say hello like that?"

"Tch, you're forcing me to make you move, aren't you? What a pain." Ryuen reached out forcefully, preparing to drag the girl aside.

However, at that moment, no one expected that Kushida Kikyo, the class socialite who had remained silent and still among the Class D students, would suddenly dart out from the crowd at this critical juncture and slap Ryuen's arm away.

A gentle whisper followed: "If you want to say hello, Ryuen-kun, you should be polite. Otherwise, it's hard for people to accept."

"You...!" Ryuen Kakeru stumbled back several large steps, looking at the girl before him in disbelief. "The power transmitted from her palm when she pushed me aside—I had no room to resist at all and was forced back. How is that possible!"

"If you understand, can you please leave now, Ryuen-kun?" Without waiting for Ryuen to think it over, Kushida bowed politely, signaling for him to leave.

Seeing this, Ryuen, who hadn't even had time to process the reason behind it, was momentarily flustered, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

After a brief moment of thought, for the sake of caution, Ryuen gritted his teeth and replied viciously: "Hmph, let's go." With a glare at Kushida, he quickly departed.

"Eh, wait, did he... did he just run away?"

"No way, the combat leader of Class C, Ryuen Kakeru, was actually scared off by our classmate Kushida in one move?"

"So cool~ so cool!" A scream of excitement erupted among the crowd.

Seeing the girl's poised and confident demeanor, the students, whose hearts had been suppressed, felt like fireworks going off, and they began to loudly praise the goddess Kushida.

In an instant, the cheers and screams for Kushida Kikyo echoed throughout the entire school building.

Even Ayanokoji, Koenji, Matsushita, and Sakura, who had remained motionless in the classroom, cast looks of curiosity and disbelief toward Kushida.

"Goddess, goddess, when did you become so strong? Tell us, tell us!"

"Kikyo-chan, you looked so cool just now! I declare myself your number one fan. Give me a kiss, hee hee."

"Hey, wait a minute, everyone, please calm down a little." Faced with the overwhelming praise and adulation, Kushida was overjoyed, but she hadn't expected such a massive reaction and was momentarily at a loss.

"Everyone, be quiet." Hearing the noise, Chabashira hurriedly clapped her hands to stop them.

After the group returned to the classroom and sat down, Chabashira had Kushida Kikyo stand up and asked curiously, "Tell me, explain what happened when you drove Ryuen Kakeru away just now."

"Teacher, this is actually..." As Kushida stammered, her face turned visibly red.

She naturally couldn't reveal that this was a burst of energy her master had specifically left within her last night, intended for her to use at a moment like this to achieve the result she desired.

Thus, after the girl fidgeted for a long time, her final reply left everyone speechless.

"Hmm~ actually, I'm not really sure myself. Maybe it's because I've been exercising more at night, which might have improved my physical fitness."

"Heh~ In that case, you may sit down." Looking at Kushida, whose neck was already bright red, Chabashira shook her head, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Although she was curious about how such a delicate girl with no martial arts background had managed to repel Ryuen Kakeru, she believed in everyone's right to privacy. Since the other party didn't want to explain, Chabashira naturally didn't press the issue.