Although there had been a minor incident.
It didn’t lead to anything else.
Expecting any interesting developments with classmates from someone whose only impression of them was ‘four-eyes’ and ‘damn fat otakus’ was simply asking too much.
However.
Even though there were no further developments, the rumors about Kitahara Minakaze quietly spread during the break.
Things like using a 5-yen coin to humiliate the physically disabled Miyata, threatening classmates, having a fetish for baby-faced and busty girls…
Kitahara Minakaze only found out about this during the lunch break.
After finishing Natsume Mio’s lunch box—which was full of love but tasted absolutely awful—he was called to the teachers’ office halfway through.
…
“…I’m telling you, you haven’t come to school for over half a year, and the moment you show up, weird rumors suddenly start spreading. Are you really not afraid of being expelled? You’re on the verge of becoming the shame of the school, do you understand?”
In the lounge at the corner of the teachers’ office.
Ms.
Watanabe—who had her hair tied in a single ponytail, wore loose sportswear, and looked dashingly heroic—shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth with uninhibited vigor before scolding Kitahara Minakaze.
“I didn’t expect my reputation to be this bad either. I only said two sentences.” Kitahara Minakaze stood in front of Ms.
Watanabe with a helpless expression.
“So, you didn’t actually humiliate Miyata Yui, did you? You’d better not have, and I advise you not to try. That’s the young lady of the Miyata family. Every time she writes a note to communicate with me, I hold it with both hands, treating it like… ah, right, an imperial decree! Afterward, I even compile them into a collection to study constantly, all to build a good relationship with her and prepare to hook a man from the Miyata family in the future…”
“…That’s too exaggerated, and way too pathetic, Ms. Watanabe. Plus, your true motives are completely showing.”
“Well, you get the idea anyway. Don’t mess with her.”
Ms.
Watanabe said a quick thanks for the meal and gently set down her chopsticks.
“Understood.”
Kitahara Minakaze replied, looking at the unconventional Ms.
Watanabe, who was sitting with her legs spread wide in a bold, commanding posture.
This was his homeroom teacher.
For some reason.
The original owner of this body only had impressions of his classmates as damn fat otakus and four-eyes, yet his sole impression of this Ms.
Watanabe was that of an older sister…
He really hadn’t expected the original owner to be a closet pervert who liked older women.
Of course, that had nothing to do with the current Kitahara Minakaze.
“So, you’re not going to skip school again this time, right?”
Having put down her chopsticks, Ms.
Watanabe tidied up a bit, tilted her head back, and downed the green tea beside her in one gulp before asking.
“Barring any accidents, I probably won’t. I actually quite like school; it makes me feel youthful again.” Kitahara Minakaze thought for a moment and spoke his mind.
“You’re in the prime of your youth right now, so stop pretending to be mature! Let me tell you, if you dare skip without a reason again, you’re definitely getting expelled, and I won’t be able to put in a good word for you.” Ms.
Watanabe stood up and lightly chopped Kitahara Minakaze on the head with the side of her hand.
“I know.”
“Good.”
Ms.
But she didn’t seem to find what she was looking for.
She clicked her tongue, looked at Kitahara Minakaze, and asked naturally, “Got a smoke?”
Kitahara Minakaze: “?”
“Hmm?”
“No. Also, if my understanding is correct, I’m your student, not your coworker.”
“…Eh, weird. You always fell for it before.”
Ms.
Watanabe paused, finally dropping the desperate-for-a-smoke look from her face.
She looked Kitahara Minakaze up and down, revealing an intrigued expression.
Kitahara Minakaze: “…”
“Forget it. If you say you don’t have any, then you don’t. I won’t search you.”
Ms.
Watanabe glanced at Kitahara Minakaze’s pockets but quickly looked away.
“But make up your mind to kick this bad habit. Your grades are actually decent, yet you have a bunch of nasty flaws. If you don’t know how to take care of your body at such a young age, you’ll regret it when you reach my age.”
“Understood, understood.”
“Alright, head back then. Class is about to start.”
“Yeah.”
Kitahara Minakaze nodded, turning around to leave the lounge and head back to the classroom.
“By the way.”
Kitahara Minakaze had just stepped one foot out of the lounge.
Ms.
Watanabe seemed to remember something and suddenly called out to him.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your mother. As your teacher, there isn’t much I can do to help. All I can say is that when faced with injustice, living a good life might be the best counterattack.”
Kitahara Minakaze paused his steps and nodded in strong agreement.
“…Yeah, that makes sense.”
Hearing this, Ms.
Watanabe froze, seemingly a bit surprised.
But by the time she snapped out of it and looked back toward the exit,
Kitahara Minakaze had already left.
…
When Kitahara Minakaze returned to the classroom, he was still the center of attention.
Especially after the rumor about him using a 5-yen coin to humiliate the physically disabled Miyata had spread.
Looks like it’s necessary to improve my reputation.
Otherwise, I’ll have to copy the original owner, pulling a long face and pretending to be deep.
How am I supposed to pick up gi—no, how am I supposed to enjoy my youth like that?
Yeah, I definitely need to change.
Let’s start with a simple greeting.
With that thought in mind, Kitahara Minakaze walked into the classroom and happened to see the male classmate who had greeted him that morning.
I think his name was Shigeta Kaisei.
The moment Kitahara Minakaze stopped, and the moment he raised his hand,
Shigeta Kaisei’s eyes widened.
He stumbled back a step, shielded his head with both hands, and shouted, “I don’t know how I offended you, but I only have one request: please don’t hit my head!”
“Good after—”
The last syllable got stuck in his throat.
Kitahara Minakaze’s expression froze.
The level of awkwardness was comparable to a boss trying to assign work, but failing to copy the text properly and accidentally sending sweet nothings meant for his wife to a subordinate instead.
Super awkward.
Since Shigeta Kaisei had yelled so loudly, it naturally attracted everyone else’s attention.
Every student in the class witnessed this awkward scene.
Most of them had rather strange expressions on their faces.
Son of a bitch…
Kitahara Minakaze irritably lowered his hand, spat out the last syllable, and then ignored the equally awkward Shigeta Kaisei as he returned to his seat.
Seeing him walk away, the others slowly averted their gazes, though their expressions remained strange.
Kitahara Minakaze pulled out his chair and sat down.
Then, he noticed that the young lady of the Miyata family—as Ms.
Watanabe had called her—sitting next to him had her head turned away, her small shoulders trembling.
I don’t even need to think about it…
she’s definitely laughing at me.
Kitahara Minakaze looked over.
Seemingly noticing Kitahara Minakaze’s gaze, the young lady of the Miyata family’s shoulders slowly stopped trembling.
She maintained her turned-away posture for a moment before slowly turning back.
She met Kitahara Minakaze’s eyes.
Then, she gave him an energetic thumbs-up.
…So what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Kitahara Minakaze really wanted to retort.
Sure, I don’t understand sign language, but do you really think I can understand what you mean if you just give a thumbs-up every single time?
But considering his current reputation, he ultimately let it go.
And after giving the thumbs-up, the young lady of the Miyata family turned her head away again, looking elsewhere.
Kitahara Minakaze shook his head.
Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly remembered that he hadn’t finished reading her stats.
He casually threw another [Insight] at the young lady of the Miyata family.
Miyata Yui’s stats floated before his eyes once again.
…There really is something noteworthy.
The rest of it is no different from a normal high school girl.
But her special status bar isn’t empty.
There’s a status condition.
It’s called [Bearing the Weight of Descent], but there’s no description.
“Interesting.”
Kitahara Minakaze shifted his gaze away from the status panel and looked out the window.