Beautiful Teacher

"But Sudo-kun, if we don't do anything, that's what would truly be meaningless." Hirata suppressed his anger as best he could, unwilling to let the hard-won unity be shattered.

"Hmph, I don't care. As I see it, your actions are nothing but tricks to please the teachers." As he spoke, Sudo noticed the strange looks from his classmates and heard some whispering things like "How can he be like this?" Feeling he couldn't stay, he stood up, grabbed his bag, and left the classroom.

...There was still one more class left.

"Horikita-san, Takahashi-kun, and of course Ayanokouji-kun, after school I'd like to discuss how we can increase our class points going forward. Could you share your thoughts?" Hirata, hearing the classmates' condemnation of Sudo, found himself in a bind. He really hoped everyone could get along, so he wanted to leverage Takahashi, who ranked first in the class, and Horikita, who ranked second, to boost class points and unite everyone. As for why he didn't call Takagahara, who tied with Horikita? Takagahara had just clashed with Sudo and the others.

"I'd love to join, but sorry, I have something to do after school." Takahashi answered first. He still had to go pick up his autograph.

"Sorry, I'm not good at discussions." Horikita refused outright.

Ayanokouji said nothing, his thoughts unknown.

Hearing that Takahashi was busy, Hirata didn't press him and instead continued trying to win over Horikita:

"You don't have to speak. Just listening on the sidelines and chiming in if something comes to mind is fine too."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to waste on these meaningless things." Horikita's refusal this time was even blunter.

"But..."

"I think my words shouldn't leave any room for misinterpretation. I said I refuse."

"Alright then. If you change your mind, feel free to join the discussion anytime." Seeing Horikita's stance, Hirata didn't push further. "Ayanokouji-kun, what do you think about the discussion?"

"Hmm... I don't think I'd be of much use in this discussion. Sorry."

Class began. Takahashi swept his gaze across the room. From his seat at the very back in the center, he could take in the entire class. Compared to before, when students played on their phones or slept during lessons, things were clearly much better now. Still, some couldn't resist drowsiness and dozed off on their desks, while others occasionally pulled out their phones to fiddle with them. Of course, after Sudo left, he never came back for that class.

After school, Hirata and Kushida called on classmates to join the discussion. Quite a few participated, showing that Hirata and Kushida had already become the center of the class. But the discussion seemed to have strayed off-topic—many people were borrowing points or selling game consoles and such.

"Ayanokouji, if you're free, want to come with me to the shopping district?" Seeing Ayanokouji leisurely packing his bag, Takahashi invited him. He wanted to get to know Ayanokouji better, whom he saw as the class average.

"Hmm... sure."

"Ayanokouji-kun, Takahashi-kun, your teacher Chabashira wants to see you. Please come to the office." The class broadcast rang out with an announcement.

"Let's head to the office first."

"Okay."

They knocked on the office door.

"Come in." A pleasant female voice sounded.

Takahashi and Ayanokouji entered the office, but after looking around, there was no sign of Chabashira. Only a beautiful teacher with slightly wavy long hair was there, looking into a mirror.

"Excuse me, is Chabashira-sensei here?" Takahashi asked the pretty teacher.

"Little Sae? Huh, she was just here. She must have stepped out suddenly. Would you like to wait here?"

"Hmm, okay. Thank you, sensei."

"I'm Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher of Class B. Do you know why Little Sae called you here?"

"Ah, I really have no idea. Do you know, sensei?"

"If I knew, would I be asking you?" Hoshinomiya smiled, walked over, and lightly tapped Takahashi on the forehead. "You two handsome boys, when a pretty girl introduces herself, shouldn't you introduce yourselves too? Otherwise, it's pretty rude, you know."

"Sorry, sensei, that was rude of me. But can you tell anything from my rudeness?" Takahashi countered Hoshinomiya.

"Huh? What?" Hoshinomiya looked puzzled.

"Why, your charm, of course." Takahashi's lips curled slightly as he smiled at Hoshinomiya.

"Eh?" Hoshinomiya was momentarily stunned by Takahashi's words. "Hahaha, student, you're really interesting. Want to transfer to my class? I like students like you." She even reached out to pinch Takahashi's cheek.

"Hoshinomiya, what are you doing!"