#03: Beautiful Teacher and Homeroom

When the homeroom chime rings, Megucchi reluctantly returns to her seat with a dissatisfied look on her face.

She really hates being away from me that much, huh?

Man, she’s one cute childhood friend.

Yeah, I’m a sinful man, Norio.

The homeroom teacher enters the classroom and homeroom begins.

“Mizumoto! Your name came up again from the discipline committee!”

Ha—so Sakura-senpai reported me even though she’s obviously into me. What, is she trying to back me into a corner? There’s no way I’m falling for that.

“Must be a mistake.”

“No, it’s not a mistake—they specifically listed your name!”

“That’s my twin brother.”

“You don’t have a twin brother!”

Man, the teacher’s being unusually persistent today.

“…Kyouko, you’re getting to an age where you need to act more refined. Seriously, you’re one troublesome kitten.”

“Mizumoto! You just tried to change the subject on purpose! And another thing—there’s a time and place for what you say! You looked at me with pity when you said something you absolutely shouldn’t have!”

“Well, if you get that worked up, you’ll get wrinkles, you know?”

In that instant, a blackboard eraser flew straight at me. The hard corner of the eraser smacked me right between the eyebrows.

Ow!?

There she goes again—good old Kyouko, always so passionate.

Our homeroom teacher is Kyouko Himeno, usually called Kyouko. She’s twenty-nine, single, and actively recruiting for a boyfriend.

She teaches modern Japanese literature and is also the advisor for the literature club. She’s got that adult charm befitting a woman approaching her thirties—glasses suit her well, and she’s genuinely beautiful. Unfortunately, her language is rough and she gets angry easily, so no one’s stepped up to marry her. These days, she just uses me as an outlet for what I’d call her romantic advances.

I mean, just because she’s desperate to get married doesn’t mean she should be coming on to one of her students. Seriously, what a troublesome kitten.

Yeah, I’m a sinful man, Norio.

“Mizumoto! After lunch, come to the staff room!”

Looks like she wants to talk to me one-on-one.

“Is this a confession scene? I mean, Kyouko, you’ve got that alluring mature-woman-older-sister thing going for you, and your looks are fine, but that temperament of yours is a little…”

“Why am I getting rejected right now…? Dealing with you exhausts me…”

“Well, no matter how young you try to look, time waits for no one. You shouldn’t push yourself too hard, you know?”

“…”

Ha—my charming words hit so hard that even Kyouko’s speechless, lost in thought.

Man, oh man.

So today’s homeroom also ended with Kyouko’s romantic advances toward me.

Yeah, I’m a sinful man, Norio.

#04: The Protagonist Eating Alone? Impossible

When lunch break starts, the classroom fills with noise.

This school doesn’t have a fancy cafeteria or anything like that. It’s just a normal rural public high school.

The rooftop’s always locked down, and the back of the building is constantly shaded, damp, cramped, and visible through a fence from the outside—nobody goes there. Those romantic-comedy confession spots you imagine are just fantasy.

I guess that’s why confession events don’t happen around a guy like me.

Anyway, I’m getting off track.

Time for lunch.

I eat at my own seat. I’m the protagonist, after all. No need to move.

I pull my lunch box from my bag and set it on my desk. It’s what my mom packed for me this morning.

My little sister Kurumi has a matching lunch bag in a different color with her own lunch box inside.

I still remember when she went crazy that one time we accidentally swapped boxes on the way to school. Somehow I ended up getting blamed for it and took a punch to the stomach. Classic tsundere behavior.

I open the lid. Inside are thick rolled eggs, frozen fried chicken, and spinach with sesame dressing.

I start with the sweet rolled eggs.

Yeah, they’re sweet.

Next, the spinach with sesame.

And I save the fried chicken for last—the main dish.

Even though it’s frozen, don’t underestimate it. It stays juicy and delicious even when cold.

Once I finish eating, I rinse the empty lunch box at the sink in the hallway and toss it back in my bag.

I’ll spend the rest of lunch break in the library.

What? You’re asking if I eat alone?

Yeah. Everyone’s too intimidated by my protagonist aura to even come near me.

Even Megucchi and Fujiko—I’m sure they’d want to eat with me too. They’re probably restraining themselves to avoid fighting over me.

Megucchi ends up eating with her gal squad instead, and Fujiko eats with her group of close friends. Both of them are just going along with it.