Akira stared at him.
"Wait. You want me to what?"
Koro-sensei clasped his tentacles together.
"I want you to become a teacher for a nursery."
Akira had no idea what to say.
An hour earlier, Koro-sensei had gone to check on the accident. After dealing with that, he had just returned when he found the two of them in the basement. He flicked both of their cheeks with the same careful force and said,
"Sensei has to treat all students equally to keep things fair."
Then he explained the rest.
Some of the class had been parkouring on the way home from school and accidentally caused an accident. An old man had been caught in it—the principal of a nursery. He had suffered a hairline fracture of his right femur and had been hospitalized.
After that, Koro-sensei had ordered the whole class to stop their midterm preparation and go take care of the nursery until the old man recovered.
That part, Akira already knew.
This part was new.
Koro-sensei wanted him to be the teacher.
Akira shook his head.
"No."
Koro-sensei looked shocked.
"Why?"
Akira looked at Ritsu's unfinished body.
"Because Ritsu's body has been delayed a bit too long. It should have been finished ages ago. I want to finish it soon, so I don't have time."
Koro-sensei went quiet.
Then his voice changed.
"Akira-kun. Do you remember the promise we made?"
Akira frowned.
"What promise?"
Koro-sensei looked serious.
"During the end-of-term exams, you asked for a challenge. For you and Erika-san. When both of you completed it, I would listen to what you had to say and seriously consider it."
Koro-sensei lifted one tentacle.
"Erika-san completed hers by getting full marks in mathematics. Now it is your turn."
He pointed at Akira the way a teacher pointed at a chosen student.
"I want you to be a teacher for that nursery. A real teacher. Until the old principal recovers. And after that, answer me one question from your heart. What does it mean, for you, to be a teacher?"
Akira stared at him.
"…Koro-sensei. I don't have a heart."
The room went awkward at once.
Koro-sensei coughed.
"I mean… just tell me what you think after the experience, all right? As long as your answer satisfies me, I will listen and consider your request seriously."
Akira thought about it and sighed.
"…Okay."
Koro-sensei's face lit up again.
"Nuruhuhuhu! That's great. Then Sensei will talk to Karasuma-sensei about it. Akira-kun, prepare yourself, okay?"
He vanished at Mach speed.
Erika, who had stayed silent through the whole exchange, looked at Akira.
"So. How are you even going to do it? I mean… I'm not sure how to say this, but you are not really that great at being a teacher."
Akira shrugged.
"It's just nursery students. How hard could it be?"
Erika's eyes narrowed.
"Koro-sensei said you have to take this seriously. I think you should prepare more."
Akira thought about that.
Then he nodded.
"All right. I will prepare."
He sat down, opened his laptop, and pulled up a YouTube lecture. A college professor began talking about teaching methods in a voice meant for people twice the age of the nursery kids.
Erika leaned over his shoulder.
"Why are you looking at college students?"
"I am taking things seriously," Akira said. "If I know how to teach college students, I can easily teach nursery students. It's like playing a game on easy mode after learning it on hard mode."
Erika watched the lecture for another second.
"…I don't think so."
She let out a small breath and left him to it.
It was better if he learned that one himself.
---
The next day, everyone gathered at the old nursery.
The caretaker clapped her hands and turned to the children.
"Children! Listen to this. Principal Matsukata has been hurt, so he can't work for a while."
The kids exploded at once.
"Whaaat?"
"He got hurt?"
"Poor Mr. Principal!"
The woman smiled.
"So instead, these big brothers and big sisters will do anything we need for the next two weeks!"
The children cheered.
"Haiiiiiii!"
They rushed in from every direction.
Only one pink-haired girl, older than the rest, turned her head away.
"Hmph."
The others had no such restraint.
Questions hit the class from all sides.
A cluster formed around Hazama.
"Are you a witch?"
"We gotta get rid of her!"
Another group latched onto Terasaka and started biting him.
A few girls crowded around Erika.
"Onee-chan is so pretty!"
Erika smiled.
"Oh, thank you."
Someone even yanked Takebayashi's pants down.
Most of them, though, went straight for Akira.
"Onii-san, you look so handsome!"
"Onii-san, you look like a prince!"
"Onii-san, are you an actor?"
Kayano watched the swarm with a grin.
"Wow. You're popular, Akira-kun."
Akira laughed, full of vanity.
"Hahaha. Well, it couldn't be helped. I am just too handsome."
Then the climbing started.
One kid. Then another. Then another.
Akira's voice changed.
"Wait… maybe I am too popular… they are ganging up on me… ahhhh—!"
The pile closed over him.
Erika rushed in and started digging.
That was when the pink-haired girl finally looked at them and frowned.
"So what exactly are you planning to do for us now? Barging in on us en masse… reckon you can at least work off the oxygen you're taking up?"
The class had the same thought at the same time.
And we've got some harsh kids, too!
A boy in a red T-shirt whispered,
"Oh no. Sakura-nee-san is in a bad mood."
A boy in grey nodded.
"Yeah… these guys are gonna get murdered."
"She's been here five years," the red one said. "The oldest kid around."
The boy in grey continued.
"And spent two of those years resisting school control!"
The red one finished it like a title.
"The Elite NEET! Sakura-nee-san!"
Yoshida blinked.
"Something sure set you guys off."
Muramatsu scratched his head.
"You make it sound cool and all, but really, she just doesn't go to school."
Sakura picked up a broom.
"First, have you got what it takes to work? Let's just see, shall we? Hmmm?"
She advanced toward Nagisa.
The floor gave out under her.
Sakura dropped straight through.
One of the kids pointed.
"Aw! That part of the floor is no good!"
Nagisa moved in and pulled her up.
Isogai turned to the caretaker.
"Aren't you getting it fixed? I mean… this building is pretty decrepit."
The woman shook her head.
"We don't have the money. Any waitlisted students, any child not attending primary school—our principal takes them in at rock-bottom rates. He can't even hire enough staff, so he winds up working the hardest."
The students who had caused the accident went quiet, guilt settling over their faces.
Then Maehara clapped his hands.
"Thirty of us for two weeks… I bet we could get some stuff done."
Hara nodded.
"Hmm. Sure we could!"
Everyone nodded.
"Yeah!"
Isogai straightened.
"Okay, guys. Let's divvy up the duties and work in his stead! First strategy meeting!"
Everyone nodded.
"Got it!"
He looked over at Akira, who had finally been dug out of the child pile.
"First of all, Akira-kun, as Koro-sensei said, you're on teaching duty. Erika-san, please keep an eye on him."
Erika nodded.
"Sure."
Akira lifted a hand from the floor.
"Hey, maybe I need more manpower… guys…"
Nobody heard him.
They were already talking about repairs, meals, and rotas.
That left Akira and Erika with the children.
---
Akira stood in front of the classroom board.
The children sat looking up at him, waiting.
Erika took her place at the side, assistant in name, disaster control in practice.
Akira cleared his throat.
"Alright, children. For the next two weeks, I will be your teacher. Are you ready to enjoy your class?"
The children cheered.
"Haiiiii!"
He smiled, opened a book, and nodded to himself.
"Alright. Let's start with a classic English nursery rhyme. Ring Around the Rosie."
Erika watched him.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this... Hope it goes well.
It did not.
Ten minutes in, most of the children were already face-down on their desks.
Fifteen minutes in, the remaining children who had stayed awake started crying.
Sakura stayed awake the whole time, staring at Akira in horror as if he had personally declared war on childhood.
By the time he finished the class, most of the room was asleep. The rest looked spiritually damaged.
Erika did not step in. She just looked at Akira with an expression that said, Why?
---
They walked back toward school in silence.
Erika looked dead inside.
"Akira."
He kept his eyes on the path.
"Yeah?"
Erika turned to look at him.
"You know it was a disaster, right?"
Akira looked surprised.
"…I thought I did good work?"
Erika stopped walking.
"What good work? Most of the children had a deep sleep, and the ones who stayed awake are traumatized."
Akira looked even more confused.
"Why? I was just teaching them rhymes and fairy tales."
Erika grabbed his shoulder.
"Akira. You don't need to explain in detail about the Great Plague or the Black Death for Ring Around the Rosie."
Akira explained,
"But it's important for its origin."
Erika started shaking him.
"Akira. Children don't need to know Ring Around the Rosie is about everyone dying from disease."
Akira struggled.
"But… it was…"
Erika stopped shaking him, but continued.
"And what was that about Snow White's mother wanting to eat her liver? And Little Red Riding Hood just straight-up dead?"
Akira looked faintly offended.
"That was how it was in the canon materials."
Erika stared at him.
"You can't just say stuff like that in a nursery."
Akira sighed.
"I have never heard any nursery rhymes before. I've never even been in a nursery."
"I haven't been in one either," Erika said. "But I have common sense."
Akira frowned.
"Then why didn't you stop me?"
Erika sighed.
"Because Koro-sensei told me to let you learn from your mistakes. So unless it's completely serious, I'm not going to step in."
Akira started walking again.
"What should I do now? Hey, sister, do you have a way?"
Selena's voice slipped into his mind, unimpressed.
"Brother. Among us, which one has been to a nursery here?"
Akira went silent, then finally said,
"Me."
Selena deadpanned.
"Exactly. So think of something yourself."
Akira sighed again.
If only there were a way he could learn and train to be a teacher.
Then he remembered something.
"…Wait. Wasn't there a game called Blue Archive? Where you play as a teacher?"
Erika tilted her head.
"There is?"
Selena answered first.
"It's a gacha game from his previous life. About a teacher and his students… I think."
"I never played it before," Akira said. "But I heard the teacher in there is great. Is that game available here?"
Selena thought for a bit.
"No. That game didn't exist here. But you can still play it."
Akira tilted his head.
"How?"
Selena smiled.
"You can find it in the System Store and download it to your phone. It even has online updates from that world."
Akira's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
He went home immediately and checked the System Store.
The game was there.
Akira said excitedly,
"It is here, and it's only five Star Credits… I am going to download it now."
He started the download before Erika could talk him out of it.
Erika watched him sit down with the phone and gave up.
"Fine. I'm going to rest. You can play your game."
Akira didn't look away from the screen.
"Yeah, yeah."
---
By the time Erika finished dinner and came back for him, Akira was still on his bed, his phone glowing.
"So?" she asked. "Was it good?"
Akira nodded hard.
"Yes. It's better than I thought. I even wondered why I didn't play it before. The Sensei here is really good."
Erika looked closer.
"So now you know how to teach classes?"
Akira looked at her.
Then at the phone.
Then at her again.
"…No."
Erika's eye twitched.
"What do you mean?"
Akira explained.
"There is no teaching here. The Sensei mostly guides the students in battle, teaches them life lessons, and supports them in whatever they do. As for actual teaching, that's offscreen."
Erika looked confused.
"Then why did you even play it this long?"
Akira held the phone like it had personally enlightened him.
"The game is good, all right? The gameplay is good, the story is great, the characters are soooo good, and the dates part is good too."
Erika immediately closed in.
"You don't date your students."
Akira immediately said,
"Don't worry. Sensei here is not really dating. More like spending time with his students… that feels like anime dates."
He paused.
"Hey. I can use that as a reference for our dates."
Erika had no answer for that.
In the end, she only asked,
"So. What are you going to do tomorrow?"
Akira thought about it.
Then he looked into the distance.
"I have an idea."
Erika already saw trouble coming.
"…You mean?"
Akira looked as if he had made a serious decision.
"How about I copy Koro-sensei?"
Erika looked at him.
"Ehhh, what?"
Akira didn't say anything. He walked to the wardrobe and opened it.
Inside hung a familiar suit.
Akira pointed at it with total confidence.
"This is it. This will definitely work."
Erika looked at the ceiling.
Why has it come to this?
All she could think was that she hoped tomorrow would go normally.