Beautiful Teacher

"But, Sudo, wouldn't it be meaningless if we did nothing?" Hirata did his best to suppress his anger. He didn't want to let the unity they'd worked so hard to build fall apart.

"Hmph, I don't care. To me, what you're doing is nothing but a ploy to suck up to the teachers." As he spoke, he noticed his classmates looking at him strangely, and some of them murmuring about how he was acting. Feeling he couldn't stay there any longer, he got up, grabbed his bag, and left the classroom.

...There was still one class left.

"Horikita, Takahashi, and of course, Ayanokoji, I'd like to talk after school about how we can earn more Class Points. Could you come and share your thoughts?" Hearing his classmates criticize Sudo had left Hirata at a loss. He really wanted everyone to get along, so he hoped to bring the class together by earning more Class Points with help from Takahashi, the top student in the class, and Horikita, who was tied for second. As for why he hadn't invited Takagahara, who was tied with Horikita? Takagahara had just gotten into a conflict with Sudo and the others.

"I'd love to, but I'm sorry, I have something to do after school." Takahashi answered first. He still had to go pick up the signed form.

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

Ayanokoji said nothing. No one knew what he was thinking.

After learning that Takahashi was busy, Hirata didn't press him. Instead, he continued trying to persuade Horikita.

"You don't have to give your opinion. You can just listen, and speak up if you think of anything."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to spend on something so pointless." This time, Horikita's refusal was even more blunt.

"But..."

"I don't think my words could be taken to mean anything else. I said I refuse."

"All right, then. If you change your mind, you can join the discussion anytime." Seeing that Horikita had made up her mind, Hirata stopped trying to persuade her. "Ayanokoji, what do you think about the discussion?"

"Um... I don't think I'd be of any help. Sorry."

When class started, Takahashi looked around. From his seat in the very center of the back row, he could see everything in the classroom. Compared to before, when people played on their phones or slept through class, things had clearly improved. Still, some students couldn't resist their drowsiness and fell asleep on their desks, while others occasionally pulled out their phones to fiddle with them. Of course, Sudo hadn't come back for class after leaving.

After school, Hirata and Kushida invited their classmates to join the discussion. Quite a few people showed up, which showed that Hirata and Kushida had become the center of the class. But had the discussion gone off topic? A lot of the attendees were borrowing points or selling things like game consoles.

"Ayanokoji, if you're free, how about coming with me to the shopping district?" Seeing Ayanokoji take his time packing his bag, Takahashi invited him along. Takahashi wanted to spend more time with Ayanokoji, whom he considered the average student in the class.

"Um... sure."

"Ayanokoji, Takahashi, Teacher Chabashira is looking for you. Please come to the office." An announcement came over the classroom speakers.

"Let's go to the office first."

"Okay."

They knocked on the office door.

"Come in," a pleasant female voice called.

Takahashi and Ayanokoji walked into the office and looked around, but Teacher Chabashira was nowhere to be seen. The only person there was a beautiful teacher with slightly wavy hair, looking in a mirror.

"Excuse me, is Teacher Chabashira here?" Takahashi asked the beautiful teacher.

"Saeda? Huh, she was just here. Something must have come up and she had to leave. Do you want to wait here?"

"Sure. Thank you, teacher."

"My name is Hoshinomiya Chie, and I'm the homeroom teacher for Class B. Do you know why Saeda called you here?"

"Uh, I really have no idea. Do you know, teacher?"

"If I knew, why would I ask you?" Hoshinomiya said with a smile as she walked over and lightly flicked Takahashi on the forehead. "You two handsome boys should introduce yourselves when a beautiful girl introduces herself, don't you think? Otherwise, it's very rude."

"Sorry, teacher. I was rude. But can you tell anything from my rudeness?" Takahashi asked Hoshinomiya.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Hoshinomiya looked puzzled.

"Obviously, I mean how charming you are, teacher." Takahashi's lips quirked up as he smiled at Hoshinomiya.

"Huh?" Hoshinomiya stared at Takahashi for a moment, then laughed. "You're really funny, aren't you? Why don't you join my class? I like students like you." As she spoke, she reached out to pinch Takahashi's cheek.

"Hoshinomiya, what are you doing!"