I Really Need to Let the Grass-Heaven God Punish You

At the end of the school's back hallway, four boys sat on the floor eating their lunches.

A closer look revealed that only two of the lunches were homemade. The other two had been bought at the cafeteria.

Of course, U Amakusa and Kosei Sanada were the ones with homemade lunches.

"Must be nice, Amakusa. Someone makes you lunch every day, and it's this good, too."

"She's just a good cook."

U Amakusa took a long swig of milk, then went back to eating his lunch.

"By the way, doesn't your library girlfriend mind?"

Satoshi Satonaka looked a little worried as he watched U Amakusa. He was afraid his good friend might end up like Makoto.

After all, all three of them knew perfectly well that U Amakusa went to the library every day to pick up his lunch.

But one of them had thought the library gave out free lunches like the cafeteria, and had stupidly gone there to check.

Sanada had to explain things to him afterward.

"Library girlfriend? Hmm... we're not at that stage yet, so it shouldn't be a problem for now."

Sanada said, "I don't really approve of this. You should settle on one as soon as possible."

Satonaka said, "I don't disapprove, but I don't approve either. Anyway, take it easy. Having a dream is great, just don't let things get out of hand."

Shimizu: Eating... vanished!

When the three of them realized Shimizu was gone, they all wordlessly checked the trash can at the same time.

"Hey! Why would I be in there?! You guys are awful!"

A shout rang out. The three looked toward the voice, and there was Shimizu.

The three exchanged glances, then wordlessly went back to eating their lunches.

Seeing that they were ignoring him, Shimizu tried again and again to calm himself down. He still needed their help.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?"

At that, all three looked toward the source of the voice—Naoki Shimizu.

"Help me pursue Student Nishikawa."

Shimizu looked completely serious. He'd fallen head over heels for Ryoko Nishikawa.

Or, more accurately, he'd convinced himself he was in love.

"Shimizu, I think this kind of thing..."

"Hey, Sanada, leave him alone. It's not like this is new for him."

"Satonaka's right. This is up to him. What can we do to help?"

U Amakusa, who already knew how this would end, hoped Shimizu would give up soon. Ryoko Nishikawa wouldn't accept him.

And it wasn't something U Amakusa could force to happen. If he were Shimizu, maybe he'd stand a chance...

Under the puzzled gazes of the three, Shimizu left with determination, only to return before long.

He came back carrying three bottles of drinks.

"Godfather."

Well, after that, what more could they say?

"Let's go!" the three cried.

Led by the gentle senior, the group successfully joined Nishikawa's little group during lunch break.

Shimizu got to talk to the Nishikawa he'd been pining for, while the other girls were left to U Amakusa and Satoshi Satonaka, giving the two of them some space.

Of course, whether he could actually make Nishikawa like him was another matter.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Come in~ Hono..."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry it's me, Mori Hoshinomiya."

When U Amakusa opened the door, he saw Hoshinomiya, the one they called a grown-up Kushida. He'd come here for a very simple reason.

Looking around, he saw three teachers in the office. The one sitting and smoking was undoubtedly Chabashira.

The other was Majima, Class A's homeroom teacher. U Amakusa could tell at a glance which one was Chabashira.

Well, she was easy to recognize anyway: black hair in a high ponytail.

Given the circumstances, Class C's homeroom teacher wasn't there. Hoshinomiya-sensei was waiting for Ichinose. What did she want with Ichinose?

U Amakusa didn't know, and he didn't need to care.

"Is Majima-sensei here?" U Amakusa asked, pretending not to know.

"Amakusa?" Majima stopped working and looked toward the doorway, puzzled.

"It's me, Majima-sensei."

"What is it?"

"No, I just wanted to thank you for what happened before, Majima-sensei."

"You really don't have to—"

"Ooh, are you the famous Amakusa? Hey, Amakusa, do you know me?"

Hoshinomiya crept over, leaned against the corner of Majima's desk, interrupted him, and tilted her head at U Amakusa.

Not only did he know her, but just yesterday they'd been in the same room... having an intense discussion.

Of course, U Amakusa wasn't about to say that out loud. He merely marveled inwardly at what a natural actress Hoshinomiya was.

Yesterday she'd affectionately called him "Little Amakusa," and now she could pretend not to know him and call him "Amakusa."

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, it's not strange that I know your name. Is it really so odd to remember a teacher's name?"

Before Hoshinomiya could answer, U Amakusa continued, "Majima-sensei, thank you for yesterday. To show my appreciation, do you like beer?"

He wasn't really thanking him. He wanted Majima to help him again. Japan strictly prohibited anyone under twenty from buying alcohol.

Let me reiterate! U Amakusa and all the other characters who appear are over eighteen!

"If you're talking about yesterday, Amakusa, you don't have to—"

"No, I insist. I'd feel bad if I didn't thank you, so please accept it, Majima-sensei. It's settled."

There was no way Majima could refuse the beer, was there? Why did everyone keep interrupting him?

Majima felt like he needed a fast-acting heart pill. He took a deep breath and reminded himself not to get angry.

He had to remember what Director Sakayanagi had said: U Amakusa was from the Shinomiya Family, and he was smart and ruthless. He'd even managed to get someone to take out a loan, then turned around and sent them to prison afterward.

He couldn't win against him, and he couldn't afford to provoke him.

"Hey, hey~ Amakusa..."

Hey, hey, my ass. I really need to let the Grass-Heaven God punish you.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, could you please stop talking to me while looking at Chabashira-sensei?"

"No way~ Amakusa, what are you talking about? When was I looking over at Sae?"

Hoshinomiya looked as if she found what U Amakusa said hilarious, and waved at him.

In fact, Hoshinomiya really hadn't looked at Chabashira.

"Huh? Then I must've been mistaken. Sorry, Hoshinomiya-sensei."

U Amakusa straightened his expression and continued, "Actually, I've always liked yuri stories. The moment I saw you and Chabashira-sensei together, I thought you two were a perfect match."

Chabashira said sternly, "Then your taste is terrible."

Hoshinomiya ran to Chabashira's side and hugged her, smiling happily. "How could you say that, Sae~? I love you the most, Sae~"

Yeah, right. Did she even believe what she was saying?

Of course, neither U Amakusa nor Hoshinomiya herself believed it. Neither did Majima or Chabashira.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I support you!" U Amakusa gave the two women in an embrace a thumbs-up.

"If you like, I can teach you a thing or two, Hoshinomiya-sensei. I don't have any practical experience—uh, I mean, not in this particular area—but I know plenty in theory. So feel free to ask me anything!"

Hoshinomiya laughed awkwardly. "Ahaha, that won't be necessary, Amakusa."

Hoshinomiya had only been joking in the first place. Who would've thought U Amakusa would actually play along? She couldn't possibly like Chabashira.

"Got it, got it."

U Amakusa acted as if he understood.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei just doesn't want to show it, so Chabashira-sensei won't distance herself from her, right? She's hiding her true feelings. I get it, I get it. It's a classic yuri trope."

After saying that, U Amakusa put on an expression as if he'd made a terrible mistake.

"Oh no, did I just say it out loud? That Hoshinomiya-sensei truly likes Chabashira-sensei?"

But it seemed that, apart from Hoshinomiya, the other two didn't care at all about what U Amakusa was saying.

Chabashira simply pried Hoshinomiya's arms off her, sat down, and went back to her work. U Amakusa wasn't her student, and Majima was there, so it wasn't her place to intervene.

"Little Amakusa... I mean, Amakusa!"

The moment she finished speaking, U Amakusa felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder.

Heh. Victory.

U Amakusa smugly flashed a peace sign to himself.