Chapter 6 – The Beautiful Teacher is a Habitual Latecomer

The moment Chifuyu  entered the classroom, she was assaulted by lecherous gazes, mainly from the male students.

They were the eyes of beasts stalking their prey, full of ulterior motives. That’s just how cute Chifuyu  is considered to be.

As rumored, Year 1, Class 1 is full of beauties; there’s no doubt it’s a homeroom where the most gorgeous girls in our grade have gathered.

And Chifuyu  is ranked among the top.

In the boys’ unofficial ranking, she has what it takes to break into the top three within the “cute-style girls” category. Incidentally, within this class, she’s tied for first place with Fuuka Nanami.

In the “beautiful-style” ranking, Hayasaka-san  is the undisputed champion.

“That’s Chifuyu , the one who dumped Yamabuki -kun.”

“Tough break, Aki.”

“Heh heh heh, a candidate for my girlfriend…”

The information from earlier was being whispered in hushed tones.

Seriously, who is this “Tough break, Aki” guy?

Chifuyu  was clearly dejected and didn’t react to the voices around her. Yesterday’s events probably had something to do with it, but she’s just my ex-girlfriend now, so it’s none of my business.

A fleeting glance from Chifuyu  was thrown my way.

I feigned ignorance and focused on the novel in front of me. I’m reading a light novel I bought yesterday, but since I have a policy of not using the bookstore’s paper covers, I’m reading with the illustrated cover on full display.

Thanks to this courageous act, I’ve made a lot of friends.

“You, weren’t you the one who was dumped? From the looks of it, it seems like Hasebe  was the one who got—”

“Do you really think I’d lie about getting dumped?”

“That is… true.”

I couldn’t see Shinichi’s  expression, but I’m sure he had his hand on his chin in an exaggerated pose.

His speech and actions are based on a character from a certain anime. Getting easily influenced by various things is another one of Shinichi’s  traits.

I felt an intense stare from my side, so I checked on Hayasaka-san.

She was still staring right at me. When our eyes met, her face flushed red and she subtly looked away.

Cute.

You don’t normally get to see this side of Hayasaka-san, so I found myself captivated.

And then—.

“You’re an idiot, Akira-kun.”

From the opposite side of my vision, I heard Chifuyu’s  familiar voice. She plopped down into her seat violently, making an exaggerated noise.

Getting insulted the day after we break up?

I’d never been insulted by her when we were dating, or even before we started. I learned for the first time in my life that ex-girlfriends are actually a huge pain.

Once the ten-minute reading period was over, our homeroom teacher was supposed to enter the classroom to start the morning meeting.

But this is where a problem occurred. Our teacher was late.

The one who was five minutes late—wasting precious morning time—was the homeroom teacher for Year 1, Class 1, Ten Matsumaru.

Most students affectionately call her Ten-chan-sensei instead of Matsumaru-sensei.

She’s a beautiful teacher who looks like she materialized out of a male high schooler’s fantasy, and at just twenty-five years old, she’s got youth on her side, too.

The stylish fashion glasses Matsumaru-sensei wears only in the mornings have no lenses, so it’s debatable whether you can even call them glasses. When asked why she wears them, she replied, “Because it’s cute.”

“I may have been late, but I expect all of you not to be. You must never, ever criticize others for things you are guilty of yourself.”

That’s literally what you just did.

“Hm? Is everyone a bit restless today? Is everything alright?”

Matsumaru-sensei seemed to have finally noticed the strange atmosphere in the classroom.

Everyone was fidgety and seemed somewhat out of it. If there was an exception, it would probably be Ryuuji Sakuragaoka, the hope of Sasebo who’s aiming for Harvard.

“Matsumaru-sensei, our first period is in a different classroom, so please hurry up.”

“Oh, how strict. Nee-san  doesn’t dislike that. Bring on the pressure.”

I wish teachers would stop saying things like that.

“It’s just that Shinichi  startled the class by shouting this morning. It’s nothing for you to worry about, sensei.”

Even saying this, Ryuuji  was being completely serious.

Putting aside his personality that lets him say whatever he wants without caring what others think, I wish he’d stop dragging me into it.

Once he mentioned Shinichi  shouting, it was only natural that Matsumaru-sensei would become interested…

“Shinichi-kun  shouted? What did he yell?”

“The fact that Akira  was dumped by his girlfriend yesterday. This fact severely disturbed the hearts of the surrounding students and seemed to cause great excitement among the gossip lovers.”

Why would you say that?

I thought we were friends, Ryuuji. Is this a betrayal?

“Oh, is that so, is that so. So, Akira-kun, you got dumped. I’ll comfort you, so come to Meeting Room 3 after school, okay?”

I’m sensing criminal intent here.

“No, I’m good.”

“There’s no need to be shy, you know? I’ll listen to whatever’s on your mind. But, you might have to listen to me vent a little, too.”

“What’s your complaint~?”

The one who interjected with that unnecessary comment was the poster boy for idiots, Souichi Takigawa.

He’s the ace of the table tennis club despite being only a first-year and dedicates himself to practice every day after school.

His professional-level devotion to table tennis is worthy of respect, but everything else about him is just plain idiotic.

But thanks to that idiocy, he’s easy to talk to, and he’s good friends with me, Shinichi , and Ryuuji. He’s like the upbeat mood-maker of the class.

And, well, he’s also the type of guy who blurts out unnecessary things without thinking about the consequences.

“Actually, just like Akira-kun, I got dumped too. So as fellow dumpees, I think Akira-kun  and I will have a lot to talk about.”

“Um, I’m going straight home after school, so.”

“Don’t be so tense. If we hit it off, you can just take me home with you—”

“If you say one more word, I’m seriously suing you.”

“Oh, Akira-kun, you’re so naughty.”

Right, I’m suing her immediately.

Starting tomorrow, Matsumaru-sensei will be a criminal who tried to make a move on a student.

While the teacher was saying all this, the female students were a mixed bag; some were intrigued by the occasional risqué jokes, while others looked on with what might or might not have been genuine contempt.

Hayasaka-san  was staring at Matsumaru-sensei with her cool eyes.

“Matsumaru-sensei, Home Economics starts in three minutes and fifty-seven seconds. Assuming it takes one minute and twenty-four seconds to get from this classroom to the Home Ec room, I believe you should conclude this conversation now.”

Ryuuji  stopped the teacher’s rampage with his unique brand of commentary.

“Is it that time already— I understand. For now, Akira-kun  is to come to Meeting Room 3 after school. And everyone, be nice to the recently-dumped Akira-kun. Got it?”

“If everyone could just treat me normally—”

“It’s fine, Akira-kun. I’ll let you be needy after school. Anyway, everyone, you are absolutely forbidden from bad-mouthing the just-dumped Akira-kun.”

Please stop adding “the just-dumped” part to my name.

“Matsumaru-sensei, two minutes and fifty-five seconds remaining.”

“Alright, isn’t that perfect? That’s my sense of time for you. When the moment is right, my body naturally heats up. It gets hot from the inside, and then—”

“Two minutes and twenty seconds remaining.”

“Gosh, I don’t hate that strict side of you. Class rep, please give the command.”

“Stand!”

Of course, the class representative is Ryuuji.

Apparently, you can’t get into Harvard just by being smart, so he’s trying to participate in various activities to build up his resume. Not that I know for sure, though.

As homeroom ended with Ryuuji’s  command, everyone scrambled out and rushed toward the Home Economics room.