Chapter 154: Teasing Shizuka
"Let's start with self-introductions. One by one, we'll begin with you."
As the students settled into their seats, Shizuka smiled and pointed to a girl sitting in the front row by the window.
"Uh? Oh, I'm Mari Inoue..."
The girl hesitated briefly but then stood up to introduce herself.
It was soon Hachiman's turn.
He stood up calmly, spoke in a plain tone, and sat down without drawing much attention. Besides a few familiar faces, he remained unobtrusive. Hachiman Hikigaya simply wished for a quiet life.
Yet, in contrast to his unremarkable presence, there were some attention-grabbing individuals in the class, like Hayama and Yumiko, leaders of the normie faction from the original story. And, of course, the still-innocent little angel, Gabriel.
Gabriel, with her hands pressed together, seemed to emit a gentle glow, accompanied by a sweet smile.
"My dream is to make everyone happy."
Upon hearing her words, her classmates spontaneously burst into applause, as if they had just encountered an angel. And indeed, they had.
However, Hachiman couldn't help but roll his eyes, knowing that this angelic façade wouldn't last long.
Apart from the loli angel Gabriel, there was another girl who had captured his attention.
With a delicate face framed by fiery red hair, a black bat-shaped hairpin accentuating her locks, she rose to her feet. Satania shielded her left eye with one hand, struck a dramatic pose, and spoke in a solemn tone.
"I'm the great demon, Satanichia Kurumizawa Mcdowell, from Hell! You foolish mortals, be grateful that you're in the same class as me. When I become the Demon Lord, Earth will be under my rule! Gahahaha Whahaha!"
With these words, the red-haired girl theatrically broke into laughter.
"Uh, is she in chuunibyou mode?"
Observing her antics, nearly everyone in the classroom concluded that this girl was suffering from severe chuunibyou.
What a shame, she's adorable.
Many of the boys secretly sighed to themselves.
Hachiman, however, had a different perspective because he knew that Satania, while indeed a chuunibyou enthusiast, had one element of truth in her persona. She was genuinely a demon, hailing from the same place as Vignette. Yet, her claims about being a great demon were pure exaggeration. In reality, she was just an underage little demon.
Nevertheless, thanks to Satania's little outburst, the classroom's atmosphere became livelier.
The entire class had spent the session listening to each other's self-introductions.
"Ding-ling-ling."
The bell signaling the end of the class rang. Without any delay, Shizuka gathered her teaching materials and made her way to the classroom door.
Yet, just as she was about to exit, it seemed that she remembered something and turned back.
"Um... Hikigaya-kun, please come with me to the staff room."
Upon hearing her words, nearly every student in the class turned their attention towards Hachiman, causing a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth.
The unexpected scenario of Shizuka summoning him to the staff room on the very first day certainly disrupted his plans. Naturally, being called to the teacher's office on the first day of school would raise questions.
However, since it had already happened, he had no choice but to follow Shizuka Hiratsuka to the staff room.
Watching the two of them leave, Yui appeared puzzled and turned to Yumiko, asking, "Why do you think Hiratsuka-sensei wanted to speak with Hikki in the staff room?"
Yumiko, who was with them, casually responded, "It might be some personal matter she needs to discuss with him."
Gabriel and Vignette, who were also present, expressed their curiosity, sensing that Hachiman and Shizuka had some prior connection.
Saika, who had joined the group, shared some insight, "Hiratsuka-sensei was our homeroom teacher in our first year, and it's quite a coincidence that she's our homeroom teacher again in our second year."
Despite being a boy, Saika's delicate features allowed him to blend in naturally among the girls.
"Yes, and it appears that Hikki and Hiratsuka-sensei have a good relationship outside of school. She even joined us at the beach last time," Yui added.
"Indeed, we were quite surprised when we found out she was our teacher," Yumiko remarked.
"Ah, I see," Gabriel and Vignette started to understand the connection between Hachiman and Shizuka, thanks to their friends' explanations.
Inside the office, Shizuka took her seat, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at Hachiman.
"What's the matter, kid? Didn't expect me to be your homeroom teacher again, did you?" she teased.
Observing her smug expression, Hachiman couldn't help but roll his eyes discreetly. So what if she was his homeroom teacher again? He no longer feared her. He had reached Level 5 in fighting before the school year started, and in a one-on-one situation, he felt entirely capable of handling Shizuka.
Even if he stood still, with Hachiman's Level 5 physical attributes, she probably couldn't break through his defenses.
With his confidence surging, Hachiman decided to speak his mind. "I mean, Shizu, did you call me to the office just to talk about this?"
Upon hearing his address, Shizuka, who had been quite pleased with herself, froze.
"What did you just call me?!"
"Shizu, what's wrong?" Hachiman pretended not to understand, wearing a smirk.
"You little brat, how dare you call me that!"
For some reason, upon hearing how he addressed her, Shizuka's heart involuntarily quickened. Frustrated with herself, she blushed slightly, put on an angry expression, and threw a punch at him.
"You rascal, I'm going to teach you a lesson in respecting your teachers!"
However, her reaction seemed to give off an aura of blushing anger.
*Smack!*
However, this time things were different. Faced with Shizuka's fist, Hachiman raised his hand and effortlessly blocked her attack.
Her punch thwarted, just as she was about to launch another strike, the office door swung open, and a middle-aged female teacher walked in.
Seeing an outsider entering the office, Shizuka had no choice but to reluctantly pull back her fist and glared fiercely at Hachiman.
"Good morning, Hiratsuka-sensei," she greeted and then turned her attention to Hachiman.
"Has this student done something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing much, just a minor issue. I've already corrected him," Shizuka quickly replied.
She certainly couldn't tell the truth, that she wanted to give this kid a beating for teasing her earlier. That would be embarrassing.
With an outsider's presence, Hachiman didn't feel it was appropriate to continue teasing. He smiled at Shizuka and said, "Well then, Hiratsuka-sensei, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."
"Sure, sure, go ahead," Shizuka waved him away as if shooing a fly.
Unperturbed, Hachiman turned and left the office, leaving Shizuka to stew in her vexation.
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