The third period on Thursday m was once again a cssical literature css. After finishing the lecture, Sumire Nagase hurriedly left the , afraid of being stopped if she deyed.

  After all, for the entire css, that brat had been watg her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, clearly up to no good.

  However… she still got caught.

  Shuichi Chiba caught up with her in the hallway, ering her by the window. He smiled warmly and asked, “I have some questions I’d like to ask the teacher. You’re avaible, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not. Please ask me ime, Chiba.” Sumire replied, clutg her lesson pn tightly with a wary expression.

  “Oh? I thought Teacher Nagase was very responsible. Is it really okay to brush off an eager student like this?” Shuichi tilted his head, feigning disappoi.

  Sumire gritted her teeth and g the bustling students in the hallway. “Then ask here. I have something to do after this.”

  “Well…” Shuichi’s smile turned sly. “Has the teacher’s health improved? Have you been good and taken proper rest?”

  Sumire had already fallen for his tricks once before and wouldn’t let it happen again, so she remained on guard.

  "This has nothing to do with the lesson tent, nor does it rete to responsibility. It's a personal matter. Chiba, you should stick to questions about cssical literature," Sumire Nagase replied.

  "That's not true," Shuichi Chiba corrected her. "I’ve said it before—taking care of your health is essential for having the energy to educate students. Thinking otherwise is quite irresponsible of you, teacher."

  Sumire took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Thank you, but as for my health..."

  She hesitated, wanting to say it was fine, but then remembered Shuichi’s words from st time—"Only when you're fully recovered then you demand more from others."

  But what if her answer wasn’t good enough?

  The se in the infirmary resurfaced in her mind, along with Shuichi's teasing joke about fetg the thermometer for her…

  Her instincts told her that no matter how she answered, it might lead to something unpleasant—perhaps even worse.

  "It's fine," Sumire finally decided to tell the truth. Sih answers could lead to trouble, being ho at least maintained her professional iy.

  "You're wele," Shuichi replied casually, clearly unfazed by her attitude. He simply smiled and said, "If you don't take better care of yourself ime, I’ll just have to threaten you again."

  With that, Shuichi turned and began walking away.

  Sumire was momentarily stunned. He… just left like that?

  He didn’t tinue pressurio do anything else? Wasn’t he the one who said there would be more demands once she got better?

  Of course, it wasn’t like she was expeg any demands—absolutely not. It was just that…

  If things ended like this, wouldn’t it mean she had truly misuood Chiba? He was just being kind, yet she had imagined him in such a ive light, even…

  Even as something so sinister…

  “Wait, Chiba,” Sumire Nagase called out hastily.

  “Does the teacher have more to say?” Shuichi Chiba turned back with an amused expression. Surely, she wouldn’t be like the student cil president, right?

  “Um… sorry. I realize I’ve misuood you a bit before,” Sumire said, feeling a pang of guilt.

  “If it’s about cospy, Chiba, if you’re still ied, feel free to e and discuss it with me anytime. Just, please, don’t—”

  “Perhaps it wasn’t a misuanding,” Shuichi suddenly interrupted her.

  “???” Sumire’s eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape in shock. His sudden shift left her pletely bewildered, her mind struggling to process this ued turn. The way he switched bad forth was enough to make her feel like she was about to crash.

  The student standing before her—was he genuinely kind or dht wicked? It was impossible to tell!

  “Teacher’s reas are just so adorable. It makes me want to tease you a little,” Shuichi Chiba said, struggling to hold back his ughter.

  Sumire Nagase suddenly felt a surge of ahis guy! He urely indulging in his twisted sense of humor, wasn’t he? Just to mess with her!

  Couldn’t he show a bit more respect for his teacher?

  Adorable, my foot…

  Teachers heir dignity too!

  g her teeth tightly, she ground her jaw in frustration, as if she wanted nothing more than to sieeth into Shuichi Chiba.

  “If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back to the office,” She said, her voice ced with suppressed fury.

  She was utterly infuriated, but since he wasn’t genuinely wicked—just someoh an annoyingly mischievous way of showing —she couldn’t scold him ht. All she could do was stew in her own frustration.

  “There is something,” Shuichi Chiba said unhurriedly.

  “What is it?” Sumire Nagase asked stiffly.

  “That friend you mentioned before—how’s that going?” Shuichi leaned against the window, one arm resting on the sill as he turned his head casually to look at her.

  Sumire, however, stood as rigidly as if she were a secretary rep to her boss, clutg her files and standing straight as a rod.

  “Still not sure. Why are you suddenly bringing this up?” Sumire felt the topic shift was far too abrupt.

  “Because I needed a versation starter to chat with you a little longer,” Shuichi teased.

  “...” Sumire rolled her eyes, deg not to respond. She didn’t want to believe anything this guy said; it was impossible to tell if he was ever serious.

  Shuichi didn’t seem to mind her rea and tinued, “Holy, leaving the shop empty isn’t ideal, and if I don’t follow through on my promises, I feel like it weighs on me.”

  “I see. That’s very siderate of you, Chiba. I’ll make sure to firm things with her in the couple of days.”

  Sumire felt a pang of guilt. She had asked a student for help, yet he seemed more proactive about it than she was. It felt a little over the line.

  “So, about the after-css tut, Chiba… when would be a good time for you?” Sumire Nagase asked tentatively.

  “Are you sure about this?” Shuichi Chiba bli her, his gaze filled with a teasing smile.

  “What do you mean?” Sumire was taken aback.

  “After-css tut, a one-on-one session...” Shuichi’s tourned ambiguous. “Doesn’t that worry you, teacher?”

  Sumire’s heart skipped a beat. As a cospy enthusiast, she was familiar with certain aropes.

  After-school private lessons? That is a dangerous sario…

  “But then again,” Shuichi tinued, as if readihoughts, “as a teacher, isn’t it your responsibility to follow through on promises? Otherwise, wouldn’t that be… unprofessional?”

  Sumire felt a chill run down her spihis was tricky. Yet she couldn’t shake the suspi that he was saying all this deliberately, just tle out of the tut.

  Still…

  A fident smile suddenly spread across Sumire’s face. “Not a problem. Actually, a friend of mine, who used to be a teacher, has a much stronger background in literature than I do. She’s exceptionally talented in nguages— English, French, you . I’ll arrange for her to tutor you personally.”

  Female teachers really are slippery, Shuichi thought to himself, amused. At the same time, he found himself curious about this friend of hers who excelled in nguages.

  “So, your friend is also a teacher? What kind of person is she? I think you mentioned before that… she’s had a somewhat unfortunate past?”

  Sumire’s expression shifted, being more plex and serious at his words.

  "Her name is Ichika Kitagawa. She was a cssmate of mine," Sumire Nagase begaone a mix of fondness a. "As for her past… there’s really nothing unspeakable about it. After all, she wasn’t at fault—she was the victim."

  "What happened?" Shuichi Chiba asked, slipping into full-on story-listening mode.

  Sumire sighed, her expression softening as she reted the tale. "It’s a simple story, really—something that be summed up in a few sentences. Ichika is exceptionally beautiful, so much so that after she started w, she became the target of relentless pursuit."

  "She ursued not only by male teachers, but also by students, and even members of the school’s board of directors. But she turhem all down…"

  Shuichi raised an eyebrow, intrigued by where the story was going.