Private Toyogasaki, teachers' office.
Mafuyu Kirisu looked out the window with slight concern. "Hiratsuka-senpai, is this really okay?"
"Relax, relax. Student matters should be left for students to resolve. That's the essence of youth..." Shizuka Hiratsuka, the hot-blooded female teacher, said as she waved the chopsticks she had just used to eat ramen through the air.
"I meant approving the student council's application to make Yukinoshita a disciplinary committee member. Since transferring here, Yukinoshita hasn't made any friends, has she? Though she herself is quite admired among the students, and many say she has an imposing presence, that sort of reputation should be an obstacle to making friends. If she becomes a disciplinary committee member on top of that..." Mafuyu Kirisu said somewhat uneasily.
Shizuka Hiratsuka fell silent, drained the cup noodles in front of her in one gulp, then poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip before stiffly turning toward Mafuyu Kirisu. "I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT AT ALL!!!"
Mafuyu Kirisu: "Huh!?"
Meanwhile, Private Toyogasaki, rooftop.
"Phew~!" Yukino Yukinoshita, whose chill had grown ever more intense, exhaled deeply. Only after calming herself down a little did she softly ask, "Doma bas—cough, cough, Doma, may I ask whether you come to school to skip class or to study?" Her verbal assault skill was charging.
"To skip class!" Sogo Doma never played by the rules.
Yukino Yukinoshita's verbal assault skill casting was interrupted: "..."
"Then you might as well not come to school at all!"
"Yukinoshita, do you know what skipping class feels like? When everyone else is either forced or willing to study in their classrooms, bound by their lessons, while you alone can wander freely around campus—against such a stark contrast, even the air seems filled with potent particles of freedom. That sense of liberation is