Teacher Annie

Returning from lunch break, The first class of the afternoon was Chabashira-sensei's social studies lesson.

Chabashira-sensei was in a good mood, feeling that the goals she'd thought unattainable might now have hope. For the first time in a while, she planned to teach seriously and see if there was anyone worth cultivating—at the very least, she couldn't hold You En back.

But when she walked in, she bumped into an idiot named Yamauchi Shunju, who immediately came up to tattle, saying You En had hit him.

Chabashira Sae really wanted to tell him that even if You En beat him to death, she wouldn't care—she might even help dispose of the body.

But the school's rules hadn't fully unfolded yet, so she couldn't say it that bluntly.

Chabashira simply dismissed this fool with a look, unwilling to waste words on him.

She stepped up to the podium, surveyed the sea of idiots and deadbeats below, and the drive that You En had barely stirred in her fizzled out in an instant.

Still, there were a few people who met the passing mark; she was teaching this class for them.

After class, Chabashira Sae extended a hand, signaling You En to follow her out.

Yamauchi was ecstatic, saying to the people around him, "Chabashira-sensei is standing up for me. Heh, if he comes to bow his head and apologize later, I'll definitely make things hard for him. Making me lose face like that."

Sudo Ken frowned. Honestly, he didn't want to talk to this guy anymore. Truth be told, he'd held back many times before, but only let it slide for the sake of their friendship.

Yamauchi, in full swing, started slandering and spreading rumors, getting excited enough to fabricate a dirty rumor about You En and Horikita.

Sudo Ken slammed the table, frowned at him, and found the guy genuinely annoying, "Get lost. Don't talk to me."

Outside the classroom, Chabashira Sae spoke first, "There's no problem with you hitting him, and no punishment either. This school is like that—everything is based on ability. Beyond that, there are no rules.

The only possible issue is the Student Council, but you don't need to worry about that. As a reserve member of the Kyudo Club's formal roster, someone there will handle it for you."

You En nodded. He felt Chabashira-sensei was saying he could hit and beat whoever he wanted, since he had backing—as long as he could win, there was nothing to fear.

Chabashira Sae saw that You En had misunderstood but didn't call him out on it. She couldn't be too obvious. What was hitting someone in this school? Even harsher methods, even the most extreme, were fine.

The students who'd come in from the peaceful era hadn't realized this yet. Even You En, sharp as he was, hadn't noticed—or maybe he was deliberately not thinking about it.

Chabashira Sae watched You En's retreating back and couldn't help sighing, "You can't afford to hold back, in this school."

Once the "true assessment" began, he would understand what kind of place this really was.

A gasp came from the classroom.

Horikita Suzune stepped out and looked at You En, "I finally understand why you wanted to hit him. When you run into someone so..."

"Annoying?"

Horikita nodded, "Yeah."

"I'm going to my elective. Want to come with me and check it out?"

Horikita Suzune nodded, not mentioning that she'd just pulled Yamauchi's desk out from under him, "Sure, I'll walk you there. Might as well look around since it's still early."

She didn't realize she'd already taken a walk with You En at noon, less than two hours ago. She was just enjoying being in their shared atmosphere.

The professional sailor's teaching venue wasn't a classroom.

It was a port at the school.

That's right—the school had its own port.

You En and the others didn't see anyone else for a while, only a large ship moored there.

Horikita Suzune looked up at the big ship, "You're not taking class on that ship, are you?"

"Probably. Maybe I'll even get a chance to steer it."

You En rubbed his hands together, a little excited.

How to put it? In his past life, his cousin's husband had studied marine engineering... and ended up becoming a dentist with his uncle. He'd only told You En that the industry wasn't great—life at sea was far more boring than on land.

Even now, You En was still very interested in ships. Maybe it was because he'd spent too long on land. Well, he always had some longing for the ocean.

"Yo, which one of you is the newbie sailor I'm supposed to take on today?"

A woman with a somewhat heroic, athletic build walked over.

She had wavy red hair and healthy wheat-colored skin. What was most striking was the long scar on her handsome face, running from her left eye all the way down to her chin.

She walked up, leaned in close to You En, gave a hearty laugh, and patted his shoulder.

"Kid, I knew it was you the moment I saw you."

"How did you know, teacher?"

"What teacher? Call me Captain Annie."

"Hello, Captain."

Annie nodded with satisfaction. "Those fearless sailors—they all had the same look in their eyes as you, yearning for the treasures and dreams out on the sea."

"What treasures?"

Horikita Suzune hadn't left. It wasn't class time yet, and no one was chasing her out.

"Little girl, the sea is full of treasures everywhere. As long as you're determined to seek them out, we'll eventually find our own treasure."

Captain Annie laughed heartily. "There's still some time before class. How about I take you two lovebirds for a spin?"

Horikita Suzune stared at the massive ship, glossing over their specific form of address, and felt a flicker of temptation.

"Really? We can?"

"Of course we can. Hey, this kid's the first one to sign up for my class this early."

Annie grinned and gave You En another hard slap on the back.

You En coughed from the impact, feeling that her strength was absurdly strong.

"Follow me."

Annie turned and walked off without hesitation.

You En asked, "Aren't we boarding that big ship?"

"Of course not. Apprentice sailors don't get to touch a ship like that. First, you'll learn to handle a small boat, swim in the sea, and pick up some basic navigation knowledge."

Annie thought for a moment. "As for the systematic theory, there are dedicated e-books online. Remember to self-study on your own."

Hearing the words "self-study,"

You En felt like he was back in college—99% relying on self-study, with the remaining 1% being the teacher just handing out exam questions, which were probably scraped together from past years' tests with a few numbers changed, or maybe even passed off to a grad student to draft.

This high school elective teaching model felt oddly familiar.

But Annie's words also reminded You En that if he wanted to learn a skill, he could self-study outside of class. He'd never really taken school seriously in this life, and he'd almost forgotten that he used to be a grad student who could devour several brick-thick textbooks in a week on his own.

Anna led them to another corner of the dock. Unlike the modernized area, this part felt like it was from centuries ago. A small wooden boat looked especially aged, as if it belonged in a museum.

Anna lifted her chin.

"There. This is the boat we're playing with today. Come on, get on."

You En and Suzune weren't unfamiliar with small boats, but most nowadays were electric, or pedal boats for water recreation, or modern-material kayaks. They'd never played with something as retro as this wooden boat.

The two followed Anna onto the boat, each handed an oar.

Then they just stared at Anna.

Annie paused, then realized belatedly, "What, you want me to teach you?"

She waved a hand.

"Just mess around with it. You'll figure it out as you go. But you can follow my lead if you want."

You En and Suzune exchanged a glance, both confirming the same thought in their minds:

This teacher was unreliable.

You En even found himself missing Teacher Ed. At least he was more thorough.

Annie untied the mooring rope, jumped onto the boat, stretched her body, then shifted her stance and used her whole body's strength to row. Her strokes were steady, neither too fast nor too slow.

You En tried mimicking her movements.

"Your stance is off. With your strength, lean back a bit."

Anna spoke up.

You En stepped back, splashed the water, felt something was off, took half a step back again, and finally settled on what felt like the right position. Anna didn't correct him further; they just each rowed on their own.

Suzune gave it a try too.

Annie smiled and offered a couple of pointers, but it clearly wasn't coming quickly.

The worse her practice went, the more frustrated Suzune became. Why did that guy pick it up so fast?

You En met Horikita Suzune's gaze and organized his vague feelings into words, trying to express them as accurately as possible.

"Lean forward, straighten your arms, dip the oar into the water, pull both oars back, use your whole body's strength. And about the boat's center of gravity—you'll have to figure that out yourself."

After practicing for a while, the overall results weren't bad.

But Horikita Suzune still felt she couldn't match those two, and she was getting tired. Her arms were sore. And this was her, someone who exercised regularly. If it were another girl, she'd probably be exhausted by now.

"Oh, right,"

You En spoke up. "What I said might not be entirely right. Using your whole body's strength doesn't mean straining—it's just about letting yourself exert force better. Stay relaxed and keep a steady mindset."

Horikita Suzune nodded, listening to his words and watching their movements. She was beginning to understand that she shouldn't be competing with You En over everything—she should instead imitate Annie, who was also female.

They skated aimlessly for about ten minutes. You En could tell that Anna really wanted to chat, but for some reason, she didn't talk much with them. They circled back to the shore in a calm, silent glide.

"Alright, time for the real lesson, little Suzune," Anna said, now knowing Horikita's name. "Say goodbye to your little boyfriend first. You'll meet up again tonight."

Horikita Suzune shook her head. "He and I aren't in that kind of relationship."

"Aren't you lovers?" Anna's gaze flickered between the two in surprise. "Or are you siblings? That doesn't quite fit either."

You En added, "We're just friends."

But for some reason, Horikita Suzune shot him a glare, then seemed to carry a bit of a mood as she disembarked from the boat.

"Haha, I thought you'd known each other for at least seven or eight years. Not siblings, not lovers—if you've known each other that long, you can't possibly be married, right?" Annie laughed heartily, without any pretense or airs. "Looks like I'm really not good at reading people. I've always been this way."

You En offered some comfort. "Captain Annie, you might have gotten that one right."

Annie looked up. "Which part?"

You En meant the part about knowing each other for seven or eight years—though it was only one-sided on his end. Back then, he had called Suzune 'wife' too. "I'm not telling you."

Annie feigned anger. "You little rascal, daring to keep secrets from this captain? Get ready to be thoroughly drilled!"

You En thought, what could be worse than snakes and bugs? He put on a fearless attitude. "Bring it on."