In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 114. Mock Exam

When the same view came into view, it was just before the bell for the first class on Monday was about to ring.

Passing through the alleyways on the way to school, what comes into view is an uphill section that requires a lot of effort to climb to the top. Both sides of the road are planted with cherry blossom trees. If you pass through this section in spring, the cherry blossoms, as if they have absorbed nutrients from corpses, will bloom in large numbers. When the petals fall, the visibility around you will be reduced to just a few meters.

This is a scene that the body has become accustomed to.

[A mock exam is coming up...] A third-grade student complained as they entered the crowded shoe locker area.

Xun remembered that today was Monday, and according to last week's schedule, there would be exams for various subjects.

When it's time to verify the results and gains of the semester, there are always students complaining, which happens very frequently.

No one but him would approach this with a sense of enjoyment.

As he was thinking this, the sound of high heels clicking on the ground and the shoe cabinet door opening made him look to his side.

Her short, neatly trimmed hair, the outstanding figure that only mature women possess, and her face subtly enhanced with makeup.

The other person bent down slightly, and the movement of changing out of her high heels was extremely seductive. Xun was unconsciously mesmerized.

"Shoko... teacher..."

Because of the mention of "resigning," and now encountering her again at school, Kaoru even had the thought, "Am I dreaming?" for a short time.

"Did I scare you, Hoshino-kun?"

Shoko smiled, her lips, painted with lipstick, glistening slightly.

Kaoru made "hmm" and "ah" sounds, and only when her body finally understood the situation did she manage to squeeze out that sentence with difficulty.

"Teacher... are you going to come back to work?"

"That's impossible, of course."

Shoko said these words as a prank, and then shook the file bag she was holding at Kaoru.

"If we hand this over to the principal, the teacher will leave. I did think about having Hoshino do it, but that would be too irresponsible. It's more appropriate for the teacher to do something this important herself."

She playfully flicked Kaoru's forehead with her finger, saying, "[Okay]" Soon, some students noticed her, and she turned her face to greet the first and second-year students.

Given that she is the youngest among the current teachers, and considering her dedication to each student, it's no wonder that she's the most popular teacher in everyone's eyes.

Kaoru gazed at Shoko, who was surrounded by students, and felt that she was different now than before.

Although her facial expression, hair color, and tone of voice remained unchanged, the role that Ms. Shoko was playing now was different from the one who had taken the initiative to kiss her yesterday. Once she entered that state, she gave people the feeling that she would take on the responsibilities that came with the role.

After dealing with the endless stream of students, and with class time approaching, the crowd gradually dispersed. Seeing Kaoru standing at the other end of the shoe cabinet area, a gentleness that no one else could detect appeared in Shoko's calm eyes.

"Hoshino-kun, you have a mock exam today, right? Don't just stand there like a block of wood."

"I know, I just..."

I could never bring myself to say the words, "I want Ms. Shoko to stay."

Kaoru walked towards the classroom on the second floor where the exam was to be held. As she passed by Shoko, she didn't say a word, silently shifting her gaze to Kaoru's back. Only when Kaoru was almost gone did she take a deep breath and speak as if she had made up her mind.

"Hoshino-kun, good luck! The teacher will be disappointed if you don't get first place, after all, you're the teacher's favorite student."

"I like it... I understand."

"Don't live in the past, live in the present."

"I see."

That being said, if she could really allow herself to make a choice, Kaoru would still go back to the day that broke the long-standing relationship between the two of them.

If it were Shoko-sensei, she could understand his thoughts in an instant.

That's why she said something like "living in the past".

But... that kind of thing...

That's impossible.

Xun opened the classroom sliding door.

After the preparatory bell rang, the first exam was in English. The students around them stared nervously at the exam papers in the teacher's hands, watching as the students in the first row passed the papers down the line.

The sound of pressing a mechanical pencil, the creaking of a chair against the floor—everything around was eerily quiet, and every subtle sound became exceptionally clear.

"Time's up, you can start writing now."

At the teacher's command, everyone began to write.

Although English is a subject that requires rote memorization and hardly requires any brainpower, the worried expressions on the faces of the people present showed that the questions selected for this exam were obviously very tricky and stumped many people.

However, for Kaoru, nothing has changed much.

He finished the most difficult reading test in less than twenty minutes; none of the questions stumped him.

Although the test was in English, considering that there was still plenty of time left, Xun checked all the questions to make sure there were no mistakes. After that, the rest was easy.

He folded the test paper neatly, put the mechanical pencil into his pencil case, then bent down and began to doze off on his desk.

When I came to my senses, the exam was already over.

The English test was unexpectedly difficult this time, and many people sighed sadly after leaving the exam room. Kobayashi, whom Kaoru felt very familiar with, was one of them.

"What bad luck! Why wasn't I near Hoshino-san with her?!"

Although Xiaolin has been working hard to catch up on her studies and improve her "shortcomings" during this period, English is her weak point, and it is still too difficult for her to master it completely in a short period of time.

"Even if you're nearby, it won't change anything. If Kobayashi tries to do anything against the exam rules, I'll be the first to report you."

Kaoru spoke in a carefree voice.

"Not everyone has a brain like Hoshino-kun's that knows everything! Besides... even if you want to cheat, what's wrong with that?"

If it were the old Kobayashi, she wouldn't care about exam results at all. She would have just randomly answered questions on the test paper with the attitude of "it doesn't matter if I get scolded by the teacher," and she would have no intention of reflecting on her mistakes afterward.

The change is truly astonishing compared to how she is now.

"Anyway, Hoshino-kun is a perfect score again. You simply can't understand how ordinary people feel. If Hoshino-kun and I switched roles, you wouldn't say that after you've experienced what ordinary people feel."

Why is this guy suddenly getting serious?

Kaoru stared at Kobayashi's puffed-up face, and not knowing how to respond, he simply said "Oh" and turned to look at the school building covered in the blinding sunlight.

The image of Ms. Shoko reappeared in my mind.

After the first English exam, the next exams are Chemistry and Classical Chinese.

Xun did very well on the exam, encountering almost no obstacles. After the exam, it was time to go home. He returned to his class, where a large group of students were lying on their desks, groaning in pain.

Unsurprisingly, everyone was affected by this exam.

However, there were exceptions amidst the wailing.

Kaoru's deskmate, Mizukami, whose grades were almost at the bottom in all subjects, was methodically tidying up her textbooks. As she put the wall into her pencil case, Kaoru leaned closer.

"Mizukami-kun, how did your exam go?"

Her gaze lingered on his face for a second as he leaned in, then she continued with the work she hadn't finished. After zipping up her backpack, she yawned wearily.

"Hoshino-kun, thanks to you, I got zero in all three subjects I took the exam."

"Zero points? Besides, what does that have to do with me?"

"If I hadn't dreamt about some unpleasant things that happened with Hoshino last night, I wouldn't have had insomnia and wouldn't have overslept during the exam."

"Hey you... you didn't sleep all morning, did you? If so, isn't that a bit... arrogant?"

She didn't speak. Sitting down facing Kaoru, she leaned forward, her left hand supporting her chin on her knee, staring at Kaoru leaning back in her chair with a cold, indifferent gaze that seemed to say, "So what?"

Ah, whatever, that's just the kind of person Mizukami is.

Anyway, saying anything wouldn't change anything, Kaoru's face revealed this helpless reaction.

While everyone was tacitly discussing the exam, someone suddenly changed the subject, saying, "[I saw Ms. Shoko when I went to the classroom today]," and the focus of everyone's discussion clearly shifted.

[Ah, speaking of which, I saw that too.]

However, Ms. Shoko still has no intention of coming to class, and has even mentioned resigning.

[That's strange. Did someone confess their feelings to the teacher? The teacher felt too embarrassed to be around someone who rejected her, so she resigned.]

[If that's the case, could the person who confessed be one of our gang members?]

Oh no, my heart is pounding harder.

Xun guiltily shifted her attention to the view outside the window.

Such a reaction...did not escape the young lady's notice.

"Hoshino-kun, you are a despicable man. It's enough to lay a hand on your own sister, but you even went so far as to lay a hand on Shoko-sensei. I should tell everyone everything you've done and then quietly watch you become the target of public condemnation."

Lying to the young lady is ineffective. Similarly, given his personality, he would definitely deny anything he didn't do. Choosing to remain silent means admitting it, so no matter what he does, he can't hide it from her.

I have no choice but to tell the truth.

"I never imagined things would get this complicated!"

"No, I don't believe what Hoshino-kun says. To me... you just can't control your own manhood. Hoshino-kun is such a pathetic guy. He can't control himself when he sees a pretty or well-built woman. You're like that with everyone."

It's the truth... but it's way too blunt!

Kaoru looked around and saw everyone was discussing why Shoko-sensei had resigned, unaware of the conversation he had just had with the young lady.

A stroke of luck amidst misfortune...you could say that...right?

"Think what you will... I'm going back!"

If she stayed in the classroom any longer, her classmates would expose her flaws completely, so Kaoru fled in a panic.

He didn't go to the shoe cabinet area immediately. Instead, he went to the teachers' office, knocked on the door, and heard a voice inside say "Come in."

When the door opened, it wasn't Ms. Shoko who appeared inside, but another completely new face that I had no recollection of.

"Um... I'd like to find Ms. Shoko."

Kaoru raised her right hand as if asking a question in class.

"I'm sorry... Ms. Shoko left an hour ago... I'm the intern teacher who's taking her place... It seems a bit early to introduce myself now, but it'll be the same tomorrow, so please allow me to properly introduce myself!"

"I'm Mishima, Sakura Mishima. If things go as planned, I'll be spending the rest of this semester with everyone. Looking forward to it... please take good care of me!"

Seemingly because he was too nervous doing this for the first time, Mishima accidentally knocked over the homework on the table next to him while bowing, and a 'thud' sound echoed in the office.

The exercise books that had been knocked over were scattered messily on the ground. Upon seeing this, Mishima's face immediately showed a look of despair, as if she had given up. After regaining her senses, she squatted down, muttering things like "Oh no" and "What an idiot" as she picked up the exercise books one by one and piled them on her knees.

After finally finishing tidying up her homework, she accidentally bumped into a water glass on the table as she put it back. Seeing the clear liquid inside flowing towards the nearby power outlet, Mishima cried out in despair, "Oh no... I'm doomed!" Just as she was about to do something about it, Kaoru preemptively unplugged the power switch and used a tissue to clean up the water stains on the table.

"Ah...we're saved...something terrible just didn't happen..."

On the verge of despair, Mishima slumped into a chair, wiping his dry forehead with his palm and exhaling with relief.

Is this guy... really a teacher?

Seeing this, Kaoru couldn't help but feel suspicious.

From any perspective... his carelessness is beyond that of an adult.

"Excuse me, could you please come over here for a moment?"

At that moment, Mishima looked over with an embarrassed expression.

Sensing her intention, Kaoru stepped forward, sat down in the chair in front of her, and gazed at her youthful face, which no one would doubt if she were a junior high school student.

"Excuse me...may I know your name?"

Although it felt a little strange, Kaoru still said it.

"Kaoru Hoshino"

"Ah, Hoshino-san, could you please not tell anyone about what happened today?"

"It's okay, I'll keep it a secret."

This is incredible...

Although Kaoru didn't pay special attention to those aspects, the fabric that Mishima's chest was stretched taut was still very eye-catching, looking just as good as Shoko-sensei's... no, it seemed that this woman's was even more terrifying.

"That's great... I can finally relax."

Mishima sighed contentedly, leaning back and stretching his limbs.

With a "rip," the next second, Kaoru heard the sound of the fabric tearing.