Chapter 6: A Pact and a Promise
It’s my fault.
All of it… It’s all my fault.
If I had paid just a bit more attention to that girl.
Those indelible scars wouldn’t have happened.
I’ve repeated the same mistake again.
So never again.
I won’t let that girl get hurt again.
I won’t let her make bad choices anymore.
Even if she hates me forever.
Because I’m her… Takanotsume Sora’s big sister.
“Under those bandages… Can you show me your wrist?”
‘…How did he know?’
And from someone I’ve known for less than a day.
Sure, suspicions make sense. Bandages on the wrist usually point to self-harm.
But the Teacher’s voice was filled with certainty.
As if he knew exactly what was under my bandages.
Which means—
‘…Ayane must’ve told him.’
It couldn’t have been Hoshino, Nonomi, or Shiroko.
Just like I don’t want my juniors to know, they don’t want others hearing about my condition either.
‘…So what do I do now…?’
I hadn’t entirely ruled out the possibility of the Teacher finding out, but that doesn’t mean I have a plan…
‘For now, maybe I’ll just brush it off with an excuse and figure it out later.’
“…Uh.”
I was about to open my mouth, claiming it’s a girl’s secret, but—
“…Teacher, I don’t think we can let that comment slide.”
“Yeah, that’s not something we can ignore… Huh?”
“Huh. We’re not letting that slide.”
“Eh? S-Shiroko?”
“No way, absolutely not.”
“N-Nonomi too? What’s with you guys…?”
For some reason, Hoshino stepped in front of me, glaring at the Teacher.
Nonomi and Shiroko wrapped their arms around me, glaring at him too.
Hoshino’s aura was so intense, it was unlike anything I’d ever seen from her.
Honestly, I’m freaking out.
Even in the original story, Hoshino was suspicious of the Teacher for a while, but she never acted like this.
And for Nonomi and Shiroko, who were supposed to have high affinity for him from the start, to react like this? It’s just weird no matter how I think about it.
“…From the looks of it, you all know too, huh…”
While I was panicking, the Teacher muttered something to himself, seeing their reactions.
“I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
He bowed his head in apology and turned away.
“Uhe~ That was close, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Seriously…”
‘What was close, you guys…?’
“…Senpai, what did you do this time?”
“…I don’t even know…”
But one thing I do know for sure.
“The Teacher’s affinity score just tanked hard.”
Something weird happened, but after returning to Abidos, things strangely went exactly like the original story.
The Teacher being praised for his abilities, Serika accidentally mentioning the debt, and Serika storming out, saying she doesn’t trust him, followed by the others explaining Abidos’ current situation—all of it.
‘…Is this right? Didn’t we just have a huge deviation from the original story?’
Honestly, seeing people who were so on guard just moments ago chatting so casually now was almost terrifying.
Anyway, after the conversation ended and we split up, I was checking my gun in my usual classroom, as always.
Click
“You’re here, huh?”
The Teacher opened the door, casually greeting me.
…Well, I kind of expected this.
He couldn’t ask earlier because the others were around, so he waited until I was alone.
“What’s up, Teacher? Coming to catch me alone… Oh, is that your thing?”
“…”
“…Tch, no fun.”
I threw out a full-on joke, but the Teacher just stared at me without even a smile.
‘…Fine, guess I’ll take the lead.’
“Ayane told you, right? About my wrist and stuff.”
“…Yeah.”
“Just so you know, like I told Ayane, I’m not explaining why.”
The reason’s the same as with Ayane.
Even if the Teacher believed me, he’d definitely try to stop me.
“But I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
“…An offer?”
Since my actions caused a deviation from the original story, I’ll have to take some losses to fix it.
“You know, right? Your reputation’s not exactly great right now.”
Except for Ayane, everyone’s got a bad impression of you after what just happened.
Even Nonomi and Shiroko, who were supposed to like you from the start, aren’t thrilled.
Not to mention Hoshino and Serika, who were already skeptical.
‘And, well, me too.’
“Still, I feel bad that you came to help and are getting treated like this.”
“So here’s my offer.”
“With no time limit, if you can change everyone’s perception from ‘suspicious adult we don’t trust’ to ‘trustworthy adult.’”
“In other words, if you can win over all the students.”
“Just once, I’ll answer your question.”
That way, the original story can keep moving forward.
“Not a bad deal, right?”
In the original story, the Teacher worked hard to earn Serika’s trust.
He was probably planning to win everyone over anyway.
“Oh, and if you’re going to win someone over, start with Serika.”
Gotta keep the original story on track, after all.
“So, what do you say? You in?”
“…”
The Teacher thought about my offer for a moment.
“…Haha, to think I’d be worried about by the student I was worried about…”
‘What’s that nonsense? I wasn’t worried about you…’
“Alright, I’ll take it.”
“…Cool.”
Click
“Then work hard. Win over the students.”
With that, I opened the classroom door.
I held back until now, but that face is just too good-looking. It’s annoying to look at.
Getting home ASAP is probably better for my mental health.
“Oh, I forgot to mention.”
“Hm?”
“Just to boost your motivation a bit.”
“If you don’t win them over soon, it might be too late.”
The original story’s already started, after all.