"All right, class dismissed."
When the bell rang, Hiratsuka put away her notes and announced it.
Her crisp dismissal made many students feel a bit more fond of her.
"Right, Rojin, come to the office."
As she was leaving, she suddenly remembered something and called out to Rojin.
She then walked straight out of the classroom.
"Huh?"
Rojin, who was just about to lay his head down for a nap, slowly made a confused sound.
What did I do?
In his mind, being called to the office meant he must have done something wrong.
But thinking back, he had behaved quite well these two days.
"Did you do something?"
Even Sakamoto turned his head with suspicion.
Although they didn't spend every moment together, the two were practically always in the classroom after class.
"Not that I know of. I'll go see."
With some reluctance, Rojin stood and stretched.
Seeing this, Sakamoto didn't ask further.
If Rojin said he didn't know, then he probably hadn't done anything.
"Um, teacher, do you need something?"
Entering the office, Rojin carefully asked Hiratsuka, who was organizing documents.
If possible, he wanted to be someone with low presence in class.
Given his situation, he simply couldn't stay in school like a normal student.
He could take long leave or even temporarily withdraw at any time.
"I reviewed your file. You weren't in school for the past two years, correct?"
Putting down her documents, Hiratsuka looked at him with concern.
In Japan, social groups were divided very clearly.
Groups rejected each other, and joining one was extremely difficult.
Someone like Rojin, who had been away from school for so long and had no social group, could easily become a target of bullying.
"Yeah, what about it?"
Although he didn't fully understand her point, Rojin still answered honestly.
She was his teacher after all.
No need to be rude.
"I won't ask why. Do you have any friends at school?"
Choosing her words carefully, Hiratsuka continued.
His records over the past two years were vague, with no explanation of how he re-enrolled normally after being absent so long.
She didn't feel like digging into it.
After observing him these two days, she felt his personality was decent, so as his homeroom teacher she wanted to check up on him.
"I get along pretty well with Sakamoto."
"I see."
She nodded in understanding.
Anyone with eyes could tell. She had only asked out of formality.
"What about clubs? Have you decided?"
This was her real purpose.
She hoped Rojin would join a club so he could blend into school life more easily.
If he hadn't chosen one, she planned to recommend him to the Club she oversaw.
"I plan to join Sakamoto's club."
Hearing that, Rojin more or less understood her intentions.
She wanted to toss him toward Yukino?
No way. Rojin had absolutely no interest in so-called model hardworking girls.
When he had first arrived in this world, maybe he would have thought about conquering heroines and building a harem.
Now he only wanted a peaceful life.
Even if that peaceful life only existed in the brief gaps between missions.
Besides, dating those girls would be exhausting.
If I have that kind of time, wouldn't it be better to nap or play games?
This was the truth Rojin realized after being single for more than a decade. At least for now, still single, he thought so.
"Sakamoto's club?"
Hiratsuka blinked. For a moment she couldn't remember which club Sakamoto had joined.
She knew the club of every student in the class, but for some reason she just couldn't recall which one Sakamoto had picked.
"Wait, let me check."
She pulled out a file from the side and started flipping through it.
Since there were still twenty minutes left in the break, Rojin wasn't in a hurry.
"Found it."
Hiratsuka stopped on Sakamoto's club application. She fell silent for a moment.
This so-called "Modern Literature Club"… how should she put it?
It was full of students who didn't want to join any club, basically the go-home club and a bunch of slackers.
To put it bluntly, the club existed as a refuge for students who didn't want teachers nagging them.
Would joining this club really help someone integrate with the class quickly?
It felt more like finding a reasonable way to avoid everything.
Scratching her head, Hiratsuka finally gave up on forcing Rojin into a club.
After all, her original intention was to help him. Forcing students to do things was the opposite of that.
"Alright, go write a club intention form and hand it in this afternoon."
"I'll be in the office before five, so no rush."
She placed Sakamoto's form into a folder and reminded Rojin about a few things.
By the way, the one she kept was a photocopy.
The one the student wrote had long been submitted.
There was no way she would just leave something like that lying around on her desk.
"Okay, I'll head back."
Rojin nodded and closed the door behind him as he left the office.
"Excuse me, could you move a bit?"
A clear voice came from behind him.
Turning around, a girl stood facing him—
Ah, no, not with her back to him. She was facing him directly.
"I get the feeling you're thinking something rude."
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned slightly, the thought almost slipping from her mouth.
But she held back that restless little tongue of hers.
Forget it. Must stay composed.
"Alright."
Recognizing her, Rojin was slightly surprised, but only a little.
How should he put it?
Before meeting her, he had a tiny bit of expectation.
After actually seeing her, she was… just average. Nothing particularly impressive.
In every sense.
That was Rojin's honest impression.
No matter what Yukino was like in anime, in his eyes she was no different from any other nameless student.
If we're talking personality or presence, those freaks contained by the Agency had far more uniqueness than her.
Through his work in the Agency, Rojin had met plenty of special, elegant women.
He wasn't the type to have his heart shaken just by seeing a girl.
This little encounter didn't change his life at all.
When the bell rang, he stepped into the classroom, quietly explained the situation to Sakamoto, then pulled out his book and focused on class.
Today, Rojin was still a model student.