"Whatever, I don't care anymore. Saiki, you brat, just be careful. Women can be really scary."
[Thanks, but I usually don't go out of my way to mess with anyone.]
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at him: "So from what you're saying, they're the ones who come after you."
Saiki didn't respond.
"Seriously!!"
"Saiki, listen, I'm not trying to lecture you or anything, but even though your grades are excellent, at your age you should still focus on studying..."
[Come on, I haven't really done anything with them.]
"It's just that I'm worried you'll fall for temptation. I know how you rich kids are—playing around, secretly keeping multiple girlfriends—but for now, put that stuff aside..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka started off serious but quickly switched to gossip mode: "But which one do you like? What type of girl is your preference? Teacher can help you check them out first..."
(Where did that strict teacher act go?)
[Then find someone even better than Hiratsuka-sensei.]
Hiratsuka Shizuka thought seriously for a moment and said: "I see! Then those girls probably don't quite measure up. A woman like that might be hard to find."
→_→ (Self-praise while selling melons.)
[If there's really nothing else, I'm leaving.]
Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand: "Oh, go ahead. Just remember to prepare the content for the small quiz exam."
Saiki turned his head.
[What? I already did the homework and graded it, and now you want me to prepare the exam content too? Isn't that the teacher's job? Just handle it yourself.]
"What's the big deal? This is part of your duties as class rep, right? And you're a perfect-score genius in every subject!"
(Is this really how you use talent?)
"It's fine, just this once, okay? Oh, and take this stack of homework down and hand it out to the class."
Hiratsuka Shizuka picked up a thick pile of homework and shoved it into Saiki's arms, then pushed him toward the office door and closed it behind him.
Saiki stood at the door looking at the homework in his hands, then remembered he still had to prepare the exam content. He sighed.
(Yare yare Who's the teacher here anyway! Yare yare, what a pain. Back home it'll take another five minutes to plan out the exam content.)
Saiki carried the homework and headed back to the classroom. At the stairwell, he ran into Kubo Nagisa.
"Ara! If it isn't Saiki-kun. What a coincidence~"
Kubo Nagisa's picture →
(What coincidence? Weren't you waiting here on purpose?)
Kubo Nagisa looked Saiki over and sighed in relief when she saw he was unharmed [Good, good. The class was saying going to Hiratsuka-sensei's office was super dangerous, that he might come back missing an arm or a leg. Looks like nothing serious happened.]
(Why would going to the office cost me limbs? Are the rumors in class getting more and more exaggerated? The power of gossip is terrifying.)
Kubo Nagisa came down the stairs but stopped on the last step, looking down at Saiki from above: "You're carrying a huge stack of homework. Is that why the teacher called you to the office?"
[Pretty much.]
Kubo Nagisa reached over and took half the stack to help lighten his load: "I'll help you."
[Thanks.]
Kubo Nagisa stood right in front of Saiki, staring for a moment before suddenly asking: "Saiki-kun, how tall are you?"
[162 cm.]
Kubo Nagisa stood on the step and reached out to compare: "Oh~ I'm 158 cm. With me standing up here, how much difference is there between us..."
[18 cm.]
"Oh~ Then this should be the ideal couple height difference, right?"
[That's the opposite. And the ideal height difference is 15 cm, not 18 cm.]
"Aww ❛‿˂̵✧ Is that so? But Saiki-kun, you really know a lot about these things."
Saiki ignored her, picked up the homework, and climbed the stairs. Kubo Nagisa followed after him: "Saiki-kun, you should grow a bit taller in the future, okay?"
[Shut up.]
"Hehe..."
Saiki was walking so quickly because someone was watching from the corner behind him.
In the corner behind them, Kitagawa Marin was persuading: "Hey, Shikimori, why didn't you go out there just now?"
Kitagawa Marin's picture →
A gritted-teeth Shikimori: "I was here first. I was obviously here first..."
Shikimori's picture →
Kitagawa Marin looked at this version of Shikimori and had no words [Seriously. I thought there was going to be some good drama to watch, and yeah, this really is some good drama.]
...
After school, Saiki packed his bag, paused, stared at the door for three seconds, then walked out.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Gotou Hitori standing there hesitating.
[What are you doing, Gotou?]
"Ah!!"
Gotou Hitori jumped in fright. She had been practicing something, but when she saw it was Saiki, she relaxed, pulled him into a corner, and spoke quietly.
"Um... Saiki, are you free today? If you are, could you maybe come with me one more time to that band place we went to yesterday?"
Saiki glanced behind Gotou Hitori.
[Oh, you're joining that band, right? What's wrong? Did you forget the way?]
Gotou Hitori frantically tried to knot her fingers: "It's not that I forgot... It's just that going alone, I might..."
(Understood. No wonder she was lurking around the entrance for so long. Too many people inside, couldn't bring herself to go in and say anything.)
Saiki recalled a time back in junior high when his parents invited classmates from junior high over for Saiki Kusuo's birthday party. Saiki had thought it would be a huge hassle.
Gotou Hitori had come too, and she was the first to arrive. But once she got there, she hesitated at the door about whether to knock. What if she was the first one inside? Wouldn't that be super awkward?
She waited five minutes, then another five... When other people started arriving, she hid again. In the end, she almost decided to pretend something came up and not come at all. It was Saiki who ended up bringing her inside.
(If I let her go alone, she'll probably hesitate at the shop entrance for ages again and never go in. It'll take forever...)
Saiki thought for a moment and remembered Umaru.
(What should I do? I was supposed to play games with Umaru today, but the thing with Gotou's band is kind of worrying... Playing games or going with Gotou to check on the band...)
Gotou Hitori saw Saiki deep in thought and assumed something was wrong: "Um, Saiki, if you're busy, then... then I'll just go by myself."
Gotou Hitori started to walk away alone, but after two steps, Saiki put a hand on her shoulder.
[I'll go with you.]
"Really? Yayヽ(๏~๏)ﾉ"
Before Saiki and Gotou Hitori left, Saiki glanced back behind him.
(Sorry. Forgive me, Umaru. Next time for sure...)
Saiki hadn't gone far when Umaru, surrounded by yellow special effects, arrived in the classroom. She looked left and right and randomly asked a nearby classmate: "Excuse me, classmate, where's Saiki-kun?"
The classmate saw it was Umaru: "Oh, Umaru! Uh... Saiki already left."
"Oh, thank you!"
Umaru: "He left?"
Umaru waited a moment, then was about to pull out her phone to text Saiki and ask what happened when a message came in:
"Sorry, Umaru. Something came up suddenly today. We'll do it next time..."
Umaru's face darkened. Her hands slowly started trembling: "Saiki-sensei..."
The classmate next to her asked worriedly: "Um, Umaru, are you okay?"
Umaru instantly switched back to her usual smile and said brightly: "Thank you, classmate. I'm fine."
The classmate saw Umaru's smile [So pretty, so cute, such a warm smile.]
But underneath that smile, the real Umaru was thinking something completely different [Saiki-sensei, you liar!!!]