I forgot...
The only teacher with any integrity in this completely unqualified school.
She wouldn't be out drinking or playing cards. She would be making a special round to check every single room, just to make sure all the students had returned safely to their dorms.
It's precisely because I forgot this... that this situation is happening now.
Hayakawa thought this as he looked at the two girls beside him, who were panicking, flustered, and trembling.
"Cough~"
In the moment of crisis, Hayakawa stepped up to take charge. He first let out a small cough to get the two girls' attention, then frowned and pointed toward the closet.
Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu instantly understood. They rushed toward the closet, yanked the door open, and scrambled inside together. A noise immediately echoed from the closet as they bumped against the walls in their haste.
So clumsy…
Hayakawa stood up expressionlessly. While adjusting his face to that of an honest, obedient honor student, he opened the door. "Good evening, Kirisu-sensei."
"A question." The tall, ice-cold beauty with pink hair, wearing a black-and-white business suit, stepped inside. She frowned in displeasure. "Why did it take you so long to open the door?"
"I was tired from studying and started feeling drowsy." Hayakawa replied without batting an eye. "I apologize, Kirisu-sensei."
"Praise." Kirisu Mafuyu tilted her head up, her exquisite face devoid of expression, yet she offered a compliment. "To remember to study even when out late, you truly live up to being the double-subject second-place student."
She's doing this on purpose, isn't she?
A vein pulsed on Hayakawa's forehead. He clenched his hands into fists behind his back, gritting his teeth for a long time before he could stop himself from turning into an oni on the spot. He managed a strained smile. "Is there anything else you needed?"
Kirisu Mafuyu paused, then looked at Hayakawa. "An inquiry. How is your recent tutoring of Furuhashi-kun and Ogata-kun progressing?"
The two girls, curled up inside the closet and covering their mouths, not daring to make a sound, instantly shrank their pupils, concentrating on the conversation outside.
"It's going well." Hayakawa chose his words carefully. "They've made significant progress."
"Ambiguous." Kirisu Mafuyu's gaze turned colder. "Elaborate clearly. It sounds as if you are trying to fool me."
"Is that so? Then please take a look at these," Hayakawa moved to the wooden desk and handed the problem books that Furuhashi and Ogata had been using to Kirisu Mafuyu. "These are the questions they worked on. You can review them to see if they've made progress."
"A question." Kirisu Mafuyu looked at the notebooks Hayakawa took from the desk, then at the three chairs around the desk and the three sets of stationery. She immediately noticed something, her brows tightly furrowed. She looked seriously at Hayakawa. "What is the meaning of this? Could it be that…"
"Yes, they were just here studying with me." Hayakawa answered frankly.
Thud…
A slight sound instantly came from inside the closet, clearly the two girls inside having been startled.
"Hmm?" Kirisu Mafuyu turned her head, her gaze slowly becoming sharp. Her eyes swept across the room, finally stopping on the closet.
"They've already gone back. The important thing is this; I hope you can see their effort," Hayakawa was furious inside but could only hand over the notebooks. "From these questions, I am sure the teacher will see their progress."
"Let me see," Kirisu Mafuyu reluctantly shifted her attention back. She meticulously examined the problems with a fault-finding eye. Slowly, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.
The progress was indeed noticeable. To describe it, their level before was like Gian's awful singing. Now, it was merely simple tone-deafness. Although they were both still bad at singing, the improvement was evident. The progress from knowing nothing to understanding a small amount—the step from zero to one—is undoubtedly the most difficult.
"Honest, there is indeed some progress." Kirisu Mafuyu closed the notebooks. A subtle, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her usually cool face. "That is wonderful…"
Hayakawa: "..."
Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu in the closet: "..."
Is that really Kirisu-sensei?
"Ahem," Kirisu Mafuyu seemed to notice her unusual behavior and lightly cleared her throat. She reverted to her usual severe expression. "Hayakawa-kun, even for the sake of studying, as a teacher, you must maintain an appropriate distance from your students. Furuhashi-kun and Ogata-kun are girls, after all. Bringing them to your room to study without permission could lead to bad rumors. I have actually heard some around the school recently. I had intended to talk to you, but seeing this, it seems unnecessary. You are, tentatively, a competent tutor."
Kirisu Mafuyu placed the two notebooks down, offered Hayakawa a word of encouragement, then said seriously, "Do not bring them to your dorm room to study again in the future."
"Understood." Hayakawa lowered his head, looking completely honest and compliant.
Furuhashi inside the closet was instantly speechless. Does your conscience not hurt when you say things like that? You forced Rizu-chan and me into your room!
You act like such a perfect student around the teacher, but you're cold as a poker face with me, constantly yelling, mocking, and even physically punishing us sometimes. What a two-faced person!!
"Mhm, that is all," Kirisu Mafuyu walked out of the room. "Continue to work hard in the future."
Slam!
The door closed.
Hayakawa stared silently at the door for a long time before saying softly, "You can come out now."
"Whoosh~"
The closet door instantly flew open. The two girls, their faces flushed from the stuffy, confined air inside, tumbled out together, gasping for breath.
"We… we weren't found, were we?" Furuhashi Fumino gasped and fanned her face to cool down. "The teacher seemed like she was about to look over here."
"Probably not." Hayakawa shook his head. "Judging by her reaction, it should be fine."
"That's good." Ogata Rizu sat down on the bed, still panting. She grabbed the water from the desk, took a couple of gulps, but still felt hot. She then unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. Her fair, delicate neck and collarbone were revealed, gleaming under the dorm light.
"..." Furuhashi Fumino also felt a little uncomfortable, but the closet had been incredibly stuffy. Staying inside for five minutes had been truly difficult. After a moment of hesitation, she took off the hair tie holding her hair. Her unbound blue hair fell to her waist, and the light blush on her face added a hint of alluring beauty to the already stunning girl.
Hayakawa ignored the respective charms of the two girls, saying emotionlessly, "You should head back. The teacher will likely check your dorms next. Just find the right time to go up."
"It's fine. There are still many rooms on the second floor. She won't get to the third floor right away," Furuhashi Fumino said. "If it's Kirisu-sensei, she'll definitely check every room. She's always been that seriously responsible and merciless."
"However…" Furuhashi Fumino hesitated, then said softly, "I think… Rizu-chan and I might have misunderstood the teacher before. Although she always tried to persuade me to give up on science, thinking about it now, she was probably just genuinely considering my future. Ordinary teachers wouldn't care about those things. Only Kirisu-sensei would."
"Maybe she is actually a very gentle teacher. She cares about our studies, is happy to see our progress, and feels sad when we are down…"
"It's just that we didn't understand her way of expressing herself," Furuhashi Fumino looked up, her expression serious. "I shouldn't just think about resisting and fearing her words—that's what elementary school students do. Instead, I should study hard to get a grade that proves myself and use facts to show her my resolve."
Hayakawa nodded silently. "Perhaps."
"I…" Ogata Rizu's face was slightly flushed. "I still think Kirisu-sensei is a bit scary…"
"But now," Ogata Rizu lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito. "I feel a little better. I think I might be able to get along with her in the future… just a little bit."
As she spoke, she used her thumb and index finger to show a very, very small distance—which, by her standards, was about a picometer.
"Mhm!" Furuhashi Fumino nodded vigorously at Ogata. Her face showed a newfound determination, and she smiled at Hayakawa with slightly glowing eyes. "Hayakawa-kun, let's continue studyi—"
"By the way, Hayakawa-kun."
The door suddenly opened. Kirisu Mafuyu poked her head in and said calmly, "Before the monthly exam, if you or Furuhashi-kun and the others have any questions, you can come to the office…"
Her voice gradually faded, then disappeared entirely, as if the air in the room had been sucked out in a matter of seconds.
Furuhashi and Ogata's bodies were stiff in identical fashion. They stared blankly at the ice-cold beauty who had returned, a hint of despair appearing on their faces.
Hayakawa Haku: #￥%&$#/?
"..."
Kirisu Mafuyu expressionlessly looked at Ogata Rizu sitting on the bed with the top button of her shirt undone. She then looked at Furuhashi Fumino with her hair down. Her gaze fell upon the girls' unnatural blushes, their messy clothes, and their labored breathing. Her eyes gradually turned into two pools of lightless darkness.
An icy, dead silence filled the entire dorm room.
"Hayakawa-kun, Ogata-kun, and Furuhashi-kun…" Kirisu Mafuyu looked at them with vacant eyes and slowly stated, "Come to a teacher-student meeting later."
Furuhashi and Ogata: "..."
"YAAAAH!!!!"
Kirisu-sensei is indeed still terrifying!!