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The next day arrived quickly.
Asher got up early in the morning. After preparing a bento for lunch, he changed into his school uniform and headed out for school.
In a little over half an hour, he arrived at his classroom.
The moment he stepped inside, a chorus of greetings reached his ears.
"Good morning, Asher!"
"Morning, Asher! You look even more handsome than yesterday~"
"Good morning…"
Asher nodded back at everyone, returning their greetings one by one, then walked over and sat down at his seat.
At the desk in front of him, Akizuki Marina was already there, reviewing her lessons with focus. One glance was enough to tell she was the studious type.
"Good morning, Akizuki," Asher greeted her politely with a smile.
Hearing his voice, Marina lifted her head. When she saw it was Asher, her eyes curved slightly as she tucked a strand of smooth hair behind her ear and replied gently.
"Good morning, Asher."
But right after that, as if she'd remembered something, she added, "Oh, right. Asher, you might want to check inside your desk. There's… something unexpected in there."
"Really?" Asher blinked, puzzled.
Someone put something in his desk?
He'd only transferred in yesterday. Today was just his second day at school, and the only classmate he really knew was Marina. Who would even leave something for him?
Confused as he was, Asher still reached for the drawer under his desk to take a look.
When he opened it and saw what was inside, his surprise quickly turned into a helpless expression.
So that's what it was.
Love letters.
[Asher, you're really handsome. I want to go out with you! If you feel the same, please come to the equipment storage room in the gym during lunch break.]
[Asher…]
There were several of them, all starting in pretty much the same way.
After glancing through them once, Asher calmly took all the letters and, under the envious gazes of his classmates, tossed them into the nearby trash can.
For a moment, it felt like the classroom filled with the sound of countless fragile hearts shattering.
Seeing this, Marina couldn't help feeling curious.
"Asher, you're just throwing away those girls' feelings like that?"
She'd arrived early that morning and had personally seen a few girls sneak over to stuff those letters into Asher's desk.
By now, their hearts were probably in pieces…
Asher just smiled casually at Marina's question.
"I think this is already the nicest way to handle it."
"I can't exactly reject them one by one."
"And rejecting someone face-to-face would just be more embarrassing for them."
"Besides, if it's a confession, not even writing your name is way too insincere."
And it was true. None of the letters were signed. They just told him where and when to show up.
Go to a mysterious meeting without even knowing who the other person was or what they looked like?
What if it turned out to be some terrifying 'female T. rex'?
Asher had no intention of losing his purity under such unclear circumstances.
Hearing his explanation, Marina understood his reasoning and covered her mouth with a soft laugh.
"That's true. You really do think things through, Asher."
Just then, Asher spoke again.
"Though, if the one confessing were you, Akizuki, I might actually think about it."
"Eh?"
Marina froze, her clear blue eyes turning toward Asher.
What she saw was him smiling back at her.
The morning sunlight poured in through the window, bathing him in a warm glow. Paired with his good looks, it was hard not to feel one's heart skip a beat.
Even Akizuki Marina blanked out for a brief moment.
Luckily, it only lasted an instant before she snapped back to her senses. She put on a composed smile and lightly covered her mouth.
"You really like joking around, Asher."
Asher just shrugged, neither confirming nor denying it.
Marina then turned back to her book, continuing her reading.
But if anyone had looked closely, they would have noticed that she wasn't nearly as calm as she appeared.
[What's wrong with me…]
Her eyes were on the pages, but she couldn't focus on a single word.
Her heart was beating faster for no clear reason, and images from that brief moment of distraction kept resurfacing in her mind.
[Ugh… what am I even thinking…?]
[That Asher guy is seriously rude.]
[Saying something like that to a girl he's only known for two days…]
After a while, Marina finally steadied herself and subtly shook her head, forcing all those strange thoughts out of her mind.
What she didn't notice was that her cheeks had already taken on a faint blush.
...
Before long, the class bell rang.
Wearing a white lab coat over a neat blazer, their homeroom teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka walked into the classroom with steady steps.
After sweeping her gaze across the students, her eyes stopped on Asher.
"Asher, come with me after class."
As soon as her words fell, the entire class looked surprised, Asher included.
What was this about?
Had he somehow offended this iron-fisted, perpetually single teacher without realizing it?
Since Hiratsuka showed no intention of explaining, Asher didn't dare ask. He simply nodded.
"Understood, Hiratsuka-sensei."
Seeing his response, Hiratsuka nodded back, took out her textbook, and began the lesson.
"Alright everyone, open your books to page XX. Today we'll continue where we left off yesterday…"
...
Class ended before long.
Asher followed Hiratsuka Shizuka out of Class 2-B.
But instead of heading to the staff office, she led him to the underground parking lot.
They stopped in front of a perfectly ordinary-looking red sedan.
Hiratsuka opened the trunk.
"Asher, help me carry these supplementary materials back to the classroom and have the group leaders hand them out."
"?" Asher hadn't expected that calling him out was just to use him as free labor.
Still, she was his homeroom teacher, so he didn't complain.
It seemed Hiratsuka noticed the change in his expression. She picked up one stack of materials herself and placed another stack into Asher's arms before speaking.
"Of course, that's not the only reason I called you out."
"There are a few things I want to talk to you about."
Asher raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I'm all ears."
"....."