Stealing Spree

Showered by their concern, I couldn’t help but feel really lucky to be alive. In any case, since summarizing it again would do any good to ease their worries and disbelief, I told them how exactly I handled the eight hired thugs.

Knocking down six of them in quick succession, scaring one and the leader giving up. That’s the exact course of events.

And since he’d probably use it against me, I also didn’t hold back telling them how I dealt with Ichihara Jun.

Considering he was already gone when I escorted Haruko and the girls from the Book Club, his followers possibly moved him away already.

Hayashi-sensei hit my shoulder and scolded me for being reckless. Since it’s usually impossible to come out unscathed in that kind of scenario, she’s still in disbelief at how I managed to do it.

As for Shizu, she just breathed out a sigh of relief and lightly hit on my chest while saying, “I’ll repeat it, numbskull. Prioritize your safety next. What would happen if they didn’t bother to talk to you? Won’t you be hurt?”

I comforted her by saying that in case the situation went that way, I’d still keep in mind not to ruin my attire for our date.

That’s partly joking and partly serious to lighten the mood. But then again, I’m confident that I can accomplish that. As long as I know where they’re coming from, they’ll be easy to handle since they’re amateurs.

I’ve fought against professionals, after all. I remember there was even someone with a high rank in Taekwondo back then. I think it was black belt 4th Dan. His kicks were quick and flashy. But thankfully, most of their moves consist of wide kicks. Countering an expert in that martial art by pressing in has a high probability of success. Of course, if I got careless back then, one kick would also be enough to hurt or even knock me down. It’s actually a miracle that I managed to dodge those without learning the importance of footwork from Ayu yet.

“Alright. I’ll take this as a top priority. You have your evidence. I’ll bring this up in a meeting this Monday.”

“A meeting? Why not decide it by yourself, sensei?”

“You know it. I may be the owner or Director but not everything can be decided by me. We’re receiving sponsors, aren't we? Ichihara’s contribution cannot be ignored. Don’t worry though. It will only be delayed for a while but I’ll insist on bringing this up to his father. That kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. I can let him get away by making his fellow students his followers but bringing people in and paying them to hurt another student? That’s undermining my authority.”

Even though her voice sounded calm and serene, I could sense her repressed anger after hearing that recording.

But she’s not done yet. She then looked at me and sighed, “Ugh. I should also say the same to you... Make sure your womanizing habit doesn’t affect the other students. Otherwise, I’ll also be forced to deal with you.”

Ah. She’s trying to practice impartiality. But then again, what I’m doing is truly problematic. She’s in conflict because she’s just letting me do as I wish. If someone found out that she kicked out Ichihara Jun and let me stay in school despite everything I did, they’d accuse her of favoritism.

In any case, that’s irrelevant to me. Just like she said, since I’m still not troubling a lot of students, it should be fine. And my focus only revolved around my girls. However, once she found out about my relationship with my teachers, she’d definitely not just fly into a rage. She might even become the embodiment of it.

Hopefully, we won’t come to that point. I should either get closer to her so that she’ll turn a blind eye if that is revealed or be extra careful in hiding my relationship with Shio and Eguchi-sensei from her... Oh. I should also add Orimura-sensei there.

“I understand. Sensei can call for me anytime if you need me to testify.” Ignoring what she said about me, I returned us to the topic of Ichihara.

And another sigh left her mouth. At this point, she’s already clutching her head. Maybe she’s having a migraine.

With her this close, I lifted my hands to her temple and started massaging them.

Shizu didn’t stop me since she was also quite worried about Hayashi-sensei.

However, Hayashi-sensei was surprised and tried to move away. Unfortunately for her, she was firmly on my hold. I even angled her body so that I wouldn’t need to stretch my arm too much to reach the other side of her head.

A few minutes passed like that. When I let go of her, Hayashi-sensei immediately stood up and returned to the seat across from us.

Her face was red from embarrassment but her expression showed relief.

“Ugh. Shizu, you should’ve stopped him.”

“Sorry, sensei. I’m also worried you’d hurt yourself. I hope you feel better now. His massage is improving. He was still a little clumsy when he first relieved me of my headache. Now, it seems the effect is immediately shown.”

“He’s audacious like that... But thank you, shameless brat. You can skip on other reports. I’m aware of your contribution to the Basketball Club’s win today... I’ll reward you for that some other time. You two should go on your date now.”

Perhaps not wanting to further show us her weakened state, Hayashi-sensei was now sending us away.

Well, that’s actually favorable for us. I didn’t have to give her a summary of my experiences today. There’s a lot to talk about, after all. And a lot to omit too.

In any case, since I kind of felt responsible for her current state, I observed the woman more closely, just to ensure that nothing was amiss. It would give Shizu and me peace of mind on our date.

“You don’t have to thank me, sensei. Like you said, I also cause you trouble. Stay safe. You should call it a day now and finish your work tomorrow.”

“Psh. Are you my husband to tell me what to do? Go on. You have your camping trip tomorrow too. Make your girl happy today. You both deserved it for working hard.”

Sending me a dismissive glare, she then turned to Shizu and smiled like a parent wishing for her child’s happiness.

Shizu blinked in confusion as though she was seeing a new side of Hayashi-sensei.

“Uhm. Sensei, is this really you? You’re quite strict on me before, what changed?”

“Shizu, was I not a good mentor for you? And remember, you’re the one who told me not to hold back... I cherish you too. Compared to the previously elected SC Presidents who only liked the fame and prestige of becoming one, you diligently did your job. Everything got put in order. You needed this break. I’m still apprehensive to have that shameless guy take you, though.”

While her tone on Shizu was bordering on doting, her remarks on me were still more on the side of gloating. But it’s easy to understand her. She’s just embarrassed to admit that I’m also helpful to her.

That’s an adorable side of her, not gonna lie.

Anyway, I didn’t try to refute it anymore and took that with a smile. And Shizu also decided not to push it further. She’s more than happy to hear all those from Hayashi-sensei. It’s like her hard work this past year as the Student Council President has started paying off. She got the acknowledgement of the mentor who honed her for the job.

After bowing once, we said our goodbyes and excused ourselves out. Hayashi-sensei waved her hand and put on an understanding smile before she staggered back to her table.

Before leaving, I reminded her again to finish up her work and take a rest. The same as earlier, she scolded me for being meddlesome.

Shizu and I shared a laugh from that.

Anyway... With all of that done, it’s time for us to enjoy our moment...