All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

While they waited for Shizuka Hiratsuka to enter the classroom,

Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama both began to feel conflicted, unable to describe exactly what they were feeling at that moment.

They wanted to thank Shizuka Hiratsuka for inviting them to Kyoto to soak in the hot springs, but the moment they remembered that Shizuka had asked Kotomi to pretend to be her girlfriend, Yukino and Yui felt deeply uncomfortable.

After all, Yui was Kotomi's official girlfriend, while Yukino had only just conveyed her feelings to Kotomi.

Even though Kotomi had explained that she would merely be pretending to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend so she could temporarily escape her parents' pressure to marry, and had promised them that she absolutely would not let the act become real,

Kotomi's explanation and promise had made Yukino and Yui feel a little better, but only a little.

After all, the thought that the girl they loved, Kotomi Izumi, was about to pretend to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend and accompany her to meet her parents would make anyone feel miserable.

In fact, were Megumi Kato to learn about this, she might already have started sharpening a knife.

At the same time, Seiko Kirigiri's feelings had also become rather complicated. Only a few days ago, she had secretly witnessed Kotomi and Shizuka Hiratsuka kissing in the classroom. Now, whether she looked at Kotomi or Shizuka Hiratsuka, her emotions were extremely conflicted.

Tap, tap, tap.

As footsteps approached, everyone turned toward the classroom door, each harboring different thoughts.

However, to the surprise of Kotomi and the others, the person who entered was neither Shizuka Hiratsuka nor the new homeroom teacher Kotomi had been curious about. It was the dean of students.

The dean was even carrying several confiscated cell phones. He had probably stopped by Class 1-B before coming here.

"Students of Class 1-F, it is with great regret that I stand before you today to make an announcement. Your homeroom teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, completed the procedures for her resignation several days ago. In other words, she is no longer the homeroom teacher of Class 1-F, nor is she a Japanese-language teacher at Sobu High School.

"Shizuka Hiratsuka was an outstanding teacher. Although she did not manage Class 1-F for long, having served as your homeroom teacher for only two short months since the beginning of the school year, she was tireless in her educational duties, devoted herself wholeheartedly to her students, and taught them with exceptional skill. It was precisely because of this that she was able to educate an outstanding student such as Izumi, who ranked first in the entire grade twice in succession.

"Every teacher and student at Sobu High School feels profound grief and regret over her departure. Her resignation means that, beginning today, Sobu High School has lost an excellent educator.

"The silkworm spins until death, and the candle sheds its final tears as it burns to ash."

Pfft—

Listening to the dean's speech, Kotomi Izumi desperately suppressed her laughter. There was no special reason for it. The speech he had prepared simply sounded extremely strange, almost like a eulogy.

Anyone who had not listened carefully might have thought that Shizuka Hiratsuka had died.

This was also the dean's usual style when preparing speeches. He always liked to exaggerate, and once he began, he would speak for more than ten minutes.

The students below began whispering among themselves. Ordinarily, they would have mocked the dean for making yet another absurdly exaggerated speech. However, what he had announced was simply too shocking. None of the students paid attention to the exaggerated wording of his script. Instead, they began discussing Shizuka Hiratsuka's resignation in hushed voices.

"Ms. Hiratsuka actually resigned? How is that possible? She never mentioned anything before."

"Exactly. The last time we saw her should've been when the cultural festival ended. She didn't look like she was planning to resign."

"Ms. Hiratsuka might have a bit of a violent temper, but she really is a good teacher. Why would she resign? Was the pressure from work too much?"

"I could understand if some other teacher resigned, but Ms. Hiratsuka leaving is unbelievable. After all, Izumi is in her class. With Izumi ranking first in the entire grade twice, having such an outstanding student in the class she managed should've made getting promoted and receiving a raise incredibly easy. She shouldn't have needed to worry about work pressure at all, right?"

"By the way, what's with that pile of phones in the dean's hands? Don't tell me he went to Class 1-B again."

"Now that Ms. Hiratsuka has resigned, doesn't that mean we don't have a homeroom teacher?"

"Idiot. Of course we'll get a new homeroom teacher. I just wonder which teacher will take over our class."

"Ugh—please don't let it be Mr. Nakamori. I'm already terrible at math. If he becomes my homeroom teacher for all three years of high school, I might as well start looking into whether I can transfer schools."

"I really want to be Miss Kotomi Izumi's dog."

"Waaah, Ms. Hiratsuka was one of the few good teachers who didn't assign much homework. Now that she's resigned, our new homeroom teacher is probably going to bury us in assignments!"

"Something's wrong. This is ten—no, nine parts suspicious! Did something strange sneak into our discussion? Who keeps saying they want to be Miss Kotomi Izumi's dog?! Ever since the school year began, why does that sentence appear every single time the class starts arguing about something?"

"I don't know. Who said it?"

"Could there be something unclean haunting this classroom?"

The students continued their heated discussion. The dean understood their feelings, so he did not make much effort to stop the noise.

Of course, it was also possible that the dean was simply too absorbed in his speech to spare the attention needed to shout at the students below, 'Quiet down! Quiet down! Your class is the loudest on this entire floor! Are you trying to blow the roof off?!'

While the students argued noisily among themselves, Kotomi Izumi used her phone to record the dean's speech, planning to play it for Shizuka Hiratsuka later.

"Ms. Hiratsuka resigned? Kotomi, did you already know?"

After hearing the news of Shizuka Hiratsuka's resignation, Yukino Yukinoshita was briefly stunned before instinctively questioning Kotomi.

After all, from Yukino's perspective, Kotomi and Shizuka Hiratsuka were extremely close. Logically speaking, Kotomi should have known in advance that Shizuka intended to resign.

Yui looked at Kotomi. Megumi looked at Kotomi. Mashiro looked at Kotomi.

Seiko Kirigiri also looked at Kotomi. She had accidentally witnessed Kotomi and Shizuka Hiratsuka kissing in the classroom and had already concluded that the two of them were dating.

After sensing Yukino and the others staring at her, Kotomi Izumi finally raised her head slightly and gave an embarrassed little chuckle.

"I know what you're all wondering as you stare at me. Your guess is correct. I already knew some time ago that Ms. Shizuka was planning to resign."

Yukino Yukinoshita asked, "Then why didn't you tell us?"

Yui Yuigahama asked, "Kotomi, do you know which school Ms. Hiratsuka plans to teach at after leaving Sobu High School?"

Megumi Kato asked, "Kotomi... Aren't you and Ms. Hiratsuka a little too close?"

Mashiro Shiina declared, "Exactly!"

Megumi Kato said, "Well, well. I never expected Mashiro and me to agree on something."

Mashiro Shiina replied, "But I don't feel happy about it at all."

Megumi Kato said, "The feeling is mutual."

Kotomi Izumi: "..."

Kotomi Izumi suddenly felt like covering her face. Why was another battle royale about to begin for no reason?

Come to think of it, Mashiro probably did not know about Kotomi's relationship with Megumi, did she? Then why was the relationship between Mashiro and Megumi so terrible, with the two constantly at each other's throats?

Megumi's attitude toward Mashiro, as well as Mashiro's attitude toward Megumi, was exactly how romantic rivals treated one another.

To prevent the battle royale from stirring back to life, Kotomi Izumi hurriedly explained,

"Actually, when I first learned that Ms. Shizuka was going to resign, I planned to tell all of you. However, she asked me not to. She said she had never liked farewells and did not know what she was supposed to say when leaving. Since that was the case, she thought it would be better to depart quietly. I respected her wishes, so I kept it secret for her.

"Sorry for hiding it until now. How about this? Lunch is on me today!"

Kotomi Izumi spoke with great sincerity. In particular, after noticing that Megumi seemed to be growing suspicious of her relationship with Shizuka Hiratsuka, Kotomi repeatedly emphasized through her wording that she and Shizuka Hiratsuka were innocent!

At least for now, they could barely still be considered innocent.

At the same time, Kotomi Izumi kept winking at Yui and Yukino, using her eyes to signal, 'Whatever you do, don't tell them I'm going to pretend to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend!'

Yukino Yukinoshita immediately understood. The simpleminded Yui Yuigahama, however, failed to grasp the message. She was just about to casually ask Kotomi whether she had agreed to pretend to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend because she had already known Shizuka was leaving.

"Kotomi, you... Ah!"

Before Yui Yuigahama could finish speaking, Yukino Yukinoshita, who was sitting beside her, lifted her foot and stomped hard on Yui's!

She used the simplest possible method to stop Yui from continuing.

Whether that stomp also contained a trace of personal resentment was impossible to say~

"Yui, what's wrong?" Startled by Yui's cry, Megumi Kato asked with concern.

"I-I..." The foolish little dumpling had not recovered from the shock. She looked aggrieved and wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Yukino Yukinoshita decided to strike first.

"I accidentally stepped on Yui's foot just now. I'm sorry, Yui. You can step on mine in return." Yukino Yukinoshita apologized in a sincere tone.

Naturally, the innocent and naive Yui Yuigahama believed her. Taking it to heart no further, she said it was fine.

"N-No, it's okay. Just be more careful next time, Yukinon."

Kotomi Izumi looked helplessly at Yukino Yukinoshita, her feelings complicated. She did not know whether she should thank Yukino or give her a lecture.

If she were to lecture her, then without Yukino stepping on Yui's foot, Yui might already have revealed that Kotomi would be pretending to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend. Megumi might already have begun sharpening a knife.

But if she were to thank her, Yukino had stomped far too hard. Just hearing it had sounded painful, and Kotomi's heart ached for the foolish dumpling.

After thinking it over, Kotomi Izumi decided inwardly, I should change the subject first. If Megumi finds out that I'm going to pretend to be Shizuka Hiratsuka's girlfriend and even accompany her to meet her parents, she'll definitely start sharpening a knife!

With that thought, Kotomi Izumi spoke up at random.

"Honestly, Yukino, be more careful. Yui, don't worry. In a moment, I'll step on Yukino's foot and avenge you!"

Then she continued,

"To be honest, even though I knew in advance that Ms. Shizuka was leaving, it still feels hard to believe when I think about it now. But after considering it carefully, I might have chosen to resign too if I were her. After finally getting accepted into the university she'd dreamed of attending all those years ago, how could she possibly give it up?"

"University?"

Megumi Kato and the others were all astonished after hearing Kotomi's explanation. After all, Shizuka Hiratsuka was already thirty years old. Most people would be surprised to learn that someone her age was going to university.

"Which university was Ms. Hiratsuka accepted into?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked curiously.

"The Royal College of Art. Yes, the one in Britain. Ms. Shizuka is going to study at the Royal College of Art, so if you round things up, she's basically going to school in Mashiro's hometown.

"Although it's rare for someone to attend university at thirty, it isn't unheard of. However, such people usually aren't attending ordinary universities. They tend to enroll in prestigious institutions with extremely demanding academic requirements. And they won't be ordinary undergraduate students either, but master's or doctoral students."

After hearing that Shizuka Hiratsuka had been accepted into Britain's Royal College of Art, Megumi Kato and the others understood why she had resigned. The Royal College of Art possessed a world-renowned reputation and was one of the most famous art and design institutions on the planet.

If Shizuka Hiratsuka had always regarded being accepted into the Royal College of Art as her dream, then now that she had finally succeeded, she naturally would not give up the opportunity to enroll.

Toward the end, Kotomi Izumi deliberately cracked a half-joking remark to lighten the mood.

"Still, I really need to give little Shizuka a piece of my mind. Resigning is such a major decision. How could she not tell us first?

"Phew. The next time I see little Shizuka, I'll have to tell her,

"'From now on, once we're out in society, we'll each use our own form of address. I'll call you Ms. Shizuka, and you'll call me Big Sis Izumi. If you ever need anything, just say the word.'

"I bet little Shizuka will be moved to tears the moment I finish saying it."

Kotomi Izumi's words truly did lighten the mood, making Megumi Kato and the others burst into laughter.

At the same time, the dean on the podium had nearly finished his speech. He coughed several times, signaling for the students below to quiet down.

"Ahem. With Ms. Hiratsuka's departure, Class 1-F will naturally require a new homeroom teacher. The schedules of the first-year teachers were already extremely tight, so suddenly asking one of them to take on the additional responsibility of serving as a homeroom teacher would admittedly have been rather unreasonable. Fortunately, a new teacher happened to apply at precisely this time!

"Her educational background, teaching experience, and the school where she previously worked all satisfy our requirements for a homeroom teacher. In fact, one might even say she is somewhat overqualified.

"To be perfectly honest, even I don't know what could have motivated her to apply to Sobu High School.

"All right, students. Next, please welcome your new homeroom teacher with the warmest applause possible."

After saying this, the dean began clapping and called toward the hallway,

"Ms. Kanagawa, you may come in."

As a long-haired woman entered the classroom of Class 1-F, Kotomi Izumi saw the new homeroom teacher's face and involuntarily shouted.

"Holy shit!"

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