As all that ran through his mind, he finally reached the top floor. Once he started walking down the corridor to his classroom, the number of students in the hall went down dramatically. It felt somewhat lonely to be away from the hustle and bustle of the school. This morning, however, there was someone other than his classmates in the hallway...and they were yelling quite loudly.
“That’s...the head teacher, isn’t it? And it looks like he’s yelling at Aiko.”
“Mmm... I wonder what’s going on.”
The head teacher had such a luscious full head of hair that was so perfect that everyone knew it was a wig. People often called him baldy four-eyes behind his back, and he was far from a popular teacher. It seemed right now he was in the middle of scolding Aiko over something or the other.
Hajime and Yue exchanged glances, then hid their presence and circled around behind the head teacher.
“Are you listening, Hatayama-sensei? It’s thanks to our generosity that you still have your position as teacher. Despite that, you’ve shown no gratitude toward any of us!”
“I-I really am grateful for being given the opportunity to continue teaching here...”
“Then why do you keep blabbing to reporters and telling them things that make our school look bad? It doesn’t seem like you’re very grateful!”
“I-I’m terribly sorry, but I promise I’m not trying to insult the school; I just...”
“Then why did you tell those journalists that this special classroom is the school being discriminatory?!”
“I never called it discrimination! I just think we should be treating them like all the other students rather than...”
It seemed the head teacher was mad about whatever Aiko had told some reporters.
While Hajime’s schemes had made the mass media calm down overall, it didn’t mean there weren’t any reporters still chasing this story. Freelance reporters in particular were willing to cover this story because they didn’t have large news companies behind them putting pressure on them to stop.
Unsurprisingly, most of these reporters showed up without appointments and were unbelievably rude. The reporter who’d approached Aiko had asked leading questions like “Haven’t the students been put into a special classroom because they’re dangerous?”
Naturally, Aiko hadn’t been able to keep quiet after that, and she’d let slip that they would have been going to school normally if not for the administration’s decision. The journalist had then leaped on the word “normally” and written an article about how they were being given special treatment and that the school was being discriminatory.
Unsurprisingly, the school had gotten a lot of angry calls from parents. It was the head teacher who always had to deal with these calls, so it was understandable that he was getting angry. But at the same time, Hajime and Yue didn’t like seeing Aiko get all this abuse hurled at her when she didn’t deserve it.
“That damn baldie. He’s just venting his frustrations out on her...” Hajime whispered to Yue.
“Mmm... It’s true that we’re getting special treatment too...”
Hajime and Yue glared angrily at the head teacher. They snuck even closer to him, at which point Aiko realized they were there.
Hajime mouthed “morning” to her. Aiko glanced over at the head teacher to make sure he was still focused on his lecture, then mouthed “good morning” back to him.
Smiling, Hajime nodded and mouthed, Should I shoot him for you? and pulled Donner out of his Treasure Trove.
“No!” Aiko shouted as Hajime took aim at the back of his head.
“Yes, that’s exactly right, Hatayama-sensei. Students have a great amount of love and respect for their alma mater, so we should not and cannot do anything that would harm it. Besides—”
Realizing that talking would be a mistake, Aiko instead crossed her arms in an X. It was right after the head teacher had asked, “Do you think it’s okay for this school’s reputation to be tarnished?” so thankfully, he didn’t find it weird.
Yue pointed her finger at the teacher and whispered, “Don’t worry, Aiko. I won’t hurt him, I’ll just get rid of the last of his hair.”
As she said that, a tiny flame appeared at the tip of her finger. Aiko once again forgot that she was being lectured and shouted, “No, what little’s left will be gone then!”
“That’s exactly right, Hatayama-sensei! We must ensure that what remains of our reputation remains safe! If the people lose faith in our school, then the students will lose their precious alma mater!”
However, it seemed the risk of losing his hair finally warned the head teacher of the impending danger and he turned around.
Hajime and Yue slipped into his blind spot immediately.
Thinking he was just imagining things, the head teacher then turned back to Aiko, and Hajime and Yue returned to their previous positions.
The head teacher glanced at his wristwatch, and decided it was time to start wrapping up this lecture. Aiko had no doubt what he was saying was important and based on the head teacher’s own beliefs, but she was so focused on Hajime and Yue that she wasn’t paying any attention to him.
What are you two doing?! Don’t worry about me, just go into the classroom! Also, wait, why am I even mouthing this to you?! I can just use telepathy!
As Hajime and Yue reached out toward the head teacher’s wig, Aiko’s eyes suddenly turned serious and she glared at them with all the weight of a teacher. It seemed her intent got through, and Hajime and Yue slunk back, chastised.
“We just wanted to help you, Aiko...” Hajime said, switching to telepathy.
“We’re sorry... We thought it’d be funny,” Yue added, also switching to telepathy. It was obvious the two of them were acting, but Aiko was so overwhelmed by the situation that she didn’t realize it and started feeling guilty.
Sensing that they could get her to fold with one more push, Hajime and Yue gave her puppy dog eyes and said, “Do you hate me now, Aiko?”
“I bet you do...”
After hearing that from Hajime and Yue, she wasn’t able to maintain her composure.
“That’s not true! I love you!”
“Huh? What are you talking about, Hatayama-sensei?”
The head teacher suddenly staggered back, confused. After a second, he cleared his throat and said, “H-Hatayama-sensei, what exactly do you mean by that?”
Incidentally, what he’d said right before Aiko’s outburst was, “It seems I need to remind you what it means to be a teacher. I know you’re probably sick and tired of hearing my lectures, and you don’t like me very much, but...”
Even Hajime and Yue were amazed at how well Aiko’s outbursts matched up with what the head teacher was saying.
O-Oh no, I wasn’t following the conversation at all... Aiko thought, realizing she was in quite a dilemma. She could hardly tell the head teacher she hadn’t been listening. Not just because it would make him mad, but because it might affect her job.
“I mean exactly what I said...” Aiko said, hoping to buy time with that response. Her pleading expression was also quite impactful, and the head teacher started trembling, unsure of how to respond.
“E-Exactly what you said? Hatayama-sensei—er, Hatayama-kun, this is hardly the time or place for jokes.”
The head teacher looked away awkwardly. As he did, Hajime and Yue once again slid into his blind spot. Meanwhile, Aiko was still in hot water. Not sure what to make of the head teacher’s blushing, Aiko tried to think of a way out of this conversation that didn’t lead to her getting fired.
I don’t know what he’s blushing about, but I need to figure out what he was saying earlier. I know his personality well. He cares more about this school’s honor than anything else. That’s because he believes schools exist to protect their students, and that they need to remain a sacred place where people can look fondly back on in their later years. That has to be why he was mad about what I told the journalist—oh, I’ve figured it out! He said I was joking because he thought I don’t truly love this school! I just have to prove to him that’s not the case!