All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

When Kotomi Izumi saw the new homeroom teacher enter the Class 1-F classroom, she knew it might seem somewhat inelegant, but her confusion and disbelief still made her blurt out, "Holy shit," in shock.

Fortunately, Kotomi Izumi had not spoken very loudly, and after accidentally blurting it out, she stopped herself in time. As a result, not many people heard what she had just said.

However, Megumi Kato and the others did hear her.

They looked at Kotomi in confusion, unable to understand what had suddenly come over her.

Mashiro Shiina, who was sitting behind Kotomi, also raised her head at that moment. Following Kotomi's gaze toward the podium, she looked at the long-haired woman who had entered the classroom and was now standing at the front. Mashiro Shiina froze briefly, then wore such a puzzled little expression that it was almost as though countless question marks had appeared above her head.

Mashiro and Kotomi were wondering the same thing: Why is she here? Don't tell me she's Class 1-F's new homeroom teacher?

At the same time, Seiko Kirigiri, who was sitting on the other side, had originally only intended to see what the new homeroom teacher looked like. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, raised her head to take a glance, and planned to go back to resting with her eyes closed.

However, she never expected that the instant her gaze landed on the new homeroom teacher's face, both her eyes and her thoughts would freeze completely.

A woman in a black knitted sweater, with long, wavy hair draped over her shoulders, was already standing at the podium. The confidence radiating from her brows made Seiko Kirigiri instinctively feel an inexplicable sense of inferiority before her.

Moreover, Seiko Kirigiri did not know whether it was merely her imagination, but when she raised her head and looked at the new homeroom teacher standing at the podium, the woman seemed to be looking directly at her as well. The instant their gazes met—

She smiled.

A faint smile curved the new homeroom teacher's lips, yet it felt so unfathomable that no one could tell what she was smiling about.

The woman set down the handbag in her hand and introduced herself to everyone.

"Good morning, students of Class 1-F. I'm very pleased to meet all of you here. Beginning today, I will serve as your homeroom teacher. You are freshmen who only enrolled this year, while I have only recently become an art teacher at Sobu High School. Although this is not my first time teaching, it is my first time teaching at a high school.

"We are all beginning from zero, so I hope we can communicate with one another, help one another, and improve together.

"I will accompany all of you through your three years of high school. Whenever you need help, you may come to the faculty office and talk to me, or send me a message through LINE. I will do everything in my power to become an excellent homeroom teacher.

"However, more than becoming an excellent homeroom teacher, I hope to become a good friend who strives alongside all of you.

"I hope that after you graduate, whenever you look back on your high school years, you will remember them as a youthful time that may have been somewhat difficult, but was still beautiful."

After the long-haired woman finished speaking with a smile, she picked up a piece of chalk. As she continued talking, she slowly turned around and wrote her name on the blackboard.

—Eiren Kanagawa!

"After saying so much, I'm sure none of you know my name yet. My name is—Eiren Kanagawa. Ordinarily, students address teachers by adding 'Ms.' to their surname, but I'm a fairly easygoing person. You can call me Eiren, Little Eiren, or something similar if you like~

"Oh dear, that's a little awkward. I suddenly remembered that one of my friends once had a little white cat named Eiren. You should all call me Little Eiren instead."

Eiren Kanagawa's humorous and entertaining way of speaking instantly made the students below burst into laughter. It also left them with a much more favorable impression of their new homeroom teacher.

She's the new homeroom teacher the school assigned us?! Seiko Kirigiri thought in disbelief. Every memory from before surged into her mind at that instant like a rising tide.

The romantic rival she had dreamed about during her nightmare.

The woman who had stolen Hibiki Naegi away from her in that nightmare.

The woman Hibiki Naegi had always hidden from her.

The woman she had wanted to push off a train platform and kill ever since waking from that nightmare!

"So it was you... Eiren Kanagawa... So the reason Onee-chan always smiled so happily while chatting on her phone was because she was talking to you. So you were the one who made Onee-chan's embrace stop feeling warm to me.

"I truly want to ask whether the culprit who caused the differences and fractures between Onee-chan and me... was you."

Seiko Kirigiri's expression darkened. She stared at Eiren Kanagawa on the podium and murmured in a voice only she could hear.

At that moment, Seiko Kirigiri felt that fate was truly dramatic. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Eiren Kanagawa, whom Hibiki Naegi had secretly contacted behind her back, would now become her homeroom teacher for all three years of high school!

While introducing herself to the students from the podium, Eiren Kanagawa sensed the gloomy stare and looked toward its source. After noticing Seiko Kirigiri sitting there and staring at her continuously, Eiren Kanagawa curled her lips slightly but said nothing.

She knew this was Hibiki Naegi's younger sister.

Although Hibiki Naegi had told Eiren Kanagawa that she had a younger sister named Seiko Kirigiri, she had never shown Eiren Kanagawa a photograph of her.

The reason Eiren Kanagawa could immediately identify the girl staring at her as Seiko Kirigiri was that she had secretly followed Hibiki Naegi several times. During one of those occasions, she happened to see Hibiki Naegi and Seiko Kirigiri shopping together.

It was then that Eiren Kanagawa memorized Seiko Kirigiri's appearance.

To be honest, while traveling to the school, Eiren Kanagawa had looked through Class 1-F's student roster. When she saw Seiko Kirigiri's name, even she felt that it was quite a coincidence.

She had originally felt somewhat disappointed that she had not become the homeroom teacher of Hibiki Naegi's class. However, after discovering that Hibiki Naegi's younger sister was in the class under her care, Eiren Kanagawa could not help remarking inwardly,

'What a coincidence.'

The dean of students listened to Eiren Kanagawa's speech from the side for a while. Although he knew that Eiren Kanagawa had previously served as a professor in Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts, and understood that university professors taught somewhat differently from high school teachers, he still could not resist reminding her,

"Ms. Kanagawa, please keep an eye on the time."

"I understand, Dean. However, it appears that this period was originally scheduled as homeroom. Since that's the case, I would like to use this period to properly get to know all the students and allow them to get to know me as well. Becoming familiar with one another earlier will greatly benefit our future lessons.

"Please rest assured that I will watch the time. I also understand that using a university lecture format designed for classes lasting at least two hours to teach a forty-five-minute high school period would certainly waste time. Therefore, before the school term began, I already adjusted and planned how I would teach each lesson. I absolutely will not waste any time."

At this point, Eiren Kanagawa looked at the students and said with a grin,

"Besides, although today is the first day of the new term, it's already Friday. I'm sure none of you want to listen to teachers lecture about mathematics, physics, and chemistry first thing on a Friday morning~"

"Right!"

The students responded in agreement.

Seeing this, the dean could only nod and say,

"Then I'll leave this period for you to arrange, Ms. Kanagawa. I suddenly remembered that I have to substitute for Class 1-B today, so I won't disturb you any longer."

After saying that, the dean left Class 1-F and headed toward Class 1-B.

The students of Class 1-F watched the dean leave and silently prayed for the cell phones of Class 1-B's students.

They had heard that Class 1-B's grilled sausage business had been extremely successful during the cultural festival. The profits had allowed every student in the class to fulfill their wish of buying a new cell phone.

However, the thought that the dean would be substituting for Class 1-B today made everyone break into a cold sweat on their behalf.

After today, how many cell phones would the students of Class 1-B still have left?

Once the dean had departed, Eiren Kanagawa continued,

"From the conversation between the dean and me just now, I'm sure some of you have already picked up a few clues. How many of you know where I used to teach?"

"At a university!" a female student immediately answered.

"Congratulations, that's correct. You earn one little red flower~"

Eiren Kanagawa made the half-joking remark, causing the students to laugh once again and enlivening the classroom atmosphere. Some students who had originally been drowsy from waking too early also began to perk up.

After all, Eiren Kanagawa managed to make people laugh every few sentences. Falling asleep under such circumstances truly was not easy.

"That's right. I used to be a university professor. To be perfectly honest, before applying, I thought serving as a high school homeroom teacher would be roughly the same as working as a university professor, so I felt very confident. But once I stood at this podium, I became a little nervous.

"Unlike high school classrooms, university lecture halls are enormous and filled with so many students that I needed to use the microphone on the podium every time I taught. However, when all is said and done, students capable of entering the university where I worked should not have much difficulty finding employment unless they completely let themselves go. Naturally, they tended to be somewhat lazy during class.

"High school students are different from university students. As high schoolers, you are currently in one of the most crucial stages of your academic lives, so standing at a high school podium makes me somewhat nervous.

"Furthermore, students at university are free to choose their seats for every class. Many students select seats farther toward the back before lessons begin, making it easier for them to secretly play games, chat, and so on. Therefore, no matter how seriously the teacher lectures, sometimes hardly anyone is actually listening.

"Why do I know this so well? Because I did the same thing every day when I was in university~ I remember that my greatest achievement during the first semester of my freshman year was raising my mobile game account from level fifty to level one hundred and seven."

The students below immediately burst into laughter. With several more jokes, Eiren Kanagawa once again narrowed the distance between herself and the class.

The students below began asking one after another,

"Ms. Kanagawa, which university did you teach at before? What subject did you teach?"

"Why did you decide to become a high school homeroom teacher instead of remaining a university professor?"

"Ms. Kanagawa, are university students allowed to date?"

High school students were filled with longing for university, especially first-year students. Although they had not yet experienced the hardships of their final year, they all knew that in three years, they would face the important decision of applying to university. Naturally, they were full of anticipation for the university life awaiting them several years later.

A former university professor was now the homeroom teacher of their class. Naturally, the students of Class 1-F would not let such an opportunity pass. They voiced their curiosity and questions one after another, asking Eiren Kanagawa directly.

"I'll answer the student who asked whether dating is allowed first."

Eiren Kanagawa said enthusiastically,

"You can date at university. When you meet a girl you like, pursue her. Never leave yourself with regrets. Once you graduate, you will never again be able to experience the innocent emotions of your student years. So once again, don't be afraid that you might eventually break up. If there is someone you like, pursue them boldly. After all, once you reach university, even if you get into a relationship, no one can accuse you of dating too young."

At this point, Eiren Kanagawa added with a grin,

"Of course, you should still exercise some restraint when dating at university. Don't act lovey-dovey with your boyfriend or girlfriend without a care in the world while your academic adviser is strolling nearby, looking as though you wish only for your beloved's heart to mirror your own. Remember, your university advisers may only be a few years older than you.

"Some of them might not even have partners of their own. If you suddenly start flashing your affection and force-feeding them dog food right in front of them, do you think they'll be happy?

"And that isn't even the main concern. The main concern is that certain university administrators have nothing better to do and enjoy strolling around campus. They might be walking with their colleagues while discussing the institution's future direction, only to see several young couples displaying their affection along the roadside.

"An administrator with a good temperament might sigh and remark that youth is wonderful. A more irritable administrator might ask which major and department you belong to, and who your adviser is.

"All in all, I strongly encourage every one of you to pursue boldly and love boldly. In fact, with the classroom door closed, let me tell you honestly that I encourage you even more to begin dating now.

"To be honest, waiting until university to date is somewhat late. Many students want to find love during their freshman year. After finally meeting a boy or girl they like, they may not even have the chance to gather the courage to ask them out before adding their contact information and discovering that the other person already has a boyfriend or girlfriend."

Eiren Kanagawa spoke eloquently from the podium, gradually narrowing the distance between herself and the students through casual conversation and storytelling. During a specialized lesson, she would insert various points of knowledge wherever appropriate while ensuring that the students did not find the class boring.

It was indeed the teaching method university professors most commonly used when delivering lectures lasting two hours or longer.

Even Kotomi Izumi, who had been preparing to play a game, temporarily placed her phone back inside her desk and listened to Eiren Kanagawa speak from the podium.

It was not that Eiren Kanagawa's words held any particular attraction for her. Kotomi Izumi was simply exceptionally curious.

Wasn't Eiren Kanagawa a professor in Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts?

How did she suddenly end up becoming a homeroom teacher at Sobu High School after they had not seen each other for a while? And how had she become Class 1-F's new homeroom teacher, of all things?

—

—

40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven