Before Conan could make anything of it, the door clicked open, and a round, plump figure walked in.
It was a stout middle-aged woman with freshly styled hair.
She swept her gaze across the room, saw the state of the classroom, and frowned.
The assistant snapped back to her senses, adjusted her expression, and went up to help the woman take off her slippers. "Teacher, you're back."
Teacher Kamimori did not respond.
She changed into her slippers. Looking at the unusual silence in the room, she seemed to understand something and sneered.
"Were you badmouthing me behind my back just now?"
Aunt Yashiro put on a fawning smile, completely different from how she had been moments ago. "Of course not. We were discussing the new students."
Kamimori Michi merely snorted noncommittally. She rolled her shoulders. "Ugh, my shoulders are so sore—Nishitani, come massage them for me."
Seeing that her old classmate was ignoring her, Yashiro Kazue felt a little awkward. She stood, took out a brooch from her bag, and moved closer. "Oh, right—the brooch you asked me to repair last time. I've fixed it."
"Mm, put it over there." Teacher Kamimori raised her fleshy chin and pointed at the table beside her. "It was just some cheap trinket I hardly ever wore. I only mentioned it in passing, yet you really took it to heart... Is your Clothing Store so deserted that you have no business, leaving you with all this free time?"
Yashiro Kazue's eye twitched.
When Teacher Kamimori saw that she had fallen silent, she gave a derisive snort.
Then she looked at her daughter-in-law nearby. "Xiao Xun, come take my pulse."
"...Okay."
Uemori Kaoru adjusted the bandages over her eyes, walked over, knelt on one knee beside her, and took hold of her wrist.
Teacher Kamimori