Chapter 8 Skipping School and Homeroom Teacher Movement

Skipping School and Homeroom Teacher Movement

We approached the main gate, using the roof and bike parking to create a blind spot from the classrooms.

As expected, everyone was busy today, so no one paid attention to us.

It was only about 100 meters from the bike parking to the main gate. We made it this far without anyone noticing us, so we were safe. Even if they could see us, it was too far for them to chase us.

Fortunately, the heavy rain that had fallen earlier had stopped. Instead, the sun was shining brightly.

Perfect timing.

“Let’s go.”

“But, Senpai… the front gate is locked, right? How do you open it?”

Ichijo-san sounded a little bit worried.

“Okay, climb up.”

“I’m wearing a skirt!”

She seemed surprised by my teasing comment and raised her tone.

“Just kidding, I know that. See that metal door near the main gate? The one that looks like a kitchen door. You can open it from the inside, but when you close it, it locks automatically. So you can’t get in from the outside, but it’s easy to get out from the inside.”

It has been an open secret from generation to generation to go out of the school. Many people use this door to go outside, especially to buy food and drinks. If you have associates in the school, they can easily open the door for you. The teachers are aware of this, and they will be scolded if they do it blatantly, but in certain cases, they will tolerate it.

“How do you know that?”

She sighed with a questioning look on her face. This honor student was still not used to such rumors and life hacks.

“It’s okay once in a while, honor student. All right, let’s go!”

I wonder, is it because my habit when I’m with Miyuki? Unconsciously, I took her hand. She said “Oh,” but she squeezed my hand as well. I was overjoyed by this unexpected reaction.

“Why are you blushing? Let’s go quickly.”

I blushed, but she blushed a little too.

“Are you okay holding hands with a guy you just met?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t embarrassed… But isn’t it normal for men and women to hold hands in a moment like this? Like in dramas, movies, foreign dramas, etc.”

She seems to really like fairy tales. Can we put fiction and reality together?

“Okay, let’s go.”

“By the way, this is the first time I hold hands with a man. Senpai, please take good care of me.”

I also feel embarrassed when I see her red-faced reaction. I don’t have to think about it too much.

“Start!” We ran with that voice.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

It was probably the voice of the PE teacher in the staff room. We ran forward without looking back.

We ran as if to say goodbye to the past.

Homeroom Teacher’s PoV

I felt a sense of relief as I watched Aono skip class from a distance.

“You’re so reckless, you know that?”

I muttered, keeping my voice low so the students wouldn’t hear me.

I had asked the vice principal and Mitsui-sensei, the school nurse, to look for Aono, and I was glad that he was safe. To be honest, I broke out in a cold sweat thinking about the worst-case scenario.

My name is Takayanagi. I am the homeroom teacher of class 2B. I teach World History. My teaching career has finally reached 10 years. And now I am facing the biggest problem of my career.

The first-morning class of the second semester. As usual, I looked around the classroom and found that only Aono was not in class. Either he was absent or he was skipping class, which students often do at the end of summer vacation. Thinking it was one of those two things, I looked at his seat again and saw what clearly looked like scribbles.

As I approached his desk, pretending to take attendance, I could faintly see the word “Die!” written on it. I understood the situation immediately.

This was bullying, or something similar, and I knew that some kind of trouble had occurred.

“Does anyone know anything about Aono?”

Someone in the class replied, “He’s not feeling well, so he went to the infirmary.”

There will be another class after this. Damn, I want to handle this situation as soon as possible.

“Okay, I’m going to check on it, so please wait a moment.”

When I saw the face of Amada, who was supposed to be dating Aono, her face was tense and sweaty. Was it an expression of concern or….

And then I met Mitsui-sensei, the school nurse, in the hallway outside the infirmary. As I suspected, Aono was acting strangely. I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she just said, “He’s not feeling well, please let him sleep.”

She said, “I will take care of it.” I trusted her words and immediately explained the situation to the vice principal.

The vice principal was upset and shook his gray hair.

“It’s bad enough that the principal couldn’t make the school meeting. Arrange a meeting right after school to deal with this problem. Takayanagi-sensei, please ask the students for more details. Nowadays, anything can spread over the Internet. Especially during the summer vacation, anything can happen.”

He looks weak but surprisingly firm on policy, and that helps me a lot.

In short, the administrative talk about the appointment of class committee members and various other executive committees was over. It was time to get down to business.

I spoke with a heavier tone and atmosphere than before,

“You know the punishment for destroying property, right?”

My long battle was about to begin.