A Perfect Victory

Looking at the girl whose face was filled with terror, yet who didn't seem the least bit out of place, Hoshinomiya wore an expression of disgust. She lifted the girl's chin with one hand and stared sharply into her eyes, saying, "Kushida Kikyo, I advise you to stop playing games with me. Tell me quickly, was it that guy who sent you to follow me?"

"Otherwise, don't blame me for turning hostile!"

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, what's wrong with you? Why have you suddenly become like this?"

"What on earth is happening? Can someone tell me? Wuwuwuwu~"

Seeing the girl acting as if she wouldn't shed tears until she saw the coffin, Hoshinomiya, who had been bottling up a belly full of anger, mercilessly slapped her across the face without any warning.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound landed heavily on Kushida's fair, flawless cheek.

Silence, a deathly silence...

The girl who had just been crying and complaining suddenly covered her face, her entire body trembling violently.

Seeing this, Hoshinomiya assumed the girl had finally realized who she was dealing with and was just about to speak in a lecturing tone.

However, in the next second, the girl—also without any warning—suddenly snatched a sharp-edged stone from the ground and slashed it rapidly toward her face.

This sudden, swift counterattack was difficult for even Hoshinomiya, who had a foundation in martial arts, to dodge completely. Seeing her beautiful cheek about to be slashed, she panicked, squeezed her eyes shut, and instinctively tried to block it with her hand.

Little did she know that the position where the sharp stone was aimed was exactly at the main artery of her wrist; once cut, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yet, at this critical moment, Hoshinomiya suddenly froze, because through her squinted eyes, she saw that Kushida had forcibly stopped her own attack.

Looking at her with confusion, she couldn't help but ask, "Tell me, why did you stop? I really want to know the reason."

Hearing this, Kushida, who had already slipped into her other persona, couldn't help but look at her with eyes full of killing intent: "Heh~ old woman, if it were before, you would definitely be dead. But now... consider yourself lucky."

Hoshinomiya felt even stranger the more she heard. "What do you mean by that?"

"Tch, you aren't worthy of understanding!"

Kushida shoved her away. In her blackened state, her martial arts skills were not weak in the slightest.

"You!"

Just then, a round of applause, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, suddenly echoed out of thin air in the surrounding atmosphere.

Following that came a boy's whispered praise, drifting eerily from the darkness: "You've truly grown quite a bit, Kushida~"

Only then, as a camera flash flickered from a distance and gradually approached, did the two realize that Rinya had been there the whole time, taking pictures with his phone.

"Master!"

Seeing the boy walk over, the girl who had been feeling incredibly aggrieved instantly reverted to her usual little-angel persona, and before long, she was leaning against his chest, sobbing softly.

"There, there, you've been wronged." As he spoke, Rinya gently smoothed out her disheveled hair.

Seeing this, Hoshinomiya stood there with her mouth agape. Even though she had countless flames of rage in her heart that she wanted to vent, upon seeing the girl's face filled with happiness and hearing that word "Master"...

She finally understood why the girl had stopped her hand earlier.

"Heh... hehe... hehehehe."

Hoshinomiya suddenly started laughing, but her laughter was not filled with joy; instead, it was permeated with an endless sense of desolation and self-mockery.

"What's the matter... Hoshinomiya-sensei, do you have nothing to say?" Rinya asked playfully.

"Heh, what else is there to say?"

The woman said with a bitter face, "I can't beat you in a fight, I can't outsmart you, and even my sneak attack in the middle of the night... Monster, do whatever you want with me."

Looking at the evidence still playing on the phone in his hand, Hoshinomiya's face went numb, as if she had given up and lost all sense of fear.

"What do you think?" Rinya walked up to her, staring at her with a half-smile.

"Expel me from the school, or kill me, it's all up to you."

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Seeing that there was no fear of death in the woman's eyes, Rinya nodded secretly.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched. He suddenly reached out a hand, grabbed the back of her neck, and pulled her toward him, saying meaningfully: "Heh~ then I want you... to be my private homeroom teacher, is that okay?"

Hearing this, Hoshinomiya shuddered. First, she was confused, then an inexplicable anger flared up: "You want me to call you Master just like her, right?"

"I'm telling you, keep dreaming!"

"No... no need, you can call me whatever you like. What I value is you, not the title."

Seeing him let go, his expression becoming incredibly serious, Hoshinomiya couldn't help but ask curiously: "What exactly do you mean? Explain yourself clearly."

"I can, but before that, I want to ask you: what has your dream been all this time?"

"I... my dream is of course to be a..."

Before Hoshinomiya could finish her sentence, Rinya interrupted her sternly.

"I am talking about the real you, not the one wearing the teacher's skin."

Hearing this, Hoshinomiya stared at the ground in silence for a while.

It seemed that ever since that incident, she had never imagined a life beyond that role.

But if she really had to say...

In Hoshinomiya's bewildered eyes, scenes from the past gradually flickered by, as if that class-wide expulsion vote exam planned by the school were still unfolding before her.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Hoshinomiya suddenly murmured to herself, as if lost in thought: "To win... to win for everything I desire."

"Heh, is that so?" Rinya nodded gently.

He then spoke earnestly: "Then I will tell you this: I invited you because I intend to establish a brand-new class upon the existing foundations of this school, and you are the key to the class I am creating."

"A... a new class?" Hoshinomiya's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

"Correct."

"And you want to win so badly, don't you?"

"Then I can tell you clearly: what I want to create is a class that only contains the strong, a class that will absolutely never lose, and a class that I will lead to even greater heights."

"Hehe~"

"As long as you are willing to join, I think... even the school you hate so much right now, I will help you completely crush it in the future!"

Hearing this, it was as if Hoshinomiya had been poked at the very root of her inner trauma; she stood up abruptly and asked with a trembling voice: "Who... who exactly are you, and how on earth do you know that~"

"As for that... perhaps I will tell you later," Rinya smiled faintly.

Staring blankly at the person before her, Hoshinomiya felt more and more that he was a monster through and through.

Perhaps no matter what she said, he could always provide the answer she wanted most.

But there was one thing: she was truly tempted.

The school... this school she had hated her entire life, the school she could never shake even an inch.

If anyone else had said this, she would never have believed them, but only Rinya, who had shattered her perception of him twice, was someone she could not help but believe~

"I am... willing..." Although it was only three words, the sound was drawn out, arduous and long.

"Welcome, Hoshinomiya-sensei," Rinya smiled with a rare gentleness.

"Welcome, welcome! Congratulations, Master, and congratulations to Hoshinomiya-sensei on joining us." Kushida understood very well how important it was for her master to win this person over, and seeing that it had actually succeeded, she was incredibly happy for him.

"Call me Chie~"

"Mas...ter..."

Although the voice was dry and strained, Rinya did not mind in the slightest, replying with a soft tone.

"Chie, is it~"

"Then, for the rest of our lives... please take care of me as well..."