COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya

The last class of the morning was Japanese. Only about ten students in the class were still "trying" to pay attention. To Hikigaya's surprise, even the ice-cold girl was among them. 

Meanwhile, the "idiot duo," the "bomb boy," the blonde gyaru, and about a third of the class were openly sleeping, playing on their phones, gaming, or reading magazines and comics. 

The rest of the students wavered in between. They weren't as blatant as Yamauchi or Sudou, but they had the "safety in numbers" mentality—if a bunch of people slacked off, the teacher wouldn't punish them all. So they started small, zoning out a little, then gradually pushing the limits. 

Hikigaya saw all of this and sighed. 

This is exactly like how one rotten apple spoils the bunch. 

Or worse—a whole basket of rotten apples. 

Disgusting. 

Deciding to just mind his own business, Hikigaya focused on his own work. 

"Hello, everyone. I'm your Japanese teacher..." 

A tall woman with long hair, dressed in a white coat over a black suit, confidently strode up to the podium. 

Hikigaya frowned. 

That voice sounds familiar. 

He looked up, and the next second—BAM! 

He shot to his feet so suddenly that the loud noise made everyone in the class turn to stare. Even the timid "ostrich girl" next to him trembled in fear. 

"Shizuka-sensei?!" 

Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes widened in shock as he stared at the teacher on the podium. His mind was in total chaos. 

He ignored the curious stares from the rest of the class because only one thought consumed his mind— 

Why is Shizuka-sensei, who's supposed to be teaching at Sobu Middle School, here?! 

But on the podium, Hiratsuka Shizuka remained completely calm. She looked like she had never met Hikigaya before. 

With her usual tone, she said, "Student, it's class time. Please follow the rules and take your seat." 

Hikigaya forced himself to calm down. The class quickly went back to normal, as if nothing had happened. But Hikigaya kept his eyes locked on the teacher the entire time. 

Gradually, he managed to regain his composure. 

The entire class felt like ants crawling all over his body. It was pure torture, but he somehow made it through. 

When class finally ended, Hikigaya didn't rush forward right away. 

Instead, he waited a bit before standing up to leave.

At the same time, the classroom speaker suddenly came on. It was the same girl as yesterday, her serious tone carrying a hint of cuteness. 

"Hello? Can you hear me? Ah, okay. Ahem… Good afternoon, first-year students. There will be an information session about club activities today at 5 PM in the First Gymnasium. Interested students should arrive on time. I'll repeat, today…" 

But Hikigaya wasn't paying attention to the announcement. He quickly made his way to the first-year faculty office on the south side of the school building. Shizuka-sensei wasn't there. After asking Chabashira-sensei, he found out that not only was Hiratsuka Shizuka the Japanese teacher, but she was also in charge of student life guidance. 

Following Chabashira-sensei's directions, Hikigaya soon arrived at the Student Life Guidance Room on the second floor. 

As soon as he stepped in, he saw Hiratsuka Shizuka leaning against the window, a freshly lit cigarette between her fingers. It was as if she had been expecting him. Just like in the classroom earlier, she acted like a total stranger, but now she greeted him with a grin. 

"Well, if it isn't Hikigaya! Haha, long time no see. Your eyes are still as full of life as ever!" 

"Shizuka-sensei, why are you at this school too? Don't tell me… your marriage meeting failed again?" 

Boom! 

Before he could finish, a gust of wind from her fist brushed past his face. A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. 

Yep. Still the violent teacher. 

"S-Sorry! I won't do it again!" 

Hearing his apology, Hiratsuka Shizuka let out a huff and forgave him. 

"So? How do you like the surprise I set up for you today?" 

"Surprise? More like a shock!" Hikigaya's face darkened. 

"Haha, it's rare to see you get startled! After all, ever since—" Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Just as she was about to continue, Hikigaya cut her off. 

"Anyway, Shizuka-sensei, why are you here? Shouldn't you still be at Sobu Middle School? What happened?" 

"Uh… how should I put this…" For some reason, she seemed hesitant, making Hikigaya even more suspicious. 

"Shizuka-chan already quit Sobu Middle School~" 

A girl's voice suddenly came from the doorway. 

Haruno had appeared out of nowhere, walking in with an amused look as she glanced at Hikigaya. 

"Huh? You didn't know? Looks like Hikigaya-kun isn't very up-to-date with the news!" 

Then, she turned to Hiratsuka Shizuka with a playful pout. 

"Shizuka-chan I can't believe you're secretly meeting with a student here. And I even came all this way to have lunch with you~" 

Hikigaya froze at her words. He didn't have time to wonder why Haruno was here; he turned back to Hiratsuka Shizuka, demanding answers. 

"Shizuka-sensei, what do you mean you resigned?! During New Year's, didn't you say you were going to keep working? Why did you suddenly quit?!" 

"Oh, but I heard Shizuka-chan had already planned to leave after finishing her last batch of students. That incident had a huge impact, after all~" Haruno added casually. 

"What incident?" 

"Hikigaya-kun, you graduated from Sobu Middle School, so you must've heard about that scandal involving the second-year students, right? The one that even made it onto Chiba's local news…" 

"Haruno!!" 

Hiratsuka Shizuka immediately stopped her, but it was too late. 

Hikigaya stood frozen, like he had just seen a ghost. He turned to Hiratsuka Shizuka with a bitter smile. 

"Sensei… didn't you say that incident wouldn't affect you much? I thought it was already resolved…" 

Halfway through his sentence, Hikigaya paused. Then, realization struck him, and he let out a self-deprecating laugh. 

"Hah… I was so naive. That incident was huge. Even the vice principal and several teachers got taken away for investigation. It even made the news. Of course, there was no way it wouldn't have consequences. Especially for the person who started it all—me." 

He looked up at Shizuka-sensei with a pained expression. 

"So, you got dragged into this… because of me? Now that I think about it, it makes sense. The one who caused all this mess still managed to graduate without a problem. There had to be something going on behind the scenes. You resigned… to protect me? You sacrificed yourself for my sake? I actually believed…" 

Hikigaya clenched his fists tightly. He was filled with rage, but there was nowhere for it to go. He knew all too well… the one being protected had no right to be angry. 

The only person he could blame… was his own weak, foolish self. 

Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed and rubbed her forehead like she had a headache. Then, she glared at Haruno, who was still acting like none of this concerned her. 

"Listen, Hikigaya. I'll say it again. You didn't do anything wrong. Maybe your approach was a little… extreme, but you weren't at fault. If anything, without you, the problem might have never been exposed, and more people could've gotten hurt." 

Deep down, Hiratsuka Shizuka let out a silent sigh. If only I had realized it sooner, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. Maybe you wouldn't have ended up like this. This is my fault as a teacher. 

She reached out and ruffled Hikigaya's hair. 

"Hikigaya, don't you always say that everything has two sides? Think about it this way—if none of that had happened, we wouldn't have met again at this high school. Right?"

According to the normal course of events, Hikigaya would have moved on to high school, while Hiratsuka Shizuka would have stayed on as a middle school teacher, and their relationship would have gradually faded. But an unexpected incident changed both of their paths. Sometimes, Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't help but feel amazed at the strange twist of fate that kept them connected. 

No matter how much Hiratsuka Shizuka tried to comfort him, Hikigaya kept his head down without reacting at all. Seeing this, she got a little annoyed, grabbed his face with both hands, and said in an exasperated tone, "Hey, Hikigaya, you don't actually think I quit my job because of you, do you? You boys at this age are so troublesome. You're way too full of yourselves!" 

"Use that little brain of yours. If that were really the case, I wouldn't be here at this school!" 

"Then why…?" 

"It's a rotation system." 

Shizuka sighed and explained, "If I didn't want to leave, no one—those old geezers or anyone else—could have made me. Got it? This time, it was just a regular staff rotation, and I volunteered for it. Otherwise, do you think I'd be able to transfer here so easily?" 

"I see." 

Hikigaya nodded. Teacher rotation wasn't unusual; it was mainly to ensure fair and balanced education, and it wasn't limited to teachers—other professions, like civil servants, had similar systems. 

But then he raised another question. "But, Sensei, you were teaching middle school before. Can you even transfer across grade levels? Usually, the rotation period is around six years. If you started working in your twenties, then right now, you should be about—" 

Before he could finish, he felt a deadly glare from her, and he wisely shut his mouth. 

"It's already settled. The education board has no issues with it. Anyway, from now on, I'm a high school teacher!" Hiratsuka Shizuka huffed. 

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