NOVEL WEB Hanako opened the classroom door and paused for a moment.
It was truly strange. The tutorial group was originally supposed to consist of three members, excluding her… so why were there six people in the classroom?
…Huh.
A guy quickly glanced at the open door and hastily turned his head away.
Ignoring who had walked in, a girl with two pairs of horns on her head rested her chin on her hand, twirling a pen with her fingertips as if contemplating something.
And instead of sleeping comfortably on a blanket, another girl was lying face down on a pillow, intensely absorbed in her reading.
Of course, Hanako wasn’t unaware of their identities. As Mika’s direct subordinate, she had access to nearly all relevant information and had met many important figures from other academies as well.
Thus, she was nonetheless able to recognize the teacher from Shalle, as well as Chairperson Makoto and Member Iroha, who represented the Manma Battle.
For a moment, Hanako wondered why those two, besides the teacher, were in the tutorial group, but soon shrugged it off and casually greeted them.
“Hello, everyone! ♡”
“Ah, hello, Hanako-chan.”
“Hello, Teacher Hanako.”
“Come on, Azusa-chan. You don’t have to call me that. Hearing that in front of the real teacher makes… um, to be honest, a bit embarrassed.”
While Hanako was exchanging greetings with a completely unembarrassed expression, she caught sight of a girl’s face, which looked like a ripe tomato about to burst. Realizing where the girl’s gaze was directed, Hanako smiled.
Apparently, the girl, who was mischievously teasing the punching bag stationed in the office of her beloved senior, was about to make another blunder.
“W-what’s…?”
“Oh my. Why are you like this, Koharu-chan? Your face is so red. If you’re not feeling well, you should go see the rescue knights…”
“What sort of outfit is that?! It’s a no-go! A student… no, as a person, you shouldn’t wear that! It’s worse than not wearing anything!”
“Eh? But Koharu-chan, this is a perfectly normal maid outfit, right?”
“Not even close! Th-that chest…!”
“Ah, this part—”
“Don’t show me! Lewdness is OUT…! That’s a death sentence!”
Seeing Koharu react fiercely to everything Hanako teased, Hanako couldn’t help but chuckle. Ignoring the glances of the people around, she readied her next punchline.
After all, the reaction here is definitely livelier and cuter than Aco’s.
In the case of Aco, she wouldn’t even exchange words when they were alone, but when she was around Mika, every word she threw was a hit.
Koharu, on the other hand, reacted adorably to each poke, making Hanako want to tease her even more.
“By the way, Koharu-chan, worse than not wearing anything… so you are indeed a fan of being naked, huh? Then I should respect that—”
“No, no! Don’t take it off! Th-that’s enough! More importantly, why are you wearing such a strange outfit…?”
“The maid outfit, you mean?”
“Y-yes, that! It’s against the rules! It’s OUT in the academy!”
“No, that’s wrong.”
“Uh, what?!”
Koharu, who had been rampaging, was suddenly interrupted by Azusa. Taken aback, Koharu blurted out foolishly.
“Technically, it’s after school right now. So, there’s no need to adhere to dress codes.”
“That’s what she said! ♡”
With her betrayal evident, Koharu shot a resentful look at Azusa. Then, shaking her head, she steeled her resolve and spoke again.
“Even so, that’s inappropriate attire… as a student! And why are you wearing that in the first place? It’s so weird! It’s even more random than a swimsuit!”
Uh-huh. Then that means swimsuits are okay—
“Absolutely not okay!”
“Uh…”
Seeing Koharu unwilling to let this issue slide, Hanako felt it was time for a small resolution.
“Actually…”
“W-what are you trying to say now?”
“Ah. Actually, this is the official uniform designated for the T-party attendants.”
…What? Ahahaha! You can’t be serious! You really think I’d believe that? That’s just ridiculous!
As Koharu laughed heartily, she paused. It wasn’t a joke after all; Hanako’s serious expression suggested otherwise.
…No way, right?
“It really turned out that way. Quite splendidly.”
“That’s unfortunate! I-I can’t believe it! I have to see it with my own eyes!”
“If that’s the case…”
“I’ll tell Mika that this outfit that disrupts the atmosphere is inappropriate!”
“If it is indeed the official attire designated by Mika-senpai, what will you do then?”
“W-Wait! There’s no way she’d decide on something like this?! Ugh… I’ll go and confirm this right now!”
With that, Koharu dashed out of the classroom at full speed, and Hanako burst into laughter.
“Ooh… Excuse me, Hanako-chan. Isn’t this a bit disrespectful to Mika-senpai?”
“Not at all, Hifumi-chan. Mika-senpai cherishes all the students at Trinity equally. I’m sure she’ll generously overlook a small faux pas… ah, except in the case of the baseball club.”
“Baseball club…? Why’s that?”
As Azusa tilted her head in confusion, Hanako awkwardly smiled and replied.
“Well… it seems Mika might have been disappointed because the baseball club was cold-gamed in their mock battle against the Gehenna students. And it wasn’t even the Gehenna baseball club but ordinary students.”
“…Then the baseball club messed up. If they had put me on the lineup, I could’ve delivered at least 7 scoreless innings, 3 hits… or maybe 3 home runs.”
“Hahaha…”
A smug look appeared on Azusa’s face. The fact that the baseball club lost to Gehenna didn’t bother her in the least; however, the moment they disappointed Mika, her mental image of the baseball club became marked by infamy.
And at that moment…
Thud!
…Kukuk.
A girl who had been spinning her pen on the desk, Mika, broke the silence. The supreme beauty of Gehenna, Hanuma Makoto, stretched her body.
“Heheheh—!!! What’s this, Trinity folks? I see you can’t hold a candle to our Gehenna in baseball! Thanks to the baseball club support policy I implemented, this can certainly be seen as another one of my accomplishments, right? Don’t you agree, Teacher?!”
“Didn’t they lose to ordinary students, not the Gehenna baseball club?”
“Minor detail! Those guys must have put a lot of effort into getting on this Makoto’s supported baseball team! So, it’s still one of my achievements! Kukukuku.”
“Senpai, wasn’t the initiative you promoted a dissolution of the baseball club? For dropping the ball that made Ibuki cry? Given that they made Ibuki cry, it’s only fair they get dissolved.”
“What?! Iroha, what are you—! Cough, cough.”
Feeling that the situation was a bit embarrassing, Makoto lightly cleared her throat, pulled her hat down, and crossed her arms. Then she carelessly spat out a line.
“I dedicate this victory to Ibuki.”
Even Iroha, who was usually an Ibuki fan, couldn’t easily agree with that statement.
“So… I was curious about this from earlier, but why are you two here? Does the teacher know something?”
“That’s…”
“Ah, I was just curious about the students who can’t even handle a simple study and came by to see their struggles.”
…Is that so.
Nodding casually, the teacher quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and showed it to Hanako.
[In an hour, I’ll go pick up Ibuki, so please help with the students until then. Thanks!]
…Uhuh. Is that it?
Seeing the teacher’s note, Hanako smiled and pulled out a test from the filing cabinet. Then, she held it up right in front of Makoto.
…What is this?
“Would you like to try solving this?”
“Hah. Why should I? I have no interest in wasting time.”
“By the way, Mika-senpai got a perfect score when she solved this test. Surely, the person who claims to be the pinnacle of Gehenna wouldn’t fail at this, right?”
…
“The time limit is one hour! ♡”
Watching Makoto snatch the test in silence, Hanako wore a victorious grin.
Having successfully shut Makoto up, Hanako naturally took out some teaching materials she had prepared and sat across from Azusa and Hifumi.
Once things settled down, Iroha felt satisfied that she could finally focus on her reading.
As time passed…
“Oh my, has already an hour passed?”
As Makoto frowned and scratched away with her pen, help had finally arrived.
“How did it go? Were you able to solve it?”
Hmph. It was as trivial as feeding dumplings to Ibuki while lying down.
Watching Makoto’s attitude, which was either confidence or bluster, Hanako took the test paper back. Then she started grading it on the spot.
With each passing moment, Hanako’s expression morphed into something inscrutable. Finally, she burst into applause.
“Excellent job, Chairperson Makoto.”
…Hmph. Didn’t I say? Studying is utterly trivial.
“Twenty-two points, huh.”
…
As the sound of Hanako’s applause stopped, silence hung heavily in the classroom.
“Um… if it’s alright, how about studying together with us?”
Unable to bear the silence any longer, Hifumi made a sweet suggestion, and Makoto stood up without a word and exited the classroom.
And as one left, another arrived.
“S-She was really Mika-sama’s designated outfit!”
As Koharu, half out of her mind, burst through the door, the teacher pinched her temples, wishing she could go back to Shalle right now.