28 #28 Staffroom

Yuichi was walking down the hallway and when he wanted to turn right, someone hurriedly walked out of the corner, by her stature it was definitely a girl however she was carrying a lot of books that were obscuring her vision.

Despite that fact, she was still able to notice Yuichi's hair due to his height so she quickly stopped before bumping into him however that caused the stack of books in her hands to start falling forward.

'Tch, I would have been able to sidestep in time..." Yuichi was a bit upset that the student in front of him caused unnecessary trouble even though it was meant with good intentions. Without thinking further, Yuichi reacted by his instincts and rushed towards the girl, stopping the falling books with his entire body since his hands wouldn't be enough to catch numerous books.

"Ah! I am sorry!" The girl said with a guilt-filled tone.

"Don't move" Yuichi said softly after hearing her guilty voice.

"Alright!"

Yuichi moved very slowly closer to the girl while getting on his tiptoes to balance all books once again.

When the tower of books was once again rebuilt, Yuichi took half of it into his hands, revealing the girl's face in front of him.

"Hi, hehe~" The girl greeted with a bit embarrassed expression and with slightly flushed cheeks.

'Back-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and a friendly smile, this girl definitely isn't from my class.' Yuichi thought immediately after seeing the girl's face, she was highly attractive, he was sure that many would say that she is a league above Kushida or Horikita.

"Hello, it is quite dangerous to walk with the stack of books in your hands in front of you. Not only for yourself but also for other people." However, instead of normal greeting and trying to score a few points by starting small talk, Yuichi actually reprimanded her actions with a polite smile.

"I-I know but I didn't want to bother any of my classmates with this. Once again, I really apologize!" She said with a guilty expression and it seemed like she was really sorry so Yuichi could only sigh.

"Where are you going?" Yuichi asked, still holding half of her books. He also noticed that those were studying materials they were using so she deduced that this girl in front of him is also a freshman.

"To the Staffroom on this floor. Our homeroom teacher asked us if we can't take those there, she should already be waiting there for me." She replied with a friendly smile.

'Staffroom? It's still quite far away due to how enormous this school is.' Yuichi thought while taking a look behind him into the long hallway.

"Lead the way" Yuichi said with a faint smile.

"Huh? No, no, it's alright, I can take it alone, you don't have to bother yourself when you were also almost caught up in incident I almost caused." She quickly started shaking her head.

"There are CCTVs and if I will let you walk so irresponsibly and perhaps something happens to you, I might also get in trouble because I didn't stop your dangerous behavior. However, if you don't care for an official reason, I just want to help." Yuichi replied with a smile. He chose those words because he had no idea why she was rejecting his help if it was because she is stubborn like Horikita, or simply still feeling guilty...

"Eh? Hehe, you are funny. Alright, I accept your help and I promise that I will return this favor one day! By the way, my name is Ichinose Honami from 1-B." She introduced herself with a bright smile.

*sigh* "No need to return anything, I will just help you carry a few books, I am not saving your life. Still, it is nice to meet you, Ichinose-san, I am Iwamura Yuichi from 1-D." Yuichi said with a smile before gesturing with his head for her to lead the way.

"It is nice to meet you too, Iwamura-kun!" She said with a bright smile before turning her eyes in front of her.

'This girl doesn't seem to be affected by the fact that I am from Class D. I already noticed a few freshmen from C and A scoffing at class D students. Most of them probably picked it up from their Seniors who behaved the same way.' Yuichi thought while carrying half of the books.

The duo continued walking down the hallway without speaking however there was still merry atmosphere around them since Ichinose was humming something to herself. Overall, she looked like a very friendly and cheerful person, very similar to Kushida however Yuichi couldn't put his finger on the reason why he thought that two of them are very different yet being so similar on the first look. Maybe it was because he was keeping his distance from Kushida...

.

.

"Let me..." When they arrived at the Staffroom, Yuichi bent his knees and gestured her to put down her stack of books onto his so she can knock.

"Ah, yes, thank you." She quickly got the meaning and put down her books before knocking and sliding the door open.

"Ah, Ichinose-san! I was beginning to worry that something happened to you!" A young woman of average height with slightly longer shoulder-length light-brown hair, curled at the bottom with bangs hanging on the right side said with a worried tone and maybe a bit too enthusiastic.

"I am sorry Hoshinomiya-sensei! There was a little delay on the way." Ichinose said with a bit embarrassed expression as she looked behind at Yuichi who just walked into the room.

"Excuse me, where should I put these?" Yuichi asked while looking around.

"Iwamura-kun?" It seems that even Yuichi's homeroom teacher was here as she called out to him with a slightly surprised expression.

"Please put them here...anyway, Iwamura-kun is your name, hmm?" Hoshinomiya muttered with a mischievous expression, invading Yuichi's personal space when he put down the books.

"Eh...Yes, my name is Iwamura Yuichi, it is nice to meet you Hoshinomiya-sensei." Yuichi said while leaning his head back, trying to gain some distance from her without acting rude.

"Hehe, no need to be so polite, you can call me Chie-chan while being here. Anyway, so you are that reckless student Sae-chan told me about, huh? Reckless men are quite popular when they are also confident in particular." Hoshinomiya said with a flirty smile while shamelessly checking out Yuichi.

"Hoshinomiya!" Chabashira said in a harsh tone.

"Oops" Hoshinomiya said when she turned at Chabashira and noticed her glaring, she immediately took one step back.

"I wouldn't say that I am reckless...passionate is a much better word to use." Yuichi corrected her while scratching the back of his head.

"Ah?! That's even better! Women love passionate men!" Hoshinomiya winked at him, she most likely took his words as attempt to flirt with her but Yuichi just wanted to clarify that he isn't reckless.

"Still, I won't be stealing you from Ichinose-san who found herself a boyfriend on the way here, hehe~" Hoshinomiya said teasingly and Ichinose who kept standing there with a smile over her face suddenly blushed after hearing those words.

"Oh, no, that's not it, Hoshinomiya-sensei!" Ichinose quickly refuted her words but she realized that she might have appeared rude by denying it so quickly so she glanced at Yuichi.

"Please believe what Ichinose-san says, I know her only a few minutes longer than you, Hoshinomiya-sensei." Yuichi said with a faint smile and nodded his head, having a few regrets for helping Ichinose.

"So that means, from all 3 women here, you know Sae-chan the most, huh?" Hoshinomiya muttered while looking at Yuichi with a mischievous smile and pressing her index finger against her lower lip.

"Hoshinomiya, that's enough. Stop questioning my student" Chabashira finally took a step forward to stop this too passionate teacher.

"So it's "my student" now, huh?" Hoshinomiya said with a teasing smile but the only reaction she got from Chabashira was not so amused glare.

"*sigh* You are no fun, Sae-chan." Hoshinomiya said and pouted before redirecting her attention to Ichinose who also started to feel a bit awkward.

"Alright, if there is nothing else, please excuse me..." Yuichi threw Chabashira grateful look before saying but he was quickly stopped.

"Wait, since you are already here, I want to talk to you" Chabashira said with crossed arms and a faint smile as if to say "you aren't free yet"

"No" Yuichi blurted out unintentionally after seeing her smile while still giving her that grateful look.

"Huh?" Hoshinomiya and Ichinose turned at Yuichi, hearing his blunt answer, slightly surprised however Hoshinomiya actually smiled.

Chabashira raised her eyebrow in question.

"I mean, I have yet to eat anything so I would like to go and grab a lunch" Yuichi corrected himself with a bright smile and closed eyes.

"You can eat in the kitchen here" Chabashira replied immediately while pointing with her thumb at the door behind her.

"I don't think I have done anything bad, neither do I have any bad grades, I don't see a reason for consultation with a homeroom teacher." Yuichi still wanted to disappear from this Staffroom not to mention, venturing even deeper was a big no for him...

'I wouldn't be surprised if there was a dungeon connected to this Staffroom with that teacher here...' Yuichi thought while glancing at Hoshinomiya.

"Are you perhaps planning something, Sae-chan? Look at him how he is scared of you, you should try to be nicer~" Hoshinomiya said with a playful tone.

This prompted both Yuichi and Chabashira to glare at her at the same time.

"Eh? Eeeh?!" She backed away a few steps, a bit surprised that even Yuichi was glaring at her when she was just trying to help him.

"I do have a reason, I want to consult with you your last test from history class." Chabashira said.

"...Alright" 'I don't really have a choice here, she can make up so many excuses not to let me out...' Yuichi replied before thinking inwardly.