Ohananomitsu High School Faculty Office.
"Do you understand, Rokuhara? A student's duty is to study! Studying is the best path for ordinary people to secure a better future!"
Hiratsuka tried to instill values of discipline. In her eyes, Ren was just an orphan from an average middle-class family going through a rebellious phase.
What she didn't know was that Ren's wealth and influence now surpassed that of many global elites—even possibly that of a national president.
As a teacher who genuinely cared, Hiratsuka didn't want to see the future of one of her students—no matter how annoying he was—turn bleak.
*BANG!*
"Hey, are you even listening?!"
Hiratsuka slammed her desk hard when she noticed Ren looking completely indifferent—almost as if he were about to yawn. The loud noise caused a stir in the faculty office.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, calm down. This is the teachers' room."
A cold, calm voice came from the neighboring desk. Kirisu Mafuyu lifted her head from a stack of papers, her sharp eyes gazing at Hiratsuka with slight concern. She worried Hiratsuka might resort to "education" via her fists.
Hiratsuka took a deep breath, struggling to suppress her rising anger.
"Are we done here, Hiratsuka-sensei?" Ren asked, his tone dripping with indifference.
"You…! Huuuf…" Hiratsuka massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Just go. Class will start soon."
Finally, she dismissed Ren with a tired wave of her hand, fearing that if he stayed any longer, she wouldn't be able to resist throwing her Iron Fist at him.
"In that case, excuse me."
Without another word, Ren turned and walked out of the faculty office with a relaxed stride, leaving behind a frustrated Hiratsuka.
"Haiz." Hiratsuka sighed once Ren was gone, slumping into her chair. "Rokuhara wasn't like this before. I remember in his first year, he was a model student. What exactly changed his personality so drastically? He's openly disrespectful toward teachers."
With an agitated motion, she reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, preparing to light one.
"Smoking is prohibited on school grounds, Hiratsuka-sensei." Mafuyu's voice cut in again, firm and uncompromising. "You'll set a bad example for the students."
"Oh right, I forgot." Hiratsuka reluctantly put the cigarette pack back under Mafuyu's sharp gaze.
To change the subject, Hiratsuka asked, "By the way, Kirisu-sensei, I heard Nakano-sensei gave birth yesterday. How about we visit her after school today?"
"Really?" Mafuyu was slightly surprised, then nodded. "Of course. That's a good idea. What about Minegawa-sensei? Will she come too?"
Mafuyu remembered her colleague, Minegawa Akane—one of the five young female teachers at Ohananomitsu High.
At the mention of Akane, Hiratsuka's face immediately scrunched up. "Her? I invited her via message, but she declined. Said she had other plans today and couldn't make it."
Hiratsuka shrugged, trying to appear casual, but her tone was noticeably flat.
Truthfully, her relationship with Minegawa Akane was the worst among the five young female teachers. For some reason, Hiratsuka's instincts always tingled whenever she was near Akane, giving her an uneasy feeling—as if something about the woman was deeply wrong.
She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but the sensation whispered that Akane was not a good person.
"By the way, I heard you have a transfer student from overseas joining your class. She starts today, right?" Hiratsuka tried to shift the conversation away from Akane.
Mafuyu, who was signing a document, nodded without looking up.
"Yes. She's from England. Officially, she's here for a student exchange program, but personally, she said she moved to Japan because the man she likes goes to school here."
This reason made her eyebrows twitch almost imperceptibly. To Mafuyu, who was highly logical and academically focused, such a reason sounded irrational and terribly inefficient.
In her philosophy, a student's youth should be dedicated solely to studying to get into a prestigious university—not wasted on trivial matters like romance that offered no guarantee of a stable future.
"Seriously? People actually do that?" Hiratsuka exclaimed, her eyes suddenly sparkling. Her hands clenched in front of her chest with excitement. "Whoa, that sounds just like a scene from a shoujo manga! Chasing love across countries… How romantic!"
Her nearly thirty-year-old heart—still single—raced with both amusement and envy at the transfer student's boldness. Someone who constantly failed at blind dates felt comforted and envious of such courage.
"What's the transfer student's name?" She asked curiously.
Mafuyu looked up, staring at Hiratsuka with her usual blank expression, as if failing to comprehend her colleague's enthusiasm.
"Rita Ainsworth."
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Ren's arrival in Class 2-B caused no ripple. A few students glanced at him briefly before returning to their own activities.
The classroom buzzed with its usual noisy, relaxed atmosphere—some students engrossed in their phones, others buried in manga, while others huddled in small groups chatting about unimportant things.
Ren walked to his seat in the very back row, near the window overlooking the schoolyard. He cast a glance at the empty seat in front of him.
"Kuze hasn't arrived yet? Or is he helping the student council again?"
He didn't think much of it and simply shrugged. Lazily, he sat down, propped his chin on his hand, and stared out the window, lost in thought.
The chatter of his classmates filled the air. Amid the general noise, one particular topic from a popular girl group in Class 2-B caught his attention.
Yuigahama Yui excitedly spoke to her two friends—Miura Yumiko, the undisputed queen of the class, and Ebina Hina, known for her... unique imagination.
"Did you guys hear? There's a Fireworks Festival by the river tonight!" Yuigahama announced, her eyes sparkling. "I heard this year's fireworks will be the biggest ever! Should we all go together?"
Yumiko, who had been casually checking her nail polish with a slightly aloof attitude, raised an eyebrow. "Fireworks Festival? Hmm… I don't have any plans. But it'll probably be crowded and sweaty. Are you sure you want to go, Yui?"
"Of course!" Yuigahama replied enthusiastically. "The ramen at the festival stalls is always the best! And there's coin yo-yo games too! We can wear yukatas! It'll be fun, right, Hina?"
Ebina, who had previously seemed lost in thought with a faint, slightly... creepy (in a positive way) smile, snapped back to reality. "Fufufu… A festival, huh…"
Her eyes sparkled as if imagining something. "Picture the scene… Handsome men gathering, accidentally bumping into each other, then falling in love at first sight beneath a sky lit by fireworks… Kyaaa! A scenario like that—!"
"Stop with your BL fantasies, Hina." Yumiko interrupted, though a small smile played on her lips. "You drift off into fantasy land again. But… well, why not. I'm in. But promise me, Yui, we won't get separated in the crowd, okay? Last year you disappeared chasing a takoyaki stand."
"Ehehe~ I promise, that was just an accident!" Yuigahama giggled sheepishly. "So we're agreed? Meet at the station at 6 PM? The fireworks start around 6:30."
"No problem." Yumiko decided, planning to invite Hayato.
"Mou~ I can't wait to see handsome guys in yukatas!" Ebina squealed with delight.
(Fireworks festival, huh…)
Ren, who had been half-listening to their conversation, showed no outward expression. But inside his mind, a plan began to form.